The Irish people voted on Friday in favor of changing their constitution to remove the word blasphemy. Each of the 40 constituencies of Ireland voted in favor of the 37th amendment with 44 percent of eligible voters taking part in the poll. The constitution previously stated, in Article 40.6.1, “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Monday that an American illegally detained in Iraq by the US military for more than a year has been freed. After an extensive court battle, the Trump administration and ACLU reached a settlement agreement allowing the detainee to be released in a third country, where he will once [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to weight in on a dispute over Pennsylvania’s electoral map. In Turzai v. Brandt the court was asked to consider two questions. First, “hether the Pennsylvania Constitution’s substantive provisions and whatever interpretation Pennsylvania courts afford them, however atextual, can restrict time, place, and manner rules Pennsylvania’s lawmakers have passed [...]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Friday that an Austrian court’s conviction for disparaging religious doctrines did not violate the defendant’s freedom of expression. The case centered around two seminars hosted by Ms S in 2009. During the talks, titled “Basic Information on Islam,” Ms S referred to the Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile. Subsequently, [...]

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases Friday. In Return Mail v. US Postal Service the court will review whether the government is a “person” that can proceed under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The act permits a “person” who has been sued for patent infringement to challenge the validity of the patent through the [...]

Britain’s High Court decided Friday that pension plans under the guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) scheme have been unequal due to sex discrimination, and these schemes should be amended to equalize benefits for those who have been affected. The Court of Justice of the EU ruled in 1990 that pension benefits should be equal for men [...]

The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration ruled Thursday that Chinese laws and regulations do not prohibit Bitcoin and its derivatives from being privately held and transferred. Previous scrutiny regarding cryptocurrencies led Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China, to prohibit both speculative sales of new cryptocurrencies through initial coin offerings (ICOs) and fundraising schemes claiming affiliation [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday cautioned that Angola’s mass deportation of approximately 330,000 Congolese migrants has seen human rights violations by authorities on both sides of the border. Authorities in Angola have reportedly used unnecessary force in expelling Congolese from the country, including deaths at the hand of authorities and [...]

56-year old Cesar Sayoc of Florida was arrested and charged Friday in connection with the investigation of suspicious packages sent nationwide to various democratic politicians and outspoken critics of President Donald Trump, including former President Barack Obama and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sayoc was charged with transporting explosives across state lines, illegally mailing [...]

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was hit with additional corruption charges Wednesday in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. The 1MDB scandal involved Malaysian government officials, including Razak himself, allegedly siphoning money from the 1MDB development bank for their own personal gains. In May Razak was defeated in a snap election by Mahathir Mohammad [...]