Police in Moscow arrested hundreds over the weekend as the Kremlin continued its crackdown on recent protests calling for free elections in the city. At least 828 people were arrested according to independent monitoring group OVD-info. Russian police presented the lower figure of 600 arrests, with 1,500 protestors in attendance,
The Xinjiang Autonomous Region is located in China’s northwest. It has a population of over 23,000,00 people and is a key source of economic resources for the country, possessing abundant reserves of crude oil, coal and natural gas. It is also home to some of the worst state oppression and
On 23rd May, Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were declared the victors of the 2019 Indian general election – a result that many fear will worsen the country’s struggles with sectarian violence. The BJP party won 303 of 545 seats available, increasing its majority and securing a
The U.K.’s treatment of the poorest in its society leaves them facing lives that are “solitary, nasty, brutish, and short” according to a report by the UN’s special rapporteur on poverty and human rights. In his final report on the impact of the last decade’s austerity policies on human rights
The poor are the ones most at risk from climate change. They have the least capacity to adapt, and globally, they are projected to be hit the hardest by droughts, floods, and other environmental impacts. Policies such as a carbon tax have the potential to reduce harmful emissions, but also
Sri Lanka has suffered a wave of anti-Muslim violence in wake of the Easter bombings. The 21 April attacks, claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), targeted churches and hotels killing more than 250 people and injuring over 500. Since then, Sri Lanka’s Muslim population has
In May the EU will host elections for its parliament, and the far right looks set to make considerable gains. This raises significant concerns for some of the most vulnerable in European society – migrants, refugees, and minority groups. Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD), has
The UK can end its contribution to global warming by 2050, the government’s official climate change advisor has claimed in a report released last week. The Committee on Climate Change’s report, commissioned by the British government in 2018, explains that the UK can reach “net zero emissions” by 2050 using
Hungary is systematically starving denied asylum-seekers at its border transit zones, according to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a Budapest-based human rights group. Those within these transit zones — the small detention areas on the border with Serbia — who have seen their claim for asylum rejected, are then denied food,
On April 15th, the climate protest group Extinction Rebellion launched their ‘International Rebellion’ campaign. The group, formed in 2018, aims to “minimise the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse” through “non-violent civil disobedience”. The ongoing campaign has seen them cause significant disruption in central London, temporarily shutting down key
On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to end U.S. involvement in the ongoing Yemeni Civil War. The conflict, which began in 2015 following an attempted takeover of the nation by Houthi rebels, has led to what the UN has called “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Since
President Donald Trump has officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, in a move that could have dire consequences for the Middle East peace process. Trump claims that recognizing Israel’s claim to the land, seized from Syria in 1967, was a move of “critical strategic and security importance.” Yet,
Two weeks ago, the United Nations Environment Assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment comprising 4,700 delegates from 170 countries gathered for a week-long summit in Nairobi, Kenya. At the top of the agenda was the issue of sustainable consumption. Joyce Msuya, acting head of UN Environment stressed
