"She is one of 100 French women who wrote an open letter, warning about a new 'puritanism' sparked by recent sexual harassment scandals. It deplores a wave of 'denunciations', following rape allegations made against US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. A group of French feminists condemned the letter, accusing the signatories of trivialising sexual violence."
"A federal judge ruled Monday that the federal government may not retry Cliven Bundy and his sons after rebuking prosecutors for withholding evidence during their felony trial stemming from an armed standoff four years ago. She said the attorneys were in violation of the Brady rule, which requires prosecutors to disclose evidence that could be favorable to a defendant, and told them it wasn’t possible to proceed with the case. On Monday, she dismissed the case 'with prejudice,' meaning the government cannot retry the defendants."
"I and others argued that crime would rise. Instead, it fell. We were wrong. Major crime in New York City has continued to decline almost across the board in the four years of the de Blasio administration, to the lowest rates since New York City began keeping extensive records on crime in the early 1960s. Crime is literally off the charts — the low end of the charts. To compare today’s crime rate to even that of ten years ago is to observe a breathtaking decline."
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pulled off something that would have been unthinkable just a few years back: he managed to rally Republican lawmakers behind weed."
"Zuckerberg outlined two areas of technology that he wanted to research in 2018: encryption and cryptocurrencies. He said both technologies led to decentralised power, which Zuckerberg saw as a positive move. Zuckerberg wasn't explicit in his post about Facebook's plans regarding cryptocurrencies. He didn't say the company would add bitcoin as a payment option, for example. But it shows that one of the world's most powerful companies is looking closely at the technology."
"The government has blocked popular messaging services like Telegram and Signal, in addition to several internet networks. Yet despite censorship and civil unrest, the Iranian bitcoin community is growing rapidly. Iranian customers protested outside local branches in 2017, demanding deposits because they worry some of the country’s largest credit institutions are on the verge of collapse. Meanwhile, Iranians remain politically ostracized from most international businesses and financial institutions. Part of the inspiration behind the Iranian revolution in 1979 was a belief that the Shah’s regime perpetuated economic inequality."
"The New York Times reported that China will temporarily allow foreign companies to not pay tax on their earnings. The exemption will 'promote the growth of foreign investment, improve the quality of foreign investment and encourage overseas investors to continuously expand their investment in China,' China’s Finance Ministry said in a statement Thursday. However, those companies must invest those earnings from the exemption in areas being promoted by the Chinese government, like technology and mining. The exemption is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017."
"While U.S. trade policy under the Trump administration has become a confusing mix of bluster, posturing, threats, and uncertainty, China has gone in the other direction, at least incrementally by lowering some of its tariffs unilaterally. On November 24, China’s Ministry of Finance announced that it would cut tariffs on 187 consumer products. The lower duty rate took effect on December 1, so Chinese consumers are now benefitting from more competition and lower prices. This is the fourth tariff cut since 2015."
"23 percent of Americans say that the government is America’s biggest problem. 'That’s about exactly what is was before Nixon resigned,' Jones said, referring to the Watergate era. One might be tempted to view this result as solely caused by disgust with President Donald Trump or his policies. But that’s not really the case, or not entirely. The commentators point out that the poll is similar to findings from 2014-2015 when Barack Obama was president."
"Gun owners and their sympathizers are as busily at work in the jury box as pot smokers."