Oklahoma’s Governor Kevin Stitt Wednesday signed the United States’ strictest abortion ban into law. The ban, HB 4327 makes Oklahoma the first state to ban abortion from fertilization until birth. Under the law, abortion is prohibited at “any stage of pregnancy.” The law includes an exception for medical emergencies and rape or incest. However, rape [...]

The United Nations Security Council urged the Taliban Tuesday to reverse its restrictions on the fundamental freedoms and human rights of Afghan women. During a 15-member state panel in Norway, the Security Council expressed “deep concern” over the policies being implemented in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Since taking rule of Afghanistan eight months ago, the [...]

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Wednesday announced a $161.5 million settlement with drug manufacturers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Teva) and Allergan over their involvement in the state’s opioid epidemic. The cash value of this settlement alone is “the highest per capita settlement in the nation” according to the announcement. A civil trial between the Attorney Generals office [...]

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller Tuesday announced a $19.2 million settlement with Ford Motor Co. over false advertising claims. The settlement resolves allegations that Ford falsely advertised the real-world fuel economy of model year 2013–2014 C-Max hybrids and the payload capacity of model year 2011–2014 Super Duty pickup trucks. Miller claimed Ford misrepresented the distance [...]

US federal prosecutors in Brooklyn Tuesday indicted a fundraiser for the Donald Trump campaign on multiple charges amidst allegations that he illegally lobbied on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Thomas Barrack, the owner of a private equity firm, DigitalBridge Group has been charged with receiving funds from the UAE amounting to $374 million [...]

Amnesty International Tuesday released its annual Report on Death Sentences and Executions which noted a sharp increase in executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia while describing global use of the death penalty between January and December 2021.  The report reflects that there was a rise in executions and death sentences in 2021 after Covid-19 restrictions [...]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Órban Tuesday declared a wartime state of emergency, citing physical, energy and economic fears originating from the ongoing war in Ukraine. Órban declared a similar emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic and assumed special emergency powers set to expire next week. Órban won a fourth term as prime minister in a “landslide” [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Tuesday ruled that post-Civil War amnesty laws do not protect members of Congress who voiced support for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Voters brought a case against Representative Madison Cawthorn, claiming that Cawthorn was ineligible to run for re-election because of his [...]

A congressionally mandated commission Tuesday announced recommended name changes for nine US Army bases currently named to commemorate the Confederacy and its leaders. The Naming Commission was formed via the William Mac Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and consists of eight volunteers selected by Congress and the Secretary of Defense. The [...]

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Tuesday arrested an Iraqi national charged with an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush. According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, 52-year-old Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab entered the US on a visitor visa in September 2020. Shihab then filed for asylum and US [...]