Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday ordered Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to stop paying dividends to shareholders and instead direct those funds toward vegetation management. PG&E is accused of starting California wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire, because of the company’s failure to properly maintain its power lines [...]

Hong Kong amended the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (FOO) and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (MLAO) Monday to include arrangements that would allow for extradition to Macau, Taiwan and mainland China on a case-by-case basis. The revised ordinances aim to close a loophole exposed by a recent murder investigation in Taiwan. In February of last year, a Hong Kong man [...]

The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would prohibit a state agency from adopting “any rule, regulation, or policy” that would burden an occupational license holder’s “free exercise of religion” or “freedom of speech regarding a sincerely held religious belief.” The bill also provides that a holder of an occupational license [...]

A spokesperson for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said Wednesday that he will sign a bill into law legalizing medical marijuana in Georgia. The General Assembly approved the legislation, finding that thousands of Georgians have serious medical conditions that can be improved by the medically approved use of cannabis. Low THC oil, which can only be [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that it brought bribery and corruption charges against North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robert Hayes for his role in a corruption scheme involving independent expenditure accounts and improper campaign contributions. The DOJ charged three others for their roles in the scheme, including founder and Chairman of Eli Global, LLC and the [...]

US Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would abolish the electoral college and provide for direct election of the president and vice president. Since 2000, two presidential elections differed in the outcome of the popular vote versus the Electoral College, including the most recent election in which Hilary Clinton won the popular [...]

UN human rights experts on Tuesday condemned the Indian government for the deportation of three Rohingya to Myanmar despite international law which prohibits the practice. According to the UN experts, India has separated and forcibly returned Rohingya families to Myanmar, including the recent deportation of a father and three of his children. Five other family members [...]

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Tuesday announced the terms of a settlement with PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG), requiring PPG to pay a $1.2 million civil penalty for environmental contamination. For decades, from the 1920’s until 1970, PPG dumped polluted materials from a glass manufacturing plant into the Allegheny River in Armstrong County. [...]

The Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved legislation regulating the use of assault weapons in the wake of the last year’s Tree of Life massacre that killed 11. In a 6-3 vote, the City Council passed a bill restricting the use of an assault weapon in a public place and would also ban armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines. [...]

The Attorneys General for Montana and Ohio filed an amicus brief on Monday with the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit asking the court to only invalidate the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to leave the rest of the act in place. The brief was filed in the case State [...]