The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns on Wednesday over the fighting between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel forces, which has caused tens of thousands of people in the eastern DRC region to become intentionally displaced. Between late March and late [...]
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam vetoed a controversial bill on Friday that would have made the Bible the state’s official book. Haslam stated that the bill violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as Article 1, Section 3 of the Tennessee Constitution which states that no preference shall be given by law to [...]
A long-awaited bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide was introduced before the Parliament of Canada on Thursday and is now awaiting passage through the House of Commons and the Senate. This development comes over a year after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a ban on the practice, and after emotional advocacy by Canadian Prime Minister [...]
The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil on Friday denied President Dilma Rousseff’s injunction request to suspend an upcoming lower house vote regarding her looming impeachment. A lower house committee voted earlier this week to recommend her impeachment, and a two-thirds majority vote will be required on Sunday to approve the action. Should the lower house [...]
The Second District Court of Appeal for the state of California upheld the state’s teacher tenure law on Thursday, overturning a lower court’s 2014 decision . Those opposing the law claimed that providing teachers strong job security after 18 months affected students’ fundamental right to education. The appeals court determined that their judicial responsibility was [...]
Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis on Thursday denied a motion to dismiss raised by three gun companies who are being sued by families affected by the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. The ten families filed the civil action against the companies for manufacturing, distributing, and selling Bushmaster semi-automatic AR-15 rifles, the weapon used by the [...]
Microsoft sued the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday regarding the privacy of their customers’ emails. Microsoft filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in an attempt to block authorities from taking customer emails without Microsoft’s knowledge. Microsoft claims that the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act is [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday asked a federal judge to issue an injunction pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed in February . The ACLU is attempting to block a Kansas state law that requires individuals to prove American citizenship when they are registering to vote while applying for a driver’s license. [...]
The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied creditors seeking to keep in place court-ordered protections following Argentina’s 2001 default of $100 billion in bonds. Investors who had paid full price for their bonds urged the court to leave the order in place, as they were reluctant to receive a reduced percentage [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein , on Thursday urged Iran to stop executions over drug offenses pending the debate of a law that would remove the mandatory death penalty as punishment for those convicted of drug offenses. Citing the fact that the highest number of executions, 966, in “more than [...]
