Blum and his legal team have recently set sights on a novel target: The United States Military Academy at West Point. Their objective is to challenge and potentially uproot the institution’s utilization of affirmative action in its admissions process. For a long time, the military has held an integral role in overcoming barriers of racial…
On Sunday, the junta leaders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as per their joint declaration released on national television. This announcement comes in light of their accusations towards ECOWAS for having violated its founding principles, thus endangering its member states and allegedly…
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to block a preliminary injunction this Monday, a decision which enables the US Military Academy in West Point to continue considering race as an admission factor. This news develops as the US Supreme Court is pondering on a similar issue in an appeal presented by…
Despite the long-established proscriptions against the use of torturous information in legal proceedings under both domestic and international law, there have been concerted efforts by US prosecutors to prohibit courts from fully recognizing the extent to which the government is forbidden from utilizing information obtained from torture at CIA black sites and Guantanamo. The case…
The United States government is calling on major cloud services providers, including Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., to thoroughly investigate and disclose any foreign clients who are developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications on their platforms. This initiative increases tension in the technological conflict between Washington and Beijing. According to the proposal released by the Biden…
The United States Military Academy at West Point is currently facing a legal challenge regarding its admission policies. The American anti-affirmative action group, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), has appealed to the Supreme Court to prevent West Point from using race as a factor in the application process while its lawsuit continues in the lower…
The group that played a key role in litigations leading to the effective termination of affirmative action in tertiary level admissions has reappeared in the Supreme Court. This time, the group, known as Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) and led by conservative activist Edward Blum, is asking the justices to provisionally halt the U.S. Military…
Recent reports have brought attention to three military drone strikes conducted by Burkina Faso’s government, which were reported to be targeting Islamist fighters. These strikes took place between August and November 2023 and resulted in significant civilian casualties in crowded markets and a funeral, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). HRW’s…
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has expressed strongly to the United States to halt the passage of military ships in the Taiwan Straight, citing an abuse of international law and leveling accusations of `dangerous provocations’. This statement comes as a response to the movement of a US naval destroyer in the politically sensitive area….
Mali military leaders have renounced a 2015 peace agreement with northern separatist rebels in a televised press conference on Thursday. The blame for failure of the peace agreement has been placed on international mediation and interference, particularly from Algeria, which originally brokered the peace deal back in 2015 in a process known as the “Algiers…
Amid rising tensions, Russia accused Ukraine of allegedly shooting down a Russian Military Transport plane carrying Ukrainian Military personnel intended for a ‘pre-agreed exchange’ of prisoners-of-war on Wednesday. This incident is reported to have caused 74 fatalities, which included among them six crew members along with three Russian officers. In response to the incident, the…
Thomas White, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, has recently reported that Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest city and the site of the agency’s compound, was subject to an attack that resulted in “mass casualties.” The compound, which was clearly marked with a UN flag, served as a sanctuary for many individuals displaced by warfare….
The Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) lodged a federal lawsuit last Thursday against the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The claimant organisation is asking for the VA to provide gender-affirming healthcare to transgender veterans. The case was filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit following a demand letter sent out…
According to a recent report released by The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), military airstrikes in Myanmar have had a substantial impact on churches in Chin, Myanmar’s only overwhelmingly Christian state. Their research indicates that there’s a correlation between areas under martial law and those subjected to airstrikes. Although there’s a case study suggesting that…
On Thursday, a Russian court passed a sentence of 27 years in prison to Darya Trepova for her role in an alleged terrorist attack that resulted in the demise of pro-war military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, known by his real name Maxim Fomin, at a café in St. Petersburg. Russian authorities arrested Trepova, following the April…
Houthi authorities in Yemen issued a directive this week to the United Nation’s acting humanitarian coordinator, Peter Hawkins, mandating the exit of all American and British aid workers within the next 30 days. This move falls on the heels of continued military strikes by US and UK forces in Yemen. Yemen, situated near the strategic…
Jonathan Malaya, a representative of the Philippines National Security Council, voiced condemnation against the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) latest round of aggressive acts against local Philippine fishermen, as reported on JURIST – News. In a recent televised interview, Malaya provided details on the incident that occurred on January 12th wherein fishermen from Philippines were harassed…
Executive compensation has been identified as a major factor driving the widening wealth disparity. In 2023, despite many experiencing an economically distressing year, top corporate executives still gained extensive salaries and bonuses. The ratio of CEO to worker compensation in the 350-largest publicly owned companies has seen a whopping 16-fold increase since 1965, according to…
On Monday, the Hague District Court in the Netherlands sentenced Mustafa A., a former Syrian militia member, to 12 years in prison. The charges were for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during his tenure as leader of the group Liwa al-Quds between 2011 and 2017, as originally reported on JURIST. Recognizing Liwa al-Quds…
The Council of the European Union recently adopted economic sanctions against six entities involved in the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These entities have had their EU-based assets frozen due to their involvement in contributing to the instability and disruption of the political transition in Sudan. These…
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging a permanent ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. While non-binding and symbolic, this resolution represents the Parliament’s official stance on the issue. Significantly, this is the first instance when the institution has openly demanded a permanent halt to the violence. [European Parliament press…
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recently condemned the issuance of an arrest warrant against El Salvador human rights activist, Rubén Zamora. The activist has been charged over allegations of supporting an amnesty law that prevented prosecution of large-scale human rights infringements, a claim HRW insists is false. According to HRW’s records, Zamora, an outspoken advocate…
Ecuadorian authorities have arrested two individuals suspected to be involved in the murder of local prosecutor César Suárez. The arrests were made a day after Suárez was shot dead in an incident that has sent shockwaves through the country’s legal and enforcement community. Suárez, at the time of his assassination, was assigned by Attorney General…
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks recently signed a new classification policy for space programs. The updated policy moves away from the utilization of Special Access Program status (SAPs), a label that has traditionally limited security clearance to a select few. The intention is to make presently classified programs available to a broader range of…
Ugandan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Bobi Wine announced on Thursday that his residence was encircled by police, placing him “under house arrest,” as the opposition prepared for demonstrations to be held later that day. Wine relayed the developments on the social media platform x, formerly branded as Twitter, that law enforcement and military…