Freedom of speech

Growing outcry in Ethiopia over abducted university students

Jan. 27, 2020 8:53 AM EST

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopians are expressing anger and frustration over several university students, most of them female, who remain missing after their kidnapping two months ago. A growing social media campaign echoes the #BringBackOurGirls activism in Nigeria over the mass kidnapping there of...

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2017 file photo, demonstrators carrying signs chant as they protest outside of the White House in Washington during a demonstration to denounce President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Trump's travel ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim countries is headed back to a federal appeals court, three years after it was first imposed. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2020, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond is scheduled to hear arguments in three lawsuits filed by U.S. citizens and permanent residents whose relatives have been unable to enter the U.S. because of the ban. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Three years later, Trump travel ban heads back to court

Jan. 26, 2020 9:26 AM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries in 2018, the ruling appeared to shut down legal challenges that claimed the policy was rooted in anti-Muslim bias. But a federal appeals court in Richmond is set to...

Director Bryan Fogel, left, and Hatice Cengiz pose for a portrait to promote the film

Khashoggi documentary 'The Dissident' lands at Sundance

Jan. 25, 2020 6:14 PM EST

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A searing documentary about the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi made its anticipated debut at the Sundance Film Festival, unveiling a detailed investigation into the Saudi Arabia regime and the companies and governments that do business with it. Bryan...

Elliot Harmon, right, fires up fellow protestors Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of the regulatory body for domain names, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company that controls the dot-org online universe is putting the registry of domain names up for sale, and the nonprofits that often use the suffix in their websites are raising concerns about the move. ICANN is meeting this weekend and is expected to rule by mid-February on plans by private-equity firm Ethos Capital to buy the Public Interest Registry for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Protesters fear rising costs if firm buys dot-org universe

Jan. 24, 2020 6:20 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The company that controls the dot-org universe is trying to sell the online registry to an investment firm for more than $1 billion, drawing opposition from activists who protested Friday and others who fear costs would soar if a for-profit company is in charge of registering the website...

Michelle Carter leaves the Bristol County jail, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, in Dartmouth, Mass., after serving most of a 15-month manslaughter sentence for urging her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in 2014. The 23-year-old, released three months early for good behavior, will serve five years of probation. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Michelle Carter, of texting suicide case, freed from jail

Jan. 23, 2020 2:51 PM EST

BOSTON (AP) — Michelle Carter, the woman convicted of manslaughter for urging her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in text messages that included, "Just do it, babe," was released from jail Thursday after more than three months was shaved from her sentence for good behavior. Carter, 23, walked out of the...

Authors defending college employee fired for Facebook post

Jan. 23, 2020 8:41 AM EST

WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — Prominent authors, academics and free speech advocates have come to the defense of a Massachusetts college employee who was fired over a satirical Facebook post about Iran bombing the U.S. Salman Rushdie, Joyce Carol Oates and Rosanne Cash are among those supporting Asheen Phansey,...

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, Jeff Bezos attends the premiere of

Saudi crown prince's WhatsApp linked to Bezos phone hack

Jan. 22, 2020 5:44 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The cellphone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was hacked in what appeared to be an attempt by Saudi Arabia's crown prince to "influence, if not silence" the newspaper's reporting on the kingdom, two U.N. human rights experts said Wednesday. The U.N....

This image from a Jan. 1, 2020 surveillance video and released in a U.S. Attorney detention memorandum, shows Brian Mark Lemley Jr, right, and Patrik Mathews leaving a store in Delaware where they purchased ammunition and paper shooting targets. The pair, along with William Garfield Bilbrough IV, plotted to carry out “essentially a paramilitary strike” at a Virginia gun rights rally, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. FBI agents arrested Mathews, Lemley and Bilbrough on Jan., 16, as part of a broader investigation of The Base, a white supremacist group. (U.S. Attorney via AP)

Judge: Canadian tied to extremist group is 'very dangerous'

Jan. 22, 2020 5:05 PM EST

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former Canadian Armed Forces reservist plotted with other members of a white supremacist group to carry out “essentially a paramilitary strike” at a Virginia gun rights rally, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan agreed to keep...

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 1968 file photo, U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos raise their gloved fists after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200 meter run at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. Some athletes are criticizing the International Olympic Committee for prohibiting political protests on the medal podium. Olympic officials reminded athletes last week not to make political statements at the Tokyo Olympics. (AP Photo/File)

Soccer players union promises to defend Olympic protesters

Jan. 22, 2020 9:19 AM EST

GENEVA (AP) — Soccer players who defy Olympic rules by making protest gestures at the 2020 Tokyo Games will be supported by their global union. Freedom of speech on issues like anti-discrimination and gender equality needs to be protected from “a hypocritical rule,” FIFPro general secretary...

FILE - In this May 30, 2017, fie photo, Jeremy Christian shouts as he is arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore. Christian, charged with fatally stabbing two men who authorities say confronted him during a racist rant on a Portland, Oregon light-rail train, goes to trial Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, two years after the killings that plunged this liberal city into months of soul-searching. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP, Pool, File)

Murder trial begins in fatal Portland light-rail stabbings

Jan. 21, 2020 8:11 PM EST

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man charged with fatally stabbing two men who authorities say confronted him during a racist rant on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train went to trial Tuesday, two years after the killings in a liberal city. Jeremy Christian has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted...

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