News Briefs for December 05, 2024
HAVANA TIMES – Here are the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
Amnesty International Concludes Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza
Dec 05, 2024
Amnesty International has concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This is Amnesty researcher Budour Hassan.
Budour Hassan: “We have documented Israel’s perpetration of three out of the five prohibited acts under the Genocide Convention since the 7th of October. These include killing members of the group, causing them serious mental or bodily harm and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. For example, this would include the destruction of essential infrastructure, including homes, agricultural land, water and sanitation infrastructure and infrastructure indispensable to the civilian population. They also include the mass repeated displacement under inhumane and unsanitary conditions. And they also include the deliberate obstruction of entry of lifesaving supplies and aid.”
Israel is intensifying its attacks on Khan Younis in southern Gaza. An attack on an encampment in al-Mawasi, a so-called safe zone, killed at least 21 people. Survivors described a “fireball” that “incinerated” people, including mothers and their children. Palestinians who gathered to grieve the dead responded to the Amnesty report.
Iyad Abu Mustafa: “The time has come for the international community to move on all fronts to question and hold Israel to account for the crimes — war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide crimes — that it is carrying out.”
The massacre in al-Mawasi was just one of multiple deadly attacks launched by Israel over the past day, killing at least 48 people overall. Attacks on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Beit Lahia — which is also acting as shelter — set the facility’s water tanks ablaze.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces are continuing to attack southern Lebanon by air, in violation of a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
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SCOTUS Appears to Side with Tennessee’s Ban on Healthcare for Transgender Youth
Dec 05, 2024
The far-right-dominated U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth after hearing arguments in a case that could have major repercussions for transgender people across the country. Plaintiffs argue the ban is a form of sex discrimination. Transgender community members and their allies rallied in front of the Supreme Court Wednesday. This is Ethan Rice, an attorney with Lambda Legal, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs in the case.
Ethan Rice: “To support trans youth and nonbinary youth specifically. But, you know, really, today is such an important case for our community. And really, it’s about the right of transgender youth to be themselves, the rights of parents and youth to be able to make medical decisions with their doctors.”
After headlines, we’ll speak with ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, who yesterday argued the case before the Supreme Court.
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France in Deepening Political Turmoil After No-Confidence Vote Collapses Gov’t
Dec 05, 2024
The French government has collapsed after leftist and far-right lawmakers united to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote Wednesday. The vote came amid intense opposition to Barnier’s budget proposal and its roughly $60 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. It’s the first time France’s government has fallen to a no-confidence vote since 1962.
French President Emmanuel Macron is addressing the nation later today. Macron could ask Barnier to stay on as caretaker prime minister until he names a successor. It’s the latest defeat for the embattled Macron, who faced fierce backlash after selecting the conservative Barnier as prime minister in September instead of a progressive politician, despite a leftist coalition winning the most votes in July’s snap parliamentary elections. Mathilde Panot of the progressive France Unbowed party called on Macron to step down following the vote.
Mathilde Panot: “We are ready to govern on a program of change. Emmanuel Macron must go. And we want to show any moment and we will demonstrate that another world is always possible and that the only sovereign in this country remains the people, and them alone.”
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South Korean Lawmakers Unveil Impeachment Motion as Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol Faces Insurrection Probe
Dec 05, 2024
South Korean police are investigating President Yoon Suk Yeol for “insurrection” after his declaration of martial law Tuesday. Under South Korean law, anyone found guilty of leading an insurrection may receive a death sentence. Yoon was forced to revoke his martial law order six hours after announcing it amid widespread opposition and protest. Opposition lawmakers introduced a motion to impeach Yoon, which is set to be voted on Saturday. This is lawmaker Kim Seung-won addressing the National Assembly.
Kim Seung-won: “It was a moment of military treason that we considered disappeared in the history. He has committed an unforgivable sin.”
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Syrian Gov’t Withdraws from Key City of Hama as Opposition Forces Advance
Dec 05, 2024
Syria’s government says it has withdrawn its forces from Hama as armed opposition fighters began entering the key Syrian city. It’s another major blow to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after opposition fighters last week seized Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city.
Armed groups now control much of Syria’s northern Idlib province, where civil defense workers report Russian airstrikes on five healthcare facilities have killed at least 18 people and injured nearly three dozen others. Doctors and paramedics at Aleppo University Hospital say they’re suffering severe shortages of personnel and medical supplies.
Abdul Razzak: “Hospitals are often put out of service. There’s a lack of staff and equipment. All hospitals are out of service due to the bombing of hospitals.”
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Georgian Police Arrest Opposition Figures as Popular Protests Enter Second Week
Dec 05, 2024
In the Republic of Georgia, authorities arrested a main opposition leader as mass anti-government protests stretched into their second week. Nika Gvaramia, head of the Coalition for Change, was one of multiple opposition figures to be detained Wednesday amid government raids on homes and offices. The protests were set off after the ruling Georgian Dream party suspended its bid to join the European Union. Meanwhile, Georgia’s pro-EU president has refused to recognize Georgian Dream’s recent victory in parliamentary elections and has called for new elections.
Belgium Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity for Abducting Mixed-Race Children from Congolese Mothers
Dec 05, 2024
Image Credit: AP Photo / Francisco Seco
In Belgium, a court has found the Belgian government guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their Congolese mothers during Belgium’s colonization of their native country. The five women, now in their seventies, were abducted from their mothers between 1948 and 1953 and placed in Catholic institutions. Thousands of mixed-race children endured the same state-sponsored seizure and mistreatment. One of the plaintiffs, Simone Ngalula, said the historic legal victory had restored her dignity.
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Sex Workers in Belgium Win Historic Labor Rights Including Sick Pay, Parental Leave
Dec 05, 2024
Image Credit: Facebook / UTSOPI
In other news from Belgium, a new law has gone into effect granting sex workers unprecedented labor rights, including sick days, health insurance, maternity pay, pensions and the ability to set the terms of their services with clients. Employers of sex workers must ensure workplace protections and pass background checks. The changes come after years of organizing by Belgium’s sex worker union.
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Trump Names Ex-Adviser Peter Navarro as Top Trade Official Months After Release from Prison
Dec 05, 2024
Back in the U.S., Donald Trump has named former UC Irvine economist Peter Navarro as his top trade adviser. Navarro served as a White House adviser in the first Trump administration before serving four months in a federal prison earlier this year, after he was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House January 6 committee. Navarro had boasted of working to delay Congress’s count of the 2020 election results to buy time for Trump to reverse Joe Biden’s victory.
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Trump Nominates Cryptocurrency Lobbyist Paul Atkins as SEC Chair
Dec 05, 2024
President-elect Trump has nominated Paul Atkins as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, reprising his role under the George W. Bush administration. Atkins is co-chair of the cryptocurrency lobbying group the Token Alliance and has advocated against heavily regulating the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market.
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Trump Taps Billionaire SpaceX Investor and Musk Ally Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator
Dec 05, 2024
Trump has nominated billionaire tech entrepreneur and pilot Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman is a close ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and has spent much of his personal fortune bankrolling private missions to space.
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Trump Names White House Counsel and Heads of Small Business, Social Security Administrations
Dec 05, 2024
Trump will appoint former Georgia Republican senator — and top Trump campaign contributor — Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration. Trump has asked Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano to head the Social Security Administration and has tapped his longtime lawyer David Warrington to serve as the White House counsel.
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Trump Seeks to Replace Biden’s IRS Commissioner as GOP Works to Defund Tax Collection
Dec 05, 2024
Trump will seek to nominate a new leader of the Internal Revenue Service to replace Biden appointee Daniel Werfel, who’s spent just two years on the job. Trump will instead seek Senate confirmation of former Missouri Congressmember Billy Long as IRS commissioner. Long’s nomination comes as Republicans are seeking to prevent the Treasury Department from unlocking $20 billion in IRS enforcement money that’s been effectively frozen during budget negotiations.
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DOJ Finds Memphis Police Use Excessive Force and Discriminate Against Black People
Dec 05, 2024
A U.S. Justice Department investigation has found Memphis police guilty of using excessive force and discriminating against Black people. The probe was launched after the killing of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black father who was beaten to death by police during a 2023 traffic stop. The Memphis Police Department says it will not agree to federal oversight and reforms until it can review and challenge the Justice Department’s report.
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Bullet Casings Used in Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Referenced Insurance Claim Denials
Dec 05, 2024
A manhunt is underway in New York after a shooter killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, outside a Manhattan hotel Wednesday morning in what police said was a “brazen, targeted attack.” The gunman shot Thompson as he was entering the New York Hilton Midtown for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference.
The motive for Thompson’s killing has not been confirmed, but his widow told NBC News he had received threats due to “a lack of coverage.” Police say they found shell casings with the words “depose,” “deny” and “defend” inscribed on them. The words “delay, deny, defend” are known as the “3 Ds” of the health insurance industry.
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Anthem Insurance Plans to Stop Paying for Anesthesia If Surgeries Run Past Time Limit
Dec 05, 2024
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Connecticut, New York and Missouri has announced it will stop paying for patients’ anesthesia for the full length of surgeries if the procedure goes over an allotted time limit. Donald Arnold, president of American Society of Anesthesiologists, said, “This is just the latest in a long line of appalling behavior by commercial health insurers looking to drive their profits up at the expense of patients and physicians.”