Amnesty International on June 4 called for the immediate and unconditional release of civilians being held by armed groups in India's Manipur state as negotiations over the fate of remaining captives appear to have stalled amid continuing ethnic tensions.

Protesters clashed with security forces May 30 at the site of a planned luxury resort on Albania's Adriatic coast linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the daughter and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The site, at Zvërnec, is one of the last nearly pristine coastal zones in the entire Mediterranean, and is located within Albania's southern Greek-speaking region. The project has raised serious concerns among local ethnic Greek residents over the loss of their traditional lands.

A delegation from the Vatican—including cardinals and bishops—joined representatives of the Catholic Church in Peru to kneel before local campesinos and ask their forgiveness at a "Mass of Reparation" held May 23 at the parish of San Juan Bautista in Catacaos, Piura region. A Vatican investigation found that the Tallán indigenous communities of the parish for over a decade suffered land expropriation, physical threats and other abuses at the hands of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. The lay society, better known as "Sodalicio," was among the most active Catholic movements in Latin America from the early 1970s until it was suppressed by order of Pope Francis in April 2025. (Vatican News, Vatican News, OSV News, NCR)

The Supreme Court of Canada on May 28 refused to hear an appeal by the six Wolastoqey communities of New Brunswick seeking to assert Aboriginal title over private lands.

The issue before the court was whether First Nations can assert Aboriginal title when private parties hold a fee simple interest in land. The top court's refusal to hear the appeal makes final a lower court's decision, holding that the Wolastoqey Nation cannot seek declarations of Aboriginal title over privately-owned lands but may seek damages against the government for unjustified infringement of Aboriginal title.

"Hondurasgate"—an apparent plot involving Israel, the United States, and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) to destabilize Latin America's progressive governments through disinformation—has thrust Israel's ties to the region back into the spotlight. The scandal emerged ahead of a diplomatic visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Central America as part of a push to consolidate alliances with the region's right-wing leaders. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported April 28 on the Israeli government's plan for increased settler transfers into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, calling the decision a "clear statement of intent to commit war crimes."

The $334 million plan was adopted on April 17, foreseeing full development by 2030. The government purports to make the small town of Katzrin the Golan's "first city," by bringing in 3,000 new Israeli settler families. Funds are allocated for infrastructure, housing, public services, and academic facilities.

The Court of Appeal for British Columbia unanimously upheld the criminal contempt conviction against Chief Dsta'hyl (Adam Gagnon) on April 28. He was found in breach of a court injunction by protesting against a pipeline project in the territories of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation.

At issue in the appeal was whether Chief Dsta'hyl could make a defense on the ground that he was acting in accordance with a co-existing Indigenous legal order. Chief Justice Leonard Merchand, writing for the three-judge panel, held that the court would recognize the defense if violating a court injunction was a last resort. However, as the defendant could have challenged the injunction, the court found that violating the injunction was not necessary to uphold the Wet'suwet'en law of trespass.

UN experts on March 27 welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro's ratification of the 1989 International Convention against Recruitment, Use, Financing & Training of Mercenaries. The experts praised the signing of what amounts to a new anti-mercenary legislative package, calling it an essential step toward protecting human rights and upholding international legal obligations.