A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday strongly condemned the violence against civilians and international forces working to aid the Central African Republic (CAR) . Reports estimate that approximately 2.2 million citizens of CAR require humanitarian aid, with over 650,000 people internally displaced and over 290,000 seeking refuge in neighboring countries. However, international [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) adjourned the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday. Kenyatta was charged in March 2011 with five counts of crimes against humanity as an indirect co-perpetrator of the violence following Kenya’s 2007 elections, which led to more than 1,100 deaths. The Trial Chamber stated that the purpose of the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. to determine how the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is to interpret claims in a patent appeal. Federal appeals courts traditionally review a district court’s conclusion only to determine if their decision was “clearly erroneous.” However, [...]

Judge Myron Thompson of the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama announced on Monday that he would hold a trial on Alabama’s new law requiring abortion clinic to have approval to admit patients to nearby hospitals. The Women’s Health and Safety Act , which was signed into law last April, requires abortion [...]

A Bahraini court on Monday sentenced 13 Bahrain citizens to life in prison and one man to 10 years in prison. The defendants, who range in age from 16 to 34, were convicted of attempting to kill two police officers and participating in an illegal protest outside Bahrain’s capital city in March 2012. Protests and [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday denied review of two cases brought by Roman Catholic non-profit groups seeking an exemption from part of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception. Both cases, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Sebelius and Priests for Life, v. Department of Health [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International , which raises the issue of whether certain types of computer software are patent eligible under the Patent Act. Appearing on behalf of the government, US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued that the software in question is too abstract [...]

Extremists and security forces are committing war crimes in northeastern Nigeria’s Islamic uprising, resulting in at least 1,500 deaths this year alone, according to a report published Friday by Amnesty International (AI) . This number equals the total death count recorded between 2010 and June 2013, and the report estimated that approximately half of these [...]

A court in Pakistan on Monday charged former president Pervez Musharraf with high treason. If convicted, the former leader could face the death penalty. Musharraf pleaded not guilty to each of the charges against him, including unlawfully suspending the constitution, firing Pakistan’s chief justice and instituting emergency rule in 2007. Musharraf called the charges politically [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Monday that Japan cannot continue its annual whale hunt, finding that it is not being carried out for the scientific purposes the Japanese government had claimed. This 12-4 decision was the result of a suit brought against Japan by Australia, which hoped to end the country’s Antarctic whaling [...]