A Libyan court acquitted six foreign medics of criminal defamation Sunday. The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor, previously convicted of knowingly infecting over 400 Libyan patients with the HIV virus and sentenced to death, faced defamation charges stemming from the medics' accusations that their confessions were obtained by torture by Libyan police officer Jumaa al-Mishri and doctor Abdul-Majid al-Shoul. Al-Mishri and al-Shoul sued the foreign medics, seeking $4 million in compensation. The Libyan court did not elaborate its reasoning for its decision.

The six medics have been imprisoned in Libya since 1999 but have consistently maintained their innocence, saying that they are being scapegoated for unsanitary conditions in the Libyan hospitals where they worked. Bulgaria and its allies, including the US and the European Union, contend that the nurses are innocent. The death sentence against the medics is still under appeal, but the a top Libyan official has said that the six will not be executed.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International in its 2007 annual report on human rights said that the 'war on terror' has eroded human rights in the US and other western nations, with Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan characterizing it as an attempt "to roll back some fundamental principles of human rights."

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, in the middle of a gut-wrenching restructuring, lost a high-profile Chicago partner and revenue generator to a competitor.

Alan Salpeter, a trial lawyer who has represented major banks and accounting firms, notified the firm Friday that he is moving to the Chicago office of New York law firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Salpeter, who joined Mayer Brown in 1972 out of Villanova University School of Law, is one of the highest-compensated partners at the firm, according to sources inside Mayer Brown, who declined to reveal his salary.

A partner at LeBoeuf's Chicago office confirmed the move. Salpeter did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The departure of a rainmaking lawyer comes at a difficult time for Mayer Brown, one of the nation's 10 largest law firms in terms of revenue. In March the firm said it was firing or demoting 45 partners to boost profitability, an unusually large retrenchment for a major law firm. The downsizing was announced after several partners from its New York office had already left.

The restructuring also includes management changes. Earlier this month, the firm eliminated the position of firm-wide managing partner, folding those duties into the new Office of the Chairman. Managing Partner Debora de Hoyos will have a new management role directing recruiting and client development. The firm also appointed a new partner-in-charge of the Chicago office.

The hiring of Salpeter is a coup for LeBoeuf Lamb, as it looks to bolster its Chicago presence. Salpeter brings the kind of lucrative corporate litigation work that firms desire in a competitive market. He currently represents Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a lawsuit connected to the demise of Enron Corp.

The law firm of Kious & Rodgers announced that David “Brock” East has joined the firm as an associate attorney. East is a 2002 graduate of the University of Tennessee where he majored in biochemistry and was a University Honors Scholar. He received his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law in 2005.

He comes to Kious & Rodgers from the Memphis law firm of Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, P.C. East is licensed to practice law in both Tennessee and Arkansas. His areas of practice include personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, insurance, corporate, commercial and professional malpractice litigation, wills and contracts.

He is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association as well as the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. He is married to Jenny Peterson East.

Kious & Rodgers is a full service law firm representing both individual and business clients throughout Middle Tennessee and is located in the historic Spence House located at 503 North Maple Street in the heart of downtown Murfreesboro. Information about the firm is available at ww.kiousandrodgers.com.

A former Casper Youth Baseball official has pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling money from the organization.

As part of a plea agreement, four other embezzlement charges against Keith Hood were dropped, Assistant Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen said Friday.

Hood was accused of writing $6,600 worth of checks to himself from the organization's bank account.

He faces a two- to three-year prison sentence that will be suspended, provided he completes three years of supervised probation and makes restitution, Itzen said.

Hood said in Natrona County District Court on Friday that he has already paid back $4,500 to the league, which serves about 700 children. pervised probation and makes restitution, Itzen said.

John Rigas, 82, was sentenced in June 2005 to 15 years in prison, and Timothy Rigas, 51, the company's former finance chief, was sentenced to 20 years. Both men have remained free on bail while they pursued their appeals.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand in Manhattan admonished the elder Rigas for his lack of remorse and said he would have imposed a lengthier prison term if not for Rigas' age and ill health.

The Adelphia case was one of the biggest corporate fraud prosecutions in recent years. The father and son were accused of looting the company to pay for personal land deals and vacation homes.

In its decision Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said the defendants needed to show substantial errors by the district court for a reversal of the jury verdict.

"Given the weight of evidence supporting the jury's verdict on each charge, we conclude that they have not done so," the judges said.

Attorneys for the Rigases had no immediate comment on the ruling, nor did the U.S. attorney's office in New York, which prosecuted the case.

Adelphia filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2002. Its cable assets have been sold to Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc.

"Elimination of the head-to-head competition currently offered by XM and Sirius leaving only a monopoly satellite radio service will likely result in higher prices and poorer service being offered to consumers," Kohl said. "Satellite radio is a unique service for which none of the other audio services is a substitute. Uncertain promises of competition from new technologies tomorrow do not protect consumers from higher prices today."

The FCC and Justice Department are currently reviewing the proposed deal. The FCC issued satellite radio licenses 10 years ago to D.C.-based XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) and New York-based Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) on the condition that the two companies would not combine their operations.

"I have concluded this merger, if permitted to proceed, would cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies," Kohl said.

Analysts who follow the satellite radio industry have said that the merger is a long shot. Most analysts say the transaction, at best, has a 50 percent chance of getting regulatory approval.

XM spokesman Chance Patterson, in response to Kohl's comments, said that the "companies continue to believe that the regulatory agencies conducting formal reviews of the merger will conclude that the combination of Sirius and XM will increase programming choices and improve pricing for consumers, and that the audio entertainment market after the merger will remain robust, competitive and open to new entrants."