Articles Tagged with alexei smirnov

UN experts on Monday raised alarm over allegations of poor conditions, inhumane treatment, and other international law violations at a Belarus detention center. Following confidential meetings with a Navapolatsk Correctional Colony psychologist, experts heard reports of “detainees…subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, disciplinary sanctions and physical punishments after suicide attempts, denial  of essential medical care.” Detainees [...]

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Cbliu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A panel of UN experts on Monday unsuccessfully pleaded with the European Union to immediately suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement at the EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg held on Tuesday. A motion to suspend the agreement was supported by Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland. However, Germany and Italy blocked the bid. Ireland and Spain had [...]

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The Japanese government on Tuesday approved revisions to its defense equipment and technology framework, lifting restrictions on overseas weapons exports. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated: “In today’s increasingly severe security environment, no country can safeguard its own peace and security alone.” She expressed support for providing partnered and allied countries with defensive technology and equipment. [...]

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WAvelenda, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

El Salvador’s Fiscalia General de la Republica (Prosecutor General of the Republic) opened an unprecedented mass trial Monday against 486 alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, including founders and top-level commanders, charging them collectively with 47,000 crimes committed from 2012-2022, including 29,000 homicides. The Tribunal Sexto contra el Crimen Organizado (Sixth Tribunal against [...]

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IdealCom, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Burkina Faso’s military government has escalated a sweeping crackdown on civil society through restrictive legislation, administrative pressure, and punitive measures targeting both domestic and international organizations, according to a joint statement released by multiple rights groups Monday. Groups reported that authorities have increasingly relied on legal and administrative tools to restrict operations of civil society [...]

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Schindlerdigital, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court found Monday that the state’s ban on the use of Medicaid funds for abortions is unconstitutional—in part, because there is a fundamental right to get an abortion under Pennsylvania law. The Commonwealth Court, one of Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts for state agency disputes, granted summary judgment to a group of abortion [...]

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Jaber Jehad Badwan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The UN and the European Union on Monday released their final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), estimating Gaza’s recovery needs at $71.4 billion over the next decade. The RDNA advocates for a sustained ceasefire and calls on the international community to mobilize resources to address these concerns in a “targeted, sequenced, coordinated manner.” [...]

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crash71100, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Amnesty International warned in its annual report Monday that human rights around the world are under severe attack, creating “a global environment where primitive ferocity could flourish.” In the report, entitled “The State of the World’s Human Rights,” Amnesty noted that in 2025, authoritarian practices intensified worldwide. Anti-rights rhetoric and discrimination against disadvantaged groups continue [...]

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The US Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear a challenge to a Colorado law that requires private religious preschools to accept children of same-sex couples in order to receive state funding. Two Catholic preschools, their parishes, the Archdiocese of Denver, and parents of preschool-aged children sued the state in 2023 over a nondiscrimination [...]

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Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A California ride-share driver advocacy group filed a complaint Monday in state court against Uber Technologies, Inc., alleging the company violated Proposition 22 and should be barred from classifying its drivers as independent contractors. Rideshare Drivers United (RDU), a California nonprofit representing more than 20,000 app-based drivers in the state, claimed Uber breached the Protect App-Based [...]

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