ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Police Raid Shutters Independent Hong Kong News Outlet For “Seditious” Content

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/12/12-29-21-hong.jpg" /></div>
In the latest pro-China crackdown on Hong Kong independent media, police raided the headquarters of vocal pro-democracy website Stand News on Wednesday and arrested at least six, including current and former editors and board members.
“Police raided Stand News’ office earlier in the day after arresting the six, including popular singer and activist Denise Ho, a former board member, on charges of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication,” the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-media-crime-arrests-hong-kong-2315777ace6e85c58eeb876c6c66feba">Associated Press</a> detailed of the raid which involved over 200 officers and the seizure of all suspected “subversive” and “seditious” journalistic materials under last year’s national security law.
Hours into the day the news website was no longer being updated, nor its active social media pages. Stand News’ HK$61 million in assets have been frozen and all employees dismissed. 
It appears to be part of a new crackdown wave against opposition Honk Kong media, following the June 2021 shuttering of the Apple Daily newspaper in a similar massive police raid which saw its publisher Jimmy Lai and top editors arrested, as HK authorities continue forcing the public firmly in line with “pro-China” policies. 
It’s now looking like the crackdown is likely to continue beyond Stand News. The AP writes further, “Early Wednesday, Stand News posted a video on Facebook of police officers at the home of a deputy editor, Ronson Chan.”
The report adds that “Chan, who is also chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was taken away for questioning, the organization confirmed in a statement.” Later released, he described that all his credentials and press pass, including all electronic devises and even bank cards were seized. 
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure>
Hong Kong police claimed in a follow-up press conference that “we are not targeting reporters” while a media industry group protested the raid. Police described Stand News in particular as having “stirred up hatred or contempt for the government and judiciary,” the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-media-crime-arrests-hong-kong-2315777ace6e85c58eeb876c6c66feba">AP</a> noted. HK police further had some friendly “advice” for all other media and journalists: 
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="23">
“We are not targeting reporters, we are not targeting the media, we just targeted national security offenses,” said Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the police National Security Department. “If you only report, I don’t think this is a problem.”
He said at a news conference that those arrested had to account for their actions even if they had resigned from Stand News.
Asked what advice he had for the media, Li replied, “Don’t be biased. You know well how to report, how to be a responsible reporter, how to make a non-biased report to your readers. That’s all I can give you.”
</blockquote>
This comes even after the outlet ceased the publication of most op-eds and removed the subscription-only membership, citing the prior national security law. Those still being detained reportedly face up to two years in prison and a fine up to HK$5,000.
Pop star Denise Ho was among the Wednesday arrests of pro-democracy media voices…
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="6.8652482269504">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="7.7234042553191">
Pop star and prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Denise Ho was arrested Wednesday morning by national security police.
She was one of seven people accused by police of "conspiracy to publish seditious material." <a href="https://t.co/vgQ0KIVTuD">https://t.co/vgQ0KIVTuD</a>
— Lalo (@LaloDagach) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaloDagach/status/1476152239882485768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
Likely it’s only a matter of time for all remaining independent and opposition outlet voices before the police come knocking, as journalists struggle to figure out what exactly “don’t be biased” actually means in the minds of pro-mainland authorities.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/police-raid-shutters-independent-hong-kong-news-outlet-for-seditious-content">https://www.infowars.com/posts/police-raid-shutters-independent-hong-kong-news-outlet-for-seditious-content</a>

news Police Raid Shutters Independent Hong Kong News Outlet For “Seditious” Content

In the latest pro-China crackdown on Hong Kong independent media, police raided the headquarters of vocal pro-democracy website Stand News...

Court Extends Hours In Ghislaine Maxwell Case To "Avoid Mistrial" Amid Covid Surge

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Court Extends Hours In Ghislaine Maxwell Case To 'Avoid Mistrial' Amid Covid Surge" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-07/0b2bc6go_british-socialite-ghislaine-maxwell-_625x300_02_July_20.jpg" title="Court Extends Hours In Ghislaine Maxwell Case To 'Avoid Mistrial' Amid Covid Surge" /></div>
UK socialite Ghislaine Maxwell faces 40 years in prison if convicted of serious charges. (File)
</div>
New York:
US jurors said they were "making progress" deciding Ghislaine Maxwell's fate in her sex crimes trial Tuesday as the judge warned of a race against time due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The 12-person New York jury ended their fourth full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in a case that could see the British socialite spend the rest of her life behind bars.
"Our deliberations are moving along and we are making progress," they said in a note to judge Alison Nathan, as they asked to be dismissed at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).
Nathan granted their request but told them they must be prepared to deliberate every day this week until they reach a verdict unless they have "unmovable commitments."
Previously they had not been due to meet on Thursday and New Year's Eve.
Nathan has already asked jurors to extend their daily schedule by one hour to 6 pm (2300 GMT), citing an "astronomical spike" in coronavirus cases in New York City caused by the fast-spreading Omicron strain.
The judge said daily deliberations were necessary to prevent cases of Covid-19 among jurors and trial participants that would force them to quarantine.
She said the measure would help "avoid a mistrial" but stressed that she didn't want to pressure the jurors into reaching a verdict.
"You should take all the time you need," Nathan told them.
If a decision is still outstanding on Wednesday, Nathan told the court she would instruct the jurors to be prepared to deliberate over New Year's Day weekend if they couldn't reach a verdict by the end of the week.
Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, is accused of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by disgraced late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The jury, which began considering Maxwell's fate on December 20, resumed deliberations on Monday after a four-day holiday break.
US prosecutors argued that the daughter of former British newspaper baron Robert Maxwell was a knowing participant in the conduct of Epstein, who killed himself in a US jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial.
Maxwell did not testify but in a defiant statement to the court said prosecutors had failed to prove her guilt.
The jury must reach a unanimous decision on any of the six counts facing Maxwell if she is to be convicted. If they fail to reach unanimity on any of the charges, the judge could declare a mistrial.
Prosecutor Alison Moe has argued Maxwell was "the key" to Epstein's scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them.
Maxwell's defense team countered that there was a lack of evidence to convict and questioned the accusers' ability to recollect quarter-century-old events.
The team also argued that Maxwell was being used as a "scapegoat" for Epstein's crimes after he evaded justice.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-socialite-ghislaine-maxwell-court-extends-hours-in-ghislaine-maxwell-case-to-avoid-mistrial-amid-covid-surge-2677103">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-socialite-ghislaine-maxwell-court-extends-hours-in-ghislaine-maxwell-case-to-avoid-mistrial-amid-covid-surge-2677103</a>

news world Court Extends Hours In Ghislaine Maxwell Case To "Avoid Mistrial" Amid Covid Surge

UK socialite Ghislaine Maxwell faces 40 years in prison if convicted of serious charges. (File) New York: US jurors said they were ...

Nearly 130,000 Covid Cases In UK, 53% Rise In London Hospital Admissions

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Nearly 130,000 Covid Cases In UK, 53% Rise In London Hospital Admissions" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-11/cbthvlc4_britain-covid-afp_625x300_03_November_21.jpg" title="Nearly 130,000 Covid Cases In UK, 53% Rise In London Hospital Admissions" /></div>
Covid In UK: Hospital admission rates are on the rise, particularly in London.
</div>
London:
England and Wales on Tuesday reported nearly 130,000 new coronavirus infections, a record daily tally as Omicron variant cases surge and the responses of the UK's four nations continue to diverge.
Authorities in London and Cardiff announced 129,471 new cases, while the devolved government in Scotland provisionally recorded 9,360 infections and Northern Ireland released no new data due to the Christmas holidays.
Recent weeks have seen daily cases cross the 100,000 threshold across the UK for the first time during the pandemic, as Omicron has become the dominant strain of Covid-19.
Britain is already among the worst hit countries in Europe with a virus death toll approaching 150,000.
Following the recent rise in infections, the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each introduced renewed curbs on hospitality and bigger social gatherings.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has responsibility for health policy in England only, has so far decided against following suit with tougher restrictions there.
Under pressure from within his own ruling Conservatives not to enact new rules, he has focused on ramping up the country's vaccine booster programme.
Nearly 33 million third doses had been administered by Tuesday, as officials race to meet a target of offering a booster jab to all adults by the end of the month.
Despite Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast all implementing their new curbs this week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday no further English rules will be rolled out before the New Year.
He vowed ministers would keep the latest data under constant review.
However, the lack of new measures goes against the advice of the government's own scientific advisers, with some experts warning it could lead to the state-run health service being overwhelmed early in 2022.
Hospital admission rates are on the rise, particularly in London -- which has been hardest hit by Omicron -- where they are up 53 percent week-on-week.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-covid-uk-coronavirus-uk-covid-cases-omicron-in-uk-uk-coronavirus-news-nearly-130-000-covid-cases-in-uk-53-rise-in-london-hospital-admissions-2677064">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-covid-uk-coronavirus-uk-covid-cases-omicron-in-uk-uk-coronavirus-news-nearly-130-000-covid-cases-in-uk-53-rise-in-london-hospital-admissions-2677064</a>

news world Nearly 130,000 Covid Cases In UK, 53% Rise In London Hospital Admissions

Covid In UK: Hospital admission rates are on the rise, particularly in London. London: England and Wales on Tuesday reported nearly 130...

Former US Senate Leader Harry Reid, Who Guided Obamacare, Dies At 82

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Former US Senate Leader Harry Reid, Who Guided Obamacare, Dies At 82" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-12/n41m81i_harry-reid-afp_625x300_29_December_21.jpg" title="Former US Senate Leader Harry Reid, Who Guided Obamacare, Dies At 82" /></div>
Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid has died at the age of 82.
</div>
Washington:
Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who rose from humble beginnings to lead the upper chamber during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has died aged 82.
"I am heartbroken to announce the passing of my husband," his wife, Landra, said in a statement released to US media, adding he died "peacefully... surrounded by our family."
Reid, who used his experience in Congress to help Obama steer his landmark Affordable Care Act through the Senate, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018.
Laconic and soft-spoken, Reid was born and raised in the mining town of Searchlight, Nevada on December 2, 1939, in a house with no hot water or indoor toilets.
A prize-fighter in his youth, he used his pugilistic instincts to work his way up to becoming one of the longest-serving majority leaders in the history of the US senate, and even called his memoir "The Good Fight."
Current Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Reid was "one of the most amazing individuals I've ever met."
"He never forgot where he came from and used those boxing instincts to fearlessly fight those who were hurting the poor & middle class," Schumer said on Twitter.
'Skill and determination'
Despite his hardscrabble upbringing, he was elected to the Senate in 1986 and became the upper chamber's Democratic leader in the 2004 elections. He served as Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015.
Reid often referred to his working class origins -- his father was a miner, his mother a laundress, and neither parent graduated from high school.
He hitchhiked 40 miles (65 kilometers) as a teenager to attend the nearest high school, and then graduated from Utah State University and put himself through George Washington University Law School by working nights as a member of the US Capitol police.
Quixotic, he once filibustered the Republicans by himself for nine hours, by reading from the history book he wrote about his hometown of Searchlight.
Reid was more conservative than most other Democrats in the Senate. A practicing Mormon, he was staunchly against abortion rights -- a stance that sometimes found him working at cross purposes with others in his Democratic caucus.
In lieu of a statement, Obama made public a letter he had written to Reid shortly before his death, in which he said: "I wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn't have got most of what I got done without your skill and determination."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Reid a "titan," describing him as "a leader of immense courage and ferocious conviction who worked tirelessly to achieve historic progress for the American people."
Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, said that Reid's rise from poverty to political power was a "quintessentially American story, and it took Harry's legendary toughness, bluntness and tenacity to make it happen."
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/harry-reid-harry-reid-death-harry-reid-cancer-former-us-senate-leader-harry-reid-who-guided-obamacare-dies-at-82-2677047">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/harry-reid-harry-reid-death-harry-reid-cancer-former-us-senate-leader-harry-reid-who-guided-obamacare-dies-at-82-2677047</a>

news world Former US Senate Leader Harry Reid, Who Guided Obamacare, Dies At 82

Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid has died at the age of 82. Washington: Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevad...

"People Of Russia... Deserve Better": US Condemns Rights Group Shutdown

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'People Of Russia... Deserve Better': US Condemns Rights Group Shutdown" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-12/et23pg_memorial-russia-reuters_625x300_28_December_21.jpg" title="'People Of Russia... Deserve Better': US Condemns Rights Group Shutdown" /></div>
The Russian court ruling sparked an international backlash.
</div>
Moscow:
Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of Memorial, the country's most prominent rights group that chronicled Stalin-era purges and symbolised post-Soviet democratisation.
The ruling against Memorial International, the group's central structure, caps a year that began with the jailing of President Vladimir Putin's top critic Alexei Navalny and saw a historic crackdown on rights groups and independent media.
But the ban against Memorial stands out even in the current climate and would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
Judge Alla Nazarova ordered the closure of Memorial International and its regional branches after prosecutors accused the organisation of failing to mark its publications with a "foreign agent" label, the tag for groups receiving overseas funds.
"Disgrace! Disgrace!" supporters shouted in court after the ruling.
Prosecutors also accused Memorial International of denigrating the memory of the Soviet Union and its victories and rehabilitating "Nazi criminals".
During Tuesday's hearing, a prosecutor said Memorial "creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state and denigrates the memory of World War II".
The decision is the hardest blow yet to the organisation founded in 1989 by Soviet dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
The ruling came after Putin accused the group of advocating for "terrorist and extremist organisations".
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Memorial International said it would appeal and find "legal ways" to continue its work.
"Memorial is not an organisation, it is not even a social movement," the statement said. "Memorial is the need of the citizens of Russia to know the truth about its tragic past, about the fate of many millions of people."
'Devastating news'
The court ruling also sparked an international backlash.
"The persecution of International Memorial and Memorial Human Rights Center is an affront to their noble missions and to the cause of human rights everywhere," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
"The people of Russia- and the memory of the millions who suffered from Soviet-era repression- deserve better."
The decision, Blinken added, "follows a year of rapidly shrinking space for independent civil society, media, and pro-democracy activists in Russia".
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Memorial International's dissolution was a "terrible loss" for Russia, adding the decision was "deeply worrying" for the future of historical research and the defence of human rights.
Germany called the court's decision "more than incomprehensible" and said it went against international obligations to protect fundamental civil rights.
Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary general of the Council of Europe, said the "devastating news" meant Russia appeared to be moving "further away from our common European standards and values".
Dozens of supporters gathered outside the courthouse in freezing temperatures and several people were detained.
Memorial is a loose structure of locally registered organisations, with Memorial International maintaining the network's extensive archives in Moscow and coordinating its work.
The group has spent years cataloguing atrocities committed in the Soviet Union, especially in the notorious network of prison camps, the Gulag.
Supporters say its closure signals the end of an era in Russia's post-Soviet democratisation process, which began 30 years ago this month.
'Tragedy for Russia'
Author Leonid Bakhnov, whose grandfather was executed at the peak of Stalin-era purges in 1937, said the group's closure was "a tragedy for Russia".
"What a wonderful New Year they arranged for us," he said bitterly.
Memorial's founders have denied any serious violations, saying only an insignificant number of documents may have been missing the "foreign agent" tag.
Tuesday's hearing was one of two cases brought against the group. Prosecutors have also demanded a court close Memorial's Human Rights Centre, accusing it of condoning "terrorism and extremism" in addition to breaching the "foreign agent" legislation.
On Wednesday, a Moscow court will hold a new hearing in that case.
Memorial's Human Rights Centre has campaigned for the rights of political prisoners, migrants and other marginalised groups and highlighted abuses, especially in the turbulent North Caucasus region that includes Chechnya.
Political analyst Anton Orekh said the closure of Memorial was akin to the "public justification of Stalin purges".
"The consequences for the present and the future of our country will be catastrophic," he added.
Auschwitz Memorial said on Twitter: "A power that is afraid of memory will never be able to achieve democratic maturity."
On Monday, a court in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk increased by two years a 13-year prison sentence for the head of Memorial in Karelia, Yury Dmitriyev, in a sex abuse case his supporters call punishment for his work.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-russia-relations-memorial-international-russia-rights-group-shutdown-on-assam-chief-ministers-congress-culture-jibe-grand-old-partys-reply-2677029">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-russia-relations-memorial-international-russia-rights-group-shutdown-on-assam-chief-ministers-congress-culture-jibe-grand-old-partys-reply-2677029</a>

news world "People Of Russia... Deserve Better": US Condemns Rights Group Shutdown

The Russian court ruling sparked an international backlash. Moscow: Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of Memori...

US Ends Covid-Related Southern Africa Travel Bans

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US Ends Covid-Related Southern Africa Travel Bans" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-11/1lrs92sg_south-africa-airport-reuters-650_625x300_28_November_21.jpg" title="US Ends Covid-Related Southern Africa Travel Bans" /></div>
The White House had already said it would end the travel restrictions. (File)
</div>
Washington:
President Joe Biden formally announced Tuesday he will lift a ban this week on travel from South Africa and other countries in the region, imposed due to fear of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
"The travel restrictions... are no longer necessary to protect the public health" and will end on Friday, Biden said in a proclamation.
The White House had already said it would end the restrictions but Biden's proclamation makes the decision effective at 12:01 am in Washington on Friday (0501 GMT).
Biden said that he was lifting the bans on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noting that US researchers, "in collaboration with the South African scientists who originally reported the variant, have made substantial progress in understanding the Omicron variant."
While the Covid strain has now spread to more than 100 countries including the United States, the threat level is considered lower than initially feared because "scientific experts have determined that people who are vaccinated against Covid-19 are protected against severe disease," Biden said.
Countries around the world blocked travel from southern Africa after the variant was detected in South Africa, which reported Omicron to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24.
WHO and the United Nations spoke out against the travel bans, while officials in South Africa said they were being punished for identifying the strain and being transparent.
The ban applied to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-ends-covid-related-southern-africa-travel-bans-2677007">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-ends-covid-related-southern-africa-travel-bans-2677007</a>

news world US Ends Covid-Related Southern Africa Travel Bans

The White House had already said it would end the travel restrictions. (File) Washington: President Joe Biden formally announced Tuesda...