The Malaysian government on Monday announced the creation of a special task force to look into whether there were criminal acts committed by the management of the 1 Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB) . The task force is asked to identify and seize assets that were acquired from the illegal siphoning from the state fund. Former [...]
The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Friday to send an independent investigation commission to examine alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that occurred in response to mass protests by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and surrounding territory. A press release stated: The Council condemned the disproportionate and [...]
Human Rights Watch reported on Friday that members of Burundi’s security forces and ruling party youth league “killed, raped, abducted, beat, and intimidated suspected opponents in the months leading up to a constitutional referendum.” The referendum on whether Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, can hold office past the two-term limit (potentially allowing him to stay in [...]
The US Department of the Treasury issued new sanctions against Iran on Thursday. The new sanctions target two individuals, Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi and Abdallah Safi-Al-Din. Both of them have been identified as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Bazzi has been identified as a financier for Hezbollah, and Safi-Al-Din has been identified as Hezbollah’s representative to [...]
The European Court of Justice on Thursday upheld a partial ban of a group of insecticides that were found to harm bees. Drug companies Bayer and Syngenta had appealed a European Commission regulation approved in 2013, which restricted the use of the chemicals clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, all used in insecticides. The European Food Safety [...]
Judge Richard Berman of the US District Court for Southern District of New York on Wednesday sentenced former banker at the Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, to 32 months in prison for aiding Iran in evading US sanctions. Atilla was convicted in January for conspiring with other officials. According to the prosecution, Atilla [...]
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report on Tuesday concluding that chemical weapons were “likely used” during the February attacks in Syria. According to the report, the OPCW found chlorine gas in two cylinders and in the environment. Their findings were also supported by eyewitness testimony and the symptoms from [...]
The European Commission announced on Thursday that they will be referring France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania and the UK to the European Court of Justice over air quality. France, Germany and the UK are being referred to the court due to excessive nitrogen dioxide levels and for “failing to take appropriate measures to keep exceedance [...]
Former Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim received a royal pardon Wednesday and was released after serving three years of his five-year sentence. He was sentenced for sodomy in proceedings that were widely seen as politically motivated . Amnesty International had previously called Anwar’s imprisonment a human rights violation. Malaysia held elections on May 9—their first [...]
The Greek parliament approved a draft bill on Tuesday to expedite the asylum process for migrants and refugees and cure the overcrowded refugee island camps. The bill addresses “issues concerning the reception, hosting and integration of asylum seekers and refugees, speeding up asylum procedures as well as provisions related to immigration policy.” The Migration Policy [...]
