A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday ordered Ronald Reagan shooter John Hinckley Jr. released from a government psychiatric hospital. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1981 and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where he has remained for 35 years. The release places [...]
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Wednesday that charges against the three remaining officers facing trial in connection with Freddie Gray’s death will be dropped . While in police custody in 2015, Gray sustained a spinal cord injury, which ultimately resulted his death. Three officers were previously acquitted in the case. Mosby proclaimed that [...]
Lawyers for a transgender Virginia teenager on Tuesday urged the US Supreme Court not to block a ruling allowing him to use the boys’ restroom. The Gloucester County School Board had filed an emergency application earlier this month asking the court to halt the application of both an order by the US District Court for [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a $15 billion settlement between German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , California officials and consumers. Judge Charles Breyer’s ruling allows attorneys to begin gathering information from nearly 500,000 consumers [...]
Thai military officials on Tuesday charged three human rights defenders with criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crimes Act because of a report they published detailing acts of torture in Thailand. The defenders, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Anchana Heemmina and Somchai Homlaor, face up to five years in jail time if convicted. The report, Torture and [...]
A Chinese military court on Tuesday sentenced former top General Guo Boxiong to life in prison for taking bribes. While the amounts of the bribes have not been officially disclosed, as the trial was held behind closed doors, the South China Morning Post reported in April that the bribes amounted to an estimated USD $12.3 [...]
Kuwait’s supreme court upheld the acquittal of Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah on Monday on charges of insulting the public prosecutor and inciting public unrest. Sheikh Ahmad is a powerful member of various international sports organizations, and the acquittal comes at a time when the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee is serving a suspension that could impede Kuwaiti [...]
Amnesty International (AI) on Monday condemned Turkey’s decision to issue arrest warrants for 42 journalists following the recent coup attempt. AI’s Deputy Director for Europe, Gauri van Gulik, claimed that “by rounding up journalists” the government “is failing to make a distinction between criminal acts and legitimate criticism”. AI’s latest condemnations come a day after [...]
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday proposed new counter-terrorism legislation that would allow for indefinite detention. Turnbull announced plans to introduce Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2016, which would allow for the indefinite detention of convicted terrorists who have served their sentences but are still deemed a threat to public safety. According to [...]
Civilian casualties have reached a record high in the first half of 2016, with 5,166 civilians recorded killed or maimed, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported Monday. More than a third of those have been children, according to the report, and the total number of civilian casualties since 2009 has now climbed to [...]
