? မင်္ဂလာပါ!*
Welcome to Monday, where Sudan’s ousted prime minister has been reinstated after a deal with the military, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai says she is safe and well in a video call and a Venezuelan orchestra sets a new world record. We also look at the sons of two of the 20th century’s most ruthless strongmen now running for president.
[*Mingalabar – Burmese]
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7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Sudan’s military reinstates ousted prime minister: Sudan’s military has reinstated ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and promised to release all political detainees, after weeks of deadly unrest triggered by a coup. Still, large crowds took to the streets to reject any deal involving the army. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hamdok has pledged to introduce a “technocratic government” made up of qualified professionals who will lead the country on a path to democracy.
• Pen Shuai says she is “safe” in video call: Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai held a 30- minute video call Sunday with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, and told him she was safe and well, amid a wave of global concern about her well-being and whereabouts. The three-time Olympian disappeared from the public eye for almost three weeks after accusing a senior Chinese minister of sexual assault.
• Five dead after car ploughs into Wisconsin parade: At least five people were killed and more than 40 injured after an SUV ploughed into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One person is in custody, though as of now police say the incident does not appear to be terrorism-related.
• COVID update: Several European cities including Brussels, Vienna and Zagreb were hit with a wave of protests against the sanitary measures enforced in an attempt to contain growing COVID-19 cases. The French Caribbean territory Guadeloupe has been facing major social movements for over a week against the enforcement of the sanitary pass, with fires, looting and roadblocks. The situation was described as “highly explosive” by the French president, Emmanuel Macron. The current dusk-to-dawn curfew is set to last until Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities announced unvaccinated citizens will be prevented from accessing government services.
• Haiti kidnappers release two hostages: Two of the 17 people with a U.S. Christian group who were kidnapped in Haiti over a month ago have been released in Port-au-Prince and were described as “safe” according to the organization. The 16 Americans and one Canadian, including five children, were abducted in October after visiting an orphanage, as violence has deepened amid economic and political crises, and the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
• Taliban ban women in TV dramas: A new set of Taliban guidelines issued to Afghan television channels includes a ban on films considered against Islamic law and Afghan values. The new rules bar women from appearing in television dramas, while female journalists and presenters are required to wear headscarves on screen, though the type of covering hasn’t yet been specified.
• Spotify stops shuffling for Adele: Spotify has removed the shuffle button from album pages after Adele commented that the order tracks were placed in was supposed to “tell a story,” according to a report by the BBC.
️ FRONT PAGE
Chilean daily Las Ultimas Noticias features the latest results of the first round of Chile’s presidential elections, with far-right candidate and former congressman José Antonio Kast ahead of leftist lawmaker and former protest leader Gabriel Boric. The two will meet in a runoff in December in what some are calling the most polarized election since Chile’s 1990 return to democracy.
BY THE NUMBERS
8,573
A group of 8,573 Venezuelan musicians set the record for the world’s largest orchestra during a concert at a military academy in Venezuela’s capital city Caracas, with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Slavonic March. The previous record belonged to a Russian orchestra of 8,097 musicians who had played the country’s national anthem in St. Petersburg.
STORY OF THE DAY
Gaddafi and Marcos Jr., when a dictator’s son runs for president
The son of the brutal Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi announced last week he is running for president, which followed a similar headline last month from Philippines’ Ferdinand Marcos Jr. What does this say about the state of democracy?
?? Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the 49-year-old second-born son of the dictator, had spent the last decade out of public sight. At the time of the 2011 uprising that spelled the end to his father’s brutal rule, he was captured at the desert outpost of Ubari and taken to the mountain town of Zintan, where he was held by his captors and tried in absentia in 2015 for his role during the uprising. He was sentenced to death for war crimes, including the killing of protesters during the uprising a decade ago, but was later pardoned. He is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
?? In the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, popularly known as Bongbong, announced his candidacy in a video post on Facebook in early October. The 64-year-old only son of the Filipino strongman is the latest politician to announce an intention to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte, who is barred by the constitution’s term limits from running again. A close ally of Duterte, who himself has been accused of authoritarian tactics, Marcos Jr served as a senator from 2010 to 2016, before narrowly losing out in a run for the vice-presidency in 2016.
?️ While familial hereditary dictatorship is nothing new, there’s something different about the offspring of tyrannical fathers making a democratic bid, and garnering support, for national leadership. The presidential runs of Gaddafi and Marcos Jr. also come at a time marked by the twin advances of authoritarianism and nationalism — a trend that has been further accelerated by the pandemic.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
VERBATIM
“These dramatic events may only be a prelude to something much worse.”
— Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said during a tour to the Baltic states to discuss the migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border, warning that despite Belarus’ recent decision to clear a migrant camp and to repatriate some to Iraq, the crisis was far from over. The Polish government said Minsk continues to ferry hundreds of foreigners to the border.
WHAT THE WORLD
Poopgate: Is a beloved Istanbul street dog caught in Turkey’s political dirty tricks?
Boji, a street dog in Istanbul, has garnered national and international acclaim in recent weeks for his ability to navigate the Turkish megapolis all on his own — commuting on the metro, riding ferries and even taking elevators.
According to Getty Images photographer Chris McGrath, who followed him around the city, Boji loves riding the city’s trams and trains. The dog’s name comes from the word “bogie” (“boji” in Turkish), the framework of a vehicle that houses the wheel and axle, since his favorite spot is sitting on top of the bogie and feeling the vibrations of the engine.
City workers began to take care of Boji and tracked his movements with a mobile app; and a local dog instructor, Ali Yeşilırmak, set up social media accounts that quickly built major followings, with some reporting that even Istanbul’s mayor is a fan.
But this past Friday evening, the mixed-breed canine was suddenly turned into public (transportation) enemy No. 1 after he was blamed for defecating inside one of the city’s trams. On social media, a photo of a turd on a seat went viral, with Boji accused of the crime, local daily Hürriyet .
But just hours later, another plot twist was in store: The spokesperson of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality shared a security camera video from the tram in question, showing a bald man in a sweatshirt taking the piece of poop out of his pocket (yes, gross…) and planting it on the seat. Yeşilırmak also tweeted an alibi to the pooch’s 100K+ followers: Boji had been hanging out at the shelter that day.
Why would someone choose to slander man’s best friend? The answer might just be politics.
Bilge Ebiri, a journalist and filmmaker, tweeted that Boji has become an unofficial mascot for Istanbul and its mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a center-left politician, who is seen by many as the strongest rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party.
Was poopgate the ultimate political stinkbomb to make both Boji and Istanbul look bad?
While Boji’s Instagram says that he is still waiting for an apology, he seems to have taken the incident in stride, with little damage to his reputation. Anyway, he has a train to catch.
➡️ Keep up with all the planet’s police reports and plot twists on Worldcrunch.com
✍️ Newsletter by Jane Herbelin and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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