Potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server to conduct government business when she was serving as US secretary of state was a mistake, but did not endanger national security, US President Barack Obama said during an interview aired on Sunday’s edition of on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Obama said public officials have to be more sensitive about how they handle information and personal data. However, he also said the criticism of Clinton, who is leading the US Democratic race for the presidential nomination, has been “ginned up” because of politics.
“I think she’d be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly,” Obama said.
He downplayed the threat to national security and when it was pointed out that his administration has prosecuted people for having classified material on their private computers, the US president said he did not get the impression there was an intent to “hide something or to squirrel away information.”
He also said he was not initially aware of her use of the private e-mail server.
There are still questions being raised about the security of that system.
Obama also discussed his views on Syria during the interview.
Obama said he was “skeptical from the get-go” about the notion of creating an army of moderate forces within Syria.
“My goal has been to try to test the proposition, can we be able to train and equip a moderate opposition that’s willing to fight ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]? And what we’ve learned is that as long as [Syrian President Bashir al-] Assad remains in power, it is very difficult to get those folks to focus their attention on ISIL,” Obama said.
Obama said part of the strategy behind the US administration’s efforts was to “try different things.” He added that “in a situation that is as volatile and with as many players as there are inside of Syria, there aren’t any silver bullets.”
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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