The US House of Representatives passed a measure on Friday which would allow insurance companies to continue selling limited-coverage policies. Insurance companies have canceled and refused to renew a number of these policies because they do not meet the minimum coverage required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , which took effect [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Seton Hall University School of Law released a report on Tuesday examining the hardships created by the US asylum program. According to the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act , asylum seekers are not entitled to employment authorization. In addition, these individuals are also [...]
President Barack Obama issued a memorandum on Friday giving US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) the authority to “parole in place” the children, spouses and parents of active duty members of the armed forces, the selected reserve of the ready reserve and former members thereof. The American Bar Association describes parole in place as a [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied two motions Friday seeking to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. The challenge was brought by the secretaries of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Department of Revenue and the Bucks County register of wills . Judge John [...]
The Communist Party of China (CPC) will loosen the nations one-child population control policy, according to documents released following the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in Beijing earlier this week. The policy will allow families where one parent is an only child to have two children. The one-child policy was [...]
UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez on Thursday expressed concern over the conditions in Ghana prisons. After visiting several prisons around the country, reviewing studies, and speaking with prison employees and inmates, Mendez concluded that the state of prisons in the country amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The majority of the poor conditions reportedly [...]
A Hawaii Circuit Court judge on Thursday upheld the state’s recently enacted same-sex marriage law despite a challenge from opponents who argue the state’s Constitution prohibits it. The new law, which will take effect December 2 and make Hawaii the fifteenth US state to legalize same-sex marriage, was signed by Hawaiian Governor Neil Abercrombie on [...]
The Spanish National Court on Thursday ordered the release of 13 members of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in compliance with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling made last month. In its ruling, the ECHR determined that Ines del Rio Prada “served a longer term of imprisonment than she should [...]
A judge for the US District Court Eastern District of Virginia on Friday sentenced Somali pirates Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar to 21 life sentences for their role in the killing of four Americans aboard a yacht off the Horn of Africa in February 2011. Fourteen of the 19 people who participated [...]
The Scottish Parliament unanimously approved a bill on Thursday to hold a Scottish independence referendum. The bill outlines the referendum rules . Both independence opponents and supporters in parliament supported the bill, which will permit a 16-week campaign period and impose financial limits on campaigners to create a level playing field. The vote will be [...]
