The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced Sunday that it deployed two ships to the Julian Felipe Reef (also called the Whitsun Reef) in response to an alleged increase in Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) ships in the area. PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela stated that the PCG noticed the alleged increase in CMM activity on November [...]

Pakistan’s Supreme Court heard arguments Friday on a petition to halt the country’s removal of Afghan refugees. The petition was signed by a group of human rights activists, lawyers and politicians in November following the government’s October 3 decision to deport undocumented Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan. Despite warnings, and with the expiration of the [...]

A district court in Kazan, Russia extended on Friday the detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist holding both Russian and United States citizenship, according to Russian state media. Kurmasheva faces allegations of failing to adhere to Russia’s stringent foreign agent registration law. This decision, extending her confinement until February 5, was made without setting a [...]

Slovak truck drivers joined Polish truck drivers on Friday and announced that they would block the Vysne Nemecke border crossing with Ukraine to protest EU policies towards Ukrainian competitors, which they call unfair. The Slovak truckers union UNAS released a statement saying they want to the EU immediately terminate an agreement with Ukraine that they [...]

The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court held Thursday that the German Government violated federal climate change law by failing to reach annual targets. The ruling now means the government must implement changes to achieve these unmet goals. The court found that the groups were successful in their claims. It held that the government had failed to [...]

UN Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric announced Friday during his daily press briefing that UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynn Hastings’ visa will not be extended by the Israeli government when it expires in late December. During the briefing, Dujarric stated: e’ve been informed by the Israeli authorities [...]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Venezuela to refrain from interfering with the disputed Essequibo region, which is administered by Guyana. However, the court stopped short of explicitly directing Venezuela to halt its planned consultative referendum on whether the region should become a Venezuelan state. The order came after Guyana requested provisional [...]

The UN Security Council voted to cease the ongoing political mission in Sudan on Friday. This follows claims by Sudan’s military government that the mission failed to meet expectations. This withdrawal comes only months after the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the international community for new funding to respond to the Sudan crisis. [...]

The UN condemned the resumption of conflict in Gaza on Friday, following the end of a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and called for a return to negotiations for a long-lasting ceasefire. The temporary ceasefire ended Friday morning after several extensions. The UN press release reported that the bombing in Gaza resumed “seconds” [...]

A German court handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Gambian national Bai Lowe on Thursday after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder for his actions with a death squad known as the Junglers, notorious for targeting adversaries of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. The squad’s victims even included [...]