The Federal Council of Switzerland Friday adopted the newest European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia and Belarus. While Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it has multiple bilateral treaties with the bloc. The EU’s sixth package of sanctions includes an oil embargo, which prompted the Federal Council to commission a study of the economic consequences of [...]

The US and the Dominican Republic Friday jointly announced the formation of a technical working group to address alleged labor violations in the latter’s sugar sector. The announcement touts the new working group, saying: This joint endeavor takes into account the commitment of the two countries to enforce labor laws, including those regarding forced labor, [...]

Judge Jonathan Swift of the UK High Court Friday ruled against activist groups and UK Border Force personnel, allowing the controversial plan to deport UK asylum seekers to Rwanda to go forward. The first group of asylum seekers is scheduled to be deported on June 14. The emergency legal action was filed by several organizations [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina found Friday in favor of transgender state employees who were denied gender-affirming healthcare coverage. Judge Loretta Biggs ruled that the state health plan must offer “medically necessary services for the treatment of gender dysphoria.” The plaintiffs, represented by Lamda Legal and [...]

The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court’s First Judicial Department Friday declared the New York State Assembly’s redistricting map adopted in February as unconstitutional and void. Gary Greenberg, a Democratic activist, last month brought the lawsuit against Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative officials, alleging that the state assembly map was gerrymandered “to protect Democratic incumbents.” The court ruled that the map was [...]

A Bolivian criminal court found ex-president Jeanine Anez guilty Friday of inciting a coup and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice and Transparency celebrated the verdict and sentencing, saying, “he Judiciary, in the exercise of its independence, issued a sentence that is framed in the principles and [...]

Tunisian President Kais Saied has caused serious harm to judicial independence in the country by granting himself the absolute authority to dismiss judges summarily by decree and quickly firing 57 of them, said 10 human rights organizations in a joint press release on Friday. The organizations called Decree 2022-35 an assault on the rule of [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday announced Colombia’s extradition of an alleged former senior commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to the US on charges of “leading a continuing criminal enterprise and participating in an international cocaine manufacture and distribution conspiracy.” The DOJ alleges that Martin Leonel Perez Castro, who was arrested [...]

A Grand Rapids, Michigan, police officer Friday pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for fatally shooting a Black immigrant during a traffic stop. The officer’s lawyer said that his client was “justified” in the amount of force used during the incident. As bodycam footage shows, on April 4, Patrick Lyoya was pulled over for an allegedly [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday rejected an emergency appeal that would have prevented the counting of 257 mail-in votes in an election for a Pennsylvania judgeship. The votes, which could tip the scale in the election, are contested on the grounds that their envelopes were not dated in violation of state election law. The election, [...]