The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) cannot force plaintiffs to arbitrate their disability discrimination claims. The plaintiffs include motorized-wheelchair users from the Pittsburgh area and the Pittsburghers for Public Trust, which is a non-profit organization that aims to make “transportation … available and accessible to [...]

Robert Aaron Long, the suspect in Tuesday’s massage parlor shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, was arrested and charged by the Atlanta Police Department on Wednesday. He is facing eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault with four counts and the count of aggravated assault for the first shooting in Cherokee County and the [...]

The US House of Representatives passed two separate bills Thursday aimed at immigration reform, marking the first time Congress has voted to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The first bill, HR 6, the American Dream and Promise Act (Dream Act), seeks to establish a permanent legal path for over two million undocumented [...]

Spain legalized euthanasia on Thursday for persons who are gravely ill or ill with an incurable disease. The bill was approved with 202 votes for and 141 against. Gravely ill is defined as someone who is affected by their illness to the degree that it affects their physical or mental capacities to the point that [...]

Twenty-one states led by Texas sued the Biden administration Wednesday over its revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit. They claim the administration has sought to “leverage its power regarding U.S. foreign policy to unilaterally contradict Congress’s stated domestic policy” with regards to the Keystone XL pipeline. The states claim that President Joe Biden’s executive [...]

For many states, Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) are a primary method of reducing energy-related emissions and promoting clean energy. RPSs are strengthened in several different ways, and the technology they aim to promote varies between states. The most effective method for achieving the goals of RPSs is directly increasing the clean-energy percentage goals they set [...]

The High Court of Kenya dismissed a challenge Wednesday to the constitutionality of the country’s Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act. The petitioner sought to allow female genital mutilation (FGM) for consenting adults. Dr. Tatu Kamau, a medical practitioner, brought the petition in 2017. Kamau’s petition asserted that practitioners and women in communities practicing FGM [...]

Purdue Pharma filed a bankruptcy plan on Monday to restructure the company into a new entity with revenue directed toward combating the opioid crisis. The plan also requires the company’s family owners to pay an additional $4.275 billion to resolve thousands of civil claims. Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy protection in September [...]

In 2006 as the Human Rights Council was being set up, I wrote an opinion piece on this website in which I shared, among other aspects, my impressions as to how the Council would shape up. Experience thus far produced mixed assessment. The transition from the Commission to the Council took a couple of years, [...]

France’s National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, adopted an amendment to the constitution on Tuesday concerning environmental and biodiversity preservation. The amendment will be inserted into Article 1 of the France Constitution. Article 1 says: France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the [...]