Dozens of Rohingya refugees flee camps to move to Malaysia, and Prince Charles says he will tone down his activism as a king.
Journalists back Jim Acosta after White House revoked his pass
American journalists expressed their support for CNN reporter Jim Acosta whose White House press access was revoked after he confronted US President Donald Trump with questions in a news conference, reports CNN.
An altercation took place when Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants moving in to the US border from Latin America. He then asked if Trump was trying to “demonise” migrants through his ad campaign, and refused to give up the microphones when Trump tried to dismiss him. Trump then said, “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person.”
”The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible,” he added.
Later, Acosta’s press pass was revoked. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement and accused Acosta of, “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern”, calling it “absolutely unacceptable”.
CNN issued a statement saying the revocation of Acosta’s pass “was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today’s press conference”. It further said that “Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support”.
Afghan govt draws flak for lack of breakthrough in peace process
Prominent politicians and former government officials in Afghanistan pointed out the government’s inability to make any major breakthroughs in the country’s peace process, reports TOLO news.
This comes before the Moscow summit on peace in Afghanistan, being held Friday. The political leaders told the government that its efforts towards restoring peace in the country failed. “You (government) are trying to get points from the US under the name of a peace process, but in the real sense, you are manipulating the peace process to prolong your power,” said Ahmad Wali Massoud, chairman of Massoud Foundation.
Former minister of interior, Mohammad Omar Daudzai, also stressed upon the need for pushing internal efforts in restoring peace, saying, “Afghan government must be given a role in the peace process; people also must have a role in the process.”
Former national security adviser Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, said, “If one of our preconditions is related to the withdrawal of US forces, then there is a need for debates and discussions on it.”
Prince Charles defines the kind of king he wants to be
Prince Charles has spoken about his activism in a new documentary, reports the New York Times.
Charles, who is known to speak his mind when it comes to certain issues such as climate change and alternative medicine, however, said that he would tone it down as a king. “I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.”
Referring to the roles of heir and king, he further said, “The idea, somehow, that I’m going to go on in exactly the same way if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because the two situations are completely different.”
Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’ mother who is now 92, was crowned in 1953 and is the longest-serving British monarch. She is known to keep her views private in the seven decades of her rule.
The interview offers a rare glimpse of what Charles might be like as the king, according to NYT.
Dozens of Rohingyas board boats to Malaysia to flee camps
Dozens of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh boarded boats to reach Malaysia, raising alarm bells after a similar crisis in 2015, reports Reuters.
According to Coast Guard personnel, one boat set sail from the southern coast of Bangladesh Wednesday. However, Rohingya leaders and aid workers maintain that several vessels left Rakhine state in western Myanmar.
Thirty-three Rohingya and six Bangladeshis on a fishing boat moving towards Malaysia were detained in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh to hold elections on 23 December
Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh, K.M. Nurul Huda, announced that the general elections would be held on 23 December, reports Reuters. “A favourable situation prevails in the country to hold a free and fair election,” said Huda.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is seeking to get re-elected in this election but her government has been receiving criticism for the increasingly authoritarian rule in the country, especially after the way government authorities handled students protests this year.
Huda informed that 40,000 voting centres would be set up across the nation, and more than 6,00,000 law enforcement personnel would be deployed for a free and fair election.
China gets its first AI news anchor
China’s state-run news channel, Xinhua News, just debuted the first AI news anchor, reports BBC news. According to Xinhua News, this virtual presenter “can read texts as naturally as a professional news anchor”.
This AI news anchor is called ‘He’ and is based on a real male presenter with similar image and voice. “’He’ learns from live broadcasting videos by himself and can read texts as naturally as a professional news anchor,” claims Xinhua agency.
‘He’ was jointly developed by Xinhua News Agency and Chinese search engine company, Sogou.com.
Xinhua's first English #AI anchor makes debut at the World Internet Conference that opens in Wuzhen, China Wednesday pic.twitter.com/HOkWnnfHdW
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) November 7, 2018