Ugandan authorities placed freelance journalist and independent filmmaker Moses Bwayo in custody in Luzira Prison on Wednesday. He has been charged with illegal assembly. At the time of his arrest, Bwayo was engaged in filming a documentary about Robert Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine), an opposition politician and popular musician. Kyagulanyi has emerged as a strong [...]
Iran officials announced on Wednesday that they will temporarily release 54,000 prisoners to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Prisoners must test negative for the virus and post bail before they will be released. However, prisoners sentenced to more than five years of imprisonment will not be released. Currently, there have been more than 90,000 [...]
The European Commission proposed a new draft climate law on Wednesday that would commit the EU to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The European Climate Law aims “to ensure that all EU policies contribute to this goal and that all sectors of the economy and society play their part.” It would legally bind EU [...]
The Court of Cassation, France’s top court ruled Wednesday that Uber drivers are employees of the company, requiring Uber to review their business model. Upholding the Court of Appeal decision, the court decided that drivers could not be classified as self-employed. Factors indicating that an Uber driver was a employee of the company included the [...]
Amid a struggling global stock market, the Supreme Court of India ruled Wednesday against the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on cryptocurrencies. The initial ban originated in 2018 after financial regulators and the Indian government began to examine the emerging cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ripple, and ethereum. At that time they had “concerns of [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday unanimously approved an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed on both sides of the Afghanistan conflict. The investigation will focus on “alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan in the period since 1 May 2003, as well as other alleged crimes that [...]
Hong Kong’s highest court ruled Wednesday that a Housing Authority policy preventing same-sex couples from applying for public housing within the city limits is unconstitutional. The spousal policy specifically excluded same-sex couples who married abroad from obtaining public housing in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Court of Appeals stated that the policy violated the region’s [...]
An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced to death a former Islamic State militant who repeatedly raped a Yazidi captive. The case marks a landmark transition for the prosecution of Islamic State in its prominent advocacy for an individual victim and its specific acknowledgment of the Yazidi minority treatment under Islamic State. Ashwaq Haji Hamid Talo, [...]
A Russian court ruled Tuesday that facial recognition technology does not violate the privacy rights of its citizens. The Russian government has partnered with Ntechlab to provide facial recognition software. Ntechlab created the app FindFace, which can be used to identify random individuals with 70 percent accuracy. All that is needed is an individual’s photograph [...]
The Mexican Episcopal Conference announced Tuesday that the Vatican has agreed to send sex abuse investigators to Mexico City at its request. The investigators, Charles Scicluna, archbishop of Malta and deputy secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Jordi Bertomeu are scheduled to be in Mexico City from March 20 to [...]
