The US Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions for religious gatherings in New Jersey and Colorado until district courts can hear the cases. In both cases, petitioners challenge restrictions imposing stricter limitations on religious gatherings as violations of the First Amendment. The petitioners argue that the restrictions on religious institutions are harsher [...]
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted Monday to issue an order requiring nine major social media and video streaming companies to report on their use of consumer data. The order, issued pursuant to section 6(b) of the FTC Act, requests information pertaining to five subjects: 1) the collection of consumer data, 2) the use [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged state authorities in Colombia Tuesday to respond to heightened violence with concrete action and stronger protection. According to the UN Human Rights Office, 375 killings have been recorded in Colombia thus far in 2020. Of these killings, 255 people have died in 66 massacres, and 120 [...]
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Michigan chapter (CAIR-MI) filed a lawsuit Monday against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) for making Muslim and Moorish Science women remove their hijabs for mugshots. Photographs of the women without their hijabs are posted on MDOC’s public website. DOC ID cards also display the mugshots. The “Muslim and Moorish [...]
The South Korean Parliament passed a bill Monday that prohibits the launching of propaganda leaflets across the border into North Korea. For decades, South Korean defectors and campaigners sent anti-North Korean leaflets, as well as food, medicine, money, and USB sticks containing South Korean news and dramas, across the border to North Korea. They used [...]
Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Monday that it had detained four soldiers accused of war crimes against Armenians in the recent Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. The Prosecutor General’s Office denounced the actions of the soldiers, calling them “unacceptable” and contradictory to “the mentality of the Azerbaijani people.” The Prosecutor General’s report was careful to exonerate Azerbaijani officials, [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday condemned Iran’s execution of activist and journalist Ruhollah Zam on Saturday. Zam was a founder of AmadNews, which became popular during the nationwide protests, and posted articles and social media posts criticizing the Iranian government. Zam was abducted while visiting Iraq by Iranian Revolutionary Guards [...]
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda reported Monday that a preliminary examination into the situation in the Philippines had found a “reasonable basis” to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm were committed between July 2016 and March 2019. The report follows [...]
In a per curiam opinion on Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in overturning the death sentence of inmate George Kayer, who robbed and murdered his companion on a gambling trip in Laughlin, Nevada, in 1994. Kayer shot Delbert Haas in the head during [...]
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday that the state of California has filed to join the US Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit against tech giant Google. The lawsuit was filed in October by the federal government, and was joined by 11 states including Texas, Georgia and Florida. Becerra will be the first [...]
