The Paris prosecutor’s office on Tuesday began an inquiry into allegations against former French president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister Dominique de Villepin over the receipt of millions of dollars from African leaders. The accusations against the two former French officials were made by a lawyer who worked as an aide to Chirac and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requiring individuals to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. The challenge was brought by a self-employed couple that would be subject to the minimum coverage provision, arguing that Congress’ [...]

The Supreme Court of Russia ruled Tuesday that former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were illegally detained for their trial last year, a symbolic victory for the pair that will have no effect on their sentences. Although the two were already convicted and in jail for other charges, authorities moved [...]

A delegation from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday released a report announcing a humanitarian crisis in Yemen that requires immediate intervention. The delegation was sent to Yemen in late June to gather information about the country’s human rights situation by meeting with officials, civilians, members of opposition [...]

The North Carolina Legislature on Tuesday approved putting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage on a statewide ballot to be voted on in May. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 30-16 to place the proposed amendment on the ballot. The Senate voted on the measure after the House on Monday voted 75-42 to approve the proposed [...]

Three authors groups on Monday sued HathiTrust and five universities in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York over the digitizing of millions of copyright-protected books. The universities received permission from Google to scan approximately 7 million copyright-protected books and started a program allowing unlimited downloads for students and faculty of [...]

Betsy Griffing, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, argues that despite a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Montana, the equal protection guarantees of the state constitution and Montana Supreme Court precedent require the recognition of same-sex couples short of marriage…

Both the government of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the newly formed National Transitional Council (NTC) have committed war crimes during the conflict in the country, Amnesty International (AI) reported Tuesday. The report alleges the Gaddafi regime has: committed serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including war crimes, and gross human rights violations, [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday sent a report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians during clashes with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. The UN leader forwarded the report, compiled by a panel of experts appointed by the secretary-general, [...]

Egyptian protesters’ recent attack on the Israeli Embassy has provoked the Egyptian government to reinstate emergency laws with expanded control over political demonstrations and media reporting. Emergency laws will also apply to blocking roads, publishing false information and possessing weapons. Special security courts , used by former president Hosni Mubarak as a tool for repressing [...]