Hong Kong opposition activist, Agnes Chow Ting revealed on her social media Sunday that she has no plan to return to Hong Kong, despite being required to return by the Hong Kong Police National Security Department (NSD) in December. The NSD responded to Chow, condemning her plan to skip bail as against the rule of [...]
The Hong Kong High Court dismissed a judicial review on Friday that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the new nomination requirement applicable to the forthcoming District Council Ordinary Election. In upholding the requirement’s constitutionality, Judge Russell Coleman ruled that even though the nomination requirement encroached in the constitutionally protected right to stand for election, [...]
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior conducted raids on 16 properties that belonged to members and supporters of Hamas and Samidoun on Thursday. The extensive search resulted in the seizure of mobile phones, laptops, data carriers and documents. The federal authorities are evaluating the seized materials with the help of Islamic scholars. With the [...]
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday adopted a resolution to move forward with a proposal for a UN tax convention to promote international tax cooperation. The resolution, tabled by the Africa Group, was adopted with 125 member states voting for the resolution, 48 voting against and 9 abstaining. The resolution provides for an intergovernmental [...]
Hong Kong Coroner’s Court ruled the death of a homeless man while in the custody of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) to be a case of suicide on Friday. Five jurors unanimously found the deceased committed suicide. According to the forensic report, the deceased “intermittently strangled himself with his trousers.” The causes of death are [...]
The Finnish government announced the closure of four crossing points on the Finland-Russia border Thursday. The closure will start on November 18 and remain in force for one year. Upon the closure, asylum seekers will only be able to make their submissions at two crossing points: Vartius and Salla. As asylum applications can only be [...]
Amnesty International urged the Pakistani government to stop detentions, deportations and harassment of Afghan refugees on Friday. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, over 600,000 Afghans have fled the country and resided in Pakistan without proper documentation. In response, the Pakistani government imposed a deadline of November 1 for all “illegal immigrants” to voluntarily leave [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-1 on Friday that the mandatory minimum sentence for child luring is unconstitutional as it violates the right against cruel and unusual punishment under Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. The judgment arose out of two separate cases of child luring, one with a sentence [...]
Three US representatives introduced the Hong Kong Sanctions Act to the US Congress on Thursday. Two US senators also introduced companion legislation. The Hong Kong Sanctions Act requires the US president to determine within six months whether 49 government officials, judges and prosecutors should be the subject of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human [...]
UN human rights expert William O’Neill called for the Haitian government to enact policies to better protect children from the ravages of gang violence in the country Tuesday during an official UN visit. O’Neill warned that gang violence in Haiti not only blocks children’s access to basic services but youths were also recruited by gangs. [...]