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 [...]
The World Trade Organization (WTO) early Friday agreed to the first changes to global trade regulations in many years, following contentious round-the-clock negotiations. Seven decisions and declarations were agreed upon by day six of the WTO Ministerial Conference, which was originally planned for four days. Much of the contention came from negotiations around an intellectual [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday urged members of the African Union (AU) to take drastic steps to protect young girls and women. The report was released on the AU’s the Day of the African Child. Among the concerns raised by HRW are child marriage, free education for children, and allowing pregnant girls and young women [...]
Vietnamese authorities have arrested senior officials for bribery, including Chu Ngoc Anh, former Minister of Science and Technology, Nguyen Thanh Long, Minister of Health, and Pham Cong Tac, former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. The case against the officials stems from the inflation of COVID-19 test kit prices by the Viet-A Technology Corporation. Phan [...]
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Hurd Friday allowed a defamation claim against New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to proceed. Former New Jersey Department of Health Assistant Commissioner Christopher Neuwirth filed the defamation complaint, accusing Governor Murphy of spreading a false story that he was terminated for performing outside consulting work without approval. Neuwirth alleges he was actually [...]
A Florida appeals court Wednesday held that the University of South Florida (USF) cannot invoke sovereign immunity to avoid a COVID-19 student fees lawsuit. USF appealed a trial court’s denial of “its motion to dismiss in which it asserted the defense of sovereign immunity.” USF argued in its appeal that sovereign immunity should apply, which [...]
