Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg on Thursday announced a series of conspiracy and bribery charges against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the former chief advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The charges allege systematic corruption spanning a period of nearly three years. Four separate indictments charge Lewis-Martin with conspiracy in the fourth degree and bribery [...]

A divided New York state appeals court on Thursday unanimously struck down a nearly half-billion-dollar financial penalty against US President Donald Trump as unconstitutionally excessive, while issuing a fractured ruling on the underlying fraud allegations that produced no clear majority. The five-justice panel of the Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department vacated the entire $464.6 million [...]

Amnesty International on Thursday condemned US authorities’ usage of Palantir and Babel Street Artificial Intelligence-powered surveillance tools to monitor immigrants and conduct indiscriminate targeting of non-citizens at pro-Palestinian protests occurring throughout the country. Upon reviewing documentation acquired from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public records and previously disclosed procurement and privacy assessment documents, Amnesty [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged on Wednesday that Iraqi Kurdish authorities release Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after a court extended his prison sentence, stating: “Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind bars.” Sherwani [...]

US immigration officers must now weigh applicants’ support for “anti-American ideologies and activities” when deciding whether to grant certain immigration benefits, under new policy guidance released Tuesday by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The updated policy, effective immediately, instructs officers to assign “overwhelmingly negative” weight to cases where applicants have “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday that despite promises of reform, Sri Lankan security forces continue to harass the families of enforced disappearance victims, using the country’s counterterrorism laws to stifle justice and accountability. In its statement, the humanitarian organization highlighted that President Dissanayake’s administration, nearly a year into power, has done little to change [...]

On Tuesday, Amnesty International condemned Türkiye’s arrest and imprisonment of Enes Hocaoğulları, a LGBTQ+ activist who criticized rights violations committed during mass protests following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Amnesty International called the arrest arbitrary and claimed Hocaoğulları must be “immediately and unconditionally released,” arguing that Hocaoğulları was protected by his right to [...]

A coalition of Rwanda-allied armed groups has committed a range of atrocities against civilians that violate international humanitarian law in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including gang rapes and summary executions, according to Amnesty International. In a Wednesday briefing entitled “DRC: ‘They said we would die’: M23 and Wazalendo abuses in eastern Congo,” [...]

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen on Tuesday announced the opening of a new immigration detention center in the southwest corner of the state. National Guard Major General Craig Strong called the move a step in supporting “the president’s initiatives for homeland security.” The present McCook Work Camp will be transformed from a minimum-security facility, and its [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday blocked a lower court’s decision to uphold a ban on drag shows at West Texas A&M University. The appeals court stated that the plaintiffs had shown sufficient evidence that there would be harm to their First Amendment rights as a result of the ban, [...]