U.S. and the World

33 to 48 of about 1857 News
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Canadian Journalist’s Detention at U.S. Border Raises Press Freedom Alarms

He endured aggressive interrogations at border crossings in some of the world’s most authoritarian nations. But a recent confrontation at the U.S. border left him shaken. U.S. agents confiscated his phones and retained their SIM cards that held his confidential data. Privacy advocates said it illustrated a loophole that’s especially problematic for journalists: Without a warrant, U.S. border agents can legally search digital devices that they wouldn’t be able to touch anywhere else.   read more

9/11 Families Claim GOP Senators’ Proposal Will “Gut” New Law Allowing Them to Sue Saudi Arabia

Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families and Survivors United For Justice Against Terrorism, said Graham and McCain are seeking to "torpedo" the law by making changes demanded by Saudi Arabia's lobbyists. "We have reviewed the language, and it is an absolute betrayal," Strada said. "The president-elect has made his support for JASTA crystal clear, and there is zero risk that he will support this kind of backroom backstabbing of the 9/11 families."   read more

Germany Emerges as Test Case for Facebook Regulation of Online Hate Speech

In Germany, more than almost anywhere else in the West, lawmakers are demanding that Facebook go further to police what is said on the social network. The country’s lawmakers also want other U.S. tech giants to meet similar standards. “Facebook has a certain responsibility to uphold the laws,” said Heiko Maas, the German justice minister. In October, Maas suggested the company could be held criminally liable for users’ illegal hate speech postings if it does not swiftly remove them.   read more

Israeli Firm that Built Israel’s Border Walls has High Hopes to Do Same for Trump

Magal has built high-tech walls along Israel's volatile borders, as well as a high-tech barrier separating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip from Israel. Its products include cameras, sophisticated sensors, robots and software to operate the systems. Despite a mixed record of profitability and a historically volatile stock, the company's shares have surged on the Nasdaq Stock Market since Donald Trump was elected president on Nov. 8. "For sure this will be a mega project," said CEO Koursh.   read more

Facebook Said to Create Censorship Tool in Effort to Re-Enter Chinese Market

Facebook has quietly developed software for China to suppress posts from appearing in people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas. The feature was created to help Facebook get into China. It illustrates the extent to which Facebook may be willing to compromise one of its core mission statements, “to make the world more open and connected,” to gain access to a market of 1.4 billion Chinese people. Several employees have left Facebook after expressing misgivings about it.   read more

Trump’s Expected Economic Retreat from Latin America Fuels Region’s Outreach to China

Trump on the campaign trail pledged to break up trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, deport illegal migrants and build a wall to keep out millions from Mexico and Latin America, sending shockwaves across a region that for two centuries has looked northward for policy guidance. Nobody in the region is expecting much from Trump in terms of really productive policy. That leaves room for China to play a much more important role," said China expert Margaret Myers.   read more

Intrigue Swirls around Case of Billion-Dollar Theft from Banks of Moldova that Lands at FBI Doorstep

The past months of Mihail Gofman's life read like spy fiction: Fleeing to Washington from Moldova pursuers, he gives U.S. officials information he claims links top Moldovan political leaders and possibly U.S. citizens to a $1 billion heist that gutted the tiny eastern European nation's banking system. Now he's holed up in Washington trying to make the case that Americans should care what happened in a little-known country 5,000 miles away — and to help it try to recover the missing money.   read more

World Leaders to Uphold Paris Climate Accord, With or Without the U.S.

China and other countries will stay committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change, irrespective of what the next U.S. administration does. “Of course they are going to move forward,” said U.S. climate envoy Pershing. “I’m hearing the same from the Europeans...the Brazilians. I’m hearing the same from Mexico...Canada...Costa Rica and from Colombia.” Trump has called global warming a “hoax” on social media and promised during his campaign to “cancel” the Paris deal adopted last year.   read more

Obama Hopes to Further Shrink Guantánamo Population before Trump Expands It

If Obama can't close it, his successor likely won't. Donald Trump has not only pledged to keep Guantanamo open, in April he said that "we're gonna load it up with some bad dudes, believe me. We're gonna load it up." He also said he'd try U.S. citizens accused of terrorism at the base, though that would require Congress to change federal law. Obama "knows what's at stake and he knows he can't leave the door to Guantanamo open for Donald Trump," said Amnesty Intl's Naureen Shah.   read more

Int’l Criminal Court Considers War Crimes Probe of U.S. Military and CIA Torture in Afghanistan

U.S. military and CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan, the Court's chief prosecutor said, suggesting that American citizens could be indicted. "Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity..." said the report. And that CIA operatives may have subjected 27 detainees in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania to the same, as well as rape.   read more

Pentagon’s Focus on Artificial Intelligence in Weaponry Portends Robot Arms Race

Almost unnoticed outside defense circles, the Pentagon has put artificial intelligence at the center of its strategy to maintain the U.S.’ position as the world’s dominant military power. It is spending billions of dollars to develop autonomous and semiautonomous weapons and to build an arsenal stocked with the kind of weaponry that until now has existed only in Hollywood movies and science fiction, raising alarm among scientists and activists concerned by the implications of a robot arms race.   read more

Federal Judge Denies Former Guantánamo Detainee’s Request for U.S. Statement of His Innocence

Khan said the Afghan government seized his lands after he was captured, and a ruling that he was innocent might help him get the deeds back. He also said that because of his past, he could not obtain a passport, which he needed to travel to a medical clinic in India for treatment for hearing loss he suffered as a result of “loud blaring music” used “during interrogations, mostly at CIA facilities before” Guantánamo. “This injury is not redressable by a federal court," wrote the judge.   read more

Becoming World’s Biggest Tobacco Company is Goal of British Firm’s $47-Billion Plan to Enter U.S. E-Cigarette Market

British American Tobacco has offered to buy out Reynolds American for $47 billion in an attempt to gain a strong presence in the U.S., a lucrative market where sales of e-cigarettes are booming. The takeover would create the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company and combine BAT's presence in developing countries with Reynolds' almost exclusive focus on the U.S. "If vapor accelerates as we expect, then the U.S. is the place to be," said equity analyst Owen Bennett.   read more

Protests Erupt Over Naming of Sexy U.S. Comic Book Character as U.N. Ambassador for Female Empowerment

More than 600 U.N. staff members have signed an online petition that says “a large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee-high boots” is not an appropriate spokeswoman for gender equity at the United Nations. Women’s advocates inside and outside the U.N. say the selection of Wonder Woman is particularly ill timed because the U.N. this month rejected seven female candidates for secretary-general.   read more

Terrorism Threat Outweighs Privacy, Argue Foreign Prosecutors in Plea for Global Tech Access

Molins said there are tech firms to whom they don't send requests anymore since "we know in advance we will not get any answer." The four prosecutors insisted that having access to personal phone and computer data would help not only prevent attacks, but also protect vulnerable people and teenagers. "We are now often facing young people who...radicalize alone behind their computers without their family and entourage being able to do something," said Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw.   read more

Debate over Conspiracy as War Crime Casts Shadow across Guantánamo Detainee Conviction

The question is whether the military commissions can prosecute additional terrorism defendants for conspiracy. That charge is useful for trying people suspected of participating in a terrorist group. But while conspiracy is considered a crime under U.S. law, it is not a war crime by international law. “There is still no resolution of this basic constitutional question...” said professor Vladeck. “The court let this one conviction stand, but in the process, it didn’t actually settle the fight.”   read more
33 to 48 of about 1857 News
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 ... 117 Next

U.S. and the World

33 to 48 of about 1857 News
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 ... 117 Next

Canadian Journalist’s Detention at U.S. Border Raises Press Freedom Alarms

He endured aggressive interrogations at border crossings in some of the world’s most authoritarian nations. But a recent confrontation at the U.S. border left him shaken. U.S. agents confiscated his phones and retained their SIM cards that held his confidential data. Privacy advocates said it illustrated a loophole that’s especially problematic for journalists: Without a warrant, U.S. border agents can legally search digital devices that they wouldn’t be able to touch anywhere else.   read more

9/11 Families Claim GOP Senators’ Proposal Will “Gut” New Law Allowing Them to Sue Saudi Arabia

Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families and Survivors United For Justice Against Terrorism, said Graham and McCain are seeking to "torpedo" the law by making changes demanded by Saudi Arabia's lobbyists. "We have reviewed the language, and it is an absolute betrayal," Strada said. "The president-elect has made his support for JASTA crystal clear, and there is zero risk that he will support this kind of backroom backstabbing of the 9/11 families."   read more

Germany Emerges as Test Case for Facebook Regulation of Online Hate Speech

In Germany, more than almost anywhere else in the West, lawmakers are demanding that Facebook go further to police what is said on the social network. The country’s lawmakers also want other U.S. tech giants to meet similar standards. “Facebook has a certain responsibility to uphold the laws,” said Heiko Maas, the German justice minister. In October, Maas suggested the company could be held criminally liable for users’ illegal hate speech postings if it does not swiftly remove them.   read more

Israeli Firm that Built Israel’s Border Walls has High Hopes to Do Same for Trump

Magal has built high-tech walls along Israel's volatile borders, as well as a high-tech barrier separating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip from Israel. Its products include cameras, sophisticated sensors, robots and software to operate the systems. Despite a mixed record of profitability and a historically volatile stock, the company's shares have surged on the Nasdaq Stock Market since Donald Trump was elected president on Nov. 8. "For sure this will be a mega project," said CEO Koursh.   read more

Facebook Said to Create Censorship Tool in Effort to Re-Enter Chinese Market

Facebook has quietly developed software for China to suppress posts from appearing in people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas. The feature was created to help Facebook get into China. It illustrates the extent to which Facebook may be willing to compromise one of its core mission statements, “to make the world more open and connected,” to gain access to a market of 1.4 billion Chinese people. Several employees have left Facebook after expressing misgivings about it.   read more

Trump’s Expected Economic Retreat from Latin America Fuels Region’s Outreach to China

Trump on the campaign trail pledged to break up trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, deport illegal migrants and build a wall to keep out millions from Mexico and Latin America, sending shockwaves across a region that for two centuries has looked northward for policy guidance. Nobody in the region is expecting much from Trump in terms of really productive policy. That leaves room for China to play a much more important role," said China expert Margaret Myers.   read more

Intrigue Swirls around Case of Billion-Dollar Theft from Banks of Moldova that Lands at FBI Doorstep

The past months of Mihail Gofman's life read like spy fiction: Fleeing to Washington from Moldova pursuers, he gives U.S. officials information he claims links top Moldovan political leaders and possibly U.S. citizens to a $1 billion heist that gutted the tiny eastern European nation's banking system. Now he's holed up in Washington trying to make the case that Americans should care what happened in a little-known country 5,000 miles away — and to help it try to recover the missing money.   read more

World Leaders to Uphold Paris Climate Accord, With or Without the U.S.

China and other countries will stay committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change, irrespective of what the next U.S. administration does. “Of course they are going to move forward,” said U.S. climate envoy Pershing. “I’m hearing the same from the Europeans...the Brazilians. I’m hearing the same from Mexico...Canada...Costa Rica and from Colombia.” Trump has called global warming a “hoax” on social media and promised during his campaign to “cancel” the Paris deal adopted last year.   read more

Obama Hopes to Further Shrink Guantánamo Population before Trump Expands It

If Obama can't close it, his successor likely won't. Donald Trump has not only pledged to keep Guantanamo open, in April he said that "we're gonna load it up with some bad dudes, believe me. We're gonna load it up." He also said he'd try U.S. citizens accused of terrorism at the base, though that would require Congress to change federal law. Obama "knows what's at stake and he knows he can't leave the door to Guantanamo open for Donald Trump," said Amnesty Intl's Naureen Shah.   read more

Int’l Criminal Court Considers War Crimes Probe of U.S. Military and CIA Torture in Afghanistan

U.S. military and CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan, the Court's chief prosecutor said, suggesting that American citizens could be indicted. "Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity..." said the report. And that CIA operatives may have subjected 27 detainees in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania to the same, as well as rape.   read more

Pentagon’s Focus on Artificial Intelligence in Weaponry Portends Robot Arms Race

Almost unnoticed outside defense circles, the Pentagon has put artificial intelligence at the center of its strategy to maintain the U.S.’ position as the world’s dominant military power. It is spending billions of dollars to develop autonomous and semiautonomous weapons and to build an arsenal stocked with the kind of weaponry that until now has existed only in Hollywood movies and science fiction, raising alarm among scientists and activists concerned by the implications of a robot arms race.   read more

Federal Judge Denies Former Guantánamo Detainee’s Request for U.S. Statement of His Innocence

Khan said the Afghan government seized his lands after he was captured, and a ruling that he was innocent might help him get the deeds back. He also said that because of his past, he could not obtain a passport, which he needed to travel to a medical clinic in India for treatment for hearing loss he suffered as a result of “loud blaring music” used “during interrogations, mostly at CIA facilities before” Guantánamo. “This injury is not redressable by a federal court," wrote the judge.   read more

Becoming World’s Biggest Tobacco Company is Goal of British Firm’s $47-Billion Plan to Enter U.S. E-Cigarette Market

British American Tobacco has offered to buy out Reynolds American for $47 billion in an attempt to gain a strong presence in the U.S., a lucrative market where sales of e-cigarettes are booming. The takeover would create the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company and combine BAT's presence in developing countries with Reynolds' almost exclusive focus on the U.S. "If vapor accelerates as we expect, then the U.S. is the place to be," said equity analyst Owen Bennett.   read more

Protests Erupt Over Naming of Sexy U.S. Comic Book Character as U.N. Ambassador for Female Empowerment

More than 600 U.N. staff members have signed an online petition that says “a large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee-high boots” is not an appropriate spokeswoman for gender equity at the United Nations. Women’s advocates inside and outside the U.N. say the selection of Wonder Woman is particularly ill timed because the U.N. this month rejected seven female candidates for secretary-general.   read more

Terrorism Threat Outweighs Privacy, Argue Foreign Prosecutors in Plea for Global Tech Access

Molins said there are tech firms to whom they don't send requests anymore since "we know in advance we will not get any answer." The four prosecutors insisted that having access to personal phone and computer data would help not only prevent attacks, but also protect vulnerable people and teenagers. "We are now often facing young people who...radicalize alone behind their computers without their family and entourage being able to do something," said Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw.   read more

Debate over Conspiracy as War Crime Casts Shadow across Guantánamo Detainee Conviction

The question is whether the military commissions can prosecute additional terrorism defendants for conspiracy. That charge is useful for trying people suspected of participating in a terrorist group. But while conspiracy is considered a crime under U.S. law, it is not a war crime by international law. “There is still no resolution of this basic constitutional question...” said professor Vladeck. “The court let this one conviction stand, but in the process, it didn’t actually settle the fight.”   read more
33 to 48 of about 1857 News
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