Amnesty International Tuesday released its annual Report on Death Sentences and Executions which noted a sharp increase in executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia while describing global use of the death penalty between January and December 2021.  The report reflects that there was a rise in executions and death sentences in 2021 after Covid-19 restrictions [...]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Órban Tuesday declared a wartime state of emergency, citing physical, energy and economic fears originating from the ongoing war in Ukraine. Órban declared a similar emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic and assumed special emergency powers set to expire next week. Órban won a fourth term as prime minister in a “landslide” [...]

In the early hours of Tuesday April 19, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation issued a notification ordering the commencement of a “special joint encroachment removal action programme” in the Jahangirpuri area of New Delhi, a predominantly Muslim district of the city. The notification, issued from the 19th of April to the 21st of April, was [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Tuesday ruled that post-Civil War amnesty laws do not protect members of Congress who voiced support for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Voters brought a case against Representative Madison Cawthorn, claiming that Cawthorn was ineligible to run for re-election because of his [...]

A congressionally mandated commission Tuesday announced recommended name changes for nine US Army bases currently named to commemorate the Confederacy and its leaders. The Naming Commission was formed via the William Mac Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and consists of eight volunteers selected by Congress and the Secretary of Defense. The [...]

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Tuesday arrested an Iraqi national charged with an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush. According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, 52-year-old Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab entered the US on a visitor visa in September 2020. Shihab then filed for asylum and US [...]

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) Monday denied ExxonMobil Corp.’s (ExxonMobil) motion to dismiss a climate deception lawsuit on “anti-SLAPP” grounds. The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey released a statement following the SJC’s decision affirming the rejection of ExxonMobil’s “anti-SLAPP” motion to dismiss by the Suffolk Superior Court. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) [...]

Republican US Senate candidate David McCormick Monday brought a lawsuit asking a Pennsylvania court to order counties to count undated mail-in ballots from the state’s May 17 primary. The ballots could impact the outcome of McCormick’s primary race against celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz. McCormick is less than 1,000 votes behind Oz. McCormick, a former [...]

Russian authorities Tuesday released Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen and Jehovah’s Witness, from prison. According to a statement made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia organization, Christensen was arrested in May 2017 and was the first Jehovah’s Witness arrested as part of the Russian government’s crackdown on the religious sect. The organization said riot police [...]

The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service Tuesday arrested a 34-year-old Syrian man accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes during in the Syrian Civil War. The unnamed suspect is reported to have served in the state-aligned Liwa al-Quds militia during the ongoing conflict. According to prosecutors, the suspect, along with other members of the militia, [...]