A Special Report on Climate Change was released at the UN Inter-government panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Thursday. This report focuses on greenhouse gases, land use, sustainable land management, desertification, land degradation and food security. The IPCC report details how human activity is degrading the planet, with the “rise in global temperatures, linked to [...]

A spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expressed concern Tuesday about Italy’s new law imposing fines and penalties for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. This law was first introduced as a security decree in June and was approved by the Italian parliament on Monday. The law imposes a maximum of €1 [...]

India’s government introduced a bill in the upper house of parliament on Monday to cement the revocation of the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, a conflict-hit region claimed by both India and Pakistan. The move came hours after the country’s president promulgated an order revoking the region’s constitutional autonomy. Federal interior minister Amit [...]

An investigation revealed Sunday that many records relevant to landmark civil cases in Japan since World War II no longer exist, having been disposed of by courts across the country. The almost 140 cases scrutinized focused on issues such as nationality, freedom of expression, separation of state and religion, expropriation of land for national defense, [...]

New Zealand’s government announced a new bill Monday to legalize abortion. The new abortion bill, set to have its first reading Thursday, seeks to modernize the current law on abortion by treating it “as a health issue rather than a crime.” The bill contains several provisions regarding abortion, most of which involve access to abortion [...]

Vice Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court ruled Friday against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in his legal battle to change the board of directors of Citgo. Citgo, an American Petroleum refinery company, has been wholly owned by Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) since 1990. PDVSA is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas [...]

India’s President, Ram Nath Kovind, gave assent Thursday to a bill criminalizing the Muslim personal law practice of “instant divorce.” The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, approved the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act on Tuesday. It was passed by the lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) on July 25. [...]

The Netherlands’ Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing Act went into effect on Thursday but is expected to be rendered ineffective as both Dutch police and transport companies have expressed reluctance to enforce the law. Commonly referred to as a “burqa ban,” the Act prohibits the wearing of full-face helmets, ski masks, balaclavas, niqabs and burqas [...]

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a midyear report Tuesday detailing the 3,812 civilian casualties in Afghanistan since January 1, 2019. According to this report, Afghan forces and their allies killed 717 civilians, while the Taliban and other militant groups have killed 531 civilians. The report noted a 27 percent decrease in civilian [...]

Amnesty International on Wednesday, called on Egyptian authorities to end “cruel and inhuman detention conditions” at al-Aqrab prison where approximately 130 detainees are on a hunger strike to protest the denial of family visits. The hunger strike has been ongoing for six weeks and is in protest of the detainees not being allowed a single [...]