A court in Egypt ruled Wednesday that policeman may grow beards, ending the long-standing precedent of ex-President Hosni Mubarak barring facial hair because it was considered to be a public display of Islamic support. Writing for Cairo’s High Administrative Court, Judge Maher Abu el-Enin rejected a request from the Ministry of Interior to permit it [...]

The European Commission (EC) on Thursday announced that it is referring Sweden and Greece to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to comply with previous judgments regarding environmental issues. The EC found that Greece failed to comply with a 2005 ruling that required the country to take steps to either close down or [...]

Lockheed Martin Corp. (Lockheed) on Wednesday agreed to pay $19.5 million to settle a fraud class action claim alleging that the advanced technology company misled investors in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) . Brought by the City of Pontiac General Employees’ Retirement System in the US District Court for the [...]

Violence broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers on Thursday during a rally in the West Bank near the town of Beitunia. At least 1,000 protesters were marching to Ofer Prison in support of four Palestinian inmates on a hunger strike. As Israeli forces obstructed the march protesters threw stones and burning tires, at [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday issued a stay on the execution of Georgia death row inmate Warren Hill minutes before his execution. The court granted the stay to allow time to consider the implications of the court now finding that Hill, 53, is in fact intellectually challenged with an [...]

The Egyptian Shura Council approved a draft election law on Thursday, paving the way for parliamentary elections to be held in the next few months. The new election law embodies the key changes to five articles as demanded by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court earlier this week. The Shura Council adopted the court’s ruling and approved [...]

The Nigerian federal government this week was ordered to pay nearly US$240 million to the community of Odi, which was raided by the military in 1999. Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court ruled against the government , describing the army’s invasion as genocidal and as a violation of the residents’ human rights. In [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday in Johnson v. Williams that in Tara Williams’ case, the California Court of Appeal properly adjudicated her federal Sixth Amendment claim on its merits and should have been deferred to under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of (AEDPA) . The Court held that this deference is [...]

A UN independent expert Wednesday commended the reform that has been achieved so far in Myanmar while identifying additional human rights issues that still need to be addressed, particularly in the states of Kachin and Rakhine. Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana urged authorities and citizens of the country [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Henderson v. United States that an error is “plain” within the meaning of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) so long as the error was plain at the time of appellate review, even if that error is based on legal opinions announced since the original incident of error. [...]