NewsHero (beta) Weekend Update
October 12. 2019 Issue 1
Welcome to the first weekend edition of NewsHero beta.
Top stories this week included anti-government protests from Ecuador’s indigenous people, plus ongoing climate change protests across the globe. In northern California more than 100,000 residents had their power shut off by Pacific Gas & Electric in an effort to avoid wildfires starting during heavy winds. At the same time, firefighters were battling a 4,700-acre blaze in Los Angeles.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, supported by the Danish Red Cross and Oxfam International, consulted with Rohingya refugees to create a "female-friendly toilet" for women to use, particularly during pregnancy.
“For his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Prize, while three chemists shared the 2019 prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries. Finally, Lego is trying out a new recycling program. U.S. customers could ship their unwanted plastic bricks for free, where they would be cleaned and then donated to classrooms.
UN, Aid Workers Worry Of Humanitarian Crisis in Syria
Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurdish region continue
A volunteer caring for orphaned children at a camp in Ain Issa that holds hundreds of relatives of ISIS fighters. CreditDelil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
UN agencies said on Friday that the Turkish airstrikes and ground offensive in Syria against Kurdish forces have sent tens of thousands fleeing, prompting fears of another “humanitarian catastrophe” in the country.
In an effort to take back land controlled by the Kurdish militia that fought alongside U.S. troops in the war against ISIS, the Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria has been under attack since Wednesday.
Mark Lowcock, the UN’s emergency relief chief, said that the Turkish Government had “assured me that they attach maximum importance to the protection of civilians and the avoidance of harm to them.” A number of civilian casualties have already been reported.
Medical workers have evacuated a hospital in the town that was run by Doctors Without Borders, as the physicians joined those fleeing Turkish advances. A second hospital was also evacuated. The displaced are fleeing further south as the Turkish bombardment extends deeper inside Kurdish-held territory.
Expressing concern, the International Rescue Committee warned: “The IRC is deeply concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the two million civilians in northeast Syria who have already survived ISIS brutality and multiple displacements.”
The UK-based agency Save the Children also issued a warning: “We are deeply concerned for the hundreds of thousands of people present in northeast Syria, and we urge all military parties on the ground to ensure that operations do not impact civilians who could face widespread displacement or have their movements restricted.”
Amid bipartisan criticism of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, Jason Baker, a U.S. Air Force major who flew combat missions in the fight against ISIS in 2016, recently wrote in an op-ed: “I fought alongside the Kurds. The United States can't abandon our fierce allies to Turkey. The Kurds have been a reliable partner for the United States. Betraying them now risks undermining all our progress against the Islamic State.”
Hong Kong Protestors Continue To Wear Face Masks Despite Ban
Privacy International, other groups’ concerns grow over surveillance technology
Masked protesters during an anti-government rally in Hong Kong on Sunday. Credit Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
As demonstrators continue to push for democracy in Hong Kong, the Chinese government has issued a ban on face masks worn by protesters. An effort to show governmental concern over public safety, the ban, which could carry a punishment of up to a year in prison, is seen by protestors rather as an infringement on civil liberties. Protesters returned to the streets over the weekend defiantly wearing their face masks.
Globally the development of artificial intelligence continues to grow and increase surveillance possibilities, and China has just unveiled a 500-megapixel camera capable of instantly recognizing individual faces in a group of thousands with precision.
The U.S. says it is blacklisting a group of Chinese tech companies, citing the use of facial recognition technology for repressing minority Muslim groups in China. U.S. firms would essentially be blocked from selling technology to the Chinese companies unless approved by the government. According to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the U.S. government “will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China.”
The issue of privacy has become an international concern. In the U.K. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has expressed uncertainty over the use of facial recognition technology, while Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said, “Facial recognition is the perfect tool of oppression and the widespread use we’ve found indicates we’re facing a privacy emergency.”
EU Says Brexit Deal Difficult But ‘Still Possible’
Britain’s terms remain uncertain with just three weeks left
Photo: Getty Images
Attempts for a last-minute Brexit deal would likely include British Prime Minister Boris Johnson making what the EU considers more concessions, though after what he called a very positive meeting with Johnson, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar indicated a deal could potentially be reached.
“I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty agreed, to allow the U.K. to leave the EU in an orderly fashion and to have that done by the end of October,” Varadkar said. Following a recent meeting with Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told him “a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely,” though Johnson says he is still “cautiously optimistic.”
Chief Brexit negotiator for the EU Michel Barnier admitted that striking a deal ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline would be difficult, though he said that such a deal is “still possible.” The U.K. has made recent proposals for a Brexit deal, but the response from the EU has not been positive. Barnier said, "to put things very frankly and to try to be objective, we are not really in a position where we are able to find an agreement.”
As the EU continues to stress the uncertainty of reaching a Brexit deal by the end of the month, the financial market has felt the pressure. Last week the pound fell 0.7% against the euro and 0.4% against the dollar.
Art by Mark Minnig
Subpoenas Roll In, White House Refuses To Comply
Impeachment inquiry inches forward but gets little cooperation
President Trump with Vice President Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol. (Source: Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)
As a witness in the House Democrat’s impeachment inquiry, Ambassador Gordon Sondland was barred by the Trump Administration at the last minute from testifying to Congress. Sondland was later given a subpoena for his testimony and documents from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. "The White House has once again attempted to impede and obstruct the impeachment inquiry," they said in a statement.
Sondland's lawyer announced Friday however that Sondland has agreed to cooperate and will indeed testify, despite the State Department instructing him not to comply.
The White House later sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, indicating they would not be cooperating with the impeachment inquiry. The letter included the statement, ”Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it.”
More individuals were given subpoenas by House investigators, including Rick Perry, who has been instructed to hand over any documents pertaining to Trump and his attempts to pressure Ukraine. Also, two businessmen have been ordered to produce documents from work they did with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The subpoenas came shortly after the two were indicted on federal campaign finance charges related to their work in Ukraine.
The oncoming subpoenas indicate that Democrats have no intention of easing up on their impeachment inquiry, while the White House has made clear it plans to ignore requests for witnesses and documents.
The U.S. is currently seeing the highest number of supporters for Trump’s impeachment. 51 percent of Americans want Trump impeached and removed from office, another 4 percent want him impeached but not removed, while 40 percent oppose impeachment entirely.
ACLU Represents LGBTQ Discrimination Cases In Supreme Court
Rights in the workplace at stake for many
Hundreds of activists stood outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday as oral arguments were heard in cases on LGBTQ discrimination. Photograph by Bill Clark / Congressional Quarterly / ZUMA
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week in three cases that set the stage for a decision on whether individuals can be fired from the workplace for being LGBTQ. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans employment discrimination on the basis of sex, but does that definition include LGBTQ employees?
Aimee Stephens, who worked nearly six years as a funeral director, was fired after coming out to her boss as transgender. Gerald Bostock was fired from his job as a social worker after his boss learned he had joined a gay softball league. Don Zarda told a female customer that he was gay and was then fired from his position as a skydiving instructor for sharing “inappropriate information.”
Discussing the court hearings on PBS NewsHour, Bostock said, “We're talking about millions and millions of people who go to work every day fearful for being fired for who they are, how they identify, and who they love. And that's wrong.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is counsel in two of the cases, representing Stephens and Zarda. In an article on its website covering the hearings, the ACLU posted, “There is an enormous amount at stake in these cases. LGBTQ people could lose protections against discrimination that they have relied on in many cases for two decades.”
(Sources below)
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