Washington Post
National technology reporter, and former Johannesburg Bureau Chief, for the Washington Post
PROFILE
Craig Timberg
Guest
FROM Craig Timberg
To the Point
Does Facial Recognition Technology Threaten Your Privacy? Fingerprints for identifying suspects is old news. Now the US Supreme Court says law enforcement can make databases that include DNA. Another advancing technology is raising familiar questions about the expectation of privacy. Thirty-seven states are putting drivers' license photographs into databases that use facial-recognition technology. That's according to a study by the Washington Post . We here more from reporter Craig Timberg and from Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project .
To the Point
Mugabe Snubs an Emergency Regional Summit The opposition to Zimbabwe's President has called for a general strike starting on Tuesday. Robert Mugabe says he won't attend a much-awaited summit with other African leaders. He's banned all political rallies, and human rights groups report that he's launched a campaign of systematic violence. Craig Timberg is Johannesburg Bureau Chief for the Washington Post , just home after three weeks in Zimbabwe.
To the Point
ANC Deeply Divided over Vote for New Party Leader After 55 years of disciplined unity, South Africa's ruling party is engaged in a bitter dispute over leadership, which could determine who will be the country's next president. President Thabo Mbeki cannot run for a third term in 2009. Today, he's being challenged as leader of the African National Congress , the party that's ruled the country since apartheid ended 13 years ago. Jacob Zuma , fired as Mbeki's deputy, leads the opposition and is a popular figure. We get an update from Craig Timberg, Johannesburg Bureau Chief for the Washington Post , and Stephen Smith, Professor of African Studies at Duke University and former Africa Bureau Chief for Le Monde.
To the Point
Can America Impact the Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur? In his UN speech today, President Bush said the people of Darfur--the province in western Sudan--have suffered "unspeakable violence." UN officials have declared that "no issue needs more urgent attention." Reminding the General Assembly that the US deems such violence "genocide," the President called on the UN to bolster the African Union forces with peacekeepers of its own, even if the government of Sudan disapproves, and said he's appointed a special American envoy to deal with Darfur. We get the background on the humanitarian crisis and the likelihood of UN peacekeepers being sent to the region.
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To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.