Four Indonesian military personnel go on trial over acid attack on rights activistThree navy marines and one air force officer, all assigned to the intelligence agency of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), are charged with serious premeditated assault over last month’s attack on Andrie Yunus, a human rights lawyer and senior activist with the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), who suffered severe injuries. The case has reignited concerns about impunity for the armed forces.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/four-indonesian-military-personnel-go-trial-over-acid-attack-rights-activistIndigenous rights activist seeks probe over military harassment, coercion Indigenous rights activist Raven Desposado has formally asked the Commission on Human Rights on April 28, 2026 to launch an investigation into the coercion and harassment he experienced while he was organizing the 42nd People’s Cordillera Day in Tadian, Mountain Province.
https://www.bulatlat.com/2026/04/29/indigenous-rights-activist-seeks-probe-over-military-harassment-coercion/Watched, Tracked, Hacked! IFJ Study Finds Global Systemic Surveillance of JournalistsAmid data centres mushrooming across the world, the study revealed that data harvested through these mechanisms is fed into artificial intelligence (AI) dashboards that correlate calls, messages, geolocation data, and online activity –automating surveillance at a scale once unimaginable. “In conflict zones, such as Gaza or Ukraine, AI systems now fuse telecom and drone feeds to identify and track journalists, blurring the line between observation and physical targeting”, the IFJ said.
https://www.newsclick.in/watched-tracked-hacked-ifj-study-finds-global-systemic-surveillance-journalistsCubans back ‘My signature for the Homeland’ campaign as tensions with US intensifyThe homeland initiative began on April 19 and comes as Cuba celebrates the 65th anniversary of its April 1961 Bay of Pigs victory over some 1,500 Cuban exiles backed by the CIA who failed in their attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s newly formed Communist government. Alberto Olivera, a visual artist and Hernández’s husband, questioned how Cuba poses a threat to the U.S. “If it’s a failed revolution, then leave us alone,” he said. “What do they care?” Hernández added.
https://apnews.com/article/cuba-signatures-campaign-sanctions-us-df342d257e9e872c3f69333620a1f523Chilean Government and Workers fail to reach agreement on minimum wageThe divergence between the government’s 4% proposal and the union’s demand of 18.3% led to a standstill in talks on April 29th and the announcement of a parliamentary bill to define the 2026 wage adjustment.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/chilean-government-and-workers-fail-to-reach-agreement-on-minimum-wage/‘Encouraging’: Global rainforest loss slows in 2025 after record year“A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging – it shows what decisive government action can achieve,” said Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of WRI’s Global Forest Watch platform. “But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/29/tropical-forest-loss-slows-in-2025-after-record-year-reporthttps://archive.ph/jK0WbBrazil’s Senate blocks Lula’s Supreme Court nominee, first rejection in 132 yearsOnly 34 senators voted in favor of Jorge Messias, who has been Brazil’s solicitor-general since 2023 and a close legal advisor to Lula, while another 42 rejected his appointment. Messias needed 41 votes to be approved.Lula, who is seeking reelection in October for his fourth inconsecutive term, picked Messias to replace Luís Roberto Barroso, who resigned in November. Since then, Brazil’s top court has operated with 10 members.
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-supreme-court-justice-messias-lula-286e34ad39c13519dd2631d30268991dMet accused of inconsistent policing after resuming Palestine Action arrests outside Court of AppealThe Court of Appeal heard that there were “plenty” of alternatives to target the actions of Palestine Action aside from banning them as a terror group. The Home Office is challenging the High Court’s ruling in February that the decision to ban Palestine Action last July was “disproportionate” and had a “very significant” impact on human rights, and should be quashed.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/met-accused-inconsistent-policing-after-resuming-palestine-action-arrests-outside-court Berlin deepens military ties with Washington while Merz-Trump rift grows Starting in October, an American colonel will serve at the German Army Command in a key role as deputy head of the Operations Division, where missions are planned and decisions are prepared, the German army and the Pentagon told POLITICO. This places a U.S. officer in close cooperation with German counterparts at the center of Germany’s land forces. The aim, a German army spokesperson said, is “to further deepen German-American cooperation and optimize joint operational capability within NATO.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-military-ties-us-friedrich-merz-donald-trump-rift/https://archive.ph/ch8AB‘We saw terrible things’: Mali refugees tell of atrocities amid attacksIt was JNIM that forced people in Moctar’s village to leave. The group initially targeted fringe areas with little government control, but as its forces and technical abilities, such as the use of drones, have grown, JNIM has become more daring. Late in September, its fighters attacked tankers carrying oil into the landlocked country from neighbouring Senegal, in effect laying siege to the capital, Bamako. Fighting is also ongoing between Malian troops and rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), which is fighting for an independent region in northern Mali.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/4/29/we-saw-terrible-things-mali-refugees-tell-of-atrocities-amid-attackshttps://archive.ph/llmyP