Uber reached a $20 million preliminary settlement agreement Monday in a class action lawsuit over how the company classifies its drivers. The case involved drivers from California and Massachusetts who disagreed with Uber’s policy of classifying its drivers as independent contractors. Classifying drivers as contractors lowers costs for Uber by avoiding employee benefits like minimum wage [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 11-6 Tuesday that Ohio can enforce a 2016 law preventing Planned Parenthood, and any other organization that “performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions” from receiving state funds. The decision by the en banc court overturns a ruling by a three-judge panel that the state could not enforce the [...]
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem vetoed a bill to legalize industrial hemp production in the state on Monday, stating it would complicate the job of law enforcement and possibly become a first-step toward legalizing recreational marijuana. The final version of the bill overwhelmingly passed the House 58-8 on Monday. However, the bill passed the Senate 21-14, [...]
The UK House of Commons rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy for a second time on Tuesday. MPs voted against the motion by a margin of 149, smaller than the 230 gap in January’s vote. May said in a statement last week that if the deal was defeated, the House of Commons would be [...]
The US Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts on Tuesday unsealed documents related to a federal investigation into a large-scale college admissions and testing bribery scheme. The conspiracy involved a network of “athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown … as well as parents and exam administrators.” These defendants were linked through an enterprise called [...]
A UN panel of experts on Monday released a report that details numerous sanction violations by North Korea. Economic sanctions against North Korea were originally imposed to deter nuclear and ballistic missile programs, but these programs have not ceased and the sanctions have been undermined via “illegal ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal.” In [...]
The Arkansas Senate on Monday voted 25-9 in favor of measures to prevent the release of information that could identify manufacturers and suppliers of drugs used during state executions. The Senate justified its move to increase drug secrecy by citing a “well-documented guerilla war being waged against the death penalty,” where anti-death penalty advocates pressure pharmaceutical [...]
A new UN report was released Monday detailing violent ethnic attacks in December 2018 leading to hundreds of deaths and displacements in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A UN special investigative mission was sent to the Yumbi territory after receiving reports of violence occurring in December of last year. The investigation confirmed at least [...]
The Arkansas Senate approved a bill Monday that would ban abortions at 18 weeks, making it one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. After an amendment last week to add exemptions for rape and incest, the Senate voted 28-6 in favor of the measure, called The Cherish Act. It now goes back to [...]
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed a new NRA-backed gun law Monday that allows for concealed carry of a handgun without a permit to anyone 21 and older. Kentucky law currently allows open carry without a permit, but a license and training to conceal in a bag or coat. Now Kentuckians will not need a permit [...]
