The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday upheld the conviction of Guinea’s former minister of mines, rejecting his attempt to use redefined rules about public corruption in the US to get a new trial. US citizen Mahmoud Thiam used his official position as minister of mines in 2009 and 2010 to [...]
An investigation revealed Sunday that many records relevant to landmark civil cases in Japan since World War II no longer exist, having been disposed of by courts across the country. The almost 140 cases scrutinized focused on issues such as nationality, freedom of expression, separation of state and religion, expropriation of land for national defense, [...]
New Zealand’s government announced a new bill Monday to legalize abortion. The new abortion bill, set to have its first reading Thursday, seeks to modernize the current law on abortion by treating it “as a health issue rather than a crime.” The bill contains several provisions regarding abortion, most of which involve access to abortion [...]
Vice Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court ruled Friday against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in his legal battle to change the board of directors of Citgo. Citgo, an American Petroleum refinery company, has been wholly owned by Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) since 1990. PDVSA is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Friday against the Trump Administration’s ban on asylum requests for people who illegally cross the border. The Trump administration issued the rule in late 2018, suspending immigration under certain circumstances. Specifically, the rule prohibited immigrants from applying for asylum except at legal [...]
India’s President, Ram Nath Kovind, gave assent Thursday to a bill criminalizing the Muslim personal law practice of “instant divorce.” The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, approved the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act on Tuesday. It was passed by the lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) on July 25. [...]
The Netherlands’ Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing Act went into effect on Thursday but is expected to be rendered ineffective as both Dutch police and transport companies have expressed reluctance to enforce the law. Commonly referred to as a “burqa ban,” the Act prohibits the wearing of full-face helmets, ski masks, balaclavas, niqabs and burqas [...]
The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States on Thursday denied petitions for review of misconduct complaints against former DC Circuit Judge and current US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The dismissed complaints alleged that Kavanaugh displayed bias and hostility during his 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The [...]
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a midyear report Tuesday detailing the 3,812 civilian casualties in Afghanistan since January 1, 2019. According to this report, Afghan forces and their allies killed 717 civilians, while the Taliban and other militant groups have killed 531 civilians. The report noted a 27 percent decrease in civilian [...]
A federal judge ruled on Monday that the state of Nevada cannot join in litigation against an Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision mandating employers to offer birth control to employees. Nevada attempted to intervene as a defendant in order to defend the provision. Originally, private citizens and companies sued the Department of Health and Human [...]
