The UN human rights office warned on May 24 of “frightening and disturbing reports” about the impact of new violence in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, pointing to new attacks on Rohingya civilians by the military and an ethnic armed group fighting it. 

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa on May 22 declared a new state of emergency in seven of the country's 24 provinces, as well as one area of a further province, citing a rise in the number of violent deaths and other crimes in those jurisdictions. 

Burkina Faso's ruling junta will remain in power for another five years after participants in national talks on May 25 proposed extending the transition back to democracy by 60 months from July, according to the text of an approved new charter. 

France has opened its first trial into officials from the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad with three top security officers tried in absentia for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

The leaders of Norway, Ireland and Spain have said their countries will formally recognize Palestine as a state next week for the sake of “peace in the Middle East,“ prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys. 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s newly-created “super body” will not succeed in addressing the human rights issues in the country because it will be composed of agencies that contributed to the problem.  

José Rubén Zamora has spent nearly two years locked in a dark 16 by 13-foot cell in a Guatemalan prison, allowed only one hour a day in the sunlight. 

The journalist’s money laundering conviction was tossed out, and last week a judge finally ordered his conditional release to await a new trial. But the 67-year-old founder of the newspaper El Periodico never made it out. Two more cases against him include detention orders. 

For years, the African National Congress rose above politics in South Africa. It was a movement dedicated to freeing Black people from the oppression of white minority rule and to the lofty principle of democracy, equality and a better life for all South Africans. 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chief, and for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC's founding Rome statute combined with jurisprudence from past cases involving arrest warrants against sitting heads of state oblige all 124 ICC signatory states to arrest and hand over any individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant if they set foot on their territory.

A Russian playwright and theatre director accused of “justifying terrorism” have told a Moscow court that they are innocent on the first day of their trial over the staging of an award-winning play.

The arrest of director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk in May last year sent shock waves through Russia’s artistic community, which has faced increasing pressure from the Kremlin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They face up to seven years in prison if found guilty.