The US Supreme Court decided Monday in an 8-0 judgment, with Justice Barret recused, that the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Court erred in its Hughes v. Northwestern University decision. The court ordered the appellate court’s judgment to be vacated and remanded the case for further proceedings. The case concerns the Employee Retirement [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday urged the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to reject a bill that stigmatizes the trans community and “limits children’s and adolescent’s access to rights, education, and health.”  According to HRW, the legislature should instead address the violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in the country. Over 20 lawmakers [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday rejected a challenge by Republicans to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s proxy voting rules introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rules allow a member of the House to designate another member as a proxy. The proxy may cast the floor votes of members who are unable to physically attend [...]

The Brennan Center for Justice published a report Monday examining the Biden administration’s progress on criminal justice reform. The Brennan Center, a progressive and reform-minded organization, was lukewarm in their assessment. The piece divides Bidens’s policies throughout his first year as president into three categories: “little or no progress,” “limited policy changes” and “notable progress.” [...]

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Friday airstrikes launched by a Saudi-led coalition against a detention centre in Saada city, Yemen which left sixty dead and more than a hundred injured. The Secretary-General also reported an airstrike against a telecommunications facility in Hudayah resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians and children. The Houthi government [...]

A trial against a Syrian doctor who has been accused of murder and torturing detainees while working in Syrian military hospitals began last week in Frankfurt, Germany. The defendant, identified only as Alaa M, has been accused by German prosecutors of 18 counts of torture and one count of murder while working as a doctor [...]

Papua New Guinea abolished the death penalty on Friday. Capital punishment had originally been abolished by the Australian administration in 1970. However, it was reinstated by the government in 1991 under the leadership of Prime Minister Rabbi Namaliu for willful murder, in relation to treason and privacy. The country has not executed anyone since 1954. [...]

The High Court of Namibia Thursday ruled against recognizing same-sex marriages. The judge agreed with the arguments put forward by the applicants, but he held that the High Court is bound by precedent. The Supreme Court had previously held in the case of Chairperson of the Immigration Selection Board v. Frank that same-sex relationships are [...]

Guinea’s junta leader Mamadi Doumbouya Saturday announced the establishment of an 81-member National Council of Transition (CNT) to serve as the country’s parliament and legislate during the transition leading up to elections. The transition began on September 5, 2021, when former President Alpha Condé was ousted by a coup d’etat.  In a decree read out [...]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Saturday issued a decree imposing sanctions on Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(L)au and six of its representatives, including its founder Wolf D. Prix. The firm has been designing an opera and ballet theatre in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea. The procedure for imposing sanctions on the architecture firm was commenced [...]