UNICEF denounced the alarming rise in violence against children in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Friday, expressing concern that thousands of minors have suffered sexual violence, abductions, and forced recruitment by armed groups in the ongoing conflict. UNICEF stated: “e are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties [...]

The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) on Friday condemned Israel’s continuing offensive operation in the West Bank, urging Israel to immediately halt the “alarming wave of violence and mass displacement.” The OHCHR noted a resumption of unlawful killings of Palestinian civilians beginning on January 21, 2025. The office stated that Israeli security forces have [...]

A Texas state judge entered a default judgment and permanent injunction against New York doctor Margaret Carpenter on Thursday, finding her liable for unlawfully providing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas woman. Judge Bryan Gantt’s default judgment resulted from Carpenter’s failure to respond to the Texas civil suit against her. Judge Bryan Gantt granted Texas’s requested relief [...]

Poland’s Warshaw Court of Appeal ordered a retrial of activist Justyna Wydrzyńska Thursday, citing concerns over judicial impartiality. Human rights organizations welcomed the decision, contending that abortion should not be criminalized.  The appellate court remitted the case to the trial court for reconsideration, finding that bias on the part of a trial judge had tainted [...]

Fourteen US state attorney generals filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court against Elon Musk, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and President Donald Trump on Thursday. The lawsuit challenges DOGE’s legal authority and Musk’s recent actions such as shutting down or exercising sweeping control over the functions of 14 federal agencies, including [...]

US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials filed a motion on Friday to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. This brings an abrupt end to a tense legal standoff that had stretched on for days. The DOJ contended that the dismissal was necessary because the prosecution presented a risk of interference with [...]

The UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus reported on Friday that the Belarusian government committed widespread human rights violations, including crimes against humanity against its civilian population to suppress opposition to President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The experts criticized the Belarusian government’s use of widespread measures in 2024 to purge “most [...]

Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Friday decried the UK government’s order directing Apple to give it access to cloud data, asserting the move “severely harms the privacy rights of users in the UK and worldwide.” The Washington Post reported last week that the UK Home Office issued a secret order in [...]

The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) concluded in a report released Friday that Bosnia and Herzegovina has made limited progress in implementing key anti-corruption recommendations. The report underscores that Bosnia and Herzegovina has fully implemented just two of 25 recommendations from GRECO’s Fifth Evaluation Round, with 15 partially implemented and eight [...]

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump and his administration over the federal aid freeze policy, claiming that it is unconstitutional for the executive branch to suspend money that Congress has already approved. The lawsuit specifically details the funds the federal government has withheld since January 27, namely the $3.1 [...]