The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday nullified the Contempt of Court Bill 2012 which was passed to shield the country’s new prime minister from contempt charges. The bill was passed by the upper and lower houses of the national parliament and signed by President Asif Ali Zardari last month. The court held that the [...]

A trial court in Minnesota ruled on Wednesday that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act does not prohibit partners in same-sex couples from inheriting each other’s assets. A judge for the Hennepin County District Court declared that while the Defense of Marriage Act bars same-sex couples from marrying, it does not prevent same-sex couples from [...]

The Egyptian government announced Thursday that it has requested the release of the last of its citizens currently being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Egyptian Tarek al-Sawah, 54, has been held at Guantanamo for 11 years without charges or trial. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel requested al-Sawah’s release in a letter to US [...]

Amnesty International (AI) urged the Cuban government on Thursday to stop harassing and detaining political and human rights activists. AI’s call for an end to harassment by Cuban authorities came in the wake of Cuba releasing prominent political activist Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia on Wednesday after detaining him for 36 hours. Ferrer Garcia is the [...]

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Tuesday proposed legislation to ban assault weapons in the state. Quinn exercised his amendatory veto power under Article IV, Section IX of the Illinois Constitution on a bill regulating ammunition to add language banning AK-47’s, AR-15’s and TEC-9’s. Like most gun control legislation, the amendments have sparked bitter disagreement with [...]

The UN Security Council on Thursday reiterated their condemnation of a group of renegade soldiers attempting to destabilize the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) known as the 23 March Movement (M23). In addition, the Security Council called on all foreign entities to cease aiding the M23 and begin working with [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday released a report entitled Angola’s Upcoming Elections: Attacks on the Media, Expression, and Assembly alleging that the government of Angola is responsible for undermining freedom of speech protections for its citizens. The 13-page report also notes that the “political violence, intimidation of protesters, and crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations” might [...]

The US Congress on a voice vote on Thursday approved a bill extending the ban on imports from Myanmar . Both the House of Representative and the Senate have approved the bill , sending it to President Barack Obama to sign in order to become law. The bill reauthorizes the ban for three years, but [...]

The UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) on Wednesday renewed its call for an end to the violence between the Syrian government and opposition forces in preparation for planned food assistance by the World Food Programme (WFP) . UNSMIS spokesperson Sausan Ghosheh reported that the conflict has not ceased despite the recent extension of the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday issued an emergency injunction to block enforcement of a new Arizona abortion regulation that will ban abortions after 20 weeks unless there is a medical emergency. Physicians violating the ban would face a misdemeanor criminal charge and risk revocation of their licenses. The three-judge [...]