French police are using on-the-spot fixed-penalty fines as a new tool for racial profiling, trapping Black and Arab youth in debt reaching tens of thousands of euros, Human Rights Watch, (RE)CLAIM and Maison Communautaire pour un Développement Solidaire (MCDS) said in a joint statement Wednesday. The report documents police issuing criminal fines for alleged noise [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that sanctions against Francesca Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, will remain in place while her legal challenge continues. In July 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions under Executive Order [...]

The Canadian Parliament adopted reform legislation on Tuesday to impose more stringent bail conditions and harsher sentencing guidelines on violent crimes. While supporters welcome the enactment, critics question the law’s effectiveness and warn of worsening pre-trial jail conditions. The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act made over 80 changes to the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal [...]

The UK Court of Appeal held unanimously on Monday that the government’s designation of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization is lawful. Following the ruling, the Metropolitan Police arrested 117 protesters from outside the court for supporting the advocacy group. The appellate court concluded that the designation passed the proportionality test—which requires a policy objective [...]

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a constitutional initiative to cap the country’s permanent resident population at 10 million by 2050, with 54% opposing the measure in a national referendum, and with voter turnout exceeding 58%—evidence of strong democratic engagement, according to the Federal Council, the Swiss cabinet. The initiative aimed to constitutionally cap Switzerland’s permanent [...]

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday said in a statement that US President Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate him and his wife over unspecified and baseless claims, alleging that he is just the next victim in a long line of political opponents targeted by Trump. Newsom said the DOJ was [...]

Canada introduced new privacy legislation on Monday to regulate the handling of personal information in commercial activities. But concerns have been raised concerning the bill’s expansion of the Digital Safety Commission’s regulatory powers. The Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, also known as Bill C-36, recognizes privacy as a fundamental right. Companies must obtain valid [...]

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday welcomed an announced peace deal between the United States and Iran, remaining hopeful it represents a step toward permanently ending regional hostilities. Guterres indicated in a statement that he is deeply appreciative of the role countries such as Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt played in supporting the deal, [...]

Ghana’s Supreme Court on April 29 unanimously upheld a five-year voting ban for people convicted of electoral offenses, ruling that Parliament may restrict the constitutional right to vote beyond the limits written into the Constitution, 1992. The decision in Fred Akweter v. Attorney General & Electoral Commission rejected a challenge by Akweter, a Ghanaian lawyer, [...]

More than 200 civil society groups and advocates on Monday called for an immediate halt to the use of artificial intelligence systems in military “kill chains,” warning that AI-accelerated warfare risks facilitating violations of international criminal, human rights and humanitarian law. The statement warned that AI systems embedded in kill chains are accelerating the speed [...]