Adult literacy bill marked by 25 years
Twenty-five years ago Monday, the National Literacy Act was passed, giving millions of adults a second chance to earn a high school diploma and tens of millions more the opportunity to learn to read, write and speak English.
The act was signed into law in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and was inspired in large part by former first lady Barbara Bush’s passion for literacy.
“The National Literacy Act put into policy my belief that education is a civil right, no matter one’s age,” Mrs. Bush said in reflecting on the act’s anniversary. “The needs of adult learners are so often overlooked, yet adult education initiatives have enormous potential to improve the social and economic well-being of families, communities and our nation as a whole. What was true 25 years ago is still true today: everyone deserves a chance to obtain the education they need to provide for their families.”
Nephews jailed
CARACAS, Venezuela — Two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady confessed to trying to smuggle 1,763 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., according to prosecutors.
The court filings Friday by prosecutors shed new light on the case that has sounded alarm bells about high-level corruption and drug trafficking by Venezuela’s political elite.
Efrain Campo and Francisco Flores were arrested in November in Haiti in a sting operation coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. They are in jail in New York, awaiting trial for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Warfare guidelines
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has revised warfare guidelines to remove a clause suggesting that journalists could be seen as combatants, following outcry from news organizations that argued the rules would endanger media workers.
“The department’s mission is to defend the very freedoms that journalists exercise,” Pentagon General Counsel Jennifer O’Connor said in a statement, referring to revised guidelines released Friday. “We have learned a lot during this process.”
The 2015 version of the Pentagon’s Law of War manual, which provides guidelines for members of the U.S. military, stated that journalists are generally considered civilians. But it also said journalists may additionally be “members of the armed forces, persons authorized to accompany the armed forces, or unprivileged belligerents.”
Subway tunnel to close
NEW YORK — A subway tunnel that was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy will be closed for 18 months starting in January 2019 for repairs, shutting down one of the system’s most crowded lines that connects Manhattan with vibrant neighborhoods in Brooklyn, officials said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority decision means places like Williamsburg and Bushwick, that had thrived in recent years, will have their East River transportation lifeline to Manhattan severed.