The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled 7-1 in Monsanto Company v. Geerston Seed Farms that the district court abused its discretion when it issued a nationwide injunction against a genetically modified alfalfa seed. The district court sought to remedy a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) violation based on only a remote possibility of reparable [...]
A panel of Indian Cabinet ministers on Monday recommended that the government consider increasing compensation for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal chemical spill disaster . The panel also indicated it will seek extradition of Warren Anderson, the former chairman of US chemical producer Union Carbide , the company responsible for the spill. Members of [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday called for the removal of Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process (KP) , the global organization dedicated to suppressing trade in so-called "conflict diamonds." The report, "Deliberative Chaos," calls on the KP to suspend Zimbabwe at its meeting in Israel June 21. According to the report, human rights abuses by [...]
A senior Saudi official said Saturday that 25 former Guantanamo Bay detainees have rejoined Islamic extremist groups after going through a rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia aimed at decreasing religious radicalism within the country. Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq, a top Saudi security expert, spoke generally about the government's effort to rehabilitate Islamic radicals and reported that about [...]
A diplomat with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that Japan supports UN efforts to address alleged war crimes committed during the final phase of Sri Lanka's 30-year ethnic civil war that ended last year. Yasushi Akashi, the government's Representative for Peace-Building, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka, made the announcement after a [...]
The Kyrgyzstan interim government Sunday extended a state of emergency in the southern city of Osh, as government forces began to pull down barricades erected during riots last week between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. The state of emergency, declared by interim President Roza Otunbayeva on June 11, was set to expire on Sunday, but was [...]
Yifat Susskind : “The report by Human Rights Watch on female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kurdistan reveals the troubling reality facing women and girls compelled to undergo the procedure. Human Rights Watch references specifically the failure of the Kurdistan Regional Government to take seriously the issue of FGM and to enact legislation to curb the [...]
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended Friday that Malaysia repeal or amend its internal security laws, which allow indefinite detainment without trial. At the end of an official visit , the group said amending the laws would allow Malaysia to conform to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The UN group had [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Friday dismissed 49 terrorism lawsuits, including five cases against relatives of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden , citing lack of evidence. Judge George Daniels dismissed claims against four half-brothers and a nephew of bin Laden, holding that the prosecution [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to file a lawsuit challenging Arizona's controversial immigration legislation , according to media reports Friday. Senior officials for the Obama administration are said to have confirmed the DOJ's intent after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned the legal action in a television interview in Ecuador . The interview [...]
