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ReutersSix supporters of hardline Indonesian cleric killed in shootout
Six supporters of Indonesian Islamic cleric Rizieq Shihab were killed in a shootout on Monday, police said, raising worries the clash could reignite tensions between authorities and Islamist groups in the world's biggest Muslim majority country. Jakarta police chief Fadil Imran said the incident occurred just after midnight on a highway when the cleric's supporters attacked a police vehicle with firearms, sickles and a samurai sword. Police have been investigating the controversial and politically influential cleric for violating coronavirus protocols after several mass gatherings to celebrate his return from self exile in Saudi Arabia last month.
- BBC
Covid: US vaccine chief Slaoui sees 'light at end of the tunnel'
Moncef Slaoui says life should get back to normal in spring as US approval of a vaccine edges closer.
- Associated Press
NYC again reopens schools to in-person learning
It's back to school again for some New York City schoolchildren, weeks after the schools were closed to in-person learning because of rising COVID-19 cases. The nation's largest public school system, which shut down in-person learning last month, on Monday brought back preschool students and children in kindergarten through fifth grade whose parents chose a mix of in-school and remote learning. “We’ve proven that we can do it safely, and parents want that for their children,” Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza told cable news station NY1 in a call-in interview.
- The Telegraph
Exclusive: Matt Hancock says vaccine will loosen Covid tiers before end of March
The fast-track approval of the coronavirus vaccine means restrictions could be loosened before the end of March, the Health Secretary has said. In an interview with The Telegraph, Matt Hancock said he "can't wait to scrap this tiered system altogether" and for the country to "get back to living by mutual respect and personal responsibility, not laws set in Parliament". It marks a change in rhetoric and tone from Mr Hancock, who until now has been seen in Whitehall as one of the strongest proponents of the strictest possible measures. Asked whether the start of administering the vaccine to Britons this week could bring about a quicker end to the restrictions in the first three months of next year, Mr Hancock said: "Yes it will." He later said: "There's no doubt that having the vaccine early... will bring forward the moment when we can get rid of these blasted restrictions, but until then we have got to follow them. Help is on its way." Mr Hancock also said he was looking for "some absolutely wonderful nonagenarians... to come forward and be vaccinated". He refused to say whether he was thinking about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, both of whom are in their 90s.
- Reuters
Indonesia names second cabinet minister as suspect in a graft case
Indonesia's anti-graft agency named Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara on Sunday as a suspect in a million-dollar bribery case, along with four others, while President Joko Widodo warned officials against misuse of public funds. Juliari and two officials are suspected of taking bribes over the procurement of goods worth 5.9 trillion rupiah ($420 million) to be distributed as COVID-19 social assistance packages, agency chief Firli Bahuri said. Juliari was being questioned and will be taken into custody, said agency spokesman Ali Fikri.
- BBC
How a blow to Australian wine shows tensions with China
The once successful trade story now represents a worst case scenario of the bilateral tensions.
- Associated Press
Israeli police cleared in shooting of maimed Palestinian boy
Israeli authorities have cleared police of any wrongdoing in the case of a 9-year-old boy who lost an eye after apparently being shot in the face by an Israeli officer earlier this year. Malik Eissa was struck by what appeared to be a sponge-tipped munition last February and lost vision in his left eye, and his family says he hasn't returned to school because of recurring medical treatments and the embarrassment of being disfigured and reliant on a prosthetic eye. Residents said he had just gotten off a school bus in the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in east Jerusalem when police opened fire.
- Yahoo News Video
Trump cementing death penalty legacy in post-election period
As President Trump spends his final days in the White House, his administration is throttling up the pace of federal executions despite a surge of coronavirus cases in prisons.
- The Telegraph
Shadow home secretary won't rule out Labour abstention on any Brexit deal
Labour front benchers are still refusing to say whether they will back any Government Brexit deal despite a union boss urging them to vote for one. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, refused to say which way the party would go if Boris Johnson secured a trade deal with the EU and put it to a Commons vote. He would not rule out abstaining, despite saying that "we absolutely need to get a deal". "We all know what the consequences of no deal would be for the country, both in terms of jobs and livelihoods all across the United Kingdom but also in terms of that security partnership that we need to access the databases, the operation of international warrants, that allow us to keep our people safe," Mr Thomas-Symonds told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday. "So absolutely first of all we need to get a deal and that's the strong message. In terms of our position on any deal, clearly we need to see what has been agreed." Asked whether Labour abstaining was still on the table, he said: "When you get any particular vote that you get before Parliament there are options that there always are, that is absolutely the case. But what I'm saying is that the responsible thing is that first of all we need to get a deal, then consider what has been agreed but then to consider what is actually going to be put before Parliament."
- Reuters
New Zealand's Ardern vows accountability ahead of Christchurch attack report
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday vowed accountability for the families of last year's Christchurch mosque attack victims, ahead of the public release of a major report into the country's worst massacre. Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without parole in August for killing 51 Muslim worshippers and injuring dozens of others at two mosques in the South Island city on March 15, 2019. The findings of a royal commission inquiry into the attack will be made public in parliament on Tuesday.
- BBC
Pakistan: Covid patients die due to oxygen shortage in Peshawar
The Pakistan hospital runs out of oxygen for hours, with patients' relatives 'begging' staff to help.
- Associated Press
Report finds microwave energy likely made US diplomats ill
A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. The study commissioned by the State Department and released Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among U.S. personnel in Havana. The study found that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible” explanation for symptoms that included intense head pressure, dizziness and cognitive difficulties.
- The Week
Arizona legislature shuts down after Rudy Giuliani's COVID-19 hospitalization
Arizona's state House and Senate will close for a week "out of an abundance of caution" following Rudy Giuliani's COVID-19 diagnosis, announced via tweet by President Trump, and hospitalization, The Arizona Republic reports. Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, spent last week flying around to several states Trump lost, including Arizona, in a desperate bid to get Republican legislators to try and overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win.Trump's campaign said in a statement that Giuliani "tested negative twice immediately preceding his trip to Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia," and "did not experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 until more than 48 hours after his return." A person in contact with Giuliani told The New York Times he actually started feeling ill near the end of last week, and The Washington Post notes that asymptomatic people can still spread the virus.The Trump campaign said no state legislators are on its contact-tracing list, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for "close contact," defined as people who were within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or longer."Giuliani spent more than 10 hours discussing election concerns with Arizona Republicans — including two members of Congress and at least 10 current and future state lawmakers — at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix last Monday," the Republic reports. "The 76-year-old led the meeting maskless, flouting social distancing guidelines and posing for photos," including this one posted by the Arizona GOP.> Learn their names:@AZDavidGowan@SylviaAllenAZ@SonnyBorrelli@MarkFinchem@Leo4AzHouse@BretRbrts@KellyTownsend11@RepDavidCook@NancyBarto> > The fight for our republic has only just begun! ArizonaHearing pic.twitter.com/q9XAOqzKr6> > — Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) December 1, 2020On Tuesday, Giuliani met with Arizona's Republican House speaker and majority leader, Senate president and majority leader, and two other GOP state senators. Seven Arizona lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19 this year, the Republic notes, and one of them, Rep. Arlando Teller (D), is still hospitalized after falling ill late November. State Sen. Martín Quezada (D) slammed GOP lawmakers, some of who attended an orientation for all new House members later last week, for their "COVID-19 irresponsibility."Giuliani's son, Andrew, a White House adviser, announced that he had tested positive on Nov. 20, a day after appearing with his father at a news conference in Pennsylvania. Rudy Giuliani is the latest member of Trump's inner circle to contract the disease.More stories from theweek.com The post-Mitch McConnell GOP is going to be a carnival of madness As Trump rages, his appointees are rushing to tie Biden's hands, burnish their own careers I'm rooting for pro-democracy Republicans
- Reuters
Pope Francis to make risky trip to Iraq in early March
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis will make the first visit by a pope to Iraq next March, the Vatican said on Monday, a risky four-day trip that has eluded his predecessors. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis, who turns 84 next week, will visit the capital Baghdad, as well as Ur, a city linked to the Old Testament figure of Abraham, and Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh. The trip, at the invitation of the Iraqi government and the local Catholic Church, is planned for March 5-8, Bruni said.
- Associated Press
South Korean health minister warns of virus 'war zone'
South Korea’s health minister said Monday that the Seoul metropolitan area is now a “COVID-19 war zone,” as the country reported another 615 new infections and the virus appeared to be spreading faster. The president, meanwhile, issued a call to expand testing and contact tracing. The country has recorded more than 5,300 new infections in the past 10 days and Monday was the 30th day in a row of triple-digit daily jumps.
- The Telegraph
Juan Guaido prepares to lose his seat in Venezuela - and his freedom
When Juan Guaido raised his right hand and symbolically swore himself in as Venezuela’s interim president nearly two years ago, the tens of thousands watching on a main Caracas avenue rejoiced. As the country’s national anthem, “Glory to the Brave People,” then blasted through loudspeakers, some lifted their hands in a sign of victory, crying and overwhelmed with emotion. The trickle of news alerts in the following days advising that another country had recognised the 35 year-old as the country’s rightful leader seemed to confirm their certainty that Nicolas Maduro would soon be forced from the presidential palace. But two years on and Mr Maduro remains in power with complete control. And after parliamentary elections on Sunday, that claim will likely collapse entirely when he loses his seat and thus his claim as Venezuela's legitimate president. He may also lose his freedom. With Guaido’s term ending, so too will his parliamentary immunity. Mr Maduro may feel emboldened to detain the opposition leader or force him to flee the country.
- Reuters
Indonesia receives first COVID vaccine from China's Sinovac
Indonesia received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China on Sunday, President Joko Widodo said, as the government prepares a mass inoculation programme. Jokowi, as the president is widely known, said in an online briefing that the Southeast Asian country received 1.2 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a vaccine Indonesia has been testing since August. Late-stage trials of the Sinovac vaccine are also under way in Brazil and Turkey, with interim results on efficiency from Brazil expected by mid-December.
- Business Insider
Biden needs to take the Wayne Gretzky approach to foreign policy
Opinion: Acting with conviction, not searching for compromise, has best chance of consensus on the most important international issues the US faces.
- Associated Press
EXPLAINER: How does AP choose which lawsuits to cover?
The Associated Press has tallied roughly 50 cases brought by the campaign of President Donald Trump and his allies, challenging the result of elections. Trump has gotten one court win. It came in a Pennsylvania case about deadlines for proof of identification for certain absentee ballots and mail-in ballots.
- The Telegraph
Meredith Kercher killer Rudy Guede released from prison to finish 16-year sentence doing community service
The only person convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, will be allowed to finish his sentence doing community service in the city where he has been serving time for 13 years. Rudy Guede, 33, was sentenced in a 2008 fast-track trial to 30 years in prison (later reduced to 16 on appeal) for the killing of 21-year-old student Meredith Kercher of Coulsdon, Surrey. Mr Guede admitted he was present and fled the scene but always denied killing the young Briton, found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with two others in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007. One flatmate, American student Amanda Knox, 33, and her then boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, now 36, were also initially convicted of murder in a separate high-profile trial, but were acquitted in 2011, after four years behind bars. They were convicted again in 2014 by a Florence appeals court, but the decision was overturned in 2015 by Italy's highest court, which acquitted them definitively for lack of evidence and errors in the investigation.