Month: August 2024

The White House confirmed on Thursday that Russia, the United States and several other countries engaged in a multi-country, 24-prisoner exchange — the largest of its kind since the Cold War.

President Joe Biden said that three American citizens and one green card holder detained in Russian prisons were released in the prisoner swap, sharing in a statement that the four “unjustly imprisoned” people released Thursday included: U.S. Marine Paul Whelan; Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich; Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva; and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian journalist with British citizenship who also holds an American green card.

• Gershkovich, 32, was arrested by Russian authorities in March 2023 for espionage, a charge he and U.S. officials denied. Biden has said that Gershkovich was targeted for being a journalist and an American; after a trial, Gershkovich was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony.
• Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in December 2018 while traveling on an American passport in Russia and also accused of espionage. He was convicted on the charges in June 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison, ultimately serving five.
• Kurmasheva, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia, was arrested by Russian authorities in 2023 for failing to register as a foreign agent.
• Kara-Muza was serving a 25-year sentence for criticism of the war in Ukraine.

Biden said: “Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.” Biden added during a news conference that he was grateful to U.S. allies including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey for their support, and said of the released Americans that ‘their brutal ordeal is over and they’re free’.

The deal included the release of a total of 16 people from Russia including five Germans and seven Russian citizens held as political prisoners along with Gershkovich, Whelan, Kurmasheve and Kara-Murza.  Said Biden: “some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over. This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.”

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were on their way back to the U.S., Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Planes believed to be carrying the freed prisoners were seen on arrival at Turkey’s Ankara Airport, according to The Associated Press.

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Officials confirmed on Thursday the fourteen people were arrested and 10 victims of sex trafficking were rescued in a sting operation at the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego, California, last week.  The annual convention dedicated to comic books and pop culture held in San Diego has attracted crowds of over 130,000 in recent years. San Diego ranks 13th for human trafficking in large cities.

The California Department of Justice’s San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force launched an undercover operation to target sex trafficking at the convention that unfolded from July 25-27, with law enforcement personnel posing undercover  as sex buyers in a bid to identify and contact potential trafficking victims. Prosecutors said in a news release that they posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to hone in on sex buyers, and in the three-day sting, 14 sex buyers were arrested, and face solicitation charges. Nine adult potential victims of sex trafficking were recovered, and a 16-year-old juvenile was also recovered.

According to a statement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes federal, state and county-level detectives, went to Comic-Con to find victims of sex trafficking and “sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims.” Bonta confirmed that 10 potential sex-trafficking victims — including a 16-year-old girl — were saved from offering “services” as part of a joint investigation by the. San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. The arrested individuals now face charges for soliciting, which in California is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or up to six months in jail for a first offense.

Bonta said in a statement that sex traffickers “capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to export their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most .. Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”

Comic-Con called the sting operation “very disturbing,” and said the arrests “were made outside of the event” but otherwise had no knowledge of the undercover sting operation.  The event organizers said: “we work closely with a variety of law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.” (per NBC News).

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The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady again Wednesday but signaled that a long-awaited interest rate cut may be just weeks away – as soon as mid-September. According to an article from The New York Times, the Fed’s decision on a rate cut will come on Sept. 18, when policymakers next meet. The rate of inflation has dropped substantially from a peak of over 8% in 2022 down to 3% for the month of June.

Rates remained unchanged Wednesday afternoon after the bank’s July meeting on Wednesday, with the Fed deciding to hold interest rates steady at about 5.3 percent.  However, a report Wednesday morning provided the latest evidence that wage growth is slowing, bolstering the case for rate cuts. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, economists think chances the Fed will cut rates in September are 85%.

On July 15, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he would not wait until inflation is down to 2% to begin interest rate cuts: “The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long, because the tightening that you’re doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having effects which will probably drive inflation below 2%.”

Powell added at an Economic Club meeting in Washington: “For a long time, since inflation arrived, it’s been right to mainly focus on inflation. But now that inflation has come down and the labor market has indeed cooled off, we’re going to be looking at both mandates. They’re in much better balance.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy rose sharply in the second quarter, with GDP up a higher-than-expected 2.8%, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shared that it will release its July jobs report Friday.

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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced the highly anticipated NO FAKES Act on Wednesday (July 31), which aims to protect artists and others from AI deepfakes and other nonconsensual replicas of their voices, images and likenesses. Led by Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the senators introduced a revised version Wednesday of the No Fakes Act, which would make it illegal to create an AI replica of someone without their consent.

Unlike many existing state-law systems, the NO FAKES Act would create would not expire at death and could be controlled by a person’s heirs for 70 years after their passing. To balance personal publicity rights and the First Amendment right to free speech, the NO FAKES Act also includes specific carveouts for replicas used in news coverage, parody, historical works or criticism. The advance of artificial intelligence — and high-profile controversies involving Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Scarlett Johansson, and most recently, Kamala Harris — have spurred renewed interest in both state and federal legislation.

The entertainment industry has united in support of the bill to outlaw digital deepfakes and create the first-ever federal right to one’s voice and likeness. If passed, the legislation would create federal intellectual property protections for the so-called right of publicity for the first time, which restricts how someone’s name, image, likeness and voice can be used without consent. Currently, such rights are only protected at the state level, leading to a patchwork of different rules across the country.

The bill has the support of SAG-AFTRA, Disney, the Motion Picture Association — which represents six major studios — as well as the Recording Industry Association of America, the Recording Academy, and the major music labels and talent agencies.  Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, in a statement: “Game over A.I. fraudsters! Enshrining protections against unauthorized digital replicas as a federal intellectual property right will keep us all protected in this brave new world. Especially for performers whose livelihoods depend on their likeness and brand, this step forward is a huge win!”

In addition, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has also come out in its support of the bill, with Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of MPA, sharing in a statement: “The Motion Picture Association thanks Senators Coons, Blackburn, Klobuchar, and Tillis for their work on the NO FAKES Act. We support protecting performers from generative AI abuse – and this bill thoughtfully establishes federal protections against harmful uses of digital replicas, while respecting First Amendment rights and creative freedoms. We particularly appreciate the sponsors’ inclusion of safeguards intended to prevent the chilling of constitutionally protected speech such as biopics, docudramas, parody and satire – which will be necessary for any new law to be durable. The MPA looks forward to working closely with the bill’s sponsors as the NO FAKES Act makes its way into law.”

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