News of the World

[kyonides]

Illinois Supreme Court issues opinion over ongoing White Castle biometric privacy case

The Illinois Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday in an ongoing case against White Castle in connection to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) that could potentially result in massive fines.

The opinion came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th District requested for the state’s highest court to certify whether BIPA claims accumulate with each biometric data scan or transmission that allegedly violates the law or just the first instance.
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In the proposed class action case, the plaintiff sued White Castle on accusations the fast-food chain had "unlawfully collected her biometric data and unlawfully disclosed her data to its third-party vendor" without her consent for several years after implementing fingerprint-scanning for employee computer access, according to the Illinois Supreme Court document.
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Private entities are barred from "collect[ing], captur[ing], purchas[ing], receiv[ing] through trade, or otherwise obtain[ing]" someone’s biometric data without getting informed consent beforehand under BIPA. The law also puts restrictions on them "disclos[ing], redisclos[ing], or otherwise disseminat[ing]" such data without consent, among other provisions.

Negligent violations can come with $1,000 fines, according to the state law. For intentional or reckless violations, the penalties are $5,000 each.

White Castle contended alleged claims "can accrue only once – when the biometric data is initially collected or disclosed," the majority opinion said.
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White Castle said damages could be upwards of an estimated $17 billion "if plaintiff is successful and allowed to bring her claims on behalf of as many as 9500 current and former White Castle employees," the majority opinion stated.

US captures top ISIS official after helicopter raid in Syria

In a press release, CENTCOM announced that US Central Command forces worked with the Syrian military to conduct a helicopter raid which led to the capture of an ISIS official identified as Batar.

The press release says that Batar was “involved in planning attacks on SDF-guarded detention centers and manufacturing improvised explosive devices.”

No civilians, Syrian soldiers, or US forces were killed or injured, according to the press release.

Shortly after the press release, CENTCOM issued another release stating that coalition forces had been attacked by rockets in northeast Syria on Saturday evening but said no injuries were reported.

News of the successful raid comes the day after CENTCOM announced that four US service members were injured during a raid that left a senior ISIS leader dead.

Iran International TV station moves from UK to US to avoid Tehran-backed assassination attempts

The relocation of Iran International came at the behest of counterterrorism police chiefs who advised the channel to move after a recent string of thwarted plots targeting the station’s journalist, the Sunday Times of London reported.

The situation reportedly reached its climax last weekend when a 30-year-old Australian citizen was allegedly caught filming security details outside the channel’s headquarters in Chiswick, West London.

The man was charged with a terrorism-related offense, but investigations into the incident prompted authorities to declare that they had “serious concerns” about the employees at the station.
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The channel’s move comes after London’s Metropolitan Police deployed armored vehicles and officers to Iran International’s headquarters after threats deemed credible were made against the station.

Antony Blinken sat down with top China diplomat who called US handling of spy balloon ‘hysterical’

Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s senior foreign policy official, spoke for an hour in Germany during the annual Munich Security Conference.

“I condemned the incursion of the [People’s Republic of China’s] surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again,” Blinken tweeted after their meeting.

The meeting came hours after Beijing’s emissary publicly bashed the US shoot-down of China’s balloon off the coast of South Carolina as “hysterical” and “unimaginable” – and complained that the American response violated international customs.
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“There are so many balloons all over the world, so is the United States going to shoot all of them down?” Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, asked.
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“We ask the US to show its sincerity and correct its mistakes, face up and resolve this incident, which has damaged Sino-US relations,” he said.

So the Chinese government is indirectly asking Biden to let them spy on Americans 24/7!?
 I had never thought a communist regime would go that far in my lifetime.

Marianne Williamson poised to challenge Biden for 2024 Democratic presidential nomination

Self-help guru Marianne Williamson appears to be readying to launch a 2024 primary challenge against President Biden, arguing that there is a disconnect between the 80-year-old commander-in-chief and average Americans.

“Apparently Biden’s going to run on a message that the economy is getting stronger. I think that speaks to the disconnect between the analysis of party elites versus the struggle of everyday Americans,” Williamson told Politico in an interview released on Friday.

“We’re being asked to limit our political imaginations — to just accept the low unemployment and low inflation rate, that that is sort of the best that we can get. But that is a hollow victory. The majority of Americans are still struggling to survive,” she added.
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Williamson, who championed issues on her viral 2020 presidential campaign that included establishing a “Department of Peace” and doling out $100 billion in reparations, dropped out last cycle before the Iowa caucuses.

The best-selling author and Oprah Winfrey pal endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the White House after ending her 2020 long-shot campaign.

More communism.  Hurrah...

Ghana soccer star Christian Atsu’s body found under rubble in Turkey quake

“Atsu’s lifeless body was found under the rubble,” the ex-Chelsea winger’s Turkish agent Murat Uzunmehmet confirmed to reporters in Hatay Saturday.
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“Currently, more items are still being taken out. His phone was also found.”

The 31-year-old played for Hatayspor, a soccer team based in the Hatay province of Turkey, the area most devastated by the massive quake.

More than 45,000 people were killed in Turkey and Syria as of Saturday morning — nearly two weeks since the earthquake struck the region.

The club confirmed Atsu’s body will be sent to his hometown in Ghana.

South Korea says North Korea fires missile as allies ready drills

South Korea’s military said North Korea on Saturday fired one suspected long-range missile from its capital toward the sea.
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The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the ballistic missile was fired at around 5:22 p.m. from an area in Sunan, the site of Pyongyang’s international airport. It didn’t immediately say where the weapon landed.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday threatened with “unprecedently” strong action against its rivals, after South Korea announced a series of planned military exercises with the United States aimed at sharpening their response to the North’s growing threats.

Toshiro Ino, Japan’s vice minister for defense, said the missile was expected have landed in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, about 125 mileswest of Oshima island. Oshima lies off the western coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.
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The unprecedented number of missiles underscored a continuation of expansion of his country’s military capabilities despite limited resources while negotiations with Washington remain stalemated.

Those missiles included a new system experts say is possibly linked to the North’s stated desire to acquire a solid-fuel ICBM. North Korea’s existing ICBMs, including Hwasong-17s, use liquid propellants that require pre-launch injections and cannot remain fueled for prolonged periods. A solid-fuel alternative would take less time to prepare and is easier to move around on vehicles, providing less opportunity to be spotted.