civil society

China said Monday it will suspend U.S. Navy visits to Hong Kong and sanction several American pro-democracy organizations in retaliation for the signing into law of legislation supporting human rights in the semi-autonomous territory. While the nature of the sanctions remained unclear, the move appeared to back up Chinese threats that the U.S. would bear the costs of the decision....

Without offering proof, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday said actor Leonardo DiCaprio had funded nonprofit groups that he claimed are partly responsible for fires in the Amazon this year. Bolsonaro’s remarks about the American actor were part of a wider government campaign against environmental nonprofit groups operating in Brazil. DiCaprio’s environmental organization Earth Alliance has pledged $5 million to...

Syria’s top diplomat on Saturday demanded the immediate withdrawal of American and Turkish forces from the country and said his government reserves the right to defend its territory in any way necessary if they remain. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem’s remarks to the United Nations General Assembly were made as Turkey and the United States press ahead with a deal to...

The Trump administration is more than tripling U.S. support for pro-democracy work in Venezuela and for the first time directly funding opposition leader Juan Guaidó as he attempts to set up a government to rival the socialist administration of Nicolás Maduro. The $52 million in new aid was announced Tuesday by Mark Green, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for...

Taiwan’s legislature voted Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists who had championed the cause for two decades. Lawmakers pressured by LGBT groups as well as by church organizations opposed to the move approved most of a government-sponsored bill that recognizes same-sex marriages and gives couples many of the tax, insurance...

Taiwan’s legislature voted Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists who had championed the cause for two decades.

Spyware crafted by a sophisticated group of hackers-for-hire took advantage of a flaw in the popular WhatsApp communications program to remotely hijack dozens of phones, the company said late Monday. The Financial Times identified the actor as Israel’s NSO Group, and WhatsApp all but confirmed the identification, describing hackers as “a private company that has been known to work with...

Israeli researchers reported Wednesday that violent attacks against Jews spiked significantly last year, with the largest reported number of Jews killed in anti-Semitic acts in decades, leading to an “increasing sense of emergency” among Jewish communities worldwide. Capped by the deadly shooting that killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, assaults targeting Jews rose 13%...

On Sunday morning a group of animal-lovers will march a mile down one of Havana’s main thoroughfares waving placards calling for an end to animal cruelty in Cuba. Short, seemingly simple, the march will write a small but significant line in the history of modern Cuba. The socialist government is explicitly permitting a public march unassociated with any part of...

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie says promoting equality for women, combatting injustice, and helping refugees are the most important parts of her life after her six children. “But in many ways, they go hand in hand,” she said in an interview late Friday with The Associated Press. “It’s what I hope my children know is important.” Off camera, the 43-year-old...

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie says promoting equality for women, combatting injustice, and helping refugees are the most important parts of her life after her six children. “But in many ways, they go hand in hand,” she said in an interview late Friday with The Associated Press. “It’s what I hope my children know is important.” Off camera, the 43-year-old...

Angelina Jolie brought four of her six kids for a night out when the superstar family hit the red carpet for the LA premiere of “Dumbo.”

In barely a week’s time, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has cemented the authoritarian reputation of his government by shuttering the offices some of the few remaining resonant voices of dissent and expelling the international monitors documenting his government’s alleged crimes....
At least 325 people have been killed since protests erupted in mid-April and were violently suppressed. Some 565 people have been...

A runaway hearse carrying an Ebola victim has become the latest example of sometimes violent community resistance complicating efforts to contain a Congo outbreak — and causing a worrying new rise in cases. The deadly virus’ appearance for the first time in the far northeast has sparked fear. Suspected contacts of infected people have tried to slip away. Residents have...

The wife of Interpol’s president made an impassioned plea Sunday for help in bringing her missing husband to safety, saying she thinks he sent an image of a knife before he disappeared in China as a way to warn her he was in danger. Grace Meng detailed the last messages she exchanged with her husband, Interpol President Meng Hongwei, to...

Kofi Annan left the United Nations far more committed than it had been to combating poverty, promoting equality and fighting for human rights — and until his death Saturday he was speaking out strongly for nations working together to solve problems and worried about the rise of nationalism. As secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, Annan saw...

China allowed the widow of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo to be freed from house arrest and leave for Berlin on Tuesday, ending an eight-year ordeal that drove the poet into depression and drew intense criticism of Beijing’s human rights record. The release of Liu Xia, who has never been charged with any crime, is the result of...

Family of Parkland shooting victim, Nicholas Dworet, was in attendance of the Downtown Los Angeles protest. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

A U.S. citizen was found shot to death in the capital Saturday as violence and social unrest continue to grip Nicaragua.

A Manhattan lawyer who was caught on video ranting against Spanish-speaking restaurant workers has been kicked out of his office space and faces a complaint from two elected officials.