Akron

Europe gets a grip on graft

One of the healthy competitions between Europe and the United States is over which one can set a new global standard. On May 25, the European Union began to win on one standard – digital privacy – with the start of stiff rules on how companies handle personal data. The impact, though limited to firms operating in Europe, is being felt globally.

Will Europe's new web privacy rules also bring global standards of trust?

European regulators were once dismissed as pesky, procedural, and preoccupied with privacy. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes a range of new rules for how companies handle the personal data of customers in the EU. Critics of the law have emphasized the burdens that it imposes on businesses outside the European Union.

Ramadan: a time for fasting, prayer, reflection – and laughs?

After a long day of fasting, work, and prayer, many Jordanians are gathering each night this Ramadan for one thing: a good laugh. In what is quickly becoming a Ramadan tradition, Jordanians are filling theaters, hotels, and their living rooms for comic relief and satirical social commentary to cap the night during the holy month. Local TV stations have produced no fewer than 12 Jordanian comedic miniseries this Ramadan, marking a break from recent years in which lavish period dramas from the Gulf and Egypt dominated Jordanian airwaves during the Arab world’s biggest television and media season.

Taking the hill: As more veterans run for Congress, are they more bipartisan?

Marine Corps veteran Andrew Grant tucks a campaign flier into the hip pocket of his jeans, strides up the front walk, and rings the bell at a Spanish-style stucco home in this manicured suburb of Sacramento, Calif. “I’m Andrew Grant, and I’m running for Congress,” the tall, athletic candidate tells retiree Don Holl, who cracks open the door and tentatively looks out. Across the United States, a growing number of veterans of recent wars – both Democratic and Republican, men and women – are volunteering to serve again by entering congressional races.