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.

The UK is set to resuming selling arms to Saudi Arabia, despite evidence that the country has committed war crimes in Yemen; the government has defended the decision stating that said crimes were “isolated incidents”.

The UK is imposing sanctions against 49 individuals and organisations involved in notorious human rights abuses in recent years. 

UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, announced that the measures will target individuals and organisations, rather than nations and will include asset freezes and travel bans. 

In a letter sent to President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 60^th anniversary of its independence, King Philippe of Belgium has expressed his “deepest regrets” for the “acts of violence and cruelty” committed under Belgian occupation, but stopped short of offering a full apology and reparations for colonial rule.

For several decades, King Philippe’s ancestor, King Leopold II, brutally exploited the DRC in his pursuit of rubber and ivory resources. According to historians, millions of Congolese people were killed, mutilated or died of famine and disease under his rule. These acts had a devastating human and financial toll on the country, with their effects still being felt today.

The United States has enacted a new set of Hong Kong-related sanctions on China and the United Kingdom has offered citizenship to the territory’s residents after Beijing passed a new highly criticised national security law.

The law, which includes 66 articles and harsh penalties, covers a wide range of alleged offences including on “secession” and “terrorism”. Other articles give Chinese mainland security operatives the right to investigate cases that are vaguely described as "complex", "serious" or “difficult”, as well as trials being held in secret, without a jury, and without guaranteeing bail.  

Kosovo’s president Hashim Thaçi announced he would resign from his presidency if war crimes charges are filed against him by prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

His announcement comes after the Special Prosecutor’s Office with Kosovo Specialist Chambers publicly filed a 10-count indictment against Thaçi, accusing him of crimes against humanity, war crime including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.

The indictment, filed without confirmation from a pre-trial judge, was an unusual move by prosecutors. However they state the indictment was made public due to the “repeated efforts” to “undermine” the work of Kosovo Specialist Chambers by Kosovan president.

China has forcibly used birth control and sterilisation in an attempt to restrict the Uighur population in Xinjiang, says a newly released report, which has sparked widespread condemnation of Beijing from around the globe.

China has previously been accused of detaining over a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in internment camps without trial. The report by German researcher Adrian Zenz claims that detained women are involuntarily being given injections which have stopped their periods and/or caused unusual bleeding - common side effects of birth control drugs. Likewise, women are reportedly being coerced into sterilisation surgeries, despite having fewer children than the legal limit, and those who have exceeded the limit, have been threatened imprisonment if they refuse to abort their child.