China’s birth rate falls to lowest in communist era
Despite abandoning one-child policy Beijing has seen little success in reversing decline

THANK YOU CHINA
Samuel Osborne @SamuelOsborne93

Nurses look after babies at an infant care centre in Yongquan, southwest China ( AFP via Getty Images )

China’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest since the founding of the communist People’s Republic 70 years ago.

Last year there were 14.6 million births, a drop of 580,000 from the year before, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Friday.

The birth rate of 10.48 per 1,000 people marked the third consecutive year to see a decline in the overall number of births.

Despite abandoning its long-standing one-child policy in 2016, China has seen little success in reversing its declining birth rate.

The policy allowing couples to have a second child has been met with little enthusiasm amid a lack of incentives and rising costs for housing, food, health care and education.

China’s population reached 1.4 billion by the end of 2019, an overall gain of 4.67 million people, the bureau said.

However, the country’s working age population, those between 16 and 59 years old, declined by 890,000.

Meanwhile the number of people aged 60 or older grew by 4.39 million, making up 18.1 per cent of the total population.

In January last year, a Chinese government-affiliated think tank warned the population of the world’s second-biggest economy could begin shrinking as soon as 2027.

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Meet the British Orthodox Jew standing up for China’s Uighur Muslims

'Nothing on this scale has ever happened before, except once, and that was the Holocaust,' protester tells Evie Breese


Andrew has been protesting outside the Chinese embassy 

office in Hampstead every Tuesday and Wednesday for 

nearly a year ( Evie Breese )

Standing by the side of the road, a lone protester pivots backwards and forwards to display his sign to every passing car. It reads “3 Million Muslims in Chinese Concentration Camps.”

Andrew pitches up at the Chinese Embassy office in leafy Hampstead every single Tuesday and Wednesday. Sometimes he has company, but often he is alone. He’s been coming without fail for almost a year.

In late 2018, satellite images of the camps in which Uighur Muslims are being detained for what China has termed ‘re-education’ began to emerge. Before then there had been unsubstantiated rumours of the facilities, but for Andrew, this was “undeniable proof” of concentration camps in Xinjiang.

“Because of my personal history. I didn't feel I could sit at home,” he says.

Andrew describes himself as a "typical Orthodox Jew.” He lives in Golders Green with his family, and works as a businessman. While he is protesting against one of the world’s greatest superpowers, he says he does not feel safe sharing his full name.

China has been accused of genocide by experts as reports of ethnic minority Uighur women forced to have abortions have emerged. Women who escaped the high security camps also spoke of widespread sexual torture. UN figures have put the numbers of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities forced into “political camps for indoctrination” at between one and two million, while Andrew took his statistic of three million from a UN Special Rapporteur.

More recently, China has also started to demolish Uighur graveyards.

China destroying Uighur burial grounds
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Boris Johnson is yet to address the Uighur situation publicly, following Theresa May who, during her time as Prime Minister, remained silent on the issue. But the UK has called on Beijing to respect ‘freedom of religion or belief’ when the country led 22 other countries in condemning China’s actions at the United Nations (UN) human rights committee meeting last October.

“Something on this scale, with millions of people, women, men and children in concentration camps hasn't happened before, except once,” Andrew explains.

Members of Andrew’s family were gassed at Auschwitz concentration camp. His wife’s mother was hidden from the Nazi’s by the people of her village, risking their lives to save hers.

“We said, the world said, ‘never again.’”

Watch more

They are concentration camps. That's the whole point

The lack of international uproar is what frightens Andrew the most. He explains that Germany opened its first concentration camp in 1933, but they didn’t formally become extermination camps until nine years later. During that time the world largely looked the other way, he says.

Nazi Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics, and while athletes from around the world competed in Berlin, Jews, Romani Gypsies, and political prisoners were being held in Dachau, Berlin-Marzahn and Sachsenhausen concentration camps.

“Virtually everybody I speak to in the Jewish community, sees the parallels. You know, we were in concentration camps, and these people are,” Andrew says.

However, professor Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute, sees this comparison with the Holocaust as “tricky.”
As many as three million people are detained in concentration camps in China's Xinjiang region (Getty)

Genocide is a deliberate act of killing a large group of people, and we are not seeing that in this case, he was keen to point out.

“The Chinese are not killing the Muslims in the gas chambers, killing them like the Third Reich did.”

“But we are seeing an attempt to fundamentally change, forcefully, the cultural and religious practices of a people.” This fits with many definitions of cultural genocide, including that used by the UN.

Tsang is sympathetic to why people of Jewish decent would make such a comparison, “they are remembering the events that led to the holocaust,” he says.

“They are raising it before it gets to a Holocaust stage.”

On this particular cold January night, Andrew has been joined by some individuals who are part of, or have seen the event advertised by the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions China Facebook group.

Jumina Qureshi, a trainee science teacher from Neasden, has come out for her first protest, and she’s brought her four young children and husband. The family has doubled tonight's numbers, and Andrew is thrilled.

“This is quite emotional actually, seeing Andrew here. Despite our history – you know, Jews and Muslims, he’s out here saying it’s not ok.”

“It just goes to show, interfaith dialogue is more important now than ever,” she says.

Uighur numbers in the UK are small compared to communities in other countries in Europe and in the US, but Rahima Mahmut, claims that almost everyone has family or friends interned in China’s camps. 

 
China's "re-education" facilities have evoked memories of Nazi concentration camps such as Belsen (Pictured) (Getty)

The UK representative to the World Uighur Congress, Mahmut has been filled with gratitude for the support the Uighur Muslims have received from London’s Jewish community. She has been working with Jewish human rights organisation Renne Cassin, who have made “‘never again’ is happening again” their main campaign for 2020.

Mahmut has nine siblings in Ghulja, Xinjiang, the site of the 1997 Ghulja Massacre where more than 100 Uighur muslims were killed during government retaliation to protests calling for regional independence, though state media numbers the fatalities at nine.

She hasn’t heard from them since January 2017.

“I don't know what happened to my sisters, my brothers. I tried to get hold of information and indirectly by asking people to contact them, but it wasn’t possible,” she says.

Since her arrival to the UK in 2000 as a student, Mahmut has never returned to Xinjiang out of fear that she could be arrested, have her passport confiscated, or be sent to one of the camps.

Andrew is yet to have spoken to any employees of the embassy. “The staff at the embassy section in Hampstead avoid us entirely, (they) sneak out the back when we are around,” he says.

Read more
 

China ‘building car parks’ over Uighur Muslim burial grounds

Tsang believes that “Xi Jinping is interested in China’s image,” and it is this concern that could force China to backtrack on their Uighur policy.

“We have to speak out about it at every opportunity,” he said. Widespread condemnation, he says, could force China to react.

As the first anniversary of his protest appears on the horizon, Andrew feels only sadness. Despite some heartwarming experiences during the past year – “there was a chauffeur who stopped, gave me his card and said ‘look, for what you’re doing, I’ll take you anywhere in London for free,’” - he will not be celebrating the landmark.

“The anniversary will mean that the millions in concentration camps will have been there for another whole year, so it is a sad event, not a happy one.”

Asked what it will take for him to take a night off, or even lay down his placard, Andrew replies: “I don’t feel able to stop. Not until the camps are closed down and the people are free.”

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Scientists discover wolf cubs also play fetch, behaviour thought to belong to dogs alone


Finding suggests behaviour is innate to canine species

Joe Morgan

It was thought that dogs only played fetch due to 15,000 years of domestication but scientists have now discovered that wolf cubs also play the game.

The finding suggests that this behaviour of fetching a ball may actually be somewhat innate to all canine species.

Researchers once believed that fetching games only arose when dogs were domesticated at a time when the human race still lived in caves.

Animal experts were shocked to discover this when 13 wolf puppies from three different litters were tested in a behavioural test designed to compare them to young dog puppies.

In one test, three eight-week-old wolf puppies spontaneously showed interest in a ball and returned it to a perfect stranger upon encouragement.

RSPCA reveals most unusual rescue missions of 2019
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Behavioural ecologist Dr Christina Hansen Wheat, of Stockholm University, said: “When I saw the first wolf puppy retrieving the ball I literally got goosebumps.

“It was so unexpected, and I immediately knew that this meant that if variation in human-directed play behaviour exists in wolves, this behaviour could have been a potential target for early selective pressures exerted during dog domestication.”

Dr Hansen Wheat and her team decided to examine both wolf and dog pups in the same way across 10 days, putting them through various behavioural tests.

In one test, a stranger threw a tennis ball across the room, and without the benefit of any previous training, encouraged the puppy to get it and bring it back.

The researchers said they did not expect wolf pups to catch on, and many of them chose to ignore the ball.

But then some wolves decided to play fetch.
Watch more

Dog gives birth to ‘lime green’ puppy

Dr Hansen Wheat said: “It was very surprising that we had wolves actually retrieving the ball.

“I did not expect that. I do not think any of us did. It was especially surprising that the wolves retrieved the ball for a person they had never met before.”

The wolf expert said the similarities between the two canine species can tell us about where the behaviour we see in dogs comes from.

She said the results, although probably rare, show our ancestors may have attempted to domesticate wolves as well as dogs.

She added: “Wolf puppies showing human-directed behaviour could have had a selective advantage in early stages of dog domestication.”

Her team will now continue to work with the data they have collected over the course of three years hand-raising wolves and dogs under identical conditions to learn even more about their behavioural differences and similarities.

The study appears in the journal iScience.

SWNS

GLOBAL WOMEN'S MARCH
‘Marital rape is practically legal here’: Women around the world explain why they’re marching

From America to Zambia, millions are set to protest over the ‘alarming rollback’ of rights across the globe, writes women’s correspondent Maya Oppenheim


The event, which is the fourth Women’s March to take place

 since the protests started in 2017, is centred around the

 theme of 'bodily autonomy' ( Angela Christofilou/The Independent )

Armed with banners and megaphones, millions of women around the world will take to the streets on Saturday to protest against the “alarming rollback” of women’s rights and groundswell of anti-abortion policies amid the rise of the far right.

The inaugural Women’s March demonstration in 2017 saw six million people express their fury over the election of Donald Trump despite his record of demeaning, sexually aggressive comments about women.

Women’s March has been growing ever since – with 45 marches in cities and towns which cover 20 countries stretching across Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and Australia planned for Saturday.

Uma Mishra-Newbery, executive director of Women’s March Global, said: “This past year, we have experienced a surge in the rollback of women’s human rights across the world. One of the most shocking developments was when the United States declared, along with 19 other member states, that there is no international right to abortion at a United Nations meeting. We are extremely concerned that this will lead to a collective retreat of women’s rights across the world.”

Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures
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The Independent spoke to women around the world involved in organising this year’s marches about why they are taking to the streets.

Zambia: ‘Our country is a haven for rapists’

Ann Holland, who is organising the Women’s March in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, said gender-based violence was highly prevalent in the African nation and patriarchal views are deeply entrenched.


The campaigner said their protest would be “very loud” and “very feminist” and people from more than 50 organisations are attending. They had strived to make the march more inclusive this year in an attempt to build a movement which is a safe space for marginalised groups, Ms Holland added.

She said: “We are centring trans women, sex workers, refugee women and women living with disabilities. Our theme is Leave No Woman Behind and we want to make sure of that.

Women’s March activists in Zambia

“We are using our march to lobby for many laws like the end of taxed pads to help stop period poverty and we are petitioning for strict laws when it comes to sexual assault because our country is a haven for rapists.

“If you want to understand the kind of sexism and inequality Zambian women face, imagine a smaller South Africa, with a population of 17 million, with less media coverage and a country probably stuck in the fifties. Women and girls die every day here at the hands of men. We record thousands of cases of rape every four months. Women die from gender-based violence and marital rape is practically legal here.”

The best placards from the Women's March 2019
Show all 27





The campaigner said women’s rights in the nation were currently being utilised by many companies and organisations for “political propaganda”. Feminist movements are rising in the country but such activists are arguably “the most hated and misunderstood group”, she added.

“According to patriarchs we are too bitter, have a vendetta against men and are probably lesbians who just need men to cure them,” Ms Holland said. “The women hate it too. Feminism is bigger with the younger women aged between 15 to 30. They are more aware, they understand the need for feminism and to constantly work together to smash patriarchy.”

United Kingdom: ‘We are now facing at least another four and a half years of the same old​’

Aisha Ali-Khan, co-organiser of Women’s March London, said there would be a big turnout because of the Conservative landslide in the December general election and anger at the Trump administration in the US.

Protesters are set to gather in Whitehall in Central London for a rally rather than a march calling for a “fairer, more equal and sustainable future”.

Ms Ali-Khan, who is a teacher, said: “We march for the rights of women, as well as women who don’t have a voice, and for the marginalised. We march against austerity measures and the fact the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This is especially true with universal credit.

Watch more

How the far right is costing women their human rights

“We are now facing at least another four-and-a-half years of the same old. We will now have Brexit so women’s rights are more under threat. The domestic abuse bill has fallen the wayside and was pushed further and further down the political agenda.

“Every week, two women are murdered by a partner or ex-partner in the UK. Violence against women should be a priority for Priti Patel but it isn’t. We have seen a massive rise of men using rough sex as an excuse for killing their partners. We are seeing misogyny getting worse.”

Canada: ‘There is a lot of residual sexism’

Lila Palychuk, who is helping to organise the Women’s March in Sarnia in Ontario, said there were deeply ingrained sexist views in the town.

The campaigner added: “There is a lot of residual sexism and patriarchal views here. We had a municipal election recently and we elected one woman but she is not very progressive. If you look at the femicide report, there is a fair amount of female deaths at the hands of male domestic partners but we are no worse than anywhere else.


“But reports of sexual assaults have gone up steeply in Sarnia-Lamton [an electoral district in Ontario]. Sexual assaults doubled from 2017 to 2018. People are more empowered. Police are attributing it to the #MeToo movement.”

Ms Palychuk said it was “very exciting” connecting with other marches around the world last year due to being such a “small community”. Demonstrators from a range of ethnicities and sexualities and members of the indigenous community attended, the 31-year-old accountant added.

“Last year was our first march. There were 500 people last year in a huge amount of snow. There should be at least 500 again.” ​

Paris: ‘Sexism is a quintessential French trait’

Honorine Boudzoumou, spokesperson for Women’s March Paris, raised concerned about the high levels of violence against women in France where there has been mounting outrage over femicides, defined as the gender-motivated killing of women, in recent months.

The campaigner said that although the government has adopted measures to tackle such violence, the measures remain insufficient.
Honorine Boudzoumou marching in Paris

She added: “It feels like there is a lot of talk and very little action. For example, after the large governmental meeting on domestic violence, a number of new measures were announced, but the money allocated to them was insultingly low.

“Women face an enormous amount of violence in their daily lives, which is influenced by their socioeconomic class, race, and identity. Femicide is the most extreme form of this violence because it seeks to erase us completely. At some point, you begin to wonder if your life even matters. You wonder what you actually would have to do for the threats that you face to be taken seriously.”

France has witnessed a fierce backlash to the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
Read more

Inside El Salvador’s state-sponsored persecution of vulnerable women

Protesters are holding a round table in Paris instead of a march because organisers wanted a space for “in-depth discussions”.

Ms Boudzoumou said: “The theme of our event is bodily autonomy. However, in the debate over bodily autonomy in France, certain voices are almost completely ignored, like those of people of colour, Muslims, LGBT+ people, people with disabilities, fat people, and sex workers.”

The campaigner argued sexism is a “quintessential French trait” and called for people to understand this in order to be able to “dismantle it”.

“We did have the #BalanceTonPorc [Expose Your Pig] movement, which provoked major public discussions about sexism,” she added. “Women dared to speak up unabashedly, and the shame finally switched sides. That said, there is still a lot of work to do. Our country is way behind others in dealing with these problems.”

Switzerland: ‘Swiss banks are fuelling the climate crisis​’

Activists in the Swiss capital of Geneva are raising awareness of the gendered dimension of climate change in this year’s march.

Doreen Akiyo Yomoah, one of the organisers, said: “We feel that as feminists in Switzerland, we have a responsibility to draw attention locally to the way that Swiss banks are fuelling the climate crisis, which affects the most vulnerable people in the world the most. Women are 14 times more likely than men to die from climate-change related natural disasters.
Women’s March protesters in Geneva

“People with intersecting identities, like people from the Global South, rural areas, disabled people, indigenous people and LGBT+ also all face heightened risk to their lives and livelihoods.

“Although on paper women may have the same rights as men, violence in the country is still a major problem. According to the federal government, once every two weeks, someone (usually a woman) dies from domestic violence. This may not sound very high compared to some other countries, but no one should ever be victim to domestic violence. And for a country with a small population, it is significant.”

The campaigner said women’s march activists from Geneva and Zurich had joined forces and they were expecting 500 women to attend.
Read more
 

Raped during the Kosovo war, a woman’s life 20 years on

A new feminist movement called the Greve des Femmes demonstrated across the country in June for pay equity, an end to gender-based violence and discrimination against female migrants and women of colour, Ms Akiyo Yomoah said.

Mallorca: ‘The society is historically patriarchal​’

Lesley Harris, who is involved in the Women’s March chapter in Palma de Mallorca, argued the national government in Spain is not taking sufficient action to make the definition of rape clearer and more in line with other European countries.

Rape has to involve specific acts of violence such as being threatened with a knife or dealt physical blows under Spain’s criminal code.

Ms Harris said: “There are myriad concerns about the violence against women in Spain. The society is historically patriarchal but is willing to change. Sexist and patriarchal attitudes are entrenched, but the youth are digging them out.


“I work as a teacher, and now that these issues are included in the curriculum, students often stop and question ‘Is this sexist? Is this okay? Why or why not?’ With the speed that people organise a demonstration, the sharing of stories, sympathy or outrage spreads at the speed of a click.” 

Women’s March protesters in Geneva

The campaigner said they are planning a “Meet Greet Eat” which will see them produce a short video and livestream other marches – with around 30 people expected to attend.

Social media movements such as #metoo or #yotambien in Spain have served as a “catalyst to start and maintain” conversations around sexual violence and harassment, she added.

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Amazon promises to create 1m jobs in India as Jeff Bezos trip descends into PR nightmare


World's richest person is dubbed an 'economic terrorist' as anti-Amazon protests and criticisms from officials overshadow three-day visit

BEZOS DOES A TRUDEAU

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, attends a company event in Delhi on Wednesday ( REUTERS )

On the final day of a visit to India that is fast becoming a PR nightmare, Jeff Bezos has announced that Amazon will create one million more jobs in the Asian country by 2025.

The chief executive, who also owns the Washington Post and is ranked by Forbes and Bloomberg as the richest person in the world, has this week been meeting Indian small business owners and rubbing shoulders with Bollywood royalty at corporate events.

Dressed mostly in traditional Indian clothing, he has flown kites with children, laid a wreath at the Gandhi memorial in Delhi and took a selfie on stage during his keynote speech at a major business summit.

But his three-day trip has been overshadowed by loud anti-Amazon protests organised by a federation of bricks-and-mortar business owners, as well as critical comments by senior members of Narendra Modi’s ruling party and the launching of a probe into Amazon’s business model by the competition authority.

Friday’s statement from Bezos said the job creation would be achieved through investments in infrastructure, technology and logistics. A 2018 regulation means Amazon can no longer sell its own-brand products in India, and must instead simply provide a marketplace for local manufacturers and producers.

Bezos said the company was “excited about what lies ahead”, and has been gushing in his praise of India throughout the trip, at one point saying that “the 21st century is going to be an Indian century” and describing cooperation between the US and India as “the most important alliance in the 21st century”.

India, it seems, is not so enamoured with him. A Reuters report said that Mr Modi had rebuffed repeated requests from Amazon to meet with Bezos during his visit for a prime ministerial photo opportunity.

On Thursday, while the CEO took part in a chummy interaction with the actor Shah Rukh Khan at a Mumbai event promoting Amazon’s Prime Video, most media focused instead on the scathing comments of India's trade minister Piyush Goyal on stage at a security conference in Delhi.

Dismissing Amazon’s announcement of $1bn investment in India, made at the start of Bezos’s trip, Mr Goyal told the audience that “it’s not as if they are doing a great favour to India”. He said that Amazon had been operating at a loss of around that much over the last year, so “if they make a loss of a billion dollars every year then they jolly well have to finance that billion dollars”.

On Friday, another senior politician - Vijay Chauthaiwale, the chief of the ruling BJP’s foreign affairs department - took a swipe at Bezos’s Washington Post for its coverage of India, which he called “highly biased and agenda driven”.

Without giving any examples, Mr Chauthaiwale said there were “a lot of problems” with the Post’s reporting. “I am not opposing Amazon as a company, in fact I am a regular customer… Jeff Bezos should go home tell Washington Post what is his impression about India,” he said.

But it is the vocal protest movement against Amazon that is likely to have hurt Bezos the most, with placard-waving demonstrators attending outside the business summit he addressed.

Rallies were organised in 300 cities across the country by the powerful retail lobbying group, the Confederation of All India Traders, which claims to speak for the up to 25 per cent of the population dependent on small businesses.


The group argues that Amazon is putting people out of business with predatory pricing and other “malpractices”. Its national secretary, Sumit Agarwal, called Bezos an “economic terrorist”.

And on Monday, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered an investigation into whether Amazon and the mostly Walmart-owned e-commerce site Flipkart use “exclusionary tactic[s] to foreclose competition”. 

Jeff Bezos' plan for future space colonies

Amazon said it was “confident in our compliance” with marketplace regulations and would “welcome the opportunity to address allegations made about Amazon”.

India's shopkeepers have represented a core constituency for the BJP since the early days of the party, and the comments of Mr Goyal and Mr Chauthaiwale have been widely shared by the party’s vociferous supporters online.

But industry executives warned that it was a risky manoeuvre that would likely put off international investment, at a time when the country's economic growth is already projected to fall to a 11-year low this year. One unnamed leader at an American company operating in India told Reuters that Mr Goyal’s remark in particular was “clearly unbecoming, and it will hurt how the world views India as a destination”.

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=JEFF+BEZOS

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=AMAZON+UNION

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=INDIA

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=AMAZON

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Young Afghan woman teaches Sufi dance in Kabul for ‘inner peace’

Fahima Mirzaie, 23, founder of a Sama Dance group dances with her teammates in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 9, 2019. (Reuters)  

Reuters, KabulFriday, 17 January 2020

Fahima Mirzaie set up a dance school for women in the Afghan capital last year, hoping to help her students fight depression and find inner peace in a war-torn country where dancing is widely considered taboo.

Some 20 young Afghan women have signed up for classes to learn “Sama” - a dance form that traces its roots back to the 13th century poet Jalaluddin Mohammad Rumi, who was born in present-day Afghanistan.

Mainly involving swirling movements, Sama has spread throughout the Muslim world and is most famously associated with the Whirling Dervishes.

The dance is a part of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that emphasises the inward search for God. Islamist militants who view mystical traditions of Islam as heretical have attacked Sufi shrines in some Muslim countries.

“I enjoy Sama, and when I do it, it gives me peace, and the sadness and difficulties of my life go away,” Mirzaie, 23, told Reuters in her classroom, located in a western neighbourhood of Kabul that has seen a number of attacks in recent years.

“My life and my students’ lives have been changed by Sama. They have gained self-confidence, and even some of them who had depression are very happy,” she said.

Women have won hard-fought rights in Afghanistan since the austere rule of the Taliban was ended by a US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

There are growing fears that gains made in social activities, education, and work might be reversed as the United States is increasingly interested in negotiating with the Taliban to end more than 18 years of war.

“My concern is that the fate of our country is not yet clear. Our opponents call us mad and say such practices must not exist, but we will continue on the path of Mawlana (Rumi),” Mirzaie said, smiling.

Last Update: Friday, 17 January 2020 KSA 04:18 - GMT 01:18

Fires, then floods: Koala bears cannot take much more

  

A koala drinks water from a bottle given a firefighter in Cudlee

 Creek, South Australia.(File photoAP)

AFP, SydneyFriday, 17 January 2020

Text size A A A

A week ago, koalas at an Australian wildlife park were in the path of raging bushfires. On Friday, they were soaking wet and being carried to safety from flash floods.

Months of drought that have contributed to Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season have this week given way to huge downpours in some of the blaze-ravaged areas.

At the Australian Reptile Park on the nation’s east coast near Sydney, heavy rains on Friday morning sent torrents of water through its bushland setting.

Images released by the park showed soaking wet koalas clinging to gum trees, and a zoo keeper carrying two of the marsupials to safety through rushing waters.

Water levels in the lagoon for the park’s alligators also rose up close to the top of the fence.

A zoo keeper is seen leaning over the fence and trying to push an alligator back down with a broom as it stretches up in an apparent bid to escape.

“This is incredible, just last week, we were having daily meetings to discuss the imminent threat of bushfires,” park director Tim Faulkner said.

“Today, we’ve had the whole team out there, drenched, acting fast to secure the safety of our animals and defend the park from the onslaught of water.

“We haven’t seen flooding like this at the park for over 15 years.”
The bushfires, which began in September, have claimed 28 lives and are estimated to have killed more than a billion animals across eastern and southern Australia.

The wet weather this week has given exhausted firefighters a huge boost, helping to reduce or contain some blazes.

But dozens of fires remain out of control, and authorities have warned the crisis could worsen again with Australia only half way through its summer.

“The contrast between the current bushfire crisis and this sudden flooding is striking,” Faulkner said.

“But we are well-aware that a huge part of Australia is still burning, and millions of animals are still under threat.”

Last Update: Friday, 17 January 2020 KSA 09:47 - GMT 06:47

Eminem drops surprise album, advocates changes to gun laws

The Associated Press

Friday, 17 January 2020

Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing of “Music to Be Murdered By” on Friday.

The follow-up to 2018's “Kamikaze” - also released without warning - was announced on Twitter just after midnight.

The Detroit rapper also released a new music video for one of the 20 tracks on the album, “Darkness,” which depicts a shooting at a concert.

The lyrics and storyline of the video specifically allude to the 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

It closes with audio and video footage of news broadcasts from other recent mass shooting around the US and an appeal to register to vote.

“When will this end? When enough people care," reads the text at the end of the video. "Register to vote at vote.gov. Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America.”

A link to the music video on Eminem's website encourages viewers to contact or visit several gun violence prevention organizations, including Everytown for Gun Safety and Sandy Hook Promise.

The cover art features blood spatter and a bearded Eminem holding both a hatchet and a gun to his head, the latter in apparent homage to Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 album of the same name, Pitchfork noted. “Music to Be Murdered By” is Eminem's 11th studio album, according to his website.

Among many collaborators, the album features Ed Sheeran, Skylar Grey, Anderson .Paak and Juice WRLD, the 21-year-old rapper who died in December.

Last Update: Friday, 17 January 2020 KSA 12:52 - GMT 09:52

Eminem angers Ariana Grande fans with lyric about Manchester bombing on new album

Rapper released a surprise album that includes the track ‘Unaccommodating’, on which he references the 2017 attack that killed 23 people and injured hundreds more

Roisin O'Connor @Roisin_OConnor

Ariana Grande fans are expressing their distress on social media over an Eminem lyric that appears to make light of the Manchester bombing attack.

The rapper released a surprise album, titled Music to be Murdered By, on Friday 17 January, causing his name to trend on Twitter as fans reacted to the new material.

However, one of the tracks, “Unaccommodating”, includes the lyric: “I’m contemplating yelling ‘bombs away’ on the game like I’m outside an Ariana Grande concert.” The lyric is followed by the sound of an explosion, and Eminem continues to make references to suicide attacks and terrorism.

Eminem was referencing the attack on 22 May 2017, at which a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, killing 23 people and injuring hundreds more.

“That is so f***ing sick,” one Twitter user wrote. “People literally lost their lives, and you’re going to release music and try to make a profit off them?”

“That Ariana lyric [is] just a pathetic attempt to get attention,” another wrote.

A third said: “Always had respect for Eminem but tf makes a joke about a terrorist attack that killed innocent kids and permanently wounded others? Ariana still hasn’t healed from it either. I hope the 10 minutes of clout was worth it.”

Music to be Murdered By is Eminem’s 11th studio album and his first since 2018’s Kamikaze. It is also the rapper’s third consecutive “surprise” album, and features collaborations with Anderson .Paak, Skylar Grey, Ed Sheeran, and the late rapper Juice Wrld.

Eminem drops a surprise album and music video advocating new 'gun laws in America'

Guess who's back?

Eminem on Friday dropped the surprise album Music to be Murdered By, along with a music video for his song "Darkness" that advocates for gun reform while using imagery inspired by the Las Vegas shooting that left almost 60 people dead in 2017.

The disturbing video, which shows a gunman holed up in a Las Vegas hotel room and firing out the window, includes lyrics like "I'm a licensed owner with no prior convictions, so loss, the sky's the limit, so my supplies infinite."

The video ends with Eminem standing in front of a row of TV screens showing news reports of other mass shootings, pro-gun reform rallies, and President Trump, after which text on screen reads, "When will this end? When enough people care. Register to vote at Vote.gov. Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America." The video also directs viewers to a website that highlights more information, including from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The title of the surprise album, Eminem's first since 2018, is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, and it even features audio of Hitchcock throughout. Of course, it wouldn't be an Eminem release if some of the lyrics hadn't already ignited controversy, and one stirring outrage makes reference to the Manchester Arena bombing that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert. "I'm contemplating yelling 'bombs away' on the game like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting," Eminem raps on "Unaccommodating."

Watch the "Darkness" video from Eminem below. Brendan Morrow

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FOR SALE LORD BLACK'S FAMILY HOME

fo

Conrad Black moving out of family estate as owner decides what to do with property

Conrad Black's home at 26 Park Circle Lane in Toronto is shown in a handout photo.

Conrad Black moving out of family estate as owner decides what to do with property

AH POOR LITTLE LORD BLACK, EX CANADIAN CITIZEN, AMERICAN FELON, BANKRUPT, WHY IS HE STILL IN CANADA WORKING AND BEING PAID BY HIS

FORMER NEWSPAPER CHAIN

AH THAT'S THE RUB EVEN ENGLAND DOES NOT WANT THE LORD OF CANARY WHARF BACK EITHER. 

TRULY NOW A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY A MAN WITHOUT AN ESTATE JUST

AN EMPTY TITLE

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CONRAD+BLACK

Iranian chess ref accused of flouting dress code says she won’t return home

Reuters, VladivostokFriday, 17 January 2020

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An Iranian chess referee who has been accused of violating her country’s dress code while adjudicating a women’s tournament said that she does not want to return home from Russia out of fear for her safety.

Shohreh Bayat, 32, told Reuters she would not travel back to her homeland unless she was given security guarantees in writing from Iran’s chess federation.

“I really hope they will provide me something to ensure I will be safe if I come back to Iran,” said Bayat, who is in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok as chief referee at the Women’s World Chess Championship.

“But if that doesn’t happen, I’m just examining my options and considering anything.”

The Iran Chess Federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bayat got into trouble during the first stage of the championship in Shanghai last week when Iran state media criticized her for photographs in which she appeared not to be wearing the headscarf.

Since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, all women are required to wear the headscarf, known as the hijab, in public and sportswomen are also required to wear it abroad. Women who break the dress code can be publicly berated, fined or arrested.

Bayat says she does not agree with the hijab, but that she had been wearing a headscarf during the championship’s first matches, although it had been loose and was not visible from some angles in photographs of her.

“Apparently it was not enough for the Iranians,” she said.

Bayat also said that the Iran Chess Federation had asked her to write an apology and to post it online, something she said she had refused to do because she did not want to support the hijab publicly.

“I just did not want to do that,” she said.

Bayat then stopped wearing a headscarf altogether while presiding over subsequent matches.

“I noticed that they have already condemned me,” she said. “I decided not to wear hijab because it won’t change anything.”

Nigel Short, the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE) vice president, spoke out in support of Bayat on Twitter, calling her “a great ambassador for her country.”

Shohreh Bayat - the first woman ever to be General Secretary of a sport federation in #Iran. The only female Category-A International Arbiter in Asia. A great ambassador for her country. pic.twitter.com/18H8ESqwkp

— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) January 9, 2020

Bayat is one of many Iranian sportspeople to come to blows with the authorities over the hijab and other policies.

Earlier this month, Iranian chess grandmaster Mitra Hejaziour was expelled from the national team for not wearing the hijab at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Moscow.

Bayat’s decision came days after Iran’s only female Olympic medalist, Taekwondo champion Kimia Alizadeh, announced she had left her homeland because she had had enough of being used by its authorities as a propaganda tool.

In December, Iran’s Chess Federation said top rated chess champion Alireza Firouzja had decided not to play for Iran because of an informal ban on competing against Israeli players.

Last Update: Friday, 17 January 2020 KSA 17:36 - GMT 14:36

Iran chess ref Shohreh Bayat fears returning home over hijab row

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CHESS

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=IRAN