US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Monday on X (formerly Twitter) that the UK has agreed to drop its mandate that Apple provide a “back door” to access encrypted data from American users.  The controversial Technical Capability Notice (TCN) was issued to Apple in January under Section 253 of the UK’s 2016 Investigatory [...]

Dr. Victoria McCloud, the UK’s first openly transgender judge, lodged an appeal on Monday with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against a Supreme Court ruling that defined “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 solely by biological criteria, excluding transgender women with Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs). McCloud had previously sought leave to intervene [...]

UN Assistant Secretary General for Africa Martha Pobee raised concerns on Monday about the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan. While briefing the UN Security Council on the humanitarian and security situations in the country, she urged the international community to act quickly and to assist South Sudanese authorities to recommit to the process mandated [...]

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday that his office has launched an investigation into Meta Platforms Inc. and Character.AI, probing whether their AI-chatbot services have misled children into believing they were receiving legitimate mental health support. The charge has raised concerns under Texas consumer protection laws over false therapeutic representations, privacy, and data [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the Kazakh government Monday to reinstate accreditation for 16 journalists from the US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). This comes ahead of the outlet’s pending appeal hearing. CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said, stated, “RFE/RL’s bold reporting has an absolutely central place in [...]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres voiced his support on Tuesday for recent American-led efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian War. Responding to a journalist’s question about Monday’s meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump, and several European leaders, Stéphane Dujarric, Gueterres’ spokesperson, stressed the importance that “all involved continue to stay actively [...]

Amnesty International on Monday issued a statement condemning proposed changes to the Civil Society Organization (CSO) law in Ethiopia, urging that the draft amendment should not enter into force. Amnesty International stated that the approval of the draft amendments would “move the country towards a total closure of civic space.” The Organizations of Civil Societies [...]

Google on Monday admitted to engaging in anti-competitive conduct by pre-installing its search engine on certain manufacturers’ and telcos’ Android mobile phones. The admission comes as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated Federal Court proceedings against Google Asia Pacific. The company agreed to pay a total penalty of $55 million. The ACCC investigation [...]

US President Donald Trump announced via social media on Monday plans to issue an executive order eliminating mail-in voting and electronic voting machines, calling instead for paper ballots and hand counts. Trump wrote that “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the [...]

Overnight Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities killed at least 10-14 civilians, including children, hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began talks with US President Donald Trump on potential solutions to end the war, according to reports Monday. UNICEF condemned the attacks, urging an end to strikes on populated areas after confirming “more young lives lost and [...]