Split (1)

train · 1.04k rows

text stringlengths 718 20.1k
# Biden orders strikes on an Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops wounded in drone attack in Iraq By AAMER MADHANI, ZEKE MILLER, and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA December 26, 2023. 12:35 PM EST --- WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the United States military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone. Iraqi officials said that U.S. strikes targeting militia sites early Tuesday killed one militant and wounded 18. They came at a time of heightened fears of a regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war. Iran announced Monday that an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus killed one of its top generals, Seyed Razi Mousavi, who had been a close companion of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the former head of Iran's elite Quds Force. Soleimani was slain in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. Iranian officials vowed revenge for the killing of Mousavi, but didn't immediately launch a retaliatory strike. The militia attack Monday in northern Iraq was launched prior to the strike in Syria that killed Mousavi. Biden, who was spending Christmas at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, was alerted to the attack by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan shortly after it occurred Monday and ordered the Pentagon and his top national security aides to prepare response options to the attack on an air base used by American troops in Irbil. Sullivan consulted with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Biden's deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, was with the president at Camp David and convened top aides to review options, according to a U.S. official, who wasn't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. Within hours, Biden convened his national security team for a call in which Austin and Gen. CQ Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed Biden on the response options. Biden opted to target three locations used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, the official said. The U.S. strikes were carried out at about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday in Iraq, less than 13 hours after the U.S. personnel were attacked. According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on the three sites "destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants." "The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm's way," Watson said. "The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue." The latest attack on U.S. troops follows months of escalating threats and actions against American forces in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war in Gaza. The dangerous back-and-forth strikes have escalated since Iranian-backed militant groups under the umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Syria began striking U.S. facilities Oct. 17, the date that a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds. Iranian-backed militias have carried out more than 100 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than two months ago. In November, U.S. fighter jets struck a Kataib Hezbollah operations center and command and control node, following a short-range ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces at Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq. Iranian-backed militias also carried out a drone attack at the same air base in October, causing minor injuries. The U.S. has also blamed Iran, which has funded and trained the Hamas group, for attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants against commercial and military vessels through a critical shipping choke point in the Red Sea. The Biden administration has sought to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a wider regional conflict that either opens up new fronts of Israeli fighting or draws the U.S. in directly. The administration's measured response - where not every attempt on American troops has been met with a counterattack - has drawn criticism from Republicans. The U.S. has thousands of troops in Iraq training Iraqi forces and combating remnants of the Islamic State group, and hundreds in Syria, mostly on the counter-IS mission. They have come under dozens of attacks, though as yet none fatal, since the war began on Oct. 7, with the U.S. attributing responsibility to Iran-backed groups. "While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities," Austin said in a statement. The clashes put the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in a delicate position. He came to power in 2022 with the backing of a coalition of Iranian-backed parties, some of which are associated with the same militias launching the attacks on U.S. bases. A group of Iranian-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces were key in the fight against Islamic State militants after the extremist group overran much of Iraq in 2014. The PMF is officially under the command of the Iraqi army, but in practice the militias operate independently. In a statement Tuesday, Sudani condemned both the militia attack in Irbil and the U.S. response. Attacks on "foreign diplomatic mission headquarters and sites hosting military advisers from friendly nations ... infringe upon Iraq's sovereignty and are deemed unacceptable under any circumstances," the statement said. However, it added that that the retaliatory strikes by the U.S. on "Iraqi military sites" - referring to the militia - "constitute a clear hostile act." Sudani said some of those injured in the strikes were civilians.
# Imprisoned Russian politician Navalny is now in a penal colony near the Arctic Circle December 25, 2023. 11:31 AM EST --- MOSCOW (AP) - Associates of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Monday that he has been located at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle nearly three weeks after contact with him was lost. Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He had been imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since Dec. 6. His spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said he was located in a prison colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow. Navalny is "fine - at least as much as possible after such a long stage" and a lawyer visited him, Yarmysh told The Associated Press. The region is notorious for long and severe winters. The town is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were among the harshest of the Soviet Gulag prison-camp system. "It is almost impossible to get to this colony; it is almost impossible to even send letters there. This is the highest possible level of isolation from the world," Navalny's chief strategist, Leonid Volkov, said on X. Transfers within Russia's prison system are shrouded in secrecy and inmates can disappear from contact for several weeks. Navalny's team was particularly alarmed when he could not be found because he had been ill and reportedly was being denied food and kept in an unventilated cell. Yarmysh said the transfer was connected with the campaign for the Russian presidential election in March. While Putin's reelection is all but certain, given his overwhelming control over the country's political scene and a widening crackdown on dissent, Navalny's supporters and other critics hope to use the campaign to erode public support for the Kremlin leader and his military action in Ukraine. "They deliberately sent him to this particular colony precisely in order to isolate Alexei as much as possible, so as not to give him any opportunity to communicate with the outside world," she said. "This is all happening precisely because Alexei, despite the fact that he is in prison, is still the main opponent of Vladimir Putin ... It is not surprising that they began to transfer him to another colony right now, so that he could not interfere with Putin's campaign." Navalny has been behind bars in Russia since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony No. 6 for alleged minor infractions. He has rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.
# Ikuzo! Ottawa's roster brings international flavor to newly launched women's pro hockey league By JOHN WAWROW December 26, 2023. 9:10 AM EST --- "Ikuzo!" as they'd say in Japan. Or how about "Pojďme!" or "Útra fel!" in Czech or Hungarian. The roster of Ottawa's new Professional Women's Hockey League team has such an array of international talent that defenseman Jincy Roese said one way to spur the bonding experience was having everyone learn how to say "Let's go!" in various languages. "Oh, my gosh, it's so cool," said Roese, a U.S. national team player from O'Fallon, Missouri. "A lot of us are foreigners. I don't think anyone is local to Ottawa, even. But it's cool to experience different cultures. ... And we just have these conversation point to go off which has really helped foster a good team environment." The PWHL is awaiting rights clearances to unveil the nicknames of its original six franchises in kicking off its inaugural season starting Jan. 1. For now, perhaps Ottawa can go by "The Ambassadors." The team features the league's most diverse roster with 11 Canadians, seven Americans, two Czechs, a German, Hungarian and Japan's Akane Shiga. Even coach Carla MacLeod has international connections. The former Canadian national team player also doubles as head coach of the fast-developing Czech Republic women's national team, and was an assistant on Japan's 2014 Olympic team. "The vision of this league has always been one to be the best leagues in the world. In order to do that, you have to have the world involved," MacLeod said. "For us, it was a no-brainer to go down that path." Most of the PWHL's 139 rostered players hail from the sport's two global powers, with 76 from Canada and 50 from the U.S. Next in line are five players from the Czech Republic and two from Sweden. Aside from Ottawa, teams also feature players from Finland, France, Austria and Switzerland. Ottawa, so far, is more the exception than the rule. And the challenge for the newly launched PWHL in becoming the world's top pro women's league will be expanding its international reach, much like the NHL did with the influx of Europeans in the late 1970s and Russians a decade later. Ottawa general manager Michael Hirshfeld focused on attracting players outside of North America by taking into account the diverse population of Canada's capital as a way to attract fans. Hirshfeld also understood how Ottawa isn't a hotbed for developing players in comparison to Toronto, Minnesota, or Boston's hub of women's college programs. "We always felt that we were going to be a little bit disadvantaged to those other teams because they have so many homegrown players," Hirshfeld said. "And so our niche, we thought, was the European angle." And yes, they need at least one translator. While the European players are mostly fluent in English, Shiga is not. The team has leaned on Madoka Suzuki, a Japanese-born member of Ottawa's Carleton University's men's hockey program, to help in the interim. "Akane's become the most beloved player on the team," Hirshfeld said. "They're all learning Japanese so they can talk to her." The common connection of being new to Ottawa is also helping bond players. "It's a fresh slate for all of us," said Brianne Jenner, who grew up outside of Toronto. "We're all kind of bonded by making Ottawa home and making that dressing room ours and that culture ours, and figuring out what our identity is going to be." Katerina Mrazova is already feeling at home in Ottawa, where she represented the Czech Republic at the 2013 women's world championships. "Everyone's bringing their culture, but at the same time, it's amazing to see and learn from different countries," the 31-year-old Mrazova said. "I'm really happy to see that everyone is having such fun and supporting each other. That's a big thing on our team." The makeup of the PWHL's five other teams varies. Minnesota leads the league with 18 Americans, 11 of whom are from "State of Hockey," while Toronto features 21 Canadians. New York has 14 Canadians and seven Americans. New York was the PWHL's only team to reach across the border during the league's free agency period by signing Americans Alex Carpenter and Abby Roque, and Canadian Micah Zandee-Hart. New York's roster also features the league's only player from France in Chloe Aurard, who completed her five-year career at Northeastern in March with 89 goals and 204 points in 167 games. "It's evolving everywhere," Aurard said of the women's game. "To be drafted in this league is huge. And I really hope to be an example for future French players." MacLeod thinks the mix of styles her Ottawa players bring are an advantage, because it will allow the team to develop and sport as a whole to grow. "I've had the unique experience of coaching different countries to learn how great the players are," MacLeod said. "And when you blend them in with those top North American players, everyone's rising. And I think it's going to be great for our game."
# Canada announces temporary visas for people in Gaza with Canadian relatives December 21, 2023. 4:21 PM EST --- OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - People in the Gaza Strip who have Canadian relatives may apply for temporary visas to Canada, the country's immigration minister said Thursday. However, the federal government cannot guarantee safe passage out of the besieged Palestinian territory. Immigration Minister Marc Miller expects the program to be up and running by Jan. 9. Until now, the government has focused on getting 660 Canadians, permanent residents and their spouses and children out of Gaza. Miller said the government will start accepting applications for people with extended family connections to Canada, including parents, grandparents, siblings and grandchildren. He said people will be offered three-year visas if they meet eligibility and admissibility criteria. Miller said he's not sure how many people will be able to come to Canada under the program, but he expects the number will be in the hundreds. Miller said it's been difficult to get Canadians out of Gaza. "We have limited ability," he said.
# Hornets' Miles Bridges denied access to Canada for NBA game due to legal problems, AP source says By STEVE REED December 18, 2023. 6:38 PM EST --- CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges has been denied entrance to Canada due to his past legal problems and will not be available to play Monday night in Toronto against the Raptors, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person said Bridges was turned away at the border. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly on the matter. Hornets coach Steve Clifford would not comment on the reason for Bridges' absence when he spoke to reporters before Monday's game. "The only thing I'm going to say is neither Miles nor (rookie center Nathan Mensah from Ghana) will be here with us tonight," Clifford said. "That's all I'm going to say." Bridges is currently serving three years of probation after pleading no contest in exchange for no jail time in the June 2022 domestic violence case involving the mother of his two children, who accused Bridges of assaulting her in front of them. He must adhere to a 10-year criminal protection order for the woman, weekly narcotics and marijuana testing, and restitution, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. Bridges most recently turned himself in on Oct. 13 after an arrest warrant was issued for an alleged protection order violation. The warrant had originally been issued on Jan. 2, but had not previously been served until October, just before the NBA season. Per court documents, Bridges "unlawfully" and "knowingly" violated the protection order. That case is still pending. Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said they do not provide details on specific individual cases, but anybody seeking entry into the country must "demonstrate they meet the requirements to enter." "Admissibility is decided case-by-case and based on the information made available at the time of entry," Purdy said in an email to the AP. "Several factors are used in determining if an individual is admissible to Canada, including involvement in criminal activity, human rights violations, organized crime, security, health or financial reasons." Bridges was suspended by the NBA for the first 10 games of the season after sitting out all of last season. He is averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game since his return from suspension in 12 starts. Bridges' absence means the Hornets will be severely shorthanded for a second straight game as they look to snap a four-game losing streak. "It's all hands on deck," Clifford said. When they hosted Philadelphia on Saturday, the Hornets were without three starters in LaMelo Ball (right ankle), Gordon Hayward (illness) and Mark Williams (back), plus two key reserves in P.J. Washington (left shoulder) and Cody Martin (left knee). The Hornets lost guard Terry Rozier in the third quarter when he caught an elbow to the nose. Without those players, the Hornets lost 135-82, their worst loss in franchise history. Charlotte's only win in its past seven games was a home victory over Toronto on Dec. 8. Rozier and Washington were both set to return Monday against the Raptors, the Hornets announced. Clifford said he shared a positive message with his players at Monday morning's shootaround. "We are obviously super (undermanned) here," Clifford said, "and we can win tonight."
# Hilary Knight scores in OT to lift US women past Canada 3-2 in Rivalry Series December 14, 2023. 11:01 PM EST --- KITCHENER, Ontario (AP) - Captain Hilary Knight scored on a power play 28 seconds into overtime to give the United States women's hockey team a 3-2 victory over Canada on Thursday night and a 3-0 lead in the seven-game Rivalry Series. Knight beat goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens with a one-timer after Emily Clark took a penalty late in the third. Murphy and Kirsten Simms also scored for the Americans and Aerin Frankel made 32 saves. "I thought our team got stronger as the game went on," U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. "We had a lot of youth and speed out there tonight and I'm proud of how we worked." Danielle Serdachny and Clark scored for Canada and Desbiens stopped 19 shots. The Americans opened the series last month with a 3-1 victory in Tempe, Arizona, and a 5-2 decision in Los Angeles. They've now won four straight against Canada dating to their 6-3 victory in the gold-medal game in April in the world championships. The teams will meet in Sarnia, Ontario on Saturday before the series shifts to Saskatchewan for games in Saskatoon on Feb. 7 and Regina on Feb. 9. Game 7 is set for St. Paul. Minnesota., on Feb. 11.
# Mexico closes melon-packing plant implicated in cantaloupe Salmonella outbreak that killed 8 people December 15, 2023. 2:38 PM EST --- MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's Health Department on Friday ordered the temporary closure of a melon-packing plant implicated in salmonella infections that killed five people in Canada and three in the United States. The department did not name the company involved, but Canada's Public Health Agency linked the outbreak to Malichita and Rudy brand cantaloupes. Mexico did not say what violations were found at the plant in the northern border state of Sonora, and said testing was being done to find the source of the contamination. Inspectors took samples of water and swiped surfaces at the plant to look for traces of salmonella bacteria. Since October, at least 230 people in the U.S. and 129 in Canada have been sickened in this outbreak. The cantaloupes implicated in this outbreak include two brands, Malichita and Rudy, that are grown in the Sonora area. The fruit was imported by Sofia Produce LLC, of Nogales, Arizona, which does business as TruFresh, and Pacific Trellis Fruit LLC, of Los Angeles. So far, more than 36,000 boxes or cases of cantaloupe have been recalled. Health officials are warning consumers, retailers and restaurants not to buy, eat or serve cantaloupe if they don't know the source.
# Canadian police charge man accused of selling deadly substance with 14 new murder charges By ROB GILLIES December 12, 2023. 12:48 PM EST --- TORONTO (AP) - Canadian police said Tuesday they are charging a man with 14 counts of second-degree murder along with the previously announced 14 charges of aiding suicide for allegedly selling lethal substances on the internet to people at risk of self harm. An international investigation is underway following the arrest in Canada earlier this year of Kenneth Law, who was initially charged with two counts of counseling and aiding suicide. Canadian police say Law, from the Toronto area, used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance commonly used to cure meats that can be deadly if ingested. He is accused of shipping them to people in more than 40 countries. British police said they are investigating the deaths of 88 people in the U.K. linked to the websites. Authorities in the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand also have launched investigations. York Regional Police Inspector Simon James announced the new charges against Law, and said all charges that he faces relate to the same 14 victims in the Canadian province of Ontario, who were between the ages of 16 and 36. More than one victim is below the age of 18. Police declined to name the victims. "We are aware of other of police investigations in other jurisdictions outside of the province of Ontario and we are aware of other police investigations in other countries outside Canada," James said. Britain's National Crime Agency has previously said it has identified 232 people in the United Kingdom who bought products from the websites in the two years up to April, 88 of whom died. The agency said it was investigating whether any crimes had been committed in the U.K. Law is in custody in Canada and is next court date is Dec. 19. His lawyer said his client will be pleading not guilty to the new murder charges. "One of the challenges that we face is that a number of these sites are located in other countries where Canadian law does not apply," James said. It is against the law in Canada for someone to recommend suicide, although assisted suicide has been legal since 2016 for people aged at least 18. Any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability may seek help in dying, but they must ask for that assistance from a physician.
# Deaths from tainted cantaloupe increase to 3 in U.S. and 5 in Canada By JONEL ALECCIA December 7, 2023. 6:19 PM EST --- A salmonella outbreak tied to tainted cantaloupe has now killed eight people - three in the U.S. and five in Canada, health officials reported Thursday. Dozens more illnesses were reported by both countries. In the U.S., at least 230 people have been ill in 38 states and 96 have been hospitalized since mid-November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The tainted cantaloupe was also shipped to Canada, where 129 cases have been reported, including 44 hospitalizations, health officials reported. Many of the people who fell ill reported eating pre-cut cantaloupe in clamshell packages and trays sold in stores. Consumers should not buy, eat or serve cantaloupe, if they don't know the source, the CDC said. New recalls of whole and pre-cut fruit have been added to a growing list, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Last week, Cut Fruit Express initiated a recall of cantaloupe chunks and fruit mixes containing cantaloupe. On Tuesday, TGD Cuts, LLC launched a recall of specific fresh fruit cup, clamshell and tray products that contained cantaloupe from the company TruFresh. Health officials are still working to determine whether additional products are linked to the illnesses. Salmonella can cause serious illness in young children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems.
# Canadian National purchase of Iowa railroad will add 275 miles of track to North American network December 6, 2023. 6:05 PM EST --- WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Canadian National is buying a small railroad in Iowa to expand its network in the United States. CN announced the agreement to buy Iowa Northern Railway Wednesday, but didn't disclose financial terms. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board must approve the transaction next year before it can be completed. Iowa Northern has about 275 miles of track serving a mix of agricultural and industrial shippers in the state. Iowa Northern Chairman Daniel Sabin said he believes CN will maintain his railway's commitment to providing reliable service while helping connect shippers with bigger markets. CN CEO Tracy Robinson said the deal should strengthen the Montreal-based railroad. CN is already one of North America's six biggest railroads with more than 18,000 miles of track across Canada and the United States. "By enabling all of us to play an even more important role in this critical supply chain and densifying our southern network, we are accelerating sustainable, profitable growth," Robinson said.
# At tribal summit, Biden says he's working to 'heal the wrongs of the past' and 'move forward' By COLLEEN LONG, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, and HALLIE GOLDEN December 6, 2023. 3:52 PM EST --- WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden told Native American nations gathered for a summit Wednesday that his administration was working to heal the wrongs of the past as he signed an executive order that seeks to make it easier for Indigenous peoples to access federal funding, and have greater autonomy over how to spend it. Biden also threw his support behind a request to allow Haudenosaunee Confederacy to compete under its own flag in the 2028 Olympics in lacrosse, a sport they invented. Historically, federal policies attacked Native people's rights to self-governance and caused lasting economic damage. Biden said the actions at the summit were "key steps" that would help usher in an new era of tribal sovereignty. "A new era grounded in dignity and respect that recognizes your fundamental rights to govern and grow on your own terms," he said. "It's hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and change the course, and move forward," Biden said. Yurok Tribal Council Member Phillip Williams described Biden's speech as inspirational. "It felt like our highest official in the land acknowledges the crimes of the past," he said. "His contribution to society is to help to heal the tribal nations." Biden signed the order as members of his administration and tribal nation leaders stood behind him on stage at the Department of the Interior. The order in part creates a clearinghouse for Native American and Alaska native tribes to find and access grants and it requests that federal agencies ensure that funding is accessible and equitable. It also gives them more authority over how to spend the money. That news was welcomed by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, who said the funding they get from the federal government to help the hundreds of thousands of people on their reservation that extends across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, can be difficult to spend. "There's so much policies and things that are attached to it and requirements that are attached to it that sometimes it's just overwhelming to try to get it done," he said. Tyson Johnston, self governance executive director for the Quinault Indian Nation in northwest Washington state, who is responsible for coordinating the relocation of their villages in the face of dangerous sea level rise, highlighted the importance of this type of autonomy when it comes to climate change. In July, the Biden administration announced $120 million in grant funding for tribes in the U.S. to boost their resiliency to climate change. "All of us are going to have different adaptation strategies and different priorities moving forward. So boxing us in and keeping us in kind of bureaucratic red tape is really not going to work if we want to continue to make meaningful change," he said. Biden hosted the summit in person last year and virtually the year before. This year, White House officials said, the goal was to provide an opportunity for tribal leaders to have more meaningful conversations directly with members of Biden's Cabinet. While the federal government has an obligation to consult with tribal governments, some Native American and Alaska Native leaders have complained that federal agencies often treat the process as a check-the-box practice despite efforts by Haaland to make changes. From Nevada to Alaska, permitting decisions over mining projects, oil and gas development and the preservation of sacred areas, for example, have highlighted what some leaders say are shortcomings in the process. The Democratic administration also announced more than 190 agreements that allow tribes to manage federal lands, waters and natural resources and a new study to help better interpret and tell the history of Native Americans, particularly during periods of federal reform. "Yes, there are parts of our history that are painful, but there are also those that we celebrate and that show our resilience, strength and our contributions," said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. Biden said he was throwing his support behind the effort to allow the confederacy to play under its own flag at the Los Angeles Olympics. The International Olympic Committee would have to make an exception to a rule permitting only teams playing as part of an official national Olympic committee to compete in the Games. The Haudenosaunee have competed as their own team at a number of international events since 1990. The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization, established in 1983, is among the best in the world. The confederacy is made up of six different nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscarora Nation. It spans the border between the U.S. and Canada. "Their circumstances are unique," Biden said. "They should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics." The Department of the Interior is also working on final revisions to a rule overhauling how human remains, funerary objects and sacred objects are repatriated. The new rules streamline the requirements for museums and federal agencies to identify possible items for repatriation. Officials also announced that the White House Council on Native American Affairs, which is co-chaired by Haaland and Tanden, has published a guide outlining best practices and procedures for the management, treatment and protection of sacred sites. The document was recently finalized after taking into account feedback from tribal leaders. In Nevada, Arlan Melendez, chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, said Tuesday that promises about meaningful consultation haven't materialized as several tribes have fought to halt construction of one of the largest lithium mines in the world. The tribes say the mine is being built illegally near the sacred site of an 1865 massacre along the Nevada-Oregon line. "Consultation has to happen in the early stages," he said. "If you do consultation after the project is already rolling, it doesn't do you so much good at that point. So we are little bit disappointed in them."
# Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow jumps bail and moves to Canada By KANIS LEUNG December 4, 2023. 11:08 PM EST --- HONG KONG (AP) - One of Hong Kong's best-known pro-democracy activists who moved to Canada to pursue her studies said she would not return to the city to meet her bail conditions, becoming the latest politician to flee Hong Kong under Beijing's crackdown on dissidents. Agnes Chow, a famous young face in the city's once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, was arrested in 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was enacted following 2019 anti-government protests. She was released on bail but also served more than six months in jail in a separate case over her role in the protests. After Chow was released from prison in 2021, she had to regularly report to the police. She said in an Instagram post on Sunday night that the pressure caused her "mental illnesses" and influenced her decision not to return to the city. Many of her peers have been jailed, arrested, forced into self-exile or silenced after the introduction of the security law in 2020. The suppression of the city's pro-democracy movement highlights that freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997 have been eroded drastically. Both Beijing and Hong Kong governments have hailed the security law for bringing back stability to the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Chow said the authorities in July offered to return her passport so she could pursue studies in Canada under the condition that she traveled to mainland China with them. She agreed, she said, and her trip in August included a visit to an exhibition on China's achievements and the headquarters of tech giant Tencent. The authorities later returned her passport. After considering the situation in Hong Kong, her safety and her health, Chow said she "probably won't return" to the city again. "I don't want to be forced to do things that I don't want to do anymore and be forced to visit mainland China again. If it continues, my body and my mind will collapse even though I am safe," she wrote. Chow told TV Tokyo on Monday that she was still weighing her next steps, including the option of seeking asylum in Canada, the broadcaster reported. Asked whether she would take up political activism there, she said she wanted to do something in Hong Kong's interest, TV Tokyo said. Hong Kong police on Monday "strongly condemned" Chow's move, without naming her, saying it was "against and challenging the rule of law." "Police urge the woman to immediately turn back before it is too late and not to choose a path of no return. Otherwise, she will bear the stigma of 'fugitive' for the rest of her life," the police said in a statement. The police did not respond to questions from The Associated Press on Chow's mainland China trip. Asked about Chow's case at a daily briefing, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Hong Kong is a law-based society and no one has a privilege beyond law. Any illegal acts will be punished, he said. Hong Kong leader John Lee said during a weekly briefing on Tuesday that police had given Chow lenient treatment but were deceived. Lee said those who supported offering her leniency "must find this utterly disappointing" and that police would learn from their experiences and continue to safeguard law and order. He said some residents had underestimated the threat posed by foreign forces to national security and that Hong Kong's own national security law, scheduled to be completed next year, must proceed with "full strength." Similar legislative efforts were shelved in 2003 after fears about lost freedoms sparked a massive protest. The Hong Kong government also strongly condemned Chow's acts in a statement and said her credibility had gone "bankrupt." "Unless fugitives surrender themselves, otherwise they would be pursued for life," it wrote. Chow rose to fame with other prominent young activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law as a student leader, including in pro-democracy protests in 2014. She co-founded the now-defunct pro-democracy party Demosisto with Wong and Law, but the party was disbanded on June 30, 2020, the same day the security law was enacted. Wong is now in custody and faces a subversion charge that could result in life imprisonment if convicted. Law fled to Britain and the police in July offered a reward of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,600) for information leading to his arrest.
# Canadian mining company starts arbitration in case of closed copper mine in Panama December 1, 2023. 6:17 PM EST --- PANAMA CITY (AP) - Canada's First Quantum Minerals Ltd. announced Friday it has requested arbitration proceedings to fight a Panamanian decision to halt a major open-pit copper mine concession in Panama or obtain damages. First Quantum said one arbitration was requested under the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement. It has also started proceedings before the International Court of Arbitration, which would meet in Miami, Florida, the company said in a statement. In a historic ruling on Tuesday, Panama's Supreme Court declared that legislation granting the mine a 20-year concession was unconstitutional. That decision was celebrated by thousands of Panamanians activists who had argued the project would damage a forested coastal area and threaten water supplies. First Quantum said it requested arbitration from the international panel on Wednesday and that it had initiated proceedings under the free trade agreement even before the court ruling. It did not say what remedy or damages it was seeking, but did say it was open to talks. First Quantum's subsidiary, Cobre Panama, "reiterates that transparency and compliance with the law has always been fundamental for the development of its operations and remains open to constructive dialogue in order to reach consensus," the company said. The mine, which would be closed by the court ruling, has been an important economic engine for the country since the mine began large-scale production in 2019. But moves this year to grant the company the 20-year concession triggered massive protests that paralyzed the Central American nation for over a month, mobilizing a broad swath of society, including Indigenous communities, who said the mine was destroying key ecosystems. The company has said the mine generates 40,000 jobs, including 7,000 direct jobs, and that it contributes the equivalent of 5% of Panama's GDP. The firm said it would take time to properly close the mine. "The Court's decision does not take into account a planned and managed closure scenario, in which key environmental measures are required to be implemented to maintain the environmental safety of the site during this process," including water treatment and the storage of mine tailings. Panama two weeks ago received an initial payment of $567 million from First Quantum under the new contract that was finalized in October. Due to the legal dispute, the amount went directly to a restricted account. The contract also stipulated that Panama would receive at least $375 million annually from the mining company, an amount that critics considered meager. Cobre Panama published a scathing statement on Wednesday saying the Supreme Court decision will likely have a negative economic impact and warned that lack of maintenance of drainage systems in the mines could have "catastrophic consequences." The move also "puts at risk" all of Panama's other business contracts, the company said.
# India-US ties could face their biggest test in years after a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh By KRUTIKA PATHI December 1, 2023. 8:52 AM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - Ties between India and the U.S. had never looked better than they did in June, when President Joe Biden honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a pomp-filled state visit. The relationship was among the most consequential in the world and "more dynamic than at any time in history," Biden declared as he stood next to Modi at a press conference. Those ties could now face their biggest test in recent years, after U.S. prosecutors this week accused an Indian official of directing a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York City. As the case unfolds in a New York court, rather than behind closed doors, the two governments may struggle to control the narrative and the fallout, even though it was unlikely to cause more serious long-term damage, experts said. "They are going to try people (in court). That will pose problems ... Quite obviously, things are not going to be the same," said G Parthasarthy, a retired Indian diplomat. But more damningly, it's the second such accusation in months, following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that the Indian government may have been linked to the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver in June. According to an unsealed indictment released Wednesday, U.S. officials became aware in the spring of a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American citizen who advocates for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state. India considers him a terrorist. The plot, which was foiled by U.S. officials who set up a sting, emerged just days after the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated killings in the United States and Canada, according to the indictment. Under the indictment, Nikhil Gupta, 52, an Indian national, faces charges including murder for hire. The Indian official was not charged or identified by name in the court filing, which described him as a "senior field officer" with responsibilities in security management and intelligence. The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contended on Wednesday. "The US allegations certainly bolster Canada's case from the vantage point that that incident can no longer be viewed as a one-off," said Derek Grossman, an Indo-Pacific analyst at the RAND Corporation. Both Biden and Trudeau are said to have raised the matter with Modi when they met at the Group of 20 Summit in September in New Delhi. India's reaction to the two cases has differed sharply. With Canada, it exchanged harsh words as it refuted claims that Trudeau made publicly after returning to Ottawa, with both sides expelling diplomats. With the U.S., New Delhi's response has been more cooperative. India's foreign ministry said this week it had set up a high-level committee to investigate the U.S. accusations, adding that the alleged link to an Indian official was "a matter of concern" and "against government policy." "India's response to Canada was anger, denial, and defiance. Its response to the U.S. was mild and subdued," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia institute at the Wilson Center, a think tank. This is partly explained by the fact that "for India, the U.S. just matters much more and so the power imbalance is very stark," said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Secondly, this is now a judicial process in the U.S where authorities infiltrated this plot and were able to document it in granular detail", which Trudeau struggled to do when he made the allegation in Canada's Parliament without providing public evidence, Vaishnav added. U.S. officials have said intelligence sharing among the "Five Eyes" alliance - made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States - contributed to Trudeau's statements. There were no further details. Trudeau's intentions were also widely questioned by Indian officials at the time, who suggested it was a move to shore up domestic political support among Canada's Sikhs, who comprise 2% of its population. New Delhi has often complained of Western nations giving free rein to Sikh separatists and not quashing threats to India's national security, but those accusations have predominantly been aimed at Ottawa. Still, the case is particularly sensitive given the high priority that Biden has placed on boosting ties with India, and the recent zeal from Western powers to court India as a major partner in their push to counter China's rising assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said it was an ongoing legal matter and he couldn't comment in detail but it was "something we take very seriously", adding that officials looked forward to seeing the results of the Indian investigation. A senior administration official, who spoke to the Associated Press this week on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive exchanges with Indian government, said The White House first became aware of the plot in late July. They added that high-level officials had met with Indian counterparts after they found out about the plot to underscore that India needed to investigate, hold those responsible accountable and give assurances that this would not happen again, or it could permanently damage the trust established between our two countries. Even after the administration found out about the assassination plot, it didn't scale down engagement with India and "high-level meetings went on as scheduled," said Kugelman. The Biden administration "has gone out of its way to bolster this partnership" by rolling out business and defense deals, including the transfer of highly sensitive defense technology which was approved by Congress recently, Vaishnav said. Human rights groups and political opponents have raised concerns of democratic backsliding in India, accusing Modi's government of stifling dissent and targeting minorities, but the U.S. has been steadfast in advancing ties. "From the perspective of Washington, they have made what is now a 25 year-long long bet that India's rise would be good for the world and U.S. interests. The obvious looming factor here is China," Vaishnav said. "Having said that, there are many people in the U.S. system who are shocked - because arranging and executing a targeted assassination of citizen of a partner country is verboten. It doesn't happen often." Analysts say the two countries will have to navigate difficult diplomatic terrain in the coming months. "Both will want to work through this in a way that doesn't hurt the relationship. But the US won't simply shrug off such a shocking alleged act, and India won't back down in its effort to pursue what it views as dangerous security threats," Kugelman said. Clues as to where things stand, and what impact this has made on India-U.S. ties, could come as soon as January, as India has invited Biden to be the chief guest at its Republic Day parade. If Biden doesn't accept, it could be seen as a possible snub or signal that the U.S. isn't ready to move on just yet - but given a heavy January schedule that includes his State of the Union address, it could also just be for scheduling reasons, Kugelman said. However, "if he were to accept... then that would deliver a much-needed confidence boost to the relationship," he added.
# US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders were part of a campaign of planned killings By LARRY NEUMEISTER November 30, 2023. 7:10 PM EST --- NEW YORK (AP) - A foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York, just days after another activist's killing, was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada, according to U.S. prosecutors. In electronic communications and audio and video calls secretly recorded or obtained by U.S. law enforcement, organizers of the plot talked last spring about plans to kill someone in California and at least three other people in Canada, in addition to the victim in New York, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contend. After Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who had been exiled from India, was shot and killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, one of the men charged with orchestrating the planned assassinations told a person he had hired as a hitman that he should act urgently to kill another activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. "We have so many targets," Nikhil Gupta said in a recorded audio call, according to the indictment. "We have so many targets. But the good news is this, the good news is this: Now no need to wait." He urged the hitman to act quickly because Pannun, a U.S. citizen living in New York, would likely be more cautious after Nijjar's slaying. "We got the go-ahead to go anytime, even today, tomorrow - as early as possible," he told a go-between as he instructed the hitman to kill Pannun even if there were other people with him. "Put everyone down," he said, according to the indictment. The attack plans were foiled, prosecutors said, because the hitman was actually an undercover U.S. agent. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan announced charges Wednesday against Gupta, and said in court papers that the plot to kill Pannun was directed by an official in the Indian government. That government official was not charged in the indictment or identified by name, but the court filing described him as a "senior field officer" with responsibilities in security management and intelligence. Indian officials have denied any complicity in Nijjar's slaying. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Wednesday that the Indian government had set up a high-level inquiry after U.S. authorities raised concerns about the plot to kill Pannun. Court filings revealed that even before Nijjar's killing in Canada, U.S. law enforcement officials had become aware of a plot against activists who were advocating for the secession from India of the northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are a majority. U.S. officials said they began investigating when Gupta, in his search for a hitman, contacted a narcotics trafficker who turned out to be a Drug Enforcement Administration informant. Over the ensuing weeks, the pair communicated by phone, video and text messages, eventually looping in their hired assassin - the undercover agent. The Indian government official told Gupta that he had a target in New York and a target in California, the indictment said. They ultimately settled on a $100,000 price and by June 3, Gupta was urging his criminal contact in America to "finish him brother, finish him, don't take too much time .... push these guys, push these guys ... finish the job." During a June 9 call, Gupta told the narcotics trafficker that the murder of Pannun would change the hitman's life because "we will give more bigger job more, more job every month, every month 2-3 job," according to the indictment. It was unclear from the indictment whether U.S. authorities had learned anything about the specific plan to kill Nijjar before his ambush on June 18. The indictment portrayed Gupta as boasting that he and his associates in India were behind both the Canadian and New York assassination plots. He allegedly told the Drug Enforcement Administration informant on June 12 that there was a "big target" in Canada and on June 16 told him: "We are doing their job, brother. We are doing their New York (and) Canada (job)," referring to individuals directing the plots from India. After Nijjar was killed, Gupta told the informant that Nijjar was the target he had mentioned as the potential Canadian "job" and added: "We didn't give to (the undercover agent) this job, so some other guy did this job ... in Canada." On June 30, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic at the request of the United States after arriving there on a trip from India. Federal authorities have not said when he might be brought to the United States to face murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges. It was unclear who would provide legal representation if he arrives in the U.S. Pannun told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he will continue his work. "They will kill me. But I don't fear the death," he said. He mocked India's claim that it is conducting its own investigation into the assassination plots. "The only thing, I think, (the) Indian government is going to investigate (is) why their hitman could not kill one person. That's what they will be investigating," he said. Pannun said he rejects the Indian government's decision to label him a terrorist. "We are the one who are fighting India's violence with the words. We are the one who are fighting India's bullets with the ballot," he said. "They are giving money, hundreds of thousands, to kill me. Let the world decide who is terrorist and who is not a terrorist." Some international affairs experts told the AP that it was unlikely the incidents would seriously damage the relationship between the U.S. and India. "In most cases, if Washington accuses a foreign government of staging an assassination on its soil, U.S. relations with that government would plunge into deep crisis," said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia institute. "But the relationship with India is a special case. Trust and goodwill are baked into the relationship, thanks to rapidly expanding cooperation and increasingly convergent interests." Derek Grossman, Indo-Pacific analyst at the Rand Corp., said the Biden administration has demonstrated that it is prioritizing the need to leverage India as part of its strategy to counter Chinese power. "I think publicizing the details of the thwarted plot will have very little, if any, impact on the deepening U.S.-India strategic partnership," he said.
# Paraguay official resigns after signing agreement with fictional country November 30, 2023. 2:15 PM EST --- BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A Paraguayan government official was replaced after it was revealed that he signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of a fugitive Indian guru's fictional country, who also appear to have duped several local officials in the South American country. The revelation sparked a scandal - and lots of social media mockery - in Paraguay but it's hardly the first time self-described representatives of the United States of Kailasa duped international leaders. Earlier this year, they managed to participate in a United Nations committee meeting in Geneva and also signed agreements with local leaders in the United States and Canada. Arnaldo Chamorro was replaced as chief of staff for Paraguay's Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday shortly after it was revealed that he signed a "proclamation" with representatives of the United States of Kailasa. Among other things, the Oct. 16 "proclamation" expressed a "sincere wish and recommendation for the government of Paraguay to consider, explore and actively seek the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States of Kailasa and support the admission of the United States of Kailasa as a sovereign and independent state in various international organizations, including, among others, the United Nations," according to a copy of the agreement posted on social media. Representatives of the fictional country met with Chamorro and Agriculture Minister Carlos Giménez, Chamorro said in a radio interview. During the interview, Chamorro recognized he didn't know where Kailasa was located and said he signed what he characterized as a "memorandum of understanding" because they offered to help Paraguay with a variety of issues, including irrigation. Photos posted in Kailasa's social media accounts also showed representatives of the fictional country signing agreements with local leaders of the María Antonia and Karpai municipalities. The social media account celebrated each of these signings. On Kailasa's website, the fictional country is described as the "revival of the ancient enlightened Hindu civilizational nation which is being revived by displaced Hindus from around the world." It is led by a self-styled guru, Nithyananda, who is wanted in India on several charges, including sexual assault. His whereabouts are unknown. Representatives of the United States of Kailasa participated in two U.N. committee meetings in Geneva in February, according to media reports. In March, Newark City Hall in New Jersey acknowledged it had gotten scammed when it signed a sister city agreement with Kailasa.
# What to know about the Sikh independence movement following US accusation that activist was targeted By SHEIKH SAALIQ November 30, 2023. 5:35 PM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official. The charges announced Wednesday against an Indian national arrested in June in Europe come two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible accusations that India may have been linked to the killing of a Sikh activist near Vancouver, straining relations between the two countries. The U.S. case is particularly sensitive given the high priority that President Joe Biden placed on improving ties with India and courting it to be a major partner in the push to counter China's increasing assertiveness. India, which has banned the Sikh independence - or Khalistan - movement, denied having a role in the Canada killing and said it was examining information shared by the U.S. and taking those accusations seriously. Here are some details about the issue: ## WHAT IS THE KHALISTAN MOVEMENT? India's Sikh independence movement eventually became a bloody armed insurgency that shook India in the 1970s and 1980s. It was centered in the northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are the majority, though they make up about 1.7% of India's overall population. The insurgency lasted more than a decade and was suppressed by an Indian government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders. Hundreds of Sikh youths were also killed during police operations, many in detention or during staged gunfights, according to rights groups. In 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, in Amritsar to flush out separatists who had taken refuge there. The operation killed around 400 people, according to official figures, but Sikh groups say thousands were killed. The dead included Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whom the Indian government accused of leading the armed insurgency. On Oct. 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the raid on the temple, was assassinated by two of her bodyguards, who were Sikh. Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, particularly in New Delhi, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive. ## IS THE MOVEMENT STILL ACTIVE? There is no active insurgency in Punjab today, but the Khalistan movement still has some supporters in the state, as well as in the sizable Sikh diaspora beyond India. The Indian government has warned repeatedly over the years that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has also intensified the pursuit of Sikh separatists and arrested dozens of leaders from various outfits that are linked to the movement. When farmers camped out on the edges of New Delhi to protest controversial agriculture laws in 2020, Modi's government initially tried to discredit Sikh participants by calling them "Khalistanis." Under pressure, the government later withdrew the laws. Earlier this year, Indian police arrested a separatist leader who had revived calls for Khalistan and stirred fears of violence in Punjab. Amritpal Singh, a 30-year-old preacher, had captured national attention through his fiery speeches. He said he drew inspiration from Bhindranwale. ## HOW STRONG IS THE MOVEMENT OUTSIDE OF INDIA? India has been asking countries like Canada, Australia and the U.K. to take legal action against Sikh activists, and Modi has personally raised the issue with the nations' prime ministers. India has particularly raised these concerns with Canada, where Sikhs make up nearly 2% of the country's population. Earlier this year, Sikh protesters pulled down the Indian flag at the country's high commission in London and smashed the building's window in a show of anger against the move to arrest Amritpal Singh. Protesters also smashed windows at the Indian consulate In San Francisco and skirmished with embassy workers. India's foreign ministry denounced the incidents and summoned the U.K.'s deputy high commissioner in New Delhi to protest what it called the breach of security at the embassy in London. The Indian government also accused Khalistan supporters in Canada of vandalizing Hindu temples with "anti-India" graffiti and of attacking the offices of the Indian High Commission in Ottawa during a protest in March. Last year, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a Sikh militant leader and head of the Khalistan Commando Force, was shot dead in Pakistan.
# A Dutch court orders Greenpeace activists to leave deep-sea mining ship in the South Pacific By MIKE CORDER November 30, 2023. 12:17 PM EST --- THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - A Dutch court ruled Thursday that Greenpeace protesters staging a sit-in must leave a deep-sea mining exploration ship in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii but that they can continue to demonstrate around the vessel. Canada-based The Metals Company, whose subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. runs the ship, Coco, accused the protesters of endangering the crew and breaking international law. The case was heard in Amsterdam, where the Greenpeace protest ship Arctic Sunrise, which is involved in the protest, is registered. Greenpeace began the protest a week ago by paddling kayaks beneath the Coco for up to 10 hours at a time to prevent it deploying equipment in the water. Two activists also boarded the ship and pledged to stay camped on the main crane used to deploy and retrieve equipment from the water until The Metals Company agrees to leave. The protest comes as international demand for critical minerals found on the seafloor grows, but an increasing number of countries say more research is needed into the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. A subsidiary of The Metals Company has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition, researching how the seabed recovered from exploration last year, will be used in an application to begin mining in 2025. In a summary ruling, Amsterdam District Court said that Greenpeace can "continue its actions around a ship in the South Pacific, but must instruct its activists to immediately leave" the vessel. The court said that while Greenpeace has a profound interest in protesting against the research "its interest in doing so on the ship itself weighs less heavily than the interest of the owner of the ship, who is responsible for the safety of those on board." The court said Greenpeace would have to pay 50,000 euros ($54,560) per day up to a maximum of 500,000 euros if the activists remain on the ship. A Greenpeace statement called the ruling "a massive setback for the deep-sea mining industry." It also lashed out at The Metals Company, claiming it "has never been interested in scrutiny and they can't stand that Greenpeace is watching and opposing them at every turn." "We are determined to keep bringing this dangerous industry to public attention and will continue to disrupt this dangerous industry", said Mads Christensen, head of Greenpeace International. The Metals Company CEO & Chairman Gerard Barron welcomed the ruling. "We respect Greenpeace's right to peaceful protest and expression of opinions," Barron said. "However, our foremost responsibility is to ensure the safe continuance of our legally-mandated operations, and the safety of all those involved." He said the company would "continue to gather the important scientific data" for members of the International Seabed Authority. Environmental groups reject deep-sea mining and fear the international authority will soon authorize the world's first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor. Mining companies say that harvesting minerals from the deep sea instead of land is cheaper and has less of an environmental impact. But scientists and environmental groups argue that less than 1% of the world's deep seas have been explored, and they warn that deep-sea mining could unleash noise, light and suffocating dust storms.
# Canada says Google will pay $74 million annually to Canadian news industry under new online law By ROB GILLIES November 29, 2023. 3:05 PM EST --- TORONTO (AP) - Canada's government said Wednesday it reached a deal with Google for the company to contribute $100 million Canadian dollars annually to the country's news industry to comply with a new Canadian law requiring tech companies to pay publishers for their content. The agreement removes a threat by Google to block the ability to search for Canadian news on Google in Canada. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta already has been blocking Canadian news since earlier this year. "Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "Unfortunately Meta continues to completely abdicate any responsibility towards democratic institutions." Pascale St-Onge, the minister of Canadian heritage, said that Google will contribute $100 million Canadian ($74 million) - indexed to inflation - in financial support annually for a wide range of news businesses across the country. "It's good for the news sector. If there is a better deal struck elsewhere in the world, Canada reserves the right to reopen the regulation," St-Onge said at a news conference. "This shows that this legislation works. That it is equitable. And now it's on Facebook to explain why they are leaving their platform to disinformation and misinformation instead of sustaining our news system," she said. Canada in late June passed the Online News Act to require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. Meta responded to the law by blocking news content in Canada on its platforms. Google's owner Alphabet previously had said it planned to do the same when the law takes effect in December. Meta has said the Online News Act "is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true." Meta's change means that people in Canada are not able to view or share news on Facebook and Instagram - including news articles, videos and audio posted by outlets inside or outside of Canada. Links posted by Canadian outlets are still visible in other countries. St-Onge has called Meta's move "irresponsible." "With newsrooms cutting positions or closing entirely, the health of the Canadian news industry has never been more at risk," she said in Wednesday's statement. Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, thanked the minister in a statement and said Google would continue sending valuable traffic to Canadian publishers. Earlier this year, Canada's government said it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's stance. Meta has taken similar steps in the past. In 2021, it briefly blocked news from its platform in Australia after the country passed legislation that would compel tech companies to pay publishers for using their news stories. It later struck deals with Australian publishers. Trudeau said the deal is going to resonate around the world as countries deal with the same challenges that Canada's media landscape is facing.
# Young man gets life sentence for Canada massage parlor murder that court declared act of terrorism November 28, 2023. 12:12 PM EST --- TORONTO (AP) - A Canadian man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a Toronto massage parlor employee received a life prison sentence Tuesday for what a judge described as an act of terrorism related to an internet subculture that fuels sexual loneliness into rage and misogyny. The man, who cannot be named because he was 17 years old at the time of the February 2020 stabbing that killed 24-year-old Ashley Noelle Arzaga and seriously wounded another woman identified only by the initials J.C., also was sentenced to three years for attempted murder, to be served concurrently. He pleaded guilty last year to both first-degree murder and attempted murder charges. The judge said the life sentence included no chance of parole for 10 years. In June, Justice Sukhail Akhtar ruled that the massage parlor attack amounted to an act of terrorism due to its links to so-called "incel" ideology, which stands for "involuntary celibate." It is promoted through a fringe online subculture dominated by men who blame women for a lack of they active sex lives they argue they are entitled to have. The ruling was believed to be the first time a Canadian court declared terrorist activity as incel-motivated. The court considered evidence that included the defendant's plans to seek out women to violently attack with a 17-inch sword after he was radicalized by misogynistic views online. The incel movement also was linked to a 2018 rampage in Toronto in which a man used a van to kill 10 people, as well as to attacks in California and Florida. Prosecutors wanted the man in Tuesday's case sentenced as an adult, noting he was six months shy of turning 18 at the time and meticulously researched, planned and made choices surrounding the attack that reflected adult thoughts and actions. They also argued he has shown no remorse. Adults found guilty of first-degree murder face an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The defense had sought to have the parole ineligibility limited to 10 years because of his age at the time of the murder.
# Environmental protesters board deep-sea mining ship between Hawaii and Mexico By DANIEL SHAILER November 27, 2023. 9:50 AM EST --- MEXICO CITY (AP) - Greenpeace activists have boarded a deep-sea mining ship in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico and said Sunday they'll stay to protest exploration the ship is conducting to support activity that would destroy marine life. Canada-based The Metals Company, whose subsidiary runs the ship, accused the protesters of endangering the crew and breaking international law. The escalating conflict comes as international demand for critical minerals found on the seafloor grows, but an increasing number of countries say more research is needed into the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. Greenpeace began the protest Thursday by positioning kayaks beneath the ship, Coco, for up to 10 hours at a time to block it from deploying equipment to the water. In response, the company's CEO Gerard Barron threatened an injunction on Saturday afternoon - according to correspondence shared by Greenpeace and reviewed by The Associated Press - alleging protesters broke international law and jeopardized the safety of crew members. During the protest one kayak was capsized by propeller wash when Coco accelerated without warning, Greenpeace claims. Legal representatives from The Metals Company's subsidiary NORI said this was an example of how the protest was not safe. No injunction has been filed yet, according to Greenpeace. The company said it would use all legal measures available to protect stakeholders' rights. Later that day, two activists boarded Coco. They will remain camped on the main crane used to deploy and retrieve equipment from the water until The Metals Company agrees to leave, according to Louisa Casson, head of Greenpeace's campaign against deep-sea mining. "We will continue to try and disrupt as much as we can, because we are very concerned that this is a tick-box exercise that is purely designed to gather data so they can put in a mining application next year," Casson said Sunday, from a Greenpeace ship near Coco. A subsidiary of The Metals Company has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition, researching how the seabed recovered from exploration last year, will be used in an application to begin mining in 2025. Greenpeace's "actions to stop the science suggest a fear that emerging scientific findings might challenge their misleading narrative about the environmental impacts," Barron told The Associated Press in response to the camping protesters. He added that if research were to show their mining would be unjustifiably destructive The Metals Company is "100%" prepared to withdraw. Casson said the company's actions suggest that is not true. "That they are doing this in the interest of science is really very questionable," said Casson. "There is a clear economic motive: they are entirely a deep-sea mining company." As they suck up nodules from the sea floor, The Metals Company said they expect mostly to find manganese, which President Joe Biden declared a critical mineral last year. Driven by clean energy technologies, demand for other key battery ingredients like lithium has as much as tripled, according to a market review this July. "It makes sense to be able to extract these raw materials from parts of the planet where there is the least life, not the most life," said Barron. "You can't get away from the fact there's about 10 grams of biomass per square meter in the abyssal plains," much less than at most terrestrial mines. That, said Casson, is an apples and oranges comparison, when studies also show over 5,000 species inhabit this part of the Pacific, which scientists say would be harmed by light and sound pollution, as well as huge clouds of dust. On Tuesday this week Mexico joined a coalition of 23 other countries calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. While France alone sought an outright ban, the other signatories are requesting a pause for more research into the effects of deep-sea mining.
# Canada, EU agree to new partnerships as Trudeau welcomes European leaders November 24, 2023. 4:30 PM EST --- ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) - Canada and the European Union said Friday they are making strides toward new partnerships on green energy, digital transformation and research funding, as a Canada-EU Summit got underway in the Atlantic coast province of Newfoundland. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during opening remarks Thursday evening that Canada is joining Horizon Europe, a $100 billion scientific research program. Afterward, the two parties said in a joint statement on Friday that substantive negotiations are complete and they are working toward its "prompt signature and implementation." "Canadian companies are already benefiting from Horizon and have for many years, but there is much more that we'll be able to access now that we are full partners," Trudeau said. "It is an exciting articulation of what have been long-standing partnerships between scientists on both sides of the Atlantic." Ottawa and Brussels started negotiations on Canada joining it a year ago, with an initial goal of signing the agreement this past spring. Canada has also worked out a deal to build water bombers and ship them to the EU, after both regions faced devastating forest fires this past summer. And Canada and the EU have announced what they are calling a new Green Alliance, which is focused on deepening existing partnerships on fighting climate change, halting biodiversity loss and intensifying technological and scientific co-operation. A new digital partnership was also part of the package of announcements on Friday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Canada "is a perfect match" for Europe's resource needs, and she urged Ottawa to join a global partnership on the issue that the EU will launch within weeks. Trudeau also said Canada and the EU are committed to helping Ukraine continue in its fight against the Russian invasion, and announced that Canada is donating additional small arms and ammunition to the country.
# A former Canadian RCMP intelligence official is found guilty of breaching secrets law November 22, 2023. 5:55 PM EST --- OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - A jury found a former senior intelligence official in Canada's national police force guilty on Wednesday of breaching the country's secrets law. Jurors declared Cameron Jay Ortis guilty of three counts of violating the Security of Information Act and one count of attempting to do so. They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer. Ortis, 51, had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including violating the secrets law by revealing classified information to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance. He testified he offered secret material to targets in a bid to get them to use an online encryption service set up by an allied intelligence agency to spy on adversaries. The prosecution argued Ortis lacked authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a sanctioned undercover operation. Ortis could face a stiff prison sentence. Following the verdict, Justice Robert Maranger told the court that Ortis's bail would be revoked prior to sentencing. The defense contended that the former official did not betray Canada, but was rather acting on a "clear and grave threat." Ortis led the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Operations Research group, which assembled and developed classified information on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks. He told the jury that in September 2014, he was contacted by a counterpart at a foreign agency who advised him of a particularly serious threat. Ortis said the counterpart informed him in strict confidence about an online encryption service called Tutanota that was secretly set up to monitor communications of interest. Ortis said he then quietly devised a plan, dubbed Nudge, to entice investigative targets to sign on to the encryption service, using promises of secret material as bait. The company, now known as Tuta, denies having ties to intelligence agencies. Although Ortis asked one target for thousands of dollars before he would send full versions of sensitive documents, there was no evidence he received money from the individuals he contacted. Even so, the prosecution portrayed Ortis as self-serving and reckless, flouting rules and protocols on a solo mission that sabotaged national security and even endangered the life of a genuine undercover officer. The prosecution, which called several current and former RCMP employees to testify, argued that no one other than Ortis had heard of Operation Nudge and that no records of the project could be found. Ortis was taken into custody in September 2019. The trail to his arrest began the previous year when the RCMP analyzed the contents of a laptop computer owned by Vincent Ramos, chief executive of Phantom Secure Communications, who had been apprehended in the United States. An RCMP effort known as Project Saturation revealed that members of criminal organizations were known to use Phantom Secure's encrypted communication devices. Ramos would later plead guilty to using his Phantom Secure devices to help facilitate the distribution of cocaine and other illicit drugs to countries including Canada.
# India restores e-visa services for Canadians. The move could ease diplomatic tensions By KRUTIKA PATHI November 22, 2023. 12:14 PM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - India restored electronic visa services for Canadian nationals, an Indian foreign ministry official said Wednesday, two months after Canada alleged the South Asian nation was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada. The electronic visa was back in order on Wednesday, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to reporters. The move could ease tensions between the two countries that swapped accusations and expelled each other's diplomats, with India introducing a visa ban on Canadian nationals. A diplomatic spat erupted between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver in western Canada. Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh activist and plumber, was killed by masked gunmen in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver. For years, India had said that Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, had links to terrorism, an allegation he denied but dismissed the Canadian allegation of its involvement in his killing as " absurd." New Delhi's worries about Sikh separatist groups in Canada have long strained the relationship between the two countries, despite maintaining strong defense and trade ties. India had previously accused Canada of harboring separatists and "terrorists." The allegation brought the discord to the forefront with Canada recalling 41 of its 62 diplomats in India after New Delhi warned it would strip their diplomatic immunity - something Canadian officials characterized as a violation of the Geneva Convention. Last month, India eased the ban and resumed services for entry, business, medical and conference visas for Canadian nationals.
# Salmonella in cantaloupes sickens dozens in 15 states, U.S. health officials say By JONEL ALECCIA November 17, 2023. 6:14 PM EST --- U.S. health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain whole and cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit products linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. At least 43 people in 15 states have been infected in the outbreak announced Friday, including 17 people who were hospitalized. Several brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit have been recalled. They include Malichita brand whole cantaloupe, Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe and ALDI whole cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products. Consumers who have the products in their homes should throw them away. The products were sold between Oct. 16 and Nov. 10 and recalled earlier this month. Investigators are working to identify any additional cantaloupe products that may be contaminated. Officials in Canada are investigating an outbreak involving the same strain of salmonella, which they detected in a sample of Malichita brand cantaloupe. The number of people sickened in the outbreak is likely much higher than those reported and the outbreak may not be limited to states with known illnesses. It typically takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sick person is part of an outbreak. Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six hour to six days after consuming food contaminated with the bacteria. Illnesses typically last four to seven days. Vulnerable people, including children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems may develop severe illnesses that require medical care or hospitalization.
# Canada tops Italy to win Billie Jean King Cup for 1st time one year after men's team won Davis Cup November 12, 2023. 7:01 PM EST --- SEVILLE, Spain (AP) - Canada gave another display of its depth in world tennis by winning the Billie Jean King Cup on Sunday, a year after its men's team won the Davis Cup. Leylah Fernandez and Marina Stakusic won their singles matches as Canada beat Italy 2-0 to claim its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup. Canada men's team will try to defend its first Davis Cup title later this month in Malaga, Spain. Stakusic, ranked 258th in the world, put Canada ahead by defeating No. 43 Martina Trevisan 7-5, 6-3 for the biggest win of her career, then Fernandez sealed the victory by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3 at La Cartuja Stadium. "I'm extremely happy, ecstatic," Fernandez said. "I can finally say, 'We're world champions,' and we deserve it." The 20th-ranked Fernandez, runner-up in the 2021 U.S. Open, was perfect for Canada in Seville with four singles victories and one in doubles, while the 18-year-old Stakusic entered the tournament without a win over a top 100 opponent but earned three of them while representing her nation. Her only defeat was against No. 10 Barbora Krejcikova. "It's definitely not what I imagined would happen coming here," Stakusic said. "It's been an incredible week and I'm super happy I got to spend it with these women." Canada's Heidi El Tabakh became the first female captain to win the Billie Jean King Cup since American Kathy Rinaldi in 2017. "I'm so incredibly proud and it's been a pleasure sharing the court with them all week," she said. "Everyone who is here currently has been a huge asset to the Canadian team throughout the years. We wouldn't be here without every single one of them." Canada had beaten 11-time champion Czech Republic in the semifinals, while four-time champion Italy advanced past Slovenia for its first final appearance since 2013. "When you fall down, it means you have something to pick yourself up for," Italy captain Tathiana Garbin said. "You have to look around and find what is your treasure. I think we have learned a lot this week." The 12-team BJK Cup Finals offered a record total of $9.6 million in prize money, including $2.4 million to the champions, the same as the men's Davis Cup. Canada is the 13th nation to win the Billie Jean King Cup, and the second new champion after Switzerland's triumph in Glasgow a year ago. The women's teams competed in four round-robin groups, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. The United States was eliminated by the Czech Republic in a group that also included title-holder Switzerland. The biggest team competition in women's tennis started two days after the end of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which featured the top eight players on the tour - including winner Iga Swiatek.
# Fernandez leads Canada into Billie Jean King Cup final after win over Czechs. Italy beats Slovenia November 11, 2023. 6:05 PM EST --- SEVILLE, Spain (AP) - Leylah Fernandez led Canada into the Billie Jean King Cup final after beating Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and then helping to secure a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in a decisive doubles match on Saturday. Fernandez beat Vondrousova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to pull Canada level after Barbora Krejcikova had beaten Marina Stakusic 6-2, 6-1 to give the Czechs the early advantage. The 20th-ranked Fernandez got right back on the indoor hardcourt in Seville to help Gabriela Dabrowski beat Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 7-6 (3). In Sunday's final, Canada will face Italy which saw off Slovenia 2-0 after winning both singles matches. Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, has also paired with Siniakova to win seven major doubles titles including this year's Australian Open. The Czech Republic, an 11-time champion, had also won all seven previous meetings with Canada. Italy reached its first final of the competition in a decade. Martina Trevisan beat Kaja Juvan 7-6, 6-3 in the opening singles match of the semifinal after breaking her opponent three times. Jasmine Paolini gave the Italians an insurmountable lead after seeing off Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. "What they have done, it's something incredible," Italian captain Tathiana Garbin said. "We want always to push ourselves to the limit, and we try to dream again tomorrow." Juvan double-faulted on set point in the tiebreaker and let Trevisan take the lead. Trevisan was pushed to tears at one moment from the tension. "I had to be happy because I won the set, but I was crying," she said. "Too many emotions to manage. But the heart and head were there, so I'm very happy." Zidansek's serve also betrayed her in the second match when the Slovenian doubled-faulted to cede her service game and fall behind 5-3. Slovenia was playing its first semifinal at the competition.
# Eritrea withdraws from qualifying for 2026 World Cup days before first game against Morocco November 10, 2023. 4:05 PM EST --- ZURICH (AP) - Eritrea has withdrawn from African qualifying for the 2026 World Cup just days before its opening game against Morocco, FIFA confirmed Friday. Eritrea last played an international game almost four years ago but was scheduled to open its qualifying program against Morocco next week. Morocco coach Walid Regragui on Thursday acknowledged that the game in Agadir likely would not go ahead. "All of Eritrea's matches have been canceled, while the rest of the match schedule for Group E remains unchanged," FIFA said Friday. Morocco, the 2022 World Cup semifinalist, is favored to advance from the group that includes Niger, Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. Only teams that finish top in the nine African groups will advance directly to the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. A 10th African team can qualify for the inaugural 48-team World Cup through inter-continental playoffs in March 2026.
# US and India reaffirm security ties as their top diplomats and defense officials hold talks By ASHOK SHARMA November 10, 2023. 12:38 PM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - India and the U.S. underlined their commitment to boosting security ties Friday as their top diplomats and defense chiefs met to discuss regional security, China and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi as part of an Asian trip aimed at showing unity over Russia's war in Ukraine and preventing differences on the Israel-Hamas war from deepening. Blinken said the U.S. and India were continuing to "deepen our collaboration on everything from emerging technologies to defense to people-to-people ties" and align diplomacy for "an Indo-Pacific region that's free, that's open, that's prosperous, that's resilient." He said the two sides discussed the crisis in the Middle East and "we appreciate the fact that from day one India has strongly condemned the attacks of Oct. 7. And as our joint statement makes clear, India and the United States stand with Israel against terrorists." Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the situation in the Middle East was a big concern. While India has condemned the Hamas attack on Israel, it balances its position by calling for talks on "a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side-by-side at peace with Israel." Blinken met with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "reaffirmed their shared vision for close partnership in the Indo-Pacific," said U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. "They emphasized working together to address ongoing crises such as Russia's war against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East," Miller said. Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's top bureaucrat in the foreign ministry, said India's tense ties with China also were discussed at the official-level talks, but declined to give details. India's relationship with China has deteriorated since 2020, when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along their disputed border in the Himalayan Ladakh region, leaving 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. A standoff involving thousands of soldiers in the eastern Ladakh region continues, despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks. Blinken said he also discussed with the Indian side a diplomatic dispute that erupted when Canada alleged that India was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada. Blinken said that the U.S. wants the two sides to resolve their differences in a cooperative way and urged India to "work with Canada on its investigation." The dispute started when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver in western Canada. India rejected the accusation. India and the U.S. have held so-called two-plus-two talks between India's external affairs and defense ministers and the U.S. secretaries of state and defense since 2018 to discuss issues of concern and strengthen bilateral ties. Austin and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, discussed a roadmap for defense industrial cooperation that will fast-track technology cooperation and co-production of defense systems, India's defense ministry said. "We're integrating our industrial bases, strengthening our inter-operability, and sharing cutting-edge technology," Austin said in his opening remarks. Washington expects India to be a leading security provider in the Indo-Pacific region. During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States in June, the two sides adopted a policy guide for defense industries to enable them to produce advanced defense systems together and collaborate on research and testing of prototypes. The two sides reached an agreement that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones. A joint statement at the conclusion of Blinken and Austin's visit to New Delhi on Friday said the two sides reaffirmed their roadmap for defense industrial cooperation to strengthen India's capabilities, enhance its defense production, facilitate technology-sharing, and promote supply chain resilience.
# Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and VICTOR CAIVANO November 9, 2023. 9:32 AM EST --- FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AP) - During a May wildfire that scorched a vast swath of spruce and pine forest in northwestern Canada, Julia Cardinal lost a riverside cabin that was many things to her: retirement project, gift from from her husband, and somewhere to live by nature, as her family had done for generations. "That was our dream home," said Cardinal, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, as she scanned the cabin's flattened, charred remains in September. "It's like a displacement." Thousands of wildfires in Canada this year have incinerated an area larger than Florida, releasing into the atmosphere more than three times the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced by Canada in a year. And some are still burning. Home to dense forests, sweeping prairies and nearly a quarter of the planet's wetlands, Canadian leaders, including liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have long insisted the country can exploit its natural resources while protecting biodiversity and leading the global fight against climate change. But the seemingly endless fire season, which created hazardous air in many U.S. states thousands of miles away, is putting a spotlight on two aspects of Canada that increasingly feel at odds: the country's commitment to fighting climate change and its status as the world's fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest gas producer - fuels that when used release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and intensifies the dry conditions for wildfires to swallow millions of acres. "They're portraying Canada as environmental," said Jean L'Hommecourt, an environmental advocate belonging to the Fort McKay First Nation. "But the biggest source of the carbon is here." ## OIL FOCUS AND ADVOCACY Canada is among roughly 100 nations that have pledged by midcentury to reach "zero emissions," or take as much greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere as it contributes. At last year's U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, it also joined other rich nations to promise more money for developing countries to fight climate change. Yet to the same conference, Canada brought the second-largest delegation of fossil fuel executives of any country in the world, an analysis by The Associated Press found. Eleven executives from major Canadian oil, gas, and steel companies, including Enbridge and Parkland Corporation attended COP27 - where countries set climate priorities and timelines for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The only country to send a larger delegation of fossil fuel executives was Russia, AP found. "We're not there to drive an agenda, but we do have a perspective to offer," said Pete Sheffield, chief sustainability officer at pipeline and natural gas giant Enbridge Inc., echoing what other Canadian energy executives told The AP about their attendance at COP27. One such perspective is that Canadian oil producers can keep extracting oil at current rates, and with the help of technology, clean up their own operations so the country can still hit its climate targets. But even if Canada's oil producers manage to do so, their plans don't consider the greenhouse gas emissions that result from when customers use their products to power cars, heat homes, take flights, and so forth. ## OIL, FIRES AND SMOKE In the western province of Alberta, where many ferocious wildfires burned, huge deposits of thick crude oil, mixed with tarry sand, sit beneath the forest and near the snaking Athabasca River. Extraction from this area, referred to as the "oil sands," uses huge amounts of energy, making Canada's oil - most of which is extracted here - some of the world's dirtiest. In Alberta, the industry's mark on the landscape is profound: over an area larger than New York City, oil companies have carved chunks of earth into open-pit mines plunging hundreds of feet deep, created lake-sized chemical runoff pools and left otherworldly stacks of neon yellow sulfur byproduct. On the sides of roads in the oil sands, air cannons boom periodically to keep birds away from the vast toxic ponds and scarecrows dressed as oil workers float above them. On a recent morning, dozens of oil workers boarded a charter plane in Calgary that would take them deep into Alberta's wilderness where black bears, caribou, and moose roam. There, operators boarded buses to oil sands projects, where they would work 7-, 14- or 21-day shifts. During other weeks, the fires in Alberta burned so close that oil companies had to temporarily shut down oil and gas production, and average Canadians couldn't safely breathe the air. In September, smoke from wildfires in the neighboring provinces of British Columbia and the Northern Territories blanketed Fort McMurray, an Albertan city of 68,000 where community centers bear the names of oil companies. The skies were a hazy, rust color. "This is to the point where you don't even want to be outside," said Brittnee McIsaac, a school teacher who often had to keep her students inside for recess because it was too dangerous to breathe the smoke-filled air. McIsaac, whose husband works in the oil industry, said that the smoke this year, combined with a major wildfire in 2016, have made more people in town concerned about climate change, even if many residents get their paychecks from the nearby oil patch. "It really takes a toll on the mental health; just how dreary it is every day," she said of the smoke. Still, Canadian producers have no plans to slow down. Since 2009, oil sands extraction has grown. Today, Canada produces about 4.9 million barrels of oil a day, with oil and gas contributing almost a third of the country's emissions in 2021. Oil and gas make up about 5% of Canada's GDP, while in Alberta, the heart of Canadian oil country, the sector accounts for about 21%. Carmen Lee-Essington, vice president of Cenovus' oil sands operations, said the company plans to extract all the oil below ground at their Sunrise plant. Cenovus estimates that could last until 2070. That is decades after when scientists warn that the world needs to have moved beyond fossil fuels and rely almost entirely on renewable forms of energy. "When that time comes, we will abandon the facility here. We will decommission it, the metal and all the infrastructure that you see will be shipped off-site," said Lee-Essington. ## SUSTAINABLE FUTURE? Part of Canada's reasoning to produce so much oil and gas in the 21st century is that it's a stable democracy with stricter environmental and human rights laws than other oil giants that the West has historically relied upon. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the U.S., exporting an amount equal to 22% of U.S. consumption. But climate scientists warn that current levels of oil and gas production will mean Canada won't reach net zero emissions, never mind the additional contributions to climate change from wildfires along the way. Scientists at Climate Action Tracker, a group that scrutinizes nations' pledges to reduce emissions, label the country's progress as "highly insufficient," stressing that Canada needs to implement its climate policies much faster to reach its own targets. For the high-carbon energy sector, much of the plan rests on the build-out of carbon capture, a technology that pulls in carbon dioxide, either at the source of emissions or from the air. But carbon capture is energy intensive, expensive and years away from operating at scale. "There's no way Canada can reach our 2050 target if oil and gas doesn't do its fair share," said Steven Guilbeault, Canada's minister of environment and climate change. The wildfires, which scientists say will burn more and longer as the planet warms, will add to the challenge of cutting emissions. They also pose significant health risks to Canadians and anyone who comes in contact with the smoke. In June, a fire got close to the subarctic, mostly indigenous hamlet of Fort Chipewyan, in northern Alberta. A former fur trading settlement, it abuts one of the world's largest inland deltas. In warmer months, the village can only be reached by boat or plane, since the main road into town is made of ice that melts in the spring. When the wildfires approached, residents first tried fleeing by boat, only to realize that water levels at the massive Athabasca Lake had gotten so low, they couldn't leave. Soon after, the Canadian military sent its aircraft to evacuate people to Fort McMurray, where hundreds of people stayed for weeks. In the blaze, Julia Cardinal and her husband Happy Cardinal would lose their cabin, which was about a 45-minute boat ride from Fort Chipewyan. Several months later, the trauma of the fire is still vivid. "That was our home," said Julia Cardinal, as she walked over the burned cabin, identifying the pots, pans and nails that survived the blaze. "There are some things we will never, ever replace." Still, the couple's feelings are complicated. While they understand the role of climate change in the fires, and the impact of oil on the climate and lakes and rivers surrounding them, they are not quick to blame the industry. Happy Cardinal was an oil sands worker until retiring three years ago. "That's where my money comes from," he said.
# Finkel stops 31 shots, United States beats Canada 3-1 in opener of Rivalry Series By JOHN MARSHALL November 9, 2023. 12:51 AM EST --- TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Hilary Knight has played in four Olympics, 13 world championships and been a part of the U.S. women's national team since 2007. Now the Americans' captain at 34, she may be getting better instead of slowing down. Knight had a goal and an assist, Aerin Frankel stopped 31 shots and the United States beat Canada 3-1 in the opener of the Rivalry Series on Wednesday night. "It seems like she comes out of nowhere and scores goals," Canada's Sara Nurse said. "But obviously she's a super talented player around the net and doesn't miss many." The Americans won the last time these rivals met, scoring four unanswered goals to beat Canada 6-3 in the gold medal game of the IIHF World Championships in April. Canada had the early jump in the first of seven games in the 2023-24 version of the Rivalry Series, but Frankel made some tough saves to keep the Canadians from scoring. Team USA scored first on Knight's goal in the closing seconds of the first period, and Canada tied it on Brianne Jenner's goal in the second at Mullett Arena, home of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. Taylor Heise, the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft, scored early in the third period to put the U.S. up 2-1, and Alex Carpenter sealed it by scoring off a turnover with 1:20 left in regulation. Emerance Maschmeyer had 23 saves for Canada. Game 2 of the series is Saturday in Los Angeles before most of the players report to training camps for the newly former Professional Women's Hockey League next week. "I was actually expecting us to have a better start than we did or a little more electricity from our young players," U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. "But sometimes that nervousness can get you into a spot where you're wound up. It took us a while to settle in." Frankel was sharp in the first period, stopping Jessie Eldridge from point-blank range and Ella Shelton on a power play late. Maschmeyer also made some tough stops, including against Abbey Murphy on a short breakaway. Maschmeyer couldn't get back into position after the rebound and Knight flipped in a backhander with eight seconds left. "Our team really stacked together a lot of good play tonight," Knight said. Jenner tied it midway through the second, punching in a rebound of her own shot past Frankel after the Americans allowed her to skate freely through the slot. Canada's Kristin O'Neill had a goal waved off early in the third period for using a high stick. Heise scored a few minutes after that on a rebound that caromed out to the right circle, then Carpenter slipped a backhander between Mashmeyer's pads. "Just puck management, let too many plays get away from us," Jenner said. "You can't really do that and not expect the other team to capitalize."
# Teenager Stakusic leads Canada to win over host Spain in BJK Cup Finals. Italy tops France November 8, 2023. 7:15 PM EST --- SEVILLE, Spain (AP) - Teenager Marina Stakusic got the biggest win of her career to help Canada defeat host Spain 3-0 in Group C of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Wednesday. The 18-year-old Stakusic, ranked No. 258 in the world, defeated No. 65 Rebeka Masarova 6-3, 6-1 to give Canada the first point of the day at La Cartuja Stadium. Stakusic's previous career-best victory had been against No. 152 Jaimee Fourlis in 2022. She had never beaten a top 100 opponent. "This is such a special feeling and makes me believe that I belong here," Stakusic said. "It is also super special to win in front of all the Canadians who I have worked with for a long time. What a feeling - it is the most meaningful win for me so far - and it will give me so much confidence going forward." Leylah Fernandez gave Canada the second point by edging Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (8), 7-6 (7). In the doubles, Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski beat Sorribes Tormo and Masarova 6-2, 7-5. In Group D, Italy defeated France 2-1 with early victories in the singles matches. Martina Trevisan rallied to defeat Alize Cornet 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Jasmine Paolini beat Caroline Garcia 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4. France came from behind to win the doubles match with Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic defeating Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Trevisan 5-7, 6-2, 10-6. The 12 teams in the BJK Cup Finals compete in four round-robin groups and the winners will advance to the semifinals this weekend.
# Biden pledges at Americas summit an alternative to Chinese-led infrastructure and development loans By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN November 3, 2023. 12:03 PM EST --- WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden on Friday welcomed government leaders from countries across the Americas to an economic summit by pledging to increase U.S. investment in the region in part to counter China's influence. The U.S. president did not specifically mention China in his opening remarks at the first Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders' Summit. But Biden openly alluded to the country that has emerged as a chief geopolitical competitor to the United States that has offered development loans to countries in the Western Hemisphere. "We want to make sure that our closest neighbors know they have a real choice between debt trap diplomacy and high quality, transparent approaches to infrastructure and to development," Biden said. "By combining the commitment of the United States government to mitigate investment risk with the agility of private sector financing, we believe we can deliver gains for workers and families throughout the region." Among the other topics being discussed at the summit are migration, supply chains and efforts geared toward environmental sustainability. Along with Biden, officials from Barbados Canada, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Panama attended summit events. Friday's event was announced last year at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The focus on trade comes as competition has intensified between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies. Biden, a Democrat, has provided government incentives to build U.S. infrastructure and for companies to construct new factories. But after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted manufacturing and global shipping, there has has also been an effort to diversify trade and reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing. In 2022, the U.S. exported $1.2 trillion worth of goods and services to other countries in the Western Hemisphere, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. It also imported $1.2 trillion in goods and services from those countries. But the majority of that trade was with Canada and Mexico. By contrast, the U.S. imported $562.9 billion worth of goods and services from China last year. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined the Biden administration's goals in a Thursday speech at the Inter-American Development Bank. The U.S. wants to diversify supply chains with "trusted partners and allies," a strategy that she said had "tremendous potential benefits for fueling growth in Latin America and the Caribbean." Yellen, who regularly talks about her friendshoring strategy for increasing supply chain resilience by working primarily with friendly nations as opposed to geopolitical rivals like China, laid out her vision of new U.S. investment in South America at the development bank. The Inter-American Development Bank, which is the biggest multilateral lender to Latin America, would support new projects through grants, lending and new programs. The U.S. is the bank's largest shareholder, with 30% of voting rights. Increasingly, policymakers in the U.S. have expressed concern about China's influence at the bank. While the Asian superpower holds less than 0.1% voting rights, it holds large economic stakes in some of the 48 member countries of the bank.
# Birds in North America will be renamed to avoid any 'harmful' historical associations with people By CHRISTINA LARSON November 1, 2023. 7:10 PM EST --- Birds in North America will no longer be named after people, the American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday. Next year, the organization will begin to rename around 80 species found in the U.S. and Canada. "There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today," the organization's president, Colleen Handel, said in a statement. "Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely." Rather than review each bird named after a person individually, all such birds will be renamed, the organization announced. Birds that will be renamed include those currently called Wilson's warbler and Wilson's snipe, both named after the 19th century naturalist Alexander Wilson. Audubon's shearwater, a seabird named for John James Audubon, also will get a new name. In 2020, the organization renamed a bird once referring to a Confederate Army general, John P. McCown, as the thick-billed longspur. "I'm really happy and excited about the announcement," said Emily Williams, an ornithologist at Georgetown University who was not involved in the decision. She said heated discussions over bird names have been happening within birdwatching communities for the past several years. "Naming birds based on habitat or appearance is one of the least problematic approaches," she said. Earlier this year, the National Audubon Society announced that it would retain its name, even as critics and some voices within the organization have argued that it should dump the association with a man, John James Audubon, whose family owned slaves. "The name has come to represent so much more than the work of one person," Susan Bell, chair of the National Audubon Society's Board of Directors, told Audubon magazine in March, adding, "We must reckon with the racist legacy of John James Audubon." A 2020 encounter in New York's Central Park served as a public wake-up call about the discrimination that Black people sometimes face when trying to enjoy the outdoors. Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher, was looking for birds when he asked a white woman, Amy Cooper, to follow local rules and leash her dog. Cooper called 911 and was later charged with filing a false police report, though the charges were later dropped. Soon after, a collective of birdwatchers organized the first Black Birders Week to increase the visibility of Black nature lovers and scientists. And a group called Bird Names for Birds sent a petition to the ornithological society urging it to "outline a plan to change harmful common names" of birds.
# Opponents of military rule in Myanmar applaud new sanctions targeting gas revenues November 1, 2023. 1:36 AM EST --- BANGKOK (AP) - A U.N.-appointed human rights expert and opponents of Myanmar's military government have welcomed the latest sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada on companies providing financial resources to the army-installed regime and high-ranking officials. The move is linked to rising violence and human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian nation. The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on Myanmar's state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a joint venture partner in all offshore gas projects and a vital source of hard cash for the military government. The sanctions block access to money and resources under U.S. control, and prohibit U.S. citizens from providing financial services to - or for the benefit of - MOGE starting from Dec. 15. Five officials are on the sanctions list: the ministers of industry and investment and foreign economic relations; the director generals of the prosecution and prisons departments; and the chief of general staff for the combined military forces. Three organizations were also designated for sanctions, according to the Treasury Department. The U.K. also sanctioned five people and one entity that it said are involved either in providing financial services to the regime or the supply of restricted goods, including aircraft parts. Canada also imposed sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities in coordination with the U.K. and the U.S. Tom Andrews, a special rapporteur working with the U.N. human rights office, said in a statement that the fresh sanctions were important steps forward and that the ban on financial services that benefit MOGE would hit the junta's largest source of revenue. "These actions signal to the people of Myanmar that they have not been forgotten, but there is much more that the international community can and must do." said Andrews, urging U.N. member states to take stronger, coordinated action "to support the heroic efforts of the people of Myanmar to defend their nation and save their children's future." Justice for Myanmar, an underground group of researchers and activists from Myanmar, also said the U.S. move against MOGE was a welcome step "to disrupt the junta's single biggest source of foreign revenue." The group operates covertly because the military government does not tolerate critics of its rule. "The U.S. should continue to target the junta's access to funds, including through full sanctions on MOGE in coordination with its allies," the group said in a statement. The sanctions are the latest the Western governments have imposed on Myanmar's military regime, after the army seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. Widespread nonviolent protests following the military takeover were suppressed by deadly force and triggered armed resistance in much of the country that some experts characterize as a civil war. "Today's action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom ... denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts," Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "Collectively, we remain committed to degrading the regime's evasion tactics and continuing to hold the regime accountable for its violence," he said. The Myanmar public and human rights groups had called for sanctions targeting gas revenues shortly after the army takeover. About 50% of Myanmar's foreign income derives from natural gas revenues. Several offshore gas fields operate in Myanmar's maritime territory, run by companies from Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, India and South Korea in partnership with MOGE. China is an investor in the pipeline that delivers the gas to the country. The European Union imposed sanctions against MOGE in February last year.
# Book Review: Ralph Nader profiles corporate leaders he sees as role models in 'The Rebellious CEO' By ANDREW DeMILLO December 26, 2023. 2:52 PM EST --- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has built his life's reputation on his fights with corporate America. But it turns out there are some CEOs he actually likes. At least that's the premise of "The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right," Nader's look at executives who he says "stood against the gray crowd" by putting a premium on social responsibility as much as they did on profits. The dozen leaders he profiles are presented as models for businesses on how to balance both those needs. The brief biographies of the CEOs give Nader a chance to highlight what he sees as the shortcomings of today's corporations. But, surprisingly, he commends the CEOs profiled for not forgetting the bottom line and notes that all of them insisted "nothing would be possible if they didn't pay attention to profits." The chapters are sprinkled with Nader's anecdotes from his interactions with the CEOs profiled, and leans on their own writings as well. The CEOs highlighted include Ray Anderson, the carpet-tile manufacturing executive who was spurred to set sustainability goals for his company, and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard's support for conservation efforts. Nader also praises CEOs for their work at the consumer level, including Southwest Airlines - though also noting its cancellation of more than 16,000 flights last year over the holidays that eventually led to a multi-million settlement. Nader strays into adulation at times, but the book offers an interesting perspective on business leadership from one of the most well known antagonists of corporations.
# Book Review: The Velvet Underground's story and afterlife told in the oral history 'Loaded' By MICHAEL HILL December 18, 2023. 9:45 AM EST --- Before they became synonymous with downtown cool, the Velvet Underground played a multi-band bill at a suburban New Jersey high school in 1965. Parents and kids in the crowd were repelled by the "screeching urge of sound" from Lou Reed and his bandmates, a local reviewer wrote, and retreated in horror after their second song, "Heroin." The Velvet Underground soon found a more appreciative audience when artist Andy Warhol spotted them and set them up at the Factory, his Manhattan studio-and-happening space. But wide success and fame eluded the Velvet Underground during their fractious run. They became lionized as edgy musical groundbreakers later on - reversing the stereotypical rock band success story by breaking up and then conquering the world. Veteran journalist and author Dylan Jones tells that unusual story in "Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground." Or more precisely, Jones weaves together an oral history that relies on the voices of friends, Warhol "superstars," fellow musicians and members of the band. Jones interviewed a bunch of people who were in the orbit of Reed, John Cale and the other band members. The author also relies on past interviews from Reed and others who have died. The staying power of the Velvet Underground stems from their songs, which could be beautiful, dissonant or hypnotic. But it also revolves around their style, which has been widely copied by rockers ever since. They wore sunglasses inside. They didn't care what you thought. They could barely stand each other. "We hated everybody and everything," said Cale. This is largely a story about Reed, who was a restless artist, a canny songwriter and - quite often - a surly jerk. But some of the book's most compelling passages describe Reed's difficult and all-too-brief partnership with the equally intense Cale, a classically trained musician from Wales. The book also tracks the post-Velvet work of Reed, Cale and the singer/songwriter Nico, who was featured on the band's debut album. Reed finally began getting his due in 1972 with the release of the "Transformer" album, which included the signature song "Walk On the Wild Side." Good oral histories hit the right mix of insight, opinion and dish. And Jones mostly delivers. The off-the-wall stuff is in there too, like tales of Cale chopping the head off a chicken on stage and Reed slapping around David Bowie at a restaurant. Jones falls a bit short in his mission of softening the image of Reed, who was notorious for being difficult, especially with journalists. But he convincingly makes the case for the band's historical importance. "Unpack the last 50 years of pop," Jones writes, "and the broken fragments of the Velvet Underground are everywhere."
# Book Review: 'Soldier of Destiny' traces Ulysses S. Grant's complicated route before the White House By ANDREW DeMILLO December 11, 2023. 2:05 PM EST --- Ulysses S. Grant's standing among the presidents has improved in recent years, with critically acclaimed biographies by Ron Chernow and others offering a new perspective on his time in the White House. But the 18th president who led the Union armies to victory in the Civil War still leaves a complicated legacy, especially when it comes to his relationship to slavery. That relationship is the centerpiece of John Reeves' enlightening "Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant." Reeves' book isn't a comprehensive biography, and it doesn't cover Grant's time in the White House. But it gives readers an enlightening look at how he benefited from slavery years before he helped end the institution. Reeves traces the evolution of Grant from someone who "actively participated in the slave culture of St. Louis" before the Civil War. Reeves is fair and blunt in depicting the role slavery played in Grant's life as he tried to provide a "respectable middle-class lifestyle" for his family before the war. "And this lifestyle, it must be remembered, was dependent on the ownership of human property," Reeves writes. He also points out the ambivalence Grant displayed about slavery before the Civil War. But he also examines the characteristics and skills that it took for Grant to go from an officer who was forced to resign from the Army to one of the most revered military heroes in history. This includes a detailed look at the key battles he faced during the Civil War. Reeves doesn't shy from highlighting the stains upon Grant's military legacy including the reports of drinking that dogged Grant throughout the years. He also devotes a chapter to the order Grant issued expelling Jewish people from a military district he oversaw, an effort that was intended to halt illegal cotton speculation and remains a "black mark on his character," Reeves writes. Reeves manages to stitch Grant's flaws and virtues into a thought-provoking portrait of a key historical figure who never lost faith in himself or his country.
# Book Review: David Mamet screams at clouds in new collection of grievances about Hollywood By MARK KENNEDY December 4, 2023. 11:30 AM EST --- Just in time for Christmas, when you need a gift for that weird old uncle who is upset that everyone gets a trophy in youth soccer, comes a new David Mamet book. "Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood" is a collection of observations, stories and aphorisms about Hollywood from one of America's foremost writers and, these days, provocateurs. It is virtually unreadable. This is a book that resembles the idled rantings from a feverish, unsolicited email stuck in your spam folder. There are weird capitalizations, uneasy conclusions and the rat-a-tat of non-sequiturs all held together by bad faith. It's illustrated by Mamet's own cartoons, which echo a middle schooler's sense of humor and maturity. He clearly hates film producers - "Village Idiots" is the nicest of adjectives - but he hates PC culture more. He lambasts "Diversity Porn," arguing that the logical extension of color-conscious casting is an Asian woman playing Harry Truman. He thinks modern culture has made frightened sheeps of men. "Today in Los Angeles the teenage girls walk about virtually naked, and the males, rather than getting a pass for ogling the good clean fun, are terrified of even inadvertent gawking." He won a Pulitzer Prize once. Now he's basically endorsing wet T-shirt contests. Throughout is the stringent waft of misogyny. In one cartoon, Mamet asks "Who was the most fetching female in film history" over a drawing of Lassie. He includes jokes like this: "Ann-Margret is the only girl in Hollywood who still has her hyphen." Again, this is a man who name-checks Herodotus and Kipling. In one section, he tries to belittle entire topics of critical thought like a proto-incel. "Inequity, Gender Politics, Feminism, and like doctrines are like modern art: a first glance is sufficient. There's no information to be gained from an in-depth study." Mamet is the acclaimed author of theater classics such as "Glengarry Glen Ross," "American Buffalo" and "Race," all works struggling to find relevance in the modern age. His Hollywood input includes scripts for "The Untouchables," "Heist," "Wag the Dog" and "The Edge," glorious all. Sections in the book unusually begin with a tart statement, like "Trivia is gossip without malice" or "People flourish in hierarchy," and then meander to some backstage trivia about Hollywood's Golden Age before ending with something outrageous and unconnected, often with Nazis. Hitler appears on Page 8 and never really leaves. To be fair, there are intriguing parts, like when he discusses the nuts and bolts of screenwriting: "The dialogue is of as little concern to a skilled screenwriter as the paint is to the mechanic." And run-ins with Billy Wilder, Don Ameche, Sue Mengers and Bob Evans are fun. But "Everywhere an Oink Oink" is a vanity project: He loves re-settling scores, boasts about being fired from jobs or thrown out of places - he got tossed from a Williams Sonoma for going in the wrong door and, when confronted, replied "It's alright, I'm an Illegal Immigrant." At one point, Mamet's editor is compelled to dismiss in a footnote one of the writer's so-called facts: "A complete fabrication." But the wrong thing remains there. All over, Mamet repeats himself, another gripe for a book that feels unedited. One may loath his individual conclusions, but to get them twice makes the author even smaller, petty and unhinged. "Either they or I are marching to the beat of a Different Drummer. In which event either one or many of us must be out of step," he writes. Yes, indeed.
# Book Review: 'Eyeliner' examines the staple makeup product's revolutionary role in global society By LESLIE AMBRIZ November 30, 2023. 8:37 PM EST --- Zahra Hankir opens "Eyeliner: A Cultural History" by marveling over her mother's elegant beauty process as she delicately sweeps black kohl on her waterline, dreaming of displaying that same confidence one day. For Hankir, eyeliner is more than just a cosmetic product. It provides protection and empowerment. It provides cultural connection. It exists beyond borders, gender roles and Western beauty standards. Lining one's waterline or drawing a delicate black line across an eyelid is more than aesthetics. For many of the underrepresented groups and communities of color highlighted in Hankir's book, applying the product is a ritual deeply rooted in spirituality, culture, identity and more. To loosely quote Audre Lorde, if self-care is an act of resistance, then an eyeliner is a tool in the rebellion throughout Hankir's novel. The Lebanese-British journalist seamlessly takes her readers on a global investigation of how the cosmetic product is used worldwide. Through intimate narratives with varied characters from different cultures and communities, we learn more about the product's rise in prominence while having a fly-on-the-wall inside look at the ways it serves medicinal purposes, fuels spiritual practices, uplifts self-expression and how its mere existence on someone's eyelid can be viewed as a form of defiance. Hankir begins this thoroughly researched journey by educating her readers on Egypt's Queen Nefertiti and her rise as a symbol of "ideal feminine beauty." The Egyptian queen posthumously influenced mainstream culture, leading eventually to the beauty item's spot in shopping mall stores and in makeup ads across Western society. But while detailing Nefertiti's legacy, Hankir does not shy away from reflecting on how the queen's thick-lined trademark became twisted and co-opted by white Western culture. She addresses it head-on and shares the complete history of its popularity. All of the good and the bad that follows popularity. The book is a little over 300 pages long and packs enough information for readers to walk away with more in-depth knowledge of the staple product sitting idly inside their makeup bag. As readers twist open their liner applicator, they'll be reminded of the Wodaabe men who wear kohl to enhance their appearance and attract a partner in a ritual ceremony. They'll think of artists like Shirin Neshat, who wear the item as a form of solidarity for the women back home who cannot publicly line their eyes. They'll remember the drag queens who drew on their bold, exaggerated liner as they prepared to perform and the stories of the Cholas in Mexican-American culture who wore the product, expressing their dual femininity and strength. "Eyeliner" comes full circle, highlighting today's beauty influencers and allowing viewers to see the ripple effects of popularity and cultural exchange as this one beauty product carries the constant line of simultaneously emphasizing the beauty and power each person possesses as they line their eyes and prepare to embark on their personal journeys.
# Book Review: 'Welcome to The O.C.' serves as a definitive look-back at the 20-year-old Fox drama By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER November 27, 2023. 3:20 PM EST --- "California, here we come." The refrain from the Phantom Planet tune "California" that served as the theme song for "The O.C." welcomed viewers to Fox's short-lived but much-loved prime-time soap that focused on a group of teenagers and parents navigating the emotional ups and downs of life in affluent Newport Beach. Now, 20 years after the show's debut, Rolling Stone TV critic Alan Sepinwall is taking readers "right back where we started from" in a splendid retrospective that relies on the memories of those who brought the show's 96 episodes to life. "Welcome to The O.C." - the title references a memorable line from the pilot (minus a not-so-friendly word that punctuates the sentiment) - features recollections from creator Josh Schwartz, executive producer Stephanie Savage, the show's stars, Fox executives and many more. The oral history serves as a definitive look-back at the four-season series that introduced "Chrismukkah" (a celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah in the blended Cohen household) and a host of indie-rock bands whose songs played over some of "The O.C."'s biggest moments. None was more monumental than the controversial decision to kill off Mischa Barton's Marissa Cooper, one of the show's central characters, in season three's finale in 2006. The book devotes a chapter to the behind-the-scenes intrigue that led to Barton's exit as well as the fallout. Spoiler alert: Those close to the show didn't like it very much, starting with Barton herself, who called it "a little bit of a bummer." Others used stronger - and strikingly similar - language. Kelly Rowan, who played Cooper's neighbor, Kirsten Cohen, said the storyline was "a big mistake," breaking up the characters who came to be known as "The Core Four" - Kirsten Cohen's comic-book- and indie-music-loving son Seth, played by Adam Brody; Ben McKenzie's Ryan Atwood, a troubled outsider who is taken in by the Cohens; Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), Seth Cohen's dream girl and classmate; and Cooper, the beautiful girl-next-door who is Ryan's soulmate. Savage acknowledged it was a "terrible, terrible mistake." And Schwartz, who at the time was one of the youngest EPs in the television industry, agreed. "I very quickly realized, 'Oh my God, what have we done? I think we made a terrible mistake,'" he said. "The O.C." lasted one more season. Schwartz and Savage went on to helm a multitude of other small-screen gems, including "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl." The Core Four had become stars, and the show gave screen time to future headliners such as Chris Pratt,Olivia Wilde and Shailene Woodley. "Welcome to The O.C." is a must-read for viewers of the show's original run, but it works, too, for those meeting the Cohens and their fellow Orange County residents for the first time via streaming services.
# Book Review: 'Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars' argues history repeats itself By KRYSTA FAURIA November 27, 2023. 12:10 PM EST --- "There is nothing new under the sun." So goes the adage which conveys the tendency for history to repeat itself. It's this unstated premise that drives Kliph Nesteroff's latest book, "Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars." In it, Nesteroff artfully seeks to demonstrate how current catchphrases like "cancel culture" and "political correctness" are just variations of the same generational and ideological divides which have undergirded American society throughout Hollywood's history. Nesteroff turns his attention to comedians in particular, citing the ways in which they have historically been unique targets of the culture wars. His arguments are cogent and his histories entertaining - how is it possible that "vaguely defined spirit of the times" is not a quote about wokeness, but instead a denunciation of critiques levied on comedians more than half a century ago? Still, it's worth noting that Nesteroff began his career as a comedian, which perhaps betrays an inherent sympathy for the prophetic martyrs who have frequently been subjected to unjust censorship and criticism throughout the history of showbiz.
# Book Review: Lauren Grodstein's masterpiece of historical fiction set in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII By ANN LEVIN November 27, 2023. 11:18 AM EST --- The Oneg Shabbat archive was a secret project of Jewish prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto to record their histories as they awaited deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II. Lauren Grodstein has used this historical fact as the basis for her mesmerizing new novel, "We Must Not Think of Ourselves." It is narrated by a fictional schoolteacher, Adam Paskow, who conducts interviews for the real-life archives as he falls in love with a married woman, Sala Wiskoff, with whom he shares overcrowded quarters. Grodstein, who was inspired to write the book after a Jewish family heritage trip to Warsaw, where she first encountered the diary entries, propaganda posters and other materials that comprise the archives, excels at character development and naturalistic dialogue. In Adam, she has created an immensely appealing protagonist, notwithstanding his adulterous affair with Sala, who is equally charismatic. Before the war, Adam was living a quiet, bookish life in a prosperous neighborhood of Warsaw with his wealthy Polish Catholic wife. They were very much in love. But after she dies and the Nazis invade Poland, he is forced out of their cozy flat ("filled with books and Oriental rugs") and into the gated and locked ghetto, patrolled by armed guards, where he teaches English to some of the displaced children. Adam and Sala are flirtatious almost from the beginning as Adam, who is a bit of a dreamer, struggles to comprehend the reality of their situation. "They can't kill all of us," he says to Sala. "Can't they?" she replies. "It's illogical," he reasons. "And the Nazis pride themselves on being logical." Later, he thinks to himself, "How on earth could they pull such a thing off? And would the world really... let them?" Of course, it does. As the war drags on and conditions in the ghetto worsen, Adam finally has a moment of reckoning. Reflecting on the purpose of the project launched by historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who named it Oneg Shabbat, or "joy of the sabbath," after the day of the week when the archivists met, Adam thinks: "Now I realize that we are creating a portrait of Polish Jews at the end of our history." But that was not to be. In a twist on "Sophie's Choice," Adam, who never identified strongly as a Jew before the war, obtains documents that will let him and two others escape to freedom - he just has to decide which two. It is a deeply moving conclusion to an extraordinary work of historical fiction.
# Book Review: A dazzlingly fun historical fiction, 'A True Account' tests the borders of reality By DONNA EDWARDS November 21, 2023. 1:23 PM EST --- Hannah Masury, for a brief time, was a pirate. At least, according to the mysterious manuscript that shows up on Professor Marian Beresford's desk, brought by a bright-faced student excited at the possibility of finding the treasure that Hannah left behind. Novelist and historian Katherine Howe embarks on a dazzlingly fun historical fiction, "A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself: A Novel" - aptly named given the way it tests the boundaries between reality and imagination. When undergrad Kay Lonergan brings Hannah's found manuscript to her professor, Marian's years of cynicism have hardened her. She highly doubts its authenticity and even points out the more doubtful details, verging on breaking the fourth wall. But Kay convinces Marian to approach her famous explorer of a father and persuade him, and his expedition society club, to back their trip in search of long-lost pirate booty. And is that jealousy we detect in the professor? The further the story gets, the more it seems that Kay is everything Marian wishes she was: young, exciting, fashionable, carefree, commanding, self-assured. But Hannah's manuscript might be just the thing to spark some excitement into Marian's dull life - and to finally win her father's attention and approval. History buffs will appreciate the accurate inclusion of figures such as pirate William Fly and Puritan preacher Cotton Mather. Those who aren't so thrilled about history will enjoy Hannah's wry take on the happenings of the early 1700s. Mirrored in Hannah's restlessness with the status quo is Marian's inability to fit into the mold set for women of the early 1900s. She quickly becomes endeared to the young pirate who disguised herself as a cabin boy and went bravely adventuring with one of the world's most notoriously vicious pirates, Edward Low. Hannah's manuscript, which is about half of the book, follows only hints of the linguistic style of 18th-century American literature. Mercifully, she's far more readable than Mathers. "A True Account" is a slow start that picks up quickly into a wild voyage of satisfying twists and an even more satisfying ending. The story ties threads of fact and fiction into an intricate knot that's just as enjoyable to look at as it is to untangle.
# Book Review: 'I Would Meet You Anywhere' is a breathtaking account of an adoptee's search for family By DONNA EDWARDS November 20, 2023. 3:58 PM EST --- Susan Kiyo Ito always knew she was adopted, but uncovering her birth family became a decadeslong process marked by moments of warm connection and icy divides - raw stories compiled into a memoir that's alternately touching and heartbreaking. Opening on the fateful moment when Ito is about to meet her birth mother for the first time, "I Would Meet You Anywhere" transcends a title and becomes a refrain throughout the book. Ito's relationship with Yumi is fraught from the beginning, but her birth mother holds the key to the information she needs to find the other half of her DNA. Ito meets Yumi when and where the latter deems convenient - New Jersey, California, a small Midwestern town; in a house, a hotel, a hospital. And Ito would meet her anywhere. In the process of finding her birth parents and piecing together her origins, Ito explores the theme of family - and what it means to occupy the various roles within it - pondering the symmetry in the first 17 years she spent living with her mom, Kikuko, taking care of her to the last 27 years of her mom's life when their roles reversed. Meanwhile, Yumi flits in and out of the story, leaving the impression of her taking up more space than her physical presence. Ito is left wondering about the reproductive choices that have shaped her life, starting with her conception. After all, what choice did Yumi have? Her family had started over with nothing after the United States forced them into internment camps, along with an estimated 120,000 other Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals. There aren't many things Yumi refuses to talk about, but these topics are frustratingly the most important ones, big question marks that threaten to burn answerless into oblivion. Unlike Yumi, the author is totally open about her thoughts, feelings and experiences. Ito's prose follows her mood; the default of easy conversational writing becomes stilted when she's upset, flowing when she's hopeful. Part 2 ends in a burst of poetry disguised as prose, an astounding compilation of similes and squishy adjectives that perfectly capture a feeling that rests right on the periphery of language. It's an absolutely surreal moment of her life described the only way one can truly capture such a confluence of happenstance: with uncanny poetic prose that verges on nonsense, if it weren't so utterly fitting. "I Would Meet You Anywhere" is breathtaking. Like a master quilter, Ito is able to find the patterns and fit them together in a beautiful, cohesive story that's balanced and satisfying, working in tandem to create a blanket of meaning enshrouding an entire life, plus some.
# Book Review: San Diego private eye tangles with FBI and Russian mob in fast-paced 'Odyssey's End' By BRUCE DESILVA November 20, 2023. 12:58 PM EST --- Author Matt Coyle has put San Diego private eye Rick Cahill through a lot in his fine series of crime novels. Rick has accumulated sinister enemies on both sides of the law. He's been shot and beaten so many times that his body is laced with scars. And he's in the early stages of CTE, a degenerative brain disease that unleashes fits of rage and may soon kill him. His wife, convinced that Rick's work - and Rick himself -are too dangerous, has left him, taking their 20-month-old daughter with her. As "Odyssey's End," the 10th book in the series, opens, Rick is considering another line of work but fears he's too much of an adrenaline junkie to give it up. Still, he can't quit just yet - not until he can tuck enough money aside to secure his little girl's future. Such is his state of mind when two old enemies suddenly reappear. Sergei Volkov, a homicidal Russian mob boss who has reasons to want Rick dead, has just been released from federal prison. And Peter Stone, Rick's longtime nemesis, shows up with a surprising request. Stone says he needs a kidney transplant, but aging, violent criminals don't rank high on donor lists. His only hope is an organ from his grown daughter, but she's gone missing. So Stone wants Rick to find her. Rick figures Stone's story is a lie, or at least not the whole truth. Besides, there's no way Rich wants to work for this psychopath. But when Stone hands him $50,000 dollars, Rick reluctantly takes the job. As he digs into the case, Rick is threatened by two FBI agents who mistakenly think he is searching for Theodore Raskin, the fugitive founder of a fraudulent crypto currency firm. Soon, more complications arise, and several people associated with Rick's investigation end up dead. Coyle's prose is vivid and tight, his characters are well drawn, and the tension rarely lets up in this fast-paced tale of duplicity and betrayal. The climactic scene is a long-drawn-out gun battle in which Rick, armed with a handgun, takes on a small army of Russian mobsters brandishing automatic rifles. That Rick prevails is satisfying in a John Wick sort of way, but some readers might his survival a tad farfetched.
# Book Review: Benjamin Taylor's brief new biography of Willa Cather displays the devotion of a fan By ANN LEVIN November 14, 2023. 7:31 AM EST --- Benjamin Taylor has a thing for Willa Cather. This year, the 150th anniversary of her birth, he has written a passionate love letter to her in the form of a brief but illuminating biography. "Chasing Bright Medusas" clocks in at just over 150 pages but it offers a fine introduction to one of the leading novelists of the American frontier. Taylor, a prize-winning author who also penned short books about Philip Roth and Marcel Proust, argues that Cather's move at age 9 from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to Red Cloud, Nebraska, where for the first time she encountered Jews, Norwegians, Mexicans and immigrants of all kinds, was a foundational event that "made her a cosmopolitan while she was still a provincial." He also demonstrates how, as she matured as a writer, she differed sharply from her younger contemporaries in the literary world, including Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Dos Passos, in her "unironic" idealism about America's possibility. His other major themes include her complicated relationship to both gender and religion. About the former, he agrees with other critics who have simply taken her strong preference for women as a given. But he adds another layer of complexity by asserting that she preferred "to talk about love at its most exalted, above the reach of mere carnality... sexual nature is what she intends to rise above." As for religion, he explains how it was closely bound up with her profound reverence for nature, especially the "harsh beauty of the Southwest," which "seemed to her the landscape of an inner life." It was also part and parcel of her desire for literary immortality. "There is no God but one God and Art is his revealer," Cather wrote to a friend when she was still in her early 20s. "That's my creed and I'll follow it to the end." Portraying her as a relatively late bloomer - she had a lengthy stint in journalism before she began writing fiction - Taylor repeatedly marvels at both her physical courage and stamina and her iron discipline as a writer. He cites with admiration what she once wrote to a friend: "If only I could nail up the front door and live in a mess, I could simply become a fountain pen and have done with it - a conduit for ink to run through." By marshaling judicious quotes from her letters as well as her short stories and novels, including such classics as "My Antonia" and "Death Comes for the Archbishop," Taylor makes a case for Cather's enduring place in the American literary canon.
# Book Review: 'UFO' is a detailed look at the history of the search for the truth that's out there By ANDREW DeMILLO November 13, 2023. 2:35 PM EST --- The truth may be out there, but making sense out of it isn't easy. Discussion about unidentified flying objects has moved over the years from fodder for science fiction movies or jokes to the subject of congressional hearings. Garrett M. Graff's "UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here - and Out There" is the perfect guide for readers interested in learning how that discussion has evolved. Graff offers an authoritative and objective look at the history of UFO sightings and research into the possibility of extraterrestrial life over the past 75 years. It's a narrative as compelling as Graff's other works, including his history of Watergate, and requires the same skill that he's demonstrated in navigating government documents. The deeply researched history traces the ways the government has struggled to wrap its arms around the questions raised by UFOs - or, as they're now known, "unidentified aerial phenomena" - sightings going back to the 1940s. "It's not that the government knows something it doesn't want to tell us," Graff writes at the outset of the book. "It's that the government is uncomfortable telling us it doesn't know anything at all." Graff profiles a sprawling cast of characters who have played a role in the search for UFOs and alien life over the years, from amateur ufologists to famed astronomer Carl Sagan to Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge. They're all battling hoaxes and public skepticism and trying to overcome the lingering question first posed by physicist Enrico Fermi: if extraterrestrial life is prevalent, why don't we see more of it? Graff highlights the advances in science that are made over the years in trying to answer that question, but also in showing just how vast and unknown the universe is. The book shows how attitudes toward UFOs have changed over the years, not just by scientists and the government but also in popular culture. Those shifting attitudes have led to more openness about discussing sightings, and the national security implications of not knowing what they could be. Graff is unlikely to convert firm skeptics, but he may at least convince them to keep an open mind the next time they read about UFOs or UAPs.
# Book Review: Rock 'n' roller and Rush pioneer Geddy Lee goes deep in his memoir, 'My Effin' Life' By MARK KENNEDY November 14, 2023. 7:28 AM EST --- Geddy Lee is a rock star, that's undeniable. But he's also a polite Canadian to the core. So it's fitting that the Rush icon picked a not-too-bawdy title for his memoir. "My Effin' Life" is an engrossing tale of a "classic underachiever" who became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vocalist, bassist, and keyboard player. It's a great read for anyone interested in the brilliant prog-rock trio or the music scene from the 1970s onward. Lee's writing is a lot like his band's songs - deep, gloriously nerdy, sometimes wandering and wonderfully thoughtful. It's a 400-page narrative from a perfectionist who calls himself "Mr. Bossypants." "It's a compulsion to exhaust every possibility to make the perfect record," he writes. "I don't want to have to live with errors. Impossible, I know, but what's the effin' point of not shooting for the moon?" The book is enlivened by photos of scrawled lyric sheets, studio doodles and private emails as Lee traces the rise of a band who faced a pre-MTV landscape, a lack of coast-to-coast progressive radio network or sympathetic critics. One reviewer said he sounded like "a guinea pig with an amphetamine habit." Readers will go chronologically as Rush - including guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart - go from sleeping on luggage in the back of a rented station wagon to five-star hotels. Along the way there are dubious sartorial choices like kimonos and lots of cocaine. The band - considered the patron saints of brainy, technical, ambitious rock - leans on all kinds of sources, from the sci-fi of Robert. A Heinlein and J.R.R. Tolkien, to Ayn Rand, Rod Serling and Jean-Paul Sartre. There are hard-won tips for musicians, like never believing any producer who says "Don't worry, lads. It'll all be fixed in the mix." Lee also advises bands to demand final approval on everything, offer soundchecks and take your wallet onstage. One tip seems universal: "Do NOT drop psychedelics before an interview." It's a treat to see Lee geek out on audio equipment - like "the JP-8 with its trendy arpeggiator fed by an 808 drum box" - and later wine. Sipping a glass of 1978 Musigny he writes may be the most rewarding experience he's had. A private treasure is seeing the photo - snapped by a friend - that captured the moment Lee and his future wife Nancy first locked lips. "How many folks can boast a relationship of 50-plus years and still have a photo of their very first kiss?" he writes. Lee throws shade at musician Billy Preston and producer Steve Lillywhite but also turns his critical eye on himself - his neuroses and poor husbanding - and his band, writing that with the album "Vapor Trails," they "disappeared up our own asses." One thing to beware of is Lee's modesty, like the time he casually mentions that he became "besotted" by baseball. In actuality, he has a massive collection of baseball memorabilia, including balls signed by the Beatles and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Lee - born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib - was a "shy, long-haired, brooding character" who grew up in Toronto, born to parents who survived the Holocaust. This is not something he tosses off - it causes echoes throughout his life. Chapter 3 - Lee says you can skip it, but you mustn't - is a meticulously examination of the horrific paths his parents took into hell, a 40-page indictment of Nazi evil that starts in Poland and ends with his mom rescued at Bergen-Belsen and dad from Dachau. Lee's laser-focus on details is put to astounding use here. He suspects his earliest vocal style may have been rooted in his childhood "listening to the stories of what my parents had endured in the camps, suffering all the bullying and alienation, so that when I did begin to sing it did come rushing out as a screaming banshee." This is a memoir where tragedy seems always around the corner, especially later when bandmate Peart is tortured by loss. The memoir even ends with a scene in a Toronto cemetery where Lee introduces his grandson, Finnian, to the boy's great-great grandfather - in the ground. It may be hard in parts but always worth it. It's an effin' good read.
# Book Review: Mitch Albom spins moving Holocaust tale in 'The Little Liar' By ROB MERRILL November 13, 2023. 9:36 AM EST --- Mitch Albom's books often capture the zeitgeist, but his new novel about the fate of Greek Jews during World War II packs a particular punch in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. "The Little Liar" tells the story of four interconnected characters, three of them Jews living in Salonika, Greece, at the onset of Germany's invasion, and the other a Third Reich devotee carrying out Hitler's orders on the Mediterranean island. Nico Krispis is the title character and it's his journey from a beautiful boy who has never told a lie to a Nazi pawn that drives the novel. Nico and his brother, Sebastian, are just boys when the story begins and by the end they're middle-aged men who have lived lives defined by the choices they made during the war. Between them is their childhood friend Fannie, who both boys crushed on when they were growing up, and who Sebastian throws off a train bound for Auschwitz at the start of the novel. The book's narrator presents as the definition of reliable: "I am Truth. And this is a story about a boy who tried to break me." Truth often breaks the fourth wall and "speaks" directly to the reader and sometimes the plot is broken up by parables, as in the one where Parable himself urges Truth to don colorful clothes instead of walking about naked and scaring the populace. That story precedes a chapter called "The Lie of Resettlement" - which explains the myth that Germans told Jews about their destination in the east where they would live and work with their families as they boarded cattle cars bound for concentration camps. Revealing more plot details is counterproductive for a story whose full scope, like a distant image coming into focus through a lens, sharpens with each turn of the page. As with all Albom books, the pages turn quickly. For most, this is a book that will be read in just one or two sittings. But no matter how long it takes, it will stay with you. Inspired by what really happened to 50,000 Jewish people living in Greece during the Holocaust, Albom has created art that can be added to the long list of movies, music, theater and books that are humanity's best hope to deliver on the words inscribed on memorials around the world: "Never Forget."
# Book Review: Alice McDermott's 'Absolution' captures America with Vietnam War in the background By ANITA SNOW November 8, 2023. 1:31 PM EST --- Living in Western diplomatic privilege with cooks and maids and drivers, the women in the new novel "Absolution" spend their days attending luncheons, lectures and cocktail parties as the Vietnam War rumbles in the background. It's 1963 Saigon, but the wives of ambitious American attorneys and engineers are focused on writing clever letters with French phrases to be slipped into light blue airmail envelopes and the daily dressing rituals that include girdles, stockings and white dress shields fastened with tiny gold safety pins. Alice McDermott's ninth novel perfectly captures the manner and mood of that era and the constricted lives that women led as "helpmeets" for their husbands. McDermott won the National Book Award for her novel "Charming Billy." In "Absolution," Irish American newlywed Tricia is just 23, proud of her handsome engineer husband who is on loan to the Navy and hoping they can quickly start a family during their time in southeast Asia. Tricia soon meets Charlene, who is slightly older and has three children. Charlene is dedicated to doing good by raising money to stuff baskets with toys and candy that she and the other ladies deliver to hospitals and later a leper colony. Tricia is pulled into the group of women right away. Barbie dolls are a new trend and Charlene comes up with an idea for a doll outfit that the other Americans can't resist: a traditional Vietnamese ensemble of slim white pants and overdress, topped off with a conical hat. Barbie's Vietnamese-style getup made by a talented local seamstress is huge success and Charlene raises ever more cash for her charitable deeds. The words "absolution" and "absolved" pop up repeatedly in the book that serves as a nod to " The Quiet American," another look at early U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Its author, English writer Graham Greene, was a Catholic convert who used his own novels to study the moral questions of modern times. Tricia, raised a devout Catholic in the years before Vatican II, learns during her year in Vietnam about obligation, grace and sacrifice even as everything seems to collapse around her. She's looking for absolution - a forgiveness of sins - in an imperfect world she can't control and she doesn't always understand. Tricia finally has some questions answered 60 years later, when Charlene's daughter, Rainey, finds her living as a widow in Washington and they relive their memories of that time. Just like America's involvement in Vietnam, Tricia looks back to see that even good intentions can have terrible consequences, but absolution is possible in the end.
# Book Review: Tess Gerritsen writes an un-put-downable spin on espionage novels with 'The Spy Coast' By DONNA EDWARDS November 6, 2023. 3:03 PM EST --- Maggie Bird just wants to relax into a quiet retirement, raising chickens in the cold little town of Purity, Maine. Even in these remote woods, though, trouble manages to find her. She'll have to face her past if she has any hope of staying alive. Spy novel meets travelog with a murder mystery in "The Spy Coast," Book 1 of the new "Martini Club" series. Engrossing from the get-go, Tess Gerritsen's prose is undeniable - a true professional at sucking you right into the story. When a young spy shows up dead outside Maggie's home, her friends immediately jump to action, recalling their former lives as CIA operatives. They may be in their 60s now, but these retirees are more than capable, exasperating Officer Jo Thibodeau. While the young police chief's involvement in the case is an annoying obstacle for Maggie, she can't help but be beguiled by this woman who reminds her of her former self. Jo's constant run-ins with the self-named Martini Club promise her character will have a lasting place in this fiction. Throughout the novel, we learn about Maggie's final job 16 years ago: Operation Cyrano. These flashbacks slowly reveal bits about Danny - the man Maggie met in Bangkok - and his connection to the messy end of her career. In her author's note, Gerritsen says she "wanted to write about spies who don't look like James Bond." She exceeded her goal by miles, handling the Martini Club's old age beautifully and foregoing a glamorized portrayal of espionage in favor of one that reflects a grind - a job just like any other, except for the high likelihood of death. Gerritsen has dozens of titles under her belt, including the novels that inspired the TV series "Rizzoli & Isles," and her wealth of experience shows. She makes it look seamlessly easy; every piece fits together, every chapter is gripping and fun, blood spatters are described with just the right level of ominous medical accuracy. And with the same level of detail, she describes amazing dishes from around the world, their flavor notes mouthwateringly cataloged. Most chapters focus on Maggie, the only character to get first-person perspective, though Gerritsen affords us the occasional, tantalizing glimpse into what's going on with other key players. It's the perfect mix - Maggie completely won me over, and getting to be in her head is an absolute treat. "The Spy Coast" is a positively devourable and un-put-downable start to what promises to be an excellent series.
# Book Review: Solitary writer ruminates on grief, love and writing during pandemic's first spring By ANN LEVIN November 6, 2023. 10:29 AM EST --- The flood of pandemic literature shows no sign of letting up. In the three-plus years since the COVID-19 lockdown, we have seen fiction from the likes of Gary Shteyngart, Elizabeth Strout and many others. Now Sigrid Nunez, author of "Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag" and the National Book Award-winning "The Friend," has written a pandemic novel called "The Vulnerables." The title refers to the groups of people, including the elderly, considered at high risk of getting severely ill at the start of the pandemic in spring 2020. The unnamed narrator, a stand-in for the 72-year-old author, is among them. In the publishing world "The Vulnerables" is classified as a novel but it more often reads like an elegant, funny essay about what it felt like to be stuck in New York City in the early days of the lockdown, when your wealthier friends fled to their country houses, leaving you alone with a bad case of writer's block. The narrator broods about the writing life even though she knows that "whenever I write something about writing or being a writer, I am annoying the hell out of some people." Indeed, self-awareness is a great part of her charm. "For the writer," she muses, "obsessive rumination is a must." About halfway through the book, Nunez stumbles on something like a plot: the narrator is asked to take care of a male parrot named Eureka for a couple stranded in California by the pandemic. The college student who had agreed to do it has fled the city, too, in a worrying display of Gen Z irresponsibility. Then he returns, in part because he missed the bird. "We're bros, he explained, to make me feel even more left out." Initially antagonistic, they slowly form a bond over edibles, vegan ice cream and microdoses of psilocybin. I briefly wondered whether Nunez was heading into "Harold and Maude" territory, the 1971 movie about a troubled young man who falls in love with a much older woman. But as a writer and academic thoroughly steeped in literary theory, Nunez knows that a conventional marriage plot is not an option in contemporary fiction, not "with the world on fire and its systems collapsing... with hope after hope turning out to have been merely false hope." Plus, someone like her likely would have thought that he was not just too troubled but also too young. And so, their unlikely friendship becomes just one more oddball incident in this elegiac essay-novel.
# Book Review: Edel Rodriguez shows Cuban history as a warning for the US in new graphic memoir 'Worm' By DONNA EDWARDS November 6, 2023. 9:48 AM EST --- Decades before Edel Rodriguez made his iconic, mouth-only political illustration of Donald Trump for the cover of Time magazine, he was a boy growing up in Fidel Castro's Cuba. In his new graphic memoir, "Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey," Rodriguez mixes historical context and personal stories to recount his harrowing journey growing up under - then escaping - Communism and authoritarianism in Cuba, as well as the warning signs he recognizes in America today. Before diving into his life, Rodriguez paints a picture of the Cuba he was born into, starting with a short history of the Cuban Revolution that culminated in the January 1959 insurrection and Castro seizing power. Then, Rodriguez zooms in to focus on the small town of El Gabriel, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Havana, where his family has lived for generations. Here we see the echoes of Cuban politics in Edel's daily life as his grandfather saves every scrap and his grandmother warns that the walls have ears. The style is similar to the simplistic but expressive look of his famed political cartoons, but with a printmaking look. Rodriguez uses a limited, layered color palette - mainly red, green and black like the Pan-African flag. But the mildly cartoon-y style is sometimes broken up by detailed portraits and elegant compositions. A depiction of his grandmother holding young Edel early in the book recalls Dorothea Lange's photojournalism of the Great Depression, surrounded by streaky black darkness. Depictions of roses, a skull, a goat and a Santería evil eye dance around them, illuminated in sepia spotlights and looking like they could have come straight from a deck of tarot cards. It makes for a arresting piece that takes up the entire page. Most of the panels in "Worm" are large - if not full-page illustrations, the space is often split into thirds or halves, letting traditional paneling fall by the wayside in favor of sweeping images marked by chunky notes of narration. Even speech bubbles tend toward full paragraphs. Uniquely positioned to comment on autocracies and authoritarianism, Rodriguez reveals his personal fears about the future of the United States, particularly after the Jan. 6 insurrection. He portrays the crowd on the Capitol much like the one in Havana in January 1959 that start the novel, bringing it full-circle in a striking visual comparison. It's these moments at the end that bump "Worm" up from good to great. The final chapter is a touching, personal interview with Edel's father. Namely, he wants to know, why did his parents take such risks to put their family on a rickety old fishing boat for an overnight voyage to Florida? Why go to America, when they were already preparing paperwork for Spain? After everything Edel and his family went through, after seeing how his peers who stayed in Cuba fared, after witnessing how narrowly the U.S. managed to hang onto democracy, what his father passes along proves a heart-rending ending that gives a slight tilt to the story, reframing Rodriguez's historical memoir as a sincere warning.
# Book Review: 'The Warped Side of Our Universe' a novel look at secrets of cosmos By ANDREW DeMILLO October 30, 2023. 11:42 AM EST --- Black holes, wormholes and other mysteries of the universe are so firmly embedded in popular culture - from Carl Sagan's "Contact" to Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" - that readers with no scientific background have some images in mind when the concepts are mentioned. But in "The Warped Side of Our Universe: An Odyssey Through Black Holes, Wormholes, Time Travel, and Gravitational Waves," physicist Kip Thorne and artist Lia Halloran find a novel approach to exploring these topics in startling detail. The collaboration between the two is just as fascinating as the book itself. Thorne is among three astrophysicists who won the Nobel prize in physics in 2017 for their research into gravitational waves. For the past 13 years he and Halloran have partnered on this book as a way to explain the research that has helped shed light on the far reaches the universe. Written in verse form, Thorne's writing is perfectly complemented by Halloran's vivid illustrations in explaining how that research has pierced a universe that is "varied and vast." The paintings portray a swirling universe of wonders, explaining a black hole's characteristics with images of Halloran's wife being bent by its warped spacetime. Images of other scientists such as Sagan and Stephen Hawking appear throughout the paintings in the book, alongside illustrations of black holes colliding and wormholes metamorphizing into time machines. The book guides readers through the history of the research into these concepts, including the work on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, that led to the 2017 Nobel. And it offers a glimpse at the work ahead that physicists hope will reveal more about the birth of the universe.
# Book Review: Henry Winkler grapples with the Fonz and dyslexia in his entertaining new memoir By MARK KENNEDY October 31, 2023. 10:02 PM EST --- Henry Winkler's memoir begins on a Tuesday morning in October 1973, at his first audition for "Happy Days." He was almost 28 - quite a bit old for a high schooler - and struggling with something he didn't know had a name. "Being Henry: The Fonz... and Beyond," released Tuesday by Celadon Books, is a breezy, inspirational story of one of Hollywood's most beloved figures who became an unlikely TV screen icon and later a champion for those with dyslexia. Winkler's 245-page book charts his course chronologically from the Fonz to "Barry" - and the frustrating fallow periods in between - painting a portrait of a man trying to overcome a bitter, loveless childhood and a disability that made reading impossibly hard and simply trying to become a better man. "I was, in my mind, always a little boy," he writes. "My real self was like a kernel of corn sheathed in yards of concrete - as insulated as the nuclear material at Chernobyl." He describes himself at the "Happy Days" audition as "a short Jew from New York City with a unibrow and hair down to my shoulders, confident about next to nothing in my life." He had graduated from Yale's drama school and bagged a few roles despite having difficulty reading. The Fonz almost never happened for him: The fearsome Barry Diller, then head of development for ABC, and future Disney CEO Michael Eisner were skeptical of Winkler getting the part. But writer-creator Garry Marshall saw something. Later, Winkler dishes, the immense popularity of the Fonz eclipsed anyone else on the show and the network secretly approached him with the idea of spinning off a show or changing the name to "Fonzie's Happy Days." Winkler refused. The end of "Happy Days" brought its own stress for a man who admits that "worrying is my favorite indoor sports." He writes: "I was terrified of being a flash in the pan. A one-hit wonder. Was I?" Over the years, there were guest spots on shows like "Arrested Development," "Royal Pains" and "Parks and Recreation" until finally "Barry," the show in 2018 that would prove a second tentpole to his career and produce his first primetime Emmy. In 2003, Winkler branched out into children's books with Lin Oliver, writing about the adventures of Hank Zipzer, a young boy with dyslexia who overcomes many learning challenges. The 28-book series "Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever" was based on Winkler's own experience with undiagnosed dyslexia. "At the height of my fame and success, I felt embarrassed, inadequate," he writes. The memoir is enlivened by an unusual move: Winkler includes long reaction passages from his wife, Stacey, who is pretty brutal about Winkler's immaturity, his parenting, his own parents and a crippling fear of poverty. "A very big thing I'd learned about Henry was that when he wasn't working, he was absolutely miserable. Adrift. Insecure. Anxious," she writes. It's telling that Winkler - who writes he has lately benefited from therapy - includes a frank perspective from outside his own head. There are fun moments throughout: How Winkler came to produce "MacGyver" and how he got fired from directing "Turner & Hooch." There's a hysterical section about trying to direct Burt Reynolds in "Cop & ½" and, while Winkler is a nice guy, he's still capable of throwing some shade at Michael Keaton. He wonderfully captures the late Robin Williams - "within 42 seconds, I knew, I was in the presence of greatness" - and how ABC made Ron Howard so mad during "Happy Days" that he became a film director almost out of spite. But one figure looms over this book and career - the Fonz, whose moody expression fills the back cover. Winkler by the end has come to peace with his creation. "For a long time after 'Happy Days,' I was saddened that the world could only see me as the Fonz," he writes. "But I never lost sight of what the character gave me - a roof over my head, food on the table, my children's education - and how much it gave me in terms of introducing me to the whole world."
# Book Review: 'White Holes' by Carlo Rovelli reads more like poetry than science lesson By ANDREW DeMILLO October 30, 2023. 10:33 AM EST --- It doesn't take a degree in astrophysics or expertise on Albert Einstein to appreciate "White Holes," theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli's latest book. But brushing up on Dante Alighieri's work might help. Rovelli liberally sprinkles quotes from Dante throughout his slim book exploring the hypothesis that black holes eventually transform into an inverse white hole. It's fitting for a book that says as much about imagination and exploration as it does about physics. Oftentimes, Rovelli's book feels more like poetry than a science lesson as he explains black holes in striking detail and the theoretical concepts behind white holes. Unlike black holes, there is no proof that white holes exist. There are no satellite images of them. As Rovelli describes them, white holes are another solution of Einstein's equation, "how a black hole would appear if we could film it and run the film in reverse." In the book, Rovelli says he keeps two readers in mind when he's writing - those who know nothing about physics that he can communicate to, and those who know everything but he can offer new perspectives. That's why there are no equations to pore over as Rovelli explains the nature of black holes and how time and gravity operate differently in white holes. A handful of illustrations, however do help in walking readers through these concepts. The book won't turn lay readers into an expert on white holes or theoretical physics. But Rovelli helps readers grasp how important imagination is to seeing the universe in new ways is, for both artists and scientists. "Science and art are about the continual reorganization of our conceptual space, of what we call meaning," Rovelli writes.
# Book Review: Broad themes meet niche topics in Fadipe's debut novel 'The Sun Sets in Singapore' By DONNA EDWARDS October 30, 2023. 10:02 AM EST --- Dara's dream of defying the odds and becoming a partner at her firm is just within reach when Lani enters the picture. This handsome Nigerian man is about to irrevocably change her life, and her best friend's and the newcomer to their book club's lives, too. Kehinde Fadipe's debut novel, "The Sun Sets in Singapore," brings three expat Nigerian women to the stage to highlight the specific struggles that come with their race, gender and backgrounds - particularly in an upscale and competitive environment like Singapore. Lani is joining Dara's firm, and the timing is impeccable for undermining the years of cutthroat efforts and ludicrous hours she's sunk into her job trying to secure a partnership. She tells her best friend, Amaka, in hopes they can dig up some dirt on the guy and figure out what to do. But Amaka, who's trying to keep her workplace romance and the battle over her father's estate thoroughly compartmentalized, is zapped by an immediate attraction to Lani. Her coping mechanism of choice is pricey shoes and handbags, and with the stresses piling up, Amaka's on track to blow through everything her father left. Then there's Lillian, a former concert pianist who followed her husband from the United States to Singapore in an attempt to escape her demons. But the emotional scars left by the death of her parents at an early age can't be outrun. When she sees Lani, he's the spitting image of her father. The grief, stress and aimlessness that have ruled her life for so long begin to bubble over. The women find themselves in the same book club, which cycles through tons of enticing titles that Fadipe has kindly included a list of at the end of the novel. When the women get into discussing the books they've read, it's clearly a statement on the story; halfway through, there's essentially a book report on "Americanah" about the way women oppress each other. It's heavy handed, but it works. Fadipe's novel tackles broad, common themes: misogyny in the workplace, family strife and love triangles. But it's also exceptionally niche. Dara loves Greek mythology, Amaka knows designer fashion inside and out, and classical music is embedded in Lillian like DNA. Plus, their very status as Nigerians in Singapore is a rarity that brings up hyper-specific experiences unfamiliar to most Western readers. It's uncomfortable, cool, and confusing all at once. And in the moments when you know the reference, it's highly rewarding. "The Sun Sets in Singapore" is charming, sweet, funny and emotional - but also exhausting. Its high drama, quick turns and brutally unrelenting pace demand you keep up or drop out, which makes it all the more disappointing when the pivotal climax is as clear as day with a red flag the size of Singapore waving right in readers' faces for pages. The tone doesn't change between the women's chapters, so I found myself flipping back on multiple occasions to figure out which "she" we were reading about. Would I read it again? No. Am I glad I read it? Absolutely. Just the opportunity to experience something completely new makes "The Sun Sets in Singapore" worth picking up and discussing at your own book club.
# Book Review: 'A Brief History of Intelligence' may help humans shape the future of AI By ROB MERRILL October 23, 2023. 2:28 PM EST --- Ever wonder how Homo sapiens got so smart? How come we developed actual language when all the other animals didn't? How about what first made a nematode turn its body in a different direction? Or... what's a nematode? Answers to those questions and much, much more can be found in the pages of Max Bennett's new book "A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI and the Five Breakthroughs that Made Our Brains." At 365 pages plus 45 more with a glossary, chapter notes and a bibliography, readers can quibble whether it's indeed brief, but it is certainly thorough. Bennett's premise - he's a software entrepreneur who founded a company called Bluecore that "helped predict what consumers would buy before they knew what they wanted" - is that humans won't ever create true artificial intelligence without understanding exactly what led to the real intelligence we already possess. So he begins with those nematodes - worms, to you and me - and painstakingly details the five breakthroughs that over the course of billions of years evolved into the three-pound brain that is folded into all of our skulls. The first half of the book is a touch dry, detailing not only what caused worms to turn (food!), but how fish learn via trial and error and the pivotal role the basal ganglia plays in dictating behavior, among many, many other evolutionary developments. Bennett cites the work of psychologists and neuroscientists every step of the way and includes plenty of charts and graphs to make his points. It can feel like you're reading a textbook at times. But to his credit, he begins each new chapter with actual prose, as in this description of the Cambrian explosion more than 500 million years ago: "The gooey microbial mats of the Ediacaran that turned the ocean floor green would have long since faded and given way to a more familiar sandy underbelly. The sensible, slow, and small creatures of the Ediacaran would have been replaced by a bustling zoo of large mobile animals as varied in form as in size." When Bennett begins to connect the evolution of the human brain to where we are in the development of artificial intelligence is when the book, for this reader, gets more interesting. Why can't machines truly learn? Even ChatGPT, which every industry seems to be embracing these days, can't "learn things sequentially," writes Bennett. "They learn things all at once and then stop learning." We've trained ChatGPT using the entire contents of the Internet, but the software can't learn new things because of the risk that it will forget old things, or learn the wrong things. Bennett is intelligent enough not to draw any conclusions about AI in a field that is changing daily, but he does end his book with a challenge. Evolution gave us our magnificent human brain, he writes, and now that we are in a position to play god and create a new form of intelligence, we must first decide on our goal - are we destined to spread out across the cosmos? Or will we fail, victims of pride or climate change or something yet unseen, just another branch on the evolutionary tree, which will grow on without humans and perhaps never add a limb called "Artificial Intelligence?" No reader alive today will live long enough for that answer, but Bennett makes a solid case for why reverse engineering the human brain may lead to future breakthroughs in the science of AI.
# Book Review: Sandra Newman puts a feminist spin on '1984' with 'Julia' By ROB MERRILL October 23, 2023. 12:58 PM EST --- Rejoice, comrades! Almost 75 years after George Orwell's "1984" was published in 1949, readers can return to Airstrip One with its Newspeak and Ministries of Truth, Peace, Love and Plenty. On second thought, maybe it's not a place anyone wants to revisit. Maybe Orwell's depiction of an ultra-totalitarian society in which "doublethink" - "Truth is Hate. Plenty is Hate. Peace is Hate. Love is Hate" - rules, hits a little too close to the real world in 2023. But don't let that argument dissuade you from reading Sandra Newman's remarkable new novel, "Julia." Marketed as a "retelling" of "1984" (Orwell's estate actually approved its publication), it's not quite as bleak as its progenitor. And the omniscient third-person feminist perspective from inside the head of Winston Smith's lover, Julia, is refreshing. Julia is a mechanic in the Ministry of Truth's Fiction Department, "perpetually fascinated by the plot machinery, how it worked and the ways it could go wrong." When we first meet her, she's an ideal citizen - embracing the Party line in public, but always cognizant of Big Brother watching via the ubiquitous telescreens and expressing her cynicism only in private. Oh, and she's falling in love with a young woman named Vicky at the hostel where they both live. In fact, it's Vicky's fondness for Julia that sets in motion the events that spark the plot of "1984." The love note Julia slips to Winston Smith? Turns out Vicky actually slipped it first to Julia! "1984" fans will enjoy experiencing the story from this point forward through Julia's eyes, but for readers who aren't Orwellian scholars, it's important that "Julia" hold up on its own as well. Newman introduces the tenets of the Party - "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" - and describes the surveillance society of Big Brother in great detail and it's all just as horribly shocking as when you read it the first time. Don't be discouraged though - after Winston and Julia, ahem, "rat" each other out to their torturers, we're treated to a "Part Three" that actually goes beyond the plot of "1984." It's the rare answer to that perennial question at the end of a good book, "and then what happened?" And for a little while, just a little, readers can hope that rebellions aren't always doomed, and an individual might have some power over the collective.
# Book Review: Dolly Parton gives a tour of her closet in 'Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones' By MAE ANDERSON October 17, 2023. 1:30 PM EST --- Dolly Parton's iconic look -- big hair, big heels and tight low-cut dresses covered in rhinestones or beads - is a big part of her lasting appeal, nearly as important as her vast catalogue of country ballads and bangers that made her a star. In "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones," Parton takes fans on a detailed tour through her closet, filled with 450 vivid photos of decades of sparkly dresses, jumpsuits, jeans and even wigs, which she started wearing early in her career. She chronicles how she always knew she wanted a maximalist, flashy look, and stayed true to her personal style despite seemingly endless objections by her father, managers and others who always wanted her to "tone it down." "From early on I loved the big hair and makeup, the long nails, the high heels, the flashy clothes," she writes. "But believe it or not, I had to fight for that look." Starting with replicas of Dolly's "Coat of Many Colors," based on her famous song about a coat her mother made her, Dolly gives a tour of how her style evolved through the decades, from the country costumes she wore as the "girl singer" on "The Porter Wagoner Show" in the late 1960s and early 1970s, to the jumpsuits she wore during her rising solo career and the flashy rhinestone-studded gowns and outfits she wore making it big in Hollywood movies like "9 to 5" and "Rhinestone." The book is a joint effort with her niece, Rebecca Seaver, and music journalist Holly George-Warren. It includes profiles and remembrances from her favorite designers, makeup artists and stylists and others that help put together Parton's famous look. And fans can get a glimpse of some of Parton's outfits at an accompanying exhibit at Lipscomb University in Nashville Oct. 31-Dec. 9.
# Book Review: Sly Stone wants to take you higher in memoir with tales of funk, drugs and survival By CHRISTOPHER WEBER October 17, 2023. 11:03 AM EST --- While summoning stories from his remarkable yet erratic life in music, Sly Stone admits he occasionally had to depend on the recollections of others because his own memory wasn't always reliable. At one point in his new memoir, Stone, now 80, remembers that during the hazy excesses of his 1970s rock stardom he briefly shared a Los Angeles mansion with a baboon that had the run of the place. He's just not sure where the primate came from. "I forgot where I got him?" Stone muses. "Baboon store?" His book, co-written with Ben Greenman, overflows with wit and wordplay befitting a maestro whose funkiest song with his band the Family Stone was "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" - also the title of the book. Born Sylvester Stewart in Texas and raised in Vallejo, California, across the bay from San Francisco, he studied music composition at a junior college while working as a radio DJ, becoming known for his whimsical patter and eclectic playlists. Stone clearly recalls his early and evolving vision of a no-barriers style of music that would meld Motown pop-soul, James Brown's funk, R&B, gospel and psychedelic rock. Shortly after forming in 1966, Sly and the Family Stone produced a string of sunny hits including "Everyday People," "I Want To Take You Higher," "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Stand!" that captured the hippy spirit of the times. Stone's band included Black and white musicians while featuring women not just singing but playing instruments - a rarity at the time. A triumphant set at Woodstock and a star turn in the subsequent film of the concert made him a household name. "Rhythm, melody and lyrics carried inspiration to the people," he writes. That inspiration became a lasting influence for generations of artists including The Jackson 5, Prince and countless hip-hop acts. Stone's music took a darker and more cynical turn as drugs took hold and the dream of the '60s devolved into political assassinations, racial strife and lingering war in Vietnam. He takes readers through the agonizing recording process of his 1971 classic "There's a Riot Goin' On," on which he says he "sacrificed technique for feeling." The album has an anguished tone, exemplified by the volatile funk of the single "Luv N' Haight." Meanwhile at concerts, fans never knew whether they'd get one of his famously ecstatic performances, or if Stone would bother showing up at all. He espoused Black Power, but not loudly enough for Black Panthers, who accused Stone of acquiescing to white America. Meanwhile, some white people thought he was too militant. While unafraid to be political, he remained defiantly nonviolent and never shook the notion that, yes, people can all get along. "We exist to coexist," he writes. That uplifting spirit returns, if only sporadically, for 1973's "Fresh," his last great album. The band splintered soon after and Stone entered a decades-long cycle of addiction, middling solo offerings, doomed tours and tax troubles. Predictably, the memoir contains no shortage of occasionally humorous - but mostly bleak - backstage tales of debauchery and drug abuse. While on tour in his glory days Stone carried a violin case filled with cocaine. Later he said he went on PCP binges because "it threw your perspective off, which I liked." Eventually he was overtaken by a dependence on crack cocaine that drained his talents, ruined relationships and led to regular stints in jail and rehab. "Arrest records were the new records, and I was hitting the charts," he writes. "Court dates were my new concerts, and I was still just as good as arriving on time." Hip-hop empresario Questlove, whose publishing imprint produced the book, writes in the introduction that "Sly has lived a hundred lives, and they are all here." Fans will certainly appreciate the vivid accounts from recording studios, concert stages and star-studded parties. But readers looking for personal insights will come away disappointed. Stone is self-aware but not particularly self-reflective. However, even during his gloomiest days, Stone said he relied on his compositions to keep the darkness out, always remaining true to "the larger idea of music as a spiritual force."
# Book Review: Clever new novel uses museum wall labels to narrate life story of rich American woman By ANN LEVIN October 16, 2023. 11:02 AM EST --- Christine Coulson, who spent 25 years working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has written a short, clever novel that tells the story of a woman over the course of her life in a series of museum wall labels. In doing so, she acknowledges a sad but undeniable truth - that for much of the 20th century and perhaps even today, a certain kind of wealthy, white socialite in America was nothing more than an object to be critiqued, described, evaluated and displayed. The woman's name is Caroline Margaret Brooks Whitaker, better known as Kitty, and she is indisputably the star of "One Woman Show." We are meant to read her life story as if we were walking through an exhibition at a museum like the Met, gazing at a set of related decorative objects laid out in chronological order in a series of vitrines. At the start of the show, it is 1911 and Kitty, a girl of 5, is declared to be "a masterpiece," "all fireworks," a "golden child," depicted under the watchful gaze of her doting parents, Minty and Whit Whitaker. At age 10, she already has "porcelain manners" yet senses her "suffocating" future: "the fragile need to be forever cared for according to someone else's tastes and appetites." For the rest of the novel, the object labels offer up a road map of her well-bred life: from the Chapin School on Manhattan's Upper East Side to Miss Porter's in Connecticut, where Kitty practices balancing books on her head to improve her posture. Then the "privileged bohemia" of Smith College where, like former first lady Barbara Bush, she drops out after freshman year to get married. In her case, to the heir to a Pittsburgh mining fortune, whom she met at an Egyptian-themed spring cotillion in 1925. She is excited about being the centerpiece of a "new dynastic collection." Occasionally, Coulson inserts a page of dialogue to flesh out the motivations of the characters. But it is remarkable how much information she can convey about Kitty's life, including her infertility, multiple marriages and touch of kleptomania, solely using wall labels. At the beginning of the novel Coulson slyly announces that the exhibition, "One Woman Show," opening Oct. 17, 2023 (when the book was to go on sale), was "made possible by gin, taffeta and stock dividends." The closing image is haunting: a wrapped and crated Kitty, warehoused for lack of interest. "A classical form ... Once flawless, inevitable. Now broken, irrelevant. Chipped, cracked, and packed away."
# Book Review: John Grisham brings back 'The Firm' star Mitch McDeere in 'The Exchange' By ROB MERRILL October 16, 2023. 10:03 AM EST --- Thirty-two years after "The Firm" launched his career as a legal novelist who churns out bestselling books that almost invariably become movies, John Grisham returns with a sequel starring Mitch McDeere. In "The Exchange," it's 2000 and McDeere is now a high-powered partner at the world's largest law firm, Scully & Pershing, having "established a reputation as a sort of legal SWAT team leader sent in by Scully to rescue clients in distress." He lives a very privileged life in Manhattan with his wife and two young boys. Grisham fans will love the first 37 pages, as McDeere travels back to Memphis for the first time since the events in "The Firm" and meets with an old friend. It's an excuse for Grisham to fill in the 15-year time gap since Mitch and his wife Abby fled Memphis on the run from the Chicago mob, who was hunting him for his role exposing crimes at Bendini, Lambert & Locke, but it's inconsequential to the new story Grisham has to tell. That narrative kicks off when Mitch is called to Rome to take the lead on a case involving a Turkish company that built a $400 million bridge to nowhere in the Libyan desert that Colonel Gaddafi (yes, it's the year 2000 and the Libyan dictator is still alive) is now refusing to pay for. When Mitch assigns a London-based Scully associate to go on a fact-finding mission to the bridge, she is taken hostage and this legal thriller pretty much drops the adjective and just becomes a thriller. Mitch's job is not to legally outsmart his colleague's captors, but to try and make sure she's not beheaded by terrorists by working every angle to come up with their ransom. The action skips from New York to Rome to London to Tripoli to Istanbul and it's very easy to imagine the establishing aerial shots in the movie version as the plot crosses continents. Grisham fans will devour it; but there were times when this reader wished the action would slow down a little so we could spend some time with the characters. Mitch is always on the move - in a car, on a plane, in a boardroom - conversations are clipped, and the plot pace is furious. Grisham certainly reflects the urgency of Mitch's mission in his writing, but some of the best parts of the book are when the story gets a chance to breathe a little, as in this scene on a boat off the coast of Maine: "Tanner inched the throttle up a notch and the wake grew wider. They were nearing a cove with the Atlantic not far away. The water was deep blue and flat, but an occasional wave sent mist over the boat and refreshed everyone. With his left hand, Mitch reached over and took hers." It's not much, but in this frenetic novel, it's a moment that conveys the love between Mitch and Abby without words and maybe, just maybe, the promise of an extended future where they aren't always on the run.
# Book Review: Film historian exploits tumult, gossip in gripping account of Hollywood in the '50s By KRYSTA FAURIA October 9, 2023. 12:59 PM EST --- When film historian Foster Hirsch began research for his latest book about the changing and turbulent movie landscape of the 1950s, he could not have known the timeliness of his subject matter upon the release of "Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher." Following a summer of historic Hollywood strikes and discussions about our own new technology, evolving studio framework and the increasing import of television, Hirsch looks to history to show us there is nothing new under the sun. Though the decade gave us a host of classics still beloved by critics, Hirsch's epic historical account peels back the curtain to reveal the tumultuous uncertainty that characterized the Tinseltown of the '50s. He meticulously contextualizes important historical details while artfully combining them with some good old-fashioned Hollywood gossip. The result is a gripping yet informative report on a time in show business where threats to the industry seemingly lurked around every corner of society. While this book is not for the casually interested reader - Hirsch is a college professor likely writing for his industry-obsessed colleagues after all - it promises to entertain and educate movie lovers wanting to know more about the evolution of the film industry. In conjunction with the book's release, Hirsch is co-programming " 50 from the '50s," a four-week film festival in New York beginning this week featuring some of the decade's most iconic films.
# Book Review: Isa Arsén delivers an unconventional love story in debut novel 'Shoot the Moon' By ROB MERRILL October 9, 2023. 11:10 AM EST --- If you're going to write a novel, why not do as the title of Isa Arsén's debut suggests? "Shoot the Moon" refers to the actual act of getting astronauts to the lunar surface, but this work of fiction also attempts to shoot the moon like a fearless player in a Hearts card game - thematically, there's bisexuality, loss, Daddy issues, and a unique wormhole that allows for some very specific time travel. The bulk of the novel takes place in the late 1960s, as NASA is indeed trying to beat the Soviets to the moon. Annie Fisk is the lead character, a recent physics graduate whose father played a role developing the atomic bomb before dying young. By page five Annie is in love with an Apollo 11 astronaut named Norm she meets at a NASA Christmas party. And by page seven we've gone backwards 18 years and 8-year-old Annie is meeting a like-aged stranger named Diana in the back garden of her childhood home in New Mexico. The plot only gets trippier from there. In 1968, Annie really does discover a wormhole behind a bunch of computer power units at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. To say much more about where it leads and how she and Norm test it and what ultimately happens is to spoil the aha! moments of the book. The best parts are when things click into place as Arsén connects earlier scenes to later ones. There are times when the achronological nature of the story gets confusing and you may have to flip back a chapter or three to orient yourself, but perhaps that's to be expected in a story involving time travel. As for time, it's Annie's obsession. She either doesn't have enough of it, or regrets what she's already spent, or worries about the future. The wormhole makes her question the future because it repudiates everything she knows to be scientifically true, but it also helps her learn about her past. As one of her college professors puts it during a phone call about the anomaly she's discovered in Houston: "The greatest stunt reality ever pulled was convincing us there was any such thing as normal... That's the big secret, Annie: time goes on, agnostic of all our own mess, and it just keeps getting weirder." This is a weird book, yes, but also a bold and unconventional love story. Arsén writes with real heart and certainly demonstrates talent as a storyteller. You can tell she cares for this character Annie she created, and readers should look forward to what she creates next.
# Book Review: 'Differ We Must' illustrates Abraham Lincoln's political skills By ANDREW DeMILLO October 3, 2023. 9:10 AM EST --- In "Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded In a Divided America," Steve Inskeep is taking on one of the most challenging tasks for a biographer by profiling the nation's 16th president. There's little new to be said or explored about Lincoln that's not already covered in the massive pile of biographies already out there. But Inskeep, co-host of NPR's "Morning Edition," tries an approach that illuminates Lincoln's political skill. From the opening pages of the biography, Inskeep details how much Lincoln's political skill was a part of the late president's legacy and character. As Inskeep puts it, "Lincoln preserved the country and took part in a social revolution because he engaged in politics." Inskeep illustrates that political skill by focusing on 16 encounters Lincoln had throughout his lifetime. They include well-known and well-chronicled figures in Lincoln's political upbringing, such as William Seward, George McClellan and Frederick Douglass. Even though these chapters tread familiar ground, Inskeep manages to adeptly use them to show how Lincoln's mastery of politics adapted and evolved throughout his career. But the most compelling chapters profile lesser-known figures and their connections to Lincoln. They include Mary Ellen Wise, who disguised her gender to serve as a Union soldier and confronted Lincoln to collect her back pay. As Inskeep recounts, Lincoln ensured Wise got her pay and the president also got news coverage that reinforced him as a man of the people. In the last chapter, Inskeep uses Lincoln's at-times fraught marriage with Mary Todd to show how his rocky home life helped prepare him for leading a country during the Civil War. "The skills he needed at home resembled some he needed for work," Inskeep writes. The brisk biography, filled with lively anecdotes and interesting analysis, offers more than enough to stand out among recent additions to the collection of Lincoln biographies.
# Book Review: Sketch-comedy star Keegan-Michael Key breaks down the art form in hilarious new book By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER October 2, 2023. 3:31 PM EST --- Keegan-Michael and Elle know more than a few of the Key characteristics of successful sketch comedy. Which means they would be the first to point out that lines like that don't pass muster. Keegan-Michael Key, half of the famed "Key & Peele" comedy duo, and his wife, Elle Key, a writer, director and producer, have translated their award-winning podcast, "The History of Sketch Comedy," into a hilarious and informative new book. "The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey Through the Art and Craft of Humor" traces the art form from its earliest iterations hundreds of years ago to its current purveyors, including "Saturday Night Live" and "A Black Lady Sketch Show," among others. In between, the authors deconstruct some of the medium's most notable examples. The Keys provide transcripts of some of these classics, such as "The Argument" from the "Monty Python" troupe. As Michael Palin and John Cleese banter back and forth, Keegan-Michael Key interjects every so often. "It's so stupid," he writes. "And by stupid I do mean awesome." This is where the book is at its best, because it is clear the Keys love and appreciate the science behind a good sketch, which they point out requires the following: "characters, a premise, and some sort of comedic escalation or heightening." It was a particular treat to read Key's breakdown of the famed (215 million views and counting on YouTube) "Substitute Teacher" sketch from "Key & Peele." Watching Key's Mr. Garvey character butcher names (A-A-Ron!) is laugh-out-loud funny. So, is reading about how he and Jordan Peele made that three minutes of comedy bliss come to life. "The History of Sketch Comedy" also features essays from comic giants, and in some cases, famous fans - Peele, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ken Jeong, Mike Myers, Gary Oldman and others. Readers probably will feel as though they learned something by reading this book. They definitely will laugh throughout the process.
# Book Review: 'Extremely Online' shows how creators and influencers have shaped social media By ANDREW DeMILLO October 2, 2023. 3:19 PM EST --- There's no shortage of books published in the past several years that have focused on the recent history of social media companies and the founders of the tech giants running them. In "Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet," Taylor Lorenz makes a valuable and entertaining contribution to that collection by telling the story through the prism of the users, creators and influencers who have shaped social media and its impact on our culture. Lorenz, technology columnist for The Washington Post, has written what she calls a social history of social media that profiles the motley collection of figures who have had arguably more influence on the landscape of the modern Internet than most Silicon Valley executives. From mommy bloggers to TikTok celebrities, Lorenz focuses on the users who "revolutionized new approaches to work, entertainment, fame, ambition in the 21st century." As someone who has covered those new approaches over the years, Lorenz is well-positioned to chronicle that history. Lorenz tells the story of how tech companies struggled to adapt to users' needs and demands over the past two decades. The book is an enlightening history of the pioneers of influencers such as bloggers Heather Armstrong and Julia Allison, as well as the rise and fall of platforms such MySpace and Vine. She also explores the dark side of social media's rise, looking at how platforms have been weaponized from "Gamergate" to the rapid spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. She lays bare the challenges created by the transformation of social media, noting that "tech founders may control source code, but users shape the product."
# Book Review: Romance strikes in 'Maybe Once, Maybe Twice' with quirky lines and an epic soundtrack By DONNA EDWARDS October 2, 2023. 12:47 PM EST --- On Maggie Vine's 30th birthday, she makes a marriage pact with the handsome, broad-shouldered, sunbeam-smile-having Garrett Scholl. Thing is, the struggling singer-songwriter had already made a similar deal with her first boyfriend, Asher Reyes, who's now an extremely successful - and attractive - actor. Thus the two great loves of Maggie's life come crashing back to her at 35. Alison Rose Greenberg's second novel, "Maybe Once, Maybe Twice," is a long, luscious buildup of will-they-won't-they, love-triangling, song-writing, and trips down memory lane as the narrative hops back to teen Maggie and 20-something Maggie to flesh out her past. Greenberg writes exceptional characters who still fit into the ordinary world, like our protagonist. Maggie Vine is the chic, All The Feels, folk-singing heroine we wanted but secretly didn't believe could exist so tastefully. She's got humor and sorrow, pride and doubt, good moments and bad, and a model-gorgeous, standoffish-yet-lovable best friend for a sidekick. Maggie wants it all: love, a kid, and a career. And, honestly, why can't she have it? When Maggie learns that Asher will be co-producing a film adaptation of her favorite novel, it could be the key to unlocking all her dreams. She can reconnect with Asher, prove herself as the best musician to write the songs for it, and, with the kind of money she'd make on a movie deal like that, she could start a family. Greenberg's style is sharp and funny, with quirky lines like "Stop trying to make me fall in love with Dave Matthews!" and "Progressive grandmas are national treasures." For as fun as the story is, you can almost forget that it still takes place in an insidious industry that often uses women's bodies and minds for the gains of the men at the top. Except Maggie can't forget. After more than 100 pages, we get the name of the man who had dangled a career in front of her before ripping it apart: Cole Wyan. The tone turns downright ominous surrounding this Chekhov's gun of a man who we readers hope against all hope doesn't find his way back into the pages of this book. But Greenberg doesn't leave us hanging in despair. Maggie Vine always chooses hope, and finally, FINALLY, maybe it's possible that a woman does all the right things and actually comes out better for it; rewarded for fighting back and going to therapy and telling the truth. Ripe for a super-meta film adaptation (about the novel about a film adaptation of a novel), "Maybe Once, Maybe Twice" is everything you want in a smart romantic comedy: deep, tear-inducing emotions; sharp, sardonic humor; steamy sex scenes played by even steamier leads; and an epic soundtrack underneath it all. Musically, it's hands-down five stars, complete with an accompanying playlist on Spotify. Musical mentions range from Dolly Parton to Fall Out Boy to Olivia Rodrigo. And, of course, Stevie Nicks - the novel's very title is an homage to the great musical prowess of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. The story wraps up quickly - a sudden halt at the end of a roller coaster that leaves you wondering what that ending really means, and whether lightning strikes three times.
# Migrant caravan slogs on through southern Mexico with no expectations from a US-Mexico meeting By EDGAR H. CLEMENTE December 26, 2023. 10:06 PM EST --- HUIXTLA, Mexico (AP) - Under a beating sun, thousands of migrants in a caravan continued to trudge through southern Mexico on Tuesday, with some saying they expect nothing good from an upcoming meeting this week between American and Mexican officials about the migrant surge at the U.S. border. The migrants passed by Mexico's main inland immigration inspection point outside the town of Huixtla, in southern Chiapas state. National Guard officers there made no attempt to stop the estimated 6,000 members of the caravan. The migrants were trying to make it to the next town, Villa Comaltitlan, about 11 miles (17 kilometers) northwest of Huixtla. In the past, Mexico has let migrants go through, trusting that they would tire themselves out walking along the highway. No migrant caravan has ever walked the 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to the U.S. border. U.S. officials are expected to press Mexico to stop more migrants at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting "will be between fools and fools, who want to use women and children as trading pieces," said migrant activist Luis García Villagrán, one of the organizers of the caravan. "We are not trading pieces for any politician." "What Mexico wants is the money, the money to detain and deport migrants," Villagrán said. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed last week that U.S. officials want Mexico to do more to block migrants at its southern border with Guatemala, or make it more difficult to move across Mexico by train or in trucks or buses - a policy known as "contention." But the president said that in exchange, he wants the United States to send more development aid to migrants' home countries, and to reduce or eliminate sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela, noting "that is what we are going to discuss, it is not just contention." Some on the caravan, like Norbey Díaz Rios, a migrant from Colombia, said turning back was not an option. Díaz Rios, 46, said he left his home because of threats from criminal gangs, and plans to ask for asylum in the U.S. "You know that you are walking for a purpose, with a goal in mind, but it is unsure if you are going to make it, or what obstacles you will find along the way," said Díaz Rios. "I can't return to Colombia." "They should give me a chance to remain in a country where I can get papers and work and provide for my family," he added. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall will travel to Mexico City for the talks. This month, as many as 10,000 migrants were arrested daily at the southwest U.S. border. The Mexican government felt pressure to address that problem, after U.S. officials briefly closed two vital Texas railway border crossings, claiming they were overwhelmed by processing migrants. That put a chokehold on freight moving from Mexico to the U.S., as well as grain needed to feed Mexican livestock moving south. The rail crossings have since been reopened, but the message appeared clear. The caravan started out on Christmas Eve from the city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, and migrants spent Christmas night sleeping on scraps of cardboard or plastic stretched out under awnings, in tents, or on the bare ground. The migrants included single adults but also entire families, all eager to reach the U.S. border, angry and frustrated at having to wait weeks or months in the nearby city of Tapachula for documents that might allow them to continue their journey. Mexico says it detected 680,000 migrants moving through the country in the first 11 months of 2023. In May, Mexico agreed to take in migrants from countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who had been turned away by the U.S. for not following rules that provided new legal pathways to asylum and other forms of migration. But that deal, aimed at curbing a post-pandemic jump in migration, appears to be insufficient as numbers rise once again, disrupting bilateral trade and stoking anti-migrant sentiment.
# Drummond, DeRozan lead the way as Bulls hold off Hawks 118-113 By ANDREW SELIGMAN December 26, 2023. 10:42 PM EST --- CHICAGO (AP) - Andre Drummond had season highs of 24 points and 25 rebounds in his first start of the season, DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and the Chicago Bulls cooled off Atlanta's Trae Young somewhat in beating the Hawks 118-113 on Tuesday night. Young finished with 21 points and 13 assists after tying Oscar Robertson's record of seven consecutive games with at least 30 points and 10 assists. The Bulls won for the ninth time in 13 games with Zach LaVine sidelined because of inflammation in his right foot. And they did it this time with center Nikola Vucevic out because of bruised muscles around his left hip and groin. DeRozan scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including four in the final 26 seconds to help Chicago come away with the win. Drummond made 11 of 13 shots and played 39 minutes with Vucevic sidelined. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 19. White missed all seven 3-pointers and the Bulls were 7 of 25 from beyond the arc, but they made enough shots to bounce back from a loss to injury-riddled Cleveland on Saturday. Bogdan Bogdanovic led Atlanta with 22 points. Dejounte Murray finished with 17 after scoring 20 or more in five straight games, and the Hawks lost their third in a row. The game was tied at 106-all when Alex Caruso nailed a 3 with just under four minutes remaining and the Bulls were up 111-110 when DeRozan hit a 14-footer with 1:42 left. Murray then got called for a charge. With a chance to make it a two-possession game, White missed a 3 and Caruso came away with a steal, only to miss a 3 and a layup. Young then cut it to 113-111 when he made a free throw with 43 seconds remaining. But DeRozan spun for a finger roll to bump Chicago's lead to four with 26 seconds left, and the Bulls hung on from there. But Chicago could be down two key players at least for a little while, with Vucevic joining LaVine on the sideline. Coach Billy Donovan was not sure how long Vucevic will be out. The two-time All-Star had an MRI on Tuesday. Vucevic was hurt trying to defend a dunk by Cleveland's Max Strus during the Bulls' loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday. Strus' right knee struck Vucevic in the groin area. Vucevic, averaging 16.7 points and 10.4 rebounds, missed his first game this season. He played in all 82 games last year. LaVine, meanwhile, started doing some light cutting on Tuesday. ## UP NEXT Hawks: Host Sacramento on Friday. Bulls: Host Indiana on Thursday.
# Markkanen has 31 points and 12 boards as Jazz roll to 130-118 win, handing Spurs 5th straight loss By RAUL DOMINGUEZ December 26, 2023. 10:41 PM EST --- SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Lauri Markkanen had 31 points and 12 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz overcame a slow start to beat the San Antonio Spurs 130-118 on Tuesday night. Jordan Clarkson added 24 points, Collin Sexton had 20 and Walker Kessler scored 11 for Utah. Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 26 points, Devin Vassell had 22, Jeremy Sochan added 19 and Victor Wembanyama had 15. The Spurs (4-25) have lost five straight since snapping a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak. The Jazz (13-18) have won three in a row and six of eight after starting the season 2-7. Wembanyama returned after missing two of the past three games with a right ankle injury. He was scheduled to play Saturday in Dallas but stepped on a ball boy during warmups and was held out as a precaution. Wembanyama was 6 for 15 from the field and had seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists in 25 minutes. San Antonio brought Johnson, a longtime starter, off the bench for the second time this season and the change keyed a 15-point lead in the first quarter. Starting in place of Johnson, Julian Champagnie had eight points in the first two minutes. He opened with a 3-pointer off a feed from Wembanyama and soared for a dunk on Sochan's assist. Champagnie finished with 16 points. San Antonio opened 6 for 7 on 3-pointers in building a 28-15 lead eight minutes into the game. The Spurs finished 16 for 35 on 3s. That fast start dissipated as Utah went on a 23-9 run bridging the first and second quarters. Clarkson capped the spurt with a pair of free throws as the Jazz captured their first lead at 38-37 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Markkanen and Clarkson combined for 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the second quarter. It was another successful return for Clarkson to his hometown. He entered the game averaging 16.7 points in 26 games against the Spurs. The Spurs have the worst record in the Western Conference and are second in the league to the Detroit Pistons (2-28), who have lost 27 straight - a single-season record. ## UP NEXT Jazz: At New Orleans on Thursday. Spurs: At Portland on Thursday.
# Franz Wagner scores 28 to lead the Magic to a 127-119 win over the Wizards By MATT SUGAM December 26, 2023. 10:39 PM EST --- WASHINGTON (AP) - Franz Wagner had 28 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds, rookie Anthony Black scored a career-high 23 points and the Orlando Magic defeated the Washington Wizards 127-119 on Tuesday night. "We're playing good ball right now, and I'm just trying to focus on that, honestly," Black said. "It's going to come game-by-game, getting more comfortable. So I'm just trying to keep doing things that's helping us win." Paolo Banchero overcame a slow start to finish with 24 points and eight assists and Jalen Suggs returned from a two-game absence due to a left wrist injury to score 11. "He looked good. His conditioning was on point, he was out there defending the right way, crawling into the basketball, trying to do a lot of the right things," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of Suggs. "Having a couple of games off, there wasn't as much rust as we'd thought there'd be." Jordan Poole had 30 points to lead the Wizards, who have lost four of their last five, and Tyus Jones added 22. Trailing by as many as eight, Washington's bench came up with 12 points in the first quarter, and a 14-4 run tied things at 33 after one. The Magic went on a 7-0 run to take a 45-38 lead in the second quarter and force Washington to call timeout with 6:44 left in the half. The Wizards' Corey Kispert came off the bench and started the game 6 of 6 including 3 of 3 on 3-pointers for 15 first-half points as Washington fought back from down nine to trail 63-60 at the half. The Magic led by as many as nine several times in the third before Banchero hit a left-handed layup for the last shot of the third quarter to give Orlando a 98-88 lead. Washington trailed by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, but an 11-0 run capped by Jones' 3-pointer made it 117-111 with 3:10 remaining. Poole hit a pair of free throws with 2:02 remaining to cut the deficit to four and did so again on a dunk with just under a minute to play, but that's the closest Washington got. "It's the togetherness that we have, our poise, our communication," Wagner said. "We have guys that like playing with each other and for each other and I think that shows in the last couple of minutes when stuff isn't going our way that we come together and kind of find our groove again." The Magic had 70 points in the paint and caused 21 turnovers. They've won the first three games of a four-game regular season series with the Wizards. "Overall, I think schematically we did the right things," Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. "Clean up on a couple of those turnovers and some of the transition opportunities and paint points, I think it's a different ballgame." Daniel Gafford had 13 points and 13 rebounds while Kyle Kuzma had 17 for the Wizards. However, he was only 6 of 18 from the field while accounting for six turnovers. "I just didn't play well," Kuzma said. "If I would have found more of a rhythm, we probably would have won because everybody else played well." ## UP NEXT Magic: Host Philadelphia on Wednesday night. Wizards: Host Toronto on Wednesday night.
# Brian Holloway returns 2 picks for TDs, Texas State beats Rice 45-21 in First Responder Bowl December 26, 2023. 9:54 PM EST --- DALLAS (AP) - Linebacker Brian Holloway returned two interceptions for touchdowns, Jahmyl Jeter ran for three scores, and Texas State beat Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl on Tuesday in the Bobcats' first bowl appearance as an FBS program. Holloway had a 36-yard pick-6 early in the second quarter and returned his second interception 48 yards for a TD in the third that made it 38-21. Both picks came against AJ Padgett, who was intercepted three times overall. Shawqi Itraish relieved Padgett in the fourth quarter and threw two more picks as Texas State forced seven turnovers. Jeter had a 29-yard touchdown run and two scores from 1 yard out. Nash Jones, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive tackle, scored on a 3-yard run for the Bobcats (8-5), who are in their 12th FBS season. Dean Connors scored on runs of 3 and 28 yards for the Owls (6-7), who fell short of their first winning season and first bowl victory since 2014. Ismail Mahdi rushed for 122 yards on 24 carries for the Bobcats. Texas State led 14-7 when Holloway stepped in front of tight end Boden Green between the hash marks, and the senior ran in untouched. Holloway's second score occurred less than two minutes after Jones caught T.J. Finley's lateral from the opposite side of the field and jogged in for a 31-21 lead. Holloway made the grab amid midfield traffic, ran toward the right sideline and raced in to become the first Texas State player with two interceptions for touchdowns in a game. Finley was 15 of 29 for 152 yards. Padgett was 10 of 21 for 81 yards and a touchdown in addition to the three picks. ## THE TAKEAWAY Texas State: Mahdi, a sophomore, went into the bowl season with an FBS-leading average of 167.8 all-purpose yards per game. He had 34 yards on kick returns to finish with 153 yards, a total diminished by his minus-3 yards receiving on one catch. Rice: In addition to being intercepted five times, the Owls muffed a pooch kickoff and muffed a punt.
# Pistons set single-season record with 27th straight loss, as Cunningham's 41 not enough against Nets By DAVE HOGG December 26, 2023. 10:36 PM EST --- DETROIT (AP) - The Detroit Pistons set an NBA single-season record with their 27th straight loss Tuesday night, as Cam Johnson scored 24 points and Mikal Bridges added 21 to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 118-112 victory. Cade Cunningham scored 41 points but the Pistons (2-28) broke a tie with the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers hold the overall mark at 28, a skid that started in the 2014-15 season and carried over into 2015-16. "A lot of this load is trusted to me, on the court and in the locker room," Cunningham said. "Every day, I try to lead the squad, and I haven't been successful at that - 2-28. It's only right that I speak for it and be the face of it." Cunningham scored 37 in the second half and shot 15 for 21 from the field, but Bojan Bogdanovic was the only other Pistons player with more than 15. Cunningham's teammates shot 36.2% (25 for 69), including 28.6% (6 for 21) on 3-pointers. "You have to be real about where we are," Pistons coach Monty Williams said. "Nobody wants something like this attached to them, and the bottom line is it is my job. Coaches are graded on their records." Nic Claxton and Day'Ron Sharpe each added double-doubles for the Nets, who beat the Pistons for the second straight game. "I didn't sleep very well last night, anticipating how tough this game was going to be," Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Any time you play a team back-to-back like that, it is really tough to (win)." Dorian Finney-Smith's 3-pointer capped a 13-0 run that put the Nets up 105-97 with 4:53 to play. Cunningham missed a pair of free throws, but came back with a 3-pointer and a three-point play to pull Detroit within 109-106 with 1:54 left. After Johnson's 3-pointer, a pair of layups from Cunningham made it 112-10. Finney-Smith, though, hit a baseline 3 to put the Nets up 115-110 with 38 seconds left. "We had a little bit of execution and composure down the stretch," Johnson said. "It didn't always go our way, but we were able to pull it out." Alec Burks missed a 3-pointer, and the Nets clinched the game from the free-throw line as fans chanted "Sell the team! Sell the team!" Brooklyn took an 11-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Pistons responded with an 11-0 run to tie the game at 71. Cunningham scored 18 of Detroit's 31 points in the period, keeping Detroit within 88-85 going into the fourth. The Pistons started the game with a 22-8 run, giving hope to a large crowd, but the Nets outscored them 53-32 in the rest of the first half. "To have a start like that and then kind of let it go in the second quarter - that's the quarter that put us in the hole," Williams said. "I think we had six turnovers in the second quarter. That's something that has plagued us all year long." ## UP NEXT Nets: Host Milwaukee on Wednesday Pistons: At Boston on Thursday.
# Missing pregnant Texas teen and her boyfriend found dead in a car in San Antonio December 26, 2023. 10:14 PM EST --- SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) - A missing pregnant Texas teenager and her boyfriend were found dead in a parked car Tuesday in San Antonio and police said they may have been there for days. Savanah Nicole Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, were reported missing by police in Leon Valley, a few miles northwest of San Antonio suburb. Two bodies were found in a Kia Optima matching the description of one belonging to the boyfriend and they may have been there for three or four days, Police Chief William P. McManus said at a news conference. He didn't identify the bodies pending confirmation by the medical examiner but said they were believed to be those of the missing couple. McManus didn't provide other details and said he didn't know whether a weapon had been found in the car. "What we're looking at right now is a very, very perplexing crime scene," the chief said. "Detectives right now are looking at this as a possible murder but we don't know for sure," he said. "Because of the complexity, the complex crime scene, we can't say for sure what we have." The bodies were found Tuesday afternoon after someone spotted the car in the parking lot of an apartment complex in San Antonio and alerted the family, KENS-TV reported. Relatives then called police. Soto was a week overdue to deliver and was scheduled to have an induced labor at a hospital last Saturday night, her family told the station. Gloria Cordova said she last heard from her daughter on Friday afternoon and got no answer when she knocked on her Leon Valley apartment door Saturday afternoon. Leon Valley police issued a CLEAR Alert for Soto on Monday and later said her boyfriend also was missing. Soto's family organized a search of the area near her apartment on Christmas night. "Savanah was so, so happy because she was going to be a mommy. It breaks my heart," her mother told KENS-TV.
# The death toll rises to 18 in a furnace explosion at a Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN December 26, 2023. 6:55 AM EST --- PALU, Indonesia (AP) - The death toll following the explosion of a smelting furnace at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia's Sulawesi island rose to 18 on Tuesday, as police ordered the plant to stop operations until an investigation is completed. The blast, which occurred on Sunday, was the latest in a series of fatalities at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China's ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative. Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles. Four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died instantly on Sunday when the furnace exploded while they were repairing it, Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho said. Three more victims died a day later while being treated at a local hospital. Two more workers died on Tuesday while hospitalized, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18, including eight workers from China, said Deddy Kurniawan, a spokesperson for PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, the parent company of PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, where the explosion occurred. The plant is in the Bahodopi neighborhood of Morowali regency. "We have ordered PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel to stop its operation until our entire investigation is completed," said Nugroho, the police chief, adding that authorities had set up a team to determine whether negligence by the company led to the deaths. The blast was so powerful that it demolished the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building, Nugroho said. The head of central Sulawesi's manpower and transmigration office, Arnold Firdaus, said that joint investigation team is made up of 18 members, and it includes officials from the central government in Jakarta and a working group from the Chinese Embassy. PT IMIP said in a statement on Sunday that the furnace was under maintenance and not operating at the time of the explosion. However, "residual slag in the furnace" came into contact "with flammable items," causing the furnace walls to collapse and the remaining steel slag to flow out. Rescuers extinguished the fire and evacuated workers after a nearly four-hour operation, Kurniawan said. About 41 workers were still being treated at a hospital and the company's clinic on Tuesday with serious to minor injuries, including 11 Chinese nationals. Three of them who suffered serious burns will be flown to China for further treatment, Kurniawan said. In a news briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning expressed condolences for the victims and said that China is "saddened by the casualties caused by the accident." She said her ministry is working closely with authorities in Indonesia and has instructed the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta to assist in the aftermath, including ensuring medical treatment is provided to the injured and helping to determine the cause of the explosion. A three-member working group from the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta has arrived at the site on Monday to guide the company to carry out aftermath care and "follow-up work," Mao said. It was the third tragedy this year at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has the largest nickel reserves in Indonesia. Two dump truck operators were killed when they were engulfed by a wall of black sludge-like material following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site in April. In January, two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed in riots that involved workers of the two nations at an Indonesia-China joint venture in neighboring North Morowali regency. Last year, a loader truck ran over and killed a Chinese worker while he was repairing a road in PT IMIP's mining area, and an Indonesian man burned to death when a furnace in the company's factory exploded. Nearly 50% of PT IMIP's shares are owned by a Chinese holding company, and the rest are owned by two Indonesian companies. It began smelter operations in 2013 and is now the largest nickel-based industrial area in Indonesia.
# Afghan schoolgirls are finishing sixth grade in tears. Under Taliban rule, their education is over By MOHAMMAD HABIB RAHMANI December 25, 2023. 1:35 AM EST --- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Bahara Rustam, 13, took her last class at Bibi Razia School in Kabul on Dec. 11 knowing it was the end of her education. Under Taliban rule, she is unlikely to step foot in a classroom again. In September 2021, a month after U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan following two decades of war, the Taliban announced that girls were barred from studying beyond sixth grade. They extended this education ban to universities in December 2022. The Taliban have defied global condemnation and warnings that the restrictions will make it almost impossible for them to gain recognition as the country's legitimate rulers. Last week, U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva expressed concern that a generation of Afghan girls is falling behind with each day that passes. Last week, an official in the Education Ministry said Afghan girls of all ages are allowed to study in religious schools known as madrassas, which have traditionally been boys-only. But Otunbayeva said it was unclear if there was a standardized curriculum that allowed modern subjects. Bahara is holding onto her education and pores over textbooks at home. "Graduating (from sixth grade) means we are going to seventh grade," she said. "But all of our classmates cried and we were very disappointed." There was no graduation ceremony for the girls at Bibi Razia School. In another part of Kabul, 13-year old Setayesh Sahibzada wonders what the future holds for her. She is sad she can't go to school anymore to achieve her dreams. "I can't stand on my own two feet," she said. "I wanted to be a teacher. But now I can't study, I can't go to school." Analyst Muhammad Saleem Paigir warned that excluding women and girls from education will be disastrous for Afghanistan. "We understand that illiterate people can never be free and prosperous," he said. The Taliban have barred women from many public spaces and most jobs, all but confining women to their homes.
# 276 Indians stuck in a French airport for days for a human trafficking probe arrive in India By ANGELA CHARLTON and RAFIQ MAQBOOL December 26, 2023. 7:50 AM EST --- MUMBAI, India (AP) - A charter plane that was grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation arrived in India with 276 Indians aboard Tuesday, authorities said. The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but were instead blocked inside a rural French airport for four days in an exceptional holiday ordeal. Upon arrival in Mumbai, the passengers filed out of the airport without speaking publicly about what they'd been through or where they would go next. Carrying backpacks or small suitcases, some wore hoods or masks to conceal their identities. A total of 303 passengers had originally boarded the Legend Airlines A340 plane last week in Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates for a flight to Managua, Nicaragua. When the plane stopped in France's Vatry Airport in Champagne country for refueling Thursday, it was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying human trafficking victims. The Vatry airport was requisitioned by police for days. Local officials, medics and volunteers installed cots and ensured regular meals and showers for those held inside. Then it turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and interpreters filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings to determine the next steps. The plane was authorized to leave Monday and took off for Mumbai. Local French authorities said that 276 of the original 303 passengers boarded the flight to India, and 25 others requested asylum in France. The asylum-seekers, who include five children, were transferred to a special zone in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for processing, it said. The passengers grounded in France had included a 21-month-old child and several unaccompanied minors. The remaining two passengers were initially detained as part of a human trafficking investigation but were released Monday after appearing before a judge, the Paris prosecutor's office said. The judge named them as "assisted witnesses" to the case, a special status under French law that allows time for further investigation and could lead to eventual charges or to the case being dropped. Prosecutors wouldn't comment on whether the passengers' ultimate destination could have been the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year. French authorities are working to determine the aim of the original flight, and opened a judicial inquiry into activities by an organized criminal group helping foreigners enter or stay in a country illegally, the prosecutor's office said. It did not specify whether human trafficking - which the U.N. defines as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit" - is still suspected. Some lawyers at Sunday's hearings protested authorities' handling of the situation and the passengers' rights, suggesting that police and prosecutors overreacted to the anonymous tip. The Indian Embassy tweeted its thanks to French officials for ensuring that the Indians could go home. Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said some passengers didn't want to go to India because they had paid for a tourism trip to Nicaragua. The airline has denied any role in possible human trafficking. The U.S. government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed as failing to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for the journey.
# Pakistani police free 290 Baloch activists arrested while protesting extrajudicial killings By MUNIR AHMED December 25, 2023. 2:41 AM EST --- ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani police Monday freed 290 Baloch activists who were arrested when they attempted to hold a protest last week in the capital, Islamabad. Their release came days after protest organizers gave authorities a deadline to release all those detained. The activists had traveled 1,600 kilometers (about 1,000 miles) on Thursday from Turbat, a town in Baluchistan province, to protest forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest. The protesters were mostly women and some had brought along their children, aged 7-12, when security forces used batons and water canons to disperse and arrest them. They wanted to draw attention to the case of 24-year-old Balaach Mola Bakhsh, who died in November while in police custody in Baluchistan. Authorities said he was killed after militants ambushed the police vehicle transporting him. Police said Bakhsh was carrying explosives when he was arrested. His family insists he is innocent, demanding justice for him. They also said he had been detained since October. Police said they arrested him in November. The police use of force against the protesters sparked anger among Baluchistan residents and drew nationwide condemnation from top human rights activists. Protest organizers said that as the dozens of vehicles carrying the activists reached the outskirts of Islamabad before dawn Thursday, police used water canons against them and started beating them up to prevent them from reaching the heart of the capital. At the weekend, organizers and protesters held a sit-in outside the Islamabad Press Club to denounce the violence. "Four female police officers with batons hit me," Mahrang Baloch, one of the organizers, told reporters as she and dozens of others held portraits of those detained by the police, demanding their release. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed and top human rights activist Farhat Ullah Baba attended the sit-in and condemned the use of force by authorities. "These peaceful demonstrators are victims of state terrorism," Ahmed said, adding that every citizen had the right to peacefully protest in Pakistan. Baluchistan province - which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is rich in oil, gas and minerals - has been the scene of low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades. Baluch nationalists initially wanted a share of provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence. According to human rights activists, those who demand a greater share of the province's natural resources often go missing after being detained by security forces.
# Tokyo court only holds utility responsible to compensate Fukushima evacuees and reduces damages By MARI YAMAGUCHI December 26, 2023. 7:15 AM EST --- TOKYO (AP) - A Tokyo court on Tuesday held only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant responsible for paying damages to dozens of evacuees. The Tokyo High Court also slashed the amount to half of what the lower court had ordered and relieved the government of responsibility - a decision that plaintiffs and their lawyers criticized as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster. The court ordered only the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, known as TEPCO, to pay a total of 23.5 million yen ($165,000) to 44 of the 47 plaintiffs, while not holding the government accountable. Tuesday's ruling apparently backpedaled from an earlier decision in March 2018, when the Tokyo District Court held both the government and TEPCO accountable for the disaster, which the ruling said could have been prevented if they both took better precautionary measures, ordering both to pay 59 million yen ($414,400) in damages. The decision comes at a time when Japan's government tries to accelerate reactor restarts to maximize nuclear energy to meet decarbonization targets, while seeking to tone down the impact of the nuclear disaster 13 years ago, and its memory gradually fades. Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant melted after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, releasing massive amounts of radiation in the area and displacing more than 160,000 people at one point. About 27,000 of them are still unable to return home. The government has pushed for the decontamination of affected areas and the reopening of no-go zones, and has urged evacuees to return to their homes while cutting back support for them. The government-set compensation program, which is mostly based on distance from the plant and radiation levels, has triggered divisions and discrimination among communities. The dispute centers on whether the government could have foreseen the risk of a massive tsunami, and whether the disaster could have been averted if the government had ordered the utility to take precautions. In the ruling, judge Hiro Misumi said the flooding of the plant because of the tsunami wasn't preventable even if the industry ministry used its authority and ordered the utility to enhance a seawall based on a tsunami estimate at that time. The decision is among the four rulings that apparently came in line with the June 2022 Supreme Court decision that said the government wasn't liable for the disaster and that the disaster from a tsunami that high wasn't foreseeable or preventable. Motomitsu Nakagawa, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said that Tuesday's high court ruling was "almost a mere copy and paste" of the top court decision and that it "makes me infuriated." Nakagawa said the ruling takes the disaster-hit residents' suffering lightly, and the reduction of the amount of compensation is also tantamount to saying that the operator can get away with paying only that much damage in a disaster. He said that he planned to discuss a possible appeal to the Supreme Court after consulting with his clients. Yuya Kamoshita, who has evacuated to Tokyo from Iwaki, south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant with his family, said the ruling was unacceptable because it trivialized the evacuees' sufferings, and failed to hold the government accountable even though the nuclear power plant was operated as part of the national energy policy.
# Beijing sees most hours of sub-freezing temperatures in December since 1951 December 25, 2023. 2:51 AM EST --- BEIJING (AP) - Beijing recorded the most hours of sub-freezing temperatures in December in more than seven decades as a cold wave has enveloped northern and central swathes of China, bringing snowstorms and record-breaking temperatures. A weather observatory in the Chinese capital as of Sunday had recorded more than 300 hours of sub-freezing temperatures since Dec. 11 - the most since records began, in 1951, according to the official newspaper Beijing Daily. The city saw nine consecutive days with temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), the paper added. Parts of northern and central China have shivered under frigid cold snaps this month, with authorities closing schools and highways several times due to snowstorms. Temperatures at 78 weather stations across the country hit record lows for the month of December, while average temperatures this month in northern and some central parts of China hit record lows set in 1961, according to the National Meteorological Centre.
# Grounded charter jet freed to leave France. Lawyer says most passengers expected to return to India By ANGELA CHARLTON and ELISE MORTON December 24, 2023. 6:47 PM EST --- PARIS (AP) - A charter plane sequestered while carrying 303 Indians to Nicaragua was authorized Sunday to leave the French airport where it has been grounded for four days for a human trafficking investigation. A lawyer for the airline said the plane would take many of the stranded passengers back to India on Monday. Local authorities were working through Christmas Eve on formalities to allow some passengers to leave the small Vatry Airport in Champagne country, regional prosecutor Annick Browne told The Associated Press. All of the passengers, including a 21-month-old child, had been stuck in the airport terminal since Thursday. Two passengers were detained as part of a special French investigation into suspected human trafficking by an organized criminal group. Several others requested asylum in France, according to the local administration. Prosecutors said 11 passengers were unaccompanied minors who were put under special administrative care. The Legend Airlines A340 plane stopped Thursday for refueling in Vatry en route from Fujairah airport in United Arab Emirates for Managua, Nicaragua, and was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying trafficking victims. The airport was requisitioned by police for days, and then turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and translators filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings to determine whether to keep the Indians sequestered any longer. The hearings were halted midway because of a dispute over the procedure used to block the Indians in the airport, and a decision on next steps was expected overnight, the prosecutor said Sunday. The seizure order for the airliner was lifted Sunday morning, a decision that "makes it possible to contemplate the passengers in the waiting area being rerouted," according to a statement from the Marne administration. The French Civil Aviation Authority then set about trying to get the necessary permissions for the plane to take off once again, which should be in place "no later than Monday morning," according to the prefecture. Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko told AP that the company hoped the plane could head to Mumbai, India, on Monday "with as many passengers as possible." She estimated around 280 passengers should be able to leave. The prosecutor and regional administration could not confirm an exact figure. Local officials, medics and volunteers installed cots and ensured regular meals and showers for those held in the airport. But lawyers at Sunday's hearings protested authorities' overall handling of the strange situation. "I'm surprised at how things unfolded in the waiting area. People should have been informed of their rights, and clearly that was not the case," Francois Procureur, the head of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM television. He called the mass, hasty airport hearings "unprecedented." Foreigners can be held up to four days in a transit zone for police investigations in France, after which a special judge must rule on whether to extend that for eight days. Prosecutors wouldn't comment on what kind of trafficking was alleged, or whether the passengers' ultimate destination was the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year. The 15 crew members were questioned and released Saturday, Bakayoko said. She said the airline denied any role in possible human trafficking. A "partner" company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying identification documents of each passenger and communicated their passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Bakayoko said. The U.S. government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed as failing to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for the journey. Indian citizens were arrested 41,770 times entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico in the U.S. government's budget year that ended Sept. 30, more than double from 18,308 the previous year.
# A merchant vessel linked to Israel has been damaged in a drone attack off India's west coast December 23, 2023. 10:56 AM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - A drone hit an Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, a British maritime security firm said, damaging the vessel but causing no casualties. The incident on the Liberian-flagged chemical product tanker occurred 120 miles (200-kilometers) southwest of the Indian port of Veraval, said Ambrey. It gave no further details about the vessel's Israeli links. Ambrey said the drone attack struck the stern and caused a fire onboard that was later extinguished without any casualties among the crew. The firm said the vessel suffered some structural damage and some water was taken onboard. "The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called in Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time," Ambrey said. The Indian Navy responded after the shipping company requested assistance, a naval official said. "Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the MV (merchant vessel)," a statement said. "Safety of the crew and ship was ascertained. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required." Major global shipping firms have rerouted their vessels after attacks in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Many vessels take a longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.
# 'Pray for us': Eyewitnesses reveal first clues about a missing boat with up to 200 Rohingya refugees By KRISTEN GELINEAU, EDNA TARIGAN, and REZA SAIFULLAH December 22, 2023. 11:12 PM EST --- PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) - Their screams and sobs could be heard from the ailing boat soon after it emerged into view amid the vastness of the Andaman Sea. Crowded on board were tiny babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved. The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence and rampant hunger in the squalid refugee camps of Bangladesh, only to find themselves adrift with a broken engine. For a moment, it appeared their salvation had arrived in the form of another boat carrying Rohingya refugees that had pulled up alongside them. But those on board the other boat - itself overloaded and beginning to leak - knew if they allowed the distressed passengers onto their vessel, it would sink. And all would die. They wanted to help, but they also wanted to live. Since November, more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh in rickety boats have landed in Indonesia's northern province of Aceh - three-quarters of them women and children. On Thursday, Indonesian authorities spotted another five boats approaching Aceh's coast. With so many Rohingya attempting the dangerous crossing in recent weeks, nobody knows how many boats did not make it, and how many people died. This account of two boats in distress at sea - one was saved, the other vanished - was told to The Associated Press by five survivors from the vessel that made it to shore. It provides the first clues into the fate of the boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya refugees that has been missing for weeks. On Dec. 2, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, put out an urgent message about the two boats in distress and urged countries to look for them. But in the case of the boat that remains missing, it appears no one searched. From a grey, trash-strewn beach near where they staggered ashore on Dec. 10, the survivors told the AP of their harrowing journey and the agonizing decisions made along the way. "I remember feeling that together, we would be finished. Together, we would sink. Together, we would drown," says 31-year-old Muhammed Jubair, who was among the 180 people on his boat to be rescued, along with his three children, wife and brother-in-law. ## TEARFUL GOODBYES The story of the missing boat and its passengers begins the way most Rohingya boat journeys do - with tearful goodbyes in sweltering shelters in the camps of Bangladesh, where more than 750,000 Rohingya fled in 2017 following sweeping attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar. In one of those shelters, Noor Fatima clutched her 14-year-old brother, Muhammed Ansar, forcing herself to hold back tears as the boy began to cry along with the rest of their family. She knew she had to stay strong so he wouldn't fear the journey ahead. Ansar was the family's only son - the only one with a shot at an education and a job in Indonesia. They hoped he would someday make enough money to support them in the camps. There were few alternatives: Bangladesh bans camp residents from working, so their survival is entirely dependent on food rations, which were slashed this year. Worsening hunger caused by the ration cuts and a spike in gang violence sparked the latest exodus by sea from the camps. It was Nov. 20, and Ansar would be making the trip with several relatives, including his 20-year-old cousin, Samira Khatun, and her 3-year-old son. As her brother left, Fatima told herself many other boats had made it safely to Indonesia. Surely his would, too. The next day, Samira called Fatima's family and her father, telling them they were aboard the boat. "We are on our way," she said. "Pray for us." Abdu Shukkur didn't know his bright and bubbly 12-year-old daughter, Kajoli, was planning to flee the camps until a trafficker called him and said he was taking her by boat to Indonesia. Shukkur begged the trafficker to leave Kajoli behind, but her friends were going on the boat, and she wanted to go with them. He later received a phone call from Kajoli herself, when she was already on board. All he could do was pray. ## THE BOATS COME TOGETHER The boat Jubair and his family were on was chugging across the sea, carrying 180 Rohingya bound for Indonesia. It was overloaded, but the engine was still working. Days into its 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile) journey, the passengers on Jubair's boat spotted another vessel bobbing in the waves. It was Kajoli, Ansar and Samira's boat - their engine was broken, water was seeping in and the passengers were panicking. Those on Jubair's boat worried if they got too close, the people on the distressed vessel would jump onto their boat, sinking them all, says one of Jubair's fellow passengers, Rujinah, who goes by one name and who was on board with five of her children. Their fears were not unfounded. As Jubair's boat drew nearer, between 20 and 30 people began preparing to make the jump, says Zakir Hussain, another passenger. The captain of Jubair's boat shouted at those on the distressed vessel to stay put. Then he asked for a rope so he could tie the two boats together. The captain told the other boat's passengers he would tow their vessel behind his, and they would search for land together. According to Hussain, their captain also issued a warning: "If you try to jump into our boat, we won't help you." What happened next is disputed. Around the same time, Shukkur, the father of Kajoli, says his nephew made a call to the captain of Kajoli's boat and was told by the captain that he and his family had left the distressed vessel and were on the boat that came to their rescue. However, the survivors interviewed by the AP in Aceh either denied that happened or said they didn't see it. Tethered together, the two boats began moving through the water. And then, two or three nights later, a vicious storm crashed down on them. Pounding waves throttled the boats, destroying the engine on Jubair's vessel. Now, in the dark, they were both helplessly adrift. ## TRAGEDY STRIKES It was then, the passengers on Jubair's boat say, that the ropes between the two vessels were severed. No one says they saw how it happened - but what they did see was the other boat drifting off to their right. Over the howling wind and churning surf, Jubair could hear the passengers on the other boat pleading for their lives. "They were crying and shouting loudly, 'Our ropes are broken! Our ropes are broken! Please help us!' But how could we help?" Jubair says. "We would die with them." The other boat drifted farther away, the passengers say, until it vanished from view. On Jubair's boat, people began to wail. "They are also Muslim. They are also part of our community," says Rujinah. "That's why our people were also crying for them." ## THE RESCUE For days, Jubair and his fellow passengers languished at sea, their food and water gone. Eventually, a plane spotted them, and a Navy ship arrived, delivering food, water and medicine. The passengers say they don't know which country sent the rescue vessel that towed them into Indonesian waters and then left when their boat was close to land. That's when their captain and another crew member fled the vessel on a small fishing boat, Jubair says. Abandoned, the exhausted passengers worked together to guide the battered boat onto the beach, where they have spent their nights sleeping under tarps. They wash and drink from a nearby stream. Facing an increasingly hostile reception from locals, they have no idea what their future holds in Indonesia. But at least, they say, they are alive. They hope the passengers on the other boat are, too. "I feel very sad for them because we were in the same situation, and now we are safe," says Hussain. "We are just praying for that boat to find land and for the passengers to stay alive." ## THE AGONY OF THE UNKNOWN Weeks have passed, and the families of those on board the lost boat have heard nothing. Ann Maymann, the UNHCR's representative in Indonesia, urged regional governments to launch a search. "Here you have hundreds of people that are obviously distressed at the best and, at the worst, they are not even distressed any longer," Maymann told the AP. "Those nations in this region have fully capable and resourced search and rescue capacities." The governments of regional countries that the AP reached out to either did not respond to requests for comment or said they were unaware of the boat. Meanwhile, a familiar feeling of dread has crept into Bangladesh's camps, which mourned the loss in 2022 of another boat carrying 180 people that an AP investigation concluded had sunk. Fatima struggles to sleep as she waits for news of Ansar, her little brother. One way or another, she says, they just want answers. One night, Fatima says, Ansar came to their mother in a dream and told her he was on an island. The family believes he is alive, somewhere. Shukkur also had a dream about his daughter, Kajoli, but in it, her boat sank. He believes his little girl and all her fellow passengers are dead. His agony echoes throughout the camp's crowded warren of shelters. "Many parents," he says, "are screaming for their children."
# Death toll from China earthquake rises to 149, with 2 still missing December 24, 2023. 10:25 PM EST --- BEIJING (AP) - The death toll from China's most powerful earthquake in years has risen to 149, with two people still missing after the tremor hit northwestern parts of the country last week. The 6.2-magnitude quake struck a remote mountainous area between Gansu and Qinghai provinces on Dec. 18, reducing homes to rubble and triggering heavy mudslides that inundated two villages in Qinghai province. State broadcaster CCTV said Monday the death toll in Donghai city in Qinghai has risen by one, to 32, and rescuers were still searching for two missing people. In neighboring Gansu, authorities had reported 117 dead. Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed in China's deadliest earthquake in nine years. Primary schools in Jishishan county in Gansu resumed classes in tents on Monday, state media reported. Local authorities said they would use the upcoming winter break to repair damaged schools and erect temporary structures so that classes could resume as normal in the spring semester. Authorities also rushed to erect temporary housing units for survivors facing temperatures well below freezing. CGTN, the state broadcaster's international arm, said the first batch of 500 temporary housing units had been built for residents in Meipo, a village in Gansu, on Friday night. More than 87,000 people have been resettled after the quake. The tremor caused economic losses estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars in the agricultural and fisheries industries, according to state media. Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday visited several villages in Gansu and a county in Qinghai and urged authorities to improve living conditions for the survivors, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Li said the top priority of relief efforts was to make sure people stay warm and safe in winter. Funerals were held throughout the week, some following the Muslim traditions of much of the population in the affected area. Most of China's earthquakes strike in the western part of the country, including Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang region and Tibet. The country's deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9-magnitude tremor in 2008 that left nearly 90,000 dead or presumed dead and devastated towns and schools in Sichuan province, leading to a yearslong effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
# Furnace explosion at Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia kills at least 13 and injures 46 others By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN December 24, 2023. 10:58 PM EST --- PALU, Indonesia (AP) - A smelting furnace exploded Sunday at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others, police and a company official said. It was the latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China's ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative. Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles. At least four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died when the furnace exploded while they were repairing it, said Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho. The blast was so powerful it demolished the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building, said Nugroho, adding that about 46 workers were injured, including 14 Chinese nationals, some in critical condition. Authorities are working to determine whether negligence by the company led to the deaths, Nugroho said. The accident occurred at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, a subsidiary of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, in the Bahodopi neighborhood of Morowali regency. "We sincerely apologize for this incident and we are working closely with authorities to investigate what caused the accident," said company spokesperson Deddy Kurniawan. Rescuers extinguished the fire and evacuated workers after a nearly four-hour operation, he added. In a statement released Sunday afternoon by the company, Kurniawan said the furnace was under maintenance and not operating at the time. However, "residual slag in the furnace" came in contact "with flammable items" driving the furnace walls to collapse and the remaining steel slag to flow out. Previously, the company said explosive liquids at the bottom of the furnace triggered a fire and a subsequent explosion in nearby oxygen cylinders. It was the third deadly incident this year at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has the largest nickel reserves in Indonesia. Two dump truck operators were killed when they were engulfed by a wall of black sludge-like material following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site in April. In January, two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed in riots that involved workers and security guards at an Indonesia-China joint venture in North Morowali regency. Last year, a loader truck ran over and killed a Chinese worker while he was repairing a road in PT IMIP's mining area, and an Indonesian man burned to death when a furnace in the company's factory exploded. Nearly 50% of PT IMIP's shares are owned by a Chinese holding company, and the rest are owned by two Indonesian companies. It began smelter operations in 2013 and is now the largest nickel-based industrial area in Indonesia. Three Chinese workers in March filed a complaint to Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights, alleging that their health is deteriorating due to dust and smoke exposure while working seven-day weeks without a break at PT IMIP. They added that workers there don't have adequate safety equipment. Data collected by the Mining Advocacy Network, an Indonesian watchdog, showed that at least 22 workers from China and Indonesia have died in nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province since 2019, including two Chinese nationals who committed suicide.
# Strong earthquake in northwest China that killed at least 148 causes economic losses worth millions December 23, 2023. 9:53 PM EST --- BEIJING (AP) - The strong earthquake that hit northwest China this week, killing at least 148 people, caused economic losses estimated to be worth tens of millions in the agricultural and fisheries industries, state media said Saturday. Officials in Gansu conducted preliminary assessments that showed the province's agricultural and fisheries industries have lost 532 million yuan (about $74.6 million), state broadcaster CCTV reported. Authorities were considering the best use of the relief fund, set up days before, for the agricultural sector to resume production as soon as possible, the report said. The magnitude 6.2 quake struck in a mountainous region Monday night between Gansu and Qinghai provinces and about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital. CCTV said 117 people were killed in Gansu and 31 others died in neighboring Qinghai, while three people remained missing. Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed. During a visit Saturday to several villages in Gansu and a county in Qinghai, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged authorities to improve living conditions for the survivors of the quake by every available method, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Li said the top priority of relief efforts was to make sure people stay warm and safe in winter, the report added. CGTN, the Chinese state broadcaster's international arm, said the first batch of 500 temporary housing units had been built for residents in Meipo, a village in Gansu, on Friday night. Many had spent the night in shelters set up in the area as temperatures plunged well below freezing. Funerals were held, some following the Muslim traditions of much of the population in the affected area. Most of China's earthquakes strike in the western part of the country, including Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang region and Tibet. The latest quake was the deadliest one in the country in nine years.
# Anger in remote parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir after 3 are killed while in army custody By AIJAZ HUSSAIN December 23, 2023. 9:08 AM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - Anger has spread in some remote parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir after three civilians were killed while in army custody, officials and residents said Saturday. Locals said the Indian army detained at least eight civilians on Friday for questioning, the day after rebels fighting against Indian rule ambushed two army vehicles in the southern Poonch district, killing four soldiers and wounding three others. Poonch is close to the highly militarized line of control that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan. Locals accused army personnel of torturing the three of those detained to death in a nearby military camp. The bodies were later handed to the local police who in turn contacted the families. Residents said the bodies bore marks of severe torture. The five other detainees were taken to an army hospital after they were severely tortured, their families said. Mohammed Younis, a resident, said soldiers came to his Topa Peer village in Poonch district Friday morning and detained nine villagers, including his two brothers and a cousin. An elderly man was let go, he said, but the others were ruthlessly beaten and electrocuted. "My two brothers and a cousin are badly hurt due to torture. They are being treated in an army hospital," Younis said after seeing one of his brothers. Videos reportedly showing the torture of detained civilians spread online hours after their incarceration, triggering widespread anger. Authorities cut off internet services on smart devices in Poonch and nearby Rajouri on Saturday morning, a common tactic to dispel possible protests and discourage dissemination of the videos. Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian army spokesman, said a search operation for the militants responsible for the ambush has been ongoing since Thursday evening, adding he had no "input" about the circumstances surrounding the death of the three civilians. Late Saturday, the Indian military said in a statement that "reports have been received regarding three civilian deaths" in Poonch. "The matter is under investigation. Indian army stands committed to extending full support and cooperation in the conduct of investigations," it said. The government's information department wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that after medical formalities, a legal action "has been initiated by the appropriate authority" into the killings, without further explanation. It said authorities also announced financial assistance to the victims' families. Senior police and civil officials visited the village and supervised the burials. Local officials said police would investigate the incident, in an attempt to pacify the villagers. Protests erupted in Srinagar, the region's main city, with at least three pro-India Kashmiri political parties staging demonstrations against the killings. Mehbooba Mufti, the region's former top elected official who was once an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, said the recent acquittal of an army officer in the killing of three civilians in a staged gunbattle three years ago had "emboldened" the army, "creating a false precedent among the forces that they can operate without restraint." In 2020, the Indian army killed three young men from Rajouri in a fake gunfight and portrayed them as Pakistani terrorists. But after an outcry and a police investigation, the Indian military in a rare admission acknowledged wrongdoing and that its soldiers exceeded their legal powers granted to them under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The Indian army's internal court had sentenced an officer to life imprisonment for the killings. However, a military tribunal in November this year suspended his sentence. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act gives the Indian military in Kashmir sweeping powers to search, seize and even shoot suspects on sight without fear of prosecution. Under the act, local authorities need federal approval to prosecute erring army or paramilitary soldiers in civilian courts. India has long relied on military force to retain control over the portion of Kashmir it administers and has fought two wars over the territory with Pakistan, which also claims the mountain region as its own. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. But the territory has simmered in anger since 2019, when New Delhi ended the region's semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations. While Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion, has witnessed many militants killed in counter-rebel operations, remote Rajouri and Poonch have seen deadly attacks against Indian troops in the past two years. At least three dozen soldiers have been killed in such attacks.
# A South Korean religious sect leader has been sentenced to 23 years in prison over sex crimes By JIWON SONG December 22, 2023. 8:39 AM EST --- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A South Korean religious sect leader whose sex crimes were featured in the popular Netflix series "In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal" earlier this year was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Friday, court officials said. The Daejeon District Court in central South Korea said that it handed the prison term to Jeong Myeong-seok after convicting him of sexual violence against three of his female followers from 2018-2021. Jeong, 78, is leader of the Christian Gospel Mission in South Korea, which is also known as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS. A court statement said that Jeong's convicted crimes include "quasi-rape" and "quasi-imitative rape," which court officials said meant illicit sexual intercourse with a person who was unconscious or unable to resist. The court refused to provide details of Jeong's convicted sexual crimes. Dozens of Jeong's supporters gathered near the court, shouted slogans and raised placards that say Jeong isn't guilty. News reports said that Jeong called himself a reincarnated Jesus Christ, or Messiah. But Jeong and his defense lawyer denied that, according to the court statement. Jeong committed the crimes after he was released earlier in 2018 after spending 10 years in prison over sexual violence against other female followers.
# North Korea appears to be looking to make more bomb fuels at its main nuclear facility, experts say By HYUNG-JIN KIM December 22, 2023. 11:12 AM EST --- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea appears to have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex in a possible attempt to establish a new facility to produce bomb fuels, the U.N. atomic agency and outside experts said. If correct, the assessment would show that North Korea has taken a step to implement leader Kim Jong Un's repeated vows to build more nuclear weapons in response to what he described as intensifying U.S.-led military threats. The International Atomic Energy Agency has observed increased levels of activity at and near the light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex and since mid-October, a strong water outflow from its cooling system, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Thursday. The observations were consistent with the commissioning of the light-water reactor, or LWR, Grossi said. "The LWR, like any nuclear reactor, can produce plutonium in its irradiated fuel, which can be separated during reprocessing, so this is a cause for concern," he said. "I repeat that the further development of (North Korea's) nuclear program, including the construction and operation of the LWR, is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable." The IAEA has not had access to Yongbyon or other locations in North Korea since the country kicked out the agency's inspectors in 2009. The IAEA has said it uses satellite imagery and open source information to monitor developments in North Korea's nuclear program. Observers say light-water reactors are best-suited for electricity generation, but North Korea could adapt one at Yongbyon to produce plutonium for weapons. Shin Jongwoo, a military expert at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the Yongbyon complex isn't used for producing civilian energy so outsiders suspect the reported light-water reactor operation is related to the North's nuclear weapons program. "North Korea has talked about bolstering its nuclear strength and building more tactical nuclear weapons to be mounted on ballistic missiles. So (the light-water reactor operation) is suspected to be activities" to extract plutonium, Shin said. Plutonium is one of the two key ingredients used to manufacture nuclear weapons, along with highly enriched uranium. Yongbyon has long produced plutonium from its widely known 5-megawatt reactor, and the light-water reactor would be an additional plutonium-producing source. Yongbyon has an uranium-enrichment facility as well. Construction of the light-water reactor began more than a decade ago. It is known to have a bigger capacity than the 5-megawatt reactor, meaning it could produce more bomb fuel, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute. Lee said plutonium is better suited for miniaturized nuclear warheads. Some experts say North Korea has been working to build warheads small enough to be placed on short-range missiles targeting South Korea. Grossi said recent observations indicate that the water discharge seen in October is warm, an indication the reactor has reached criticality. But without access to the facility, the IAEA cannot confirm its operational status. In 2019, during a summit with then-President Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un offered to dismantle the Yongbyon complex if he won extensive sanctions relief. But the Americans rejected Kim's offer because it would be a limited denuclearization step that would leave North Korea's already-built nuclear weapons and covert nuclear facilities intact. After his diplomacy with Trump fell apart, Kim has focused on enlarging his nuclear arsenal and building more high-tech weapons in what experts believe is a bid to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S. In a key political meeting in December 2022, Kim ordered the "exponential" expansion of the North's nuclear arsenal. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula deepened earlier this week, after North Korea test-launched the solid-fueled Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile - its most advanced weapon designed to strike the mainland U.S. - in its third test this year. The Yongbyon complex, which North Korea calls "the heart" of its nuclear program and research, has been at the center of international concerns for decades. It's not clear exactly how much weapons-grade plutonium or highly enriched uranium has been produced at Yongbyon and where North Korea stores it. According to a South Korean estimate in 2018, North Korea had manufactured 20-60 nuclear weapons. But some experts say the North likely has more than 100 nuclear weapons.
# Khan ordered released on bail in official secrets case in Pakistan. But he won't be freed right away By MUNIR AHMED December 22, 2023. 7:35 AM EST --- ISLAMABAD (AP) - In a surprise ruling, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies on bail in a case involving the revelation of official secrets after his ouster last year. But Khan - currently serving a three-year sentence in jail in a graft case - won't be freed right away because he still faces two other corruption cases. Khan faces possible death if he is found guilty of revealing official secrets. Khan is accused of revealing a classified cable that was sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington when the former premier was in power. Khan says he didn't disclose the exact content of the cable. Khan and Qureshi have been asked to submit surety bonds of 1 million rupees (about $3,600) to secure bail. Friday's ruling, which Khan's defense team viewed as a legal victory and a political boost, was issued over charges of the former premier revealing state secrets when he waved an allegedly confidential document, dubbed Cipher, last year at a rally following his ouster from power. The document hasn't been made public. "The court's order is proof enough that the charges against Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were fabricated," Khan lawyer Salman Safdar said. Qureshi is a senior vice president at Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Pakistan's government said the Cipher document was diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. Khan confirmed the correspondence and insisted his ouster was a conspiracy by the United States, his successor Shehbaz Sharif, and the Pakistani military - accusations that they have all denied. The judges of the Supreme Court concluded in their ruling that there wasn't enough evidence that Khan revealed official secrets while waiving the document. This came two days after his party announced that Khan would run in Pakistan's upcoming parliamentary election from prison. According to Pakistani election laws, Khan can submit his nomination papers as his appeal against his conviction in the graft case is yet to be decided on. Analysts said the surprise development could help his party to win the election, which will be held on Feb. 8. Khan has had almost no contact with the outside world since he was imprisoned in August. Over the weekend, Khan for the first time used artificial intelligence to deliver a speech to his supporters. The Cipher case trial is being held in Adiyala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi where Khan is jailed. Only his legal team is allowed to attend court hearings, as authorities say the case is too sensitive. Khan pleaded not guilty when he was indicted last week. The court is expected to conclude the hearing and announce the verdict early next year. Khan's main political rival is Nawaz Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, who self-exiled and recently returned to Pakistan after having corruption charges overturned. Nawaz plans to run for a seat in the parliament in an effort aimed at becoming a prime minister for the fourth time.
# Japan Cabinet OKs record military budget to speed up strike capability, eases lethal arms export ban By MARI YAMAGUCHI December 22, 2023. 11:05 PM EST --- TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved a hefty 16% increase in military spending next year and eased its postwar ban on lethal weapons exports, underscoring a shift away from the country's self-defense-only principle. The moves came as Japan accelerates the deployment of long-range cruise missiles that can hit targets in China or North Korea while Japanese troops increasingly work with allies and take on more offensive roles. In a latest step under a new security strategy that Japan adopted a year ago, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government also allowed the export of weapons and components made in Japan under foreign licenses to the licensing nations. The controversial move is the first major revision of Japan's arms export ban since an earlier easing in 2014. "In taking the action, we hope to contribute to defend a free and open international order based on the rule of law and to achieve the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," Kishida told reporters. "There is no change to our principle as a pacifist nation." The government quickly approved the first export shipment under the change, agreeing to send to the United States surface-to-air Patriot guided missiles produced in Japan under an American license. Officials said it would complement U.S. stock, raising speculation that Japanese-produced Patriots may be sent to Ukraine. The easing also paves the way for future possible exports to the U.S., Britain and six European licensing nations involving dozens of lethal weapons and components, including F-15s and fighter jet engines. "The scope, scale, and speed of Japan's security reforms have been unprecedented," U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said in a statement on X. He praised the easing of the defense equipment and transfer policy as historic and "a significant example of Japan's shared commitment to deterrence." The ban on the export of lethal weapons has limited the scope of Japan's efforts to develop arms technology and equipment. The easing would help strengthen Japan's feeble defense industry and broaden the country's new official military aid designed for like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region in countering Chinese assertiveness, experts say. Japan is spending more than 70 billion yen ($490 million) in 2024 for the development of a next-generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy, and the project hinges on a futher easing of restrictions to allow the export of jointly developed lethal weapons to third countries - a change Kishida wants by the end of February. The 7.95 trillion-yen ($56 billion) defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year that begins in March marks the second year of the five-year military buildup program. The spending plan is part of a 112.7 trillion-yen ($794 billion) national budget and still needs the approval by the parliament. The reinforcement of strike capability envisioned under the strategy is a major break from Japan's postwar principle of limiting its use of force to self-defense. The budget adopted by the Cabinet also will further fortify the military with F-35 stealth combat jets and other American weapons. Japan plans to spend 43 trillion yen ($300 billion) through 2027 to bolster its military power and to nearly double its annual spending to around 10 trillion yen ($68 billion), which would make Japan the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China. The budget would boost Japan's arms spending for a 12th year. Last year, the government budgeted 6.8 trillion yen (about $48 billion). The centerpiece of Japan's 2024 military budget is an early deployment of "standoff" missiles that officials say are needed to reinforce air defenses, especially to protect Japan's southwestern islands in case a conflict erupts between China and Taiwan. Some 734 billion yen ($5.15 billion) is earmarked for Type-12 cruise missiles and U.S.-made Tomahawks as well as development of next generation long-range missiles. Japan will also spend more than 80 billion yen ($562 million) for the development of hypersonic guided missiles with a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles). Defense Minister Minoru Kihara announced earlier this month a decision to bring forward deployment of some Tomahawks and Type-12s by the end of March 2026, a year before the original target. Officials said the step is a result of Japan facing its "severest" security environment in the postwar era that has also led it to increase joint operations with the U.S., Australia, Britain and other friendly nations. Funding the surge in military spending as well as securing necessary personnel is not easy for Japan, a country with a rapidly aging and shrinking population. Defense Ministry officials said the budget addresses the cost impacts of a weaker yen and price increases through measures such as bulk purchases and long-term contracts. It calls for spending 90 billion yen ($632 million) on subsidies to strengthen Japan's feeble defense industry and allow more foreign arms sales. The budget also includes 1.25 trillion yen ($8.78 billion) to bolster Japan's missile defense systems, including construction of two Aegis-equipped warships for deployment in 2027-2028 at a cost of 373 billion yen ($2.62 billion). The warships are to have Lockheed Martin SPY-7 radar that officials say could locate harder-to-detect missile launches, including those on a high-arch trajectory that North Korea has often used to test-fire missiles, including an inter-continental ballistic missile launched this week. Japan plans to spend 75.5 billion yen ($530 million) to develop glide-phase interceptors with the United States that are expected to be deployed around 2030 and designed to counter hypersonic missiles being developed by China, North Korea and Russia.
# Hong Kong court rejects activist publisher Jimmy Lai's bid to throw out sedition charge By KANIS LEUNG December 21, 2023. 11:05 PM EST --- HONG KONG (AP) - A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge against him, delivering the ruling on the third day of his landmark national security trial. Lai, 76, was arrested during the city's crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious publications. Foreign governments, business professionals and legal scholars are closely watching the case, which is tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded. Many view it as a trial of the city's freedoms and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub. Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China's rule in 1997 under a promise the city retain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. That promise has become increasingly threadbare since the introduction of the security law, which has led to the arrests and silencing of many leading pro-democracy activists. Earlier this week, judges Esther Toh, Susana D'Almada Remedios and Alex Lee heard arguments from both sides about whether the prosecution had missed the time limit for charging Lai with sedition. The law requires the prosecution of sedition charges to begin within six months after an alleged offense is committed. On Friday, the judges, who were approved by the government to oversee the proceedings, ruled the prosecution filed the charge in time. "The application of the defence must fail," they wrote in their judgment. They said the limitation on time started to run on June 24, 2021, the last date of the alleged conspiracy, which the prosecution earlier said involved at least 160 articles. The trial is expected to last about 80 days without a jury. Wearing a navy blazer, Lai smiled at his family members after he entered the courtroom and appeared calm. His prosecution has drawn criticism from the United States and the United Kingdom. Beijing has called their comments irresponsible, saying they went against international law and the basic norms of international relations. Hong Kong, once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders' latest World Press Freedom Index. The group said the city had seen an "unprecedented setback" since 2020, when the security law was imposed. The governments of both Hong Kong and China have hailed the law for bringing back stability to the city.
# From fugitive to shackled prisoner, 'Fat Leonard' lands back in US court and could face more charges By JOSHUA GOODMAN and ERIC TUCKER December 21, 2023. 6:35 PM EST --- MIAMI (AP) - A defense contractor at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in U.S. military history is expected to face additional charges following his return to the United States from Venezuela as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries, a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Leonard Glenn Francis, who is nicknamed "Fat Leonard," faced a federal judge for the first time since snipping off his ankle monitor last year and disappearing weeks before a sentencing hearing on charges that he offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy officials, defense contractors and others. He was later arrested in Venezuela and had been in custody there since, but was returned to the U.S. in a large swap Wednesday that also saw the release of 10 American detainees by Venezuela in exchange for the Biden administration freeing Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessman and close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who'd been charged in the U.S. in a money laundering case. Francis, shackled and in a beige jumpsuit, stood by quietly as a federal magistrate judge in Miami ordered him to be transferred to the Southern District of California, the region where his case was initially filed. Prosecutors said additional charges would be presented against Francis for failing to appear at a hearing in his ongoing bribery case in San Diego. "Not right now," an otherwise expressionless but soft-spoken Francis said in response to Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra's question about whether he could afford an attorney. Francis was arrested in a San Diego hotel nearly a decade ago as part of a federal sting operation. Investigators say he bilked the U.S. military out of more than $35 million by buying off dozens of top-ranking Navy officers with booze, sex, lavish parties and other gifts. The scandal led to the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges. Investigators say Francis, who owned and operated his family's ship-servicing business, abused his position as a key contact for U.S. Navy shops at ports across Asia, wooing naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines. He pleaded guilty in 2015 and was allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor and security guards. But weeks before he faced sentencing in September 2022, Francis made a daring escape as he cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela. He was arrested a couple weeks later before boarding a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia. He had been in custody in Venezuela ever since, and officials said he sought asylum there. Newly unsealed court documents show federal prosecutors making preparations last week for Saab's release from U.S. custody, telling a judge that they anticipated that President Joe Biden would grant clemency for Saab and requesting an order for the U.S. Marshals Service to take Saab out of federal prison "based on significant foreign policy interests of the United States."
# 4 Indian soldiers killed and 3 wounded in an ambush by rebels in disputed Kashmir December 21, 2023. 1:35 PM EST --- NEW DELHI (AP) - Four Indian soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in an ambush by militants fighting against New Delhi's rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said on Thursday. The Indian military said militants fired at two army vehicles in southern Poonch district late afternoon on Thursday. The area is close to the highly militarized line of control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian army spokesman, said soldiers retaliated to the fire and in the ensuing fight, four soldiers were killed and three others were injured. He said a search operation continued in the area. No other details were available and there was no independent confirmation of the ambush. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. But since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region's semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations. Last month, government forces killed seven militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations while rebels killed four Indian soldiers, including two army officers, in the region.
# Taliban official says Afghan girls of all ages permitted to study in religious schools December 21, 2023. 11:57 AM EST --- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan girls of all ages are permitted to study in religious schools, which are traditionally boys-only, a Taliban official said Thursday. A day earlier, U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council and reporters that the United Nations was receiving "more and more anecdotal evidence" that girls could study at the Islamic schools known as madrassas. But Otunbayeva said it wasn't clear what constituted a madrassa, if there was a standardized curriculum that allowed modern education subjects, and how many girls were able to study in the schools. The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from education beyond sixth grade, including university. Madrassas are one of the few options for girls after sixth grade to receive any kind of education. Mansor Ahmad, a spokesman at the Education Ministry in the Afghan capital Kabul, said in messages to The Associated Press that there are no age restrictions for girls at government-controlled madrassas. The only requirement is that girls must be in a madrassa class appropriate to their age. "If her age is not in line with the class and (the age) is too high, then she is not allowed," said Ahmad. "Madrassas have the same principles as schools and older women are not allowed in junior classes." Privately run madrassas have no age restrictions and females of all ages, including adult women, can study in these schools, according to Ahmad. There are around 20,000 madrassas in Afghanistan, of which 13,500 are government-controlled. Private madrassas operate out of mosques or homes, said Ahmad. He did not give details on how many girls are studying in the country's madrassas or if this number increased after the bans. Otunbayeva addressed the Security Council on the one-year anniversary of the Taliban banning women from universities. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education. Higher education officials in Kabul were unavailable for comment Thursday on when or if the restrictions would be lifted, or what steps the Taliban are taking to make campuses and classrooms comply with their interpretation of Islamic law. Afghanistan's higher education minister, Nida Mohammed Nadim, said last December that the university ban was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders and because he believed some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam.
# Myanmar's military should be investigated for war crimes, Amnesty International says By Associated Press December 21, 2023. 10:00 AM EST --- BANGKOK (AP) - The human rights group Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Myanmar military of indiscriminate killings, detaining civilians, and using air-dropped cluster munitions in response to an insurgency in the northeast and west, and demanded an investigation into war crimes. Fighting has been raging in the northern part of Shan state since the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, launched a coordinated offensive on Oct. 27. A little more than two weeks later, the Arakan Army also attacked outposts in its home state of Rakhine in the west. The offensive of the well-trained and well-armed ethnic militias has been seen as a significant challenge for the army, which has struggled to contain a nationwide uprising by members of the People's Defense Forces, a pro-democracy armed group established after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The alliance has claimed widespread victories including the capture of four border crossings in the northern part of Shan state. Soon after the fighting began, the military government acknowledged that it had lost three towns and vowed counterattacks on the alliance. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said in its report on Dec.15 that 378 civilians have reportedly died and 505 others have been injured while more than 660,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that began in late October. According to OCHA's estimates, more than 2.6 million people have been displaced nationwide since the army takeover nearly three years ago. In its report, Amnesty International said it had documented a nighttime airstrike by the military on Namhkam township in Shan in early December, most likely using cluster munitions that are internationally banned. Cluster munitions open in the air, releasing smaller "bomblets" across a wide area. One of the groups in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army also said in a statement on Dec. 2 that the military's jet fighters dropped cluster munitions twice at night on Namhkam township, killing one local resident, injuring five others and damaging more than 12 houses. Amnesty International said civilians and civilian sites were indiscriminately attacked by the military in Rakhine's Pauktaw township. The report said the army's attacks on civilians and the use of banned cluster munitions "should be investigated as war crimes." "The Myanmar military has a blood-stained résumé of indiscriminate attacks with devastating consequences for civilians, and its brutal response to a major offensive by armed groups fits a longstanding pattern," said Matt Wells, Director of Amnesty International's Crisis Response Program. "Nearly three years after the coup, the suffering of civilians across Myanmar shows no signs of easing, even as the issue has largely fallen off the international agenda." Amnesty said it based its findings on interviews with 10 people from Pauktaw and analyses of photographs, video material and satellite imagery. In a separate report released on Thursday, another monitoring group, Human Rights Watch, charged that another faction in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, had abducted and forcibly recruited civilians fleeing fighting in Shan. The MNDAA, which is an armed grouping of the Kokang minority, is seeking to oust a rival faction from power by seizing the town of Laukkaing, which is the capital of what is officially called the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, in the northeast, near the border with China. Two residents of Laukkaing told the AP on Thursday that their colleagues were forcibly taken by the MNDAA for recruitment while fleeing the fighting. The Associated Press reached out to MNDAA representatives seeking comment but received no response.
# Pakistan arrests activists to stop them from protesting in Islamabad against extrajudicial killings By MUNIR AHMED December 21, 2023. 9:25 AM EST --- ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's police used water cannons, swung batons, and arrested dozens of activists in an overnight crackdown to stop protesters from entering the capital to denounce the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest, the organizers said Thursday. About 200 protesters, some of them families with children, began their nearly 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) convoy around Nov. 28, heading toward Islamabad from the town of Turbat. They planned to rally in the capital to draw attention to the death of Balaach Mola Bakhsh. The 24-year-old died in November while in police custody in Baluchistan province. Police say Bakhsh was carrying explosives when he was arrested in November, and two days later he died when militants ambushed a police van that was transporting him. Activists say police were holding him since they arrested him in October, and suspect he was killed intentionally in a staged counterterrorism operation. Such arrests by security forces are common in Baluchistan and elsewhere, and people who are missing are often found to have been in the custody of authorities, sometimes for years. Since then, human rights activists and Bakhsh's family have been demanding justice for him. They also want the counterterrorism officials who they claim killed the man arrested. The gas-rich southwestern Baluchistan province at the border of Afghanistan and Iran has been a scene of low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for more than two decades. Baloch nationalists initially wanted a share from the provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence. They also say security forces have been holding hundreds of their supporters for the past several years. As the group of vehicles carrying the demonstrators reached the outskirts of Islamabad before dawn Thursday, police asked them to stop and turn around. When the demonstrators refused, officers started beating dozens of activists with batons. Police in Islamabad insisted they avoided the use of force against the rallygoers, but videos shared by the rallygoers on social media showed police dragging women, swinging batons and using water cannons in freezing temperatures to disperse the protesters. Police were also seen throwing demonstrators into police trucks. It drew condemnation from human rights organizations nationwide. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar, who is from Baluchistan, sent his Cabinet members to hold talks with the families of missing Boluch people. After these talks, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said at a news conference in Islamabad that the government has started releasing most of the rallygoers, including women and children, and remaining people will also be freed after investigations. Authorities say the government will consider the demands of the demonstrators. Baloch activist Farida Baluch tweeted that her "elderly mother and niece, symbols of resilience, faced arrest and brutality in Islamabad." She asked the international community to take "notice of the plight of Baloch activists and missing persons' families." In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly condemned "the violent police crackdown on Baloch protestors in Islamabad" where it said women, children and older people subjected to unwarranted force in the form of water cannons and batons. "Numerous women protestors have reportedly been arrested and separated from their male relatives and allies," the statement said. It said the rallygoers were denied their constitutional right to peacefully protest. The commission demanded an immediate release of the detainees and sought an apology from the government.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.