John Lewis, the venerable congressman of Georgia’s fifth congressional district and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom has died at age 80. Often dubbed “the conscience of the Congress”, Lewis was also a solid component of the Civil Rights Movement. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019.

The latest UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has highlighted war crimes committed by all sides during the pro-government force's efforts in Idlib to recapture territory claimed by Houthi rebels, backed by Iran.

According to the Commission’s report, the militant group known as “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) engaged in indiscriminate shelling of densely populated civilian areas, in government-held territory.

According to the Commission’s Chair, Paulo Pinheiro;

Tensions between the UK and China rise after UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, criticised China over “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang and recent crackdowns on protests in Hong Kong.

A protester set himself on fire on Monday in front of Switzerland’s parliament building, to protest conditions in Bern’s asylum centres.

Floods in Nepal in 2019

As many as four million people in the Indian state of Assam and neighbouring Nepal have been displaced by severe flooding and at least 189 people have been killed.

The mayor of Portland was one of several voices who demanded US President Donald Trump removed federal agents from the city, after videos emerged of camouflaged federal law enforcement officers detaining protestors in unmarked vans, seemingly without cause.

Thousands of Bulgarians continue to gather in the capital, Sofia, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, upon allegations of high-level corruption.

Thousands in Thailand joined in a student-led protest pushing for the government’s resignation, defying a government ban on large gatherings due to Covid-19 concerns.

This demonstration, with an estimated total of 2,500 protestors gathered on Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, has become one of the largest street demonstrations since a 2014 military coup.

Former Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, defended Kashmiris’ to self-determination during the 15^th EU-India Summit and accused Europe of holding a “double standard”.

Responding to the United State’s condemnation of China’s new security laws, China has condemned the “gangster logic” of US President Donald J Trump.

Beijing’s Liaison Office stated on the matter:

“Unreasonable meddling and shameless threats by the United States are typical gangster logic and bullying behaviour,”

Israel is reported to have compiled a classified list of officials who could possibly be charged with war crimes in Palestine by the International Criminal Court.

Following a call by Iran’s Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence for three anti-government protesters, Iran’s security forces have cracked down on dissidents gathered in Behbahan.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet’s, has called for accountability for deaths which could number over 25,000, caused by the Philippine government’s, “Double Barrel” campaign which ran from 1 July 2016 to the 31 January 2020.

Writing for the Guardian, Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Bosnian genocide in which over 7,000 Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered and more than 35,000 were forcibly displaced.