The Houthi movement in Yemen is pressuring the internationally-recognized government in Aden to fulfill promises which were tentatively agreed in ceasefire negotiations. Laying in the background, however, are the movement’s long-standing demands for economic and social justice which will provide equitable treatment to those who live in the mountainous northern areas of the nation.
A long-lasting peace deal could finally be in the works for Yemen after delegations from Saudi Arabia visited the rebel capital of Sanaa for talks with Houthi rebels. These discussions quickly led to prisoner swaps, helping to increase the level of trust.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau this week announced that her city is cutting ties with Israel and ending its symbolic 25-year-old “twin cities” relationship with Tel Aviv over the Israeli government’s violent anti-Palestinian policies, in particular its “crime of apartheid.”
Greece’s far-right ruling party New Democracy recently introduced a new police force which will be deployed to all universities. Not only is Greece now ranking first in Europe in terms of the proportion of its budget spent on the police, but it also reverses steps the country had taken to liberalize the nation after the end of the military junta in 1974.
France and the United Kingdom have ceased support for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, the deadliest currently in operation. These withdrawals followed a decade of fruitless attempts to end hostilities between the West African nation’s government and its rebel Islamists.
Human Rights Watch issued a report earlier this month urging world leaders to move forward with a ban on autonomous weapons systems. This latest plea comes nearly a decade after the organization co-founded the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, and as advanced military drones are operating in the skies over Ukraine.
US progressives in recent days have renewed efforts to push President Joe Biden and Congress to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its atrocities, including war crimes in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a historic decision by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the Australian government has been found to have violated the rights of its indigenous Torres Strait Islands populations by failing to protect them against climate change. This ruling could become a template for other indigenous groups around the world to secure their rights.
Leading human rights organizations have urged European Union (EU) officials to “publicly and unequivocally denounce” Israel’s disregard for international law and its apartheid system during this week’s EU-Israel Association Council meeting.
Continued heavy fighting following the collapse of a ceasefire between the rebel region of Tigray and the Ethiopian national government further imperils aid efforts to a people already facing what some believe to be the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis.
