UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the Iraqi government to “take immediate measures to ensure that” those fleeing the city of Fallujah are “treated in strict accordance with international human rights and international humanitarian laws.” Zeid cited “credible reports” that fleeing migrants have suffered physical abuse at the hands of [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear and appeal by Google in a lawsuit filed by advertisers. The class action lawsuit claims that Google has displayed the companies’ ads on “low quality” websites. The lawsuit accuses Google of violating California fair advertising laws because it misled advertisers. The court let the lower court [...]

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a plan that would provide all citizens with a guaranteed basic income. The proposal called for all adults to be paid an unconditional monthly income, regardless of need. Many of those who supported the proposal suggested a monthly income of 2500 Swiss francs for every adult and 625 francs for [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Simmons v. Himmelreich that an inmate’s lawsuit against a prison guard may proceed. The court held that the dismissal of the inmate’s claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not preclude a parallel Bivens claim. Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the court: The [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Ross v. Blake that an inmate could not file a court challenge against a prison guard without exhausting all administrative remedies. The question before the court was whether there is a “special circumstances” exception under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) , which requires inmates to exhaust all [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in two death penalty cases. In Moore v. Texas the court will decide (1) whether it violates the Eighth Amendment and the Supreme Court’s decisions in Hall v. Florida and Atkins v. Virginia to prohibit the use of current medical standards on intellectual disability, and require the use [...]

A Cairo appeals court on Saturday acquitted 33 protesters previously sentenced to two years in prison. The protesters were among 300 others who were arrested in April for holding a large scale public demonstration against the surrendering of the Red Sea Island to Saudi Arabia. While the government cracked down on the demonstration, one of [...]

An Associated Press (AP) investigation has found that thousands of police agencies across the country do not submit hate crime reports to the FBI. Although many agencies and departments would only file zeros, federal guidelines call for reports to be submitted. Underreporting may mask the extent of bias crimes nationwide and may also show the [...]

Three Taliban gunmen on Sunday attacked a court building in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven people including a newly appointed chief prosecutor. Authorities state that 21 others were injured in the attack before the gunmen were shot dead by policemen. The attack follows an incident last week when four disguised Taliban gunmen attacked another court building [...]

A Chinese official said Saturday that China will ignore a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague over the South China Sea dispute. The Philippines filed a case against the People’s Republic of China with the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013 disputing the latter’s territorial claims in the South [...]