New Zealand’s parliament approved a bill Wednesday easing restrictions on abortion. The bill decriminalizes abortion, removing the abortion procedure from the Crimes Act 1961. It also provides that “ qualified health practitioner may provide abortion services to a woman who is not more than 20 weeks pregnant.” For women who are more than 20 weeks [...]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced additional economic measures on Wednesday to help Canadians affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. These measures build on actions that have been taken since the beginning of the outbreak. As part of the Canadian government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, up to $27 billion will be used in direct support [...]

Maryland lawmakers gave final approval on Monday to a bill that requires all purchasers of rifles and shotguns to submit to background checks. State law already requires buyers to undergo a federal background check through the NICS Index when purchasing rifles from licensed dealers. The bill extends that requirement to private sales and permanent gifts. [...]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) implemented new boat restrictions on water east of Boston on Monday to protect migrating North Atlantic right whales. NOAA announced a new voluntary vessel speed restriction zone after North Atlantic right whales were spotted 18 nautical miles east of Boston. The whales are currently migrating along the Atlantic [...]

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals delayed the execution of John William Hummel on Monday due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The execution was scheduled for Wednesday, but the court determined that “the execution should be stayed at the present time in light of the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address that [...]

Former US congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was sentenced to 11 months in prison on Tuesday for stealing $250,000 in campaign funds. The theft of the funds continued for almost a decade. The judge denied Hunter’s request to serve part of his sentence in home confinement, citing the continuous nature of the theft. During that time, the [...]

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday that all member states of the Schengen Area had endorsed guidelines that provide for temporary, coordinated action to close the zone’s external border for a period of 30 days. The European Commission also identified four priorities for each EU member country: limit [...]

The US and Canada agreed Wednesday to restrict all non-essential travel at their international border in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. US President Donald Trump announced the news via Twitter, emphasizing that trade between the two nations will not be impacted. The announcement comes after a series of travel restrictions by the US government, most [...]

The Chinese government imposed restrictive measures against five major US media outlets Wednesday. The impacted organizations include the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, TIME and Voice of America. The announcement comes weeks after the US designated five Chinese media organizations as “foreign missions,” requiring registration with the US government. The [...]

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday that they will announce measures to suspend resettlement travel in the coming days that will remain in place for as long as necessary. These measures come as many nations are closing their borders and have already placed holds on resettlement [...]