The Syrian legislature on Tuesday passed a bill that, if signed by President Bashar al-Assad , will end the country’s 48-year-old state of emergency. Prime Minister Dr. Adel Safar chaired the legislative session, which voted to end the emergency law that has been in place since 1963. The government also abolished the Supreme State Security [...]
A Tunisian court on Tuesday dropped charges against a police officer who incited protests in several Arab countries when she allegedly slapped a local fruit vendor. Police woman Fedia Hamdi was accused of slapping Mohamed Bouazizi in December in a dispute during which Bouazizi’s cart was confiscated after he was allegedly found without a permit. [...]
The Republican-led US House of Representatives filed a motion Monday with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . This follows the Obama administration’s February announcement that it would no longer defend the law’s [...]
Apple filed suit Friday claiming that the Samsung “Galaxy” line of products copies its iPhone and iPad technology. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California , includes 10 patent infringement charges, two trademark violations, two trade dress violations and accusations of unjust enrichment and unfair business practices. The [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Tapia v. United States to determine whether a district court may impose a longer prison sentence on a defendant to promote rehabilitation. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the US District Court for the Southern District of California made no error [...]
A UN panel of experts on Sri Lanka has found credible allegations of war crimes committed during the country’s war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , according to excerpts of a report disclosed Monday. The special panel, appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon , found that allegations of numerous war crimes and [...]
The Obama administration on Monday charged General Eugenio Vides Casanova, former defense minister of El Salvador, for human rights crimes committed during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war while he served as the country’s top military officer. The US is also seeking to deport Vides, who retired in Florida after completing his six-year term as defense [...]
The National Assembly of Hungary approved a new constitution on Monday by a margin of 262-44 and one abstention. Members of the country’s socialist party (MSZP) and green liberal political party (LMP) boycotted the vote . The measure was supported by and passed as a result of the ruling Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ) , which [...]
Defense lawyers for six Kenyan leaders charged in the International Criminal Court (ICC) with inciting violence after the December 2007 Kenyan elections called for the timely release of evidence against their clients on Monday. The prosecution wishes to partially redact portions of the evidence to be used against the six Kenyan leaders in order to [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in a Guantanamo detainee case but granted certiorari in a case involving deportation. Monday marked the second time the case of Kiyemba v. Obama , involving Chinese Muslim Uighers detained at Guantanamo and seeking an order of release into the US, came before the court. In October [...]
