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We've all been there: You've just poured yourself a fresh mimosa and are waiting to tuck into some eggs Benedict when the table gets a little quiet. You and your squad have already covered all of the usual topics: that office romance all of your friends think is a bad idea, the text one of you got after a second date, Kendall and Kylie's amazing new collection. You've already been over tips for an upcoming job interview while you had your first cup of coffee and covered the latest controversy in the presidential race over the second. What's next? If you're looking to expand your brunch-chat horizons instead of rehashing the same tired topics over sweet potato hash, Refinery29's World News team has you covered. We're always trying to make it easier to stay informed about the most important and interesting news out there. So each week, we'll aim to round up the must-know stories from around the globe that are sure to generate some meaty discussion over brunch — or wherever you find yourself this weekend.
Read on to ensure you're the smartest, most interesting woman at that café, cocktail bar, or house party. Let us know in the comments which stories you're watching this week. And be sure to follow R29 News & Politics on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the news in real time.
Image may be NSFW.
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Donald Trump suggested that women who have abortions should be "punished."
On Wednesday, GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump suggested that women who have sought or had abortions should face "some form of punishment" if the United States outlaws abortion. Trump made the comments during a forum with MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
"You go back to a position like they had where they would perhaps go to illegal places," Trump told Matthews of women seeking abortion. "But you have to ban it...There has to be some form of punishment."
After a swift wave of backlash from both Republicans and Democrats, though, Trump later said that doctors who perform abortions should be punished, not the women seeking them. His backtracking came as major pro-life groups, as well as Planned Parenthood, denounced his original statements.
Trump's competitors from both sides of the aisle also spoke out against his remarks. GOP candidate John Kasich said that "of course women shouldn't be punished," according to The New York Times. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each tweeted condemnation of Trump's remarks, as did Republican Ted Cruz.
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How The Walking Dead helped stop a discriminatory bill in its tracks.
On Monday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced at a press conference that he will veto a bill which would have allowed discrimination against LGBTQ people on religious grounds.
Deal's announcement came after a number of TV networks, sports leagues, and media companies, including Disney and AMC, which films The Walking Dead in Georgia, condemned the bill. It could have affected the state's economy — a repercussion of so-called "religious freedom" bills felt in some states where they have been passed.
Deal said in his remarks that the bill, HB 757, "contained language that could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination. I did have problems with that and made my concerns known as did many other individuals and organizations, including some within the faith-based community."
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North Carolina is facing its own LGBTQ battle.
After North Carolina passed a law that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), Attorney General Roy Cooper III, and W. Louis Bissette Jr., the chairman of the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. The law limits LGBTQ protections and forces individuals to use public restrooms that match their birth-assigned genders. It also blocks workers from suing their employers over discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced this week that he is banning all state travel to North Carolina in response to the law. Seattle and San Francisco have adopted similar bans. Some politicians in North Carolina don't support the measure, either — Roy Cooper, the state's attorney general, said that he won’t defend the law in federal court, calling it a "national embarrassment."
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Donald Trump's campaign manager was charged with battery.
On Tuesday, Florida police charged Corey Lewandowski, GOP front-runner Donald Trump's campaign manager, with simple battery. A video from a Trump campaign event on March 8 appears to show Lewandowski grabbing the arm of Michelle Fields, a reporter for Breitbart.
Fields had tweeted photos of bruises on her arm after the event and she resigned from Breitbart following the incident, saying the conservative news organization hadn't stood by her after the incident. Trump tweeted in support and defense of Lewandowski, who is scheduled to appear in court on May 4. The presidential candidate also claimed that Fields' pen may have been "a little bomb,"BuzzFeed News reports. Meanwhile, Fields tweeted that Trump should "just stop lying."
Trump's lawyers have said Lewandowski will plead not guilty in May, according to a statement obtained by BuzzFeed News.
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Pakistan reels from Sunday's deadly suicide bombing.
After a suicide bombing in Lahore killed at least 70 people on Sunday, officials in Pakistan vowed to root out terrorists and prosecute those responsible for the attack. Dozens of children were killed in the assault on a public park. Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Taliban in Pakistan that has declared loyalty to the Islamic State armed group, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was the deadliest attack in the country since 2014, according to Reuters.
Caption: Following the attacks, families in Pakistan gathered to mourn those lost on Sunday.
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The FBI unlocked the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone — without Apple's help.
After Apple refused to help the FBI access the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters, the agency announced this week that it had managed to unlock the device.
In court documents filed Monday, the FBI said it had accessed data on the iPhone owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, who died in a shoot-out with police after he and his wife killed 14 people in the California city of San Bernardino.
Apple had denied the FBI's request on the basis that it could set a negative precedent for customer privacy.
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A man hijacked an EgyptAir flight, but his explosives were fake.
This week, Seif Eddin Mustafa hijacked an EgyptAir plane in the name of love.
Mustafa took control of the plane, which was en route from Alexandria to Cairo, reportedly because he wanted to visit his ex-wife and children in Cyprus. He threatened to blow up the airliner, but it was later revealed that he was wearing a fake suicide belt. The case grew even stranger when a British man allegedly posed for a photo with Mustafa while still on the plane. The flight was diverted and landed in Cyprus, where Mustafa was arrested after an hours-long standoff.
Mustafa was charged with kidnapping and is in police custody, BuzzFeed News reports. His ex-wife, Marina Paraschou, told The Associated Press that he was "dangerous," and officials described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable."
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The Secret Service had to clarify that firearms won't be allowed at the Republican National Convention.
After a Change.org petition to allow open carry at the Republican National Convention gained more than 50,000 signatures, the Secret Service issued an official response this week.
"Title 18 United States Code Sections 3056 and 1752 provides the Secret Service authority to preclude firearms from entering sites visited by our protectees, including those located in open-carry states," Secret Service spokesman Robert K. Hoback said in a statement reported by The Washington Post. "Only authorized law enforcement personnel working in conjunction with the Secret Service for a particular event may carry a firearm inside of the protected site."
The petition is credited to the blog Hyperationalist, and it is unclear whether or not it was started as a joke, as some people have speculated.
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The Supreme Court tied on a labor case.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 4-4 in a case concerning whether or not unions for public sector jobs, including teachers and firefighters, can require non-members to pay union fees. Because of the tie, a ruling in favor of the unions by a lower court will stand, a significant victory for organized labor.
The tie represents a larger issue within the Supreme Court. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's seat is still open. Without a ninth judge, the court is split between more liberal-leaning and conservative-leaning justices. President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but his nomination hasn't yet been confirmed by the Senate.
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The Eight Things Keeping 62 Million Girls Out Of School
In the developing world, education is often a luxury for girls and young women. Millions of girls are kept from attending school due to factors like child marriage, violence, and early pregnancies.
Sara Rossi explained the eight main causes of this education crisis on Refinery29 this week— and offers solutions to the problem.
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Scientists Proved Unicorns Existed — Really
In a new study published in the American Journal of Applied Sciences, scientists explained that a mammal similar to a unicorn did exist, but it doesn't look like the creature you might be imagining. The 9,000-pound animal more closely resembled a rhinoceros than a horse.
Researchers found a fossilized skull from the Elasmotherium sibiricum, a.k.a. the Siberian unicorn, in Kazakhstan's Pavlodar region. The skull proved that the animal was alive just 29,000 years ago. Previously, scientists thought it had gone extinct 350,000 years ago. Researchers are now investigating how the species survived for so long.
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