Hollow Land - Weizman, Eyal (Penguin Books, 2024)
In this new edition, Weizman explains how the events following the invasion of Gaza in October 2023 bear witness to the continuing policies of oppression. He details how this book became a foundational text for Forensic Architecture.
Israel

Repoliticizing a generation - Amber Murrey (Africa is a Country, 2021)
Thirty-eight years after Thomas Sankara’s assassination, the struggle for justice and self-determination endures—from stalled archives and unfulfilled verdicts to new calls for pan-African renewal and a 21st-century anti-imperialist front.
Africa

Sixty years on from the 1965 Indonesian genocide (Inside Indonesia’s Newsletter, 2025)
This edition of Inside Indonesia commemorates the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the 1965–1966 genocide, when an estimated half a million men, women and children were murdered for their real or perceived support of the Indonesian Communist Party.
Indonesia

Rescuing the UNRWA Archive: Saving Palestinian History amidst the Gaza Genocide - Kelcey, Jo; Irfan, Anne (History Workshop Journal, 2025)
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has entailed extensive attacks on Palestinian heritage and history, including institutional archives which preserve historical documents, like that of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). In this article, we trace how a small team of UNRWA staff successfully resisted these attacks by rescuing the agency’s archival materials and transferring them out of Gaza.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

Musk calls Anti-Defamation League ‘hate group’ for documenting Christian extremism - Robins-Early, Nick (The Guardian, 2025)
Organization earlier this year came to the tech mogul’s aid over his widely criticized salutes at Trump’s inauguration
United States of America
Keywords: Antisemitism; Charlie Kirk shooting; Christianity; Donald Trump; Elon Musk; Far right (US); Germany; Technology; US news

Jo-Ann found her mum in 1991. Quiet changes will hurt the chance for others - Dennien, Matt (Brisbane Times, 2025)
A shift in Queensland’s approach to allowing adopted people or their families to access information to reunite has cast a shadow over three decades of reform.
Australia
Keywords: Adoption; Birth; death and marriage registration; Privacy; Queensland

Britain Is Introducing a Digital ID. Here’s How It Is Expected to Work. - Chutel, Lynsey (The New York Times, 2025)
The government said the new system would help to curb illegal migration, but opponents said it would infringe on citizens’ privacy.
United Kingdom
Keywords: Corbyn; Jeremy (1949- ); Farage; Nigel (1964- ); Foreign Workers; Great Britain; Identification Devices; Illegal Immigration; Labour Party (Great Britain); Open Rights Group; Privacy; Starmer; Keir; Swinney; John R

Ireland's privacy watchdog opens probe into sale of citizens' phone locations - Euractiv (Euractiv, 2025)
One of the online data brokers is located in Ireland, the Data Protection Commission told Euractiv, another is in an unspecified EU country
Ireland

Among the archives, you can find love, community and history - Aino Pihlak (Xtra Magazine, 2025)
Queer and trans archives preserve our past—they also offer community space that is essential to our future
Worldwide

When I was married at 13 I was told refusal would end in my death. Now girls in Iraq as young as nine face the same fate - Ali, Shams (The Guardian, 2025)
A new law legitimises violence and entrenches control over the bodies of millions of women and girls like me
Iraq
Keywords: Children; Children's rights; Family; Forced marriage; Global development; Human rights; Iraq; Life and style; Marriage; Middle East and north Africa; Society; Women's rights and gender equality; World news

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians - Davies, Harry; Abraham, Yuval (The Guardian, 2025)
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
Israel
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestine; Surveillance; West Bank; World news

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians - Davies, Harry; Abraham, Yuval (The Guardian, 2025)
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
United States of America
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestine; Surveillance; West Bank; World news

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians - Davies, Harry; Abraham, Yuval (The Guardian, 2025)
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestine; Surveillance; West Bank; World news

Escaping Gaza City, while reporting on its destruction - Hough, Lucy; Tantesh, Malak A.; Abrahams, Ruth; Khaleeli, Homa; Kent, Sami; Abrahams, Presented by Lucy Houghwith Malak A. Tantesh; produced by Ruth; Khaleeli, Brian McNamara; executive producer Homa (The Guardian, 2025)
Malak A Tantesh on fleeing the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza and becoming a reporter in the most dangerous place on Earth for journalists
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestine; World news

A New Lawsuit Alleges the Gun Industry Exploited Firearm Owners’ Data for Political Gain - Johnson, Corey G. (ProPublica, 2025)
The federal court complaint filed this week closely mirrors the findings of a ProPublica investigation that detailed a decades-long secret program operated by the gun industry’s largest trade group.
United States of America

The Librarians review – the heroic women battling against book bans and censorship - Clarke, Cath (The Guardian, 2025)
Kim A Snyder’s documentary highlights the defenders of young readers’ rights to see their lives in print facing rightwing attacks
United States of America
Keywords: Books; Censorship; Culture; Documentary films; Film; Libraries; World news

New Human Rights Watch report links Syrian Government to March coastal massacres, criticizes lack of transparency and accountability in investigation - SyriacPress (SyriacPress, 2025)
A new report released this week by Human Rights Watch, Syrians for Truth and Justice, and Syrian Archive has accused the Syrian Government of failing to confront senior officials’ roles in widespread atrocities carried out during March 2025 in the country’s coastal and central regions.
Syria

US border patrol collected DNA from thousands of US citizens for years, data shows - Bhuiyan, Johana (The Guardian, 2025)
CBP officers took DNA samples from about 2,000 citizens, some as young as 14 and many who never faced criminal charges, new analysis shows
United States of America
Keywords: DNA database; Privacy; Technology; US immigration; US news

Tasmanian right to information review makes 43 recommendations, including release of cabinet information - Holmes, Adam (ABC News, 2025)
From pulp mills to stadiums, Tasmanians don't have access to information about how and why decisions are made. A review of the state's transparency system says this — and many other things — should change.
Australia
Keywords: Tasmanian government; government documents; government transparency; right to information; rti

Letters found on eBay cast light on UK families who benefited from slavery - Osuh, Chris (The Guardian, 2025)
Researcher Malik Al Nasir bought historical documents while investigating his family history – and began building an archive
United Kingdom
Keywords: Books; Guyana; Lancashire; Politics past; Research; Slavery; UK news; University of Cambridge

Documents offer rare insight on Ice’s close relationship with Palantir - Bhuiyan, Johana (The Guardian, 2025)
For years, little was known about the multibillion-dollar company that handles data for the US immigration enforcement agency. Now, a cache of emails, training documents and reports sheds light on how Palantir helps Ice with investigations and on-the-ground enforcement
United States of America
Keywords: Ice (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement); Palantir; Peter Thiel; Technology; US immigration; US news; US policing

Pentagon demands journalists sign pledge not to gather certain information - Yang, Maya (The Guardian, 2025)
If they don’t agree to limits, including restricting movement within building, Pentagon press passes will be revoked
United States of America
Keywords: Media; Pete Hegseth; Trump administration; US constitution and civil liberties; US military; US news; US politics

Persecuted and Branded “Anti-Social” (Arolsen Archives, 2025)
Millions of people were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis. After the war, the Federal Compensation Act was drawn up to set out who was entitled to compensation. But this law was based on a narrow definition of who qualified as a victim of persecution. People who had been persecuted as “anti-social elements” were not included. Their suffering was not officially acknowledged by the German parliament until 2020.
Worldwide

Call for Applications: 2026 Penn State Global Asias Summer Institute: Vitalizing Global Asias: Artifacts & Archives - Cheryl (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2025)
2026 Penn State Global Asias Summer Institute VITALIZING GLOBAL ASIAS: ARTIFACTS & ARCHIVES Penn State University and the Global Asias Initiative invites applicants for its annual Global Asias Summer Institute.

Monash IVF pauses donor treatments in NSW as it conducts review of patient records - Cockburn, Paige (ABC News, 2025)
Patients have been left blindsided by Monash IVF's decision to temporarily halt treatments using donated eggs and sperm in New South Wales.
Australia
Keywords: Monash IVF; New South Wales; donor; egg donor; fertility; fertility clinic; ivf; sperm donor

“I Have Not Surrendered”: Leonard Peltier Remains Committed to Indigenous Rights - Goodman, Amy (Truthout, 2025)
In this interview, Peltier discusses his time in (and release from) prison, his ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights, and more.
United States of America

Intersex people in Europe face ‘alarming’ rise in violence, EU finds - Kassam, Ashifa (The Guardian, 2025)
Increase in violence since 2019 is linked to online campaigns seeking to sow disinformation and fuel hatred
Europe
Keywords: Europe; Inequality; LGBTQ+ rights; Online abuse; Society; Transgender; World news

UK’s public sector broadcasters demand more prominence on YouTube to combat misinformation - Michael Savage Media (The Guardian, 2025)
How can we archive against genocide in Gaza and its extension elsewhere in Palestine and surrounding countries like Lebanon in this urgent moment while avoiding the pitfalls of white guilt and paternalistic benevolence?
United Kingdom
Keywords: BBC; Channel 4; ITV; Media; Public service broadcasting; Technology; Television industry; UK news; YouTube

Almost Destroyed: Chinese Canadian records at Library and Archives Canada - Chow, June (Active History, 2025)
A century after the Chinese Exclusion Act introduced its requirement for mass registration, the records created in this hostile context are being used to pursue collective healing, grounded in the personal, painful work of recovering ancestors who lived through the shame and regret of exclusion in silence.
Canada

‘We Are in a Zero State’: Scenes From the Ashes of Nepal’s Capital - Kathmandu, Atul Loke Reporting from; Nepal (The New York Times, 2025)
Arson attacks during protests in Nepal destroyed buildings, court files and even records of international agreements and state investments.
Nepal
Keywords: Arson; Corruption (Institutional); Demonstrations; Protests and Riots; Fires and Firefighters; Karki; Sushila; Nepal; Politics and Government; internal-open-access-from-nl

Trump’s war on science leaves US public health experts reeling: ‘There will be lasting damage’ - Tait, Robert (The Guardian, 2025)
Career experts warn of decades of progress lost as administration fires staff, slashes budgets and buries data
United States of America
Keywords: Climate science; Donald Trump; Science; Trump administration; US healthcare; US news

Draghi calls for deep cuts to privacy rules and pause on 'high risk' AI Act (Euractiv, 2025)
Influential Italian economist calls for "radical simplification" of GDPR on the one-year anniversary of his landmark report on European competitiveness
Europe

Russia Indoctrinates Children From Occupied Ukraine at 210 Sites, Study Says - Andrew E. Kramer (The New York Times, 2025)
War crime investigators at Yale discovered a program of re-education and military and police training that was larger than estimated earlier.
Ukraine
Keywords: Children and Childhood; Orphans and Orphanages; Politics and Government; Putin; Vladimir V; Russia; Ukraine; Yale University

Russia Indoctrinates Children From Occupied Ukraine at 210 Sites, Study Says - Andrew E. Kramer (The New York Times, 2025)
War crime investigators at Yale discovered a program of re-education and military and police training that was larger than estimated earlier.
Russian Federation
Keywords: Children and Childhood; Orphans and Orphanages; Politics and Government; Putin; Vladimir V; Russia; Ukraine; Yale University

Call for Papers: Queer/Trans History Conference 2026 - Cheryl (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2025)
The LGBTQ+ History Association is pleased to announce a call for papers for its fourth conference, the Queer/Trans History Conference* 2026 (#QTHC26), to be held at the University of Michigan.

Confidentialité des documents gouvernementaux, un accès divergeant - Radio-Canada (OHdio | Radio-Canada, 2025)
La loi sur l’accès à l’information varie d’une province à l’autre. Des gouvernements ou des organismes peuvent rendre publiques ou pas certaines informations.
Canada

Syria Prisons Museum digital torture archive opens in Damascus (The New Arab, 2025)
The Syria Prisons Museum will provide an immersive experience paying homage to victims and survivors of the Assads’ brutal prison system.
Syria

Activist and writer Ruth Weiss lived life of service - Fisher, Nicola (DW, 2025)
Ruth Weiss, a Jewish journalist, author and human rights activist, was a tireless opponent of apartheid who used her pen to fight hatred and racism. A look at her extraordinary life.
South Africa

Limitation review – bloodshed and chaos of Georgia’s coup d’etat comes alive from the archive - Le, Phuong (The Guardian, 2025)
Seaming together many different records of the civil war in the early 1990s we see a country’s fracture unfold through a crowd of partisan views
Georgia
Keywords: Culture; Documentary films; Europe; Film; Georgia; World news

MI5 concedes it ‘unlawfully’ obtained data from former BBC journalist - Savage, Michael (The Guardian, 2025)
Revelation relating to then Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney, a ‘matter of grave concern’
United Kingdom
Keywords: BBC; Human rights; MI5; Media; Northern Ireland; UK news; UK security and counter-terrorism

‘I woke up and there was no water’: Gaza’s human rights defenders in their own words - Lawlor, Mary (The Guardian, 2025)
A UN special rapporteur shares the stories of those trying to record the horrors of Gaza even as they live through them
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestine; United Nations; World news

The Bright Side: Iraq's Yazidis rediscover their lost history in photos found in a museum archive - France 24 (France 24, 2025)
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have been scouring the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to create a visual archive of Iraq's Yazidi communities from photos left behind.
Iraq

Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book is a horrifying document - Donegan, Moira (The Guardian, 2025)
Conspiracy theorists wonder about what Epstein and his powerful friends may have done to cover up his crimes. But they barely were covered up
United States of America
Keywords: Donald Trump; Ghislaine Maxwell; Jeffrey Epstein; Peter Mandelson; US news

South Africa reopens inquest into death of anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko - France 24 (France 24, 2025)
In tonight's edition: a South African court has reopened an inquest into the death of anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko, 48 years after he died of brain injuries in police custody.
South Africa

Yes, this is who we are: America’s 250-year history of political violence - Valsania, Maurizio (The Conversation, 2025)
The US has long fused politics and violence, often through firearms. To claim that such shootings betray ‘who we are’ is to forget that the US was founded on this form of political violence.
United States of America

Kashmiri representatives urge UNHRC to act against Indian repression in IIOJK - Kashmir Media Service (KMS News, 2025)
Kashmiri representatives Altaf Hussain Wani, Shamim Shawl and Advocate Parvez Ahmed Shah have urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to urgently intervene against India’s escalating repression in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, warning that durable peace in South Asia is impossible without granting the Kashmiris their UN-mandated right to self-determination.
South Asia

Body parts taken without consent for museum display, coroner finds - Lohberger, Loretta (ABC News, 2025)
A Tasmanian coroner has released his findings from an investigation into 177 human specimens held in the collection of a university museum without the consent or knowledge of families. The investigation required complex manual searches and reconciliation of records with "very little additional resources" provided to the Coroners' Office to do the work.
Australia
Keywords: Rodda Museum; Tasmania; The University of Tasmania; autopsy specimens; body parts kept without permission; coronial findings

Re-activating Indigenous Knowledge from Oral History: Landscape and In Greenland - Mønsted, Asta (Routledge, 2025)
This book focuses on Greenlandic oral history and how to better understand people, their cultural remains, and their landscape through their own stories. It offers a way to consult Inuit oral history that opens a perspective on houses and landscapes that may otherwise be invisible to the barren eye. Working with and re-activating Indigenous knowledge of Greenland, the study draws on more than two thousand stories collected between 1735 and 1981, preserved, and later enrolled in an online and searchable database.
Denmark

A Guide to Censorship in China - Palmer, James (Foreign Policy, 2025)
Strange processes determine what does—or doesn’t—get published.
China

Defence won't have to keep some war records under law change - Pennington, Phil (RNZ, 2025)
A proposed law change to the Public Records Act would let the New Zealand Defence Force seek an exemption from its legal duty to keep records if it is in multinational deployment. This could make any war crimes harder to prove.
New Zealand
Keywords: Public Records Act; Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill; War records

Victoria is on the cusp of signing a Treaty with Indigenous people. It could change lives - McManus, Justin (The Conversation, 2025)
If passed, potentially later this month, it will deliver a formal apology to First Peoples, embed Aboriginal truth-telling in schools and restore traditional names to parks and waterways
Australia

UN cooperates with National Archives to restore historical monuments and build capacity (Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), 2025)
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan promised in a meeting with the head of the National Archives of the Ministry of Information and Culture that the organization will cooperate with the National Archives in the field of restoration of monuments, training of professional staff and building capacity.
Afghanistan

Because no one asked: Archiving the Rohingya past - Amin, Naseef Faruque (The Daily Star, 2025)
It began with a question, the kind of question that arrives quietly, almost like a sigh.
Myanmar

Demonizing Immigrants in the 1880s - Gershon, Livia (JSTOR Daily, 2025)
American newspapers portrayed members of immigrant groups as potential anarchists, linking the ideology to other anxieties and stereotypes about foreigners.
United States of America

FIDH denounces heinous U.S. sanctions against leading Palestinian human rights organisations (International Federation for Human Rights, 2025)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) denounces in the strongest terms the heinous designations imposed by the United States on three major Palestinian human rights organisations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) – all members of FIDH. At a time when Palestinians face an ongoing genocide, these measures seek to silence those documenting atrocities, fighting for justice and accountability.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

FIDH denounces heinous U.S. sanctions against leading Palestinian human rights organisations (International Federation for Human Rights, 2025)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) denounces in the strongest terms the heinous designations imposed by the United States on three major Palestinian human rights organisations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) – all members of FIDH. At a time when Palestinians face an ongoing genocide, these measures seek to silence those documenting atrocities, fighting for justice and accountability.
Israel

FIDH denounces heinous U.S. sanctions against leading Palestinian human rights organisations (International Federation for Human Rights, 2025)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) denounces in the strongest terms the heinous designations imposed by the United States on three major Palestinian human rights organisations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) – all members of FIDH. At a time when Palestinians face an ongoing genocide, these measures seek to silence those documenting atrocities, fighting for justice and accountability.
United States of America

Proving War Crimes: Archives, Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice - Archives, Cécile Chemin- (Medium, 2025)
This is a very broad overview introducing the role of archives for the protection of human rights, reparation work and transitional justice.
Worldwide

US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry - Christou, William (The Guardian, 2025)
Rights groups in Gaza and Ramallah had asked international criminal court to investigate Israel over genocide claims
United States of America
Keywords: Gaza; Human rights; International criminal court; International criminal justice; Israel-Gaza war; Law; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Trump administration; US foreign policy; US news; US politics; World news

US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry - Christou, William (The Guardian, 2025)
Rights groups in Gaza and Ramallah had asked international criminal court to investigate Israel over genocide claims
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Gaza; Human rights; International criminal court; International criminal justice; Israel-Gaza war; Law; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Trump administration; US foreign policy; US news; US politics; World news

Digital authoritarianism is on the rise: Australia should take note - Nicholas Morieson, Ihsan Yilmaz (Lowy Institute, 2025)
Democracies are increasingly using the tools of digital control under the guise of national security.
Worldwide

The missing half: The urgent need for more women’s representation in the media - UN News (UN News, 2025)
Women make up half of the world’s population but receive only 26 per cent of media coverage, according to the latest UN-backed Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) report, the world’s largest study on gender representation in news media.
Worldwide

‘Unrestrained’ Chinese Cyberattackers May Have Stolen Data From Almost Every American - Goldman, Adam (The New York Times, 2025)
Information collected during the yearslong Salt Typhoon attack could allow Beijing’s intelligence services to track targets from the United States and dozens of other countries.
China
Keywords: China; Cyberattacks and Hackers; Cyberwarfare and Defense; Defense and Military Forces; Espionage and Intelligence Services; International Relations; Surveillance of Citizens by Government; United States Politics and Government

Meta ‘eavesdropping’ on Flo exposes how period apps are a data… - Andjela Milivojevic (TBIJ, 2025)
Tech giant was found to have illegally collected user info – but this could be a landmark moment for data privacy
Worldwide

US House committee releases more than 33,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein files - Anguiano, Dani (The Guardian, 2025)
Files appear to contain information already in public domain as calls grow for release of all pertinent documents
United States of America
Keywords: House of Representatives; Jeffrey Epstein; Rape and sexual assault; US news; US politics

Alberta pauses book ban after schools remove Handmaid’s Tale, 1984 and other classics - Cecco, Leyland (The Guardian, 2025)
The province says it will review its controversial policy after outcry over removing beloved novels from classrooms
Canada
Keywords: Books; Canada; Culture; World news

‘Smart’ (or Machiavellian?) surveillance: The power of terminology - Tactical Tech (Global Voices, 2025)
The Israeli military “offers an important insight into how the latest technologies can be adopted for widespread monitoring and control.”
Worldwide

‘Reparatory justice’ key to ending racism against Africans and their descendants - UN News (UN News, 2025)
Governments, academia and other stakeholders must “double down on delivering reparatory justice” for people from the African diaspora, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Wednesday.
Worldwide

‘Artefacts were just sitting in suitcases in people’s homes’: the London museum preserving Somali culture - Abdi, Sundus (The Guardian, 2025)
The UK’s first dedicated space for Somali heritage has built its collection from 15 years of donations. Culture House’s founders explain the power of giving a permanent home to a community’s heritage and hopes
United Kingdom
Keywords: Architecture; Art and design; Culture; Exhibitions; Heritage; Museums; Somalia

‘Artefacts were just sitting in suitcases in people’s homes’: the London museum preserving Somali culture - Abdi, Sundus (The Guardian, 2025)
The UK’s first dedicated space for Somali heritage has built its collection from 15 years of donations. Culture House’s founders explain the power of giving a permanent home to a community’s heritage and hopes
Somalia
Keywords: Architecture; Art and design; Culture; Exhibitions; Heritage; Museums; Somalia

More than 7,300 Afghans to be resettled in UK after MoD data leak, says National Audit Office - Boffey, Daniel (The Guardian, 2025)
Watchdog’s report says government is unable to calculate exact cost of response to data breach, raising doubt over £850m estimate
Afghanistan
Keywords: Afghanistan; Data protection; Law; Ministry of Defence; Politics; Superinjunctions; UK news; World news

More than 7,300 Afghans to be resettled in UK after MoD data leak, says National Audit Office - Boffey, Daniel (The Guardian, 2025)
Watchdog’s report says government is unable to calculate exact cost of response to data breach, raising doubt over £850m estimate
United Kingdom
Keywords: Afghanistan; Data protection; Law; Ministry of Defence; Politics; Superinjunctions; UK news; World news

Marshall Islands picks up the pieces after fire destroys its ‘heart of democracy’ - Letman, Jon (The Guardian, 2025)
The slow process to rebuild parliament, the Nitijela, begins as the Pacific nation confronts the loss of a vital cultural landmark
Marshall Islands
Keywords: Asia Pacific; Marshall Islands; Pacific islands; World news

A Hidden Camera Protest Turned the Tables on China’s Surveillance State - Yuan, Li (The New York Times, 2025)
Before fleeing China, an activist in Chongqing staged an elaborate one-man demonstration against the Communist Party that doubled as performance art.
China
Keywords: China; Chongqing (China); Communist Party of China; Demonstrations; Protests and Riots; Performance Art; Politics and Government; Surveillance of Citizens by Government

Government, affiliated forces extrajudicially executed dozens of Druze people in Suwayda (Amnesty International, 2025)
Amnesty International documented the deliberate shooting and killing of 46 Druze people (44 men and two women), as well as the mock execution of two older persons in Suwayda.
Syria

Gender data for good? Partnerships between tech companies and humanitarian and development organizations - Cookson, Tara Patricia; Carlitz, Ruth (Big Data & Society, 2025)
In 2013, the United Nations called for a “Data Revolution” to advance sustainable development. “Data for Good” initiatives that have followed bring together development and humanitarian actors with technology companies. Few studies have examined the composition of Data for Good partnerships or assessed the uptake and use of the data they generate.
Worldwide

Palestine as provenance: archiving against genocide from Gaza to South Lebanon - Ghaddar, J. J. (Archival Science, 2025)
How can we archive against genocide in Gaza and its extension elsewhere in Palestine and surrounding countries like Lebanon in this urgent moment while avoiding the pitfalls of white guilt and paternalistic benevolence?
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

Palestine as provenance: archiving against genocide from Gaza to South Lebanon - Ghaddar, J. J. (Archival Science, 2025)
How can we archive against genocide in Gaza and its extension elsewhere in Palestine and surrounding countries like Lebanon in this urgent moment while avoiding the pitfalls of white guilt and paternalistic benevolence?
Lebanon

Bristol returns cultural artefacts taken from Larrakia people in Australia - Morris, Steven (The Guardian, 2025)
Objects including three-metre spears were collected in late 19th and early 20th centuries and donated to city’s museum
United Kingdom
Keywords: Australia news; Bristol; Culture; Darwin; Indigenous Australians; Museums; Northern Territory; UK news; World news

Bristol returns cultural artefacts taken from Larrakia people in Australia - Morris, Steven (The Guardian, 2025)
Objects including three-metre spears were collected in late 19th and early 20th centuries and donated to city’s museum
Australia
Keywords: Australia news; Bristol; Culture; Darwin; Indigenous Australians; Museums; Northern Territory; UK news; World news

A Guide To Monitoring Conflict Amidst a Sea of Misinformation - Sitlhou, Makepeace (bellingcat, 2025)
How does one monitor a conflict zone on the brink of civil war, especially in a region which is difficult to access, experiences frequent internet shutdowns and where misinformation is common? In this guide, we outline the open source tools and methods we can use to evidence what is really happening in many such conflict settings.
Worldwide

Curating the Colonial Past - Linebaugh, Riley (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
The ‘Migrated Archives' and the Struggle for Kenya's History.
Kenya

Archiving memories of the 1965 genocide in Indonesia - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia - Wahyuningroem, Sri Lestari (Inside Indonesia, 2025)
Poor archival conditions have meant that the identification of victims, their experiences and their needs is incredibly difficult
Indonesia

When Historians Rediscovered These Frederick Douglass Letters, They Were Surprised by His Candid Opinions About Abraham Lincoln - White, Lucas; Morel, Jonathan W. (Smithsonian Magazine, 2025)
In correspondence with a passionate abolitionist in London, the great American orator didn't hold back when talking about the 16th president, or his successor, the much-maligned Andrew Johnson.
United States of America

After 160 years of Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Indigenous voices are finally being heard - Lublin, Geraldine (The Conversation, 2025)
The first Welsh settlers landed on the shores of what is today the Province of Chubut, in Argentinean Patagonia, on 28 July 1865. A major aspect of the settlement that is celebrated is the unique friendship with the Indigenous Tehuelche that the Welsh immigrants would have struck up.
Argentina

Remembering genocide in Srebrenica through the lens of Kristian Skeie - Farrant, Theo (euronews, 2025)
Photographer Kristian Skeie’s ongoing project documents life in the aftermath of the genocide in Srebrenica, capturing the quiet resilience of survivors and the enduring scars of Europe’s worst atrocity since WWII.
Bosnia

South Africa's one million invisible children without birth certificates - Canneti, Tom (France 24, 2025)
An NGO has taken the South African government to court over a backlog of hundreds of thousands of applications for late birth registration, with some people waiting for seven years for a response.
South Africa

The poetics of protest - Keith Ang'ana (Africa is a Country, 2025)
From rooftop beginnings to open mics that echo on the streets, Kenya’s newest literary collective shows how art can archive struggle and energize dissent.
Africa

Canada’s Archives Are in Trouble—and So Is Its History - Bourrie, Mark (The Walrus, 2025)
Years-long delays, archaic privacy laws, and chronic underfunding are threatening Canada's national memory.
Canada

Autocrats don’t act like Hitler or Stalin anymore − instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation - Treisman, Daniel (The Conversation, 2025)
Autocrats today are polished, appear mainstream and use the media, not overt repression or violence, to gain public support and consolidate power. They govern through a ‘spin dictatorship.’
Worldwide

Access to Information: A Cornerstone of Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Environmental Resilience (United Nations)
Access to information is the bridge that allows citizens to demand justice, journalists to expose corruption, and communities to secure basic services.
Worldwide

Experts of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances Welcome Sri Lanka’s Law on Enforced Disappearance, Ask about Reports of Arbitrary Detentions and Intimidation of Victims’ Families (OHCHR)
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the information media; not an official record.English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
Sri Lanka

States must prioritise documentation in transitional justice processes: UN expert (OHCHR)
GENEVA – The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Bernard Duhaime, warned today that the collection, mapping, recording, preservation and archiving of information, evidence and testimonies of gross human rights violations are still an afterthought for national and international actors engaged in transitional justice processes.Duhaime urged them to ramp-up efforts in this area.
Worldwide

Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2792 (2025), Security Council Requests Appointment of Senior Official to Address Fate of Missing Persons in Gulf War (UN News)
The Security Council today requested the Secretary-General to appoint a Senior Representative with a mandate focused solely on efforts to repatriate or return all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals — or their remains — and to ensure the return of Kuwaiti property, including the national archives.
Worldwide

Power for the People: Art, Protest, and the Archives of Activism - Henry Moore Foundation (Henry Moore Foundation)
Call for participation: we invite proposals which look at archives and art practices which centre or challenge the notion of sculpture as protest, or protest as sculpture, both nationally and internationally.

The Right to Protest: the exhibition navigating counter-culture through archival activist design - Sudi Jama (It's Nice That)
With a collection dating back to the 1960s, the Museum of UnRest is displaying it’s archive of iconic screen-printed posters, marking the struggle against climate breakdown, the cost of living crisis, housing shortage, and more.
United Kingdom

OHCHR | Call for input - Draft General Comment No. 38 on Article 22 (Freedom of Association) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - OHCHR (OHCHR, 2025)
BackgroundThe Human Rights Committee, in accordance with article 40, paragraph 4, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Rule 76 of its Rules of Procedure, is mandated to prepare general comments on the various articles and provisions of the Covenant with a view to assisting States parties in fulfilling their obligations under the Covenant.

ICA SAHR – An overview of the Brazilian truth commissions - Mônica Tenaglia - ICA International Council on Archives (2025)
An overview of the Brazilian truth commissions and the contributions of archives to investigations into human rights violations during the military dictatorship In this presentation, Mônica Tenaglia aims to provide a contextual overview of transitional justice measures in Brazil, with an emphasis on the National Truth Commission (CNV) and the local truth commissions that were established following the creation of the CNV. The focus of the lecture is to present an overview of the relationship between Brazilian truth commissions and archival institutions, the challenges encountered, and the strategies developed to facilitate access to and use of these archives, as well as the collections produced by the commissions themselves. Finally, she will discuss the initiatives that have been undertaken in Brazil since the conclusion of the truth commissions. Mônica Tenaglia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Science at the Fluminense Federal University and teaches in the Graduate Program in Information Science at the Federal University of Pará. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Brasília, a master’s degree in Archival Studies from the University of London, and a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of São Paulo. She was a faculty member in the Archival Studies programs at the Federal University of Pará and the University of Brasília. Before teaching, she worked as an archivist in Brazil and the United Kingdom, including for the Brazilian National Truth Commission. Her research focuses on the relationship between archives and human rights, transitional justice and truth commissions, the Brazilian military dictatorship, and the centrality of access to information in investigations of human rights violations. Her book Truth Commissions and the Archives of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (2023) won the Jabuti Academic Prize and received second place in the ABEU Prize – awarded by the Brazilian Association of University Presses.

ICA SAHR – Saving the Archives of the Temporary International Criminal Tribunals - ICA International Council on Archives (2025)
Trudy Peterson, Elisabeth Baumgartner and Lisa Ott will present an overview of the issue and explore future perspectives. During the past 30 years, six temporary international criminal tribunals were established and these, except the Kosovo court, have or are closing. All have created massive bodies of records which are important to future understandings of the conflicts and to the history of the development of international justice. Meanwhile, new institutions tasked to collect information, like the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria and the OHCHR Accountability Project for Sri Lanka have been created in recent years. Yet the long-term future of the records of these courts and mechanisms is uncertain. Three are in various spaces in The Hague; the Rwanda court records are in Arusha, Tanzania, and the Cambodian records are in Phnom Penh. The records of the mechanisms created by the Human Rights Council are in Geneva, records linked to the United Nations in New York are located there. No long-term archival solution is in place. While the UN archives is often the automatic place for archival custody, this requires extensive facilities, resources and experience in handling the records of courts, prosecutors, and investigators which have continuing legal demands.

ICA SAHR – Managing UNHCR Records - Montserrat Canela Garayoa - ICA International Council on Archives (2025)
Since its creation in 1950, UNHCR has helped millions of refugees and internally displaced persons find safety and durable solutions. Solutions mean being able to return to their country of origin in safety and dignity, or, if return is not an option, to start a new life in a new country. In this context, information is vital, and the role of the Records and Archives Section covers two key aspects: supporting the work of the organization by providing information where and when it is needed, and providing access to external researchers, balancing access with protection. Managing UNHCR’s records throughout their lifecycle is a challenging and inspiring task that requires vision, flexibility, and a degree of courage. This presentation will outline the nature and of the UNHCR archives and its role in protecting the lives and memories of displaced people around the world and across the years. This presentation explored the unique challenges of managing UNHCR records throughout their lifecycle and their role in protecting the lives and memories of displaced people worldwide. The conference was moderated by Trudy Peterson. Speaker Montserrat Canela Garayoa is the former Head of the Records and Archives Section of the UNHCR. She holds a Master's Degree in History and a Master's Degree in Archival Sciences from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and an Engineering Degree in Computer Management from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Between 1984 and 1989 she was director of the Arxiu Comarcal de la Segarra, where she created one of the first educational services for students in Catalonia. She then moved to Barcelona as Head of the Administrative Archives of the Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya) between 1989 and 2000, where she pioneered the implementation of the Records Management Programme in the Catalan administration. In 2000 she began her international career at the UNHCR, first as Records Manager and then as Head of Section from 2008 until her retirement in October 2024. She is a member of the Association of Catalan Archivists, Archivist without Borders and is currently President of the ICA Section of International Organisations ICA/SIO.

ICA SAHR Tuesday Talks - Filming trials for crimes against humanity in France: between the fight against impunity and memorial issues - ICA International Council on Archives; Martine Sin Blima-Barru (2025)
France

Harass Human Rights Watch Staff Member - . (Human Rights Watch, 2025)
The Kenyan police should end its apparent harassment of Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch, over his work documenting serious rights abuses in Kenya.
Kenya

Invisible, Silenced, and All but Abandoned: Two Decades of the Guatemalan Police Archive - . (Sri Lanka Guardian, 2025)
Twenty years ago, a team of human rights investigators in Guatemala made a discovery that would change the course of the country’s reckoning with its violent past.
Guatemala

What Brazil’s digital fight means for free expression in the Global South - . (Global Voices, 2025)
Brazil’s push to regulate Big Tech and protect digital rights is reshaping global debates and provoking backlash from powerful actors opposed to its rights-based, democratic model of internet governance.
Brazil

Pentagon Warns Microsoft: Company’s Use of China-Based Engineers Was a “Breach of Trust” - Dudley, Renee (ProPublica, 2025)
The Defense Department is opening an investigation to determine if the tech giant’s use of overseas engineers to maintain sensitive U.S. government computer systems compromised national security.
China

Pentagon Warns Microsoft: Company’s Use of China-Based Engineers Was a “Breach of Trust” - Dudley, Renee (ProPublica, 2025)
The Defense Department is opening an investigation to determine if the tech giant’s use of overseas engineers to maintain sensitive U.S. government computer systems compromised national security.
United States of America

Hurricane Katrina victim identified 20 years later: ‘finally where she belongs’ - Vargas, Ramon Antonio (The Guardian, 2025)
Guardian US partner WWL Louisiana called in Ray Theriot, who used utility bills, driver’s licenses and property records
United States of America
Keywords: Hurricane Katrina; Louisiana; New Orleans; US news

‘Social, peripheral and photographic justice for whom?’: A Brazilian photographer asks questions - Agência Mural (Global Voices, 2025)
Works that highlight the violence against Black bodies, exalt beauty in the midst of chaos, [show] the exotic, are still common representations of poverty, and what translates into saleable art.
Brazil

‘Omada Alithias’ and the rise of Greece’s propaganda machine - Elvis Takahashi Mantello (Global Voices, 2025)
Despite their name, Omada Alithias, the so-called Truth Team, has done more to distort than defend the truth, reflecting the normalization of digital authoritarianism in democratic states.
Greece

Israel destruye último banco de semillas sobreviviente, haciéndose eco del legado colonial de borrado. - Walid El Houri (Global Voices en Español, 2025)
La destrucción por parte de Israel del banco de semillas de Hebrón repite siglos de tácticas coloniales de asentamiento en todo el mundo: borrar los sistemas alimentarios autóctonos para dominar la tierra, el conocimiento y la memoria colectiva.
Israel

Israel destruye último banco de semillas sobreviviente, haciéndose eco del legado colonial de borrado. - Walid El Houri (Global Voices en Español, 2025)
La destrucción por parte de Israel del banco de semillas de Hebrón repite siglos de tácticas coloniales de asentamiento en todo el mundo: borrar los sistemas alimentarios autóctonos para dominar la tierra, el conocimiento y la memoria colectiva.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

ICJ and human rights defenders from Southeast Asia urge a Rights-Based Approach to Countering Harmful Online Content - . (International Commission of Jurists, 2025)
On 24–26 August 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), together with the Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia (CIJ), and the Numun Fund, gathered human rights defenders and experts to discuss the need for Southeast Asian States to adopt and implement a human rights-based approach in efforts to tackle the growing spread of harmful content in digital spaces.
Southeast Asia

National Identification and Registration Authority says NIDS remains safe, no security breach - . (Jamaica Gleaner, 2025)
The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), which oversees the National Identification System (NIDS), is reporting that there has been no evidence of a breach or compromise of the national identification system.
Jamaica

When the government can see everything: How one company – Palantir – is mapping the nation’s data - Bennett, Nicole M. (The Conversation, 2025)
Government agencies are contracting with Palantir to correlate disparate pieces of data, promising efficiency but raising civil liberties concerns.
United States of America

Two alphabets, one struggle: How Kurdish communities are building a digital future - Eduardo Avila (Global Voices, 2025)
Kurdish Wikimedian Mohammed Sardar shares why he creates digital content to preserve his native language.
Western Asia

Brazil One Step Away from Protecting Children Online - Hye Jung Han (Human Rights Watch, 2025)
Brazil’s Senate has passed a long-awaited bill to protect children’s rights online. The bill now heads for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s signature into law.
Brazil

The Digital Rights in Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC) 2025 - . (Access Now, 2025)
AICB Centre for Excellence, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The Digital Rights in Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC) 2025 is a pivotal gathering of digital rights
Asia

Privacy in peril: safeguarding digital data in humanitarian blockchain initiatives - Alex Bornstein; Elise Hamdon (Humanitarian Practice Network, 2025)
Exploring the risks of blockchain in aid delivery and why protecting digital privacy is essential for refugees and crisis-affected communities.
Worldwide

Devastated families may take legal action over museum that kept body parts - Lohberger, Loretta (ABC News, 2025)
A University of Tasmania pathology museum retained and displayed body parts without consent from coronial autopsies. The specimens are from more than 100 people who died in Tasmania between 1953 and 1985. The Coroner's Office is investigating and has spent years reconciling their records with the museum's records.
Australia
Keywords: Medical Ethics; autopsy; body parts; coroners office; pathology

Elon Musk’s Doge put sensitive social security data at risk, whistleblower says - Robins-Early, Nick (The Guardian, 2025)
SSA official alleges that Doge staff uploaded personal data of hundreds of millions of Americans to vulnerable cloud server
United States of America
Keywords: Data protection; Elon Musk; Privacy; Technology; Trump administration; US news; US politics; US social security

Germany charges US citizen with spying for China - Chris Lunday (POLITICO, 2025)
An American defense contractor is accused of offering military secrets to Beijing.
United States of America

Germany charges US citizen with spying for China - Chris Lunday (POLITICO, 2025)
An American defense contractor is accused of offering military secrets to Beijing.
China

Germany charges US citizen with spying for China - Chris Lunday (POLITICO, 2025)
An American defense contractor is accused of offering military secrets to Beijing.
Germany

Privacy at a cost: the dark web’s main browser helps pedophile networks flourish, experts say - McQue, Katie (The Guardian, 2025)
The Tor network’s privacy architecture creates a safe haven for predators to share child sexual abuse material
Worldwide
Keywords: Child protection; Children; Rape and sexual assault; Technology; Tor

Addressing Inequitable Openness in Licences for Sharing African Data and Datasets Through the Nwulite Obodo Open Data Licence - Okorie, Chijioke I.; Omino, Melissa (Law, Technology and Humans, 2025)
Standard Public Open Licences (SPOLs) may unintentionally reinforce exclusion and enable extractive data practices that disadvantage communities contributing valuable datasets that they have preserved and curated through historically challenging conditions.
Africa
Keywords: datasets

Denialist appointed at rights center that oversees ESMA museum - Herald, Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Herald, 2025)
The center operates in the memorial site at the notorious former Navy School of Mechanics, where nearly 5,000 people were kidnapped and disappeared by Argentina’s dictatorship
Argentina

A living archive: 42 Indigenous languages in Bangladesh preserved under one online portal - Nurunnaby Chowdhury (Global Voices, 2025)
A new digital repository preserves Bangladesh’s linguistic heritage, featuring words, phrases, and IPA transcriptions from 42 indigenous languages, aiming to promote understanding and celebrate the nation’s cultural diversity.
Bangladesh

Indigenous digital activists in Mexico assert their self-determination with regard to artificial intelligence - Mercedes Caso (Global Voices, 2025)
What does artificial intelligence mean for Mexico's Indigenous languages? For two days, digital activists reflected on how these technologies can revitalize or threaten their languages and cultures.
Mexico

Donor crisis prompts rethink on humanitarian data partnership rules - Geneva Solutions - Paula Dupraz-Dobias (Geneva Solutions, 2025)
Under pressure from aid cuts, humanitarian groups may be exposing themselves and people they serve to privacy risks as they seek support from the private sector to improve efficiency. As artificial intelligence gains ground, experts say the rules of the game are due for a rethink.
Worldwide

White House Lists Smithsonian Exhibits It Finds Objectionable - Small, Zachary (The New York Times, 2025)
The Trump administration highlighted material dealing with topics like sexuality, slavery and immigration.
United States of America
Keywords: Art; Bunch; Lonnie G III; Museums; Smithsonian Institution; Trump; Donald J; United States Politics and Government

Invisible Displacement: The Unregistered and Uncounted - Thematic Analysis - . (ReliefWeb, 2025)
Invisible displacement is a growing yet under-recognized phenomenon in humanitarian settings. This report explores the structural, operational, and political factors that obscure the presence of displaced persons who remain outside formal tracking systems, such as IDPs living outside camps, unregistered returnees, nomadic groups, or those who deliberately avoid institutional engagement due to protection concerns. Their invisibility skews humanitarian planning, which can lead to inaccurate data, underfunded programs, and systemic exclusion from life-saving services.
Worldwide

Trump administration to review all 55m US visa holders for potential rule violations - Campbell, Lucy (The Guardian, 2025)
State department says all people who hold valid US visas are subject to ‘continuous vetting’, including of social media
United States of America
Keywords: Marco Rubio; Trump administration; US immigration; US news; US politics

Open Data and Equity: Naming the Issues, Blaming the Causes, and Claiming Solutions. An Exploratory and Interdisciplinary Systematic Literature Review - Santoro, Caterina; Flores, Cesar Casiano; Zuiderwijk, Anneke; Crompvoets, Joep (Information Polity, 2025)
Open data fall short of their goal to empower all social groups equally. Although the literature examines this issue through the concept of inclusion, substantial gaps remain in defining and understanding the implications of open data for equity in public administration, with research on this topic scattered across disciplines. This fragmentation hinders the possibility of evaluating public policies.
Worldwide

The Emotional Textures of the Archive – AHA - Alisa Kuzmina (Historians.org, 2025)
Alisa Kuzmina reflects on the overlap between her marriage green card experience and her research on Cold War–era immigration.
Worldwide

Huawei's reach in Spain sparks widespread concern over state infiltration - Fernández-Pontes, Inés (Euractiv, 2025)
Magistrates and law enforcement are particularly worried about the Chinese firm handling highly sensitive police wiretap data
China

Huawei's reach in Spain sparks widespread concern over state infiltration - Fernández-Pontes, Inés (Euractiv, 2025)
Magistrates and law enforcement are particularly worried about the Chinese firm handling highly sensitive police wiretap data
Spain

In Bolivia, Indigenous radio stations are at the mercy of cyberhacks - Nicaela León Coico (Global Voices, 2025)
The Facebook page of a major Quechua-speaking community radio station in Bolivia was hacked and it lost tens of thousands of followers.
Bolivia

The Guardian view on Britain’s AI strategy: the risk is that it is dependency dressed up in digital hype - Editorial (The Guardian, 2025)
Editorial: The UK’s plans seem to outsource sovereignty for phantom efficiency. Public services provide the data and power while US tech giants reap the rewards
United Kingdom
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Business; Cloud computing; Computing; Economics; Global economy; NHS; Open source; Peter Kyle; Politics; Society; Technology; UK news

Cyber-attack on MoD-linked contractor exposes data of Afghans in resettlement scheme - Ali, Faisal (The Guardian, 2025)
Breach at Inflite The Jet Centre is latest in series of leaks involving private information of Afghan refugees
United Kingdom
Keywords: Afghanistan; Cybercrime; Hacking; Immigration and asylum; Ministry of Defence; Refugees; UK news

Cyber-attack on MoD-linked contractor exposes data of Afghans in resettlement scheme - Ali, Faisal (The Guardian, 2025)
Breach at Inflite The Jet Centre is latest in series of leaks involving private information of Afghan refugees
Afghanistan
Keywords: Afghanistan; Cybercrime; Hacking; Immigration and asylum; Ministry of Defence; Refugees; UK news

NHS to trial AI tool that speeds up hospital discharges - Grierson, Jamie (The Guardian, 2025)
Pilot at Chelsea and Westminster trust aims to reduce paperwork and free up doctors, as the UK moves to improve public services via AI
United Kingdom
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Computing; Health; Hospitals; Labour; London; NHS; Technology; UK news; Wes Streeting

FBI returns stolen document signed by conquistador Hernán Cortés to Mexico - . (The Guardian, 2025)
US officials did not say who had the 16th-century page that was missing from Mexico’s archives for decades
United States of America
Keywords: Americas; Mexico; US crime; US news; World news

FBI returns stolen document signed by conquistador Hernán Cortés to Mexico - . (The Guardian, 2025)
US officials did not say who had the 16th-century page that was missing from Mexico’s archives for decades
Mexico
Keywords: Americas; Mexico; US crime; US news; World news

London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war - Bakare, Lanre; Arts, Lanre Bakare; correspondent, culture (The Guardian, 2025)
National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies
Worldwide
Keywords: British army; Culture; Exhibitions; Myanmar; Second world war; South and central Asia; UK news

Russia restricts WhatsApp and Telegram, alleging apps used for fraud and terrorism - . (The Guardian, 2025)
Calls via foreign-owned platforms curbed as critics say Kremlin is pushing for greater control over Russia’s internet
Russian Federation
Keywords: Censorship; Digital media; Europe; Internet; Russia; Social media; Technology; Telegram; Vladimir Putin; WhatsApp; World news

Working to Improve Access to Compensation for Iraqi victims of War and Terrorism - . (ReliefWeb, 2025)
No one should be excluded from rebuilding their life due to missing documentation or inefficient mechanism. This principle guided a high-level roundtable held in Baghdad with the participation of members of the Iraqi Parliament, including representatives from the Legal, Finance, and Displacement Committees, alongside the judiciary and the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
Iraq

U.K. Secretly Spent $3.2 Million to Stop Journalists From Reporting on Data Breach - Dearden, Lizzie (The New York Times, 2025)
After British authorities accidentally exposed information about 19,000 Afghans, the government sought a legal order preventing disclosure of the breach.
United Kingdom
Keywords: Afghanistan; Decisions and Verdicts; Freedom of Speech and Expression; Freedom of the Press; Great Britain; London (England); News and News Media; Politics and Government

France acknowledges role in repression of Cameroon independence movements - Egbejule, Eromo; correspondent, Eromo Egbejule West Africa (The Guardian, 2025)
Emmanuel Macron writes to Cameroonian president with findings of joint commission on country’s colonial past
Cameroon
Keywords: Africa; Cameroon; Colonialism; Europe; France; World news

Israel is wiping out Gaza’s journalists – and it’s no longer even hiding it - Ginsberg, Jodie (The Guardian, 2025)
The laws of war are clear: journalists are civilians. To target them deliberately in war is to commit a war crime
Israel
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Journalist safety; Media; Middle East and north Africa; Newspapers & magazines; Press freedom; US news

Israel is wiping out Gaza’s journalists – and it’s no longer even hiding it - Ginsberg, Jodie (The Guardian, 2025)
The laws of war are clear: journalists are civilians. To target them deliberately in war is to commit a war crime
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Journalist safety; Media; Middle East and north Africa; Newspapers & magazines; Press freedom; US news

The Open Source Tool That Has Preserved 150,000 Pieces of Online Evidence - Roberston, Erin Clark, Paddy, Miguel Ramalho (bellingcat, 2025)
Bellingcat’s Auto Archiver is a tool aimed at preserving online digital content before it can be modified, deleted or taken down
Worldwide

Police should disclose ethnicity of suspects in certain cases, new guidance says - Syal, Rajeev (The Guardian, 2025)
Releasing nationality and ethnicity details could help keep peace ‘where there are high levels of disinformation’
United Kingdom
Keywords: Crime; Police; UK criminal justice; UK news

Slaying and Censoring the Journalists: The Murder of Anas al-Sharif - Kampmark, Binoy (International Policy Digest, 2025)
Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif in Gaza exemplifies a deliberate campaign of silencing journalists.
Israel

Appeals Court Allows DOGE Access to Sensitive Data at Several Agencies - Montague, Zach (The New York Times, 2025)
The decision cited a Supreme Court order in June granting DOGE analysts sweeping access to other data stored at the Social Security Administration.
United States of America
Keywords: Data Storage; Decisions and Verdicts; Federal Courts (US); Privacy; Richardson; Julius N; Trump; Donald J; United States Politics and Government

Are Undersea Cables a “Backdoor for Espionage” Against the U.S.? - Tom Nagorski (The Cipher Brief, 2025)
Chinese companies leading in the production and maintenance of undersea cables could be a national security threat to this critical undersea infrastructure.
United States of America

Are Undersea Cables a “Backdoor for Espionage” Against the U.S.? - Tom Nagorski (The Cipher Brief, 2025)
Chinese companies leading in the production and maintenance of undersea cables could be a national security threat to this critical undersea infrastructure.
China

Saved from militants, Timbuktu's famed manuscripts return home after 13 years in Mali's capital - . (CityNews Halifax, 2025)
The Malian military government started returning home the historic manuscripts of Timbuktu, which were spirited out of their fabled northern city when it was occupied by al-Qaida-linked militants more than a decade ago. Islamic radicals destroyed more than 4,000 manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th century.
Mali

The Palestinian Museum Announces the Release of Over 6,000 New Archival Items on its Digital Archive - . (Palestinian Museum, 2025)
The Palestinian Museum has announced the release of over 6,000 archival items on its website as part of the third phase of its Digital Archive Project, through which more than 19,000 items have been digitized, as part of its ongoing efforts to preserve and document Palestinian social history.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

‘Restoring humanity’: Paris exhibition showcases 5,000 years of history in Gaza - Chrisafis, Angelique (The Guardian, 2025)
Saved Treasures of Gaza aims to preserve territory’s historical identity against backdrop of war and famine
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN), France
Keywords: Art and design; Ceramics; Culture; Europe; Exhibitions; France; Gaza; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Paris; World news

‘Restoring humanity’: Paris exhibition showcases 5,000 years of history in Gaza - Chrisafis, Angelique (The Guardian, 2025)
Saved Treasures of Gaza aims to preserve territory’s historical identity against backdrop of war and famine
France
Keywords: Art and design; Ceramics; Culture; Europe; Exhibitions; France; Gaza; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Paris; World news

‘Restoring humanity’: Paris exhibition showcases 5,000 years of history in Gaza - Chrisafis, Angelique (The Guardian, 2025)
Saved Treasures of Gaza aims to preserve territory’s historical identity against backdrop of war and famine
Israel
Keywords: Art and design; Ceramics; Culture; Europe; Exhibitions; France; Gaza; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Paris; World news

The UK’s Online Safety Act is a licence for censorship – and the rest of the world is following suit - Lorenz, Taylor (The Guardian, 2025)
From the US and Australia to France and Italy, those seeking to obliterate privacy and restrict content are on the move, says technology journalist Taylor Lorenz
United Kingdom
Keywords: Child protection; Internet; Internet safety; Technology; UK news; US news

When Brussels’ Watchdog Eats Its Homework - Walker, Gerald (International Policy Digest, 2025)
A whistleblower alleges that European Public Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi and her deputy destroyed evidence to shield political allies, undermining the EU’s anti-corruption mission.
Belgium

Tyap Wikimedia User Group: Revitalizing Nigeria's Tyap language with digital tools and platforms - Abdulrosheed Fadipe (Global Voices, 2025)
"I dream about a future where children grow up speaking Tyap because their parents speak the language to them during childhood."
Nigeria

Cash Working Group Legal Task Force Presentation on Data Protection - Dobra Fabryka Ukraina (ReliefWeb, 2025)
The protection of personal data is not merely a technical requirement—it is a core principle of humanitarian action, aligned with both humanitarian standards and legal obligations. Ensuring robust data protection helps prevent these risks, safeguarding the lives of beneficiaries and upholding their right to safety and dignity. It also helps prevent discrimination and exploitation by ensuring fair and respectful humanitarian response that upholds beneficiary confidentiality and adheres to humanitarian principles.
Ukraine

Documenting humanity - Nappier, Terri (The Source, 2025)
For nearly 60 years, Chicago-based Kartemquin Films has been reeling viewers in by spotlighting difficult social and political issues, including immigration, labor issues, stem-cell research and women’s rights. After four years of intensive work, WashU’s Film & Media Archive is making the company’s extensive archive of materials, dating from 1966 to 2008, accessible to scholars and the public.
United States of America

India’s war on books attempts to erase the violent atrocities committed on Kashmir - Nasir Qadri (TRT Global, 2025)
The Modi-led government’s ban on 25 books related to the Muslim-majority region is aimed at burying the tortured history of a land under occupation.
Southern Asia

Digital spaces for the Quechua language: safety and inclusion online - Rising Voices (Global Voices, 2025)
As digital content in the Quechua language continues to become increasingly available, Quechua-speaking communities are gaining more opportunities to better represent themselves online and connect across geographic divides. However, as this content grows, so do the challenges in ensuring that these digital spaces are inclusive, safe, and representative, including through content moderation on social media.
Americas

Cambodia takes control of its war crimes legacy - Andre Kwok (Lowy Institute, 2025)
The transformation of a hybrid court into a domestic institution offers lessons for localising international justice.
Cambodia

Arundhati Roy works among dozens of books banned in Indian-administered Kashmir - Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (The Guardian, 2025)
Censorship order accuses books of promoting ‘false narrative and secessionism’ in disputed territory
India
Keywords: Arundhati Roy; Books; Censorship; Culture; Freedom of speech; India; Kashmir; Narendra Modi; South and central Asia; World news

How Burkina Faso’s strongman became the Indo-Pacific’s unlikely hero – and other tales of disinformation - Jennifer Williams, Nava Nuraniyah, Jordon Borg, Julian Droogan (Lowy Institute, 2025)
Digital disciples are spreading false narratives in an effort to exploit anti-Western sentiment across the region.
Burkina Faso

Israel destroys Palestine’s last surviving seed bank, echoing a colonial legacy of erasure - Walid El Houri (Global Voices, 2025)
Israel’s destruction of the Hebron seed bank echoes centuries of settler-colonial tactics worldwide: erasing Indigenous food systems to dominate land, knowledge, and collective memory.
Israel

Israel destroys Palestine’s last surviving seed bank, echoing a colonial legacy of erasure - Walid El Houri (Global Voices, 2025)
Israel’s destruction of the Hebron seed bank echoes centuries of settler-colonial tactics worldwide: erasing Indigenous food systems to dominate land, knowledge, and collective memory.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

‘I must document everything’: the film about the Palestinian photographer killed by Israeli missiles in Gaza - Borger, Julian (The Guardian, 2025)
Fatma Hassona used poetry and photography to record the death and devastation she saw daily. Was she targeted by the IDF?
Israel
Keywords: Culture; Documentary films; Edinburgh festival 2025; Edinburgh film festival; Film; Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Journalist safety; Media; Palestinian territories; Photography; War reporting; World news

‘I must document everything’: the film about the Palestinian photographer killed by Israeli missiles in Gaza - Borger, Julian (The Guardian, 2025)
Fatma Hassona used poetry and photography to record the death and devastation she saw daily. Was she targeted by the IDF?
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Culture; Documentary films; Edinburgh festival 2025; Edinburgh film festival; Film; Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Journalist safety; Media; Palestinian territories; Photography; War reporting; World news

China Turns to A.I. in Information Warfare - Julian E. Barnes (The New York Times, 2025)
Documents examined by researchers show how one company in China has collected data on members of Congress and other influential Americans.
China
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; China; Cyberwarfare and Defense; Espionage and Intelligence Services; GoLaxy; Propaganda; Research; Social Media; Trump; Donald J; United States Defense and Military Forces; United States International Relations; United States Politics and Government; Vanderbilt University

‘Women’s bodies exploited at an unprecedented scale’: Chinese censors failing to deal with deepfakes and hidden cameras, say activists - Lau, Jessie (The Guardian, 2025)
Secretly filmed images of women are spreading online, yet the authorities seem more focused on censorship than punishing the perpetrators, critics say
China
Keywords: Asia Pacific; China; Global development; Surveillance; World news

Secret plan to liberate Channel Islands found in dusty box - Silver, Jack (BBC, 2025)
A copy of the plan sets out the successful British plan to liberate the Channel Islands during WW2.
United Kingdom

Charleston’s Climate Lawsuit Against Oil Giants Is Dismissed - Zraick, Karen (The New York Times, 2025)
The legal claim, one of a raft of lawsuits across the country, had accused companies of a yearslong disinformation campaign about climate change.
United States of America
Keywords: Charleston (SC); Compensation for Damages (Law); Decisions and Verdicts; Federal-State Relations (US); Global Warming; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline; South Carolina

#IPIArchive: The Road to a Press Freedom AI Commons - . (ipi.media, 2025)
Opening the IPI's archive is not just for preservation, but the first step toward creating a digital press freedom commons for the public good.
Worldwide

Building India-Pakistan Cross-Border Solidarity by using alternate media tools - Patel, Dipa (LSE International Development, 2025)
MSc Health and International Development candidate, Anzal Abbas explores how digital and alternative media platforms can enable ordinary citizens of India and Pakistan to bypass nationalist narratives, build cross-border solidarity, and foster peace through dialogue, cultural exchange, and collective action, despite longstanding political tensions.
India

Building India-Pakistan Cross-Border Solidarity by using alternate media tools - Patel, Dipa (LSE International Development, 2025)
MSc Health and International Development candidate, Anzal Abbas explores how digital and alternative media platforms can enable ordinary citizens of India and Pakistan to bypass nationalist narratives, build cross-border solidarity, and foster peace through dialogue, cultural exchange, and collective action, despite longstanding political tensions.
Pakistan

The killing code: strange symbols in a WA settler’s diaries lay bare frontier atrocities - Allam, Lorena; Collard, Sarah; Archibald-Binge, Ella (The Guardian, 2025)
Stories of murders passed down by Yamatji elders are confirmed by a code hidden in the 1850s journals of prominent Western Australian pastoralist Major Logue.
Australia
Keywords: Australia; Colonialism; Frontier wars; Indigenous Australians; Murder; Rural Australia; Western Australia

A Bid to Undo a Colonial-Era Wrong Touches a People’s Old Wounds - Dimapur, Pragati K. B. Reporting from; Nagaland; India, in (The New York Times, 2025)
An Oxford museum’s collection of objects taken from the Naga people includes human remains. What to do with them now is not a simple matter.
India
Keywords: Arts and Antiquities Looting; Human Rights and Human Rights Violations; India; Indigenous People; Museums; Nagaland (India); Pitt Rivers Museum; Secession and Independence Movements

Spain to Declassify Secret Archives: Morocco Awaits Revelations on Western Sahara - Faouzi, Adil (Morocco World News, 2025)
Spain’s government has approved a groundbreaking draft law on Classified Information that will replace the Franco-era Official Secrets law of 1968.
Morocco

Spain to Declassify Secret Archives: Morocco Awaits Revelations on Western Sahara - Faouzi, Adil (Morocco World News, 2025)
Spain’s government has approved a groundbreaking draft law on Classified Information that will replace the Franco-era Official Secrets law of 1968.
Spain

Israel closes down or leaves unresolved 88% of cases of alleged war crimes or abuse – report - Sabbagh, Dan (The Guardian, 2025)
Conflict monitoring group Action on Armed Violence says Israel is seeking to create a ‘pattern of impunity’
Israel
Keywords: Human rights; International law; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Law; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; War crimes; West Bank; World news

Israel closes down or leaves unresolved 88% of cases of alleged war crimes or abuse – report - Sabbagh, Dan (The Guardian, 2025)
Conflict monitoring group Action on Armed Violence says Israel is seeking to create a ‘pattern of impunity’
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)
Keywords: Human rights; International law; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Law; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; War crimes; West Bank; World news

Scientists slam Trump administration climate report as a ‘farce’ full of misinformation - Noor, Dharna; Milman, Oliver (The Guardian, 2025)
Experts say the report being used to justify the mass rollback of climate regulations has many claims based on long-debunked research
United States of America
Keywords: Climate crisis; Environment; Science; Trump administration; US news; US politics

Historian uncovers evidence of second mass grave of Irish immigrant railroaders in Pennsylvania who suffered from cholera, violence and xenophobia - Watson, William E. (The Conversation, 2025)
Researchers have discovered a second mass grave of Irish immigrant railroaders in Chester County, Pa.
United States of America

Gaza’s crisis beyond the headlines, through data, media, technology - . (The University of Tokyo, 2025)
Academics and journalists call for change in the narrative around the Palestine conflict, highlighting how impartiality and discussion of historical context are being widely ignored. Newer modes of communication beyond traditional broadcast mediums are hoped to help steer audiences toward content much closer to the source.
Palestine (Permanent Observer to the UN)

Gaza’s crisis beyond the headlines, through data, media, technology - . (The University of Tokyo, 2025)
Academics and journalists call for change in the narrative around the Palestine conflict, highlighting how impartiality and discussion of historical context are being widely ignored. Newer modes of communication beyond traditional broadcast mediums are hoped to help steer audiences toward content much closer to the source.
Israel

Artist’s plastic sculpture at UN urges delegates to act on pollution - McDERMOTT, Jennifer (euronews)
An evolving sculpture built from waste confronts negotiators as talks on a landmark plastic continue.
Worldwide

Artificial Democracy: The Impact of Big Data on Politics, Policy, and Polity - Biancalana, Cecilia; Montigny, Eric (University of British Columbia Press, 2026)
A look into the political consequences of big data and artificial intelligence. Democracy and data have a complicated relationship. Under the influence of big data and artificial intelligence, some democracies are being transformed as relations between citizens, political parties, governments, and corporations are gradually redrawn.Artificial Democracy explores the ways in which data collection and analytics and their application are changing political practices, government policies, and even democratic policies themselves. With an international roster of multidisciplinary contributors, this topical collection takes a comprehensive approach to big data’s effect on democracy, from the use of micro-targeting in electoral campaigns to the clash between privacy and surveillance in the name of protecting society. The book tackles both the dangers and the potentially desirable changes made possible by the symbiosis of big data and artificial intelligence. It explores shifts in how we conceptualize the citizen-government relationship and asks important questions about where we could be heading.
Worldwide

ICA SAHR Tuesday Talks - An overview of the Brazilian truth commissions and the contributions of archives to investigations into human rights violations during the military dictatorship - ICA International Council on Archives; Mônica Tenaglia (2025)
Brazil

Russian photographer gets a draconian sentence for sending open source materials abroad - Daria Dergacheva (Global Voices, 2025)
Who is Grigory Skvortsov, sentenced to 16 years in prison for treason, and why any Russian citizen could easily end up in his place
Russian Federation

Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American history museum - Kingsberry, Janay (The Washington Post, 2025)
A temporary placard, on display since 2021, described the president's historic impeachments. Officials said the exhibit was restored to an earlier version following a review of legacy content.
United States of America

Mass rape, forced pregnancy and sexual torture in Tigray amount to crimes against humanity - McClure, Tess (The Guardian, 2025)
Research documents ‘horrific and extreme’ attacks by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and warns that impunity has meant such atrocities are expanding to new regions
Ethiopia
Keywords: Africa; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Global development; Human rights; Sexual violence; Society; Violence against women and girls; War crimes; Women's rights and gender equality; World news

Mass rape, forced pregnancy and sexual torture in Tigray amount to crimes against humanity - McClure, Tess (The Guardian, 2025)
Research documents ‘horrific and extreme’ attacks by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and warns that impunity has meant such atrocities are expanding to new regions
Eritrea
Keywords: Africa; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Global development; Human rights; Sexual violence; Society; Violence against women and girls; War crimes; Women's rights and gender equality; World news

Foreign spies are targeting defence employees working on Aukus, Asio boss reveals - McIlroy, Tom (The Guardian, 2025)
Public servants and private contractors with access to sensitive national security information are making it easy for spies, including by posting on LinkedIn.
Australia
Keywords: Aukus; Australia news; Australian intelligence agencies; Australian military; Australian universities; Espionage; Labor party