New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday pleaded not guilty in federal court to one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution. The indictment alleges that in 2020, James purchased a property in Norfolk, Virginia, for approximately $137,000, and falsely represented it as a second home—rather [...]

US President Donald Trump announced the commutation of former New York Congressman George Santos’ prison sentence on Friday, ordering his immediate release. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump argued that Santos had been “horribly mistreated” in prison and that his sentence was excessive. He also referenced Santos’ history of supporting the Republican Party, [...]

The UK Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that the British activist group Palestine Action may proceed with its legal challenge against the government’s decision to ban it under the Terrorism Act 2000. Judge Sue Carr rejected the Home Office’s attempt to block the review, allowing co-founder Huda Ammori to bring the case before the [...]

United Kingdom Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced on Sunday that she had issued a letter to vice-chancellors across the country, calling for universities to intensify their policies and practices to counter antisemitism on campuses. “Universities, just like everyone else in the country, have a clear role to play: not just keeping Jewish students safe, but as [...]

The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, on Friday called on Lebanese authorities to carry out stronger victim-centered investigations into civilian killings from Israeli hostilities in Lebanon. Violence in the region substantially increased on September 23, 2024, when Israel began heavily striking Lebanon, killing and wounding thousands of [...]

UN human rights experts on Friday condemned the disbarment and financial penalties imposed on Hong Kong lawyer Kevin Yam (Yam Kin Fung), calling them acts of reprisal for his public comments on the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary in a May 2023 US Congress hearing. According to the experts, Yam was removed from the Roll [...]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday condemned the attack at a synagogue in Manchester, England, calling it “particularly heinous” and stressing that “houses of worship are sacred places where people can go to find peace.” Guterres further voiced deep concern about “the alarming rise of antisemitism worldwide” and underscored the “urgent need to confront hatred [...]

US President Donald Trump’s September 25 memorandum directing federal agencies to investigate what it describes as a nationwide conspiracy to foment political violence constitutes a serious threat to human rights and democratic institutions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Friday. The memorandum, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” instructs law enforcement and intelligence agencies [...]

Vietnamese authorities should immediately release prominent human rights activist Trịnh Bá Phương and drop all charges against him, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged on Thursday. Phương was arrested in June 2020 and convicted in December 2021 under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, receiving a 10-year sentence followed by five years of probation. Article 117 [...]

A federal judge in New York stated Wednesday that no less than two senior US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials “appear to be in direct violation” of a local court rule when they issued out-of-court statements suggesting Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was guilty before trial. Judge Margaret [...]