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UK Parliament votes in favor of marriage equality

Despite harsh conservative criticism, the House of Commons voted 400-175 on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron voiced his support for marriage equality in the UK as lawmakers in the House of Commons voted overwhelming in favor of passing a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. (LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Prime Minister David Cameron said that yesterday was "an important day" as MPs voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the UK, and allow those couples who were in civil partnerships to convert their unions into legal marriages. 

The House of Commons voted 400-175 in favor of the bill, after a heated debate that lasted nearly seven hours, according to the LA Times

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Catholic Church crusades for DREAMers

While the battle over immigration reform continues, the Church is fighting for a path to citizenship for undocumented students.
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The Church supports comprehensive immigration reform that would reunite families and allow migrants to work in the country. (Sarah Parvini/Courtesy)

LOS ANGELES — Carlos Martinez first stepped onto American soil when he was 11. Led by a coyote, or smuggler, he crossed the Arizona border with a dozen other immigrants.

The group walked the desert for four days and three nights, sleeping in bushes with only the blankets on their backs to keep them warm. His mother, a migrant farm worker, waited for him in Northern California.

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Turkey: Police 'anti-terror' raid snares human rights lawyers

The world's top jailer of journalists detains more government watchdogs.
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Four nights after the Jan. 18 anti-terror operation in which twelve of Turkey's leading human rights lawyers were arrested, thousands marched down Istanbul's main pedestrian avenue, Istiklal, in protest. (Julia Harte/GlobalPost)

It has never been as dangerous to be a human rights lawyer in Turkey as it is now.

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China pushing Tibet into total isolation as self-immolations near 100

Chinese authorities are reportedly destroying satellite dishes, confiscating passports and heavily regulating internet use in Tibet as self-immolations continue.
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An exiled Tibetan monk holds a picture of 50-year-old, Tamdin Thar, who burned himself to death to protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet during a rally on June 15, 2012. Chinese authorities have gotten increasingly strict with Tibetans, as self-immolations continue. (STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

The frigid air smelled strongly of gasoline when they discovered the lifeless body of seventeen-year-old Jigji Kyab near a busy intersection in Luchu, Tibet on January 19. He was soaked in it, a lighter in each hand. Kyab had gone to the intersection to burn himself alive, swallowing fox poison before leaving so he wouldn’t survive to be locked away in a Chinese military hospital.

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Global activists fight to end factory fires in Bangladesh garment industry

After yet another fire breaks out at a Bangladesh factory, labor rights groups spring into action.
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Factory worker Bangladeshi Shahinur looks though the devastation after a fire swept though the garment factory in Dhaka on January 27, 2013. At least seven female workers were killed after a blaze swept through a small garment factory in the Bangladeshi capital, police and fire officials said. (MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A series of deadly fires in Bangladesh garment factories have moved international labor rights groups to call upon global retailers to end the terrible epidemic, Reuters reports.

The demands of the labor rights groups took on new urgency after seven women were killed and five injured on Saturday at Smart Export Garments Ltd. in Dhaka. This is the second fatal fire reported from Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry over the past several months.

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Troubling video shows police shot Marikana strikers in cold blood

Officers said they acted in self-defense, but cell phone footage shows police murdering striking miners at the Lonmin mine.
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Police surround miners killed during clashes between protesting miners and police near a platinum mine in Marikana on August 16, 2012. A new video shows that police did not act in self-defense, as they claimed, and in fact murdered striking miners. (-/AFP/Getty Images)

Cell phone footage obtained by a news station in South Africa appears to show police gunning down protesters at the Marikana mine, a crucial piece of the investigation into the deaths of 43 people who died in August amid a tense strike for workers' rights.

The video shows one officer, on the ground, watching a miner crawl through the brush on his stomach. The first officer calls for another officer nearby not to shoot, but shots are audible. 

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UN to investigate US drone attacks and civilian casualties

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism announced a forthcoming probe into the legality of drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.
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UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, launched an inquiry into the human rights implications of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killing in London on January 24, with the final report expected to presented at the UN General Assembly later this year. (CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced today that the United Nations will launch an investigation into the use of drones and their impact on civilian casualties.

At a press conference in London today, Ben Emmerson, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, announced the probe and said it will focus on the US' programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as Israel's actions in Occupied Palestine.

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World's 1 percent gather at Davos as Greek austerity crisis spirals out of control

Reports of anti-austerity terrorist attacks and a lack of heating for the poor plague Greece as world leaders gather for the annual economic conference
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a session of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos. The WEF will see top politicians and business leaders pursue talks on whether they have seen the back of the global financial crisis. Meanwhile, the situation in Greece gets further out of hand. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

Davos, Switzerland is a utopia. The blue sky is winter-clear and the white mountain landscape is dotted with chalets full of warm raclette and mulled wine. It's the perfect place to host the world's "one percent," the top political and business minds, who come together once a year in this most beautiful of places, to decide what's in store for the rest of us at the annual World Economic Forum.

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Was Obama's use of MLK's Bible an affront to human rights?

Dr. Cornel West thinks President Obama's use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Bible was "a moment in political calculation" that disgraced the peace leader's memory.
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Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornel West criticized President Obama's choice of Martin Luther King Jr.'s bible for his inauguration during a panel on CSPAN last week. Dr. West said the move was "calculated" and accused the president of being guilty of war crimes. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

A video has surfaced of a CSPAN roundtable last week during which Dr. Cornel West blasted President Obama's choice of using Martin Luther King's Bible. 

Talk show host Tavis Smiley moderated a panel with Dr. West and other political luminaries, such as Newt Gingrich and Jeffrey Sachs, at George Washington University on Jan. 17 called Poverty in America. 

Dr. West sounded off on his indignation about the president using Dr. King's memory to get a political boost. 

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UK looks to change rules of succession, allowing for LGBT royals

The British parliament will attempt to modernize the monarchy by making the rules of succession gender-neutral and LGBT friendly.
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Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine left a London hospital on December 6, 2012, four days after she was admitted for treatment for acute morning sickness. Amendments to the rules of succession are being debated in Parliament this week, including one that would allow the baby to be heir to the throne, no matter its gender. (LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Big changes could be on the way for Britain's royal family. Parliament will begin debate on a bill tomorrow that significantly levels the playing field for heirs to the British throne, whether they be women, gays, or married to Catholics, a step toward modernization many say is long overdue and could save the monarchy future headaches.

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