Stories about Breaking News from December, 2021
Azerbaijan's controversial media law has grave consequences for media freedom and independence
Hailed by its proponents as the reform bill, its impact on the media freedom and independence in Azerbaijan is going to be extensive, critics of the law say.
Hong Kong police raid pro-democracy Stand News, arrest six on sedition charges
"Founded in December 2014, Stand News is an independent, non-profit, Cantonese-Chinese news website that undertakes to defend fundamental Hong Kong values – democracy, human rights, freedom, rule of law and justice."
Russian censors block website of legal aid non-profit OVD-Info
"We see this as a continuation of the state's attack on civil society. It is no surprise that the attack is now focused on OVD-Info."
Hong Kong: Pillar of Shame is gone, along with the city’s freedom of expression
A most evocative monument to the Tiananmen Massacre, which stood in the University of Hong Kong for 24 years, since June 1997, was removed by the school administrator before dawn on December 23, 2021.
The Turkish Lira continues to lose value at a breakneck pace
Turkey's largest business group urged President Erdoğan's government to "return to rules of economic science."
Russian filmmaker Sergei Solovyov dies at 77
Solovyov is best known for films portraying the turbulent transformations in Russian and Soviet society that occurred during the late 1980s during the perestroika and glasnost era.
Russia blocks access to Tor browser website
The push for greater online censorship is part of the country's "sovereign internet" strategy which seeks to cement centralised state control over internet infrastructure and online spaces.
The US government confirms diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
The US government announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, citing concern over “egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang.” More countries will likely follow.
Protest in support of jailed opposition activist in Baku turns violent
Scores of activists gathered in the capital Baku to protest the unlawful imprisonment of political prisoner Saleh Rustamov, demanding his immediate release. Rustamov himself is on hunger strike since November 6.
Armenia’s ex-president Serzh Sargsyan faces bribery charges
The ex-president charged with bribery, in what his lawyer describes as an an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing political and military crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
