A federal judge in Alabama ruled on Wednesday that the state can proceed to use nitrogen gas in the execution of Kenneth Smith. Smith has been on death row since he was convicted of murder in 1988. Smith is currently scheduled to be executed on January 25. He was previously scheduled to be executed on [...]
The Indian Supreme Court dismissed Tuesday a petition seeking the court’s intervention to increase undertrial prisoner visits to the prisons in Delhi, the capital of India. Undertrial prisoners are accused individuals who are kept in judicial, instead of police, custody while awaiting judicial proceedings on their charges. The petition was filed against the government’s limit [...]
Haitian Judge Al Duniel Dimanche issued arrest warrants for over 30 senior officials on Friday on corruption charges, according to a document leaked online. The list of officials includes former prime ministers and presidents. The judge is investigating a corruption case relating to the National Equipment Center (CNE) and the alleged misappropriation of funds and [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday from a California man challenging a $23,000 traffic impact fee levied in exchange for a building permit. Placerville, California resident George Sheetz challenged a decision from El Dorado County under the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment—specifically a provision known as the Takings Clause. The dispute between Sheetz and [...]
Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) launched a complaint against the Ontario Securities Commission and the Autorité des marchés financiers of Québec on Tuesday, asserting that Canada’s big five banks’ sustainable investing disclosures are misleading to shareholders. The complaint called out BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, TD and RBC for providing possibly misleading environmental, social and governance (ESG) [...]
Finnish member of the European Parliament (EP) Petri Sarvamaa announced Tuesday that he launched a petition to deprive Hungary of its right to vote in the EU’s decision-making council. The petition is open for signatures by members till Friday. Sarvamaa shared the petition, which is addressed to the President of the EP Roberta Metsola, on [...]
Singapore’s Ministry of Law and Ministry of Home Affairs introduced the Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2024 into Parliament, aiming to institute new rules for forensic medical examinations (FME) and allowing for the indefinite detention of serious sexual offenders. The bill defines an FMEs as “physical medical examinations, collection of body samples from any body [...]
LGBTQ rights group Lambda Legal announced a lawsuit Monday seeking to block enforcement of a Louisiana ban on gender-affirming procedures for transgender youth. The civil rights organization prepared the lawsuit, along with the Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation of Harvard Law and a Louisiana law firm, on behalf of five Louisiana minors and [...]
The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office (DPC) reported Tuesday that 181 social leaders and human rights defenders were murdered in 2023. The figure dropped 16 percent from the data reported for 2022. The ombudsman’s office, in its “Annual report on the killings of social leaders and human rights defenders,” highlighted the alarming situation faced by individuals dedicated [...]
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday that it had activated the air threat warning system following after Chinese rockets launching satellites reportedly passed through its airspace. Tuesday’s press release stated that the Communist Party of China (CCP) launched satellites using a Long March series carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center [...]
