25 million persons in Myanmar, half of the country’s population, could be living in poverty next year following the devastating impacts of COVID-19 and the military coup d’état, according to a new report from the UN Friday. The report, entitled “COVID-19, Coup d’Etat and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and Their Impact on Human Development in [...]
Legal News
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday revived a 2003 breach of trust claim by the Navajo Nation that would require the US government to allocate water for the tribe. Going forward, this case will look at whether the government has a fiduciary duty to ensure that the amount of water [...]
JURIST EXCLUSIVE – One of our law student staffers in Mumbai filed this report Friday on some legal aspects of India’s second-wave COVID-19 catastrophe: The situation is still really bad, and there’s a shortage of oxygen, beds, vaccines and other medical equipment. Governments (central and state) are trying to make arrangements, but it all seems [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit concluded Thursday that Kentucky may enforce price gouging laws against sellers on Amazon, overturning a district court preliminary injunction. Price gouging is the practice of unfairly and dramatically increasing the price of a commodity during spikes in demand. Reports of such activity have risen since the [...]
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi addressed my city once again Thursday in regard to City’s Council’s response to our “third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over a year into this crisis, there is nothing unusual about emotional press conferences held by politicians at all levels throughout Canada, as our management of the pandemic has not gone [...]
The Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) recorded the largest-ever number of Austrian anti-Semitic incidents in 2020, detailing more than 580 incidents in its 2020 annual report released Monday. These incidents ranged from physical attacks and vandalism to verbal abuse and anti-Semitic commentary online, and notably included incidents linked to coronavirus lockdowns. The IKG uses the [...]
California Governor Gavin Newsom faces a special recall election after a Republican-sponsored petition to remove him from office surpassed its signature goal Monday. Backers submitted 1,626,042 voter signatures, exceeding the minimum number needed to trigger a recall election. On Monday, California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber announced that the valid signatures contained in the [...]
Stefan De Keersmaecker, the European Commission‘s Public Health and Food Safety Spokesperson, said Monday that Brussels has initiated legal proceedings against AstraZeneca over its delayed supply of COVID-19 vaccines. AstraZeneca delivered 50 million fewer vaccinations to the EU than stipulated in the contract between AstraZeneca and the EU. The Advance Purchase Agreement was published last [...]
The US Senate passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on Thursday with an overwhelmingly bi-partisan 94-1 vote, acknowledging the increase in discriminatory acts towards Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The bill if enacted into law will establish a new position within the US Department of Justice to “facilitate the [...]
Amnesty International on Wednesday reported a global decline in state executions in 2020 due to the pandemic. The report details a global review of death penalty rates from January 2020 through December 2020, which fell by 26% as compared to 2019. Despite the trend, many countries — including Egypt and the United States — significantly [...]