US President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered federal agencies to coordinate and intensify efforts to disrupt the supply chain of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. He wrote in a national security memorandum addressed to federal agencies ranging from the FBI to the Postal Service: Tackling the deadly scourge of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids has [...]

The European Union (EU) expressed concerns over ongoing protests following the results of Venezuela’s recent presidential election in a statement given by High Representative Josep Borrell on Tuesday. The announcement came after Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner on Monday, claiming he secured 51.2 per cent of the vote [...]

The president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko pardoned a German national who was sentenced to death in June, the government’s press service announced on Tuesday. Lukashenko’s statement has now commuted the German’s verdict to a life sentence. Rico Krieger, a German national and a former Red Cross employee, was convicted in June on terrorism and mercenary charges [...]

A UK High Court ruled Monday that a ban on puberty blockers issued in May 2024 in the UK was lawful. TransAction, an organisation that advocates for transgender healthcare and legal protections, and an anonymous transgender young person, issued this legal challenge against the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, alleging the ban [...]

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Tuesday over doubts about the results of Sunday’s elections as Nicolás Maduro was declared as the elected president by the National Electoral Council (NEC). Protesters gathered in various parts of the capital and other cities across the country, denouncing what they consider to be electoral fraud. The [...]

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced the Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2024 on Tuesday, threatening to withhold funding from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) amid allegations that the organization has helped cover up widespread anabolic steroid use by Chinese swimmers competing in the Olympic Games. The proposed bill was [...]

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report regarding human rights in the country on Tuesday, providing reports of arbitrary arrest, torture, and killings. UNAMA’s latest report is based on monitoring undertaken by its Human Rights Service and covers the period from April to June 2024. UNAMA Human Rights documented “at least [...]

The European Commission announced on Tuesday it intends to begin infringement proceedings against member states failing to meet current waste management targets by sending them letters of formal notice letters. The targets, detailed in the Waste Framework Directive, the Directive on Waste and Electronic Equipment, and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, impose legally binding [...]

The Council of Europe (CoE) called for greater action to prevent child trafficking in Strasbourg, France on Tuesday during the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The council’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) joined voices with the UN-mandated Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ICAT) to demand [...]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez exercised his right to not testify on Tuesday in a corruption case involving his wife, Begoña Gómez. who is accused of leveraging her position to influence business deals. Under Article 315 of the the Spanish Civil Procedure Law, government officials can testify in writing. Sánchez offered to provide written evidence [...]