The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on Monday filed an emergency petition with the US Supreme Court challenging the National Security Agency (NSA) telephone record surveillance program. EPIC is arguing that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) exceeded its authority when it “ordered production of millions of domestic telephone records that cannot plausibly be relevant [...]

A French court on Monday acquitted French oil company Total , its CEO Christophe de Margerie and several other defendants on corruption charges in connection with a scandal involving the UN’s Iraq Oil-for-Food program . The oil-for-food program allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein , which was under UN sanctions in the wake of [...]

The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a bill that would reverse the currently existing draft exemption for, among others, ultra-Orthodox men. The new bill, approved by a vote of 14-0 with four abstentions, would limit the number of men who are exempted from being drafted every year. Since its foundation, Israel exempted ultra-Orthodox men studying [...]

Council of Europe (COE) Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks on Friday urged an investigation into Turkey’s “extremely disproportionate” use of police force against anti-government protesters during last month’s violent protests in the country. Muizineks acknowledged that recent statements by President Abdullah Gul referencing the responsibility of police in the escalation of anti-government protests will [...]

Radical cleric Abu Qatada was deported Sunday from London’s Belmarsh prison to the prison of Muwaggar in Amman, Jordan. Qatada was previously sentenced in absentia to life in prison for conspiring to carry out al Qaeda linked attacks in Jordan, but he will now face a retrial. Jordan’s Military State Security Court prosecutor has ordered [...]

Egyptian blogger Ahmed Douma, who had been sentenced to six months in prison for insulting ousted president Mohammed Morsi was released on Saturday, according to the state news agency MENA . The prosecution requested Douma’s release on Thursday, dropping his charges of publicly insulting Morsi in June. Despite the release order, Douma remained in custody [...]

The Ontario Superior Court on Friday acquitted Jacques Mungwarere of one count of genocide by murder and one count of crimes against humanity by murder. The charges arose from Mungwarere’s alleged involvement in a massacre during the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Judge Michel Charbonneau found that Mungwarere was likely guilty but ruled that the evidence [...]

A Bahrain court on Thursday sentenced 29 protesters to one month in prison for entering Pearl Square, an area that has been heavily fortified since the Bahrain uprising. The area was once the center of opposition activity. Opposition leaders have called for increased protests, inspired by the recent ouster of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. The [...]

Lawyers for Egypt’s ex-president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday entered a not guilty plea when his retrial for alleged complicity in the 2011 killings of protestors resumed. Mubarak, who also faces corruption charges alongside his two sons, received a life sentence at the original trial last year. However, in January an appeals court ordered a retrial [...]

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Friday signed a bill requiring women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and banning doctors without admitting privileges at local hospitals from performing the procedures. The law goes into effect Saturday. Within hours of the signing, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal [...]