The US Supreme Court Monday denied a request for relief from health care workers in New York seeking to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. New York’s mandate requires all health care workers to be vaccinated, with only a single narrow exception for those who have a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine. There are no [...]
Hong Kong Judge Amy Woodcock Monday sentenced activist Jimmy Lai to prison for his role in a vigil commemorating the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The case arose from an annual vigil held on June 4, 2020. Lai, as well as two other activists who are defendants in the case, held the vigil [...]
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr denied a request Thursday to block the current federal mask mandate for US airports and domestic air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Seklecki filed the lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for himself and his son, who is autistic. [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia Tuesday blocked a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees of federal government contractors. US President Joe Biden had signed Executive Order 14042 in September, requiring all contractors that work with the US government to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Several states immediately challenged [...]
India news organizations Thursday protested restrictions on entry and access to the Parliament building in New Delhi which they claim has obstructed news reporting of the legislature’s proceedings and stifled freedom of the press. The protest was announced by five news organizations, including the Press Club of India and Editors Guild of India, on behalf [...]
Judge Terry Douglas of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Tuesday blocked a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for US health care workers. This nationwide injunction halts the mandate, pending a full judicial review of the mandate’s legality. The court found that the government would not be able defend the order, considering [...]
The US Supreme Court Monday rejected a request to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate being implemented by Mass General Brigham, a large Massachusetts hospital system. The employees of Mass General Brigham made the request last week following the hospital’s refusal to grant employees individual exemptions, both religious and medical, to the hospital system’s COVID-19 vaccine [...]
A federal district court in Missouri Monday issued a preliminary injunction halting the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers in 10 states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule on November 5 revising the requirements Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers have to meet in order to continue to [...]
Voters in Switzerland approved Sunday the government’s new COVID-19 measures in a referendum. In September 2020, the Swiss Parliament passed the COVID-19 Act to respond to the global medical crisis and protect the Swiss economy. In March 2021, Parliament altered the Act to include contact tracing, government-supported testing, and “expanded financial support to those affected by [...]
Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced in a press conference Friday that COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory for everyone beginning February 1, 2022. As the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits Western Europe, Austria is the first country to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory. Austria is one of the top four countries to have the highest [...]
