“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” Cicero, The Laws  During the coming year, the United States, in occasional concert with Israel, must confront expanding terrorist threats. Topping pertinent concerns in Washington and Jerusalem will be a sordid assortment of jihadi groups, some spawned by the al-Assad regime collapse in Syria and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday that a federal statute requiring people to be 21 to purchase handguns from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) conflicts with previous Supreme Court decisions and the Second Amendment. The plaintiffs, Caleb Reese and Emily Naquin, challenged the constitutionality of 18 USC 922 (b)(1) and (c)(1) on [...]

A federal judge temporarily blocked a presidential order that would halt gender-affirming care for a transgender woman inmate and force her transfer to a men’s prison, her lawyers said Thursday. The inmate — called Maria Moe — sued the Trump administration over its January 20 executive order that prohibits male-born individuals from being detained in [...]

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced Thursday moves to accelerate the enactment of a law that would allow wiretapping of children under 15 to combat organized crime in the country.  The law would allow wiretapping for crimes that carry a prison sentence longer than four years, though a higher degree of suspicion would be used [...]

Myanmar’s ruling military has extended a state of emergency for another six months, a day ahead of the fourth anniversary of the coup that brought it to power. The move was reported by the state-owned Myawaddy Media on Friday. The military claimed that the extension is necessary to ensure the stability and peace of the [...]

A New York appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s decision that found the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act (NYVRA) violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The Second Department of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division rejected the defendants’ argument that any application of the NYVRA would violate the [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held on Thursday that Italy violated applicant residents’ rights to life and respect for private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as a result of the state’s long-term inaction in addressing the widespread illegal dumping of waste by organized criminal groups in the [...]

The UK introduced the new Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill on Thursday to retain a ban on asylum seekers claiming protections under modern slavery and other human rights laws. The bill keeps certain parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (IMA) which were heavily criticized and called on to be withdrawn in a joint [...]

Germany’s parliament passed a motion for stricter migration rules on Wednesday. The nonbinding motion, backed by the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), calls for permanent border control, rejection of all undocumented immigrants, and detention of “those who must leave.” It was passed with 348 votes in favor and 344 votes against. The motion described [...]

Human Rights Watch urged Kazakhstan to implement the recommendations from member states at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review on Thursday. With 103 state delegates, the UN Human Rights Council made 294 recommendations on a variety of topics. These human rights concerns include various basic human rights provided by the International Covenant on [...]