Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that a referendum would be held on constitutional reforms. State-owned news agency BelTA reported that Lukashenko said that whether or not the Belarusian People’s Congress will become a constitutional body has not been settled. However, Lukashenko is reported to have stated that the matter will be part of a draft [...]

Oregon starts issuing standard driver licenses to undocumented immigrants Friday owing to a law passed by the state’s legislature in the summer of 2019. The law, originally introduced in the Oregon House as HB2015 and later signed into law as the “Equal Access to Roads Act”, eliminates the requirement for persons to prove US citizenship [...]

The US Treasury Department levied sanctions Wednesday against the Venezuelan judge and prosecutor involved in the court case that sent six Citgo executives to prison. The verdict, handed down in late November, convicted the American executives to 8 to 13 years in prison, for offenses ranging from embezzlement to money laundering. The sanctions were announced [...]

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill into law on Tuesday that will trigger major changes in the state’s sex offender legal landscape. The House Bill 5679 will repeal specific sections of the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1994 that prohibited certain individuals required to be registered under the Act from living, working, or loitering [...]

The Karnataka state government in India decided Monday to promulgate an ordinance to bring the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020 into effect to curb the slaughter of cows in the state. Earlier this month, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government introduced the bill before the state legislative assembly. The bill was [...]

More than 100 retired bureaucrats and diplomats urged the chief minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to repeal a new law that criminalizes forced religious conversion of brides on Tuesday, warning that it risks fueling communal tensions. Demanding withdrawal of the “illegal” ordinance and suitable compensation for those booked under it, the letter [...]

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added Tuesday prominent women’s rights organization supporting domestic violence victims, Nasiliu.net (“Not to Violence”), to its “foreign agent” list under a controversial law aimed at restricting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating freely. The “foreign agent” status subjects NGOs, the press, and individuals to higher levels of bureaucratic scrutiny, and [...]