China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced Thursday that it is imposing sanctions on 28 individuals, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former White House strategiest Steve Bannon for violating China’s sovereignty. The sanctions prohibit the individuals from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. In [...]

The Hungarian government has ordered a publisher to print disclaimers identifying books containing “behaviour inconsistent with traditional gender roles.” The order is in response to the publication of Meseorszag mindenkie (A Fairy Tale for Everyone) a fairytale anthology published by Labrisz, an association for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. The group says the storybook includes [...]

The Federal Council of Switzerland released a statement on Tuesday urging voters to reject the “Yes to a ban on full facial coverings” initiative. The electorate will vote on the initiative during the March 7 election. The Swiss government instead proposes a policy that would require persons wearing full facial coverings to remove them and identify themselves [...]

British Virgin Islands (BVI) Governor Augustus Jaspert announced Monday that an independent inquiry into allegations of government corruption would soon begin and last approximately six months. The BVI governor has the support of UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who issued his own statement on the matter, informing the public that the UK government is “responsible [...]

Outgoing US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday deferring the deportations of more than 145,000 Venezuelans for 18 months. The Trump administration also announced more sanctions targeted at the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Trump stated that there was a “catastrophic economic crisis and shortages of basic goods and medicine,” which forced five million [...]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uighur population in Xinjiang. Pompeo called the Chinese government “a Marxist-Leninist regime that exerts power over the long-suffering Chinese people through brainwashing and brute force.” He stated that China’s treatment of the Uighurs and other ethnic and [...]

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) argued before the Karnataka High Court Monday that Amazon is violating India’s Competition Act, a 2002 law that governs monopoly activity. The CCI alleges that Amazon struck deals with businesses to be the exclusive seller of goods, such as Apple and Samsung smartphones. Moreover, the CCI alleges that Amazon’s [...]

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia provisionally on Tuesday suspended the decision of the regional government to delay upcoming parliamentary elections due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This move was challenged before the court on the ground that it defies democracy. Until the matter is settled in the final hearing, elections stand to be [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday warned of possible violent uprisings and government crackdowns amid political unrest in Haiti. The office noted that conditions in Haiti are worsening and that criminal activity and widespread insecurity are on the rise. OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado told reporters that political tensions [...]

Five people in Saudi Arabia who committed crimes as minors are still awaiting execution, despite the kingdom’s April announcement that juvenile offenders would no longer face the death penalty, rights groups said Monday. In April, Saudia Arabia’s government-operated Human Rights Commission (HRC) announced that a royal decree from King Salman had eliminated the death penalty [...]