Enoch Burke and the Limits of Contempt: A Case Where Rights, Livelihood and Law Collide

When Rights Collide in the Classroom: Gender Identity, Minors, and the Complex Intersection of Law, Belief and Duty A quiet request within a school — that staff address a student by a different name or pronouns — can appear straightforward on the surface. But when the student is a minor, when staff hold deeply rooted […]

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Ireland’s Teen Activist Cara Darmody Begins 50-Hour Sleep-Out to Highlight Assessment of Needs Crisis

Dublin, — Disability rights activist Cara Darmody has launched a 50-hour sleep-out protest outside Leinster House in a renewed effort to draw national attention to what she describes as the ongoing “assessment of needs crisis.” The 15-year-old from Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary began her demonstration at 11am today and is expected to meet opposition party leaders […]

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Gaza’s babies ‘scarred by war before first breath’ by malnutrition

[ad_1] Speaking from the shattered enclave, UNICEF Communication Manager Tess Ingram said that at least 165 children are reported to have died “painful, preventable deaths” related to malnutrition during the war between Hamas fighters and Israel. A lesser-known scourge is acute hunger among pregnant and breastfeeding women and “the devastating domino effect” of this lack […]

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Government Publishes First Action Plan on Disability Rights and Strategy 2025–2030

Dublin, 8 December 2025 — Taoiseach Micheál Martin has chaired the first meeting of the Delivery and Monitoring Committee for Ireland’s National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030, marking a significant step in the Government’s commitment to embed the voices and experiences of disabled people at the centre of policy implementation. The meeting, held in Government […]

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Ecuador: Government Freezes Groups’ Bank Accounts

[ad_1] (Washington DC) – Authorities in Ecuador have used secret intelligence reports to freeze the bank accounts of Ecuadorian Indigenous and environmental groups, Human Rights Watch said today. Since September 19, 2025, the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit, the government agency responsible for preventing financial crimes, has ordered the banking regulatory authority to freeze the accounts […]

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Burkina Faso Junta Restores Death Penalty

[ad_1] The military junta in Burkina Faso has adopted a bill restoring the death penalty nearly a decade after the West African country abolished the heinous practice. The last known judicial execution in Burkina Faso took place in 1988. On December 4, the junta’s council of ministers approved a bill amending the penal code and […]

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Syria: One Year Since Assad’s Fall

[ad_1] (Beirut) – Syrian transitional authorities have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities, Human Rights Watch said today on the anniversary of the former government’s fall. As Syrian authorities move the country forward, they should, with international support, credibly address outstanding concerns around security sector reform, […]

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US: Close Fort Bliss Immigration Detention Site

[ad_1] (Washington, DC) – Human rights groups today urged US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end immigration detention at Camp East Montana, a massive tent camp at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. In their letter, advocates summarized accounts of horrific conditions, including beatings and sexual abuse by officers against detained […]

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Joint statement by High Representative Kallas and Commissioners Šuica and Lahbib on the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime

[ad_1] One year ago, the fall of the Assad regime marked the end of decades of a brutal dictatorship, responsible for the death, disappearance and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and for the destruction of large parts of the country, with disastrous consequences on the overall fabric of the Syrian society. Its fall […]

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Bulgaria: Delayed Coal Phaseout Fuels Health Harm

[ad_1] Bulgaria’s delayed decommissioning of coal-fired power plants contributes to dangerous air pollution, risks breaching new air quality standards, and is slowing down the country’s transition away from fossil fuels. Data shows that Maritsa 3, a coal plant near the town of Dimitrovgrad, contributes to the dangerous air pollution around the town, which harms the […]

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