POLAND: The Supreme Court today overturned a contentious presidential pardon of a top government official and three subordinates and ordered a retrial of their case.

The surprise ruling in the years-long legal dispute surrounding the pardon went against the interests of the governing nationalist party. 

This was a rare act of independence from a top court after years of efforts by the Law and Justice party and President Andrzej Duda to establish greater control over the judiciary.

GERMANY: Bjorn Hocke, a leading figure in the far-right Alternative for Germany party, has been charged over his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by SA stormtroopers, German prosecutors said on Monday.

Prosecutors in the eastern city of Halle said that Bjorn Hocke was charged with ending a speech to some 250 people in Merseburg in May 2021 with the words “Everything for Germany!”

HAITI: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 struck southern Haiti early yesterday, killing at least three people and injuring several others, authorities said.

“I thought the whole house was going to fall on top of me,” Eric Mpitabakana, a World Food Programme official in Jeremie, told reporters.

UNITED STATES: The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBT people in the United States today and released “a guidebook for action” summarising what it calls discriminatory laws in each state, along with “know your rights” information and health and safety resources.

The campaign said it’s taking action in response to an unprecedented spike in discriminatory legislation sweeping state houses this year.