The global food supply is under threat from laws that criminalize the sale and exchange of traditional peasant seed varieties, a group of UN experts said Wednesday. In their latest report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas indicated that almost [...]

Newly appointed UN expert Bethanie Carney Almroth on Monday warned that pollution in the form of “forever chemicals,” or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), poses severe risks to the basic human right of a healthy and safe environment. Almroth referenced a recent UN report conveying that as PFAS spreads and accumulates in the environment, it has the [...]

A federal appeals court in Boston on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s request to remove an injunction barring the US Postal Service (USPS) from implementing the rule restricting the issuance of mail-in ballots, affirming a decision from a lower district court. The injunction, issued at the end of August by US District Judge Indira Talwani [...]

UN experts on Monday issued a press release strongly urging both the governments of the United States and the state of Tennessee to call a halt to the execution of Christa Pike, a woman who, at the age of 21, was sentenced to death row for a crime she committed as a teenager. In highlighting [...]

US District Judge Deborah Boardman on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of President Trump’s dual executive orders (EOs) targeting birthright citizenship, largely on the grounds that the orders violate a prior Supreme Court ruling on the issue. President Trump issued the orders in early August, directed at ending “birth tourism,” about a [...]

United Nations experts on Tuesday issued a statement demanding an end to the unlawful attacks and killings carried out by the United States military on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The experts indicated that these attacks—which began a year ago and resumed in August after a months-long hiatus—are not justifiable under international [...]

US District Judge Indira Talwani on Wednesday canceled her earlier ruling granting a preliminary injunction to prevent the US Postal Service (USPS) from implementing President Trump’s mail-in voting executive order (EO) on or before this year’s midterm elections. This latest development in the tumultuous legal battle over the EO directly follows a request by the [...]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday published a proposal for a $103, 265 fee on those filing a “cap-subject” petition for an H-1B visa. The new fee would apply to all H-1B petitions, regardless of if the worker is inside or outside of the US, except for those filed by universities, certain non-profits [...]

Latin American and Caribbean governments convened Tuesday for a three-day UN conference on population and development, meeting amid what Amnesty International described as a regional rollback of protections for women, girls and adolescents. The Regional Conference on Population and Development (CRPD) will be held in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on August 18-20. Ahead of [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday announced that it has opened an investigation into the College of William & Mary (W&M) scholarship and student benefit policies to determine if they include criteria favoring minority applicants. This is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to crack down on diversity and inclusivity initiatives in [...]