Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a bill on Monday that prohibits licensed medical professionals from providing conversion therapy for anyone under 18 years old. In enacting House Bill 140, Massachusetts becomes the sixteenth state, in addition to Washington, DC, that prohibits the practice aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. [...]
US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced a bill Monday that would establish a commission to study reparations for the institution of slavery and its economic, systemic and economic effects against descendants of American slaves. “I am proud to introduce legislation that will finally address many of our country’s policies—rooted in a history of slavery and [...]
A South African judge ruled Monday that Mozambique’s former finance minister Manuel Chang, charged in the US with loan fraud of more than USD $2 billion, can be extradited to the US to face trial. Chang, who was Mozambique’s finance minister between 2005 and 2015, was indicted in December for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, [...]
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Friday filed a lawsuit against two federal agencies over data they used to justify rolling back the landmark Obama-era vehicle emission standards, accusing the Trump administration of “willfully withholding” information. CARB sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) alleging failure to [...]
The Trump administration announced Friday that it canceled the December agreement between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) regarding player transfers that was intended to “end the dangerous trafficking of Cuban players who desire to play professional baseball in the United States.” The agreement would violate the US embargo against Cuba, which [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction Monday to halt the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) that were sending certain asylum seekers back across the Mexico border while they await a court determination. The policy was intended to reduce the flood of immigrants. The plaintiffs in [...]
The White House released a statement Monday designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is the first time the US has formally labeled another country’s military as a terrorist organization. The briefing statement indicates that IRGC “actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism [...]
Judge Rolf Thorsen on Friday put on hold the ban on unvaccinated people under age 18 in public places in Rockland County, New York. The ban, announced on March 27 by Rockland County Executive Ed Day, was an effort to address an outbreak in Rockland County, where 167 confirmed cases had been reported. (New York [...]
US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will resign from her position. In a tweet sent out over the weekend, the president announced that Nielsen will resign from her role and will be temporarily replaced by US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. Nielsen has led the department [...]
The UK government on Monday proposed a plan for a “world-leading” package of online safety measures that will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups. The proposed regulations, outlined in the Online Harms White Paper, suggest establishing in law a new duty of care towards users, which [...]
