The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions on three individuals and five entities associated with corruption in the South American country of Paraguay. The sanctions were made under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which empowers Treasury to sanction individuals and entities accused of human rights abuses, including corruption. [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that a 2017 phone call between former president Donald Trump and then National Security Agency (NSA) Director, Admiral Michael Rogers, would remain privileged due to a lack of a binding “misconduct exception” to a Freedom of Information Act exemption [...]
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued an executive order maintaining the current policy prohibiting the mandating of any COVID-19 vaccinations by any government entity in the state. In the order, Abbott said, “vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed mass shooter Dylann Roof’s conviction and death sentence. The court released a 149-page opinion detailing its affirmation. The judges emphasized that they chose to affirm Roof’s conviction “not as a product of emotion but through a thorough analytical process.” Roof was convicted of [...]
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 219-212 to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (“the amendment”) in an effort to amend and strengthen the civil-rights-era Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) and to address a history of racial discrimination. The amendment comes exactly a week after US Assistant Attorney General for [...]
The US Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Biden administration Tuesday night when it refused to grant a stay of a lower court order requiring the administration reinstate a Trump-era immigration policy. The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), informally referred to as the “remain in Mexico” policy, requires that asylum seekers to the US remain [...]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge a school district’s authority to require that students and teachers wear masks. The defendants include Columbia Public Schools, the Board of Education for the School District of Columbia, and the Superintendent for Columbia Public Schools. Schmitt said, “We filed this suit [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld a district court’s decision to uphold a Michigan mask mandate for young children, rejecting the arguments brought by a Catholic school in Lansing, including that the state mask order violated free exercise of religion. Once the statewide mask mandate requiring everyone above the [...]
The cyber security firm UpGuard released a report on Monday disclosing leaks of 38 million records from Microsoft’s PowerApps platform. The type of data exposed is highly personal in nature, including vaccination records, social security numbers for job applicants, COVID-19 contact tracing, and millions of email addresses and phone numbers. UpGuard attributed the leak to [...]
Apple, Intel and Pfizer joined 3,700 other US businesses Tuesday in their suit against the US regarding Trump-era tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese products. This lawsuit concerns the List 3 and List 4 tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which is enforced by the US [...]
