Amnesty International on Wednesday called on world leaders to help secure the release of imprisoned Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti ahead of the 10-year anniversary of his conviction. The rights group highlighted the need for international governments to elevate diplomatic efforts to secure Tohti’s immediate and unconditional release. Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard stated: [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on Wednesday that the simultaneous detonation of thousands of communication devices across Lebanon and Syria violated customary international law. Thousands of pagers exploded on Tuesday, killing 12 and injuring more than 2,000 people. Walkie-talkie explosions on Wednesday killed an additional 25 and injured at least 600. The devices were evidently [...]

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb on Wednesday called for significant changes in the UN Security Council (UNSC), including ending the single-seat veto power of permanent members and doubling the number of permanent seats. In an interview with Reuters, Stubb outlined his proposals and promised to join other voices on these issues at the upcoming UN General [...]

The European Commission announced on Wednesday it will move to subtract Hungary’s 200 million euro fine from the country’s EU funds, European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari confirmed. This decision was made after Hungary failed to meet the second deadline for the payment of the fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union [...]

Gavin Newsom, governor of the US state of California, signed three bills into law on Tuesday that collectively aim to regulate election-related content generated by artificial intelligence (AI). AB 2655 specifies that a “large online platform” must “block the posting of materially deceptive content related to elections in California.” Furthermore, these platforms would have to [...]

The East Coast Prison Justice Society’s Visiting Committee released its third annual report on Tuesday revealing that between September 1, 2022, and August 31, 2023, over 70 per cent of incarcerated individuals in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia’s jails were being held in pre-trial custody, marking an increase from approximately 66 per cent in [...]

A Tehran court sentenced two individuals to finger amputation as punishment for a theft that occurred in June 2022, when 13 individuals, allegedy including the two principal defendants, arranged a robbery at the National Bank of Iran. The group proceeded to flee the nation following the theft, however, Turkish officials ultimately apprehended them and sent [...]

The Netherlands submitted a request to the European Commission on Wednesday to obtain an opt-out clause from standard EU asylum rules. Minister of Asylum and Migration Marjolein Faber said, “The Dutch government will call for an opt-out from the European asylum and migration acquis in case of Treaty amendment.” Faber promised that the “Netherlands will [...]

The Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, renewed its calls for term limits for justices on the US Supreme Court on Tuesday. This follows new revelations about the court’s decision on presidential immunity in the federal government’s criminal trial against former President Donald Trump. In its newest call for reforms, Michael Waldman, president [...]

Canada’s British Columbia (BC) Ombudsperson welcomed on Tuesday the government’s commitment to compensate survivors of the province’s internment of members of the Doukhobor religious community in the 1950s. However, the office raised concerns about the compensation plan, citing inadequate consultation with survivors and unclear eligibility criteria. BC Ombudsperson Jay Chalke criticized the government’s communications strategy, [...]