The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia filed two lawsuits Thursday against the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) on behalf of two transgender students challenging the department’s 2023 model policies. Virginia law authorizes VDOE to issue model policies regarding the treatment of transgender students, and the policies are required to reflect “evidence-based best practices” for [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Pakistani authorities Monday to ensure a peaceful transition of power following the country’s parliamentary elections, encouraging all political parties to uphold democratic norms and cooperate with an independent investigation into alleged election irregularities. HRW claimed the national parliamentary elections that took place February 8 were “marred” by authorities’ widespread violations [...]

A Tennessee city settled with the ACLU on Wednesday, agreeing to pay $500,000 for the harm caused by its anti-drag ordinance and policy. The city of Murfreesboro agreed to repeal the ordinance, which was designed to ban drag performances on public property, and end the policy that denied all special event permit requests from the LGBTQ+ [...]

Three Cambodian activists arrested in Thailand will not be deported to their home country, deputy police chief Surachate Hakparn told Reuters on Wednesday. Hakparn said the detainees would be resettled in a third country but will “definitely” not be sent back to Cambodia. The announcement came during Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to Bangkok, [...]

Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland stated Thursday that the planned restrictions for transgender youth in the Alberta province are “extremely dangerous” and place children “at risk.” Holland’s statement came one day after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to implement new policies regarding transgender minors’ access to medical treatment, pronoun use in school and participation [...]

Governments around the world are struggling to fight corruption, according to a Transparency International (TI) report published Tuesday. The report, known as the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The scores range from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). In 2023, the CPI global [...]

Over 1,259 employees of the Protestant Church of Germany have committed sexual abuse since 1946, according to an independent report published Thursday. The study also found that at least 2,225 individuals have been victims of the abuse. Researchers examined documents from the 20 regional churches of the Protestant Church of Germany (EKD) as well as [...]

A North Dakota judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction Tuesday, allowing the state’s abortion ban to remain in effect. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a reproductive rights organization, filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban, which currently makes it a felony to perform or aid an abortion, with an exception for situations where women face [...]

A Kentucky House committee approved a bill Thursday that establishes tougher penalties for various criminal offenses. One of the main components of House Bill 5 is its three-strikes provision, which would have people convicted of three violent felonies face life in prison. The bill also toughens penalties for the distribution of fentanyl, classifies carjacking as [...]

The US Supreme Court denied certiorari Tuesday to an Indiana public school district’s appeal of a ruling that prohibited the district from enforcing its transgender bathroom policy. In August, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville’s policy, which barred transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their [...]