Mainstream News

No Exit: China Uses Passports as Political Cudgel

"Legions of Chinese have been barred from traveling abroad by a government that is increasingly using decisions on passports as a cudgel against perceived enemies — or as a carrot to encourage academics whose writings have at times strayed from the party line to return to the fold. The seemingly arbitrary restrictions, not unlike those of the former Soviet Union, also affect overseas Chinese who had grown accustomed to frequent visits home. Scores of Chinese expatriates have been denied new passports by Chinese Embassies when their old ones expire, while others say they are simply turned away after landing in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo Exit: China Uses Passports as Political Cudgel

Canadian citizenship-stripping plan good politics but dodgy policy

"Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s plan to strip Canadian terrorists of their citizenship is clever Conservative politics. There’s a feeling out there that just too many people are using Canada as a country of convenience — that they obtain citizenship to take advantage of programs like medicare but that their real loyalties are elsewhere. Now he’s taken advantage of a 2012 terrorist outrage in Bulgaria to advance the far more controversial idea of giving Ottawa the right to strip dual nationals of their Canadian citizenship. Native-born Canadians who also happen to be dual nationals could have their Canadian citizenship revoked by fiat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanadian citizenship-stripping plan good politics but dodgy policy

Raul Castro promises end of an era in Cuba as he steps down as country’s president

"Cuban President Raul Castro made the strongest statement yet that the island nation is preparing for a post-Castro era in announcing yesterday that he will step down in five years with plans to institute term limits. He also replaced his No. 2 with a younger Cuban who would be poised to rule if something were to befell Mr. Castro before his second term ends in five years – the first time the nation would be led by someone who did not directly fight in the 1959 Cuban revolution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRaul Castro promises end of an era in Cuba as he steps down as country’s president

Dissident blogger allowed to leave Cuba on tour

"Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, who has been denied permission to travel abroad for many years, was allowed on Sunday to embark on a three-month trip to Latin America and Europe. Sanchez, 37, who often criticizes the Cuban government in her 'Generation Y' blog, had a visa to visit Brazil last year but was unable to make the trip because the government refused to issue her a passport. But Cuba recently made an about-face, issuing a reform allowing its citizens to travel abroad for the first time without a reviled and costly exit visa, and also giving Sanchez her long sought-for permission to travel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDissident blogger allowed to leave Cuba on tour

Cost of Dropping Citizenship Keeps U.S. Earners From Exit

"The U.S. taxes citizens on their worldwide income even if they live in another country. This year, Congress raised the maximum tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. The increase is coupled with higher levies on capital gains and dividends for top earners of as much as 23.8 percent compared with 15 percent in 2012. States including California also have raised taxes on top earners. The U.S. government generally imposes an exit tax on high earners to discourage them from expatriating as a way of avoiding taxes. If parents move to another country and leave money upon death to their U.S. citizen children, levies similar to the estate tax apply." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCost of Dropping Citizenship Keeps U.S. Earners From Exit

U.S. Judge: Fifth Amendment Doesn’t Apply To Foreign Bank Accounts

"In a victory for the government, Pauley said individuals can’t assert a constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to disclose bank records to a U.S grand jury. The records sought include the name in which each account is maintained, number of others tied to the account, the address of the bank, and the maximum value of each such account. More than 38,000 Americans avoided prosecution by entering an IRS amnesty program in which they paid back taxes and penalties while disclosing the banks and bankers who helped them hide offshore accounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Judge: Fifth Amendment Doesn’t Apply To Foreign Bank Accounts

Rwandan woman stripped of U.S. citizenship after lying about role in genocide

"Witnesses described Munyenyezi conducting selections of who would die according to whether identity cards said a person was Tutsi or Hutu. 'If I’m checking IDs at roadblocks, knowing that person is going to be clubbed to death, I’m as responsible as if I wielded the machete myself,' said Capin. Prosecution witnesses included Consolee Mukeshimana who described Munyenyezi as checking identity cards at the roadblock for two hours on one occasion, and directing Tutsis to their deaths." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRwandan woman stripped of U.S. citizenship after lying about role in genocide

Belarus jails border guard over ‘teddy bear invasion’

"Belarus has convicted and jailed for two years a border guard for failing to report that a foreign plane full of teddy bears had crossed into national airspace from Lithuania last July, the Belarus Supreme Court said Tuesday. The decision by a military tribunal is the first jailing in connection with the stunt by a group of Swedish activists who flew illegally into Belarussian territory to release hundreds of teddy bears carrying protest signs in support of freedom of speech. A border guard who was on duty on July 2, 2012 received his conviction on January 4 in a closed trial for not reporting the teddy-bear fly-by." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBelarus jails border guard over ‘teddy bear invasion’

Work in U.S. and Spain losing its appeal for Latin Americans

"For Latin Americans seeking work abroad, traditional magnets like the United States and Spain are losing their appeal because of weak economies, said a report released Thursday. Instead, more and more are looking to countries such as Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia, according to the study by the Organization of American States. In the US, the number of legal immigrants slipped by four percent over the same stretch, and the decrease was even more pronounced among those who lack proper residency papers, the study said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWork in U.S. and Spain losing its appeal for Latin Americans

Senators in Immigration Talks Mull Federal IDs for All Workers

"Key senators are exploring an immigration bill that would force every U.S. worker—citizen or not—to carry a high-tech identity card that could use fingerprints or other personal markers to prove a person's legal eligibility to work. The idea, signaled only in vaguely worded language from senators crafting a bipartisan immigration bill, has privacy advocates and others concerned that the law would create a national identity card that, in time, could track Americans at airports, hospitals and through other facets of their lives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenators in Immigration Talks Mull Federal IDs for All Workers