Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf extended his shutdown order on Monday to nonessential businesses in all 67 counties, which began at midnight and will remain in effect for two weeks. “Ensuring the health and safety of Pennsylvanians is the highest priority as the state grapples with a growing number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, and as [...]
Nazaha, Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption body, on Sunday arrested 298 government employees on charges of bribery, embezzlement and exploiting their positions. Government authorities claim that they are going after graft committed by ordinary employees. However, some of those arrested could have posed a political threat to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). This has raised concerns [...]
The Trump administration issued updated guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in a press conference on Monday. The new recommended measures include avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people, engaging in distance learning when possible, avoiding discretionary travel, and avoiding bars, restaurants and public food courts. State Department health official Dr. [...]
The Yokohama District Court on Monday sentenced a 30-year-old Japanese man to death for killing 19 residents and injuring 26 others at a care home for people with mental disabilities in 2016. Satoshi Uematsu, formerly employed by the care facility, had admitted to the killings in hearings during his lay judge trial. He insisted that [...]
The US Supreme Court announced Monday that they are postponing oral arguments scheduled for the March session beginning March 23. By deferring the arguments the court is “keeping with public health precautions recommended in response to COVID-19.” The justices last took to the bench on March 9 and were not scheduled to do so again [...]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont on Monday announced an unprecedented regional effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In a joint statement, they said that restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms and casinos must close in the three states, effective 8 PM Monday. [...]
A group of UN experts condemned Thammakaset, a Thai poultry producer, for alleged targeting of human rights defenders Thursday. In 2019, Thammakaset allegedly used Thai defamation laws to sue and have prosecuted ten individuals who criticized Thammakaset’s labor practices for human rights abuses. The UN experts called upon Thailand to reform defamation laws based on [...]
Dozens of large and small internet service providers have signed on to a pledge issued by the Federal Communications Commission to keep users connected during the coronavirus pandemic. FCC chairman Ajit Pai reached out to multiple broadband and telephone service companies on Thursday asking them to sign the pledge. The pledge requires companies to: (1) [...]
The US District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction late Friday blocking a rule change that would have cut food stamp benefits to nearly 700,000 people. The rule would have affected able-bodied adults without children who receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), requiring them to work a minimum of [...]
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief Matt Albence said on Wednesday that it would take 140 years at the current deportation rate to remove every immigrant who has illegally entered the US during the past two years. Over 900,000 new cases have been added to ICE’s non-detained docket over the past couple of years. [...]
