Ireland will hold a referendum on same-sex marriage after the Convention on the Constitution , voted Sunday to grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples. Article 46 of the Irish Constitution provides that any major constitutional change must be ratified by the electorate. Presently, civil partnerships are recognized and afforded some rights under the Civil [...]

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree Tuesday reducing prison terms by three quarters for some members of rebel forces. The decree, announced by the state news agency SANA , has been condemned by activists for doing nothing to free thousands of political prisoners arrested by the Syrian government both before and during the current [...]

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The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. , which deals with the issue of whether human genes are patentable. Myriad Genetics patented two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 , which are isolated genes—different from native genes because the process of extracting them changes their molecular structure [...]

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A Cairo Court of Appeals ordered the release of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Monday, as he served the maximum two years in temporary detention. However, he will remain in custody until his fraud charges are adjudicated. Mubarak was originally sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of charges related to the [...]

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