The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Commission Monday released a report detailing 7,000 complaints—including sexual misconduct, serious injury, abuse and neglect—in connection with the supported accommodation services, specifically group homes. Australia’s independent multiplatform media company Disability Support Guide says the number of complaints equates to one in three residents experiencing a reportable incident. “There [...]

German police clashed with protestors Saturday as thousands rallied behind the protection of the German village of Lützerath, which is set to be destroyed to make way for a coal mine. Earlier in the week, a German regional court upheld an earlier ruling to clear the village, which is in the brown-coal district of the [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to allow Russian Orthodox Christians to attend church services around their traditional Christmas. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the call, saying, “the war will be over when your soldiers either leave or we drive them out.” If accepted, the ceasefire would have been the first major [...]

The UN Security Council Tuesday welcomed new members Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland. This is the first time Mozambique and Switzerland have held seats in the security council. The council consists of 15 countries. Five of them–China, France, Russia, the UK and the US–are permanent members with veto powers. The other ten members are elected [...]

Two Iranian protesters, including one teenager, face the death penalty for their involvement in continued protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, rights groups reported on Monday. Oslo-based Iran Human Rights reported that Mehdi Mohammadifard, an 18-year-old protester in Noshahr, has been sentenced to two death penalties for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and [...]

A senior UN official Sunday met with the deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban-led, de facto government of Afghanistan after officials introduced a ban against women working in NGOs. The deputy head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan Potzel Markus met Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi in Kabul to discuss the ban, as well as other [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday signed an executive order banning the sale of Russian oil exports for five months to countries that implemented a fuel and energy price cap in response to the war in Ukraine. A Kremlin website said the executive order responded “to the unfriendly actions taken by the United States, other foreign [...]

President Yoon Suk Yeol Tuesday pardoned former president Lee Myung-bak, who had received a 17-year sentence, along with another 1,373 South Koreans convicted of corruption and related offenses. Yoon said the amnesties aim to “serve to unite our national strength.” Yonhap News Agency reported the wide-ranging special pardons to include a long list of high-profile [...]