The UN on Friday criticized Israel for using excessive force during a May 2010 flotilla incident , in which Israeli forces raided several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip . In a UN-produced report released by the New York Times amid objections from Turkey and Israel, the UN found that the naval blockade [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Friday partially upheld a South Dakota law which expanded the requirements for informed consent for abortion . The court upheld the provision that requires doctors to tell patients prior to an abortion “that has an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the [...]

US President Barack Obama on Friday requested the withdrawal of national smog standards proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . The draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards would have reduced the amount of smog emissions to between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million (ppm) from the previous 0.075 ppm. The EPA estimates [...]

Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) assured world leaders on Friday that Libya will be a society of tolerance and respect for the rule of law. During a meeting in Paris chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil vowed to administer elections and draft a new constitution for Libya within 18 months. [...]

Sri Lanka will continue to outlaw the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and detain terror suspects indefinitely despite lifting emergency laws, officials announced Thursday. The laws restricting civil and political rights for the past 30 years expired on Tuesday after the Parliament did not renew the policies . The emergency laws were established during [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ruled this week that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform law will be allowed to proceed. The lawsuit was filed by citizens of Mississippi, including the state’s Lt. Governor Phil Bryant acting as a private citizen, and alleges [...]

A three-judge panel sitting for the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Thursday that immigrants who are imprisoned while fighting deportation cannot be held indefinitely without a bail hearing and that the government must justify the need for the prolonged detention. The ruling came in an appeal of a district court decision [...]

The UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Wednesday concluded three days of hearings in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh aimed at determining whether two senior Khmer Rouge leaders are fit enough to stand trial on accusations of genocide and other war crimes. The ECCC heard testimony from New Zealand expert geriatrician [...]

Lawyers for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a ruling that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT) is a violation of service members’ constitutional rights. The repeal of DADT is set to take effect on September 20, and the DOJ [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday began hearings at The Hague in the cases against six Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity stemming from 2007 post-election violence . The hearings will confirm the charges against three of the six men and will establish if prosecutors have enough evidence to hold a trial. The suspects [...]