Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration seeking reinstatement of a Trump-era public charge inadmissability rule. The rule allowed immigration officials to deny a visa, admission, or adjustment of status to a noncitizen who previously received or in the future expected to receive food assistance, Medicaid, housing assistance or [...]

US President Joe Biden Thursday signed a bill reducing the cost of making calls from prisons into law. The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2021 will direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce guidelines which ensure that payphone providers charge incarcerated people “just and reasonable rates” for phone calls. The signing [...]

The UN Security Council Thursday held an emergency meeting following Israel National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount. The visit was discussed within the context of larger discussion about Palestine. Ben-Gvir’s visit marked the first time since 2017 that an Israeli minister visited the site, which is considered holy in Christianity, Islam [...]

Idaho’s Supreme Court Thursday dismissed an appeal of the state’s near-total ban on abortion by Planned Parenthood. In the 3-2 decision, the court found that there was no constitutional right to an abortion and rejected the claim that abortion rights were “deeply rooted” in the state’s traditions and history. In doing so, the court affirmed [...]

The US House of Representatives Friday commemorated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol with a moment of silence on its second anniversary. The ceremony drew mostly Democratic lawmakers, and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) appeared to be the only Republican in attendance. The ceremony was led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), former House [...]

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Thursday arrested Mariam Raad on charges of entering and remaining in war-torn Syrian territory controlled by the Islamic State (ISIS). Raad was repatriated to Australia from Syria’s Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp in October 2022 with other 16 citizens. AFP and New South Wales (NSW) Police from NSW Joint Counter [...]

The Supreme Court of India (SCt) Friday transferred all petitions pending before the different high courts seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage in India to itself. One petition was filed by Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang who seek to legally recognize their ceremonial marriage under the Special Marriage Act. Another petition was filed by an [...]

The Foreign Ministry of Brazil Thursday confirmed that the country rejoined the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) after a two-year hiatus. Brazil withdrew from CELAC in January 2020 under former President Jair Bolsonaro. This reunion is one of the initial moves towards change by new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who [...]

The US Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that it and the Turkish government have identified and frozen the assets of a “key financial facilitation network” based in Mersin, Turkey. The asset freeze targeted four individuals and two entities in Turkey that were accused of assisting ISIS with transferring funds between Iraq and Syria. The [...]

Iranian journalist Medhi Beik was arrested Thursday, according to his wife Zahra and reformist newspaper Etemad. Beik is Etemad’s political correspondent and has been interviewing families of protestors sentenced to death for the paper. Intelligence Ministry agents detained Beik Thursday night in Tehran but have yet to released the reasons for his arrest. Zahra Beik, [...]