The US Senate voted 52-48 to approve a resolution Thursday that would repeal a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring oil, gas and mineral companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments. The rule, officially known as the Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers , was adopted in June as part of the Dodd-Frank [...]
UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk recommended on Friday that the UN Security Council and the General Assembly act to ensure Israel complies with Security Council resolution 2234 , which confirms that Israeli settlements in already occupied Palestinian territory violate international law. According to Lynk, “The settlement announcements by the Israeli government, only a month after [...]
Egyptian authorities on Wednesday extended the detention of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein by four days. Hussein was arrested on December 20. His detention was originally supposed to expire on January 4 and January 19, but his arrest was extended 15 days each time. Egypt’s interior minister has accused him of “incitement against state institutions [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued an order on Thursday that enjoins two subsections of President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by the Arab-American Civil Rights League , and “ll Plaintiffs have either been denied ability [...]
The Department of the Treasury placed sanctions on 25 individuals and companies connected to Iran’s ballistic missile program and those providing support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force on Friday. The sanctions came after President Donald Trump’s administration warned Iran that the test launch of a ballistic missile was not to be tolerated. [...]
The US Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel released a memorandum Thursday approving of President Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict immigration refugee entry into the US. The document outlines the actions the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies will need to take: suspending the US Refugee Admissions Program, developing uniform screening standards, [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) “acted ‘arbitrarily and capriciously'” in enacting rules for presidential debates. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the motion for summary judgment filed by plaintiffs, including the Green Party and the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) , and ordered [...]
South Dakota lawmakers on Thursday repealed an anti-corruption measure that was approved by voter referendum in November. According to Yes22 , the organization which helped mobilize voter support for the referendum, IM 22 aimed to “improve transparency and accountability rules for lobbyists and big money interests.” Shortly after repealing IM 22 by signing House Bill [...]
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday that Myanmar security forces’ treatment of the Rohingya Muslims likely constitutes crimes against humanity . Interviews with Rohingya refugees reveal that security forces murdered children, pushed people into burning buildings and raped women, among other crimes . UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [...]
The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted to repeal an Obama-era gun regulation that required mental health information to be shared with the national gun background check system. The Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 was a Social Security Administration (SSA) regulation published in December designed to restrict the mentally ill [...]
