Saturday, May 27, 2017

Six In The Morning Saturday May 27

Kushner 'discussed secret line to Moscow' - US media reports

Donald Trump's son-in-law attempted to set up secret communications with Moscow a month after Mr Trump's election, US media say.
Jared Kushner wanted to use Russian facilities to avoid US interception of discussions with Moscow, the Washington Post and New York Times said.
Mr Kushner, a senior White House aide, has not commented.
He is said to be under scrutiny by the FBI as part of its inquiry into Russian interference favouring Mr Trump's win.

Reports in the US say investigators believe he has relevant information, but he is not necessarily suspected of a crime.

What did Kushner do?

The most recent reports - which cited unnamed US officials as sources - said Mr Kushner had spoken with Moscow's Ambassador to the US, Sergei Kislyak, about setting up a back channel using Russian diplomatic facilities in America.







The public flogging of two gay men and what it says about Indonesia's future

Islamism is rising across Indonesia, where a toxic mix of religion and political opportunism has been percolating for some time
by Krithika Varagur in Banda Aceh


It was the young who came first to Indonesia’s public caning of gay men. They arrived on motorbikes and on foot, from nearby boarding houses and two universities, some skipping class and the others using up their holidays. An announcement was made barring children under 18, but some stayed anyway, reluctant to break up a family outing.
By 10am on Tuesday, a 1,000-strong crowd had congealed at the Syuhada mosque plaza in Banda Aceh. As someone sang a stirring Qur’anic hymn to inaugurate the ceremony, a verse about how God created man and woman in couples, young men were perched in the trees, on trucks, and all the balconies across the street. Girls huddled between jasmine bushes.
“It’s a lesson for us, and it’s a lesson near us,” said Ratna, 20, a student at Syiah Kuala University, who was one of the first to arrive. She, like more than a dozen young people interviewed by the Guardian, doesn’t know a single gay person and believes homosexuality is a crime.

Inside Iran’s “morality police” – women use their smartphones to fight back


With black chadors over their uniforms, officers of Iran’s “guidance patrols” are a scourge for Iranian women who want to wear bright colours and push the limits of the Islamic Republic’s dress code. But some Iranian women are fighting back, using their smartphones to document what happens once they are arrested. 

The Gasht-e-Ershad (guidance patrol) is Iran’s morality police. Part of the regular police force, its male and female officers are charged with enforcing Islamic codes in Iranian society, and have the power to arrest people they think are violating them. While the total number of its officers is unknown, a spokesman said the force made 207,000 arrests between March 2013 and March 2014, and notified a total of 2 million women that their hijab (Islamic dress) was not correct. 

Under Iran’s Islamic law, women are supposed to cover everything except their face and hands. Conservative women wear the chador – a black garment that covers the head and goes down to the ankles. But other women choose to wear a scarf that covers their hair, a knee-length “manteau”, or coat, with sleeves to the wrist, and a skirt or trousers. 

Dalit vs Thakur: Who is behind the simmering conflict?


What is behind the caste violence in Saharanpur district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh?


Thousands of Dalits protested on the streets of New Delhi this week against recent attacks on the community in Saharanpur district of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
"It's a fight for equality, it is a fight against oppression," said Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan addressing the crowd, which mainly consisted of young Dalits - or Indians considered lower caste -  many of whom had travelled hundreds of kilometres to the capital. The 31-year-old, who goes by the name Chandrashekhar, is a lawyer and an activist.
Chandrashekhar, along with Vinay Ratna Singh, founded the Bhim Army, which was behind the massive rally.

$25 MILLION OIL TANKER GIFTED TO ERDOGAN’S FAMILY IS JUST ONE OF MANY REVELATIONS IN THE MALTA FILES



May 27 2017, 7:21 a.m.

WHAT’S THE PERFECT GIFT
 for a world leader who has everything? How about secretly buying a $25 million oil tanker for his family? That’s what Azeri billionaire Mübariz Mansimov did for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the increasingly authoritarian Turkish president, back in 2008. The discovery, published Friday by the Black Sea, El Mundo and other outlets, is the result of a months long project by the European Investigative Collaboration network.
Mansimov became a Turkish citizen two years earlier and adopted a Turkish name, Mübariz Gurbanoglu, allegedly at Erdogan’s suggestion. After the deal was struck, his business dealings in Turkey took off, including lucrative contracts with state firms.

Drone Footage Shows Fukushima's Rebuilding Post-Nuclear Disaster

Juliana Rose Pignataro

The government in Fukushima, Japan released drone footage Thursday showing the progression made in the area’s rebuilding process six years after an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown devastated the region. The videos showed a multitude of areas in the prefecture, including Iwaki City, about 30 miles south of the Fukushima plant, and Futaba, a town 11 miles north of the plant.
The videos also showed reconstruction on roads and coastlines, areas severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
The government has been working for six years to revive the area. Earlier in May, a bill was enacted to accelerate reconstruction by using state funding to aid the decontamination process in certain districts, according to the Japan Times.  The prefectural government announced recently it had made “tremendous progress” in revitalization efforts, allowing some residents to return to evacuated areas.


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