Irish President Michael Higgins on Tuesday signed the country’s first abortion bill into law, legalizing the practice in exceptional cases where doctors deem a woman’s life at risk. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill allows women to pursue an abortion to alleviate life-threatening conditions, including a women’s own threat to commit suicide if refused [...]

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory on Monday signed a restrictive abortion bill into law. The new law requires abortion clinics to meet requirements similar to those for outpatient surgical centers. It also requires doctors to be present during abortions, bans the procedure based on gender and bars coverage by government provided insurance plans. The North [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled Monday that the same-sex spouse—and not the parents—of a deceased city lawyer should receive the proceeds of her firm’s profit-sharing plan. Sarah Ellyn Farley and Jennifer Tobits were married in 2006 and soon thereafter Farley was diagnosed with cancer. After her [...]

A Saudi Arabia court on Tuesday sentenced the editor of a liberal website to seven years in prison and 600 lashes. Raif Badawi was found guilty by a Saudi court of “founding an Internet forum that violates Islamic values and propagates liberal thought.” Badawi was originally charged with insulting Islam for co-founding the religious discussion [...]

The Chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria addressed the General Assembly on Monday, imploring member states to bring about peace talks in the violence-plagued country. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro described “crimes that shock the conscience” as ongoing and pervasive, including “indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment; disappearances; torture; sexual violence; and massacres.” [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced Monday that it will hear a case against Poland for allegedly acquiescing to the torture of extradited prisoners by CIA agents. This case, brought by Abu Zubaydah, is the second case in which a detainee has brought charges against a third party country. The first was brought [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya encouraged the Panamanian government on Monday to strengthen the rights of its indigenous people and ensure they are allowed to preserve their land and autonomy. Anaya’s call comes in response to allegations by indigenous peoples regarding the presence of private settlers, farmers, tourists, [...]

The National Assembly of Bahrain on Sunday approved laws increasing penalties for those who commit or incite terrorism. The new laws also ban any demonstrations in the nation’s capital, Manama. The laws were passed ahead of massive protests planned by the anti-government opposition bloc next month. Bahrain’s National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) praised the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Friday that family-owned, profit-making businesses cannot challenge the new federal health care law’s birth control mandate on religious grounds. Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Pennsylvania company with 950 employees, maintains a policy not to support “anything that terminates a fertilized embryo.” The company objected to the [...]

A New York-based labor rights group alleged Monday that a Taiwanese company that produces iPhones for Apple has violated labor and environmental laws in China. China Labor Watch accused Apple company, Pegatron , which assembles products including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, of withholding employees’ pay and imposing excessive working hours at [...]