Tokyo passed a law on Friday that prohibits “the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, citizens, and enterprises” from “unduly discriminat on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” The law was passed in light of Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympic Games. After Russia passed anti-LGBT legislation before hosting the Olympics in 2014, the International Olympic Committee added a [...]

The US Senate voted on Friday morning to end discussion and advance Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in a key procedural vote. Next, a final confirmation vote will happen, possibly as soon as Saturday. The 51-49 Senate vote had one defection from each party — Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia voted to [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday that bars the Trump administration from discontinuing a program that gave Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to immigrants from certain countries. These protections were signed into law by former president George Bush in 1990. They allowed immigrants from [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it has indicted seven officers of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) with hacking. The charges stem from a coordinated effort by the DOJ, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The seven defendants were charged with computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The actors [...]

Rosmah Mansor, wife of ousted Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, pleaded not guilty Thursday to 17 counts of money laundering. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, a government agency tasked with preventing fraud, announced Mansor’s arrest on Wednesday. Mansor, 66, was brought to the Sessions Court of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia’s capital) Thursday morning where she pleaded not [...]

The Court of Appeal of Quebec decided on Wednesday that religious dress is to be allowed in the courtroom. The appeal arises out of a case where a judge refused to hear an Islamic woman in court “because she refused to remove her head scarf (hijab) in the courtroom and was therefore contravening the dress [...]

California man Thomas Emens filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles on Tuesday against Catholic bishops in California and the Archdiocese of Chicago, saying they conspired to commit and conceal sexual abuse. Emens was sexually abused by his priest, Monsignor Thomas Joseph Mohan, from 1978 to 1980 when he was 10 to 12 years [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Egyptian government Wednesday to immediately identify the whereabouts of and free Ezzat Ghoneim, a prominent human rights lawyer who has been missing for approximately three weeks. Ghoneim was arrested earlier this year on his way home from work. His whereabouts were not known for three days until a [...]

The Parliament of Finland  on Wednesday voted 178-13 to add an amendment to the constitution  providing an exception to the right to privacy, providing the government with more ability to combat terrorism and foreign government spying. The amendment is specifically aimed at protecting confidential communications. Essentially, it will allow the government to enact legislation for [...]

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter Tuesday that he has directed the city’s Department of Finance to “immediately investigate tax and housing violations and to work with NY State to find out if appropriate taxes were paid” hundreds of millions of dollars US President Trump inherited from his father. De Blasio [...]