Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) on Sunday approved the political isolation law, which would ban anyone who worked as a senior official under Muammar Gaddafi from holding a position in Libya’s government for the next 10 years. Current officials who lose their post will be replaced by either the party’s next name in line or [...]

A Bahrain court on Sunday issued 15 year prison sentences to 31 protesters for their role in firebomb attacks as part of anti-government protests, according to a defense lawyer. The sentence came after the protesters were arrested in March and charged with attempted murder, burning police cars, protesting and possession of explosives. The crimes were [...]

A group of 20 Tory MPs on Saturday have urged UK Prime Minister David Cameron to hold a nationwide referendum on remaining within the European Union (EU) prior to the next general election in 2015. In January, Cameron promised that if his party were to win the next election in 2015, the Tories would then [...]

The Phoenix, Arizona police department on Saturday held the first of three gun buyback programs in an attempt to complete the buyback before a law signed by Governor Jan Brewer on April 29 that requires surrendered weapons to be sold instead of destroyed takes effect. The law will take effect on July 29. Opponents stated [...]

Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) met Sunday to vote on a draft law that could ban anyone who worked for Muammar Gaddafi , including Libya’s Prime Minister, Ali Zeidan , from holding a position in Libya’s current administration. If voted into effect, it would cover anyone who held an official position from Gaddafi’s first day [...]

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Friday that the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) must list both spouses of a same-sex couple on their children’s birth certificates. Melissa and Heather Gartner sued the IDPH after officials refused to include the name of their child’s non-biological parent on the child’s birth certificate unless the [...]

China’s Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court issued a life sentence on Saturday to Huang Sheng, the former provincial deputy governor of Shandong Province, for accepting almost $2 million in bribes from 21 organizations and numerous individuals between 1998 and 2011. In addition to life imprisonment, Sheng was also stripped of political rights for life and ordered [...]

The Florida House and Senate both passed a bill (HB 7013) on Friday to extend the state’s early voting period. The bill revises election law to allow elections supervisors to hold 14 days of early voting instead of the current maximum amount of eight days. The bill also increases the sites where early voting can [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns urged Mexico’s Government on Friday to increase protections for human rights , particularly reducing the need to use force and reducing the military’s involvement in policing. Heyns stated that establishing a strong law enforcement system consistent with international law is the solution to [...]

The International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) has indicted Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, a Bangladesh-born UK Muslim leader, for crimes against humanity and genocide including his alleged role in the murder of top intellectuals during the country’s 1971 liberation war. Mueen-Uddin is alleged to have been a member of the Islamic militant group Al-Badr, which identified and killed [...]