Mississippi Targets Islamic Law, Makes Foreign Law Illegal

United States: Mississippi passed a bill in February banning the use of foreign law, allegedly aimed at stopping the influence and spread of Islam’s Sharia religious law, reports JURIST.

House Bill 177 reflects Republican concerns over international influence on American affairs by claiming to protect constitutional rights such as freedom of religion, speech, or press, and marriage, according to JURIST.

The family attorneys at Chaninat and Leeds are experts on Thailand marriage laws and specialize in assisting binational couples with marriage licenses and registration.

At least a few other American states—mostly in the south and south east—have passed similar laws in their constitutions banning courts from considering international or Islamic law.

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US-Thailand Commence Annual Cobra Gold Despite Differences

Cobra Gold 2014 by U.S. Pacific Command is 

licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Though the United States sanctioned Thailand in 2014 for its ongoing coup, both countries still hosted the annual Cobra Gold joint military exercises, reports the Bangkok Post.

There had been speculation that the U.S. might cancel the Cobra Gold this year which has been conducted in Thailand for nearly thirty years. 

One expert on Asian security issues, Ian Storey, told the Bangkok Post that cancelling the Cobra Gold wouldn't have been in Washington’s best interests as it could have “created an opportunity for Beijing to strengthen its strategic ties to Bangkok.”

Washington did scale back the number of troops it sent this year, from 4,300 to 3,600, and “refocused” the drills this year on humanitarian civic-action training and non-combatant evacuation drills.

“Cobra Gold is a symbol of long-standing and continuous military cooperation,” said General Wuttinun Leelayudth, Thailand's deputy Supreme Commander, to this year’s attendees. “The training shows transparency in terms of these relationships.”

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Chaninat and Leeds has a team of Thailand investigators experienced and prepared to gather evidence for clients to build their court cases.

US Coerces El Salvador to Buy GMO Seeds, Farmers Push Back

The Natural Society reported the U.S. would only disperse a $277 million aid package to El Salvador if stipulations included buying genetically modified seeds from Monsanto. 

Local farmers and several farmers’ associations across the country strongly oppose the agriculture regulation, preferring to source their seeds locally, according to Natural Society.

The business attorneys at Chaninat and Leeds law firm specialize in company registration in Thailand, and in establishing NGOs, foundations, and other legal business entities.

Natural Society reports that one such farmer, Manuel Cortez, said, “We have lived with these inferior transnational seeds that previous governments have promoted, and our market was saturated with them. It seems as if the United States doesn’t support local production of seed.”

According to Natural Society, the opposition to give in to buying GM seeds may be successful in getting the aid package to exclude that requirement.

Read the full story here.

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