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Belarus: Demonstrations Against Lukashenko Continue
Politics | October 19, 2020, Monday



In Belarus during the weekend continued the protests against the newly elected “old” president Lukashenko and another 200 people were detained by the police reported France-Presse.

Most arrests were made in the capital Minsk. The downtown was blocked by armored vehicles.

Over 50 000 people took part in demonstrations according to AP. The protesters shouted “ Lukashenko – go away”

Police used rubber bullets against the protesters who threw stones.

Mass protests in Belarus started after the presidential elections on August 9th, which were won by current president Lukashenko with over 80%, according to officials. Many people in Belarus,opposition leaders and most European countries does not recognize the official results.

Belarus: Thousands turn out for protests despite police threat to open fire

For the 10th straight weekend, anti-Lukashenko protesters marched through Minsk despite threats from police to fire live ammunition. Police reportedly fired rubber bullets into the air to disperse demonstrators.


For the 10th weekend rally in a row, tens of thousands of protesters opposing long-time President Alexander Lukashenko marched through the capital despite threats of force from authorities to open fire.

Protesters were heard chanting "Strike!" and "You and your riot police get out!"

Crowds of demonstrators waved red-and-white opposition flags, marching through Minsk amid a heavy security presence.

"There's no way back," protester Anzhela Krasovskaya told French news agency AFP. "If they start shooting then there would be even more people in the streets," she added.

Over 200 protesters were arrested during Sunday's protests, Belarusian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova told AFP, adding that most of the detentions were in Minsk.

Read more: Belarus leader Lukashenko could face sanctions, EU warns

Protesters were largely undeterred by threats from police to open fire

Water cannon and rubber bullets

Images from social media showed security forces deploying water cannon and blockading streets with barbed wire and heavy machinery.

A local media reported that security forces fired rubber bullets into the air in response to demonstrators throwing stones.

An Interior Ministry spokesperson later confirmed the reports, telling AFP the rubber bullets were fired as a warning to protesters who threw stones at police.

Minsk authorities have also shut down a number of underground metro stations as well and decreased mobile internet coverage in an attempt to limit protests.

Security forces used water cannon and rubber bullets, but largely refrained from using riot control equipment on Sunday

Over two months of protests

Demonstrators in the former Soviet republic have been demanding Lukashenko's resignation for weeks.

After more than two decades in power, Lukashenko claimed another round of victory in the country's August 9 elections over popular opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to neighboring Lithuania after the vote, has called on Lukashenko to step down before October 25, warning he would otherwise face a nationwide general strike that would paralyze the country.

Ahead of Sunday's protest, Tsikhanouskaya urged Belarusians to continue their calls for justice.

"We will stop only when every political prisoner walks free, when members of law enforcement begin to defend the people, and rule of law and honest elections return to Belarus," she said.

Belarus security forces have so far arrested more than 13,000 people.

VIDEO https://p.dw.com/p/3k6mC

Belarus warns protesters they may face live fire, as elderly women pepper-sprayed
12 Oct, 2020 

Elderly women hold flowers during an opposition rally to protest against the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Photos / AP

Daily Telegraph UK
By: Nataliya Vasilyeva

Belarusian authorities threatened to shoot protesters with live ammunition, as the regime of Alexander Lukashenko tries to put a stop to relentless demonstrations.

Gennady Kazakevich, a deputy interior minister, dismissed anti-Lukashenko protesters in televised remarks as "militants, radicals and anarchists" and said that law enforcement agencies were prepared to use live rounds against them.

"Police as well as internal troops will use crowd control measures and live ammunition if necessary," he said.

Belarusian police killed a man in the western city of Brest in August using live ammunition, but officials claimed at the time they had acted in self defence.

"People like that should resign," Andrey Fedorovich, an IT professional from Minsk who often goes to opposition protests, said of Kazakevich.

"Demonstrators have been as peaceful as can be," said Fedorovich. "Authorities are doing their best to radicalise the protest."

An elderly woman argues with plainclothes policemen during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities yesterday and more than 700 people were arrested, according to the Belarusian Interior Ministry, in often violent scenes.

Today elderly women rallied in the capital carrying posters declaring: "Grandmas are with you!"

Footage from the protest showed plain-clothed police officers pepper-spraying and using stun grenades against the women.

A pensioners march against the President in Belarus. https://t.co/XzZYlCpGnj— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) October 12, 2020

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has described the demonstrators as paid agents and their leaders as criminals.

However, the threat of live ammunition was preceded by signs of increased diplomatic engagement, with Lukashenko meeting with dozens of opposition figures at a notorious KGB prison on Sunday.

Speaking to the visibly frail prisoners, Lukashenko said that "the constitution can't be written in the street" and urged them to "convince" their supporters to back down.

A day later, Belarusian authorities unexpectedly released two jailed businessmen with links to the opposition who were present at the meeting.

AUSTRALIAN STATE CAPITALI$M

Employers will have a new $4 billion wage subsidy backdated to budget day
PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS

By David Crowe October 19, 2020 — 

Employers will have a new $4 billion wage subsidy backdated to budget day to overcome a logjam in Parliament that will delay the new law until next month as a political dispute over who can qualify for help continues.

The "hiring credit" for younger workers will start from October 7 and last for a year under federal government rules to make sure employers gain the payments of up to $200 per week.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg plans to backdate the JobMaker credit to October 7 once it passes Parliament.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

Labor has pledged to pass the law but is warning the conditions could be too tight for some workers, given that those who receive the JobKeeper payment cannot also receive the JobMaker hiring credit.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the new help added to "unprecedented" assistance, including the $101.3 billion JobKeeper scheme, to deal with a "once in a century" economic shock.

"That is why we have put in place the job making hiring credit to support 500,000 jobs of young people aged 16 to 35 who may have been unemployed in one of the last three months," he told Parliament.

RELATED ARTICLE
JobKeeper losers could win from JobMaker

Labor leader Anthony Albanese welcomed the new hiring credit but said it failed to help 928,000 people who were over the age of 35, the threshold for eligibility.

Mr Albanese used Question Time to challenge the government on support for families, arguing the Coalition was wrong to cap its childcare subsidy at household income of $189,000.

The questions set up a debate over whether families earning more than $189,000 were considered "rich" by the government, but were offered greater childcare support from Labor.

The government introduced the JobMaker hiring credit bill into Parliament on Monday but the draft law is only eight pages long, leaving the conditions to be applied by Mr Frydenberg by regulation.

With the Senate engaged in estimates hearings this fortnight, the earliest date to pass the bill through the upper house would be the week starting November 9.

The hiring credit is worth $200 per week for employers who take on previously unemployed workers aged from 16 to 29, and $100 per week when the workers are aged from 30 to 35.

To be eligible, the workers must work for at least 20 hours per week on average over a quarter, and they must have received the JobSeeker, Youth Allowance (other) or Parenting Payment for at least one month out of the preceding quarter.

Because it is paid in arrears at the end of each quarter, employers could lodge applications in early January for the three months starting on October 7, the first business day after the federal budget.

Labor employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor said the Opposition would back the bill but would scrutinise it in a Senate inquiry and was concerned about the conditions on the payments.

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RETAIL
Bunnings owner won't rule out using $4b JobMaker scheme

"You can’t receive both JobKeeper and the JobMaker hiring credit," Mr O’Connor said.

"I imagine there’ll be a lot of small businesses who will listen to the announcements by the Treasurer on budget night and the comments subsequently by the Prime Minister about this initiative.

"And [they will] not fully understand that they’re not going to get a cent unless they get off JobKeeper and then they’re not going to get a cent unless they can employ additional staff or increase their payroll."

Mr O’Connor said he backed the use of conditions to limit programs in conventional times but questioned whether that should apply during the recession.

"I’m just worried that there’ll be those businesses who will not be able to get to that point [of qualifying] and they’ll be consigned to the dustbin, because they will not be able to recover. Yet with support they would."

Black police officers break from unions over Trump endorsements
18 Oct, 2020 

Video 'What they're not going to continue to do is endorse a racist bigot' - Black police officers breaking from police unions over endorsements of Trump. Video / AP

Police unions across the United States have largely supported President Donald Trump's re-election, amid mass demonstrations over police brutality and accusations of systemic racism — but a number of black law enforcement officers are speaking out against these endorsements, saying their concerns over entering the 2020 political fray were ignored.

Trump has touted his support from the law enforcement community, which includes endorsements from national, city and state officers' unions — some of which publicly endorsed a political candidate for the first time. He's running on what he calls a "law and order" platform and tapping into a strain of anger and frustration felt by law enforcement who believe they are being unfairly accused of racial discrimination.

There are more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies in the US, with large departments holding sway nationally. The number of minority officers in policing has more than doubled in the last three decades, but many departments still have a smaller percentage of black and Hispanic officers compared to the percentage of the general population those communities make up.

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, left, talks to reporters during a press conference.

 Photo / AP

Many fraternal black police organisations were formed to advocate for equality within police departments but also to focus on how law enforcement affects the wider black community. There have often been tensions between minority organisations and larger unions, like in August, when the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers issued a letter condemning use of deadly force, police misconduct and abuse in communities of color.

While support for the Republican incumbent does not strictly fall along racial lines, many black officers say the endorsements for Trump don't fairly represent all dues-paying members.

"We are members of these unions, and they don't take into consideration our feelings about Donald J. Trump, then they don't care about us and ... they don't care about our dues," said Rochelle Bilal, the recent past president of the Guardian Civic League of Philadelphia, calling the National Fraternal Order of Police's Trump endorsement an "outrage."
Philadelphia firefighter John Elam talks to reporters during a press conference. Photo / AP

Bilal, who was elected as Philadelphia's first black female sheriff last year, spoke at an early October news conference with other black law enforcement groups in Philadelphia to condemn Trump endorsements and the process they say ignored their concerns over what they perceived to be racist remarks, support for white supremacist groups and a lack of respect for women from Trump.

But national union leaders say the process is designed to give everyone a voice and the endorsement represents the majority of officers. The Fraternal Order of Police represents close to 350,000 officers nationally, but does not track racial demographics.

"I am a black American and a black law enforcement officer," said Rob Pride, the National Fraternal Order of Police chair of trustees. "It's been emotionally a rollercoaster ride for me since the George Floyd incident. It was horrific."

Pride, who oversees the vote that leads to the organisation's presidential endorsement, says the May 25 police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis and the political climate "is tearing America apart" and having a similar effect on the FOP.

Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street talks to reporters during a press conference. 

Photo / AP

National FOP leaders said they have heard from members who don't agree with the Trump endorsement — and they're open to talking over concerns — but that all 44 state Fraternal Orders of Police chapters that cast a ballot voted for Trump. Pride said the whole process starts locally, with lodges passing out candidate survey answers and ballots and then voting at a statewide meeting. State delegates then voted at the national meeting.

"We could probably have an hour-long conversation about why some folks feel President Trump is racist and why others disagree," he said. "But there are a lot of officers of all races of all backgrounds who feel he best represents and supports the interests of law enforcement."

On the local level, police reform bills driven by protests against police brutality in the wake of Floyd's killing have also stoked local unions' endorsements of candidates for state offices at higher rates this year — some issuing endorsement for the first time in decades. While many union leaders say the endorsements aren't based on political parties, they have largely been for Republicans challenging candidates who have voted for what unions call "anti-police" reform bills.

Philadelphia's FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby said in a statement that the group, which represents 6,500 members, did not make an endorsement in the presidential race, and deferred to its parent union's endorsement. But members said that despite being the largest lodge in the state, they weren't given a chance to vote or be counted by the state or national delegates.

Denouncing the endorsement processes, The Guardian Civic League has asked its about 1,200 members to be prepared to withdraw their dues from the national FOP, as has the Club Valiants of Philadelphia — an organization of more than 500 minority firefighters — from the Local 22 of the International Fire Fighters and Paramedics Union. In endorsing Trump, Local 22 broke from its parent organization, which endorsed Democrat Joe Biden.

Valiants leaders said the Local 22′s endorsement was based on survey responses from about 500 of the union's nearly 5,000 members. Local union leaders said a redo survey is being sent to members in response to the backlash and its endorsement will be revised if necessary by the end of the month.

"The election is November 3, and people are out there voting now. What is it going to do to rescind the endorsement days before the election?" said John Elam, a Philadelphia firefighter and Valiants member. "We want a fair process. We wanted a fair process from the beginning."

In New York City, Patrick Lynch — the head of the Police Benevolent Association that represents about 24,000 officers — announced the union's endorsement of Trump at August's Republican National Convention, something members said they had no warning would happen. An unsigned letter from the Guardians Association said the black and minority officers the group represents felt blindsided by Lynch's endorsement and wished the union had stayed neutral.


Lynch said it was the union's first presidential endorsement in at least 36 years.

"That's how important this is," Lynch said to the crowd during an event at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, telling the president: "You've earned this."

During September's presidential debate, Trump ticked off the locations where he felt he had support from law enforcement. "I have Florida, I have Texas, I have Ohio," he said. "Excuse me, Portland, the sheriff there just came out today and said, 'I support President Trump.'"

That sheriff — Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese — quickly took to Twitter to deny any support.

Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Dallas, said a handful of officers left the Dallas Police Department's largest union, partly driven by its support for Trump, and had joined his organisation.

"A lot of these officers feel like they aren't being considered. A lot of the issues that push them to that point border along racial lines," Hopkins, a 30-year veteran officer, said. "And it's not just here. I got a call from some black officers in Kansas City, Missouri, who wanted to join my organisation because they don't have any other outlet and they don't feel like they are being represented."


- AP

China approves new law to protect whistleblowers and prevent epidemics

After months of international backlash, Chinese lawmakers have approved new biosecurity legislation to implement disease and risk prevention systems. Health workers are encouraged to report any imminent health risks.


Beijing passed a new law on Saturday to protect whistleblowers who disclose information about public health emergencies as part of wider efforts to improve its handling of disease outbreaks.

Chinese lawmakers said it also hopes that the new biosecurity law fixes systemic flaws such as those that hampered China's initial response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The new law, which takes effect from April 15 next year, calls on citizens to report "acts that endanger biosecurity."

"Any work unit or individual has the right to report acts that endanger biosecurity," the regulation states.

"When a report is required according to the law, no work unit or individual shall conceal [it] ... or hinder others from making a report," the law adds, referring to infectious diseases and epidemics.

Read more: Coronavirus: China detains professor who criticized President Xi Jinping

Watch video https://p.dw.com/p/3k6KT
Tourism and the virus in China

What does the new law entail?

Under the new biosecurity law, anyone who conceals information, fails to file reports or prevents others from reporting infectious diseases could be given warnings or suspended.

In the case of an emergency, health workers can under the new legislation report health risks directly to the local government and would not be punished if information turned out to be false.

The law also calls for the tracing of outbreak origins as well as the development of systems to regularly monitor biosafety risks.

Lawmakers also appealed to disease prevention agencies to help predict the occurrence and prevalence of emerging diseases and announce warnings and adopt prevention measures accordingly.

In September, the Beijing city government said it would give rewards to health workers who disclose important information about any looming health emergencies, and said it would guarantee that their safety and legal rights are protected.

Watch video  https://p.dw.com/p/3k6KT

Wuhan returns to normal as COVID rages around the world

Cleaning-up public image

The new biosecurity law follows months of criticism over China's initial response to the coronavirus outbreak and international accusations of an early cover-up in Wuhan.

Provincial authorities were criticized for delays in announcing the public health emergency as well as for their perceived incompetence.

The death of doctor and whistleblower Li Wenliang of COVID-19 in February after alerting colleagues of the virus triggered nationwide frustration over Beijing's handling of the outbreak, prompting China to step up efforts in cleaning up both its domestic and international image.

In February, President Xi Jinping urged lawmakers to speed up establishing the new law, calling for reforms of mechanisms to prevent major outbreaks.

mvb/rs (AFP, Reuters)


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Estonian president slams interior minister over homophobic interview

In an interview with DW, Estonia's far-right Interior Minister Mart Helme made disparaging remarks about the LGBT+ community. The Estonian president and the prime minister have both decried Helme's stance on gay people.


Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid heavily criticized Interior Minister Mart Helme on Saturday over homophobic comments Helme made in a DW interview.

Helme told DW's Russian service that he was really "not friendly" to gay people and told them to go to Sweden.

The far-right politician's comments came in response to questions from DW's Konstantin Eggert on plans for a referendum excluding gay people from marriage. Below is an excerpt from the interview:

Helme: "[The referendum] is important for all people, because without marriage, without women and men having children, there is no future (...) We want the state to be preserved, and it cannot be preserved without children and without morality."

DW: What, will gay people attack and flood the Estonian nation?

Helme: "Let them run to Sweden. Everyone there treats them more politely."

DW: And you treat them rudely?

Helme: "I really am not friendly to them."

DW: Today this is called homophobia.

Helme: It is not homophobia. I would say that those people who call our referendum unnecessary are heterophobes. They are getting into the bedrooms of heterosexuals. They do it, not us. If they can do their homo propaganda, we can do other propaganda as well.

Read more: European LGBT+ equality survey shows east-west divide

'Our own people'

President Kaljulaid, a liberal conservative without official party affiliation, condemned the comments from Helme, the founder and leader of the far-right populist Conservative People's Party (EKRE) that forms part of the three-party ruling coalition in Estonia.

Kaljulaid said Helme was "not suitable" to be a Cabinet member.

"A minister with such views is not suitable for the government of the Republic of Estonia," said Kaljulaid, adding that she had expressed her position to Prime Minister Juri Ratas.

"I do not understand the overt hostility of Marth Helme against our society. We are talking about our own people — our policemen and teachers, our creative people and builders, our neighbors, colleagues and friends," she said.

Prime Minister Ratas, of the more centrist Estonian Centre Party, also condemned his comments in a post on Facebook.

Ratas said the Estonian constitution made it clear that all people were equal in the eyes of the law and that no one should be discriminated against. He said it also forbids incitement to discrimination or hatred.

In light of this, and the promise of the coalition agreement to follow these values, he said his comments were "unequivocally reprehensible."

In an interview with public broadcaster ERR, Ratas he said the coalition would meet early next week to discuss the matter.

Estonia's opposition has called for Helme to resign.

The above story has been updated with a more precise translation of Helme's remarks.


VIDEO CONFLICT ZONE https://p.dw.com/p/3k510

aw/rs (dpa, Interfax)

 Masculinities: Liberation through photography

Did #MeToo manage to "kill the patriarchy" or does toxic masculinity still reign supreme? An exhibition in London explores male self-image in a globally connected era, where gender standards are constantly changing. 

Brotherly Love

If aggression is a key feature of toxic masculinity, it might be skin-deep. The aesthetic of this picture is part of the Taliban self-image. Photographer Thomas Dworzak compiled dozens of such shots in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2001, as the US-led invasion of the country started. The contrast between macho insurgents portrayed by the media and their vulnerable self-image could not be greater.

High stakes for Earth's climate future in US vote

Issued on: 19/10/2020 -

Climate change amplifies extreme weather like droughts, which create ideal conditions for wildfires  Samuel Corum AFP/File

Paris (AFP)

The United States presidential election will be "make or break" for the planet after four years during which Donald Trump frustrated global efforts to slash emissions, climate experts warn, fearing his re-election may imperil the world's chances of avoiding catastrophic warming.

In a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, increasing signs of the brutal impacts of climate change have come into view, with record temperatures, sea ice loss and enormous wildfires scorching parts of the Arctic Circle, Amazon basin and the US itself.

Scientists say the window of opportunity to contain Earth's warming is narrowing fast.

This deadline magnifies the global significance of American voters' choice between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden to lead the world's second-largest emitter for the next four years.

Trump, who has described climate change as a hoax, has doubled down on support for polluting fossil fuels and revoked or rolled back a host of environmental standards.

And just a day after the US vote on November 3, the country will formally withdraw from the Paris agreement, the international accord aimed at restraining emissions and averting runaway warming.

Trump's signature act of climate disruption has "already diminished our moral standing, taking us from a leader to the rear of the pack", climate scientist Michael Mann told AFP.

Without US climate leadership "I fear that the rest of the world will not take seriously enough their obligations to reduce emissions in time to avert the worst impacts of climate change," he said.

"That's why I've called this a make-or-break election when it comes to the climate."

- 'Ultimate stress test' -

Earth has so far warmed on average by one degree Celsius above preindustrial levels, enough to boost the intensity of deadly heatwaves, droughts and tropical storms.

Climate change, driven by the greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, has accelerated in recent decades.

The 2015 Paris Agreement was meant to start putting the brakes on.

Under the deal, nations agreed to cap global warming at "well below" 2C.

The US undertook to cut its emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

In 2016, Trump's election heralded the unravelling of those pledges, culminating in the vow to withdraw completely from the Paris deal.

It was the nightmare scenario to lose the support of one of the world's biggest polluters that has emboldened other nations to slow-walk their climate commitments, analysts say.

But Mohamed Adow, the director of climate think tank Power Shift Africa, said Trump showed the accord was actually "much stronger than many of us feared".

"He has been the ultimate stress test and despite his full frontal attack, no one else has followed his folly and quit the agreement," he said.

In fact, with an end-of-year deadline to upgrade their commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions, other major emitters have begun to fill the climate leadership void.

The European Commission now wants emissions in Europe cut 55 percent by 2030.

But it was China's recent vow to go carbon neutral by 2060 that has the potential to be a "game-changer", according to Lois Young, Belize's envoy to the UN, although she noted the plans unveiled by the world's largest emitter were still light on detail.

Young, who chairs the Association of Small Island States and has accused Trump of "ecocide", said countries like Brazil and India are "waiting and watching".

"If they come on board and leave America behind, following the China lead, I think it will minimise the damage," she told AFP.

But the US is still crucial.

Laurence Tubiana, who was a key architect of the Paris deal as France's top negotiator, said the rest of the world simply "cannot compensate" for the country's emissions.

While US states and businesses have independently acted to cut carbon, Tubiana predicted their efforts would fall short without new government policy.

In this context, she said a second Trump term would be "very bad news".

In contrast to Trump, Biden has pledged to return the US to the Paris accord.

He wants the US to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and has announced a $2-trillion climate change package to revamp the country's energy sector.

"There's no more consequential challenge" than climate change, Biden has said.

Increasingly, this position chimes with public opinion.

Some 60 percent of Americans think climate change was a major threat to US well-being, the Pew Research Center said this year, the highest proportion since the first survey in 2009.

And taking into account the drop in emissions linked to Covid-19, the group Climate Action Tracker has estimated that the US could meet its 2025 Paris targets.

"Ultimately, the transition to a zero carbon world is now unstoppable, the question is can it happen fast enough to protect the world's poorest people," said Adow from Power Shift Africa.

"The stakes for the planet could not be higher."

© 2020 AFP

FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS AND REACTIONARIES
Czech police use tear gas, water cannons as thousands protest Covid-19 rules

Issued on: 19/10/2020 - 

Demonstrators protest in central Prague against the Czech government's new measures to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus on October 18, 2020. © Michal Cizek, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES

Thousands of protesters, including "radical" football fans according to police, gathered in the capital's historic Old Town Square to demand the resignation of Health Minister Roman Prymula, the mastermind behind the restrictions.

The rally turned fierce as protesters and police scuffled after authorities began dispersing the crowd, saying attendance far exceeded the current limit.

"Participants attacked the police without any reason," Prague police chief Tomas Lerch told reporters, while another officer described them as "radical fans".

"We used a water cannon, tear gas and petards," Lerch said, adding that nearly 20 officers were injured.



Prague's emergency service tweeted it had treated nine people and taken four to hospital "mainly with head injuries, cuts, inebriation and breathing problems following tear gas intoxication."

Police said they detained around 50 people before the rally and seized fireworks, brass knuckles, telescopic batons and firearms.

PHOTO Hundreds of demonstrators, mostly hooligans, clash with police during a protest against the Czech government's new measures in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, 18 October 2020. @epaphotos pic.twitter.com/EOToiPEUG5— Martin Divisek (@martin_divisek) October 18, 2020

The Czech Republic is the worst-off in the EU's rankings of new coronavirus cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

On Friday, the EU member of 10.7 million people set a new record in daily infections with 11,105 cases.

As of Sunday, it has registered more than 170,000 confirmed cases and over 1,400 deaths.

The rally was organised by the HON civic association, though football supporters made up a sizeable percentage of the crowd.

"The government announces the measures automatically without context and most of us have no chance to cope with them," reads a statement signed by the fans of 13 out of 18 Czech top-flight football clubs.

Waving a Czech flag, protester Vlasta Ciencialova, who came to Prague from the east of the country, did not mince her words regarding Prymula.

"He admits no opposition. How dare he? Who does he think he's talking to? We're not sheep, we're normal people," she told AFP.

Prymula himself slammed the protesters for "disdaining the work of medical workers."

"I suppose we'll have hundreds of new infections as a result," he added.

(AFP)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Top Australian horse trainer faces trial for cheating, cruelty

Issued on: 19/10/2020 - 

Darren Weir (C) trained Prince of Penzance, which was ridden to victory at the 2015 Melbourne Cup by the first female jockey to win the race, Michelle Payne PAUL CROCK AFP

Sydney (AFP)

Melbourne Cup-winning Australian trainer Darren Weir was committed to stand trial Monday on animal cruelty and conspiracy to defraud charges stemming from the 2018 spring racing carnival.

A magistrate ruled there was enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Weir, his former assistant Jarrod McLean and stable hand Tyson Kermond conspired to cheat and deceive racing stewards in Victoria state.

They are accused of horse torture, including the alleged use of electronic shock devices known as "jiggers" on three thoroughbreds to enhance their performance in the lead up to the 2018 season.

All three pleaded not guilty via video link at the Ballarat Magistrates Court with another hearing scheduled for November 19.

Weir trained the New Zealand thoroughbred Prince of Penzance, which was ridden to victory at the 2015 Melbourne Cup by the first female jockey to win the race, Michelle Payne.

He was banned from the sport in Victoria last year after dramatic police raids on his stables.

© 2020 AFP

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Jury indicts Texas billionaire in $2B decades-long tax fraud scheme


The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Building is seen in Washington, D.C. File Photo by Kevin Dietcsch/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury has indicted Texas billionaire Robert Brockman in a decades-long, $2 billion tax fraud scheme.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a 39 count indictment against Brockman on Thursday, a Department of Justice statement said.

Brockman, a 79-year-old resident of Houston, Texas, and Pitkin County, Colorado, has been CEO of an Ohio-based software company, Reynolds and Reynolds, that makes software for car dealerships, since a 2006 merger with Houston-based Universal Computer Systems, according to the indictment.

Tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and other offenses are among the charges officials announced. The charges stem from alleged decades-long scheme to hide approximately $2 billion in income from the IRS and to defraud investors in the software's company's debt securities.

"Today's indictment reflects the Department of Justice's commitment to finding and prosecuting the costliest and most sophisticated tax crimes in the United States," Principal Deputy Assistant General of the Tax Division Richard Zuckerman said in a statement.

Along with the tax offenses, the indictment alleges that Brockman engaged in a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $67.8 million in the software company's debt securities.

In a virtual hearing Thursday, Brockman pleaded not guilty on all counts and was released on $1 million bond, The Wall Street Journal reported.


"We look forward to defending him against these charges," Brockman's lawyer Kathryn Keneally said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.

Brockman used a "web of offshore entities" in Bermuda and Nevis to carry out the alleged scheme, according to the indictment. He also directed untaxed capital gains incomes to secret bank accounts in Bermuda and Switzerland.

According to the indictment, Brockman backdated documents and used encrypted code words to communicate with offshore money handlers. Among the code names, were fish-themed names like "Redfish," "Bonefish," and "Snapper," according to the indictment.

A spokesman for Reynolds and Reynolds told The Washington Post that the company "is not alleged to have engaged in any wrongdoing, and we are confident in the integrity and strength of our business" noting that Brockman's actions occurred "outside of his professional responsibilities."

Witness and co-conspirator Robert F. Smith, a founder of Vista Equity Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity fund with a single investor, Brockman, bolstered the case against Brockman, The Post reported. To avoid taxes, Smith helped Brockman hide profits earned through Vista in offshore accounts, according to prosecutors.

Brockman is a Marine veteran who started out his career working in marketing at Ford Motor and later worked as an IBM salesman before founding Universal Computer Systems in the 1970s and leading the company through its 2006 acquisition by Reynolds and Reynolds.