US federal prosecutors Tuesday charged Samuel Bankman-Fried, former CEO and co-founder of crypto trading platform FTX, with bribing Chinese government officials in early 2021 as part of a superseding indictment. In the indictment, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of paying Chinese government officials $40 million to unfreeze cryptocurrency trading accounts on two of China’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday called on Vietnamese authorities to immediately release human rights activist Truong Van Dung. Van Dung was arrested and charged in May 2022 with “conducting propaganda against the government.” The organization further urged the government to drop all charges against Van Dung as he awaits trial and faces a sentence of [...]

Burkina Faso Monday announced that it will suspend broadcasts from France 24, a French international news network, after the network aired an interview with the head of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The interview effectively classifies France 24 as a “communications agency for these terrorists,” according to Minister of Communication Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo. “France [...]

Malaysia’s Parliament Monday began its consideration of two bills introduced to abolish mandatory death penalties for certain sentences. The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill of 2023 would reverse prior laws that require a mandatory death sentence for 33 different offenses. While the bill would not completely abolish the use of the death penalty, it [...]

Press freedom groups in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Monday condemned the region’s harassment of journalists. In a statement issued Monday, HKJA expressed its concern for a female Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) journalist who was tailed by two men as she left her home to go [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday declined to hear Steven Donziger v. United States, a case concerning a human rights lawyer charged with multiple criminal counts of contempt and prosecuted by special prosecutors. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented and would have heard the appeal. Gorsuch argued that the appointment of the private attorneys as [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday announced that he will delay proposed reforms of Israel’s judicial system. The postponement comes in the face of mass protests, diplomatic resignations, job walkouts and increasing opposition from members of Netanyahu’s party, foreign governments and NGOs. “When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime [...]

The New Zealand Intelligence and Security Committee Monday held its annual review, with cyberattacks being the primary concern across reports. Director-General of the Government Communications Security Bureau Andrew Hampton labelled the peace and security of the region as a key focus of New Zealand intelligence and a 34 percent increase in malicious cyberattacks from “state-sponsored [...]

The UN Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Monday released a report on the impact of forced disappearance and abductions in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on victims and their families. Within the report, the UN called for the DPRK to acknowledge and end these violations by returning [...]

In a special sitting Sunday, the Parliament of the Australian state of South Australia passed the First Nations Voice Bill 2023, amending the state’s constitution to enable representatives elected by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the state to directly address ministers and government departments on specific legislation and reforms which are of [...]