January 2018 – Page 4 – Bridge Agents

Trump Blackmail at UN Won’t Work if Others Step Up

January 18, 2018 Bridge Agents

(HRW) – The US government has announced it will cut its expected January contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by half – a move that could undermine efforts to educate children, provide health care to mothers, and feed babies. The US gives this money voluntarily, but, since it’s the agency’s largest donor, this sudden and unexpected decision to withhold US$65 million could have an immediate impact on the Palestinian refugees who rely on UN operations. US President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy about…

Why Wait? Wikipedia and Google Accidentally Declare Putin the Winner of March 2018 Presidential Elections

January 18, 2018 Bridge Agents

Putin accidentally declared winner of the 2018 presidential elections by Google // Screenshot by Christopher Moldes (GV) – Russia’s presidential elections are two months away, and while there are multiple contenders, the expectation is that Vladimir Putin will secure a fourth term handily. On January 15, in what looked like an effort to save time or skip the nail-biting drama of counting votes on election night, Google declared Putin the winner of the March 2018 election. A Russian-language Google search of “elections 2018″ resulted in the usual snapshot of the…

No, Immigrants Are Not Stealing Our Jobs

January 17, 2018 Bridge Agents

United States (FEE) – The continuing controversy over immigration, legal and illegal, smothers long-standing flattering descriptions of the United States as a “nation of immigrants.” Ditto for “melting pot” and e pluribus unum (“out of many, one”). I enjoy asking people opposed to immigration when it was that immigrants began to undermine the US economy. Answers laced with smugness about immigrants “stealing our jobs” and racial or ethnic animus are common. Amusing to me was a relative who said that immigrants “went bad after our people arrived.” It is good…

India’s Biometric ID System Is Leaking Personal Data — And State Agencies Won’t Fix the Problem

January 17, 2018 Bridge Agents

(GV – India’s national scheme holds the personal data of more than 1.13 billion citizens and residents of India within a unique ID system branded as Aadhaar, which means “foundation” in Hindi. But as more and more evidence reveals that the government is not keeping this information private, the actual foundation of the system appears shaky at best. On January 4, 2018, The Tribune of India, a news outlet based out of Chandigarh, created a firestorm when it reported on that people were selling access to Aadhaar data on WhatsApp, for…

US Freezes Funding for Palestinian Relief Efforts – State Department

January 17, 2018 Bridge Agents

United States (Sputnik) – The United States will withhold more than $60 million in aid to the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a briefing on Tuesday. “$65 million, that is money that will be held for future consideration,” Nauert said regarding UNRWA funding. “It’s money that’s being frozen at this time, it’s not being cancelled.” The United States has committed a voluntary contribution of $60 million for 2018 to sustain schools and health services, Nauert said. The decision by the United States is…

Myanmar: A War Of Oil, Jade, Land; Not Ethnicity

January 16, 2018 Bridge Agents

Myanmar, (TFC)— The war in Myanmar is a complicated one, charged with the demonic omen of “ethnic cleansing.” However, something else is bumping around the background. A factor even more obscure than the possibility of a proxy-conflict between the US and China. Natural resources, minerals, and massive oil projects may be closer to the true motives of this horrific conflict than most realize. The conflict in Myanmar has seen increasing coverage, especially in independent outlets such as Democracy Now. Half a million people have been displaced in recent months with…

The e-bus revolution has arrived

January 16, 2018 Bridge Agents

(CK) – Early in the fall of 2017, a dozen municipalities from around the world resoundingly signalled that the long-awaited electric bus revolution had finally pulled out of the station. The cities, whose ranks include London, Paris and Vancouver, released a declaration during a C40 Cities summit that after 2025, they’d only purchase zero-emission vehicles, including city buses. Los Angeles County, one of the signatories, ordered 95 e-buses in the summer of 2017 for Metro, the region’s transit authority, while other cities will also move sooner, says Caroline Watson, the…

Who are we talking about when we talk about prostitution and sex work?

January 15, 2018 Bridge Agents

Canada (Conversation) – Prostitution is now illegal in Canada. A criminal offence occurs every time sexual services are exchanged for compensation. Canada’s new prostitution laws — which came into force in 2014 — are consistent with laws now in place in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, France and the Republic of Ireland. This approach — often referred to as the Nordic model — criminalizes the purchase of sexual services in an effort to end the practice of prostitution itself. In Canada, four new criminal offences target prostitution and the development…

The Murder of Jason Pero Sparks Outrage From This Wisconsin Community

January 15, 2018 Bridge Agents

Wisconsin (PT) – Jason Pero went home from school due to illness. A few hours later he was dead, murdered by an out of control cop that works for perhaps one of the worst departments in Wisconsin, the Ashland County Sheriffs Department. For those unfamiliar, Ashland County sits on the South Shore of Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin, with the city of Ashland serving as it’s hub. Ashland has a population that floats around 8,100 people. Almost half of the total county population of 15,714. Just 9 miles to the East,…

UK Refuses to Grant Assange Diplomatic Status – Foreign Office

January 15, 2018 Bridge Agents

(Sputnik) – “The government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr. Assange here in the UK. The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter. Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper. The news comes in wake of the El Comercio news outlet’s report published on January 10, regarding the number of an identity document, registered in the Ecuadorian Civil Registration System under Assange’s name. However, the reports circulating in media have been insisting that the…