The president of Spain’s Catalonia region on Tuesday called off an independence vote that was scheduled for November 9. The vote was suspended after the Spanish government challenged its legality last month. Artur Mas , president of the Catalonia region, stated that an unofficial poll will still be held next month to gauge the region’s [...]
Iraqi Shiite militia, armed and supported by the Iraqi government, have been committing war crimes and abducting and murdering “scores” of Sunni men in retaliation for attacks by the Sunni-led Islamic State (IS) , Amnesty International (AI) said Tuesday. In a briefing AI reports that the militia face complete impunity for their actions over the [...]
Former president of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana was arrested on Monday when he returned to the country after five years of living in exile in South Africa. Tear gas was fired and security forces were seen outside his house before he was detained, a BBC reporter stated . Ravalomana had made several attempts to return to [...]
A Minnesota judge on Monday approved a settlement in a landmark sexual abuse case involving Catholic church leaders that neglected to warn parishioners about an abusive priest. The plaintiffs accused the church leaders of creating a public nuisance by failing to warn the parishioners, which is the first time such a theory has been used [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday urged the Bangladeshi government not to revise its law to lower the minimum age for marriage, calling for it to set the minimum age for marriage at 18 instead. HRW’s statement came in response to media reports that the cabinet of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is considering changing [...]
A Chinese court on Monday sentenced 12 people to death and gave 15 others suspended death sentences for their involvement in attacks on a police station and government offices in south Xinjiang in July. Nine others were sentenced to life imprisonment, and another 20 people received shorter sentences. According to a Xinjiang government news outlet, [...]
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced Monday a targeted review of the nation’s legislation “in relation to foreign terrorist fighters.” The four-week review will be led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and, according to Key, “is likely to recommend that some urgent changes be made to legislation.” The PM acknowledged [...]
The US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan issued a press release Friday condemning proposed legislation that would ban “gay propaganda.” According to Reuters the proposed bill would allow for fines and imprisonment up to one year for individuals found “‘forming a positive attitude to untraditional sexual relations’ among minors or in mass media.” In the press release [...]
US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos on Saturday filed a permanent injunction against the enforcement of a Texas voter ID law . The injunction follows a 147-page opinion issued on Thursday in which Ramos found that the voter ID law violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the US Constitution because it is racially discriminatory [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Alaska on Sunday overturned Alaska’s same-sex marriage ban. Five same-sex couples living in Alaska brought the action pursuant to 42 USC § 1983 and filed a motion for summary judgement. Judge Timothy Burgess found that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage and refusal to recognize [...]
