Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged countries involved in ongoing negotiations for an international anti-plastic pollution treaty to address the role of fossil fuels in plastic production. The organization also cited the need for human rights protections to be included within this Global Plastics Treaty. On November 28, 2022, countries began treaty negotiations based [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Wednesday heard oral arguments in two cases in which the applicants are accusing their respective governments, France and Switzerland, of failing to take steps to prevent climate change. Both applicants argue that this failure entails a breach of their right to life and right to respect for family [...]

Citizens of Berlin, Germany Sunday voted in a referendum to amend the Berlin Climate Protection and Energy Transition Act. However, the amendment was rejected as not enough voters supported the proposal to bring forward Berlin’s climate neutrality deadline to 2030. In order for the proposal to succeed, a majority of voters had to vote in [...]

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Sunday that he suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s largest drug trafficking cartel. Petro’s decision was triggered by allegations of rifle attacks by the organization against police forces. The Colombian government unveiled a bilateral ceasefire with the organization on December 31, 2022. However, the government already had [...]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was cleared of wrongdoing in a preliminary corruption investigation, according to a Saturday statement from his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya. Magwenya confirmed that Ramaphosa’s office received a preliminary report from South African Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka on Friday which clears Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in relation to the theft of large [...]

President of France Emmanuel Macron Wednesday called for a law to include the right to abortion into the French Constitution. Macron made this announcement at an event to honour the late Gisèle Halimi, a renowned French-Tunisian lawyer, politician and tireless defender of women’s rights. The French National Assembly voted to add the right to abortion to [...]

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez Saturday announced new equality legislation that will require equal representation between men and women in decision-making spaces within politics and business. This equality law would make Spain one of the only European countries with a statutory gender quota system. Sánchez supports this progressive approach, noting that Spain is putting [...]

The Manchester Arena Inquiry Thursday published the third and final volume of its report into the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in May 2017, revealing that MI5, Britain’s security services, missed an opportunity to take actions which may have prevented the attack. Retired High Court Judge Sir John Saunders chaired the [...]

Israel Sunday agreed to halt new settlement construction projects in the West Bank, according to a joint statement issued after a summit in Aqaba. The agreement is significant, as Israel’s recent retroactive approval of further construction and expansion in the West Bank has been widely criticised. However, senior Israeli government officials interpreted the agreement differently. [...]

The European Commission Thursday banned the use of TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by the Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, on all official devices used by staff. Commission personnel also cannot use the app on personal devices that have corporate apps downloaded on them, such as Commission email or Skype. The Commission maintains that the ban is a [...]