Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday released a statement calling on Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference (NDC) to endorse proposed legislation that would strike down a 2012 law providing blanket immunity to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh . The current law grants Saleh immunity from prosecution for any actions taken during his 32-year rule and also [...]
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that a proposal by the ruling Puea Thai party to amend the constitution to make the nation’s senate fully elected is illegal. The court held that Thailand’s parliament did not follow proper procedures for amending the constitution, saying that several lawmakers had engaged in fraud during the voting process [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 5-4 to allow Texas’s new abortion law to remain in effect while it is being reviewed by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit . The provision in question requires doctors who perform abortions at clinics to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Pro-choice groups [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced that a $13 billion civil settlement with JPMorgan & Co. has been finalized, resolving federal and state claims arising from the bank’s risky mortgage practices which helped lead to the 2008 financial crisis. It is the largest settlement paid by a single company in American history. [...]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Monday declassified intelligence documents regarding data collection under Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) order permitting the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect Americans’ e-mail and Internet data was published for the first time on [...]
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a piece of legislation on Tuesday that makes it illegal to sell cigarettes to individuals under the age of 21. The legislation, passed by the New York City Council , is intended to decrease smoking rates in New York City. Bloomberg claimed this measure “ill prevent young people [...]
The Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the detention of Samer al-Baraq without trial. Al-Baraq, a Palestinian citizen suspected of being an al Qaeda biological weapons expert, has been detained for over three years. Al-Baraq obtained military training in Afghanistan and was recruited by al Qaeda’s alleged current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri . Prosecutors allege that [...]
The Spanish National Court issued arrest orders for former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and four other Chinese officials on Tuesday, including former prime minister Li Peng, former security and police chief Qiao Shi , Chen Kuiyan, a former Communist Party official in Tibet, and Pen Pelyun, ex-family planning minister. The arrest orders come as part [...]
The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) state war crimes court on Tuesday released 10 prisoners connected to war crimes committed during the Bosnian Civil War following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) . Six of these individuals were convicted of genocide for their roles in the Srebrenica massacre . Two others were [...]
US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) on Monday introduced a bill aimed at limiting frivolous patent lawsuits. The proposed legislation, known as the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013 , is designed to increase transparency in the US patent process and improve resources for small businesses that are targeted in patent [...]
