Former Brazil President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday after Federal Police executed several warrants arising from an investigation, deemed “Operations Radioactivity,” in the management of a nuclear plant in Rio. Brazilian prosecutors allege that Temer acted as the leader in a criminal organization, accepting approximately 1.8 billion in bribes and ongoing kickbacks, and committing [...]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday announced plans to ban on semi-automatic and assault rifles. The Governor-General of New Zealand, Patsy Reddy, signed an Order in Council under section 74A(c) of the Arms Act of 1983 that broadened the semi-automatic classification of the Act to include weapons similar to those used in the Christchurch terrorist [...]
UN human rights experts condemned the Venezuelan government Thursday over reports that authorities violated the rights of demonstrators during a crackdown by the government. The UN experts claim that reports show a consistent, “systematic and pervasive disregard for humans rights displayed by the Venezuelan authorities during their crackdown on protestors, journalist and human rights defenders.” During [...]
India’s federal anti-corruption ombudsman, the Lokpal, officially commenced functioning on Tuesday with the country’s president appointing former Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the body’s first chairperson, along with eight other members. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which mandates the setting up of anti-corruption ombudsman bodies at the federal and state levels, was enacted [...]
The European Commission called Wednesday for more efforts to ensure adoption of security proposals and fined Google €1.49 billion (USD $1.7 billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules. Market dominance is not illegal under EU antitrust rules. However, dominant companies have a special responsibility not to abuse their powerful market position by restricting competition, either in [...]
US air strikes are resulting in civilian casualties in Somalia, Amnesty International reported Wednesday. The report details five incidents resulting in 14 civilian casualties, with eight more civilians injured within the past two years. These issues began to draw increased international humanitarian attention during Barack Obama’s administration. In October 2016 the administration “broadened the president’s [...]
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals’ appeals chamber on Wednesday confirmed the conviction of former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic for Bosnian war crimes, increasing his sentence to life in prison. After the first-instance judgment rendered in March 2016, which sentenced Karadzic to 40 years of prison, both the defense and the prosecution appealed. [...]
A Guatemala judge on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for the country’s former attorney general and current presidential candidate, Thelma Aldana, on charges of embezzlement, lying and tax fraud. The warrant for Aldana’s arrest, issued by Judge Victor Cruz, “relates to a corruption inquiry involving illegal hiring,” said a Supreme Court official. Aldana has denied [...]
A Myanmar court in Sittwe on Tuesday sentenced prominent Rakhine leader Aye Maung to 20 years in prison for treason and defamation stemming from a January 2018 speech made one day before deadly riots broke out. Maung, a member of parliament and former chairman of the Arakan National Party, along with writer Wai Hin Aung, were arrested [...]
The EU Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that the 2012 bailout of Banca Tercas by the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD) did not involve the use of state funds as the EU Commission investigation had determined. The EU Commission had ordered Italy to recoup €300 million of grants and guarantees that it claimed the government [...]
