Month: October 2020

Despite promises to stop spying on U.S. allies, new reporting on Tuesday revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) under President Barack Obama continued to surveil friendly heads of state, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The exclusive investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that Obama ramped up the surveillance of top Israeli officials…

Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Ron KindRonald (Ron) James KindCoronavirus culture war over reopening economy hits Capitol Hill How the GOP hopes to overcome steep odds in House battle The Hill’s Campaign Report: 200 days to Election Day 2020 MORE (D-Wis.) are both prime targets for their opponents, with each seen as a potential takedown…

European ministers, gathered in Brussels on Friday one week after the Paris attacks, vowed to tighten external border controls, backing France’s call for a fundamental revision of the so-called Schengen deal to allow the “systematic” controlling of EU citizens at borders. The 26-nation, passport-free Schengen zone—which European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker dubbed a “unique symbol…

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders retained a previously established lead and became the hands-down winner of the readers’ choice for TIME’s “Person of the Year,” the magazine announced on Monday, beating out all his political rivals in the U.S. as well as notable individiuals from around the world by receiving nearly twice the support of the runner-up. The…

Amid rising anti-Muslim attacks across the United States, many from within targeted communities are calling on U.S. society to address the root causes of this violence by examining deep and “structural” Islamophobia, manifested in modern U.S. history—from the War on Terror to the 2016 presidential race. “For some of us, organizing and resisting against this…

The idea of a single-payer healthcare system has entered the presidential debates—and that’s a very good thing, a doctors group says, as it is “only equitable, financially responsible and humane cure for our healthcare ills.” In a statement released Friday by the non-partisan Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), its president, Dr. Robert Zarr,…

Sparking outcry from environmentalist and Indigenous groups, Justin Trudeau took a pro-oil stance and argued for more controversial pipelines to carry Canada’s dirty tar sands oil to coastal ports, in comments at a sustainability conference in Vancouver on Wednesday. “We want the low-carbon economy that continues to provide good jobs and great opportunities for all…

A French judge has summoned the former chief of Guantánamo Bay, retired U.S. General Geoffrey Miller, to appear in court on March 1 to face allegations of torture against detainees. Miller presided over the U.S. military prison in Cuba from 2002 to 2004, shortly after then-President George W. Bush approved the use of so-called “enhanced…

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) defied warnings from the international community and launched a long-range missile late Saturday, placing an earth observation satellite into orbit. The launch, described by United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon as a “provocative action,” violated current UN Security Council resolutions and quickly spurred international condemnation—as well as an emergency…

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday warned that the U.S. government risks opening a “Pandora’s Box” if it successfully forces Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the suspected San Bernardino shooters. “Encryption and anonymity are needed as enablers of both freedom of expression and opinion, and the right to privacy,”…