Panama president-elect plans new checkpoints to control border with Colombia
Panama’s next president José Raul Mulino announced Thursday that the forthcoming government is planning to set up new checkpoints in a thick jungle area along its southern border, which has become a dangerous segment of the path for the growing number of migrants trying to head to the US. During his proclamation as president-elect, Mulino [...]
It’s not every day that one gets a front-row seat to witness the justice system’s workings in a high-profile case. I was fortunate enough to be at the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco earlier today for the sentencing of the man who on October 28, 2023, broke into [...]
US House passes bill forcing Biden to send weapons to Israel
The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would restrict President Joe Biden’s ability to withhold weapons transfers to Israel, aiming to force the president to deliver certain weapons after he previously placed shipments on hold. The bill, known as the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, was crafted “o provide for the [...]
US lawmakers decry Harvard inaction on antisemitism recommendations
Harvard University’s leadership has failed to implement a spate of recommendations related to curbing antisemitism on campus, according to a report released Thursday by the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce. According to the report, Harvard’s Antisemitism Advisory Group (AAG) presented university leaders with recommendations in December 2023. These recommendations included enforcing zero [...]
Portugal’s Parliament rejected on Wednesday a bid proposed by the far-right party Chega to charge the country’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with treason over his support for reparation to former Portuguese colonies for slavery and mistreatment during colonization. The controversy dates back to April 2023 when President Marcelo de Sousa publically declared that Portugal has [...]
UN rights chief: Georgia 'foreign agents' law undermines freedom of expression
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk stated on Wednesday that Georgia’s newly passed foreign agents bill “undermines the freedoms of expression and association.” Türk mentioned his concern regarding the possible effects of this bill being signed by the President of Georgia: “The ability of associations to seek, secure and use resources is essential to their [...]
South Africa’s main opposition party announced it would go all the way to the Constitutional Court to fight the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, aimed at providing universal health coverage, on Tuesday. Just two weeks out from the general election on May, 29 2024, the Bill would see free healthcare provided at the point for care [...]
Pitasanna Shanmugathas is a law student at Vermont Law & Graduate School and a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. On Saturday May 11 Pitasanna participated in Day 10 of the student-led encampment calling for the University of Toronto to divest from funding Israeli institutions allegedly involved in sustaining the [...]
Appeals court upholds Trump gag order in New York hush money trial
The New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division upheld a gag order Tuesday against former president Donald Trump in a criminal case centering on allegations he falsified the Trump Organization’s business records to conceal hush money payments to influence the 2016 presidential election. The appeals court was unpersuaded by Trump’s arguments that the gag order violates [...]
UK Judges Serving in Hong Kong Face Human Rights Balancing Act
A report released this week before the UK Parliament details how the Hong Kong authorities are using the reputations and prestige of overseas common law judges to draw a veil over their country’s deteriorating legal system. The report, issued by the Committee for the Freedom of Hong Kong presents a damning indictment on how the Chinese [...]
