Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday that several major nations including the US and Russia are continuing to block a potential international treaty on the use of autonomous weapons. HRW and the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots have been encouraging nations to enter negotiations for a new treaty requiring meaningful human interaction to apply the [...]

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Friday formed a bench comprising five judges to hear an application for a legal opinion filed by the country’s president. Jayantha Jayasuriya, chief justice of the court, will head the bench that has been asked to determine whether it is lawful for provincial council elections to be held in the [...]

The Canadian Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Mario Dion, released a report on Wednesday condemning the conduct of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Dion found that Trudeau contravened Section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act by using his position of authority over Attorney General Wilson-Raybould, to attempt to influence her decision so as [...]

A criminal court in Bangkok on Wednesday acquitted 24 leaders of the 2010 red shirt protests. The court dismissed all charges, including charges of terrorism, criminal association and inciting arrest. The case was brought by state prosecutors and business owners who were affected by the protests which took place in Bangkok’s central shopping area. The [...]

Nepal’s law ministry has prepared a draft bill to “domesticate the Geneva Conventions with the objective of removing the gap in the domestic legal system,” a ministry official was reported to have said on Monday. “The new bill proposes imprisonment till death for serious violations of the provisions of Geneva Conventions that deal with the [...]

A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern Tuesday over the ongoing situation in Hong Kong. The statement urges protesters to ‘express their views in a peaceful way…and to engage in an open dialogue with the authorities to seek to resolve the issues.’ The statement also calls [...]

The Canadian government on Friday announced major reforms to the country’s price regulations on patented drugs. The changes are the “most significant reforms to the regulations” since 1987, according a recent press release by Health Canada. Overall, the new regulations will serve as the first step in the implementation of Canada’s proposed national pharmacare plan. [...]

Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov on Thursday urged the preservation of the rule of law following the failed night raid and the later arrest of his political opponent Almazbek Atambayev. Atambayev, the former president, has been accused of corruption and illegal land purchases. As a result, Atambayev was stripped of immunity from prosecution. In Jeenbekov’s statement, [...]

A bill reforming New Zealand’s Contraception, Sterilization and Abortion Act (Act) passed the first reading in Parliament on Thursday. This bill proposes several changes to the Act. According to local news sources, “the biggest changes it proposes would see a current requirement for two doctors to have to approve an abortion on physical or mental [...]

A Special Report on Climate Change was released at the UN Inter-government panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Thursday. This report focuses on greenhouse gases, land use, sustainable land management, desertification, land degradation and food security. The IPCC report details how human activity is degrading the planet, with the “rise in global temperatures, linked to [...]