The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging a Nebraska policy banning gay and lesbian people from becoming foster parents. The complaint was filed at a state court in Lincoln on behalf of three same-sex couples who claim the policy violates their right to equal protection rights. The ban also prohibits gay [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday granted final approval to a $20 million settlement agreement with Facebook over its “Sponsored Stories.” The “Sponsored Stories” program shared with a user’s Facebook friends when a user clicked “like” on particular advertisers and generally included a user’s name and [...]
A judge for the Second Judicial District Court of New Mexico on Tuesday ordered district court clerks to begin granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Bernalillo County, the largest county in New Mexico, in accordance with a Monday ruling that held that the refusal to grant marriage licenses to these couples is in violation [...]
The head of the German prosecutors’ office that specializes in investigating Nazi crimes reported on Monday that its investigation into 50 individuals suspected of serving as guards at Auschwitz is almost complete. The individuals are being investigated under a new legal theory, which argues that a person who served in a death camp can be [...]
Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court on Tuesday invalidated a law that effectively blocked Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from pursuing a third term in the nation’s upcoming elections. Iraqi parliament members passed the measure in January to limit the offices of premier, president and parliament speaker to two terms. Opponents of the law reportedly argued that, pursuant [...]
The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) failed to adequately investigate missing person reports in the aftermath of the 1998-99 Kosovo war with Serbia , Amnesty International (AI) reported Tuesday. According to AI, a 1999 UN resolution charged the UNMIK with protecting and promoting human rights in Kosovo in accordance with “internationally recognized standards of human [...]
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory on Sunday allowed a bill that prohibits North Carolina judges from considering Islamic law in their decisions to become law. House Bill 522 prevents courts from applying foreign law in divorce, alimony and child custody actions, if doing so would violate a person’s federal or state constitutional rights. Although the [...]
A UN spokesperson said Monday that the UN plans to contact the US government about reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) hacked UN internal communications. The UN said that international treaties protect its offices and all diplomatic missions from interference, spying and eavesdropping. The German magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that the NSA was [...]
An Iranian court of appeals on Sunday rejected the appeal of American pastor Saeed Abedini and refused to reduce his eight-year prison term in the Evin prison. Abedini was sentenced in January by a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Iran to eight years in prison for threatening national security through his leadership in [...]
A spokesperson for European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding said Monday that Croatia may face legal action for failure to comply with EU extradition law. Days before entering the EU on July 1, the Croatian government changed the country’s laws to prevent extradition of suspects for crimes occurring before 2002. This act is seen by [...]
