Russia designated the independent online news site VTimes a “foreign agent” on Friday, placing the media company under increased scrutiny by the Kremlin as part of a wider crack-down on independent media critical of the Russian government. VTimes is the second media outlet to be added to the list in less than a month. They [...]

The High Court of Karnataka in India observed Thursday that not providing a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine would amount to a violation of the right to life enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar has issued the order in a [...]

British legislators introduced a bill on Wednesday to recognize animals as sentient beings, setting the stage for new reforms under the government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. Some of the proposals include prohibitions on the live shipment of animals and bans against shark fins, ivory, and the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals. A [...]

A group of South Korean fisheries

The Myanmar military junta arrested 39 individuals on Wednesday. All 39 are suspected allies of an ethnic minority rebel group in Kayah State, from whom they are suspected of seeking military training. The individuals are also suspected to be responsible for several explosions and arson attacks in the Yankin village. The junta first raided the [...]

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday in the wake of a ransomware attack on a major US pipeline “to improve the nation’s cybersecurity and protect federal government networks.” The executive order seeks to improve the security of software by “establishing baseline security standards for development of software sold to the government,” including [...]

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressed concern Wednesday over the escalation of violence in East Jerusalem and around Gaza, warning of potential violations under the Rome Statute. The hostilities have escalated after the Israeli government launched an aerial attack in Gaza, killing at least 50 people, including several Hamas senior members. The source [...]

An EU court ruled Wednesday in favor of Tom Morenhourt and six other citizens seeking to withhold the importation of goods from and regulate commercial transactions with Israeli settlements on occupied land that Palestinians seek for an independent state.  This ruling rescinds a 2019 decision by the European Commission not to register a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) [...]

The Minnesota judge who oversaw Derek Chauvin’s murder trial issued a ruling on Wednesday that could significantly increase the amount of time Chauvin spends in prison. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty last month of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in May 2020. In [...]

The EU’s General Court on Wednesday annulled a European Commission decision from 2017, in which the Commission had found that a tax deal between the Luxembourg government and multinational tech company Amazon amounted to “illegal state aid.” In 2017, Amazon was ordered by the European Commission, the EU’s politically independent executive arm, to pay approximately [...]