Persistent threat, persistent surveillance

June 02, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

A law being debated in Congress will alter but not end post-9/11 measures affecting privacy and spying.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

To read this post and thousands more articles, subscribe today!

Police in Bangladesh on Monday filed the first formal murder charges against the owner of a building that collapsed in 2013, killing more than 1,130 people in the country's worst industrial disaster. The collapse of Rana Plaza, built on swampy ground outside the capital, Dhaka, ranks amongst the world's worst industrial accidents, and sparked an outcry for greater safety in the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garments. In all, 42 people were charged over the disaster, a rare step in a country where critics complain that powerful garment industry bosses often go unpunished for factory accidents.

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday for a Muslim woman who did not get hired after she showed up to a job interview with clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch wearing a black headscarf. The justices said that employers generally have to accommodate job applicants and employees with religious needs if the employer at least has an idea that such accommodation is necessary. Job applicant Samantha Elauf did not tell her interviewer she was Muslim. But Justice Antonin Scalia said for the court that Abercrombie "at least suspected" that Elauf wore a headscarf for religious reasons.

A senior US official said Monday that resettlement in a third country is not the answer to the swelling tide of boat people in Southeast Asia and called for Myanmar to give citizenship to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution there. Anne Richard, US Assistant Secretary of State for population, migration and refugees, said resettling all Rohingya refugees in the United States would entice others to leave their homeland.

A solar-powered plane attempting a round-the-world flight cut short the seventh leg of its 22,000-mile global journey, landing in Nagoya, western Japan, due to bad weather. The Solar Impulse 2 left Nanjing, China, on Sunday to fly over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. The plane, which is covered in solar cells, took off from Abu Dhabi in March.

Microchip maker Intel is buying chip designer Altera for about $16.7 billion in cash. The deal comes after an earlier round of talks between the two companies ended in April. The transaction is the latest in ongoing consolidation in the industry that's aimed at boosting revenue and profit. Intel was already partners with Altera, manufacturing some top-end chips designed by the much smaller company, while Altera has used some of Intel's technology in the design of its chips under a long-term agreement reached in 2013.

Lovers in Paris, beware: City authorities are taking down thousands of padlocks affixed to the famed Pont des Arts bridge. The city says the locks, usually hung by couples to express eternal love, are causing long-term damage to Paris heritage sites. Last summer a chunk of fencing fell off under their weight. Authorities began dismantling the metal grills along the sides of the bridge Monday and plan to remove 45 tons of padlocks in all.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error