The Higher Administrative Court of the Rhineland-Palatinate ruled Wednesday that a church in Herxheim am Berg may continue to use a steeple bell dating back to the German Nationalist Socialist era. The bell featured a Nazi-era “swastika” along with the words, “Everything for the Fatherland – Adolf Hitler.” The bell hangs out of sight from most [...]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Friday that the US will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a nuclear arms control pact between the US and Russia established during the Cold War. The INF treaty “bans ground-launched missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.” Pompeo cited Russian noncompliance with the [...]
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that the Russian government must pay the Georgian government €10 million (USD $11.5 million) over the deportation of 1,500 Georgian nationals. The Georgian government accused Russia of implementing a “coordinated policy of arresting, detaining and expelling Georgian nationals” starting in the fall of 2006. Georgia stated that [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil and gas companies in Alberta must use funds to reclaim oil and gas well sites before paying debtors. The case, Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd, involved oil and gas company Redwater that went bankrupt in 2015. The trustee in the bankruptcy attempted [...]
UN human rights expert Idriss Jazairy expressed concern Thursday over the impact on innocent Venezuelan citizens after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s national oil company. The US imposed sanctions earlier in the week in an attempt to oust President Nicolás Maduro for Juan Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly. By stopping the export [...]
Nepal’s National Assembly on Thursday passed, without amendment, a controversial bill that will regulate medical education in the country once it receives presidential assent. The legislation was pushed through parliament even as opposition members and medical professionals across the country protested. Orthopedic surgeon Govinda KC is leading a movement against the bill and is on [...]
An Abuja Court of Appeal on Wednesday dismissed a request brought by Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to stop proceedings of his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). Onnoghen is accused of failing to declare foreign currency bank accounts, in breach of rules governing public officials. He was suspended last [...]
The UK Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of appeals from the government against several respondents who said that they were harmed by the disclosure of their relatively minor offenses. The case involved several respondents who had “all been convicted or received cautions or reprimands in respect of relatively minor offending.” While their records only included [...]
The Supreme Court of Venezuela on Wednesday prohibited opposition leader Juan Guaidó from leaving the country. It has also frozen his Venezuelan bank accounts. These precautionary measures were solicited by the Attorney General Tarek Saab, who hours previously announced criminal investigations against Guaidó. Last week Guaidó declared himself acting president of Venezuela, despite Nicolás Maduro also claiming the presidency. US [...]
UN human rights experts on Wednesday called for a probe into the collapse of a tailing dam in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that killed nearly 60 people and left hundreds missing. The disaster occurred on January 25 and is the second such incident involving the same company in the past three years. The experts urged the government [...]
