The US Department of Defense (DOD) Thursday announced a new Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (CHMR-AP). The plan lays out a number of massive changes across the DoD that are intended to mitigate and respond to civilian harm by shifting the fundamental culture of the DoD to be more aware of the risks posed [...]

This year alone, Russian forces are believed to have launched hundreds of cluster munition attacks in contravention of various principles of international humanitarian law, according to a scathing report released Thursday by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), an international advocacy group. Cluster munitions are weapons that contain dozens to hundreds of explosive submunitions. They are [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday released a redacted version of the affidavit seeking a search warrant for former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The DOJ also released a memo outlining the reasons for the proposed redactions. The release of the documents follows a Thursday order by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart. Reinhart found: that [...]

Human rights organization the Syrian British Consortium (SBC) Thursday published its investigation into the alleged massacre of civilians by the Syrian government and allied forces in the town of Daraya a decade ago. The investigation found that from August 19, 2012, to August 26, 2012, government forces killed at least 700 people, including women and [...]

Thomas Kraemer is Senior Counsel at Kakar Advocates in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is a Special Correspondent for JURIST currently based in Istanbul, Türkiye.  Last Saturday it was announced that the investigation and prosecution of crimes is no longer within the purview of the Afghanistan [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Thursday that Arkansas may not prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth in the state. In April 2021, the Arkansas legislature overrode the governor’s veto to pass Act 626, making Arkansas the first state in the nation to ban minors from receiving gender-confirming [...]

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved Advanced Clean Cars II rule on Thursday making California the first state to prohibit sales of new gasoline-powered cars. The rule sets out a roadmap whereby 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in the state will be zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), including plug-in hybrids. The regulation [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree ordering the expansion of his country’s armed forces to upwards of two million. In accordance with the decree, the military will expand by some 137,000 soldiers, bringing the total number of service members to just over 1.15 million, and swelling the ranks of the military personnel to [...]

US President Joe Biden’s administration Wednesday announced a revised student-loan forgiveness policy. For individuals making less than $125,000 per year, the policy forgives $10,000 in non-Pell Grant federal student loans and $20,000 in Pell Grant federal student loans. Biden also extended through December 31 the previous pause on federal student loan repayments, which was set [...]

A New York court Wednesday granted ex-Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein the right to appeal his sex crimes conviction, according to NBC News. Weinstein was sentenced in March 2020 to 23 years prison on charges of third-degree rape and criminal sexual act in the first degree for sexually assaulting a former production assistant and raping another [...]