The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Saturday called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education, warning that the restriction threatens the future of millions of Afghan girls who have been deprived of their right to learn since the Taliban regained power in August 2021.  In a statement [...]

President Donald Trump rescinded Friday an executive order aimed at crippling law firm Paul Weiss’s ability to function, after the firm’s leaders agreed to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, submit to an audit of employment practices, and provide free legal services for Trump causes. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss) [...]

A group of former journalists and other employees of the federal government-funded media company  Voice of America (VOA) filed a complaint in a New York federal court Friday seeking to force the federal government to restore the terminated employees and contractors to the positions they held before March 14 — the date President Donald Trump signed [...]

A coalition of rights groups and families of victims from the deadly 2020 Beirut explosion released an open letter on Friday urging Lebanon’s new government to strengthen judicial independence and ensure an impartial investigation into the blast. The letter directly charged that state officials have impeded the investigation into the blast and other various financial [...]

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday it will terminate the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole programs, ending a key immigration pathway that will affect more than half a million people. The advance notice circulated on Friday explained that “neither urgent humanitarian reasons nor significant public benefit warrants the continued [...]

The Italian Constitutional Court held Friday that the law barring single parents from adopting foreign children is unconstitutional. The matter was referred to the top court following the 2019 request from an unmarried woman, Raffaella Brogi, who approached the juvenile court to seek a declaration of eligibility for international adoption of a minor. The Court’s [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday reported that the prolonged hostilities and occupation of parts of Ukraine by the Russian Federation forces have caused large-scale human rights violations against children. Between February 24, 2022 and December 31, 2024, the OHCHR documented 669 killings of children and 1,883 injuries. [...]

UN experts urged the Colombian government on Thursday to protect its civilians and called on the non-state armed groups to cease their attacks against the civilians, after the escalation of the conflict in the Catatumbo region of the Department of Norte de Santander. The experts noted that the conflict, which began on 16th January, has [...]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday welcomed announcements by the presidents of the US and Ukraine of an extension of the ceasefire to Black Sea trade routes as an important move that saves lives, while emphasizing the importance of ensuring that the ceasefire brings about just peace. Guterres stated: Obviously, any ceasefire is welcome because [...]

A member of Russia’s Presidential Council for Human Rights shared her outrage on Thursday over the arrest and beating of a Russian comedian in Belarus, and urged Russia’s authorities to protect the rights of Russian citizens in foreign states. Council member Eva Merkacheva called on Russian authorities to provide the necessary medical attention to the [...]