A special counsel team in South Korea is seeking a 30-year prison sentence for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of “benefiting the enemy” after allegedly ordering the dispatch of military drones over the North Korean capital city, Pyongyang, in 2024. The former president is accused of sending over 10 drones to North Korea [...]

A Russian court in St. Petersburg held Monday that the Russian LGBT Network is an “extremist organization,” followed by a nationwide ban on its activities. Amnesty International condemned the ruling as a misuse of anti-extremism legislation to target sexual minorities. According to the group, the decision came after the Russian Ministry of Justice requested closed [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday warned that a new bill before Uganda’s parliament could be used to shut down civil society, and compared it to a similar Russian “foreign agents” law. HRW warns that this bill threatens to limit freedom of speech and assembly. Bill 13, the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, was introduced on [...]

Turkish lawmakers approved a bill Thursday restricting access to social media platforms for children under 15, according to state media. The bill, adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, amends the Social Services Law and several other laws. It provides that social network providers may not offer services to children under the age of 15, [...]

A Kuwait court acquitted US-Kuwaiti journalist, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, of all charges, which is expected to end a 52-day detention that has drawn international concern about press freedom and expanding restrictions on speech related to national security. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed the decision, with CEO Jodie Ginsberg expressing relief at the outcome following [...]

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario voted on Thursday to exempt records held by ministers from freedom of information (FOI) requests. The amendment is said to have violated the right of Ontario citizens to transparency and privacy. Bill 97, also known as the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), contains several statutes and amendments to [...]

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged the US and Iran to return to peace negotiations amid rising tensions in the ongoing war, calling for a new “culture of peace” to replace the default recourse to violence whenever conflicts arise. The remarks come on the heels of a very public back-and-forth between the Pope and US [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, warned Thursday that despite government efforts, structural challenges continue to undermine the safety of human rights defenders in Mexico, citing organized crime, state authorities, and business interests as driving forces behind ongoing attacks. In a statement issued by the Office of the UN [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday lambasted the arrest of at least four in Bangladesh for posting social media content that allegedly criticized the new government, calling it an alarming continuation of the previous regime’s repressive practices. “Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government should live up to its promises on freedom of expression, end [...]

Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (SMIL), Hanna Tetteh, on Wednesday briefed the Security Council on how Libya’s political leaders have delayed implementation of the political roadmap intended to lead the country toward establishing national unity and democratic elections. Tetteh said Libyan authorities have fallen short of goals set in SMIL’s 2025 roadmap [...]