Our picksAirport Facial Recognition | Drone Regulation | “Sovietization” of America, and more

Published 12 December 2019

·  Islamist Extremism Remains Dominant U.K. Terror Threat, Say Experts

·  Sea-Tac Is First Airport to Resist Federal Push for Facial Recognition and Other Biometric Technologies

·  Water-Scarce Gulf States Bank on Desalination, at a Cost

·  Partisan News Outlets Seek to Fill Void in U.S.“News Deserts”

·  Cities Begin Delving into Drone Regulations for Public Safety

·  When America Starts to Feel a Little More Soviet

Islamist Extremism Remains Dominant U.K. Terror Threat, Say Experts (Jamie Grierson, Guardian)
The attack on London Bridge shows the Islamist threat remains strong in the U.K., counter-terrorism and counter-extremism experts have said, warning against complacency.

Sea-Tac Is First Airport to Resist Federal Push for Facial Recognition and Other Biometric Technologies (Katherine Khashimova Long, Seattle Times)
At least for now, controversial facial-recognition technology won’t be installed at boarding gates at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, making the airport the first in the country to resist the rollout of a federal biometric identification program.

Water-Scarce Gulf States Bank on Desalination, at a Cost (AFP)
“We have water, and it’s the most important thing in a house,” says Abdullah al-Harthi from the port city of Sur in Oman, a country that relies on desalination plants.
But for Oman and the other Gulf countries dominated by vast and scorching deserts, obtaining fresh water from the sea comes at a high financial and environmental cost.

Partisan News Outlets Seek to Fill Void in U.S.“News Deserts” (Rob Lever, AFP)
Hundreds of websites have been launched by political organizations across the United States, in many cases mimicking the appearance of established news organizations without disclosing their ownership or funding.
These sites aim to fill the void in what has been described as “news deserts” created by the disappearance of local news outlets struggling to keep pace in the new digital landscape.

Cities Begin Delving into Drone Regulations for Public Safety (Jed Pressgrove, Governing)
A new multidisciplinary group is hoping to start a conversation that can answer questions about new concerns specific to using drones in the nation’s most densely populated metropolitan areas.

When America Starts to Feel a Little More Soviet (Emma Green, The Atlantic)
As the impeachment inquiry lays out central allegations that President Trump abused his power, Ukrainians living in America recognize a familiar playbook.
The allegations involved in the impeachment inquiry embody a central tension of the Trump administration. Diplomats and officials as prominent as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have attempted to revive Ronald Reagan–style rhetoric about America’s role as the world’s foremost defender of liberty and freedom, including signaling support for Ukrainian self-determination. Meanwhile, the president and his associates appear to be more invested in courting power and personal gain, fromTrump’s cozy press conferenceswith Russian President Vladimir Putin to his attempt to get the Ukrainian government to investigate the family of former Vice President Joe Biden.
The Ukrainians I met in New York’s East Village weren’t surprised by this Trumpian mode of politics, in part because it’s very similar to the status quo in the part of the world they come from. The impeachment inquiry is a test not just of Trump’s character, but of the country’s: Is a pitch for America’s exceptionalism still plausible, or is corruption the only true universal principle any government will ever embrace?