The US Treasury Department Friday imposed sanctions on five entities accused of supporting North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction (WPD) and ballistic missile programs. In August 2010, the US Department of State designated the Munitions Industry Department (MID) for its involvement with or provision of support for North Korea’s WPD programs. The entities currently [...]

The South Korean Constitutional Court Thursday upheld the nation’s near-ban on tattooing. In a 5-4 decision, the court dismissed the suit and upheld the current policy that only medical professionals can give tattoos. In imitation of a Japanese ruling that has since been overturned, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled in 1992 that tattooing constitutes a [...]

The prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court Thursday said that it would open an office in Venezuela to aid its investigation of allegations of crimes against humanity in the country. The announcement follows the end of a second visit to the South American nation by ICC prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan. He was previously [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday narrowed the role of federal courts in enforcing certain provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In an 8-1 decision authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the court held in Badgerow v. Walters that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate certain arbitral awards, even where the claim [...]

The Biden administration Thursday announced several measures to make federal forms of identification more inclusive of transgender and nonbinary Americans. In a release posted to the White House website, the administration said that the Department of State would allow Americans to enter their gender as “X” on US passport applications starting on April 11. The [...]

Gay rights advocates Thursday sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to block a new law that will forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. DeSantis signed the bill, commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents, on Monday. The bill, approved by the Senate earlier in March, restricts [...]

The Latvian parliament Thursday voted to ban symbols of military aggression and war crimes from public display, including the letters “Z” and “V” and the Ribbon of Saint George, which are seen as symbols of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the existing Law on the Safety of Public Entertainment and Festivity Events (the Law) [...]

A federal judge Thursday struck down multiple parts of a Florida election law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis last year as unconstitutional. In his ruling, US District Judge Mark Walker said the Republican-backed bill implemented voting restrictions in an effort to suppress Black voters. DeSantis signed Florida’s new restrictive voting bill SB 90 in May [...]

The Supreme Court of Kenya (SCoK) Wednesday declared the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), unconstitutional. Rendered by the highest court in the land, the decision puts an end to a cascade of litigation that originated in the high court last year. The bill proposing an expansion [...]

The US Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it had charged a Chinese national with conspiring to act in the US as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China. Sun Hoi Ying, also known as Sun Haiying, spent at least five years—from February 2017 through February 2022 — acting in the US as [...]