The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) , a federal agency entrusted with consumer protection in the financial sector, announced on Thursday a $100 million fine against banking giant Wells Fargo for widespread illegal sales practices. CFPB is authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to take action against those who violate [...]

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman took steps on Wednesday towards allowing late-term abortions in New York. Schneiderman claims that Supreme Court rulings allow late-term abortions in cases where the mother’s health is in jeopardy or the fetus suffers a fatal complication. He argues that the 1970 state law, which prohibits abortions past 24 weeks [...]

Environmentalists sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday regarding federal water quality standards. The environmentalists are seeking new standards “designed to protect marine life against the corrosive effects of carbon emissions absorbed into the ocean from the burning of fossil fuels.” The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity , which is [...]

Jean Ping, an opposition leader in Gabon, has filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court in a move challenging the validity of the recent presidential vote. Ping, who was also running for president, lost in the election last week by a very small margin, which brought criticism from many and spurred his request that the [...]

Prosecutors on Thursday dropped corruption charges against the former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell. The US Supreme Court had vacated his conviction in June. Based on a “careful consideration” of the Supreme Court decision and “the principles of federal prosecution,” the US Department of Justice felt it was best to drop the charges. In 2014 McDonnell [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two bills that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. The bills, SB 32, sponsored by Senator Fran Pavle, and AB 197, sponsored by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia, had been introduced in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The new regulations will assist California to meet [...]

Irish lawmakers voted Wednesday to appeal the ruling of the European Commission that would entitle the country to almost $15 billion of unpaid taxes from Apple . Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan T.D. released a statement last Friday explaining that talks between the Fine Gael party and the Independent Alliance determined that allowing the ruling [...]

The Illinois Disclosure and Regulation of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act was ruled constitutional on Wednesday in a Federal District Court in Chicago. The law limits how much political action committees (PACs) can contribute to candidates, but permits political parties to contribute as much as they want to campaigns. The law was challenged on First [...]

The Palestinian High Court of Justice in Ramallah ordered the suspension of local elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The first presidential election to take place in a decade was scheduled for October 8. The court suspended the election due to the ongoing dispute between rival groups Fatah and Hamas [...]

A judge for the Connecticut Superior Court Wednesday ordered school officials to overhaul the state’s educational funding system, finding that the current system is unconstitutional. In his opinion, Judge Thomas Moukawsher noted that poorer areas grossly under-performed in comparison with wealthier areas. The judge ordered the state to draft and submit proposals within six months, [...]