The legislation "would defang the Justice Department," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the House. "Federal prosecutors would be unable to prosecute fraud committed by big banks under FIRREA. This bill on the floor today says you cannot charge banks. The only investigation you can do of banks is if somebody does damage to the bank. Can you imagine that - with all the mortgage fraud that went on in our country?"   read more

Three of the biggest U.S. freight railroads have told the government they won't meet a 2018 deadline to start using safety technology intended to prevent accidents like the deadly derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia last May. After a 2008 train collision that killed 25 people, Congress required railroads to start using the expensive technology on all tracks that carry passenger trains or those used to haul toxic liquids. Four commuter railroads also say they'll miss the deadline.   read more

The House committee reviewed more than 75,000 pages of documents from drugmaker Valeant. The paperwork shows that CEO J. Michael Pearson decided to buy two life-saving heart drugs, Nitropress and Isuprel, to dramatically hike prices and drive up his company's revenue and profit. The drugs generated $547 million in revenue and around $351 million in profits last year alone. The memo said the drugmaker also more than tripled the prices on over 20 additional U.S. products in 2014 and 2015.   read more

Felons can run for public office in Louisiana because the state Senate improperly amended the state constitution in 1998 to prevent it, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled. Under state Senate Bill No. 321, of 1997, unpardoned, convicted felons were to be prohibited from seeking a municipal or state office.The bill was amended in the Senate, providing an exception for felons who had completed their sentence more than 15 years before the candidate-qualifying date.   read more

The spy operation, codenamed "Anarchist", was run out of a Cyprus base and targeted other Middle East states too. "We know that the Americans spy on the whole world, and also on us, also on their friends," said Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz. "But still, it is disappointing, inter alia because, going back decades already, we have not spied nor collected intelligence nor hacked encryptions in the United States."   read more

The Brennan Center said the program relies on a flawed approach to counter terrorism that "all but ensures" it will stigmatize Muslims and reinforce Islamophobic stereotypes, suppress dissent, and sow discord in communities. The program has had bureaucratic infighting, as some experts have advocated enlisting ultra-orthodox, nonviolent Islamic activists and scholars in deradicalization efforts. Other experts have argued that such activists sometimes help indoctrinate violent militants.   read more

The initial 40 trials will be selected from lawsuits brought by individuals who say they contracted kidney or testicular cancer from chemical C-8, which was found in their drinking water. "People shouldn’t have to wait ten years for a trial," Judge Sargus said. The lawsuits center on claims DuPont used C-8 at a West Virginia plant for decades despite knowing it was toxic and had been found in nearby drinking water.   read more

Sen. Rob Portman spoke about the problem of "sponsors for hire" who help human traffickers exploit unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. The report centers on a case in which the Dept. of Health and Human Services released at least six unaccompanied children into the hands of human traffickers in Marion, Ohio. The traffickers forced the children to work 12 hours a day on egg farms in and around Marion, and crammed them into or even under a small, white trailer, investigators found.   read more

The U.N. report sparked calls by rights groups for the U.S. and Britain to halt sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia that could be used in such attacks. The panel of experts documented 119 coalition sorties "relating to violations of international humanitarian law" and said that "many attacks involved multiple air strikes on multiple civilian objects." U.S. and Saudi officials are working on a $1.29 billion sale of U.S. munitions to replenish bombs and missiles used by the Saudis in Yemen.   read more

Some conservation groups believe authorities should trap and relocate birds where possible, rather than kill them. Friends of Animals said the latest permit was too broad because it allowed killings of migratory birds regardless of species, including those that are easy to catch. But Judge José Cabranes said the Fish and Wildlife Service had authority to issue the permit and that the permit authorized using lethal force.   read more

Two anti-abortion activists behind the filming of videos on fetal tissue procurement by Planned Parenthood were indicted by a Texas grand jury on Monday, while clearing the women's health group of any wrong-doing. The grand jury reviewed the case for more than two months and its decision was a result of a probe launched under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who accused Planned Parenthood of the "gruesome harvesting of baby body parts."   read more

The former officer is seeking permission to present evidence to a forthcoming parliamentary inquiry that British officials saw detainees being tortured in December 2002. Details of torture were disclosed during meetings held at the London headquarters of Britain's MI5 in 2002 and the evidence is believed to include claims that British officials witnessed inmates being chained, hooded, waterboarded and subjected to mental abuse by CIA officials, the report said.   read more

NHTSA and automakers have come under harsh criticism on auto safety issues from Congress and others in the wake of General Motors' delayed recall of 2.6 million vehicles for ignition switch defects linked to 124 deaths. Since then, the NHTSA has made a series of reforms and pledged to make more improvements. The agency has pressured automakers to recall more vehicles more quickly - and imposed record-setting fines. As a result, last year's recall campaigns numbered the most in U.S. history.   read more

The accident occurred to a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile assigned to the 90th Missile Wing in northern Colorado, the Air Force reported. The missile was damaged while the airmen were troubleshooting a problem with a diagnostic test. An investigation found that the maintenance team chief did not follow the technical guidance, said the Air Force. The team chief and two of his airmen were decertified but returned to duty after being retrained and certified.   read more

U.S. security officials intercepted a record 2,653 firearms - 83 percent of them loaded - from carry-on bags at airport security checkpoints in 2015, a 20 percent increase from the previous year, TSA said on Thursday. The firearms were intercepted at 236 airports, 12 more than in 2014, TSA said. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport seized the most guns in 2015 with 153, followed by international airports in Atlanta with 144, Houston with 100, Denver with 90 and Phoenix with 73, TSA reported.   read more

Coal has been the primary source of fuel for U.S. power plants for the last century, but its use has been declining since peaking in 2007, which is expected to continue as the federal government imposes rules to limit carbon emissions. EIA said gas produced a record high 37 million megawatt hours per day of electricity on average during the first ten months of 2015. Coal, meanwhile, produced about 39 MWh per day. One megawatt is enough to power about 1,000 U.S. homes.   read more