Mar
19
2013
It comes after the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in December sparked demands for tougher laws.
Last month, the government introduced the new rape laws in an ordinance.
After a seven-hour debate on Tuesday, members of the lower house gave their assent to the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill. It now passes to the upper house.
The legislation contains new penalties for stalking, groping, voyeurism and acid attacks.
However, Indian newspapers reported a low turn-out for Tuesday’s …
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Mar
19
2013
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (Cispa) aims to aid investigation of web attacks.
But the activists say the law would erode privacy by exposing people’s browsing habits and would be used to justify domestic surveillance.
The “bat signal” system tells followers to start displaying protest materials such as website banners and petitions.
Plans for the signalling system emerged in early 2012 following protests and website blackouts in opposition to two other draft laws in the US, …
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Mar
19
2013
Los Angeles Superior Court’s closure of 21 of its 26 courtrooms for eviction hearings illegally “shuts the courthouse doors on many of the county’s most vulnerable residents” community organizers claim in a federal lawsuit, which CES is a plaintiff in.
The 26 courts where unlawful detainer cases were filed are being reduced to five courts in the downtown Stanley Mosk Courthouse, or in Pasadena, Long Beach, Santa Monica, or Antelope Valley.
Scales CutIn response, the Neighborhood Legal …
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Mar
19
2013
Bosco Ntaganda, a Rwandan national and general in the Congolese military* indicted for war crimes, a particularly bad actor who’s stirred up violence in a part of the world that has plenty of bad actors and violence, walked into the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, today and asked to be delivered to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands.
That’s according to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who confirmed a Rwandan foreign ministry statement from earlier …
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Mar
19
2013
Date rape is often saturated with entitlement. It feeds off of the hero worship that grows rampant like weeds on school campuses and in locker rooms. Young men are taught to be strong, to be athletes, to be feared. Young women are taught to be meek, to be feminine, to be small. As our young people begin to sort out relationships with each other and relationships with alcohol, they encounter an …
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Mar
19
2013
”I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” —Bob Knight, Hall of Fame basketball coach, 1988
As a sportswriter, there is one part of the Steubenville High School rape trial that has kept rattling in my brain long after the defendants were found guilty. It was a text message sent by one of the now-convicted rapists, team quarterback Trent Mays. Mays had texted a friend that he wasn’t worried about …
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Mar
19
2013
Washington’s renewed push for immigration reform comes fast on the heels of an election that positioned Latinos as the new deciders. But in all the post-election buzz and the Beltway’s bipartisan agreement that overhauling immigration is the best way to snag Latino votes, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Immigration is, of course, a multiracial issue. And it’s not just a matter of votes but one of justice.
Perhaps last on the …
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Mar
19
2013
The Irish State has finally said sorry to 10,000 women and girls incarcerated in Catholic Church-run laundries where they were treated as virtual slaves.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny was forced into issuing a fulsome apology on Tuesday evening to those held in the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.
The apology in the Dáil (Irish parliament) came about two weeks after a damning 1,000-plus page report was released detailing the way women and girls were maltreated inside the nun-controlled laundries.
Survivors …
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Mar
19
2013
DENVER (AP/CBS4) – A Colorado House panel voted Monday to scrap a divisive 2006 law requiring Colorado police to report suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities.
The 9-2 vote came amid complaints that it isn’t needed in an era of increased federal immigration enforcement.
“Requiring local public safety agencies to act as federal immigration agents is a drain on resources and community trust,” said Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Denver, who is pushing to repeal the law and has …
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Mar
19
2013
Philadelphia has the highest rate of deep poverty – people with incomes below half of the poverty line – of any of the nation’s 10 most populous cities.
The annual salary for a single person at half the poverty line is around $5,700; for a family of four, it’s around $11,700.
Philadelphia’s deep-poverty rate is 12.9 percent, or around 200,000 people.
Phoenix, Chicago, and Dallas are the nearest to Philadelphia, with deep-poverty rates of more than 10 percent.
The …
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