African Union leaders rolled up to Algiers to talk reparations and accountability for colonial crimes across the continent. Algeria's foreign minister pushed for legal recognition that colonialism was criminal, plus compensation and return of stolen artifacts that he said international law backs up. The guy brought up genocides in Congo, Cameroon, and Namibia, while noting Algeria got wrecked by France from massacres starting back in the 1800s through their independence war.
The whole thing follows an AU resolution about reparatory justice that covers everything from cash payments to land returns and holding countries accountable. France has owned up to some specific atrocities like a massacre in Senegal, but President Macron refuses...
A bunch of humanitarian groups went off on Ukraine for bailing on the Ottawa Convention, which is basically the international treaty that banned landmines back in the 90s. The organizations pointed out that the agreement does not let countries just hit pause on their commitments during wars, and Ukraine's trying to withdraw while fighting creates a sketchy loophole that could mess up protection rules everywhere else.
The convention specifically blocks countries from using, making, or stockpiling anti-personnel mines, and it has actually worked pretty well since its launch by cutting down global mine production and casualties. Human Rights Watch called the move a political stunt that ignores the actual ban on developing and using the...
Russia's top court just slapped a terrorist label on the Anti-Corruption Foundation that Alexei Navalny's crew ran, which means anyone tied to it could face life in prison with no statute of limitations. The group made videos exposing government corruption that racked up millions of views, like when they went after Putin's Black Sea mansion or caught former prime minister Medvedev buying luxury stuff with state money. Justice Oleg Nefyodov ruled the US-based organization promotes terrorism even though it mainly just investigates sketchy officials.
Navalny died under weird circumstances in an Arctic prison, and his widow thinks Putin had him killed. The terrorist designation lets authorities freeze all assets, blacklist people...
Thousands of people hit the streets in Manila after a massive corruption scandal blew up around flood-control money that supposedly got funneled to politicians and contractors instead of actual projects. The Catholic Church and opposition groups marched down EDSA Avenue demanding President Marcos and Davao City Mayor Duterte step down, while Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said the country needs to kill off political dynasties before democracy can actually work properly.
The whole thing started when allegations surfaced about billions of pesos disappearing from infrastructure budgets through overpriced and badly built projects. A bunch of officials have already resigned or got arrested, but Marcos denies being involved in any ghost...
Human Rights Watch dropped a pretty grim assessment about the Central African Republic elections coming up, saying the whole thing looks sketchy with political interference and security issues messing up the legitimacy. The country scrapped presidential term limits through a referendum, which lets the current president run again, even though opposition groups got shut down when they tried protesting the constitutional changes. Two former prime ministers just got cleared to run after being blocked, but administrative nonsense keeps making things harder for anyone challenging the government.
The electoral authority looks like a mess with incomplete voter lists, poorly trained staff, and weak infrastructure outside the capital. Armed...
Friedrich Graf von Westphalen snagged six partners from ADVANT Beiten's Frankfurt crew, with three landing this month and the other three showing up after the holidays. Gerritt Ponath is the big name after spending 18 years at ADVANT doing private client stuff for rich families dealing with inheritance and tax planning. The other five bring corporate, real estate, and tax expertise, with Detlef Koch handling M&A after 15 years at his old shop.
The firm already promoted five people internally and grabbed two real estate partners from Reed Smith back in October, so they're stacking their German roster pretty hard. ADVANT Beiten used to be called Beiten Burkhardt before it merged with some European firms, and they just promoted their own...
DWF grabbed an 11-lawyer transport and marine crew from two German boutique firms and set up shop in Hamburg with them. Marco Remiorz is running the show after bouncing from Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, while Philipp Hartmann and Niels Witt came over from SKW Schwarz. The firm's CEO said Germany matters because it's the biggest economy in Europe, and this move fits with recent UK hires, where they snagged marine insurance people and a major injury team from Kennedys.
Hamburg becomes their third German location after Munich and Düsseldorf, and they're planning more expansion over the next year. The firm also bulked up in Australia by poaching 62 insurance specialists from Hall & Wilcox and opened a Montreal office with another insurance...
DAC Beachcroft tapped Ben Daniels as their next senior partner, and he takes over from Virginia Clegg when her second five-year stint wraps up. The commercial litigation guy has been grinding at the firm since 2008 and runs their Bristol office while leading the dispute resolution crew there. Helen Faulkner just got elected as managing partner last month, so the leadership shuffle is happening across the board.
Clegg helped blow up the firm's revenue from 200 million to 348 million during her run, and profit per equity partner more than doubled to over 750k. The firm went hard on global expansion under her watch, opening offices in New York, Los Angeles, Peru, and Hong Kong recently, plus they added spots in Italy, Argentina, France...
German law firm Gleiss Lutz bumped nine people up to partner, which is way more than the two they promoted last year. The new partners are scattered across Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart offices, and three of them are women. That brings the female partner percentage from 14 to 16 percent out of their 86-person partnership. Four other lawyers got moved up to counsel, and everything kicks in starting January 2026.
Frankfurt got five new partners, while Düsseldorf and Stuttgart each got two. Most of the promoted lawyers work on international and cross-border stuff. The firm has offices in other German cities, plus London and Brussels, and they even opened a metaverse office back in 2022. One of their recent big wins was helping the...
