The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Tuesday announced an end to certain restrictions on international arrivals posed by the country’s “zero-COVID” policies that have been in place since 2020. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin outlined a six-part set of procedures that will be effective starting January 8. Inbound travelers will [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Monday affirmed a preliminary injunction from the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana blocking the White House’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. The ruling results from a 2-1 decision from the three-judge panel. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt authored the opinion of the court, [...]
The US House of Representatives Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which sets appropriations for the defense budget for fiscal year 2023. In total, the 3,854-page NDAA authorizes $857.9 billion in expenditures. Controversially, the bill would lift the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the armed services. The Biden administration implemented the mandate [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Thursday rejected a bid to prevent New York City from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for teachers, firefighters and police officers. Sotomayor was unwilling to grant the emergency request, received on November 4, to block the policy. Petitioners brought the emergency request alongside their ongoing appeal of a lower [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Thursday released a statement announcing “good progress” following meetings with Ghana representatives discussing a new IMF program for the African nation. The parties also held talks on the subject in Ghana this fall. Ghana received previous financial assistance from the IMF through an extended credit facility arrangement from 2015 to [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday charged 47 defendants for their alleged roles in a $250 million fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future allegedly stole money from the Federal Child Nutrition Program intended to feed children during the pandemic. The defendants are charged with “conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and [...]
Moderna filed suit in the US and Germany Friday against Pfizer and BioNtech for three claims of patent infringement. Moderna claims that Pfizer and BioNtech used the company’s patented mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines without Moderna’s permission. Moderna alleges that before the pandemic, they had over a decade of research on mRNA in coronaviruses, with [...]
Statistics Canada has released a report showing a drastic increase in hate crimes from 2019 to 2021. The report shows a 72 percent increase largely across religious, racial or ethnic, and sexual orientation lines. The report shows an alarming 293 percent increase in hate crimes against East or Southeast Asian people between 2019 and 2020, which [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Monday ruled that no-excuse mail-in voting and early voting are permissable under the state’s constitution. After Massachusett Governor Charlie Baker signed the VOTES Act in June, the law faced legal challenges from Massachusetts Republicans. On Monday, the court declined to grant an injunction blocking the law’s implementation. The new law makes [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Monday issued an order stating that the court will rehear Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden, a challenge to President Joe Biden’s 2019 executive order which required federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face termination. In late May and early June, the America First Legal [...]
_(51058560718).jpg){kind=link}