World Legal News
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Groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have issued calls for an investigation into the death in Toronto last Sunday of a prominent Pakistani activist who had sought asylum in Canada. Karima Baloch was a 37-year-old human rights activist from the Balochistan region of Pakistan. She had applied for asylum in Canada in 2015 [...]

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Kosovo is preparing for early elections after the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the election of Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. The court annulled the parliamentary vote that confirmed Hoti’s coalition cabinet because one of the participating MPs had been convicted for fraud and embezzlement. Hoti was installed as prime minister in June after his party, supported by [...]

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Can Dündar, the former editor-in-chief of Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, was convicted Wednesday on charges of terrorism in Turkey and sentenced in absentia. The Istanbul court convicted Dündar of aiding an armed terrorist organization and espionage. It sentenced him in absentia to 27 years and six months in prison. Dündar was first sentenced to five years [...]

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President of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye Thursday pardoned  four journalists who were imprisoned for “attempting to undermine state security.” The Head of the Information and Communications Division for the Office of the President, Willy Nyamitwe, tweeted Thursday that Ndayishimiye “has favorably responded” to a letter from journalists Agnès Ndirubusa, Christine Kamikazi, Egide Harerimana, and Térence Mpozenzi requesting a [...]

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China’s market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation, announced Thursday that based on reports they have launched an investigation into billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holdings for “suspected monopolistic conduct.” The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and The People’s Bank of China have also called Alibaba’s [...]

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India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) says there is “no question of repealing” the new agricultural reform laws passed in September, despite ongoing protests by farmers’ unions. Thousands of farmers have been protesting outside New Delhi’s highways and outskirts for nearly five weeks against new laws which aim to increase private investment and bring efficiency [...]

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The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, approved a law Wednesday that imposes severe penalties for slanderous speech on the internet. The legislation provides for punishment of up to two years in prison for those found guilty of spreading slander through the internet. It defines slander as “the dissemination of knowingly false information discrediting [...]

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Over 500 bereaved relatives of COVID-19 victims in Italy announced Wednesday that they were pursuing civil action against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Health Minister Roberto Speranza and Governor Attilio Fontana of Lombardy, one of Italy’s worst-affected regions. The plaintiffs are members of a committee named “Noi Denunceremo” (we will go to court), which has committed [...]

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Tuesday rejected an undertaking by Google in connection with its proposed takeover of sports wearables manufacturer Fitbit that it would behave in certain ways towards rival wearable manufacturers, not use health data for advertising and, in some circumstances, allow competing businesses access to health and fitness data Google [...]

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Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was granted bail Wednesday on charges related to fraud and national security. Hong Kong authorities arrested Lai in August. He was charged with fraud for violating the lease terms of his company Next Digital’s office. Additionally, he was charged with colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security. He [...]

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