Tech giant Google has reportedly agreed to pay $391.5 million in a settlement with 40 state attorneys general over the company’s deceptive location tracking features. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said, “They have been crafty and deceptive. Consumers thought they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.” TechCrunch reports that Google has agreed to pay $391.5 million in a settlement with 40 state attorneys general over its location tracking practices, following an investigation that found Google had misled users into thinking they had turned off location tracking even…

As the world increasingly re-divides into hostile blocs, the need for dialogue is increasing but the number of places for such conversations is shrinking. This year, there were no Russian or Iranian officials at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January, and none were invited to the venerable Munich Security Conference in Germany, which takes place this weekend. While understandable given egregious actions by both governments, it is also unfortunate. The Munich conference, held since 1963 at an upscale hotel in Bavaria, bills itself as “a unique platform for high-level debates on the greatest foreign and security policy challenges of…

Apart from Europe and the South China Sea region, the Middle East and North Africa is one of the epicenters for what the U.S. has termed “great power competition” especially between the U.S. and China, although Russia also figures into the assessment. There is particular sensitivity to China’s perceived economic inroads into the region as it has surged to become its largest economic partner. Apart from China’s dependence on imports of Gulf oil to meet its energy needs, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has expanded Beijing’s footprint from Oman in the east to Morocco in the west. Based on Arab…

Just an hour east of the cobblestoned streets and brightly colored Spanish colonial buildings of San Juan, a symphony of bird calls and croaking coquí frogs echoes along the first backpacking trail in a U.S. tropical rainforest. Puerto Rico’s new NorEste (Northeast) Trail takes hikers from the coral reefs and bioluminescent lagoon of Fajardo to the highest peak in El Yunque National Forest—a 28,000-acre tropical rainforest known for its beauty and biodiversity. Only 25 to 50 hikers a day will be allowed to experience the 40-mile, three- to five-day adventure. While the official route is about 90 percent complete, you can already…

February 17, 2023|WASHINGTON For more than two decades, the World Bank has been helping Turkey with earthquake preparedness – providing funds and guidance to strengthen public buildings like schools and hospitals, improve emergency communications, and supply first-responder vehicles and equipment. Now Turkey and war-torn northern Syria are struggling with the aftermath of the deadliest temblor to hit this seismically sensitive region in the modern era. The initial Feb. 6 quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, as well as another major strike hours later and numerous aftershocks, has left more than 40,000 dead.   The Monitor recently spoke with Alanna Simpson, the…