There’s much talk these days about democracy being under threat at home and around the world. Most of this discussion tends to be focused on efforts by autocrats and their supporters to erode the rule of law and the right to vote; their adoption of policies that discriminate against minorities and women; and their use [...]
In August 2021, the world watched as the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, sweeping away two decades of progress toward democracy, human rights and gender equality. While international headlines have since moved on to other crises, millions of Afghan women and girls continue to live under increasingly restrictive policies that have systematically stripped away their [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) condemned the sentencing of Moroccan political activist and human rights defender Fouad Abdelmoumni to six months in prison for his social media posts criticizing the government. The rights organizations urged the authorities to overturn the conviction and cease restrictive actions targeting journalists and [...]
On Sunday, I attended a training by the Diaspora Alliance about the worrying rise of instrumentalized antisemitism. The Diaspora Alliance describes instrumentalized antisemitism as the use by political actors of Jewish peoples’ legitimate fears in an antisemitic environment. The idea is, these actors will manipulate those fears to compel organized action ultimately aimed at shoring [...]
President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to vacate an order by a district court that reinstated federal grants to address teacher shortages. The Trump administration argued that the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts lacked jurisdiction unless Congress “unequivocally” waives the government’s sovereign immunity. They further argued that [...]
Algeria’s Criminal Court of Dar El Beïda on Thursday sentenced renowned 80-year-old French-Algerian writer and outspoken critic Boualem Sansal to five years in prison and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars. French lawyer François Zimeray, who represented Sansal in the early stages of the case, said the verdict betrayed the meaning of the word justice and [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Biden-era federal regulations on “ghost guns,” or mail-order kits that allow people to build untraceable weapons at home, handing gun control groups a rare win at the conservative high court. Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the court’s opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena [...]
The acting clerk of Ulster County, New York, rejected on Thursday the filing of a $100,000 judgment against a doctor who is accused of unlawfully providing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas woman. Refusing to file the summary judgment, Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck invoked New York’s SHIELD Act. He further noted that Ulster County’s decision is [...]
The state government of Queensland, Australia, initiated on Thursday an independent review into the use of pediatric gender hormone therapy. While the final report is due by November 30, the pause on new patients under 18 accessing hormone therapies within the public healthcare system will remain in place until the review is completed. Professor Ruth [...]
Peru’s National Jury of Elections (JNE) on Tuesday issued deadlines for high-ranking officials to resign in order to run for office in the 2026 General Elections. JNE issued a series of resolutions to address potential challenges that may arise due to a surplus of General Election candidates. JNE stated in its resolutions that approximately 10,000 [...]
