Six In The Morning Monday November 21

Obama says he may comment as citizen on Trump's presidency

US President Barack Obama has said he may speak out after leaving office if he feels his successor Donald Trump is threatening core American values.

By convention, former presidents tend to leave the political fray and avoid commenting on their successors.

Mr Obama said he would give Mr Trump time to outline his vision but added that, as a private citizen, he might speak out on certain issues.

Mr Trump spent the weekend interviewing candidates for top jobs in his cabinet.

"I want to be respectful of the office and give the president-elect an opportunity to put forward his platform and his arguments without somebody popping off," Mr Obama said at a forum in Lima, Peru.

Samsung and Panasonic accused over supply chain labour abuses in Malaysia

Migrant workers making goods for the global electronics brands claim they are trapped and exploited in Malaysia

Pete Pattisson

Monday 21 November 2016 03.00 GMT

Samsung and Panasonic, two of the world’s leading electronics brands, are facing allegations that workers in their supply chains are being duped, exploited and underpaid in Malaysia.

The two companies have launched investigations into allegations of abuse made by Nepalese workers after a Guardian investigation raised multiple concerns about their treatment.

The men said they had been deceived about pay, had their passports confiscated and had been told that they must pay large fines if they wanted to return to Nepal before the end of their contract. They also claimed they were forced to work for up to 14 hours on their feet without adequate rest, and with restricted toilet breaks, in an attempt to settle recruitment fees of up to £1,000 – they said they had to pay this money to secure their jobs.

HRW: Rohingya villages razed despite denials from Myanmar government

Satellite images show fire and destruction in northwest Myanmar, home to the Muslim Rohingya minority, Human Rights Watch says. Journalist and aid agencies face severe restrictions while trying to verify the reports.

Some 1,250 buildings have been destroyed in Myanmar military's crackdown on the Rohingya, activists from Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday, citing satellite images of villages near the Bangladeshi border.

Previously, the Myanmar government said that fewer that 300 houses had been razed by militants aiming to "sow a seed of misunderstanding between the government troops and the people."

HRW's Asia director Brad Adams called the new satellite images "alarming." Satellite sensors also detected fires burning in several villages.

"The apparent arson attacks against five Rohingya villages is a matter of grave concern for which the Burmese government needs to investigate and prosecute those responsible," he added.

Syria: Aleppo pounded by 'heaviest bombardment' since war began

By Angela Dewan, Steve Visser, Kareem Khadder and Merieme Arif, CNN

Updated 0103 GMT (0903 HKT) November 21, 2016 

Syrian regime forces pounded eastern Aleppo with airstrikes for a sixth straight day Sunday, bringing the death toll to almost 300 in the most intense bombing since the war began five years ago, rescuers say.

Among the latest reported violence: a suspected chemical attack that killed four children and their parents. Two activist groups -- the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights and Aleppo Media Center -- said a barrage of barrel bombs struck their neighborhood, al-Sakhour.

Air strikes help Iraqi troops push into Mosul neighborhoods

House-to-house searches have been conducted as troops hunt for remaining militants and explosives in liberated quarters

By ASIA TIMES STAFF

The struggle to recapture Mosul enters day 35, with clashes between advancing Iraqi forces and ISIS militants in the city’s Intisar and Aden neighborhoods continuing on Sunday, Rudaw reported.

House-to-house searches have been conducted as troops hunt for remaining militants and explosives in liberated quarters.

The Iraqi Counterterrorism Forces (ICTF) had reached the edges of al-Qahira and al-Zuhur neighborhoods in northeastern Mosul by Sunday morning, Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, a commander of the forces, told Rudaw.  He added that coalition airstrikes had also killed 15 ISIS militants.

A NEW DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF DRONE WARFARE ON VICTIMS AND WHISTLEBLOWERS

Murtaza Hussain

ON THE NIGHT of February 21, 2010, a group of families driving a convoy of vehicles through the valleys of Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan came into the sights of a Predator drone crew operating out of Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.

“That truck would make a beautiful target,” one of the operators says. The crew analyzes the convoy, debating whether children are present. “I really doubt that child call, man. I really fucking hate that shit.”

Under the watchful gaze of the drone crew, the families disembark from the convoy, stopping to pray at the side of the road. After a brief pause, they get back in their cars and continue their journey, still unaware that they are being stalked from above.