A federal grand jury indicted Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his alleged role in illegally obtaining receiving and disclosing classified information. In 2009, WikiLeaks posted a detailed list of the “Most Wanted Leaks” organized by country, including seeking military and intelligence documents from the US. The [...]
The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act was approved by the US Senate Thursday, passing by a vote of 79-1. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky cast the one dissenting vote. The legislation would impose a fine of as much as $10,000 per call on robocallers who disregard the rules on calls and increase [...]
Kenya’s High Court on Friday upheld a ban on gay sex. The Kenyan Penal Code makes it a felony to have “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” or to commit “gross indecency.” The sentence for these offenses ranges from 5-21 years in prison. Kenya’s Constitution guarantees human dignity and freedom from [...]
US President Donald Trump issued an order to eight agency officials on Thursday directing full cooperation with Attorney General William Barr’s probe into activities relating to the 2016 presidential election. The order was addressed to the following agency heads: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, acting Secretary of Defense Patrick [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday reversed the district court’s dismissal of a class action lawsuit against French bank BNP Paribas over aiding atrocities in Sudan. The lawsuit was brought in 2016 by 21 refugees from Sudan’s ethnic-cleansing campaign alleging that the bank conspired with and aided and abetted the [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Alabama and Planned Parenthood Federation of America filed a lawsuit on behalf of Alabama abortion providers Friday challenging the near total abortion ban approved earlier this month. The Alabama Human Life Protection Act bans performing abortions in the state and imposes criminal penalties of up to 99 [...]
Activists filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the 2018 amendment to the Louisana Critical Infrastructure Law, a pipeline trespass law that opponents claim infringes on their rights to protest. The plaintiffs contend that the language in the amendment drafted by the Louisana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association was “so vague, overly broad and sweeping in scope” [...]
India’s environment tribunal, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Tuesday directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) to implement measures authorized by it in a 2017 decision. The order aims to curb noise pollution in India’s capital New Delhi. NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel and two other judicial [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York refused Wednesday to issue a preliminary injunction blocking congressional subpoenas of President Donald Trump’s financial records from two banks connected with the president. The ruling allows subpoenas of Deutushe Bank and Capital One to move forward next week, requiring the banks [...]
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill into law on Wednesday that will cap co-pays for insulin in efforts to address the rising costs of the drug. After approving numerous bills that day, Polis commented that HB19-1216 means the “days of insulin price gouging are over in Colorado.” Insulin prices have steadily increased over the [...]
