Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestine will not accept US foreign aid after Thursday for fear of potential US legal consequences per Congress’ Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) of 2018. The US currently provides nearly $60 million in security funding to the Palestinian government each year. Though the aid is needed, Abbas says the cost of [...]
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday issued an executive order requiring state officials to reduce methane gas emissions over the next decade to combat climate change. The order declared that New Mexico would be joining the US Climate Alliance. It shows New Mexico’s commitment to a “climate-conscious future and moves to protect people, natural [...]
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday upheld the acquittal of Christian woman Asia Bibi, who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy. The court overturned her 2010 blasphemy conviction and death sentence in October for failure to proffer enough evidence that Bibi indeed committed the crime. The review petition was filed by [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday that it filed several criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., and its affiliates, Huawei Device Co., Ltd. and Huawei Device Co. USA. The grand jury returned the indictment on January 16, charging the defendants with several counts, including bank fraud, wire fraud, various conspiracy [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in two cases. The first, Home Depot v. Jackson, asks whether a class action defendant can remove the case from state to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), despite the now plaintiff and former defendant not agreeing to removal. Petitioner Home Depot argued [...]
US President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, on Tuesday appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing. Much of the questioning concerned the Robert Mueller investigation and Barr’s ability and willingness to faithfully execute his duties during the investigation. The Committee also probed into his thoughts as to whether Mueller should [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday acquitted former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of charges for alleged crimes against humanity during 2010 and 2011 in the Ivory Coast, saying the prosecutor failed to proffer sufficient evidence of the charged acts. The decision brings Gbagbo’s nearly eight-year detention to an end. Specifically, the prosecution failed to [...]
Former Insys Therapeutics Inc., CEO Michael Babich pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges related to conspiracy and mail fraud stemming from the sale of a fentanyl nasal spray, Subsys. Babich and the other defendants, former Insys executives and managers, were charged in 2016 with conspiracy to commit racketeering, mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the [...]
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced his $100 million health care program to provide coverage and access to care to the 600,000 New Yorkers currently without it, including undocumented and indigent residents. The program will strengthen NYC’s public health insurance plan, MetroPlus, to make it more affordable for all New Yorkers, while simultaneously implementing [...]
A California jury heard opening statements on Monday in one of several thousand lawsuits accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling talc-based products contaminated with asbestos and for failing to warn about the dangers of mesothelioma. Plaintiff Terry Leavitt filed the lawsuit in the Alemeda County Superior Court in 2017 after she was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Unlike [...]
