NewsHero (beta) Weekend Update Issue 7
Nov 23, 2019
Welcome to this week’s edition of NewsHero: November 23, 2019
We source our reporting from news outlets all across the spectrum. By reading this week’s newsletter you’ll be exploring events from around the globe covered by 36 publications in 73 articles by 93 journalists. And remember, here though, the heroes make the headlines.
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Weekly Brief
Health
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has shared figures showing the organization assisted with 1.1 million births from 2013 to 2017. Recognizing that roughly 850 women die from pregnancy-related causes every day, MSF provides vital pregnancy and prenatal care, emergency obstetric care, and access to family planning services in more than 25 countries.
Human Rights
It was World Children’s Day on Wednesday, UNICEF’s global day of action by children for children’s rights. This year marked 30 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by world leaders. According to UNICEF it’s become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives around the world. Human Rights Watch noted that every country in the world—except the United States—has ratified the treaty.
The highest United Nations court, the International Court of Justice, is scheduled to hold public hearings on December 10 regarding a lawsuit accusing Myanmar of genocide. This will be the first time Myanmar has faced legal action for the crime of genocide, more than two years after the military purge of over 700,000 minority Rohingya beginning in August 2017.
A Bangladeshi man helps Rohingya refugees to disembark from a boat after crossing the border from Myanmar in Teknaf on 30 September 2017. (Fred Dufour/AFP)
Middle East
American peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad helped broker a deal in Afghanistan that freed two Western hostages held by the Taliban. The hostages released, 63-year-old American Kevin C. King and 50-year-old Australian Timothy J. Weeks, were both teachers at the American University in Kabul who were abducted in 2016. The deal, which also included the release of three Taliban figures, is hoped to pave the way for Afghan Peace talks.
The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory remain in breach of international law, despite the Trump administration accepting them. The U.S. this week abandoned its long-held position that the settlements were inconsistent with international law.
Omar Shakir, the Human Rights Watch representative in Israel and Palestine, has had his request rejected by Israel to delay his expulsion, on the grounds of his support for the boycott against Israel. Shakir is expected to leave on November 25.
Human Rights Watch has accused Iraq's police and members of the military of attacking medical workers for treating demonstrators, as at least three more protesters were killed in Baghdad on Thursday. The human rights group said that security forces had fired on medical workers, tents, and ambulances with tear gas and live ammunition, punishing them for treating protesters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted Thursday on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a group of ongoing corruption cases involving allegations of offering lucrative favors to several media moguls in exchange for positive news coverage or expensive gifts.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said in a statement Wednesday that two missiles targeted Qah Camp in northern Idlib, one of the largest camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area, and that the missiles exploded near the Qah Maternity Hospital. A spokesman for Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said that at least 16 people were killed with many more wounded. A tweet from the White Helmets following the attack said: “A horrific massacre has occurred inside #Qah IDP camp near the Turkish border in #Idlib after the civilians in tents were targeted by a missile carrying cluster bombs…Our teams are working to help the injured amid the chaos and terror.”
Immigration
A protest in front of the Capitol in October against planned Trump administration cuts to the U.S. refugee resettlement program. (Photo: Leah Millis/Reuters)
Asylum officers across the country are refusing to implement President Trump’s immigration policies under the program known as Migrant Protection Protocols. Claiming that the policies are illegal and immoral, asylum officers and government officials are resisting the program by calling in sick, requesting transfers, retiring earlier than planned and quitting.
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, issued a statement Tuesday saying it has “serious concerns about the new U.S. policy on asylum,” calling it “an approach at variance with international law that could result in the transfer of highly vulnerable individuals to countries where they may face life-threatening dangers.”
An advocacy group known as RAICES says it's paying $2.1 million so ICE will release some 200 detained immigrants in 20 states. The Texas-based nonprofit says it teamed up with a network of organizations and volunteers to make bond payments across the country, with hopes of bringing more attention to the large number of immigrants remaining in U.S. custody.
Three refugee resettlement agencies are suing the Trump administration over an executive order that would give state and local officials unprecedented power to prevent refugees from resettling in their communities. The lawsuit argues that the order is unconstitutional and in violation of federal immigration law.
A 37-year-old humanitarian aid worker based in southern Arizona has been found not guilty for helping migrants at the Mexican border. Scott Warren faced up to ten years in prison on two counts of harboring unauthorized migrants. “The government failed in its attempt to criminalize basic human kindness,” Warren said after the announcement of the verdict.
Technology
Fact-checkers and the opposition Labour Party criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party on Tuesday for changing the name of one of its Twitter accounts to appear like a fact-checking service during a televised election debate. The Conservative Campaign Headquarters press office account, followed by nearly 76,000 users, switched its name to “factcheckUK” from its usual “CCHQPress” throughout an hour-long debate between Johnson and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Rights groups have been raising concerns over the use of facial recognition technology, in particular its use to monitor public spaces and protests, to track and profile minorities, and to flag suspects in criminal investigations. Screening at airports, concerts and sporting events with the technology has also created privacy and civil liberties worries. Facial recognition technology is already being used in many U.S. cities and around the world.
A nine-member coalition of human rights groups, labor rights organizations, and global unions announced Wednesday that Amazon recently took a first step toward transparency by publicly disclosing on its website the names, addresses, and other details of over 1,000 facilities that produce Amazon-branded products. The list though is reportedly not easily accessible, sortable, or sufficiently specific.
Climate
Youth activists from all continents bring a complaint to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on climate change. @Michael Rubenstein for Earthjustice
A boy named David, age 16, is one of a group of children lodging a United Nations complaint against France and four other countries for its lagging efforts to fight the global climate crisis. David is from the Marshall Islands, where there’s already visible damage caused by climate change.
Bill Gates is backing a secretive startup that has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet. The clean energy company known as Heliogen said on Tuesday it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect enough sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius, potentially helping one day to contend with industries responsible for major pollution.
The Better Government Association (BGA), Illinois’ non-partisan watchdog, said that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspections and staff levels have plunged in Chicago. Citing EPA cutbacks in the Midwest, the BGA claims regulations are being abandoned and the Trump administration’s policies favor job creation over clean air and water.
Environmentalists are condemning remarks made by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in response to a government report that deforestation in the Amazon reached an 11-year high. Bolsonaro said Wednesday he expects the destruction to continue. “Deforestation and fires will never end,” he told reporters. “It’s cultural.” Environmentalists fear that the Amazon is approaching a point at which large parts of the rainforest will be lost forever.
Hong Kong Residents Offer Rides, Beds to Assist Protesters
US Senate Unanimously Passes ‘Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act’
A supporter of Simon Cheng holds a poster outside of the British Consulate in Hong Kong in August during a rally in support of him. (AP)
As pro-democracy protests continue in Hong Kong, many residents have joined in to help activists far beyond the front lines. Reports show scores of civilians stepping in to assist protesters with transportation and shelter. Many protesters have been left with nowhere to stay because of clashes with family members at home over participating in demonstrations.
A former employee of Britain’s consulate in Hong Kong said Chinese secret police tortured him in an attempt to get information about activists leading protests. In a post on Facebook, Simon Cheng says he was beaten, put into stress positions and deprived of sleep for a roughly two-week period in August after Chinese police detained him at a train station at Hong Kong's border with the mainland.
Fearing arrest, a small group of anti-government protesters refused to leave Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the last of hundreds who took over the campus for several days. Although Hong Kong schools reopened Wednesday after being closed down for six days, students and commuters still had transit troubles as the last protesters remained on campus surrounded by police, who set up a barrier around the area to stop students from escaping.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation on Tuesday designed to protect human rights in Hong Kong amid a crackdown on protesters. The “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” now goes to the House of Representatives, which approved its own version of the measure last month. Agreements will need to be met between the chambers before any legislation can be sent to President Trump for consideration.
Sondland Testifies He ‘Followed President’s Orders’ On Ukraine
Key officials support accusations Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate rivals
Jennifer Williams and Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman on Tuesday before Congress. Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Testimonies continued this week in the impeachment hearings for President Donald Trump yielding several key takeaways.
Ukraine officials may have known that security aid was cut off much earlier than previously thought. Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said that she was aware of multiple communications between Ukrainian Embassy officials and members of her staff in which the embassy officials asked questions about delivery of the security aid to their country. Cooper also said that $35 million in Ukraine aid has yet to be released.
State Department official David Hale took questions about the hold on security aid to Ukraine and the attacks by Rudy Giuliani on the reputation of Marie Yovanovitch, the United States ambassador to Ukraine. She was eventually recalled from her post. Hale told lawmakers that what happened to Yovanovitch was “wrong” and that “I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work.”
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, testified that he and other Trump advisers pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats “because the president directed us to do so.” Sondland said that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Kurt Volker, the special envoy for Ukraine, were reluctant to work with Rudy Giuliani on the pressure campaign and agreed only at Trump’s insistence. Volker testified Tuesday that allegations against Joe Biden and Yovanovitch are “self-serving and not credible.”
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams also testified this week, both of whom listened in on Trump’s July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Lt. Col. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, said he believed that Trump’s request for Ukraine to open investigations into the “2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma” should be viewed as demands that were “inappropriate and had nothing to do with national security.” Williams, an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said the July 25 phone call was “unusual and inappropriate.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday requesting documents related to former vice president Joe Biden and his communications with Ukrainian officials, a step seen as a GOP effort to counter the House impeachment investigation of President Trump.
The FBI has reportedly asked to interview the whistleblower whose complaint to the intelligence community set off the impeachment investigation into President Trump, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday. The whistleblower has not yet agreed to an interview.
NewsHero Editorial
NewsHero sources its coverage from multiple news sites across the political and ideological spectrum, so we get to see a broad range of takes on the same topic. What’s striking however in our daily searches is how the worst in the news seems prioritized over the best. The more conflict, violence and political division, the more sources to choose from. It’s the opposite for the better news side of the world, which by contrast takes a lot more digging to identify in multiple sources. Sadly this is because the worse, gorier and more salacious get the most attention, and therefore the most ratings and clicks. Today's cartoon is our reflection on why, as we have written about many times, it has to lead if it bleeds.
Art by Mark Minnig
Rights Groups Report Protesters Fired On By Iran Security Forces
Iran begins to restore interest access following shutdown to crush protests
Iranian protesters gather around a fire during a demonstration in the capital Tehran on Saturday [AFP]
Amnesty International released a report Tuesday saying at least 106 protesters in Iran have been killed as top officials take action to crush largely peaceful protests that began after a sharp increase in gas prices. Raha Bahreini, Amnesty's researcher on Iran and Human Rights, said: “The information that we have obtained reveals a horrific pattern of unlawful killings across the country.” The organization continually seeks to gather information on the numbers of those affected by the violence.
According to Human Rights Watch video footage of protests posted on social media appeared to show security forces directly shooting at protestors in different cities. Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Authorities are brutally repressing Iranians who are frustrated with an autocratic, abusive government and its policies and who bear the brunt of negative economic consequences of renewed U.S. sanctions.”
Iran went almost completely offline this week, but as of Thursday internet access was restored in Tehran and a number of provinces after the five-day-long nationwide shutdown meant to help curb the protests against fuel price hikes.
A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert Colville said in a statement: “We are deeply concerned by reported violations of international norms and standards on the use of force, including the firing of live ammunition, against demonstrators in Iran.”
A report from the New York Times reveals hundreds of leaked intelligence reports that expose a war for regional influence and battles within the Islamic Republic’s own spy divisions. The Times says the unprecedented leak exposes Tehran’s vast influence in Iraq, detailing years of painstaking work by Iranian spies to co-opt the country’s leaders, pay Iraqi agents working for the Americans to switch sides and infiltrate every aspect of Iraq’s political, economic and religious life.
Syria says two civilians died and that Syrian air defenses shot down missiles over Damascus as Israel hit dozens of targets in Syria belonging to the government and allied Iranian forces. Other reports suggest a greater number of casualties. The Israeli military says the “wide-scale strikes” responded to rockets fired by an Iranian unit into Israel.
Six conservationists were sentenced to prison Wednesday by an Iranian court on charges of collaborating with the U.S., an “enemy state,” rights activists and former colleagues said. The defendants, part of a group of eight imprisoned environmentalists, were arrested and jailed by the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps early last year for their work tracking the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. The trial sparked outrage among conservationists worldwide.
The UN nuclear watchdog’s top inspector will travel to Tehran next week to press Iran to explain uranium traces found at an undeclared site. The International Atomic Energy Agency had previously found the uranium traces at the site that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to in a speech as a "secret atomic warehouse." Tehran has said the site is a carpet-cleaning facility.
Leaked Documents Expose Harsh Tactics Against Minority In China
New York Times publishes story detailing how China organized mass detention camps for Uighur Muslims
A demonstrator wearing a mask painted with the colours of the flag of East Turkestan — what Uighurs call Xinjiang — and a hand bearing the colours of the Chinese flag at a protest in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, in July 2018. OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images
The New York Times has published an explosive story accusing China of organizing mass detentions of the Uighur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region. Involving more than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents, the story tells of Wang Yongzhi, an official who was punished for quietly complaining about Communist Party tactics and secretly freeing 7,000 Uighur prisoners.
Many internet users bypassed China’s strict censors to read the story. The Times' English-language website is among the dozens of foreign news sites banned in China. As one reporter put it, “The Great Firewall may have been breached.”
According to the UN, more than one million Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained in massive camps built in China’s northwest Xinjiang region since 2017.
Uighur activist Ferkat Jawdat appealed to world leaders on Thursday to act on China’s treatment of his people, saying he was risking his mother’s life to speak out. Jawdat, who moved to the U.S. in 2011 to join his father, turned to activism last year after his mother was sent to a camp. Seven other relatives have also been detained. Jawdat’s mother was released in May but remains under surveillance.
A statement released by Australia’s foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called the news of China’s mass internment of Uighurs “disturbing” and demanded China end arbitrary detention.
The Chinese government’s detention of Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang came from directives by President Xi Jinping to “show absolutely no mercy” in the “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism.”
Thanks for reading.
