The military coup in Myanmar has destabilized most of the country, but many in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, one of its poorest, see little difference between the old democratic regime and the military dictatorship. The Rakhine, or the Arakanese, have suffered through British and Japanese colonialism, poverty, exploitation, and human rights violations. An 18 month-long internet blackout, [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new regulation Thursday, greatly limiting US production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. In a press release, EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the new rule “a significant step forward [...]

US Special Envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote resigned from his position Thursday, expressing his desire “not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees” back to the tumultuous Caribbean nation. Foote’s resignation letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken comes in the wake of criticism by UN [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday vacated its opinion in a guns rights case, finding the challenge now moot. Plaintiff Natalia Marshall sued to challenge a law that prevented her from buying a firearm when she was under 21. The appeals court ruled that the law violated the Second Amendment [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two laws on Wednesday protecting access to abortion. AB 1356 and AB 1184 strengthen existing privacy laws surrounding reproductive healthcare. In a statement, Newsom said he is proud “to sign these two bills that demonstrate our dedication to strengthening and further protecting access to reproductive health care services in California.” [...]

The Polish region of Swietokrzyskie repealed its “anti-LGBT ideology” resolution Wednesday—one of several anti-LGBT resolutions passed in dozens of Polish regions in 2019. The resolution was a symbolic statement by Swietokrzyskie, which had sought to establish itself as an “LGBT-free zone,” clarifying its ideological stance against the LGBT community and symbolizing how LGBT persons were [...]

US federal judge Zia Faruqui ordered Facebook, Inc. on Wednesday to produce documents relating to its involvement in anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar. The Gambia brought a genocide claim against Facebook before the International Court of Justice alleging that Facebook played a key role in Myanmar’s genocide attempt on the Rohingya, an ethnic and religious minority. [...]

Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill defining anti-Semitism on Wednesday, establishing a punishment for transgressions. The Draft Law on Prevention and Counteraction to Anti-Semitism in Ukraine, Law No. 5109 (the Bill), was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada after it passed the second reading by 276 votes in the affirmative, reaching the 226 votes required. The bill [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday struck down a portion of a Florida immigration law as unconstitutional and declared that the measures within the bill were racially motivated. Judge Beth Bloom released a 110-page ruling in which she rejected sections of the law that ban local [...]

The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions Tuesday against SUEX OTC, S.R.I., a virtual currency exchange, for allegedly facilitating transactions involving illegal proceeds from ransomware attacks. In addition, the department also issued an updated advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments. The department alleged that a review of [...]