Reuters unmatched coverage
Our coverage of key stories over the last fortnight, including President Trump interview, Facebook on hate speech, lead poisoning on U.S. Army bases
Aug 23, 2018
Exclusive interview with U.S. President Trump
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was worried that any statements under oath he provides to Special Counsel Robert Mueller could be used to bring perjury charges against him as part of the probe into Russia’s electoral interference. He also told Reuters that it is “very dangerous” for social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to silence voices on their services – comments which come as the social media industry faces mounting scrutiny from Congress to police foreign propaganda. Additionally, Trump said he would “most likely” meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while defending his efforts to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in Myanmar
A Reuters investigation gave an inside look at why Facebook has failed to stop widespread hate speech against the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar. The report revealed that for years the social media giant dedicated scant resources to combating hate speech in Myanmar, which is a market it dominates and where there have been repeated eruptions of ethnic violence. Facebook issued a statement the following day conceding it had been too slow to address hate speech in Myanmar and was acting to remedy the problem by hiring more Burmese speakers and investing in technology to identify problematic content.
Children poisoned by lead on U.S. Army bases as hazards go ignored
Privatizing U.S. military housing was supposed to protect service members’ families. Instead, some of their children are being poisoned by lead. In an in-depth investigation, Reuters unearthed dangers in base homes, lapses in military oversight, and a code of silence keeping families at risk.
In peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, UAE lends a helping hand
Reuters shed light on the central role played by the UAE in brokering a surprise peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Driven in part by a desire to tap Ethiopia’s growing economy and in part by a fear that rivals such as Iran and Qatar could gain a foothold in the Horn of Africa, the UAE has pushed into the region for more than a decade. Its newfound assertiveness underscores the shifts underway in the continent, where China now challenges the historic power of western nations and where Russia, Brazil and the UAE and its Gulf States are growing in prominence.
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