Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime committed “genocide” during its reign of terror from 1975-1979, a UN-backed war crimes court said on Friday in a historic ruling.

The tribunal judging their criminal responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians also found them guilty of committing crimes against humanity and other breaches of the Geneva Conventions.

“The chamber… finds that the crimes of genocide… were committed” against ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslims, presiding judge Nil Nonn said – the first time the court has issued such a ruling.

The large crowd of spectators attending the session included members of the Cham, a Muslim ethnic minority.

Nuon Chea, 92, and Khieu Samphan, 87, are last surviving senior leaders of the communist group that brutally ruled Cambodia in the late 1970s. They are already serving life sentences after being convicted in a previous 2011-2014 trial of crimes against humanity connected with forced transfers and disappearances of masses of people.

The Khmer Rouge sought to achieve an agrarian utopia by emptying the cities to establish vast rural communes. Instead their radical policies led to what has been termed “auto-genocide” through starvation, overwork and execution.

Treated as enemies

Lah Sath, a 72-year-old Cham man from eastern Kampong Cham province, brought his wife and four young granddaughters to the session. He said he often heard people talking about the trial and sometimes watched it on TV, but decided it was time to see it with his own eyes.

Just talking about the Khmer Rouge brought back horrible memories of life under their rule, he said. The Cham were treated as enemies and exploited without mercy as they were forced to do intensive farm labour, he recalled.

Lah Sath said his younger brother was killed by Khmer Rouge for failing to take good care of a cow.

The tribunal has carried out one other prosecution, resulting in the 2010 conviction of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who as head of the Khmer Rouge prison system ran the infamous Tuol Sleng torture center in the capital Phnom Penh.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has declared he will allow no further case to go forward, claiming they would cause instability.

Hun Sen was a Khmer Rouge commander who defected when the group was in power and was installed in government after the Khmer Rouge were ousted from power by a Vietnamese invasion.

Initial work had been done on two more cases involving four middle-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge, but they have been scuttled or bottled up by the tribunal, which is a hybrid court in which Cambodian prosecutors and judges are paired with international counterparts.

The failure to have more extensive proceeding has discomfited some observers, but others point to the tribunals accomplishments

“International tribunals are better than the alternative, impunity. They will always be political and fall short of expectations,” said Alexander Hinton, an anthropology professor at Rutgers University and author of two books about the tribunal.

It’s official: Julia Michaels‘s signature electro-pop touch can make anything sound pristine. Take “In This Place,” the singer-songwriter’s contribution to the Ralph Breaks the Internet soundtrack. It’s essentially an ode to a fictional video game called “Slaughter Race,” which plays a big role in the upcoming animated sequel. And while that doesn’t sound like particularly standard fodder for a pop song, Michaels makes it irresistible with especially intoxicating lyrics.

“Now I’m flying, my spirit’s climbing / As I’m called through this far off maze,” she sings on the glitchy chorus. “My body, my spirit aligning / In this place called Slaughter Race.” It’s weird and wonderful in the most unexpected way.

“In This Place” premiered on Thursday (November 15) on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show. Michaels called in to tell Lowe that she was brought in to add a pop edge to the song, which was written by Disney film score legend Alan Menken, along with Phil Johnston and Tom MacDougall.

“I’ve been a huge Disney fan for as long as I can remember,” Michaels said, explaining that MacDougall asked her to make a version of the song that felt “more current.” She added, “I was like, ‘I would love to try anything! Anything to be a part of a Disney movie! I’m in.’ … It was just such an amazing experience. I was so happy I got to be a part of it.”

As for her own music, Michaels revealed that she plans to put out some new songs in January before heading out on tour with Keith Urban and P!nk. She said, “I’ve decided that I’m just not gonna wait anymore. I need to put it out and I want it to be out in the world and to be loved on.” Amen to that!

Sri Lanka v England live – second Test, day three – Live – BBC Sport

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Once upon a time, being in the White House required you to maintain a level of decorum.

Now that Michelle Obama is out of there, the former First Lady can tell us about where she stole her phrase “they go low, we go high” from, and who her “freebie” is.

It’s exactly what she did during Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, finally divulging the things that went unspoken in the White House, and boy, she’s a good sport.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg should quit the social media giant because of its anti-democratic nature that is a danger to the world, a prominent critic of online activity says.  

One of the early pioneers of virtual reality, Jaron Lanier, 58, has repeatedly warned of the destructive nature of digital society.

“I think it would be good for the world if [Zuckerberg] stepped aside,” Lanier told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan. “But the point is that there’s no mechanism for him to do so.

“That [Facebook] is a one man shop is really, really not okay,” Lanier added. “It’s not okay for the world. It’s not even in the spirit of capitalism. I think it’s really anti-market, anti-democratic”.

Larner – author Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now – has heavily criticised what he calls the sophisticated manipulation of people by social media companies to boost profits.

A recent New York Times report on Facebook alleges the company knew about Russian meddling during the election cycle, failed to penalise Donald Trump’s Islamophobic content, and tried to undermine critics with allegations of anti-Semitism, among other things.

Facebook disputes some of these claims and says it has addressed some of the concerns.

“I’m not entirely surprised by the report, although some of the details are surprising and shocking,” said Lanier.

“From Zuckerberg’s point of view, he is always in what he perceives as a life or death struggle. Either Facebook controls the world, or it dies.”

Election interference?

Lanier was also asked to comment on whether he believes Russian interference in the 2016 US elections using Facebook had an impact on votes.

“I would say there’s enough strong evidence … that we should finally just say what the American intelligence establishment have said … yes, Facebook did change the outcome of the American election,” he said.

Lanier was also asked if Donald Trump would be president without the aid of Twitter: “I think Trump would be president without Twitter, but I don’t think Trump would be president without Facebook.”

A Facebook report on Thursday on enforcing community standards said it’s making progress on detecting hate speech, graphic violence, and other violations of its rules.

Facebook said during the April-to-September period it doubled the amount of hate speech it detected proactively compared with the previous six months.

Challenges worldwide

The report comes as Facebook grapples with challenges ranging from fake news to incitement to violence in the US, Myanmar, India and elsewhere.

The company also said it disabled more than 1.5 billion fake accounts in the latest six-month period, compared with 1.3 billion during the previous six months.

It said most of the fake accounts it found were financially motivated, rather than aimed at misinformation.

The company has nearly 2.3 billion users.

Clifford Lampe, a professor of information at the University of Michigan, said Facebook is making progress on rooting out hate, fake accounts and other objectionable content, but added it could be doing more.

“Some of this is tempered by [the fact that] they are a publicly traded company,” he said. “Their primary mission isn’t to be good for society. It’s to make money. There are business concerns.”

Follow UpFront on Twitter: @AJUpFront

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

We haven’t made it through Thanksgiving yet, but Netflix is already deep into the Christmas spirit! On Thursday (November 15), the streaming giant released a trailer for yet another new holiday classic. This time, it’s A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, the sequel to last year’s seasonal favorite — and it’s definitely not at all inspired by Meghan Markle’s entrance into the British royal family, no way!

The story picks up 349 days from where we left off: Amber (Rose McIver) and King Richard of Aldovia (Ben Lamb) are engaged, Amber is busily updating her blog, and somehow, she’s “still me, even though I’m about to become queen of a small country.” Then, everything changes.

Cut to Amber returning to Aldovia and moving into her own bridal suite. “Suite? Wow!” But it’s not so sweet. Things quickly turn upside-down for Amber as extravagant wedding planning procedures become her main focus, and dodging paparazzi becomes a close second. She also needs to undergo a major image upheaval, including getting rid of her blog (They would never! Oh, wait…), causing some major tension between Amber and her future in-laws.

It’s up to young Emily (Honor Kneafsey) to explain to her older brother that this transition can be a lot for someone not used to this level of spotlight. But will they live happily ever after?

Mine the trailer above for clues, and find out for sure when A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding drops on Netflix November 30.

Italian Francesco Molinari remained on course to win his first Race to Dubai title after finishing the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship a shot better than rival Tommy Fleetwood.

The 36-year-old can only be denied the overall crown if Fleetwood wins the season finale and he finishes worse than tied fifth with one other person.

Molinari is two behind leaders Jordan Smith and Adrian Otaegui on four under.

England’s Danny Willett is on five under alongside Spaniard Jon Rahm.

Molinari held a share of the lead after 14 holes at Jumeirah Golf Estates, but then three-putted both the 15th and 18th.

The Italian, Fleetwood’s playing partner, said: “It’s only Thursday so there are so many things that can happen. Both of us did not hit the ball our best but we managed to scramble well and close out two decent rounds.

“I did a good job of thinking shot by shot and that’s what I need to do. I don’t think there is any benefit to thinking about what-ifs. It’s too early.”

Fleetwood, whose partnership with Molinari at the Ryder Cup was known as “Moliwood”, added: “You come into this week still with a chance of the Race to Dubai – one round down and we still have a chance. As long as our head’s above water for that, we’ll be happy and keep going.”

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and Masters champion Patrick Reed are part of a 12-way tie on three under on a day when 46 of the 60-man field shot par or better.

Contrary to popular belief, and countless online videos of Fortnite lovers making it look easy, flossing ain’t that easy. 

But that didn’t stop Ted Danson, who was caught by his The Good Place co-star Jameela Jamil learning one of the most popular dance moves of 2018.

Danson picks it up pretty quickly, shown the ropes by co-star William Jackson Harper presumably between takes filming the NBC series, then taking it away. 

The student truly outflosses the teacher.

True magic. Danson learning how to floss forever is what we would request in our version of The Good Place. In the meantime, maybe he could ask Janet for some flossing tips?

Refugees held in Australia-run immigration detention camps on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island have asked world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to help free them.

The 21-nation summit starts on Saturday in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG), from where dozens of refugees receiving medical treatment were cleared ahead of the event.

“We kindly ask all leaders who are participating in the APEC summit to include this issue in your meetings, and put pressure on Australia and PNG to let us go free,” the refugees said in a letter sent to the media.

Australia follows a strict and controversial policy of rejecting asylum seekers arriving to the country illegally by boat and holding them in centres for “offshore processing” on the Pacific islands of Manus and Nauru.

“We have been kept here against our will by the Australian and PNG governments in a prison camp for more than five years,” said the letter.

The refugees claimed they “have been tortured by the Australian and PNG governments and seven of our friends have died because of suicide or medical neglect”.

‘Shocking’

The United Nations has called the conditions at the camps “very shocking”, while human rights groups have called the facilities “open-air prisons … designed to inflict suffering on some of the world’s most vulnerable people”.  

More than 600 men remain in temporary accommodation on Manus Island after the closure of the detention camps last year, following the country’s Supreme Court ruling they were illegal and unconstitutional.

About 1,100 people are currently being held on Nauru including 102 children, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which worked on Nauru for nearly a year until it was forced to leave by the island’s government last month, said the mental health situation of the detainees was “beyond desperate”.

Some children were suffering from traumatic withdrawal syndrome and were unable to eat, drink or even walk to the toilet.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has also called for the evacuation of the offshore camps given the deteriorating health of those confined there, stressing that Australia has a responsibility to those that seek its protection. 

The first full-length trailer for Tim Burton‘s live-action Dumbo has finally arrived and it is capital-M Majestic.

As the story goes, human greed quickly derails sweet, sneezy, Dear Baby Dumbo’s charming beginnings. When circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) realizes his big-eared elephant can fly, he quickly turns from local laughingstock into the show’s star attraction. Dumbo’s popularity soon catches the attention of entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who — blinded by the dollar signs in his eyes — wants to capitalize on the phenomenon and present him in his own Dreamland.

Things really go south when Dumbo’s mom is ripped away from him, rendering him depressed and gravely distressing his young, loving caretakers, Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins). It’s up to them and their dad, Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) to save their sweet beast from the nightmare.

The short preview is full of soaring visuals that bring to mind The Greatest Showman, last year’s circus hit that had serious box-office staying power. Of course, this time, the story is more of a cautionary tale about humanity than a celebration of show business.

Check out the trailer above. Dumbo hits theaters March 29, 2019.