US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that the Department of Justice will revive a formerly defunct task force to combat domestic terrorism. The task force, called the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, was originally formed following the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995 but was shut down following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . Holder [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Chinese authorities Tuesday to release activists that have been detained for “creating a disturbance” by discussing the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Pillay urged China to relax the anniversary-related restrictions placed on the media, encouraging the country to instead “facilitate dialogue and [...]
The US Department of Defense (DOD) on Monday approved the war crimes trial of Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi , a former leader of al Qaeda’s army between 2002 and 2004. The former CIA captive has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2007. The official charge sheet alleges, among other things, that al-Hadi was a superior commander [...]
The Spanish government on Tuesday approved a draft constitutional law that will facilitate the abdication of King Juan Carlos I. Spain’s Council of Ministers submitted the proposed law to parliament, requesting that the House and Senate vote quickly on whether to make the draft part of the constitution. The King had submitted official notice to [...]
Three independent UN human rights experts on Monday urged Pakistan to adopt urgent legislation to put an end to faith-based killings and protect the country’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community, whose faith is currently outlawed. The call follows a resurgence of violent attacks in Pakistan targeting Ahmadiyya Muslims, which have resulted in the deaths of two members [...]
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday released the Clean Power Plan proposal at the direction of President Barack Obama . The plan will, for the first time, cut carbon pollution from existing power plants in an effort to protect public health and fight climate change without blocking access to affordable power. Although limits [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Bond v. United States that prosecutors cannot use an international chemical weapons treaty to convict a woman who attacked her husband’s lover. Carol Anne Bond attempted to poison the woman by applying two toxic chemicals to her mailbox, car door handles and house doorknob. She was then convicted [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc. , a long-running patent infringement case. Biosig sued Nautilus in 2004, alleging that Nautilus infringed its patent for a heart-rate monitor. A district court found Biosig’s patent invalid because of “indefiniteness.” However, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc. that Limelight cannot be held liable for inducing patent infringement. Akamai Technologies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued Limelight Networks over Akamai’s patented method for redirecting requests for Internet content to ensure access during periods of high demand. The [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two cases challenging Alabama’s redistricting plans, consolidating them for one hour of oral argument. In Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama , the court limited review to question 1: 1(a). Whether, as the dissenting Judge concluded, this effort amounted to an unconstitutional racial quota and racial gerrymandering [...]
