Guatemala’s congress on Monday stripped President Otto Pérez Molina of his immunity by a unanimous vote of the 132 members who were present. This vote allows prosecutors to go after the president for corruption allegations. Pérez Molina and about 30 other government officials are accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for [...]
California on Tuesday agreed to restrict its controversial practices of solitary confinement. The class action lawsuit was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) , which alleged that approximately 3,000 prisoners were kept in isolated conditions in which they were alone for 22 hours a day, sometimes in windowless cells. In the settlement California [...]
The trial of Bosco Ntaganda , a former Congolese military leader also known as “The Terminator,” began at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday. The rebel leader has pleaded innocent to the 18 charges levied against him, including rape, murder, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual slavery of civilians. He has been accused of [...]
The transitional council in Central African Republic (CAR) announced on Monday that it has adopted a constitution that will help create a new government for the country to help combat many years of turbulence and social unrest. The constitution must now pass a referendum on October 5, which will be followed by legislative and presidential [...]
Authorities in China have punished approximately 197 people, officials announced Monday, for spreading false rumors online about the fatal explosions in Tianjin and the recent stock market crash. Among those arrested include a journalist, who works for the controversial financial publication Caijing and several stock market personnel, including senior executives at China’s market watchdog Citic [...]
The California Senate on Monday unanimously approved Senate Bill 358 , which would strengthen existing equal pay policies and help close the remaining gender pay gap. The bill broadens existing policies by stating that women must be paid the same for doing “substantially similar” work. The bill also protects workers from retaliation based on sharing [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that a six-foot-tall statue of Jesus may remain on US Forest Service land. The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the suit claiming that the statue, located atop Whitefish Mountain in Montana, violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause . The appeals court rejected this argument [...]
Privacy International reported Monday that Colombian intelligence agencies have been developing surveillance tools to collect large amounts of data without a warrant. According to the advocacy group, a newly changed intelligence law has made it possible for police and state security agencies to gather large amounts of personal data from people’s private communications. One such [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Monday that employers may refuse to provide insurance coverage for contraception for moral reasons, rather than restricting the ability to refuse to those with religious objections. The case was brought by an anti-abortion group called March for Life, which opposes methods of [...]
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld a 2011 decision that countries must consider immigrants’ asylum cases individually. According to the facts of the case , three Tunisian immigrants were detained by Italian authorities while trying to enter the country by boat. While detained the Tunisians claim that they faced degrading and inhuman [...]
