India’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, to allow religious minorities persecuted in neighboring countries to seek citizenship. The draft legislation proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been criticized for being discriminatory and unconstitutional, as the term “religious minorities” excluded the Muslim community. Amending the Citizenship Act 1955, Section 2 [...]
Following a violent crackdown on protesters in Iran, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement Friday calling Iran’s reaction “clear violations of international norms and standards on the use of force, and serious violations of human rights.” The protests were largely in response to a massive tax hike on gas prices [...]
Unitrans International, a Virginia defense contracting company, agreed Wednesday to pay $45 million to settle criminal obstruction charges and False Claims Act allegations brought by the Department of Justice for illegally shipping construction materials to Afghanistan through Iran. Unitrans provided logistical support to Anham, a Dubai Free Zone company incorporated under the laws of the [...]
US authorities on Thursday filed charges and sanctions against two Russian nationals who allegedly run a cyber theft operation known as Evil Corp. The organization used malware to steal personal banking information from victims in more than 40 countries, netting them more than $100 million in stolen funds. The two nationals are named in an [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Wednesday that the protected status of the name “Aceto Balsamico di Modena” does not extend to the non-geographic terms in the name. The ruling favored the German vinegar producer Balema, which uses “balsamico” and “deutscher balsamico” to market vinegar-based products made from local wines. A group of Italian [...]
The US House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday requiring intervention in China over the mass detention centers located in the Xinjiang program. The legislation’s focus is on Beijing’s detainment of two million Muslim Uighur citizens. “The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which was passed 407-1 in the Democratic Party-controlled House, requires U.S. President [...]
The Bavarian Constitutional Court held Tuesday that parts of the Bavarian Integration Act are unconstitutional. This case arose when opposition parties in the Bavarian state parliament opposed six individual provisions of the Act, which took effect on January 1, 2017. The challenged clauses ask migrants to respect the “leading culture” and to make efforts to [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Tuesday that the Bangladesh government is violating the right to education of nearly 400,000 school-age Rohingya children by barring UN humanitarian agencies and NGOs from providing Rohingya children with any formal, accredited education. The Bangladesh government’s policy prevents Rohingya from integrating into the local Bangladeshi society. In furtherance of this [...]
In a regular press conference Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded to the 2019 Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signed by US President Donald Trump, saying that it seriously interferes China’s internal affairs. The Chinese government is suspending reviewing requests of US military vessels and aircraft to visit Hong Kong starting [...]
The UK Electoral Commission restated the urgency of transparency in digital ad campaigning on Monday ahead of the upcoming general election. The commission released a report in 2018, which made recommendations to update current legislation surrounding online ads. Some of the recommendations included requirements that ads must include a stamp naming who paid for the [...]
