Catholic businesses may not be forced to subsidize abortions or fertility treatments, ruled federal Judge Daniel Traynor, a Donald Trump appointee to the District Court of North Dakota, on Tuesday. Traynor granted 9,000 Catholic businesses a permanent injunction against an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule requiring employers to provide abortion-related leave and other practices contrary to these businesses’ religious beliefs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Target’s chief executive officer plans to meet with the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose civil rights organization has encouraged consumers to avoid U.S. retailers that scaled backed their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A National Action Network spokesperson on Thursday confirmed Sharpton planned to see Target CEO Brian Cornell in New York but declined to provide any details about the meeting, which was first reported by CNBC. Target is among a slew of companies, including Walmart, Amazon and PepsiCo, that have eliminated policies and programs aimed at...

A North Dakota mayor has resigned after he was the subject of a sexual harassment investigation. Tom Ross, now the former mayor of Minot, N.D., reportedly sent an explicit nude video to Stefanie Stalheim, the city attorney of Minot, on Jan. 14. Local outlet reported that the exchange occurred just after the two officials got off a phone call where they discussed the suicide of a police officer who was under investigation at the time. Ross' resignation as mayor comes more than two months after the incident, and was submitted...

A North Dakota jury this week found Greenpeace liable for defamation, conspiracy and other claims over its participation in the Dakota Access pipeline protests that lasted from 2016 to 2017, awarding developer Energy Transfer LP $660 million in damages. Legal experts warn the decision could significantly deter other environmental groups from protesting oil and gas companies and their infrastructure around the US.

“The potential for liability itself will have a chilling effect,” said Jennifer Safstrom, an assistant clinical law professor at Vanderbilt University.

Greenpeace must pay the oil company that operates the Dakota Access Pipeline hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for defaming them, a North Dakota jury decided Wednesday — a massive financial blow to the group that environmentalists say could chill future climate advocacy. The case centered on Greenpeace’s involvement in the protests over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which became a cultural flash point in the United States, drawing thousands of protesters to Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in 2016 and 2017. Dallas-based Energy Transfer, which runs the...

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Greenpeace said its activism will never stop despite a North Dakota jury ordering the organization to pay more than $660 million in damages for defamation and other claims related to protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The verdict, delivered Wednesday, could push Greenpeace toward financial ruin, the group has acknowledged.

Greenpeace has been ordered to pay the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline $667 million for defamation and its role in organizing protests against the oil pipeline, a North Dakota jury ruled on Wednesday. Environmentalists have warned that the verdict will be detrimental to environmental advocacy and will bankrupt the organization. Texas-based Energy Transfer’s and its subsidiary Dakota Access’s lawsuit named three entities as defendants: Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, and Greenpeace Fund Inc., the network’s funding arm.

Greenpeace has been ordered to pay more than $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer Partners LP after the Texas-based oil company accused the environmental group of defamation in connection with protests against an oil pipeline almost a decade ago. A jury in North Dakota found Greenpeace and its US entities liable for defamation, conspiracy, and other claims for its involvement in protests at the Dakota Access pipeline. The construction of the conduit, running from the western part of the state to southern Illinois, sparked months of protests, with clashes...

Environmental group Greenpeace was ordered Wednesday to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to a Texas-based pipeline company for its role in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline's construction in North Dakota. On Wednesday, a nine-person jury at the Morton County courthouse in south-central North Dakota awarded more than $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access, according to calculations from Greenpeace. The company accused Greenpeace USA, parent group Greenpeace International, and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc.