A Russian court in the city of Kazan extended on Monday the pre-trial detention of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until June 5. The court declined her petition to be moved to house arrest. This is the second time the court has extended her pre-trial detention. According to RFE/RL, Kurmasheva told reporters [...]
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow announced on Monday that a tenth person, a Tajik citizen named Yakubjoni Yusufzoda, was arrested for the Crocus City Hall terror attack that killed 134 people. “The court decided to satisfy the request of the investigator of the Investigative Committee, to select a preventive measure for Yusufzoda in the [...]
Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Jerusalem against the government over the weekend and into Monday. The demonstrators are demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign after viewing him as the roadblock in returning the over 100 hostages that were taken during the October 7 Hamas attack last year. They also seek accountability for [...]
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost admitted on Friday in a court filing that the state’s ban on most abortions is unconstitutional after voters passed an amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November 2023 enshrining access to abortion. The issue in the pending litigation is a law passed by the Ohio legislature and signed by former [...]
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that requires schools to separate sports based on sex assigned at birth. The bill was seen by Evers and members of the LGBTQ+ community as being targeted against trans student-athletes. It was largely supported by Republican state legislators. In his signed veto message, Evers cited two main legal [...]
The US State Department expressed concern regarding the recent convictions of ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam on Monday. The statement highlighted the convictions of five individuals since January 2024 and called on the Vietnamese government to uphold freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief. One of the cases mentioned in the statement [...]
The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the state constitution does not protect the right to abortion. The ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida vs. State of Florida allows the current 15-week abortion ban to be upheld and triggers the Heartbeat Protection Act to take effect. The Act, signed into law [...]
The home of Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was hit by rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday, in what is believed to be a targeted attack. No casualties and minimal damages were reported by an anonymous Libyan minister, and no one has currently claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack could further separate an already divided country. [...]
Scotland’s controversial Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force on Monday. The law intends to unite existing hate crime laws, along with creating several new offenses, most notably criminalizing “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred.” Stirring up racial hatred has been an offense since 1986. However, [...]
Syria accused Israel on Monday of an attack on Iran’s diplomatic consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria. The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated the alleged attack took place at 5:00 PM local time with numerous missiles fired from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It claims that several missiles were “shot down,” with the remaining missiles [...]
