When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

Saying free-speech rights cannot outweigh the need to preserve judicial integrity, the en banc Ninth Circuit on Wednesday upheld an Arizona law banning judges from soliciting donations or stumping for colleagues. The 21-page lead opinion affirms five provisions in Arizona judicial code, which restrict judicial candidates from in-person solicitation or endorsing and campaigning for other candidates publicly, under the First Amendment.   read more

Sen. Rob Portman spoke about the problem of "sponsors for hire" who help human traffickers exploit unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. The report centers on a case in which the Dept. of Health and Human Services released at least six unaccompanied children into the hands of human traffickers in Marion, Ohio. The traffickers forced the children to work 12 hours a day on egg farms in and around Marion, and crammed them into or even under a small, white trailer, investigators found.   read more

The poll shows 61% of Americans support the plan to relax immigration policy for some undocumented people. Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have called for a crackdown on illegal immigration, with Trump promising to build a wall along southern U.S. border with Mexico. But Hispanic voters are an increasingly powerful voting bloc, and the debate over Obama's immigration action could hurt Republican attempts to make inroads into the important demographic.   read more

The potential costs of an attack in the United States are huge. Last year Lloyd's and the University of Cambridge released a 65-page study estimating that simultaneous malware attacks on 50 generators in the Northeastern United States could cut power to as many as 93 million people, resulting in at least $243 billion in economic damage and $21 billion to $71 billion in insurance claims. The study called such a scenario improbable but "technologically possible."   read more

In rejecting the government's reliance on the "possible presence" of harm, Moss pointed to recent Supreme Court precedent warning "against permitting even substantial policy considerations to trump the plain language of the FOIA." "There may be compelling reasons to authorize the FBI to withhold search slips and similar processing records," Moss wrote. "But the FOIA itself does not do so, and the FBI cannot act on the basis of an exemption ... that Congress has not provided."   read more

McPadden claimed that Wal-Mart used her loss of a pharmacy key as a pretext for firing her after more than 13 years at the retailer. McPadden said she was fired in retaliation for her raising concerns that customers where she worked were getting prescriptions filled improperly because of inadequate staff training. McPadden also said her gender played a role, alleging that Wal-Mart later disciplined but stopped short of firing a male pharmacist in New Hampshire who also lost his pharmacy key.   read more

The U.N. report sparked calls by rights groups for the U.S. and Britain to halt sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia that could be used in such attacks. The panel of experts documented 119 coalition sorties "relating to violations of international humanitarian law" and said that "many attacks involved multiple air strikes on multiple civilian objects." U.S. and Saudi officials are working on a $1.29 billion sale of U.S. munitions to replenish bombs and missiles used by the Saudis in Yemen.   read more

The FTC said DeVry would define a student as working in a chosen field when the individual was, in fact, working as a restaurant server. In another instance, a graduate with a business degree with a healthcare management focus was listed as working in his field when he was selling cars. "Educational institutions like DeVry owe prospective students the truth about their graduates' success finding employment in their field of study and the income they can earn," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.   read more

Some conservation groups believe authorities should trap and relocate birds where possible, rather than kill them. Friends of Animals said the latest permit was too broad because it allowed killings of migratory birds regardless of species, including those that are easy to catch. But Judge José Cabranes said the Fish and Wildlife Service had authority to issue the permit and that the permit authorized using lethal force.   read more

Friday's move was prompted in part by the death of the driver of a Ford Motor Co pickup truck last month, as well as new tests conducted on suspected faulty air bags. The Dec. 22 death of a Georgia man in South Carolina was the 10th worldwide linked with Takata's air bag inflators. NHTSA in November said tens of millions of additional vehicles with inflators containing ammonium nitrate will be recalled by 2018 unless Takata can prove that they are safe.   read more

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles granted a preliminary injunction sought by abortion providers, finding that the law violated women's rights to obtain an abortion. "Without an injunction, Louisiana women will suffer significantly reduced access to constitutionally protected abortion services, which will likely have serious health consequences," he wrote in the 112-page opinion. The Louisiana law was enacted under the state's former Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.   read more

TI attributed the overall global improvement to the work of citizen activists fighting corruption in places such as Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Ghana - all countries which were able to improve their ratings in 2015. "Corruption can be beaten if we work together," said TI chairman Jose Ugaz in a statement. "To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough."   read more

Obama cited the story of Kalief Browder, a black 16-year-old who was arrested in 2010 and spent almost two years in solitary confinement in New York City's Rikers Island jail before his release in 2013 and eventual suicide two years later. Obama said research suggests solitary confinement has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior.   read more

Two anti-abortion activists behind the filming of videos on fetal tissue procurement by Planned Parenthood were indicted by a Texas grand jury on Monday, while clearing the women's health group of any wrong-doing. The grand jury reviewed the case for more than two months and its decision was a result of a probe launched under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who accused Planned Parenthood of the "gruesome harvesting of baby body parts."   read more

The fine imposed on Oklahoma University was for incidents that included hosing down baby baboons, failure to monitor baboons during surgery, and allowing guinea pigs to bleed to death. University president David Boren said the school's baboon breeding and research would end within four years after federal officials had found more than 50 baboons died under the OU lab's care. USDA investigations found 11 incidents of suspected animal mistreatment at the labs in 2014 and 2015.   read more

After the 2013 Supreme Court ruling, members of the Shelby County legal team argued they should qualify for fees because they vindicated constitutional equality guarantees. The appeals court had said the fee request "defies common sense" because the lawsuit was not seeking to advance the Voting Rights Act's anti-discrimination purpose. The Shelby County case was initiated by conservative activist Edward Blum, whose group regularly challenges race-based policies.   read more