The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wednesday announced the US will require a negative COVID-19 test for airline travelers from China before boarding. The CDC announced the order to slow the spread of COVID cases in the US during China’s current surge of COVID cases. The announcement noted the “lack of adequate and [...]

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 arguments made by the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry for limited regulation and rapid deployment of self-driving car technology bear a striking resemblance to the discussion about the US regulatory response to Covid-19 vaccines. Both appeal to exigent circumstances as a reason for rapid action to save lives, even if that means throwing some precautions [...]

In India, with the daily Covid-19 cases plummeting about 90 percent from the peak of the first wave last year, the pandemic appeared to be under control by March 2021.  In April 2021, however, India saw the world’s worst second wave, with new cases exceeding 400,000 a day, breaking the world record for the most [...]

The recent return of the military to the national political scene happens in a moment in which the democratic regimes, in Brazil and in the world, suffer the decline of trust in liberal-democratic institutions. The current militarization has been associated by some authors with a current global, systemic and structural conjecture with variations, from a [...]

The government of the state of Meghalaya introduced a policy that made it compulsory for individuals to get vaccinated before they resume work. The policy was declared unconstitutional by the High Court of Meghalaya in June 2021 on the basis that it violated a myriad of fundamental rights including the right to privacy, right to [...]

The pandemic has created a jigsaw puzzle of fear, anxiety and uncertainty among the patients; however, the doctors during this havoc have tirelessly worked as frontline warriors saving millions of lives while putting theirs at risk. Since the pandemic began, over 1,500 doctors have selflessly sacrificed their lives only to find themselves standing at a [...]