September, 18 2017, 10:45am EDT
UN Set To Launch Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty On Wednesday
On Wednesday 20th September 2017, a nuclear weapons ban treaty will open for signature at the United Nations.
The ground-breaking document, backed by 122 states, aims to make the abolition of nuclear weapons a reality. Campaigners will deliver thousands of letters to Downing Street on Wednesday calling on Theresa May to sign the ban treaty.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
WASHINGTON
On Wednesday 20th September 2017, a nuclear weapons ban treaty will open for signature at the United Nations.
The ground-breaking document, backed by 122 states, aims to make the abolition of nuclear weapons a reality. Campaigners will deliver thousands of letters to Downing Street on Wednesday calling on Theresa May to sign the ban treaty.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
"The anti-nuclear weapons movement across the world has been working towards this day for decades. The earliest CND placards called on our leaders to ban the bomb and abolish all nuclear weapons.
"As a result of that sustained campaign, and tireless efforts from the states that have brought this to fruition, a ban treaty will be launched at the United Nations today.
"In these turbulent times - when there is a real possibility of nuclear war - it is very inspiring to see the international community - the majority of world states - taking matters into their own hands to make progress on building a nuclear free world.
"That's why it's absolutely vital that Britain backs this multilateral attempt to kick start nuclear disarmament. We must not turn our backs on the world on this historic day."
Hand-in to Downing Street
CND campaigners will deliver thousands of letters addressed to Theresa May at 10 Downing Street at 3.30pmon Wednesday 20th September - the exact time that the treaty opens for signature in New York. The letters call on her government to support the nuclear weapons ban treaty.
CND campaigns non-violently to rid the world of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and to create genuine security for future generations. CND opposes all nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction: their development, manufacture, testing, deployment and use or threatened use by any country.
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Wyden Says Spying Bill Would Force Americans to Become an 'Agent for Big Brother'
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Apr 17, 2024
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to speak out against a chilling mass surveillance bill that lawmakers are working to rush through the upper chamber and send to President Joe Biden's desk by the end of the week.
The measure in question would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years and massively expand the federal government's warrantless surveillance power by requiring a wide range of businesses and individuals to cooperate with spying efforts.
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Wyden (Ore.), referring to an amendment that was tacked on to the legislation by the U.S. House last week with bipartisan support. "That means anyone with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a Wi-Fi router, a phone, or a computer. So think for a moment about the millions of Americans who work in buildings and offices in which communications are stored or pass through."
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Wyden's remarks came after the Senate narrowly approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the FISA reauthorization bill ahead of Section 702's expiration at the end of the week. The Oregon senator, an outspoken privacy advocate, was among the seven members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the procedural motion.
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Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant.
Privacy advocates warn RISAA would dramatically expand the scope of Section 702 by broadening the kinds of individuals and businesses required to participate in government spying. A key provision of the bill would mandate cooperation from "electronic communications service providers" such as Google, Verizon, and AT&T as well as "any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used" to transmit or store electronic communications.
That would mean U.S. intelligence agencies could, without a warrant, compel gyms, grocery stores, barber shops, and other businesses to hand over communications data.
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More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
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The wife of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sharply criticized "assurances" the U.S. government made as the U.K. High Court considers allowing the 52-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison.
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Responding on social media, his wife, Stella Assange—who is an attorney—blasted the U.S. assurances as "weasel words."
"The United States has issued a nonassurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty," she said. "It makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution's previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen."
"The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
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