The Supreme Court of India ruled Monday that all coal mining licenses awarded between 1993 and 2010 are illegal. The court found that the licenses failed to comply with the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 ; Section 3(3)(a)(iii) of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act of 1973 ; the principle of trusteeship [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay reported on Monday that Islamic State (IS) fighters killed up to 670 prisoners in Mosul and committed other crimes in Iraq that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Pillay stated that IS has systematically targeted men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious [...]

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq , Nickolay Mladenov, on Saturday called for immediate action to stop the inhumane activity caused by Islamic State (IS) armies in Amerli. IS armies in the area are reportedly cutting off supplies to Amerli inhabitants, leaving them unable to access food and water. As a result, [...]

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday issued proposed rules to revise which for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations are exempt from the contraception mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . The changes come in response to the Supreme Court’s rulings in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood [...]

Chinese officials in the western region of Xinjiang executed eight individuals charged with terrorism- and separatism-related crimes on Saturday. According to a press release by China’s state-run news agency, the execution was conducted with approval by the Supreme People’s Court . Three of the executed individuals were sentenced during a mass trial in May, in [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday called on the Mexican government to fully investigate the killing of 22 civilians by soldiers on June 30, following an alleged confrontation inside an empty warehouse in the municipality of Tlatlaya. All civilians involved in the incident were killed, while one soldier was injured. Credible witness reports have cast [...]

Louisiana abortion clinic Hope Medical Group for Women and the Center for Reproductive Rights on Friday filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana to block a law that requires doctors to have hospital admitting privileges, which would likely force clinics to shut down. The law requires that every [...]

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Thursday that she will appeal a recent ruling striking down California’s death penalty. A judge for the US District Court for the Central District of California ruled earlier this month that California’s use of the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. The district court held [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported Friday that at least 191,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict —almost double the number from last year’s report. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that the number, based on information from the Syrian Center for Statistics and Research, the [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled Thursday that Florida’s ban on same-sax marriage is unconstitutional and the state must recognize same-sex couples that were lawfully married in other states. The combined cases of Brenner v. Scott and Grimsley v. Scott involve 22 plaintiffs that currently reside in [...]