On Thursday, the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil invalidated a legislative proposal 9-2 regarding the temporal boundaries for demarcating indigenous lands.  The judges ruled against the argument that the territory of indigenous peoples can only be demarcated if there is evidence of the requesting community’s existence as of the promulgation date of the Federal Constitution, i.e., [...]

The German interior ministry said that 90 Russian men of military age have been granted asylum in the country since Russia’s 2023 invasion of Ukraine, according to a Friday report from the German news outlet RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The news outlet obtained this information from the ministry’s answer to a question from lawyer and Bundesdag [...]

Over 50 rights groups expressed their concerns to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the forcible returns of North Korean escapees detained by Chinese authorities. These groups call upon China to end its forcible repatriation of North Korean detainees in accordance with the non-refoulement principle in international law. The letter addresses the potential forceful repatriation of [...]

ProPublica released a report on Friday revealing details about US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ attendance at the Koch network annual winter donor summit in California in 2018. According to the report, Thomas attended a private dinner at the event and did not report his flight to California on his annual financial report, echoing similar [...]

US prosecutors unveiled an indictment against Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), his wife and three businessmen on Friday, accusing the senator of using his position to aid three businessmen in financial and pending criminal matters, as well as assisting the government of Egypt, in exchange for bribes. Menendez denied the accusations soon after the indictment’s release. [...]

A prominent political cartoonist in Tunisia announced he was released from custody Friday on his Facebook page. Tunisian authorities arrested Tawfiq Omrane, well-known for publishing satirical drawings of political figures on his Facebook page, on Thursday on suspicion of insulting Prime Minister Ahmed Al-Hasani through his cartoons. The Public Prosecutor’s office authorized Omrane’s arrest on [...]

President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Shawn Fain filed a complaint Thursday against Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), alleging he threatened workers’ ability to strike in violation of US federal labor law. UAW members have been on strike against three major automakers in the US—including Ford, Stellantis and General Motors—for about a week over pay and [...]

International civil society watchdog CIVICUS added Bangladesh on Thursday to its CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist and rated the civic space in Bangladesh as “repressed,” the watchdog’s second lowest rating. The CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist rates the civic space of jurisdictions based on expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of association. CIVICUS stated it added Bangladesh to its watchlist because [...]

South Korea’s National Assembly voted on Thursday to lift the immunity of the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, ahead of a potential arrest warrant on charges of embezzlement, bribery, perjury, and related offenses. The vote passed with a slim majority, with 149 legislators voting in favor of the charges, with the [...]

As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, it is time to reexamine the ways in which lyrics are used in legal proceedings by examining the bias held for the art form. While the birth of hip hop has spurred international conversations about the realities of living in under-resourced communities, it has also been [...]