US lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday introduced legislation to expand railway safety precautions following the derailment of a train carrying toxic materials in East Palestine, Ohio. Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-OH) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced a bill requiring the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations that would clarify the definition of [...]

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New Zealand Tuesday passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Bill to prohibit anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, from ever purchasing cigarettes. The law will usher in a lifetime ban to prevent future generations from being able to purchase cigarettes and lowers allowable nicotine content in New Zealand products to 0.8 milligrams per [...]

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US President Joe Biden Tuesday urged Congress to pass legislation codifying a tentative agreement with rail unions that threaten to strike if action is not taken soon. Congress also has the option to push back the date on which a strike would begin if agreements haven’t been reached. Biden touted that the agreement “provides a [...]

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A group of Republican attorneys general Monday asked to join ongoing litigation over a Trump-era border policy that fast-tracks the deportation of individuals captured at the US-Mexico border. Existing law entitles migrants entering the country to apply for asylum if their life or freedom would be threatened if they were deported or if they would [...]

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Walmart on Tuesday offered to pay $3.1 billion to settle lawsuits concerning the corporation’s pharmacies and their role in the opioid crisis. When litigation over the opioid crisis was initiated, pharmacies like Walmart, CVS and Walgreens alleged that their role in the opioid crisis was limited to filling legal prescriptions for a legal drug. However, [...]

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Two Colorado police officers were charged with felonies on Monday for leaving a handcuffed woman in a car that was parked on train tracks in September. The woman was struck by the train and seriously injured. Officer Jordan Steinke of the Fort Lupton Police Department was charged with attempted manslaughter, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment. [...]

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A court in Cobb County, Georgia, issued an order Monday to accommodate voters who requested absentee ballots that were never sent. An administrative error at the Cobb County Board of Elections (BOE)  left 1,036 voters without their requested absentee ballots as election day quickly approached. The consent order, issued the day before election day, required [...]

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France’s national financial crime agency Parquet National Financier (PNF) Monday reached a settlement with Credit Suisse to resolve an ongoing probe into accusations of money laundering. PNF began the investigation in 2016 when it suspected Credit Suisse of helping account holders avoid taxes and allowing clients to harbor undeclared, untaxed foreign bank accounts. The Swiss [...]

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North Carolina reproductive rights groups Monday filed a motion seeking to temporarily enjoin a ban on advanced healthcare professionals providing medication abortions. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective requested the temporary injunction amid increased appointment volume from patients traveling to North Carolina from states with full or partial abortion [...]

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The US Supreme Court Tuesday heard oral arguments concerning a California animal welfare law that may impact interstate commerce in violation of the dormant commerce clause. The legislation at issue in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross is Proposition 12, which prohibits California merchants from selling uncooked pork products from breeding pigs confined in a [...]

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