Category: Security

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Thursday accused a Democratic colleague of being disingenuous for blocking President Donald Trump’s State Department nominees after calling Tuberville a “maniac” for holding up military promotions under Joe Biden’s presidency.

“It’s all for show up here,” Tuberville tweeted in response to a story on the holds placed by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “Theatre. Fake outrage.”

During a speech on the Senate floor in July 2023, Schatz called out Tuberville for months-long hold on hundreds of military nominees over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, accusing Alabama’s senior senator of abusing the upper chamber’s advice and consent role.

“Yes, every senator has enormous power. I can probably block the defense bill this week if I wanted to. But I won’t. You know why? Because I’m not a maniac,” Schatz said. “Because I understand that when you vest someone through your voters with this kind of power you have to be very careful with how you exercise it.”

Schatz could not be reached for comment on Tuberville’s tweet.

In February, the Hawaii senator announced a “blanket hold” on Trump’s nominees to the State Department until the administration’s ”illegal attempt to shutter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency is reversed.”

During his July 2023 floor speech, Schatz said he blocked “one or two things” in his Senate career, adding that Tuberville’s maneuver was unheard of.

“When I block something, people know I’m serious. And I have never — and I know no one … the current 100 senators, besides Sen. Tuberville, and no one else before him — I’ve never seen this in my life,” he said.

“Sen. Tuberville is mad about an abortion issue, and so he’s preventing all of these general and flag officers from getting their promotions. It’s bad for morale, it’s bad for the chain of command” and military families, Schatz said.

“It’s got to end. It’s bad for the country, it’s bad for the Senate, and it’s bad for the United States armed forces.”

Tuberville’s 10 months-long hold on more than 425 military promotions requiring Senate confirmation was made in protest of the Pentagon reimbursing travel expenses for abortions.

The holds raised concerns at the Pentagon about military readiness and top military leaders, including then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who warned that Tuberville’s hold could have led to the loss of military talent.

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© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC.

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A Gambian man accused of torturing people during a dictatorship in the West African country will stand trial in Denver this week in a first-of-its-kind case in the United States.

Michael Correa, 45, will become the first non-U.S.-citizen to stand trial in an American federal court for torture committed abroad when his 10-day jury trial starts Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Correa is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit torture and six counts of inflicting torture on specific victims. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge.

He is accused of torturing at least six people over several months in 2006 while he served in a special Gambian armed unit known as the “Junglers” that took orders directly from then-President Yahya Jammeh. The prosecution is being closely followed by international human rights organizations and by people across The Gambia.

“This case is definitely something that folks are watching, because it is so historic for the United States to bring a case like this, and because there has been so little accountability for the crimes under the Jammeh regime,” said Carmen Cheung Ka-Man, an attorney with The Center for Justice & Accountability, which is representing three of the six alleged victims.

Correa is accused of torturing people suspected of plotting a coup against Jammeh, according to a grand jury indictment in the case. U.S. prosecutors allege Correa beat people, electrocuted them, dripped molten plastic and acid on their bodies, put plastic bags over their heads and threatened them with guns, hot metal rods and other devices.

Correa came to the U.S. in 2016 to escort The Gambia’s vice president on a trip in New York and never left, overstaying his visa and resettling in Denver, where prosecutors said he worked as a day laborer. He was arrested without incident in 2019 and charged with the federal torture crimes in 2020.

He has pleaded not guilty and remained in federal custody.

Correa’s federal public defenders declined to comment through a pre-recorded blanket phone message which said the office does not discuss cases. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado did not return a request for comment.

When Correa was indicted, Department of Justice officials said the prosecution showed the U.S. would not be a “safe haven” for perpetrators of torture and that such perpetrators would face justice in this country.

The federal prosecution moves the U.S. into a new era, Cheung Ka-Man said.

“That’s a really important thing for our courts to do,” she said. “It means we are upholding the rule of law here, and that our courts are spaces where human rights violators can be held accountable.”

She added that the Gambian government is in the process of setting up its own war crime tribunal, and that several people involved in that effort plan to attend the Denver trial to learn how the process can work.

Sirra Ndow, a representative with the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations, a nonprofit in The Gambia that aims to champion victims’ rights, said the U.S. prosecution, while challenging because it is taking place so far away, is broadly supported by Gambians.

Culturally, Gambians tend to avoid the justice process, she said, so that wide support is particularly notable.

“We kind of tend to shy away from going to the formal justice system, so seeing that the majority of Gambians are demanding justice is a big signal that… we never want something like this to happen again in this country,” she said.

She said the prosecution brings a measure of “satisfaction” to all torture survivors, not just the six victims identified in the U.S. case.

“Justice for one victim is justice for all,” she said.

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© 2025 MediaNews Group, Inc.

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This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

Some North Korean hospitals are posting prices for treatment and medicine in a break from past practice that suggests authorities are abandoning the goal of providing free health care, sources in the country have told Radio Free Asia.

The communist country’s Public Health Act stipulates that the state provides complete and comprehensive free care. While the reality has long been different, with patients paying for medicines and other expenses out of pocket, now prices are being openly displayed, according to two sources in two different provinces.

“Recently, hospitals in the province have changed their signs and begun displaying medical fees inside the buildings,” said the first source in North Hamgyong province who requested anonymity for safety reasons. “As soon as you enter the hospital, the fees are posted prominently at the reception area.”

The source said hospitals began posting treatment fees in February and that many residents were “quite shocked.” In the past, residents were used at least to getting consultations for free, even if they had to pay out for medicines.

The source in North Hamgyong province, which lies in the northeast of the country, said that since fall 2024, hospitals also began changing their names from “people’s hospitals” to names based on the district or city, and began posting treatment costs as well.

Fees are listed in the reception area of hospital, such as 5,000 won (25 to 50 cents) for registration, 5,000 won for consultation, 20,000 won ($1 to $2) for an X-ray, and 50,000 won ($2.50 to $5) for medical certificates, according to a second source in North Pyongan province, which lies in country’s west. Also displayed are prices for various medicines, including painkillers and antibiotics, ranging from 200 won (1 to 2 cents) for an aspirin tablet, to 8,000 won (40 to 80 cents) for penicillin.

In theory, North Korea has universal health coverage but its ability to provide it has been hamstrung for decades by chronic shortages, which grew acute after the fall of the former Soviet Union and the subsidies it offered, and then famine in the late 1990s. Anecdotal evidence indicates a pervasive lack of basic amenities such as electricity at clinics and hospitals.

Independent research on the North Korean health care system, based on responses from North Koreans who fled to South Korea and published in 2020, actually suggests that out-of-pocket of expenditures for health services have been widespread for years, even for medical consultations. More than 80 percent of the 383 respondents in the research said they had paid for medicines and medical supplies.

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano traded his fire suit for a flak jacket as Mission 600 kicked off its 2025 campaign with a visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on Tuesday.

Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Mission 600 is an annual campaign that pairs drivers and regional military bases as a build up to the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend.

Tuesday’s visit, which also comes ahead of the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday celebration later this year, provided the Coca-Cola Racing Family driver with an immersive day meeting Marines from the 2d Combat Engineer Battalion. The 2d CEB provides close-combat engineer support to the 2d Marine Division in order to enhance mobility, counter-mobility and survivability.

Alongside Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Greg Walter, Logano learned about the battalion’s explosive ordinance capabilities, including watching the preparation and detonation of 40-pound shaper and crater charges. Following a tour of the base in a UTV and lunch with a group of Marines, Logano and Walter faced off head-to-head in a heavy-equipment race designed to simulate digging trenches or breaching anti-tank ditches. The pair drove a JCB High Mobility Engineer Excavator (Combat Tractor) and a 30-ton D7 bulldozer to highlight the role engineers may play in combat situations.

“To get to see firsthand, a little bit of how these guys train, one, helps us go back and talk to our race fans to explain that what they are doing for our safety here in America,” Logano said. “But, I also take some stuff back to my race team. I get to see the way these teams work and how everyone works together. What these men and women are able to do, I’m proud to be here with the Marines and proud to be American.”

For leadership at Camp Lejeune, having someone like Logano visit is great for morale, but also for highlighting what these men and women do in service to the Marines.

“I think every Marine that chooses to join has a different path as to why they came here,” said Maj. Nicholas King. “Ultimately, it’s a great opportunity, especially around our 250th Marine Corps birthday celebration, to really capture that legacy and then show that bond to the future Marine Corps and to our civilian counterparts — not just an average civilian, but a NASCAR champion.

“The smiles on the Marines’ faces, actually getting to meet, interact with him and realize he’s just a genuine, down-to-earth person was something to remember.”

At Charlotte Motor Speedway, Memorial Day Weekend provides the opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, particularly those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. With the support of the U.S. Department of Defense, the patriotic Coca-Cola 600 pre-race show includes representation from all six major branches of the military.

“When you think about the commitment that it takes, the discipline that it takes to be in our military, it makes me proud to live in this country every day,” Logano said. “They’re putting their lives on the line for strangers, people that they’ve never met before. How grateful we all should be to be living in a country like this where, we have people that are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice.”

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© 2025 The Sanford Herald

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Federal prosecutors Tuesday charged a River Rouge man with a gun crime and said he is a suspect in the homicides of three people found in a burning vehicle in Detroit.

The case against Edward Delorean Redding, 29, was filed two days after the remains of three people were found when firefighters responded to a car blaze in an alley near 30th and Milford streets between Boxwood and Woodrow. The criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm provided new details about how police and federal agents identified him as a suspect, and found a black Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver inside his vehicle after a chase.

The Detroit Police Department announced the arrest Monday but did not identify the suspect by name. Investigators said the man was suspected of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her mother, killing the ex-girlfriend’s 9-year-old niece by stabbing her in the neck, then driving their bodies to the west side, where they were incinerated inside an SUV. Detroit Police have not publicly identified the victims.

Redding has a long criminal history that includes a conviction for carjacking, armed robbery and felony firearm in Wayne County. He was sentenced to 11-22 years in state prison and released on parole on July 9.

Redding made a brief appearance in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon, shuffling into the first-floor courtroom in a beige jailhouse jumpsuit, handcuffs and ankle chains, his right hand heavily bandaged in a white medical dressing. Redding bit his lip and cast his eyes toward the floor, a blank look on his face, while waiting 10 minutes for his case to be heard.

He said nothing beyond his name and answering “yes” several times to basic questions.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand ordered Redding held without bond until a Thursday detention hearing. Redding’s court-appointed lawyer, Senad Ramovic, could not immediately be reached for comment.

A federal felon in possession of a firearm charge is among the most straightforward counts that prosecutors can file in a short amount of time. Any additional charges related to the homicides could be filed in state court after the ongoing investigation.

The criminal case filed Tuesday provides a chronology of events after investigators discovered the bodies Sunday. Detectives reviewed information from license plate readers installed across the city and focused on license plate scans associated with the burning vehicle to determine if another vehicle was traveling nearby prior to it being set on fire, Timothy Madison, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote in an affidavit.

Detectives managed to identify the color, make and model of a vehicle traveling nearby about 25 minutes before the bodies were discovered early Sunday morning.

The vehicle, a 2009 Saturn Vue, was spotted leaving the area where the burning SUV was later discovered.

After identifying the Saturn Vue and learning it was registered to Redding, investigators started hunting for the vehicle.

Detroit Police investigators soon found the silver Saturn and started surveilling it near River Rouge. Then the driver fled, according to the affidavit.

Soon after, a Michigan State Police trooper spotted it on southbound I-75 on the River Rouge Bridge.

“The trooper then attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the silver Saturn, however it accelerated away fleeing from the trooper,” the special agent wrote. “The silver Saturn started to take the exit for north Schaefer Hwy, before veering back onto I-75 southbound at the last second, driving through the shoulder to do so. The silver Saturn then passed a car in the right lane by driving on the shoulder and took the next exit for south Shaefer Hwy, driving approximately 50 mph through the tight corners on the exit ramp.”

Redding ran two red lights along Fort Street, crashed into the median and led investigators on a short foot chase, according to the court filing.

“Redding stated that he bought the silver Saturn after he was released from prison,” Madison wrote. “Redding initially stated he ran from the police because he’s on parole, and claimed he didn’t know the gun was in the car. However, Redding then later admitted to seeing the gun on the floor of the car and agreed with detectives that the gun was why he fled from the police.

“Redding said he was going to give the gun back to whoever put it in his car,” Madison added. “He also agreed with detectives that he touched the gun when he tried to push it under the seat, and therefore his DNA would likely be on the gun.”

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© 2025 www.detroitnews.com.

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China retaliated against new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump by announcing it would raise duties on U.S. goods, roiling markets and deepening a trade war between the world’s largest economies.

The Chinese government will impose an 84% tariff on all imports from the U.S. starting April 10, the Finance Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. China’s move came hours after America’s steepest tariff in a century went into force, taking Trump’s duties on Beijing this year to 104%.

President Xi Jinping’s latest moves mirror the extra levies Trump put on Chinese goods as a punishment for Beijing’s last retaliation. With tariffs now soaring beyond the level economists say would decimate bilateral trade, any further duties would serve as a political statement rather than a way to apply economic pressure.

“China sent a clear signal today that the government will keep its stance on trade policies, despite the higher tariffs of the U.S.,” said Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist for Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd. “I don’t expect a quick and easy way out from the current trade conflict. Meanwhile, the tariffs have become effective and the damage to the two economies will become visible soon.”

U.S. equity futures fell more than 2% after China announced the new tariffs, a move that came after the Asian country vowed to “fight to the end.” Stocks in Europe slumped 4%. Beijing appears to have tweaked its tariff strategy, moving from answering immediately in the first two rounds to responding just as markets open in New York.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent branded Beijing’s retaliation “unfortunate” in an interview with Fox Business, and urged China not to devalue the yuan, calling such a move a tax on the world. “The Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system,” he added.

Asked whether removing Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges was a retaliatory option for the administration, Bessent said that everything was on the table. He pointed to a pending review of capital export controls, and said Trump will decide.

While Trump’s tariffs have piled pressure on the Chinese export machine that last year contributed to about a third of growth, the U.S. economy is also at risk. Goldman Sachs economists including Andrew Tilton wrote in a note that for 36% of U.S. imports from China, American buyers have a “limited ability” to find alternative suppliers, even with substantial tariffs.

Xi hasn’t directly commented on Trump’s tariff hikes, but Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in the U.S., on Wednesday shared a video of the top leader saying in 2020 that “intimidation or pressure will never work on the Chinese nation,” comments made on the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War.

Tensions have spiraled between Washington and Beijing since Trump returned to the White House in January. The U.S. president has yet to speak with his Chinese counterpart more than two months after his inauguration, with talks between the two sides stalled at lower levels dimming the prospect of a deal in the near term.

The two nations are also locked in a stalemate over China’s alleged role in the flow of fentanyl into America, which Trump cited as a reason for two previous rounds of tariffs. U.S. support for the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China views as a breakaway province is another flashpoint in the relationship.

China hit a range of mostly defense related firms in its latest action, adding six firms including Shield AI Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corp. to its unreliable entity list and imposing export controls on a dozen American companies including American Photonics and BRINC Drones. Most of the firms do little business in China.

Chinese officials rushed to reassure the private sector as the trade spat worsened, with Premier Li Qiang telling a meeting of experts and entrepreneurs Wednesday that Beijing would work to expand domestic demand. In addition, he said that economy was resilient and maintained its upward momentum in the first quarter.

By not matching the full 104% imposed by Trump, Beijing has shown some restraint, according to Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of international relations at Shanghai’s East China Normal University.

“China has reinforced its image of not being bullied while also showing to the world that it’s not going to sink the same level of absurdity, above all when it’s unnecessary and likely theater anyway,” he added.

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© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

Japan said it will extend its ban on trade with North Korea for two more years as part of sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and the unresolved abductions of Japanese nationals.

Under the current sanctions, Japan bans port entry by North Korea-registered vessels and ships that have made port in the country, as well as trade. The sanctions were due to expire on Sunday.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, cited Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile development programs and the unresolved issue of its decades-old abduction of Japanese nationals as reasons for the extension.

“We’ve decided the extension after comprehensively examining these situations and the need to secure the implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions,” he said.

The historical abductions remain a significant obstacle to normal diplomatic relations between North Korea and Japan.

Tokyo says it has confirmed the abduction of 17 Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, to work as language teachers for North Korean spies. It says 12 are still in the North.

Pyongyang contends that of the 12, eight have died and four never entered North Korea. It insists there is no issue to be resolved.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to prioritize the return of all Japanese nationals abducted by the North.

“The abduction issue, which is time-bound as the abductees and their families are aging, is a humanitarian issue, a violation of national sovereignty, and the most important task of the regime,” Ishiba told parliament in October shortly after he was elected as the country’s leader.

In recent months, North Korea has intensified its military activities, including multiple missile launches and advancements in its nuclear development program.

On March 10, Pyongyang fired several ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea in response to military exercises between the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

Apart from that, the North announced the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine equipped with missile capabilities, a development that observers believe could significantly enhance its strategic deterrent capability.

Separately, Tokyo police referred two Japanese men to prosecutors Monday for allegedly providing their identification data to assist an individual believed to be a North Korean IT worker in fraudulently obtaining freelance work online.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department believes that the IT worker was involved in North Korea’s efforts to obtain foreign currency.

The two men in their 30s were charged with providing scans of their driver’s licenses and bank account details in 2020 so that the IT worker could register on the freelance work site and accept work assignments in their names, according to the police.

Remuneration for tasks undertaken by the IT worker posing as the two Japanese men was paid into the two men’s bank accounts, but was later transferred abroad at the instruction of the worker. The two men reportedly received about 10% of the revenue.

The IT worker communicated with the two Japanese men through social media, while data from the job-matching service’s website suggests access from North Korea, police said.

A U.N. Security Council panel of experts, which monitors sanctions against North Korea, has reported that IT workers in the country obfuscate their identities to accept online work and earn income to funnel into the development of nuclear and ballistic missiles.

In March last year, Japan’s National Police Agency warned businesses and organizations that North Korean IT workers may be impersonating Japanese citizens to earn income through online work.

Oscar winner Anjelica Huston is singing her own praises, and rightfully so. The “Addams Family” and “Witches” acting veteran revealed this week she is a cancer survivor.

“I managed to survive it, and I’m proud of myself,” she told People in an interview published Wednesday.

The 73-year-old “Prizzi’s Honor” star got candid about her private cancer journey, which she said began in 2019. Huston said she was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer after her film “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” premiered in May 2019. “That was a very serious moment for me,” she recalled to People.

Huston said learning about her diagnosis shocked her and made her conscious about “what I shouldn’t do, of the places I shouldn’t go.” Though she did not go into too much detail about her treatment, Huston said her cancer battle discouraged her from taking life too seriously and that she is now “in the clear.”

Huston also did not disclose much about the treatment she received, but said her condition encouraged her to “try not to make a big deal out of things.” Six years since her diagnosis, Huston told People she has been cancer-free for years.

“I’m at the four-year mark, and that means so much to me,” she said. “It’s a fantastic thing. I’m very proud of myself, and I’ve been very lucky.”

Huston, whose prolific film and TV career began in the late ’60s, said she has recently enjoyed her time smelling the roses — literally. Upon learning she was cancer-free the “Grifters” star said she enjoyed a stroll in her garden “and smelled the roses and thought how clever I was.”

Huston, whose father was the high-profile “Maltese Falcon” and “African Queen” director John Huston, said she gets regular scans and has had “wonderful” doctors helping her out.

Her father directed “Prizzi’s Honor,” the 1985 film that won her the supporting actor Oscar in 1986. He died a year later.

“My dad always used to say the important thing is interest,” Huston told The Times in May 2019. “I have a number of interests and they’re not all about acting.” It’s unclear whether she had received her diagnosis by that time.

The “Addams Family” actor talked about her cancer journey and shrugged off talk of retirement while promoting the BBC miniseries “Towards Zero,” the latest addition to her acting career. The three-part show is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1944 novel of the same name and features Huston as a bed-ridden widow.

The “Royal Tenenbaums” and “Lonesome Dove” actor admitted that it can be challenging to speak about her cancer battle “for the obvious reasons,” but ultimately “there’s a lot to be said for talking about it and getting it out there and celebrating the fact that one’s come through.”

“Life is tenuous and wonderful. It also gives you the idea that the world is big and you can somehow match up to it,” she added. “That you’re ready for whatever happens.”

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© 2025 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A former Qualcomm vice president was convicted by a San Diego federal jury Tuesday of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme worth $180 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Karim Arabi, former vice president of the Research and Development Department, was convicted following a four-week trial and “less than two” days of deliberation, officials said in a release.

The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Arabi and others conned Qualcomm into purchasing a startup company whose technology it already owned per its employment agreement with Arabi.

“The defendant took advantage of the trust placed in him, lining his pockets with millions by orchestrating a scheme to deceive and then bleed his own employer,” Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, any intellectual property developed by Arabi while on Qualcomm’s payroll belonged to the San Diego tech giant.

At some point during his employment with Qualcomm, in the mid-2010s, Arabi developed a new method to evaluate micro-processors.

Arabi, concealing his involvement with fake names and email accounts, marketed the development to Qualcomm under the guise of a startup company.

Qualcomm purchased the company for $180 million in 2015 with an upfront payment of $150 million.

“Dr. Arabi created fake email accounts and sent phony emails to impersonate his sister, Sheida Alan, the supposed inventor of the new technology,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.

Alan legally changed her last name from Arabi to “further conceal her relationship with Dr. Arabi,” officials said.

Alan was paid nearly $92 million under the deal, according to evidence presented at trial, officials said.

Following the sale, Arabi and the co-conspirators allegedly used foreign real-estate purchases to launder the funds.

Arabi, along with Alan, Ali Akbar Shokouhi, who had also been a vice president at Qualcomm, and Sanjiv Taneja, who served as the “startup’s” CEO, were indicted in 2022.

Taneja and Shokouhi both pleaded guilty to money laundering prior to Arabi’s trial and are set to be sentenced this summer. Alan continues to fight the case against her.

Arabi faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the three charges he was convicted of and fines of up to $1 million.

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© 2025 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Google is secretly using its education products, including those used in many Bay Area schools, to identify students individually, track their online activity including sites they visit and links they click, and “steal” their personal data for profit, a lawsuit filed by California parents and others claims.

According to the lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco U.S. District Court, almost 70% of U.S. schools use Google’s “Workspace for Education” products in classrooms, and a review by this news organization shows numerous Bay Area school districts — including Berryessa Union, Berkeley Unified, and Pleasanton Unified — use the software.

Google embeds hidden “tracking” technologies to follow students’ online activity across the internet as they use websites and apps, creating a “fingerprint” specific to each child, the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit claims Google harms children by violating their privacy, making their personal data vulnerable to cyber-criminals, “failing to compensate them” for their data, preventing them and their parents from knowing what data it collects and who can access it, and “train(ing) children not to value their own and others’ privacy and autonomy.”

Google is accused of violating federal wiretapping law and California privacy law, and the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and court actions related to Google’s student-data collection.

“This fingerprint thus enables Google and others to identify individual devices and thus individual children,” said the lawsuit, filed by parents of four children in public schools, including two siblings from California, a student from Oregon and one from Arizona.

“Google may track children wherever they go, including in their own homes.”

Google has faced previous claims about grabbing children’s data, including from schools. In 2019, the firm agreed to pay $170 million to settle claims by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it illegally harvested personal information from kids using YouTube. In 2020, New Mexico sued Google over data collection from children, including via its school products, and Google in a settlement agreed to pay $3.8 million to set up a privacy and online safety initiative for children in that state.

According to the lawsuit filed this week, Google converts “vast troves” of data from millions of pupils into “intimately detailed” student profiles it uses to market products and services to schools, creating “significant economic value” for the Mountain View digital-advertising titan, the lawsuit claimed.

“The stolen information, including data about children under 13 years of age, far exceeds that which is reasonably necessary for children to participate in any school activity that is facilitated by Google’s products,” the lawsuit alleged. “Students are not able to opt out of using Google’s products as part of their education.”

Google has built a company valued at nearly $2 trillion by using data it collects from users of its products to sell targeted advertising. The lawsuit alleged that Google uses students’ data to create, improve and market products it sells to schools, school districts and other customers.

Google in a Wednesday statement acknowledged it gathers data from its education products, but called the lawsuit’s allegations false.

“None of the information collected in Workspace for Education services is ever used for targeted advertising and we have strong controls to protect student data and require schools to obtain parental consent when needed,” Google said.

The Berryessa, Berkeley and Pleasanton school districts did not respond to the allegations in the lawsuit, which did not mention any schools or districts by name.

Children’s use of core products of Workspace for Education such as Gmail, Chat and Gemini generative AI allow Google to collect their names, locations, email addresses, what they have viewed online, people they have communicated with and content they have created, the lawsuit alleged.

Other core products generating data include Google’s Assignments, used by teachers to distribute, collect and grade students’ work; Groups for teamwork; Drive cloud storage; Docs for creating and editing documents; and work-management tool Tasks, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claimed Google uses kids’ “stolen information” to create products “that purport to analyze and predict student performance and behavior,” then markets those products to schools.

Google gives its Workspace for Education Fundamentals suite of products to K-12 public schools for free, and also sells schools other sets of education products.

The company touts the ability of the student data to provide insights into pupils’ grades and scores on assignments and quizzes, as well as their academic engagement, progress and performance, the lawsuit alleged.

“These analytics purport to help teachers and administrators ‘personalize’ a child’s curriculum and learning plan, understand a child’s strengths and weaknesses, identify a student’s individual education goals, formulate plans for reaching those goals, and a host of other predictions and recommendations for purportedly better management of the child,” the lawsuit claimed.

However, the lawsuit alleged, the “datafication of a child” for profit “brings about a social disempowerment that negatively affects the child’s education in the moment of learning and also, therefore, the future of a free and sustainable society.”

The lawsuit alleged that if students use Google products on family devices, the company can harvest data about household members.

“Data purportedly collected about and attributed to a child may actually belong to a family member,” the lawsuit claimed, “skewing the profile that is built about that child in ways that may further harm the child.”

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