Utah lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled legislation that aims to balance religious rights and protections against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) discrimination in the workplace and housing. The bill, SB 0296 , proposes adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Utah’s anti-discrimination laws for housing and employment, clarifies exemptions for religious institutions and provides protections [...]
Paul Black, a prisoner at HMP Wymott , won a contentious judgment in the UK High Court on Thursday banning smoking in prisons and all Crown premises. Under current regulations, prisoners are permitted to smoke in cells but forbidden to smoke in corridors and other places of high prisoner traffic. The Thursday ruling extends Health [...]
The Moscow City Court on Thursday convicted a Russian police officer of treason for spying for the US and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Roman Ushakov was found guilty of giving classified information from the Russian Interior Ministry to the CIA in exchange for USD $37,000. The court also stripped Ushakov of his [...]
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman filed a review petition with the country’s apex court Thursday against its verdict that upheld the death sentence awarded to him by the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) for war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War . Kamaruzzaman made a plea to the court to discard his conviction and [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir to put their issues aside for the well-being of South Sudan in order to create lasting peace. He urged them to make the necessary compromises and create a power-sharing agreement in order to facilitate peace and the conflict, [...]
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chief Irina Bokova on Tuesday condemned the brutal murder of Colombian journalist Luis Carlos Peralta Cuéllar, urging authorities to bring the perpetrator to justice. Bokova, who is mandated to defend press-freedom by her position, stated, “ress freedom is one of the pillars of democracy and good governance. … [...]
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is legal, despite an earlier decision by a federal judge to the contrary. The Supreme Court ordered 68 probate judges in Alabama to halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, stating, “Alabama law allows for ‘marriage’ between only one man [...]
A US Department of Justice (DOJ) report released Wednesday says the department will not prosecute Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown last August. According to the report, the DOJ found that there is “no evidence upon which prosecutors can rely to disprove Wilson’s stated subjective [...]
Egypt’s cabinet and the Ministry of Investment approved an investment law Wednesday aimed at protecting business deals from legal disputes or political changes and addressing investor complaints about bureaucracy. The new law unifies the investment requirements and affects various industries, including mining and local producers. Supporters of the bill hope the new legislation will boost [...]
With the European Games approaching in Baku, Azerbaijan, this June, human rights groups on Wednesday urged the host nation to release political prisoners held on “trumped up” charges. The European Games are seen as an attempt to soften the authoritarian image of Azerbaijan under President Ilham Aliyev. Human Rights Watch (HRW) argued that the Azerbaijan [...]
