US President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday imposing sanctions on Iran targeting arms sales. The US State Department issued a fact sheet on the sanctions, which are focused on the sale of weapons and materials to Iran. Under “Nuclear Related Measures,” these sanctions are imposed on specific individuals and groups, which, according to [...]
The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court in China sentenced real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang Tuesday to 18 years imprisonment for corruption charges. This sentence followed a secretive trial, during which Ren was found guilty of corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds. Ren allegedly accepted bribes of 1.25 million yuan, and he also allegedly [...]
The European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that cities can restrict short-term housing rentals. Under the Housing Code, change of use of residential premises in municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants requires authorization. The practice of renting out one’s apartment repeatedly constitutes a change of use. This is particularly an issue with Airbnb landlords, who [...]
Amnesty International reported Monday that authorities in Venezuela, El Salvador and Paraguay have held tens of thousands of people in inadequate state-run quarantine centers. The report deemed the facilities to be a “form of repression.” Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March, detention centers in Venezuela, El Salvador and Paraguay have held thousands of people [...]
A five-member panel of the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced two men of Lebanese descent to life imprisonment without parole on Monday over the 2012 Sarafovo airport bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver. Meliad Farah, an Australian citizen, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Canadian citizen, were tried in their absence [...]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a criminal complaint against staff at the right-wing Greek newspaper Dimokratia Monday over the publication of an offensive headline. Erdoğan filed the complaint after Dimokratia published a picture of Erdoğan with the headline “Siktir Git Mr. Erdogan,” which translates to “F*** off Mr. Erdogan.” The headline included both the [...]
Femicides in Mexico continue to increase, according to government data released on Friday, amid growing protests demanding that the Mexican government do more to combat this crime. The Executive Secretary of the National Public Security System published a report on Friday of national crime data from the first eight months of 2020. The government recorded [...]
The Dutch government announced Friday that the Netherlands would seek to hold Syria accountable for human rights violations of its citizens. The Dutch government further explained that the Assad regime has violated the UN Convention against Torture in its ongoing civil war. In a letter to the Dutch parliament, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok remarked: Today [...]
TikTok, a Chinese social media company, filed a complaint in federal court in Washington, DC, Friday to block the US ban on TikTok. In its complaint, TikTok requested that the court prevent the enforcement of the ban and declare the ban unlawful and unconstitutional. TikTok cited the following reasons to support the court block enforcement [...]
US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler granted a preliminary injunction Saturday against President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13943 to prohibit transactions related to WeChat. Citing concerns with national security since WeChat is owned by Tencent Holdings, a Chinese company, Trump prohibited “any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any [...]
