The top US diplomat in Hong Kong Monday urged the Chinese government to loosen political controls over Hong Kong which have broken international agreements, undermined the will of citizens and threatened its economy. The PRC has taken steps to “dismantle and destroy” Hong Kong’s freedoms, said US Consul General Hanscom Smith. Beijing promised a high [...]

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday announced that the UN will investigate the killing and wounding of children in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Mozambique over the coming year. The UN Secretary General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict is released each year and details the amount of children affected by violent global conflicts. According [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Monday that Turkey violated a prior judgement in the case Kavala v. Turkey by keeping activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala in detention. The court had previously ruled that Kavala was wrongfully detained, ordering Turkey to release Kavala and pay damages. Kavala was arrested in 2017, ostensibly for [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday signed a decree allowing all Ukrainian citizens to apply for Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure. Ukrainians only need to provide proof of Ukrainian residency and citizenship, along with divorce and name-change documents, in order to apply. Parents applying on behalf of their children are also required to provide their [...]

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), the Indian government’s financial investigation agency, Saturday filed money laundering charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Amnesty India International Private Limited (AIIPL) and one of its trusts. On Friday, the ED issued a notice imposing fines of INR 51.72 crores, or more than USD 6.5 million, and INR 10 crores, [...]

The US Department of State Saturday announced visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials allegedly involved in the violent crackdown on the July 2021 protests. This is the US’s fourth round of visa restrictions on Cuban officials. The US Department of Treasury has also instituted four rounds of financial sanctions against many of the same targets. According [...]

The Constitutional Court of Slovenia has legalized same-sex marriage and adoption by homosexual couples. The highest Slovenian authority as far as the constitution is concerned deemed on Friday that the distinction between heterosexual and homosexual couples resulted in discrimination, which is incompatible with the Slovenian Constitution. The Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal [...]

Non-governmental organization Public Eye, along with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa and the UNIS association, have filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland against UBS, the largest Swiss bank. The complaint filed on Friday states that UBS allowed Belgian businessman Philippe de Moerloose to launder money by possibly [...]

The UK Court of Appeal Friday handed down a judgment allowing victims of Brazil’s biggest environmental disaster on record to pursue their claims in a British court. The claimants number over 200,000, making the case the largest group claim in the country’s legal history. In November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam in the Brazilian state of Minas [...]

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Friday adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to equal rights for women in Afghanistan, calling for representative participation in an organized dialogue on the issue at the next HRC session and directing the Taliban to establish institutions to protect the rights of women and victims of sexual and gender-based violence. [...]