Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency on Thursday to counteract the expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on November 1 due to the government shutdown. Over 850,000 people in the state of Virginia utilize SNAP benefits. US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted to the social media platform X on October 16, [...]

The 195 member states of the UN Trade and Development organization (UNCTAD) gathered Monday in Geneva for its 16th conference, where leaders discussed the implementation of current World Trade Organization (WTO) rules concerning tariffs imposed by the United States on its trade partners. US tariffs threaten to put significant pressure on global trade and developing [...]

The New York Attorney General and a coalition of 20 Democratic states sued the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday for withholding federally funded services from domestic violence survivors who cannot verify their immigration status. After receiving an initial email on August 18, the plaintiff states alleged that on September 15 they received another email [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that it has brought suit against New Jersey protesters for allegedly intimidating Jewish worshipers at a synagogue and “preventing their participation in lawful religious services.” The protesters are accused of disrupting Jewish worship at Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange in November 2024. The group is also [...]

United Nations delegates called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to alleviate Palestinian suffering on Monday evening before the UN General Assembly in New York City. “We have heard from 189 member states, delegations’ thanks for proactive leadership, embracing diplomacy and not shying away from hard topics and proving why our UN remains critical, especially [...]

In an executive order issued on Thursday, US President Donald Trump formalized a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to operate TikTok as a “newly established joint venture” in the United States.  ByteDance Ltd., TikTok’s parent company, and its affiliates will own less than 20 percent of the US-based entity. The joint venture will have [...]

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged Chinese authorities to release activist Zhang Yadi (张雅笛), also known as Tara, after she was arrested for creating a digital platform advocating for Tibetan rights in the Chinese language.  Zhang, 22, is a member of the activist group Chinese Youth for Tibet, which aims “to foster a deeper understanding [...]

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil informed a New Jersey court Wednesday that he will challenge a September 12 denial of his waiver of removability to Syria or Algeria. In a letter to the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Khalil’s legal team alleged that he was denied a waiver of removability without an [...]

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the US and China have reached a trade deal over social media platform TikTok and its parent company ByteDance. The president trumpeted the deal on a Truth Social post, stating: The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY [...]

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Israel’s actions during the annual State of the Union on Wednesday, and announced a partial suspension of the Association Agreement.  “The actions and statements by the most extremist ministers of the Israeli government, which incite violence,” stated Von der Leyen. ‘She added these extremist ministers “undermine [...]