The American Film Institute Wednesday named its top 10 movies of the year, including Todd Phillips’ comic-book sensation “Joker,” Taika Waititi’s World War II romp “Jojo Rabbit” and Lulu Wang’s family drama “The Farewell.”
The AFI’s other top movies of the year are: the Sam Mendes World War I thriller “1917,” Martin Scorsese’s crime epic “The Irishman,” Rian Johnson’s star-studded whodunit “Knives Out,” Greta Gerwig’s Louisa May Alcott adaptation “Little Women,” Noah Baumbach’s divorce drama “Marriage Story,” Quentin Tarantino’s Los Angeles fable “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood” and Clint Eastwood’s Atlanta Olympics bombing docudrama “Richard Jewell.”
The AFI, which only cites American films, added a special award for the Korean thriller “Parasite.”
The AFI Awards, now in its 20th year, will be celebrated at a luncheon Jan. 3 in Los Angeles.
A documentary on Taylor Swift will kick off the next Sundance Film Festival, where new films including the Will Ferrell-Julia Louis Dreyfus remake of the Swedish film “Force Majeure” and Benh Zeitlin’s long-awaited follow-up to “Beasts of the Southern Wild” are set to premiere.
Programmers for the preeminent showcase for independent cinema, founded by Robert Redford and set annually in the mountains of Park City, Utah, announced the lion’s share of the lineup for its 2020 edition Wednesday. The lineup of 118 feature-length films, culled from a record 15,100 submissions, come from 27 countries, includes 44 first-time filmmakers and is among the most diverse in the festival’s 37-year history. In the four competition categories, 46% of the directors are women, 38% are people of color and 12% are LGBTQ.
Streaming services
The coming Sundance, set for Jan. 23-Feb. 2, follows a 2019 festival that saw deep-pocketed streaming services set off an avalanche of high-priced acquisitions, some of which notably fizzled at the box office. Amazon paid large sums for “Late Night” and “The Report” but neither made much of a dent in theaters; Amazon is now shrinking its exclusive theatrical window for some releases. Warner Bros. paid $15 million for the Bruce Springsteen-infused coming-of-age tale “Blinded by the Light,” but it failed to catch on.
The biggest hit to emerge from last year’s crop was Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” which has grossed $17.7 million for A24. It’s been one of the bright spots in a trying marketplace this year for indie film. Still, Sundance, where movies like “Get Out,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Big Sick” first debuted, remains the premier factory for breakout hits. Lately, that’s increasingly meant documentaries, too, including “RBG,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, from this year’s Sundance, “Apollo 11.”
FILE – Taylor Swift performs at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Nov. 24, 2019. A documentary on Swift will kickoff the next Sundance Film Festival.
Taylor Swift documentary
Sure to add extra frenzy this year is Lana Wilson’s “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” which the festival describes as “a raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life.”
Netflix has acquired the film and plans to release it in early 2020. It is also set to distribute seven more, including new films from “Mudbound” filmmaker Dee Rees and the fictional debut of “What Happened, Miss Simone” director Liz Garbus, an early sign that Netflix will play a prominent role in this year’s Sundance.
Apple, too, has gotten in on the act, a year after making its first acquisition at Sundance (“Hala”). On Monday, it picked up a high-profile documentary headed to Park City: Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick’s untitled film about a former music executive grappling with the decision to go public with a story of sexual assault by a notable figure in the music industry. Oprah Winfrey is an executive producer.
“This year’s festival is full of films that showcase myriad ways for stories to drive change, across hearts, minds and societies,” Redford, president and founder of the Sundance Institute, said in a statement.
Premieres section
Among the films debuting in Sundance’s Premieres section is Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s “Downhill,” the English-language remake of Ruben Ostlund’s “Force Majeure,” starring Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell as a couple whose relationship is altered after they escape an avalanche.
Zeitlin will unveil “Wendy,” a “Peter Pan”-inspired adventure shot in the West Indies. It’s his first movie since his Oscar-nominated debut, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a sensation at 2012’s Sundance.
Also on tap for are Rees’ Joan Didion adaptation “The Last Thing He Wanted,” with Anne Hathaway and Ben Affleck; Michael Almereyda’s Nikola Tesla biopic “Tesla,” starring Ethan Hawke as the engineer-inventor; Florian Zeller’s “The Father,” with Anthony Hopkins as an aged man who moves to Paris, co-starring Olivia Colman; and Garbus’ debut “Lost Girls,” a missing-child drama with Amy Ryan and Thomasin McKenzie.
Other notables include Julie Taymor’s nontraditional Gloria Steinem biopic, with Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler and Janelle Monae; Justin Simien’s horror satire “Bad Hair”; Dominic Cooke’s Cuban Missile Crisis drama “Ironbark,” with Benedict Cumberbatch; Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” a revenge tale led by Carey Mulligan; Sean Durkin’s ‘80s-set marriage tale “The Nest,” with Jude Law and Carrie Coon; Josephine Decker’s Shirley Jackson biopic “Shirley,” starring Elisabeth Moss as the “The Lottery” author; Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut “Falling”; and Miranda July’s “Kajillionaire.”
FILE – John Cooper, left, director of the Sundance Film Festival, and Kim Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, take part in the opening day press conference at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 24, 2019, in Park City, Utah.
Documentaries
Other documentaries coming to Sundance include Ron Howard’s “Rebuilding Paradise,” about the aftermath of the devastating 2018 California wildfire; “The Fight,” about the ACLU’s legal battles with President Donald Trump; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill expose “The Cost of Silence”; and Kim A. Snyder’s “Us Kids,” about the teenage survivors of Parkland, Florida.
This will be the last Sundance overseen by its longtime director, John Cooper. He is stepping down next year to take on the role of emeritus director.
“The program this year, my last as director, is a celebration: of art and artists, yes, but also of the community that makes the annual pilgrimage to Park City to see the most exciting new work being made today,” said Cooper.
France is preparing for nationwide strikes beginning Thursday that could bring the country to a standstill.
French labor unions have called for walkouts over President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to overhaul the retirement system.
In Paris, the unions plan to march Thursday, prompting police to order all shops, cafes and restaurants along the route to close for the day.
Hotels in Paris reported receiving numerous cancellations, as tourists were rethinking their travel plans. Most of the Paris Metro system will be shut down, as well as all national and international train services.
Most flights will be affected, since air traffic controllers have announced plans to join the protests through Saturday. Teachers unions, postal workers and most civil servants also plan to participate.
Paris police Chief Didier Lallement said 6,000 officers will be on duty amid fears of violence and destruction of property. Protests are banned on the Champs-Elysees around the presidential palace, Parliament and Notre Dame Cathedral.
The protests have the potential to be more destabilizing than other strikes in recent years, including the “yellow vest” demonstrations.
France’s retirement system has long been considered sacrosanct. The last time the government tried to overhaul it was in 1995 when protests brought the country to a three-week halt until then-President Jacques Chirac conceded defeat.
Families of several U.S. and British people held in Iran expressed fear for their loved ones Tuesday amid the deadliest unrest in decades in the Islamic Republic.
The relatives spoke at a news conference in Washington to demand the release of spouses and parents held in Iran — in at least one case for more than a decade. Among those who spoke was a daughter of Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007.
The protests now roiling Iran, reflecting widespread economic discontent and outrage over spiking gasoline prices, have been an added challenge to families who have gone years without seeing their loved ones. Iranian state television acknowledged Tuesday that security forces shot and killed protesters in multiple cities.
“Of course any kind of protest that goes on in Iran, and any kind of situation, that overlaps potentially with the fact that our families and loved ones are being held there as well,” said Babak Namazi, whose brother and father are held captive in Iran. “We’ve been talking about the brutality of what our family members have been facing. But I guess this is just a reminder of what the abilities and capabilities are.”
Prisons are more overcrowded now because of the demonstrations, the internet has been down, and communication has been even more complicated than it already is, Namazi said.
Activist Nazanin Boniadi, left; Sarah Moriarty, daughter of Robert Levinson; Babak Namazi, brother of Siamak Namazi and son of Baquer Namazi; and Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, attend a meeting in Washington, Dec. 3, 2019.
Sarah Moriarty, one of Levinson’s seven children, said she was heartened by Iran’s acknowledgment last month that it had an open case before its Revolutionary Court after years of denying any involvement in his disappearance.
Moriarty said she interpreted the development as Iran’s first acknowledgment that it had indeed taken Levinson into custody, though Iran has also said it regards Levinson’s case as a “missing person” file. She said she believes it’s clear that Iran knows where her father is and is in a position to send him home immediately.
“This is incredibly significant because it means that they have a case against my father, and it means that they have him,” Moriarty said. “And we want to see him, and we want him to be released immediately.”
Nearly two dozen of Levinson’s relatives are expected in a Washington court this week to testify in a wrongful death lawsuit against Iran that seeks damages against the government.
“We want Iran to know that this is not acceptable, and a big portion of our lawsuit is punitive damages because we want them to discourage them from doing this practice to anyone else,” Moriarty said.
Levinson disappeared from Iran’s Kish Island on March 9, 2007. For years, U.S. officials would only say that Levinson, a meticulous FBI investigator credited with busting Russian and Italian mobsters, was working for a private firm on his trip.
In December 2013, The Associated Press revealed Levinson in fact had been on a mission for CIA analysts who had no authority to run spy operations.
Also present for the news conference was Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is a British-Iranian charity worker held in Iran for more than three years. He said that though different Western nations have their own approaches to hostage negotiations, “none of them have worked.”
He said sanctions should be considered as one option of punishment for hostage taking.
“There should be a real clear cost to hostage taking,” he said. “It should be an anathema in the modern world.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he expected an upcoming watchdog report to be “devastating” on the origins of the Russia investigation that dogged his presidency for nearly two years, but also suggested Americans should really be more interested in the findings of a federal prosecutor appointed to do a similar probe.
FILE – This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
Speaking to reporters in London, Trump said the “big report” on the Russia investigation will come from U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr in July to lead the inquiry into the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. It’s not clear when that probe will be completed
But the Justice Department’s inspector general is scheduled to release a report on Monday on the early stages of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
The president’s comments could mean that Monday’s report, centered in part on the use of a secret surveillance warrant to monitor the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, wouldn’t be a full-throated confirmation of his allegations that the Russia probe was a politically-motivated “witch hunt.” Republicans could instead play up that Durham’s inquiry is far from done, and could uncover wrongdoing that the inspector general wasn’t examining.
“I do think the big report to wait for is going to be the Durham report,” Trump said. “That’s the one that people are really waiting for.”
Trump’s remarks come a day after The Washington Post reported that Barr told associates he disagrees with a finding from the inspector general’s upcoming report that the FBI was justified in July 2016 in opening a counterintelligence investigation into members of the Trump campaign.
The newspaper, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that Barr had not been swayed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s rationale for concluding that the FBI had a good enough reason to open the investigation that would become the special counsel’s probe.
While the president said the inspector general’s report was also very important, and that he’s heard “it’s devastating,” the watchdog is limited in what he was examining, and Durham has a wider investigative scope. The inspector general does not have the power to compel former employees to be interviewed.
Durham is conducting a criminal investigation examining what led the U.S. to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and the roles that various countries played in the U.S. probe. He is also investigating whether the surveillance methods and intelligence gathering methods used during the investigation were legal and appropriate. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, is a career prosecutor who has led investigations into the FBI’s cozy relationship with Boston mobsters like James “Whitey” Bulger and the CIA’s use of tough interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects.
The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation later morphed into special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Mueller concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, but his investigation didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Mueller also examined 10 possible instances of obstruction of justice and has pointedly said he could not exonerate the president.
The inspector general uncovered that an FBI lawyer is suspected of altering a document related to surveillance of Page, according to a person familiar with the case who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke to AP only on the condition of anonymity.
The inspector general cannot bring criminal charges, but can make referrals to federal prosecutors if potential crimes are uncovered.
Trump and his supporters are likely to seize on any findings of mistakes or bad judgment in the report to support their claims of a biased investigation. Supporters of the FBI, meanwhile, are likely to hold up as vindication any findings that the investigation was done by the book, or free of political considerations.
The Justice Department has no plan to submit a formal rebuttal as part of the inspector general’s report, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations surrounding the report.
The attorney general has taken a hands-on role in leading the Durham investigation and has traveled overseas with Durham for personal meetings with foreign law enforcement officials, some of which were initiated by Trump. The president has asked the Australian prime minister and other foreign leaders to help Barr with the Durham investigation.
Trump’s interactions with foreign leaders — and Barr’s role in those discussions — have received heightened scrutiny as the House conducts an impeachment inquiry into the president’s efforts to press the leader of Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden at the same time as military aid was being withheld from the country.
The report from the intelligence committee on the House impeachment inquiry was made public Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Jimmy Carter says the former U.S. president is already feeling better after being treated for a urinary tract infection.
Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said Monday that the 95-year-old was admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus over the weekend.
“He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon. We will issue a statement when he is released for further rest and recovery at home,” her statement said.
Carter’s recent health challenges have included surviving cancer and hip replacement surgery. He helped build a Habitat for Humanity home in October despite hitting his head in a fall, and then fractured his pelvis in another fall. He was released last Wednesday from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after surgery to relieve bleeding on his brain.
Twitter is updating its global privacy policy to give users more information about what data advertisers might receive and is launching a site to provide clarity on its data protection efforts, the company said on Monday.
The changes, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, will comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
The California law requires large businesses to give consumers more transparency and control over their personal information, such as allowing them to request that their data be deleted and to opt out of having their data sold to third parties.
Social media companies including Facebook and Alphabet’s Google have come under scrutiny on data privacy issues, fueled by Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal in which personal data were harvested from millions of users without their consent.
Twitter also announced on Monday that it is moving the accounts of users outside of the United States and European Union which were previously contracted by Twitter International Company in Dublin, Ireland, to the San Francisco-based Twitter.
The company said this move would allow it the flexibility to test different settings and controls with these users, such as additional opt-in or opt-out privacy preferences, that would likely be restricted by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Europe’s landmark digital privacy law.
“We want to be able to experiment without immediately running afoul of the GDPR provisions,” Twitter’s data protection officer Damien Kieran told Reuters in a phone interview.
“The goal is to learn from those experiments and then to provide those same experiences to people all around the world,” he said.
The company, which said it has upped its communications about data and security-related disclosures over the last two years, emphasized in a Monday blog post that it was working to upgrade systems and build privacy into new products.
In October, Twitter announced it had found that phone numbers and email addresses used for two-factor authentication may inadvertently have been used for advertising purposes.
Twitter’s new privacy site, dubbed the ‘Twitter Privacy Center’ is part of the company’s efforts to showcase its work on data protection and will also give users another route to access and download their data.
Twitter joins other internet companies who have recently staked out their positions ahead of CCPA coming into effect.
Last month, Microsoft said it would honor the law throughout the United States and Google told clients that it would let sites and apps using its advertising tools block personalized ads as part of its efforts to comply with CCPA.
An organization that is trying to bolster the struggling local news industry said Monday that it will help fund the hiring of 250 journalists across the country next year.
That’s a sharp increase from the 61 journalists put in the field this year by Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. Its first class of local reporters in 2018 numbered 13.
With the help of foundation funding, Report for America pays half the salary of these reporters for two years. Local news organizations kick in 25% and agree to raise the remainder from donations by local sources.
The growing support illustrates how people outside of the news industry are recognizing what is lost in communities when news organizations struggle. The University of North Carolina estimates that between 26,000 and 32,000 newsroom jobs have been lost across the country since 2004.
“These communities need to be heard from and we’re really glad to be part of a process … that is trying to confront the crisis in local news and restore journalism from the ground up,” said Charles Sennott, co-founder of Report for America.
Studies show the collapse of local news coverage has contributed to polarization in society and less participation in government, he said.
These journalists include the 14 new reporters covering statehouses across the country for The Associated Press, which were announced last week.
Sixty-nine daily newspapers, 39 digital-only sites, 39 public radio stations, 12 local TV stations and five non-daily newspapers will add reporters. Among the participants are the Miami Herald, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, Iowa Public Radio, the Brooklyn Eagle and Radio Bilingue in California. Reporters will be placed in 46 states.
Almost half of the new jobs are being added in nonprofit newsrooms, according to Report for America.
‘News deserts’
They’re specifically being asked to cover a variety of “news deserts,” including overlooked rural and urban communities, veterans’ issues, the environment, health care and housing.
Report for America is committing $5 million to pay these reporters and is asking for others to help with training. A variety of funders are participating, including the Facebook Journalism Project, the Google News Initiative, Craig Newmark Philanthropies and the Ford Foundation. The linchpin is the Knight Foundation, which has provided $5 million in funding over five years.
After the initial seed money for these reporters, the goal is for the local organizations to take over after two years. Sennott said there’s been some success with the initial wave. For example, of three reporters hired in 2018 for coverage in West Virginia, two will stay on and the third has gotten a job for a documentary maker in that state.
A majority of the other 10 initial reporters are expected to stay on, he said.
VALLETTA – Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defended on Monday his government’s handling of the murder in 2017 of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and called for national unity after days of protests over a case that has stunned Malta.
Police on Saturday charged one of the small Mediterranean island’s wealthiest businessmen, Yorgen Fenech, with complicity in the killing. He has denied the accusations and accused members of Muscat’s inner circle of ordering the death.
Muscat announced on Sunday he would step down next month, giving his Labour party time to select a new leader.
People attend a demonstration demanding justice over the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, outside the Parliament in Valletta, Malta, Dec. 2, 2019.
Opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament on Monday in protest at the delayed departure, hurling bundles of fake cash at the government benches as they quit the chamber. Outside the building, hundreds of protesters chanted “Mafia, mafia.”
Speaking to a semi-empty house, Muscat appeared relaxed, joking at times as he justified the investigation, which he said was Malta’s biggest ever.
“The case showed that Malta’s institutions work and everyone is equal before the law,” he said.
Fenech has denied being the mastermind and sought legal immunity in return for revealing information about the murder plot and about alleged corruption involving Muscat’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri and former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, among others, court filings showed.
The government has rejected his bid for a pardon.
Schembri and Mizzi both resigned last week and have denied wrongdoing. Schembri was questioned for two days by police following his resignation before being released without charge.
Both men had been suing Caruana Galizia for libel over allegations she made about their business deals.
Court petition
Critics are angry with Muscat for sticking by Schembri, and for including him in security briefings on the investigation even after Fenech was identified as a suspect in the murder and as an associate of Schembri.
“Muscat wants to manipulate the police investigation to save himself and his best friend Keith Schembri,” opposition leader Adrian Delia told parliament.
“This is unacceptable for the opposition. We are walking out and will not participate in proceedings for as long as Joseph Muscat remains prime minister.”
People hold pictures of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as they protest outside the office of the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, calling for his resignation, in Valletta, Malta, Nov. 29, 2019.
Caruana Galizia’s family said Muscat should have no further involvement in the case and petitioned a court to ensure he was excluded from any further access to the information.
“It’s completely intolerable and it’s absolutely disgraceful that he’s trying to hang on to power,” Caruana Galizia’s sister Corrine Vella told Reuters TV.
Muscat said he would handle only the “day-to-day” government administration until a new leader was chosen.
“We now need unity. Part of that is shouldering responsibility, not just for one’s own actions but also … for possible shortcomings,” he said.
A statue of U.S. civil rights leader Rosa Parks has been unveiled in Montgomery, capital of the southern state of Alabama.
The unveiling Sunday marks the 64th anniversary of the day Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man.
“Today, on the second official Rosa Parks Day, we honor a seamstress and a servant, one whose courage ran counter to her physical stature,” said Mayor Steven Reed, the city’s first African American mayor. “She was a consummate contributor to equality and did so with a quiet humility that is an example for all of us.”
On December 1, 1955, Parks was on her way home when she was asked to vacate her seat for a white man. She refused.
Her subsequent arrest led to the 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system, organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
The statue is located at Montgomery Plaza, about 9 meters from the spot where Parks is believed to have boarded the bus.
Parks’ small act of defiance made her a major symbol of the civil rights movement.
A U.S. State Department official accused China of attempting to erase the Muslim identity of Uighurs by seeking to demolish or close places of worship in Xinjiang in northwest China.
The official, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity, said the Chinese Communist Party in its campaign against the Uighur minority has removed religious symbols from places of worship, imposing strict surveillance on them.
“As part of its ongoing attempts to eradicate the Islamic faith and “re-educate” Muslims, Beijing has closed or destroyed mosques, shrines, burial grounds, and other Islamic structures, perhaps more,” the official told VOA.
“Mosques permitted to remain open have been stripped of certain features like minarets and domes and are heavily monitored by surveillance cameras and security personnel,” the official said, adding that Beijing’s acts have denied Muslims the ability to practice their faith in public.
Artush Eshtachi Grand Mosque is seen in Artush, in China’s northwest Xinjiang province. (Photo by Marie Bourquin; photo courtesy of Bahram Sintash)
An estimated 13 million ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities are believed to live in the Xinjiang region.
The Chinese government since early 2017 has been accused of a harsh crackdown in the region through detention and forceful “re-education” of the people who are accused of being disloyal to the government’s ideology.
Chinese officials, however, have called the alleged detention program a “vocational” training and said their efforts in Xinjiang are aimed at curbing the threat of Islamic extremism.
The U.S. government and rights organizations say at least one million Uighurs are being held in the camps where they are exposed to torture and forced labor. Outside the camps, the minority population is put under stringent control where simple religious practices are prohibited.
According to an investigation by Uyghur (Uighur) Human Rights Project (UHRP), a D.C.-based organization funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, between 10,000-15,000 of mosques and other sites, amounting to about 40%, were demolished in each city, county and township all over Xinjiang since late 2016.
Bahram Sintash, who led the investigation, told VOA that in addition to local testimonies, satellite imagery of the sites confirm a “systematic destruction” of at least 140 Uighur religious places.
Satellite imagery with a comparative analysis of Artush Eshtachi Mosque. (Photo courtesy of Bahram Sintash)
“I have been able to compile a list of over 140 mosques, shrines and cemeteries which have been confirmed or are suspected to have been fully demolished or desecrated since 2016,” Sintash told VOA in an interview.
The UHRP report found that among the demolished sites was Keriya Mosque in Hotan prefecture, a major historic building dating back to the 13th century and enlisted as a protected cultural site.
“Although China demolished many mosques in Xinjiang, it left some mosques untouched in big cities including the Korla Jama Mosque. In my findings, the mosque is one of the “selected” tourist destinations for Korla city. Therefore, the government kept the Korla Jama Mosque not for the sake of local Uighur communities and their prayer needs, but as pre-selected tour location to pretend its “protection” of Islam in that city and to lie to the international community and reporters,” said Sintash.
VOA could not independently verify UHRP’s report.
United Nations and human rights watchdogs in the past have continuously blamed Chinese officials for preventing independent bodies to have access to the region to investigate the alleged abuses. They say local population in the region are prevented from contacting the outside world, including their relatives who live in the diaspora.
The United Kingdom earlier this week urged China to give U.N. observers “immediate and unfettered access” to the region following a recent leak of classified Chinese government documents that rights groups say offer clear evidence of Beijing using detention camps as brainwashing centers.
Satellite imagery with a comparative analysis of Sultanim Cemetery in Hotan city, in China’s northwest Xinjiang province. (Photo courtesy of Bahram Sintas)
Abduwaris Ablimit, a New York-based Uighur from Artush city in southern Xinjiang, said Uighurs living in the diaspora struggle to know the whereabouts of their loved ones stranded in Xinjiang due to communication restrictions. He said many of them turn to aerial imagery from airplanes to track changes made to their neighborhoods.
“When I was searching for my neighborhood mosque and other mosques around my hometown this year through google imagery, I was startled to find out that they were gone except for a few mosques.” Ablimit told VOA.
He said he had lost contact with his parents and brother in 2017, and one year later he found out that they were taken to “the concentration camps”.
EU antitrust regulators are investigating Google’s collection of data, the European Commission told Reuters Saturday, suggesting the world’s most popular internet search engine remains in its sights despite record fines in recent years.
Competition enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic are now looking into how dominant tech companies use and monetize data.
The EU executive said it was seeking information on how and why Alphabet unit Google is collecting data, confirming a Reuters story Friday.
“The Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of a preliminary investigation into Google’s practices relating to Google’s collection and use of data. The preliminary investigation is ongoing,” the EU regulator told Reuters in an email.
A document seen by Reuters shows the EU’s focus is on data related to local search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services, login services, web browsers and others.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has handed down fines totaling more than 8 billion euros to Google in the last two years and ordered it to change its business practices.
Google has said it uses data to better its services and that users can manage, delete and transfer their data at any time.
Corruption, poor economies, political autonomy and personal freedom are among the many issues driving demonstrators’ demands for reform around the world.
Global Protests in 2019
Algeria. In February, after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his intent to run for a fifth term, an estimated 3 million protesters in Algiers demanded a complete overhaul of Bouteflika’s regime. Bouteflika resigned in April. Elections are scheduled for December.
Bolivia. After elections in October, Bolivians in La Paz protested claims of election fraud against President Evo Morales. In November, Morales announced his resignation and fled to Mexico. His supporters have demanded his return. At least 31 people have been killed.
Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest demanding greater social reform from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Nov. 12, 2019.
Chile. Protests began in October in the capital, Santiago, over proposed hikes in subway fares. Protests soon spread around the country, with Chileans demanding income equality, better health care and more money for education. At least 22 people have been killed.
Colombia. Protests began in November over a list of issues, including lack of a national economic plan, corruption and the killing of human rights activists. Protests have drawn more than 250,000 people. At least three people have been killed.
Czech Republic. In November, more than 200,000 people in Prague demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis over allegations of fraud.
Ecuador. Protests and riots erupted in October over President Lenin Moreno’s austerity measures that proposed ending fuel subsidies and cutting the benefits and salaries of civil servants. The protests ended after indigenous groups and the Ecuadorian government reached a deal.
Egypt. Rare protests were held in Cairo, Alexandria and several other cities Sept. 20 and 27, accusing top officials of using public funds for personal fortunes. More than 4,000 people — including 11 journalists and more than 100 children and foreigners — were arrested.
FILE – Yellow Vests protesters march on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. France’s yellow vest protesters remain a force to be reckoned with five months after their movement started.
France. In November, thousands protested, demanding changes in stagnant wages, rising prices and income inequality. More than 145 people were arrested.
Haiti. In February, protesters in Port-au-Prince demanded the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse. They also demanded a transitional government and the prosecution of corrupt officials. At least 40 people have been killed since September.
Hong Kong. Protests began in March opposing a proposed bill that would have allowed Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China. The protests quickly turned into wider calls for democracy. Approximately 2 million people participated in a rally June 16. Two people have died since March.
Indonesia. In September, students in major cities protested the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission. At least two were killed. Protesters also demanded the government overturn new laws that penalized people for insulting the president, and banned extramarital sex, and gay and lesbian relations.
People walk past buildings that were burned during recent protests, in Shahriar, Iran, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran, Nov. 20, 2019.
Iran. In November, protests erupted across Iran after the government announced a 50% increase in gasoline prices. More than 140 protesters have been killed in 22 cities. More than 1,000 have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown.
Iraq. Since October, anti-corruption protests have been held in Baghdad and the south of the country. By the government’s own count, more than 350 people have died and nearly 1,000 have been injured.
Lebanon. Since October, protesters throughout the country have demanded an end to corruption, calling for a new government made up entirely of “technocrats,” or non-politicians. Protesters also demanded more jobs and improved services such as electricity, water and health care.
Russia. Since summer, approved and unapproved protests have occurred in Moscow, sparked by the city council elections from which opposition candidates were barred. More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested, some sentenced to long prison terms. Demonstrators now demand the release of jailed protesters.
Spain. Pro-independence demonstrators in the Catalonia region flooded the streets in October after nine separatist leaders were given long prison sentences for holding an illegal referendum in 2017.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli troops had shot and killed a teenager near the West Bank city of Hebron.
The ministry identified the youth as Badawi Masalmeh, 18, adding that Israeli soldiers had taken his body.
The Israeli military said its forces had spotted three people hurling firebombs at Israeli vehicles on a nearby route and had fired at them. The two others were arrested.
Tension has simmered in the West Bank in recent years, where 700,000 Israelis live in settlements across the territory that Israel captured during the 1967 Mideast war.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said the settlements don’t violate international law, reversing decades of policy and angering the Palestinians who claim the territory as part of a future state.
