Opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Tuesday announced a $4.35 billion settlement with state and local governments to resolve lawsuits concerning Teva’s role in fueling the US opioid epidemic. The settlement is not yet finalized. Teva is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company which manufactures prescription medication including opioids. In recent years, US states, cities, counties and [...]

The US District Court for the District of Columbia Tuesday sentenced Mark Ponder to 63 months in prison for assaulting three police officers during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Ponder is the second Capitol riot defendant to be sentenced to 63 months, the longest prison term handed down thus far. According to court [...]

A South Carolina judge Tuesday declined to overturn the state’s Fetal Heartbeat Law, which bans abortions after six weeks. The judge also granted the state’s request to send the case directly to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The motion to stop the abortion law from taking effect, filed by Planned Parenthood, asserts that the law [...]

The situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, with news received on July 25 that four activists have been executed. The executions are the first carried out in Myanmar for several decades. The government mouthpiece, the Global New Light of Myanmar, claimed that the activists’ crimes were “giving directions, making arrangements, committing conspiracies for brutal and [...]

Imagine a system under which the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases as panels consisting of three to five Justices rather than as a full court of nine. Suppose that the Chief Justice makes a five-Justice panel consisting of himself, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Elena Kagan to hear abortion [...]

A California District Court Tuesday ruled that Uber’s refusal to provide electric wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, private transportation entities cannot discriminate based on disability. Private transporters must make “reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures . . . unless the entity can demonstrate [...]

The UK Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russian-installed officials in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions are designed to hold Kremlin-appointed officials accountable for their efforts to suppress the freedoms of Ukrainians and Russians. The latest addition to the UK’s sanction regime against Russia includes four [...]

Biotech giants BioNTech and Pfizer Monday filed a complaint for declaratory judgment of noninfringement in the US District Court of Massachusetts. The companies seek to quell claims by CureVac of intellectual property violations. BioNTech and Pfizer collaborated in the development and distribution of their COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, trademarked as COMIRNATY®, was the first successful [...]

Marc Short, former Chief of Staff to US Vice President Mike Pence, Monday confirmed that he testified before a grand jury in the investigation into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In an interview with ABC News, Short confirmed he was subpoenaed by the US Department of Justice. ABC News cameras captured footage of Short [...]

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Trevor McBurney Monday granted a motion from State Senator Burt Jones to disqualify a grand jury investigation against him. Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis petitioned the Superior Court to impanel a special purpose grand jury into Jones’ involvement in “possible criminal interference” in the 2020 election.  The petition was approved, [...]