“I don’t give a shit what you call it,” US Vice President JD Vance replied last year to suggestions that killing Venezuelan civilians without any due process would be described a war crime. That comment was in relation to the US bombing boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Pacific in over 30 strikes, [...]
The metaverse—an immersive, persistent and networked virtual environment first conceptualized in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash (1992)—integrates Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Extended Reality (XR) to enable users to “live” within a digital universe through avatars. Unlike traditional Web 2.0, the metaverse creates a powerful sense of “being there” through immersion, embodiment, and decentralization. [...]
Is it possible to advocate for universal human rights while quietly dismantling the institution one of its core articles was written to protect? Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) calls the family “the natural and fundamental group unit of society.” Yet modern ideologies of left and right alike have treated the [...]
The United States’ decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council and, consequently, from this year’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) marks a worrying retreat from global human rights accountability. Although the announcement did not cite any specific reasons for the withdrawal, it reflects a deeper unwillingness to accept scrutiny under the same universal standards [...]
Forget the TV drama of “democracy under attack.” There is no season twist on Capitol Hill, no slick villain delivering a chilling monologue to a string-quartet soundtrack, and no mastermind plotting from half a world away to bring America to its knees. The real plot twist unfolds much closer to home. It is the claim [...]
On October 1-3, the Labour Law Colloquium was once again held at Stellenbosch University. This annual event, which brings together the leading minds in the labour law world, often celebrates the works of prolific South African thinkers. In 2024, the Labour Law Colloquium honoured the recently retired Chief Justice Zondo. This year, the conference included [...]
Many migrants embark on dangerous sea journeys in search of better lives in foreign countries. Too often, these voyages end in tragedy, with lives lost in the middle of the ocean far from any help. For migrants fleeing conflict or persecution, boarding an un-seaworthy boat may seem like their only option when safer routes are [...]
On June 4, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, issued a statement that may seem, to external ears, like political posturing: “The United States and Israel can’t do a damn thing.” Yet within the constitutional framework of the Islamic Republic, such utterances do not function as rhetoric alone. They operate as binding pronouncements under the system [...]
In today’s world, military power is no longer measured solely by missile blasts and the roar of fighter jets. Alongside every military strike runs a quieter yet far more influential battle: the war of narratives. In the latest conflict between Iran and Israel, missiles matter—but perhaps not as much as the stories told about them. [...]
Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on being different from Donald Trump. Yet his government’s first major legislative act, Bill C-2—the so-called “Strong Borders Act”—represents nothing less than a shameful capitulation to Trumpian xenophobia that fundamentally betrays Canada’s legal and moral obligations to refugees and migrants. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, who introduced this sweeping 127-page [...]
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