The Hong Kong Court of First Instance jailed media tycoon and Apple Daily newspaper founder Jimmy Lai for 20 years on Monday following his national security conviction in December. This marks the latest development in a years-long legal battle and the heaviest sentence since the promulgation of the 2020 National Security Law. Lai was one of the [...]
Nicaragua ended visa-free travel for Cuban citizens on Sunday, cutting off a previous pathway for Cubans seeking to enter the US. The order requires Cuban citizens to now carry more than an ordinary passport to travel in Nicaragua. The move shifts from Nicaragua’s “visa-free” policy towards Cuban citizens, implemented in 2021 to promote tourism and [...]
France’s former culture minister resigned from his leading role at a French cultural institute, Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), after the US Department of Justice’s recent “Epstein files” release revealed financial links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prompting a tax investigation. Jack Lang, who served as cultural minister in under president François Mitterrand, is accused [...]
Cuban authorities are escalating surveillance and harassment of families of political prisoners while denying adequate medical care to jailed dissidents, Amnesty International said Monday. The human rights organization reported that relatives of prisoners of conscience face police cordons around their homes, movement restrictions, and threats, and that these actions are occurring in the absence of [...]
A military drone strike in western Niger killed at least 17 civilians, including four children, and injured at least 13 others when it hit a crowded market on January 6, according to a Human Rights Watch investigation released Monday. The afternoon strike in Kokoloko village in the Tillabéri region killed three Islamic State fighters but [...]
Houthi authorities in Yemen have arbitrarily detained more than 20 Christians over the past three months in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) characterizes as a campaign of enforced disappearances targeting the religious minority. The detentions began in late November and early December 2025, with an expansion on December 24, Christmas Eve, according to HRW interviews [...]
A judge in Maricopa County Superior Court ordered Friday that Arizona must stop enforcing laws that predate the state’s 2024 Right to Abortion constitutional amendment. Judge Greg Como enjoined the state from enforcing laws that barred abortion if sought for a non-fatal genetic abnormality and that barred the prescription of abortion pills by telehealth. He [...]
UN torture prevention experts on Friday urged a significant strengthening of preventive measures in Mexico. The statement recognized progress, but expressing particular concern over unregulated drug rehabilitation centers. The assessment was delivered by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) following a week-long visit to the country, its first in a decade. The experts [...]
The Enugu High Court in Nigeria ruled Thursday that the former British colonial administration was liable for a 1949 labor dispute that caused 21 worker deaths. Justice Anthony Onovo awarded each victim’s family £20 million in compensation, which he stated would be an “effective remedy and compensation for the violations of the right to life.” [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk launched an appeal Thursday to raise $400 million in 2026 to fund the UN’s objective of addressing global human rights needs and resolving violations and inequities. Turk outlined the consequences of the lack of funding in 2025, which negatively impacted the ability of the UN Human Rights [...]
