Ecuador’s foreign ministry released a statement Thursday calling Mexico’s ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke a “persona non grata” following Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico’s, comments about the 2023 Ecuador elections and the assassination of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The foreign ministry noted that Ecuador was still in mourning following the assassination and [...]
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Georgia judge upholds indictment against Trump in 2020 election interference case
The Georgia judge overseeing former president Donald Trump’s 2020 state election interference case upheld the criminal indictment underlying the case on Thursday. Trump’s legal team had argued that his actions during the certification of the 2020 presidential election amounted to protected speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. However, on Thursday, Judge Scott McAfee rejected [...]
New York judge denies Trump motion to delay falsified documents case
A New York judge denied a motion Wednesday to delay former US president Donald Trump’s falsified documents trial start date until after a US Supreme Court decision concerning presidential immunity is handed down. The case, New York v. Trump, accuses the former president of falsifying business records to conceal payments to adult film star Stormy [...]
New York legislature votes to abolish adultery law from 1907
New York’s Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to repeal a largely unused law from 1907 that made adultery a criminal offense. The bill, which passed the State Assembly earlier this year, now goes to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. If signed, the adultery statute will be immediately repealed. Senate Bill S8744 repeals New [...]
Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld most provisions of controversial legislation that imposes a sentence of death by hanging against individuals convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” In upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the court maintained that though the country’s penal code is “undoubtedly … considered to be a relic from the country’s colonial past,” the bill’s overwhelming [...]
Radio Free Asia to close Hong Kong bureau citing safety concerns
Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) president, Bay Fang, announced Friday that the news organization has already closed its Hong Kong bureau and will “no longer have full-time personnel in Hong Kong” due to safety concerns after the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. The statement cited actions by Hong Kong authorities, who have referred to [...]
One Year Since Evan Gershkovich’s Arrest in Russia, a Friend Paints a Vivid Picture of Resilience
One year ago today, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia. His arrest came amid a broader media crackdown and surging suspicion of the West, both of which have loomed heavily amid Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine. On this grim anniversary, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken implored Russia to release Gershkovich [...]
Explainer: US Mass Incarceration and Its Disparate Racial Impacts
The US prides itself on being a nation built on freedom, justice, and individual rights. And yet the evolution of its system of mass incarceration — a system that cannot be defined without reference to shocking racial disparities — seems to directly contradict these founding principles. The US prison population dwarfs those of nearly every other [...]
New York judge sets April 15 start date for Trump in falsified business records case
A New York judge set an April 15 start date on Monday for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against former US President Donald Trump. The trial was originally scheduled to proceed on March 25, but the prosecution disclosed almost 100,000 pages of discovery shortly before the scheduled start date, which caused Trump’s legal [...]
Fourth Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ member sentenced for involvement in assault of Black men
A federal judge in Mississippi sentenced former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon to 40 years in prison on Wednesday, making Dedmon the fourth in a string of sentences for deputies who pled guilty for their role in the January 2023 beating and torture of two Black men. Dedmon pleaded guilty alongside five other deputies [...]