Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a bill that bans transgender people from obtaining gender-affirming surgeries in the country. The Russia Duma previously unanimously passed the bill on July 14.  The new law prohibits surgery and hormone therapy for transgender individuals as well as any gender changes on official Russian documentation. The [...]

A Kenyan police official told the Associated Press on Thursday that police received a warning against reporting deaths that have occurred as a result of this week’s opposition protests over the country’s high cost of living. Although it was unclear who issued the direct order, it came after opposition leader Raila Odinga called for three [...]

Leader of Senegal’s Pastef party and Yewwi Askan opposition coalition Birame Diop was charged with “acts likely to compromise the public peace and offend to the Head of State” earlier this week over his remarks at a July 4 press conference. Following President Mackey Sall’s announcement that he would not run for a controversial third [...]

South African authorities extradited Mozambique’s former Finance Minister Manuel Chang to the US on Wednesday to face corruption charges. Chang faces faces US criminal charges for his role in a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme that nearly crashed Mozambique’s economy and victimized individuals in the US. Chang together with 19 others—inclusive of state security [...]

A Hong Kong court found Cheng Wing-chun guilty of insulting China’s National Anthem under the National Anthem Ordinance on Wednesday. Cheng is the first person to be convicted under this ordinance. This was after he allegedly insulted the national anthem and desecrated the regional flag. Cheng was convicted shortly after he used a 2019 anti-government [...]

The Parliament of Ghana passed an extreme anti-gay bill on Wednesday, which is set to tighten laws against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ghana’s 275 members of Parliament unanimously passed the bill, known as the 2021 Promotion of Appropriate Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill. The bill is set to criminalize the promotion, advocacy, funding [...]

Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki announced Wednesday that Kenya is delaying plans to reopen its border with Somalia due to a wave of attacks linked to al Qaeda militants. Earlier in May, Kindiki announced plans to re-open Kenya’s Mandera border crossing with Somalia after a ten-year shutdown. The announcement comes as the number of refugees [...]

Chang Weiping, a Chinese human rights lawyer, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on Thursday shortly after he was found guilty of “subversion of State Power.” He is known for defending marginalized groups and those facing discrimination, and for speaking out about his treatment at the hands of Chinese police. “It [...]

Israeli Police Wednesday raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and arrested 350 people inside. Police said in a statement that they forced entry into the compound in a bid to counter “masked agitators.” However, worshippers inside the mosque claimed that they were violently attacked and that police prevented medics from reaching Al-Aqsa amidst the clash. [...]

Russia on Saturday assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of April 2023. Russia’s commencement of its leadership role of the 15-member council rotation was unaffected by its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Currently, Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant for war crimes in Hague. However, at the UN, Russia [...]