Ukraine’s parliament , on Monday, voted to give eastern regions a special status through constitutional changes in hopes of weakening their separatist drive. The bill was approved on a first reading, but still faces legislative and judicial hurdles. The resolution, aimed at decentralization of power, would divide Ukraine into “communities” which would be the “primary [...]

The Indian Supreme Court on Monday stayed an order from the Rajasthan High Court that would have made the practice of Santhara , or voluntarily fasting to death practiced by the Jains , a crime. The Rajasthan High Court said that there was no dignity in the practice and it was essentially suicide, which is [...]

Myanmar President Thein Sein signed the Monogamy Bill into law on Monday, prohibiting marriage to more than one spouse or living with an unmarried partner, which many view as an attack on the minority Muslim population in the country. The bill is one of four recent laws backed by the Committee for the Protection of [...]

Burkina Faso’s Constitutional Council rejected opposition presidential candidate Eddie Constance Konboigo on Saturday ahead of the elections scheduled for October. Konboigo was head of ousted president Blaise Compaore’s Congress for Democracy and Progress party, and he was one of six candidates rejected on Saturday. The country is currently being run by a transitional government, with [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that the elevated marble plaza in front of the US Supreme Court is a “nonpublic forum” where a statute restricting expressive conduct and political speech can be enforced. The plaintiff in the case argued that 40 USC § 6135 is an unconstitutional [...]

Planned Parenthood on Friday filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama , alleging that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley‘s termination of Medicaid provider agreements for the facility violates a federal law that requires Medicaid beneficiaries to have a choice in provider for family planning. Bentley announced the termination earlier [...]

South Sudan government troops on Sunday reportedly attacked a village in the country’s Unity state despite a ceasefire that was set to begin the same day. The attack was reported to the Associated Press by John Riek, who coordinates relief activities in a part of the state held by the opposition. Only one day prior, [...]

The Massachusetts Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a city within the state has no right to pass ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. The ruling invalidates the “Ordinance Pertaining to Sex Offender Residency Restrictions in the City of Lynn” which created a zone where level two and three sex offenders were prohibited from [...]

On appeal from a guilty verdict in 2014, three Al Jazeera journalists on Saturday received a three-year prison sentence for their roles in releasing video footage that allegedly contained false news in support of the Muslim Brotherhood . Two of the journalists were present at the proceedings, while the other journalist was sentenced in absentia, [...]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged the global community to develop comprehensive solutions to allow for safe and legal migration after 70 bodies, believed to be Syrian asylum seekers, were discovered in a truck near the Austria-Hungary border. Also on Friday Ban issued a statement on the recent increase in refugee and migrant [...]