The Taliban Ministry of Higher Education Tuesday closed universities in Afghanistan to women in its latest move to restrict women’s access to formal education since the group took over the country. In a letter in Pashto distributed by a spokesperson for the ministry, all universities in Afghanistan are ordered to suspend education of women immediately. Need [...]

A court in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein Tuesday convicted Irmgard Furchner, 97, for aiding and abetting murder while working as a secretary at the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp. Furchner worked at Stutthof between June 1, 1943, and April 1, 1945. While she was employeed, authorities committed “cruel, systematic acts of killing” through gassings, hostile [...]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Tuesday ordered Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 billion regarding its “widespread mismanagement” affecting over 16 million consumer accounts. Specifically, Wells Fargo must pay $2 billion to consumers in addition to a $1.7 billion civil penalty which will be put into the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund to compensate victims of federal consumer financial [...]

Hawaii’s congressional delegation Tuesday urged the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the procedures and practices used by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Navy in the midst of a leak at the Navy’s Red Hill complex in Honolulu, Hawaii. In a letter, the delegation demanded to know whether a November 29 toxic [...]

The High Court of New Zealand Tuesday held that the classification of a deportee as a returning prisoner and the subsequent imposition of special conditions on him amounted to double jeopardy and is therefore unlawful and contrary to the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The deportee, “G,” was convicted of two drug offences in [...]

The Potlotek First Nation and Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs Monday dropped their civil suit against the Canadian federal government over fishing provisions. The groups announced that they will instead focus on providing legal defense to a Potlotek harvester who was fishing under a community-approved plan. “Deciding to discontinue a lawsuit is never an [...]

Tajiki prosecutors asked a court in Dushanbe, Tajikstan to convict online journalist Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda to seven years in prison on extremism charges, according to a statement by Pirmuhammadzoda’s relatives to Radio Free Europe (RFE) on Monday. Pirmuhammadzoda’s relatives told RFE that the prosecutor made the request during trial. A representative of the court did not [...]

The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) Monday reached a deal on global commitments to protect land and water biodiversity. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30 percent of the world’s lands, coastal areas and inland waters by 2030 – an increase from the 17 percent of lands and 10 percent of marine area currently [...]

The Swedish Supreme Court Monday ruled that the extradition of journalist Bulent Kenes to Turkey would violate Swedish law. Kenes is a Turkish national who obtained asylum in Sweden after Turkish officials accused Kenes of participating in the 2016 attempted coup to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey has tied Sweden’s cooperation in extraditing wanted [...]

Amnesty International Monday accused armed group Tariq Ben Zeyad (TBZ) of committing war crimes and other human rights abuses to enforce the reign of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) and its leader Khalifa Haftar. In a research briefing, Amnesty International detailed incidences of forced disappearances, unlawful killings, torture and mistreatment of refugees. After Libya’s 2011 [...]