Europe

Court records confirm: Behind Julian Assange’s surveillance was the security team of US billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Rafael Lutz for the online newspaper INFOsperber A campaign has been going on for years against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has used the…

In light of a controversial security law, Germany’s Green Party has called on the government to end an extradition agreement with Hong Kong. There is “good reason” Germany has no such deal with China, a lawmaker said. A member of…

In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. The reason: The country applies the “Housing First” concept. Those affected by homelessness receive a small apartment and counselling – without any preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected thus…

As the Turkish President signed a decree on Friday converting the ancient Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque, the UN cultural agency (UNESCO) said that it “deeply regrets the decision” made “without prior discussion”, having earlier in the day called…

In an open letter published in Harper’s Magazine, 152 writers, including JK Rowling and Margaret Atwood, claim that a climate of “censoriousness” is pervading liberal culture, the latest contribution to an ongoing debate about freedom of speech online. As we grapple with…

Protecting the truth from deniers and serving justice for victims of the Srebrenica genocide is our best bet to prevent genocides from occurring again, writes Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic. That genocide was perpetrated in and around the…

Twenty-five years after the Srebrenica genocide, peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains fragile, underscoring the need for true reconciliation in the region, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday in a video message marking the anniversary of the worst atrocity crime…

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* One of the founders of Russia’s Pussy Riot rock band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was interviewed at length on the BBC this past weekend. She has no time for President Vladimir Putin. When the group played inside the…

UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – the “axis of tax avoidance” – are responsible for 72 per cent of global tax losses Analysis of new OECD data published yesterday, on the basis of a reporting standard developed by the…

The ethical committee of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund recommended this week to include significant policy improvements on issues that PAX has advocated for, including nuclear weapons, lethal autonomous weapons and controversial arms trade. In brief, it builds the norm…