Prince Harry in Angola: Where are the world’s landmines? – BBC News
hmmmmmmmm
Category: International Affairs,
Sexist Airways boss in ‘heartfelt apology’ for sexist remark
Asked at a news conference on Tuesday about female employment among Middle East airlines and whether his job could be done by a woman, Mr al Baker said: “Of course it has to be led by a man, because it is a very challenging position”.
…In 2017, he apologised after calling US flight attendants “grandmothers” during a trade row with US airlines, prompting an airline union to accuse him of sexism and age discrimination.
…In a statement on Wednesday, Mr al-Baker said Qatar [Sexist] Airways fully supported [giving lipservice to] gender equality.
Qatar Airways boss in ‘heartfelt apology’ for sexist remark – BBC News
hmmm
Siberian shaman arrested after traveling nearly 2,000 miles to ‘exorcise’ Putin – CNN
Speaking in a video on his Instagram account, Gabyshev called Putin “a beast, a fiend of hell, the son of Satan,” and said the purpose of his trip to Moscow was to “exorcise” the Russian leader.
Amnesty said armed and masked law enforcement officials “encircled” Gabyshev’s camp near the village of Vydrino, in the Russian republic of Buyratia, and “took away the shaman” on Thursday.
…Yakutia’s Ministry of Health said on Friday that Gabyshev had been sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he would undergo tests. [Ouch. that cannot be good.]
Siberian shaman arrested after traveling nearly 2,000 miles to ‘exorcise’ Putin – CNN
sighhh
The White House would like you to abandon all common sense on ‘locked and loaded’
After all, the words “locked and loaded” directly imply that weapons are, uh, locked and loaded to be delivered at the push of a button.
Except it doesn’t!
…So, when Trump said that we are “locked and loaded depending on verification,” what he was talking about was the “realities that we’re all far safer and more secure domestically from energy independence?”
Come on, man. It’s not even close.
…This is an administration that has repeatedly tried to tell the public that what they are hearing and seeing isn’t what they are hearing and seeing. Literally.
“Just remember, what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what’s happening,” Trump said in July 2018. “Just stick with us, don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news.”
The White House would like you to abandon all common sense on ‘locked and loaded’ – CNNPolitics
hmmmm
Teen Egyptian girl’s case puts legal system under spotlight
The prosecution of a 15-year-old girl who killed a bus driver after he allegedly tried to rape her has reignited debate over the treatment of women in Egypt’s legal system, including the practice of virginity tests and blaming victims of sexual violence.
…During her interrogation, the girl said she was on a date with her boyfriend before riding the bus — a statement that could easily undermine her reputation and probably her credibility in conservative Egyptian society, where dating is frowned upon. Her boyfriend, along with a friend of his, are in custody pending investigations into any potential links to the crime.
…After her detention, the girl was required to undergo a vaginal test which determined she was a virgin — which in the Egyptian context could be viewed as helpful to her case.
…In conservative areas, relatives celebrate a new bride’s loss of virginity by brandishing a bloody sheet in public, a practice they believe affirms the family’s honor.
…Sexual harassment, mostly ranging from catcalls to occasional pinching or grabbing, is rampant in Egypt. Polls have found that most men and women in the conservative Muslim country believe it is justified if women dress “provocatively” in public.
…Unlawful virginity examinations garnered attention in 2011 when several women said they were detained by military personnel and forced to undergo virginity tests while protesting the interim military government that took over the country after the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Teen Egyptian girl’s case puts legal system under spotlight
hmmm
In Alaska hometown, Native women say police ignored rapes
Susie reported to Nome police that she had been assaulted and went with the investigating officer to the hospital, where a forensic nurse was prepared to perform a sexual assault exam.
But the officer told the nurse not to bother, according to a hospital record that Susie released to The Associated Press.
…Rape survivors and their supporters told the AP that the city’s police department has often failed to investigate sexual assaults or keep survivors informed about what, if anything, is happening with their cases.
Survivors and advocates contend that Nome police pay less attention and investigate less aggressively when sexual assaults are reported by Alaska Native women. More than half of Nome’s population is Alaska Native, largely of Yupik heritage or — like Susie — of Inupiaq heritage. All of its police department’s sworn officers are non-Native.
In Alaska hometown, Native women say police ignored rapes – ABC News
sigh…
‘Can’t feel my heart:’ IG Says Separated Kids Traumatized
The little boy, about 7 or 8, was under the delusion that his dad had been killed. And he thought he was next.
Other children believed their parents had abandoned them. And some suffered physical symptoms because of their mental trauma, clinicians reported.
…Already distressed [by events] in their home countries or by their journey, [many] showed more fear, feelings of abandonment and post-traumatic stress symptoms than children who were not separated [from their families.
…Thousands of childcare workers were given direct access to migrant children before completing required background and fingerprint checks.
…A second Office of Inspector General report found 31 of the 45 facilities reviewed had hired case managers who did not meet Office of Refugee Resettlement requirements, including many without the required education. In addition, the review found 28 of the 45 facilities didn’t have enough mental health workers.
…Children were being given psychotropic medications. …About 300 children overall between May and July of 2018 were prescribed antidepressants. Staff described some concerns that dosages or types of medication may not have been right.
…Federal investigators also found some shelters relying on employees to report their own criminal histories. A background check found one employee — who “self-certified” that she had no history for crimes involving child abuse — had a third-degree child neglect felony on her record.
…Only four of the 45 shelters reviewed by the U.S. Health and Human Services inspector general met all staff screening requirements.
…During a time when sponsors had to be fingerprinted, children were held in facilities for as long as 93 days.
…The watchdog said the longer children were in custody, the more their mental health deteriorated, and it recommended minimizing that time, …creating better mental health care options, and hiring more trained staff.
…”Significant factors” [the agency refused to own to any responsibility for contributed to the problems.] Those included a surge in children at the border, the children’s …mental health needs and a [lack of the foresight needed to do things like bring in more] qualified bilingual [staff of every kind,] especially in rural areas.
‘Can’t feel my heart:’ IG Says Separated Kids Traumatized
agggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Journalists Blocked from Attending Secretive Immigration Tent Courts
The Trump administration is conducting asylum hearings in makeshift tent facilities by the ports of entry in Laredo and Brownsville for migrants who have been forced to wait months in Mexico under the chaotic Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.
…Court data show that almost no migrants have …lawyers …[representing] them.
…Over 6,000 migrants who arrived in Laredo have been returned to Mexico under MPP; more than 6,000 in Brownsville have also been sent back across the border. Nationwide, more than 42,000 have been returned. In some cases, they have been sent to the city of Monterrey and even as far as Chiapas, well over 1,000 miles away from the U.S. border. Migrants have faced numerous ordeals in Mexico—everything from homelessness to assault.
…Members of the press are normally allowed to observe immigration court proceedings.
…DHS has kept its port courts shrouded in mystery. …[Reporters] have emailed both DHS and the Department of Justice dozens of times to ask when MPP hearings would begin and whether press would be allowed. They have stubbornly refused to provide information.
…DHS finally provided a statement, in which a spokesperson said the tent facilities “will not be open to in-person public access, including media access.”
Journalists Blocked from Attending Secretive Immigration Tent Courts – The Texas Observer
Grrrrrrrrrr
The oil drone attack shows how Saudi Arabia and the UAE are fighting their own battles in Yemen
Saudi Arabia’s intentions were, for the most part, to thwart Iran’s relentless attempts to plant the Houthis – a loyal, Hezbollah-like Shia militia – on the Saudis’ southern borders.
The UAE has sought to free south Yemen from both the Houthis and al-Qaeda and later use the region as a launching pad for its own strategic influence in the Horn of Africa.
The picture now – including the stalemate in the strategic port of Hodeida – tells us that the Saudi policy has failed, while the UAE’s self-interests have increased.
…Yemen has become, in effect, two countries which are hostile to each other.
…The Saudis are under no illusion, however, that they will win the war. They, along with the Emiratis, have long concluded that the Yemen war is unwinnable, and have been looking for a way out.
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An Brazilian Indigenous Leader Shares His Experience With And Ideas to Solve Man-Made Climate Change
Our rivers cannot exist without the forest, our animals cannot live without the forest, and we ourselves depend on these plants and animals for our consumption, for our existence.
Deforesting was one of the greatest catastrophes that happened in our territory. People felled our forests, and that made our rivers very dry. There were many species of fish that disappeared, as the forest has been cut down, many kinds of animals also disappeared, or disappeared from that region at least. We have experienced a lot more heatwaves now, almost unbearable heatwaves. There would be rains during the summer time as if it were winter time, and also dryness during the rainy season. There’s been growing lightning storms and hurricane storms that would come and uproot many trees. We had great floods that caused many animals to die, and even people. Because of climatic changes, there are many species of trees whose fruits are borne before the correct time of the year. All the people who live in the forest realize that over the last 30 years, the changes have been very significant.
…Our environment, our natural fruits, animals and plants are the security of our lives. And if we don’t take care of all these species, of this richness of nature, we are heading towards a great catastrophe that may affect us in a very deep way.
…I want to show young people in particular how they can tend the forest in order to guarantee their futures, to create a sustainable situation consciously, without harming the environment in such a violent way as man does.
…Our governments are creating projects that actually harm people’s lives, perhaps slowly, but in a very pervasive way. People are just trying to get rich, and they are killing one another, sometimes without even knowing it. …They also need to respect everyone’s lives, the lives of all human beings, who depend on the land to survive. It is our very governments who are killing the earth.
An Brazilian Indigenous Leader Shares His Climate Solutions | Time
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California bans private prisons – including Ice detention centers
Currently, one company, the Geo Group, operates four private prisons in California under contract with the California department of corrections and rehabilitation. The contracts for these four prisons expire in 2023 and cannot be renewed under AB32, except to comply with a federal court order to reduce crowding in state-run facilities.
…The bill’s author, the assemblymember Rob Bonta, originally wrote it only to apply to contracts between the state’s prison authority and private, for-profit prison companies. But in June, Bonta amended the bill to apply to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s four major California detention centers.
…Two of Ice’s largest immigrant detention centers in California are operated by the Geo Group through complicated contracts that use cities as middlemen.
…This complicated subcontracting model allowed Ice and Adelanto to forgo competitive bidding for the center’s operations subcontract.
…“To expand their detention center, Geo Group and Ice would have to cut their ties with the city of Adelanto,” said Jose Servin, the communications coordinator of the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.
Geo Group asked both cities to break off their Ice contracts and the cities agreed. Ice then provided Geo Group with temporary contracts to operate Adelanto and Mesa Verde. Both agreements expire next March, after AB32 is expected to go into effect.
“My understanding is AB32 would prevent new contracts for these facilities,” said Panah. “The fact they’re on a one-year bridge, it won’t allow them to move from the one-year contract to a longer-term contract.”
…Servin said that while the new law was a significant victory, there was one other thing immigrants rights groups were concerned about. When several sheriffs’ departments canceled their contracts to house Ice detainees last year, instead of freeing the detainees, Ice moved many of them to prisons in Colorado and Hawaii.
California bans private prisons – including Ice detention centers | US news | The Guardian
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Trump Is Recklessly Endangering the Lives of America’s Spies
… Trump disclosed Israeli intelligence relating to an ISIS plot to bomb U.S.-bound airplanes using laptops. …[He] placed that source in grave danger of being uncovered by ISIS, and Israel reportedly had him or her quickly removed.
…Specific information regarding the Russian troll farm used to disrupt the 2016 election and leading to special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of more than a dozen Russian intelligence officers, for example, must have come from U.S. spies in Russia—and the Kremlin knew it.
…After all, Trump had no hesitation tweeting out classified imagery of Iran’s rocket program. Would he go so far as to share the identity of a U.S. spy?
…Under the conditions created by Trump, it is hard to imagine that any sane person would want to spy for the United States—and that is a terrifying prospect for the safety of this country.
sigh…
Israel bars Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering country
Israel bars Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering country – CNNPolitics
Our pal, Israel, following us backwards into the abyss.
New Zealand firefighters perform haka to honour 9/11 first responders – CNN
New Zealand firefighters perform haka to honour 9/11 first responders – CNN
There is something so incredibly moving about a haka.
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