When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

TOPIC: trial

In The News

Talks To Extend Gaza Truce, Trapped Indian Workers Rescued, Pope On The Mend

👋 Da'anzho!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where talks are underway in Qatar to prolong the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the 41 Indian workers who had been trapped in a tunnel for 17 days have all been rescued, and Kyrgyzstan votes to alter its flag design because of a flower. Meanwhile, Guillaume Ptak for French daily Les Echos reports from the frontlines in Donetsk, Ukraine, where a bitter winter is setting in and a deadly DIY drone war rages on.

[*Eastern Apache]

Watch VideoShow less

This Happened — October 3: O.J. Simpson Acquitted

O.J. Simpson's acquittal in the murder trial of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on this day in 1995 was a highly publicized and controversial event in American legal history.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.


Keep reading...Show less

Sexual Violence In War: Listening And Healing — And Never Again

Three women who were victims of sexual violence during the Colombian Civil War recount their stories of struggle and survival. They speak up in the hopes that the judiciary will open a new case to bring justice to them and many more survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated during the conflict.

BOGOTA – Jennifer, Ludirlena and Diana suffered a living death at the hands of their aggressors. It was their self-love and resilience that saved them, after experiencing sexual violence during the nation’s civil war.

The Colombian government forgot about these women. But now, they are champions in a battle towards justice and dignity. With different perspectives, they manage to find a connection, something that will unite them forever: advocating so that no one else experiences what they endured.

All sides in the war perpetrated sexual violence. But in the case of these three women, it was specifically the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and United Self-Defences of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary groups who exerted power over their bodies, through the cruelty of their crimes.

These were not isolated incidents and, to the shame of our society, they remain a massive, forgotten outrage.

According to official records, during the war in Colombia there were 15,760 victims of sexual violence. Of that total, 61.8% were women, and another 30.8% were young girls and teenagers. Unfortunately, underreporting plays a significant role in these numbers. Organizations such as the Network of Women Victims and Professionals, the collective Focal Groups - Men Victims of Sexual Violence and the British organization All Survivors Project estimate that the real number may be as much as three times higher.

The three protagonists in our story show how armed conflict has marked the lives of thousands of women in Colombia. They are three voices among many that have come together to demand the opening of a "macro-case," or investigation into sexual violence through Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which would uncover the patterns of sexual and gender-based crimes among armed groups which have devastated entire communities.

Keep reading...Show less

Trump, That "Chief Annihilator Of Democracy" — With A Little Help From Neoliberalism

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has just pleaded "not guilty" criminal charges linked to his push to overturn 2020 election results. Indicted for the third time in four months, he is still somehow able to use the situation to fuel his campaign for re-election in 2024. The future election, American-Canadian scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux writes, is a choice between democracy and the further criminalization of U.S. politics.The Conversation

-Analysis-

Donald Trump has made history again. He is the first president of the United States charged with attempting to overturn a presidential election, violating the rights of citizens to have their votes counted, tampering with a witness and obstructing an official proceeding, among other criminal offences.

He’s also the first president to be indicted. And this is his third indictment in four months — and all of this is playing out amid his campaign for re-election in 2024.

None of the charges brought against Trump are surprising. His legacy as an accused serial liar, self-serving crook, sexual predator and white nationalist — coupled with his assaults on the courts and supporter of authoritarians globally — are well known.

In effect, he has become the chief annihilator of democracy.

Keep reading...Show less
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War
Benjamin Quénelle

Navalny Now: What The Wagner Coup Attempt Means For Putin's Jailed Enemy No. 1

From the depths of his prison cell, President Putin’s best-known opponent, Alexei Navalny, appears to have a plan for how to turn Yevgeny Prigozhin's failed uprising into new momentum for his cause for democracy and regime change in Moscow.

-Analysis-

MOSCOW — "We no longer want our country to live with corruption, lies and bureaucracy," said Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who dared to challenge the president who has been in power for almost a quarter of a century.

Prigozhin's crude words and offensive tone were in stark contrast to the propaganda of public television. A master in direct communication, the founder of the Wagner Group mercenaries broadcast his shocking words over social media.

Taken by surprise, Vladimir Putin called for national unity and condemned this “political adventurer.” But he never mentioned his name. For a few hours on June 24, the man who had suddenly become the main anti-Kremlin opponent succeeded in shaking the regime. It was an unexpected role for Prigozhin, Putin's "cook" turned "traitorous putschist.”

Watch VideoShow less
This Happened

This Happened — June 19: Julius And Ethel Rosenberg’s Execution

It was 70 years ago that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for espionage, accused of providing classified information about atomic bomb technology to the Soviet Union.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.

Watch VideoShow less
This Happened

This Happened — June 17: The O.J. Simpson Chase

U.S. retired football star and celebrity O.J. Simpson was arrested on this day in 1994 for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The two victims had been found dead five days earlier.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.

Watch VideoShow less
In The News
Emma Albright & Renate Mattar

Trump Pleads “Not Guilty,” Zelensky In Poland, Forbes’ Richest

👋 Talofa!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where former U.S. President Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Warsaw, and Elon Musk is dethroned as world’s richest man. Meanwhile, Ukrainian journalist Anna Akage looks at why Vladimir Putin continues to delay a second round of nationwide mobilization, even as Moscow’s troops continue to suffer major losses in Ukraine.

[*Samoan]

Watch VideoShow less
eyes on the U.S.
Alex Hurst

How Trump’s Legal Troubles Look In Places Where Presidents Get Prosecuted

-Analysis-

What do South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Italy, France, Portugal, and Iceland all have in common? They’re all wealthy democracies that have charged and prosecuted former heads of state or heads of government for criminal acts committed while in office.

Watch VideoShow less
Green Or Gone
Rachael Lyle*

Deny Evidence, Downplay Science: Big Oil Is Following Big Pharma's Legal Playbook

Opioid and oil companies alike have a history of obfuscating science as a litigation tactic. How does this harm victims?

Opioids and fossil fuels might seem like vastly different products. But both were marketed as panaceas for a more comfortable existence. Both have some legitimate uses, though we now know that safer alternatives exist for treating chronic pain and powering our economy. And in both instances, we could have known about the harms caused by these products decades sooner, had they not been deliberately concealed from the public for corporate profits.

As those harms have come to light, litigation has become the primary mechanism for attempting to protect the public. Here, too, the parallels continue.

Watch VideoShow less
In The News
Lisa Berdet, Joel Silvestri, Lila Paulou and Bertrand Hauger

200,000 Ukrainian Kids Deported, Queen’s Jubilee, Dogs & COVID

👋 Goedemorgen!*

Welcome to Thursday, where Ukrainian President Zelensky says 200,000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia, and a new study shows that man’s best friend can detect COVID. Meanwhile, business magazine America Economia looks at the reasons why the U.S. should commit itself more to the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

[*Flemish]

Watch VideoShow less
Ideas
Catalina Ruiz-Navarro*

Yes, Her Too: A Feminist Reading Of The Depp Vs. Heard Case

The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation suit has become a Hollywood media (sh*t) storm, but there are troubling real consequences in the way domestic violence is being portrayed, when the victim is less-than-perfect.

First the background: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met in 2012. They started a relationship when Depp was still with Vanessa Paradis, and eventually married in 2015. Fifteen months later, Heard filed for divorce, accusing Depp of domestic violence and asking for a restraining order.

In the lawsuit, Heard said, ”I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him.” They then made a million-dollar settlement, and soon after, Heard asked for the restraining order to be dropped.

Watch VideoShow less