India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) says there is “no question of repealing” the new agricultural reform laws passed in September, despite ongoing protests by farmers’ unions. Thousands of farmers have been protesting outside New Delhi’s highways and outskirts for nearly five weeks against new laws which aim to increase private investment and bring efficiency [...]
A US federal judge in Maryland granted a temporary injunction against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday, temporarily blocking a proposed rule to reduce drug prices. The proposed “most favored nation” rule would require Medicare to reduce prices based on international prices for certain drugs, including cancer medication. Reducing drug prices [...]
Five Alaska Native tribes filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to challenge the Trump administration’s attempt to allow logging in the 17 million acre Tongass National Forest. The tribes are represented by nonprofits Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and are joined as plaintiffs by environmental groups, commercial fishing groups and tourism businesses. In [...]
EU and UK officials announced Thursday that a post-Brexit trade deal has been agreed. The deal follows four years of negotiations that ensued after the UK voted to leave the EU in a June 2016 referendum. At the press conference on the outcome of the EU-UK negotiations, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European [...]
A California federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order banning diversity training for federal contractors in one of several lawsuits currently challenging the order’s constitutionality. Plaintiffs, a group of non-profit community organizations serving the LGBT community and those living with HIV, argued that Trump’s executive order unlawfully described their work as “anti-American propaganda.” [...]
President Trump followed through on threats to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday, complaining that it “fails to make any meaningful changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, despite bipartisan calls for repealing that provision.” In his memo communicating his veto to the House he said that Section 230, absolving [...]
The Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, ruled Wednesday that the government’s decision to extend closure of cinemas, theatres, and cultural venues after the easing of national lockdown was justified. The ruling comes after France eased its national lockdown on December 15, but decided to keep cinemas, theatres, museums, and other cultural venues shut [...]
President Trump announced 26 new pardons on Wednesday, including full pardons for his longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairperson Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, the father of White House senior advisor Jared Kushner. The US Department of Justice in November 2019 found Roger Stone guilty of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of [...]
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, approved a law Wednesday that imposes severe penalties for slanderous speech on the internet. The legislation provides for punishment of up to two years in prison for those found guilty of spreading slander through the internet. It defines slander as “the dissemination of knowingly false information discrediting [...]
Over 500 bereaved relatives of COVID-19 victims in Italy announced Wednesday that they were pursuing civil action against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Health Minister Roberto Speranza and Governor Attilio Fontana of Lombardy, one of Italy’s worst-affected regions. The plaintiffs are members of a committee named “Noi Denunceremo” (we will go to court), which has committed [...]
