Maria Ressa, Philippine journalist and known critic of the country’s president was arrested Wednesday on charges of cyber libel for her work as CEO and executive editor for Philippines-based news site Rappler, drawing criticism from rights groups. Rappler has been critical in its coverage of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose administration has alarmed human rights [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Wednesday that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairperson, lied to the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller. According to Judge Amy Jackson, prosecutors showed by preponderance of the evidence that Manafort intentionally made false statements about payments made to a law firm to [...]
Recently, a District Court Judge in Iowa struck down a law passed in the spring of 2018 which would have barred abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected by means of a vaginal ultrasound. The exceptions included cases of medical emergency, or medically necessity, severe fetal defects, or when the fetus was conceived through [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday sued the state of New Hampshire on behalf of two New Hampshire college students claiming a controversial new voting requirement of the state imposes an unconstitutional “poll tax” on voters and constitutes disproportionate burdens on young voters. Under the previous law, the state legally defines a resident [...]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Wednesday that it has jurisdiction over a case regarding Iran’s attempt to recover assets that had been frozen by the US, allowing the suit to proceed. In preliminary objections, the US had contested the ICJ’s jurisdiction on three counts: (1) that Executive Order 13599, which called for the [...]
UN rights experts on Wednesday urged Russia to “act urgently to protect the rights of people who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay or bisexual in Chechnya, and investigate allegations of human rights abuses including two reported deaths.” The experts expressed concern over reported arrests of people “who are, or are perceived to [...]
The US Senate voted 92-8 Tuesday to approve legislation setting aside nearly two million acres of public land for conservation—a bipartisan package of more than 100 public lands, natural resources and water bills. The bill designates 1.3 million acres in western states with the most stringent classification of “wilderness,” prohibiting any development or motor vehicles. [...]
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday proposed new rules to improve the interoperability of electronic health information. The rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), are designed to increase choice and competition while promoting [...]
Joaquín Guzmán Loera (El Chapo) was convicted on Tuesday of all 10 counts against him and faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Guzmán Loera was extradited to the US from Mexico in January 2017, and his trial began last November in the Eastern District of New York before Judge Brian Cogan. The US Attorney’s offices [...]
An important decision of special interest to politically active citizens in Europe came out on January 24, 2019 by the European Court of Human Rights. As stated in the Press Release issued by the Registrar of the Court, in the case of Catt v. the United Kingdom (application no. 43514/15) “UK failed to protect the right [...]
