The US Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that will ease restrictions on emergency small business loans. HR 7010, or the “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020,” would amend the Small Business Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). It would extend the covered loan period from eight weeks [...]
The Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed a law on Thursday that criminalizes the mockery of China’s national anthem. Under the new law, which was passed to “preserve the dignity of the national anthem,” individuals are not allowed to alter the lyrics of the national anthem, play or sing it in a “distorted or disrespectful [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday that former Michigan governor Rick Snyder cannot avoid deposition in civil lawsuits pertaining to the Flint water scandal. Snyder and former Michigan State Treasurer Andy Dillon claimed that they could not be deposed as non-party fact witnesses in Flint water crisis claims against other [...]
Former president of the United Automobile Workers union (UAW) Gary Jones pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring with at least six other high-ranking UAW officials to embezzle over $1 million in union funds. He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the US by evading tax payment on the embezzled funds, as well as to [...]
The Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to US congressional leaders on Monday, urging them to “take swift and decisive legislative action” in response to a series of recent police killings of African Americans. The letter was signed by 438 organizations, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The [...]
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday adopted a decision to establish and improve legislation on and enforcement of Hong Kong’s national security. This decision imposes a duty upon the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security. HKSAR was previously required to complete national security legislation under the Basic Law of the [...]
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday aimed at preventing online censorship. This order increases the government’s ability to regulate social media platforms. The executive order also clarified the scope of immunity from liability that was created by section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act. The immunity does not protect those who [...]
The UK government announced that all British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland would be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes, making the official rule change in Parliament on Thursday. This rule change follows the case of an Irish woman, Emma DeSouza, who applied for a residence card for her US-born husband in [...]
The US Senate on Thursday approved the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act, which will reinstate expired FBI surveillance tools used for counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations. The Act would restore the ability of the government to obtain secret court orders requiring third parties to hand over any “tangible thing” that is deemed relevant to national security investigations. This [...]
Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear on Friday vetoed Senate Bill 9, which would have allowed the state’s Attorney General to restrict abortion access during the COVID-19 outbreak. The bill also would have required doctors to try to preserve the lives of any infants born alive in attempted abortions. For failing to provide “medically appropriate and reasonable [...]
