Gllobal environment crime is financing criminal activity and threatening global development, according to a report released Tuesday by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and INTERPOL . The 108-page report, entitled “The Environmental Crime Crisis,” details the ways in which illegal trading of charcoal, timber and poached wildlife, worth approximately $213 billion annually, helps to fund [...]
A Montana judge has struck down most of a voter approved immigration law that requires government officials to check the immigration status of anyone applying for state services. The law was approved by voters in November 2012 by an overwhelming majority of 74 percent. Judge Jeffrey Sherlock ruled Friday that the law, except for one [...]
Religious violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has the potential to create the conditions for genocide , the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said Tuesday, urging other nations to intervene to stop the conflict. The 89-page page report, entitled They Must All Leave or Die , outlines the roles of the parties involved [...]
A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced eight people to death and six others to life in prison for their roles in a bombing that took place at a New Year’s celebration concert 13 years ago. Leader of banned Islamic group Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) , Mufti Abdul Hannan, and a younger brother of former prime [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday released a previously secret government memo outlining the Obama administration’s legal basis for the 2011 drone strike against US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. According to the memo, al-Awlaki played an important role in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The disclosure of the [...]
Teenagers as young as 15 have been recruited to join armed groups in Syria and have been fighting in the Syrian civil war, according to a report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday. According to HRW, some of these teenagers even become suicide bombers. The report claims that Islamist groups like the Islamic [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in three cases for next term. In Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads the court will determine whether §207 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) “effects an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to a private entity.” Section 207(a) of the PRIIA requires [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday limited shareholders’ class action suits for securities fraud. In Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. , the court declined to overturn its 1988 decision in Basic Inc. v. Levinson . Halliburton Co. has faced numerous lawsuits concerning allegations the company put out seriously misleading information in order [...]
The Federal Court of Malaysia on Monday declined to hear an appeal challenging Malaysia’s ban on non-Muslims using the word “Allah” to refer to God. The case was brought by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur on behalf of the Herald , a Catholic newspaper based in Malaysia. Before the ban, “Allah” was frequently used to [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday limited the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases while still leaving the agency free to do so in most cases. In Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA , which was consolidated with six other cases, the court was considering whether the EPA permissibly determined [...]
