A bipartisan agreement to repeal North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” fell apart Wednesday after each party accused the other of reneging on promises. House Bill 2 (HB2) is a state law requiring transgender people to use the public bathroom associated with the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill was launched in response to an [...]
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Deutsche Bank on Friday announced a $7.2 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the sale of toxic mortgage securities that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis . The terms of the agreement are not finalized but are expected to be in early January, prior to President-elect Donald Trump taking office. Under [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Thursday ruled that State Technical College of Missouri cannot continue mandatory drug tests for all students. After preliminary injunctions and a permanent injunction were reversed, an en banc panel of the Eighth Circuit determined that such a universal and mandatory policy is unconstitutional and affirmed [...]
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution Wednesday to establish an independent panel to investigation possible war crimes in Syria. The resolution, approved by a vote of 105 to 15 against, with 52 abstentions, will establish the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Those Responsible for the Most [...]
Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed the “campus carry” bill into law . Senate Bill 199 , one of 17 bills Kasich signed Monday, makes it legal to carry concealed weapons at daycare facilities and onto college campuses. College boards will have to vote to permit concealed weapons, but child care centers must post notification [...]
About 71 percent of human trafficking victims are female and one-third are children, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report released Wednesday. Though many are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labor, many are reportedly used as beggars, for sham marriages, benefit fraud and pornography. The report emphasizes the connection [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Wednesday that “eneral and indiscriminate retention” of e-mails and other electronic communications by governments is illegal, in a decision that many believe could create an opportunity for challenges to the UK’s Investigatory Powers Bill . The EU’s highest court did, however, carve out an exception for targeted interception [...]
The use of capital punishment in the US is at a 20-year low, according to a eport by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) Wednesday. Specifically, the report found that while 31 states currently allow the death penalty, only five such states held executions in 2016. Of these 31 states, nearly 80 percent of all [...]
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a ban on offshore drilling in almost 120 million acres of federally owned Arctic and Atlantic waters. As a preemptive opposition to President-elect Donald Trump, the goal of the declaration is to “protect the planet we share” and to protect the various environmental aspects in these regions, such [...]
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Tuesday announced criminal charges against four former state officials in connection with the Flint water crisis. Two former emergency managers, Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, were charged with four felonies —false pretenses, conspiracy to commit false pretenses, misconduct in office, and willful neglect of duty—and face maximum sentences of [...]
