The Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China announced a group execution Thursday that brought a landmark cross-border crime case to a close. The 11 ringleaders from the northern Myanmar Ming family criminal syndicate and its affiliated fraud groups have been executed. The 11 people executed had committed grave crimes against Chinese citizens, [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Thursday that recent reductions in donor support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria risk undermining the right to health for millions of people worldwide. HRW said donors have pledged US$11.85 billion toward the Global Fund’s US$18 billion target for the 2026–2028 replenishment cycle, leaving a US$6.15 [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that federal prisoners can use habeas corpus to challenge decisions denying them transfer to lower-security institutions, holding that such refusals can amount to a deprivation of liberty that courts must be able to review. In its decision in Dorsey v. Canada involving inmate Ghassan Salah, the Court [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called on Chinese authorities to immediately release veteran journalist Dong Yuyu after the Beijing High Court upheld his seven-year prison sentence for espionage. The CPJ said the court affirmed the conviction without providing reasons, and that the appeal decision is final under China’s system. “Speaking with diplomats [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that trial judges must consider all available evidence, not only a complainant’s testimony, when deciding whether a person had the capacity to consent to sexual activity. The decision in R. v. Rioux clarified how courts should assess capacity and consent in cases involving intoxication, memory loss, or fragmented [...]

The University of Pennsylvania announced this week that it will not sign the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” Interim university president J. Larry Jameson stated that Penn has provided “focused feedback” outlining areas of alignment and “substantive concerns.” The compact offers funding advantages in exchange for policy changes that align with [...]

The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) urged New Zealand on Thursday to take stronger action to reduce its rising prison population and better support its independent monitoring mechanism following a trip to the country. Aisha Shujune Muhammad, head of the SPT delegation, cautioned that prison population forecasts in New Zealand over the next [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the sentencing of Belarusian journalist Ihar Ilyash to four years in prison and a fine of 4,200 rubles (about US$1,240), handed down by the Minsk City Court on September 16, on charges including promoting “extremist activities” and “discrediting the Republic of Belarus.” The sentencing follows a [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday celebrated the release of at least eight Belarusian journalists, part of a group of 52 political prisoners freed as the US eased sanctions on Belarus’ state airline Belavia. Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, shared a statement on the release: CPJ celebrates that at [...]

US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank’s board by Monday, ahead of next week’s critical interest rate meeting. In an emergency motion filed late Wednesday, government lawyers urged the appeals court to stay US District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s [...]