Illinois’ Fourth District Appellate Court upheld  a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging an Illinois law  that allocates funding for abortions for government employees and individuals on Medicaid. Several pro-life organizations filed the lawsuit  in 2017, saying the law, House Bill 40, violated the Balanced Budget requirement of the Illinois Constitution because the General Assembly [...]

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) on Monday approved a referendum scheduled for October 7 that will redefine the term “family” in the Romanian constitution, a move commentators argue may make same-sex legalization more difficult in the country. The referendum seeks to redefine the term “family” in Article 48 of the Romanian Constitution , which currently [...]

UN investigators on Tuesday renewed their call for charges against Myanmar military officials who allegedly committed genocide against the nation’s minority Rohingya population in the past year. The UN Office of Human Rights published an exhaustive list of atrocities and called “for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and [...]

The Organized Crime and Corrupt Reporting Project (OCCRP) released materials on Tuesday detailing widespread corruption within the ranks of the Maldives government just days before a presidential election. The reports allege that members of the Maldives government fraudulently conveyed at least 50 of the country’s tropical islands to foreign investors and pocketed much of the proceeds. President Abdulla [...]

South Africa’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday decriminalized personal consumption of marijuana. The judgement, written by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, says that because “the population have been accustomed for hundreds of years to the use of dagga , both as an intoxicant and in the belief that it has medicinal properties,” it can be considered [...]

After the release of the grand jury report  last month that exposed  widespread abuse within the Catholic Church, hundreds of victims across Pennsylvania have been invited to join a massive class action lawsuit filed  in Allegheny County on Monday. Plaintiffs Ryan O’Connor and Kristen Hancock, on behalf of her minor child, are suing all eight [...]

Judge Lynn Norton of Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District Court  on Monday modified her previous decision  that called for the state to turn over execution records to allow for redactions of any identification of the source of drugs used during lethal injections. In the underlying case, Cover v. Idaho Board of Corrections, University of Idaho professor Aliza [...]

Former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner  was indicted  Monday on charges of bribery in connection with construction companies receiving public works contracts. The allegations involve a complex network of politicians and businessmen alleged to have been involved in a bribery scheme during her two terms as president from 2007-2015. This latest set of charges stem [...]

The US Senate  approved the Support for Patients and Communities Act  on Monday to to address opioid and substance use disorders in an effort to fight the national opioid epidemic. The bill passed 99-1  with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) giving the only vote against the legislation. The bill would alter Medicaid and Medicare programs as [...]

The Senate Judiciary Committee  announced  on Monday that it will postpone the vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh , and allow Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault, to speak at a public hearing next Monday.  Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley  said that the Committee will give “these recent allegations [...]