US Justice Department charges Texas man for threatening election officials
The US Department of Justice Friday charged a Texas man for allegedly posting on Craigslist a message containing a threat to injure and kill election-related government officials. On Friday morning, the FBI arrested Chad Stark from Leander, Texas. As per the indictment, on January 5, 2021, Stark posted a message on Craigslist with the subject [...]
Federal report reveals 13 senior Trump officials violated Hatch Act
The US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) released a new report Tuesday detailing the Hatch Act violations by more than a dozen top Trump administration officials leading up to the 2020 presidential election. The OSC investigation and subsequent report were triggered by a complaint that arose from the decision to host the 2020 Republican National [...]
Article 66.2 of TRIPS Agreement: LDCs and Technology Transfer
Climate change is a serious challenge facing countries. Least developed countries (LDCs) are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts due to a lack of adequate resources, particularly technological resources, required to mitigate/adapt to climate change impacts within their territories. Some international agreements recognize this technology challenge faced by LDCs and thus provide for technology [...]
Chad’s defense ministry said Sunday that troops of their neighboring country the Central African Republic (CAR) had attacked a Chadian military post and that these actions amounted to a war crime. Chad’s Foreign Minister, Cherif Mahamat Zene said “The Central African armed forces attacked the outpost of Sourou in Chad on Sunday morning … killed [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held Thursday that Michigan’s redistricting commission can bar people with political connections from serving on the commission. In 2018 61 percent of Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment that creates a 13-person commission to draw the state legislative districts following the 2020 election. The amendment prohibits [...]
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Malawi ruled Wednesday that the imposition of the death penalty is unconstitutional and contrary to the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution of Malawi. It further ordered the re-sentencing of all convicts facing execution. The ruling comes following an appeal by Charles Khoviwa, who, despite having no prior convictions, [...]
Amnesty reports: global drop in state killings amid pandemic
Amnesty International on Wednesday reported a global decline in state executions in 2020 due to the pandemic. The report details a global review of death penalty rates from January 2020 through December 2020, which fell by 26% as compared to 2019. Despite the trend, many countries — including Egypt and the United States — significantly [...]
Two million people internally displaced by violence in West Africa Sahel region: UNHCR
A UN briefing on Friday called for an end to the violence in West Africa’s Sahel region, where more than two million people have been displaced within the borders of their own countries. Boris Cheshirkov, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that the number of internally displaced [...]
UN refugee agency commends Chad for new asylum law aimed at protecting nearly 480,000 refugees
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday commended the Republic of Chad for adopting its first asylum law to enhance protection for close to 480,000 refugees currently hosted in the country. Chad has one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. At present, it hosts more than 915,000 refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced [...]
The Teitiota family from a little-known Pacific island didn’t intend to become a catalyst for expanding the concept of asylum—but they became one anyway. In 2015, New Zealand denied the family’s asylum claim and deported them, despite the parents’ plea that their three children’s health and well-being were at risk amid crop failure, withering coconut [...]
