The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Wednesday approved two bills that would expand the safety and privacy accorded to children and teenagers on commercial electronic platforms.  The move is seen as a response to concerns over algorithms used by social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. The first bill, the [...]

The UN Human Rights Committee Wednesday called for Hong Kong authorities to take urgent steps to repeal the Beijing-decreed national security law amid concerns of the legislation threatening civil rights. Within the report, the Committee expressed deep concern about “the overly broad interpretation” of the law, which it reports has led to the “arrests of [...]

Former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were sentenced Wednesday for violating George Floyd’s civil rights by not intervening when former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, killing Floyd. The court sentenced Kueng to three years in prison and Thao to three-and-a-half years. The fourth officer, Thomas Lane, was sentenced to [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that Trident Mortgage Company agreed to pay over $22 million to settle federal charges that its lending practices intentionally discriminated against minorities in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Trident is one of the largest realtor-affiliated mortgage lenders in the US and is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. [...]

Opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Tuesday announced a $4.35 billion settlement with state and local governments to resolve lawsuits concerning Teva’s role in fueling the US opioid epidemic. The settlement is not yet finalized. Teva is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company which manufactures prescription medication including opioids. In recent years, US states, cities, counties and [...]

The US District Court for the District of Columbia Tuesday sentenced Mark Ponder to 63 months in prison for assaulting three police officers during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Ponder is the second Capitol riot defendant to be sentenced to 63 months, the longest prison term handed down thus far. According to court [...]

A South Carolina judge Tuesday declined to overturn the state’s Fetal Heartbeat Law, which bans abortions after six weeks. The judge also granted the state’s request to send the case directly to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The motion to stop the abortion law from taking effect, filed by Planned Parenthood, asserts that the law [...]

A California District Court Tuesday ruled that Uber’s refusal to provide electric wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, private transportation entities cannot discriminate based on disability. Private transporters must make “reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures . . . unless the entity can demonstrate [...]

The UK Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russian-installed officials in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions are designed to hold Kremlin-appointed officials accountable for their efforts to suppress the freedoms of Ukrainians and Russians. The latest addition to the UK’s sanction regime against Russia includes four [...]

Biotech giants BioNTech and Pfizer Monday filed a complaint for declaratory judgment of noninfringement in the US District Court of Massachusetts. The companies seek to quell claims by CureVac of intellectual property violations. BioNTech and Pfizer collaborated in the development and distribution of their COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, trademarked as COMIRNATY®, was the first successful [...]