• Supreme Court: Domestic violence perpetrators can be banned from buying, owning guns

    The supreme court has ruled that individuals convicted of a domestic violence “misdemeanor” can be prohibited from owning or purchasing a gun. Previous law stated that only those convicted of intentional abuse would be barred from owning weapons, but a “reckless” assault could be pardoned. In the United States, around five women a day are shot to death by current or former intimate partners. At least 52 percent of American women murdered with guns every year are killed by intimate partners or family members.

  • Don’t believe the Brexit prophecies of economic doom

    The shock and horror at the Brexit vote has been loud and vociferous. Some seem to be reveling in the uncertainty that the referendum result has provoked. But there are plenty of reasons to reject the consensus that Brexit will be costly to the U.K.’s economy. Even though markets appear stormy in the immediate aftermath of the vote, the financial market reaction to date has more characteristics of a seasonal storm than of a major catastrophe. There will undoubtedly be winners and losers from the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU. But indexes for volatility are already lower than they were in February this year, suggesting that markets are not abnormally worried about the outlook, and U.K. government borrowing costs are at an all-time low. This is further reason to reject the pre-referendum consensus that Brexit would bring economic doom.

  • Liberals, conservatives differ in response to Osama bin Laden’s death

    Conservative Americans remained unwaveringly suspicious of foreigners following Osama bin Laden’s death, while liberals dropped their guard briefly before returning to more vigilant beliefs, finds a provocative new study. The findings suggest conservatives and liberals respond differently to major events and may have implications for promoting peace and reducing conflict with people who challenge one’s core values.

  • Veils, headscarves may improve observers' ability to judge truthfulness

    Judges in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have ruled that witnesses may not wear the niqab, which covers everything but the eyes, when testifying, in part because they believe that it is necessary to see a person’s face to detect deception. Contrary to the opinions of these courts, it is easier to determine the truthfulness of a woman wearing a headscarf or even a veil that leaves only her eyes exposed than a woman wearing no head covering at all, according to new research.

  • French beaches to be patrolled by armed police lifeguards

    The vacation season in France is about the start, and the French authorities have decided to place armed police lifeguards – who will also wear bullet-proof vests — on the country’s busiest beaches amid fears that terrorists may target beachgoers and vacationing families. Islamist terrorists have recently attacked beach resorts in Tunisia and Ivory Coast.

  • Hawaii becomes first state to place gun owners – both residents and visitors -- in a federal database

    Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to place its gun owners on a federally managed database — the FBI’s “Rap Back” criminal monitoring system — and monitor them for criminal activity. The new law would permit Hawaii police to determine whether gun owners ought to be allowed to keep possession of a firearm following an arrest.

  • Jordaniana stole CIA weapons shipped to Syrian rebels -- and sold them on the black market

    Jordanian intelligence chiefs stole millions of dollars worth of weapons sent by the CIA to Jordan for Syrian rebels — and sold on the black market. Jordanian intelligence officers were able to steal the weapons because they had direct access to the cargo. These officers “regularly siphoned truckloads” of the arms, delivering only a tiny fraction of them to the moderate Syrian rebels. Experts say the stolen weapons ended up in the possession of criminal networks or ISIS sympathizers.

  • License and registration, please: how regulating guns like cars could improve safety

    In the midst of the Senate’s failure to agree on measures designed to tighten controls around the sales of firearms, a new idea is emerging: Regulating guns like cars. In some regards, we are already there. Operating a firearm, like operating a motor vehicle, requires a license in many jurisdictions. Certain types of criminal offenses – domestic violence in the case of firearms, drinking and driving in the case of automobiles – can result in a suspension or revocation of that license. These rules focus on the competency of users. Regulating guns like cars is a more tried and true approach to managing dangerous technologies than the simplistic prohibitionist logic of simply keeping guns away from those we categorize as “the bad and the mad.”

  • 4-4 Supreme Court tie keeps Obama's sweeping immigration reforms blocked

    A 4:4 tie at the Supreme Court has dealt Barack Obama’s immigration program – and his legacy — a major setback. The president took his executive action to shield about four millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation after House Republicans refused to bring to the floor for a vote a 2013 bipartisan Senate legislation which provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Twenty-six states with Republican governors challenged Obama’s executive action, arguing that Obama had exceeded his authority by granting a blanket deportation deferment to millions of undocumented immigrants. A federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of the twenty-six governors, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of appeals upheld that Texas court’s decision last November.

  • Brexit: Europe’s new nationalism is here to stay

    The British referendum that has delivered a vote for “Brexit” is the latest, dramatic indication that the atavistic nationalistic impulses of the twentieth century – impulses which the construction of the EU was supposed to lay to rest — are here to stay. This nationalism has brewed largely in reaction to how the EU has evolved over the past few decades. What started as a common market grew to embrace a single currency, the Schengen area, and integration in justice and home affairs. What we have witnessed with the rise of Euroscepticism is the recrudescence of a robust form of populist nationalism. It is sincerely anti-intellectual, offers facile solutions to complex problems, prefers what it calls “plain-speaking” over a well-articulated elocution, and is utterly unapologetic in its disdain for the establishment. Unless the EU can infuse its institutions with greater democratic legitimacy — voters need to be able to identify with the people who make decisions on their behalf — this populist nationalism will persist for the foreseeable future. The United Kingdom may be the first country to leave the EU but it may not be the last. Europe’s new nationalism is here to stay.

  • Iran’s use of civilian planes to arm Assad could jeopardize $25B Boeing deal

    The $25 billion aircraft deal that Boeing recently struck with Iran could be jeopardized by Tehran’s continued support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Boeing’s jets will be sold to the state-owned Iran Air, which was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2011 partially due to its transport of “potentially dangerous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-related cargo” and “missile or rocket components” to Syria. A Western intelligence report seen by Reuters in 2012 noted that Iran continued using civilian aircraft to transport large amounts of arms and personnel to aid Assad.

  • State Department holds competition for social media apps challenging terrorism

    Can the obsession millennials have with smart technology be capitalized on as a weapon against terrorist propaganda? The U.S. Department of State thinks so, and has selected three teams of student finalists — chosen from fifty-six universities around the world — to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., next week for the “Peer-to-Peer: Challenging Extremism challenge.”

  • Bin Laden’s bodyguard released from Guantanamo after 14 years in custody

    Abdel Malik Abdel Wahab al-Rahabi, a Yemenite who was one of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards, has been released from Guantanamo after being held for fourteen years in custody without charges filed against him. The Department of Defense cleared al-Rahabi for release in March 2014, but he release was delayed because of the war in Yemen. Instead of Yemen, al-Rahabi has been sent to Montenegro to be resettled there. Al-Rahabi is the second former Gitmo inmate to be resettled in Montenegro.

  • Colombian government, FARC announce end to Latin America’s longest war

    In a historic move, the Colombian government and Marxist FARC guerrilla movement have announced that they have reached a deal on a bilateral ceasefire — the last major step toward ending one of the world’s longest wars. The cease fire agreement will be signed on Thursday in Havana by President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko. The war between the Marxist FARC and successive Colombian governments began in 1964. It has claimed 220,000 lives and forced 6.6 million out of their homes. ”Un sueño que comienza a ser realidad,” tweeted Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president.

  • Community policing practices to prevent violent extremism

    A new manual designed for police departments identifies a set of promising practices for using community policing to prevent violent extremism. “Creating a comprehensive community outreach program can build the kind of trust necessary to combat violent extremism,” said the manual’s lead author.