A coalition of eight Canadian environmental groups has threatened to sue Alberta Premier Jason Kenney for defamation after he publically stated that an inquiry found the groups spread misinformation about the province’s oil and gas industry. According to The Canadian Press, the coalition, consisting of groups like the Dogwood Initiative, Greenpeace Canada and Sierra Club Canada, [...]

Apple filed a lawsuit against NSO Group on Tuesday for the use of its Pegasus spyware against Apple users and products. NSO Group is an Israeli technology company that was founded in 2010 and is primarily known for its spyware program Pegasus, which has been condemned by the UN and the US for its surveillance [...]

The European Parliament Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) voted to approve the Digital Markets Act (DMA) Tuesday, imposing stricter restrictions on large social media platforms. The proposed legislation would hold social media companies, or platforms with more than 45 million monthly end users, accountable for unfair business practices. The DMA would also restrict [...]

Italy’s Anti-trust and Competition Authority (AGCM) fined Amazon and Apple over $225 million (€200 million) Tuesday for anti-competitive business practices, in violation of European Union competition law. The investigation launched last month discovered that the tech giants were using restrictive contractual agreements signed in 2018, which only allowed certain resellers to sell Apple and Beats [...]

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Tuesday held that EU law grants national judges a right to seek guidance from the CJEU, after a Hungarian judge was disciplined for seeking guidance on EU law. The disciplined judge was referring an issue related to criminal proceedings brought in Hungary’s Central District Court. In those [...]

UN human rights expert Fernand de Varennes Monday said that electoral laws in some parts of the US, including Texas, may undermine democracy by depriving millions of citizens who belong to minority groups of the equal right to vote. Varennes stated this during a news conference on his final day of a two-week visit to [...]

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan Monday voiced concerns over freedom of media and expression in Hungary after an official visit. Khan attributes freedom of expression issues to overbroad government regulatory authority and financial control over media and lack of journalist access to information, among other sources. The purpose [...]

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso Thursday extended the country’s state of emergency by 30 days to fight drug consumption and trafficking. The decree is allegedly an attempt to control the insecurity generated by drug-related crimes and re-establish peaceful co-existence and public order. It provides for the mobilization of military forces in certain provinces to assist the [...]

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced in a press conference Friday that COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory for everyone beginning February 1, 2022. As the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits Western Europe, Austria is the first country to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory.  Austria is one of the top four countries to have the highest [...]

The International Labour Organization (ILO), in a report released Friday, has said that Qatar is not adequately investigating and reporting worker deaths and injuries. The report comes amid heightened scrutiny of work-related deaths in construction projects connected to Qatar’s role as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The report shows that during these projects, [...]