Glenn Youngkin, Virigina’s first Republican governor to win statewide office since 2009, signed 11 executive orders on his first day that include banning “critical race theory” and rescinding vaccine mandates for state employees. In his inauguration speech Saturday, Youngkin mentioned education as his policy priority. He promised to raise standards of education and teacher pay, and stated [...]

A German court in Koblenz Thursday sentenced Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian colonel who directed operations at a civil prison in Damascus, to life in prison. This unprecedented trial was the world’s first trial prosecuting state-sponsored torture in Syria. German human rights lawyers argued for the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing crimes committed in [...]

An Egyptian court Monday sentenced activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to five years in prison after he was tried on charges of “spreading false news undermining national security.” Alongside Abd El Fattah, the New Cairo Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court also sentenced human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer and blogger Mohammed Ibrahim “Oxygen” to four years each [...]

The Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed Tuesday a $465 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for public nuisance through its prescription opioid marketing campaign in the state. In 2017, Oklahoma sued J&J, Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals under the state’s public nuisance statute alleging that the drug manufacturers deceptively marketed opioids within the state. Following [...]