The Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation announced a high treason charge on Monday against Robert Shonov, a former US consulate contract employee in Moscow. High treason carries a possible sentence of 12 to 20 years’ imprisonment. The charge falls under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code. The code forbids Russian citizens from [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order on Friday ordering military units to swear an oath of allegiance to the Russian state. The oath, contained within the order, requires individuals to “strictly follow the orders of commanders and superiors.” Under Article 87 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the President is the “supreme [...]

A federal court in Georgia blocked a state ban on Sunday that banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth, finding the law is likely unconstitutional. The law, SB 140, prohibits institutions from providing “sex reassignment surgeries, or any other surgical procedures, that are performed for the purpose of altering primary or secondary sexual characteristics,” in minors. [...]

The US Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the Helsinki Commission, in a letter on Friday asked for sanctions on three Swiss officials involved in the release of frozen financial assets. The frozen assets, worth $20 million, were connected to several Russian officials accused of involvement in the 2009 murder [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement on Monday calling on Ethiopian authorities to immediately release seven “arbitrarily detained” opposition figures. The seven detained individuals belong to the formerly banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). HRW claims their detainment is politically motivated. The seven OLF figures were arrested in 2020 and 2021. Since then they have [...]

A group of plaintiffs on Friday filed an amended complaint in Florida seeking to block enforcement of the state’s restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans adults. The complaint alleges that the restrictions “put multiple substantial, harmful, and medically unnecessary obstacles in the path of transgender patients seeking treatment.” Florida’s restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans [...]

The Central Election Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (CEC) announced Monday that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected with over 87 percent of the vote. The vote came shortly after Uzbekistan’s new constitution went into effect in May. Under the previous constitution, Mirziyoyey would have been barred from holding office again. The CEC, in a [...]

The US has completed the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile, according to an announcement made Friday by US President Joe Biden. The president said the end of the thirty-year process has brought “us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons.” The destruction of chemical weapons is governed by [...]

The ruling political party in El Salvador, Nuevas Ideas (NI), tweeted on Monday that President Nayib Bukele will seek a second term. The tweet stated, “Nuevas Ideas are invincible” as “the largest party in the history of El Salvador,” but the announcement sets up a possible constitutional conflict. El Salvador’s Constitution limits the president’s term [...]

Members of the US House of Representatives introduced two resolutions on Friday, H.Res.547  and H.Res.538, that would expunge the impeachments of former President Donald Trump. Trump is the third US president to be impeached and the only president to be impeached twice. If passed, both resolutions would expunge Trump’s impeachments as if they had not [...]