China authorities launched an investigation on Friday into whether local family planning officials forced Feng Jianmei to have an abortion in her seventh month of pregnancy. Feng and her family allege that earlier this month she was taken to a hospital and her child was forcibly aborted because she did not have money to pay [...]
The UN Security Council on Sunday demanded the immediate release of a group of four staff members from the International Criminal Court (ICC) detained in Libya earlier this month. The Security Council noted that Libya has a legal obligation under Resolution 1970 (2011) to “cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to the Court [...]
The UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) suspended its mission to supervise the implementation of a peace plan in the country on Saturday. Major General Robert Mood, head of the UNSMIS mission, blamed the group’s exit from Syria on “an escalation in fighting and of the risk to his 300-strong team, as well as the [...]
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) said Friday that President Barack Obama’s plan to issue an executive order implementing policies of the DREAM Act is unconstitutional and he plans to sue the Obama administration to delay its implementation. King claims that this executive order would effectively implement a law that was rejected by Congress and, therefore, Obama [...]
Newly appointed UN Independent Expert on Human Rights in Sudan, Mashood Adebayo Baderin, said on Friday, following his first mission to Sudan, that the country still needs to take further steps to ensure its people have adequate human rights. He recognized some steps taken by the government, but mentioned specifically a need for improvement in [...]
A boycott by defense lawyers in the case of hundreds of Turkish military officers accused of plotting a coup against the government in 2003 caused the judge to refer the case on Friday to the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office to break the deadlock. The trial stems from the Balyoz Security Operation Plan , or “Sledgehammer” [...]
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday ordered that the Attorney General take action to bring the Chief Justice’s son, Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar, and real estate businessman, Malik Riaz Hussain, to trial for alleged bribery and unlawful dealings. This order ended the Supreme Court’s suo moto case involving the two men, in which Iftikhar was [...]
Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was convicted on Friday of three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Gupta was also acquitted on two other counts of securities fraud. Gupta was arrested in October and charged with securities fraud relating to insider trading with hedge fund executive Raj [...]
The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled Friday that provisions of Canada’s Criminal Code that forbid physician-assisted suicide unjustly violate the rights to life, liberty and equality. In her ruling, Justice Lynn Smith acknowledged that physician-assisted suicide is an issue that has sharply divided both the medical community and the general public. Nevertheless, she ruled [...]
A judge for the UK Court of Protection ruled Friday that a 32-year-old woman who suffers from anorexia , a fear of gaining weight resulting in decreased consumption of food, can be fed against her will. Justice Peter Jackson found that, by assessing the balance between one’s life and personal independence, it is lawful to [...]
