Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
Search Results for: 2006-06-07
Hong Kong singer given 26-month sentence for sedition and money laundering
Hong Kong District Court judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung handed down a judgment Thursday sentencing Tommy Yuen, a former Cantopop boy band member, to 26 months of imprisonment. Yuen was convicted of “doing acts with seditious intention” and “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.” Lin found that Yuen made [...]
Sexual Assault in the US Coast Guard: A Coverup and a Call for Justice
Sexual assault in the US Armed Forces is a very real and prescient issue for all service members. In April 2023, the US Department of Defense (DoD) reported that in 2022 there had been “a roughly 1% increase in overall reports of sexual assaults” with all the service branches having seen an increase in reported [...]
The UK’s Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday that they have charged two men and a woman with ‘identity document offences.’ The Met’s statement came after the BBC reported the group was accused of spying for Russia. Those charged, said to be Bulgarian nationals, were remanded to custody in February before being released on police bail. [...]
Red Cross delegate: Guantanamo inmates show signs of 'accelerated aging'
A top International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate Friday said that inmates held by the US at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center are experiencing “symptoms of accelerated .” Patrick Hamilton, the head of the ICRC’s US and Canada delegation, visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in March and says that the inmates’ symptoms are consistent with [...]
'Widespread democratic backsliding' an obstacle to African governance, report finds
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF) Wednesday released its 2022 Index of African Governance, noting that governance across the African continent has “flatlined” since 2019. The report cited deteriorating security and movements to undermine the rule of law as reasons for the stagnation, and warned the lack of progress could seriously jeopardize the African Union’s Agenda [...]
Turkey’s New Disinformation Bill: Disturbing Trend Toward Digital Authoritarianism
In 2002, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey, defeating Kemalist hegemony, there was a glimmer of hope in the West for the overwhelmingly Muslim country. However, the experience of Turkey over the past 20 years is one descending into an authoritarian regime with clampdowns [...]
Tennessee attorney general sues Walgreens for role in opioid crisis
Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced Wednesday that the state is suing retail pharmacy giant Walgreens, accusing the chain of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis by failing to maintain effective controls against the abuse of opioids. The lawsuit states that between 2006 and 2020 Walgreens distributed over 1.1 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, amounting [...]
Louisiana judge reinstates injunction against state's abortion ban
Louisiana Judge Donald Johnson Tuesday granted a petition filed by reproductive health providers against the state’s abortion ban, the latest in a back-and-forth case set in motion after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Johnson granted a temporary restraining order against state laws designed to take effect after Roe v. Wade was [...]
On June 23, 2021, the Meghalaya High Court (HC) ruled in the case of Registrar General, HC of Meghalaya v. State of Meghalaya that “The mandatory or forced vaccinations violate the individuals’ fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21.” The court elucidated that a coercive policy of vaccination has no force in law and should be declared [...]