| Netanyahu's Iran Strategy Is a Total Failure Posted: 29 Nov 2019 11:37 PM PST  Seen today, Netanyahu's decade-long reign has left Israel more isolated than ever before in its struggle against an Iranian regime that perceives the Jewish state as its main regional enemy.
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| Amid Heroism in London, Gnawing Fear of a Simmering Terrorism Threat Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:48 AM PST  LONDON -- It was midafternoon when Mike Finnerty, who sells cheese at his Borough Market shop just south of London Bridge, realized that something was wrong. An unusual flow of people had suddenly gathered in front of his stall, he said, and they seemed "alarmed."What he did not know was that a man dressed in black and armed with knives had gone on a murderous rampage in a grand meeting venue called Fishmongers' Hall on the opposite side of the bridge, just north of the Thames River. But Finnerty sensed the danger Friday, he would later tell the BBC and write on Twitter.So he and another employee rushed some customers -- a couple from Vancouver and a young American man -- into a cheese refrigerator and locked the door. Then he called the police.The "operator said it was an attack and not to move," he wrote. He said he could hear shouting outside the door, but he and the group huddled together in "pretty close quarters."Susan Vinn, 57, was smoking outside her office adjacent to Fishmongers' Hall about 2 p.m., when she saw people running over the bridge. And Craig Heathcote, a filmmaker, was walking there when, he told the British broadcaster Sky News, someone said:"Get out of the way. Someone's got a knife."Saturday, Britain grappled with the aftermath of another terrorist attack in the heart of London just as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Two people were killed and at least three were wounded in Friday's attack.In a statement, the Islamic State group said the assailant had carried out the attack in its name and added that he had done so "in response to calls to target coalition countries." The phrasing indicates that the attacker was inspired by group's ideology and refers to a speech by a former spokesman, who urged followers to carry out attacks in any way they could, including stabbing.This attack, police said, had been carried out by a man wearing a fake bomb vest, a former prisoner who had been convicted of terrorism offenses in 2012. Authorities identified the suspect as Usman Khan, 28, of Stafford, England, who was released from prison last year, apparently after agreeing to wear an electronic tag.He was part of a gang that plotted in 2010 to plant explosives in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange, authorities said, and possibly attack other British landmarks and prominent figures like Boris Johnson, then the mayor of London.The rampage Friday, near the same bridge where a terrorist attack by a group men in June 2017 left eight people dead and dozens injured, raised questions about the efficacy of Britain's prison rehabilitation system and about the release from prison of Khan, despite warnings from the judge at his trial about the threats he still posed.In his judgment, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said there was "no doubt that anyone convicted of this type of offense could legitimately be considered dangerous."In February 2012, Khan was given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of eight years, but the Court of Appeal replaced it in 2013 with a 16-year fixed-term sentence. He was released in half the time.The attack occurred two weeks before a pivotal general election, and Johnson, now prime minister, is under pressure. He told reporters Saturday that he wanted to "toughen up" sentences."I have long argued that it is a mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early," Johnson said.Saturday, the Parole Board, which carries out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released, said in a statement that it had not reviewed his case. Khan appeared to have been released automatically, "on license" -- meaning under certain conditions -- "without ever being referred to the board," it said.On Sunday, the Ministry of Justice said it had began an urgent review of the license conditions of convicted terrorists released from prison.Along with questions about the case came praise for the bystanders who had charged the suspect as he made his way along the bridge. One man wielded a fire extinguisher, video footage on social media showed. Another brandished an ornamental whale tusk that had been torn from the wall of Fishmongers' Hall, according to local reports.The assailant was wrestled to the ground in the street outside the grand hall. A man wearing a suit and tie can be seen removing a knife and walking away from the suspect. He was later identified as an off-duty member of the transport police.Thomas Gray, a tour company manager, told reporters that he saw one of the knives taped to Khan's hands."I stamped on his left wrist while someone else smacked his hand on the ground and then kicked one of the knives away," Gray told Sky News. "I went to pick up the knife when I heard a cop say, 'He has got a bomb.'"The bomb turned out to be fake. Footage showed officers, guns drawn, pulling bystanders off Khan. Then, Khan was shot and killed by the police.The trauma of the encounter, which played out as workers looked down from huge office windows and as onlookers shared video of the chaos, led Vinn to ask: "Why London Bridge anyway? It's horrible, I don't get it."She said that for a country that has experienced terrorist attack after terrorist attack since 2017: "It's become ambient. It makes you worried about your safety on a day-to-day basis, especially here, around London Bridge."Mayor Sadiq Khan of London praised the bravery of bystanders. "What's remarkable about the images we've seen," he said, "is the breathtaking heroism of members of the public who literally ran toward danger, not knowing what confronted them."The assault threw into stark relief the risks in attempting to rehabilitate those convicted or suspected of terrorism.Saturday, Chris Phillips, a former head of the country's National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said Britain was releasing people while they were still radicalized."We're playing Russian roulette with people's lives, letting convicted, known, radicalized jihadi criminals walk about our streets," he told the Press Association news agency.David Videcette, a former anti-terrorism detective and author, added that Britain must "look at sentencing and rehabilitation, as we have a huge problem with terrorist prisoners that are being released, and with those that want to come back from Syria."Khan was attending an event for former prisoners and their mentors in a prison education program, Learning Together, set up by Cambridge University. He was believed to have been invited to share his experiences as a former prisoner."We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge," said Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.One of those who rushed to aid victims, according to news reports, was a man convicted of murder who had been on day release.Among those killed, according to BBC and news site Cambridge Live, was a Cambridge graduate, Jack Merritt, the course coordinator of Learning Together. The police did not immediately confirm his identity. But a man who said he was Merritt's father, David, posted the news on Twitter before deleting it."My son, Jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily," the post read. "R.I.P. Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog."Saturday, three people remained hospitalized, and one person who been critically wounded was in stable condition, the National Health Service said in a statement.The attack came only weeks after the British government lowered its terror threat warning level to substantial from severe as Britons had begun growing cautiously accustomed to a life less frequently disrupted by deadly episodes.In 2017, when London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market were the subject of an attack, there was also a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena, an attack on Westminster Bridge and at the gates of Parliament and an assault at a north London mosque.For a government seeking reelection in two weeks' time, the issue is sensitive. Before the 2017 general election, the opposition Labour Party had linked terror attacks to police cuts made by a Conservative-led government.On Saturday, Brandon Lewis, the security minister, did not say whether he considered the attack to be a failure by the authorities, but he sought to rebut suggestions that cuts to the police had played a role. He told Sky News that both funding and the number of officers devoted to counterterrorism had "consistently increased since 2015."Videcette, the former anti-terrorism detective, said that many lower-level offenders were now up for release and to monitor them, the authorities had to keep close watch on those with whom they associate. The problem, he said, was "if they don't reconnect with the individuals we expect them to" and opt instead for a low-tech, lone attack."There is a real danger," he said, "with those who have not reached the pinnacle of what they are going to be but aspire to be a well-known terrorist, or perhaps aspire to be martyred by a police officer in a terror attack."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| 'Crucial witness' in Hard Rock Hotel collapse is deported by ICE Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:15 PM PST  A metal worker considered a "crucial witness" in the collapse at the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans last month was deported Friday to his native Honduras.Lawyers for Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma said the 38-year-old may have been targeted for deportation because he voiced concerns about the project - a claim immigration officials have denied.
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| Morales victim of 'coup,' says AMLO during first-term celebration Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:04 PM PST  The leftist president, nicknamed AMLO, celebrated his first year in office with a speech to throngs of supporters in Mexico City. While detailing the ongoing fight against corruption and budget and tax policies, Lopez Obrador touched on Mexico's foreign policy by recalling his government's decision to accept Morales as an asylum seeker while discussing Mexico's foreign policy.
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| UPDATE 2-Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest Posted: 01 Dec 2019 09:26 AM PST ![UPDATE 2-Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest]( "UPDATE 2-Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest") Separatist rebels fired on a Cameroon Airlines passenger jet as it approached Bamenda airport in the northwest of the country on Sunday morning, their leader told Reuters. The scheduled flight from Douala landed safely and there were no casualties, Cameroon Airlines said in a statement confirming the attack. The English-speaking west of Cameroon has been a battleground since 2017 between the army and rebels seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia.
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| John Bolton could be Democrats' star witness against Trump Posted: 30 Nov 2019 10:44 AM PST  Democrats have long loathed former national security adviser John Bolton, but he could become their most dangerous witness against President Trump in Congress' impeachment inquiry.
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| Australian Taliban captive says guards were 'lovely people' Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:39 AM PST  An Australian lecturer held hostage by the Taliban has said some of his guards were "lovely people" as he disclosed American special forces launched six unsuccessful rescue bids to free him. Timothy Weeks spent more than three years locked up, often in the dark and underground, after he and his colleague Kevin King were seized in Kabul. In his first public appearance since he was freed in a prisoner swap, the 50-year-old said he believed US Navy SEAL teams had launched repeated rescue missions, sometimes missing their targets only by hours. In one incident, he was bundled into a tunnel beneath his prison as fighting erupted above. His captors told him they were under attack by Islamic State group, but he said he now believes it was a US raid. "I believe they were right outside our door," he told a press conference. "The moment that we got into the tunnels, we were 1 or 2 meters underground and there was a huge bang at the front door. And our guards went up and there was a lot of machine-gun fire. They pushed me over the top into the tunnels and I fell backwards and rolled and knocked myself unconscious." Timothy Weeks, top, and American Kevin King, appeared in a June 2017 hostage video Mr Weeks and Mr King were freed in return for three senior Taliban commanders last month. While he thanked Donald Trump and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison for his release, he praised the compassion of some of his captors. "I don't hate them at all," he said. "And some of them, I have great respect for, and great love for, almost. Some of them were so compassionate and such lovely, lovely people. And it really led me to think about ... how did they end up like this?" He added: "I know a lot of people don't admit this, but for me, they were soldiers. And soldiers obey the commands of their commanders. (They) don't get a choice." Mr Weeks, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales had been working at the American University of Afghanistan for only three weeks when he was taken in August 2016. Mr King remained in hospital, Mr Weeks said. The 63-year-old had appeared dangerously frail in hostage videos. The two men were frequently moved and were held captive in both Afghanistan and Pakistan he said. He learned pashto, the language of southern Afghanistan, during his captivity so he could talk to his guards. His ordeal had had "a profound and unimaginable effect on me," he told reporters. He had always had hope that he would be freed, but at the same time, there were occasions when he felt his death was close, he said. "At times I felt as if my death was imminent and that I would never return to see those that I love again but by the will of God I am here, I am alive and I am safe and I am free." The sight of two US Black Hawk helicopters at the site of the hostage handover had been an enormous relief. "From the moment I sighted both Black Hawk helicopters and was placed in the hands of special forces, I knew my long and tortuous ordeal had come to an end," he said. The two captives were swapped for senior Taliban commanders held by the Afghan government in an exchange designed to build trust and revive talks to find a political settlement to the country's conflict. Mr Trump last week visited Afghanistan to spend Thanksgiving with US troops and said talks were back on.
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| Saying ‘OK Boomer’ At Work Is Considered Age Discrimination – but Millennial Put-Downs are OK? Posted: 30 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  The Politics of Insulting Your Colleagues
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| Albania calls for international help to recover from quake Posted: 01 Dec 2019 01:44 AM PST  Albania's prime minister said Sunday he has called on the international community financial aid and expert assistance to help the country recover from a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed 51 persons and left thousands homeless. Prime Minister Edi Rama said the government was reshaping the budget to help deal with the crisis but that the country also needs international support. "Simply, this is humanly impossible to do this (reconstruction) alone," Rama said at a regular morning Cabinet meeting.
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| Newsweek fires journalist who reported Trump was golfing for Thanksgiving before he secretly travelled to Afghanistan Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:24 AM PST  A Newsweek reporter who wrote that Donald Trump would spend Thanksgiving 'tweeting, golfing, and more' - hours before he touched down in a surprise visit to US troops in Afghanistan - has been fired.The visit was kept highly secret for the president's safety, and his public schedule said he would be at his Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida on the holiday, where he would make calls to selected military members.
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| At least 14 killed in attack on Burkina Faso church Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:47 AM PST ![At least 14 killed in attack on Burkina Faso church]( "At least 14 killed in attack on Burkina Faso church") At least 14 people were shot dead in an attack on a church in eastern Burkina Faso on Sunday morning, the government said. Burkinabe armed forces were caring for the wounded and searching the area, the government said in a statement. This year an Islamist insurgency has ignited ethnic and religious tensions in Burkina Faso, rendering large parts of the country ungovernable, especially in northern areas bordering restive Mali.
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| Saudi Arabia takes over G20 presidency from Japan Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:33 AM PST  Saudi Arabia became the first Arab nation Sunday to take over the G20 presidency as it seeks to bounce back onto the world stage following global uproar over its human rights record. The oil-rich kingdom has promoted a liberalisation drive, including granting greater rights to women, but faced strong criticism over a crackdown on dissent and the murder last year of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The G20 presidency, which Saudi Arabia takes over from Japan, will see it host world leaders for a global summit in its capital next November 21-22.
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| Bystanders Subdued the Alleged London Bridge Attacker. One of Them Was Reportedly a Polish Immigrant Armed Only With a Narwhal Tusk Posted: 30 Nov 2019 07:18 AM PST  He grabbed a Narwhal tusk off the wall of Fishmongers' Hall and ran at the alleged terrorist
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| Ilhan Omar GOP challenger banned from Twitter after saying she should be "tried for treason and hanged” Posted: 30 Nov 2019 09:31 AM PST  Danielle Stella campaign account also tweeted a picture of a stick figure being hanged with a link to a blog post about her comments.
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| Billionaire Says Companies Don’t Dare Criticize India Government Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:34 AM PST ![Billionaire Says Companies Don't Dare Criticize India Government]( "Billionaire Says Companies Don't Dare Criticize India Government") (Bloomberg) -- Indian businesses are worried about repercussions should they criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, billionaire Rahul Bajaj said in a rare display of a corporate leader expressing reservations about the government publicly."None of our industrial friends will speak about it, but I'll say that openly," Bajaj told an audience in Mumbai on Saturday that included one of Modi's most-trusted aides, Amit Shah. "You're doing a good job, but despite that, we're not confident you'll appreciate if we openly criticize you."Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was reported as saying on Friday that there is "profound fear and distrust among our various economic participants" ranging from industrialists to policy makers and bankers. Some have said that Modi's government, which came to power in 2014, poses a threat to India's traditions of tolerance and public debateBajaj, 81, is chairman of Bajaj Auto Ltd., the world's largest maker of three-wheelers. He attended Harvard Business School and also owns stakes in an investment company and an insurance firm. His grandfather, Jamnalal Bajaj, an Indian independence fighter and Mahatma Gandhi confidant, founded the group in 1926.Shah, who is home minister, pushed back against Bajaj's remarks at the event organized by the Economic Times newspaper."I don't think anyone will believe people are scared after you asked this question," said Shah, who holds what's considered India's second-most important job. "The government has been run in the most transparent way, and we're not afraid of any sort of opposition."India is saddled with the slowest economic growth in more than six years as consumers curb spending, businesses hold back on investments and export demand slumps.To contact the reporter on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Will DaviesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Teens admit to threatening lesbian couple in London Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:25 PM PST  A judge ruled that the May attack was motivated by homophobia.
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| 24 killed in Tunisia when bus plummets off hill Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:01 AM PST  A bus plummeted off a hill in Tunisia on Sunday morning, killing 24 passengers who were on an excursion in the country's north, government officials said. The regional bus, which was carrying 43 people and belonged to a private local company, veered off a winding road after the driver failed to maneuver a sharp turn and crashed at the bottom of a ravine, the Interior Ministry said. Local media showed images of an overturned, crumpled bus with smashed windows at the foot of a hill.
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| In Afghanistan, Trump Creates Confusion Over U.S. Policy on Taliban Posted: 30 Nov 2019 07:17 AM PST  KABUL, Afghanistan -- After abruptly axing nearly a year of delicate peace talks with the Taliban in September, President Donald Trump put the negotiations back on the front-burner this week in a similarly jolting fashion by seeming to demand a cease-fire that his negotiators had long concluded was overly ambitious.Despite a sense of relief at the prospect of resuming talks to end the 18-year conflict, Western diplomats and Taliban leaders were scrambling to figure out whether Trump had suddenly moved the goal posts for negotiations.They were particularly confused by his remarks, made during an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, that the United States was once again meeting with the Taliban to discuss a deal but that "we're saying it has to be a cease-fire."Demanding a cease-fire would amount to a big shift in the U.S. position and require a significant new concession from the Taliban -- one that Americans have little leverage to extract.For much of the yearlong talks, the Taliban and the United States were fundamentally on the same page: The Taliban wanted the Americans out of Afghanistan, and Trump has made no secret his desire to end what he has called the U.S.' unending wars. But agreeing upon the details of a deal proved complicated.In the agreement the two sides were on the verge of finalizing before Trump pulled the plug, the best U.S. negotiators could get the Taliban to consent to was some reduction in violence. Discussions on a comprehensive cease-fire were relegated to future talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders -- only after the United States had pledged, and begun, to withdraw its troops.But Thursday, Trump suggested the Taliban position had shifted."They didn't want to do a cease-fire, but now they do want to do a cease-fire, I believe," he said. "And it will probably work out that way. And we'll see what happens."The Taliban seemed surprised by Trump's declaration. While the group's negotiators have held informal meetings with U.S. diplomats in recent weeks about ways to go back to the table, on Friday their leaders said their original position on a cease-fire had not changed."The Americans walked away from the negotiating table, and now the ball is in their side; it is up to them to come back if they want to solve this and get the document to signing and to the stage of implementation," Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban's negotiation team, told The New York Times. "Our positions remain the same."It's unclear how U.S. negotiators could get the Taliban to agree to a cease-fire now, when they were not able to do so earlier.The U.S. military has already begun scaling back its presence in the country, giving negotiators even less leverage than they had before. Last month, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin Miller, said the number of troops had been reduced by 2,000 over the past year.Trump, on Thursday, said he was "bringing down the number of troops substantially."For the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, Trump's statements were welcome. For months, Ghani had unsuccessfully tried to persuade Americans not to give away a U.S. troop withdrawal without a cease-fire because that would leave his government even more vulnerable.The government has already been weakened by being excluded from the talks so far because the Taliban refuse to engage before a U.S. troop withdrawal.Now, suddenly, Trump gave Ghani's position a boost at a difficult time for him, when he is stuck in a bitter fight over his reelection in a disputed vote, which is tipping the country to crisis.Ghani met with Trump at the Bagram Airfield on the eve of large protests by supporters of his rival, Abdullah Abdullah. Much of the Afghan capital was under lockdown by security forces Friday morning as thousands marched to a roundabout behind the presidential palace demanding fraudulent votes be thrown out.Abdullah accuses the country's election commission of including 300,000 questionable votes in favor of Ghani.Ghani and Abdullah are partners in a coalition government brokered by the United States when a similar disputed election between the two went to a stalemate in 2014. The current power dispute dividing the country has added to the complications of resuming the peace efforts.The hope is that peace talks would eventually lead to direct negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan leaders over the political future of the country after the United States commits to withdrawing its remaining troops, currently about 13,000 or fewer.Keeping the peace process alive after Trump canceled talks in September has required quiet, delicate diplomacy, including work that resulted in a prisoner swap and some reduction in violence. Trump's latest interjection in what has been a tedious diplomatic balancing act will once again have his negotiators scrambling to try to pull off what many Western officials have described as an unrealistic goal.The Taliban see a cease-fire before the signing of a deal for the end of the U.S. military presence as an existential issue. They believe they will not be able to rally their forces again if they ask their fighters to stop fighting and then the deal breaks down.But the government of Ghani has said negotiating the future cannot happen under the barrel of a gun, demanding a cease-fire as a precondition to any talks.When Trump called off the talks, the Taliban realized they had pushed their hand too far by continuing to launch attacks just days before what was expected to be a signing of the deal. In recent weeks, U.S. diplomats convinced the group to significantly reduce large attacks in the Afghan capital as part of the prisoner swap that saw the release of a U.S. and Australian hostage in return for senior Taliban leaders.But delivering a comprehensive, declared cease-fire is always going to be difficult internally for a movement that is trying to maintain unity as it negotiates potentially divisive issues.One Western official aware of the latest peace developments said he had not seen a tangible shift in the Taliban's position on a cease-fire during the period the talks were called off. The official expressed concern that if the Taliban were forced to reject Trump's apparent demand of a cease-fire to keep their own ranks united, that could further complicate the formal resumption of the negotiations."There's probably now some work for U.S. diplomats to do to clarify to the Taliban what did the imprecise words actually mean, and whether or not there is a change in position," said Laurel Miller, a former U.S. diplomat who is now the Asia director of the think tank International Crisis Group."The U.S. has been looking for something in the realm of the reduction in violence," she added, "but the idea that the U.S. is on the same page with Ghani on cease-fire being a precondition -- I don't see that at all."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:00 PM PST ![Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says]( "Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says") Fiercer weather and worsening wildfires drove more than 20 million people from their homes over the last decade - a problem set to worsen unless leaders act swiftly to head off surging climate threats, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday. Much of the displacement caused by cyclones, floods and fires appeared temporary and in some cases due to better efforts to evacuate people ahead of danger, Oxfam researchers said.
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| Rare mass protest breaks out in Chinese province near Hong Kong Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:44 PM PST  Chinese police clashed with protesters in a southern province near Hong Kong over the weekend, in a rare case of public dissent which saw hundreds demonstrate against the building of a crematorium. Video footage circulated on Twitter, purported to be of the protests, showed police firing tear gas and chasing people in the town of Wenlou, Guangdong province. The footage also showed rows of police vehicles tipped onto their sides. Some citizens, including one elderly person, were seen lying unconscious on the ground, while others were shown surrounding police vehicles and shouting: "Protest!" Major protests are rare in China, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has little tolerance for dissent. The clashes took place around 60 miles north of Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protestors have been taking to the streets since June, initially demonstrating against a proposed extradition bill between the semi-autonomous region and mainland China. Protesting being illegal without government approval, large-scale demonstrations against the central government are all but unheard of on the mainland in modern times. Though protests against local authorities about issues such as environmental concerns, city planning and workers' rights occur from time to time, it is rarely on the scale of the Wenlou skirmishes. The protest began on Thursday, continuing for two days before authorities announced that they had suspended plans to build the crematorium. Guangdong protest is ongoing. Local government of Wenlou City, Guangdong province is trying to build a crematory bigger than 13 standard soccer fields in a sudden. How many people are you going to burn? And who? pic.twitter.com/w2Oalc2NQk— Voice of Guo Media (@VOG_2020) November 30, 2019 Wenlou residents had reportedly been told that a new park was being built, before they discovered that the land was actually earmarked for the crematorium. Guangdong authorities have not released any information about the protests, which were extended on Saturday by a few hundred residents despite officials suspending the building plan. Witnesses said that dozens of citizens were injured and that many people were detained as confrontations unfurled. The videos showed protestors holding a sign reading: "If you don't want to be reviled for 10,000 generations, say 'no' bravely". Another read: "Love our beautiful Wenlou town, say 'no' to crematorium." One resident of Wenlou, which has a population of 60,000, told the South China Morning Post: "The [proposed crematorium site] is close to housing and the source of our drinking water. We're afraid of pollution. We don't want money or compensation; we just want the crematorium project scrapped." She said local officials "thought the town was poor and its people stupid". Mentions of the protests were censored on Chinese social media and not reported in the country's news outlets, which are strictly controlled by the (CCP). Eyewitnesses said that journalists were prevented from accessing the areas in which the skirmishes took place.
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| The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election Posted: 30 Nov 2019 12:08 PM PST ![The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election]( "The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election") Two lawyers pursuing influential men connected to the late millionaire financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting federal trial, almost attempted to sway the most recent Israeli elections as part of their endeavors, The New York Times reports.Lawyers David Boies and John Pottinger were approached by a man going by the name Patrick Kessler who claimed to have a vast archive of Epstein's data stored on encrypted servers. The servers allegedly contained footage from hidden cameras that showed wealthy and powerful men, including constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in compromising sexual situations, per The Times. Kessler's claims would seemingly have boosted the theory that Epstein was blackmailing power people.Boies and Pottinger thought they would be able to use the data to reach deals with the men and let that money flow into a charity focused on helping victims of sexual assault. One of their supposed plans was to share a compromising photo of someone Kessler purported to be Barak -- who was challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli election -- with Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate in Las Vegas. Adelson founded one of Israel's largest newspapers and is reportedly a big booster for Netanyahu. The trio thought by doing so they could prevent Barak, who called the accusation a "total lie with no basis in reality," from making any progress with his bid.Ultimately, the Times and the lawyers concluded that there was no way to validate any of the images or videos Kessler brought to the table, and he has been dismissed as a fraud by the lawyers. Similarly, Boies said the plan to share the Barak photo was never actually put into action. But the Times' report shows the potential global reach of the Epstein scandal. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com NBC's Chuck Todd was flabbergasted by a Republican senator's claim that the former Ukrainian president worked for Hillary Clinton What the Moomins can tell us about fighting climate despair The Democratic primary's generational divide
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| Pot never should have been illegal in the first place Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST  On reefer, states lead the way with legalization, writes Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
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| Current and former Tesla employees reveal what it's like to work there Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:04 PM PST  Six current and former Tesla employees told Business Insider the one thing they wish customers knew about what it's like to work for the company.
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| Terror checks intensify as London attack enters election fray Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:34 PM PST  Britain's Boris Johnson said Sunday he had ordered the security services to step up monitoring of convicted terrorists released early from prison, prompting accusations that he was exploiting the London Bridge attack for political gain less than two weeks before elections. The prime minister revealed officials were scrutinising around 74 people with terrorist convictions who had been released early from prison like Usman Khan, who left jail last December and went on to stab two people to death in Friday's rampage. British media said he was a former associate of the London Bridge attacker and had been jailed alongside Khan in 2012 over a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange.
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| U.S. snowstorms, rain make Thanksgiving trip home a nightmare Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:48 AM PST  As much as 6 inches (15 cm) of snow was expected to blanket the Greater Boston area on Sunday into Monday, with less predicted for New York, changing to rain in both cities, said meteorologist Brian Hurley of the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Powerful winds were forecast for Chicago, along with snow showers, Hurley said. "It's certainly a messy travel day all around," Hurley said.
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| California bar to reopen after 2018 mass shooting Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:33 AM PST  "It's gonna take a little while," said one of the co-owners in a video posted on Facebook.
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| North Korea blasts Japanese PM as 'idiot,' warns of ballistic missile launch toward Japan Posted: 30 Nov 2019 11:13 AM PST  Pyongyang warns that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 'may see what a real ballistic missile is in the not distant future.'
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| China makes face scanning compulsory for mobile phone owners Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:12 AM PST  China has made it a legal requirement for people signing up to new mobile phone and data plans to have their faces scanned, in a major growth of the surveillance state. The new rules, outlined by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), came into effect on Sunday. They require new phone plan users to submit face scans alongside their national identification card information, ensuring their devices are linked to their real identities. The MIIT said the move was made "to safeguard the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace", and would help protect phone users from fraud. With Chinese authorities cracking down hard on online dissent and arresting government critics, there are concerns that the regulations mark the next step in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s construction of the world's most draconian surveillance regime. Debate about the government's intent with regard to the new requirement was sparked on Chinese social media sites, such as Weibo. China's President Xi Jinping Credit: AFP One commenter pointed out that real-name registration of phone plans with ID cards had been a requirement in China for years already. "Scam and sales phone calls still have not been stopped!" they wrote in a post translated by Quartz. "Gathering citizen's information excessively like this is a violation of people's civic rights." The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) heavily censors the internet in China, which has over 850 million mobile internet users. Many news and social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are blocked by what has come to be known as 'The Great Firewall'. Chinese authorities have invested heavily in face recognition technology recently, as part of measures to keep close tabs on the population. There are reportedly 200 million surveillance cameras operating in the country. The government is also developing a social credit system that will rate citizens on factors including loyalty to the CCP. The system, scheduled to be fully implemented by 2020, results in punishments such as transport restrictions for citizens with low scores.
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| Legal storm clouds gather over Rudy Giuliani, America's tarnished mayor Posted: 30 Nov 2019 11:06 PM PST  Analysts say an indictment is likely as prosecutors focus on Giuliani's work for Trump and himself in UkraineRudy Giuliani: 'The president knows that everything I did, I did to help him.' Photograph: Charles Krupa/APWhen the former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani emerged as one of Donald Trump's most bareknuckle defenders during the Russia investigation, attacking his former colleagues in the justice department, people asked: "What happened to Rudy?"Now, as federal prosecutors tighten a net of criminal investigations around Giuliani, the question has become: "What is going to happen to Rudy?"The poignancy of Giuliani's downfall from national hero and presidential candidate to the subject of multiple federal criminal investigations has been often remarked in the past year.The net tightened again last week when it emerged a grand jury had issued a broad subpoena for documents relating to Giuliani's international consulting business as part of an investigation of alleged crimes including money laundering, wire fraud, campaign finance violations, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act."We who admired him for so long expected much more from Rudy Giuliani and his legacy," Ken Frydman, a former Giuliani press secretary, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece last month. "'America's Mayor,' as Rudy was called after September 11, is today President Trump's bumbling personal lawyer and henchman, his apologist and defender of the indefensible."Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and scoffed at the notion he is in any legal jeopardy – particularly from federal prosecutors in the southern district of New York, an office he once led as a star US attorney during Ronald Reagan's first term. There Giuliani built a reputation for taking on mob bosses and aggressively prosecuting the kind of criminal activity he now stands accused of."Me ending up in jail?" Giuliani told the celebrity gossip site TMZ at a Washington airport on Monday. "Fifty years of being a lawyer, 50 years of ethical, dedicated practice of the law, probably have prosecuted more criminals of a high level than any US attorney in history. I think I follow the law very carefully. I think the people pursuing me are desperate, sad, angry, disappointing liars. They're hurting their country. And I'm ashamed of them."But in no version of events does Giuliani appear not to be in big trouble.The immediate source of his current problems is the work he did in Ukraine over the last two years for himself and on behalf of Trump, who instructed the Ukrainian president to speak to Giuliani in a 25 July phone call.Giuliani wanted the Ukrainians to announce an investigation of Joe Biden, Trump's chief political rival, according to US officials who testified in the impeachment hearings. In pursuit of his errand, Giuliani contacted current and former Ukrainian prosecutors, multiple Ukrainian presidential administrations and multiple Ukrainian oligarchs, according to testimony.Prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani offered the oligarchs help with their problems with the US justice department in exchange for help with his project to harm Biden, a charge Giuliani has denied.Rudy Giuliani's business associates Lev Parnas, left, and Igor Fruman sit either side of lawyer during their arraignment in New York City on 23 October. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/ReutersTwo Soviet Union-born American associates of Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested last month on campaign finance charges, and Parnas is cooperating with investigators. Alongside the prosecutors in New York, the US justice department in Washington is also investigating Giuliani's conduct, as is the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Congress is also after Giuliani, who came in for sharp public criticism in the impeachment hearings earlier this month, when Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch described a smear campaign Giuliani had mounted against her, allegedly because as an anti-corruption advocate she stood in the way of Trump's Ukraine scheme."I do not understand Mr Giuliani's motives for attacking me," Yovanovitch testified. "What I can say is that Mr Giuliani should have known those claims were suspect, coming as they reportedly did from individuals with questionable motives and with reason to believe that their political and financial ambitions would be stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine."As the pressure on him has intensified, Giuliani's antics in his own defense have grown increasingly animated. He warned last week that he had collected information that would put his political enemies on their heels."I'm also going to bring out a pay-for-play scheme in the Obama administration that will be devastating to the Democrat party," Giuliani told Fox News. He even threatened to start an impeachment podcast.Giuliani on Trump: 'We are friends for twenty-nine29 years and nothing will interfere with that.' Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty ImagesBut what matters most for Giuliani right now is his long friendship with Trump, his most powerful protector, which goes back to the late 1980s, when Trump served as co-chair of Giuliani's first fundraiser for his 1989 mayoral campaign, according to Wayne Barrett, who has written books about both men.In a telephone interview with the Guardian, in response to a question about whether he was nervous that Trump might "throw him under a bus" in the impeachment crisis, Giuliani said: "I'm not, but I do have very, very good insurance, so if he does, all my hospital bills will be paid."Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, who was also on the call, then interjected: "He's joking.""We are friends for 29 years and nothing will interfere with that," Giuliani told TMZ of Trump. "The president knows that everything I did, I did to help him. And he knows it. I did it honorably. I did it legally. I did it in a way that it will embarrass the people who are pursuing me and have nowhere near the integrity and honor that I have."Trump has tweeted that Giuliani "may seem a little rough around the edges sometimes, but he is also a great guy and wonderful lawyer".In an interview with disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly last Tuesday, however, Trump distanced himself from Giuliani. Analysts watching Giuliani's case expect that an indictment could be handed down at any moment, raising the prospect of America's Mayor in handcuffs."If Rudy's story ends the way it feels like it's going to end," wrote Evan Mandery, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and veteran of New York City political campaigns, "it's not plausible for anyone who knows or has studied him to say they never saw it coming."
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| The South Korean-Japanese Trade War Has Just Begun Posted: 29 Nov 2019 09:30 PM PST  Can it be stopped?
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| A mayor in Mexico put down his own money to reserve 15 Cybertrucks, and he's hoping for a discount from Elon Musk Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:13 AM PST  The mayor said he didn't consult his constituents about the purchase but defended it as a "common sense" decision that would save millions annually.
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| The Latest: Fiat Chrysler, auto union agree tentative deal Posted: 30 Nov 2019 08:09 AM PST  The United Auto Workers union says it has reached a tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler. A person briefed on the matter says the deal includes a $9,000 ratification bonus, a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years and a commitment to keep making vehicles at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Top union leaders still have to approve the deal, as do factory-level officials who are likely to gather next week to vote on it.
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| Mass protest breaks out in Chinese province near Hong Kong Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:43 PM PST  Chinese police clashed with protesters in a southern province near Hong Kong over the weekend, in a rare case of public dissent that saw hundreds demonstrate against the building of a crematorium.
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| Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:47 AM PST ![Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey]( "Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey") An Irish citizen aligned to Islamic State deported from Turkey along with her two-year-old daughter was arrested on her return to Dublin on Sunday on suspicion of terrorist offenses, Irish police said. Ireland agreed to repatriate Lisa Smith, 38, and her two-year-old daughter after Ankara began deporting foreign citizens linked to Islamic State earlier this month.
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| There have been more mass shootings than days in 2019 Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:38 AM PST  Before the year has even ended, 2019 has already surpassed a previous record for mass shootings in one year
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| Aurora the Columbus Zoo polar bear gives birth to cub on Thanksgiving Day Posted: 29 Nov 2019 05:43 PM PST  The cub is the fourth for Aurora at the Columbus Zoo. Her first cub, Nora, now lives at Utah's Hogle Zoo.
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| Joe Biden mocked for 'no malarkey' campaign pledge Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:03 AM PST  Joe Biden was mocked this weekend after launching a campaign slogan - "no malarkey" - that did little to dispel fears the front-runner in the Democrat presidential nomination is behind the times. The phrase, emblazoned on the bus he is using to travel around the key state of Iowa, dates back to the 1920s. Mr Biden, who would be the oldest first-term president to be sworn in at 78, said the term was intended to highlight his truthfulness when compared to Donald Trump. "What we're referring here [is] my Irish ancestry, when my grandfather would really think something is full of you know what, he'd say, 'that's a lot of malarkey,'" he explained to supporters on Sunday. "So we're on a No Malarkey tour, meaning we're telling the truth." Mr Biden often harks back to his role as vice-president to Barack Obama and he notably used the phrase to dismiss Paul Ryan in a 2012 Vice Presidential debate, emphasising his reputation as straight-talking 'Uncle Joe'. Political analyst Nate Silver suggested that the slogan was Mr Biden being self-deprecating - which would appeal to his loyal supporters. However, the campaign slogan has left some people baffled while others suggested it showed that Mr Biden was out of touch with younger voters. One Twitter user wrote: "I'm voting for Biden so he can finally fix the four big problems facing society: jibber-jabber, hogwash, tommyrot, and flapdoodle." A second suggested that the arcane language showed Mr Biden was "tired and old." "It's sort of poking fun at himself," he said. Mr Biden's age has emerged as an issue on the campaign trail especially after some faltering performances in a series of televised debates. If you're going to sound out of date anyway, why not go for the elegance of NoRodomontade? https://t.co/g2yAHAH9JP— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 30, 2019 He has also had to fend off questions about his son, Hunter, who took a seat on the board of the Ukrainian oil company Burisma, despite having no experience in the energy sector. Despite leading in the national polls for the Democrat nomination, Mr Biden has fallen behind in the first two states to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire. South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg has built up a seven-point lead in Iowa, where Mr Biden now languishes in fourth place. In New Hampshire, Mr Biden is also in fourth place where the race is being led by Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders, who is four points ahead of Mr Buttigieg. That was the in slang back in 1960 Leave it to Beaver time. He's lost it. In Iowa his was wife was talking and he sticks his face to her right hand bites her finger. Who does that? Creepy Uncle Joe. I heard Dr Neurology say they way Biden acts and says weird stuff is medical— Eric Moorman (@blueknight193) December 1, 2019 A poor performance in both states could suck out any momentum that Mr Biden was hoping to generate in the early stages of the race, leaving him facing an uphill battle to win the nomination. Mr Biden enlarged on his "no malarkey" theme when asked to explain how his experience made him more qualified for the Oval Office than younger rivals like Mr Buttigieg and New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey. "I've dealt with every one of the major world leaders that are out there right now and they know me, I know them. And as time goes a pun here, no malarkey, I know them and they know I know them." Mr Biden gave a further demonstration of his occasionally eccentric campaigning style when he playfully bit his wife Jill's finger as she waved her arm in front of him during her introductory remarks.
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| Russia’s Formidable Tunguska Air Defense System is Getting a Stealth Upgrade Posted: 29 Nov 2019 11:00 PM PST  The Tunguska, a tracked armored vehicle armed with both short-range anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft cannon, will get passive thermal and optical sensors that will enable it to detect aircraft and drones without disclosing its position by emitting radar beams.
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| Bangladesh jails three over deadly crash that sparked major protests Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:31 AM PST  A Bangladeshi court on Sunday sentenced three transport workers to life for a road crash last year that killed two students and triggered major anti-government protests. The three workers, including two drivers, were found guilty of culpable homicide, prosecutor Tapash Kumar Paul told reporters. Traffic accidents have spiked in Bangladesh with at least 7,500 people -- over 20 a day -- dying on the road in 2018, according to the Passengers Welfare Association, a private watchdog.
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| Iran opposition leader compares supreme leader to shah Posted: 30 Nov 2019 05:16 AM PST  A long-detained opposition leader in Iran on Saturday compared a bloody crackdown on those protesting government-set gasoline prices rising under its supreme leader to soldiers of the shah gunning down demonstrators in an event that led to the Islamic Revolution. The comments published by a foreign website represent some of the harshest yet attributed to Mir Hossein Mousavi, a 77-year-old politician whose own disputed election loss in 2009 led to the widespread Green Movement protests that security forces also put down. Mousavi's remarks not only compare Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the toppled monarch whom Khamenei to this day refers to as a tyrant.
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| Teacher Fired After Asking Trump to 'Remove' Immigrants Wins Her Appeal Posted: 30 Nov 2019 07:04 AM PST  A high school English teacher in Texas who was fired after she sent tweets to President Donald Trump asking him to rid her school of immigrants in the country illegally should be reinstated or be paid a year's salary, a state agency ruled this week.But the ruling is probably not the last turn in the story, as the Fort Worth Independent School District said that it believed her firing was appropriate and that it would appeal the state's ruling."We stand by our decision because we firmly believe this is in the best interests of all students," Kent P. Scribner, the superintendent of the school district, said in a statement this week.The state found that the teacher, Georgia Clark, should be reinstated and get back pay and employment benefits, or instead of being allowed to return to her job, she could receive one year's salary from the date she would have been reinstated, according to its ruling."The day the petitioner would have been reinstated is the day respondent tenders petitioner payment in full," the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, wrote in the ruling.Clark has not received a paycheck from the district since June, a district spokesman said.The district said it would appeal; an appeal would be heard by the state agency that ruled in Clark's favor, a district spokesman said.Efforts to reach Clark, who has worked at the school district since 1998, were unsuccessful Friday. Brandon Brim, her lawyer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.In an interview with the television station WFAA in September, Clark said she wanted her job back. Asked how she would address the local Hispanic community, Clark said, "If you need someone to help your child graduate, you're looking at her right here."On May 17, in a series of tweets directed to Trump's Twitter account and addressed to "Mr. President," Clark said that her school district was "loaded" with students in the country illegally from Mexico, that her high school had been "taken over by them" and that drug dealers had not been punished.She blamed an assistant principal, whom she referred to as a "Hispanic assistant principal who protects certain students from criminal prosecution."A student separately said that on that same day, Clark had made "ethnically demeaning" comments in class, according to a report from an independent examiner that heard Clark's appeal and recommended that she be reinstated. She was accused of asking for a student's "papers" to go to the restroom, among other statements.On May 22, in more tweets directed to Trump, she wrote, "I really do need a contact here in Fort Worth who should be actively investigating and removing the illegals" from the public school system.The city of Fort Worth has one of the nation's highest Hispanic populations: Almost 35% of its residents identified as Hispanic or Latino in 2018.Clark acknowledged posting the tweets but said she believed they were private messages to Trump, according to the hearing examiner's report. Her Twitter account no longer exists.The school board moved to fire Clark in June, saying the public outcry from parents, students and members of the local community over her conduct in class and on social media "caused substantial disruptions in operations at the campus."In firing Clark, the district cited the May 17 episode in class, the tweets and an episode during the 2013-14 school year, when some students accused Clark of referring to a group of Hispanic students as "Little Mexico" and a white student as "white bread."But the report from the independent examiner rejected the district's rationale. It said students complaining of Clark's conduct in class on May 17 -- the accounts of which she disputed -- were not credible or were motivated by a bias against her.The report said that there was not enough evidence to substantiate the 2013-14 episode and that Clark's tweets were "free speech.""Clark's tweets are statements of a citizen on a matter of public concern protected by the United States Constitution and do not contravene or impair policies or proper performance of the district's functions," the report said.The report said that annual appraisals showed that "she has been evaluated as an excellent teacher consistently throughout her employment" with the district.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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