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☆ During ‘China Week,’ House GOP revived surveillance program. Asian Americans are slamming it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Asian American groups are sounding the alarm after the House this week passed a bill seeking to revive the highly controversial, Trump-era surveillance program the China Initiative. “Originally a Trump-era initiative sold as a national security measure, the China Initiative instead turned out to be a witch hunt,” leaders from civil rights groups Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Stop AAPI Hate, and the Asian American Scholar Forum said in a joint statement. The groups added that the initiative devastated families and impeded the United States’ ability to retain and attract academic talent. Asian American advocacy groups have long been warning of the security program’s “chilling” effects. He said that he “concluded that this initiative is not the right approach.”For more from NBC Asian America, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Persons: Lance Gooden, ”, Mike Johnson, Jeff Sessions, Gang Chen, Chen, ” Chen, “, Anming Hu, University of Tennessee —, China Initiative —, ” Hu, Biden, Matthew Olsen Organizations: China Initiative, Lawmakers, Trump, Justice, American, Forum, NBC News, Chinese Communist Party, ”, MIT, U.S . Capitol, Nanotechnology, University of Tennessee, White, of Justice, George Mason University, National Security Division, DOJ, NBC Asian Locations: China, U.S, States, Texas, NBC Asian America

☆ Bitcoin tests $70k after Trump says US will be 'crypto capital of the planet'
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Kelly Cloonan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

During remarks over the weekend, Donald Trump said he wants to make the US a "bitcoin superpower." Trump said he has raised $25 million in crypto donations over the last two months. AdvertisementDuring remarks a weekend bitcoin conference, presidential hopeful Donald Trump pledged to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet, and the bitcoin superpower of the world" if elected in November. Kennedy, a staunch crypto supporter, said Trump's policies while in office capped the currency's growth and reminded the audience that Trump once called Bitcoin "a scam against the dollar." AdvertisementTrump's comments follow his party's recent growing support for crypto.

Persons: Donald Trump, Bitcoin, Trump, —, Gary Gensler, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Ross Ulbricht, he's, He's, Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss Organizations: Service, SEC, Twitter, Gemini, Trump, Assets, Government Surveillance Locations: Nashville

☆ House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, waits to speak during a news conference after a closed-door House Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 29, 2024. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia. Johnson told Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" that he and Republicans "understand the necessity of standing with Israel" and he would try this week to advance the aid. Meanwhile, senior GOP lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine are growing frustrated with the months-long wait to bring it to the House floor. "We pass the Senate bill, it goes straight to the president's desk and you start getting the aid to Ukraine immediately.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson, Israel, Mike Turner of Ohio, Biden, John Kirby, Kirby, Donald Trump, Trump, he's, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Greene, Turner, Gregory Meeks, Henry Cuellar Organizations: Republican, Capitol, Sunday, Fox, GOP, House Intelligence, Natural Gas, White House, NBC, Ukraine, White, Trump, Republicans, Washington, Senate, Democrats, House Foreign Affairs, Texas Democrat Locations: Louisiana, Washington , DC, Israel, Ukraine, Asia, U.S, Gaza, Taiwan, Iran, Mexico, White, Florida, Georgia, Russia, United States, Texas

☆ The North Korean refugees sold to Chinese husbands
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

China considers North Korean refugees to be economic migrants, and forcibly deports them back to North Korea – where, as alleged defectors, they face imprisonment, possible torture or worse, activists say. During that period, she also met other North Korean refugees in the same situation – with their status public knowledge in the village, she said. According to the KFI report, the buying of a North Korean wife is “always known to the local community” but rarely reported to authorities. The other North Korean refugees she’d met in town had connections to brokers who could help them escape, while church organizations and non-profit groups discreetly helped raise funds for the journey. Brokers who remain have raised their prices due to increased risks and surveillance, while newcomers to the business are inexperienced, making it a risky gamble for North Korean refugees.

Persons: South Korea CNN — Chae, –, she’s, Yoonjung Seo, She’d, didn’t, “, ”, Chae, ” didn’t, Kim Jeong Ah, Kim, she’d, we’ll, ” Chae, Seo, Unification Ministry –, She’s, – she’s Organizations: South Korea CNN, North, CNN, North Korea –, Korea Future Initiative, KFI, US State Department, Human Rights Watch, Female North, United Nations, Liberty, Korean, Koreans, Unification Ministry, Brokers Locations: Seoul, South Korea, North Korea, China, Laos, Thailand, North Korean, Hebei, Beijing, London, Korea, Korean, North, ”, South, South Koreans

☆ Passing at home, failing abroad: Grading Mike Johnson's first month as speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In late October, House Republicans settled on a little-known congressman as their next leader. AdvertisementMike Johnson has been the speaker of the House for just under a month now following a testy race to succeed ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Johnson's so-called "laddered" approach has been heavily criticized by congressional Democrats, Republicans, and even the White House, who called it an "unserious proposal." AdvertisementSection 702: FailFBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, in Washington. AdvertisementWith just over a month left until the authorization expires, though, Johnson's been mum on the topic since becoming speaker.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Kevin McCarthy, —, Johnson, here's, Tom Brenner, McCarthy, Biden, Tom Emmer, Elise Stefanik, Steve Scalise, Alex Wong, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Mandel Ngan, Michael McCaul, McCaul, Sandy Huffaker, Congress didn't, Christopher Wray, Evan Vucci, Jim Jordan, Johnson's, Patrick McHenry, Win McNamee, who's, he'd, McCarthy's Organizations: Republicans, Business, Service, The Washington, Getty, House Republican, Capitol, House Republicans, Internal Revenue Service, Democratic, White, Congress, Republican, Foreign Affairs Committee, American Farm Bureau Federation, Texas Farm Bureau, Foreign Intelligence, Associated Press, GOP Rep, FBI Locations: Israel, Gaza, Washington , DC, Ukraine, AFP, Mexico, Taiwan, California, Texas, Washington

The tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, will expire at the end of December unless the White House and Congress can cut a deal and resolve an unusually vexing debate that has yielded unlikely alliances at the intersection of privacy and national security. Without the program, administration officials warn, the government won't be able to collect crucial intelligence overseas. National security officials have said that 59% of articles in the president’s daily brief contain Section 702 information. The White House has already dismissed as unworkable the one known legislative proposal that’s been advanced. Despite the clear challenges in reaching a compromise, the last-minute scramble between the White House and Congress has come to be expected each time the government’s surveillance powers are set to be renewed.

Persons: Biden, Matthew Olsen, Ayman al, Donald Trump, Trump, “, ”, Jamil Jaffer, George Mason University’s, That’s, Jim Jordan, Democratic Sen, Ron Wyden, Wyden, Andy Biggs, —, We’re, ” Wyden, “ We’ve, Farnoush Amiri Organizations: WASHINGTON, Foreign Intelligence, House, Department's, Hamas, Trump, White House, Congress, National Security Institute, George, White, Capitol, FBI, Republican Rep, Democratic, Republican, Associated Press Locations: U.S, Russia

The bill follows more than a decade of debate over post-Sept. 11, 2001, surveillance powers that allow domestic law enforcement to warrantlessly scan the vast mountains of data gathered by America's foreign surveillance apparatus. Reforms in the proposed legislation include putting limits on searches of Americans' communications without judicial authorization and a prohibition of so-called "backdoor" searches which invoke foreign intelligence justifications to spy on Americans. "We're introducing a bill that protects both Americans' security and Americans' liberty," Senator Ron Wyden - a Democrat and a longtime critic of government surveillance - said at a press conference on Tuesday. The reforms introduced Tuesday reflect discomfort over the practice of warrantless scans, which are authorized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Reporting by Raphael Satter; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ron Wyden, Amanda Andrade Rhoades, it's, Mike Lee, Representative Warren Davidson, Zoe Lofgren, Raphael Satter, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, FBI, Foreign Intelligence, National Intelligence, Republican, Republican U.S, Representative, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Washington , U.S

☆ Opinion | American Muslims Are in a Painful, Familiar Place
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Rozina Ali | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

Indeed, it’s been dizzying to witness the speed at which the same patterns we saw after Sept. 11, 2001, are playing out. In the United States, it’s as if the country has turned back the clock two decades, but not in the way that Mr. Biden suggests. For those who experienced waves of harassment and government surveillance in the years after Sept. 11, the president’s pledge of “unwavering” support for Israel set off alarm bells. Today, many Muslims in the United States fear a new outbreak of violence. Days after the attacks in Israel, the Biden administration announced that local and federal law enforcement officers across the United States are “closely monitoring” for connected threats.

Persons: Biden, it’s, Abu Ghraib, Donald Trump, — we’ve, we’ve, Wadea Al, Fayoume, Joseph Czuba, Czuba, “, Wadea, Imam Omar Suleiman, Trump, ” Abed Ayoub, —, Islam, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, George W, Bush, Mr, didn’t, We’ve Organizations: Civilian, West Bank, Israel, F.B.I, Islamic, Hamas, Companies, Rights Watch, Mr Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza, United, Afghanistan, United States, U.S, America, hijabs, Illinois, Iraq, Islamic State, Syria, New York City, Qatar, N.Y.U

☆ US drops digital trade demands at WTO to allow room for stronger tech regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai speaks during the Axios BFD event in New York City, U.S., October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has dropped longstanding U.S. digital trade demands in World Trade Organization talks in order to give Congress room to regulate big tech firms, her office said on Wednesday. USTR spokesman Sam Michel said many countries were examining their approaches to data and source code, and how trade rules can affect them. "We need to make clear that digital rules favoring Big Tech monopolies are a non-starter for the U.S. in any trade agreement, including IPEF,” she said. "These digital trade rules prevent countries around the world from using regulation to lock out American companies and their workers from their markets," said John Murphy, the Chamber's senior vice president for international policy.

Persons: Katherine Tai, Brendan McDermid, Trump, Biden, Ron Wyden, ", Wyden, Sam Michel, Michel, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tai, ”, USTR, John Murphy, David Lawder, Diane Craft Organizations: Trade, REUTERS, Rights, . Trade, Trade Organization, U.S, Reuters, Prosperity, WIN, Oregon Democrat, Senate Finance Committee, Congress, Intel, Democratic, Big Tech, . Chamber, Commerce, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Geneva, CHINA, China, Australia, Japan, Korea, Oregon, United States, Mexico, Canada

☆ Nicaragua sends Catholic priests to Rome after talks with Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 18 (Reuters) - Nicaragua sent a dozen Catholic priests who had been "processed" by judicial authorities to Rome on Wednesday, the government said, the latest action, a critic said, in a government crackdown on the church. President Daniel Ortega has at times accused Catholic church leaders of seeking to overthrow his government, while judicial authorities have arrested priests and accused some of committing treason, among other crimes. An exiled Nicaraguan researcher who publishes records of what she describes as the persecution of the Catholic Church under Ortega said sending the priests to Rome was a "forced removal." The researcher, Martha Patricia Molina, accused Ortega of seeking to "strangle and disappear" the church with such action. Bishop Rolando Alvarez, perhaps Ortega's most prominent Catholic critic, was this year sentenced to a 26-year jail term on treason charges, but was not among the 12 priests the government sent to Rome.

Persons: Stringer, Daniel Ortega, Ortega, Martha Patricia Molina, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Valentine Hilaire, David Alire Garcia, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel Organizations: Metropolitan Cathedral, REUTERS, Catholic, Thomson Locations: Managua, Nicaragua, Rome, Italy, Nicaraguan, United States

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ The world's first real AI rules are coming soon. Here's what they will look like.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The EU may be the first to enact generative AI regulation. The EU is likely to be the first region to enact some form of oversight or regulation around generative AI. The European Commission, which includes two dozen countries, is in late-stage negotiations over the AI Act, which it dubbed "the world's first rules on AI." Some AI tools could be banned in EuropeThe Act was first proposed in 2021, before OpenAI released its generative AI tools ChatGPT and DALL-E, leading the likes of Meta, Google, and Microsoft, to become public players in and leading proponents of generative AI. That one requirement could be enough to keep consumer-level generative AI out of China almost entirely.

Persons: —, OpenAI, they've, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Blumenthal, Michelle Donnelan Organizations: Service, EU, European Commission, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Companies, EU Commission, White, Department for Science, Innovation, Technology, State for Science, Partnership, Carnegie Endowment, International Locations: China, EU, Brazil, Europe, China Brazil

France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some climate activists, the police confirmed to Reuters. Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its interior ministry did not comment. Germany does not have a national policy targeting climate activists, who the government considers mainly non-extremist, a spokesperson for the country’s interior ministry said. "Climate protesters can perhaps be locked away, but the climate catastrophe will come anyway," Lachner said after being convicted in Berlin in July for glueing incidents last year and fined 2,700 euros. In the January newspaper interview, the local office of the interior ministry confirmed both devices had been installed.

Persons: Yves Herman, Simon Lachner, he'd, “ radicalisation ”, Lachner’s, Lachner, Regensberg, Lafarge Holcim, SLT, Julien Le Guet, Le Guet, Pascale Leglise, Riham Alkousaa, Juliette Jabkhiro, Andrew MacAskill, William James, Katy Daigle, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, GPS, Bavaria, Reuters, Britain’s National Police Chiefs ’, Los, Prosecutors, Bavarian, Berlin, Military, National Commission, Control, Thomson Locations: France, Sainte, Soline, BERLIN, Lachner, Britain, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Los Angeles, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Bavarian, Regensberg, French, Deux, Sevres, Nouvelle Aquitaine, SLT, Paris, London

☆ Who Was Fernando Villavicencio?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As a journalist, Mr. Villavicencio obtained documents about a government surveillance program that he sent to WikiLeaks but eventually published himself. Some of his work led to death threats and charges that were widely criticized as politically motivated. There, he met with a friend from his undergraduate days at the Central University of Ecuador. But later that year, Mr. Correa left office, and Mr. Villavicencio returned home. For his presidential run, Mr. Villavicencio, 59, cast himself as the anticorruption candidate.

Persons: Villavicencio, “, ”, Grace Jaramillo, Correa, Guillermo Lasso, Lasso’s Organizations: WikiLeaks, Central University of Ecuador, University of British, National Assembly Locations: Peru, University of British Columbia, Ecuador

Dustin VolzDustin Volz is a Washington-based cybersecurity and intelligence reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Before joining the Journal in 2018, Dustin worked at Reuters and National Journal. In addition to Washington, Dustin has reported from London, Berlin and the Dominican Republic. He is a graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Prior to starting his journalism career, Dustin spent a year living in Indonesia as a Fulbright teaching assistant.

Persons: Dustin Volz Dustin Volz, Dustin, Gerald Loeb, Robert F, Arizona State University's Walter Organizations: Wall Street, Reuters, National Journal, White, Correspondents ' Association, Society of Publishers, Kennedy Center for Justice, Human, Arizona State, Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, Communication Locations: Washington, Asia, London, Berlin, Dominican Republic, Indonesia

☆ A bipartisan bill aims to protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Journalists could soon enjoy greater protections under federal law. A bipartisan group of US senators and congressmen united this week to reintroduce the Protect Reporters from Exploitive State Spying Act, or as it is more commonly known, the PRESS Act. First, it would prevent the government from compelling reporters from being forced to disclose their sources. “The PRESS Act is the strongest federal shield bill for journalists we’ve ever seen,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. The PRESS Act would solve for that by enshrining protections into federal law.

Persons: we’ve, ” Seth Stern, Donald Trump, General Merrick Garland, Republican Sen, Mike Lee, ” Lee, Democratic Sen, Ron Wyden, ”, ” Wyden Organizations: CNN — Journalists, Exploitive, Press Foundation, News / Media Alliance, Radio Television Digital News Association, National Association of Broadcasters, American Civil Liberties Union, Department of Justice, CNN, Washington Post, The New York Times, DOJ, Republican, Democratic

☆ Reversing Trend, 2022 Saw Small Uptick in National Security Surveillance in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

tightened various rules and modified its systems, leading to a significant drop in the number of queries for information about Americans. disclosed that there had been 204,090 queries for information about Americans in 2022, down 93 percent from about 3.4 million in 2021. is changing how it measures such queries and will screen out duplicates — the practice of recounting multiple queries using the same identifier. made 119,383 such queries for information about Americans in 2022, down from nearly three million in 2021. The government has never used that authority and again sought no such orders in 2021, the report said.

☆ America's best bet for banning TikTok would have terrible side effects
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

As talk of a TikTok ban builds, the leading legislation with bipartisan support is the RESTRICT Act. Here's why the RESTRICT Act has some people so worried — and what the experts say might be a better approach. The type of data TikTok collects is similar to what Facebook or Twitter collect from its users. What would actually solve the concerns about the Chinese government getting US user data is comprehensive data privacy legislation, he and other experts said. "What we're saying is that if you're concerned about the Chinese government getting user data from TikTok," Greene said.

☆ Analysis: 21-year-old's arrest exposes larger classified documents problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

If the many earlier and ongoing scandals regarding classified information aren’t a wakeup call that the US government has a problem, maybe the arrest of Jack Teixeira will do the trick. Classified material scandals aplentyOne thing that should be abundantly clear from the string of leaks and improperly handled pieces of classified information beyond this story is that the system has problems. The New York Times reported Wednesday that witnesses questioned as part of the Trump investigation have been asked if he was showing off a map with sensitive intelligence information. There are additional people who have security clearance but don’t currently have access to information. Gen. Pat Ryder, compared the method by which classified information is stored to a locked house where people with clearance can get a key.

☆ Sen. Rand Paul says the GOP would 'permanently lose elections for a generation' if TikTok is banned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Rand Paul is speaking out against a possible ban on TikTok, contradicting much of his own party. He said a ban amounts to a "national strategy to permanently lose elections for a generation" for the GOP. "Before banning TikTok, these censors might want to discover that China's government already bans TikTok," wrote Paul. In recent weeks, calls to ban TikTok over concerns over Chinese government surveillance have only grown in Washington. Marco Rubio of Florida and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who have both introduced nationwide TikTok ban bills.

REUTERS/Eric ThayerMarch 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Thursday added 37 companies to a trade blacklist, including units of Chinese genetics company BGI (300676.SZ) and Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur, in a move that promises to further ratchet up tensions with Beijing. The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, added BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hongkong), over allegations that the units pose a "significant risk" to contributing to Chinese government surveillance. The Commerce Department accused Inspur of acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S. goods to support China's military modernization efforts. Commerce added 26 other Chinese entities to the list - which makes it hard for targeted companies to receive shipments of U.S. goods from suppliers. In 2020, the Commerce Department added two units of BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, to its economic blacklist over allegations it conducted genetic analyses used to further the repression of China’s minority Uyghurs.

☆ Open-source software braces for trade war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

HONG KONG, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The open-source software movement has been an unprecedented driver of global innovation and productivity growth. As with most Chinese handset makers, founder Ren Zhengfei relied on Android’s open-source code to run his company’s smartphones. Beijing has reciprocated, per a Nikkei report, by instructing its own tech companies not to incorporate ChatGPT into their platforms - a rare example of a mutual firewall. Dividing the world into competing open-source camps would mark another reverse for free trade. Follow @petesweeneypro on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSRegulators have told major Chinese tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services, the Nikkei news service reported on Feb. 22 citing sources with direct knowledge, causing shares in Chinese companies building chatbots to fall.

☆ Supreme Court Turns Away Challenge to Warrantless Surveillance Program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Jan Wolfe | Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The surveillance program permits the National Security Agency to collect intelligence from international phone calls, emails and other digital content. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to a secretive government surveillance program, dealing a setback to privacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union ahead of a looming debate in Congress over whether to renew the law that authorizes the intelligence tool. In a brief order issued on Tuesday, the high court said it wouldn’t hear arguments challenging the legality of the National Security Agency program known as “Upstream,” in which the intelligence agency collects and monitors internet communications without obtaining search warrants. Classified details about the program were among those exposed a decade ago by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged with theft of government property and violating espionage laws and lives in Russia.

☆ Explainer: What we know about China's medical reform protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL INSURANCE REFORMS? Beginning Feb. 1, personal medical insurance benefits for Wuhan retirees were slashed from about 5% of the average basic pension to 2.5%, or 83 yuan ($12) per month, according to the Wuhan Healthcare Security Administration. In an essay published Thursday that did not refer to the protests, Finance Minister Liu Kun vowed to "deepen the reform of medical insurance payment methods". Following initial protests in Wuhan last week, the hashtag "Major adjustment in Wuhan medical reform" was viewed over 100 million times before being blocked. Since January, similar insurance reforms have been rolled out in provinces and regions including Jiangxi, Gansu，Shanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan and Guangxi.

☆ ABC anchor calls out Sen. Marco Rubio during tense exchange over Chinese spy balloon: 'This happened 3 times under the previous president'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ABC's Jonathan Karl called out Sen. Marco Rubio during a tense exchange about the Chinese spy balloon. In response, Karl said former President Donald Trump did not disclose three different sightings of Chinese balloons during his term. "And we're also told, by the way, that this happened three times under the previous president," Karl said. The Chinese balloon in question was shot down by the Air Force over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. Trump has also been ranting about the Chinese balloon on his Truth Social page.

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