Romanian interim president Crin Antonescu signed a law Monday requiring that at least 50 percent of the electorate turn out for the July 29 national referendum to decide whether suspended president Traian Basescu should be ousted from the presidency. Basescu was impeached earlier this month by a 256-114 vote in Parliament in an ongoing power [...]
An Omani court on Monday sentenced six human rights activists to between 12 and 18 months in prison for social media posts that were deemed to be slander against the country’s ruler, a defense lawyer said on Tuesday. Badr al-Bahri announced that he will appeal the verdict against his clients who have paid 1,000 Omani [...]
The Constitutional Court of Hungary on Monday ruled that a new law lowering the mandatory retirement age for the country’s judges is unconstitutional. The court held that the new law, which lowered the retirement age from 70 to 62 years resulting in sudden retirement of hundreds of judges, endangered the independence of the judiciary and [...]
The next hearing for alleged 9/11 conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four codefendants was postponed on Monday to avoid a conflict with the last 10 days of Ramadan. The chief judge of the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunals granted the delay to move the hearing from August 8-12 to August 22-26 so that the defendants [...]
Hungarian authorities on Monday announced plans to investigate into whether a former Nazi resides in the country’s capital amid demands by various rights groups to prosecute the war criminal. The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) , a Jewish human rights organization committed to finding and prosecuting Holocaust war criminals, has submitted new evidence to the Budapest [...]
The Russian State Duma on Friday approved a bill that enforces tougher restrictions on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive international funding as well as re-criminalizes the offenses of libel and slander. The bill requires any NGOs that receive any type of foreign funding and engage in political activity to register and identify themselves as a [...]
The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday rejected a clemency bid by death row inmate Warren Hill who was convicted of two counts of murder but argues he should not be executed because he is mentally disabled. The board gave no insight into its decision but acknowledged that Hill had exhausted his [...]
A political activist of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday was deported to Thailand after a two-month detention. Ahmed Abdul Khaleq has called for the rights of the stateless people in the UAE, and was one of the five activists jailed last year for insulting the state’s rulers after participating in a campaign seeking [...]
New Zealand Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne on Monday announced a plan to ban the use of drugs providing legal highs unless manufactures of such drugs can prove that they are clinically safe. The scientific evidence required for approval is expected to be similar to requirements needed for new medicines, including toxicology data and results [...]
Tens of thousands of protestors rallied in Tokyo on Monday as Japan moves to restart the country’s nuclear reactors that were shut down following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last year. The peaceful antinuclear demonstration in Yoyogi park took place on Japan’s national holiday, highlighting the nation’s ongoing debate regarding nuclear power. Several such rallies [...]
