The nation of Vanuatu on Monday filed an application with the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) against France, requesting that the court affirm its sovereignty over disputed islands in the South Pacific region and establish new boundaries between Vanuatu and the French territory of New Caledonia. Vanuatu is a cluster of roughly 80 islands [...]

Scrolling on my phone, I happened upon a video so violent that it seemed to cross the threshold at which ordinary language begins to fail. In it, a man was seen walking down a street in Ahvaz carrying the severed head of a young woman. She was Mona Heydari, 17, killed in 2022 by the [...]

United Nations experts on Tuesday issued a statement demanding an end to the unlawful attacks and killings carried out by the United States military on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The experts indicated that, over the course of a year, these attacks—which resumed in August after a months-long hiatus—were not justifiable under [...]

In a monumental win for Pakistan, a panel of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Monday held that India must honor a nearly 70-year-old water treaty between the two nations. The court said that the treaty remains legally binding and that no party may unilaterally suspend or terminate it. The PCA ruled that India [...]

A UN independent expert on Monday called for Tajikistan to enact freedom of information and whistleblower legislation, saying such laws are needed to protect public access to budget and debt information and participation in budget-making. She delivered preliminary observations in Dushanbe at the close of a 12-day official visit. Attiya Waris, the UN Independent Expert [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a historic preservation group that sought to indefinitely halt the construction of a ballroom at the White House. In a 5-4 vote, the court held that the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) lacked standing to challenge the ballroom, without ruling on its legality. Under [...]

Human Rights Watch reported Monday that the Foreign Aids (Regulation, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill (FA Bill) proposed by Nigerian Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo would allow the government to unduly regulate and influence the goals and activities of independent organizations, threatening freedom of expression rights in the country. The Bill aims to “promote alignment of foreign aid [...]

30 August 2026: International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances Imagine a knock at the door, and a loved one disappears without a trace. For thousands of families around the world, this is not a nightmare, but a lived reality. A tool of terror that manifests itself as a hidden crime, leaving behind a [...]

UN experts on Friday urged member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to implement more stringent measures to safeguard the future of the Court after the latest string of sanctions by the United States targeting senior court officials, emphasizing that such sanctions threaten justice and only serve to embolden the perpetrators of atrocities. In [...]