| 2 more GOP governors push Trump to start the formal presidential transition process with Biden Posted: 15 Nov 2020 02:18 PM PST  Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas both said that a proper transition needs to be in place for the president-elect.
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| Muslim activist says American Airlines wrongfully singled her out after she was arrested Posted: 14 Nov 2020 12:07 PM PST  Amani Al-Khatahtbeh reportedly got into a dispute with a white man which later led to the airline contacting the policeA Muslim woman who was arrested on an American Airlines plane on Saturday before its departure from New Jersey said that she was wrongfully singled out following a dispute with a white man traveling in first class.Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, an activist and blogger, described alleged details about the dispute in a Twitter thread about an hour before her apparent arrest, saying it began at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint in Newark Liberty international airport."I had the craziest experience in TSA this morning. An entitled white man behind me insisted on cutting me in line because I was 'still taking my shoes off'," Al-Khatahtbeh tweeted at 9.18am, before her Charlotte, North Carolina-bound flight. "When I said he could wait like everyone else, he started going off about how he's 'pre check' and 'first class'."At 10.07, she tweeted: "Guys he made a complaint about me and @AmericanAir is attempting to remove me from the flight." She then posted a 15-minute video to Facebook from the airplane in which a police officer eventually tells her she is under arrest."Literally they called the cops on me," she said in the video. "This man in first class made a complaint about me because he cut me in line at TSA and now they literally have police coming to escort me off this flight right now, for no reason, literally taking this man's word over mine."He made me feel uncomfortable, this man sitting in first class. I'm a veiled Muslim woman on this flight and they're taking his word for it."She claimed that she was being removed while the man wasn't.Authorities confirmed that an incident had taken place and officials said she had since been released.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said: "This morning, the port authority police department received a request from American Airlines personnel at Newark Liberty international airport, who indicated the airline had directed a passenger to deplane from a flight, and that police assistance was needed. Police responded, and briefly took the individual into custody; she has been released. The port authority's independent inspector general has begun an investigation."The port authority said she was charged with delay of transportation and trespass.American Airlines said: "We are aware of an incident that took place during boarding of flight 2029 at Newark Liberty international airport. We are concerned by these allegations and our team is working to understand what occurred."The airline said that the flight did take off, delayed by about an hour. The airline said she was not on the flight. It is unclear whether the man was taken off the plane.TSA said the incident "is not a TSA matter"."No complaint was made by any passengers at the checkpoint. If there was a customer service issue on board the aircraft, that is an airline matter. In situations such as this, TSA has no involvement after a passenger clears the checkpoint and boards a flight," the agency said."The man was directed to the TSA PreCheck® lane. The woman was directed to the non-TSA PreCheck lane, so they went in different directions to be screened."An officer told both passengers to tone down the volume of the conversation," TSA also said.The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement on the incident, with Nihad Awad, the Cair national executive director, saying: "The airline must immediately explain why it singled out Amani by contacting the police and ejecting her from a flight based on the word of a man who had allegedly harassed her.""Law enforcement must immediately release Amani from custody and conduct a full and transparent investigation into what happened," said Selaedin Maksut, Cair-New Jersey executive director, in a statement. "Any investigation must look into the conduct of the unidentified man who allegedly sparked this disturbing incident."
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| AOC asks if it’s ‘too socialist’ to want more stimulus relief for Americans Posted: 14 Nov 2020 08:55 AM PST  Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington remain at a standstill on additional stimulus spending to prop up workers and the economy, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of New York isn't happy about it. The Democratic representative took to Twitter to plead that Americans are in need of another stimulus check, rent forgiveness and mortgage relief, among other requests, to address the ongoing health crisis and offset an unstable economic environment.
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| Gordon Brown: Scotland needs to 'heal' from coronavirus before any second independence referendum Posted: 15 Nov 2020 08:07 AM PST  Scotland needs to "heal" the devastation wrought by coronavirus before another independence referendum is staged, Gordon Brown has said after the SNP's Westminster leader said it must be held in 2021. The former Prime Minister argued this was "not the right time at all" as Scotland is in the middle of a pandemic and a deep recession, which could have a long-lasting economic impact. Amid intense controversy over whether Boris Johnson will allow Nicola Sturgeon to have another vote, Mr Brown argued the real question was whether one "should" happen at the current time. His intervention came after Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, said his party "must" plan for a second independence referendum in 2021. Mr Blackford predicted another separation vote would happen next year, despite Boris Johnson's refusal to hand over the necessary powers, and apologised to nationalists for it not happening in 2020. But Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said it "beggars belief" that the SNP Commons leader was arguing that "as lives and livelihoods continue to be lost, Scotland needs yet more division, chaos and uncertainty."
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| Shepherd Bushiri: Preacher flees South Africa ahead of fraud trial Posted: 15 Nov 2020 10:01 AM PST  The self-styled prophet says he skipped bail and left South Africa because he had received death threats.
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| Letters to the Editor: The message from Prop. 15's failure? Leave Prop. 13 alone Posted: 15 Nov 2020 03:00 AM PST  The business community wants tax loopholes that violate the intent of Prop. 13 to be closed, but not in the way Prop. 15 would have done.
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| How the Armenian Genocide’s Legacy Explains a Conflict on Pause Posted: 14 Nov 2020 03:30 AM PST  For Armenians around the world, the recent one-sided peace deal to end the conflict involving the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh must be seen through the lens of history. And that history is stitched together by widespread persecution and mass suffering over hundreds of years. It is a history that includes the first genocide of the 20th century, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman Turks, an event Turkey still denies to this day. Framing today's conflict over land gravely misses the point.Armenians see these latest acts of aggression by Turkey vis-à-vis Azerbaijan as a continuation of genocide and a threat to their very existence. In some ways, history is repeating itself. Regardless, these events further underscore why recognition of the Armenian genocide and the war over Nagorno-Karabakh are not mutually exclusive.To fully understand why this decades-old conflict suddenly reignited, one must examine the rise of authoritarianism in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During his rule, Erdogan has sought to increase Turkey's regional influence and on many occasions has glowingly talked about resurrecting the Ottoman Empire, all while styling himself as a modern-day sultan.During the Trump administration, Erdogan has tried to stretch that influence from the Aegean Sea to the South Caucasus. It is one of the reasons that Turkey has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in the latter nation's efforts to retake Nagorno-Karabakh. With the two nations bound by strong cultural, ethnic, and historic ties, Turkey has vowed to help Azerbaijan on the battlefield or at the negotiating table. However, Erdogan's belligerent and hostile behavior has only reminded Armenians of their terrible past.Since the conflict erupted last month, Turkey has armed and sent Syrian mercenaries, including Islamic terrorists, into the region to help Azerbaijan fight Armenians where there have been confirmed reports of war crimes and atrocities. We've seen this before. A hundred years ago, Ottoman Turks enlisted the help of Kurds, who participated in massacres of Armenians and played a vital role in the Armenian genocide. It is as if Erdogan has turned to the Ottoman Empire's playbook.There's no denying Turkey's role in fueling the fire in Nagorno-Karabakh through its reckless actions and rhetoric. But Ankara's ongoing campaign to deny the Armenian genocide has also helped it there. Denial has helped establish a level of insouciance from countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and Israel, thereby allowing Turkey to continue to act with impunity. Thus it can, for example, provide Azerbaijan with drones that are indiscriminately killing innocent civilians and destroying cultural centers and churches that have stood since long before Azerbaijan became a country.For far too long, the West has turned a blind eye to Turkey's egregious behavior. There is a reason that more journalists sit in Turkish prisons than anywhere else in the world, and that Ankara regularly tops the annual lists of human-rights violations. Turkey's considerable success in refusing to acknowledge its historical role in the Armenian genocide makes Ankara today believe that it can do what it wants without consequences. It is why Erdogan felt compelled to challenge the United States to impose sanctions on his country for its involvement over Nagorno-Karabakh and launched a personal attack on French president Emmanuel Macron.These recent actions by Erdogan did not happen overnight. Ankara has been trying to shape U.S. foreign policy for years concerning Turkey and the Armenian genocide. As part of an effort to sow doubt about the veracity of the Armenian genocide, Turkey has embarked on a years-long campaign to block any U.S. legislation that formally acknowledges it. For the most part, Turkey has successfully used the cover of NATO and realpolitik to convince lawmakers that recognizing the Armenian genocide is not in the political interests of the United States. When Congress finally passed a nonbinding resolution last year that formally affirmed recognition, Ankara officially responded by calling the bill political theater. There were even multiple reports that President Trump tried to thwart the resolution on the Senate floor to appease Erdogan.It should not surprise us, then, when we see Turkey's wanton disrespect for the rule of law and aggressive behavior in its actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. In many ways, we have allowed it to happen, and have even encouraged it. We have only ourselves to blame.It is often said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It is also often said that denial is the last stage of genocide. That is why recognition of the Armenian genocide goes hand in hand with a real resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenians know all too well what happens when this type of aggression goes unchecked. Until Turkey comes to terms with its past, we can expect Ankara to continue its quixotic quest to revive the Ottoman Empire.
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| "The Reagans" shows how the Gipper paved the way for political actors pretending they aren't racist Posted: 15 Nov 2020 12:30 PM PST  Showtime's series about the Reagans' rise to power covers well-known ground but falls prey to the stardom narrative
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| Election updates: Obama says he doesn't take Trump seriously; Giuliani claims to have proof he 'can't disclose yet' Posted: 15 Nov 2020 03:51 PM PST  Giuliani's new fraud claims sound like more of the same; Obama says he doesn't take Trump seriously; Biden may campaign in Ga. – election updates.
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| Costco will deliver a 12-month long private flight membership to your email — if you pay $17,500 Posted: 14 Nov 2020 04:45 PM PST  Costco's digital gift card offerings feature Build-A-Bear Workshop tickets, Xbox memberships — and the $17,499.99 "private aviation membership."
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| Cuomo threatens Trump with legal action over vaccine distribution plan Posted: 15 Nov 2020 11:14 AM PST  NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeated his threat to sue the Trump administration as he invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. during Sunday remarks about the COVID outbreak at historic Riverside Church in Manhattan. "The Rev. Dr. King, who spoke in this magnificent church, said of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane because it often results in ...
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| 'You want a Prime Minister's spouse who's interested rather than doesn't care' Posted: 14 Nov 2020 10:43 AM PST  As a former Tory communications director and ministerial aide, Carrie Symonds has both strong views on her party, together with the powerful network that comes from a decade working at the heart of the Conservatives. This weekend, a series of toxic claims and counterclaims about the role of the Prime Minister's fiancee in the departure of two of Boris Johnson's most senior aides have raised questions about the influence that Ms Symonds's views (and friends) have on the workings of No 10 Downing Street. Just days ago, Dominic Cummings (see below), Mr Johnson's chief aide, and Lee Cain, his communications director, were ousted from No 10 after the Prime Minister heard claims that he and Ms Symonds had been the subject of hostile briefings. Their departure came after a major row over the appointment of Allegra Stratton, a longstanding acquaintance of Ms Symonds, as the Prime Minister's new chief spokesman, despite the firm advice of Mr Cain. Ms Symonds went on to insist that Mr Johnson should not appoint Mr Cain as chief of staff, with sources claiming that she was supported by figures such as Munira Mirza, the head of the Prime Minister's policy unit. Ms Mirza has told friends that the claims about her involvement are untrue. This weekend, senior sources said that Ms Symonds's influence on Mr Johnson's work as Prime Minister had appeared to grow steadily since the Prime Minister's hospitalisation with Covid-19 in April. However, a senior insider claimed that Ms Symonds appeared "determined" to play a significant role in the workings of the Government, "and that's the heart of the problem." The source said she clearly had strong views about "wholesale change at No 10", adding that the former Tory communications director is perceived as "wanting to run the Government by WhatsApp from the flat." Another source said Ms Symonds used the No 11 flat "as a sort of private office". The flat above No 11 Downing Street that Ms Symonds shares with Mr Johnson and their baby Wilfred has become the centre of intrigue for No 10 staff who have, since last summer, observed a steady stream of familiar faces paying social visits to the Prime Minister's fiancee, while the official cogs of government turn downstairs.
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| Ga. Democratic Senate hopeful Jon Ossoff holds drive-in rallies 'to set the right example' Posted: 15 Nov 2020 09:27 AM PST 
Democrat Jon Ossoff held an outdoor drive-in rally in an Augusta, Ga., parking lot Friday with more than 200 people, nearly all of whom were wearing masks and amply socially distanced. In an exclusive interview with Yahoo News, Ossoff spoke about the contrast of the Republican Senate candidates and their packed indoor rallies that put everyone in attendance at risk of COVID-19.
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| A Florida man says he was 'trying to toughen' up an 8-year-old by bringing him along on a crime spree Posted: 15 Nov 2020 11:14 AM PST  Ernest McKnight III, 36, told authorities that he "was trying to toughen him up" when asked why the child was with him.
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| Storm Vamco hits Vietnam as Philippines rescues survivors Posted: 15 Nov 2020 05:28 AM PST  High winds uprooted trees and blew roofs off buildings as the powerful storm battered Vietnam.
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| The Dakotas are ‘as bad as it gets anywhere in the world’ for Covid-19 as governor finally mandates masks Posted: 14 Nov 2020 01:37 PM PST  The states had largely dodged big outbreaks during the spring and summer
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| Ex-Obama official suggests Biden should pack as much as he can into executive orders Posted: 14 Nov 2020 10:20 AM PST  Former President Barack Obama's chiefs of staff want President-elect Joe Biden to embrace his executive authority once he's in office, NPR reports.Denis McDonough who served in the role during Obama's second term told NPR that President Trump "has demonstrated ... an enormous amount of leeway for the president to institute executive action on things like immigration and energy and climate policy" and "there's no reason" the president-elect "should not use the authority that's available to him."Meanwhile, Obama's first chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, argued Biden, despite his fondness for working across the aisle in Congress, should fit as much of his agenda as he can into his executive orders because "the fewer things you have to clog up the legislative pipeline with allows you to concentrate your political capital in that legislative front."Should Biden heed this advice, which seems likely at least when it comes to certain issues, it would dash the already tenuous hopes of those who want the president-elect to initiate a scaling back of the office. Read more at NPR.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's refusal to concede Trump is reportedly 'very aware' he lost the election but is putting up a fight as 'theater' Texas senator suggests it's too soon to declare Biden the winner because Puerto Rico is still counting votes
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| Tucker Carlson apologized on-air for making a false accusation of voter fraud in Georgia Posted: 14 Nov 2020 02:24 PM PST  The Fox News host alleged that a dead man in Georgia voted in the election, when in reality it was the man's 96-year-old widow who had voted legally.
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| Bulgaria says to block EU accession talks with North Macedonia Posted: 15 Nov 2020 10:22 AM PST |
| Erdogan calls for Cyprus to be permanently split in two at controversial picnic in no-man's land Posted: 15 Nov 2020 08:15 AM PST  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday he favours a permanent division of Cyprus into two states. The comments were made during a visit to the breakaway Turkish-held north of the island, decried as a "provocation" by the internationally-recognised Greek-speaking south. It marks a further setback to hopes for an eventual reunification of the Mediterranean island which is split between EU member the Republic of Cyprus, which controls the island's southern two thirds, and the north occupied by Turkey since 1974. "There are two peoples and two separate states in Cyprus," said Mr Erdogan. "There must be talks for a solution on the basis of two separate states." During his visit, Turkish jets left vapour trails in the sky in the shape of the star and crescent of the Turkish flag - mirroring a huge flag painted decades ago on a rocky mountainside in the north. Mr Erdogan's visit to the Turkish-held statelet recognised only by Ankara comes amid heightened tensions on the island and in the Eastern Mediterranean and was condemned as a "provocation without precedent" by the Republic of Cyprus.
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| New indictment in Tim Norman’s murder-for-hire plot Posted: 14 Nov 2020 01:20 PM PST  According to the Riverfront Times, a fourth person has been indicted in the murder-for-hire case against Timothy Norman of the Sweetie Pie's restaurant in St. Louis. In August, Norman was arrested and given federal charges for his involvement in the 2016 shooting death of his 21-year-old nephew Andre Montgomery.
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| In Wyoming, a Covid surge, a struggling energy economy and thriving haven for the rich Posted: 15 Nov 2020 03:00 AM PST  As the state becomes the superrich's go-to, residents are out of work and dealing with a massive spike in case numbers.
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| Fears that the 'Garden of England' could be littered with bags of excrement left by 7,000 truckers caught in Brexit border gridlock Posted: 14 Nov 2020 01:48 AM PST  The government said it would install roadside toilets in Kent for truck drivers whose journeys could be delayed for up to two days.
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| In pictures: Diwali celebrations around the world Posted: 14 Nov 2020 10:04 AM PST  The festival of light is celebrated with candles and fireworks by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains worldwide.
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| Black Lives Matter Is Challenging Sweden’s Myth of a Post-Racial Paradise Posted: 15 Nov 2020 02:00 AM PST  It's been four months since anti-racism protests filled Europe's boulevards and parks, toppling statues of enslavers and colonizers like Edward Colston and Belgium's King Leopold II, and prompting larger conversations around anti-Blackness on the continent. But even as the swells of crowds with raised fists have left the streets, the cause of the protests remains. Black lives still hang in the balance, and now activists are moving from marches to ideological battles in classrooms, boardrooms, and online spaces.In Ireland, that means shifting focus onto the need to dismantle Direct Provision. France has been grappling with not only police brutality towards Black and Muslim people but attitudes toward minorities from France's former colonies in Africa and ideas on colonialism in general, including questions of returning stolen artifacts to former colonies. And in Sweden— which has traditionally seen itself as a post-racial paradise—the first step is getting the country to admit to its own racist structures, past and present.Since protests spread across Sweden in early June, ugly truths about its racialized history have been seeping into public spaces. Despite the country being considered one of the least racist in the world, police biases and Afrophobia are rife, and Sweden's past involvement with the cross-Atlantic slave trade and racist pseudo-science is ignored or erased.Protests in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö this summer were met with police backlash for breaking the COVID-19 limit of 50 people to a public gathering. More than 2,000 people took part in the Gothenburg protest, raising their voices against the deep-rooted racism that underpins much of Swedish society. Nontokozo Tshabalala and Aron Zahran, activists and mobilizers from the BLM protest in Gothenburg, say the first step is to get Swedish society to acknowledge that there is a racism problem in the country, which they say the white population loves to ignore."They pretend that the issue isn't there. Sweden only ended slavery after pressure from the U.K. and international players, and even then King Gustav III said that no Swede has ever had any part in the slave trade, which is a blatant lie and feeds Swedish denialism," says Zahran.Sweden, long considered a socialist utopia and a bastion of human rights by the global left, is not post-racial—nor does it have a compassionate police force. Historically, the country participated in the processes that have come to define racist systems all over the world: Sweden's Caribbean colony of Saint Barthélemy (now the French overseas territory of St. Barth) was active with slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Scandinavian involvement in the slave trade is often overlooked but Sweden was one of the last countries in Europe to abolish slavery, a full 14 years after the U.K. The country's colonization of the Caribbean island is still taught in its schools as a practice in benevolent leadership.The country was also a cradle for the pseudoscience of race biology, with Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus being the first scientist to divide people into biologically-defined races—definitions that were meant to justify the discrimination of people of color around the world for centuries. Scientific racism played a large role in the definitions cited by South Africa's former government to set up the system of apartheid, which has since been deemed a crime against humanity. Linnaeus, known in Sweden as the father of taxonomy, is celebrated all over the country but there have been calls to remove his statues, calling him the father of racial division. However, many Swedes see this as an affront to the country's heritage and protected the statue in Stockholm from possible vandalism earlier this year.The Swedish State Institute for Racial Biology in Uppsala continued to take a leading role in research dealing with racial eugenics well into the 1930s and facilitated the implementation of forced sterilization laws, which pertained to certain groups of people with "unwanted" genes, such as people of mixed race, the Swedish Romani population, and the indigenous Sámi people. The aim was to prevent "ethnically inferior inhabitants" from having children. This research paved the way for the Nazi party's 1933 Law for the Prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases, eradicating those seen as lacking "racial hygiene." These laws were only completely abolished in the 1970s, despite the practice of sterilization being universally declared criminal and barbaric after the 1946 Nuremberg Trials.Even so, modern-day Sweden likes to brush over these issues of the past, in a poignant example of the problem of nationalism in Europe today: racism is not deemed a mainstream problem. It is instead seen as an expression of extremism, where there are only good people or Nazis. The right-wing Swedish Democrat party, which was founded by a Nazi sympathizer and which now holds 13 percent of the country's parliament, is treated as a national anomaly rather than a growing threat. Scandanavia's neo-Nazi party, the Nordic Resistance Movement (Nordfront), is still painted as a national joke, even after 2019 attacks on Jewish cemeteries across Scandinavia on the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht.Activists Zahran and Tshabalala say the largest hurdle for BLM in Sweden right now is educating white Swedes on their own history. This is the country where former prime minister Olof Palme said in 1965: "Democracy is firmly rooted in this country. We respect the fundamental freedoms and rights. Murky racial theories have never found a foothold here. We like to see ourselves as open-minded and tolerant." It's a popular sentiment, one that pretends racist ideology was never coddled in the heart of Swedish society in the arms of Linneaus and his ilk.Despite Sweden's self-professed tolerance, there still seems to be a pattern of discrimination and exclusion in Swedish society, as well as Europe more broadly: the "us" vs. the foreign "them." While national minorities such as the Sámi, Roma, and Jewish people have a long history of being excluded from the Swedish nation, people of color are most evidently discriminated against in every major arena of society, such as the housing and job markets. "If your name is not Swedish, you are less likely to get an interview," says Zahran. "Black Swedes are paid less, need a higher level of education to enter certain positions, and are less likely to be accepted into Swedish society." Tshabalala adds that while all of this is true, Swedes maintain a self-righteous attitude that the country doesn't see color. Nevertheless, urban areas are spatially segregated along racial lines, with people of color concentrated to low-income housing projects. Many of these areas are considered "problem areas" by the police, and the media (and public) quickly latched onto the term "no-go zone," implying that those areas are lawless, with little attempt made to cover up the reason why they're known as such.Amid Spreading George Floyd Protests in Europe, a Question: Do Black Lives Matter Less in France? Although few modern Swedes are descendants of enslaved people, over one-quarter of all Swedish citizens have heritage from outside Scandinavia, including approximately 350,000 Afro-Swedes, most of whom arrived in the past 50 years. "If you are a first-generation Swede, with your parents having been born elsewhere, it's the same as having Finnish or Norwegian parents—but they are seen as citizens, whereas Black Swedes are always, no matter whether we are born here, seen as foreign," says Zahran. For Black Swedes, structural racism is apparent from racially-motivated hate crimes, police and security profiling, to discrimination in everyday society. "Oftentimes," Zahran says, "security forces quietly belong to growing neo-Nazi groups." The fact that the Danish neo-Nazi politician Rasmus Paludan's followers felt comfortable enough to enter the country to burn copies of the Qu'ran near one of the city's mosques in August shows the complacency toward racism in Sweden. "This is what we are dealing with," says Tshabalala.Both Tshabalala and Zahran point out that racism extends to the Swedish criminal justice system. "Whiteness is so embedded in Swedish culture and even the human rights realm, that it's seen as okay when a Black woman's rape case is thrown out of court because there was lack of evidence," says Tshabalala, citing the attitudes towards immigration and sexual violence, a correlation often used by the right-wing Swedish Democrats in the argument against immigration and giving asylum to refugees. There have also been many cases of violence with racist overtones, such as Stockholm security guards abusing a 12-year-old boy of Somali descent in the Kista Galleria shopping center and a pregnant Afro-Swedish woman at Hötorget's underground station.The left in the U.S., such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often speak of the "Nordic model" as an example of democratic socialism, but the reality is that the model is slowly moving closer to that of America, especially in its income inequality, which has increased faster than any other country in the world. Increasingly neo-liberal policies have affected working-class Swedes and they have disproportionately impacted racial minorities in larger cities like Stockholm and Malmö, where it is now common to see primarily Black neighborhoods emerging that are low-income and underdeveloped, much like in the U.S.Swedish police may not carry guns, but that doesn't stop police brutality, and Tshabalala says the target demographic in racial profiling is Black Swedes. In a recent report by criminologist Leandro Schclarek Mulinari, minorities tell of how they are harassed by police and security guards with violent and intimidating methods, all based on their appearance. Mulinari also details over-policing in Black areas, with police disproportionately targeting Black and minority Swedes through "selective policing," despite higher self-reported drug usage in majority-white neighborhoods. "Yet Swedish people brush these facts aside like it's not a problem," says Zahran. "The first goal is to educate and get people to admit this thing exists."The BLM movement in Sweden is not just asking to reform the police, but also for a redistribution of resources, to invest in communities overlooked by white politicians and a society run by and for white people. Eradicating ignorance is the only way to get there. "Advertising and creative industries need to change perceptions about Black people. We need Black faces, Black voices, and Black representation," says Tshabalala. "And we need to keep BLM on the agenda. We can't wait for the next person to become a statistic. We don't want someone to die to have to move the fight forward."Zahran says the fact that Sweden has an equality minister who is getting involved with the movement is a positive step forward, but there's still such a long way to go. While corporations are falling over themselves to be "BLM friendly," the movement is still busy with the groundwork in education and awareness. "We need to target industry and the consumer culture because Sweden is so consumer-driven. Whiteness in these spaces keeps the status quo," says Tshabalala. "We also need to get more representation in NGO and human rights spaces, because we can't have white people heading up foundations aimed at Black empowerment."Still, BLM has not lost momentum in Sweden, according to the activists. They both agree that the key is to keep that energy going and not get distracted from the goal even though the protests are over. Where BLM Sweden is at right now is trying to change public perceptions of Black people and empower others to do the same. "BLM gave Black people and allies the impetus to effect change," says Zahran, "and that's where we are: pushing forward, taking each issue step by step."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Biden's chief of staff pick expects him to campaign in Georgia ahead of Senate runoffs Posted: 15 Nov 2020 10:49 AM PST  Democrats in Georgia have said they'd prefer for President-elect Joe Biden to focus on the White House transition and send surrogates like former President Barack Obama to actively campaign for Democratic Senate candidates John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both of whom are gearing up for January runoffs against Republican incumbents that will seal the fate of the upper chamber. One of Ossoff's advisers, for instance, told Politico earlier this week that the best thing Biden can do is avoid getting into a fight with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom he may have to work closely with in the future should the GOP hold the Senate, and "restore faith in the presidency" while "the worst thing to happen is if it gets partisan in D.C. again."But Ron Klain, Biden's pick to be White House chief of staff, told NBC's Chuck Todd during Sunday's edition of Meet the Press that the president-elect will likely travel to Georgia to campaign for Ossoff and Warnock ahead of the vote.> Klain also said Biden would likely travel to Georgia to campaign for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of the Jan. 5 run-offs.> > -- Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) November 15, 2020Ossoff, for his part, had nothing but praise for Biden and said he thinks there's a whole lot of enthusiasm for the president-elect in Georgia that will feed into the Senate race, so perhaps he's on a different page than his aforementioned adviser. > Georgia Democratic senatorial candidate Jon Ossoff tells @martharaddatz there's "massive enthusiasm" for Joe Biden in Georgia amid Senate runoffs.> > "We're excited to be part of it. We recognize that these races in Georgia have national implications." https://t.co/RzvHrua3iC pic.twitter.com/mP80PMFtSo> > -- This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 15, 2020More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's refusal to concede Trump is reportedly 'very aware' he lost the election but is putting up a fight as 'theater' Texas senator suggests it's too soon to declare Biden the winner because Puerto Rico is still counting votes
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| Germans should brace for 4-5 months of severe COVID-19 measures, minister says Posted: 15 Nov 2020 01:52 AM PST  Germans should brace for another 4-5 months of severe measures to halt the rise in coronavirus infections and should not expect the current rules to be eased quickly, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told weekly Bild am Sonntag. Germany has imposed a set of measures dubbed a "lockdown light" to rein in the second wave of the pandemic that the country is seeing in common with much of the rest of Europe. Data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday that the number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 16,947 to 790,503.
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| California governor went to party, violated own coronavirus rules Posted: 15 Nov 2020 09:37 AM PST 
For months, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with residents to resist socializing with friends and relatives. Turns out, he's the one who couldn't resist.
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| Tropical Storm Iota, 30th storm of historic season, could strengthen into major hurricane Posted: 14 Nov 2020 03:36 PM PST |
| Letter from Africa: Culture clash over Nigeria's rival alphabets Posted: 14 Nov 2020 05:11 PM PST  A court case of the use of Arabic script on the local currency reveals deep cultural and religious divides.
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| Obama said he won't serve in Biden's cabinet because Michelle would 'leave' him Posted: 15 Nov 2020 09:35 AM PST  Obama said he'll help the president-elect in any way he can, but he isn't interested in returning to his former workplace in an official capacity.
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| A secretive Republican group called Amish PAC ended the election cycle with money in its pocket Posted: 15 Nov 2020 09:05 AM PST  The PAC is funded in large part by three major GOP donors whose connections to the Amish community are not apparent
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| Booming population helped Dems in Georgia. Mississippi's 'brain drain' is keeping it red. Posted: 14 Nov 2020 01:30 AM PST  Political experts say Mississippi won't see nail-biter elections, especially at the nation level, anytime soon — thanks in part to stalled population growth.
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| Western Union says suspending U.S. transfers to Cuba Posted: 13 Nov 2020 09:10 PM PST  Western Union said on Friday it was suspending U.S. money transfers to Cuba in 10 days due to the Trump administration's latest sanction on the Communist-run island, in a blow to the many Cubans who rely on remittances from family abroad. Its customers will now have to find new ways to send transfers against the backdrop of Cuba's deepest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. One route may be in cash via flights from the United States that are resuming next week after Cuba closed its borders early in the pandemic, while other, younger digital platforms also exist.
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| ‘An environmental injustice’: Residents sue after town injects chemical used to treat spas in drinking water Posted: 15 Nov 2020 09:29 AM PST  Attorneys say local residents 'suffered at the hands of the city, the state and the manufacturer' of a chemical used to treat pools and spas
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| Walmart reinstates lapsed COVID-19 precautions as US cases surge Posted: 15 Nov 2020 01:19 PM PST  "We're going to see an unprecedented surge of cases following Thanksgiving this year, and if people don't learn from Thanksgiving, we're going to see it after Christmas as well."
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| Huge India oil well fire extinguished after five months Posted: 15 Nov 2020 06:10 AM PST  A massive oil well fire that raged for more than five months in northeast India has finally been extinguished, officials said Sunday.
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| The man who made flying affordable to millions of Indians Posted: 13 Nov 2020 07:48 PM PST  A new biopic pays tribute to Capt GR Gopinath who launched India's first budget airline.
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| Rep. Jim Jordan on the integrity of the election Posted: 14 Nov 2020 06:42 PM PST  Rep. Jim Jordan weighs in on Trump vowing to challenge alleged' voter fraud' as legal fight continues.
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| Column: Biden's foreign policy won't be Obama 2.0, and that might be a good thing Posted: 15 Nov 2020 05:00 AM PST  President-elect Joe Biden and his aides have staked out positions that chart a markedly different course from that of the Obama team they worked on four years ago.
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| Video shows 'USPS whistleblower' was not alone when swearing to affidavit alleging mail-in ballot fraud Posted: 15 Nov 2020 02:38 PM PST  A video obtained by Business Insider shows that at least two other men were present when Richard Hopkins made his affidavit.
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| Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville botches history facts, including three branches of government Posted: 13 Nov 2020 10:09 PM PST  Tommy Tuberville botched several basic historical facts in an interview, such as misidentifying the three branches of government.
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| 70% of Asian Americans support affirmative action. Here's why misconceptions persist. Posted: 14 Nov 2020 02:10 PM PST  With the Harvard affirmative action case a step closer to the Supreme Court, Asian American activists say much of their work involves dispelling myths about affirmative action's impacts.
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| Washington state governor imposes sweeping restrictions amid COVID-19 surge Posted: 15 Nov 2020 12:50 PM PST  The restrictions, most of which will take effect Monday at 11:59 p.m. and last for one month, come as the average daily tally for cases has doubled in the past two weeks, Inslee told a news conference. The spike in cases "...means, unfortunately, the time has come to reinstate restrictions on activities statewide to preserve the public's well-being and to save lives," Inslee said. Indoor gatherings will be prohibited outside one's household and outdoor gatherings will be limited to five people.
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