US President Donald Trump signed the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology, orINTERDICT Act , on Wednesday, with the purpose of affording border protection agents enhanced opioid screening technology. The act authorizes appropriation of up to $9 million to enhance the ability of US Customs and Border Patrol to “prevent, [...]
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, on Wednesday condemned the rise in civilian casualties in the Eastern Ghouta region of Syria resulting from the recent increase in airstrikes and ground-based attacks by government forces and its allies, highlighting that all parties are “obliged under international law to distinguish between [...]
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced a lawsuit against BP, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell for their role in climate change. Extensive quantities of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), specifically carbon dioxide (CO2), have been emitted through production, marketing, and selling of fossil fuels—primarily natural gas and oil. [...]
A three judge panel for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday rejected 2-1 a constitutional challenge to Pennsylvania’s electoral map. Although there was no unified majority opinion in Agre v. Wolf , two judges found that Plaintiffs failed to bring a cognizable claim under the federal Constitution’s Election Clause [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Wednesday that a 17-year-old immigrant in government custody was blocked by the Trump administration from obtaining an abortion. The unidentified 17-year-old girl, referred to as Jane Moe, is believed to be in her second trimester of pregnancy and made it clear that she wanted an abortion about two [...]
Canada filed a 32-page complaint against the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday concerning certain laws, regulations and other measures in relation to US anti-dumping or countervailing duty investigations, reviews or other proceedings. Canada alleges that the challenged laws, regulations and measures are inconsistent with US obligations under the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday upheld a 2014 citizen vote to amend the state constitution to remove the right to abortion. The question before the court was not whether such a provision was constitutional, but whether the voting method used to ratify the amendment was consistent with Tennessee’s constitution. [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute , a case challenging Ohio’s voter registration maintenance policy, which permits the government to remove individuals from the voter registration list after several years of absence at the polls. Ohio implemented a law to maintain and update its voter [...]
Myanmar prosecutors said Wednesday that two Reuters journalists have been charged with obtaining state secrets. Journalists Wal Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on December 12, 2017, while investigating the government’s crackdown on the Rohingya minority group in the nation’s Rakhine region. They were reportedly invited to meet with police officers in a restaurant. [...]
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice issued an opinion Wednesday urging the court to void the EU’s fisheries agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco. Advocate General Melchior Wathelet grounded his decision in the concepts of self-determination, sovereignty over natural resources and humanitarian rules concerning disputed or occupied territories. The principle concern is [...]
