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WEF Seeks Global Governance to Capitalize on Technologies
February 10, 2016
Chriss Street writes that the recent World Economic Forum ("WEF") in Davos focused on how world actors from governments, business, and nongovernmental organizations could confront the coming "Fourth Industrial Revolution," involving "profound" advances in technology, to remain ahead of the curve in global regulatory governance.
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NGO Networks Merge to Push Human Rights in ICT Sector
February 10, 2016
The Global Network Initiative has announced that it is adding seven major telecommunications companies from the Telecommunications Industry Dialogue to its network, which seeks to pressure information and communications technology ("ICT") businesses to adhere to principles of free expression and privacy rights in their dealings with national governments.
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Activists Seek UN Investigation of US Water Contamination
February 09, 2016
The nongovernmental organization Detroit Water Brigade has called for the UN Special Rapporteur on the management of hazardous materials Baskut Tuncak to visit Flint, Michigan, to investigate whether water contamination in that city violates international treaties.
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UN Official: Zika Virus Shows Need for "Reproductive Health" Rights
February 09, 2016
Responding to government warnings in countries affected by the Zika virus to delay pregnancies, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called for increased access to "sexual and reproductive health services," including emergency contraception and abortion, in these countries.
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Barfield: US-EU Data Deal Faces Obstacles
February 08, 2016
Claude Barfield of the American Enterprise Institute writes that, despite the trumpeting of a new data-privacy arrangement by US and EU officials, the apparently limited reforms included in the deal will promote skepticism of its merits by national officials and encourage lawsuits that may end in its displacement by the Court of Justice of the EU.