The Virginia Senate passed a constitutional amendment Friday that would allow lawmakers to pursue congressional and legislative redistricting outside the traditional post-census cycle, clearing the final legislative hurdle required to place the proposal before voters. The amendment would modify the Virginia Constitution, which currently ties redistricting to the decennial census. Passage in both chambers during [...]

Amnesty International on Friday called on the Cambodian government to support victims who escaped from scamming compounds. The rights group reported on 15 videos showing thousands of escape attempts and releases at 10 compounds across Cambodia in the past 36 hours. Amnesty International’s regional research director Montse Ferrer said: Footage appearing to show the mass [...]

President Donald Trump has announced 10% tariffs effective February 1 on Nordic and EU countries that do not support his plan to take control of Greenland. The tariffs are to increase to 25% effective June 1. The latest threats come days after a meeting between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials, seeking to ease tensions.  Denmark [...]

Myanmar on Friday began its defense before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the ground-breaking genocide case brought by the Gambia, rejecting all allegations of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya minority. Myanmar’s agent Ko Ko Hlaing emphasized Myanmar’s recognition of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, but said [...]

The US District Court for the District of Minnesota on Friday granted in part and denied in part a motion for a preliminary injunction brought by six individuals who say federal immigration agents unlawfully arrested, stopped, threatened and/or used chemical irritants against them while they observed, recorded, and protested immigration enforcement activity in the Twin [...]

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison on several charges, including obstruction of investigators’ attempt to detain him last year. This marks the first criminal sentence imposed as a result of Yoon’s December 2024 declaration of martial law. Friday’s sentencing convicts Yoon [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday reported that Vietnam has intensified arrests of perceived government critics in the weeks leading up to the 14th Communist Party Congress, set to open on January 19.  “It’s that time again for escalating arrests and jailing prominent critics ahead of Vietnam’s Communist Party Congress. Not only does the government [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Thursday reversed a district court’s decision that released Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention. The court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) stripped the US District for the District of New Jersey of subject-matter jurisdiction because the INA requires deportation challenges [...]

UN officials and human rights organizations have raised alarm over Iran’s response to nationwide protests, warning that the use of lethal force by security forces may constitute serious violations of international law. Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee briefed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, describing the situation in Iran as “fluid and [...]

The UN Committee against Torture found Wednesday that Australia violated the Convention against Torture by exposing an Iranian asylum seeker to torture and cruel treatment through offshore transfer and prolonged immigration detention. The decision concerns an asylum seeker known as Mr A, who fled Iran in 2013, fearing persecution, and arrived in Australia by boat [...]