EU officially approves world's first landmark AI legislation
The European Union (EU) officially approved the world’s first landmark AI legislation on Tuesday. The Council of the European Union unanimously adopted the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, which will enter into force 20 days after publication in the EU’s official journal. Petra De Sutter, Belgian deputy prime minister and minister for telecommunications, said in a [...]
Sea law tribunal advises countries are legally required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) defined greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a form of marine pollution under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in a landmark advisory opinion released Tuesday. The opinion, a response to inquiries by Antigua, Barbuda, Tuvalu, and the Commission of Small Island States [...]
Greece judge dismisses deadly Pylos migrant shipwreck case for lack of jurisdiction
A Greek judge on Tuesday dropped the charges against nine Egyptian men involved in a 2023 migrant boat wreck off Pylos that killed at least 82 people because the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, as the sinking happened in international waters. This sinking incident shocked the European Union’s border protection and [...]
Israeli Minister of Communication Shlomo Karhi ordered the return of Associated Press (AP) equipment Tuesday after officials from the ministry seized it and took down the news organization’s live feed of northern Gaza earlier in the day. Karhi said that the defense ministry was re-examining the issue and that the equipment would be returned until [...]
Punjab, Pakistan defamation act passed amid free speech controversy
Pakistan’s Provincial Assembly of the Punjab passed on Monday The Punjab Defamation Bill 2024, which allows the establishment of special tribunals to try individuals who draft, publish or disseminate fake news, according to local outlet Pakistan Today. The act’s passage comes amid protests and free speech concerns from opposition parties. The official purpose of the [...]
A chorus of US politicians including President Joe Biden has decried International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, alongside three senior Hamas leaders. US officials slammed the ICC’s perceived “equivalence” of Israel and Hamas, the latter [...]
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” so taught civil rights campaigner and feminist Rita Mae Brown. There is no more fitting maxim for the broken American system that in 2024 has allowed Donald Trump to return as a major political party’s presumptive nominee for its highest office. [...]
After a 15-hour search, the wreckage of a helicopter carrying Iran’s president and foreign minister was located by a Turkish drone, leaving a nation to grapple with an unexpected transition of power. Ebrahim Raisi was the eighth president of Iran to have been killed in the last year of his first term. When he ascended [...]
HRW urges Iraq government to repeal law criminalizing LGBTQ+ conduct
HRW urged the Iraqi government on Monday to repeal a new law that prohibits same-sex conduct and transgender expression as it violates basic human rights such as freedom of expression, equality and non-discrimination. The anti-LGBT law, as an amendment to existing the Iraqi “Law on Combatting Prostitution,” was passed on April 27, 2024. It criminalizes [...]
Amnesty International said Monday that a South Korea’s Constitutional Court hearing set for Tuesday regarding four landmark climate change cases could set a “human rights precedent” for climate litigation. The four cases were first heard in April by the court and involve approximately 200 people, 60 of whom are children. The plaintiffs are suing the [...]
