The Daily Populous

Friday August 11st, 2023 morning edition

image for Supreme Court blocks, for now, OxyContin maker bankruptcy deal that would shield Sacklers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

In addition, the high court will hear arguments before the end of the year over whether the settlement can proceed.

The deal would allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used to fight the opioid epidemic.

Members of the Sackler family would contribute up to $6 billion.

But a key component of the agreement would shield family members, who are not seeking bankruptcy protection as individuals, from lawsuits.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, represented by the Justice Department, opposes releasing the Sackler family from legal liability.

The justices directed the parties to address whether bankruptcy law authorizes a blanket shield from lawsuits filed by all opioid victims. »

Niger’s Coup Is a Turning Point for Africans

Authored by foreignpolicy.com
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Washington has mostly dawdled away the decades in Africa, switching around policy slogans every few years according to the tides of fashion but mostly sticking to two messages for Africans.

It prevents outsiders, and oftentimes even Africans themselves, from seeing what truly is significant about events surrounding the Niger coup.

Niger’s coup has created a truly geopolitical moment for Africans—a time when the United States, Russia, France, and China became less immediately important than Africans themselves. »

Stephen Miller Files Complaint That Gay Pop-Tarts Are Sexualizing Kids

Authored by newrepublic.com
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He pointed to how a lot of issues are “packaged in terms of existential threat,” leading to the belief among everyone, not just evangelical Christians, that “desperate times call for desperate measures.”.

It makes sense, then, that evangelical Christians would embrace Trump, who portrayed himself as the answer to many of those supposed existential threats.

He made good on his anti-abortion promises when the high court removed the nationwide right to the procedure in June. »

300,000-year-old skull found in China unlike any early human seen before

Authored by edition.cnn.com

An ancient skull dating back 300,000 years is unlike any other premodern human fossil ever found, potentially pointing to a new branch in the human family tree, according to new research.

It is similarly shaped to the mandible of Homo sapiens, our modern human species that evolved from Homo erectus.

“More fossils and studies are necessary to understand their precise position in the human family tree,” she said. »