Social Media

Donald Trump has said that a dossier alleging that he engaged in “perverted sexual behaviour” and paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests is “false” and “phoney”, and is seeking to sue for damages in London. The former US president indicated that he was willing to give evidence at the high court in his case alleging breach of data protection rights by Orbis Business Intelligence over the 2016 “Steele dossier”. The dossier, investigating Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential campaign, was compiled by the Orbis co-founder Christopher Steele, who previously ran MI6’s Russia desk. Trump was not present for the high court hearing, which will determine whether the case can go to trial. However, in a written witness statement, he said: “The only way that I can fully demonstrate the total inaccuracies of the personal data in the dossier is to bring these proceedings and to prove, by evidence at trial, that the data are false. FULL STORY

Defence minister says Chinese jet came within five meters of Canadian surveillance plane on UN operation over international waters Canada’s defence minister has accused China fighter jets of carrying out a “dangerous and reckless” interception of a Canadian military plane over international waters. Bill Blair spoke after Canada’s Global News said a Chinese jet had come within five meters (16ft) of a Canadian surveillance plane taking part in a UN operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea. The incident took place in international waters off the coast of China, said Global, which had a crew on the plane. Blair said that while the Chinese air force regularly interacted with planes on UN missions, the incident on Monday had put the Canadian aircraft at significant risk. FULL STORY

Vendors in the Chinese border city of Heihe complain of a shortage of business President Vladimir Putin is making a key trip to Russia's most important ally, China, that will seek to shore up an alliance against the West and celebrate China-Russia ties. The small city of Heihe sits along China's border with Russia. Local tourists come here to peek into neighbouring Blagoveshchensk, just across the river, but there are not many of them. A tour boat sits idle on the water, pumping out happy-sounding Chinese songs in an attempt to attract customers, but with nobody buying tickets it doesn't look like it's going to move all day. Across the water, a Russian coastguard ship is parked, and officers pass the time doing exercises on deck in the autumn sun. When Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics at the beginning of last year, he and Xi Jinping announced a new "no limits" partnership between their countries. Now, with Russia's leader back in the Chinese capital, China's state media has been hailing the fruits of this relationship. In one way, it has been beneficial for both governments. They can reassure one another when they are frozen out on the world stage, and images of their handshakes are useful to try to show their own people that all is normal, with such powerful friends standing together. However, business activity in their border zones does not appear to live up to the political rhetoric. FULL STORY

Two Swedish nationals have been shot dead and a third person injured in Brussels, in an attack which prosecutors are treating as terrorism. The Belgium-Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier football match being played in the city was abandoned. Brussels is on its highest terror alert as the gunman, who appeared to have an assault rifle, remains at large. French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on a visit to Albania, said: "Europe has been shaken." A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, Eric van Duyse, urged the public to "go home and stay at home as long as the threat has not been eradicated". He said a man claiming to be the attacker had said in a video on social media he had been inspired by the Islamic State group. A video shows an Arabic-speaking man saying he carried out the attack in the name of God and that he killed three people. The video and others uploaded during the attack are being verified by police, the BBC has been told. FULL STORY

I think there is a Sukhumvit in just aboiut every major town, care to be a bit more specific ?

Cricket, lacrosse, flag football, softball-baseball and squash receive approval for 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; cricket set to return to the event for the first time since 1900 Games in Paris; squash and flag football poised for Olympic debuts Five sports, including cricket and flag football, will be included at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after receiving the approval of the International Olympic Committee. Lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball also received the green light at an official IOC meeting in Mumbai on Monday with only two delegates voting against the five new events. Each host city, under IOC rules, can request the inclusion of several sports for their edition of the Games. Cricket has only appeared once at the Olympics, at the Paris Games in 1900 when Great Britain beat France by 158 runs a one-off final, but IOC president Thomas Bach said last week that the game's "growing popularity" made it an attractive proposition. Bach said: "We are ready to welcome the world's best players of cricket to perform in the United States in 2028, while showcasing iconic American sports to the world. FULL STORY

President Biden in a new interview dismissed the idea that the United States could not simultaneously support Israel in its war against Hamas and Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We’re the United States of America for God’s sake, the most powerful nation in the history — not in the world, in the history of the world,” Biden said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday. “We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense.” Biden argued that the two conflicts “overwhelmingly” relate to the safety of the American people. “In Ukraine one of my objectives was to prevent [Russian President Vladimir Putin], who has committed war crimes himself, who — from being able to occupy an independent country that borders NATO allies and is on the Russian border,” Biden said. “Imagine what happens now if he were able to succeed. Have you ever known a major war in Europe we didn’t get sucked into? We don’t want that to happen.” “We want to make sure those democracies are sustained. And Ukraine is critical in making sure that happens,” Biden added. Biden sat down with “60 Minutes” at the White House days after Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, launched terrorist attacks against Israel that left 1,000 Israelis dead. Thousands more Palestinians have been killed in ensuing fighting in Gaza. More than two dozen Americans were killed in the attacks, and more than a dozen remain unaccounted for. The Biden administration has moved military assets closer to Israel in support of the Jewish state and has sent munitions and interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. At the same time, Congress has provided billions of dollars in military and financial assistance to Ukraine in the roughly 20 months since Russia launched an unprovoked invasion in February 2022. FULL STORY

President Biden said in a new interview that it would be a “big mistake” if Israel once again occupied Gaza as it fights the militant group Hamas following an attack and subsequent war that has left thousands dead. “I think it’d be a big mistake,” Biden said when asked by CBS’s Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” if he would support Israeli occupation of Gaza at this point of the war. Gaza has been under heavy bombardment by Israel, and Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive soon. “Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that … it would be a mistake … for Israel to occupy … Gaza again,” Biden added. “But going in but taking out the extremists — the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south — is a necessary requirement.” Israel formally withdrew its military presence as well as its settlements from inside Gaza in 2005. The enclave had been controlled by the Palestinian Authority before that following the Oslo accords. The year after Israel withdrew from the territory, Hamas was elected to govern the area. No elections have been held in Gaza since. Israeli armed forces have launched a counteroffensive against Hamas, which currently governs Gaza, after Hamas launches a deadly and brutal attack against Israel last weekend. Since then, the war has claimed more than 3,600 lives across Israel and Gaza. Israel has called for 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate to its southern end. U.S. officials said Sunday they have been working to assist Americans looking to leave the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but that no Americans have been able get out that they know of. FULL STORY

At least 29 people, including young children, have been killed in an attack on a camp for displaced people in Myanmar’s Kachin state, according to media reports and two local activists. Dozens more people were injured in the attack, which happened at about 11.30pm on Monday night in Kachin, Myanmar’s northernmost state, it was reported. Unverified images on social media, showed men carrying victims, including a small child, from the rubble in the darkness. The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a political group that has long sought greater autonomy for the Kachin ethnic minority, said 29 people had been killed and 57 injured. This included 11 children under the age of 16. It said the attack was from heavy artillery, not an airstrike as some had previously suggested. Estimates of the death toll have varied. A Kachin activist based in Laiza, who spoke anonymously, earlier told the Guardian 33 people had been killed, including 13 children. A three-month-old baby was among the victims, she said. She added that the death toll could rise further because the camp covered a large area and volunteers were still recovering bodies. Homes in the camps were built on mountains, she added, and so houses had become buried under the soil. “Houses in the camp are very closed to each other, so the situation is totally messed up,” she said, adding that the attack was only the latest of the military’s “inhumane acts”. “There are many cases like this. This is not the only case,” she said. The attack took place at Mung Lai Hkyet IDP camp, a few kilometres from a military base run by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military wing of the KIO and one of many groups fighting against Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in 2021. The area, near the border with China, has been the scene of frequent armed clashes over recent months. The UN has warned of limited humanitarian access in Kachin state and many other areas of the country, describing a dire level of need. FULL STORY

Australia’s crypto crackdown is starting to take shape with the government revealing the next steps in its bid to regulate the digital currency. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, unveiled his proposal to make crypto exchanges and digital asset platforms subject to existing Australian financial services laws. The government is also proposing to make platform operators obtain an Australian financial services licence. Platforms that hold over $1,500 of an individual’s assets or $5m in aggregate will be covered by the changes. Minimum standards for digital assets such as tokens are also being reviewed. About a quarter of Australians own some sort of crypto. Online platforms hold billions of dollars in assets and expose Australians to significant risks, the proposal paper says. “Collapses of digital asset platforms, both locally and globally, have seen Australians lose their assets or be forced to wait their turn amongst long lines of creditors,” it says. “These reforms seek to reduce the risk of these collapses happening, by lifting the standard of their operations and increasing their oversight.” Chalmers said the government was moving “decisively and methodically to ensure that consumers are adequately protected and innovation can flourish”. Feedback on the proposal paper closes 1 December and consultation for draft legislation will continue next year. FULL STORY

US actress Suzanne Somers has died at the age of 76 following a decades-long battle with cancer, her publicist has confirmed. "Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday," reads a statement shared with media. "Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly." As well as an actress, Somers was an author and fitness guru. She began her acting career in the late 1960s and early 1970s with small parts in TV shows including The Love Boat and One Day at a Time before landing the role of Chrissy Snow in Three's Company in 1977. Somers starred in the show for five of its eight seasons before being fired following a dispute over pay. Following a break from on-screen acting that included a stint as an entertainer in Las Vegas, she returned to on-screen acting in the early 1990s - taking up a lead role in Step by Step, which ran for seven seasons. FULL STORY

A tide of humanity has washed into Khan Younis. Hundreds of thousands fled here from the north on whatever could carry them - cars if there was fuel, horse and cart if one could be found, their own feet if there was no other option. And what they found was a city on its knees, ill-prepared for its population to literally double overnight. Every room, every alley, every street is packed with men, women and the young. And there is nowhere else to go. Hamas say 400,000 of the 1.1 million people who call northern Gaza home headed south down the Salah al-Din Road in the last 48 hours, following Israel's order to leave. I was among them, along with my wife and three children, and two days' worth of food. For many, the threat of Israel's bombs and impending invasion - which comes after gunmen from Gaza killed 1,300 in Israel - cancels out Hamas's order to stay put. But in this narrow strip of land, blockaded on all sides and cut off from the rest of the world, options for where one ends up are limited. Safety is never guaranteed. And so a teeming mass of Gazans, many already bombed out of their homes, all lost, all afraid, all knowing nothing of what comes next, converged here. This city, normally home to 400,000 people, has ballooned to more than a million overnight. As well as the north, they have come from the east, which suffered terribly in the 2014 war. FULL STORY

c2008a22c8814322155baa76f137577c.mp4

Name removed as per forum rules

EU laws could block the UK from sending asylum seekers to Rwanda despite Brexit, lawyers have argued in the Supreme Court. The government is challenging a Court of Appeal ruling from June that its multimillion-pound plan to deport migrants to Rwanda to have their claims processed is unlawful. Richard Drabble KC, who represents one of the asylum seekers who challenged being sent to the east African country, argued in the UK’s highest court on Wednesday that the UK was still signed up to a crucial part of EU law, which bans the removal of asylum seekers to a country where they have no connection. The argument, if it is accepted, was described as a potential “knockout blow” for the government’s Rwanda deal by Supreme Court judge Lord Reed. Mr Drabble told the court: “The EU bans removal of people to countries to which they have no connection ... that part of EU law has been retained in UK law following our removal from the European Union.” He argued that the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 had withdrawn the UK from EU law relating to immigration, but had not mentioned asylum law. “Immigration and asylum are distinct concepts in EU law, which are subject to distinct legal frameworks,” he said. He added that UK lawmakers had “no intention to repeal a whole corpus of asylum rights” when they were writing the EU withdrawal act for Brexit FULL STORY

A number of posts have been removed. Please do not post just a link, it will be removed. Post something, an explanation, description something as to what the link is referring to. Please ddo not post videos from Dr.Campbell, they will be removed.

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attacks a week ago. Elsewhere, Jewish communities in the US, France and other countries held rallies on Friday in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country’s 75-year history. There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks, but the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in Arab and Muslim countries. In Turkey, crowds gathered outside mosques chanting against Israel and saluting Hamas. In the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, 46-year-old business owner Mikail Bakan said: “All the Muslim world needs to be one against Israel.” In Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, youths set fires on the streets and clashed with the Israeli military. A huge Palestinian flag was passed overhead at a protest in Rome, and demonstrations took place in other European cities including in Braband in Denmark and in Berlin, where some protesters were detained by police. Germany and France had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and several western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to violence. Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel’s bombardment of the blockaded enclave, calling on them to march on al-Aqsa mosque. FULL STORY

Israel and Gaza explode, Ukraine asks for more help and other predicaments demand US attention while Republicans quarrel among themselves The US’s closest ally in the Middle East is reeling from what many call its “9/11” and now a humanitarian disaster looms in Gaza. Winter is approaching in Ukraine, which needs urgent supplies to maintain its counteroffensive against Russia. From China’s expansive ambitions, to coups in Africa, to the climate crisis, the world is crying out for leadership. But on Capitol Hill in Washington, Republicans can’t find one. Friday marked the 10th day of paralysis as the party struggles to elect a speaker of the House of Representatives to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy. This after majority leader Steve Scalise won a closed-door vote but abandoned his run because he lacked enough support to win on the House floor. Such petty bickering, grievances and vendettas might typically fascinate seasoned Washington watchers and readers of political insider newsletters but be met by a shrug by many Americans and indifference overseas. This time, however, is different. The ripples of Republican dysfunction could soon be felt across a troubled world. “It’s a dangerous game that we’re playing,” Michael McCaul, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, told reporters on Thursday. “It just proves our adversaries right that democracy doesn’t work. Our adversaries are watching us and Israel is watching. They need our help.” McCaul, a Republican congressman from Texas, has put forward a bipartisan resolution with Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the committee, condemning Hamas and reaffirming support for Israel. But the House cannot vote on it until there is a speaker in the chair. McCaul added: “I’m going to remind my colleagues about how dangerous this is. If we don’t have a speaker, we can’t assist Israel in this great time of need after this terrorist attack. So I think we’re playing with fire and we need to stop playing games and politics with this and vote a speaker in.” Analysis byDavid Smith in Washington FULL ARTICLE:

The agony goes on. Ireland must wonder what they have to do to break this quarter-final curse, how long to spend as No 1 in the world, how many grand slams to win, how many victories in a row. Instead, let the record state: eight quarter-finals, eight defeats. So much came to an end. Not just the dream of a World Cup semi-final; not just the career of Johnny Sexton, who wandered the pitch in tears at the end; not just a run of 17 consecutive Test wins, only one shy of the record held by England and, yes, these blessed All Blacks. And for the All Blacks the record reads: nine quarter-finals, eight wins. How New Zealand have suffered themselves of late, toppled for some time from their perch as the perennial champions of all things rugby union. This may not mean a return to the top for them just yet –although they must feel a semi-final against Argentina is eminently winnable – but that familiar precision, that doggedness in defence, that nose for victory has been regained. FULL STORY

Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in the country’s constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues. Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed. To succeed, the yes campaign – advocating for the voice – needed to secure a double majority, meaning it needed both a majority of the national vote, as well as majorities in four of Australia’s six states. The defeat will be seen by Indigenous advocates as a blow to what has been a hard fought struggle to progress reconciliation and recognition in modern Australia, with First Nations people continuing to suffer discrimination, poorer health and economic outcomes. More than 17 million Australians were enrolled for the compulsory vote, with many expats visiting embassies around the world in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s poll. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called for Australians to show “kindness” to each other after the referendum. “This moment of disagreement does not define us. And it will not divide us,” he said. “We are not yes voters or no voters. We are all Australians. And it is as Australians together, that we must take our country beyond this debate without forgetting why we had it in the first place.” The vote occurred 235 years on from British settlement, 61 years after Aboriginal Australians were granted the right to vote, and 15 years since a landmark prime ministerial apology for harm caused by decades of government policies including the forced removal of children from Indigenous families. FULL STORY

France led a trio of teams to qualify for the Euro 2024 tournament as Kylian Mbappe’s double gave them a 2-1 away win against the Netherlands on Friday. The World Cup runners-up, who have a perfect record in Group B, will be joined in the June 14-July 14 tournament in Germany by Portugal and Belgium. Portugal also maintained a perfect record in Group J by beating Slovakia 3-2 at home while Belgium qualified from Group F with a 3-2 away victory against Austria. France have not missed a Euro finals since 1988 and were too good for an injury-ravaged Netherlands side at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Mbappé, who left the training camp for a day for personal reasons this week, volleyed home in the seventh minute from Jonathan Clauss’s perfect cross. Les Bleus allowed the hosts to gain confidence before the interval but Mbappé made sure there would be no comeback eight minutes into the second half. The 24-year-old, who has had an inconsistent start to the season with Paris Saint-Germain, collected a subtle layoff from Adrien Rabiot before curling a sublime shot into the far top corner from the edge of the box for his 42nd international goal. It took him past the France great Michel Platini into fourth place on the national team’s all-time top scorers list behind Olivier Giroud (54) Thierry Henry (51) and Antoine Griezmann (44). Griezmann was playing a record-extending 81st consecutive game for France. Stephen Kenny’s reign as Republic of Ireland manager reached the point of no return after a comprehensive 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Greece finally killed off any hope of Euro 2024 qualification. First-half goals from Giorgos Giakoumakis and Giorgos Masouras at a sparsely-populated Aviva Stadium plunged Ireland’s shambolic Group B campaign further into the mire and left Kenny, whose tenure is due to be reviewed next month, with nowhere to turn. FULL STORY

Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the war in Ukraine, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion. Treason, betrayal and grief in Hroza Fifty-nine people died and six were wounded last week when a Russian missile hit a cafe hosting a wake for a Ukrainain soldier in the village of Hroza. It was one of the worst episodes in Moscow’s bloody war. According to Kyiv’s SBU intelligence agency, it was also a story of treason and betrayal, Luke Harding and Phil Caller reported. For seven months last year, Russian soldiers occupied Hroza. They moved into private houses, looted cars and demanded vodka. Most villagers resented their new foreign overlords. A few welcomed them. They included two brothers, Volodymyr and Dmytro Mamon, who grew up in the village and served as police officers. Both, it is alleged, defected to the Russian side. In early October, the brothers allegedly began collecting information about a funeral. “Volodymyr Mamon gave this information to the Russians,” the SBU alleges. The SBU says Mamon knew that the locals who had tipped him off about the event would be inside the cafe. He understood they “would surely die”. Chat messages released by the agency suggest Mamon held a grudge against one attender. In one, he asks to be reminded of the name of the cafe “back in the homeland”. In another, he writes: “Tell me when he is dead.” An icy mood in the Arctic town of Barentsburg Until recently, the mostly Russian and Ukrainian residents of the Russian-owned town of Barentsburg have had remarkably warm relations with their predominantly Norwegian Arctic neighbours along the coast in the settlement of Longyearbyen. There were regular cultural exchanges, with visiting symphony orchestras and children’s choirs, chess competitions and sport fixtures. But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the two communities have found themselves on the edge of the west’s last remaining interaction point with Russia. And the mood has turned decidedly icy, Miranda Bryant reported. FULL ARTICLE

The JP Morgan boss, Jamie Dimon, has warned the world may be living through “the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades” as Israel prepares to launch an expected ground offensive on Gaza. The escalating conflict could have “far-reaching impacts” on energy prices, food costs, international trade and diplomatic ties, he said as JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, reported earnings for the latest quarter. While the lender posted another robust set of results, Dimon cautioned that interest rates may increase further in the United States, as the savings of consumers dwindle. Dimon said: “The war in Ukraine compounded by last week’s attacks on Israel may have far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships. This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades. “While we hope for the best, we prepare the firm for a broad range of outcomes so we can consistently deliver for clients no matter the environment.” Earlier this week, Dimon informed staff that JP Morgan employees in the region had been confirmed safe. “This past weekend’s attack on Israel and its people and the resulting war and bloodshed are a terrible tragedy,” he wrote in an internal memo seen by the Guardian. In a later memo, he told employees that the conflict in the Middle East would have “ripple effects that extend far beyond the region”. Global companies have scrambled in recent days to account for their staff and formulate public comments on developments. Antonio Neri, the chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, described Saturday’s attack by Hamas as “unjustified and inexcusable”. FULL STORY

Thousands pack into cars and trucks or leave on foot after Israel told them to go, as violence flares in East Jerusalem and West Bank Thousands of people have been fleeing to the southern half of Gaza before an expected ground invasion of the blockaded strip as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict descends into its bloodiest period in decades. Hamas said 70 people had been killed when warplanes struck cars fleeing south on Friday, while Israel’s military said that its troops backed by tanks had conducted the first raids inside Gaza since the crisis began. Amid growing fears of escalating violence on several fronts after last weekend’s massacre of Israeli civilians by the militant group Hamas, almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million trapped civilians faced the decision of whether to leave home, possibly never to return, after the Israeli army issued mass evacuation orders in the early hours of Friday. Messages from Hamas broadcast by mosques around the strip called on residents to stay put on Friday after the order from Israel for the population to move south of the Gaza River, just south of Gaza City. Hamas called it “Israeli propaganda” and urged residents to “hold on to your homes and land”. Joe Biden said it was a priority to “urgently address the humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. “We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas’s appalling attacks, and they’re suffering as a result as well,” he said. The UN warned that the order to flee en masse would be calamitous, and urged Israel to reverse its order. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said the situation in Gaza had reached “a dangerous new low” and called for immediate humanitarian access. “Even wars have rules,” he said. But Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the bombardment of Gaza was “just the beginning” of his country’s response. “Our enemies have only just begun to pay the price,” he said late on Friday. FULL STORY