In The News

TechCrunch: Google Argues Against Global “Right to Be Forgotten”

Natasha Lomas September 11, 2018
Google contends that Europe’s internet privacy rules should not extend to global domains. In 2014, the European Court of Justice “ruled search engines must respect Europeans’ privacy rights, and – on request – remove erroneous, irrelevant and/or outdated information about a private citizen,” reports Natasha Lomas for TechCrunch. Google responded by applying delistings on local European domains,...

New York Times: Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

September 6, 2018
The United States is in democratic crisis with chaos in the White House and ongoing questions about the president’s capabilities. The New York Times took the extraordinary step of publishing an anonymous opinion essay said to be written by a senior official in the Trump administration, among the many “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations…. But...

Reuters: US Accuses China of LinkedIn Spy Campaign

Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay September 5, 2018
Social media platforms are designed to gather data from users in order to promote connections. US counterintelligence chief William Evanina warns that Chinese agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts “to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets,” reports Reuters. “LinkedIn says it has 575 million users in more than 200 counties and territories, including more than 150...

Project Syndicate: China Is Losing the New Cold War

Minxin Pei September 5, 2018
The Communist Party of China seeks to avoid the fate of the Soviet Union and its political system, and that is why China adopted some features of capitalism with a focus on economic growth. Nominal per capital income increased from $333 in 1991 to $7,329 in 2017. But China, much like the Soviet Union, is being drawn into a costly arms race with the United States. China’s defense budget, standing...

Washington Post: US Denies Passports to Border Citizens

Kevin Sieff September 4, 2018
The United States is increasingly denying passports to citizens who live along the Mexican border – even those with official birth certificates. The target: babies born at home, often by midwives. The policy was in effect since 2000, but enforcement has increased. “The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth...

Al Jazeera: Rohingya Refugees Made Permanent, a Cycle Repeated

Linah Alsaafin September 2, 2018
As the United Nations invests in improved infrastructure and living conditions for refugees, risk emerges that temporary homes become permanent and discourage a return home. Camps housing 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are overwhelming, writes Linah Alsaafin, and she compares the experiences with those of Palestinian refugees. The Rohingya camps confront challenges...

Vanguard: Earth Loses a Statesman – Kofi Annan

Charles Kumolo August 21, 2018
The world is mourning the death of Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. “Annan was not the first person nor the only African to have headed the global body, but his ability to lead and inspire endeared him to the world,” writes Charles Kumolo for Vanguard in Nigeria. “His 10-year leadership of the UN in the post-cold war era, saw him championing...