Amnesty International on Thursday called for the immediate and unconditional release of civilians being held by armed groups in India’s Manipur state as negotiations over the fate of remaining captives appear to have stalled amid continuing ethnic tensions.  The rights organization underscored that within international law, hostage-taking and the abduction of civilians are prohibited and may [...]

The UN called for a “responsible AI ecosystem” on Thursday, warning that daily use of artificial intelligence (AI) has a huge environmental impact. The appeal comes days after a UN study predicted AI’s water use will match the needs of all 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. In Thursday’s statement, the UN reiterated [...]

Amnesty International on Friday urged states attending the June Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany, to turn existing climate commitments into a concrete, rights-centered action plan ahead of the COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, this November. The rights group argued that climate policy will fail unless it is built around human rights, including the rights to [...]

The Budapest 5th and 13th District Prosecutor’s Office dropped the charges Thursday against the city’s Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the 2025 Budapest Pride March. In Thursday’s statement, the Hungarian prosecution maintained that it had brought the charges lawfully, in accordance with the law in force at the time. However, a European court held that [...]

Amnesty International on Wednesday condemned China for banning family members from visiting the resting places of people who perished in the 1989 Tiananmen Square repression. This is the first time in 37 years that the Chinese authorities have banned the visit. According to the Tiananmen Mothers group, the authorities notified family members of people who [...]

The Amsterdam District Court on Wednesday allowed Greenpeace International to proceed with its anti-SLAPP lawsuit against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands. Energy Transfer, one of the largest energy companies in North America with business operations in the Netherlands, attempted to halt a lawsuit initiated by Greenpeace International, an environmental group headquartered in the Netherlands. The [...]

A bipartisan majority in the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday passed a resolution to end US involvement in the war with Iran, emphasizing the growing distrust and disapproval of the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict. Four Republicans flipped to join Democrats, passing the War Powers Resolution (WPR) by a vote of 215-208. While it carries [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday appealed a lower federal court order denying it access to Arizona’s statewide voter registration list (SVRL). The list contains sensitive information on voters such as full name, date of birth, residential address, and driver’s license number or the last four digits of voters’ social security numbers. This [...]

The Senate of Canada on Wednesday rejected, by a vote of 32-41, its human rights committee’s proposed amendment to include a “residential school denialism” offense in the contentious hate crime bill. The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights returned its report with amendments to the Senate on Tuesday. One main amendment added a residential school [...]

President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) on Wednesday reclassifying approximately 8,000 senior policy-influencing federal roles into the “Schedule Policy/Career” category, which effectively enables the “at will” removal of federal workers in these roles. According to the Trump administration, the existing personnel rules presented significant hurdles to removing federal employees for “any” reason. Stressing [...]