The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an exclusive report Thursday revealing that UK businessman Ian J. Stones, who spent decades working in China and disappeared from public view in 2018, was actually convicted of espionage and is being held by the Chinese government. The Financial Times questioned Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin about the [...]

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave testimony to the COVID-19 Inquiry, a body examining the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, on Wednesday and Thursday. During the hearing, he acknowledged that his government “may have made mistakes” in their handling of the pandemic and said he was “deeply sorry for the pain and suffering” [...]

The High Constitutional Court of Madagascar ratified on Friday the victory of the sitting president Andry Rajoelina in the country’s most recent election. Rajoelina’s victory means he will serve a third term as Madagascar’s president. The elections were held on November 16 after the court postponed the elections for a week after Rajoelina and one [...]

The UK Ministry of Justice announced plans to reform Imprisonment for Public Protection (“IPP”) sentences. IPP sentences, originally intended to prevent offenders considered “dangerous” from being released despite their offense not warranting a life sentence, have not been used since 2012. However, many still have ongoing IPP sentences today, leaving them in prison indefinitely or [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered an informal brief on Thursday to UN member states representatives. His brief focused on the conditions in Gaza  and warned that, because of the concentrated population of civilians in the area, any further effort to move more civilians away from active bombing campaigns will lead to [...]

The UK Independent Office for Police Conduct announced Thursday that Eight Metropolitan police officers (five active and three former) are being investigated for gross misconduct, in the latest step of the investigation into the police’s handling of a series of murders committed by Stephen Port between 2014 and 2015 against LGBTQIA+ people. There has been [...]

The European Union Court of Justice ruled Thursday that a 2021 Austrian law regulating communications platforms cannot be binding on companies based in a different country. The Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Austria (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) requested a preliminary ruling from the EU court to clarify whether the law, which attempted to impose obligations on [...]

UK Member of Parliament (MP) Andy McDonald launched legal proceedings on Friday against fellow MP Chris Clarkson over Clarkson’s “highly defamatory statement” about McDonald’s involvement in a pro-Palestine rally amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Clarkson claimed that McDonald’s comments at a pro-Palestine rally were an attempt to “justify the murderous actions of Hamas.” As a [...]

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the EU’s data regulator, announced Wednesday it adopted an urgent binding decision banning Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, from processing user personal data for behavioral advertising across the European Economic Area (EEA) until further notice. The move follows a request from Norway that the EU take action [...]

Around 400 migrants and refugees staged a protest on Sunday at the Acadia port of Rhodes. Protesters attempted to prevent the departure of the ferry “Nissos Chicos” by standing on its ramp. After hours of police negotiation, the boat left without them. They demanded to be taken off the island and either transported to the [...]