Civil organizations engaged in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea Thursday released a joint statement condemning Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s new decree. 20 civil organizations said that though Italy’s decree is designed to target them, “the real price will be paid by people fleeing across the central Mediterranean and finding themselves in [...]
US President Joe Biden Thursday announced the US would extend a parole program previously offered to immigrants from Venezuela to immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti but reiterated that his administration would continue to enforce Title 42 in compliance with a recent order from the US Supreme Court. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday filed an 86-page brief with the Supreme Court in response to two cases against President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan: Joseph Biden v. State of Nebraska and Department of Education v. Myra Brown. The brief agrees with a district court’s holding in Nebraska that the States challenging [...]
A Belarusian court Thursday gave lengthy criminal sentences to independent union leaders and activists. The prison terms add to existing crackdowns on dissent from the increasingly authoritarian government. According to Radio Free Europe, leaders of the Union of Workers of Electronic Outposts Producing Industry (REP) Vasil Berasnyou and Henadz Fyadynich each received a sentence of [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Wednesday criticized repressive measures on civil society groups by European governments considered to be liberal democracies. In a report, HRW expressed alarm at democratic backsliding in “healthy” democracies such as the UK, Italy, Greece and France. According to the V-Dem Institute, the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated democratic backsliding around the world. The [...]
The spokesperson for the Colombian government Wednesday announced the suspension of a recent ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN). Alfonso Prada, official spokesperson and minister of the interior, said the “legal effects” of the negotiated deal would be immediately nullified. The announcement came after the ELN denied that it had reached a deal with [...]
A federal court Wednesday sentenced former Bolivian minister Arturo Murillo to 70 months in prison, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. Murillo was convicted of corruption and conspiracy to launder bribes in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In October 2022, Murillo pleaded guilty to accepting at [...]
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appealed to the UN for support in recovering reparations for losses suffered during World War II after Germany refused to engage in negotiations. During a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arkadiusz Mularczyk addressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other UN officials to establish “cooperation [...]
The Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal Wednesday heard submissions by two transgender men appealing a January 2022 High Court decision, which upheld a government policy requiring transgender persons to undergo genital reconstruction surgery before changing the sex on their identity cards. The court reserved the ruling to a later date. In their oral submission, [...]
William “Rick” Singer, the orchestrator of the “Varsity Blues” college admissions bribery scheme, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison Tuesday for his role in the “nationwide conspiracy” including cheating in entrance exams and falsely admitting students as athletic recruits. Additionally, he was also ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) $10,668,841 in restitution, [...]
