John Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The United Nations called for a “responsible AI ecosystem” on Thursday, warning that daily use of artificial intelligence (AI) has a huge environmental impact. The appeal comes days after a UN University study predicted AI’s global water use will match the needs of all 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. The UN study [...]

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Banned pride, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Budapest 5th and 13th District Prosecutor’s Office dropped the charges Thursday against the city’s Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the 2025 Budapest Pride March. In Thursday’s statement, the Hungarian prosecution maintained that it had brought the charges lawfully, in accordance with the law in force at the time. However, a European court held that [...]

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Buiobuione, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Amsterdam District Court on Wednesday allowed Greenpeace International to proceed with its anti-SLAPP lawsuit against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands. Energy Transfer, one of the largest energy companies in North America with business operations in the Netherlands, attempted to halt a lawsuit initiated by Greenpeace International, an environmental group headquartered in the Netherlands. The [...]

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The Senate of Canada on Wednesday rejected, by a vote of 32-41, its human rights committee’s proposed amendment to include a “residential school denialism” offense in the contentious hate crime bill. The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights returned its report with amendments to the Senate on Tuesday. One main amendment added a residential school [...]

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The Canadian Teachers’ Federation on Tuesday called on governments to engage in meaningful labor negotiations and refrain from invoking the “notwithstanding clause.” The statement urged all governments to respect teachers’ labor rights, including the right to association, collective bargaining and strike. The group called on the government to engage in good-faith negotiations with education workers [...]

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Sylvain Pastor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), Don Davies, introduced a bill to ban floor-crossing without voters’ consent on Tuesday. The bill comes after five lawmakers left their original party and joined the Liberal Party, giving it a majority at the House of Commons. If passed in its current form, Bill C-278 will automatically [...]

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More than 30 UN special rapporteurs and human rights experts welcomed on Friday a General Assembly resolution that reaffirms state parties’ obligations on climate change. This comes one day after the publication of a meteorology report, suggesting that the Paris Agreement’s long-term climate goals are attainable despite temporary breaches. The statement suggests that 141 states [...]

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday urged countries and tech companies to establish effective regulation of online platforms to better protect children. The appeal comes with a guideline of important components required in regulations. Türk highlighted that effective regulations can prevent online harm posed to children. He emphasized that certain features–such [...]

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Marius Fenger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Federal Court of Australia has admitted a UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment as an intervenor in a judicial review concerning a liquefied natural gas (LNG) operation site, according to a Friday press release. The admission marks the first time a national court has allowed a UN environmental expert to advise [...]

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Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court of Canada refused on Thursday to hear an appeal by the six Wolastoqey communities of New Brunswick seeking to assert Aboriginal title over private lands. The issue before the court was whether First Nations can assert Aboriginal title when private parties hold a fee simple interest in land. The top court’s refusal [...]

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