French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed in the Official Journal Thursday that the controversial law banning the burqa and other face coverings in public places takes force April 11. Violators wearing a face covering may be fined up to 150 euros and/or required to attend citizenship classes. In contrast, anyone convicted of forcing a woman [...]
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday sentenced Shareef Abdelhaleem, a member of the Toronto 18 terrorist group, to life in prison without parole. Justice Fletcher Dawson said that Abdelhaleem still posed a substantial risk to the public and has not shown remorse for his part in the failed terrorist plot to enact a [...]
The appeals chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) ruled Thursday that the trial can accept the final brief of former Liberian president Charles Taylor and that his lawyers can make closing arguments. The SCSL postponed closing arguments last month in order to let the defense appeal a ruling that denied admission of [...]
The South Dakota State Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would require women to wait 72 hours after consulting with a doctor to have an abortion. In addition to the waiting period, HB 1217 would require that pregnant women receive consultation at a “pregnancy help center” and that the women’s doctors verify that this [...]
Austrian authorities announced Friday they have arrested former Bosnian general Jovan Divjak under a 2008 international warrant issued by Serbian officials that accuses Divjak of war crimes. Divjak was arrested Thursday night at Vienna International Airport while traveling from Sarajevo to Italy, and he appeared Friday morning before a local judge who placed him in [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida on Thursday granted the Obama administration’s petition to stay his previous order declaring the health care reform law unconstitutional , on the condition that an appeal is filed within the next week. In January, Judge Roger Vinson voided the entire Patient Protection [...]
Turkish authorities on Thursday jailed an estimated 10 individuals, including several journalists, allegedly involved with aiding the Ergenekon coup plot , amid continued foreign concerns for the treatment of journalists within the country. The arrests were carried out in conjunction with police raids in Ankara and Istanbul, during which authorities copied computer hard drives and [...]
Muslim student Yasir Afifi and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit against the FBI on Wednesday after Afifi discovered a global positioning system (GPS) device on the undercarriage of his car. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia , alleges that Afifi’s rights were violated when [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced Thursday that he will investigate allegations of crimes against humanity by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his inner circle. According to Moreno-Ocampo, “the office of the prosecutor decided to open an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed in Libya” based on reports of brutal treatment [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday condemned the assassination of Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti and expressed her opposition to Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law . Bhatti, a member of Pakistan’s Christian minority and outspoken critic of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, was killed Tuesday while traveling to work when gunmen opened [...]
