85 Richest People Hold Wealth Equal to 3.5 Billion Poorest
A new study says the world’s 85 richest people have as much as wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest people — half of the global population. According to Oxfam, the wealth of the world’s richest 1 percent amounts to $110 trillion — 65 times the total for the global bottom half. Seven out of 10 people worldwide live in countries where inequality has grown over the last three decades.
U.S. Using NSA Metadata, Phone Tracking for Drone Strikes
In the latest of Snowden’s disclosures, new information has emerged on the National Security Agency’s secret role in U.S. military and CIA assassinations overseas. The NSA is using complex analysis of electronic surveillance, rather than human intelligence, as the primary method to locate targets for lethal drone strikes. The NSA identifies targets based on controversial metadata analysis and cellphone tracking technologies, an unreliable tactic that has resulted in the deaths of innocent or unidentified people.
Beef Parts Recalled in U.S. over “Diseased and Unsound Animals”
A livestock company has recalled 8.7 million pounds of beef parts over the use of “diseased and unsound animals” and a lack of proper inspection. The Rancho Feeding Corporation says the meat was shipped to California, Florida, Illinois and Texas in the first week of January.