The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday charged a US citizen and four Chinese intelligence officers with conspiracy and other charges related to espionage. The indictment claims that the five defendants spied on pro-democracy activists, Chinese dissidents and human rights advocates and relayed the information to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). According to a [...]

The South Korean Constitutional Court Thursday upheld the nation’s near-ban on tattooing. In a 5-4 decision, the court dismissed the suit and upheld the current policy that only medical professionals can give tattoos. In imitation of a Japanese ruling that has since been overturned, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled in 1992 that tattooing constitutes a [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday narrowed the role of federal courts in enforcing certain provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In an 8-1 decision authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the court held in Badgerow v. Walters that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate certain arbitral awards, even where the claim [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) updated its report Friday of confirmed civilian casualties in the conflict in Ukraine. Covering the period from 4 AM on February 24th to midnight Thursday, the report places civilian casualties at 2,788. This figure includes 1,081 killed and 1,707 injured. The report further breaks [...]

The US Department of State Wednesday formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Department of State’s assessment was based on “a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.” Specifically, the statement affirmed that “any of the sites Russia’s [...]

Japan announced Friday that it will extend sanctions to 15 Russian nationals and nine organizations over the continued Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Herokazu noted in a press conference that the sanctioned individuals include several Russian oligarchs and others close to Vladimir Putin, including Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign [...]

The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. The act, sponsored by Representative Richard Neal, received overwhelming bipartisan support and passed the House in a 424-8 vote. If passed by the Senate, the bill will give the president authority to raise tariffs on products from Russia and [...]

The Third Texas Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a trial court’s decision to temporarily block the state from proceeding with an investigation into the parents of a transgender teenager. In February, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter to Commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Jamie Masters, instructing her to investigate [...]

The District Court of Stockholm convicted a woman Friday for failing to prevent her 12-year-old son from being used as a child soldier in the Syrian civil war. The child, recruited by ISIS, was killed in 2017. The court found that the boy’s parents “belonged to a sect-like Islamist environment that advocated armed struggle for [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a 7-2 decision that information related to torture at CIA “black sites” is protected under the state secrets privilege, which allows the government to bar the release of information when it would endanger national security. Between December 2003 and September 2004, respondent Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (Zubaydah), a [...]