The Australian government introduced the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 into Parliament Wednesday, attempting to close the country’ gender pay gap. The bill would increase employer transparency and raise the bar from the “minimum standard” gender equality benchmark provided by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The new amendment [...]

Global internet monitor Netblocks reported Wednesday that Turkey has restricted access to Twitter in the aftermath of a series of earthquakes that hit Turkey, Syria and the surrounding region. The powerful earthquakes and their aftershocks have caused 11,000 casualties and widespread destruction. The Twitter restrictions came after Turkish authorities raised concerns about disinformation online without [...]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Tuesday held oral arguments in Braidwood Management v. EEOC. The case is a class-action lawsuit filed by a for-profit wellness business and a church. The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory judgment that the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) allow employment policies that [...]

Medical experts from Duke University Wednesday warned that proposed laws targeting LGBTQ+ youth in North Carolina will have harmful effects on mental health and safety in schools. In a discussion published by Duke Today, three medical experts said that proposed legislation will “drive up suicide rates, restrict health care providers and limit schools’ ability to [...]

Russia denied US allegations that it violated the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) Wednesday in a statement released by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Amid new US calls for Russia to allow nuclear inspectors in the country, the Russian foreign ministry alleges that “US activities” violated the treaty’s prescribed inspection procedures. In [...]

In official decertification documents released by the state of Tennessee Tuesday, an administrative hearing summary stated that Demetrius Haley, one of the officers involved in Tyre Nichols’ death, took two photographs on his personal cell phone “while standing in front of after he was handcuffed.” Haley is one of the five Memphis police officers indicted [...]

The UN Tuesday expressed concern for the safety of journalists in Cameroon following the second murder of a journalist within two weeks. In a statement, UN Human Rights spokesperson Seif Magango said that the murder of radio presenter Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe last Thursday follows several concerning reports of violence against journalists in Cameroon. Ola Bebe [...]

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek Wednesday refused an application from mining magnate Clive Palmer to build an open cut coal mine ten kilometres from the world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. The refusal marks the first time that Australian authorities have blocked a coal mine under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act. About 9,000 public submissions [...]

An international Joint Investigation Team (JIT) Wednesday reported a “strong indication” that Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to supply the missile which downed flight MH17 in 2014. The JIT, formed in 2014 by the Netherlands, Australia, Ukraine, Malaysia and Belgium, found that the Buk TELAR missile that collided with flight MH17 was provided [...]

Justice Stephen O’Meara of the Supreme Court of Victoria Wednesday dismissed a case brought by the Australian Brumby Alliance (ABA) against Parks Victoria (PV) to stop the “inhumane killing” of brumby horses. PV is the government agency responsible for “managing a diverse estate of more than 4 million hectares including 3,000 land and marine parks [...]