Iranian authorities on Monday arrested Hamid Baghaei, former vice president under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . Baghaei’s arrest is the second detention of a high-ranking official from the Ahmadinejad administration, as Mohammad Reza Rahimi, another former vice president, was convicted of corruption and embezzlement last year. The recent arrests are part of efforts by President Hassan Rouhani [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Zivotofsky v. Kerry that the Constitution gives the president the exclusive power to recognize foreign sovereigns. Seeking to have his place of birth listed as “Israel” on his passport, Jerusalem-born Menachem Zivotofsky and his family appealed trial and appeals court decisions that refused to grant his request on [...]

A former police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was indicted by a grand jury on Monday on murder charges brought after the April incident in which the officer shot an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, who was running away from him. The case gained prominence after a video was released in which the graphic [...]

The Eritrean government has committed “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations,” according to a report released Monday by a panel of UN investigators. The investigators were denied access to Eritrea but were able to conduct their investigation through confidential interviews and submissions. The report asserts that the Eritrean government, led by President Isaias Afwerki [...]

The Obama administration sent a formal report to Congress criticizing the Egyptian government for its human rights abuses and lack of movement toward democracy but still supporting sending $1.3 billion to Egypt in mostly military aid. The report, signed by Secretary of State John Kerry and submitted quietly on May 12, condemned Egypt’s due process [...]

The hostilities in Afghanistan are leading to the killing and wounding of thousands and the forced relocation of families into neighboring countries, according to Mark Bowden , the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, in statements made on Monday. While addressing the Second Independent Media and Civil Society Forum in Kabul, Bowden stated that [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases Monday. In Shapiro v. Mack the court will hear a challenge to the Three Judge Court Act , which requires the convening of a three-judge district court to decide certain important lawsuits such as those concerning voter redistricting. The court ruled in Goosby v. Osser (1973) [...]

Burundi opposition leader Agathon Rwasa on Saturday said that a presidential election must be held by August so that a newly elected government is in place by the time current president Pierre Nkurunziza’s term ends August 26. Currently there is an election planned for June 26, but the likelihood of it taking place has greatly [...]

A British warship sailing in the Mediterranean Sea launched a mission on Sunday to rescue over 500 migrants stranded at sea, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement. A Royal Navy helicopter has found four migrant vessels in need of assistance so far. It was also reported by the Migrant Offshore Aid Station [...]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday invited Yemen President Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi to send a delegation to the UN sponsored Yemen consultation set to begin in Geneva on June 14th. The Secretary General has called on all parties to participate in good faith and without an preconceived notions for the interest of all [...]