By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Olga Sibireva. © Private Those reporting on Russia are rarely surprised these days to learn that another critic of the Russian government is being prosecuted over alleged involvement with a “foreign undesirable organization.” But even in Russia, the case against Olga Sibireva rises to new heights of absurdity.Sibireva is an expert on religious freedom at SOVA Center, a leading independent Russian think tank researching racism, xenophobia, ultra-nationalism, and the authorities’ abuse of counter-extremism and counterterrorism legislation. This week, a Russian court…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image The Minsk District Court, Belarus, August 4, 2021. © 2021 Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The Minsk City Court sentenced human rights lawyer Dmitri Laevski on September 9 to three years in prison for “aiding an extremist organization” and “discrediting” Belarus.Laevski has represented high-profile political prisoners, including opposition politician Viktar Babaryka and lawyer Maksim Znak. Laevski was charged with “aiding extremism” in connection with an interview he gave to Radio Liberty in June 2021 about Babaryka’s trial. Belarus banned Radio Liberty as “extremist”…
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By Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College
Bribery involves offering money to a particular person, but Trump did not make his $5,000 offer to any single voter or set of voters.
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By Amnesty International
Responding to reports that the Zambian authorities have cancelled the passports of former Zambian Ambassador to Ethiopia and former Permanent Representative to the African Union Emmanuel Mwamba, historian and academic Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa, former opposition Members of Parliament Binwell Mpundu and Emmanuel Jay Banda, former State House Special Assistant Kaizer Zulu, and blogger Lillian Mutambo […] The post Zambia: By cancelling passports, authorities are using administrative powers to silence critics appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Daniel Gover, Senior Lecturer in British Politics, Queen Mary University of London
MPs at Westminster have voted to reject the assisted dying bill, in a significant blow to those campaigning to change the law – 11 years to the day after MPs rejected a previous attempt.
Had it passed, the bill would have made it legal, in certain circumstances, for terminally ill people in England and Wales to get help to end their lives.
It is the latest development in a long-running debate at Westminster over plans to legalise assisted dying. MPs first voted for an earlier version…
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By Rebecca Moore, General Practitioner and postgraduate researcher in pharmacogenomics, University of East Anglia
Your genes can affect how some medicines work. A reusable result could help doctors prescribe more safely, alongside other clinical evidence.
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By Devorah Baum, Professor of English Literature and Critical Theory, University of Southampton
Most young people aren’t religious – but marriage is still a place where secular culture has quietly absorbed many of the values we associate with religion.
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By Katarzyna Herd, Senior lecturer, Division of Ethnology, Lund University
Ghosts in Sweden? It sounds strange to place the supernatural in a country of health-conscious, pragmatic engineers. But even though Swedes readily accept modernity, their popular culture hints at something else.
From the outside, Sweden appears to be a secular nation. The country has an exceptionally high number of non-believers, who engage in and identify with cultural rather…
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By James Horncastle, Associate Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University
Canada’s deepening ties with Ukraine can strengthen both countries as they navigate an increasingly unstable world and a less reliable U.S. ally.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Opposition politician Edwin Sifuna speaks during a rally in Nyandiwo, Homa Bay county, Kenya, on August 16, 2026. © 2026 Linda Mwananchi Media (Nairobi) – Criminal gangs in Kenya have carried out a spate of violent attacks targeting civil society and opposition gatherings ahead of the 2027 elections, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kenyan authorities should ensure prompt and transparent investigations into the attacks and that people can exercise their political rights without fear of violence.Over the last few months, groups of unidentified armed people have…
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