Investigating Torture: FBI-HSI Investigation Leads to U.S. Citizen’s Conviction for Human Rights Violations in Iraq

"A U.S. Army veteran who established an illegal weapons facility in the Kurdistan region of Iraq— and who proceeded to both direct and engage in the torture of one of his employees—has been sentenced to 70 years in federal prison for those crimes and for additional crimes linked to his role at the facility.

Ross Roggio of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, directed Kurdish soldiers kidnap an employee and hold him hostage at one of their military compounds for 39 days. There, Roggio and the Kurdish military personnel under his corrupt command physically and mentally abused the victim.

The victim was an Estonian national who worked at the factory, but who planned to blow the whistle on the illegal activities going on there, explained Supervisory Special Agent Crystal Stevens of the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit. In response, Roggio not only directed the victim’s abduction and abuse, but also forced fellow employees to watch the abuse as a deterrent tactic.

The abuses first came to light amid a preexisting counterproliferation case against Roggio. After investigators finished interviewing one former factory employee—a woman from Estonia—she turned over a cellphone audio recording of Roggio that implicated him for torture.."
US Tortue in Iraq 

Overtime Rule

"One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The Department of Labor’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when: 

1. An employee is paid a salary,  

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and 

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.."
Overtime  

Healthier Foods, Healthier Minds

"..Right now, schools across our country are serving breakfasts and lunches to nearly 30 million children every day. Healthy school meals that represent the main source of nutrition for more than half of these students and are an essential part of the educational landscape — like teachers, books, or computers – helping to unlock kids’ full potential in and out of the classroom.

It is no surprise that poor nutrition and diet-related diseases are correlated with lower academic achievement, worse health outcomes, and more behavioral problems for kids. We recognize the tremendous work that educators and school nutrition professionals do every day to ensure our children are fueled to thrive. Healthy school meals are an essential element of a quality education and are a part of the solution to promote children’s health. We know that this work is not easy, which is why the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments to help schools provide healthy and nutritious meals to students.

School breakfast offers the jump start to a great day. It sets the tone for the rest of the day, especially for children. It’s why kids who eat breakfast have increased alertness and improved moods throughout the morning, fostering a better learning experience. What’s more, studies find that students who participate in school meal programs consume more whole grains, milk, fruits, and vegetables during mealtimes and enjoy better overall diet quality.

These pivotal updates we are making to school nutrition standards have been shaped by a host of stakeholders, including parents, devoted teachers, school administrators, school nutrition directors, and industry leaders, and are informed by the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

These new standards allow us to take the next step in putting kids’ health at the forefront by:

• Reducing the amounts of added sugars in school meals, especially at breakfast.
• Making it easier to offer healthy proteins at breakfast.
• Scaling back sodium levels over time.
• Continuing to emphasize fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, to give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy, tasty meals..."
  Healthier Foods 

United States Statutes at Large

"About the United States Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) .

Under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 112, the printed edition of the Statutes at Large is legal evidence of the laws, concurrent resolutions, proclamations by the President, and proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution. Read More

Note that appendix volumes are presented with the corresponding main volume: 68A, 70A, 76A, 77A

Browse the United States Statutes at Large.."
Statutes at Large 

New Report on the Nation’s Foreign-Born Population

"April 9, 2024 — From 2010 to 2022, the nation’s foreign-born population increased by 15.6%. According to a new report The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2022 released by the U.S. Census Bureau today, the foreign-born population was 46.2 million (13.9% of the total population) in 2022 compared to 40.0 million (12.9% of the total population) in 2010.

The report compares 2010 and 2022 American Community Survey (ACS), 1-year estimates to provide insight into the changing composition of the foreign-born population in the United States. The foreign-born population consists of anyone living in the United States who was not a U.S. citizen at birth, including naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (immigrants), temporary migrants such as foreign students, humanitarian migrants (for example, refugees and asylees) and unauthorized migrants.

Other highlights from the report:

• From 2010 to 2022, the total foreign-born population increased by 15.6%. In Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia, the foreign-born populations grew by 40% or more.
• From 2010 to 2022, the median age of the foreign-born population increased by over 5 years (from 41.4 to 46.7), while the median age of the native population rose by only 1 year (from 35.9 to 36.9).
• A higher percentage of foreign-born individuals completed high school or higher in 2022 (75.1%) than in 2010 (68.3%).

The Census Bureau also released a data visualization, Highlights of the Foreign-Born Population, and related America Counts story, Where Do Immigrants Live? How Immigrants Have Dispersed Throughout the Country. These products feature 2018-2022 ACS, 5-year estimates on the foreign-born population at various levels of geography (national, state and county).."
Foreign-Born Population 

Legal Treatment of Embryos Created Through IVF: Australia • France • Germany • Italy • New Zealand Poland • Portugal • Sweden • United Kingdom

"Comparative Summary
Kelly Buchanan Chief, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Division II

This report, prepared by staff of the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress, surveys the rules in select jurisdictions regarding embryos created through artificial reproductive technology treatment cycles, such as those involving in vitro fertilization (IVF). The countries surveyed include Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and six European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden.

The individual country surveys examine whether there is a legal limit on the number of embryos that can be created or transferred in a treatment cycle, and the actions that can be taken with respect to the embryos created (apart from transfer to a person’s uterus as part of that cycle), including preimplantation genetic testing, sex selection for nonmedical purposes, cryopreservation and storage, donation to another person or couple, disposal or destruction, and allowing the embryos to be used for research purposes. This is intended to be a high-level survey, and it is recognized that countries may have detailed rules related to, for example, consent and counseling requirements, record-keeping and reporting, the collection and use of donor gametes, surrogacy, and restrictions and requirements related to embryo research.

Aspects of the country surveys are summarized in the table below. The storage time limits relate to the storage of embryos for the purpose of possible use in subsequent treatment cycles; some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, have separate time limits where storage is for the purpose of using the embryos for research. In addition, in almost all the countries that have a legal limit on storage duration, extensions may be granted by the relevant authorities.

As shown in the table, Italy, Germany, and Poland have the most restrictive rules of the jurisdictions surveyed. In these countries, the rules limit or discourage the creation of multiple excess embryos. However, while in Italy and Germany the ability to donate embryos to another person or couple is prohibited or highly restricted, such donation is required in Poland after the storage time limit is reached. These three countries do not permit research involving or disposal of excess embryos. Aspects of the laws in Germany are currently under review by a commission established by the government. The law in Italy is complex and there is uncertainty regarding some aspects, with certain restrictions having been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

All the other jurisdictions surveyed allow for excess embryos to be discarded, and disposal is required in several jurisdictions when the storage limits have been reached. This includes one Australian state, France, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.."
Embryos and IVF 

Broadband Consumer Labels

"Broadband Labels (Internet de Banda Ancha Etiquetas - en español) are designed to provide clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about the cost and performance of high-speed internet services. The labels are modeled after the FDA nutrition labels and are intended to help consumers comparison shop for the internet service plan that will best meet their needs and budget. Internet service providers that offer home, or fixed, internet services, or mobile broadband plans are required to have a label for each service plan they offer.

Beginning April 10, 2024, consumers should look for broadband labels at any point of sale, including online and in stores. The labels must disclose important information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and broadband speeds. They also include links to information about network management practices and privacy policies.

A glossary (glosario en español) is available to help consumers better understand the information displayed on the label. To review a sample home internet, or fixed, label created by the FCC, download the home internet label in PDF format. You can also review a sample mobile broadband label in PDF format.

While many providers will begin displaying their labels in April, providers with less than 100,000 subscribers have until Oct. 10, 2024, to comply with the FCC rules to display broadband labels at their points of sale.."
Internet consumer labels 

The Federal Trade Commission 2023 Privacy and Data Security Update

"The past three years have been a tremendously busy period for the Commission, and I am particularly proud of our accomplishments in the areas of privacy and data security. We have worked vigorously to ensure that the law has equal force across the digital ecosystem, rising to the challenges presented by new technologies and seeking meaningful remedies that establish critical standards for protecting consumers’ information, rather than placing the burden on consumers to protect themselves. This is an area that demands an all-hands-on-deck response, and as the examples in the report show, the Commission is using every tool it has to safeguard consumers’ rights. To highlight a few of the agency’s achievements:

• Artificial Intelligence: The Commission has been leading efforts to ensure that AI and similar technologies are not deployed in harmful ways. In addition to obtaining orders against Rite Aid, Ring, and Amazon to ensure that companies are disincentivized from using data that was wrongfully collected or trained to develop AI, we have initiated a market study of social media and video streaming platforms on the use of AI, announced a public contest to develop new approaches to protect consumers from AI-enabled voice cloning harms, proposed rules to crack down on AI-fueled impersonator and fake review fraud, and issued numerous business guidance alerts.

• Children and Teens: The Commission proposed strengthening the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to make digital services safer and more secure for children, and to put the onus on providers rather than parents to keep kids’ data secure. The Commission has also been active in the enforcement arena, obtaining a record-breaking civil penalty settlement with Epic Games, and implementing substantive protections for teens as well, by mandating that settings default to protect their privacy. Our work in the educational technology space—including our case against Edmodo and policy statement on education technology—sent a strong message that businesses cannot outsource compliance when it comes to children’s privacy. 1 This Update covers the time period from January 2021 to December 2023. 2023 Privacy and Data Security Update FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FTC.GOV 2

• Sensitive Data: As the privacy threats from data collection continue to grow, protecting the privacy and security of consumers' sensitive data has continued to be a top Commission priority. The Commission’s groundbreaking actions to safeguard health, biometric, and geolocation data—including BetterHelp, GoodRx Holdings, Premom, Flo Heath, RiteAid, and Kochava, along with the InMarket, X-Mode, and Avast cases that were filed after the time period covered by this update—demonstrate that our agency will not tolerate failures to protect consumers’ sensitive information at any stage in the data lifecycle

. • Market-wide Protections: The Commission initiated rulemaking initiatives to establish sensible and reasonable baselines that protect consumers and put honest businesses on a level playing field. These included amendments to require financial institutions to notify the FTC of large data breaches, notices of proposed rulemaking to clarify the application of the Health Breach Notification Rule to health apps and strengthen the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, and an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to explore rules that would crack down on harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security.

While the work of the FTC’s attorneys, economists, investigators, technologists, and other specialists has made enormous strides in protecting the privacy and security of consumers’ information, there is much more that needs to be done. The explosive growth in data collection and the rapid pace of technological developments that allow information to be exploited in new ways demands action. The Commission has consistently called on Congress to restore its ability under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to return money to consumers in federal court, and to pass comprehensive privacy legislation. As the data abuses described in this report makes clear, that ask is more urgent than ever.."
FTC Privacy and Data Security