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VIDEO: Today's Headline News from Associated Press

GAMBLERS IN OTHER STATES TRIED TO BET ONLINE IN NJ

 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Would-be gamblers from at least 23 states tried to log onto casino gambling websites in the first night of New Jersey's test of online betting.

 

Matt Katz is CEO of CAMS LLC, which provides geolocation technology to the Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza, and age verification technology to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. He told The Associated Press those attempts show why New Jersey's fledgling Internet gambling industry needs strict safeguards to keep out-of-state residents from gambling online here.

 

New Jersey's Internet gambling law requires that gamblers be present in the state.

 

But that technology locked out many legitimate would-be gamblers Thursday night during the first of a five-night trial period for online betting. State regulators are closely watching how the test period goes before determining whether Internet gambling can be offered to anyone in the state on Tuesday.

 

New Jersey is now the third state in the nation with online gambling, after Nevada and Delaware.

 

HAGEL SAYS NATIONS MUST AVOID CONFLICT IN ARCTIC

 

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) -- The U.S. will assert its sovereignty in the Arctic, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Friday, even as Russia, China and other nations stake claims and expand their use of the icy waters for military exercises and transit.

 

Speaking at a security forum, Hagel said energy exploration in the largely untapped Arctic region could heighten international tensions, but that countries must work together to avoid conflict,

 

"We will remain prepared to detect, deter, prevent and defeat threats to our homeland and we will continue to exercise U.S. sovereignty in and around Alaska," Hagel said, as he unveiled the Pentagon's new Arctic strategy.

 

With a nod to the increased interest in the Arctic's lucrative oil and gas deposits, he added: "Throughout human history, mankind has raced to discover the next frontier. And time after time, discovery was swiftly followed by conflict. We cannot erase this history. But we can assure that history does not repeat itself in the Arctic."

 

Hagel's comments came as the military finalized plans to expand operations in the vast waters of the Arctic, where melting ice caps are opening sea lanes and giving nations like Russia greater access to the oil and gas deposits.

 

WEB INVENTOR: SURVEILLANCE THREATENS DEMOCRACY

 

LONDON (AP) -- The scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web spoke out Friday against what he called a "growing tide of surveillance and censorship," warning that it is threatening the future of democracy.

 

Tim Berners-Lee, who launched the Web in 1990, made the remarks as he released his World Wide Web Foundation's annual report tracking the Web's impact and global censorship. The index ranked Sweden first in Web access, openness and freedom, followed by Norway, the U.K. and the United States.

 

"One of the most encouraging findings of this year's Web Index is how the Web and social media are increasingly spurring people to organize, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world," said Berners-Lee, 58.

 

"But some governments are threatened by this, and a growing tide of surveillance and censorship now threatens the future of democracy," he said, adding that steps need to be taken to protect privacy rights and ensure users can continue to gather and speak out freely online.

 

The warning from Berners-Lees is the latest in a global debate about surveillance and privacy, sparked by the release of classified documents leaked by former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden that showed the extent of government spying on people's online lives. While the leaks focused on the work of the NSA, scrutiny has since spread to other Western intelligence agencies.

 

Friday's report said online spying and blocking are on the rise around the world, and politically sensitive Web content is blocked in almost one in three countries. Despite their high overall rankings, the U.S. and Britain both received mediocre scores for safeguarding users' privacy.