Author: Damon Hunter

On International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, the United States recognizes the tireless efforts of women and girls who advocate for human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world. All over the world, women work to challenge systemic injustices and advocate for the rights of all. Women human rights defenders face an increased risk of experiencing threats, harassment, and gender-based violence, both online and offline. Despite efforts to weaken and silence them, they remain unwavering in their commitment to defend human rights. They are forces of change that remind us of the crucial role women play in shaping a more…

State leaders are accepting pre-applications for rental assistance this week from Coloradans who have fallen behind on rent and are at risk of eviction or displacement. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs, or DOLA, is opening the three-day pre-application process at 11 a.m. Tuesday and closing the online portal at 5 p.m. Thursday. By July 3, department leaders will randomly select pre-applicants, who will be invited to apply for emergency rental assistance. They will have eight days to submit their applications. Those selected to receive rental assistance will get funds by early September. “For many Coloradans, rental assistance is not just a…

Cartels have bragged about the U.S. weaponry. Mexico’s army is finding belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades that are not sold for civilian use in the United States Mexico wants an urgent investigation into how U.S. military-grade weapons are increasingly being found in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, Mexico’s top diplomat said Monday. Mexico’s army is finding belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades that are not sold for civilian use in the United States. “The (Mexican) Defense Department has warned the United States about weapons entering Mexico that are for the exclusive use of the U.S. army,” Foreign…

Tehran, Iran: Iran said it suffered a cyber attack by Israel and the United States that disrupted fuel distribution across 60 percent of petrol stations on Monday. “Some gas stations across the country suffered a cyber attack and the fuel distribution stopped,” Oil Minister Javad Owji told state TV. Javad Owji blamed the attack on external powers, saying that since “the Zionist enemy (Israel) and the United States suffered blows in other fronts, they sought to create trouble.” Deputy Oil Minister Jalil Salari earlier said there were problems with the cards Iranians use to buy subsidised petrol. Iran, a major oil…

It is less than a year before the U.S. election in 2024, when American voters will decide on the president and the governing direction for the next four years. The current president, Joe Biden, is most likely to run as the Democratic nominee, while former President Donald Trump could still represent the Republicans. In other words, we might repeat the 2020 race.  Recent polls indicate that Biden is behind Trump in several key battleground states including Wisconsin and Michigan, where Biden only won by razor-thin margins in the last election, further complicating the situation. In recent years, China-U.S. relations have…

A US senator’s wife hit and killed a jaywalker with her car in 2018, according to a police report cited by US media. The New Jersey crash is briefly mentioned in an indictment that alleges Nadine Menendez and her husband Robert, a New Jersey senator, were part of a massive bribery scheme involving gold, cash and a car. Richard Koop, 49, died in the December 2018 crash. Ms Menendez was not charged. Details about the crash, which occurred on a cold winter evening in Bogota, New Jersey, were outlined in a Bogota Police Department report cited in the New York…

Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise have become the first two Republicans to join the race to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was voted out as Speaker in an unprecedented move on Tuesday. Other Republicans may also mount bids ahead of a candidate forum on Tuesday and a possible vote the following day. The next Speaker can technically be anyone in the US. Donald Trump did tease he would accept the job in the short term, but has now endorsed Mr Jordan. Here’s a quick rundown of the candidates who could be next in line. Jim Jordan Once a thorn in his…

The Florida governor Ron DeSantis fell to fifth in a new New Hampshire poll, trailing not just Donald Trump, the runaway leader for the Republican presidential nomination, but Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie. The poll, from CNN and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), was just the latest worrying sign for DeSantis, whose hard-right campaign has struggled ever since a glitch-filled launch with Elon Musk on his social media platform in May. The former president faces 91 criminal charges, for election subversion, retention of classified information and hush-money payments, and civil threats including a defamation case in which he was adjudicated a rapist. He…

The counterterrorism expert and author of “Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre: Lessons for the International Community” explains how religious extremism manifested in Sri Lanka’s deadliest terror attack. On April 21, 2019 – Easter Sunday – a coordinated series of bombings ripped through Sri Lanka, targeting churches and luxury hotels. Over 260 people were killed, making it the deadliest terrorist attack ever suffered by Sri Lanka. The attack has continued to resonate in Sri Lankan society and politics, as the public demands to untangle questions of responsibility: Why was the attack not prevented, and what can be done to stop the…

Political change often follows a change in consciousness; the process of defamiliarisation through which things we once accepted as fine, or hated but believed were immutable, gain sufficient criticism as to become suddenly absurd. There is nothing like the shock registered by young children today when apprised of banished norms of the recent past – smoking on planes, women needing a man to co-sign for a credit card – to remind us how quickly universal assumptions can change. Among the list of gross things that, at present, still induce widespread shrugs are relationships between adult men and teenage girls. You…