• After a long running battle with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Central European University in Budapest founded by George Soros, is leaving Hungary. The university with one of Europe’s most highly respected graduate schools, is moving to Vienna. For nearly two years, the university has been the target of harassment by Orban’s right-wing government, which has systematically consolidated control and marginalized dissent.
(“Soros-Funded University Says Its Been Kicked Out of Hungary as an Autocrat Tightens His Grip,” Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2018; “Hungary’s Eviction of Soros Backed University Is Another Win for Europe’s Far Right,” New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2018)
• An inquiry by Britain’s Parliamentary investigative committee has exposed how Facebook handed over user’s data to favored advertisers and app developers including Netflix, AIR-BNB and Lyft. The classified documents were released as part of a lawsuit against Facebook in California by app developer Six4Three.
(“Facebook Allegedly Offered Advertisers Special Access to Users’ Data and Activities,” Washington Post, Dec. 5, 2018; “Facebook’s Emails Tell a Cutthroat Tale,” New York Times, Dec. 5, 2018)
• In Tijuana along the U.S. – Mexican border, Central American and other migrants gather early in the morning to get their names on “The List” in a black and white notebook kept by asylum seekers. The list helps create a sense of order in a chaotic situation, at this port of entry to the United States.
( “On Mexico Border, Asylum Seekers Take Organizing Into Their Own Hands,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 5, 2018)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Richard Hill.
