(CNN)Jodi Doering can’t believe her ears. The South Dakota nurse toils in an overcrowded hospital tending to Covid-19 victims who still insist their affliction is a hoax. “Their last dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening; it is not real,'” Doering said Monday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Such is the power of an effort by President Donald Trump and conservative media to push an alternative reality in which the pandemic has disappeared and isn’t really all that dangerous anyway. Such bravado sees mask-warning as weak and slavish to the “liberal” prescriptions of elite scientists and doctors. Never mind that 11 million Americans have been infected with the virus, 70,000 are in hospital and the country is approaching a quarter of a million mostly avoidable deaths.
Trump is now treating the US election as he did the pandemic, denying the truth in insisting he won despite every factual, political, constitutional and legal metric showing he lost. But the great political illusionist knows his audience: Cultural and ideological myth-making can squeeze out truth, science and facts in modern politics — which means that even when he leaves the White House, his lie machine will still be a powerful force.
Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, on a book tour for his new memoir, has warned that these gushers of falsehoods threaten to overwhelm the US political system, exacerbated by social media and politicians who will say anything to win power. “If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false, then by definition the marketplace of ideas doesn’t work,” Obama said in an interview with “The Atlantic.” “And by definition our democracy doesn’t work. We are entering into an epistemological crisis.”Half the country will dismiss his warning out of hand, simply because it was Obama who said it. In fact, many Americans still insist the 44th President should never have occupied the Oval Office because of a nasty “Birther” conspiracy theory. The lie seemed absurd during Obama’s term, but was actually a blueprint for Trump’s misinformation presidency.
‘More people may die if we don’t coordinate’
President-elect Joe Biden warned that the consequences could be deadly if Trump continues to block a smooth transition, particularly when it comes to a vaccine distribution plan. “More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden warned on Monday during a press conference in Delaware. “How do we get over 300 million Americans vaccinated?” he asked “What’s the game plan? It’s a huge, huge, huge undertaking to get it done.” “… If we have to wait until Jan. 20, to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month. … So it’s important that it be done, that there be coordination now.”
A date has been fixed for members of UK Parliament to debate sanctions against the Nigerian government over its handling of the historic #EndSARS protests last month.
Recall that in the wake of the #EndSARS protest, a petition was launched to implement sanctions against the Nigerian Government and officials. The petition got over 220,000 signatures.
Following the success of the petition, members of the UK Parliament have scheduled November 23 to debate sanctions against the Nigerian government. They will consider a petition from hundreds of thousands of Nigerians that asked them to look into the killings and gross violations of human rights abuses by security forces and other officials.
It is however unclear if the British lawmakers would recommend sanctions after debating the petitions, or if the government would implement them considering Nigeria’s long-standing ties with the UK.
Bobby Brown Jr., the son of the R&B artist and producer, was found dead at a home Wednesday, according to Los Angeles police.
A cause of death was not clear, but foul play is not suspected, a Los Angeles police spokesman said. Brown Jr.’s age has been reported to be 28.
TMZ first reportedBobby Brown Jr.’s death, citing a person described as a source close to the family.
Authorities were called to the home in Encino for a medical emergency shortly before 2 p.m., the police spokesman said.
More information about the circumstances leading up to the call was not available.
The Los Angeles County coroner is leading the death investigation.
Brown Jr. was the son of Bobby Brown and Kim Ward.
The elder Bobby Brown lost daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown when she was 22. The only child of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston was found face-down and unresponsive in a bathtub in January 2015 and was in coma for six months before her death.
Investigators with the medical examiner’s office were not able to determine exactly how Bobbi Kristina Brown died.
An autopsy showed that she had morphine, cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs in her body, but the medical examiner couldn’t determine whether she killed herself, whether someone else killed her or whether her death was accidental.
She was discovered in the bathtub just before the third anniversary of her mother’s death.
Houston, a seven-time Grammy winner, was found submerged in a bathtub in a Beverly Hills, California, hotel on Feb. 11, 2012.
The elder Bobby Brown is known for hits including “My Prerogative” and “Every Little Step.” He also was in the film “Ghostbusters II.”
Recording engineer Bruce Swedien, whose work on Michael Jackson’s albums Bad, Off the Wall and Thriller helped define the sound of 80s pop, has died aged 86.
Swedien’s daughter, Roberta, wrote that he “passed away peacefully” on Tuesday, in a message shared on Facebook.
“He had a long life full of love, great music, big boats and a beautiful marriage,” she said. “We will celebrate that life. He was loved by everyone.”
Quincy Jones also paid tribute, calling Swedien a “sonic genius”.
“He was without question the absolute best engineer in the business, and for more than 70 years I wouldn’t even think about going into a recording session unless I knew Bruce was behind the board,” wrote the legendary producer on Instagram.
“Along with the late great Rod Temperton [writer of Thriller and Off The Wall], we reached heights that we could have never imagined and made history together.
“I have always said it’s no accident that more than four decades later no matter where I go in the world, in every club, like clockwork at the witching hour you hear Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Starting Something, and Thriller.
“That was the sonic genius of Bruce Swedien, and to this day I can hear artists trying to replicate him.
Swedien won five Grammys over the course of his career, three for his work with Jackson and two for his work with Jones, on the albums Back on the Block and Q’s Jook Joint.
The engineer also worked with BB King, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Curtis Mayfield, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross and Jennifer Lopez across his long and storied career.
Unique drum sound
Born in Minneapolis in 1934, his interest in music started at the age of 10, when his father gave him a disc recording machine. Four years later, he scored a holiday job at a small local studio, and even set up his own radio station to broadcast the results.
By 21, he was recording the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but his big break was engineering Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ single Big Girls Don’t Cry, which sold more than a million copies and reached number one on the US R&B charts in 1962.
Swedien first met Quincy Jones when he was in his 20s, and discovered a kindred spirit. “We liked each other a lot,” he later recalled. “We think alike and our tastes are alike.”
They went on to record jazz artists like Duke Ellington and Dinah Washington together, but it was their work on Michael Jackson’s records that really cemented Swedien’s reputation.
A key component of those records was the “Acusonic Recording Process”, which Swedien pioneered. Essentially, it allowed the engineer to synchronise multiple 24-track tape machines, enabling him to record an almost limitless number of vocal and instrumental takes.
He also came up with several techniques that gave Jackson’s albums their unique feel.
To record drums, he built a braced, wooden platform raised 10 inches off the ground, to stop low-frequency sounds reflecting off the concrete floor and colouring the sound. That led to the distinctive, crisp thump that propels songs like Billie Jean and Rock With You.
MasterChef Junior star Ben Watkins has died aged 14 from a rare form of cancer, his family has confirmed.
The young chef, who appeared on the US version of the popular cooking show in 2018, died on Monday.
TV chef Gordon Ramsay, one of the show’s judges, described Ben as “an incredibly talented home cook and even stronger young man”.
His grandmother Donna Edwards and his uncle Anthony Edwards said in a statement, via his GoFundMe page: “Our Ben went home to be with his mother this afternoon after a year-and-a-half-long battle with cancer.
“Ben suffered more than his share in his 14 years on this Earth, but we take solace in that his suffering is finally over and in that, in the end, Ben knew he was loved by so many.”
Who was Ben Watkins?
image captionHe had an eye for a dessert and could make brownies, cookies and an impressive peach cobbler
Ben Watkins came from just outside of Chicago and honed his fledgling culinary skills by working at his father Michael’s barbecue restaurant.
Ben would operate the cash register and take orders, and also sold his own homemade cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls and banana bread.
He credited his baking skills to mother, commenting: “My mom taught me everything she knew. Or I just picked it up by watching her.”
However, in 2017, Ben’s father shot and killed Ben’s mother, Leila Edwards, before killing himself.
Ben’s grandmother and uncle then became his legal guardians.
The following year, aged 11, he featured on the Fox show MasterChef Junior, where his eye for a dessert combined with his tragic back story made him a viewers’ favourite.
Watkins’ first appearance saw him compete as one of 40 contestants, aged between nine and 13, for 24 spots on the show and a chance to win the $100,000 (£75,224) prize.
image captionGordon Ramsay described Watkins as “a talented home cook and even stronger young man”.
He bagged the final white apron of the night, by impressing the judges with a peach cobbler with whipped cream and caramel sauce.
He ultimately placed in the top 18 on the show.
Soon after his 13th birthday though, the newfound star was diagnosed with angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma – a rare soft tissue tumour.
In July this year, he underwent chemotherapy treatment for tumours in his lung, spine and shoulder.
Following his death, a statement on the MasterChef Instagram page said Watkins had a “remarkably positive attitude” and was a “tremendous role model for chefs of all ages”.
About 66 soldiers who were convicted at different times for various offences have sued the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Justice and the Controller-General, Nigeria Correctional Service, demanding N20m each.
The separate fundamental human rights cases were filed before a Federal High Court in Lagos by Mrs. Funmi Falana.
According to the applicants, they qualify for amnesty based on a directive by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), that certain categories of people, including those who have spent 75 per cent of their sentence after remission.
The convicts, therefore, prayed the court to declare that their continued detention in Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre, Lagos, despite the amnesty granted them by the President, is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates their right to personal liberty guaranteed by Section 35 of the constitution.
The applicants also seek an order directing the respondents to release them from the prison immediately in compliance with the April 9, 2020 amnesty granted by the President on April 9, 2020, pursuant to the Prerogative of Mercy under Section 175 of the constitution.
They also asked the court to “direct the respondents to pay the applicants the sum of N20m each being compensation for the violation of their fundamental right to liberty and freedom from discrimination against their person.”
Some of the applicants include Andrew Ogolekwu, Corporal Saturday Efe, Lance Corporal Henry Shuaibu, Lance Corporal Jaimes Maifada, Lance Corporal Ndubuisi Sebastine, Lance Corporal Dauda Dalhatu, Lance Corporal Kasega Aoso and Lance Corporal Joshua Friday.
The applicants were all charged before a General Magistrate Court on six counts of mutiny, criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny, attempted murder, disobedience to particular orders, insubordinate behaviour and false accusations contrary to the Armed Forces Act and sentenced to death in December 2014.
The grounds for the relief states, “Upon a review of the case, the confirming authority upheld the conviction but commuted the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment. Since the convicted soldiers are entitled to remission of the 10-year term, they are required to spend a total of 80 months in prison custody.
“From August 2014 to May 2020, the applicants have spent over 64 months in custody. Thus, the applicants have spent over 75 per cent of their prison term.”
New Zealand Police have introduced a hijab into their official uniform to encourage more Muslim women to join.
New recruit Constable Zeena Ali will become the first officer to wear the official hijab.
A spokesperson said they aimed to create an “inclusive” service reflecting the country’s “diverse community”.
Other forces such as the Metropolitan Police in London and Police Scotland offer the option of a uniform hijab.
In the UK, the Metropolitan Police in London approved a uniform hijab in 2006 with Police Scotland following in 2016. In Australia, Maha Sukkar of Victoria Police wore a hijab in 2004.
New Zealand Police said work to develop the hijab for its uniform began in late 2018 in response to a request from police staff who visited secondary schools.
Constable Ali was the first recruit to request it as part of her uniform and was invited to take part in the development process.
Constable Ali, who was born in Fiji and moved to New Zealand as a child, told the New Zealand Herald she decided to join the police after the Christchurch terror attack.
“I realised more Muslim women were needed in the police, to go and support people,” she told the national daily.
“It feels great to be able to go out and show the New Zealand Police hijab as part of my uniform,” she added. “I think that seeing it, more Muslim women will want to join as well
The Emergency Relief Chief Mark Lowcock has allocated a total of $15 million emergency funding to address rising food insecurity in north-east Nigeria. The ongoing crisis affecting Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe state and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are driving hunger to alarming levels.
Up to 5.1 million people risk being critically food insecure in the crisis-affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, during the next lean season period of June to August 2021, according to the latest official food security assessment and projections.
“The humanitarian community is extremely worried by the rising food insecurity in north-east Nigeria. We are now recording levels of food insecurity similar to 2016-2017, at the peak of the humanitarian crisis, when the risk of famine was looming over the north-east,” stated Mr. Edward Kallon, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria. “We are not at famine levels of food insecurity in Nigeria, but we must spare no efforts to scale up our actions and ensure that the situation does not deteriorate.” According to findings released on 5 November from the Cadre Harmonisé analysis, the most comprehensive food security analytical framework for Nigeria, the food security situation is rapidly deteriorating. Projections for the 2021 lean season, when farmers risk running out of food while awaiting their harvest, indicate an increase of about 20 percent of people at risk of hunger compared to the 4.3 million food-insecure people projected in June 2020 for the same season, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the past, we have been able to avert food insecurity deteriorating into a famine by working together, pooling our resources and scaling up our efforts” stressed Mr. Edward Kallon. “With adequate resources and improved access, we can save lives and curb the trend of rapidly deteriorating food insecurity. This funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund comes right on time to start scaling up these efforts and I appeal to Member States to provide the resources we urgently need.” At the end of September, aid workers had already provided food to 3 million people across conflict-affected Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states and multisectoral assistance to over 3.6 million people.
However, the joint humanitarian response proposed by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners is critically underfunded. Less than two months before the end of the year, aid actors have received less than half the funds required to provide assistance to the 7.8 million people targeted, which means that critical activities to save the lives of people affected by the crisis remain underfunded.
The UN Central Emergency Response Fund is a pooled fund in which donors preposition funds so that money is available immediately to kick-start relief operations in rapidly evolving emergencies and to provide life-saving assistance in crises that are underfunded. A total of $100 million was allocated today to stave off hunger in seven countries: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen.
The government is looking at how testing can reduce the time travellers to the UK need to self-isolate.
British Airways owner IAG has long criticised the 14-day quarantine imposed on arrivals, saying it deters people from flying and damages airlines.
It is also trying to convince the US government to open its borders to UK nationals, who have been barred since March.
The trial begins on 25 November and will be free to eligible customers on three flights:
American Airlines flight AA50 from Dallas Fort Worth to Heathrow
British Airways flight BA268 from Los Angeles to Heathrow
And British Airways flight BA114 from New York John F. Kennedy to Heathrow.
Customers will be tested 72 hours before their trip, as well as during and after travelling.
If they test positive before travelling, they will have to reschedule or cancel their flight, but will be able to rebook at a later date without a fee.
The trial will run to mid-December, and British Airways would like to test 500 passengers.
The UK government has set up a taskforce to look at how tests could reduce the quarantine period for people flying to the UK, but it says travellers would still need to isolate for a number of days.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The government’s Global Travel Taskforce is working at pace, with clinicians, devolved administrations and the travel industry to develop measures as quickly as possible to protect air connectivity and consider how testing could be used to reduce the self-isolation period
Long-time Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, one of the most prominent public faces for President Bashar al-Assad’s government during the country’s civil war, has died aged 79.
State media did not specify the cause of his death, but he had reportedly been in poor health for some time.
He was last seen in public last week.
Muallem, who became foreign minister in 2006 and also deputy prime minister in 2012, blamed the war on a Western conspiracy to topple Mr Assad.
He also regularly defended the government and its allies against widespread allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
More than 400,000 people have been killed and 13 million others have been displaced since a pro-democracy uprising erupted in 2011.
A Syrian government statement said Muallem was “known for his honourable national stances at different political and diplomatic arenas”.
Sitting across the room from leading opposition figures, he said in an opening address: “The media laud these people, these terrorists, by claiming they are moderates. But they know full well that they are extremists and terrorists.”
Then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused him of using inflammatory language, to which Muallem responded: “You live in New York. I live in Syria. I have the right to give the Syrian version here in this forum.”
The talks eventually collapsed and there has been little progress on a peaceful resolution to the conflict since then.
Rebel and jihadist groups once controlled large parts of the country, but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen.
Now, the last remaining opposition stronghold is the north-western province of Idlib, which the government has vowed to “liberate” despite the presence of three million civilians, including one million children.
image captionJens Stoltenberg has warned a sudden withdrawal could make Afghanistan a platform for terrorism
The US is to cut its number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by 2,500, the US Department of Defense has confirmed.
President Donald Trump had previously warned that he would be cutting the size of US forces in the two countries.
The cut will take place before President Trump leaves office, the Pentagon said.
The Secretary-General of the Nato alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has warned of a “high price” if US and allied forces leave Afghanistan too quickly.
In a statement, he said the country risked once again becoming a platform for international terrorists to organise attacks.
The number of troops in Iraq will be cut by 500 to 2,500, while the number of service personnel in Afghanistan will fall from 4,500 to about 2,500.
Acting US Defense Secretary Chris Miller said the move reflects Mr Trump’s policy “to bring the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a successful and responsible conclusion and to bring our brave service members home”.
The Nigerian musician Seun Kuti has announced the revival of his father’s political party, the Movement of the People.
The youngest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti said the party was established in opposition to the country’s elites.
Mr Kuti has claimed the police threatened to close his family’s nightclub, The New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, if he held a meeting of his movement there. There were local media reports of a heavy police presence around the venue on Tuesday morning.
In a small conference broadcast live on social media, Mr Kuti explained that the Movement of the People (MOP) was a coalition of socialist, progressive organisations. Representatives of the factions also spoke at the meeting.
The original Movement of the People was set up by Fela in 1979.
He intended to run for the presidency under its banner but was barred from taking part.
Twenty-seven-year-old musician Eromosele Adene was detained on 7 November. His lawyers say there was no charge made against him.
His supporters have claimed he was detained for his involvement in the #EndSARS protests.
Other protesters have had their accounts frozen without warning. The central bank has listed potential involvement in terrorism as a reason for the action.
The rights group Human Rights Watch has described the move as a “gross abuse of power”.
A Vanderbilt spokesperson said Parton’s “generous” gift was helping “several promising research initiatives”.
A portion of the singer’s money went towards funding an early stage trial of the Moderna vaccine.
Her donation is also supporting a convalescent plasma study and research involving antibody therapies, Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser said.
Convalescent plasma is used to treat people who are battling a Covid infection.
“Her gift provided support for a pilot convalescent plasma study that one of our researchers was able to successfully complete,” Mr Howser told BBC News.
“Funds from Dolly’s gift are also supporting very promising research into monoclonal antibodies that act as a temporary vaccine for Covid. Two of these antibodies are now being tested by a global pharmaceutical firm.”
Vanderbilt’s plasma pilot showed enough promise for the US NIH (National Institutes of Health) to step in with $34m (£26m) in additional support to conduct a national, multi-site clinical trial into the benefits of convalescent plasma.
Announcing her donation on Instagram in April, the star said: “My longtime friend Dr Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards that research of the coronavirus for a cure.
“I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations
Appearing on NBC’s Today Show, the star added: “What better time right now, we need this. I felt like this was the time for me to open my heart and my hand, and try to help.”
He added: “She cares so much about helping others and we are very grateful for her ongoing support. These funds will help us complete promising research that can benefit millions in their battle with the virus.”
Zimbabwe water shortage: The community that gets water from a cemetery
Zimbabwe water shortage: The community that gets water from a cemetery
The residents of Hopley, a large settlement in the south of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, have had to take drastic measures to ensure they have access to water.
As community wells dry up, people have been forced to use a well situated in a nearby graveyard.
Contamination, from embalming fluids and decomposition, poses risks, but with experts saying rainfall will reduce a further 20%, water sources like this might be the community’s only choice
The two were summoned to answer questions about how their platforms had limited distribution of a controversial article about Joe Biden’s son published ahead of the US election.
But they are also being challenged over their handling of posts by President Trump and others who have contested the vote’s result.
It says the platforms are generally not responsible for illegal or offensive things users post on them.
Mr Biden has said this allows them to spread “falsehoods they know to be false”.
Republicans have also voiced concern about the law. They claim it lets social media companies take decisions about what to leave up and take down without being transparent about why, making bias possible.
“When you have companies that have the power of governments, have more power than traditional media outlets, something has to give,” said the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
image captionSenator Lindsey Graham warned the social networks that “change is going to come”
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey both addressed the issue in their opening remarks.
Mr Dorsey urged the politicians to work with Twitter to avoid changes that might cause “the proliferation of frivolous lawsuits, and severe limitations on our collective responsibility to address harmful content”.
Mr Zuckerberg added that any update must preserve “the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things”.
The two tech CEOs also defended their record in handling the 2020 election.
But Mr Dorsey acknowledged that Twitter’s decision to block links to the New York Post article about Hunter Biden had been “wrong”, and that its failure to subsequently restore the newspaper’s own tweets about the story had required a further policy change.
image captionMr Dorsey acknowledged that the way Twitter’s policies were enforced could be “opaque” to outsiders
“I hope this… demonstrates our ability to take feedback, admit mistakes and make all changes transparently to the public,” he said
Mr Zuckerberg avoided direct reference to the matter.
However, he used the opportunity to challenge recent claims by Democrats that Facebook had been slow in removing posts that promoted insurrection and violence.
“We strengthened our enforcement against militias and conspiracy networks like QAnon to prevent them from using our network to organise violence or civil unrest,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
The two tech leaders have been challenged over some of their recent decisions.
The Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal wanted to know why Facebook had not banned Steve Bannon.
President Trump’s former top advisor recently called for the beheadings of disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci and the FBI director Christopher Wray in a video he posted to both Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter threw him off its service, but Facebook only froze Mr Bannon’s page.
Mr Zuckerberg said Mr Bannon “did violate our policies” but had not clocked up enough strikes to permanently lose access.
And when the senator called for a rethink, Mr Zuckerberg responded: “That’s not what our policies would suggest we should do.”
image captionMr Zuckerberg said he thought there was a role for regulation in Facebook’s use of algorithms
Mr Zuckerberg went on to dispute reports that Facebook had forgiven infractions by both of Donald Trump’s sons and the news site Breitbart, among others, in order to avoid accusations of bias from conservatives.
“Those reports mischaracterise the actions that we’ve taken,” he said.
The Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein followed up with questions to both executives over their responses to President Trump’s posts about election fraud, which lacked factual basis.
She asked Twitter’s chief whether he thought adding labels but allowing the tweets to remain visible went far enough.
Mr Dorsey responded that he believed providing “context” and “connecting people to the larger conversation” was the right path to follow.
Senator Feinstein went on to ask Mr Zuckerberg if he felt enough had been done to prevent people delegitimising the election’s result given that hashtags for Steal The Vote and Voter Fraud had garnered more than 300,000 interactions on its platforms in the hours after Mr Trump falsely declared victory.
image captionSenator Feinstein questioned whether labels do enough to counter misinformation
“I believe we have taken some very significant steps in this area,” Mr Zuckerberg responded, pointing to information it had placed at the top of the screens of US-based Facebook and Instagram users.
“I think that we really went quite far in terms of helping to distribute reliable and accurate information about the results.”
Meanwhile, the Republican Senator Michael Lee brought up Twitter’s suspension of an account belonging to Mark Morgan, the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection.
The action was taken after Mr Morgan tweeted that the wall on the border with Mexico had helped stop “gang members, murderers, sexual predators and drugs from entering our country”.
“What exactly is hateful about [that]?” asked Senator Lee.
Mr Dorsey acknowledged that the action had been taken in error.
“There was a mistake and it was due to the fact that we had heightened awareness around government accounts,” he explained.
The Senator responded: “I understand that mistakes happen, but what we’re going to see today is that mistakes happen… almost entirely on one side of the political aisle rather than the other
In 1994, during the Rwandan Genocide, the UN ordered troops to leave. However, Ghanaian forces disregarded the order, stayed throughout saving 30,000 lives
Ghana’s contingent was led by Major Gen Henry Kwami Anyidoho.
Major Gen Henry Kwami Anyidoho.
Gen kwami talked about why he disregarded the order;
“certain things happen in life that are unexplainable. We were in a situation where we had to act according to the dictates of our conscience…That we wouldn’t die under those circumstances, it could only be an act of God,”
image captionRalph has now fully recovered following the surgery
A cocker spaniel nearly died after eating a facemask, a vet charity said.
One-year-old Ralph needed emergency surgery at Huyton PDSA in Liverpool to remove the mask, which had blocked his intestines.
Owner Julie Veidman, from Prescot, first began to notice something was wrong when her dog could not keep water down and even refused his favourite treat.
“We never thought he’d actually eat a facemask,” said Ms Veidman.
“We think he must’ve stolen it from my daughter’s bag in the night.
“He always had a liking for socks and sometimes knickers too, so we always keep things like that well away from him.”
PDSA vet Lizzie Whitton said her team was “shocked” when they made the discovery.
image captionGas build-up caused by the blockage is shown in the circle. The mask is shown by the arrow
South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for controversial millionaire pastor Shepard Bushiri, who skipped bail and returned home to Malawi.
On Saturday he told his social media followers that he had left South Africa because he had received death threats.
The preacher, who was on bail and awaiting trial for money laundering and fraud, had previously said he wanted to clear his name.
It is not clear how or when Mr Bushiri left South Africa.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Bushiri refused to reveal how he escaped.
But the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, reports that one possibility being considered is that he and his wife Mary were smuggled out by a sophisticated syndicate which specialises in taking stolen cars from South Africa to Malawi.
There have also been suggestions in the South African press that he was smuggled out in Malawi’s presidential jet – something which has been denied by the authorities in both countries.
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera was in South Africa on a state visit last week, and there has been speculation in South Africa that a member of his entourage had aided Mr Bushiri’s escape.
This has been denied by officials in both Malawi and South Africa, but a diplomatic row is brewing.
Malawi’s foreign minister told the BBC that he thought the South African authorities suspected the Malawians were trying to smuggle out the controversial preacher.
“When we were coming to Malawi leaving South Africa, we were exposed to stringent checks. It is just now that we are beginning to realise that maybe there was a suspicion that we were trying to smuggle Bushiri out of South Africa,” Malawi’s foreign minister Eisenhower Mkaka told the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko on Saturday.
On Monday morning he then complained, very publicly, on Twitter about the seven-hour delay to the president’s journey, which included “vague security reasons” for thorough checks of the presidential plane.
He noted that the South African authorities had categorically stated that Mr Bushiri had not escaped on the presidential plane.
But he described South Africa’s treatment of President Chakwera as “improper”.
Who is Shepherd Bushiri?
Mr Bushiri has been described as one of the richest religious leaders in Africa.
He claims to have cured people of HIV, made the blind see, changed the fortunes of the impoverished and, on at least one occasion, appeared to walk on air, although none of these claims have been scientifically proven. ‘I don’t think there is any sickness I can heal, but Jesus Christ can heal’
He grew up in Mzuzu, a city in northern Malawi and moved to Pretoria in South Africa where he leads his church – the Enlightened Christian Gathering.
He is so popular that he has been known to fill sports stadiums with followers.
But he has also been accused of preying on poor people, desperate to improve their lives, by selling merchandise including “miracle oil”.
Facebook has taken down a string of racist and misogynistic posts, memes and comments about US Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris.
The social network removed the content after BBC News alerted it to three groups that regularly hosted hateful material on their pages.
Facebook says it takes down 90% of hate speech before it is flagged.
One media monitoring body described the pages as “dedicated to propagating racist and misogynistic smears”.
However, despite the pages being places where hate-speech is regularly directed towards the vice-president-elect, Facebook said it would not take action on the groups themselves.
Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said: “Facebook’s removal of this content only after it’s been flagged to them by the media confirms that the rules and guidelines they establish are hollow because they put little to no effort into detection and enforcement.
“We are talking about the lowest of low-hanging fruit from a detection perspective.
“And yet, these escaped Facebook’s notice until flagged by a third party.”
The pages included accusations Ms Harris was not a US citizen – because her mother was from India and her father from Jamaica.
Other comments suggested she was not “black enough” for the Democrats.
Another post said she should be “deported to India”.
Christian Obodo has been freed. The former Super Eagles midfielder was abducted in Nigeria.
The Udinese star, who spent last season on-loan to Serie B side Lecce, was sensationally kidnapped in his hometown , Warri on Saturday, November 14. He was reportedly with his girlfriend when he was kidnapped.
The 28-year-old, who has represented the Super Eagles 21 times, reportedly stopped to buy bananas with his girlfriend when he was seized from his car in the Effurun area with the kidknappers demanding a £121,000 ransom.
He was safely rescued by the Nigeria Police Force on Sunday in nearby Isoko, after Delta State governor Emmanuel Uguaghan ordered authorities to rescue the star within 48 hours.
Delta FA spokesman Timi Ebikagboro told KickOffNigeria.com: “He was found at Isoko and has been rescued. The police are bringing him back to Warri.”
The is the second time Obodo will be kidnapped in Nigeria. He was also abducted by unknown gunmen on June 9, 2012, on his way to church in Warri.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
