Puerto Rico’s newly-elected Governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced, announced in a press conference Saturday that Puerto Rico will hold a non-binding referendum on November 3, the same day as US presidential election, to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a US state or remain a territory. “It is never too late to be treated as equals,” [...]
The French National Assembly passed a law Wednesday that will strengthen the national position against online hate speech by fining social media companies if they do not delete certain content such as terrorism, child pornography and genocide denial within one to 24 hours of its posting. Additionally, this law strengthens the ability of the French [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) released a statement Friday condemning a German court’s challenge of the ECJ’s judicial supremacy. “In order to ensure that EU law is applied uniformly,” says the statement, “the Court of Justice alone—which was created for that purpose by the Member States—has jurisdiction to rule that an act of an [...]
North Carolina Superior Court Judge Vinston Rozier on Friday ordered a thorough investigation into COVID-19 protections in the state’s prisons. Rozier’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought against the state protesting conditions in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic and encouraging closer attention to human rights. “African Americans 51 percent of the prison population [...]
The EU and Mexico announced Tuesday that they have concluded a trade agreement four years in the making. “While most of our efforts have been focused lately on tackling the Coronavirus crisis, we have also been working to advance our open and fair trade agenda,” said EU Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan, who announced the [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday condemned the abuse of emergency powers to commit human rights violations in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19. “ need to be necessary, proportionate, and non-discriminatory,” says the statement. “They also need to be limited in duration and key safeguards against excesses must [...]
The US Senate on Tuesday approved a new $480 billion coronavirus relief bill that includes additional funds for small businesses and hospitals short of supplies. This bill follows a $2 trillion stimulus that Congress passed on March 25. This stimulus provided low-interest loans to small businesses along with corporate bailouts and $1,200 to eligible-to-work Americans [...]
The Massachusetts Senate on Friday approved a bill that imposes a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill was then sent to Governor Charlie Baker for approval. “ purposes, which are to establish forthwith a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures during the governor’s COVID19 emergency declaration … necessary for the immediate [...]
The UN Security Council on Friday called upon Yemen’s warring factions to end their five-year civil war due to the spread of COVID-19. “Yemen cannot face two fronts at the same time: a war and a pandemic,” said UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. “We can do no less than stop this war and turn all [...]
The German Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld citizens’ right to hold political protests after a group of activists in the state of Hesse petitioned the court with a document titled “Strengthen health instead of weakening fundamental rights – protection against viruses, not against humans.” The protesters hoped that the court would allow them to gather [...]
