Chile legalized same-sex marriage on Tuesday as societal norms in the predominantly Catholic country shift. The bill was first introduced in Congress in 2017. Chile’s Congress passed the bill with majorities in both chambers, making it the eighth Latin American country and the thirty-first worldwide to allow same-sex marriage. After a decade-long legal battle, the [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia Tuesday blocked a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees of federal government contractors. US President Joe Biden had signed Executive Order 14042 in September, requiring all contractors that work with the US government to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Several states immediately challenged [...]
On Sunday, a group of young Afghan lawyers gathered in a Kabul hotel to hold a press conference about the importance of an independent legal profession and respect for the rule of law in Afghanistan. As they prepared to go live, their plans were thwarted by two carloads of armed Taliban. This was the latest [...]
The US Supreme Court Tuesday heard oral arguments in United States v. Taylor, a case considering whether an attempted robbery satisfying Hobbs Act elements is “a crime of violence” as defined in 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(3)(A). The US argued that an attempted Hobbs Act robbery is a crime of violence, noting that appellate courts and the [...]
The Parliament of Lithuania extended the country’s state of emergency in response to the ongoing EU border crisis with Belarus Tuesday, claiming that an ongoing “critical situation” regarding the influx of migrants from Belarus justified continued emergency operations. The ruling of the Seimas, or Lithuanian parliament, extends the state of emergency to January 15. The [...]
The governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, UK, and US have released a joint statement condemning the mass detention of individuals in Ethiopia on the basis of their ethnicity and without due process. The statement declared that the Ethiopian government’s announcement of a state of emergency last month provides no justification for such detentions. The [...]
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Marama Davidson Tuesday launched a 25-year plan to tackle domestic and family violence in New Zealand homes. This is the country’s first national strategy for eliminating family violence and sexual violence. It is known as “Te Aorerekura” and it involves 10 agencies working [...]
The United Nations Monday condemned the use of excessive and disproportionate force against unarmed civilians in Yangon, Myanmar and called for the perpetrators to be held to account. Five anti-coup protestors were killed and several others injured when security forces plowed a vehicle into them while firing live ammunition. In the statement, UN Resident Coordinator [...]
Picture a swarm of drones entering a village programmed to fly without a human operator with instructions to shoot or immobilize anyone it deems to be holding a weapon. While this might sound like a scene from Lana Wachowski’s latest Matrix film, the technology to build these killer robots is already here. Unless states act [...]
Rohingya refugees in the US and UK on Monday filed a coordinated lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Facebook”) alleging the social media giant’s “inaction and support of hate speech, misinformation, and incitement of violence fostered the 10-year genocide of the Rohingya Muslims.” The suit was filed by Chicago-based Edelson PC and seeks to apply Myanmar law [...]
