New York City lawmakers are poised to adopt legislation requiring “bird-friendly” glass on all new construction in an effort to cut down on the tens of thousands of birds who die flying into the city’s buildings every year.

New York will be the largest city in the nation to require glass that is visible to birds if the measure passes. Several California cities including San Francisco and Oakland have adopted similar rules.

Groups that monitor bird populations said they are thrilled at the prospect of the legislation’s adoption in New York City.

“Long term this stands to have a significant impact on the birds that live in and are passing through our city,” Chris Allieri, a board member of the Wild Bird Fund, said Saturday. “I think it will significantly reduce the number of window collisions for birds in newly constructed buildings.”

New York City Audubon estimates that 90,000 to 230,000 birds from hawks to hummingbirds are killed every year from flying into New York City buildings.

The legislation proposed by Democratic City Council member Rafael Espinal would require that at least 90% of the exterior of the first 75 feet of all new buildings or major renovations be constructed with materials that are visible to birds, such as glass with a glazing or pattern.

An example of a bird-friendly building is the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s west side, where glass imprinted with patterns that was installed during a 2015 renovation reduced bird deaths by 90%, according to NYC Audubon.

Ornithologist Susan Elbin, NYC Audubon’s director of conservation, said legislation mandating similar glass in other new buildings and major renovations will make a huge difference. “We think of this as the most broad-reaching bird-friendly building policy in the country,” Elbin said.

The measure has wide support on the City Council and is expected to pass.

“Unfortunately, our buildings have become a death trap for thousands of birds each year,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a Democrat. “As a bird-friendly city, this bill will help protect our feathered friends and reduce the number of bird mortality due to collisions.”

The Real Estate Board of New York expressed concerns earlier about issues including the availability of materials that would meet the requirements of the legislation, but an official with the group indicated Saturday that its issues had been addressed.

“We thank the Council for addressing a number of concerns we had with the original version, and support a science-based approach to reducing bird deaths,” said Basha Gerhards, the real estate group’s vice president of policy and planning. “We hope the Council will track over time the efficacy of these measures and monitor the commercial availability of these materials to optimize compliance and the goals of the bill.”

…

Israeli aircraft bombed several militants’ sites in Gaza early Sunday, hours after three rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave toward southern Israel.

The military said in a statement the airstrikes targeted military camps and a naval base for Hamas, the Islamic militant group controlling Gaza. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On Saturday evening, Israel announced that its air defenses, known as “Iron Dome,” intercepted two of three missiles coming from Gaza. Later, it said all three rockets had been shot down.

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The Israeli army said Hamas was responsible for any attack transpiring in Gaza.

Cross-border violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza has ebbed and flowed in recent years. Last month, the two sides fought their worst round of violence in months.

Leaders from Hamas and the smaller but more radical Islamic Jihad are in Cairo, talking with Egyptian officials about cementing a cease-fire that would see some economic incentives and easing of restrictions on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned at his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that no steps would be made toward any form of cease-fire as long as rocket fire continued. He said last month’s onslaught, in which 34 Palestinians were killed, including a top militant commander, would be just a “promo” to what came next if aggression from Gaza continued.

Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since seizing Gaza in 2007 and dozens of shorter skirmishes.

…

Within months of Sudan’s first women’s football league kicking off, the championship’s emerging stars are being hailed as icons for equal rights in a country transitioning to civilian rule.

Orjuan Essam, 19, and Rayan Rajab, 22, of Khartoum-based Tahadi women’s club, have scored several goals already in a tournament that would have seemed unlikely when autocrat Omar al-Bashir was in power.

“I was thrilled to see that authoritarian rule was finally turning into civilian and that women’s rights could now be achieved,” said Essam, her long hair flowing freely as she trained at a stadium in the capital.

Sudan was once a football pioneer, joining FIFA in 1948 and co-founding the Confederation of African Football with Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa at a meeting in Khartoum in 1957.

But women’s football faced an uphill battle after the country adopted the Islamic sharia law in 1983, six years before then-brigadier Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup.

Bashir’s 30 years of ironfisted rule ended in April after he was ousted by the army in a palace coup following months of protests, triggering hopes that more liberal, pro-women policies would emerge.

Women were at the forefront of anti-Bashir protests, expressing anger against centuries of patriarchal traditions and laws that severely restricted their role in Sudanese society.

Sudan is now ruled by a joint civilian-military sovereign council, which has been tasked with overseeing the transition to civilian rule as demanded by protesters.

League pushes women’s rights

Last month the new authorities scrapped a decades-old public order law, which primarily targeted women for “immoral acts”.

During the rule of Bashir, thousands of women were flogged or fined under the law.

Today, the launch of women’s club football is seen as a much-needed boost for women’s rights in Sudan.

Essam, who plays left midfielder for Tahadi, said the world would now know that Sudanese women are not just “meant for raising children and doing household chores”.

“Women’s rights are much more than that,” she said.

Rajab, wearing a track suit at the practice session, said the tournament was the best thing to have happened to Sudan, showcasing the country’s talented female footballers.

“We badly needed it,” said Rajab, whose aim is to score in every match.

“Hopefully, I will become a professional player overseas and return to the Sudanese team, if they choose me to represent Sudan in the next World Cup,” Rajab said.

For Essam, who reads the Koran every morning and wants to become a dentist, football remains a hobby.

Since the championship began on September 30, both players have won praise for their positive team spirit, with Sudanese newspapers splashing their photographs on the sports pages.

“I play as a striker… Orjuan is a left midfielder. We coordinate and make passes to each other,” Rajab said.

Their coach Ahmed al-Fakki said the two always have a countermove to any plays their opponents make on the field.

“Their goals speak for them, they were very beautiful goals,” Fakki said, as Rajab dribbled the ball behind him.

Family support

Essam and Rajab say they owe their new-found glory to understanding parents.

Essam said her father, a football enthusiast himself, is her biggest supporter and personal coach, often correcting her mistakes during training.

“Women are now competing with men at all levels, they are even taking ministerial positions,” said her father, Essam al-Sayed, who is a banker.

Rajab took a liking to football at a young age, mostly playing with her brother.

“My parents had no objection, they kept telling me to push on with sports,” she said.

With the success of the league and the attention the two girls have brought to the championship — which has 21 clubs participating — organizers now want to tap more talent.

“We have convinced the ministry of education to open schools for training girls in football, and we have contacted FIFA to help bring football to young children,” said Fakki, who is also involved in organising the league.

Essam and Rajab, however, remain special to him.

“Orjuan and Rayan are capable of becoming professional footballers,” he said.

“I tell them to show the world that Sudan has talent and it is only professional players who can help develop the sport.”

…

Airstrikes on areas in the last major rebel stronghold in northwest Syria on Saturday killed at least 18 people, including women and children, and wounded others as a three-month truce crumbles, opposition activists said. 
 
The airstrikes on Idlib province have intensified over the past few weeks as the government appears to be preparing for an offensive on rebel-held areas east of the province to secure the main highway that links the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest and once a commercial center. 
 
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 20 people were killed in Idlib province while the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense said 18 lost their lives. 
 
The largest number of casualties occurred in the village of Balyoun, where the Civil Defense said eight people were killed while the Observatory said nine died. Both groups also said that four people, including a child and two women, were killed in airstrikes on the rebel-held village of Bara. 
 
Both groups also said that five others were killed in the village of Ibdeita. The Civil Defense said another child was killed in a nearby village in Idlib while the Observatory had two more. 
 
Conflicting casualty figures are common in the immediate aftermath of violence in Syria, where an eight-year conflict has killed about 400,000 people, wounded more than a million and displaced half the country’s prewar population. 
 
Syrian troops launched a four-month offensive earlier this year on Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The government offensive forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes. 
 
A fragile cease-fire halted the government advance in late August but has been repeatedly violated in recent weeks. 

…

The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said.

The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.

U.S. officials had previously told the AP they were investigating possible links to terrorism.

The student opened fire in a classroom at the base Friday morning, killing three people.

<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

Saudi Air Force Pilot in Shooting Spree at US Naval Base

Navy officials and law enforcement officials are looking at all motives, including terrorism, in the deadly shooting by the Saudi pilot in the US for training

A U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Friday identified the shooter as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official also said the FBI was examining social media posts and investigating whether he acted alone or was connected to any broader group.

The assault, which prompted a massive law enforcement response and base lockdown, ended when a sheriff’s deputy killed the attacker. Eight people were hurt in the attack, including the deputy and a second deputy who was with him.

Family members on Saturday identified one of the victims as a 23-year-old recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who alerted first responders to where the shooter was even after he had been shot several times.

“Joshua Kaleb Watson saved countless lives today with his own,” Adam Watson wrote on Facebook. “He died a hero and we are beyond proud but there is a hole in our hearts that can never be filled.”

Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott issued a scathing statement calling the shooting — the second on a U.S. Naval base this week — an act of terrorism “whether this individual was motivated by radical Islam or was simply mentally unstable.”

During a news conference Friday night, the FBI declined to release the shooter’s identity and wouldn’t comment on his possible motivations.

“There are many reports circulating, but the FBI deals only in facts,” said Rachel L. Rojas, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Jacksonville Field Office.

Earlier Friday, two U.S. officials identified the student as a second lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force, and said authorities were investigating whether the attack was terrorism-related. They spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose information that had not yet been made public.

President Donald Trump declined to say whether the shooting was terrorism-related. Trump tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims and noted that he had received a phone call from Saudi King Salman.

He said the king told him that “this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people.”

The Saudi government offered condolences to the victims and their families and said it would provide “full support” to U.S. authorities.

The U.S. has long had a robust training program for Saudis, providing assistance in the U.S. and in the kingdom. The shooting, however, shined a spotlight on the two countries’ sometimes rocky relationship.

The kingdom is still trying to recover from the killing last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi intelligence officials and a forensic doctor killed and dismembered Khashoggi on Oct. 2, 2018, just as his fiancée waited outside the diplomatic mission.

One of the Navy’s most historic and storied bases, Naval Air Station Pensacola sprawls along the waterfront southwest of the city’s downtown and dominates the economy of the surrounding area.

Part of the base resembles a college campus, with buildings where 60,000 members of the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard train each year in multiple fields of aviation. A couple hundred students from countries outside the U.S. are also enrolled in training, said Base commander Capt. Tim Kinsella.

All of the shooting took place in one classroom and the shooter used a handgun, authorities said. Weapons are not allowed on the base, which Kinsella said would remain closed until further notice.

Adam Watson said his little brother was able to make it outside the classroom building to tell authorities where the shooter was after being shot “multiple” times. “Those details were invaluable,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Watson’s father, Benjamin Watson, was quoted by the Pensacola News Journal as saying that his son was a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who dreamed of becoming a Navy pilot. He said he had reported to Pensacola two weeks ago to begin flight training. “He died serving his country,” Benjamin Watson said.

The shooting is the second at a U.S. naval base this week. A sailor whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, opened fire on three civilian employees Wednesday, killing two before taking his own life.

…

France’s most serious nationwide work stoppage in decades frustrated weekend travelers Saturday as truckers blocked thoroughfares and vital transportation services continued to operate far below normal capacity.

Concern that President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed pension overhaul would force millions of people to work longer or face less lucrative benefits triggered the union-led strike on Thursday, bringing much of the country to a halt.

Truckers blocked roads Saturday in about 10 regions in France to protest a proposed tax hike on diesel fuel for commercial vehicles.

<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

Truckers Block Roads as French Strikes hit Weekend Travel

Strikes are disrupting weekend travel around France

Yellow vest protesters, who have taken to the streets on Saturdays over the past year to voice frustration over the high cost of living in France, sought to capitalize on the nationwide strike.

Several hundred of them launched a new protest Saturday in Paris and they scuffled with police in the city’s Left Bank district.

Travel in France remained problematic Saturday, with only one in 10 regional trains running and one out of six high-speed TGV trains operating.

Air travel was returning closer to normal after authorities dropped travel restrictions.

More than 800,000 people participated in the first day of demonstrations on Thursday.

In response to what they see as an attack on hard-won worker rights, union leaders have promised to continue protesting unless Macron abandons the proposed pension overhaul, which officials admit would force employees to gradually work longer.

Unions have also announced another strike on Tuesday (Dec. 10).

Officials have given few details about the pension plan, but Macron’s office said Thursday that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe would unveil the framework next week after negotiations with unions.

The strike is a test of the political prowess of Macron, a former investment banker who won the presidency on the promise to transform France.

Macron wants to standardize and simplify the country’s retirement system comprised of 42 pension plans, maintaining it is not financially sustainable or fair.

<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

Paris Police Arrest Scores Amid Strike Over Pension Reform

Police said 65,000 people took to Paris’ streets and over 800,000 protested nationwide in often-tense demonstrations; at least 90 arrests had been made by evening

Many workers, particularly teachers, worry Macron’s reform will leave them with less retirement money.

With workers living much longer and a large segment of working-age citizens unemployed, analyst Jean Peteaux of Sciences-Po Bordeaux University said France’s pension system is under significant financial pressure.

Peteaux also said it is uncertain if the government’s method to address the issue will succeed.

…

More than 2,000 people are expected at a ceremony Saturday to remember those killed when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor 78 years ago and launched the U.S. into World War II.

Organizers of the public event at the Hawaii naval base say attendees will include about a dozen survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, the youngest of whom are now in their late 90s.

A moment of silence is scheduled for 7:55 a.m., the same minute the assault began. U.S. Air Force fighter jets flying overhead in missing man formation will break the quiet.

Retired Navy Adm. Harry Harris, currently the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is due to deliver remarks, along with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

The ceremony comes on the heels of two deadly shootings at Navy bases this week, one at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and another at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.

A Pearl Harbor National Memorial spokesman said security will be beefed up as usual for the annual event.

The 1941 aerial assault killed more than 2,300 U.S. troops. Nearly half — or 1,177 — were Marines and sailors serving on the USS Arizona, a battleship moored in the harbor. The vessel sank within nine minutes of being hit, taking most of its crew down with it.

The ship still rests in the harbor today and is a grave for more than 900 men killed in the attack. Each year, nearly 2 million people visit the white memorial structure built above the ship.

An internment ceremony is scheduled to be held at sunset on the memorial for one of the Arizona’s sailors who survived the attack, Lauren Bruner. He died earlier this year at age 98.

Bruner asked that an urn with his ashes be placed inside the Arizona’s sunken hull upon his death. His ashes will join the remains of 44 shipmates who managed to live through the attack but wanted to be laid to rest in the ship. Bruner explained before he died that he preferred being interred in the Arizona so he could join his buddies and because of the memorial’s high number of visitors.

Bruner is expected to be the last Arizona crew member to be interred on the ship. The three Arizona survivors still living plan to be laid to rest with their families.

…

An armed drone targeted the home of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday, hours after his supporters deployed in Baghdad in response to an attack that left 17 protesters dead.

The developments marked a worrying turn for the anti-government protests rocking Iraq since October, the country’s largest and deadliest grassroots movement in decades.

The mostly young protesters in the capital’s iconic Tahrir Square had long feared a spiral into chaos, and on Friday it appeared their apprehensions were well-placed.

<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

Death Toll Rises in Baghdad After Attack on Anti-Government Protesters

Nearly two dozen killed and scores of others injured in attacks by unknown assailants

After nightfall, armed men on pick-up trucks attacked a large building where protesters had been camped out for weeks near the capital’s Al-Sinek bridge.

Security forces deployed on the bridge itself did not intervene, witnesses said, as the attackers ousted protesters from the building in a volley of gunfire.

At least 17 people were killed and dozens more wounded, medics told AFP, with ambulances shuttling teenagers suffering gunshot and stab wounds to nearby field clinics.

Panicked demonstrators rushed out into the street, sending out calls through social media for people to come to their main gathering place in Tahrir Square.

By Saturday morning, hundreds had arrived.

“I came after the incident and there were tons of people in Tahrir and by Al-Sinek,” one demonstrator told AFP.

…

The Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Trump administration from restarting federal executions next week after a 16-year break. 

The justices denied the administration’s plea to undo a lower-court ruling in favor of inmates who have been given execution dates. The first of those had been scheduled for December 9, with a second set for December 13. Two more inmates had been given execution dates in January. 

Attorney General William Barr announced during the summer that federal executions would resume using a single drug, pentobarbital, to put inmates to death. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington temporarily halted the executions after some of the chosen inmates challenged the new execution procedures in court. Chutkan ruled that the procedure approved by Barr most likely violates the Federal Death Penalty Act. 

The federal appeals court in Washington had earlier denied the administration’s emergency plea to put Chutkan’s ruling on hold and allow the executions to proceed. 

Longer delay

Federal executions are likely to remain on hold at least for several months, while the appeals court in Washington undertakes a full review of Chutkan’s ruling. 

The Supreme Court justices directed the appeals court to act “with appropriate dispatch.” 

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a short separate opinion that he believes the government ultimately will win the case and would have set a 60-day deadline for appeals court action. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined Alito’s opinion. 

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said the legal fight would continue. “While we are disappointed with the ruling, we will argue the case on its merits in the D.C. Circuit and, if necessary, the Supreme Court,“ Kupec said in a statement. 

Four inmates won temporary reprieves from the court rulings. Danny Lee was the first inmate scheduled for execution, at 8 o’clock Monday morning. Lee was convicted of killing a family of three, including an 8-year-old. 

Inmate with dementia

The government had planned next Friday to execute Wesley Ira Purkey, who raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl and killed an 80-year-old woman. His lawyers say Purkey is suffering from dementia and he has a separate lawsuit pending in federal court in Washington. 

Then in January, executions had been scheduled for Alfred Bourgeois, who tortured, molested and then beat his 2½-year-old daughter to death, and Dustin Lee Honken, who killed five people, including two children. 

A fifth inmate, Lezmond Mitchell, has had his execution blocked by the federal appeals court in San Francisco over questions of bias against Native Americans. Mitchell beheaded a 63-year-old woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter. 

…

Elon Musk did not defame a British cave explorer when he called him “pedo guy” in an angry tweet, a Los Angeles jury found Friday.

Vernon Unsworth, who participated in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for weeks in a Thailand cave last year, had angered the Tesla CEO by belittling his effort to help with the rescue as a “PR stunt.”

Musk said Unsworth’s comments in an interview with CNN were an unprovoked attack on his sincere and voluntary efforts to help in the rescue. Musk had engineers at his companies, including Space X and The Boring Co., develop a mini-submarine to transport the boys. Despite working around the clock to build the sub, Musk arrived in Thailand late in the rescue effort and the craft was never used.

Musk, who said his stock in Tesla and SpaceX is worth about $20 billion, insisted in his testimony that the phrase he tweeted off-the-cuff “was obviously a flippant insult, and no one interpreted it to mean pedophile.”

A jury of five women and three men deliberated for less than an hour in the afternoon in U.S. District Court.

Jury foreman Joshua Jones said the panel decided that Unsworth’s lawyers spent too much time trying to appeal to their emotions and not concentrating on the evidence.

“The failure probably happened because they didn’t focus on the tweets,” Jones said after the verdict was announced. “I think they tried to get our emotions involved in it. In a court of law you have to prove your case, which they did not prove.”

Unsworth’s attorney suggested to a federal jury Friday that it award $190 million in damages to the cave explorer.

Attorney Lin Wood said the suggested award would include $150 million as a “hard slap on the wrist” to punish Tesla CEO for what he said was akin to dropping an atomic weapon on his client.

“What in the world would it take to discourage Elon Musk from ever planting a nuclear bomb in the life of another person?” Wood said.

In his closing argument, Wood called Musk a “billionaire bully” who lied when he claimed “pedo guy” only means “creepy old man” and said his apologies to Unsworth were insincere.

“When Elon Musk tweets something it goes around the world,” Wood said. “It can never be deleted.”

Unsworth testified that he had to sue Musk for defamation because if he didn’t, the allegation would seem true.

Musk’s lawyer told the jury the tweet did not rise to the level of defamation. Attorney Alex Spiro said Unsworth also failed to show actual damages.

Spiro mocked Unsworth’s claims that he had been shamed and humiliated and that the tweet effectively sentenced him to a life sentence without parole.

Spiro noted that Unsworth had been honored by the queen of England and the king of Thailand, had his photo taken next to British Prime Minister Theresa May and been asked to speak at schools and contribute to a children’s book, which showed that no one took Musk’s insult seriously.

“People accused of pedophilia don’t get celebrated by world leaders,” Spiro said. “Kings and queens and prime ministers don’t stand next to pedophiles.”

…

The United States imposed sanctions Friday on three Iranian-backed Iraqi militia leaders over their alleged role in violently suppressing protests that have shaken Iraq.

The militia leaders are accused of ordering their forces to fire on civilians protesting government corruption and high unemployment. Since the protests began in October, around 400 protesters have been reported killed by security forces.

“Peaceful public dissent and protest are fundamental elements of all democracies,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that announced the sanctions Friday.

In a subsequent statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “The Iraqi people want their country back. … They are calling for genuine reform and accountability and for trustworthy leaders who will put Iraq’s national interests first. Those demands deserve to be addressed without resort to violence or suppression.”

The sanctions target two brothers, Qais al-Khazali and Laith al-Khazali, from the Asaib Ahl al-Haq Iran-backed militia, as well as Husayn Falih Aziz al-Lami, who was accused of running a militia on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Trump administration will consider imposing further sanctions if violence against Iraqi protesters does not stop, according to David Schenker, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

“We are not done. This is an ongoing process,” Schenker told reporters Friday.

The punitive measures also targeted an Iraqi businessman, Khamis al-Khanjar, for alleged bribery and corruption.

The sanctions allow the U.S. government to freeze any assets the men might have in the United States and bar Americans from doing business with them.

The protests in Iraq have led to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi, an ally of Iran. Along with economic concerns, the protesters are also demonstrating against what they perceive as increasing Iranian influence in Iraqi affairs.

…

Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez unveiled his cabinet on Friday evening, laying out his core team days before the center-left leader takes office facing a stalled economy, rising debt fears and painful inflation.

Fernandez named Martin Guzman as economy minister, who will need to help steer debt restructuring negotiations with international creditors and the International Monetary Fund over around $100 billion in sovereign debt.

Guzman, a young academic and protege of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, is considered an expert in the field of debt restructuring, though he has little hands-on experience in policy making.

Matias Kulfas, who previously held government and central bank positions, was named as production minister. Young political scientist Santiago Cafiero, heir to a historic Peronist family, was named Cabinet chief, and former Buenos Aires Governor Felipe Sola was tapped as foreign minister.

Peronist Fernandez, who takes over from conservative leader Mauricio Macri, will be sworn into office on Dec. 10.

Vice President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a divisive former president, was not present at the event when Fernandez announced his picks.

…

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration was looking into relaxing water-saving regulations for toilets, sinks and showers, saying consumers end up using even more water by flushing multiple times and trying to get clean with weaker water streams. 

“People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once. They end up using more water,” Trump said while talking with business owners about what he said were `’common sense” steps to end overregulation. “’The EPA is looking at that very strongly at my suggestion.” 

Use of low-flush toilets started in the 1990s after President George H.W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act. The 1992 law said new toilets could use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. The law went into effect in 1994 for residential buildings and 1997 for commercial structures. 

Trump said he was also looking at possibly relaxing regulations for sinks and showers. 

“You go into a new building, a new house or a new home, and they have standards and you don’t get water,” he said. “You can’t wash your hands, practically — there’s so little water that comes out of the faucet. And the end result is you leave the faucet on and it takes you so much longer to wash your hands and you end up using the same amount of water.” 

Trump said relaxing water-conservation standards might not be practical in some arid regions of the nation, but in many states, there is plenty of water. 

“It comes down. It’s called rain,” he said. 

…

Police in southern India have shot to death four men accused of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian.

Police took the suspects to the crime scene Friday, where the men tried to escape.

All of the accused where killed in the fracas.

“It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died,” the veterinarian’s father said Friday. “I express my gratitude towards the police and government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now.”

Outrage

Protests, outrage, calls for swift justice and even lynching have engulfed India over the alleged gang rape and murder in Hyderabad, in the state of Telangana.

The crime brought back memories of the gang rape of a young physiotherapy student seven years ago that turned the spotlight on sexual violence against women in India.

The veterinarian left her home one evening and her charred remains were found the next morning.

Authorities say she had talked with her sister to say she had a flat tire near a highway toll booth on the outskirts of the city and that a truck driver had stopped to help fix it.

Police say four men dragged her to an isolated spot near a motorway, where they allegedly took turns raping her. Authorities say the suspects later set her body on fire, wrapped it in a blanket and dumped it under a bridge, where it was found by a passer-by.

Laws tightened, little changed

India tightened laws in the aftermath of the 2012 gang rape of the physiotherapy student in New Delhi, doubling prison terms for rapists, but it appears to have done little to stem brutal sexual assaults of women.

According to the latest government figures, 33,658 cases were reported in 2017, an average of more than 90 incidents every day.

Women activists say the actual number is much higher because many cases are never reported.

…

The largest concentration of black African churches outside of Africa can be found in South London. Each week, about 20,000 people attend one of the mostly Pentecostal churches in the city. Reporter Marthe van der Wolf has more from London.
 

…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, are facing declining enrollments as are many other American universities. But North Carolina A&T, the country’s largest HBCU, has boasted of growth as it continues to welcome international students to its campus. In Greensboro, Esha Sarai has more.
 

…

Hundreds of thousands of people went on strike in cities across France, causing a shutdown of public transport and drastically reducing teaching and hospital staff Thursday. Public and private sector workers are protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms that include extending minimum retirement age and rewarding employees for each day worked. VOA’S Zlatica Hoke reports.

…

Firefighters battled to contain nearly 150 fires burning in New South Wales state Friday as strong winds fanned the flames and again shrouded Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, in hazardous smoke.

Bushfires have killed at least four people and destroyed more than 680 homes since the start of November. Fires are still burning in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland states.

While nearly 150 blazes were burning across Australia’s east coast, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities were particularly concerned about eight fires now at emergency levels around Sydney, the state capital where about 5 million people live.

“They have the potential or are expected to spread further east, which unfortunately is getting into more populated areas, villages, communities, isolated rural areas, and other farming practices and businesses throughout the region,” Fitzsimmons told reporters in Sydney.

Several fires to the northwest of the city had joined together to create one massive blaze, spreading with hot, dry winds, he said.

Bushfires are common in Australia, but this year’s fire season has begun much earlier than usual, with temperatures soaring regularly above 40 degrees C (104 F) before the start of the southern summer and high winds scouring the drought-parched landscape.

Australia’s worst bushfires on record destroyed thousands of homes in Victoria in February 2009, killing 173 people and injuring 414 more.

…

A federal trial is scheduled to begin Thursday for a North Carolina man charged with anonymously threatening to lynch a Muslim-American man campaigning for a state Senate seat in Virginia.

Court records say jury selection for Joseph Cecil Vandevere’s trial is set to get underway Thursday morning in Asheville, North Carolina.

Vandevere was charged in June with interstate communication of a threat to injure a person in connection with a tweet directed at Qasim Rashid. The tweet included a picture of a lynching and read, “VIEW YOUR DESTINY.”

Rashid posted a screenshot of the threatening tweet in March 2018 and reported it to the FBI. Rashid, a Democrat, lost his Nov. 5 bid to oust an incumbent Republican state senator in Virginia.

In September, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. rejected Vandevere’s argument that his indictment must be dismissed on grounds of First Amendment free speech.

…

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday endorsed a controversial deal on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean reached between Turkey and Libya’s U.N.-supported government.

The committee approved the agreement which would give Turkey access to an economic zone across the Mediterranean, paving the way for a final vote in the parliament’s general assembly later in the day.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the agreement last week with Libya’s Tripoli-based government, led by Fayez Sarraj, which controls some of the country’s west. The two also signed a security cooperation agreement.

The deals sparked outrage in the Libyan parliament, which is based in the east and is aligned with the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter. The parliament denounced the agreements as a “flagrant breach” of Libya’s security and sovereignty, saying they would grant the Turkish government the right to use Libyan airspace and waters as well as build military bases on Libyan soil.

Greece, Cyprus and Egypt have also criticized the boundary agreement, calling it a serious breach of international law. The deal has added tension to an ongoing dispute with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil-and-gas drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said he discussed the issue and other differences between Greece and Turkey with Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit Wednesday in London, adding that both leaders “noted disagreements.”

Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two competing governments, one in the east, based in Benghazi, and the other in the west, in Tripoli. While the LNA and the eastern government enjoy the support of France, Russia and key Arab countries, the Tripoli-based government is backed by Italy, Turkey and Qatar.

…

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will address reporters Thursday on the status of the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.  

Pelosi’s televised statement comes a day after three U.S. constitutional scholars told Congress that Trump committed impeachable offenses by pushing Ukraine to open investigations to benefit him politically.

Harvard law professor Noah Feldman told lawmakers that Trump, by “corruptly soliciting” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open an investigation of one of his chief 2020 Democratic rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, “has clearly committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” the standard set in the U.S. Constitution for impeachment of a president.

Pamela Karlan, a Stanford law professor, said a U.S. president should resist foreign intervention in an American election, not invite it. She called Trump’s request to Zelenskiy an “especially serious abuse of power.”

In his opening statement, University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt told the House Judiciary Committee, “If Congress fails to impeach here, then the impeachment process has lost all meaning, and, along with that, our Constitution’s carefully crafted safeguards against the establishment of a king on American soil. No one, not even the president, is above the law.”

Republicans supporting Trump called Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor who said he voted against Trump in 2016. But Turley said there was a “paucity of evidence” supporting Trump’s impeachment and “abundance of anger” by Democrats aimed at removing Trump from office. Turley said Trump’s late July call with Zelenskiy was not “perfect,” as Trump has contended, but not grounds to impeach him.

House Democrats: Trump Abuse of Power Impeachable Offense  video player.

Embed

Copy

Link

Impeachable offenses

The Judiciary panel’s hearing was the next step in House Democrats’ effort  to impeach the country’s 45th president, only the fourth time in the country’s 243-year history that a U.S. leader has faced a formal impeachment proceeding.

The constitutional scholars recalled the history from more than two centuries ago when the country’s founding fathers wrote into the Constitution that presidents could be impeached and removed from office if lawmakers decide they have committed “”treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”  Feldman, Karlan and Gerhardt all said that Trump had met the criteria for impeachment laid out in the Constitution, describing his actions as an “abuse of power.”

Feldman said if Trump is not held to account for his alleged offenses, “We no longer live in a democracy.”

Turley called the case against Trump “the narrowest impeachment in history” and was being conducted by Democrats in an “incredibly short” period of time. The lead Republican on the Judiciary panel, Congressman Doug Collins, asked, “Why the rush?”

Collins accused Democrats of trying to complete the impeachment process before the country turns its attention to the congressional and presidential election campaigns in 2020, when Trump is seeking re-election. Trump’s lawyers declined an invitation to participate in Wednesday’s hearing, while retaining the right to appear at any later sessions in the coming weeks.

At the end of the day, however, both sides stuck to their talking points. Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler again accused Trump of asking a “foreign government to intervene in our elections, then got caught, then obstructed the investigators twice.” The constitution, he said, “has a solution for a president who places his personal or political interests” above those of the country.

Collins, on the other hand, repeatedly called for Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff to testify before the Judiciary Committee. He also accused the Democrats of rushing the process, not talking to enough witnesses and being “so obsessed with the election next year, they just gloss over things.”

What sparked Inquiry

The Trump impeachment drama centers on his late July request to Zelenskiy to “do us a favor,” the investigation of Biden, his son Hunter’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 U.S. election that Trump won, not Russia, as the U.S. intelligence community concluded.

At the time, Trump was temporarily withholding $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Trump eventually released the assistance in September without Ukraine opening the Biden investigations, proof, Republicans say, that there was no quid pro quo, an exchange of favors between Trump and Ukraine.  

Trump defended his phone call with Zelensky in a series of tweets late Wednesday night, writing that when he used the word “us, I am referring to the United States, our Country.”  

When I said, in my phone call to the President of Ukraine, “I would like you to do US a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” With the word “us” I am referring to the United States, our Country. I then went on to say that……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019

The president then went on to slam House Democrats over their assertion: “This, based on what I have seen, is their big point – and it is no point at a all (except for a big win for me!). The Democrats should apologize to the American people!” 

….”I would like to have the Attorney General (of the United States) call you or your people…..” This, based on what I have seen, is their big point – and it is no point at a all (except for a big win for me!). The Democrats should apologize to the American people!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives could on a simple majority vote impeach Trump before leaving on a Christmas week recess at the end of December, setting up a trial next month in the Republican-majority Senate, where a two-thirds vote would be needed for conviction to remove Trump from office.

Trump’s ouster from the White House remains unlikely, however, with at least 20 Republican senators needed to turn against the president and vote for conviction. Some Republican senators have criticized Trump’s request to Zelenskiy, but none has  called for his conviction.

Impeachment history

Two former U.S. presidents — Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton — were impeached but not convicted by the Senate and removed from office, while a third — Richard M. Nixon — resigned in the face of certain impeachment. Many constitutional scholars believe abuse of office and obstruction of Congress by withholding documents as it investigates a president are also impeachable offenses, but the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of such offenses.

The new testimony comes a day after the Democratic-controlled House Intelligence Committee released a 300-page report accusing Trump of “misconduct” in seeking Ukrainian political interference in the 2020 presidential election and then relentlessly trying to “obstruct” Congress as it carried out an inquiry into his actions.

…

Children love the song. Parents call it an “earworm” because once they hear it, it continues to pop uninvited into their heads: “Baby Shark” is a two-minute music video that has been dubbed into 11 languages and endeared itself to toddlers across the world.

Now, a 12th version is in the works, dubbed into Dine bizaad­—the language of the Navajo—one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S.

The project is the brainchild of Manuelito “Manny” Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona, part of a part of a 54,000-square-foot center that works to preserve and interpret the Navajo culture through art, archaeological materials, photographs, film and recordings—including Navajo-language versions of major Hollywood motion pictures.

“We dubbed ‘Star Wars Episode IV’ and ‘Finding Nemo’ into Navajo. And we are just finishing up the classic Clint Eastwood Western [film], ‘Fistful of Dollars,’” said Wheeler.

Watch: a clip from the Navajo version of the 1977 movie “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”:

Each of these film projects was geared to a different Navajo demographic, Wheeler explained. It’s all part of an effort to preserve and revive a language that, like many Native American languages, is endangered, and unless something is done, could face extinction in the coming decades.

“We want to stem the tide before the tide is irreversible, because it is changing,” said Wheeler. “We needed something that was geared for early childhood. And what better choice than ‘Baby Shark?’”

“Baby Shark,” is more than a song; it’s an international phenomenon. Produced by the South Korean entertainment company SmartStudy’s educational brand, Pinkfong, in 2015, it instantly went viral. Since then, Pinkfong has created spinoff videos—including “Baby Shark Dance.” Together, they have been viewed more than 3 billion times on YouTube.  

“We’re working closely with the Navajo Nation Museum for this project,” said Kevin Yoon, SmartStudy’s marketing communications manager, in an email statement. “Pinkfong will be producing the audio and video recording, but the Navajo Nation is advising us throughout the whole process, including localization [translation] and the audition for voice actors.”

The Navajo Nation Museum will host an open casting call Sunday, December 8. Wheeler hopes to announce the final selection of five voice actors by mid-December and launch the final project in time for Christmas.

Future collaborations are possible

On March 1, the first “Baby Shark Live” tour will open in Independence, Missouri, and for the following three months will travel to 100 U.S. cities, including many in states with large Native American populations, such as California, Oklahoma, Montana, New Mexico, and Washington state, to name a few. 

Does Pinkfong have plans to meet with any other Indian tribes during the tour to discuss producing other Native language versions?

“Right now, we’re focusing all of our efforts on the Navajo ‘Baby Shar’k (Łóó’ Hashkéii Awéé’) project,” said Yoon. “While we don’t have future plans at this point, we are open to possibilities to collaborate.”

…