Austria’s conservative Freedom Party on Monday called for a special vote on whether to ban face veils and the construction of minarets, two of the most visible symbols of the Islamic faith. Specifically, the referendum would ask Viennese citizens to decide whether to ban the construction of mosques with minarets, whether to ban the wearing [...]

The Israeli Police on Monday recommended that former prime minister Ehud Olmert stand trial for his alleged involvement in the Holyland bribery scandal that occurred during his time as mayor of Jerusalem. A investigation was commenced in April to probe Olmert’s involvement in the alleged scandal in which top Jerusalem officials are believed to have [...]

The US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia on Tuesday denied the habeas corpus petition of Troy Anthony Davis , convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an off-duty Savannah, Georgia, police officer. After Davis exhausted his appeals under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act , the US Supreme Court took the [...]

Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday announced plans to investigate claims by Eskisehir Police Chief Hanefi Avci that evidence of several alleged coups plots, particularly Ergenekon , was fabricated. Avci alleged in a book he recently published, Devotee Residents of Halich: Yesterday State, Today Religious Congregation, that the evidence was distorted and fabricated by followers of Islam [...]

The California Senate voted 22-12 Monday in favor of a joint resolution to urge the federal government to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . Among other concerns, the resolution states that, under the law, same-sex couples legally married in the state are prevented from accessing the federal rights and benefits afforded to opposite-sex [...]

The US State Department (DOS) on Monday released a report on human rights in the US, which was presented to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR) last week. The report was submitted in order to comply with the rules of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) , which require council members to conduct [...]

Capital punishment advocates in Switzerland can begin collecting signatures in support of a referendum to reinstate the death penalty for those convicted of murder, the Federal Chancellery announced Tuesday. Campaigners for the referendum have until February 24, 2012, to accumulate at least 100,000 signatures in support of the measure in order to force a national [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction Monday blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Last year, President Barack Obama signed an executive order permitting federal funding for some forms of embryonic stem cell research. Despite the executive order, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth held that [...]

Engineering firm URS Corporation agreed Monday to a $54.2 million settlement stemming from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people. Victims sued URS for negligence, claiming that the company, which has a contract to inspect Minnesota’s bridges, should have foreseen that the bridge could collapse due to increased weight from construction projects. Under [...]

The administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) announced Monday that the GCCF is in service and will begin processing claims from the $20 billion fund established by British Petroleum (BP) to aid victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The GCCF, an independent facility, was implemented in June [...]