In an attempt to end the war caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to return Alaska to Russia in exchange for Russia pulling its troops from Eastern Ukraine. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said he would agree to the proposal if Trump also returned Fort Ross and the Russian River in California, Russia sold Fort Ross to Mexican citizen John Sutter in 1841.   read more

Without access to the banking system, legal marijuana businesses are still forced to complete all their transactions in cash and have nowhere to deposit their receipts, creating a security issue. “While we appreciate the efforts by the Department of Justice and FinCEN, guidance or regulation doesn’t alter the underlying challenge for banks,” Frank Keating, president of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement.   read more

The NCA, however, not only finished first—which it has done every time it has participated in the survey—but also scored the highest rating ever: 96. The closest a private-sector company came was Mercedes-Benz with an 88. The NCA’s rating was also 28 points higher than the average mark received by federal agencies: 68.   read more

Residents of the small town (population: 26,000) adopted a measure that barred landlords from renting apartments or homes to undocumented immigrants. The same law also required renters to obtain a permit from law enforcement and declare they were legal U.S. residents. Opponents of the ordinance filed suit to have it thrown out. But those efforts failed in a federal appeals court.   read more

Critics point out that the “ag gag” measure comes after an animal rights group used undercover footage to expose animal abuse at Dry Creek Dairy in Hansen, Idaho, two years ago. That footage showed employees dragging a cow by its neck using a chain and tractor, workers hitting and kicking milk cows, and one employee caning a cow.   read more

European leaders want to loosen the United States’ grip over governance of the Internet, which originally began as a creation of the Pentagon. The move comes in the wake of how extensively the National Security Agency (NSA) has used the Internet and other means to spy on people across the globe. But it remains to be seen whether the U.S. will be willing to accede to Europe’s wish for Internet governance to become more global.   read more

Changes in the ways Americans get healthcare are causing some physicians to take down their shingles and go to work as hospital staff members. Hospitals are offering attractive salaries to physicians who join their staffs. That, combined with decreasing reimbursements from Medicare and private insurers, has caused some physicians to give up running their own businesses and opt for work as salaried employees. This could cause costs to rise for those seeking medical care.   read more

Foreign governments have taken to using cyberattacks to intimidate journalists and human rights activists in the United States and elsewhere who expose injustices around the globe. Citizen Lab says it has identified numerous accounts of foreign hackers using commercial spyware to infiltrate the computers of activists and reporters. “To invade the privacy of American citizens and legal residents, violating the sovereignty of the U.S. and Europe, is mind-boggling,” said Neamin Zeleke.   read more

A new study shows that switching to natural-gas-powered vehicles might produce more greenhouse gases than would occur by sticking with diesel power. Methane is one of the most pernicious greenhouse gases. It’s about 100 times as potent as carbon dioxide shortly after being released into the atmosphere and remains 34 times as potent as CO2 after 100 years in the atmosphere   read more

With traditional sources of lethal injection drugs drying up in the U.S., Missouri turned to a compounding pharmacy to produce the supply for the execution of Michael Taylor on February 26. Taylor was convicted of murdering a 15-year-old girl and sentenced to death. But Taylor’s defense team filed a motion to prevent use of a compounded pentobarbital for the lethal injection. They argued that their client risked suffering “severe...inhumane pain” if the drug was used.   read more

The winner of the ignominious feat of being America’s most dangerous city is Camden, New Jersey, which is no stranger to the title. The city of 77,000 residents has ranked at or near the bottom of safest cities to live in for more than 10 years now, according statistics derived from Federal Bureau of Investigation data on violent and property crime. Camden was labeled “most dangerous” in 2004 and 2005 before it managed some improvement in 2006 and 2007 (coming in at No. 5).   read more

Seeking to minimize the dangers of deadly disease outbreaks, the Obama administration announced this week that it plans to work with more than two-dozen countries and international bodies to create a new anti-infectious-disease initiative. Led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. will partner with governments around the world to mitigate infectious diseases that threaten to spread across borders.   read more

Couples, particularly middle-income and wealthier ones, don’t have a problem sharing their passwords in the digital age, a new Pew Research study shows. The report says 67% of committed couples have told one another their secret passwords to access some kind of technology or platform. This sharing is more “prevalent in higher-income households,” according to the report, with those earning more than $50,000 more likely to share passwords than those making under that amount.   read more

Today, countries like Ghana, Poland, and El Salvador rank higher for press freedom than the U.S. Reporters Without Borders, which produces the annual rankings, says the decline in U.S. position is due to the Barack Obama administration crackdown on whistleblowers who have leaked classified information to journalists. The administration, in fact, has gone after more whistleblowers through criminal prosecution than any other presidential administration in history.   read more

Nine months before the mid-term election in November and super PACs already are overflowing with cash, particularly those run by Democrats. These independent operators that will undoubtedly praise some politicians and lambast others have already collected $63 million in contributions. Democrats’ super PACs were well ahead of their Republican counterparts in collecting cash, $41 million versus $22 million at the start of the year.   read more

Trained in special weapons tactics, Craig Kloppenberg used his 30 years on SWAT teams arresting pot dealers to become a private consultant for pot producers in Colorado. He and another ex-cop, Joel Smith, work together to help about a dozen suppliers stay within the confines of the new law. “If you could make more money, give a better life to your family, why not?” Kloppenberg told CNBC. “I believe it's going to be very lucrative.”   read more

Guantánamo Bay could become the focus of multiple lawsuits by detainees who have won the right to sue in federal court over the conditions of their confinement—something the Obama and George W. Bush administrations and Congress have opposed. Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer for the prisoners, called it a “huge win.” “This decision establishes that the federal courts have the power to stop the mistreatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay,” said Eisenberg.   read more