A judge for the US District Court for the District of Maryland blocked the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) on Tuesday from prohibiting a planned October 7 vigil commemorating those killed in the Israel-Gaza War. A student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), filed a lawsuit against UMCP after their request for the [...]

A group of bilingual municipalities within Quebec have sought a temporary suspension against provisions of a law mandating the use of the French language in all municipal proceedings, while proceeding with a larger challenge against Bill 96, Quebec’s controversial new language law. Local media reports that Julius Grey, the attorney representing the municipalities, requested the [...]

UN racial justice experts on Tuesday found broad impunity persists for officials who have used excessive force against Africans or people of African descent around the world, preventing victims from receiving justice or reparations and enabling the repetition of these behaviors. The Human Rights Council-mandated panel of experts analyzed information compiled in the recent annual [...]

California became the fifth state in the US to ban universities from admitting students based on family connections or donations after Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he had signed AB 1780 into law. The law, proposed by Democratic state assemblyman Phil Ting, would prevent independent institutions of higher education from giving preferential consideration for legacies [...]

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application before the Inter-Amercian Court of Human Rights against Paraguay for violation of the right to freedom of expression and judicial guarantees of Paraguayan journalist Aldo Zuccolillo Moscarda, according to a press release published on Monday. The application is related to a case that started in [...]

Fulton Superior Judge Robert McBurney of the Georgia Fifth Superior Court District Atlanta Circuit ruled on Monday that the ban on abortions six weeks into pregnancy is unconstitutional. Judge McBurney overturned Georgia’s 2019 Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, which was passed in April of 2019 and barred abortions past six weeks. Exceptions existed [...]

Two Ontario First Nations bands — Oneida of the Thames and the Sandy Lake First Nation — have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario provincial government alleging discriminatory underfunding of fire protection services. Per a CBC report, the lack of proper funding is cited by the bands as being responsible for the disproportionately high [...]

The Supreme Court of India criticized current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in an order on Monday for making public statements about a case pending before the court. The CM claimed that animal fat instead of ghee (clarified butter) was used in laddoos (an Indian sweet) offered at the Tirumala Tirupati Hindu temple. [...]

Iran launched scores of ballistic missiles into Israeli territory on Tuesday, in what it described as an exercise of its “legitimate right to self-defense under the UN Charter.” The attack came hours after Israel announced a ground incursion into Lebanon, and as UN experts warned of the dire consequences of regional hostilities. In a statement, [...]

HRW denounced the pre-trial detainment of prominent activist and former president of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Bensedrine, in a press release on Monday calling for her immediate release. Bensedrine was detained in Manouba prison by order of an investigative judge on August 1, 2024, for her work as president of the Commission. Her [...]