"Helps to provide penalty and interest-free loans to refugees arriving in the United States.There is a single video on the International Organization for Migration (IOM) YouTube channel. It advertises the travel loan program, which can be viewed below.
"Refugees who accept these travel loans are required to sign a promissory note prior to departure, committing themselves to repayment of the debt within a determined period after arrival.
"IOM arranges travel for refugee using funds furnished by the Department of State and is mandated to subsequently receive refugees' repayments on behalf of the Department of State.
"Repayments made are remitted to a revolving fund created between the Department of State and IOM for use by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to defray the cost of future refugee travel.
"A Travel Loan repayment is initially assigned either to IOM itself or to a resettlement agency."
Judges may have improperly applied federal sentencing guidelines to more than 100 people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, a federal court ruled Friday.DOJ wrongly lengthened some Jan. 6 sentences:
A three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department's argument that convicted rioters merited lengthier prison sentences for interfering in the "administration of justice" when they stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election win.
Judge Patricia Millett wrote in the court's unanimous ruling:"[T]he phrase 'administration of justice' does not encompass Congress's role in the electoral certification process. [T]ext, context, and commentary show that 'administration of justice' refers to judicial, quasi-judicial, and adjunct investigative proceedings, but does not extend to the unique congressional function of certifying electoral college votes.However, prosecutors routinely asked DC judges to apply the enhancement to individuals convicted of participating in the riot at the Capitol.
"Administration of justice" enhancements are typically reserved for defendants who disrupt judicial proceedings, such as a courtroom trial or grand jury investigation."
More than 100 rioters have had "administration of justice" enhancements applied to their sentences, Patricia Hartman, a spokesperson for the DC US Attorney's Office, told the Associated Press.
The imprisoned rioters who had their sentences enhanced may push for new, lighter sentences if the appeals court ruling stands.
The case before the appeals court was specifically related to the enhancement of convicted rioter Larry Brock.
Brock, a retired Air Force officer who stormed the Capitol while wearing a military combat helmet and tactical vest, was convicted of a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and misdemeanor offenses for his role in the riot.
He was sentenced last year to two years in prison.
The appeals court ruled:"Brock's interference with one stage of the Electoral College vote-counting process — while no doubt endangering our democratic processes and temporarily derailing Congress's constitutional work — did not interfere with the 'administration of justice."Brock's attorney argued that the misapplied enhancement likely increased his client's sentence by about nine months.
The panel found:"The administration of justice" applies to "judicial, quasi-judicial, and adjunct investigative proceedings, but does not extend to the unique congressional function of certifying electoral college votes."The enhancement can increase sentences by over a year, according to Politico.
In April, the Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the scope of the obstruction statute, Section 1512(c)(2), used to charge hundreds of defendants, including Brock.
"The United States uses the so-called threats from other countries as an excuse to expand its military power, and China firmly opposes this. As we all know, the United States defines space as a 'combat territory,' develops and deploys offensive space weapons... and even maliciously tracks and dangerously approaches other countries' spacecraft, creating the risk of collisions with space objects.Zhang was apparently responding to comments by US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who has repeatedly stressed the alleged threat posed by Beijing as its military continues to develop and modernize.
"This has become the biggest driver of militarization and battlefieldization of space, and the biggest threat to space security."
Comment: It would appear that Nazism, which may have lay dormant (or festering), is a sickness that has now reemerged and has infected numerous other nations: