Politics

Opinion and Analysis of the local and global Politics

The plague is a highly contagious and possibly fatal disease, image via Getty Images
Politics
Two cases of the pneumonic plague have been confirmed in China

Two people are being treated for the pneumonic plague in a central Beijing hospital. It is currently unknown how they initially came into contact with the disease as the Chinese government did not comment on the matter. The disease is highly contagious so the two patients have been quarantined and measures are being taken to manage the risk of it spreading.

china health plague disease

Thu Nov 14 - ABCNews
Most of these requests were from the US government, image via Getty Images
Politics
Facebook reveals that government requests for user data have reached an all-time high

Facebook has revealed in its biannual transparency report that government requests for user data have reached a new record. Most of these requests were made by the US and two-thirds of those requests involved clauses that specified that Facebook could not notify the user. Facebook also revealed that it complies with 80% of these requests.

facebook privacy data government transparency

Thu Nov 14 - ABCNews
He was wrongfully sentenced to 47 years in prison in 2008
Politics
The man finally granted freedom after spending 11 years in jail for a crime he did not commit

Robert Martinez Jr. was sentenced to 47 years in prison for a series of armed robberies he did not commit. After spending 11 years locked away, he has won his freedom by proving his innocence in court. He was originally convicted without any physical evidence and his multiple appeals were rejected.

crime jail wrongfulconviction justice robbery court

Thu Nov 14 - CNN
Trump's impeachment inquiry is having its first public hearing, image via Reuters
Politics
Trump impeachment inquiry goes public

The impeachment inquiry of US President Donald Trump is having its first public hearing. The committee will be hearing from top Ukrainian diplomats regarding Trump's abuse of power to convince the Ukrainian government to open investigations into his political opponents. Trump has denied all such accusations. The hearings will now be televised.

america trump impeachment us government donaldtrump ukraine public

Wed Nov 13 - Aljazeera
It is currently unknown what killed these birds, image via Hindustan Times
Politics
1,000 birds found dead under mysterious circumstances in Rajasthan

More than 1,000 migratory birds were found dead at Rajasthan's Sambhar Salt Lake earlier this week. The forest department is currently investigating the matter and has been unable to determine the cause of this mass death. So far they have not detected any signs of bird flu. Some scientists suspect that water pollution may be the cause.

india birds pollution waterpollution rajasthan

Wed Nov 13 - TheWeatherChannel
Students in Hong Kong clash with the police once again, image via AFP
Politics
Protesters in Hong Kong come out armed with bows and arrows

Protests in Hong Kong continue as students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong clash with police once again. Many protesters were armed with petrol bombs and some armed themselves with bows and arrows that they stole from the university sports center. Students placed barricades all over the campus to stop the police from entering.

protest violence hongkong riot revolution bowandarrow

Wed Nov 13 - Guardian
Memorials such as this one are popping up all over the country, image via Kathy Willens
Politics
Violent hate crime reaches the highest point in 16 years in the US

According to a new report by the FBI, violent hate crime has reached the highest levels it has been in 16 years. There have been surges in crimes against Latino and Trans people over the last year while the violence against Muslims and African Americans has gone down. Some have linked this change to the anti-LGBT and anti-Latino rhetoric of the Trump administration.

crime us racism hatecrime islamophobia

Wed Nov 13 - Guardian
Tesla has said that Brexit has created too much uncertainty in Britain, image via Tesla
Politics
Tesla to move gigafactory to Germany due to Brexit

Tesla Ceo, Elon Musk, has announced that the company will be building its first European factory in Germany instead of the UK. He went on to say that the reason for this change is all the uncertainty caused by Brexit. The factory is expected to be completed and in operation by 2021.

tesla brexit uk cars factory germany britain

Wed Nov 13 - Guardian
This is the second time in 2 years Hikivision has covered up racist analytics, image via Reuters
Politics
Chinese technology company markets AI that can identify Uyghur people

Chinese technology company Hikivison advertised their camera's as being able to identify Uyghurs, a minority group China that has been heavily discriminated against. The company quickly deleted the product page as soon as any attention was brought towards it. They had a similar incident last year where one of their ads showed how their cameras were able to detect ethnic minorities.

china racism ai discrimination hikivision

Tue Nov 12 - IPVM
The stabbings took place at a two month long entertainment festival, image via Reuters
Politics
Musicians stabbed on stage in Saudi Arabia

Three performers were stabbed in Saudi Arabia while they were on stage during an entertainment festival. All three victims are in stable condition and the motive behind the stabbing is currently unknown, although it is suspected that it was done to oppose Saudi Arabia's entertainment push. The assailant managed to escape the crime scene.

entertainment crime saudiarabia music performance

Tue Nov 12 - Aljazeera
Politics
Hong Kong: The City of Chaos
Mon Nov 11
The Hong Kong city has experienced one of the most dramatic days in 24 weeks of protests, Photo EPA-EFE
Politics
Hong Kong: The City of Chaos

The Hong Kong city has experienced one of the most dramatic days in 24 weeks of protests. A protester was shot by the police with a live round. He was in critical condition but police denied any immediate threat to his life. Later on, a man was set on fire who confronted a group of pro-democracy protesters. The city seems to be in chaos as people are scared to go outside.

china hongkong protests extradition

Mon Nov 11 - BBC
Nigel Farage says that the party will not contest any seats currently held by conservatives, Image via Politico
Politics
Nigel Farage: “No Brexit Party candidates in conservative-held seats”

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said on Monday that the party will not contest any seats currently held by conservatives in upcoming General Elections on 12 December. Nigel Farage paved way for 317 conservative party seats to avoid a hung Parliament, but the party will contest the Labour party and other parties in the rest of the country. The opposition Labour party accused Boris Johnson of going into an alliance with Nigel Farage.

nigelfarage brexitparty borisjohnson ukelections

Mon Nov 11 - BusinessInside
Australia faces the most dangerous bushfire week in history, image via Kelly-ann Oosterbeek/AFP via Get
Politics
Australia faces the most dangerous bushfire week in history

Three people are already dead while thousands are forced to leave homes as Australia faces the most dangerous bushfire week in history. Fire chiefs in Australia have warned that New South Wales faces an unprecedented catastrophic fire on Tuesday. Bushfires have already burnt 850,000 hectares across New South Wales. The commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Services, Shane Fitzsimmons warned that the fire threat would only worsen as Australia heads into summer.

australia bushfires nsw fires newsouthwales

Mon Nov 11 - guardian
One of the most successful American submarines has finally been found, image via New York Times
Politics
75 year old missing US submarine found off the coast of Japan

Private explorers found the USS Grayback 1,400 feet under the sea near Okinawa just off the coast of Japan. The Grayback was one of the most successful US submarines from World War 2 and has been missing for 75 years. The explorers found evidence that the sub was likely bombed, although most of its hull was still intact.

america us japan submarine mystery missingsubmarine navy

Mon Nov 11 - ABCNews
Trump has teased a large decision related to vaping that will be announced next week
Politics
US government to announce new vape ban next week

The White House has announced that they will be placing a ban on flavored e-cigarettes due to a rise in youth use. The government is also discussing raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 in order to keep these products out of the hands of teenagers. Many have raised concerns regarding job loss in the vaping industry.

trump us vape ban vapeban tobacco

Mon Nov 11 - ABCNews
The demonstration received backing from a number of Muslim groups, image via Thibault Camus
Politics
Large anti-Islamophobia rallies take place in France

More than 10,000 people came out in Paris to demonstrate against the rising Islamaphobia in the country. France has one of the largest Muslim minority populations in Europe and has recently seen a rise in the popularity of alt-right groups that promote Islamaphobia. The rallies received backing from left-wing organizations and various Muslim groups in the country.

france islam islamaphobia paris leftwing tolerance

Mon Nov 11 - Vanguard
The website has been linked to several murders and acts of terrorism, image via Getty Images
Politics
Identities of hundreds of extremists revealed due to data leak from neo-Nazi site

Iron March, an influential neo-Nazi website, has suffered a large data leak that has revealed the personal email addresses of many of its members. The website has been linked to several murders and even acts of terrorism. It was shut down in 2017 without any explanation but its data was still online.

leaks online nazi neonazi extremists

Sun Nov 10 - Guardian
Schreiber's appeal was rejected by the judge, image via Pixabay
Politics
Schreiber, convicted of murder, claims he concluded life sentence by dying briefly

Benjamin Schreiber, a man convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison, argued that he should be released from prison as he died briefly in a doctor's care. Schreiber's lawyers claimed that his 'death' should complete his life sentence. The judges rejected his appeal and sent him back to prison to serve his sentence.

crime deathsentence prison murder

Sun Nov 10 - Guardian
Chinese photographed a standardized exam used to test international students, image via Kyodo News
Politics
Chinese citizens arrested for photographing Japanese university entrance exam

Five Chinese citizens were arrested for taking pictures of a Japanese university admission test. One of the culprits was the head of a Tokyo cram school and said he took the pictures to attract more people to his school and stabilize his business. More than 60 percent of the people who took this exam in 2019 were Chinese nationals.

china japan admissions university exam standardised

Sat Nov 09 - TheMainichi
Former New York City mayor is ready for presidential race, PHOTO: JOHN LOCHER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Politics
Michael Bloomberg joins presidential race for 2020

Former mayor of New York City and 14th richest person in the world, Michael Rubens Bloomberg expressed his intentions to join the presidential race for 2020 as a democratic party’s nomination. The 77 years old is concerned that current democratic contenders would not pose a strong challenge to Mr. Donald Trump in 2020. On Friday, President Trump taunted Michael Bloomberg when he said that "nobody I'd rather run against than little Michael".

trump bloomberg 2020 uselections

Sat Nov 09 - BBC
Supreme Court of India delivered ruling of Ayodhya in favor of Hindus via Aabid Shafi and HT
Politics
Supreme Court of India delivered ruling of Ayodhya in favor of Hindus

India’s top court delivered a unanimous verdict on one of the most controversial cases of independent India. All five judges agreed to hand over the land to Hindus. Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi further mentioned that Muslims will be given an alternative land for the construction of Mosque. The 2.77 acres of land in the town of Ayodhya has been the most controversial piece of land in India after a group of Hindus demolished the Babri mosque in 1992.

india ayodhya babri

Sat Nov 09 - Bloomberg
Facebook CEO defends political ads on his platform. Image via Pexels
Politics
International committee of lawmakers calls for pause on false online political ads

An international grand committee of lawmakers has gathered in Dublin to investigate online disinformation. They will hear from social media platforms as well as experts and have asked for a pause on online political ads that contain false information. Facebook, in particular, has come under fire as the platform does not fact check any ads run by politicians.

facebook news fakenews international ads politicalads

Fri Nov 08 - Reuters
Image by: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
Politics
Democrats move closer towards Trump impeachment

Democrats who had wanted to Impeach Trump, or at the very least start an impeachment inquiry, might get what they want, as The first formal vote on the matter will take place on Thursday, in the US house of representatives. The notion is likely to be passed, as the Democrats hold the majority in the house, by having 228 seats of the total 475. The Republicans argue that the impeachment proceeding lacks authorization of a full floor vote.

trump impeachment house-of-representatives

Tue Oct 29 - BBC TRTworld
Abbasi reportedly suffering from deteriorating health
Politics
21st Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, suffering health issues

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who is currently imprisoned for his role in the LPG scandal, is reportedly suffering health issues. The medical board has recommended shifting him to the hospital. It was also suggested that a hernia surgery should be done in order to uplift his health. Abbas also suffers from stones in his bladder and kidney. The court has extended Abbasi's judicial remand till November 19.

abbasi lpg-scandal

Mon Oct 28 - Tribune
"We have decided not to grant this request"
Politics
Showing support and love towards Kashmir, Pakistan says 'No' to Modi

On October 28 the Indian government required Pakistan's airspace for Prime Minister Modi, as he made his way to Saudia Arabia for an international business conference. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirms that the Pakistani government denied permission. The foreign minister said this decision was made in context of India's inhumane treatment of Kashmir.

pakistan india kashmir modi

Mon Oct 28 - DAWN