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 [...]

4,017,208 dead; 11,727,541 battling death. The above figures only begin to demonstrate the horrific reality and intolerable burden posed to the world at present due to Covid-19. The pandemic is more than just a health crisis, it is also a test of how effective international courts are when it comes to dealing with such unprecedented [...]

After three days of Generation Equality Forum meetings in Paris (hosted by the French Government from 30 June to 2 July), the international community launched a Global Acceleration Plan (GAP) for gender equality, driven by six Action Coalitions, the Compact on Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action. The GAP aims to accelerate gender equality in the [...]

On June 23, 2021, the Meghalaya High Court (HC) ruled in the case of Registrar General, HC of Meghalaya v. State of Meghalaya that “The mandatory or forced vaccinations violate the individuals’ fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21.” The court elucidated that a coercive policy of vaccination has no force in law and should be declared [...]

While the entire world is in the grips of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 62 co-sponsor countries including India, South Africa, and Indonesia have recently given a revised draft proposal for waiving the Intellectual Property (“IP”) rights of COVID vaccines to the TRIPS Council of the World Trade Organisation (“WTO”), seeking a patent waiver for manufacturing [...]

After successfully flattening the curve in late 2020, India witnessed a horrific resurgence of cases. Many attributed this to the “policy casualness” of the government of India, and the lack of effective measures taken by it to ensure social distancing and the wearing of masks. As restrictions were lifted, sights of holiday-goers reaching jam-packed airports [...]