Six In The Morning Monday 25 November 2019

China can shut off the Philippines' power grid at any time, leaked report warns

By James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 0043 GMT (0843 HKT) November 26, 2019

The Philippines' power grid is under the full control of the Chinese government and could be shut off in time of conflict, according to an internal report prepared for lawmakers seen by CNN.

China's State Grid Corporation has a 40% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), a private consortium that has operated the country's power lines since 2009. Concerns over potential Chinese interference in the Philippine energy system have dogged the arrangement since it was first agreed a decade ago.

Lawmakers called for an urgent review of the arrangement this month after the report claimed that only Chinese engineers had access to key elements of the system, and that power could in theory be deactivated remotely on Beijing's orders.

Keystone XL: police discussed stopping anti-pipeline activists 'by any means'

Revealed: records show law enforcement has called demonstrators possible ‘domestic terrorism’ threats

Sam Levin and Will Parrish

Mon 25 Nov 2019 06.00 EST

US law enforcement officials preparing for fresh Keystone XL pipeline protests have privately discussed tactics to stop activists “by any means” and have labeled demonstrators potential “domestic terrorism” threats, records reveal.

Internal government documents seen by the Guardian show that police and local authorities in Montana and the surrounding region have been preparing a coordinated response in the event of a new wave of protests opposing the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada to Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Civil rights organizations say the documents raise concerns that law enforcement is preparing to launch an even more brutal and aggressive response than the police tactics utilized during the 2016 Standing Rock movement, which drew thousands of indigenous and environmental activists opposed to the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) to North Dakota.

Israel accused of silencing opposition to West Bank occupation as it expels Human Rights Watch researcher

Omar Shakir deported after being accused of supporting boycott of Israel 

Richard HallMiddle East correspondent

A prominent human rights researcher, deported from Israel on Monday, has condemned the government for “an attack on the human rights movement” and vowed to continue his work from outside the country.

Omar Shakir, a US citizen and director of Israel and the Palestinian territories for Human Rights Watch, was ordered to leave after being accused of supporting boycotts of the country based, in part, on pro-Palestinian comments he had made in the past.

“We will continue to do the work. We will cover the same topics with the same intensity and the same vigour,” Mr Shakir said on Monday, the day he was due to be deported. 

OPINION

Opinion: Beijing's cultural genocide in Xinjiang

The China Cables leak shows Beijing is busy with a monstrous experiment on an entire people, the Uighurs. They need European solidarity in the face of reeducation efforts, argues Matthias von Hein.

We have known about this for a long time; the evidence has been building over the years. Now the China Cables have demonstrated that the camps in China's northwestern Xinjiang province — clearly visible on satellite images — are forced-labor camps under draconian regimes in which even the number of times occupants may go to the bathroom is strictly regulated. Chinese officials have repeatedly claimed that the camps are used for vocational training and that the occupants can leave at any time. Government documents have now proven this to be a lie.

In Xinjiang, China's Communist Party is trying to enforce the "harmonious society" the party always invokes. Using systematic brainwashing and massive oppression, the authorities want to stamp out the predominantly Muslim Uighurs' cultural and religious roots and replace them with loyalty to the party.

The Amazon rainforest is in trouble. Again.

Our three-part video series looks at the world’s largest rainforest, why it’s in jeopardy, and the people trying to save it.

By Sam Ellis, Christina Thornell, and Ana Terra Athayde

The largest rainforest in the world is shrinking. Again.

For more than a decade, Brazil successfully fought deforestation in the Amazon. But that didn’t last: In 2019, tens of thousands of man-made fires ravaged the rainforest. Deforestation there reached an 11-year high.

Since far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was elected in October 2018, the Amazon has been put at risk again. The new president has weakened environmental protections, and he’s encouraged cattle ranchers, loggers, and farmers to expand their businesses by clearing new land in the Amazon.

Former White House counsel Don McGahn must obey subpoena to testify before Congress, judge rules

The same question about White House immunity — this one related to the impeachment inquiry — is pending before another judge in Washington.

By Pete Williams

 A federal judge ruled late Monday that former White House counsel Don McGahn must obey a subpoena for his testimony issued by the House Judiciary Committee.

Federal District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said McGahn must appear before Congress but retains the ability to "invoke executive privilege where appropriate" during his appearance. The judge did not put her own ruling on hold, but the Trump administration will likely seek one to put the effect of her ruling on hold while it pursues an appeal.

"It is clear to this Court for the reasons explained above that, with respect to senior-level presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist," Jackson said in her ruling.