The Indonesian Parliament unanimously approved a new anti-terrorism law on Friday that will grant the military direct involvement in various counter-terrorism operations. The updated legislation comes as a possible solution following a slew of suicide bombings recently in Surabaya by individuals tied to the Islamic State. President Joko Widodo stated that the involvement of the [...]
A three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Thursday rejected a student’s argument that a school district’s transgender bathroom policy was an unconstitutional violation of his privacy, affirming the lower court’s decision. The lawsuit involved Pennsylvania Boyertown Area School District, which had a practice of allowing transgender students to [...]
Following a trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California , a jury returned a verdict on Thursday ordering Samsung to pay Apple approximately $539 million for infringing on Apple’s smartphone patents. The jury awarded Apple $533,316,606 for design patent infringements and $5,325,050 for utility patent infringements. The verdict comes in [...]
US President Donald Trump on Thursday posthumously pardoned Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, who was convicted under the Mann Act in 1913 for transporting a white woman across state lines and served 10 months in federal prison. Trump said Johnson “overcame difficult circumstances to reach the heights of the boxing world and inspired [...]
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) reintroduced a bill on Wednesday that would strengthen privacy protections for minors online. The bill, known as the Do Not Track Kids Act of 2018, would amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing internet companies to collect personal data from children under 13 [...]
A judge for US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held Tuesday that a prison’s policy of refusing hormone therapy treatments to its transgender inmates was an unconstitutional violation of the Eighth Amendment. The lawsuit was filed by Jessica Hicklin, a transgender woman in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC), [...]
Swedish lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday making explicit consent or clear communication a requirement before sexual conduct, or it will be considered rape. “The purpose of the legislation is to clarify that every individual has an unconditional right to decide over their own sexual relations,” according to a press release from the Riksdag, Sweden’s legislative body. [...]
Four former high-ranking Guatemalan military officers were found guilty Wednesday of crimes against humanity by the Guatemalan High-Risk Court C. The officers were found guilty of sexually abusing an activist and the disappearance of her 14-year-old brother. They were sentenced to 58 years in jail. The family of the activist has been searching for their [...]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday revealed a new agenda for nuclear disarmament. Guterres’ agenda has three prongs. First, he urged the disarmament of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Part of the agenda reads, “he Secretary-General remains fully committed to working for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and he calls on Member States to [...]
Senators Amy Klobuchar and Roy Blunt released a bipartisan bill Wednesday overhauling sexual harassment policy for members of Congress and Capitol Hill staff, including requiring lawmakers to pay for financial settlements out of their own pockets. The Senate bill requires members of the House and Senate to reimburse the US Treasury for payment of any [...]
