Amid blistering summer temperatures, a federal judge ordered Louisiana to take steps to protect the health and safety of incarcerated workers toiling in the fields of a former slave plantation, saying they face “substantial risk of injury or death.” The state immediately appealed the decision.

U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday, giving the state department of corrections seven days to provide a plan to improve conditions on the so-called farm line at Louisiana State Penitentiary, otherwise known as Angola.

The Osaka District Court on July 4 recognized an African man in his 30s who fled to Japan from his own country fearing persecution for his homosexuality as a refugee, overturning a government decision not to grant him asylum.

According to the man's complaint and other sources, his country bans same-sex sexual acts. After his family found out that he was gay, he was confined in his home and beaten by his father and younger brother. He came to Japan in 2019 and applied for refugee status, but the government rejected his application, prompting him to file a lawsuit objecting to the decision

Neil Gaiman — the best-selling author whose work includes comic book series *The Sandman *and the novels Good Omens and American Gods — has denied sexual assault allegations made against him by two women with whom he had relationships with at the time, Tortoise Media reports.

The allegations were made during Tortoise’s four-part podcast Master: the Allegations Against Neil Gaiman, which was released Wednesday. In it, the women allege “rough and degrading sex” with the author, which the women claim was not always consensual.

One of the women, a 23-year-old named Scarlett, worked as a nanny to his child.

Students who enrolled at a fake university set up by federal immigration agents have the right to sue the U.S. government, a federal court has ruled.

A decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit means that the hundreds of students who paid tuition at the University of Farmington in Farmington Hills — created by undercover agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have a legal basis to continue pursuing their claims in court.

In 2020, a lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by attorneys on behalf of Teja Ravi and other students enrolled at the University of Farmington, which no longer exists after ICE shut it down in 2019 andarrested at least 250 of its students. The suit said the U.S. breached their contract with the students by essentially stealing their tuition money, about $11,000 a year for each student. They are asking for their money back and other punitive damages. But the legal claim was dismissed on technical grounds in 2022 by the Claims Court, which said the case lacked jurisdiction. Three judges with the appeals court overturned that decision on June 25 and remanded the case back to the Claims Court.

The cellphone of Taylor Casey has been located in the Bahamas, authorities said Tuesday as the mother of the missing 41-year-old Chicago woman calls on the United States to take over the investigation.

Casey was on the Caribbean island to attend a yoga certification program and was reported missing the night of June 20 by the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat after she failed to show up for class. She was last seen at the Paradise Island yoga school the night before.

The National Black Farmers Association called on Tractor Supply’s president and CEO Tuesday to step down after the rural retailer announced that it would drop most of its corporate diversity and climate advocacy efforts.

The resignation demand emerged as Tractor Supply, which sells products ranging from farming equipment to pet supplies, faces a deepening backlash over its decision, which itself came after conservative activists spoke out against the company’s work to be more socially inclusive and to curb climate change. 

In a public announcement last week, the company said it would eliminate all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles, end sponsorships of “nonbusiness activities” like Pride festivals, and withdraw its goals for reducing carbon emissions. Critics of the new position argue that Tractor Supply is giving in to hate and harming its customers by abandoning crucial principles.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has set his sights on eliminating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday announced which cases it would consider next and which it wouldn't. Among those the court rejected was a case that challenged the authority of OSHA, which sets and enforces standards for health and safety in the workplace.

And Thomas, widely considered to be the most conservative justice on the already mostly conservative court, wasn't happy.

In a dissent, he explained why he believed the high court should've taken the case: OSHA's power, he argues, is unconstitutional.

KEVIN ROBERTS (HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT): In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We're in the process of taking this country back. No one in the audience should be despairing.

No one should be discouraged. We ought to be really encouraged by what happened yesterday. And in spite of all of the injustice, which, of course, friends and audience of this show, of our friend Steve know, we are going to prevail.

Number two, to the point of the clips and, of course, your preview of the fact that I am an early American historian and love the Constitution. That Supreme Court ruling yesterday on immunity is vital, and it's vital for a lot of reasons. But I would go to Federalist No. 70.

President Joe Biden warned Monday that a Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity from prosecutionwould make an unchecked Republican Donald Trump “more emboldened to do whatever he wants” if he regains the White House in November’s election.

Biden, under intense pressure after his disastrous debate performance against Trump last week, urged Americans to think carefully about their election decision and signaled he had no intention of dropping out of the race.

Criticizing the decision by the court’s conservative majority — which all but guarantees Trump will not face trial in Washington ahead of the November election over his actions during the violent riot on Jan. 6, 2021 — Biden said it now fell to the American people “to do what the courts should have been willing to do but will not. 

“The American people have to render judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior.”

The former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 has resigned from the White Sulphur Springs Police Department.

White Sulphur Springs Mayor Kathy Glover released this statement:

“At the request and recommendation of the Chief of Police for the City of White Sulphur Springs, Timothy Loehmann was hired as a probationary Police Officer and an at-will employee for the City of White Sulphur Springs. As of today, Monday, July 1, 2024, Timothy Loehmann has resigned his position and is no longer an employee with the City of White Sulphur Springs. Since this is an employment matter, I will have no further comment.”

General election coverage has been dominated by male voices, according to researchers from Loughborough University.

Academics from the university’s Centre for Research in Communication and Culture have conducted news audits for every general election since 1992. They analyse TV coverage from BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky’s evening news bulletins, plus print reporting by the UK’s broadsheet and tabloid newspapers.

Since campaigning began on 30 May, only seven of the top 20 most prominent figures in election coverage have been women. In the past week, that figure fell to six.

Online retailer Etsy will prohibit sales of most sex toys, content that depicts sex acts and genitalia, and more starting July 29.

The indie seller published its Adult Nudity and Sexual Content policy yesterday, which states that sales of adult toys that are insertable, "applied to the genitalia," or "designed for genitals to be inserted into them" will be prohibited. That pretty much runs the gamut — dildos, vibrators, rings, plugs, and the like will be banned.