Democrats on the U.S. House intelligence panel will investigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as part of a “deep dive” next year into U.S.-Saudi Arabia ties, the committee’s incoming head said in a report published on Friday.
El plan Trump obligaría a los solicitantes de asilo a esperar en México mientras se procesan sus casos
Los centroamericanos que llegan a los cruces fronterizos de EE. UU. en buscan asilo en los EE. UU. tendrán que esperar en México mientras sus peticiones se procesan bajo nuevas medidas que la administración de Trump está lista para implementar, de acuerdo con los documentos de planificación interna…
Everything Around Him Burned. He Stayed Put, and Lived to Tell the Tale. – The New York Times – Interesting story but how many made the same choice and are now dead? Story will gain readers for NYT but at what cost?
Every storm has a few holdouts, who ignore evacuation orders and hunker down at home. In the case of Kevin Jeys, he stuck it out to save his animals.
Jamaica Seeks to Add Reggae to a Unesco Cultural Heritage List
The country is hoping to add the genre to Unesco’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, an honor that would bring reggae more recognition.
Spain rejects EU offer to create separate declaration on Gibraltar after Brexit
Spain has rejected an offer from the European Union to create a declaration to clarify the situation of Gibraltar after the United Kingdom leaves the EU in the process commonly known as “Brexit.”
In the Trump era, a lighter shade of Latino can make life easier – Los Angeles Times
The day after President Trump’s election in 2016 — according to Documenting Hate, a project that tracks bias incidents around the country — a student reportedly told a seventh-grade girl in Clarksburg, W.Va., “You’re going back to Mexico now.” The girl’s father is Native American and she is not of Mexican descent. Her skin is darker, the report noted. Later that month, a woman reported that she was in line at a grocery store in Austin, Texas, when an older man picked up a newspaper with a picture of a Latino man. “Trump is going to get rid of you people,” she said he exclaimed before shaking the paper at her. The woman was white, but had darker skin. For many Latinos, the Trump era has hammered home the privilege, or lack thereof, that comes from being the light-skinned güero or dark-skinned prieto of the family.
Source: In the Trump era, a lighter shade of Latino can make life easier – Los Angeles Times
Thousands of Cuban doctors leave Brazil after Bolsonaro’s win
Hate and foolishness have consequences.

Cuba has begun pulling out 8,300 doctors working in poor and remote regions of Brazil after far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro demanded contract changes to programme
Cuba has begun withdrawing 8,300 doctors working in some of the poorest regions of Brazil, prompting fears that indigenous villages, small towns and isolated rural communities could soon be left without medical care.
The move came after Brazil’s far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro threatened to cut relations with Cuba and modify the conditions of a five-year-old agreement between the two countries and the World Health Organisation. The growing row offers a worrying sign of how the former army captain may handle diplomacy after assuming office on 1 January.
Hillary Clinton’s chilling pragmatism gives populism a free pass | Nesrine Malik
Turning right did not win the White House and will not turn away racists!

Calling on Europe’s leaders to ‘get a handle on migration’ is no counter to populists – it’s more like an endorsement
Ever since Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016, her insistence on staying in the public eye has been viewed with a particular kind of intolerance. Some on the right have turned her into a symbol of everything they hate, to be demonised at their rallies. Others, on the left, abhor her refusal to cede space to a newer generation, hanging in the air like a bad smell, a constant memory of the moment it all went wrong. But Hillary Clinton will not go away, and that is a very good thing. Not because she should remain on the scene, fighting the good fight against the forces of reaction, but because with every interview and public appearance she is revealing in the most helpful way the pointlessness of her politics.
Related: Hillary Clinton: Europe must curb immigration to stop rightwing populists
The Brexiteers’ ‘take back our waters’ pledge is meaningless hype | John Lichfield

There is no offshore El Dorado. Any ‘betrayal’ of the fishing industry is by the UK government and big business, not the EU
Fishing, which represents 0.05% of the economy, is the only UK industry to merit its own sections in the Brexit agreements that Britain has negotiated with Brussels. Car industry? No mention. Banking? See “services”. No other British industry has provoked such polarised debate since the draft withdrawal agreement and the political declaration were published.
We are told that Theresa May has betrayed the British fishing industry. We are also told that she fought hard to protect its interests from the rapacious French and Danes. We are told that she kicked the whole can of fish down the road until 2020. Which is correct? Answer: a bouillabaisse of all three.
WHO Update & Risk Assessment On Ebola In the DRC
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| WHO Ebola Dashboard |
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The World Health Organization has released their latest situation report and Risk Assessment on the Ebola outbreak which has been going in the eastern part of the DRC – very near the border with Uganda – since August 1st.
Confirmed and probable cases are approaching 400, and while that pales compared to the 28,000+ incurred during the 2014 West African epidemic, it is now the third largest on record and will likely soon take the #2 spot.
Complicating matters greatly is the lack of government control of the region, attacks on healthcare personnel, and a relatively porous border with neighboring countries – all of which could lead to a wider regional spread of the virus.
I’ve only posted some excerpts from a much longer update, so follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Disease outbreak news: Update
22 November 2018Containing the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a complex and challenging task but WHO remains confident that the outbreak can be successfully contained in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and partners.
On 16 November 2018, an armed group attacked the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) base in the Boikene District, in the city of Beni, close to the UN Ebola response residences. Response operations in Beni were briefly paused but all activities, including vaccination, resumed by 18 November. WHO condemns the attacks on peacekeepers who are integral to the ongoing efforts to manage the EVD outbreak. WHO will continue to evaluate the situation and risks involved, and remain vigilant about measures to protect responders and civilians.
Health centres have been identified as a source of disease transmission. Medications administered via injections were a notable cause of infection. Current efforts are focused on improving infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, including providing water and products for cleaning, training health providers at informal health centres and encouraging the provisision of medications which do not require injections.
During the reporting period (14 – 20 November), 36 new confirmed EVD cases were reported from Beni, Mutwanga, Kalunguta, Butembo, Katwa and Oicha while seven probable cases were reported from Kalunguta. Seven of the new cases were newborn babies and infants aged less than two years, six were children aged between 2 – 17 years and one case was a pregnant woman. Five health workers from Beni and Katwa were among the newly infected; 39 health workers have been infected to date. Ten additional survivors were discharged from Ebola treatment centres (ETCs) in Beni (six) and Butembo (four) and reintegrated into their communities; 113 patients have recovered to date.
As of 20 November, 386 EVD cases (339 confirmed and 47 probable), including 219 deaths (172 confirmed and 47 probable)1, have been reported in 11 health zones in North Kivu Province and three health zones in Ituri Province (Figure 1). The overall trends in weekly case incidence reflect continued community transmission in several cities and villages in North Kivu (Figure 2). Given the expected delays in case detection and ongoing data reconciliation activities, trends, especially in the most recent weeks, must be interpreted cautiously.
The risk of the outbreak spreading to other provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as to neighbouring countries, remains very high. Over the course of the past week, alerts have been reported from Uganda and Zambia; EVD has been ruled out for all alerts to date.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/22-november-2018-ebola-drc/en/ (SNIP)
WHO risk assessmentThis outbreak of EVD is affecting north-eastern provinces of the country, which border Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Potential risk factors for transmission of EVD at the national and regional levels include: transportation links between the affected areas, the rest of the country, and neighbouring countries; the internal displacement of populations; and the displacement of Congolese refugees to neighbouring countries. The country is concurrently experiencing other epidemics (e.g. cholera, vaccine-derived poliomyelitis, malaria), and a long-term humanitarian crisis. Additionally, the security situation in North Kivu and Ituri at times limits the implementation of response activities. WHO’s risk assessment for the outbreak is currently very high at the national and regional levels; the global risk level remains low. WHO continues to advise against any restriction of travel to, and trade with, the Democratic Republic of the Congo based on currently available information.
As the risk of national and regional spread is very high, it is important for neighbouring provinces and countries to enhance surveillance and preparedness activities. The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) Emergency Committee has advised that failing to intensify these preparedness and surveillance activities would lead to worsening conditions and further spread. WHO will continue to work with neighbouring countries and partners to ensure that health authorities are alerted and are operationally prepared to respond.


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