Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker Thursday vetoed the so-called ROE Act (“An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access”) that seeks to codify the right to abortion and to expand access to abortion in the state. The governor indicated that he agreed with the codification of abortion rights but felt the Act went too [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Thursday affirmed a district court dismissal of a suit that sought to declare President Donald Trump the winner of the presidential election in Wisconsin. The suit alleged that Wisconsin violated the Electors Clause of the US Constitution. The president claimed that guidance released by Wisconsin voting [...]

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 [...]

“Cheaper than water.” This is how Iraqis commented on the value of their lives after they learned that US President Donald Trump had pardoned the four Blackwater security contractors who had previously been sentenced over the death of 17 Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisur Square massacre. Sentences included life imprisonment for a first-degree murder. A child [...]