Amnesty International UK blamed  the Venezuelan government under President Nicolás Maduro  for the “worst human rights crisis in its history” in a report  published on Thursday. The study highlights human rights abuses  that Amnesty condemns as showing a disregard for human life. Among the most poignant statistics are that 22 percent of homicides committed in 2016 [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown  signed Assembly Bill 1884  on Thursday banning full service restaurants from automatically providing customers with plastic single-use straws for beverages. The bill allows restaurants to provide customers with plastic straws only on request by the customer. After notice of violation upon a third violation of the statute, restaurants are fined $25 [...]

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh  announced  Monday that Maryland intends to appeal the decision  of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  to deny Maryland’s petition for relief for emissions from out-of-state plants contributing to ozone problems in Maryland. Maryland filed a petition in December 2016 asking for injunctive relief under Section 126 of the Clean Air [...]

The US Senate  approved the Support for Patients and Communities Act  on Monday to to address opioid and substance use disorders in an effort to fight the national opioid epidemic. The bill passed 99-1  with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) giving the only vote against the legislation. The bill would alter Medicaid and Medicare programs as [...]

The Federal Court of Justice (Der Bundesgerichtshof) delayed a ruling  Thursday in a case concerning potential copyright infringement by streaming platform, YouTube, for uploads by third parties to receive input on the issue from the Court of Justice of the European Union . The plaintiff in the case is a music producer that has a contract with [...]

The US Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit  ruled  Wednesday that Arizona ballot collection laws did not violate the First, Fourteenth and Fifteenth  Amendments or Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act . The election practices at issue were Arizona’s requirement for people who cast votes in-person to do so in the precinct they were assigned, [...]

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich  filed  an action  in Pima County Superior Court  on Monday alleging that Purdue Pharma  continued deceptive and misleading marketing practices to sell opioids in violation of a 2007 court order. Brnovich filed the application for order to show cause requesting the court to order Purdue Pharma to appear and give reason why [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown signed  several bills on Wednesday including AB2343  extending the time tenants are given to respond to an eviction notice. The previous law required landlords to give a three-day notice to tenants to allow them to remedy the any violations or vacate the unit. After that a landlord can file to obtain [...]

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination  urged the Chinese government on Thursday to release the Muslim minorities known as Uighurs from involuntary detention. The Committee put forth a report  estimating up to one million Uighurs could be held in detention centers. The report found that members of the Uighur ethnic group were allegedly [...]

Argentina President Mauricio Macri  expressed his plan to report Venezuela to the International Criminal Court (ICC)  during an interview on CNN’s Spanish service Sunday night. From a transcript of part of the interview published in el Nuevo Herald , Macri, along with the leaders of Colombia, Paraguay and other Latin American countries, plan to propose a petition [...]