Audi AG announced on Tuesday that it has been fined €800 million (USD $926 million) in Germany for emissions failures. The fines were leveled by the Munich II public prosecutor. Of the total fine, €5 million is from negligent regulatory offences, and the remaining €795 million is from disgorgement of economic benefits. The fines also [...]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called for the immediate release of the remaining hostages captured during the March 1 attack in northeast Nigeria. On Monday Guterres condemned the killing of International Committee of the Red Cross aid worker Hauwa Mohammed Liman, one of the three nurses abducted during the March 1 attack. The attack [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday urged Saudi Arabia to be more transparent in its investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last week. “Mr Khashoggi entered the Consulate and has never been seen since, the onus is on the Saudi authorities to reveal what happened to him from that [...]

President of The Gambia Adama Barrow on Tuesday announced announced the creation of a Truth and Reparations Commission to investigate and reconcile the crimes of former president Yahya Jammeh. Jammeh reigned over The Gambia for 23 years, taking power through a bloody coup d’etat and thereafter allegedly committing many crimes against humanity including the murders [...]

Companies worldwide must be accountable to their governments for ignoring human rights responsibilities, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights said in a report Tuesday. The experts urged businesses to comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to prevent negative impacts on human rights through due diligence. [...]

An amendment to the Hungarian constitution, which prohibits people from living in public spaces, took effect Monday. The amendment provides police with the authority to issue warnings those in violation of the policy. If one receives four warnings within a 90-day period it can result in jail or six months community service. In 2013 the [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the UK Monday to amend a new counter-terrorism bill, stating that the bill “excessively restrict freedom of expression, freedom of movement, and privacy.” The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill makes it illegal for someone to express support for a terrorist organization if it “reckless” encourages others to support the [...]

French prosecutors have reportedly recommended dismissal of the charges against a group of current and former Rwandan officials suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana. Habyarimana, a member of the Hutu ethnic majority, died in April 1994 when the plane in which he was traveling was shot down near the [...]

Poland’s Supreme Court announced Thursday that the court had added 27 new judges in a secret ceremony which took place on Wednesday afternoon. This move comes after Poland lowered the retirement age of its Supreme Court justices from 70 to 65 in September, forcing 27 judges of the 72-judge court into retirement. President Andrezj Duda [...]

Liew Vui Keong, chief minister in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s office, announced Wednesday that Malaysia would abolish the death penalty by the next sitting of Parliament. The move comes after several humanitarian groups, including Amnesty International, called for the death penalty’s abolition as a result of the execution of several minor offenders, including Westerners. Upon [...]