Jo Erickson

Jo Erickson is a Mint Press investigative journalist and producer specializing in criminal and social justice as well as politics. She worked as the BBC’s News and Current Affairs Producer, breaking the news of the 2011 London riots while also covering African affairs and human rights. She has been published in The Guardian, The Daily Mirror and various U.K. publications. She has worked as an undercover journalist and filmed documentaries for the BBC exposing crime and terrorism. Contact Jo at [email protected] .

Child Refugees Forced To Work In Jordan And Lebanon: UN Report

Child labor is illegal in Lebanon and Jordan, but children are increasingly working for low pay..

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

Traumatized by the atrocities of war, Syrian children continue to suffer in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon by being forced to work and being denied education or any normal childhood freedoms, the United Nations refugee agency said in a report Friday. The war in Syria is creating a generation of damaged children. Launching the Future of Syria

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UK’s Internet-Porn Crackdown Threatens Free Speech

Critics of the law fear it will give the gov. the power to censor any information it feels is dangerous.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

Has Britain lost the right to free speech? As the UK government cracks down on online hate groups, child pornography and extremist narratives, is government-controlled censorship really the solution? British Prime Minister David Cameron will be hosting a cyber summit meeting with U.S. leaders at 10 Downing Street to finalize the introduction of a

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Pentagon Approves Record Sale Of Advanced Arms To Countries At War

Congress will decide if deal first struck by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in April should go through.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

Selling weapons used to be a cut-throat business. With a no-questions-asked policy, it has led in the past, to the selling of weapons to support African conflicts, leaving Angola, Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic Congo awash with AK-47 semi-automatic rifles and very little else. Today’s high-tech weapons

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As Gun-Crime Epidemic Plagues Cities, Legislators Fail To Act

Gun crime is causing a reign of terror in cities across America, but solutions from Congress seem to be ever elusive.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

While Congress refuses to pass gun-control legislation, gun violence in Chicago continues unabated, taking lives in clips of one, two and three at a time. Gun crime is causing a reign of terror in cities across the United States. This year alone, Chicago’s death toll for gun-related crimes currently stands at 403, with 1,650 shot and wounded.

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Germany, Brazil Battle US Over Online Privacy

Feinstein’s bill transforms NSA policies for bulk data collection law while allowing the NSA to search its troves of foreign phone and email communications.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

The United States and its key intelligence allies Germany and Brazil are secretly waging a war over the universal human right to online privacy.  Working behind the scenes at the United Nations General Assembly are two opposing heavyweights of the international community. In one corner, the U.S. seeks to impose new laws to National Security Agency

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Julian Assange Free Of Federal Charges — For Now

Despite investigation, fed. prosecutors have not filed sealed indictment against Wikileaks founder.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

Here’s a question. Why is Julian Assange still holed up in the Ecuador Embassy? With only a reduced charge of suspicion of rape of a lesser degree, and no sealed U.S. indictment filed against the Wikileaks founder– why is Assange still being pursued by the international community as the world’s most wanted?  Despite the finest juridical minds in

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Spy Games Persist As Indonesia’s President The Latest To Be Targeted

Snowden strikes again, further straining international relations, revealing Australia’s monitoring of the phone of Indonesian President Yudhoyono.

Jo Erickson
By Jo Erickson

International relations were further strained this week with reports of Australia having tapped the phone of Indonesia's president and the continuing fallout of U.S. phone taps on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trust is at an all-time low with world leaders, statesmen and diplomats, as revelations of spying on world leaders by the “gang of five”

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