Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced on Wednesday plans for a national referendum to implement stricter anti-crime legislation and tighten security measures in a bid to curb an upward trend of escalating crime rates and violence in the country. In a letter addressed to the Constitutional Court of the South American country, Noboa submitted 11 draft [...]

India Supreme Court dismissed Thursday a Special Leave Petition by the Indian National Congress, India’s largest opposition party, Spokesperson Pawan Khera, seeking quashing of a criminal complaint against him over remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A special leave petition, given under Article 136 of the Indian Constitution, is a request seeking permission to appeal [...]

The Taliban have arrested women in Afghanistan for wearing “bad hijab” for the first time since coming to power, according to voice notes received Thursday by the AP from a spokesperson from the Taliban government’s Vice and Virtue Ministry. A year after they took power in 2021, the Taliban issued a strict dress code. Spokesperson [...]

The Indian Supreme Court dismissed Thursday a habeas corpus petition by one of the family members of Nikhil Gupta for his release from detention in the Czech Republic. Gupta has been accused of plotting the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Habeas corpus petitions are a legal mechanism that protects an individual’s right to [...]

Hong Kong activist Chu Kai-poon pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of sedition at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. Chu was previously arrested on November 27 by national security police at the Hong Kong International Airport for wearing a shirt with “seditious wording.” He was then charged on November 29 with two counts [...]

Sierra Leone prosecutors charged former President Ernest Bai Koroma with treason and other crimes on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in a failed military coup that took place on November 26, 2023. The announcement of the charges against Koroma comes a day after 12 other individuals, including Koroma’s former bodyguard, were charged with similar offenses. [...]

The Serbian Ministry of Defence announced Thursday the launch of an initiative to bring back mandatory military service in Serbia. Serbia had mandatory military service for male citizens until 2010. The mandatory military service requirement applied to men. The length of service varied, but it was typically around six months. The Deputy Prime Minister and [...]

Massachusetts voters filed an objection on Thursday to the state official responsible for overseeing elections seeking to remove former US President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot. Their efforts join with several others after Maine and Colorado already agreed to remove Trump from their respective ballots. In Thursday’s filing to the Massachusetts [...]

Amnesty International welcomed Thursday the indictment of three senior commanders of Carabineros de Chile for their purported involvement in the disproportionate and unlawful repressive response to mass protests in Chile in late 2019. Carabineros de Chile is Chile’s national police force, responsible for maintaining public order, enforcing laws, and ensuring the safety and security of [...]

The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko assented on Wednesday to comprehensive amendments to the law “On the President of the Republic of Belarus,” which tightened the requirements for a presidential candidate within the country. Under the amended law, only a person aged 40 years or older, who is a citizen of the Republic of Belarus by [...]