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President Joe Biden used the word "abortion" for the first time as president on Wednesday, in response to a new Texas law that effectively outlaws most abortions. The lack of the term from Biden's public remarks and pronouncements has enraged advocates, who argue that it represents an issue that has fallen off the priority list even as women's right to abortion is under attack in states across the Midwest and South. The Supreme Court refused a motion from Texas abortion clinics to put the state legislation on hold, ensuring it will remain in effect for the time being. Patients have already been turned away by abortion clinics in the state because they are unsure of their legal status. Biden used the word again in a statement released Thursday morning, calling the Texas law a "extraordinary assault on a woman's constitutional rights." Biden criticized the law's unique enforcement mechanism, which allows ordinary persons to initiate civil actions again

Ministers could ignore their official vaccine consultants for the first time and push for Covid vaccinations for all 12- to 15-year-olds, after a scientific body ruled that the net health benefit of vaccination was too tiny. Ministers will seek additional data that could help them overturn the watchdog's decision, highlighting a deepening divergence between the government and scientific experts over the next phase of the vaccine campaign. After days of speculation, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) released a statement on Friday saying that while the health benefits of vaccinating the entire age group outweighed the risks, "the margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal vaccination of healthy 12- to 15-year-olds," At this time, the evidence is insufficient to justify universal immunization of healthy 12- to 15-year-olds." On Friday, a line of young people formed in London to get vaccinated. Instead, the group advised expan

On Tuesday, police escorted four of the eight accused to court. A Bangladeshi court condemned six members of an Islamist militant organization to death on Tuesday for the savage execution of two LGBT rights activists five years ago. In an attack claimed by Ansar Al Islam, the regional arm of al Qaeda, Xulhaz Mannan, 35, the editor of Bangladesh's first magazine for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people, and actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, 25, were hacked to death in Mannan's apartment in the capital Dhaka in April 2016. The executions were part of a wave of attacks on atheist bloggers, academics, and other minorities that horrified the 170 million-strong South Asian nation, prompting many to flee or seek asylum. The six were also found guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, Khan added, the al Qaeda-inspired local militant group Ansar Ullah Bangla Team, which police suspect is responsible for the murders of more than a dozen secular activists and bloggers. Na

After a spate of embarrassments, Justin Trudeau's decision to call a snap election in order to gain a majority government is at risk of backfiring, with polls showing the liberal leader trailing the conservative opposition. After leading almost every poll for more than a year and being praised by many for his handling of the pandemic, he is again behind the Conservative Party, bringing analogies to Theresa May's failed snap election attempt in 2017. Mr Trudeau was once the darling of the left, adorning the pages of publications in the months following his 2015 election victory, which fawned over his good looks and progressive ideals. The 49-year-old, who now leads a minority government after poor election results in 2019, called the election because he believes he needs a stronger mandate to lead Canada through the coronavirus outbreak. Conservatives have turned the election into a referendum on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing an increase in Covid-19 cases and a recession