Citizen Cartwright

U.N. votes to act against 'cultural cleansing' in Iraq

The 193-nation General Assembly voted unanimously Thursday to take new steps to prosecute antiquities smugglers, ensure the return of plundered ancient treasures and counter what diplomats describe as “cultural cleansing,” a new tactic of war to erase the heritage of civilizations.

It’s unclear why Syria wasn’t included in the resolution, which comes days after the Islamic State captured the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

FTC announces settlement of first 'pay for delay' drug case

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is to pay $1.2 billion to settle government allegations that its Cephalon subsidiary paid generic drug makers to delay competing versions of the sleep-disorder drug Provigil.

The agreement is a milestone in the Federal Trade Commission’s long-running campaign to stop deals in which brand-name drug makers pay generic drug competitors to drop patent lawsuits that could lead to the earliest possible market entry of lower-cost generics, says The Wall Street Journal.

Such deals burden patients, businesses and taxpayers with billions of dollars in higher prescription drug costs, says FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

'Kremlin trolls' spreading increased Russian propaganda

In the past year, the Kremlin’s troll campaign to flood the Internet with propaganda has gone into overdrive, adding hundreds of online operatives to help counter Western pressure over its role in the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, says The Associated Press.

The program is drawing Serbia, which harbors EU dreams, back toward Russia’s orbit, and is targeting Germany, the United States and other Western powers, AP says.

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Indictment of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert gives few clues about alleged misconduct

Former New York GOP Gov. George Pataki launches long-shot presidential bid

Science journal retracts gay marriage study without agreement of lead author LaCour

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What future for Iraq, even if it beats the Islamic State?

With new waves of civilians fleeing violence in Anbar Province there are now more internally displaced Iraqis — nearly three million out of a population of 33 million — than there were at the height of the sectarian fighting that followed the U.S. invasion, says The New York Times.

Nearly 85 percent of the Iraqis on the run are Sunnis, and they often find themselves seeking safety in Shiite-dominated areas, including Baghdad, where they’re frequently treated as security threats rather than as suffering fellow citizens, says the Times.

U.N. officials say containing the crisis isn’t just a moral imperative but also is crucial to fostering reconciliation and setting the conditions for long-term stability, should the Islamic State be defeated.

Yet instead of using the crisis as an opportunity to win minority Sunnis to the government side, Shiite authorities in Baghdad have acted in a way, critics say, that’s worsened the country’s sectarian divide, risking the alienation of young Sunni men in particular by restricting their movements within the country.

Even in the northern Kurdish region, long a haven for civilians fleeing Iraq’s turmoil, authorities are reluctant to accept large numbers of Arabs, worsening the country’s ethnic divisions and adding to the sense that the very cohesion of Iraq is being pulled apart, says the Times.

Giving poor people subsidies for broadband Internet

For 30 years, the federal government has helped millions of low-income Americans pay their phone bills, based on the idea that phone service is critical to getting medical help, finding jobs and, ultimately, getting out of poverty.

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission, the nation’s top communications regulator, is to propose offering those same people subsidized access to broadband Internet.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is to circulate a plan to his fellow commissioners suggesting major changes to a $1.7 billion subsidy program charged with ensuring that all Americans have affordable access to advanced telecommunications services, according to agency officials.

Loretta Lynch’s 'stunning' debut on the world stage

After just a month in office, the attorney general “could hardly have crafted a more attention-grabbing debut than the dramatic announcement she made Wednesday of an American-led takedown of corruption in FIFA, the governing body of international soccer,” says Politico.

And while top officials often swoop in on cases they know little about and claim credit, the case was built in Lynch’s Brooklyn office over a period of years, with some of the most intense activity taking place during her most recent tenure as U.S. attorney from 2010 to 2015, Politico says.

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Iran and North Korea are forging ballistic, nuclear ties, dissidents say

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U.S. military mistakenly ships live anthrax to labs in 9 states, South Korea

Nebraska legislature overrides governor’s veto, repeals death penalty

Rick Santorum announces 2016 presidential bid, with new focus on middle class

Airlines dropping premium fares to entice travelers to buy more first-class tickets

Begin HIV treatment immediately after diagnosis, says major study, ending long debate

Security experts move to protect ’smart’ cities from themselves

“It’s a brave new world when hackers step in to protect citizens because regulators are not getting the job done,” says The New York Times.

Yet, “surprisingly,” there has been no comprehensive system for vetting security and responding to cyberattacks at the city level, the Times says.

So security experts on Tuesday launched a Securing Smart Cities initiative to bring private security researchers and public administrators together to set up basic cybersecurity checklists for smart cities, including properly installed encryption, passwords and systems that can be easily patched for security holes.

Supreme Court to decide meaning of ‘one person, one vote'

The court’s ruling, expected next year, could be “immensely consequential,” says The New York Times.

Should the court agree with the two Texas voters who brought the case, its ruling would shift political power from cities to rural areas, benefitting Republicans.

The court never has resolved whether voting districts should have the same number of people or the same number of eligible voters.

Counting everybody amplifies the voting power of places with large numbers of residents who can’t vote legally, including immigrants who are here legally but aren’t citizens, illegal immigrants, children and prisoners. These places tend to be urban and vote Democratic.

A ruling that districts have to be based on equal numbers of voters would move political power away from cities, with their many immigrants and children, and toward older and more homogeneous rural areas.