From the Japan Times, the apocalyptic:
Hawking warns AI ‘could spell end of human race’
British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that the development of artificial intelligence could mean the end of humanity.
In an interview with the BBC, he said such technology could rapidly evolve and overtake mankind, a scenario like that envisaged in the “Terminator” movies.
“The primitive forms of artificial intelligence we already have, have proved very useful. But I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” the professor said in an interview aired Tuesday.
“Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded,” said Hawking, who is regarded as one of the world’s most brilliant living scientists.
And from Bloomberg News, servant of the apocalypse?:
Meet Your New Security Guard: A 300-Pound Robot
Program notes:
William Santana Li, chairman and CEO of Knightscope, and Stacy Stephens, vice president of marketing and sales, explain how the company’s K5 autonomous robot security guards work. They speak with Bloomberg’s Pimm Fox on “Taking Stock.”
Keep an eye on ‘em, literally, via the Associated Press:
Obama wants more police wearing body cameras
President Barack Obama wants to see more police wearing cameras to help build trust between the public and police by recording events like the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, but is not seeking to pull back federal programs that provide the type of military-style equipment used to dispel the resulting racially-charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
The White House announced the conclusions of a three-month review Monday as the president was holding a series of meetings with his Cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others to go over the findings. At least for now, Obama is staying away from Ferguson in the wake of a racially charged uproar over a grand jury’s decision last week not to charge the police officer who fatally shot Brown.
“The president and his administration are very focused on the underlying issues that have been uncovered in a pretty raw way in Ferguson,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. But he wouldn’t say if additional training of Ferguson police would have resulted in different outcome in there.
Obama is proposing a three-year, $263 million spending package to increase use of body-worn cameras, expand training for law enforcement and add more resources for police department reform. The package includes $75 million for to help pay for 50,000 of the small, lapel-mounted cameras to record police on the job, with state and local governments paying half the cost. The FBI estimates there were just under 700,000 police officers in the US in 2011.
New York follows the cue, via BuzzFeed:
Some NYPD Officers To Start Wearing Body Cameras This Week
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the pilot program will begin in the next several days in six New York City precincts. Officers around the nation have begun wearing the devices to record their confrontations with people.
Officers in six New York City police precincts will begin wearing body cameras as part of a test program, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, as scrutiny of how law enforcement officers interact with the people they are sworn to protect has increased in recent months.
Volunteer officers from the 120th precinct in Staten Island — where Eric Garner was killed with a police chokehold in July — the 40th precinct in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, and Service Area 2, which patrols public housing in the housing bureau office tasked with patrolling public housing offices in northern Brooklyn, will begin using the cameras on Friday.
Next week, officers in three additional precincts will get the devices.
There are two types of devices: The cameras coming into circulation this Friday will start recording 3.8 seconds after an officer activates it. The cameras used starting next week constantly record video in 30 seconds intervals, and the officer can at any point choose to continuously record in the event of an incident.
More on Obama’s police agenda from the New York Times, with the positive spin:
Obama to Toughen Standards on Police Use of Military Gear
President Obama on Monday announced that he would tighten standards on the provision and use of military-style equipment by local police departments, but he stopped short of curtailing the transfer of such hardware or weapons to the local authorities.
After a review of the government’s decade-old strategy of outfitting local police forces with military equipment, the White House concluded that the vast majority of these transfers strengthen local policing, but that the government should impose consistent standards in the types of hardware it offers, better training in how to use it and more thorough oversight.
Mr. Obama announced the steps at a cabinet meeting that was called to deal with lingering tensions from fiery clashes between the police and protesters in Ferguson, Mo., which broke out after a grand jury declined to indict a police officer for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager.
BuzzFeed takes a different slant:
White House: We Don’t Have A “Specific Position” On Police Militarization Legislation
The Obama administration is defending federal programs that send military equipment to local law enforcement, distancing itself from them, and promising some minor reforms to how they operate — all at the same time.
Administration officials noted repeatedly that “the vast majority” of surplus military equipment sent to local police forces is not former combat equipment and said they could not alter programs created by Congress.
Asked about proposed legislation to limit the availability of military equipment to local police, proposed by Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, the official said the White House had not reviewed the bills.
“I don’t have a specific position for you,” the official said.
“Our assumption is Congress has an intent here to support local law enforcement with the use of this kind of equipment,” the official said on a conference call with reporters Monday. “Our focus is on what kind of protections are in place to make sure it’s used properly and safely.”
From Deutsche Welle, too little and too late?:
US attorney general issues new racial profiling guidelines in wake of Ferguson
After the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the US attorney general has announced new guidelines to limit racial profiling. President Obama has also ordered a review of military weapons in the hands of police
US attorney general Eric Holder on Monday announced he would soon release new guidelines to limit racial profiling by law enforcement.
Speaking at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where 1960s civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was a preacher, Holder said the guidelines would be announced in the coming days and that they would “codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing.”
The new guidelines would not pertain to local or state police forces, but to federal law enforcement.
Starting the holidays with a bang, from CNBC :
The right to bear arms—on Black Friday! Gun sales surge on retail holiday
Apparel and electronics are far from being the only things consumers seek out on Black Friday—many really like firearm deals as well.
Second amendment enthusiasts sent gun sales surging on Friday, according to a report from CNN.com. The federal government was on track to process more than 144,000 background checks for the purposes of gun ownership, a new record and the equivalent of 3 investigations per second, the report added.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman told the news organization that approximately 600 FBI and contract call center employees sift through thousands of requests within a 3 day span. Traditionally, Black Friday is a peak day for volume, but Friday likely topped last year’s requests of 144,758.
Segregation in the suburbs from Al Jazeera America:
‘Separate and unequal’: Racial segregation flourishes in US suburbs
New report shows suburban demographics resemble central cities’ of yesteryear, with the same social problems
America’s suburbs, now as diverse as large central cities were 30 years ago, are repeating the cycle of racial segregation and inequality that have haunted major cities for decades.
Ferguson, Missouri, a stark example of this suburban transformation in the St. Louis area, is at the heart of coast-to-coast demonstrations and a racially charged national debate over the relationship between police and black communities. And Ferguson may well be the first suburb to ignite unrest.
Protests that spark rioting have rarely started in suburbia and have almost always begun in major central cities, such as in Detroit (1967), Washington (1968) and Los Angeles (1992). But in 2014, America’s suburban landscape has clearly changed.
“[It] isn’t a St. Louis ghetto,” segregation expert John Logan said of Ferguson, a suburb with about 21,000 people, more than two-thirds of them African-American. “It’s out in the suburbs, and it’s not the worst neighborhood, so why are people so steamed up?” Logan asked. “There is a high degree of segregation and steering in the housing market and divisions across racial lines.”
Droning on with Al Jazeera America:
San Jose police’s new drone prompts privacy concerns
Eleven months after buying a surveillance drone without public notice, the department is drafting policies for its use
San Jose could soon become the first Bay Area city to deploy a drone for police operations, despite pushback from civil rights groups and legal experts who say the invasive technology infringes on Californians’ right to privacy.
The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) purchased the drone in January without any public debate. In August a researcher with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) uncovered the purchase in city documents, which led to an SJPD apology for not opening the purchase to public debate.
“In hindsight, SJPD should have done a better job of communicating the purpose and acquisition of the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) device to our community,” the SJPD said in a statement.
The police department is now developing a drone-use policy to present to residents on Dec. 6. Police officials say up to four officers could be trained to operate the drone. Initially, they say, only police department auditors will have access to details on how the drone would be used.
And the Oakland Tribune brings ‘em even closer to Casa esnl:
Alameda County sheriff buys two drones
After an uproar by privacy advocates foiled his plan to buy drones last year, Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern has found another way to acquire two unmanned vehicles that will hover over the East Bay during emergencies.
Ahern said Wednesday the drones will be for search-and-rescue missions, bomb squad operations and other emergencies, not surveillance, but the secrecy of the purchase has infuriated civil liberties groups.
“He’s acquired this drone in secret over public opposition,” said Linda Lye, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “He is basically asking for a blank check, but when it comes to our privacy rights we deserve more meaningful safeguards.”
Precrime in Berlin with the Japan Times:
Berlin police mull crime-predicting software
Police in Berlin are considering deploying software that predicts crimes — and have even dubbed the project “Precobs” in a nod to a term used in “Minority Report,” the U.S. science-fiction film based on a similar premise.
Developed by a German firm, the software program predicts when and where a crime is most likely to occur, based on different data. It is being tested by police in the southern state of Bavaria.
“The Berlin police is first waiting for the results of the trial run in Bavaria” before deciding on on whether to acquire “Precobs,” a spokesman said in an email.
The name is a contraction of “Pre-Crime Observation System.” The “Precobs” title borrows deliberately from the “precog” term used in “Minority Report,” referring to psychics who predict crimes before they happen. That 2002 movie, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, was based on a story by Philip K. Dick.
And from the Washington Post, suspicions confirmed:
Police: Austin shooter was a ‘homegrown American extremist’
Larry McQuilliams had “let me die” written in marker across his chest when he fired more than 100 rounds in downtown Austin early Friday morning.
McQuilliams, who Austin Police officials called a “homegrown American extremist” with ties to a Christian identity hate group, was shot dead on Friday by a police officer outside the department’s headquarters.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters on Monday that officers who searched the gunman’s home found a map with 34 targets, including two churches. McQuilliams had fired bullets into Austin police headquarters, a federal courthouse and the Mexican consulate in downtown Austin on Friday. He also tried to set the Mexican consulate building on fire.
Police believe McQuilliams associated himself with the Phineas Priesthood, an anti-Semitic, anti-multiculturalism affiliation that opposes biracial relationships, same-sex marriage, taxation and abortion. Authorities found a copy of “Vigilantes of Christendom,” a book linked to the Priesthood, in the rental van McQuilliams used during the attacks, NBC Austin affiliate KXAN reported.
From the Guardian, honors deserved:
Edward Snowden wins Swedish human rights award for NSA revelations
Whistleblower receives several standing ovations in Swedish parliament as he wins Right Livelihood award
Whistleblower Edward Snowden received several standing ovations in the Swedish parliament after being given the Right Livelihood award for his revelations of the scale of state surveillance.
Snowden, who is in exile in Russia, addressed the parliament by video from Moscow. In a symbolic gesture, his family and supporters said no one picked up the award on his behalf in the hope that one day he might be free to travel to Sweden to receive it in person.
His father, Lon, who was in the chamber for what was an emotional ceremony, said: “I am thankful for the support of the Right Livelihood award and the Swedish parliament. The award will remain here in expectation that some time – sooner or later – he will come to Stockholm to accept the award.”
More from Deutsche Welle:
Snowden calls on UN to protect privacy and human rights
Former CIA systems analyst Edward Snowden has called upon the United Nations to take steps to ensure individual privacy and promote human rights. The whistleblower was honored with the Right Livelihood award on Monday.
The whistleblower received a standing ovation from the delegates as he addressed the gathering through a video link. The Right Livelihood award, also known as the “alternative Nobel,” recognized the “work of so many people,” Snowden said.
In his speech on Monday, the former CIA employee acknowledged that journalists, publishers and activists were among those who had put themselves in danger and could not go home because they feared arrest, just like he did.
“These are things that are unlikely to change soon. But they’re worth it…All the prices we paid, all the sacrifices we made, I believe we’d do it again,” Snowden said, calling upon the United Nations to propose new measures that would help secure the rights of individuals and the rights of all human beings.
After the jump, the curious world of the anti-terrorism algorithm, then on to the war of the moment an a surprise bombing suggested and an endorsement from Washington, an Iraqi telephonic shutdown, scores of death sentences in Egypt as insults to political orthodoxy is criminalized, a Kenya terror attacks leads to security shakeup, Venezuelan opposition leader charged in assassination plot, on to the hack of the year starting with multiple suspects, risks acknowledged in advance, a video report, an inventory of disaster, warnings of more to come, Sony’s own suspicions, suspicions of Iranian hacking, and malware on the market, veteran Israeli spook fears Netayahu’s political suicide bombs, Pakistani police beat blind protesters, and a Pakistani police debacle, then on to Hong Kong as Washington weighs in behind an Occupy goal and London weighs in, a Hong Kong court backs the evictions as Occupy leaders surrender to police only to be released without bail, then on to Japan with a controversial “Comfort Women” retraction, and the last major Nazi killer is gone. . .
From the Guardian, semantic antics:
‘You’re the bomb!’ Are you at risk from the anti-terrorism algorithms?
Does the stuff you post on the internet make you look like a terrorist? Is the rhythm of your typing sending the wrong signals? The government wants sites such as Google and Facebook to scan their users more closely. But if everything we do online is monitored by machines, how well does the system work?
We already know that saying something stupid on social media can bring unwanted attention from the law. In 2010, a trainee accountant called Paul Chambers tweeted: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!” Those 134 characters, seen by an airport worker, led to arrest by anti-terror police, a conviction and three appeals, and cost Chambers two jobs before a crowdfunded legal campaign got the conviction quashed.
With the capability – and maybe soon the legal requirement – for algorithms to scan every social media post for problematic phrases, the potential for trouble increases exponentially. One way a machine might assess your content is through lists of keywords: a message containing one or two of these might not trigger an alert, but too many, too close together, and you are in trouble. Take a message such as: “Hey man, sorry to be a martyr, but can you get round to shipping me that fertiliser? I really do need it urgently. Thanks, you’re the bomb! See you Friday, Insha’Allah.”
An algorithm designed to flag content that might be inappropriate – triggering perhaps automated deletion, or account suspension – would have a much lower threshold than one sending a report to an intelligence officer suggesting she spend the rest of her day (or week) tracking an individual. How should the tool be tuned? Too tight and it will miss all but the most obvious suspicious messages. Too lax and the human operators will be drowning in cases.
A surprise appearance suspected, via the Guardian:
Iranian air force bombs Isis targets in Iraq, says Pentagon
Washington and Tehran deny coordination as part of US-led coalition against Islamic State
Iran’s air force has attacked targets of Islamic State (Isis) in eastern Iraq, the Pentagon has said.
Tehran has denied carrying out raids and acting in coordination with the US, which is leading a western-Arab coalition to defeat the jihadi group.
The Pentagon said air strikes in Iraq’s Diyala province were the first since Isis captured the Iraqi city of Mosul in June.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, insisted that the US has not coordinated military activities with Iran. He said the US continued to fly its own missions over Iraq and that it was up to the Iraqi government to avoid conflicts in its own airspace.
Winning praise from Washington, via BBC News:
Islamic State: Kerry says any Iran strikes ‘positive’
US Secretary of State John Kerry says any Iranian action against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq would be “positive”.
He would not confirm Pentagon claims that Iran had carried out strikes on IS. Iran is not a member of the US-led coalition and denies any such action.
Mr Kerry praised the alliance for inflicting “significant” damage on IS, but said IS ideology, funding and recruitment needed to be destroyed. His comments came after the coalition’s first high-level meeting in Brussels.
From intelNews, an Iraqi telephonic shutdown:
Islamic State shuts down phones in Mosul to stop informants
The Islamic State has cut off all telephone service provision in the largest city under its control, reportedly in an effort to stop spies from passing information to Syrian, Iraqi and American intelligence services.
Militants from the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), conquered the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June. They encountered almost no resistance upon entering the Sunni city of over a million inhabitants, as the crumbling Iraqi military kept hastily retreating south.
Today Mosul is the most populous urban center under direct Islamic State rule. In July, the group’s seldom-seen leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, used Mosul as the backdrop of his propaganda video, in which he announced the official establishment of the Islamic State, a militant Sunni caliphate that is administered strictly through sharia law.
Scores of death sentences in Egypt, from BBC News:
Egypt sentences 188 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death
More than 180 supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in Egypt over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo.
The attack took place on the same day as Egyptian security forces broke up protest camps set up by Brotherhood supporters, leaving hundreds dead.
Egypt has been fiercely criticised for its crackdown on Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Hundreds of death sentences have been passed but none have been carried out.
Criminalizing the revolutionary insult, via Reuters:
Egypt to criminalize insults to ‘revolutions’ of 2011 and 2013: spokesman
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi plans to issue decrees to criminalize insults to Egypt’s two “revolutions” of 2011 and 2013, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The first, a street uprising, toppled longtime military-backed autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The second also arose from mass anti-government protests but was taken over by the military then led by Sisi and brought about the overthrow of freely elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi after a year in office.
The Muslim Brotherhood and other opponents of Sisi say the mid-2013 uprising was a coup rather than a revolution, and fear the proposed decree will stifle their scope to express such views amid a broader crackdown on public dissent by Sisi.
Kenya terror attacks leads to security shakeup, from the China Post:
Kenya security chiefs ousted after new Shebab massacre
In a televised address to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta also vowed his security forces will “intensify the war on terrorism” after a spate of killings in the country by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents.
A group of Shebab rebels stormed into a quarry near the border town of Mandera shortly after midnight, and police and officials said they weeded out 36 non-Muslims for execution.
Those labourers not shot as they slept were placed in lines in the dusty quarry, with insurgents shooting most in the head but also beheading others.
Venezuelan opposition leader charged in assassination plot, via Reuters:
Venezuela indicts opposition leader Machado, alleging plot to kill Maduro
Venezuela has indicted hardline opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on charges that she took part in an alleged plot to kill President Nicolas Maduro, the state prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
Machado, who was at the forefront of major street protests against Maduro’s socialist government earlier this year, has dismissed the accusations as a charade meant to silence her and distract Venezuelans from a growing economic crisis.
If found guilty, the former legislator could be sentenced to between 8 and 16 years in jail.
On to the hack of the year starting with multiple suspects, via Reuters:
North Korea, other nations among suspects in Sony hacking: U.S. national security official
U.S. investigators are considering multiple suspects, including North Korea, in their investigation into a cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that knocked out the company’s computer systems for over a week, according to a U.S. national security official with knowledge of the investigation.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters on Tuesday that the forensic investigation is in its early stages, and that no clear suspects have emerged.
But the official said multiple suspects are being assessed, including the North Korean government, other nations and private parties.
The hack, which was launched Nov. 24, caused Sony Pictures Entertainment to shut down its internal computer network. Employees had to resort to using paper and pen to conduct their business.
Suspicions beforehand, via the Los Angeles Times:
Before Sony hacking, ‘Interview’ co-directors knew of N. Korea risk
The upcoming comedy from Sony Pictures Entertainment, “The Interview,” was expected to draw the ire of the North Korean government, with a plot that depicts a fictional assassination attempt on leader Kim Jong Un.
It’s still unclear whether the film played a role in the crippling cyberattack against Sony Pictures that became public last week, but actor Seth Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg said they were warned by private consultants to be prepared for retaliation.
“They were like, ‘You might want to change your bank passwords. We’re not joking,’” Goldberg told The Times in an interview about a week before the attack.
Goldberg and Rogen, who co-directed the film, said that “The Interview” is clearly intended as a broad satire — one that lampoons American celebrity culture as much as it does North Korea. However, they knew the North Korean government could be unhappy and might have the ability to carry out some sort of digital infiltration.
A video report from Britain’s Channel 4 News:
Sony hack: North Korea’s bizarre response – was it them?
Program notes:
Now it’s Sony who’ve had to beef up security after several unreleased movies found their way onto the internet. The prime suspect: is North Korea, and Pyongyang is certainly not denying it.
BuzzFeed covers the inventory:
A Look Through The Sony Pictures Data Hack: This Is As Bad As It Gets
From details of named employees’ medical histories to an unreleased pilot script written by the creator of Breaking Bad, the unprecedented leak of Sony Pictures data will reverberate for a long time to come.
After sifting through almost 40GB of leaked internal data, one thing is clear: Sony Pictures appears to have suffered the most embarrassing and all-encompassing hack of internal corporate data ever made public.
The data dump, which was reviewed extensively by BuzzFeed News, includes employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, and doctors’ letters explaining the medical rationale for leaves of absence. There are spreadsheets containing the salaries of 6,800 global employees, along with Social Security numbers for 3,500 U.S. staff. And there is extensive documentation of the company’s operations, ranging from the script for an unreleased pilot written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan to the results of sales meetings with local TV executives.
The documents made public this weekend, covering the company’s human resources, sales, and marketing teams, among others, are just a fraction of approximately 100TB of data the hackers claim to have taken from Sony. They say it will all be made freely available online, once they figure out how to distribute such an enormous amount of information.
From Reuters, warnings of more to come:
Exclusive: FBI warns of ‘destructive’ malware in wake of Sony attack
The five-page, confidential “flash” FBI warning issued to businesses late on Monday provided some technical details about the malicious software used in the attack. It provided advice on how to respond to the malware and asked businesses to contact the FBI if they identified similar malware.
The report said the malware overrides all data on hard drives of computers, including the master boot record, which prevents them from booting up.
“The overwriting of the data files will make it extremely difficult and costly, if not impossible, to recover the data using standard forensic methods,” the report said.
And Sony’s own suspicions from the London Telegraph:
Sony investigators find links to North Korea in hack probe
Tools used by hackers found to be similar ones the hermit state once used against South Korea
Hackers used tools in a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that were based on ones used in similar attacks conducted against South Korea by North Korea, a person familiar with the company’s investigation said on Wednesday.
The person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss Sony’s probe into the attack, said that investigators hired by the company made the connection to North Korea as they reviewed evidence left by the hackers.
The technology news site Re/code reported earlier on Wednesday that Sony intends to name North Korea as the source of the attack, which exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week.
But U.S. national security officials said government agencies still had not determined whether North Korea was responsible for the Sony Pictures attack.
Suspicions of Iranian hacking from TechWeekEurope:
Iranian Hackers Sneak Onto Western Systems
A large number of western computer systems have been infiltrated by Iranian hackers, Cylance warns
Iran has become the latest government to flex its cyber security muscles after an American security firm warned that Iranian hackers have infiltrated the computer systems of many foreign companies.
It comes as Iran responds to Western cyber attacks against its nuclear program, which some feel threatens regional and global security.
Malware on the market from Network World:
New point-of-sale malware on underground markets for $2,000
A new kind of point-of-sale malware similar to that which struck Target is being sold in underground markets for US$2,000.
The malware, LusyPOS, was found on VirusTotal, a website where people can submit malware samples to see if one of several dozen security applications detects it.
It had also been advertised on an underground carding website, where people buy and sell stolen payment card data, said Brian Minick, vice president of the advanced security business of CBTS, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based security company.
A veteran Israeli spook fears Netayahu’s political suicide bombs, via intelNews:
Israeli ex-spy chief says Netanyahu policies ‘will destroy Israel’
The former director of Israel’s internal security service has warned that the policies of the Israeli government could lead to the complete destruction of the country. Carmi Gillon, Israel’s former ambassador to Denmark, led the Shin Bet, also known as Israel’s Internal General Security Service, from 1994 to 1996. In a scathing attack against Israel’s current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gillon accused him of being “an egomaniac” heading “a bunch of pyromaniacs” in government, who are leading the state of Israel “to its final destruction”.
Gillon, 64, was speaking on Saturday evening at the “Peace Now” rally, organized outside the official residence of the Prime Minister in Jerusalem. Participants in the rally were protesting against the so-called Jewish State Law, a bill currently being discussed in the Israeli Knesset, which seeks to officially define Israel as “the nation state of the Jewish people”.
The effort enjoys broad support from the Israeli right, including from Prime Minister Netanyahu. But it has been condemned by the country’s left, as well as by non-Jewish citizens of Israel, as a deliberate attempt to marginalize approximately a quarter of Israel’s population, which is non-Jewish
A Pakistani police debacle from RT:
Blind Pakistani protesters ‘beaten by police’ on International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Police reportedly baton charged and struck blind protesters with poles in the eastern city of Lahore Wednesday, during a demonstration about the government’s failure to implement an official quota for people with disabilities.
Around 70 blind men had amassed in front of the local press club at about noon to demand the government stick by its obligation to make sure two percent of jobs go to handicapped people.
But when they heard that the Pakistani president Mammnoon Hussain was in town they proceeded towards the governor’s house leading to a clash with police.
Gulf News cited local reports saying that several protesters were injured and one of them was taken to hospital. Local channels reportedly aired the footage of the incident.
On to Hong Kong, first with the word from Uncle Sam via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
US urges ‘competitive’ multi-candidate Hong Kong polls
The United States called on China to ensure that multiple candidates can run freely in the 2017 chief executive elections
The United States on Wednesday (Dec 3) boosted its support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, calling on China to ensure that multiple candidates are allowed to run freely in 2017 elections.
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities should “work together to ensure a competitive process for the election of the chief executive,” the top US diplomat for Asia, Daniel Russel, told US lawmakers. He added that Washington saw its role as fostering such elections, while speaking up in support of the protesters, adding the US takes “the side of justice, we take the side of freedom.”
Russel was speaking as the founders of the pro-democracy movement surrendered to police in a symbolic move, seeking to take the protests off the streets after more than two months of rallies which have seen sporadic violence.
As London weighs in, via the Guardian:
David Cameron steps into row over UK delegation’s Hong Kong visit
House of Commons emergency debate will take place to discuss China’s ban on proposed foreign affairs committee trip
David Cameron has criticised China’s refusal to allow a UK parliamentary delegation to visit Hong Kong as a mistake that would only heighten international concerns about the political crisis in the former British colony.
The prime minister stepped into the row, as the Hong Kong police drove pro-democracy protesters out of large areas of the city centre, triggering some of the most violent clashes of the two months of demonstrations.
Hugo Swire, the foreign office minister with responsibility for China affairs, met a senior Chinese Communist party official, Guo Yezhou, in London on Monday in an effort to persuade Beijing to grant visas to members of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee who were planning to visit Hong Kong later this month. The proposed visit was part of an inquiry into the colony’s relations with the UK 30 years after the joint declaration that led to the handover to China in 1997.
A judicial backing for the eviction, from the Washington Post:
Hong Kong court grants injunction after clashes between protesters and police
After a fresh outbreak of violence between Hong Kong police and pro-democracy demonstrators, a Hong Kong court granted an injunction Monday that could set in motion a bid by authorities to clear parts of the main protest site.
The court action spelled out some limits, such as requiring security forces to give notice before moving against the protest encampment. But it reflects expanding efforts by officials to sweep away visible signs of the most serious challenge to Beijing’s control since it took over the former British colony.
The protests, which began more than two months ago over election rules imposed by Beijing, have shown resilience despite steady crackdowns and pressures.
The Los Angeles Times covers a surrender:
Hong Kong’s Occupy leaders surrender to police, along with 62 others
Before turning themselves in to authorities, they were prepared for the worst: immediate arrest, perhaps even prolonged detention. As they entered the police station, they were jeered by a band of opponents who called for them to be sent straight to jail.
But the three co-founders of Hong Kong’s Occupy movement walked free Wednesday after what seemed like an innocuous administrative procedure, with police saying they would investigate.
The organizers of Occupy Central With Love and Peace — pastor Chu Yiu-ming and professors Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man — along with 62 other pro-democracy protesters ages 20 to 82, reported to officers by Wednesday evening and admitted to having violated the territory’s statute against unauthorized assembly. The trio have appealed to others to end the street protests.
Although a small core of a few thousand die-hard demonstrators have said they are unwilling to heed that call, the collective surrender seemed to presage a new – and extremely sensitive — chapter of the movement: police investigations, possible indictments, trials and sentences for up to several hundred people.
South China Morning Post covers subsequent release:
Hong Kong Occupy organisers released without charge after surrendering to police
Movement’s fathers and an assortment of supporters are not charged or arrested after turning themselves in at a police station
The three co-founders of Occupy Central and more than 60 of their supporters were not arrested or charged yesterday after they turned themselves in for taking part in unauthorised assemblies since late September.
The trio – Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming and Dr Chan Kin-man – arrived at the Central Police Station in Sheung Wan with a letter they signed, admitting they had taken part in a rally from September 28 and might have broken laws under the Public Order Ordinance.
Through the surrender, the trio aimed to bring a peaceful end to the civil disobedience movement they initiated.
Tai said that during their one-hour stay at the station, police questioned them with a “specially designed” form that listed offences including participating, organising or inciting people to participate in an unauthorised assembly, vandalism and obstructing a policeman’s duty.
On to Japan and a controversial retraction from the Japan Times:
Yomiuri’s ‘sex slave’ apology raises media eyebrows overseas
The Washington Post said Friday the move was described by one analyst as “astonishing,” adding that it is certain to inflame already rocky relations with South Korea and China, where most of the women came from.
BBC News reported that it is “definitely another victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his rightwing nationalist supporters” who have long sought to change the way Japan views its World War II history.
Meanwhile, the International New York Times said critics “sensed a political statement disguised as an admission of guilt.”
The term is widely used by overseas news agencies, such as AFP, AP, Reuters and Bloomberg.
And, finally, from BBC News, the last major Nazi killer is gone:
Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner ‘died in Syria’
The chief investigator pursuing Alois Brunner, one of the world’s most wanted German Nazi war criminals, has told the BBC that he is “99% sure” that he died four years ago in Syria.
“We cannot prove it forensically, but we are certain that is the case,” Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff said.
SS captain Brunner, who would now be 102, is accused of deporting more than 128,000 Jews to death camps in WWII.
For many years there has been uncertainty as to whether he is dead.
