Every week, we curate the best designs in art, architecture and graphic and product design so you can sit back and enjoy some beautiful works of creativity.
Veteran Owned, designed in the desert of Iraq, This innovative inverted kangaroo style pouch isolates the boys from the inner thigh region keeping you cool and fresh. Promo Code Digg saves 25% off your first order.
"In this video, I want to take at face value the questions and concerns associated with gender critical hostility to transpeople and I want to give nuanced answers rather than dogmatic ones."
In destroying the Commodore Hotel, not only will Donald Trump's first major Manhattan real estate project be erased, so too will one of the most important vestiges of the original Terminal City, a development that forever changed New York City real estate.
Following intensive vaccination efforts, measles cases plunged across the world. Now clusters of new infections — some linked, some not — have confounded health officials.
Being a numbers whiz pays off big these days — and this Complete Microsoft Data Analysis Expert Bundle shows you how to use everything from Excel to Power BI to Access VBA to analyze data like a pro. All for just $19.99.
Xfyro has made the first-ever fully waterproof wireless earbuds. They're comfortable, secure, and magnetically connect to the battery case so you can enjoy a total listening time of 20-30 hours before having to recharge your case.
As YouTube battles misinformation catastrophes and discovers new ways people are abusing its system, the company is shifting toward more commercial, advertiser-friendly content at a speed its creator community hasn't seen before.
Invented by a Soldier while serving in the summer desert in Iraq, SHEATH was designed to keep you cool and dry under extreme temperatures as well as day to day situations for ultimate comfort and no readjusting. Promo Code Digg saves 25%
The cycle is about to begin anew as the stylish new version of the story arrives in theaters, perpetuating a curse that has infected too many already. I decided to reach out to King directly to see if he had any words of explanation or contrition.
Billboard's decision to remove Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" from its country chart exposes how artists' race and class — more than their sounds — have always defined genre.
In Kingman, Arizona, residents have embraced an eccentric character who goes by the name James Zyla, even though most people call him Santa James. Longtime homeless and legally blind, he's found a home in Kingman.
"I just want you to know. I had permission to hug Lonnie," Biden said, referring to the embrace he shared with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Lonnie Stephenson moments earlier, as he walked on stage to deliver a speech to an IBEW conference in Washington, DC.
Kurt Cobain died 25 years ago Friday. The band's former manager, Danny Goldberg, discusses his memories of Cobain and his new book, "Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain."
On some level, most people probably suspect that clothing sizes don't mean very much, if only from the experience of struggling to fit into garments that should fit but don't (or vice versa). But put your mind at ease: it is undeniably and objectively true that the sizes of different "sizes" vary dramatically.
When Train wanders into the forests of Argentina, he's on a mission. This 12-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever is a trained detective, but he's not looking for illegal narcotics but the feces of some of the country's most threatened big cats.
I've been playing Elder Scrolls: Blades for a little under a week and have had a fantastic time with the surprisingly robust mobile title, but now that early access is open to the public there's one little thing I feel OK whining about.
I can't be a stealth archer. Ergo, I'm kind of screwed.
For context, the only Elder Scrolls game I played before Blades is Skyrim, which is one of my all-time favorite RPGs. I've created dozens of new characters in Skyrim, from hardy Nords to scaly Argonians, and every time I've had grand ideas about who and what this character is going to be. Read more...
Are you staying at home this Easter? Lucky for you, we found this Alienware 15 15.6" gaming laptop — packed with an Intel Core i7 8750H processor, 16GB RAM, 128GB M.2 SSD, 1TB HDD, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, giving you plenty of juice to run the latest games. Also, for a limited time only, you can save 34% off with this coupon code AFFAW600.
With so many great features on this laptop, what stands out the most is the dual storage solution. Meaning you can use the M.2 solid state drive as a boot drive and the traditional hard drive as a data drive.
It's April, and a very specific chill lingers in the air: Game of Thrones Season 8 is about to premiere, and your tragic ass doesn't have an HBO account.
Luckily, someone you know almost certainly does have an account. The only real question then is just how cool HBO is with people sharing passwords. The short answer? Kinda. The long answer? Well, we'll get to that.
The first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones is set to drop on April 14, at which point a large number of people will remember that they do not, in fact, have access to HBO's content. No cable package, no HBO GO, and no HBO NOW. And, just as quickly, they will remember that a friend does. Read more...
This post is part of Mashable's ongoing series The Women Fixing STEM, which highlights trailblazing women in science, tech, engineering, and math, as well as initiatives and organizations working to close the industries' gender gaps.
Around 9am on a weekend day, about 50 girls, all between ages 6 and 13, come into the Wilmington Parks and Recreation building in Wilmington, Delaware. Waiting for them are trays, aprons, gloves, goggles, and beakers on top of the tables. There are small cups of chemicals like borax and up front, a ringmaster in the form of a 16-year-old girl: Jacqueline Means, known locally as the STEM Queen. Read more...
This isOne Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.
Do androids dream of electric sheep? Who knows — but tiny computers certainly dream of bitmap horses!
At least this computer does. In an animation titled "a computer dreams of being a cowboy," your heart will take the hardest hit to the feels from an inanimate object since The Little Toaster.
This short animation is the work of illustrator, musician, and storyboard artist Louie Zong. In it, the digital dream of a computer sings his longing for another life of riding horses and yeehaw-ing, set to the tune of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. Read more...
Weighted blankets have recently joined the pack as one more tool in our "sleep better" arsenal. We've explored which mattresses are best, have waded through the online reviews to source the best pillows, and have even tracked down the best sheets. It's time to top things off with a weighted blanket.
A weighted blanket is exactly what it sounds like: A comforter-style blanket that has a layer of heavy pellets (usually glass micro beads) sewn into it.
One of the most recognized names in the space is Gravity, a blanket which racked up more than $4 million worth of donations (!!!) on Kickstarter back in 2017 and is our pick for napping (although it may be hard to justify the high price). Read more...
Whether you use a monitor for gaming, editing photos, or just doing work, it doesn't hurt to treat yourself to an upgrade. Best to do so when you can take advantage of some awesome sale prices.
We found six monitors on sale this weekend, ranging in size and price. As you're looking, keep in mind the refresh rate, screen size, and display technology.
Check out our top picks for monitors on sale this weekend:
This monitor has a 75Hz refresh rate, which means it's awesome for gaming. The 27-inch in-plane switching (IPS) display shows accurate colors and good contrast, making images pop. Plus, you can view the screen at virtually any angle without problem. At $150, this is a pretty good deal for a monitor this size. Read more...
On March 29, the tech company confirmed with Mashable that the much anticipated AirPower — its wireless charging mat that it announced was in the works in 2017 — would no longer be released due to unresolved technical issues.
With the AirPower dead and no Apple wireless charging devices in sight — at least not in the near future — tech junkies who have been holding off on making a wireless charging mat purchase will have no choice but to look elsewhere.
Sure, it’s disappointing that this highly anticipated wireless charger won’t make it onto the market anytime soon, or ever, but the selection of wireless chargers available online stretches far and wide — especially on Amazon. Read more...
Nothing says it's time for coffee more than your skull-piercing alarm first thing in the morning. Even the staunchest caffeine aficionados have a difficult time getting up — despite knowing that a freshly brewed cup of joe is in their future. We should know — we're obsessed with coffee. (Peep our lists of the best drip coffee makers and the best single-serve coffee makers for proof.)
Joshua Renouf, a London-based designer, recognized this very problem and created the Barisieur, a premium alarm clock that will deliver your much-needed caffeine fix even before you open your eyes. It rarely goes on sale, but you can pick one up right now for 10% off. Read more...
You know, for a box that's main function is to beam moving pictures straight into our eyeballs, we fork out an awful lot of money for TV. But the steadfast rising costs of cable programming in recent years coaxed people to cut the cord in droves and pivot into streaming instead (which is also getting more and more expensive by the minute, FYI).
But if you're one of those cable loyalists who would rather drop dead rather than let go of live programming (we get it, we love watching The Voice in real time, too), there's a better alternative —HDTV antennas.
For a lot of us, origami was the pinnacle of our childhood.
We folded until our hands grew tired, fashioning everything from fortune tellers that could supposedly predict whether or not we're going to be billionaires someday to boats that we let float on puddles when it rained, and of course, the infamous paper planes that were the root cause of our teachers' headaches and landed us in detention.
But now that we're older, a paper airplane just doesn't seem at all that interesting. That is until you transform it into a full-blown aerial machine, which you now totally can because you're a grown-up earning real adult money. Money that allows you to nab the PowerUp Dart, a kit that lets you assemble a smartphone-controllable paper plane that can take off, land, and execute stunts mid-air. You can pick one up right now for 20% off. Read more...
While laptops are wonderful for watching movies and TV shows, sometimes you just need a dedicated machine for getting the job done with no distractions. A great laptop for business needs to be versatile for an assortment of daily tasks, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and web research.
In the business world, "the dog ate my homework" is not a good excuse. Business laptops need to be light enough to easily take to meetings and conferences across the country (or around the world), while also performing under pressure and maintaining battery life. The last thing you want is your laptop dying in the middle of an important presentation or meeting. Read more...
Getting a quality laptop for college is must. Whether you're saving the group project, watching Netflix during class (bad), or just showing off to your friends, you get through those four years without one.
Clearly there are thousands of laptop choices on the internet, and lots of great cheap options. Attempting to pick the right one by yourself could take forever. Surprise: We researched the best laptops for students for you. These puppies are about to bring luxury to your learning and make even the most boring coursework fun. (OK, maybe not fun, but it'll suck way less.)
You'll want to look out for a good amount of memory and a quick processor, because you'll probably procrastinate at some point and need to have a million tabs open (always) and you'll probably have to save the group project at the last minute because the rest of your group did nothing (always). Read more...
If you find yourself in the market for a new laptop, there's an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choice. Whether you're looking for durability, power, flexibility, and more, there's a laptop out there that can scratch that itch.
But for all those choices, the prices can still be a little hard to get over. You start seeing laptops listed for $1000, $1800, $3500 and suddenly you're over this whole laptop thing.
Just take a step back and relax. You don't have to spend anywhere near that much for a reliable laptop. Sure, some of us would love to have the most powerful laptop in the world, but we have to think a little more practically. Thankfully, there are plenty of affordable laptops out there that make for the perfect addition to your daily life. Read more...
Although MacBooks have grown in popularity over the past decade, Microsoft is making a bit of a comeback among consumers with the release of Windows 10 a few years ago. In fact, there are some benefits of using Windows 10 over MacOS X, such as functionality, ease of use, and touch-ability. Believe it or not, you can actually use many Windows 10 laptops like tablets.
Moreover, Windows-based laptops are catching up with MacBooks in terms of design and looks. PC laptops have always gotten a bad name since they have historically prioritized function over style thanks to cheap materials and awful looking displays. Apple computers, on the other hand, integrate form and style into one beautiful machine. Read more...
Kids younger than ever are mastering computer skills, and not just to watch videos on YouTube. As computers continue to play a larger role in our everyday lives, children are learning how to use the internet, word processing, coding, and other everyday computer skills, and applying those skills in various aspects of their education and recreation.
When purchasing a computer for your child, we recommend buying a laptop in lieu of a desktop. Kids will benefit from the portable nature of laptops, especially when it comes to schoolwork. They can tote their laptop along to school with them, to the library, or to a study group at a friend’s house. And you will benefit from the lower price point of the laptop when compared to a desktop model. Read more...
Warning: The following containsheavy spoilers for the series finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Proceed with caution.
After four seasons of delightful, moving, and occasionally infuriating musical chaos, our time with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the much beloved Rebecca Bunch has come to an end.
If you're anything like me post-CXG finale, you're struggling to reconcile a whole lot of feelings.
On the one hand, Rebecca (the consistently excellent Rachel Bloom) has finally blossomed into the self-assured, fulfilled, ambitious, and — dare I say it — happy woman we've always yearned to see. The finale revealed that Rebecca, flipping the script on her big Valentine's Day decision, closes out her story by opting out of choosing from her three suitors, instead dedicating her time to pursuing her dreams and becoming a songwriter. Read more...
Snap has long been known for its secretive ways. Even after going public in 2017, CEO Evan Spiegel rarely divulges much about the company publicly, save for quarterly earnings calls.
But that may be starting to change. This week, the company hosted its first big public event in its history: a one-day Partner Summit, where the company announced several new features aimed at turning the messaging app into a wider platform.
Snap announced new camera features, a gaming platform, new developer tools, and a new lineup of original shows.
But one of the most intriguing revelations is one you'd find only from reading in between the lines of the company's news. Snap quietly walked the public through how it plans to fight Facebook at a time when the social network seems as if it will stop at nothing to completely crush Snap. Read more...
Back in 2017 we learned that the Tesla Model 3 has an inactive camera above the rearview mirror looking into the car. Seems ... creepy. Well, recently on Twitter, CEO Elon Musk revealed what that camera is doing there.
It's to help Tesla compete with Uber and Lyft in the future, duh.
It’s there for when we start competing with Uber/Lyft & people allow their car to earn money for them as part of the Tesla shared autonomy fleet. In case someone messes up your car, you can check the video.
So to add your vehicle to Tesla's ride-hailing fleet, you won't need to upgrade — there will already be a camera equipped to watch your future customers, just to make sure they're not making a huge mess in your self-driving car. Read more...
When Amazon announced a deal to acquire Eero, the maker of a groundbreaking WiFi system, it sounded like a classic Silicon Valley success story: a promising startup is acquired by the biggest bidder in the land, and everyone rolls around in cash. But that is not this story. This story is about investors losing tens of millions of dollars and dozens of employees left with meaningless stock.
According to confidential documents viewed by Mashable, Amazon acquired Eero for $97 millionEero executives brought home multi-million dollar bonuses and eight-figure salary increases. Everyone else, however, didn’t fare quite so well. Investors took major hits, and the Amazon acquisition rendered Eero stock worthless: $0.03 per share, down from a common stock high of $3.54 in July 2017. It typically would have cost around $3 for employees to exercise their stock, meaning they would actually lose money if they tried to cash out. Read more...
Yes, Airbnb is totally cool with hosts placing video cameras inside their rentals. And yes, it's creepy as hell.
The issue of hidden cameras in Airbnbs is once again back in the news this week, after a family traveling through Ireland discovered a camera disguised as some sort of smoke detector in their rental. And while, according to CNN, Airbnb eventually sided with the family, the latest privacy-violating incident forces us to confront a larger structural issue sure to turn off many a renter: Airbnb policy permits hosts to put recording devices inside of their units.
Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph break down what's in store for the second season of the Marvel superhero drama. They also throw out a not-so-bad Avengers theory involving Cloak & Dagger. Read more...
In the autobiographical Broadway play 'What the Constitution Means to Me' writer Heidi Schreck examines if the document is relevant today — and how it has affected centuries of women. Read more...
A compelling new report authored by two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers found that three powerful California faults have been strangely — almost impossibly — quiet for the last 100 years. Digging into the soil around these faults, Glenn Biasi and Kate Scharer found that big, ground-rupturing earthquakes have been a regular occurrence in the temblor-prone land over the last 1000 years.
That's what makes the last 100 years so unusual.
"We should not see gaps of 100 years," Biasi said.
This study, published in Seismological Research Letters, is valuable to consider, not just for what it says about the region's past, but what it could mean for California's shaky future. Here are the big takeaways. Read more...
Picture this: it's 2009 and you're on MySpace. You're listening to an Avril Lavigne track you downloaded off of LimeWire and you have five missed AIM messages. You come across a post with an image of a broken heart that reads "s(he) be(lie)ve(d)." It's the deepest thing you've ever read.
Ten years later, the internet has collectively gone back in their feelings reviving this brand of relatable heartbroken quotes. Poking a little fun at our younger, more extra selves, this meme is a perfect time capsule of '00s internet culture.
I must admit that middle school me found graphics like these, as well as variations like "s(he)'s br(ok)en," so moving and evocative. It's a nostalgic whiplash for many people, which according to Know Your Meme, first gained popularity with a Blogspot post in 2009. Read more...
When we talk of nostalgia in games, it's usually about the love for retro art styles, chiptunes, genres, or consoles. But another, more valuable relationship to nostalgia is embedded into the medium. And it's in how games can uniquely explore the experience of lost childhood — of longing for that time when home was somewhere safe, bright, untouched by the darkness of reality.
From AAA classics like Legend of Zelda to recent indie hits like What Remains of Edith Finch, game journeys force you to face a distorted version of that idealized concept of home — whether its the apocalyptic emptiness of Kokiri forest when you return as adult Link, or the whisper of family memories haunting the dilapidated, deserted house you grew up in. Read more...
Cutaway of #Russia special mission mother submarine Belgorod. Carries a nuclear powered midget sub, unmanned vehicles and Poseidon nuclear powered torpedoes. Much larger than any western submarine. https://t.co/Niienq0adXpic.twitter.com/UNM97iqNCl
VIDEO: Beyond the Arctic circle, a futuristic complex with a fully-equipped gym, hot water, and other amenities, serves the needs of Russia's Arctic troops as they keep an eye on the strategic area and their only neighbours, polar bears pic.twitter.com/oDbJ62p4Ww
Three B-52 Stratofortresses fly a sortie over Norway in support of US Strategic Command's Bomber Task Force in Europe, March 28, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Tessa B. Corrick
* China calls the special and differential treatment a 'fundamental right', saying it will not cede to Trump's demands on World Trade Organisation reform * China says it will team with other developing members, including India, South Africa and Venezuela, to win the battle over future of WTO
China will refuse to give up the "special and differential treatment" it enjoys as a developing nation at the World Trade Organisation, in a rebuke to a US proposal that would pare back the privileges China and other nations enjoy on trade.
China is categorised as a developing country at the Geneva-based institution, which affords it "special and differential treatment". This enables China to provide subsidies in agriculture and set higher barriers to market entry than more developed economies.
The dispute reflects a fundamental divide within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that has threatened the future of the global multilateral trading system.
WNU Editor: When China was permitted to enter the WTO with U.S. backing in 2001, critics of the policy were condemned by U.S. President Clinton and free trade advocates that this was the best (and only) policy to pursue .... Was Letting China Into the WTO a Mistake? (Philip Levy, Foreign Affairs). Today .... it is China that is calling the shots, and I predict that they will keep their 'developing country' status at the WTO even though they are the world's second largest economy. Sighhh .... it took only 18 years, but for those who criticized China's entry into the WTO 18 years ago and who predicted what was going to happen, they have now been proven right.
* Multiple people familiar with the process explained to CNBC that Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are preparing to revise their production processes amid a contentious negotiation with Turkey. * As it stands, Turkey faces removal from the F-35 program, forfeiture of 100 F-35 jets, cancellation of Patriot missile deal and imposition of U.S. sanctions as well as potential blowback from NATO. * Turkey has helped finance Lockheed Martin's F-35 program, America's most expensive weapons system and the world's most advanced fighter jet. Turkey also manufactures components for the planes.
WASHINGTON — American defense firms Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are preparing to make massive adjustments to their production processes as the U.S. tries to pressure Turkey not to follow through with a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a Russian missile system, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
If Turkey goes through with the Russian deal, Lockheed Martin would have to rework its supply chain on components for the F-35 fighter jet, while also making changes to its production schedule. Yet if Turkey abandons its deal with Russia, Raytheon would reorganize the Patriot missile defense system production schedule to guarantee that Turkey could receive the missile system within a faster time frame.
A war of words between NATO allies the United States and Turkey has intensified, with the sides disputing the readout of a meeting of the countries' foreign ministers regarding Syria
Washington and Ankara on April 4 also disagreed about the formation of a "working group" to settle differences over Turkey's purchase of a Russian missile-defense system that U.S. and other NATO officials vehemently oppose.
Turkey sharply criticized remarks by the U.S. State Department over a meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO.
WNU Editor: I do not see Turkey cancelling their S-400 deal with Russia, and I do not see Turkish President Erdogan changing his Syrian policy. Bottom line. The U.S. and Turkey are heading into a deep freeze.
* French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has ruled out jihadist repatriation * He said they would consider bringing back children on a case-by-case basis * Reports the government had repatriation plans for 250 were met with hostility * Thousands of foreigners are living at camps in Syria following ISIS' defeat
France has ruled out repatriating jihadists and their families from Syria following furious backlash at reports 250 of them would be allowed to return.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told a press conference in Paris on Friday: 'No communal repatriation was under consideration to be carried out.'
It had been reported that in early March the government was prepared to bring home around 250 men, women and children from the former 'caliphate,' which brought widespread public backlash.
From Wikipedia: Near the end of the Korean War in 1953, a new replacement, Private Loomis, is assigned to an infantry company in the front line. He notices a quiet Private Endore and is warned by others in the company not to speak to him. Once night falls, Loomis notices Endore in dark clothing and face paint, and becomes aware he routinely infiltrates the enemy lines to gather information and spread terror amongst the enemy by killing enemy soldiers with his knife. Endore's odd ritual of drawing a circle around the body with his knife may indicate that he is, in fact, a serial killer. Company Commander Captain Pratt lets Endore act independently.
Endore's only friend is a Korean orphan whom Loomis wishes to place in an orphanage, a desire which brings him into conflict with Endore. Tension increases when the armistice occurs and the others in the unit wish to return home to the United States, but Endore does not.
After several days of aggressive military advances, the spotlight is on Libya once again. For a long time it's been both the most strategically relevant yet most overlooked country in the Mediterranean. Now, some decisive maneuvers by a renegade general could pierce, or further complicate, the cloud of chaos that has descended on Libya since the 2011 civil war.
At the heart of this is Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, now leading the current move by forces from the east of the country towards the capital Tripoli. Haftar is, to be polite, the ultimate pragmatist. He supported Moammar Gadhafi in his 1969 coup, then found himself in Langley, Virginia in the 90s where he gained US citizenship, before returning to overthrow Gadhafi in the 2011 conflict. Since then, he has been one of many strongmen claiming pre-eminence in the nation's descent into disarray, based in the city of Benghazi and exerting most of his control in eastern Libya.
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Eastern Libyan troops commanded by Khalifa Haftar said on Friday they had advanced into the southern outskirts of the capital Tripoli in a dangerous thrust against the internationally-recognized government.
Fighting was going on near the former international airport, which Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) force controlled by nightfall, an LNA spokesman and residents said.
The move by the LNA, which is allied to a parallel administration based in the east, escalated a power struggle that has splintered the nation since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
* Some 250 troops are stationed on Kotelny Island which is between the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Sea * The strategic base has been rebuilt after it was abandoned in the 1990s following the fall of the Soviet Union * Russia has installed some of its most advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship equipment at the military base
Russia has installed an advanced missile defence system into an arctic base on Kotelny Island in the centre of the region's main shipping route.
Some 250 military personnel are responsible for anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons at the base which sits between the Laptev Sea and Eastern Siberian sea.
Such is the remote nature of the base, it has enough supplies to remain self-sufficient for 12 months.
* German Chancellor hugged Barack Obama during a visit to Cologne and Berlin * They had meeting at Chancellery where they discussed Trans-Atlantic relations * Comes as Merkel/Trump relations at low over Germany's Nato spending amount
Angel Merkel is a leader that has always made her feelings clear.
And now it seems the German chancellor cannot hide her feelings towards US presidents.
Ms Merkel, 64, played host to former US president Barack Obama in Berlin today - and the pair were spotted in a warm embrace after a meeting at the German Chancellery.
* The US inspected Pakistan's fighter inventory after a February dogfight, in which India claimed that one of its MiG-21 Bison aircraft shot down a Pakistani F-16, and found nothing missing, Foreign Policy reported on Thursday. * The report followed others indicating that Indian pilots had missed their targets in the air raid on Pakistan in an embarrassing failure. * "As details come out, it looks worse and worse for the Indians," an expert told Foreign Policy.
India proudly claimed that one of its Russian-designed MiG-21 fighters shot down one of Pakistan's US-made F-16s before being downed by a Pakistani missile in a dogfight in February, but a US inventory of Pakistan's fighters found nothing missing, Foreign Policy reported on Thursday, citing two senior US defense officials.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals hit levels not seen in decades in February after militants based in Pakistan killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in a suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
* Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday joked about the inappropriate touching accusations made against him by a number of women just days after pledging that he would be "more mindful and respectful" of people's space. * Biden put his arm around a young boy and told the crowd, "by the way, he gave me permission to touch him."
Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday joked about the inappropriate touching accusations made against him by a number of women just days after pledging that he would be "more mindful and respectful" of people's space.
The longtime politician's two jokes during a speech at a conference in Washington could shed some early light on how the likely 2020 Democratic presidential candidate plans to rebuff accusations that he made inappropriate physical contact.
One joke came shortly after Biden invited four children on stage. Biden put his arm around a young boy and told the crowd, "by the way, he gave me permission to touch him."
Afghan officials say hundreds of Taliban militants stormed a district in the northwestern province of Badghis, killing dozens of government soldiers and police.
Waris Sherzad, the district governor of Bala Murghab, said at least 30 security personnel have been killed since the Taliban launched the attack late on April 3. He said fighting was ongoing.
Abdul Aziz Baig, head of the Badghis provincial council, said Taliban fighters captured several security checkpoints outside the government headquarters in Bala Murghab.
After meeting Haftar, Antonio Guterres calls for political solution to avoid 'bloody confrontation' in, around Tripoli
Militias backing Libya's internationally recognised government have taken prisoner scores of troops from a rival force advancing from the east towards the capital, as the United Nations chief expressed "deep concern" after meeting the eastern forces' leader amid mounting fears of a renewed civil war.
The 145 men were captured on Friday in Zawiya, a town west of Tripoli, a commander of the operations room for the western region, told Reuters news agency. Mohamed Alhudairi said that 60 vehicles had also been confiscated.
An eastern military source told Reuters that 128 men had been captured, without elaborating.
* Paris today attacked 'clumsy' plan by European Council president Donald Tusk to keep us in EU for a year * French minister Amélie de Montchalin also criticised Theresa May's plea to postpone leaving until June 30 * She said coming to an emergency EU summit without a plan meant we 'chose to leave in a disorderly manner' * Dutch PM Mark Rutte said May's begging letter to Mr Tusk had 'no full plan, there was only part of a plan' * Theresa May has written to request Brexit extension beyond April 12, sparking fury among Brexiteers * PM says she wants a three-month delay until June 30 as ministers threaten to resign if she asks for longer * She wants 'termination clause' to allow UK to leave EU on May 22, day before European elections * Jacob Rees-Mogg said that Britain should be 'as difficult as possible' if kept in the EU for longer than planned * Brexiteer Marcus Fysh suggested Tory grassroots might refuse to help elect Conservatives if UK takes part * AG Geoffrey Cox said we must use 'any means to secure an end' and cross-party talks are vital to secure deal * DUP's Arlene Foster says Theresa May's EU talks have been 'disorganised and slapdash' throughout
Emmanuel Macron is leading European efforts to stop Britain from getting any new delay to Brexit without a 'clear and credible' plan for leaving, saying we should otherwise be left to quit 'in a disorderly manner'.
Paris today attacked both Theresa May's plea to postpone leaving until June 30 and a separate plan from European Council president Donald Tusk to keep us in the trade bloc for a year.
A French diplomatic source said Mr Tusk's idea for a 'flextension' until March 29 2020 was 'a clumsy trial balloon' ahead of an emergency summit next Wednesday.
EMPOWERED: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi introduced an anti-terrorism law that shielded the police and military from prosecution for the proportionate use of force in performing their duties . The Egyptian Presidency/Handout via REUTERS
Egyptian security forces have shot dead more than 460 men since the middle of 2015. The Interior Ministry said they were Islamist militants or criminals, and the shootings were in self-defence. Bereaved families, forensic experts and some officials disagree.
CAIRO – Mohamed Abu Amer, a landscape gardener, was working in downtown Cairo when national security agents took him away on Feb. 6, 2018, his family said.
For almost six months Amer's family waited for news of the 37-year-old father of two. Their messages to the Public Prosecutor and the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police and the national security agency, went unanswered.
Then on July 31, the ministry announced on its Facebook page that Amer was among five terrorists killed in a shootout earlier that day when police approached their hideout 40 km north of Cairo. Amer was wanted for the murder of a national security agent, the statement said.
WNU Editor: Egypt is a country that has been in turmoil for years. I am surprised by the government saying that 460 men have been killed since 2015. I expected the number to be far greater.
The logo of the upcoming August 2019 G7 Summit in Biarritz is seen during the Interior ministers of G7 nations meeting in Paris, France, April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
DINARD, France (Reuters) - France offered a wary welcome to foreign ministers from the Group of Seven on Friday for a meeting overshadowed by a snub from Donald Trump's U.S. administration, a meltdown in Britain over Brexit and months of anti-government protests at home.
Protesters spray-painted slogans attacking President Emmanuel Macron in the sleepy coastal resort of Dinard where the ministers were due to gather to set the agenda for their leaders at the annual big power summit in August.
* US Vice-President Mike Pence delivers stinging rebuke both to Germany and Turkey * The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia
Tensions have soared between the United States and two of its Nato partners, Germany and Turkey, marring a 70th birthday celebration for the alliance aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia.
Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington with a leisurely reception on Wednesday, US Vice-President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defence spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia.
"Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defence of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the Nato anniversary.
FILE PHOTO: Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, December 12, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
DINARD, France (Reuters) - Canada's foreign minister said on Friday it was very likely that there would be foreign meddling in her country's October elections and that there had already been some interference in the process.
"We are very concerned. I think our judgment is that interference is very likely and we think there have probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy," Chrystia Freeland said when asked whether she was worried Russia would seek to interfere in the elections.
Speaking on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Brittany she added the effort was not so much to secure an outcome, but to make societies more polarized.
As NATO prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary, the most successful military alliance in history finds itself in the throes of an existential crisis. The unfulfillled promises of some member countries -- in particular Germany -- to spend more on defense threaten to tear the block apart.
Sometimes they miss him, the old warrior. Jim Mattis was always a calming presence. A paternal glance, soothing gesture or brief remark from the former general and Pentagon chief, and Gavin Williamson, the British defense minister, would cool his jets. But, having resigned after a dispute with his president, Mattis wasn't present when NATO defense ministers met in Brussels in mid-February.
WNU Editor: It is not only breaking promises that has put Germany's commitment to increase its defense budget into doubt, it is also comments like this one that is making everyone wonder if German defense policy has become irrational .... German Chancellor Merkel Supports Her Successor's Idea For An EU Aircraft Carrier (March 12, 2019).
* House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has requested all records of communications between the Justice Department and the special counsel Robert Mueller's office regarding the final report in the Russia investigation. * The request comes after multiple media outlets reported that members of Mueller's team are frustrated with the way Attorney General William Barr characterized their findings in a four-page letter he sent to Congress last month. * Mueller's team also reportedly prepared summaries of their findings to release to the public and were perplexed Barr didn't use more of their material in his letter to Congress. * Nadler asked Barr on Thursday to release all of the Mueller team's summaries to the public, writing, "If there is significant daylight between [Mueller's] account and yours, the American people should know that, too."
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has requested all records of communications between the US Justice Department and the special counsel Robert Mueller's office about the final report in the Russia investigation.
Nadler specified that the committee was seeking communications "regarding the disclosure of the report to Congress, the disclosure of the report to the public, and those regarding your March 24 letter that purports to 'summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation.'"
WNU Editor: US House Democrats want these records because they believe in this recent New York Times report that members of the Mueller team are unhappy with the summary that was produced by Attorney General Barr .... New York Times Is Claiming That The Barr Summary Of The Mueller Report Is Incomplete (April 4, 2019). The problem with the New York Times report is that it is sourced by someone who heard something from someone who heard that some members of the Mueller Commission were unhappy. When a reporter's source is based on third hand opinions, I cannot help but believe this is fake news. As for the US senate demand, their request is more serious .... GOP senators alert Barr to allegations that Mueller team misrepresented emails (FOX News).
Hat tip to Robert for the above Business Insider report.
MELANIA TRUMP and her daughter-in-law Ivanka Trump share a unique and special relationship, with the First Lady and First Daughter often pitted against each other as rivals battling for Donald Trump's affection.
IRAN's controversial Revolutionary Guards Corps are due to be recognised as a foreign terrorist organisation by Donald Trump's US administration as early as next week, officials said.
SHAMIMA BEGUM's Dutch ISIS husband says he "regrets" going to Syria and wants to return to his native country so he can lead a "normal life" with his wife.
EUROPEAN Union countries are heading for a no-deal disaster as countries are ill-prepared for the pending cliff edge on April 12, with five particularly at risk.
MALAYSIA Airlines flight MH370 will be found, after investigators hit a "turning point" revealing the doomed jet's fate, an aviation expert claimed during a book on the doomed jet.
ITALY'S bulging debt is the single biggest threat to the eurozone, setting off alarm bells at the European Union over its fragile future, experts have warned.
TOURISTS taking beach selfies while planes are taking off have been warned that they could face a large fine, 20 years in jail or in more extreme cases the death penalty for distracting pilots.
When Gadi Habumugisha was 2 years old, he was forced to flee his home in Rwanda with his older sister. It was April 1994, and violence was escalating after the death of the president, as ethnic tensions erupted. Crossing the border to seek safety in refugee camps in the neighboring Congo, the pair were eventually orphaned by the killings.
April 6 marks 25 years since the Rwandan genocide. Over the course of 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people were killed — most of them members of the minority Tutsi ethnic group killed by the majority Hutu population.
Gadi and his sister’s new lives in Rwanda began at the end of 1994 after the genocide ended, when they returned with the Red Cross to their homeland and came to the Imbabazi Orphanage in the country’s north. Run by Rosamond Carr, an American humanitarian who had lived in Rwanda since 1949, the orphanage was a sanctuary for children who had lost their families as a result of that traumatic summer.
For Gadi, and two other boys, Mussa Uwitonze and Bizimana Jean, the orphanage also became the place where, years later, they first picked up cameras at a photography workshop run by Through the Eyes of Children, an organization founded in 2000 by photographer American David Jiranek. All three boys seized the chance to tell their own stories by taking pictures. It marked the beginning of a lifelong passion for photography.
Now all in their late twenties, the three men are spreading that passion to other vulnerable children, taking on the leadership of Through the Eyes of Children by teaching photography workshops in Rwanda and around the world. Working initially with 19 “camera kids,” the photography workshops for vulnerable children in Rwanda started in 2000, teaching them the basics of lighting, composition and stop-motion among other photography techniques. The photographs made by workshop participants have been exhibited at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, the United Nations headquarters in New York and at Holocaust museums around the world. “When you give a child a chance to tell their story from their perspective, it tells them they matter, and that their story matters,” says Joanne McKinney, project director at Through the Eyes of Children.
Documenting scenes of everyday life in the country, the extraordinarily large collection of photographs track the healing and rebuilding of Rwanda in the years after the genocide. “For us orphans, we were able to express ourselves and the world could see our photos, our country and the children of it,” says Mussa Uwitonze, now 28 years old and the father of two girls. The photographs from the workshops did more than show life in Rwanda to international audiences. Proceeds from sales of the images to buyers around the world fed back into Imbabazi, paying for the children’s clothing, food and education. Many of the original Camera Kids have gone on to pursue careers in photography for media, events and non-profit organizations in Rwanda.
Almost 20 years on from their first workshop, and 25 years on from the genocide, Gadi, Mussa and Bizimana are embarking on their own journey, telling their story through different means. They are both the subjects and storytellers of a forthcoming documentary, entitledCamera Kids, in partnership with American filmmaker Beth Murphy, director of the Groundtruth Project, an international non-profit media organization supporting storytelling and freedom of expression in the United States and developing countries around the world.
The three men have all worked as professional photographers and now lead the Through the Eyes of Children photography workshops. But a few years ago, they realized they were still troubled by lingering questions about their past. “We all had so many questions since our time at the orphanage,” says Mussa. “Who are these people who participated in the genocide? What were they thinking when they were killing people? We decided that it was our time, as photographers and storytellers, to find out the answers from the real people who participated in the genocide.”
These are the questions that Gadi, Mussa and Bizimana seek to answer in the documentary, which follows their reunions with the other original camera kids from Imbabazi Orphanage, which closed in 2014, as well as a three month-long journey through villages across northern Rwanda, interviewing and photographing those responsible for the violence and their families. So far, they have interviewed participants in the genocide and their families, and have the goal of interviewing 100 perpetrators in total. “We want to hear what their stories are and why they were involved,” Gadi says, “but I don’t expect to get a full or satisfactory answer. There is no valid reason that would lead one to kill another. However, talking to these perpetrators and survivors, I can see that eventually there has been some kind of reconciliation.”
Jean BizimanaBizimana Abdullah stands at the site where he burned dozens of Tutsis to ashes in 1994 – many of whom were his friends. He is haunted by the fact that not even one bone remained.
Murphy, the filmmaker, has been filming Gadi, Mussa and Bizimana for the past three years, with plans to release a feature-length documentary in late 2020. “Making peace with your enemy is one of the most difficult things a person can do, and the story in Rwanda can really be something to emulate,” she tells TIME.
Murphy also says she was struck by some of the parallels in Rwanda with the rise of hate speech back home in the United States. “Some of the language the perpetrators use to explain why they did what they did sounds a lot like some of the language that we’re hearing today, especially from white nationalists in the United States.” Leading up to the 1994 genocide, government-sanctioned propaganda and radio broadcast messages were used to dehumanize the Tutsis and stoke hatred against them. Murphy sees parallels today around the world with the use of the word “invasion,” a phrase used by President Donald Trump to describe the movement of Central American migrants towards the U.S. border. The term “invaders” was also used in the New Zealand shooter’s manifesto before he killed 50 people at a mosque in Christchurch last month. “It’s chilling. And it is leading to violence and death,” Murphy says. “I want this film to be an antidote to hateful ideology and xenophobia.”
Beyond the perpetrator project, Gadi, Mussa and Bizimana are concentrating their efforts on expanding the mission of Through the Eyes of Children worldwide. In the U.S., they have led photography workshops with immigrant Haitian teenagers in New Jersey and foster children in Boston. In May, they plan to visit Haiti for workshops with orphanages, and will be traveling to Lebanon later in the year to share their photography craft with Syrian refugees. “It’s a great feeling to be able to transfer knowledge to kids in difficult conditions like we used to be in,” Gadi tells TIME. “It’s like giving them a medicine to heal them. It’s treating them because we know from experience that because of photography, they will be better people.” The men want to foster a global community of camera kids, united by telling their own stories through photography and fostering empathy with others. “A lot of kids around the world need photography to be able to express themselves, to know lives outside their boxes,” says Mussa.
And in Rwanda, where it all started, photography remains integral to the three men’s lives. Gadi is pursuing a part-time career as a photographer and has worked with several non-profit organizations. Mussa recently left his job as a tour operator to become a full-time photographer, and Bizimana is in his second year as a staff photographer with Reuters Africa. Their determination to share their knowledge of photography with future generations has led to workshops with street children, disabled children, and now —after the ‘Camera Kids’ film project — workshops with the children of both survivors and perpetrators of the genocide. “When we were kids, [Rosamond Carr] used to tell us that we have to share with others what we have,” Bizimana says, reflecting on the legacy of his late foster mother. “This is the heritage she gave us. Giving other kids photography is doing what we promised her.”
Following Russia’s recent decision to send 100 or so “advisors” (read: soldiers) alongside military equipment to prop up the Maduro regime in Venezuela, White House officials have repeatedly warned Moscow to stop interfering in Venezuela’s ongoing political crisis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept up the drumbeat this week, declaring in a speech that “the Russians have got to leave Venezuela.” The last time anyone checked, they were still there.
Why It Matters:
This is not the first time Moscow has sent a contingent of “advisors” abroad—back in 2015, Moscow dispatched a group of personnel to prop up Bashar Assad in Syria. That decision meant that any resolution to the Syria conflict would ultimately run through Moscow. And it did. Washington has no desire to see the same thing happen in Venezuela. The worry is that as Washington and Moscow pursue their respective geopolitical aims in Venezuela, bombastic rhetoric could tip into actual violence.
For Washington, Venezuela is currently the only issue where its leading a global response to a pressing international issue… and other countries are actually following its lead. It’s support of interim president and head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly Juan Guaido was quick and decisive, opening the door for more than 50 countries to support Venezuela’s parallel government. (It also helps that Guaido is the first legitimate alternative to Maduro that Venezuela’s fractured opposition has been willing to rally around.) Aside from the points scored for leading the international charge, Venezuela has important domestic implications for US politics as well—the largest number of Venezuelans living in the US reside in the swing state of Florida, and Venezuela is a proxy issue for Cuban-American voters as well. More broadly, Venezuela has been repeatedly held up by Trump as proof of the failures of socialism, a political ideology he frequently tags his Democratic opponents with. And while the Mueller investigation is complete and Trump has claimed exoneration, any story that involves Russia remains a politically sensitive topic for his administration. Finally, Venezuela still has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, so what happens in the country’s politics has a real impact on global energy markets, yet one more thing keeping the US closely engaged.
For Russia, its continued presence in Venezuela falls broadly along two lines, the economic and the geopolitical. On the economic front, Russia has spent decades investing in Venezuela and Venezuelan oil—Venezuela’s economic desperation allowed Russian oil giant Rosneft to snap up prime assets (like half of Citgo) on the cheap. But now oil prices have dropped dramatically, Maduro is proving to be a political liability, and a significant amount of Russia’s oil revenues are dependent on Venezuela’s shoddy oil infrastructure. Yet Russia can’t just cut its losses and move on—Moscow is owed more than $6 billion from Caracas; state-champion Rosneft is owed $3 billion or so. Russia needs to make sure it gets that money, whether from Maduro or whoever follows him.
On the geopolitical front, Putin has spent the better part of two decades cultivating a relationship with Venezuela’s leadership in order to ensure good relations with a geopolitically significant country (both in terms of energy production and in proximity to the US). The current political crisis is also an opportunity for Russia to show its ability to project force on the other side of the globe—the mark of a true global power—as well as to demonstrate to other embattled global leaders that Russia takes its long-standing alliances seriously.
What Happens Next:
Rhetoric aside, Russia just isn’t committed to shaping the outcome in Venezuela the way it was in Syria. First off, changing the outcome in Venezuela is nowhere near as impressive as doing the same in Syria was. Secondly, the Trump administration is much more invested in the outcome in Venezuela than it ever was in Syria (a military engagement Trump uses to rail against his predecessor). Third, the average Russian doesn’t care all that much about a Latin American country half a world away when they have so many more pressing problems to deal with back home—a new survey released by Russia’s own state statistics agency says that 80% of Russian households struggle “to make ends meet.” That makes Venezuela a questionable place for Putin expend so much political capital.
In other words, Putin’s not willing to let Maduro’s sinking political ship drag Russia down with it. At this point, it would require a Herculean effort by any foreign power to salvage a Maduro presidency… and it’s an open question whether Russia even has the financial resources to do that even if it wanted to. But make no mistake—the move to send in military contingent, even if a small one, is intended by Moscow as a clear sign that Russia fully intends to have a say in Venezuela’s future… no matter how that future ends up working out for Maduro himself. But having a say in a country’s future is very different than dictating that future.
The Key Quote That Sums It All Up:
“They shouldn’t worry about our deployments in Venezuela, they should focus on their withdrawal from Syria”—Russia foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov. How false equivalencies are done in geopolitics.
The One Thing to Read About It:
In this week’s TIME magazine, read Simon Shuster’s very good analysis of how Putin’s network of influence and power has spread across the globe.
The One Major Misconception About It:
That Russia is once again punching above its weight, geopolitically-speaking. Russia knows that putting some boots in Venezuela will grab headlines, but doesn’t change much on the ground. Syria was in large part a military-fueled crisis, where simply committing troops and resources moved the needle in Moscow’s favor, especially when no other world power showed near the same resolve. Venezuela is a completely different beast; this is not a power move by Moscow, but a move to preserve power.
The One Thing to Say About It at a Drinks Party:
Putin is great at geopolitical tactics (short-term), not so much about geopolitical strategy (long-term). But in a situation as chaotic and fluid as Venezuela, being a good tactician may just be enough to get what he wants… provided he doesn’t overreach and accepts his limited ability to drive the overall outcome.
(Bloomberg) — Senior U.S. Treasury official David Malpass was appointed president of the World Bank Group, placing a loyalist of President Donald Trump at the helm of the development lender.
Malpass was unanimously selected to serve a five-year term from April 9, the World Bank’s executive board said in a statement on Friday.
Trump nominated Malpass in February, choosing a loyal supporter who had been sharply critical of China and called for a shakeup of the global economic order. Critics including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz questioned the selection, pointing to Malpass’s doubts about international cooperation.
But no other countries proposed any candidates to challenge Malpass, making his selection by the board all but assured.
Before his nomination, Malpass portrayed the World Bank as too big, inefficient and reluctant to cut funding for developing countries that grow into dynamic emerging markets. He pushed the bank to lend less to China, arguing the world’s second-biggest economy has the financial resources to support itself.
Since being nominated, Malpass has adopted a gentler tone, noting he was America’s lead negotiator on a package of reforms under which the bank will receive a $13 billion capital increase. Under the plan, the bank will focus more lending on lower-income countries.
Malpass succeeds Jim Yong Kim, who stepped down Feb. 1 to join an investment firm. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim president.
The position of World Bank president has historically gone to an American, while a European has led its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund. Some observers have called for the bank to break with tradition and appoint a non-American in recognition of the growing clout of emerging markets such as China and India, and the lender’s focus on development.
Malpass, 63, had served as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs under Trump. In that role, he represented the U.S. at international economic gatherings including Group of 20 summits and the IMF and World Bank meetings.
He’s previously held senior posts at the Treasury and State departments under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He served as chief economist at Bear Stearns, an investment bank that collapsed during the global financial crisis.
An American woman and a local guide were kidnapped from a popular tourist destination in Uganda on Tuesday evening by unknown gunmen who have demanded a $500,000 ransom, according to police.
The woman was identified by Reuters as Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35. Los Angeles TV stations quoted friends and neighbors, who identified her as Kimberly Sue Endicott, from Costa Mesa, Calif.
The Uganda Police Force said she was on a sightseeing tour around Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday evening, along with a senior guide and an elderly tourist couple when they were ambushed by four gun-wielding men. Police said she and the guide, identified as Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, were taken. The two others raised the alarm.
The Queen Elizabeth National Park is generally regarded as a safe tourist destination. It’s the most-visited national park in Uganda, with safaris offering the opportunity to see tree-climbing lions, herds of buffalo, elephants and hippos. But the park also shares a porous, forested border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel groups are known to be active.
TIMEUganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park shares a porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel and criminal groups are active
Kidnappings of tourists are rare in Uganda, says Indigo Ellis, lead Congo analyst at global risk consultancy, Verisk Maplecroft. “But they’re becoming more popular.”
Here’s what to know.
What’s the likely motive for the crime?
The speed at which the $500,000 ransom was demanded – using the American victim’s cell phone, according to police – indicates that the crime has an economic motive, says Ellis. “Kidnappings are becoming more and more popular as a way of eking out as much financial gain as possible from the tourism sector,” she says.
The trend is driven by poverty in the region. In North Kivu, the province of Congo bordering the Queen Elizabeth National Park, GDP per capita has barely risen since the 1980s.
“Kidnapping is becoming more viable,” says Ellis. “And as we’ve seen with this case, the speed at which they demanded the ransom has got to be taken into account when we look at the motivations of these people.”
Is Uganda safe for tourists?
Most tourist trips to Uganda go ahead without incident, authorities say. Ugandan police said the kidnapping was “the first incident of this kind” ever registered in the park. “Those planning to visit the National Park and its surroundings should not be discouraged,” the force said in a statement.
But killings of tourists are not unprecedented in Uganda. “After separate killings of two Scandinavian nationals in hotels in Kampala in February 2018, the Ugandan government is extra-sensitive to perception that it cannot protect international visitors, a vital source of hard currency,” says Edward Hobey-Hamsher, Uganda analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.
The U.S. State Department tells tourists to “exercise increased caution” while traveling in Uganda, stating that local police often lack enough resources to respond effectively to crimes like kidnapping, armed robbery and sexual assault.
The State Department advises tourists to “reconsider travel” to Congo, however. North Kivu, the Congolese state bordering the Queen Elizabeth National Park, is singled out as a location where “severe outbreaks of violence targeting civilians” can occur.
Ugandan police said they closed off the border with Congo and “strongly believe” that the kidnappers, along with their victims, are still in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. But there is no guarantee that they were unable to slip across the border.
Uganda received some 1.4 million visitors in 2017 – about 78,000 of them from the Americas, according to the World Tourism Organization. South Africa, by comparison, saw 10.2 million visitors in 2017, nearly 550,000 from the Americas.
Who is responsible?
It’s not clear yet who is responsible for the kidnappings. But the kidnappers could be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group originally from Uganda which is based across the border in Congo, according to Ellis, the risk analyst. The ADF began life as a force attempting to overthrow Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, but has morphed into a “criminal group,” says Ellis.
The ADF is likely responsible for the kidnapping, last year, of a group of tourists and their guide just across the border in Congo, according to Ellis. The group is also blamed for recent attacks on Ebola treatment centers trying to suppress an outbreak in Congo.
“The ADF has recently been linked to ISIS and al-Shabaab,” says Ellis. “But that’s not really the driving cause of that criminal criminal activity. It’s not terrorist completely in nature, it’s much more motivated by economic gain.”
A whole host of other militias and bandit groups – including deserters from the Ugandan armed forces – could also be responsible. If the kidnappers are from Congo, Ellis says, Uganda might be able to draw a line under the incident as a one-off. “If it turns out to be a Uganda-based group, then they’ll have slightly more difficulties in playing it off with international tourists.”
Will the ransom be paid?
Ugandan police said they would not pay the ransom. The U.S. government has a policy against paying ransoms to terrorist groups, but under President Barack Obama, the government announced it would stop prosecuting victims’ families who raised ransom money privately.
However earlier this week, before the kidnappings, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated the Trump Administration might seek to change those rules. “Any payment to a terrorist or a terrorist regime gives money so that they can seize more of our people,” he told families of American hostages at an event in Washington. “We cannot accept that risk.”
Therefore, whether a ransom is paid will likely depend on whether the group responsible has terrorist or financial motives.
(Bloomberg) — India’s statement that its air force shot down one of Pakistan’s U.S.-built F-16 aircraft during a military flareup in late February appears untrue, according to a report by Washington, D.C.-based Foreign Policy magazine, which cited two U.S. defense officials it didn’t identify.
A U.S. count of Pakistan’s F-16 jets revealed none to be missing, the U.S. officials told Foreign Policy, undercutting India’s position that its air force shot down a Pakistan Air Force jet in a clash that also led to the loss of a Soviet-era Indian Air Force MiG-21 Bison.
The aerial clash over Kashmir followed an Indian air strike on what New Delhi said was a terrorist training facility inside Pakistani territory.
Islamabad has said consistently that it did not lose an F-16, that it had deployed JF-17 jets jointly built with China against India and that it had destroyed two Indian aircraft, as opposed to the one downed jet India has confirmed. “No Pakistani F16 was hit by Indian airforce,” a statement from Pakistan’s military released Monday reads.
“Truth always prevails,” Pakistan’s army spokesman Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet on Friday. “Time for India to speak truth about false claims and actual losses on their side.”
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar did not immediately respond to a phone call and text messages for comment on Friday. In a previous statement in early March, Kumar had said “there are eye-witness accounts and electronic evidence that Pakistan deployed F-16 aircraft and that one F-16 was shot down” by an Indian pilot.
S.’s sexuality was a closely guarded secret even before Brunei this week enacted the final phase of its draconian new penal code, which includes death by stoning for people found guilty of gay sex or adultery.
Homosexuality has long been outlawed in the tiny, Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation. But with the enhanced penalties, the question for S. is no longer whether his government will crack down, but when.
“Sooner or later they will enforce the law, either it’s now or slowly creeping,” S. says. TIME is not printing his full name out of concern for his safety.
In Brunei, an oil-rich fiefdom ruled since 1967 by multi-billionaire Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, a small LGBTQ community persists underground. Despite the legal risks, discrimination and stigma, some people, like S., used to venture onto to dating apps like Asia Free Chat and Grindr. But since the new Shariah-inspired penal code went into effect Wednesday, S. says he and others he knows have quit online dating altogether and face a deepening climate of fear.
“I felt like even chat rooms are filled with… hidden people and I’m scared they might just take me away once I get caught by them,” he says.
He worries that if he were to meet someone for a date after chatting online, he could wind up face-to-face with “a government spy,” instead.
In addition to penalizing gay sex with death by stoning, Brunei now prescribes the punishment for extramarital sex, abortion and blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed. Lesbian sex, which was previously punishable with imprisonment and a fine, can now prompt 40 lashes.
These harsh new laws encountered swift, global backlash. The United Nations has condemned the punishments, as have foreign governments and LGBT activists in the region. Western celebrities, including George Clooney, Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John, called for a boycott of the luxury hotels owned by Brunei’s well heeled leader – including the Beverley Hills Hotel.
Ted Soqui—Sipa USAExterior views of the Beverly Hills Hotel owned by the Sultan of Brunei on March 29, 2019.
Shahiran Shahrani, an activist and Brunei native who came out after fleeing to Canada last year, says the Sultan pushed the law through to burnish support among the country’s conservatives as the population of 450,000 watches their standard of living fall.
“Unemployment has been rising for the past few years, the economy is going downhill. These laws are being rushed through, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence,” he says.
The Brunei Labour Force Survey issued by the government in 2017 shows that unemployment rose from 6.9% in 2014 to 9.3% in 2017. The unemployment rate is even higher among young people: 44.2% in 2017 for 15 to 24-year-olds.
Average incomes are also decreasing. The same survey shows monthly incomes declining from approximately $1,387 in 2014 to approximately $1,094 in 2017.
Oil and gas revenues account for over half of the country’s GDP and 90% of government revenue, and the economy has slowed as global oil prices have fallen.
Joshua Roose, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion, Politics and Society at Australian Catholic University, tells TIME that it seems clear that the new law is meant to help the 72-year-old Sultan tighten his grip on the country to stave off unrest.
“The police force can now regulate individual moral affairs which allows them unprecedented reach into families and homes. If people are suspected or alleged to be breaking laws related to morality that justifies measures including surveillance and phone taps,” he says. “Anyone who is seen as a potential political threat can now be subjected to these laws.”
In Brunei, capital punishment was previously legal, but infrequently exercised. The last execution was carried out in 1957. Some believe that even if the strict new punishments are not meted out, they signal a rising intolerance, as well as a further marginalization of the LGBTQ community.
“I’d hate to be the first gay man to be tried under the [new] system,” says Shahrani, who is seeking asylum in Canada after he says he was charged by the Brunei government for a critical Facebook post.
S. too says he’s considering leaving the country like other LBGTQ Bruneians have, but he says his family counts on him for financial support. His adds that his family knows about his sexuality.
“It’s complicated, the thought of being all alone without the support of family,” he says. “It is really hard.”
(BANGKOK) — A senior U.S. defense official says the presence of large numbers of Chinese ships near islands and islets occupied by the Philippines is “a concern.”
Joseph Felter, deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, said Friday that the Chinese activities were “somewhat aggressive and provocative.” He was asked about the issue while on a visit to Bangkok.
The Philippine government protested the movements Thursday after its military monitored more than 200 Chinese vessels from January-March in a disputed area named Sandy Cay, which is near the Philippine-occupied island of Pag-asa.
Felter noted that the U.S. does not take a stance on various conflicting claims in the South China Sea. But he said the U.S. would work with allies and partners to keep the seas free and open.
(LONDON) — British Prime Minister Theresa May is requesting that the deadline for the U.K. to leave the European Union be extended until June 30.
In a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk Friday, May said that “the United Kingdom proposes that this period should end on 30 June, 2019.”
EU leaders agreed late last month to prolong the Brexit date from March 29 until April 12, unless May could push their mutually agreed divorce deal through Parliament.
The Europeans would prefer that Britain don’t take part in the European Parliament elections from May 23-26 if it is going to leave. April 12 is the last day for Britain to signal whether it will field candidates.
Any extension to the deadline will need unanimous approval from the 27 remaining EU nations. French President Emmanuel Macron has thus far seemed cautious about giving Britain more time.
May said in her letter that Britain is reluctantly ready to begin preparations for the European elections if no Brexit deal is reached in the interim.
She said she is making these preparations even though she believes it is not in Britain’s interest or the EU’s interest for Britain to take part in the elections because it is a departing member state.
May says she “accepts” the EU position that if Britain has not left the 28-nation bloc by May 23 it will have a legal obligation to take part in the elections.
The prime minister says she is still hopeful of reaching a compromise agreement that could take Britain out of the EU before that time.
May says it is “frustrating” that Britain hasn’t yet resolved the situation. Her withdrawal plan, agreed with the EU over more than two years of delicate negotiations, has been rejected by Parliament three times, leading to the current political and legal impasse.
She is now seeking a compromise in a series of talks with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his deputies with hopes of winning opposition backing for a new divorce plans.
If that doesn’t work, May plans a series of votes in Parliament to see if a majority-backed plan can emerge.
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