Coronavirus: Merkel Urges for Stricter Lockdown as COVID Deaths Peak in Germany | DW News

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for much tougher restrictions on public life going into Christmas. She came out explicitly in favor of the recommendations that Germany's National Academy of Science, Leopoldina, released on Tuesday. They call for an end to required school attendance starting Dec. 14, an extended Christmas school break, full closure of businesses and working from home to the fullest extent possible. Merkel said she opposed opening hotels so families could meet over the Christmas and New Year's holidays and that she agreed with recommendations to close shops after Christmas until January 10. Merkel made her remarks in the Bundestag parliament Wednesday morning as part of the debate over the government’s 2021 budget debate. These debates are traditionally an opportunity to take stock of government performance over the previous year. This was Merkel's last budget debate, as she will not stand for reelection next year, after 15 years of heading the German government. Merkel pushed back against criticism over her government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing the country was going through an "exceptional situation." Merkel said the new debt the government has taken on as it imposes measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 was justified. "We are living in a pandemic, we are living in an exceptional situation," she told lawmakers in the Bundestag.

Whether Germany remains an example of how to cope with the pandemic is under debate. The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public disease health authority, on Wednesday announced a record daily death toll in Germany of 590 people bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 19,932 with more than 1.2 million infections.

Merkel came under sharp criticism from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The party's co-leader Alice Weidel called for an end to "counterproductive lockdowns" and slammed what she called Merkel's "aimless and grotesque" handling of the pandemic. "She locks up citizens and destroys entire industries," said Weidel, who argued a lockdown was being imposed with a "sledgehammer" and will lead to more harm than good. Merkel also warned that the dark days of the pandemic were not yet over, saying that there would not be enough vaccines available in the first quarter of 2021 to significantly tamp down COVID-19. However, she said that with the right measures in place, deaths could be reduced. "The most important key to us successfully fighting the virus is the responsible behavior of every individual and the willingness to cooperate," the chancellor said. Merkel does not have the authority to implement new measures on her own. She needs the agreement of the leaders of Germany’s 16 states.Some, such as Saxony and Bavaria, are already on board with tougher restrictions

Merkel Gets Emotional in Speech | DW News

German Chancellor Angela Merkel begs Germans to follow coronavirus restrictions in an unusually emotional appeal ahead of Christmas. She urged Germans to heed scientists' warnings and calls for stricter lockdown measures in a passionate speech: "Europe is where it is today thanks to the Enlightenment and the belief that there are scientific findings which are real and should be followed."

Spain’s Juan Carlos Makes a Big Tax Payment amid New Financial Probe

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The former king of Spain paid about $820,000, his lawyer said. He did not say why, but the news came amid the latest investigation into possible financial wrongdoing by Juan Carlos.

MADRID — King Juan Carlos, Spain’s former monarch, has paid about $820,000 in back taxes, his lawyer said on Wednesday, amid an investigation by prosecutors into whether he and other members of the royal family used bank accounts in other people’s names to hide assets from the tax authorities[.]

The king’s lawyer, Javier Sánchez-Junco Mans, did not say why or when Juan Carlos had made the payment. But the announcement came just a month after Spanish media revealed an investigation into possible tax evasion and money laundering based on the former king and his relatives using those bank accounts to pay their credit card charges.

The anticorruption prosecutor’s office has confirmed the existence of a new case involving the king, but has not elaborated. He was already the subject of another investigation by the same office. » | Raphael Minder | Wednesday, December 9, 2020

France Takes On Islamist Extremism with New Bill

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The French government says draft legislation aimed at combating the extremist ideology that has taken many lives on French soil in recent years is a “law of freedom” necessary for peaceful coexistence.

PARIS — The French government, determined to combat an ideology it views as “the enemy of the Republic,” on Wednesday unveiled draft legislation to combat radical Islamism, calling the measure “a law of freedom” essential to peaceful coexistence in French society.

The law, which has been assailed by Turkey and other Muslim countries, and criticized as “heavy-handed” by the U.S. envoy on international religious freedom, reflects President Emmanuel Macron’s resolve to address a series of terror attacks that have left more than 260 people dead in France since 2015. Three such attacks in recent months, including the beheading of a history teacher, Samuel Paty, who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class, have hardened positions around the legislation.

“This bill is not a text aimed against religions or against the Muslim religion in particular,” Prime Minister Jean Castex declared after the cabinet approved the draft law. “It is the reverse — it is a law of freedom, it is a law of protection, it is a law of emancipation against religious fundamentalism.” » | Roger Cohen | Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Surviving the Holocaust: Full Show

“You don’t ever expect to be hauled out of your house, marched into a gas chamber, and be choked to death,” says Irene Fogel Weiss.

Yet, that is exactly what happened to most of her family in the summer of 1944. Irene was thirteen at the time, and by several twists of fate, she survived.

“There is a life force in all of us that you just want to live another day,” she says. “Let’s survive this. We have to survive this.” Irene shares her story of survival with hundreds of high school students every year. In this program, we listen in on her presentation to Woodson High School students as she shares a personal account of the events that lead to the Holocaust. She discusses her life as a child in Hungary, the changes she witnessed as the Nazis took power, and all manner of degradations imposed on the Jewish people.

Irene describes how her family was ostracized from society and how the Jewish “ghettos” were created. She discusses what her family did and did not know about Nazi practices across Europe and how the deportation of Jews worked. She recounts her arrival at the worst of all Nazi death camps – Auschwitz-Birkenau – and shares historic photos, taken by the Nazis, which capture the very day that her family arrived. She talks about the painful separation from her family and what it was like to be a prisoner at Auschwitz.

After sharing the story of her liberation and rebuilding her life in America, Irene examines the questions of propaganda and humanity that surround the Holocaust. She helps students understand the importance of critical examination of information and comparing sources. She discusses how a basic lack of empathy and humanity toward each other can lead to cruel, and ultimately horrific, behaviors. Irene uses her experience in the Holocaust as a lesson for us all.

Under Boris Johnson, Corruption Is Taking Hold in Britain

THE GUARDIAN: Cronyism is rife, our system of checks and balances is being dismantled, and ordinary people will soon start to suffer

Many people view the government’s handling of Covid-19 and the Brexit negations as incompetent and lacking common sense. But beneath all the controversies about test and trace, PPE and deal or no deal, what if there is an ideological agenda being cunningly and cynically executed during this time of crisis?

Boris Johnson once described Covid-19 as an “invisible mugger”. I’m starting to wonder if that is how we will come to see his government’s impact on our country. That’s because Johnson has used his parliamentary majority, and the Conservatives’ innumerable business and media friends, to systematically relieve us of our democratic checks and balances, and even our freedoms. » | Gina Miller | Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Little Appetite on Streets of Brussels for Drama of Crunch Brexit Dinner

THE GUARDIAN: European quarter deserted before high-stakes meeting between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen

It may have been billed as the dinner that will decide the fate of Brexit, but on the half-frozen and almost wholly deserted streets of Brussels’ windswept European quarter there were few who seemed to know, and even fewer who cared.

“Are they really?” asked Emma Delprez, 37, a PR consultant, informed that the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, and Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, were due to meet later in a do-or-die attempt to break the impasse.

“I had no idea. I’ve kind of given up following it, to be honest. It seems to have been going on for ever. I don’t understand the ins and outs of it but the English do seem to be causing a lot of trouble. I hope whatever they get is worth it.” » | Jon Henley in Brussels | Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Theologians under Hitler (Religious Belief Documentary) | Timeline

In the days after World War II, a convenient story was told of church leaders and ordinary Christians that defied the Nazis from the beginning. Recent research has uncovered a very different story. Rather than resisting, the greater part of the German church saw Hitler's rise in 1933 as an act of God's blessing, a new chapter in the story of God among the German people.

This film, based on groundbreaking research, introduces the viewer to three of the greatest Christian scholars of the twentieth century: Paul Althaus, Emanuel Hirsch, and Gerhard Kittel, men who were also outspoken supporters of Hitler and the Nazi party. In 1933 Althaus spoke of Hitler's rise as "a gift and miracle of God." Hirsch saw 1933 as a "sunrise of divine goodness." And Kittel, the editor of the standard reference work on the Jewish background of the New Testament, began working for the Nazis to find a "moral" rationale for the destruction of European Jewry.

This provocative film asks: how could something like this happen in the heart of Christian Europe? Could it happen again? How does the scholarship of this period affect the church today? Does the church of today retain the ability to recognize profound evil?

MbS Denies Sending Hit Squad to Kill Former Saudi Intel Chief

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has dismissed allegations that he sent a hit squad to kill former Saudi former intelligence officer Saad al Jabri. Jabri, who is in exile in Canada, says MBS plotted to kill him because he "knew too much." #SaadAlJabri #TigerSquad #MBS

Lawrence: Supreme Court ‘Crushed’ Trump | The Last Word | MSNBC

The Supreme Court unanimously denied Donald Trump’s effort to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results. Lawrence O’Donnell says the court told Donald Trump “you are out of your mind.” Aired on 12/8/2020.

We Shall Not Die Now (Holocaust Documentary) | Timeline

From Blackbird Pictures, in association with the US Holocaust Museum and the Claude Lanzmann “Shoah” Collection, We Shall Not Die Now chronicles the Holocaust, when, between 1939 and 1945, over six million Jews and millions of others were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime. Seventy-five years after the conclusion of the war, the film explores not only the horrific human tragedy and what we can learn from it, but also the resilience of those that rebuilt their lives in spite of the unimaginable. Told by the survivors and liberators who experienced it first-hand such as Cantor Moshe Taube (number twenty-two on Schindler’s List) and Ben Ferencz (concentration camp liberator and last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials), We Shall Not Die Now is a journey of despair, hope, and the triumph of the human spirit through history’s darkest hours.

With the help of the US Holocaust Museum's archival team and Claude Lanzmann’s daughter, Angelique, the production was able to explore dozens of hours of unused material filmed for the 1985 documentary “Shoah.” Select reels of that footage was incorporated into the film with the blessing of the Lanzmann family. The film also includes new footage filmed at the camps in Poland, new interviews with survivors and liberators, and original music composed by Golden-globe nominated composer, Benjamin Wallfisch.

The film was created by 19-year-old Indianapolis-based filmmaker Ashton Gleckman, who traveled around the country to interview survivors. He worked with the various memorial sites in Poland to film at the concentration camps and historical sites and went on to edit the film and help to compose the score. The film commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.


Movie: We Shall Not Die Now »

Saudi Activist Faces Terrorism Charges for Driving While Female | The Mehdi Hasan Show

Lina Alhathloul joins Mehdi Hasan to describe the torture her sister, Loujain, has faced while in prison awaiting trial for terrorism charges.

Cooper: Trump Didn't Have Courage to Tell US People the Truth

CNN's Anderson Cooper calls out President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as it continues to surge across the country.

Trump Compares 2020 US Election to 'Third World Nation'

As President Donald Trump has become consumed with contesting the results of an election he lost, staffers acknowledge that Trump has not given many signals about what his plans will be once the Electoral College affirms President-elect Joe Biden's win. CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports.

Saudi Prince Calls Israel ‘Western Colonising Power’ at Bahrain Summit

At a security summit in Bahrain, a prominent Saudi royal, Prince Turki al Faisal, criticised Israel for "colonisation" and "apartheid" against Palestinians. #BahrainSummit2020 #TurkiAlFaisal #IsraeliOccupation

When MBS Tortured His Relatives at the Ritz-Carlton | I Gotta Story to Tell | Episode 18

It’s been three years since Saudi Arabia’s young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rounded up 400 of the kingdom's top businessmen, princes and ministers and confined them to the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Recently, a number of those detained have spoken to The Guardian and revealed new details of how the prominent figures were beaten for hours and extorted, often by clueless interrogators.

See Bernie Sanders’ Reaction to Trump Floating 2024 Presidential Run

Sen. Bernie Sanders talks to CNN’s Anderson Cooper about the possibility of President Donald Trump running for president again in 2024.

Jailed Saudi Activist Loujain al-Hathloul Accused of Passing Classified Information

Jailed Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul is accused of contacting "unfriendly" states and providing classified information, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister told AFP Saturday, after the campaigner's trial was transferred to a terrorism court.

The Accidental Hero (Oskar Schindler) - Heart Of The Matter - BBC1 - 1997

Most of a 30-minute documentary about the real Oskar Schindler, presented by Joan Bakewell. Was shown soon after Schindler's List on Sunday 19th October 1997. With Emily Schindler, Moshe Bejski, Dr Mordecai Paldiel, Robin O'Neil, Thomas Keneally, Nahum Manor, Jonathan Drezner.

Ausschreitungen bei Protesten in Paris gegen Sicherheitsgesetz

Vermummte hatten am Samstag die Polizei mit Feuerwerkskörpern angegriffen, Autos angezündet und Schaufensterscheiben eingeschlagen. © REUTERS