2021-03-26: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2021-03-26). Algerian Supreme Court overturns conviction of journalist Khaled Drareni, orders retrial. peoplesdispatch.org Drareni was arrested last year in March and was detained without charge or trial while he was covering the Hirak protests in the country. He was charged with "inciting an unarmed gathering" and "endangering national unity"

Charles Pierson (2021-03-26). Lift the Blockade on Yemen Now. counterpunch.org Since 2015, the US has been assisting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which is at war with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The coalition's declared aim is to restore the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who the Houthis overthrew in 2014. The US supports the coalition with intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, arms sales, spare parts for coalition warplanes, and (until November 2018) in-flight refueling of coalition aircraft.

Patrick Toomey (2021-03-26). The Government is Racing to Deploy AI, But at What Cost to Our Freedom? aclu.org The U.S. government is embarking on an all-out sprint to develop and deploy artificial intelligence in the name of national security, but its plans for protecting civil rights and civil liberties have barely taken shape. Based on a sweeping new report by a congressionally-mandated commission, it's clear that U.S. intelligence agencies and the military are seeking to integrate AI into some of the government's most profound decisions: who it surveils, who it adds to government watchlists, who it labels a "risk" to national security, and even who it targets using lethal weapons. | In many of these areas, the deploym…

Charles Pierson (2021-03-26). Lift the Blockade on Yemen Now. counterpunch.org Since 2015, the US has been assisting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which is at war with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The coalition's declared aim is to restore the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who the Houthis overthrew in 2014. The US supports the coalition with intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, arms sales, spare parts for coalition warplanes, and (until November 2018) in-flight refueling of coalition aircraft.

Pip Hinman (2021-03-26). Rally calls for Julian Assange's release. greenleft.org.au Hundreds of people joined a rally on Parliament Lawns in Hobart to call for whistleblower Julian Assange to be freed and support public interest journalism, reports Tristan Sykes.