The Russian/Syrian coalition committed war crimes in Aleppo during September and October, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. HRW alleges that the bombings constitute war crimes, as the bombings appear to be recklessly hitting civilians and in some cases intentionally targeting civilian facilities, so far killing more than 440 civilians. HRW further alleges that the [...]

READ MORE

California’s 5th District Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed and remanded a lower court ruling which rejected a challenge to a state law requiring gun microstamping. In 2007 then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill intended to combat gun trafficking and ease crime investigations involving bullet casings. The bill required gun manufacturers to double-mark semiautomatic pistols [...]

READ MORE

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the 21st Century Cures Act . The $6.3 billion bill is intended to “spur medical innovation, speed access to new drugs, expand access to mental health treatment and battle the opioid epidemic. The Act received widespread bipartisan support, though there are concerns that the bill provides handouts [...]

READ MORE

UN officials urged the international community on Wednesday to unite with the UN Security Council to protect civilians in the war-torn eastern Aleppo region of Syria. UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, stated that there is a “humanitarian tragedy” underway in Aleppo displacing an estimated 25,000 individuals from their homes in the last [...]

READ MORE

A UN commission on human rights in South Sudan warned Thursday that ethnic cleansing is taking place in some areas of the country. Chairwoman for the commission, Yasmin Sooka, said, “here is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages.” [...]

READ MORE