The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in a case brought by Citizens for Objective Public Education (COPE) against science education policies adopted by the Kansas State Board of Education . COPE alleged that the teaching of scientific evolution and other natural explanations communicates a religious preference and would result in anti-religious instruction. In [...]

Delegates from the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Sunday called on officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to take greater responsibility to adopt a consensual and inclusive electoral calendar. A weekend visit by diplomats from UNSC countries aimed to break the deadlock over whether President Joseph Kabila should step down before an [...]

The Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) ruled Monday that a controversial West Bank settlement must be dismantled by December 25. The settlement, Amona , had been the subject of negotiations between the state and various other legal and legislative bodies . In 2014, the HCJ ruled that Amona had been built without permission on [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to push Turkey to cease post-coup abuses. Steinmeier will visit the country later this week, and HRW claims he will be in a prime position to discuss potential abuses concerning the alleged illegitimate efforts to bring coup perpetrators to justice, the arrest of [...]

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) reached a peace agreement Saturday to end the guerrilla warfare that has been plaguing the country for more than five decades. Meeting in Havana, the two sides solidified a new deal that alters the deal voters rejected in last month’s referendum. The new deal [...]

Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump filed a motion with the US District Court for the Southern District of California on Saturday requesting that the trial pertaining to Trump University be postponed until after Trump’s inauguration. They had previously requested that the trial be postponed until after the presidential campaign, so the trial is currently set [...]

Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved the Formalization Bill on Sunday, which will legalize outposts in the West Bank. These outposts had been previously built without permission from the Palestinians. In part, the bill was intended to stop the evacuation of Amona outpost, which the Israel Supreme Court ruled was built on private Palestinian [...]

Turkey significantly halted the activities of 370 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including human rights and children’s groups to investigate the groups’ alleged terror connections. The groups affected include bar associations and bodies representing lawyers who have stated their intention to challenge any unlawful restrictions on law firms. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus defended the restrictions operating [...]

Cincinnati trial judge Megan Shanahan declared a mistrial on Saturday after the jury declared that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on murder and manslaughter charges in a case involving the shooting of the unarmed Samuel DuBose, a black man, by white Police Officer Raymond Tensing in July 2015. Shanahan previously encouraged the [...]

The United Nations on Friday announced new private initiatives on climate control at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Marrakech , and called for greater “business leadership” in renewable energy. Private-sector initiatives such as the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance and the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative are part of the UN’s ongoing efforts to implement [...]