Afghanistan talks agree 'roadmap to peace' https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48919335 A landmark peace conference between the Taliban and influential Afghans, including government officials, has agreed a "roadmap for peace" that could hasten the end of the 18-year war. A statement called for an end to civilian casualties and the protection of women's rights within an "Islamic framework". The non-binding agreement comes as the US and the Taliban continue to negotiate an American withdrawal. The US toppled the Taliban in 2001. The seventh round of talks between American negotiators and the insurgents is expected to resume later on Tuesday. They hope [...]

https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-muslim-brotherhood-20190624-story.html In the week following his death, Mohamed Morsi has proven to be as divisive a figure as he ever was in life. His death, after a collapse in a courtroom on Monday, was from an apparent heart attack. But, at the time of his death, Morsi was also suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, and liver disease. Amid suspicion that Egyptian authorities may have neglected to care for him while in jail, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights called his death ”murder by neglect.” Morsi was the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization which [...]

US-China Trade War Will Hurt American Families https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/20/perspectives/us-china-trade-war-economic-costs/index.html As President Trump and the Chinese elevate their ongoing trade dispute, lead economists are suggesting that American families will be the ones to pay. Earlier this month, Trump significantly increased tariffs on Chinese trade goods. The immediate consequence could be a 25% tax hike on everything imported from China. China is currently the source of 41% of american apparel, 72% of footwear, 84% of travel goods, and 37% of electronics. The average cost of these increases on American family of four will be about $2,300 a month. As [...]

WEST PALM BEACH, 2 February 2018 - CTC International Group, Inc., a leading provider of business intelligence and security solutions, today released RiskSurv, the only comprehensive, consistent risk assessment metric and report generation tool on the market. RiskSurv is a global, consistent and cost effective methodology specifically designed to determine an organization’s compliance with its own security policies by identifying gaps and prioritizing the actions to address the same in today’s threat and budgetary environment. "We developed RiskSurv in partnership with one of the best names in the software industry, Protatech, to fill a very real [...]

The case of the Canadian "Big Maple Leaf" coin provides a lesson in security and the danger of assumptions. Four individuals are currently on trial in Berlin for the 2017 robbery of the Canadian "Big Maple Leaf", a solid gold coin worth at least $4 million. The coin, which weighed 220 pounds and was a yard in diameter, was known not only for its large size, but also for its purity. The coin boasted 999.99 of 1000 parts gold, making it one of the purist gold coins in existence. It was also rare. Only five of [...]