Turkey: U.S. Faults NATO Ally Turkey With Range of Human Rights Issues - by Selcan Hacaoglu

The Biden administration faulted Turkey over a series of “significant human rights issues” ranging from allegations of arbitrary killings and torture cases to the jailing of tens of thousands of political foes, including politicians, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists.

The release late Tuesday of the “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” exposes mounting mistrust on both sides of the alliance and lingering tensions with Turkey under President Joe Biden.

The U.S. leader criticized Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an “autocrat” in a meeting with the New York Times in 2019 and hasn’t called Erdogan since taking office in January.

Read More At: U.S. Faults NATO Ally Turkey With Range of Human Rights Issues - Bloomberg

Russia: Human Rights Abuses: Russian police detain around 200 people, including leading opposition figures, at Moscow meeting

The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.

The Moscow forum, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, was a gathering of municipal deputies from all over he country, Andrei Pivovarov, the event’s organiser and executive director of Open Russia, a British- sed group founded by exiled former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, told radio station Echo Moskvy.

Russian police detained around 200 people, including several prominent opposition figures, at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

Read more at: Russian police detain around 200 people, including leading opposition figures, at Moscow meeting | Reuters

EU Privacy Laws: EU lawmakers seek tougher limits on US data use

European Union lawmakers want tougher limits set on the U.S. using information about EU citizens that's exchanged under a new trans-Atlantic data agreement.

The lawmakers urged the European Commission in a resolution Thursday to fix "deficiencies" in the Privacy Shield agreement governing data transfers to the U.S. for commercial purposes.
They fear U.S. authorities could have access to too much information and that a future U.S. ombudsman meant to provide redress in case of abuses isn't independent enough.
The non-binding resolution was passed 501-119, with 31 abstentions.
Privacy Shield was unveiled in February after a European court struck down the previous pact, Safe Harbor, amid concerns over the safety of data stored by companies in the U.S. and possible exposure to surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-05-eu-lawmakers-tougher-limits.html#jCp

European Union lawmakers want tougher limits set on the U.S. using information about EU citizens that's exchanged under a new trans-Atlantic data agreement.

The lawmakers urged the European Commission in a resolution Thursday to fix "deficiencies" in the Privacy Shield agreement governing data transfers to the U.S. for commercial purposes.
They fear U.S. authorities could have access to too much information and that a future U.S. ombudsman meant to provide redress in case of abuses isn't independent enough.
The non-binding resolution was passed 501-119, with 31 abstentions.
Privacy Shield was unveiled in February after a European court struck down the previous pact, Safe Harbor, amid concerns over the safety of data stored by companies in the U.S. and possible exposure to surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-05-eu-lawmakers-tougher-limits.html#jCp

European Union lawmakers want tougher limits set on the U.S. using information about EU citizens that's exchanged under a new trans-Atlantic data agreement.

The lawmakers urged the European Commission in a resolution Thursday to fix "deficiencies" in the Privacy Shield agreement governing data transfers to the U.S. for commercial purposes.

They fear U.S. authorities could have access to too much information and that a future U.S. ombudsman meant to provide redress in case of abuses isn't independent enough.

The non-binding resolution was passed 501-119, with 31 abstentions.

Privacy Shield was unveiled in February after a European court struck down the previous pact, Safe Harbor, amid concerns over the safety of data stored by companies in the U.S. and possible exposure to surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Read more: EU lawmakers seek tougher limits on US data use

ABC: Credit card companies continue rip-off of consumers - Obama to Congress: Send Me the Credit Card Reform Bill - by Sunlin Miller

For the complete report from ABC click on this link

Credit card companies continue rip-off of consumers - Obama to Congress: Send Me the Credit Card Reform Bill

President Obama today called on Congress to pass a credit card reform bill so he can sign it into law by Memorial Day. “The abuses in our credit card industry have only multiplied in the midst of this recession, when Americans can least afford to bear an extra burden,” President Obama said in his weekly address. “It is past time for rules that are fair and transparent. That is why I have called for a set of new principles to reform our credit card industry. Instead of an ‘anything goes’ approach, we need strong and reliable protections for consumers.” The president highlighted abuses in the credit card industry -- including Americans getting ripped off by sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, hidden fees and fine print that all too often hides the truth.