Iran’s government announced on Tuesday that it had lifted a two-year ban on WhatsApp and the Google Play Store, marking a significant shift in the country’s internet restrictions. The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported the decision after a meeting involving top government officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian. This move is seen as an [...]

Several UN special rapporteurs on Monday expressed concern over systemic targeting of Baha’i-religion women in Iran. The UN experts observed that Baha’i women have been facing arrests, summoning for interrogation, enforced disappearance, raids on their homes, and confiscation of their personal belongings. In a letter from July this year, the experts detailed the violations of [...]

The UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday issued an investigation report on a massacre carried out by the Wharf Jérémie criminal gang in Port-au-Prince between December 6 and 11. They noted at least 207 people (134 men and 73 women) were [...]

A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced Gene Spector, a Russian-born US citizen, to 15 years in a high-security penal colony on espionage charges. The ruling adds 13 years to an existing three-and-a-half-year sentence he was already serving for bribery. According to local media sources, the espionage trial was conducted behind closed doors, and specific details [...]

The UN General Assembly adopted the new United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime on Tuesday, the first international criminal justice treaty negotiated in over two decades. Adopted without a vote by the 193-member General Assembly, the convention addresses crimes committed using information and communications technology (ICT) systems. It targets offenses ranging from online fraud and hacking [...]

Vietnam brought into force new internet regulations on Wednesday mandating that social media platforms verify user identities and share data with authorities. The rules, encapsulated in Decree No. 147/2024, have sparked significant criticism from activists and human rights organizations, who contend that they represent a severe infringement on freedom of expression in the country. Under [...]

Judge Nubia Vera on Monday reinstated Ecuadorian Vice President Verónica Abad to her position, lifting a five-month suspension imposed by the Ministry of Labor for allegedly abandoning her duties. The ruling declared the sanction unconstitutional, marking a significant development in the escalating feud between Abad and President Daniel Noboa. The decision comes just weeks before [...]

Luigi Mangione, the man alleged to have killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, pleaded not guilty to the charge at a hearing in a New York courtroom on Monday. Mangione has been charged with eleven state criminal counts including murder as an act of terrorism, along with federal counts related to murder and [...]

A group of Palestinian-British individuals has taken initial steps to bring British Petroleum (BP) to court, accusing the company of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The action led by Bimdman’s LLP asserts BP’s complicity through the continuous supply of crude oil to Israel, facilitated by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, [...]

Malaysia’s state investment fund, 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), on Monday filed  a lawsuit against corporate services provider Amicorp Group and its chief executive officer (CEO), Toine Knipping, for allegedly facilitating the laundering of over $7 billion in misappropriated funds, local media reported. In its claim, 1MDB accused Amicorp Group of “fraudulently aiding and abetting [...]