The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously approved resolution 2268 , voting to endorse a Russian and American plan for a cessation of hostilities in Syria. The plan, which was drafted jointly by Russia and the US, also calls on the government and opposition to resume peace talks. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the adoption [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Somali man convicted of piracy cannot withdraw his plea deal . Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse was the sole surviving pirate suspect from the hostage-taking of commercial ship captain Richard Phillips from the Maersk Alabama. Muse was prosecuted as an adult after the lower [...]
Two Turkish journalists were released from Silivri prison early Friday after Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the detention violated their personal liberty, security, and freedom of expression and press. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, employees of the Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet , were arrested last November for reporting in 2014 that Turkish trucks were [...]
Former Argentine lawyer and federal prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, was the victim of murder according to a Criminal Appeals Court Prosecutor Ricardo Sáenz. The declaration is the first time a judicial authority has suggested the death as a homicide since the mysterious tragedy. Sáenz recommended that the case be handed to federal authorities and investigated as [...]
Robert Kaluza, a former rig supervisor for BP, was found not guilty in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Thursday of violating the Clean Water Act over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster killed 11 people. Kaluza was initially charged with the pollution misdemeanor [...]
Apple filed a brief in the US District Court for the Central District of California Thursday in opposition of the US government’s request for the company to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter , Syed Rizwan Farook. Counsel for Apple called the case “unprecedented.” The brief alleges First and Fifth Amendment concerns arising over [...]
The Italian Senate , using a confidence motion in parliament on Thursday, voted 173-71 to approve a bill permitting civil unions for same-sex and heterosexual couples. The approved bill is a watered-down version of the original bill, which would have granted unmarried couples some adoption rights. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had to strip out provisions [...]
Michigan, joined by 19 other states, filed an application in the US Supreme Court this week to enjoin the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) pending a petition for certiorari. MATS, which requires installation of technology in electricity-generating power plants focused upon curbing air pollution caused by mercury and other harmful materials, was enacted pursuant [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday expressed “serious concern” at the recent adoption of security measures by several European countries by joint agreement . The measures were adopted at a recent meeting between police heads from Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Zeid fears [...]
A judge for the Vancouver Federal Court ruled Wednesday that medical marijuana patients have a constitutional right to grow their own cannabis, striking down a ban introduced by Canada’s previous Conservative government. The case came to court when a group of British Columbia residents sued the Canadian government in 2013 arguing that the disputed law [...]
