Month: July 2021

China Challenges on Cryptocurrency

Commentary The world of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is exotic and esoteric. It is also Beijing’s next challenge to the free world. Until now, to an extent, most policy debate in the free world has tended to dismiss the crypto phenomenon as esoteric, illicit, or reckless. This is superficial and misleading. The free…


US Sets New Cuba Sanctions as Biden Meets Cuban-Americans

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Friday against Cuba’s national revolutionary police and its top two officials as the United States looks to increase pressure on the communist regime following this month’s protests on the island. The Police Nacional Revolcionaria (PNR) and the agency’s director and deputy director, Oscar Callejas Valcarce and Eddie Sierra…


To Boycott China or Not: Let the Athletes Decide

Commentary A favorite parlor game for those of us in international relations and global studies is trying to answer the question of what Western powers should do about China. Undoubtedly, the once dubbed “sleeping dragon” has awoken and shaken up the international order with its aggressive economic policy, alarming espionage efforts, and anti-democratic ideology. Some…


No Turning Back for Cuba; Perils of Overparenting

The pictures of mass pro-democracy protests coming out of Cuba stopped cold when the communist regime shut down the internet on July 12. But the fight for freedom has been ignited and according to our three guests, there’s no turning back. We’re joined by Orlando Gutierrez Boronat, coordinator of Cuban Democratic Directorate and a member…


Vaccinated Staffers in Louisiana Gov. Edwards Office Test Positive for COVID-19

BATON ROUGE, La.—Two staffers in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office have tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement Friday from Edwards’ office says both are at home, in isolation, in accordance with state and federal health guidelines. The release gave no details on their condition of the staffers. It says both had been vaccinated…


Chinese Tech Giant Tencent Latest Victim of Beijing’s ‘Anti-Monopoly’ Crack Down

Chinese tech giants continue to face scrutiny from Beijing. One of the world’s top ten largest companies, Chinese internet giant Tencent, was recently fined and given 30 days to give up its exclusive rights to music streaming. On July 24, the official website of the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation reported that Tencent’s July…


Chinese Anti-America Internet Celebrity Arrested for Running P2P Lending Platform

A Chinese anti-America internet celebrity and chairman of a P2P lending platform was recently arrested for alleged online fraud, which raised a lot of eyebrows among his 3 million-strong followers. Huang Sheng is the chairman of Chinese P2P lending platform Xitouwang. He has over 3 million fans on Chinese social media platform Weibo, and often…


Shots Fired Outside Berlin Store, Four Injured, One Arrested

BERLIN—Shots were fired in a violent clash at a store car park in northern Berlin on Friday, leaving four people injured, the Berliner Zeitung reported. One person was subsequently arrested, the newspaper added later. The injured included three men and a woman, local media reported, adding that police had questioned eyewitnesses and cordoned off the…


Saginaw Grant, Noted Native American Character Actor, Dies

LOS ANGELES—Saginaw Grant, a prolific Native American character actor and hereditary chief of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, has died. He was 85. Grant died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on Wednesday at a private care facility in Hollywood, California, said Lani Carmichael, Grant’s publicist and longtime friend. “He loved both…


Amazon Hit With Record EU Data Privacy Fine

Amazon.com Inc has been hit with a record $886.6 million (746 million euros) European Union fine for processing personal data in violation of the bloc’s GDPR rules, as privacy regulators take a more aggressive position on enforcement. The Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) imposed the fine on Amazon in a July 16 decision,…