US President Joe Biden released a statement Monday inviting Russia to renewed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) talks ahead of the 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (TNP). This comes amid heightened Russia-US tensions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All countries who are party to the TNP [...]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Monday that two vessels owned by non-profit Sea Watch may have been wrongly detained by the Italian government. Sea Watch rescues migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in vessels that are not seaworthy. Sicilian port authorities detained Sea Watch’s cargo ships in 2020 after the boats rescued [...]

The UK Independent Chief Inspector of Border and Immigration David Neal Thursday released his first report detailing the current migrant crisis on the British-French border. The report raised concerns and criticisms about the current UK migrant management system. Neal was first appointed to the role in March 2021 for a period of three years. As [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday published a call for India to end its controversial sedition law. The sedition law is a statute from the colonial era when India was controlled by the United Kingdom. According to HRW, the law “remains a powerful tool used by the authorities to criminalise dissent and arrest peaceful critics of [...]

The Vatican Tuesday announced a new investment policy, and the entity will close all of its foreign investment accounts. The new policy governs the ethical standard for investments, restricting investments that don’t “contribut to a more just and sustainable world.” The guidelines require that all foreign investment accounts be consolidated into one account in APSA, [...]

Thai human rights group iLaw, Southeast Asian internet watchdog Digital Reach and Toronto-based Citizen Lab Monday released a joint report claiming that multiple Thai democracy activists were targeted by a Pegasus spyware attack. The Pegasus software is owned by NSO Group, an Israeli firm, which claims to only sell its Pegasus software to government entities.  Pegasus is [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday released a report claiming that El Salvador’s government was not complying with a 2022 Supreme Court ruling requiring the government to allow transgender people to indicate their gender identity on government documents. Several bills have been introduced in parliament to make these processes law, but none have made it past the [...]

The US Department of Justice Friday opened an investigation of the Maryland Department of State Police’s (MDSP) hiring and promotion practices. The investigation was opened under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment practices.  According to a press release from the district attorney’s office, “Under Title VII, the Justice [...]

Georgia’s Cobb County School District has voted to approve a policy allowing some non-police personnel to carry guns in the school district. This action follows the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting where the police have been criticized for delayed response to the active shooter. The US Department of Justice recently opened an investigation into the police response [...]

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thursday released a new immigration directive  governing the detention of minors, incapacitated adults and their guardians. The new Biden administration directive will replace the Trump-era directive on minors and their families from 2017. The prior directive, which has been in force since April 2017, was created in response to the [...]