• Poland will become the first NATO country to purchase armed drones from Turkey, an emerging arms supplier. According to Reuters, Poland has agreed to buy 24 Bayraktar TB2 drones armed with anti-tank weapons.
(“Poland To Become the First NATO Country To Buy Turkish Drones,” Reuters, May 22, 2021; “Canada Scraps Export Permits for Drone Technology to Turkey,” Reuters, April 12, 2021)
• The Guardian reports Facebook has allowed low-profile world leaders and politicians to use its platform to harass political opponents, despite the social media giant having been alerted of this violative behavior. While Facebook cracked down on similar cases in the United States, Taiwan and South Korea, it ignored abuses in countries that included Honduras, Afghanistan, Iraq and Mongolia.
(“The Facebook Loophole That Lets World’s Leaders Deceive and Harass Their Own Citizens,” The Guardian, April 12, 2021)
• Joe Biden’s stimulus legislation included a generous child tax credit that could reverse a generation of austerity-driven welfare reform, which saw a shrinking percentage of low-income people being eligible to receive cash assistance.
(“Undoing Welfare Reform,” American Prospect, May 24, 2021)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
