The Associated Press (AP) released an exclusive report Thursday revealing a secret US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spying program that targeted top Venezuelan officials, including Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, despite the program’s potential illegality under international law. According to AP, the program, internally referred to as Operation Money Badger, has been ongoing since at least [...]
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Denmark to charge former Defence Minister with leaking classified information
According to a press release on Thursday, May 12th from the Danish Ministry of Justice, the Danish Attorney General has recommended charging former Defence Minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, with “the unauthorized disclosure of highly classified information.” The Attorney General’s office has recommended that charges be brought under the rarely used section 109 of the Danish [...]
Ukraine imposes sanctions on former parliament member linked to US misinformation campaign
Ukrainian officials imposed sanctions against Andriy Derkach, a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament who was accused by the US of being a Russian agent and interfering in the 2020 US presidential election, on Friday. During a briefing, secretary of the security and defense council, Oleksy Danilov, stated that Ukraine was sanctioning Derkach along with [...]
UN denounces Hungary legislation restricting youth exposure to LGBTQ identities
On Friday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) decried a new law proposed by Hungary that would “deny trans and gender diverse people the right to legal recognition and self-determination.” The legislation, which was passed by parliament on a 157 to one vote earlier this month, prohibits gay individuals from [...]
Jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny announced in a handwritten letter posted to social media on March 31 that he is going on a hunger strike to protest his lack of adequate medical treatment and sleep deprivation that amounts to torture at the IK-2 prison in Pokrov. Navalny was sentenced in February to 2 1/2 years [...]
Netherlands Holocaust survivor seeks compensation from German railway for transport to Nazi camps
A Holocaust survivor in the Netherlands has filed legal claims with Germany and its national railway company demanding compensation from the company for its role in the Holocaust. Salo Muller, now 84 years old, was a child when his parents were murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Muller is seeking compensation that includes 16 million [...]
Germany's highest court permits religious services exception during coronavirus crisis
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday against a blanket ban on religious services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The constitutional court was called to hear this case after a Muslim association in Lower Saxony appealed the ban. The association stated its intention to hold Friday prayers for its 1,300 members during the remaining weeks of [...]
EU finance ministers announced an agreement Thursday to alleviate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan is intended as a safety net for EU member states, companies and citizens. The Ministers of Finance agreed that the impact of COVID-19 has triggered the escape clause in the EU’s fiscal framework. This gives member states [...]
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Steibert, said Wednesday that Germany is banning so-called gay conversion therapy for minors and for adults who have diminished decision-making capabilities. Steibert stated that gay conversion therapy has no scientific basis and results in psychological harm. The goal is to “protect’s people’s right to sexual self-determination.” Federal Minister of Health [...]
Germany hacking suspect confesses to posting data of country's leaders
The German Central Office for the Suppression of Cybercrime and the Federal Criminal Police Office announced Tuesday that they have arrested a 20-year-old German citizen suspected to have hacked and released the personal and financial data of hundreds of German public figures, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, along with members of their respective political parties. [...]