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This grassroots protest movement has been driven largely by ordinary farmers like Luiten and their supporters, but it has another element: the far-right. As conspiracy-driven Telegram groups, right-wing commentators and some lawmakers would baselessly put it, Dutch farms are being shut down to make space for asylum-seekers. Right-wing populists around the world have offered their support for the farmers’ stand, including former President Donald Trump, France’s Marine Le Pen and Poland’s far-right populist government. But, in reality, many Dutch farmers are just trying to make a living. Supporters stand on highway bridges every night waving the inverted tricolor as a symbol of defiance against an unpopular government and to call for an end to the nitrogen plan.

☆ Doctors and nurses are being called back into work from vacations in a Beijing hospital on the heels of China's COVID rule shift: Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 infections that risks straining its healthcare system. Beijing reversed its pandemic containment measures a week ago. China reported 8,838 new COVID-19 infections — including asymptomatic cases — for Sunday. China reported 8,838 new COVID-19 infections — including asymptomatic cases — for Sunday, according to the country's National Health Commission — down from 10,815 on Sunday. The decline in recorded cases came after China ended mandatory mass testing a week ago, but anecdotal evidence suggests much larger numbers.

☆ Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

An ally, Richard Porter, an RNC member from Illinois, met with her in Washington to make sure she wanted to run for another two-year term. And the most ardent Trump critics among RNC members say McDaniel, Trump's pick for the post six years ago, is too close to him. Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey, said he opposes McDaniel's re-election for that reason. For McDaniel to lose, an opponent would have to win the remaining undecided RNC members and swipe nearly two dozen avowed McDaniel backers. Lori Klein Corbin, an RNC member from Arizona who hasn’t committed to any candidate, said McDaniel hasn’t asked for her vote yet.

☆ Top elections official in Texas resigns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ top elections official resigned Monday after an intense year of trying to reassure election skeptics, navigating the rocky launch of new voting laws that resulted in thousands of discarded mail ballots and overseeing a limited audit of the 2020 election. Greg Abbott, came under immediate scrutiny from the moment he took the job in October 2021. Right away, Scott was tasked with trying to give Texas voters confidence about election results and the ability to cast a ballot after Republicans passed a sweeping new voting law just weeks before his appointment. But those efforts got off to a bumpy start during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary as voters struggled to navigate new mail voting requirements, resulting in counties throwing out nearly 23,000 mail ballots. In the November elections, the rate of rejected ballots had returned to more normal levels, and Scott’s office said there were no major issues surrounding the election.

☆ Trump faces yet another reckoning in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Donald Trump is 0-for-an awful lot in Georgia since 2016. The Georgia Senate runoff represents Trump’s final opportunity to recast a painful midterm season in which his election-denying candidates flopped in swing states, casting a shadow over his nascent 2024 presidential bid. Georgia is the epicenter of American politicsThe Senate runoff in Georgia caps an extraordinary two years in which the state has emerged, somewhat unexpectedly, as the most competitive battleground in the nation. In a call on January 2, 2021, Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” sufficient votes to overturn Biden’s victory. On the eve of the Senate runoffs in January 2021, Trump returned to Georgia to campaign for then-Sens.

☆ Deshaun Watson returned in Cleveland Browns game against Houston. 10 of the women who accused him of sexual misconduct were expected to attend, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Alaa Elassar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Around 10 of the more than two dozen women who accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct were expected to attend his game in Houston on Sunday, according to their attorney. I was proud of them for that,” Tony Buzbee, the lawyer representing the accusers attending the game, told CNN in a statement. Makes me proud they want to stand up and be counted rather than quietly go away.”The NFL and the Cleveland Browns did not respond to CNN’s request for comment regarding the accusers’ attendance. We’re a huge football town, folks here have been lifelong fans of the Cleveland Browns,” Greene said. We believe that Deshaun Watson deserves a second chance.”The team’s “refusal to prioritize protecting women sends a disgusting message” to survivors of sexual assault, Nunes said.

☆ ‘I wanted to resume my transition at all costs.’ Trans Ukrainians uprooted by war struggle to continue treatment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

But for Eric and many other trans people, the war has also made it much more difficult to be who they are. HRT can be used by trans women, trans men and non-binary people to make their physical appearance more aligned with their gender identity. Anastasiia Yeva Domani is the co-founder of Cohort, a Ukrainian trans rights group. While trans Ukrainians still experience negative attitudes in some spaces, for example in shelters housing families, according to COHORT, the discriminatory Russian rhetoric has pushed more Ukrainians to speak up. The group launched a hotline for LGBTQ+ Ukrainians and opened an LGBTQ+ friendly shelter.

☆ Asian American voters could help decide the Senate runoff in Georgia, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Sakshi Venkatraman | Sakshi Venkatraman Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We’re also meeting people at their doors.”When it came to appealing to South Asian voters in Georgia, Nabilah Islam said her “secret weapon” had been under her nose for years. During her recent campaign for state Senate, the 33-year-old Bangladeshi American brought conversations about issues to aunties and uncles on their home turf: WhatsApp. She's now the first South Asian ever elected to the Georgia state Senate. A bloc starting to gain more recognitionAccording to Karthick Ramakrishnan, co-director of AAPI Data, the concerted efforts to appeal to Asian voters in Georgia are reflected in nationwide politics. Steps like these prove grassroots efforts to appeal to AAPI voters work, Makhija said.

☆ I traveled to every country in the world, including North Korea, in 558 days. These are my top 10 travel tips.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Cassie De Pecol has traveled to all 193 sovereign nations in addition to Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine. These are some of her top travel tips — from her favorite airlines to how to stay safe as a solo traveler. So I decided to go after the Guinness World Record for traveling to every country in the fastest amount of time. How I traveled to 193 countries in just over 18 monthsCassie De Pecol in North Korea. If you can, pack lightFor my trip around the world, I traveled with just a backpack.

Latino voters are expected to be consequential in determining who Georgia will send to the Senate. Latino voters provided a roughly 80,000-vote net advantage for Warnock on Election Day, according to Barreto. On the GOP side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to give Walker an edge with Latino voters through its Operación ¡Vamos! Canvassers from GALEO, a Latino nonprofit, knock on doors in Georgia ahead of the Senate runoff election on Tuesday. Ahead of the Senate runoff election, Voto Latino identified 175,000 Latinos in Georgia who are young, low-propensity voters who participated in the last election.

☆ Amazon CEO explains thinking behind layoffs as unionized warehouse workers protest outside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon, more than most tech companies, experienced a staggering pandemic boom as more customers shifted their spending online during the health crisis. Despite the landmark union victory in April, Amazon has so far refused to formally recognize the grassroots worker group known as the Amazon Labor Union, or come to the bargaining table. The company has aggressively pushed back against the workers’ victory through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Jassy also emphasized that the last two Amazon union elections held resulted in workers voting not to unionize, and that Amazon prefers to have a direct relationship with fulfillment center workers rather than going through unions. Labor activist Chris Smalls joins members of the Amazon labor union and others for a protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit as Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, will be appearing on November 30, 2022 in New York City.

While the government's decision to repeal the colonial-era sodomy law was cheered as a symbolic victory for the gay community, many worry LGBT families will continue to suffer under public policies that favour heterosexual marriages and families. But influential conservative groups that strongly opposed lifting the gay sex ban make it politically uncomfortable for the ruling party to further change laws. An alliance of more than 80 Singaporean churches has decried repealing the gay sex ban as an "extremely regrettable decision" that "celebrates homosexuality". 'PUNISHING THE CHILD'LGBT families in Singapore now worry that further change will not come in time for them. The government did not respond to Reuters' questions about the rights of LGBT families and their children's residency and access to education.

☆ Trolls, propaganda & fear stoke Bukele's media machine in El Salvador
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

In examining Bukele’s media operation, Reuters interviewed more than 70 people, including former media operatives and social media researchers. It showed Bukele with an 86% approval rating in El Salvador, making him the most popular leader in the region. “The threat in El Salvador used to be from the gangs, now it's from the state,” said Angelica Carcamo, the organization's president. “I found a lot more manipulation in El Salvador than in Mexico,” Escorcia said. A native of Guatemala, Torres has been critical of the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for creating conditions that spur migration.

☆ Republicans want Brian Kemp's mojo to rub off on Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, but hurdles remain as the governor uses his political operation to boost the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Brian Kemp has emerged as Herschel Walker's most powerful surrogate in the Georgia Senate runoff. Kemp, who won reelection as governor, didn't campaign with Walker during the general election race. This normally wouldn't be a notable act in GOP politics, but the Georgia Senate runoff election is not a normal contest. For that reason, Walker has found himself openly embracing Kemp, who came out of the general election as the biggest winner in Georgia politics. On November 7, Kemp flew around Georgia with most of the statewide GOP candidates — including Raffensperger — but Walker wasn't part of the mix.

☆ Putin met with the bereaved mothers of soldiers at an event accused of being a PR stunt to calm public anger about the high number of casualties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vladimir Putin met with bereaved mothers of soldiers in what has been accused of being a staged meeting. Putin told the women he "shared their pain" amid growing anger over the deaths of mobilized troops. Activists advocating for the relatives of dead soldiers said they had not been invited to the event. In the televised event on Friday ahead of the country's Mother's Day, Putin told a select group of bereaved mothers that he and the country's leadership "share your pain," according to The Guardian. Activists previously told The Guardian that Putin's meeting with bereaved mothers would likely be a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt, with participants preselected to avoid friction.

☆ California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he told Biden he won't run for the White House in 2024 and will support the president's expected reelection bid: 'I'm all in, count me in'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gavin Newsom told President Biden he was backing his expected 2024 reelection campaign. "He not only beat Trump once, I think he can beat him again," the California governor said of Biden. Newsom told Politico's Jonathan Martin that he "told everyone in the White House" of his decision. Newsom "told everyone in the White House" ranging "from the chief of staff to the first lady" about his intentions, he revealed to Martin — and was firmly behind the president's expected reelection bid. "I'm all in, count me in," Newsom told the pair, per his conversation with Martin.

☆ Putin accused of staging event with handpicked relatives of Russian soldiers, as Kremlin attempts to quell anger over Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Putin is expected to meet with families of Russian soldiers to quell their fears over the war. The meeting comes as families of drafted Russian soldiers are growing more critical of the war. Many in Russia have grown more critical of the war amid ongoing reports that mobilized Russian soldiers are being deployed in Ukraine with little training, poor equipment, and often no clear orders. "Of course, they didn't invite us [to the event] and we of course don't want to go," she told The Guardian. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been sent to fight in Ukraine, including some of the more than 300,000 reservists who were called up in September.

☆ Violent protests take place near an iPhone factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kriti Gandhi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Violent protests have broken out in Zhengzhou, China, following contract disputes at the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory, according to videos posted on social media and verified by NBC News. The footage was taken near the Foxconn factory, in the streets of the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, where large groups of people blocked roads during their protest. A worker disinfects the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China on Nov. 6. The protests come after Apple warned earlier this month that it had temporarily reduced iPhone 14 production at this factory because of Covid restrictions. The Foxconn factory has accommodation for over 350,000 people, but it is unclear how many employees are left working at the factory.

Conservative-led governments in oil-producing Alberta and Saskatchewan are demanding Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government cede more power on issues from climate policy to gun control. Provinces already manage non-renewable natural resources, while the federal government has some jurisdiction over the environment. Alberta's proposed legislation "undermines the authority and duty of the sovereign nations that entered into treaty," Treaty 8 First Nations Grand Chief Arthur Noskey said in the statement. First Nations only agreed in treaties to share their land to "the depth of a plow," said Chief Bobby Cameron of Saskatchewan's Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, meaning agreements did not cover oil or minerals deeper underground. The backlash against Alberta and Saskatchewan sovereignty mirrors Indigenous opposition to Quebec's attempt to secede from Canada in a 1995 referendum which it narrowly lost.

☆ The Republican far-right is seeking to place new limits on aid to Ukraine after the GOP claimed a narrow House majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Far-right Republicans want Ukraine aid restricted, with some saying it should be cut off entirely. But one analyst told Insider that broader bipartisan support for Ukraine aid remains solid. Gunner Ramer, political director of the centrist Republican Accountability Project, told Insider that a narrow Republican majority in the House meant that lawmakers such as Greene would wield outsized influence. Ukraine aid bills have, to date, all passed with broad bipartisan backing. Ayres, meanwhile, cautioned House Republicans hostile to Ukraine aid that pressing the issue could alienate moderate voters, for whom core policy issues like crime and the economy remain key.

☆ Some of Taylor Swift's biggest fans are also lawyers. After Ticketmaster's botched handling of her Eras Tour, they're mobilizing to take the ticketing giant down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nicole Tabak | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ticketmaster badly botched its sale of Taylor Swift tour tickets last week. Facing endless questions and concerns over the chaos that ensued during presales for Swift's upcoming Eras Tour, fans gathered on social media not just to commiserate, but to take action. How Ticketmaster's chaotic handling of the Eras Tour presale may lead to its undoingSwift fans shared screenshots of the long queues for tickets. "And I know that sounds stupid to people who don't love Taylor Swift the way that a lot of us do. The momentum may be thanks to her Eras Tour, but this is about holding a monopoly accountable.

Separately, police fired rubber bullets to disperse anti-government protesters in Bangkok as the host of the Asia-Paciﬁc Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, opened the conference. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called an emergency gathering of leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand on the sidelines of the summit after North Korea carried out the missile test. "This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," she said. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in Bangkok for the APEC meeting, told reporters North Korea had "repeated its provocations with unprecedented frequency". First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is representing him at APEC.

☆ Joe Biden, who turns 80 on Sunday, may struggle to win voters concerned about his age in 2024. But he's also the 'guy who knows how to beat Donald Trump.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"He knows he can beat Trump," Jim Moran, a former Democratic House member from Virginia, told Insider. As Trump trashed Biden while announcing his third presidential bid, Biden responded with a video detailing the low points of Trump's record on Twitter, writing "Donald Trump failed America." "The obligation would be cataclysmic, existential, monumental," the friend told Insider in an August interview. On Friday, the progressive "Don't Run Joe" campaign released a birthday greeting for Biden, urging him not to seek re-election. "If our focus is on winning, then going with the guy who knows how to beat Donald Trump is a pretty smart play," Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, previously told Insider.

Hong Kong/Beijing CNN Business —More than 100,000 people have signed up for a massive recruitment drive by Apple’s supplier Foxconn for the largest iPhone factory in China, according to Chinese state media. And our hiring process is now closed temporarily,” a Foxconn executive, Yang Han, in Zhengzhou told state news outlet Yicai on Thursday. Some local governments in Henan have recently also asked community officials to join the production line themselves, according to multiple Chinese state media reports. Several unidentified such officials, also known colloquially as local “grassroots officials,” or “cadres,” told state media publication Cailian Press Tuesday that they were told to work at the Zhengzhou campus from one to six months. “We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the tech giant said in a statement earlier this month.

☆ Talks at COP27 enter final stretch — but draft deal slammed for paving the way to ‘climate hell’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Around 35,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected to convene in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss collective action to tackle the climate emergency. Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty ImagesAs talks at the COP27 climate summit enter the final stretch, government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are scrambling to build consensus on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency. The U.N. climate agency on Thursday published a 20-page first draft of a hoped-for final agreement. It is highly likely to be reworked in the coming days as climate envoys in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh strive to reach an overarching deal before Friday's deadline. Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

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