The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday denied a request for an emergency injunction seeking to stop the transfer of sacred Western Apache land to a private copper mining company. However, the land transfer is halted indefinitely pending the government’s release of a new final environmental impact survey (FEIS). Oak Flat, [...]

Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday dismissed a lawsuit from Nevada, Illinois and Virginia that sought government recognition of Virginia’s vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Contreras ruled that the deadline to pass the amendment had passed. The ERA was first proposed in 1972 [...]

A public referendum in Switzerland Sunday came out in favor of banning face coverings in public. Swiss voters voted in two other referendums at the ballot box, voting against the introduction of electronic identification services and voting in favor of a free trade agreement with Indonesia. In all, 1,427,626 people, 51.2 percent of voters, voted [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday that Missouri’s requirements for parents to opt out of their children being vaccinated to attend school do not violate their rights to religious freedom. In Missouri, children must be properly vaccinated and submit their vaccination records before they can attend school. However, there are [...]

The Idaho House of Representatives approved House Bill 249 on Friday, requiring parents to opt in for sex education of their children, as opposed to the blanket opt-out requirement that was in place earlier. The bill, which was introduced by Representative Barbara Ehardt, passed with a vote of 56-12 and amends certain provisions of Chapter 16, [...]

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sunday aimed at promoting access to voting. It was passed on the 56th anniversary of a famous march known as “Bloody Sunday,” during which “state troopers beat and tear-gassed hundreds of peaceful protesters crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The protesters were seeking justice [...]

Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court granted bail Thursday to 15 of the 47 opposition figures charged with subversion under the region’s controversial national security law after organizing and participating in an unofficial primary election last July. A challenge from the prosecutors, however, meant that all 15 were kept in custody. In a “surprise u-turn,” four [...]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the Hennepin County District Court must reconsider a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who will stand trial on March 8 for killing George Floyd. The Hennepin County District Court originally dismissed the charge against Chauvin for “lack of probable cause” and later denied the [...]

Chinese parliamentarians in Beijing proposed an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system on Friday. The proposed structural changes would involve re-drafting Hong-Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, consolidating China’s “overall jurisdiction” over Hong Kong. China’s legislature is debating draft guidelines, and it is expected that it will pass the guidelines by March 11. Once the guidelines [...]

The Supreme Court of Ghana Thursday affirmed the election victory of President Nana Akufo-Addo after his opponent brought a legal challenge to the final result. The court rejected the petition filed by National Democratic Congress candidate John Mahama, who previously served a term as president starting in 2012 but failed to secure his re-election in [...]