Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday adopted a controversial law designating civil society organizations that receive funding from abroad as “foreign agents.” The law stipulates that civil society organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from international donors must formally register as foreign agents — a term that evokes images of Cold War-era espionage. The legislative [...]
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Students from China and Hong Kong studying abroad fear engaging with ‘sensitive’ or political issues while overseas, according to a report published by Amnesty International on Monday. The report, entitled “On My Campus, I am Afraid” details a campaign of transnational repression felt by Chinese and Hong Kongese nationals studying on campuses across Western Europe [...]
Thousands of people marched in Tel Aviv on Thursday to demand a ceasefire and hostage deal, as well as a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The march was led by Standing Together, a joint Jewish-Palestinian peace movement in Israel. Alon Lee-Green, the group’s Jewish co-director, said the march, composed of both Jewish and Palestinian protestors, was [...]
Beyond Secondary Values: An Urgent Call for a New Architecture of International Law
“Scholars build the structure of peace in the world.” Babylonian Talmud, Order Zera’im, Tractate Berakoth IX The irony is unparalleled. From the beginning, human beings have directed much greater attention to conspicuous consumption than to viable “architectures” of planetary survival. The errors of this inverted hierarchy are magnified by the growing urgency of nuclear war [...]
South Africa president approves bill criminalizing hate crimes and hate speech
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday assented to the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, which criminalizes the offenses of hate crimes and hate speech in the country. According to the president’s office, under the new law, a hate crime is found “if a person commits any recognised offence under [...]
UK PM tells university leaders to protect Jewish students on campus
University leaders should take responsibility for protecting Jewish students on campus, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said to vice-chancellors during an antisemitism roundtable hosted at Downing Street. Sunak met with 17 leaders of higher education institutions from England and Scotland, along with Jewish student and community groups. The meeting was convened after the proliferation of student [...]
Students at multiple UK universities this week have set up protests and encampments in solidarity with similar protests against Israel’s war in Gaza recently seen across campuses in the United States as well as in Canada, France and Germany. The UK universities include Oxford, Cambridge, University of College London, Newcastle, Sheffield, Warwick, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester [...]
Third German politician attacked ahead of European elections
German politician Franziska Giffey was attacked Tuesday at a local library. The incident comes after other politicians were targeted ahead of the upcoming German European Parliamentary elections. Giffey, Berlin’s senator and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was visiting a library in Alt-Rudow, which she previously campaigned to be rebuilt, when someone [...]
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered approximately 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to evacuate parts of Rafah as it prepares for military operations in the southern Gazan city. The order came after the Hamas delegation left Cairo saying the latest round of ceasefire negotiations ended without an agreement. Hamas initially said they planned to return to [...]
Germany accuses Russia of 2023 cyber attack and promises 'consequences'
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has accused Russia of a cyber attack that occurred in 2023. In a Friday press conference, Baerbock said the attack was “completely unacceptable and will not remain without consequences.” Baerbock, in a speech at a press conference with the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared that the “serious cyber attack [...]