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DGI Brief - Aug 23, 2016


Good morning to all. Today's top 5 global issues news are about #Europe #CentralAmerica #Syria #SouthSudan and #privacy

- EU: France & Germany are the driving force behind proposed Europe-wide regulations to make encrypted app makers, such as Telegram, to cooperate & allow governments access to encrypted messages in suspected terrorism. The idea is to allow investigators to monitor encrypted communications with similar tools like wiretapping phones, however no concrete solutions have been proposed. The lawmakers are not advocating a ban of encrypted services. The issue will be further discussed at the next EU summit in September.

- CENTRAL AMERICA: Trying to escape horrible gang violence & deep poverty, about 26,000 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala & Honduras were apprehended crossing the US border in 2016. Mexico, who greatly cooperates with the US on immigration, apprehended over 16,000 migrant children while in Mexico. According to UNICEF, the 3 Central American countries have some of the highest murder & poverty rates in the world. While trying to address the underlying causes of poverty & violence at home, UNICEF is concerned about the increase in the flow of unaccompanied children trying to make the treacherous journey. The report “Broken Dreams: Central American children’s dangerous journey to the United States” outlines the risks. It also addresses the immigration challenges once in the US & what happens when these children are deported. The main issue – children are guaranteed an immigration court hearing but are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney. How can we resolve this?

- SYRIA: Nothing seems off limits in the horrific conflict – attacks on medical facilities have become the norm as have the tactics of besieging & starving civilian populations.

Schools are no different. UNICEF estimates that over 2.1 million Syrian children are out of school, not just due to displacement & fighting, but due to deliberate attacks on schools. In Aleppo, at least 12 schools have been destroyed & another 8 are reportedly occupied by fighters. How do we strive for progress & change in a world without red lines?

- SUDAN released a statement today that it received SOUTH SUDAN’s former rebel leader and first vice president Riek Machar for “purely humanitarian reasons” as he needed “urgent medical attention”. It did not specify the condition however stated Machar is now stable & will stay until he’s ready to travel to a country of his choice to complete medical treatment. Machar fled Juba following renewed violence between his loyalists & South Sudanese forces of President Kiir two weeks ago, claiming he escaped an assassination attempt. He was reported to be in Congo before resurfacing in Khartoum, Sudan. Machar insists he will not return to Juba until a regional peacekeeping force is deployed, a proposal made by the UN & recently accepted by South Sudan.

- The Associated Press found hundreds of innocent people are becoming collateral damage in WikiLeaks publications because WikiLeaks foregoes most basic journalistic redactions of personal identity data. The investigation found medical records, passport & national identity numbers, addresses, names of rape victims, info on sexual orientation of private citizens… Not only blatantly harmful but also a haven for criminal activities including identity theft. AP also found that the abolition of any basic steps to review & ‘sanitize’ the publications results in hundreds of pieces of malicious software hiding in the data. Even the staunchest of supporters are concerned & wish for a more careful publication strategy.

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