Tijuana, Mexico – Lying in the shade in a little green strip between a walkway and a fence in the Tijuana stadium-turned-shelter for Central American migrants and refugees, Daniel Folgar launches into a chronology of the bones he has broken and re-broken.

He has dislocated his right hip six times; repeatedly broken both femurs; and his knees have metal screws.

“My height and growth was no longer normal,” says 49-year-old Folgar, who is 1.4m tall, as his crutches rest against the fence next to him.

Folgar suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder, also known as brittle bone disease. There is no known cure.

Doctors in his home country, Guatemala, recommended he avoid falling and suggested calcium supplements to help strengthen his bones. But Folgar has not been able to afford those, he says.

“I practically have no family. I have not been able to work,” he adds, explaining that he hopes to find work in the US to support himself and afford supplements.

Job opportunities are scarce in Guatemala, and even more so for people with disabilities. Sidewalks and streets are peppered with obstacles blocking the path for wheelchairs, and access to some government buildings and services involve stairs.

Folgar arrived in Tijuana last week with hundreds of other participants of what’s now being called the Central American exodus. Six thousand people are now at the US border in northwestern Mexico and thousands more are on their way, with the goal of applying for asylum in the United States.

The journey has been gruelling, especially on Folgar who runs the risk of breaking or fracturing a bone. He’s found comfort though in a friendship with Sergio Caceres, who travelled with him for the more than 2,500km from Guadalajara, Mexico where they met. 

Caceres, 40, has spent half his life wondering if things could be different. Twenty years ago, he suffered severe spinal cord injuries when he fell in the shower, Caceres says. One surgery improved the range of motion in his neck, but a potential second surgery to improve his leg function never happened.

“The doctor said it could only be done if I had money,” Caceres says, adding that the surgeon told him the best open would be to try to get the surgery in the US.

Caceres never had the money, however. Without work, he lived with his mother and stepfather in Villanueva, in northwestern Honduras.

“My country is very poor. The millionaires have all the money,” he says.

It was only a year ago that he received a wheelchair, making such a long journey to the US border possible.

“I would have never made it all the way here with the walker,” Caceres says, explaining he was unable to use the seat to rest because he would always slip off.

Strict border measures

Now, thousands kilometres away from their homes, both Caceres and Folgar, are in for a long wait.

The two friends, like most of those part of the collective exodus, plan on crossing into the US, but due to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy and recent extreme measures, their futures seem uncertain. 

On Monday, US border officials shut down all northbound lanes at the San Ysidro vehicle crossing for roughly three hours in order to further fortify the area, according to Department of Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

Last month, US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 US military troops to the border. Since then they’ve been installing concertina wire along fences.

Nielsen tweeted Monday’s lane closures came after border officials “were notified that a large [number] of caravan migrants were planning to rush the border”.

No such rush occurred, and Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the cross-border social movement group accompanying the exodus, condemned the measure and Nielsen’s message as ways to stoke anger and impatience against the refugees.

“Nielsen’s false comments about the Refugee Exodus are a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and demonize refugees fleeing government sponsored violence and displacement,” Pueblos Sin Fronteras said in a statement Monday.

Separately on Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked Trump’s latest measure to restrict asylum seekers, which including barring those who cross between official ports of entry from being eligible for asylum.

“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Judge John Tigar wrote in his ruling.

The ruling is important victory for asylum seekers, but other measures also have advocates and immigrants worried.

Proposed rules may make it harder

Under a proposed changes to the definition of what constitutes a “public charge”, immigrants seeking green cards or other visas would be judged negatively if they may use public assistance programmes, including food stamps, non-emergency Medicaid and housing vouchers.

Rights groups say the change will adversely affect people with disabilities.

“The proposed public charge rule would discriminate against immigrants on the basis of disability and scare people with chronic illnesses away from getting the healthcare they need to thrive,” Madison Hardee, a Center for Law and Social Policy Attorney and Senior Policy Analyst, told Al Jazeera in an email.

More than 1,500 community, social services, religious, non-profit and other groups have signed a letter opposing the proposed rule change, which the public can comment on until December 10.

“Immigrants hoping for a future in the US shouldn’t be afraid to apply for health programmes – but if this rule moves forward, they will,” Hardee said. “It is critically important for health and disability rights advocates to fight alongside anti-poverty and immigrant rights groups to oppose this discriminatory proposal.”

Back at the Tijuana stadium, the immediate goal for Folgar and Caceres, however, is to figure out what to do next. 

Despite the challenges, the two new friends remain positive.

Folgar is extremely thankful to everyone who has sheltered, fed, and otherwise supported the Central American migrants and refugees throughout Mexico. He is hoping for the same kind of humanitarian assistance and compassion from the US.

Archie Comics is gearing up to give us what Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are yet to give — a crossover! And MTV News has an exclusive preview of the upcoming issue that sets the stage.

If you haven’t yet gotten into the comics but love the two TV series, then Archie #700 is just what you need. The issue introduces writer Nick Spencer and artist Marguerite Sauvage into the comic’s family for a story re-set, delivering a new missing-person mystery alongside exciting new relationship dynamics.

“We were looking to do something that had never been done before,” Spencer said of the updates. “And we wanted to make it so every character that falls under the Archie banner felt like they had a place in the core title.”

As for our girl Sabrina Spellman — who Sauvage teased has a “central role which is slowly revealed and discovered” — Spencer promised major action. “She’s going to shake Riverdale up in a major way! When a character as classic and iconic as Sabrina comes to town, you know it has to have a big impact,” he said.

Still, from the first few pages alone, it’s clear that Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica are the same Pop’s-dwelling characters we know and love. Grab a milkshake and check out the new artwork in MTV News’s exclusive preview of Archie #700 below!

Archie #700 hits comic shops Wednesday, November 21.

Wales suffered an embarrassing 1-0 friendly defeat in Albania to take the shine off Chris Gunter’s record-breaking 93rd appearance.

Gunter captained his country for only the second time as he surpassed Neville Southall’s existing mark of 92 caps, though the visitors failed to produce a performance to match Gunter’s achievement.

A much-changed and youthful Wales side squandered a host of chances to take the lead against the hosts, ranked 60th in the world and smarting from a 4-0 home thrashing by Scotland on Saturday.

Albania opened the scoring in the second half with their first shot on target and only their third goal in nine matches, as Bekim Balaj struck with a penalty after Harry Wilson brought down Taulant Xhaka.

It was a particularly galling concession for Wales, as Xhaka was fortunate to have avoided a red card in the first half after headbutting David Brooks.

Wales were then denied a clear penalty of their own when Wilson was scythed down by Bekim Balaj and, although such decisions ultimately mean little in a friendly fixture, a fifth defeat from his first nine matches in charge will concern Wales manager Ryan Giggs.

Gunter’s moment of history

A dependable and unfussy full-back, Gunter has spent much of his career away from the limelight. But despite his typically modest protestations, this match was all about him.

From his debut as a 17-year-old to a staggering sequence of 63 consecutive starts from 2010 to September this year, Gunter has become as firm a Welsh football establishment as the red shirt.

It was fitting too that his record-breaking appearance should come thousands of miles from home, against the kind of unglamorous opponents Wales have faced for the majority of the 29-year-old’s international career.

Such is the Reading right-back’s standing among Wales’ fans that 1,800 of them made the long journey to the tiny Elbasan Arena, almost outnumbering the home support.

The travelling contingent cheered Gunter’s every touch, sang his name and even had the tantalising prospect of seeing him score his first international goal shortly before half-time – only for his left-footed strike to roll harmlessly towards home goalkeeper Etrit Berisha.

The match did not get much better for Gunter and his team-mates as they slumped to a defeat which was as lacklustre as it was unexpected.

Wales fans with a fondness for self-deprecating humour may even suggest that a defeat of this nature was almost fitting in its own, perverse kind of way.

Gunter has endured many lows with Wales as well as the searing highs, as a part of teams which languished outside the top 100 in the world rankings, as well as an important member of the side which reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals.

But Wales’ defeat against Albania was no way to honour such a loyal servant who, while reluctant to receive adulation, always insists the result is most important and will therefore be thoroughly disheartened by this display.

Wales’ experiment falls flat

Following Friday’s Nations League defeat against Denmark, Giggs took this friendly as an opportunity to experiment and made eight changes to his team, including two debutants.

Anderlecht centre-back James Lawrence, a surprise call-up to the squad earlier this month, passed well out of defence, while winger Daniel James buzzed about energetically but struggled to replicate his Swansea City form on Wales’ left flank.

As is often the case in friendly matches, there was a lack of urgency for large periods during this match, though Wales did link play promisingly in attack through Wilson and Brooks.

The visitors, however, were unable to convert attractive approach play into a lead, and they fell behind when Albania registered their first shot on goal.

Giggs turned to his big guns, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, in an attempt to wrestle the tie back in Wales’ favour, though neither made much of an impact.

There were further debuts with the introductions of Rabbi Matondo and Kieron Freeman but, even though this was a friendly, such a disjointed display and humiliating result will leave Giggs with much to ponder before Wales return to action in March.

Ten years ago, launched the modern era of crowdfunding by creating a place where anyone could pitch their idea, product, or creative endeavor to the entire world, asking for the funds to make it reality. Today there are no shortage of crowdfunding sites, and even though Indiegogo isn’t as large as rival Kickstarter, it’s still tremendously influential, offering entrepreneurs not just a funding platform, but also support beyond their campaigns, with tools to ease the transition from concept to launch.

Indiegogo has always had a more worldwide audience than its peers, and now current CEO David Mandelbrot wants to take things further with more outreach to inventors in China as he leads the venture-funded company to profitability. Mandelbrot joined Mashable’s MashTalk podcast to talk about how crowdfunding has evolved since in the past decade, how the company approaches quality control, and what he thinks of Indiegogo’s “anything goes” reputation.

Follow on Twitter. 

Saudi activists, including women, detained in a government crackdown this year have faced sexual harassment and torture during interrogation, Amnesty International said.

Since May, the kingdom has held at least 10 women and seven men on vague national security allegations related to their human rights work.

Those detained include Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef, who campaigned for the right to drive before the decades-long ban was lifted in June.

The activists, held in Dhahban prison on the western Red Sea coast, faced repeated electrocution and flogging, leaving some of them unable to stand or walk, Amnesty said in a report on Tuesday, citing three separate testimonies.

At least one activist was made to hang from a ceiling and another detained woman was sexually harassed by interrogators wearing face masks, the UK-based rights group added.

Many of those arrested were accused of undermining security and aiding enemies of the state.

Some were subsequently released, but those still detained include al-Yousef, a retired professor at Riyadh’s King Saud University, Amnesty said. 

‘Horrendous physical suffering’

The group’s report comes as Saudi Arabia faces intense global criticism over the killing of insider-turned-critic Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate on October 2, which tipped the kingdom into one of its worst crises.

4- A mere few weeks after the ruthless killing of #JamalKashoggi these reports are extremely worrying. The international community must put pressure on Saudi to immediately and unconditionally release all those jailed for peacefully exercising their human rights

— lynn maalouf (@lynn_maalouf) November 20, 2018

“Only a few weeks after the ruthless killing of Jamal Khashoggi, these shocking reports of torture, sexual harassment and other forms of ill-treatment, if verified, expose further outrageous human rights violations by the Saudi authorities,” Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty’s Middle East research director, said.

In addition to detaining the activists “simply for peacefully expressing their views, they are also subjecting them to horrendous physical suffering”, added Maalouf.

Some of the jailed activists had uncontrolled shaking of the hands and marks on their bodies. One of them reportedly attempted to take her own life repeatedly inside the prison, Amnesty said.

White House stands by Saudi Arabia… meanwhile @amnesty releases new report on torture and sexual violence against Saudi activists https://t.co/aEr2DqzpgU https://t.co/0bV8z4DMUL

— Louise Allen (@AllenLouiseA) November 20, 2018

Many of the activists are being held without charge or legal representation, Amnesty said.

Al-Hathloul, an activist in her late 20s, was held in solitary confinement for around three months after her May arrest, a person close to her told The Associated Press.

She was forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia earlier this year from the United Arab Emirates, where she was pursuing a master’s degree in Abu Dhabi.

Her husband was pressured into divorcing her after he too was forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia from Jordan, where he was working, according to the individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.

There was no immediate reaction to the Amnesty report from Saudi authorities.

Riyadh has, in the past, denied using torture and said that arrests were made on the basis of suspicious contacts with foreign entities and offering financial support to “enemies overseas”. 

International friendly: Albania v Wales live – Live – BBC Sport

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This year’s Apple holiday ad is an animated story meant to inspire you to “Share Your Gifts,” meaning your creativity, skills, and art. 

It’s also meant to inspire you to buy someone you love a creativity-inspiring device like the new iPad Pro or MacBook. 

Without any dialogue, an original song from young artist Billie Eilish matches the storyline of a woman who suppresses her creative spirit as she prints and boxes away her creations from her MacBook. The main character also makes funny shapes in the dough at the bakery where she works and draws similar ones in the fogged-up windows on her bus ride home.

It’s only during scenes at the artist’s apartment with her dog that we see any glint of Apple, particularly a colorful Touch Bar on what must be her MacBook Pro. The song ramps up when her creations escape out into the world and we have our heartwarming holiday moment, courtesy of Apple.

At Apple’s event last month at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (a place full of creative energy!), the Pro tablet was unveiled as the ultimate machine to create, build, design, develop, and make something. A new Adobe Photoshop app for the device was announced. Even the event invitations featured more inspired and colorful Apple designs. But this video doesn’t harp on the iPad or any particular device. Instead, it seems to suggest the mere presence of an Apple tool can inspire all of us.

It’s a different take compared to last year’s holiday ad that focused purposefully on Apple’s wireless earbuds, AirPods.

Eilish and one of the illustrators that drew the nearly 3-minute story will be at the recently reopened Apple store in Santa Monica, California on Tuesday.

The commercial is available to watch above and will also be on TV, social media, and on Apple.com – just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has narrowly averted a possible collapse of his coalition government.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett threatened to pull his party from Netanyahu’s coalition over a ceasefire in Gaza.

But on Monday, Bennett announced he and his party will stay on and give Netanyahu “one more chance”.

If Bennett had resigned, Netanyahu would have been left with a minority government, making snap elections likely.

This all began when Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned last week, angered by a ceasefire agreement with armed groups in Gaza that he called “capitulating to terror”.

So, will Netanyahu’s coalition survive this crisis?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Yoni Ben-Menachem – Senior Middle East analyst at Jerusalem Center

Dahlia Scheindlin – Columnist at 972 Magazine 

Gil Hoffman – Chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post

Source: Al Jazeera News

You can never say Zayn fails to keep fans on their toes. For his seventh released song of the year, the Mind of Mine singer dipped into his multi-cultural musical influences for a cover of the famous Bollywood tune “Allah Duhai Hai,” explaining that this is one “for the fans.”

Z’s three-minute rendition arrived on Tuesday (November 20), and gives a dubstep-style reworking to the song, which has become a staple of the Indian action-thriller series Race. Whether you understand Hindu or not, his vocals are utterly mesmerizing to listen to, especially paired with the trippy, kaleidoscopic visuals below.

Earlier this year, Zayn revealed to ELLE India that he’d recorded a song for a Bollywood flick that’s completely in Hindi. It’s unclear whether or not he was referring to his “Allah Duhai Hai” cover, or if he has more Hindi-sung tunes in store, but the latter seems entirely impossible. After all, he also told ELLE that he dipped into his Pakistani roots for his upcoming sophomore album: “There’s definitely a lot of Urdu; some nice qawwali sounds,” he said. “There might even be some bhangra vibes. I have also worked with AR Rahman on one song.”

In any case, consider Zayn’s new cover the latest surprise in a year full of genre-spanning releases. He kicked off 2018 with the poppy “Let Me,” then continued with the moody “Entertainer” and the rocking “Sour Diesel.” The second half of the year found Z linking up with Timbaland on “Too Much,” slowing it down with the brooding “Fingers,” then turning up with Nicki Minaj on “No Candle No Light.” There’s seemingly no style he won’t touch — and what that means for album No. 2 is anyone’s guess.

Nations League: Scotland v Israel – team news & build-up – Live – BBC Sport

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