Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned on Wednesday a new Ukrainian anti-corruption law that requires activists and journalists who report on government corruption to file public declarations of their personal assets. The law was passed by the Ukrainian Parliament on March 23 and signed by President Petro Poroshenko on March 27. An amendment had been introduced [...]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres voiced deep regret regarding US decision to cut financial support for the UN population agency. According to Guterres, the decision is based on an inaccurate depiction of the nature and importance of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) . Guterres says the funding cut could have devastating effects on the health of [...]
The US District Court for the Western District of Washington has issued a preliminary injunction to block Seattle’s first-in-the-nation law that will allow drivers for taxis, Lyft and Uber to unionize. The law, passed in 2015, allows drivers who are considered independent contractors to unionize and collectively bargain for benefits such as healthcare. The law [...]
The New York Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that law-enforcement can seize private Facebook account information. The court ruled that Facebook could not contest the warrants and therefore the court could not decide the matter. The court found that only users themselves have the right to challenge warrants in criminal proceedings. However, while being forced [...]
The UN Security Council conducted emergency talks on Wednesday regarding an alleged chemical attack in Syria that killed numerous civilians. According to statement made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres Tuesday the UN is not currently in a position to independently verify if chemical weapons were used. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) [...]
The state of Massachusetts on Tuesday requested the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court find that state authorities lack jurisdiction to detain illegal immigrants. This request comes after the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency requested courts and law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants in custody for up to 48 hours after their case was resolved. [...]
The cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved draft legislation on Wednesday that would impose fines on social media websites for failing to delete users’ entries that violate German hate speech laws. The fines could reportedly be as high as 50 million Euros ($53 million). The law would make the websites responsible for removing the [...]
A UK high court on Wednesday stayed the extradition of a British man, Rosslee Charles, to Turkey given concerns over his safety. Charles, a gay man, was convicted of homosexual rape in Turkey in 2006. Before the trial, Charles had been held for six months in a Turkish prison. During that time he was assaulted [...]
Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion on Tuesday rejected a call from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz to create specific targets to improve the treatment of Aboriginal peoples. Tauli-Corpuz visited Australia between March 20 and April 3. She noted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent 3% [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that LGBT employees are protected from workplace discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act . The plaintiff in the case was Kimberly Hively, who claims that she was not hired by Ivy Tech Community College because of her sexual orientation. The [...]
