insert_link World European rights court upholds French law against buying sex A French law criminalising clients of prostitutes does not infringe on the European Convention on Human Rights, the continent's top rights court ruled Thursday. A group of 261 men and women sex workers had turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the 2016 law, which threatens buyers of sex with fines of up to 1,500 euros ($1,630), which can be more then doubled for […] todayJuly 25, 2024 10
insert_link Science & Technology Should governments ban TikTok? Can they? A cybersecurity expert explains the risks the app poses and the challenges to blocking it Is a wildly popular social media app a threat to U.S. citizens? AP Photo/Michael Dwyer By Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University The U.S. House of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13, 2024, to require TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell the app or face a nationwide ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden said on March 8 that he would sign the legislation if it reached his […] todayMarch 14, 2024 19
insert_link South Africa South Africans are opting to go off-grid: how they’re being helped, and hindered, in their efforts By Germarié Viljoen, North-West University and Felix Dube, University of Pretoria Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power utility, struggles to generate and supply a stable flow of electricity to meet demand. In 2023, there were times when households and businesses had no power for up to 11 hours a day. Eskom has warned that load shedding will be worse in 2024. The result is that many South Africans […] todayFebruary 2, 2024 15
insert_link Opinion Pieces Indonesia is one of the world’s largest democracies, but it’s weaponising defamation laws to smother dissent Tim Mann, The University of Melbourne Two former coordinators of one of Indonesia’s most prominent human rights organisations have escaped conviction in a defamation case brought by a powerful government minister. While their astonishing acquittal is welcome, the case marked a bleak new low for freedom of expression in one of the world’s largest democracies. Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who had coordinated the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims […] todayJanuary 9, 2024 18
insert_link World First legal challenges to Texas immigration law roll in The legal challenges are already rolling in - less than 24 hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law one of the strictest immigration enforcement bills in the country. It gives police the power to arrest anyone they believe is in the state illegally - even if they're nowhere near the border. Toni Waterman has more. todayDecember 20, 2023 5
