Three UN Special Rapporteurs “expressed alarm” Friday at reports that approximately 50 prisoners “convicted of terrorism-related crimes in Iraq” would be executed on Monday. This planned mass execution is not the first occurrence. Last month 21 prisoners on death row at Nasiriyah central prison were executed. On November 16 an additional 21 prisoners were executed. [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, on Thursday urged Middle East countries to lift sanctions against Qatar. The report followed Douhan’s 12-day visit to Qatar to “assess the impact of unilateral sanctions imposed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Thursday to block credit card giant Visa’s acquisition of Plaid. According to the DOJ, Visa is a “monopolist in online debit services, charging consumers and merchants billions of dollars in fees each year to process online payments.” Plaid is a “successful fintech firm” that [...]

US District Court Judge Stanley Bastian issued an order Friday for the US Postal Service (USPS) to “make every effort” to deliver ballots on time to voters in Michigan and Wisconsin. Bastian issued the order after Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson requested a hearing regarding concerns over slow mail delivery. The order and hearing form [...]

Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court held Friday that absentee ballots must arrive at the election office before polls close on Election Day (November 3). If the ballots arrive after the polls close, they will not be counted in the election. The Alliance for Retired Americans, Vote.org, and two residents of Maine brought this lawsuit on June [...]

Wisconsin’s Court of Appeals District III temporarily blocked Emergency Order #3 Limiting Public Gatherings Friday, preventing enforcement of the directive designed to limit public indoor gatherings to 25 percent of a building’s total capacity. The limit had not applied to schools, polling locations, and churches. The administration of  Governor Tony Evers had issued the order [...]

Walmart Inc. filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration Thursday asking the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to “clarify the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacies under the Controlled Substances Act.” The had DOJ threatened to sue Walmart, claiming that its pharmacists should [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on Saturday allowing Governor Greg Abbott to limit each county to one drop-off site for absentee ballots for the upcoming election. On Friday, a federal judge had granted a preliminary injunction against the governor’s limit. The plaintiffs had noted that the governor’s [...]

Colonel Stephen F. Keane, a US Marine judge, recused himself Friday from presiding over the 9/11 terrorism case, citing various conflicts of interest. The conflicts ranged from having relatives that lived in New York City on the day of the attacks to having served in a US counter-terrorism unit. Keane also specified having provided legal [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would promote the rehire of employees laid-off due to Covid-19. Under Assembly Bill 3216, an “employer shall offer its laid-off employees . . . all job positions that become available . . . for which the laid-off employees are qualified.” The bill requires employers to notify [...]