A White House official said Monday that US President Barack Obama will sign an executive order that would bar federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This action marks a departure from the White House’s position last year that an executive order would carry less weight than congressional legislation. [...]
UN high commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed deep alarm on Monday over inter-communal violence occurring in Sri Lanka. Violence occurred between Buddhists and Muslims after a rally by the Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) protesting an alleged assault by Muslim youth against a monk at the local temple. Pillay expressed her concern, [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday in Abramski v. United States that the government can enforce a ban on purchasing a gun for someone else, a so-called “straw purchase,” even if that other person is lawfully allowed to have a gun. The court held that a gun buyer’s intent to sell a firearm to [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus that the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) and the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) can proceed with a lawsuit challenging an Ohio law that criminalizes spreading false statements during the course of a political campaign. In 2010 then [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied appeals from Argentina over debts stemming from an economic collapse over a decade ago. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in October 2012 that Argentina must pay $1.33 billion to bondholders when it repays its debts. The Second Circuit affirmed a district court ruling [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in two cases. In Elonis v. United States the question presented is: “Whether, consistent with the First Amendment and Virginia v. Black , … conviction of threatening another person requires proof of the defendant’s subjective intent to threaten, as required by the Ninth Circuit and the supreme [...]
Kuwait’s Supreme Court on Sunday upheld the two-year jail sentence of an opposition online activist for writing tweets found to be offensive to the country’s Emir. After the ruling, activist Hejab Al Hajeri said on his Twitter account that his “determination is bigger than their jail.” Al Hajeri, a law student in his early 20s, [...]
Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday agreed to drop their appeals of a patent-infringement case at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that resulted in an import ban on some older model Samsung phones. Samsung has been seeking to overturn the ban, while Apple was trying to revive other patent claims it had [...]
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday struck down a portion of a state law banning consensual oral and anal sex, aimed at criminalizing homosexual conduct, as unconstitutional. The appeal was brought by a Dallas County, Alabama, man who was charged with engaging in consensual sodomy with another man and ultimately sentenced to 12 [...]
An Egyptian court on Thursday acquitted Habib el-Adly, Egypt’s former interior minister and head of security services under former president Hosni Mubarak , of certain corruption charges on which he was convicted in 2011. Specifically, el-Adly was cleared of charges that he ordered police officials to find prospective top-paying buyers for land he personally owned. [...]
