Canada’s federal police service confirmed Wednesday that it has begun an assessment of whether to launch an investigation into the ongoing Ontario Greenbelt scandal after the matter was referred to the federal agency by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) confirmation comes in close proximity to a scathing report released [...]

The government of Ethiopia announced on Tuesday a joint investigation with the government of Saudi Arabia into the alleged mass killings of Ethiopian migrants at the Saudi-Yemeni border. In a statement posted on the Ethiopian foreign ministry’s official X (Twitter) account, the government expressed its commitment to investigate the reported incidents in collaboration with Saudi [...]

A Moscow court extended on Thursday the pre-trial detention of detained Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich in a closed hearing, according to reports from Russian state media source TASS. Gershkovich’s detention was previously extended until August, and will now continue until his trial on November 30.  Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich in March 2023 [...]

A Tennessee judge temporarily blocked a rule on Wednesday that banned the public from holding signs during legislative proceedings in the state’s House of Representatives. This was done as part of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of three mothers who were removed from the house gallery for holding signs protesting gun violence. [...]

UK Minister for Africa Andrew Mitchell announced Tuesday that the UK would send evidence to the UN of alleged war crimes in Darfur, Sudan. In a joint statement with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, Mitchell said that the UK was “extremely concerned by the growing body of evidence of serious atrocities against civilians [...]

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that the state police (PSP) must disclose its social media monitoring policy to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania under the state’s right-to-know law (RTKL). The case is an appeal from the Commonwealth Court of Pennslyvania. Justice David N. Wecht authored the opinion of the court. [...]

A UN official expressed concern Wednesday over the recent wave of violence against justice officials in Ecuador. Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said that four criminal prosecutors were assassinated between 2022 and 2023. In June, prosecutor Leonardo Palacios died in these attacks. Palacios was shot while leaving [...]

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of powerful Russian mercenary group Wagner, died in a plane crash on Wednesday, alongside the group’s alleged founder Dmitry Utkin. “The Wagner leadership has confirmed the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin,” according to the Wagner Group Telegram channel, which for several hours prior had urged the public to “not panic” as rumors [...]

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, a state law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The court’s reasoning demonstrates substantial deference to the state’s legislature. Specifically, the court cited a clear expression of compelling interest and a refined statutory scheme as reasons to uphold [...]

The African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council announced Tuesday that Niger has been suspended from participating in all AU activities following a military coup in the country. The suspension will remain in effect until Niger’s constitutional order is fully restored. The council strongly denounced the recent coup in Niger and appealed to AU member [...]