West Lafayette, Indiana - When the United States pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord last year, 20 states—including New York and California—resolved to form a new, nonfederal agreement to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

St. Paul, Minnesota - The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Minnesota have charged Minnesota-based Sellers Playbook with running a large business opportunity scheme. A federal court temporarily halted the operation pending resolution of the case.

Washington, DC - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued new scientific recommendations aimed at encouraging more widespread innovation and development of novel medication-assisted treatment (MAT) drugs for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). New draft guidance issued today outlines new ways for drug developers to consider measuring and demonstrating the effectiveness and benefits of new or existing MAT products. This new draft guidance is part of the FDA’s ongoing commitment to promote more widespread development, access to and adoption of MAT.

Washington, DC - Sequencing the fetal DNA that circulates in a pregnant woman’s blood holds promise for modern genomic medicine, according to a review article by Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., a senior researcher and institute director at the National Institutes of Health, and her colleague. Fetal DNA sequencing improves the accuracy of prenatal screening tests for genetic conditions and at times has led to the diagnosis of maternal conditions that may have otherwise gone undetected. The article appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

San Diego, California - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials from ports of entry in the San Diego and Imperial Valley Counties are warning undocumented immigrants about the dangers of being smuggled in a vehicle compartment or trunk.

Hollywood, California - As part of The Department of Justice’s review of nearly 1,300 legacy antitrust judgments, the Antitrust Division Thursday announced that it has opened a review of the Paramount Consent Decrees, which for over seventy years have regulated how certain movie studios distribute films to movie theatres.  The purpose of the review is to determine whether or not the decrees should be terminated or modified.