A coalition of rights groups led by the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit Friday challenging four provisions of Alabama Senate Bill 1, Act No. 2024-33 (“SB 1”), which criminalizes absentee ballot assistance. The case is in the Southern Division of the Northern District of Alabama. Two of the challenged provisions were [...]
The Parliament of the Australian state of Queensland passed a bill on Thursday to decriminalise sex work. The Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 also includes new offences against child prostitution and coercion to perform sex work. The Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath stated that “sex workers should not have to [...]
The Parliament of Georgia cancelled their plenary session on Thursday for a highly controversial “foreign agents” bill amid widespread protests as well as criticism from the EU and US, local media reported. Parliament stated that the cancellation was due to damage caused to the parliamentary building as a result of mass protests against the bill. [...]
US Congressman Henry Cuellar, who has served as a Democratic representative of Texas for nearly two decades, was indicted on Friday with his wife on charges of bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering. In announcing the indictment, the US Department of Justice stated the couple is accused of having accepted about $600,000 in bribes [...]
As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day on Friday, advocacy groups and officials around the globe sounded the alarm over increased violence and threats against journalists. Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday released its annual World Press Freedom Index, warning that a marked surge in political oppression across the globe remains a [...]
Inadequate protections by the de-facto Taliban authorities in Afghanistan continue to leave the Shia-Hazara community at risk and contribute to their plight, according a report released Friday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report highlighted that endless conflict in the country continues to affect the lives of many marginalized communities in the country, particularly Hazaras [...]
Canada’s Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions released its Initial Report on Friday, which details its investigation into foreign interference during the country’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Chaired by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, the inquiry reviewed thousands of documents and heard over 60 witnesses during 21 days of hearings [...]
India’s Supreme Court (SC) reserved Thursday one-third of the seats in the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for women. The SCBA is an Indian bar association comprising practicing lawyers who work in the Supreme Court of India. The SC held that the SCBA has to establish reservations and guidelines for its [...]
UNESCO awarded Thursday its World Press Freedom Prize to all of the Palestinian journalists covering Gaza. This prize honors media workers promoting press freedom, especially in areas facing wars. While the deaths of 26 journalists during their work were condemned and deplored by UNESCO since October 2023, it has been supporting media workers who report from [...]
London’s Metropolitan Police arrested 45 protestors on Thursday during an attempt to stop the government moving asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge. Those arrested were detained for offenses including obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on officers. The protestors were attempting to prevent the removal of asylum seekers from a London hotel [...]
