United States District Court for the District of Connecticut on Wednesday denied a motion to stay in Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, another challenge to Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . Specifically the lawsuit challenges the legality of the prohibition imposed on the federal government of not recognizing same-sex [...]
The Congress of Peru on Wednesday approved a bill that would reform the country’s private pension system. The bill, which will increase the number of workers while lowering the fees for contributors, was passed with a 11-10 vote with one abstention. Peru’s current four private pension funds, which amounts to $30 billion in deposits representing [...]
The Supreme Court of Missouri on Tuesday ruled that revision to Missouri tax law does not violate the Missouri Constitution . The law was approved by Missouri voters through referendum in 2010 and requires the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City to regularly seek voter approval of municipal earnings taxes through elections. The law [...]
British legislators on Thursday approved a parliamentary inquiry into the country’s banking industry. The 330 to 226 vote came two days after Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he would initiate the parliamentary inquiry into the industry following the imposition of a $450 million fine on Barclays Pls for rigging interest rates and the resignation [...]
The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday passed the its first-ever resolution to protect the free speech of individuals online. The resolution was approved by all 47 members of the council , including China and Cuba, who have been criticized for limiting Internet freedom. The resolution is written to guarantee Internet freedom, including the free [...]
After finding evidence of inconsistencies Mexico’s electoral authorities on Thursday announced that they will recount votes cast in Sunday’s presidential election. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the left wing party Partido de la Revolucion Democratica requested a total recount after he finished second behind the leading candidate Enrique Pena Nieto of the county’s ruling party [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Mutuma Ruteere on Tuesday called on the international community to be wary of signs of racism that could lead to escalated conflicts and human rights violations. In his report to the UN Human Rights Council Ruteere discussed the need to increase [...]
The Criminal Court of the City of New York this week upheld a subpoena forcing social networking site Twitter to turn over account information for one of its users. The District Attorney’s office requested the user data to aid in the investigation of Malcolm Harris, a Twitter user who has been charged with disorderly conduct [...]
A Japanese expert panel on Thursday issued a report claiming that the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was preventable. In the 641-page document the panel claims that the accident was not caused solely by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but the inability of the government, regulators and the Fukushima Daiichi plant operator, Tokyo Electric [...]
A Spanish court on Wednesday opened the case against former executives of Bankia , including former IMF-chief Rodrigo Rato , for allegations of fraud, price-fixing and falsifying accounts. The Supreme Court of Spain accepted the case but did not determine a specific date for the hearings. The lawsuit was brought by one of the smaller [...]
