The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life Insurance that a woman was not entitled to disability benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) because the applicable statute of limitations had run. Petitioner Julie Heimeshoff argued that her claim was timely because it was made less than three years after [...]

A court in Saudi Arabia on Sunday sentenced political activist Omar al-Saeed to four years in prison and 300 lashes for urging Saudi Arabia to become a constitutional monarchy. Al-Saeed is the fourth member of the pro-democracy group Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) to be imprisoned for criticizing the Saudi royal family . [...]

The Hanoi Supreme People’s Court on Monday sentenced two top executives to death for “taking bribes.” Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) , and former general director Mai Van Phuc were convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to death, while eight other defendants were sentenced to lesser punishments. The other [...]

The US Department of Defense (DOD) announced Monday that two Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred to Saudi Arabia . Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood had been held since 2002, but neither had been charged with a crime. The two men were recommended for transfer in 2009 after a review by the [...]

Protests relating to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to back out of an EU trade agreement occurred in Kiev on Saturday. The US has threatened to impose trade sanctions on the Ukraine in response to the crackdowns, and Yanukovich himself has reportedly denounced the violence, calling for an investigation into those directly responsible, including the [...]

The US District Court for the District of Utah struck down part of Utah’s anti-bigamy law on Friday in the case of Brown v. Buhman , holding that the cohabitation prong of the state law is a facial violation of the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment . Judge Clark Waddoups, in a [...]

The US Department of Education announced on Friday that for the purposes of applying for and receiving federal student financial aid, the federal government will now recognize all legal same-sex marriages . In response to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in US v. Windsor , the Department of Education explained that any legal marriage that [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases on Friday. First, the court will hear Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer , a case in which the court will consider whether it is necessary to allege that Fifth Third , acting as a fiduciary of an employee stock ownership plan, abused its discretion in order [...]

Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich offered amnesty on Friday to those detained while participating in the country’s recent anti-government protests. The proposal was made during a roundtable discussion with opposition leaders. “My point of view is that we should turn over the page and announce amnesty,” Yanukovich said. “We should take this issue off the table. [...]

Croatia’s parliament proposed a bill on Thursday that would grant new rights to same-sex couples, such as the right to inherit property from each other and the right to represent each other as next of kin. The bill, known as the “life partnership” legislation, comes on the heels of a voter referendum that defined marriage [...]