Monday, August 31, 2020
The Return of East Timor's Children
Decades after being 'stolen' as children, victims of forced separation embark on a painful yet uplifting journey home.
After Indonesia occupied East Timor in 1975, an estimated 4,000 Timorese children were "stolen" from their homeland.
They were raised by Indonesian families across the archipelago.
Now, decades later, victims of these forced separations are beginning to return to East Timor in search of their long-lost families.
How long does coronavirus immunity last?
The first cases of reinfection are emerging in Hong Kong, the United States and Europe. There is growing evidence that immunity to the new coronavirus after infection may be short-lived.
Trump's campaign has been taking cash from neo-Nazi and white supremacist leaders
During the 2016 campaign, you may recall, there was often a notable press reluctance to acknowledge that many of Donald Trump's supporters were raging white supremacists. (The most infamous case was a PBS story profiling a Trump volunteer worker that somehow managed to avoid noting the prominent neo-Nazi and white supremacist symbols tattooed on both hands.)
Ah, the old days, when such things were even controversial. Welcome to 2020, when Donald Trump is getting campaign donations from prominent neo-Nazis and there's apparently not even a glimmer of thought that gosh, maybe Typhoid Hitler might not want to cash those particular checks.
At Popular Information, Judd Legum investigates some of the notorious white supremacists who have donated to Trump's campaign. Actual Neo-Nazi leader Morris Gulett, who believes "the Jew is the literal child of Satan," has given Trump at least $2,000. (Legum notes that Trump's campaign was asked about Gulett's donations over two years ago, but refused and refuses to respond.)
Other Trump campaign supporters include K.C. McAlpin, crackpot Peter Zieve, and (of course) rich racist Republican-backer Timothy Mellon, who's shoved $10 million at Trump's super PAC and $30 million towards getting Trump's enablers in the House and Senate reelected.
There's no chance Trump's campaign will be returning the money, of course. For starters, Donald Trump is a cheap, crooked man who goes to great lengths to avoid parting with cash. For seconders, the campaign needs the money, and if Trump's campaign of white nationalists backed down and returned money from known neo-Nazis there's no telling just how much money they'd end up having to give back. And for thirdsies, this isn't 2016. Trump's campaign isn't trying to hide their white nationalist ties. Trump himself isn't trying to hide his constant white nationalist incitements.
Trump's new "law and order" campaign theme, hastily plastered on top of the administration's massive and ongoing pandemic failures, has brought his support for white nationalism and its violence front and center. Trump's racist response to calls for police reform are now his campaign's primary message.
If anything, it's likely that Trump's embrace of prominent neo-Nazi leaders will not stop at taking their money this time around. Trump and his son Junior have been bolder in retweeting white nationalist and eliminationist themes. Trump's Fox News allies, including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, have been steadily ratcheting up their defenses of vigilante violence on Trump's behalf. We may yet see Trump standing on stage with one of these militia-uniformed goons before the campaign is out.
Six In The Morning Monday 31 August 2020
Israel and UAE in historic direct flight following peace deal
The first commercial flight from Israel to the UAE has landed, marking a major step in normalising relations after the announcement of a peace deal.
The flight was allowed to cross Saudi Arabian airspace, normally blocked to Israeli air traffic.
The UAE has become only the third Arab country in the Middle East to recognise Israel since its founding in 1948.
Arctic wildfires emit 35% more CO2 so far in 2020 than for whole of 2019
About 205 megatonnes emitted in June and July alone as Siberia hit by heatwave
The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by Arctic wildfires this year is already 35% higher than the figure for the whole of 2019.
The latest data, provided by the EU’s Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service, shows that up to 24 August 245 megatonnes of CO2 had been released from wildfires this year. The figure for the whole of last year was 181 megatonnes.
The peak number of active fire observations was about 600 in late July, compared with 400 in 2019. The average equivalent number between 2003 and 2018 was about 100. Copernicus estimated that 205 megatonnes of CO2 was emitted between 1 June and 31 July alone. The wildfires coincided with a heatwave in Siberia, where temperatures soared to more than 30C (86F) in some areas.
Oxford vaccine professor warns of new flu pandemic
Chiara Giordano,Jane Dalton@JournoJane
The scientist behind the Oxford coronavirus vaccine has warned of the rising risk of outbreaks of diseases that pass from animals to humans.
Professor Sarah Gilbert believes the spread of zoonotic diseases has become more likely because of our lifestyles - with growing population density, increased international travel and deforestation to blame in particular.
It comes as a mutated strain of coronavirus said to be “10 times more infectious” was found in Indonesia as well as neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
Sudan reaches historic peace deal with rebel groups
Sudan's power-sharing government and rebel commanders agreed Monday on a historic peace deal, a crucial step towards ending 17 years of conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
Leaders of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), an umbrella organisation of rebel groups from the western region of Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, raised their fists in celebration after inking the agreement.
The deal, reached in the South Sudanese capital Juba, offers rebel groups political representation and devolved powers, integration into the security forces, economic and land rights and the chance of return for displaced people.
India accuses China of 'provocative' military movements at border
China has carried out "provocative military movements" in the disputed Himalayan border area between the two countries overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to an Indian army statement, in a fresh flare-up between the two nuclear-armed countries.
Indian troops pre-empted Chinese army's activity on the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, part of which was transgressed by the Chinese soldiers in May, the statement said on Monday, adding that Indian troops took steps to thwart the Chinese attempt to "unilaterally change" facts on the ground.
The Few, the Proud, the White: The Marine Corps Balks at Promoting Generals of Color
A respected, combat-tested Black colonel has been passed over three times for promotion to brigadier general. What does his fate say about the Corps?By
All things being equal, Col. Anthony Henderson has the military background that the Marine Corps says it prizes in a general: multiple combat tours, leadership experience and the respect of those he commanded and most who commanded him.
Yet three times he has been passed over for brigadier general, a prominent one-star rank that would put Colonel Henderson on the path to the top tier of Marine Corps leadership. Last year, the Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, even added a handwritten recommendation to Colonel Henderson’s candidacy: “Eminently qualified Marine we need now as BG,” he wrote.
But never in its history has the Marine Corps had anyone other than a white man in a senior leadership post. Colonel Henderson is Black.
Sunday, August 30, 2020
Life of a Japanese Drummer | The KODÅ Story
Being a professional drummer or performer is the dream of so many people around the world but for member's of Kodo (éŒç«¥), it's a reality. Their career is Taiko Drumming as a performance art, on tour around the world. When they're at home on Sado Island, they're practicing which is more like living and working.
Sahar Zand | BBC Our World | Living with Dead in Indonesia
The dead are a constant presence in the Toraja area of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Centuries old traditions mean the dead share space with the living everyday. A morbid obsession or a positive way of dealing with the grief of losing a loved one?
One basketball player's campaign for racial awareness in Germany
Black athletes in the US have been using their platforms to draw attention to issues of racism in recent weeks. Here in Germany, a professional basketball player has followed suit. After Berlin decided to change the name of Moor Street, Moses Pölking wants the city's street and train station‚ Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to also be given a new name
In the Caribbean, Pirates have Returned to Plague an Island Paradise | Foreign Correspondent
In the tropical waters around Trinidad and Tobago, pirates are making waking waves again, with a recent spate of kidnappings, shootings, robberies and even murders. Marlon Sookoo, a fisherman from a sleepy village on the southern tip of Trinidad, has first-hand experience of how ruthless the pirates can be.
Belarus protest: How is Lukashenko's support outside Minsk?
Six In The Morning Sunday 30 August 2020
French uproar over magazine's portrayal of Black politician as slave
Updated 0828 GMT (1628 HKT) August 30, 2020
A French right-wing magazine has sparked outrage over an illustration published in its most recent issue depicting the Black politician DaniÚle Obono as an 18th century slave.
The article in Valeurs Actuelles, entitled "DaniÚle Obono in the Age of Slavery," is a fictional account of Obono's return to 18th century Africa, prompting criticism from across the French political class.
The story contains illustrations showing the left-wing member of the National Assembly with chains around her neck. Obono, who is of French-Gabonese origin, took to Twitter Friday to express her dismay at what she called "racist shit." Obono remarked that "it appears that we can no longer say anything."
Under-25s bearing brunt of Covid mental-health toll – survey
Findings reveal anxiety, inability to concentrate and fears over employment at high levels among young people
Young people have suffered more with mental health issues over the last few months than any other age group, according to a far-reaching study that has scrutinised the effects of the pandemic on the under-25s.
A troubling picture of growing levels of anxiety and an inability to concentrate was reported by those aged between 18 and 24 as part of an extensive survey of more than 6,000 adults carried out by YouGov and designed by the Resolution Foundation, which was subsequently analysed by the independent charity the Health Foundation.
Police disperse Muslim procession in Kashmir with pellets and tear gas, injuring scores
Authorities say the participants violated coronavirus restrictions on religious gatherings
Indian forces on Saturday fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of Shiite Muslims participating in a traditional religious procession in Indian-controlled Kashmir, injuring scores, witnesses said.
Police in the main city of Srinagar said the mourners on the outskirts of the city violated coronavirus prohibitions that restrict all religious processions and gatherings across the disputed region to stem the spread of the disease. Police said they were still confirming the number of injured.
Fifty years since Black September
When Palestine captured a generation’s dreams
The events around Black September opened a new chapter in Middle East history as the Palestinians began to impose political demands and military solutions. They caught the spirit of revolution from Latin America through the Third World, and for a moment the old order seemed vulnerable. The young of the world took Palestine as their cause
by Alain Gresh
The walls of Amman in September 1970 were covered in slogans proclaiming ‘Revolution until victory!’, ‘All power to the resistance!’and‘The road to Jerusalem lies through Amman!’. Alongside them were posters of Che Guevara, the ‘heroic guerrilla fighter’ assassinated in Bolivia in October 1967 on the orders of the CIA. Armed militants in keffiyehs manned checkpoints at major crossroads. Pickups carrying machine guns sped through the maze-like streets.
The End of Lukashenkism?On the Knife's Edge in Belarus
The uprising against Alexander Lukashenko may not have a leader, but its goals are ambitious. After the first phase of shock and fear, the people are now showing pride and self-confidence. Will that go far enough?
Maria Kolesnikova hesitates before opening the car door. "Shall we?" she asks, and then climbs out. A tall woman with short hair dyed blond, she isn't initially noticed by the crowd that will soon envelope her in hugs, cheers and selfies.An icon of the protests that have washed over Belarus, Kolesnikova is on her way to her next appearance - a leader against her will, one both seasoned and overwhelmed. She is an ersatz politician in a country that has to relearn what political life actually means, because there has been no place for it under the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko.
Can Japan's opposition realignment end a troubled history?
For about eight years since the defection of numerous members weakened the former Democratic Party of Japan in the late phase of the DPJ-led government, the nation’s opposition parties have had a troubled history of unsuccessful alignments and realignments.
The new main opposition party to be created through the planned merger of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People is expected to be joined by about 150 lawmakers, the first such large force since the 2017 breakup of the Democratic Party, a successor to the DPJ.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
What a Japanese Town did with its Abandoned Schools
Many Japanese towns are losing population. This is what one Japanese town did with its abandoned schools.
What is Shinzo Abe's legacy?
Japan's longest-serving prime minister has resigned due to health problems.
The surprise resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent shockwaves through the country's political establishment.
The 65-year-old quit citing health reasons related to ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease he has lived with since he was a teenager.
Abe apologised to the Japanese people and said he did not want his illness to get in the way of decision-making.
UAE implicated in lethal drone strike in Libya
The BBC has uncovered new evidence that a drone operated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) killed 26 unarmed cadets at a military academy in Libya's capital Tripoli in January 2020
A House Divided: The Dis-United States of America | Foreign Correspondent
Today parts of America feel like they’re at war again, as this powerful country battles disease and division under its polarising and unpredictable President.
Berlin police shut down protest against coronavirus restrictions
Police in Berlin shut down a protest against Germany's coronavirus restrictions. They said the participants had failed to wear face masks and were not following social distancing rules. Berlin authorities had initially banned the demonstration over pandemic health concerns.
Six In The Morning Saturday 29 August 2020
March on Washington 2020: 'Change is slow in America'
Thousands flocked to the Lincoln Memorial in the US capital to march for racial justice.
The event was dubbed the 'Get Your Knees Off Our Necks' march, and police brutality was top of many marchers’ minds.
European authorities are ignoring our pleas, says crew of Banksy-funded rescue ship
Vessel is stranded at sea – and safeguarding more than 200 migrants
Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and Maurice Stierl in Berlin
A rescue boat financed by the British street artist Banksy is stranded at sea after the crew helped 130 migrants, with requests for help from the European authorities being ignored, the ship leaders said.
The vessel, named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, set off in secrecy on 18 August from the Spanish seaport of Burriana, near Valencia, and is now in the central Mediterranean, where, on Thursday, it rescued 89 people including 14 women and four children. It is now safeguarding more than 200 people off Libya’s coast.
Berlin: Police call off protests against coronavirus curbs
Authorities in the German capital have told demonstrators, who complained of too much government interference, to go home. Police said protesters failed to abide by court-mandated health safety rules.
Police in Berlin announced Saturday that they were cutting short a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions in Germany, saying that protesters had failed to abide by court-ordered guidelines.
An estimated 18,000 protesters had descended on Berlin for the demonstration on Saturday morning, according to police estimates, a day after a court overturned the capital's ban on the protest.
After Shinzo Abe's resignation, what's next for Japan?
The abrupt resignation of Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on Friday triggered an election in his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to replace him as its president, followed by a vote in parliament to elect a new prime minister.
Abe and his cabinet will continue to run the government until a new premier is elected but will not be able to adopt new policies. The winner of the party election will hold the post until the end of Abe's LDP term in September 2021.
The new party president is virtually assured the premiership, since the party has a majority in parliament’s lower house.
Former DOJ officials spoke about the attorney general’s efforts to undermine voting and his potential to unleash an “October surprise.”
ON AUGUST 13, a day after President Donald Trump again charged that Democrats’ efforts to expand mail-in voting due to the pandemic will create “the greatest rigged election in history,” U.S. Attorney General William Barr too made unfounded and conspiratorial-sounding claims. Barr told Sean Hannity on Fox News that Democrats’ drive seeking to expand mail-in voting could raise “serious questions about the integrity of the election,” were “grossly irresponsible,” and “reckless.”
That was hardly the first time they seemed to agree. In a July House Judiciary hearing and in a June interview with Fox News, Barr joined Trump in his months long and spurious attacks on voting by mail. He told Fox that voting by mail “absolutely opens the floodgates to fraud,” adding, without evidence, that “right now a foreign country could print tens of thousands of counterfeit ballots.”
Europe's fight against Covid-19 shifts from hospitals to the streets
Updated 0402 GMT (1202 HKT) August 29, 2020
At first, the front line of Europe's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was fought in hospitals by overstretched health care workers. Now as European countries seek to avoid the long-dreaded second wave, that line has shifted to the streets and is being manned by police forces.
In the last week, several European countries have seen record infection rates. Not since the spring have countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain seen such a surge in the number of new cases. Countries like Greece and Croatia, largely spared by the first wave, have seen fast rises in August as tourists, taking advantage of the reopening of Europe's internal borders in June, have headed to the beach for their summer holidays.
Friday, August 28, 2020
Generation Putin
Vladimir Putin came to power as Russian millennials were coming into the world. Everything they know about their homeland has been shaped by Putin’s authoritarian regime. Some revere him. But others long for democratic change.
Why are some Republicans urging voters to vote Democrat?
Anthony Scaramucci, who famously worked in Trump's White House for 11 days, on why Americans should reject Trumpism.
Hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci - aka "The Mooch" - campaigned vigorously for candidate Donald Trump during the last US election, and was hired as White House communications director in 2017.
A few days later, he was fired.
He remained loyal to his ex-boss after his departure, but says that Trump's tweet last year demeaning "The Squad" - a group of four Democratic Congresswomen of colour, including Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - "was a bridge too far for me".
America’s stimulus package: is it working?
America has spent trillions of dollars on stimulus packages to prop up its economy in the face of the covid-19 pandemic. But is it working—and what will the long-term effects be?
Poorest areas in England suffering high rises in unemployment
People living in parts of England which had the highest levels of child poverty before the coronavirus pandemic have now been revealed as suffering some of the biggest rises in unemployment.
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