Politics

Politics


Iowa auditor says new law will restrict his office’s access to information

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s auditor may face new challenges in his quest to track taxpayer dollars after a new law takes effect Saturday that allows state agencies to deny his office access to information and bars him from making an appeal in court. State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide office, […]

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Indiana Supreme Court upholds abortion ban, says state constitution gives only limited protections

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s abortion ban doesn’t violate the state constitution, removing a major hurdle to enforcing the ban Republicans approved last summer ahead of a wave of restrictions by conservative states in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The court’s decision, which does not […]

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Company executives urge Europe to rethink its world leading AI rules

LONDON (AP) — More than 150 executives are urging the European Union to rethink the world’s most comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, saying Friday that upcoming regulations will make it harder for companies in Europe to compete with rivals overseas, especially when it comes to the technology behind systems like ChatGPT. Officials at companies from […]

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Canadian cyberspy agency says it disrupted foreign extremist activity

OTTAWA — Canada’s cyberspy agency says it conducted operations in the last year to disrupt and remove harmful terrorist content spread online by foreign, ideologically motivated extremists. In its latest annual report, the Communications Security Establishment says the operation fractured the extremists’ cohesion and significantly reduced their online reach and ability to recruit new members. […]

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Tech group sues Arkansas over law requiring parental OK for minors creating social media accounts

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas on Thursday challenging a new state law that requires parental permission for minors to create social media accounts. NetChoice, a group whose members include Facebook parent Meta, TikTok and Twitter, filed a federal lawsuit over the measure signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee […]

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Transgender Kansas residents can keep updating their documents despite a new law, governor says

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic governor in Kansas declared Thursday that the state will keep allowing transgender residents to alter their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, despite a new law aimed at preventing it. Gov. Laura Kelly issued a directive that allows agencies under her control to defy a legal opinion issued earlier this […]

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As fuel taxes plummet, states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Evan Burroughs has spent eight years touting the virtues of an Oregon pilot program charging motorists by the distance their vehicle travels rather than the gas it guzzles, yet his own mother still hasn’t bought in. Margaret Burroughs, 85, said she has no intention of inserting a tracking device on her […]

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Minister’s Access to Info focus is better service amid calls for legislative overhaul

OTTAWA — The federal minister responsible for the much-criticized access-to-information system says her focus is on improving service amid growing calls to go further and rewrite the transparency law. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said in an interview Friday her priority is better administration of the Access to Information Act, not a legislative overhaul. A […]

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N.S. whistleblowers who exposed mismanagement at job agency deserved protection: MLA

HALIFAX — A member of the Nova Scotia legislature from Cape Breton says employees who came forward with complaints of financial mismanagement at a local employment agency should have been protected. Earlier this week, Nova Scotia’s auditor general released a report alleging senior leadership of Island Employment Association took part in “gross mismanagement” of public […]

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Saskatchewan immigration ministry fires more employees over privacy breach

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s immigration ministry has fired more employees for inappropriately accessing client records. The ministry says an audit found three additional instances of former employees obtaining records they were not authorized to view. The discovery follows an initial investigation that found one former employee had accessed 40 files as part of an alleged illegal […]

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As the Bank of Canada prepares for a digital Canadian dollar, democratic concerns loom large

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. The Bank of Canada is preparing for the possibility of the Canadian government requiring it to issue a digital version of the Canadian dollar. Although the […]

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AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio to focus on safer uses of AI, argues regulation necessary

TORONTO — Artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio says he will be redirecting his research to ensure he is working on applications of the technology that are safe for society. “I have been thinking a lot about this and I am going to do what I think is best to go in the right direction,” the […]

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