Search Results for: DOE

The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in Snyder v. United States, a case involving illegal gratuities paid to a local government official. The issue is whether the federal government can use 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B)—known as federal funds bribery—to prosecute those who give and take illegal gratuities or whether the statute only [...]

A Nigerian court on Friday sentenced Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, a transgender woman who has gained notability in Nigeria as a social media personality, to six months imprisonment on Friday following an earlier conviction of “spraying,” a practice where people throw money into the air, according to reports from local media. Though considered common practice in [...]

The Berlin Police interrupted a pro-Palestinian event Friday and issued a ban to prevent the group from meeting again on Saturday or Sunday after the group allowed someone to speak who had been previously banned from political activities for allegedly making anti-semitic remarks. The speaker in question, Salman Abu Sitta, had been issued a “ban [...]

The US House of Representatives passed on Friday a two-year reauthorization of an expiring warrantless surveillance law that had been stalled earlier in the week. The passed bill extends a contentious provision called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA. Wiretapping for national security investigations involving Americans or individuals within [...]

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) vetoed SB 233 on Friday, a Senate bill aimed at prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including surgery, hormone treatments, and puberty blockers. Additionally, it proposed revoking the licenses of doctors providing such care and restricting state funds for gender-affirming treatments. Kelly stated that she vetoed the bill because “he [...]

The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would define biological sex in binary terms based on individuals’ reproductive systems rather than their gender identity. House Bill (HB) 111 would amend the Alabama Code to define sex-based terms, provide policy relating to sex and gender identity, allow public entities to establish some [...]

A report released by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) on Thursday shows that citizens surveyed from 19 countries generally lack confidence in the performance of their political institutions and the credibility of elections. Many of them may favor a strong, undemocratic leader. The study covered 19 countries and regions. Included among [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Thursday that Mexico had initiated proceedings seeking provisional measures against Ecuador over Ecuadorian authorities’ forcible entry into the Mexican embassy in Quito earlier this month. According to the press release, the dispute is related to “legal questions concerning the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means and [...]

The Arizona House of Representatives erupted into chants of “shame” on Wednesday after Republican members voted to adjourn instead of discussing a bill that would repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban. The state’s Supreme Court ruled this week that the Civil War-era law could go into effect, setting off a heated debate in the southwestern [...]

Constructive dialogue over complex issues seems increasingly difficult to find in these extremely polarizing times. For the Jewish community of which I am a part, the highly valued idea of any such “makhloket l’sheim shamayim” — the Talmudic notion of an argument for the sake of heaven — seems all the more elusive when attempting [...]