US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to enable the prosecution of those who burn the American flag. This order means potential tension with a landmark US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling from 1989, which classed flag burning as expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The order characterized flag burning as “a [...]

A report released by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) program on Friday found that a “famine is currently occurring in Gaza Governorate,” the district covering Gaza City, and is “rapidly spreading.” Multiple international organizations have renewed their calls for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate an “unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday blocked a lower court’s decision to uphold a ban on drag shows at West Texas A&M University. The appeals court stated that the plaintiffs had shown sufficient evidence that there would be harm to their First Amendment rights as a result of the ban, [...]

Judicial reforms recently passed by the Lebanese parliament are a step in the right direction but ultimately “fall short,” said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement issued on Friday. The Lebanese Parliament passed a law regarding the organization of the judiciary on August 7. The new law evolved from the introduction of draft legislation [...]

The US Department of State released its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, also referred to as the Human Rights Report, months later than usual on Tuesday. The tone and scope notably changed from the 2023 report, altering or removing references to human rights abuses based on sexuality, gender or race, as well as [...]

Columbia University announced that it will pay a settlement of $200 million over three years to the federal government to restore its access to grants cancelled during federal investigations into antisemitism on campus, in a statement released on Wednesday. The university will also pay $21 million to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The [...]

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to pursue peace and uphold international law at a meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday. The secretary-general expressed significant concern about disregard for and violation of international law globally, citing conflict “from Gaza to Ukraine, from the Sahel to Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar, and many other parts [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called for the Indian government to institute “transparency and due process” when imposing social media restrictions, following numerous international news organizations reporting that their X accounts had been blocked in India due to a “legal demand” from the evening of July 5 to July 7. CPJ’s representative [...]

A coalition of human rights groups raised concerns on Thursday over FIFA’s decision to cancel “anti-racism and anti-discrimination messaging” in the lead-up to the 2026 Men’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. The statement followed a report by the New York Times‘ The Athletic blog revealing that FIFA has not displayed anti-racist or [...]

Civilians in Sumy City, Ukraine, are being killed and injured by “increased unlawful attacks” from Russia involving Grad rockets, Amnesty International reported on Tuesday. Amnesty International called for any attacks using Grad rockets to be “investigated as war crimes” due to their inaccurate nature. Russia struck Sumy City on June 3, killing “at least seven [...]