The European Parliament narrowly passed its proposed Nature Restoration Law as part of the European Union’s (EU) European Green Deal on Wednesday. The plan, proposed by the European Commission, sets targets for increasing biodiversity and improving the health of ecosystems across the EU. These include restoring wetlands and grasslands, increasing forest cover and protecting threatened [...]

Maine Governor Janet Mills signed L.D. 1964 into law on Tuesday, requiring employers to give most employees up to 12 weeks of paid time off for family or medical reasons. The bill is part of a larger supplemental budget that Mills also signed into law. Effective starting in 2026, the law implements a paid family [...]

Canada launched an inquiry into allegations over the use of the Chinese minority Uyghur forced labor in Nike and Dynasty Gold operations. The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise Sheri Meyerhoffer announced the inquiry Tuesday as a part of a broader initiative to evaluate and probe substantial grievances against corporations operating within Canada. As part of [...]

A coalition of over 60 human rights organizations, bar associations, scholars and Chinese human rights defenders Monday issued a global call for action against China’s treatment of human rights lawyers to mark “China Human Rights Lawyers Day.” Their statement commemorates the eighth anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s mass arrest of over 300 human rights [...]

UK members of Parliament overturned 18 amendments made by the House of Lords to the Illegal Migration Bill in a vote Tuesday. The four hour House of Commons sessions saw the rejection of the Lord’s amendment requiring the bill to follow international conventions, as well as an amendment dis-applying the new legislation from modern slavery [...]

In a special late night session Tuesday, the Iowa legislature advanced a bill that would ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. House File 732, known as the “Fetal Heartbeat Bill,” would ban abortions in the state of Iowa as soon as any cardiac activity is detected in the fetus. Such activity can [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found on Tuesday that International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules that force female athletes to suppress their testosterone levels are discriminatory. Caster Semenya, a double Olympic medalist from South Africa, originally attempted to challenge the rules in a specialized sports court but was rejected. Though Tuesday’s ECHR decision finally [...]

Conservationist groups Center for Biological Diversity and 350 Colorado filed a petition for review in the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Monday against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its air pollution practices. Specifically at issue in the petition is the EPA’s approval of parts of the 8-Hour Ozone Attainment [...]

A census released Monday revealed almost one sixth of inmates in Ecuador’s prisons are yet to be sentenced. President Guillermo Lasso announced that the census would be used to help government form new public policy to tackle overcrowding and enforce human rights in Ecuadorian prisons. The 2023 Prison Census—the first of its kind in Ecuador—collected [...]

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 [...]