The Law Society of British Columbia warned Feb. 2 that the provincial government's intention to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) may erode judicial independence and improperly constrain the power of the courts. The proposed amendment would limit the role of the judiciary in matters related to DRIPA's implementation.

President Trump issued an executive order Jan. 10 to block judicial processes from being instituted against Venezuelan oil funds held in the US, on the basis that it would "materially harm the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Amnesty International on Dec. 18 urged all states to prevent the Portuguese-flagged Holger G vessel, carrying munition components bound for Israel, from docking at their ports. Having departed from India on Nov. 16, the cargo is destined for Israel's biggest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its subsidiary IMI Systems.

Indigenous groups held protests Nov. 14 in Belém, blocking the main entrance to the restricted area at the UN Climate Summit (COP30) to demand that the Brazilian government halt extractive projects that jeopardize their cultures and livelihoods.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Oct. 23 announced that he will open the entire 1.56 million acres of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas leasing. These lands are sacred to the Gwich'in Nation, home to irreplaceable wildlife, and have never seen industrialization.

In an action taken during a government shutdown, the Department of Interior (DoI) held a press conference to announce a series of resource development decisions aimed at opening up Alaska for the benefit of corporate interests. A key announcement was the rescission of the Biden administration's restrictive drilling program for the refuge. The DoI is now essentially replacing that program with the previous Trump-era plan to fully open the Coastal Plain of the ANWR to oil and gas development.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Zambian authorities Sept. 11 to investigate the consequences of acid released into a river following the rupture of a dam holding mining waste, which has polluted local soils and affected the livelihoods of citizens.  

Future plans for the Gaza Strip currently circulating among United States government officials call for for the relocation of the entire population to make way for construction of tourist resorts and tech industry hubs under a decade of US administrative control, according to a Washington Post exclusive published Aug. 31. The 38-page document obtained by the newspaper includes full-color artist renderings of the envisioned "Riviera of the Middle East." The prospectus, yet to be officially approved, would see the US take the Strip under trusteeship for at least 10 years, overseeing "voluntary departures" of the residents to third countries or into "restricted" zones within the territory. A "Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration & Transformation Trust" (GREAT Trust) would be established to coordinate the effort.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration at the White House on Aug. 8, with Donald Trump boasting that the US-brokered deal ends decades of conflict between the Caucasus neighbors. Critically, the agreement calls for a new transport corridor across Armenian territory, linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, which lies between Armenia and Iran. The corridor is to be named the "Trump Route for International Peace & Prosperity," and Armenia has granted the United States the right to manage it for 99 years. US companies will  have exclusive development rights on the corridor throughout this period.