On Thursday, October 16, Governance Studies at Brookings will host FBI Director James Comey for a discussion of the impact of technology on the work of law enforcement. Law enforcement officials worry that the explosion in the volume and the means by which we all communicate threatens its access to the evidence it needs to investigate and prosecute crime and to prevent acts of terrorism.
Meanwhile, In the Lives of Hundreds of Millions of Asians… →
As Green also summarizes, higher rural wages in many Asian countries are driving up wages from manufacturing and increasing the costs of food production. Those trends should help tilt comparative advantage in food production and low-wage manufacturing toward Africa and lower-income parts of Asia. As that happens, the prospects for similar transformations occurring in those areas should improve, too.
Fear of Sunni Extremists Grows After Fatal Blast in Yemen’s Capital →
A suicide bomber attacked a crowd of protesters here in the capital on Thursday, killing at least 47 people and adding to fear that Sunni extremists were mobilizing new attacks against a Shiite rebel group that took control of Sana last month.
Protests Erupt in St. Louis After Off-Duty Officer Fatally Shoots Teen →
The spotlight is back on Missouri:
An off-duty police officer working for a private security firm in St. Louis fatally shot an 18-year-old black man who police claim opened fire during a foot chase.
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Conflicting reports have emerged since the shooting, but police claim that the teen was armed and fired at least three shots at the officer before his gun jammed. Witnesses and people who identified themselves as the teen's family claim that the the young man was holding a sandwich when he was shot some 16 times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Related, the protests in Ferguson never stopped:
The protest was the first of dozens of events planned in greater St. Louis as part of an organized demonstration dubbed “Ferguson October.” Thousands are expected to travel to the protests, which will culminate with a massive civil disobedience action on Monday.
How School Lunch Became the Latest Political Battleground →
Thorough history.
Here's Who's Getting Hammered By Russia's Falling Ruble →
The currency is down about 20 percent against the dollar since January and is now at its lowest level since Russia’s 1998 debt default. Its performance this year is the worst of any major currency except Argentina’s peso.
It could fall farther, despite interventions by Russia’s central bank, which over the past few days has spent $1.75 billion to prop it up. The ruble remains under “permanent pressure” as investors flee the country and sanctions choke off access to foreign capital markets, Vladimir Evstifeev of Moscow’s Bank Zenit tells Bloomberg News.
U.S.-led air war in Syria is off to a difficult start →
The U.S.-led air war in Syria has gotten off to a rocky start, with even the Syrian rebel groups closest to the United States turning against it, U.S. ally Turkey refusing to contribute and the plight of a beleaguered Kurdish town exposing the limitations of the strategy.
U.S. officials caution that the strikes are just the beginning of a broader strategy that could take years to carry out. But the anger that the attacks have stirred risks undermining the effort, analysts and rebels say.
Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents →
With allies like these...
Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.