Chinese lawyer and professor, Chen Taihe, fled his country and arrived in San Leandro, California, the Dui Hua Foundation said Monday. Chen was detained last July as part of a crackdown on rights lawyers that had culminated in at least 242 people detained or questioned nationwide. He was detained for “picking quarrels and stirring up [...]
The West Virginia Senate on Saturday voted 23-11 to override Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of House Bill 4145 , allowing civilians 21 and over to carry concealed weapons without a permit. The bill will now become law after the West Virginia House of Representatives voted 64-33 to override the veto. The bill amends the [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday reversed an Alabama Supreme Court decision that refused to recognize an out-of-state adoption by a same-sex partner. Petitioner, VL, had legally adopted the biological children of her partner, EL, while living in Georgia. When the pair split, VL sought custody and visitation rights in Alabama. The Alabama Supreme Court, [...]
Iran billionaire businessman Babak Zanjani was sentenced to death on Sunday after being found guilty on charges of fraud involving an oil fund, a judicial official stated. Zanjani, a 42-year-old oil tycoon who currently is one of Iran’s richest men, was arrested in 2013 after accusations arose that he withheld $2.7 billion in oil revenues [...]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday called on the parties involved in the Western Sahara conflict to end the “unacceptable” plight of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria. After meeting with refugees and representatives at Smara Camp, and later pro-independence group Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (Polisario Front) Secretary [...]
The California legislature began considering a new bill this week that would ban government-funded employee travel to states that are considered “anti-gay.” Democrat Evan Low stated that he introduced the bill in response to bills like the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act , which allows discrimination for religious reasons. The bill would not apply to [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that the city of Forth Worth, Texas has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that it discriminated against persons with disabilities by refusing to allow a group home for individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction to operate in a single family residential zone in the [...]
The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board , Chris Hart, stated on Friday that airlines around the world are not acting quickly enough to address safety standards in the wake of the MH-370 disappearance. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) , a UN agency that sets global aviation standards, has taken actions to [...]
The ceasefire between the Syrian government and rebels seeking to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad survived its first week on Saturday, and the nation experienced a marked drop in violence. The five-year civil war has killed more than 250,000 Syrians and forced millions from their homes. In the last week, the overall violence is estimated to [...]
The US Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a Louisiana abortion law that would require abortion doctors to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital and significant surgical upgrades to abortion centers. In a one-sentence order, the Court reinstated the stay initially put in place by the US District Court for the Middle District of [...]
