White House to require assurances from countries receiving weapons that they're abiding by U.S. law
CBSN
The Biden administration will be requiring countries that receive weapons from the U.S. to provide "credible and reliable" written assurances to the State Department that they will use those weapons in accordance with the laws of war, according to a national security memorandum released Thursday.
The executive action applies globally to the more than 100 countries that currently receive American arms and aid and adds a new requirement that an annual report be sent to Congress.
The move comes as the Biden administration faces pressure from top Democratic lawmakers to limit civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel wages its fourth month of war against Hamas. The U.S. provides billions of dollars of military assistance to Israel each year, which some progressives, like independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, have argued, makes the U.S. complicit in civilian deaths.
This story previously aired on Sept. 15, 2018. News report: Today, in a 5-1 decision, the California State Supreme Court ruled that Rodney Alcala did not receive a fair trial. Juror: We, the jury, find the defendant, Rodney James Alcala, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. Victim Robin C. Samsoe… "I wanna kill, I wanna kill, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean, kill, kill, kill, kill." Jury member [in court]: We, the jury … determine that the penalty to be imposed upon defendant, Rodney James Alcala, to be death. D.A. Cyrus Vance to reporters: For both families, who had lost all hope that these cases would ever be solved, the pleas by Rodney Alcala, and today's sentencing brings closure to painful chapters in their lives.
A new law aims to strengthen reporting requirements for technology companies to combat online predators seeking to exploit children. One dad told CBS News that he hopes the law will save children like his son, who died by suicide after becoming ensnared in a "sextortion" scheme when he was 17 years old.