The US House of Representatives Tuesday passed a bill that would enshrine same-sex marriage in federal law. The Respect for Marriage Act passed by a vote of 267-157 amid concern that the Supreme Court could move to overturn the case protecting same-sex marriage, since it is based on the same legal principle as the now-overturned [...]

Russian lawmakers have submitted a bill to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, to expand the country’s 2013 law prohibiting the “promotion” of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. The bill, submitted Monday, would ban “the propaganda of denial of family values and non-traditional sexual relations,” and apply irrespective of age. The explanatory note to [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday published a call for India to end its controversial sedition law. The sedition law is a statute from the colonial era when India was controlled by the United Kingdom. According to HRW, the law “remains a powerful tool used by the authorities to criminalise dissent and arrest peaceful critics of [...]

The Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday held that the state congressional district plan violates the Ohio Constitution. The Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted the congressional district plan at issue in March. The Ohio legislature adopted a previous congressional district plan in November 2021, but the Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the legislature’s plan as unduly favoring the Republican [...]

The United States Monday released its first-ever strategy to anticipate, prevent and respond to atrocities at home and abroad. The Biden administration released the strategy due in part to ongoing human rights offenses in Ukraine. President Biden has committed his administration to promoting democratic values through the defense of human rights around the world. In [...]

Amnesty International Monday launched a global campaign in response to the rising threat against protest rights around the world. In a press release, Amnesty International singled out countries such as Russia, France and Sri Lanka as areas where the right to protest has been seriously curbed. Recently, Russians gathered across Russian cities to protest the [...]

US President Joe Biden Tuesday signed an executive order to deter and punish wrongful detention of US citizens abroad. The order allows US government agencies to impose sanctions and other measures to try to ensure US citizens will not be wrongfully detained. Biden highlighted particular organizations against which the order is intended to protect US [...]

The Vatican Tuesday announced a new investment policy, and the entity will close all of its foreign investment accounts. The new policy governs the ethical standard for investments, restricting investments that don’t “contribut to a more just and sustainable world.” The guidelines require that all foreign investment accounts be consolidated into one account in APSA, [...]

A Florida jury Monday found Tesla one percent negligent in a 2018 high speed crash that killed 18-year-old Barrett Riley after Tesla disabled Riley’s speed limiter without permission from his parents. James and Jenny Riley requested that a device that limits the car’s top speed to 85 miles per hour be installed after their son [...]

Payton Gendron Monday pled not guilty to 27 federal charges he faces for carrying out a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, Tops supermarket. Gendron was indicted last Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of New York. Gendron faces ten counts of a “hate crime act resulting in death,” ten counts of [...]