The US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) on Wednesday approved a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As federal law currently stands, employers are only prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, sex, [...]

The Illinois Senate joined with the Illinois House of Representatives Wednesday to pass a bill that permits state residents to carry concealed firearms with limited restrictions. The bill prohibits carrying a firearm in schools, courthouses and government buildings and has restrictions based on mental health. Prospective carriers must be 21 or older, pay a fee, [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday ruled that Apple violated the Sherman Act and various state statutes in an e-book price-fixing conspiracy. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Apple of working with major publishers to increase the price of their e-books. Five publishers, Hachette [...]

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Mohammed Badie, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood , as well as nine other leading Islamists, in an escalation of the crackdown against protesters of Egypt’s current military-backed leadership. Badie is accused of inciting violence in Cairo on Monday in which more than 50 people were killed. [...]

A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday convicted three Somali men of hijacking a boat and killing four Americans in 2011 off the coast of Somalia. The defendants, Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, were found guilty on all 26 counts against [...]

A lawsuit between Apple and Amazon concerning the rights to use the term “app store” was dismissed Tuesday at the request of both companies. The decision to end the case leaves the path open for both companies to use the name freely, and was reached after Apple promised not to sue Amazon for using the [...]

The UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) on Tuesday welcomed the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) progress in the fight against torture. According to the UNJHRO, the DRC has convicted at least five soldiers of the Congolese armed forces, five agents of the Congolese National Police, one agent of the national intelligence service and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday denied a Guantanamo Bay prisoner’s petition to end the practice of force-feeding hunger strikers. Judge Gladys Kessler said the court lacked jurisdiction, but “It would seem to follow, therefore, that the President of the United States, as Commander-in-Chief, has the authority—and [...]

Civil liberties groups filed an amicus curiae brief Monday in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) supporting efforts by Google and Microsoft to publish data concerning how many times the government invoked federal law to request user information for national security purposes. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) gives the FISC authority to order tech [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday urged Egyptian authorities to address escalating violence arising after the military’s ouster of president Mohamed Morsi last week. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned recent reports of violence and murder at a mass protest site in Cairo and urged both sides to “do [...]