The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed last week a lower court’s finding that redistricting efforts by Texas’ Galveston County constituted racial gerrymandering, but raised concerns over whether the legal precedent underlying the decision complied with the legislative intent of the US Voting Rights Act (VRA). Between 1991 and 2021, Galveston County [...]

Former US President Donald Trump filed a motion for a mistrial Wednesday in the New York civil fraud trial against the Trumps and the Trump Organization. The motion claims that a mistrial is the only way to “salvage what is left of the rule of law.” A court has discretion to declare a mistrial when [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry called for the disbandment of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which he called a “counter-insurgency force” within the Philippines. In a press conference that was held after his ten-day trip [...]

Armenia officially became the 124th State Party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday after Ambassador Mher Margaryan deposited Armenia’s accession documents in a ceremony held at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, where Margaryan presented the instrument of ratification to the Director of the Treaty Section. This ceremony is the conclusion of [...]

The European Union reached an agreement on landmark rules to curb methane emissions across major industries on Wednesday, delivering a major boost to the EU’s pioneering Green Deal climate strategy. The proposal was initially tabled by the European Commission last December as a central part of the EU’s methane strategy and 2030 climate plan. The [...]

Vietnamese authorities arrested Luu Binh Nhuong, a prominent parliamentary official, on Tuesday for suspected involvement in an extortion scheme. The Police Investigation Agency of Thai Binh Province disclosed that Nhuong is under investigation for the alleged crime of taking property under Article 170 of the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The arrest [...]

The UK House of Commons rejected an amendment calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as 24 US congressional representatives advocated for one in a letter to the Biden administration.  The proposed amendment, which would have modified the Commons’ reply to the King’s Speech, urged respect for international humanitarian law, while the [...]

A California federal judge ruled against major social media platforms on Tuesday in their effort to dismiss a case brought by concerned parents, advocacy groups and school districts against the social media platforms’ addictive design. The plaintiffs asserted that social media platforms—like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Google—are defective by design in three major [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Monday that the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment when it tweeted several posts that were not “germane” to the legal profession. Since membership in the state bar is required for US lawyers to practice within the state, the [...]

The UK government introduced on Tuesday reforms under the Sentencing Bill to crackdown on violent offenders and reinforce victim protection. The reform bill is a part of Sunak’s government’s ongoing crackdown on violent offenses in the UK. The bill aims to see rapists serve their full court-sentenced prison time. On the other hand, the bill [...]