The High Court in Putrajaya convicted former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday in a case arising from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. The court found him guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering. The charges accused Najib of channeling more than US$700 million in 1MDB-linked [...]
A federal judge in Manhattan has temporarily barred the Trump administration from arresting or deporting British-born researcher Imran Ahmed, a lawful permanent resident whose work targets online hate and disinformation, after the State Department moved to sanction him under a foreign policy deportation provision. In an order issued shortly after midnight on December 25, 2025, [...]
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on Thursday that it carried out strikes on “ISIS terrorists” in northwest Sokoto state, Nigeria. AFRICOM has yet to release further details about the strike, citing concerns of operational security. President Donald Trump posted about the Christmas Day strikes on his Truth Social page: Tonight, at my direction as Commander [...]
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday released a statement calling upon authorities in Guinea-Bissau to bring an immediate end to arbitrary detentions and growing instances of intimidation in the country, warning that the reported abuses undermine fundamental freedoms and may in some cases amount to enforced disappearance. The [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on Guinea’s authorities on Friday to lift restrictions on political participation and to halt the intimidation of political actors and activists in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for December 28. In his statement, Türk noted that Guinean authorities imposed severe restrictions on civil and [...]
The Indian government on Friday denounced the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh, amid protests in New Delhi. Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, stated: The unremitting hostility against minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists at the hands of extremists, is a matter of grave concern. [...]
UN experts on Wednesday declared that the partial US maritime blockade on Venezuela is violating fundamental rules of international law. The US has been attempting to seize sanctioned vessels headed to or from the South American country since mid-December. On December 10, the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela after President [...]
South Korea’s liberal-led legislature passed a bill barring traditional and online news outlets from publishing “false or fabricated information.” The bill authorizes substantial punitive damages targeting the news media and raises concerns about increased censorship. The Conservative Party launched a filibuster, but the Democratic Party ended it 24 hours later and passed the bill with [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on Tuesday urged Togo authorities to release Togolese-Irish citizen and human rights defender Abdoul Aziz Goma from prison on the seventh anniversary of his arrest. Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor noted that the Togolese Criminal Procedure Code allows for conditional release of prisoners who have [...]
A US federal court on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a Texas law that requires users to verify their age before downloading mobile apps and accessing paid content online. Judge Robert Pitman of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction blocking AG Paxton from [...]
