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An expert commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body says in her first report on Russia that the rights situation in the country has “significantly deteriorated” since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine last February GENEVA -- The rights situation in Russia has “significantly deteriorated” since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine in February last year, an expert commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body said in her first report on the country on Monday. Mariana Katzarova, the special rapporteur on Russia's rights situation mandated by the Human Rights Council, chronicled the domestic crackdown that has largely targeted critics of Putin's war as well as other opposition voices in Russia. Her report, made public on Monday, is separate from another probe by U.N.-backed investigators that has accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. Never before has the council authorized a rights expert to examine rights issues in one...

About 80% of people who've been killed amid Iran's protests have been men, according to one human-rights organization. LONDON -- When she hopped on a taxi in Tehran this past summer, Raha was not wearing a headscarf. Her open challenge to the mandatory hijab rule in place in Iran for the last 40 years did not go unnoticed. She said her male taxi driver complimented her for the brave gesture, like many other men have done since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. "You are going to change this regime. It's the way to go," the driver said to Raha, as she told ABC News. She wanted her real name not to be used for her safety. "You are so strong and free-spirited. We are proud of you." A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran Sept...

A new animal welfare law in Spain outlaws the use of animals for recreational activities that cause them pain and suffering but allows bullfights and hunting with dogs MADRID -- A new animal welfare law that took effect Friday in Spain outlaws the use of Animals for recreational activities that cause them pain and suffering but allows bullfights and hunting with dogs. Spain’s first specific animal rights legislation is intended to crack down on abuses. The law particularly targets the mistreatment of domestic animals, introducing fines of up to 200,000 euros ($212,000). It bans the buying of pets in stores or online, but gives stores a grace period to find homes for their animals. In the future, it only will be legal to purchase pets from registered breeders. The new rules allow pets into most establishments, including restaurants and bars. The law bans the use of wild animals at circuses and gives owners six months to comply. It allows zoos to keep using the marine mammals in their...

Australia is voting in a referendum to decide whether it will permanently recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and set up a body to advise on policies. Australia is voting in a landmark referendum to decide whether it will permanently recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and set up a body to advise on policies impacting their communities. More than 17.6 million Australians are called on to cast their ballots in the compulsory vote on Oct. 14. The proposal would see an advisory body elected by and made up of Indigenous Australians. It would have no veto power to make laws but would be able to directly consult parliament and the government. “For as long as this continent has been colonized, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been fighting to assert and reassert the right to determine their own futures in this place,” said Sana Nakata, Principal Research Fellow at the Indigenous Education and Research Centre at James Cook University. “So thi...