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 [...]

Members of the UN Working Group on business and human rights ended a 10-day mission to the US on Wednesday after exploring practices, challenges and lessons relating to the country’s implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights . In a statement following the visit, Working Group members noted that federal and [...]

Chaudhry Zulfikar , chief prosecutor in the criminal case against Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf , was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday. Zulfikar had been due to appear at the High Court in Rawalpindi for a hearing in Musharraf’s case on charges of involvement in the assassination of former prime minister [...]

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage . The bill was signed shortly after the House of Representatives approved it by a vote of 56 to 15 earlier that day, finally passing the legislation that was first introduced in Rhode Island in 1997. Just last week, Rhode [...]

2012 marked the deadliest year for journalists, with at least 23 professional and 58 citizen journalists killed, according to a report released Friday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) . RSF released its annual Press Freedom Index to coincide with World Press Freedom Day . Along with ranking countries on respect for media freedom, RSF also [...]