German prosecutors on Monday charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and four others with fraud, unfair competition and breach of trust in connection with the company’s massive, multi-year effort to cheat on diesel emissions testing. Prosecutors said that Winterkorn knew about the deceptive practice since May 2014 and failed to stop it. The company has [...]

The Council of the EEU announced on Monday that it has adopted a new set of copyright laws that holds online platforms liable for user uploaded content. The law was adopted by the European Council on Monday after it was approved by the European Parliament last month. The directive introduces a new right for press publishers for the online [...]

UN Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha on Friday highlighted an extreme lack of adequate housing in France, as detailed in her preliminary findings. According to international human rights law, adequate housing is defined as sufficient affordable housing. Farha’s report breaks down France’s housing issues, detailing the government’s lack of response to housing needs, the poor conditions [...]

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday rejected a request to open an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan. The prosecutor had requested authorization to investigate war crimes that may have been occurring in the country since 2003. The court noted that the political situation since 2006, [...]

Switzerland’s Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the outcome of a nationwide referendum on the grounds that voters were given insufficient information. The 2016 referendum concerned married couples being unfairly taxed for their joint incomes compared to cohabiting partners who are taxed separately. Through a narrow margin, the referendum to equally tax cohabiting partners was rejected [...]

Counsel for the Obama administration Gregory Craig was indicted on Thursday for making false statements to and concealing work-related information he performed for the Ukraine government in 2012 from the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ alleges that Craig lied and withheld information in order to avoid registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday confirmed that Julian Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, has been indicted for conspiracy to commit computer hacking with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army. The indictment was unsealed after Assange was arrested in the UK. The indictment, filed under seal in the Eastern District of [...]

The South Korean Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the law making abortion a crime is unconstitutional. For now, the law still stands. But, if it is not amended by 2020, it “will become null and void.” The court called the current law “an unconstitutional restriction that violates a pregnant woman’s right to choose.” Currently, the [...]

Sudan’s defense minister, Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced on state television Thursday that President Omar al-Bashir has been detained and a military council will lead the country for two years. Further, the Constitution has been suspended, the National Assembly dissolved, and a state of emergency declared.  Protesters are demanding the power be placed in [...]

The European Council agreed Wednesday to extend the deadline for the ratification of the Brexit withdrawal agreement until October 31. The extension comes after UK Prime Minister Theresa May sent a letter last week in which she requested the deadline be pushed back to May 22 pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty on European Union. In [...]