A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that alleged Google’s nonconsensual use of facial recognition technology violated users’ privacy rights, allowing the tech giant to continue to scan and store their biometric data. [...]

Instead of hitting Russia's energy sector, Washington's sanctions imposed on Moscow since 2014 have finally backfired on major US oil and gas companies, depriving them of lucrative opportunities and forcing them out of Russia. While Russia is boosting oil output following a decision by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to ease extraction cuts, US petroleum companies are reaping the bitter fruits of� [...]

Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is taking oil companies to court “for knowingly killing people all over the world.” “This is no different from the smoking issue. The tobacco industry knew for years and years and years and decades, that smoking would kill people, would harm people and create cancer, and were hiding that fact from the people and denied it. [...]

A group of some of the largest hospital chains in the US has had it with Big Pharma price gouging, announcing their intention to form their own nonprofit drug manufacturing company.  A coalition of several of America's largest hospital systems have announced that they will collaborate on the creation of a not-for-profit organization to manufacture and distribute an as-yet-unnamed list of generic [...]

In what supporters described as "a victory for accountability for corporate crimes," a U.S. judge ruled in favor of allowing Colombians to sue former Chiquita Brand International executives for the company's funding of a paramilitary group that murdered plaintiffs' family members. [...]

Environmental and consumer advocacy groups hailed decision by food manufacturer and called on Congress to follow suit. General Mills will start labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in all its food products, thanks to Vermont's impending GMO law and the failure of the 'voluntary labeling' law in U.S. Congress this week. [...]

The mother of a victim killed in the Malaysian plane crash in eastern Ukraine has started legal proceedings to sue the Ukrainian authorities in the European Court of Human Rights, demanding about $1 million for pain and suffering. The mother of “Olga L.”, a German citizen, submitted her case against Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights last week. She is demanding €800,000 (roughl [...]

Canadian honey producers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Bayer and Syngenta to recover losses dating as far back as 2006, claiming that neonicotinoids they produce and sell are killing bees and cause massive material damage. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all Canadian beekeepers by honey producers Sun Parlor Honey Ltd. and Munro Honey alleges that Bayer Cropscience Inc. and Syngenta [...]

Facebook has been given four weeks to respond to a class action, launched against it by an Austrian activist and supported by 60,000 users. The suit claims Facebook violated users' privacy, by cooperating with the NSA's PRISM program. The class action initiated by Max Schrems, an Austrian lawyer, data privacy activist and founder of Europe vs. Facebook group has passed its first review in the V [...]

Activists around the world will join the Gitmo Global Day of Action, demanding the prison be closed and an end to the indefinite detention of its inmates. They say President Obama hasn't fulfilled his promises as hunger strikes and force-feeding continue. [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Ukraine's military and security services are "€œdangerously interfering with press freedom"€ by detaining journalists working with Russian news agencies and denying others entry into the country. [...]

A worker at Fukushima filed a historic lawsuit over radiation exposure, saying TEPCO exposed him to dangerous levels of radiation without his knowledge. Shinichi is asking TEPCO for 11 million yen in compensation for the company’s negligence. That translates to only about $110,000 in US dollars – a small price for a big company to pay after exposing millions of people, animals, soil, and water [...]