By Asif Shahzad LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan secured a badly-needed $3 billion short-term financial package from the International Monetary Fund on Friday, giving the South Asian economy a much-awaited respite as it teeters on the brink of default. The IMF said it had reached an agreement on the deal with the 220 million nation, which…
By Andrew Chung (Reuters) -In a blow to LGBT rights, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Friday ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, a decision that the dissenting liberal justices called a “license to discriminate.” The justices ruled 6-3 along ideological…
By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – Four Georgia families sued the state in federal court on Friday to stop a law that bans transgender youth from receiving hormone therapy, joining a wave of challenges to similar laws across the United States. The plaintiffs, allowed to proceed anonymously to guard against reprisals, are seeking an injunction to…
By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down race-conscious policies in college admissions includes some warnings to companies about the legal limits of workforce diversity efforts and is likely to fuel challenges to them, experts said. Thursday’s ruling has no direct impact on employers because it does not involve workplace bias…
By Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong’s pro-democracy online Citizens’ Radio station aired its final show on Friday and will cease operations owing to what its founder described as a “dangerous” political situation and the freezing of its bank account. Launched in 2005 by veteran activist Tsang Kin-shing, the Cantonese-language broadcaster gained a steady…
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday said a Texas mother can sue an online entertainment company for sending unwanted text messages to her 13-year-old son after she let him use her cellphone. Reversing a lower court ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Kristen Hall…
By Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Harry is seeking damages of around 440,000 pounds ($560,000) from Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), court documents released on Friday revealed as the trial of the royal’s phone-hacking lawsuit came to an end. The prince and around 100 others are suing MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday…
By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday decided – for now – not to weigh in on the legality of judges increasing prison sentences for criminal defendants based on charges for which they were acquitted – a practice that critics have said violates basic constitutional rights. The justices turned away…
By Daphne Psaledakis and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss political, security and humanitarian crises in Haiti with Prime Minister Ariel Henry next week, a State Department official said on Friday. Blinken will travel to Guyana and neighboring Trinidad and Tobago on July 5-6, the State Department said….
By Maher Nazih and Amina Ismail BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Thousands of supporters of Shi’ite populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a protest in front of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad on Friday to demand an end to diplomatic ties after a man set fire to a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm. Protesters carried portraits of Sadr…
