The most senior Chinese official in Hong Kong, chief of the Liaison Office Luo Huining, said Wednesday that the city should introduce new national security legislation “as soon as possible” in reaction to protests last year that undermined mainland China’s influence in the region. These remarks came during a speech for China’s National Security Education [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared on Thursday that the cost of regulating mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants is not “appropriate and necessary.” This conclusion stems from the EPA’s revised cost-benefit analysis. The new analysis only includes benefits from regulating hazardous air pollutant emissions; it does not account for benefits from [...]

Judge Brian Morris, a US District Judge for the District of Montana, canceled a key permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Wednesday. In 2017 the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) reissued Nationwide Permit 12. The permit authorizes “discharges of dredged of fill material into jurisdictional waters” and is necessary for the water-crossings [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday commented on “issues of national importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting public health and safety from COVID-19 and citizens’ fundamental right to free exercise of religion,” ultimately siding with a Mississippi church. On April 7, the city of Greenville issued an “Executive [...]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act into law Wednesday to establish an emergency insulin program for struggling Minnesotans. Walz, who spent months advocating for and negotiating this bill, said that “espite resistance from the pharmaceutical industry, the grit and determination of Minnesotans moved this bill forward.” Walz’s virtual signing ceremony [...]

Judge Tim Sulak, a Travis County District Court judge in Texas, ruled Wednesday that Texas voters could mail in their votes during the COVID-19 outbreak. The hearing, which took place on Zoom, concluded with a ruling that Texas voters could vote by mail in the upcoming July and November elections. The application for mail-in voting [...]

The Turkish parliament passed a legal amendment on Tuesday to release thousands of prisoners in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The bill was introduced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party), as well as the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The same day that the law was [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the denial of a Republican challenge to Michigan’s new independent commission that will re-draw legislative district boundaries. In an effort to combat gerrymandering, voters created the commission via ballot initiative in November 2018 with an amendment to the state’s constitution. The commission will [...]

The Polish Parliament began debating two controversial bills Wednesday amid an ongoing lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the bills, titled “Stop Abortion” will, if passed, impose a near-total ban on abortion. Amnesty International has criticized the Polish government for choosing to debate these bills during the lockdown, accusing the Sejm (Polish parliament) [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday that the trial judge overseeing a massive set of cases involving the opioid crisis had violated the procedural rights of pharmacies who were defendants in the matter. In the case, Judge Dan Polster in the Northern District of Ohio had allowed Cuyahoga and Summit [...]