The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday upheld a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) policy prohibiting settlement defendants from publicly denying enforcement allegations. The court found that the SEC rule is constitutionally permissible despite free speech concerns. The court applied the “voluntary waiver” framework established in the 1987 Supreme Court ruling, [...]

Amnesty International on Thursday demanded the release of those arrested at Istanbul’s banned Pride march in July.  The statement came ahead of their scheduled trial on Friday for violating a ban on Pride events issued by the governor of the city. In total, 53 individuals and three activists remain in detention after being arrested during [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday urged Iraqi authorities to reopen Al-Baghdadia TV’s satellite channel and to free its director and presenter, Ali Al-Dhabhawi. CPJ’s Levant Program Coordinator Doja Daoud blasted the concurrent enforcement actions, stating: The closure of Al-Baghdadia TV and the imprisonment of its director mark a deeply alarming escalation in [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday condemned  a recent surge in deadly attacks against civilians by M23 fighters and other armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The attacks come in spite of a June 27 ceasefire agreement between the DRC government and Rwanda, which backs the M23 [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday called for the immediate and unconditional release of a former Macao lawmaker following his arrest on “national security” charges. The arrest marked the first time Macao, a Special Administrative Region of China, has invoked its sweeping Law on Safeguarding National Security.  Maya Wang, associate China director at HRW, said, [...]

The Taliban’s systematic use of Afghanistan’s legal and judicial system to target women and girls amounts to “crimes against humanity,” a United Nations human rights expert said in a report circulated Wednesday. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, told the General Assembly that the Taliban have “weaponized” [...]

Government agency Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) reported Thursday that entrenched gender segregation in Australia’s labor market is holding back productivity and worsening long-term income inequality, particularly for First Nations and migrant women. The report, “New Perspectives on Old Problems: Gendered Jobs, Work and Pay,” is the first release in JSA’s Gender Economic Equality Study. [...]

Vocal Africa and other human rights organizations condemned alleged police corruption in Kenya on Wednesday, calling for a complete disbandment of the country’s National Police Service (NPS). The group statement demanded “urgent, fearless, and total disbandment and recruitment of police in Kenya,” arguing that the existing system is “irredeemably broken.” It rejected more moderate proposals [...]

Amnesty International reported Wednesday that social media platform X, formerly Twitter, played a central role in fueling anti-Muslim and anti-migrant violence in the UK following the 2024 Southport stabbings. The rights organization cited design flaws in the platform’s algorithm that made it prone to amplifying harmful content. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK chief executive, said, [...]

The student newspaper at Stanford University sued US President Donad Trump’s administration on Wednesday over the government’s attempt to use federal immigration law to deport noncitizens who have spoken out on their pro-Palestine beliefs. The newspaper, The Daily Stanford, brought the suit because of two anonymous members of the newspaper, who have had to “self-censor” [...]