Judge Michael Baylson, of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled Wednesday that Philadelphia has the right to maintain its status as a sanctuary city while still receiving federal funding. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the defendant, had said cities would cease to receive federal funding unless the cities adhere to the [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Development Programme signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Myanmar on Wednesday that will give the UN agencies access to the Rakhine state. UN officials state that the memorandum will lay the foundation for the safe return of the Rohingya refugees. [...]

San Juan Superior Court judge Lauracelis Roques Arroyo ordered the Puerto Rican government to release Puerto Rico’s death toll since Hurricane Maria last September. Roques Arroyo said that the records are a matter of public information and must be released within a week. The order came in response to a lawsuit initiated by CNN and [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments on Monday concerning Texas’s attempted defunding of Planned Parenthood . Texas is appealing a lower court injunction that prevents them from denying Medicaid coverage to Planned Parenthood. The appellant’s argument focused on allegations that the Texas branch of Planned [...]

There is evidence to suggest that coalition airstrikes in Syria are potential war crimes, according to an Amnesty International report released Tuesday detailing the effects on civilians of the US airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, which occurred from June to October of 2017. Amnesty referred to the airstrikes, by the US-led Coalition against Islamic State (IS) [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday in response to the sanctions the US imposed on Russia in April. The counter-sanctions give Putin the right to ban trade from countries found to be hostile to Russia and to cut ties with such countries. According to Reuters , the counter-sanctions are not as strong [...]

Amnesty International (AI) denounced the “systematic ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy of President Ortega’s government” in a press release on Wednesday. The statement follows an AI report published the day before that detailed the Nicaraguan government’s tactics to suppress protesters. The organization especially criticized the government’s use of firearms to subdue protesters. “Security forces are authorized to use [...]

The Illinois House of Representatives voted 72-45 on Wednesday to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) , 36 years after the deadline. The ERA would change the Bill of Rights to prohibit gender discrimination by the government. The Illinois Senate ratified the amendment in April. According to The Hill, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner does not [...]

The European Court of Human Rights found Thursday that Lithuania and Romania had violated articles of the European Convention on Human Rights by allowing secret CIA prisons. Lithuania violated the article against torture, the right to liberty and security, the right to respect for private life and the right to an effective remedy. Lithuania had [...]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the case of City of Hays, Kansas v. Vogt , deciding that the writ of certiorari was “improvidently granted.” At issue was whether a defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights are violated when statements are admitted into evidence at a probable cause hearing even though they are not admitted during [...]