India’s lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, granted approval to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 on Thursday. This legislative initiative represents an overhaul of the selection process and service conditions governing the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs), replacing [...]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the body that administers elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), announced Wednesday that voting would extend into a second day on Thursday. The DRC general election was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, with over 20 presidential candidates seeking to defeat incumbent President Felix [...]

A federal court sentenced a West Virginia man, Hardy Carroll Lloyd, to 78 months in prison on Wednesday for obstructing the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting trial. The sentencing includes the possibility of supervised release after three years. Lloyd previously admitted to intentionally interfering in the federal hate crimes trial for Robert Bowers, who shot [...]

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment Wednesday filed against Samuel Salman El Reda for his alleged involvement in a Hezbollah attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina three decades ago. Hezbollah, which translates to the “Party of God,” is a Lebanese militant group that formed after [...]

The French Parliament passed a new immigration law Tuesday aimed at controlling immigration and improving integration. The law, which was approved by the commission mixte paritaire (CMP) introduces significant changes to the government’s initial proposal and grants France the means to implement an assertive migration strategy. Titled “Bill to Control Immigration and Enhance Integration,” the [...]

US District Judge Cormac J. Carney issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday blocking a California law that prohibits concealed carry permit holders from carrying firearms in most public places. The case is in the US District Court for the Central District of California. Carney found that the California law violates the Second Amendment of the [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern on Wednesday over human rights violations committed amidst the armed conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Wad Madani, Sudan. According to Türk, reports have reflected that at least 250,000 people have been displaced in Sudan thus far. In [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced on Tuesday a cybercrime decree used against political opponents in Tunisia. Most recently, Tunisia sentenced Chaima Issa, a member of the opposition coalition National Salvation Front, and Sofiane Zneidi, a member of the largest opposition party Ennahda, under the decree. Tunisian President Kais Saied issued Decree-Law No. 2022-54 on September [...]

Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging a recently enacted Texas law, which gives state officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute and deport people who illegally cross the US-Mexico border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB4 into law on Monday as the latest escalation of confrontations between the state and the federal government [...]

The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Guantanamo Bay prisoner held by the US can bring a claim in the English and Welsh courts against UK authorities. The detainee, Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (Zubaydah), alleged that British intelligence services asked the  CIA to interrogate Zubaydah and sent the spy agency numerous questions to elicit [...]