Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday ordered a referendum on a new constitution. The new constitution reportedly omits a clause in the old document that describes the ruling Ba’ath Party as the “leader of the nation and society.” The expressed intent of that omission is to open the country up to a multiparty political system. [...]
The Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on Wednesday in consideration of a proposed bill that would grant same-sex couples the right to civil unions. Same-sex couples traveled to Denver to testify on behalf of the bill. The bill explicitly provides same-sex couples with many of the benefits held by married couples, including dependent insurance [...]
The UN envoy for Children and Armed Conflict on Monday urged all nations to ratify a treaty protocol that would criminalize recruitment of child soldiers and set the minimum age of recruitment at 18. The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict of the Convention on the Rights of the Child seeks [...]
The Ontario Superior Court on Monday issued an opinion refusing to impose a mandatory minimum sentence established by the Canadian federal government for firearm possession, declaring the guideline unconstitutional. Justice Anne Molloy ruled in the case of Leroy Smickle, who was convicted of possessing a loaded handgun. The Canadian government stipulates that any party found [...]
The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday that defines life as beginning at conception. The bill passed 66-32 moving the state toward banning abortion . The bill, introduced by Rep. Bob Marshall (R) , says: “Life of each human being begins at conception” and that “Unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, [...]
The New Jersey Senate on Monday voted 24-16 to approve the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act , a bill which, if enacted, would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Under the bill, marriage would be defined as the “legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship.” The legislation would not require [...]
A Tunisian court on Tuesday dropped charges against former Libyan prime minister Al Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi for illegally entering the country, but the former figurehead under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi remains in jail until a final decision on his extradition to Libya. The court dismissed the charges after determining that al-Mahmoudi had lawfully crossed [...]
A local Chinese court in Xiamen on Monday indicted Lai Changxing on charges of bribing Chinese government officials and running a Xiamen-based network that smuggled large quantities of goods during the 1990s. As chairman of the Yuanhua Group in Xiamen, Lai allegedly smuggled billions of dollars worth of various goods including cigarettes and cars, as [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday heard oral arguments from minority student advocates who urged the court to reconsider California’s voter-approved ban on affirmative action based on race or gender preferences in education and state hiring. The ban, Proposition 209 , has been upheld by California courts as a race-neutral [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay , in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Monday, called for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) . Pillay urged an investigation of Syrian government and military officials for possible crimes against humanity. She emphasized [...]
