Attorneys representing the family of Marc Fogel, a teacher currently detained in Russia for drug charges, stated on Friday that the US Department of State has designated Fogel as “wrongfully detained.” Fogel’s attorney revealed that the Department of State made the designation in October. Russian authorities arrested Marc Fogel in August 2021 for drug trafficking. [...]

The US Congress on Thursday failed to pass a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act (NKHRA). The NKHRA reauthorization bill seeks to renew funding for humanitarian efforts in North Korea and reaffirms the key purposes of the law. Apart from renewing the funding, the reauthorization bill also criticizes the executive branch’s [...]

A trade dispute panel convened under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ruled on Friday that Mexico’s import restrictions on US genetically modified corn violate the accord. The conflict stems from a presidential decree published by Mexico in February 2023. The decree established an immediate ban on the use of genetically engineered corn in dough and tortillas, [...]

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank for allowing fraud to occur on the Zelle platform. The lawsuit contains ten counts of offenses against the banks for failing to address frauds under sections 1031 and [...]

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern Friday over Israel’s disregard for its international legal obligations. CERD called for urgent measures to address the violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. CERD released the statement under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedures, which aim to [...]

Thai authorities have forcibly returned six Cambodian political opposition activists and a young child, Human Rights Watch reported Friday. The forcible removal puts the activists at risk of mistreatment and unfair trials in Cambodia according to the group. The six activists and one activist’s five-year-old grandson were arrested in Thailand on Sunday and forcibly removed the [...]

Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that their new government efficiency panel will identify “thousands” of regulations made by “unelected bureaucrats” for president-elect Donald Trump to eliminate. Trump appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to lead the newly-announced “Department of Government Efficiency” (ironically designated by the acronym DOGE, evoking Musk’s meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin) last [...]

UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council on Tuesday that foreign parties supplying weapons are enabling the conflict in Sudan. DiCarlo stated that “Sudan is trapped in a nightmare” and called for an immediate ceasefire. The Under-Secretary-General stressed that both sides of the conflict bear responsibility for the violence, and the primary objective should [...]

Human Rights Watch shared the hardships faced by Turkmen nationals living abroad who have been arbitrarily denied passport renewal in a report on Monday. In the report, Human Rights Watch urged Turkmenistan to issue passports to nationals living abroad via its diplomatic and consular missions. The report focused on Turkmen residing in Türkiye, which is [...]

Pope Francis’ child protection board said victims of clergy sexual abuse should have more access to information about their cases along with compensation, in its annual report published on Tuesday. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued its inaugural annual report detailing findings and recommendations for the Vatican’s handling of clergy sex abuse [...]