Latest news with #AlDrago
UPI
12-07-2025
- Politics
- UPI
State Department cutting 1,353 jobs amid downsizing
The State Department on Friday notified more than 1,300 workers they were being fired as part of downsizing planned by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo July 12 (UPI) -- The State Department on Friday began notifying 1,353 affected workers of their pending job losses as the department reduces its workforce by 15%. The people losing their jobs amid the downsizing work in positions that are being eliminated or consolidated, a State Department official told media on Thursday, NBC News reported. "This is the most complicated personnel reorganization that the federal government has ever undertaken," the official told reporters during a briefing. "It was done so in order to be very focused on looking at the functions that we want to eliminate or consolidate, rather than looking at individuals." The State Department notified 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service workers of their pending job losses, CBS News reported. The department plans to eliminate nearly 3,400 positions, including many who have already accepted voluntary departure offers this year. The State Department also will close or consolidate many U.S.-based offices as part of the reduction in force that is being done in accordance with a reorganization plan, which members of Congress received in March. The Trump administration says the downsizing is needed to eliminate redundancy and better enable the State Department to focus on its primary responsibilities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio created the downsizing plan, which he said is needed due to the department being too costly, ideologically driven and cumbersome, The New York Times reported. The downsizing isn't going unchallenged on Capitol Hill. All Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday opposed the downsizing in a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "During a time of increasingly complex and widespread challenges to U.S. national security, this administration should be strengthening our diplomatic corps -- an irreplaceable instrument of U.S. power and leadership -- not weakening it," the Democratic Party senators said. "However, [downsizing] would severely undermine the department's ability to achieve U.S. foreign policy interests, putting our nation's security, strength and prosperity at risk." The Senate Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee include Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Coons of Delaware, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Tim Kaine of Virginia. The Senate committee's other Democratic Party members are Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.
The Star
27-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
US Supreme Court poised to rule in challenge to Texas age-check for online porn
FILE PHOTO: A general view of U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago/File photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Friday in a challenge on free speech grounds to a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify the age of users in a case testing the legality of state efforts to keep minors from viewing such material online. A trade group representing adult entertainment performers and companies appealed a lower court's decision allowing the Republican-led state's age-verification mandate, finding that it likely did not violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment safeguard against government abridgment of speech. The Texas measure is one of 24 similar ones enacted around the United States, primarily in Republican-governed states, with some set to take effect in the months ahead, according to the Free Speech Coalition, which challenged the law. The law requires websites whose content is more than a third "sexual material harmful to minors" to have all users submit personally identifying information verifying they are at least age 18 to gain access. The case tested the limits of state powers to protect minors from explicit materials deemed by policymakers to be harmful to them with measures that burden the access of adults to constitutionally protected expression. Supreme Court precedents have protected access by adults to non-obscene sexual content on First Amendment grounds, including a 2004 ruling that blocked a federal law similar to the Texas measure. If the 2004 precedent prevents Texas from enforcing its law, then it should be overruled, the state argued, noting how the digital landscape has changed dramatically in the two decades since. The coalition, a trade association of adult content performers, producers and distributors, as well as companies that run pornographic websites including and argued that online age verification unlawfully stifles the free speech rights of adults and exposes them to increasing risks of identity theft, extortion and data breaches. Some sites like Pornhub blocked access entirely in states with age-verification laws. Steps such as content-filtering software or on-device age verification would better protect minors while respecting the rights of adults, according to the challengers. During Jan. 15 arguments in the case, the justices voiced worries about the pervasiveness of pornography online and the ease with which minors are able to access it. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the mother of school-age children, noted that minors can get online porn through cellphones, tablets, gaming systems and computers, and noted that there has been an "explosion of addiction to online porn." But some of the justices also expressed concern over the burdens imposed on adults to view constitutionally protected material, debating whether the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should have applied a stricter form of judicial review to the Texas law than the one it actually used that gave deference to legislators. U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra issued a preliminary injunction in 2023, blocking the law. The 5th Circuit ruled in 2024 that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed in their First Amendment challenge to the age-verification requirement, lifting Ezra's injunction on that provision. The 5th Circuit upheld Ezra's injunction against another provision requiring websites to display "health warnings" about viewing pornography. The Supreme Court last year declined to halt enforcement of the law while the case proceeded. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
Toronto Sun
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Chicago council allows summer curfews for minors but mayor vows veto
The move is a bid to curb violence that has typically ramped up during the summer months Published Jun 19, 2025 • 2 minute read Pedestrians walk along the Concrete Beach in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Photo by Al Drago / Bloomberg Chicago's city council voted to give its police chief the green light to enforce temporary curfews for minors in a bid to curb violence that has typically ramped up during the summer months, prompting Mayor Brandon Johnson to vow to block the measure. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The council approved a proposal Wednesday to allow Police Superintendent Larry Snelling to enact three-hour curfews with just 30 minutes of notice. Under the measure, which would take effect in 10 days unless it's vetoed, a so-called snap curfew can be enacted when gatherings 20 or more minors are thought to present a threat to public safety. The third-largest US city has struggled to manage mass gatherings of teenagers in recent years, many of which have taken place near Millennium Park and the Magnificent Mile, Chicago's luxury shopping district. In March, a tourist from Connecticut was accidentally shot when a 15-year-old opened fire after his group of teenagers was kicked out of a movie theater downtown, according to a local news report. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Johnson called the measure a 'knee-jerk reactionary ordinance' and said there isn't any empirical evidence that curfews will reduce violence. He pledged to veto the bill, which passed with 27 votes in favor and 22 against. The proposal was sponsored by Brian Hopkins, the councilman whose district covers much of the wealthy Gold Coast and Streeterville neighborhoods. 'This curfew ordinance is a better alternative to arresting teenagers,' Hopkins said at Wednesday's meeting. 'The police can arrest them, but let's give them something better so that they don't have to. Let the teenagers be safely returned to their families when a parent or guardian comes and gets them. That is much better than having to arrest them for doing the things that are in fact criminal acts. These are criminal acts, not innocent high jinks.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois opposed the measure, saying in a letter that it 'does not comport with legal standards for arrest and prosecution.' The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild was also against it, saying it 'has the serious potential to violate people's due process rights to have notice of what conduct is prohibited or illegal.' 'We are concerned this proposal would subject Black and brown teenagers to the same historical over-policing that violates equal protection rights and is harmful and unjust,' the group said in a statement. Crime rates fell 12% in Chicago last year, but were still up 48% from 2020, according to data from the city's police department. Still, Chicago typically sees a rise in crime during the summer months, which account for a third of the city's shootings each year, according to the University of Chicago's Crime Lab. Under the measure approved by the city council, a snap curfew can be enacted after Chicago's police chief consults the deputy mayor of community safety. The superintendent also needs to inform the public and Office of Emergency Management and Communications, which will issue a notification to sister agencies and to offices of the city's councilmen. NHL Soccer Columnists Sunshine Girls Canada
Wall Street Journal
18-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
German Bank Exits U.S., Citing Instability
Houses in Capitol Hill in Washington. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank expanded into lending for U.S. real estate around a decade ago. (Al Drago/Bloomberg News)
Toronto Sun
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Washington Post probes hack of journalist email accounts
The report said journalists on the national security and economic policy teams, including those covering China, had been targeted Published Jun 16, 2025 • Last updated 10 minutes ago • 1 minute read The Washington Post office in Washington, DC. Photo by Al Drago / Bloomberg The Washington Post is investigating a cyber attack on the email accounts of some journalists, prompting the newspaper to beef up its online security. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The intrusion was discovered late Thursday and the company carried out a forced reset of login credentials for all staff the following night, according to a memo sent by Executive Editor Matt Murray to affected employees on Sunday. The memo, reviewed by Bloomberg News, said the attack affected a limited number of email accounts of journalists and a forensic team had been brought in to investigate. The attack was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which cited unidentified sources as saying the hack was potentially the work of a foreign government. The report said journalists on the national security and economic policy teams, including those covering China, had been targeted. Staffers were told their Microsoft accounts had been compromised, possibly granting access to emails they had sent and received, it added. The Washington Post and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The newspaper was previously targeted by hackers in a series of breaches dating back to 2011, some of which were blamed on Chinese groups. Journalists are frequent targets of cyber attacks, given their access to sensitive information and broad networks of contacts. The Washington Post breach was thought to only involve emails and its reporters typically use encrypted platforms for conversations with sources, the Journal reported. Sunshine Girls World Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Canada
