A judge on the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil on Tuesday denied  a request by the regional government of Roraima to close the nation’s border with Venezuela. Roraima is Brazil’s northernmost state. Roraima authorities claimed the persistent influx of Venezuelan immigrants has overburdened the state’s public services. Since Venezuela’s economic deterioration and nationwide food shortages, [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW)  expressed concern Monday for Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh amidst reports of the government’s potential plan to move the refugees to an island. A second statement  from HRW Monday called for Bangladesh to move refugees to safer ground and relocate refugees to areas where they can have more [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights  reported Monday that Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman has contacted Iran seeking to work with the government to fulfill the mandate in Human Rights Council resolution 37/30  to address human rights issues in the country. Resolution 37/30 renews the Special Rapporteur’s obligation to report on the human [...]

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order  Monday titled reimposing certain sanctions against Iran. In a press statement , the White House criticized the previous Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14, 2015 (JCPOA). The JCPOA agreement , signed by Iran, Germany, the five permanent members of the UN [...]

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines signed the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act of 2018 into law Monday, creating its first national identification system, which will be issued to all citizens and foreign residents in the Philippines. The goal of the system, Duterte said, is for safety and better privacy, efficiency, reduced corruption and a simplified [...]

UN human rights experts on Friday urged  Brazil to reconsider its economic austerity measures. Specifically, the experts are focused on the negative impacts such measures might have on the countries most socially vulnerable, such as lower income, youth, women, and ethnic minorities. “Women and children living in poverty are among those hit hardest, as are [...]

A judge in the UK’s high court ruled Wednesday that there were grounds for a dissolution of a religious marriage that was not recognized by British law. The wife filed for divorce against her husband in 2016, alleging there were grounds for her to claim some of the assets, all of which were in her [...]

UN experts on freedom of expression on Thursday condemned  US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media, saying that the attacks are “strategic, designed to undermine confidence in reporting and raise doubts about verifiable facts.” The experts emphasized the importance of the free press, and urged Trump to end these attacks and condemn his administration’s [...]

Poland’s Supreme Court  ruled Thursday that Supreme Court judges can continue to sit on the court until the Court of Justice of the European Union  rules  on the laws passed by Poland which give the government more control over the judiciary. One law  passed  by Poland’s legislative branch last week would give politicians the ability to select justices. Another law [...]

The Vatican announced  Thursday that Pope Francis has declared that the death penalty is “inadmissible,” calling it “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” The Pontiff’s announcement accompanied a revision made to number 2267  by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There is an [...]