By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Members of Alianza Ceibo, belonging to the Siekopai, A’i Cofán, Siona, and Waorani Indigenous communities, attend a virtual hearing where a decision was made to unfreeze their organization’s funds. © Michelle Gachet/Amazon Frontlines (Washington DC) – Authorities in Ecuador have used secret intelligence reports to freeze the bank accounts of Ecuadorian Indigenous and environmental groups, Human Rights Watch said today.Since September 19, 2025, the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit, the government agency responsible for preventing financial crimes, has ordered…
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By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has ended the year with a steady hand, keeping the cash rate at 3.6% at its final meeting of 2025. The decision was widely expected, but the real story is in the statement by the monetary policy board and what it reveals about the RBA’s thinking for next year.
The RBA acknowledged inflation has become more complicated. While price pressures have eased significantly since the 2022 peak, the bank noted inflation “has…
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By Amnesty International
AI Lifecycle AI systems rely on a common set of processes, such as model conceptualization (defining the task the model aims to address), data collection, data processing, model design, model implementation, and model evaluation. These different components also commonly constitute the sequential stages when developing an AI system and are called the “AI lifecycle”. Algorithm […] The post Algorithmic Accountability Toolkit appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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Monday, December 8, 2025
As Sudan’s civil war intensified on Monday, top UN officials condemned the killing of dozens of children in drone strikes in South Kordofan state – and the targeting of first responders trying to help the wounded.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Burkina Faso's president, Capt. Ibrahim Traore (center), in an armored vehicle in Ouagadougou, October 2, 2022. © 2022 Vincent Bado/Reuters The military junta in Burkina Faso has adopted a bill restoring the death penalty nearly a decade after the West African country abolished the heinous practice. The last known judicial execution in Burkina Faso took place in 1988.On December 4, the junta’s council of ministers approved a bill amending the penal code and reintroducing capital punishment for crimes including “high treason, terrorism and acts of espionage.” Justice…
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By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide
Sean Connell, Professor, Sustainable Marine Futures, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide
South Australians are heartbroken about the state’s unprecedented algal bloom. But eating oysters, donating shells and restoring lost reefs will boost ocean health.
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By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Australian National University; The University of Western Australia; Victoria University
Lebanon faces a grave predicament. Israel wants the Hezbollah militant group based in the country to be disarmed. Hezbollah has refused to give up its arms as long as Israel threatens Lebanon. And the Lebanese government is not strong enough to subdue Hezbollah on its own.
This is a recipe for renewed internal conflict in Lebanon, as well as another round…
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By Rachael Helene Nolan, Associate Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
Chris Gordon, Research Fellow in Landscape Ecology, Western Sydney University
Rachael Gallagher, Professor and ARC Future Fellow, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
Dozens of fires burning across New South Wales and Tasmania over the weekend claimed dozens of houses and the life of a firefighter. This is why they were so bad.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Top row, left to right: Pygambergeldy Allaberdyev © 2020 Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights; Nurgeldi Halykov © Private; Soltan Achilova, forcibly held in an infectious disease hospital in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. November 20, 2024. © 2024 PrivateBottom row, left to right: Alisher Sakhatov © 2025 Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights; Abdulla Orusov © 2025 Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights; Murad Dushemov, February 2020. © Private As the world marks Human Rights Day on December 10, celebrating the adoption in 1948…
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By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
While federal Labor remains well ahead of the competition, a poll modelling seat outcomes has Pauline Hanson’s party picking up a dozen in the lower house.
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