The defense lawyer for prominent Shiite leader Sheikh Ali Salman said Sunday that his client is facing four charges from Bahrain prosecutors carrying sentences that range from three years to life in prison. Salman’s lawyer reported that the charges include inciting a change of government by force, inciting hatred of a segment of society, inciting [...]

Israeli officials announced on Saturday that Israel will withhold the transfer of tax revenues to the government of the Palestinian Authority. The withholding of $127 million collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a strategic response to Palestine’s application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) submitted on Friday. The decision to withhold [...]

The governor of Idaho and his Attorney General on Saturday separately filed petitions to the US Supreme Court to appeal a court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Idaho. The petitions appeal an October decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada. In [...]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 5-1 last week that the requirement that all sex offenders who were juveniles at the time of their crimes must remain on the Megan’s Law Registry for life is unconstitutional. The court upheld a 2013 decision by a York County judge that struck down portions of the Sexual Offenders Registration [...]

Alleged al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi, accused of involvement in the bombings of US embassies in Africa, died in a US hospital Friday. Al Libi was captured by US military special forces in Libya in 2013 and brought to the US to stand trial. The Department of Justice confirmed his death citing “long-standing [...]

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) on Friday reported that casualty figures for the country have reached their highest point over the past five years. The UN mission reported that last year’s totals included 12,282 deaths and 23,126 injured citizens. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNAMI Nickolay Mladenov stated in regards to [...]

Palestinian government officials on Friday presented documents for accession to 16 international conventions and treaties to the UN. The documents include an adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) , which was signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week. Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, stated, “This [...]

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts announced in the 2014 Year-End Report Wednesday that the Supreme Court is developing an electronic filing system, expected to be operational in 2016. This will make documents available online to the public with no charge, including petitions, responses to petitions, merits briefs, motions and applications. In the report, [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday expressed “principled condemnation” of an attempted coup in Gambia earlier this week, urging respect for the rule of law. On Tuesday morning gunfire erupted near the presidential palace in Banjul. Gambia President Yahya Jammeh returned to the country on Wednesday, and officials say the situation is now calm and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled Thursday that Florida county clerks have a legal duty to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, while also noting that they are not ordered to do so. This ruling clarifies a stay on the August district court decision that declared the [...]