President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a directive formally lowering the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, a move widely seen as a response to the recent policy shift by US President Joe Biden on the missile supply to Ukraine. Under the new policy, Russia’s military could potentially deploy nuclear weapons in response to [...]

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RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Russia on Monday vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution aimed at protecting civilians in Sudan amidst the country’s ongoing conflict. The resolution, which would have called on the warring factions to cease hostilities and engage in dialogue in good faith, was blocked despite widespread international support for its adoption. The draft resolution addressed [...]

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Legal experts from African nations and diaspora communities called on European governments to address colonialism’s long-standing impacts at the Dekoloniale Berlin Africa Conference, held on Monday. The delegation, made up of legal scholars, human rights activists and policy advocates, presented a 10-point list of demands addressing human rights, reparations, migration, economic justice, trade, and anti-racism [...]

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Kim Shiflett, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A coalition of major French newspapers announced legal action against social media company X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, alleging that the platform has been using their journalistic content without proper compensation. The lawsuit, filed by several prominent French media outlets, including Le Figaro, Le Monde and Le Parisien, accuses X of exploiting articles and headlines [...]

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A Netherlands appeals court on Tuesday overturned a landmark 2021 ruling requiring Shell to cut its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 . This was a setback for the environmental advocacy group Milieudefensie, which sought legal avenues to enforce corporate climate action. In the original 2021 decision, the District Court of The Hague found [...]

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Getakassa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Ethiopian authorities to implement crucial recommendations to enhance press freedom and ensure journalists’ safety on Monday. In the report, the CPJ concludes five years of research and details significant challenges faced by media professionals in Ethiopia, including arbitrary arrests, physical attacks, and restrictive legal measures. It details instances [...]

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Solen Feyissa, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) faces a series of complaints filed across nine European countries on Monday, accusing the company of illegal use of private data in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). NGO None of Your Business (Noyb)  lodged complaints in France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, and the Netherlands, among other countries, raising concerns over X’s data [...]

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Thailand’s Constitutional Court ordered the progressive Move Forward Party’s (MFP) dissolution on Wednesday based on the party’s proposal to amend the country’s controversial lèse-majesté law. The lèse-majesté law, enshrined in section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, imposes severe penalties for defaming, insulting, or threatening the Thai monarchy. The MFP proposed amending this law and defended [...]

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the EU’s call for election verification as a disgrace on Monday after the controversial elections in July. In the press conference, Maduro stated that the EU and its high representative Josep Borrell who he referred to as a disgrace, led Ukraine into a war and remained silent about the massacre in [...]

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González both claimed on Monday that they won the Venezuelan presidential elections. González’s opposition coalition accused the Venezuelan government of electoral fraud, alleging that González obtained over 73 percent of votes. The US expressed doubts about the integrity of the process. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken [...]

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