The International Criminal Court (ICC) Monday issued arrest warrants against Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi and two of his high-ranking officials. The Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the “de facto Prime Minister,” and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi , the head of intelligence, for alleged crimes against the people of [...]
Israel issued a warning to the international media on Sunday, threatening deportation and a 10-year ban from the country for any foreign journalist caught on board an aid flotilla headed for the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Government Press Office issued a letter to foreign journalists reportedly calling the flotilla a dangerous provocation by extremists and [...]
The US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Friday granted a preliminary injunction against a state law that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) and other organizations providing abortion services. The decision handed down by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt prevents application of the portion of the law that [...]
Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) on Friday signed into law two bills that affect the procedures surrounding a woman’s ability to receive an abortion within the state. The first, HB 1127 , requires that an ultrasound be performed prior to an abortion and that the individual performing the procedure offer the woman the opportunity to [...]
An appeals panel for the US Court of Military Commission Review on Friday upheld the conviction of former Osama Bin Laden driver and Guantanamo Bay detainee, Salim Ahmed Hamdan . The panel, which decided to hear the appeal in September, ultimately rejected the defense’s argument that Hamdan’s charge of providing material support to terrorism is [...]
A judge for the US District Court Southern District of Indiana on Friday issued a preliminary injunction against two provisions of a controversial Indiana immigration law . The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a class action lawsuit in May challenging the two provisions, one which authorized state and local police officers to make warrantless [...]
Tunisia on Friday acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) , which is now set to become effective in the country on September 1, 2011. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton commended the move, noting the positive effects that ratification will have on prosecuting war crimes. Amnesty International (AI) offered similar praise [...]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday signed legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in the state. The New York State Senate had passed the Marriage Equality Act 33-29 earlier that day following weeks of negotiations. The act eliminates any legal distinctions between opposite-sex and same-sex marriages and specifies that no clergy member will [...]
The European Council on Friday agreed to grant Croatia EU membership following six years of accession negotiations. The decision calls for negotiations to close by the end of the month and the accession treaty to be signed by year’s end, allowing for the country to become the 28th member of the EU on July 1, [...]
Media magnate Conrad Black was ordered to return to prison by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Friday, to serve 13 more months of his 42 month sentence. Judge Amy St. Eve , his original sentencing judge, said that although she was impressed by Black’s rehabilitative efforts in prison, the [...]
