Human Rights Watch (HRW) called upon Qatar Monday to eliminate discriminatory male guardianship rules that severely limit women’s rights to make life decisions. According to HRW’s report, women in Qatar are largely denied the ability to make decisions on things such as marriage, travel and reproductive health care. Women are required to obtain permission from [...]

The US blocked Venezuela Friday from pursuing its dispute over US sanctions at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Biden administration does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela, due to claims of election manipulation and illegitimate presidency. Instead, the administration recognizes Juan Guaidó as the interim president. Throughout 2020, the US imposed [...]

A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decided Friday that Apple Inc. must pay $308.5 million to Personalized Media Communications (PMC) for infringing upon a digital rights management patent. PMC is a patent-licensing company which currently has more than 100 issued patents and pending applications. The company only licenses [...]

A UN human rights expert called on Colombia Friday to dismantle criminal networks and corruption in Buenaventura, where civilians have been greatly impacted by fighting between Colombian armed groups. Buenaventura has a population of 432,000. Over the past decade, human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have reported the forced displacement of thousands of [...]

The Sapporo District Court found Wednesday that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it violates the right to equality. As a member of the Group of Seven, an intergovernmental organization including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US, Japan was the only country that did not recognize same-sex marriage. [...]

Foreign adversaries, such as Russia and Iran, attempted to interfere in the 2020 US election, according to a declassified report released Tuesday by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Executive Order 13848(1)(a) required the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) to address key foreign actors’ intentions and efforts to influence or interfere with the [...]

The Pakistani Taliban on Friday accused International Women’s Day organizers of blasphemy and obscenity, threatening them with vigilante action in response to the proliferation of doctored images and video clips suggesting that participants in the demonstrations had insulted Islam. International Women’s Day is annually celebrated on March 8. In Pakistan, women’s right advocates organized demonstrations [...]

Bolivia’s former acting president Jeanine Anez was arrested Saturday on terrorism and sedition charges. Government minister Carlos Eduardo del Castillo tweeted that Anez had been apprehended and was in police custody. Anez served as the interim president after Evo Morales fled the country in 2019 during widespread protests against his re-election. Anez allegedly used the judiciary [...]

Colombia’s Ombudsman Office reported Monday that more than 11,000 individuals have been displaced by fighting between Colombian armed groups so far in 2021. The fighting has been due to crime gangs, such as National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas and former members of the FARC rebels, fighting each other and armed forces for control of Uraba [...]

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law Monday legislation that makes it more difficult to vote early, among other voting process changes. Formerly under Iowa law, the early voting period was 29 days. Mail-in ballots had to be postmarked by Election Day and arrive by noon on the Monday following the election in order to [...]