An Egyptian court on Sunday acquitted an Al Jazeera television cameraman and 61 others accused of participating in demonstrations in Cairo last July. Cameraman Mohamed Badr was arrested during protests in Ramses Square in central Cairo against the army’s ouster of president Mohamed Morsi . Badr, who has been held since July, was accused of [...]

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Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz ratified a new counterterrorism law that goes into effect Sunday in the Arab nation, drawing criticism from human rights groups who argue the law unduly restricts free speech. The law is composed of 41 articles, and it states that any act which undermines the state or society can be [...]

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UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani on Friday encouraged the UN and the international community to address the safety and security of South Sudan’s internally displaced persons. The number of internally displaced persons in South Sudan has reached 640,000 since mid-December, and congestion at UN bases is creating [...]

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A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia certified a class action lawsuit on Friday challenging Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. “The amended proposed class … meets the requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation,” US District Judge Michael Urbanski said in his ruling. “Accordingly, the court will [...]

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a joint statement Friday calling on the Nepal Parliament to reject amnesty legislation that has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court . The Ordinance on Truth, Reconciliation and Disappearances was struck down earlier this month for provisions that would have afforded amnesty [...]

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The trial of Egypt’s deposed president Mohamed Morsi for inciting the murder of several protesters resumed on Saturday. Morsi appeared with 14 co-defendants before the court for the alleged acts committed at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in December 2012. Morsi continues to reject the charges by claiming the court has no jurisdiction because he is [...]

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