
VIDEO: Fistfight in Ukrainian Parliament as Prime Minister Is Dragged from Podium
The Ukrainian Parliament broke out into a fistfight after one member approached Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and physically hoisted him from the podium.

The Ukrainian Parliament broke out into a fistfight after one member approached Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and physically hoisted him from the podium.

Two special sessions of the state legislature that will convene Monday to consider raising taxes, at Governor Jerry Brown’s request.

As Turkey’s majority Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) scrambles to build a coalition government in the legislature, the largest minority party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has suggested pairing up with other minority parties to keep the AKP out of the ruling coalition entirely.

On Monday, the California legislature, dominated by Democrats, is voting on a $117.5 billion budget. However, Governor Jerry Brown has not indicated he favors the amount of increased spending, which includes billions more in funding for public schools, and would implement a new tax credit for lower economic class.

As the 84th Legislative session in Texas ended on Monday, multiple bills that successfully made it out of both House and Senate chambers are on their way to the desk of Governor Abbott. Surprisingly, as the Texas Tribune reported, this session – supposedly marked by a more conservative leadership base – passed fewer abortion bills than the preceding 83rd Legislature in 2013.

Hours of contentious debate in California’s Senate Judiciary Committee resulted in a 5-1 vote earlier this week to advance SB 277, a bill that would eliminate parents’ ability to exempt their children from required vaccinations on the basis of personal belief.

Three more cases of measles have popped up in California since Monday, according to California Department of Public Health numbers released Wednesday–an increase after a hopeful weekend of no new cases. There has been a slowdown in new cases connected to the Disneyland outbreak, while passage of a California bill seeking to reduce parents’ options to exempt their school-age children from required vaccines has become more likely.

Special elections were held on Tuesday for four seats in the Texas Legislature: Senate District 26, where Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) faces Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio); House District 13, where Carolyn Bilski (R) faces Leighton Schubert (R); House District 17, where John Cyrier (R) faces Brent Golemon (R), and House District 123, where Diego Bernal (D) faces Nunzio Previtera (R).

Inspired by the case of Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old California woman terminally ill with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to commit suicide legally, two California lawmakers have introduced a bill to permit assisted suicide.

“Climate change is a top priority for me as the new leader of the Senate,” California state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon said at a recent NextGen Climate Leadership Forum in Oakland. That priority is reflected in a