3 top stories from home and away
By: P.M. Fadden
Associate Editor
WORLD VIEW – Eagle vs. Drone
Dutch forces become the world’s first police services to recruit eagles to tackle increasing number of illegal drones invading Dutch skies.
Successful trials, begun last January, bolster program confidence, and the birds will now be deployed whenever drones are believed to pose a public threat or be flying too close to airports or sensitive areas.
About 100 officers will be trained to work with the eagles and, despite concerns raised by animal rights groups, police say the birds are not in any danger, reports BBC World Service.
NATIONWIDE – Pardon Urged for Exiled NSA Contractor
The American Civil Liberties Union, alongside Amnesty International, prepare launch of a controversial “Pardon Snowden” campaign.
The ACLU acts as legal advisor to Edward Snowden, former NSA contractor turned whistle blower. Mr. Snowden released details of mass phone and internet surveillance by his former employer, the NSA, and has lived under Russian exile ever since.
Amnesty International has said that no-one should be prosecuted for exposing human rights violations, and both ACLU and Amnesty Int. are urging U.S. President Barack Obama to act before he leaves office in January, 2017.
FRONTIER FOCUS – AK Balloting to Undergo Native Translation
In the wake of 2007 and 2013 native language-focused lawsuits, the state of Alaska agrees to expand language assistance — including translations and audio aids — with regard to state-wide balloting.
Native American Rights Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union sued Alaska over its failure to provide ballot materials in Yup’ik. And the painstaking work of helping Alaska Native voters understand what they’re voting on has become an expansive undertaking, one that involves deciphering complex financial concepts to faxing handwritten notes between Anchorage, Fairbanks and remote villages.
Panelists are working to translate election guides, candidate statements and record audio aids, a more complicated task than the August primary ballot. To date, the state has spent $220,000 expanding language access, reports Alaska Dispatch News.