This week, sources at Ford Motor Company told reporters that the automaker plans to cut 10 percent of its salaried jobs in North America and Asia, amidst a larger effort to reduce costs. Arthur Wheaton, an automotive expert and senior extension associate with Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, says the decision to trim salaried positions allows Ford to implement cuts faster as its stock price slides and profits dwindle.

Industrial and Labor Relations

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The armament of Kurdish rebels in Syria – which Turkey views as terrorist – is likely to be high on the agenda when Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with President Trump today.

International

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Cornell University engineering professor Stephen Wicker has briefed the U.S. government on cyber security, information technology and privacy concerns and is the author of “Cellular Convergence and the Death of Privacy”. Wicker says the NSA and the CIA are engaging in very dangerous and unethical gamesmanship.

Engineering

Cybersecurity

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Rebecca Slayton, assistant professor at Cornell University’s Science & Technology Studies Department and an expert on international security and cooperation, comments on the WannaCry cyber-attacks that have spread across 150 countries since Friday. Slayton says the attack shows both the vulnerabilities and resilience of our computer systems.

Cybersecurity

Arts and Sciences

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President Trump is delaying decision on the U.S. participation in the Paris climate accord, a deal brokered by Obama which Trump has repeatedly criticized. Natalie Mahowald a professor in Cornell University’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty Director of Environment at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University and an expert on global and regional impact of climate change says it would be unfortunate if the Trump administration chose to forgo leadership on climate change.

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

Agriculture and Life Sciences

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Plans by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to toughen rules for prosecuting drug crimes reverses Obama-era policies. Joseph Margulies, professor of law and government at Cornell University, says such reversals constitute a wrong turn for the justice system.

Law and Policy

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This week, Facebook launched an advertising campaign in the U.K. seeking to help the public discern fake news online. The move, which precedes parliamentary elections in Britain, is seen as an attempt to curb the spread of false stories over Facebook ahead of critical political events.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

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Mabel Berezin is professor of sociology at Cornell University and author of “Illiberal Politics in Neoliberal Times: Cultures, Security, and Populism in a New Europe” and “Europe Without Borders.” Berezin says Marine Le Pen – who lost the race for the French presidency yesterday – has established the Front National as France’s opposition party, pitting French against each other.

Arts and Sciences

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Texas Senate Bill 4 – which bans sanctuary cities – is now the law in the Lone Star state, but it’s impact on public safety and the economy is a matter of brisk debate. Maria Figueroa, director of Labor and Policy Research at the Cornell University ILR School’s Worker Institute, says that SB4 will negatively impact key industries that depend on immigrant labor.

Industrial and Labor Relations

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Mona Krewel, assistant professor of government at Cornell University, is an expert on elections and campaigning in Europe and author of the recently published book “Modernization of German Election Campaigns?” She says Emmanuel Macron will need more than a victory on Sunday’s elections to govern effectively.

Arts and Sciences

Industrial and Labor Relations

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