The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Monday that it was charging Gal Luft, the co-director of a US think tank, with acting as an unregistered agent of China, arms trafficking and sanctions violations. Luft was previously arrested in Cyprus in February. “As alleged, the defendant engaged in multiple schemes [...]
The last three survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis Sr., have criticized Friday’s Oklahoma state court dismissal of their lawsuit seeking restitution for themselves and the descendants of those affected by the massacre. They plan to appeal. Randle, Fletcher and Van Ellis, all over 100 [...]
The Supreme Court of Japan ruled on Tuesday that the restriction of transgender women’s use of female bathrooms is unlawful. This landmark decision overturns a 2021 Tokyo High Court ruling and marks the first time the high court has spoken to sexual minorities’ usage of bathrooms. The five-judge Supreme Court panel found unanimously in favor [...]
The European Commission issued an adequacy decision on Monday regarding data transfers to the US. The decision means that the US has officially adopted an adequate data protection standard for the EU to participate in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The decision eases the way for multinational corporations operating in both the US and the [...]
A Kenyan appeals court declared Monday that mandatory life sentences are unconstitutional. The Court of Appeal at Malindi Kenya found that mandatory life sentences are “an unjustifiable discrimination, unfair and repugnant to the principle of equality before the law under Article 27 of the Constitution.” The case reached the Court of Appeal via a petition, [...]
Israel’s Knesset voted Monday to advance a bill seeking to restrict the Supreme Court’s powers by limiting their ability to overrule governmental decision-making. Having cleared its first reading, the bill must now be passed through two more Knesset votes before becoming law. The bill at issue is Netanyahu’s ruling coalition’s new “scaled down” reform bill, [...]
The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) reportedly raided the family home of fugitive pro-democracy activist Nathan Law on Tuesday. Law is accused of violating the National Security Law, which was passed on June 30, 2020. Having fled Hong Kong for the United Kingdom (UK), Law is alleged to have committed offenses [...]
The office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday formally condemned that day’s airstrike in Omdurman, Sudan that claimed 22 lives. The attack was the latest in the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a renegade paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (“RSF”). The belligerents have been fighting for control of the capital Khartoum [...]
In the UN Security Council’s latest quarterly report regarding life in Afghanistan, released last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that Taliban authorities must ensure “inclusive governance,” allow freedom of speech and stop handing out corporal punishment in order to enter the global community. Guterres’ comments come as the Taliban remain under intense scrutiny for [...]
Honduras authorities announced Sunday that a team of UN experts arrived to evaluate the viability and effectiveness of establishing an international anti-corruption mission in the country. The Central American nation has been grappling with deeply-rooted corruption, which has exacerbated its poverty and contributed to mass migration. The primary objective of the UN mission is to [...]