Vietnam’s 15th National Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to abolish the death penalty for eight categories of criminal offenses: embezzlement, bribery, counterfeiting medicines, espionage, drug trafficking, vandalism of state property, sabotage, and acts aimed at overthrowing the government. Out of the 439 delegates present, 429 voted in favor, representing nearly 90 percent of the legislature. [...]

A US federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday extended a temporary freeze preventing the Department of Labor (DOL) from shutting down its Job Corps program. The emergency relief granted during Tuesday’s preliminary injunction hearing prevented the DOL from eliminating the $1.5 billion program that provides approximately 25,000 low-income and foster care youth with vocational training, [...]

New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a federal immigration court in Manhattan as he accompanied an individual exiting a hearing. Lander has been attending hearings to accompany immigrants facing deportation, amidst reports of officers detaining immigrants leaving court proceedings. [...]

Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker stated on Saturday that the country’s gun laws must be strengthened following a mass shooting earlier in the week. Stocker suggested multiple changes to the current gun policies, such as raising the minimum age for purchasing weapons and improving data sharing between officials to better identify warning signs. He also announced that [...]

United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Türk expressed alarm over escalating violence in Haiti on Friday, as gangs expand territory and continue to commit extrajudicial homicides, kidnappings and rapes. Türk stated: Alarming as they are, numbers cannot express the horrors Haitians are being forced to endure on a daily basis. I am horrified by the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments Wednesday in President Donald Trump’s bid to remove his hush money conviction from New York state to federal court. The conviction was based on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with reimbursement payments made to Stormy Daniels. Trump’s legal team from [...]

Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund announced on Saturday that Afghans abroad, including those who fled after the US withdrew its armed forces in 2021, will receive amnesty if they return to Afghanistan. Akhund stated: “Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland… Nobody will harm them.” He called on officials to [...]

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) emphasized on Friday that journalists in Malta remain at risk following the conviction of two individuals for supplying a bomb that killed an investigative journalist in 2017. Head of the RSF European Union and Balkans desk Pavol Szalai called the convictions “undeniable progress in the quest for justice,” but noted that [...]

China and 32 other countries signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) in Hong Kong on Friday, creating an international legal body for alternative dispute resolution. The signing ceremony drew approximately 400 representatives from 85 countries and 20 international organizations, with the signatories becoming founding members. Described by Beijing [...]

The interim United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Gaza’s population is being “starved and denied the very basics,” with the region at a dangerous crossroads. Sigrid Kaag called the crisis “man-made,” accusing Israel of devastating strikes on civilians and obstructing aid. With nearly the [...]