A recent visit by a former Norwegian prime minister to Indian-administered Kashmir, where he met separatist leaders, has sparked a controversy, with opposition parties questioning the government over the surprise trip.

Omar Abdullah, the leader of regional party National Conference (NC), pointed fingers at the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the closed-door meetings held in Srinagar, the main city in the region.

“What are the Norwegians up to in Kashmir? Would either (External Affairs Minister) @SushmaSwaraj ji or (National Security Advisor Ajit) Doval ji care to put the visit of the former Norwegian PM to both sides of the divided state in the correct context or do we have to rely on rumours & conjecture?” Abdullah tweeted.

There is a complete vacuum in Kashmir at the moment. Hence this uncoordinated step that is filling that vacuum

Ajai Shukla, defence and security analyst

Kjell Mangne Bondevik, the longest-serving former prime minister of Norway, met separatist Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday.

The disputed region, which has witnessed widespread unrest in the past few years, was brought under New Delhi’s direct rule earlier this year. Last week, the Indian government dissolved the state assembly – a move criticised by the opposition parties.

Bondevik’s trip to Kashmir was the first by a foreign dignitary since Modi took power in 2014 and came months after the United Nations urged an international inquiry into human rights violations in the Muslim-majority region by Indian security forces.

He later travelled to Pakistan-administered Kashmir where he held talks with a cross-section of people.

Bondevik serves as the Executive Chair at the Norway-based Oslo Center that claims to “promote peace and human rights”. He had mediated between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil fighters during the civil war.

In August 2014, New Delhi cancelled scheduled talks with Islamabad after the then Pakistani ambassador to India met Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi.

‘We want clarity’

A spokesperson at the Norwegian embassy in New Delhi distanced itself from the visit on Tuesday.

“The embassy had no knowledge of this trip and we have nothing to do with Bondevik’s meeting,” an embassy official, who did not want to be named, told Al Jazeera.

India’s foreign ministry is yet to clarify whether Bondevik’s visit to Kashmir on both sides of the border is a “mediation” attempt backed by the Indian government.

“We want clarity on what exactly is happening. We are a votary of dialogue between India and Pakistan,” Tanvir Sadiq, political adviser to the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state Omar Abdullah, told Al Jazeera.

“If anything breaks the ice, it would be a welcome step. But we need to know if the government in New Delhi is backing these meetings,” he said.

“Modi claimed he was the strongest prime minister in recent times. We were expecting some out-of-the-box ideas from him. The situation here has gone from bad to worse. Even to go back to a relatively peaceful situation like that existed in 2014 would be a herculean task,” he added.

The ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party is opposed to any “foreign interference” in the Kashmir dispute and had announced a so-called “muscular” approach to the crisis since it assumed power in 2014.

Sheikh Ashiq, who was part of the delegation of local industrialists in Srinagar, which met Bondevik on Friday, told Al Jazeera “everyone wants an end to the bloodshed”.

“We were invited on a short notice. It was surprising. He wanted to know about the ground situation and we told him about it. We thought let’s not lose this opportunity. There is a growing loss of human lives. We definitely want an end to it,” he said.

Kashmir has seen a record number of fatalities since January with over 400 people killed, including 145 civilians – the highest since 2009.

‘Positive development’

New Delhi and Islamabad have staked claim over the disputed territory since the two countries won independence from British colonial rulers in 1947. They have fought two wars over the disputed territory.

On Friday, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a member of Hurriyat, Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, tweeted photos of their meeting with the Norwegian leader. Hurriyat is an umbrella group of political and religious groups fighting for Kashmir’s secession from India.

“Whenever international interest is evoked in our conflict it is a welcome move. Norway has a history of facilitating conflict resolutions across the globe. So meeting their former prime minister in this regard is a positive development and we hope things move forward,” Farooq told Al Jazeera.

The move also angered some within the ruling BJP, with party MP Subramanian Swamy hitting out at the government for allowing “gross interference” by the former Norwegian prime minister.

Calls to the BJP spokespersons for a response went unanswered.

The BJP has long favoured a hardline approach to quell the armed revolt in Kashmir that has claimed more than 70,000 lives, most of them civilians.

India’s foreign ministry maintains that “there are only two stakeholders on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir – India and Pakistan, none else”.

“It’s further evidence of a lack of a Kashmir policy on the part of the government. If they had a coherent Kashmir policy, the Indian government would be in a dialogue with the separatist leaders themselves,” defence and security analyst Ajai Shukla told Al Jazeera.

“The government is unable to bring the Hurriyat to the table. There is a complete vacuum in Kashmir at the moment. Hence this uncoordinated step that is filling that vacuum.”

Additional reporting by Rifat Farid from Srinagar

Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” is one of the most satisfying pieces of pop culture in recent memory. For those who’ve followed Grande’s year of personal tumult (and the professional successes that made everything that much, well, sweeter), it felt like the perfect statement at the perfect time, one that found Grande both reclaiming her own voice and achieving hard-won peace.

All this in a three-and-a-half-minute pop tune about moving on — a song that landed Grande her first No. 1 on the Hot 100. Naturally, the forthcoming video for such an Event has sparked a torrent of interest from fans, so much so that they correctly guessed its theme(s) well before the clip was even completed. But it’s nearly here, and based on a teaser Grande dropped early Tuesday (November 27), it’s quite the nostalgia trip we knew it’d be.

The teaser amplifies how “Thank U, Next” has become larger than just a song: Troye Sivan pops up to misread Grande’s “Aubrey” lyric; Mean Girls‘s Jonathan Bennett resurfaces to attribute a Mean Girls quote to her; and even Ari lookalike/vlogger Gabi DeMartino makes an appearance.

Remember: This is just the teaser. The full video is “coming soon,” according to the clip, and we know it’ll take inspiration from Mean Girls, 13 Going on 30, Legally Blonde, and Bring It On. Who knows what other surprises await?

Check out the teaser above, and keep your fingers crossed for another First Wives Club nod in the final version.

Image copyright
Reuters

A man who bombed the Borussia Dortmund football team bus in 2017 has been given 14 years for attempted murder.

Sergei Wenergold, a German of Russian origin, had hidden bombs packed with metal pins which went off as the bus passed a hedge on its way to a Champions League quarter-final match.

The blast, which wounded two people, was initially treated as a suspected jihadist attack.

But Wenergold admitted the plot, saying he had not meant to hurt anyone.

In a bizarre twist, it emerged that the 29 year old had planned to make money out of the bombing by betting on a fall in Borussia Dortmund’s stock market price.

Dortmund’s Spanish defender Marc Bartra and a police officer were wounded in the attack.

Wenergold was convicted of 28 counts of attempted murder.

“Don’t be evil” has transformed from a mantra into a plea.

A group of Google employees published an open letter to their employer on Tuesday, calling for an end to Google’s planned censored Chinese search engine. The 11 co-signees are mostly engineers and joined Amnesty International’s day of action criticizing Google’s creation of the censored search engine. 

Amnesty International, Google employees, and experts say that it would enable human rights abuses in China, and potentially help codify a censored internet in other countries that demand it.

“Our opposition to Dragonfly is not about China: we object to technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be,” the Google employees wrote.

The search engine, codenamed Project Dragonfly, would provide Google to China’s citizens, with a dose of government censorship and surveillance. The Intercept first reported on the undertaking in August. 

After attempts to quash reports and internal criticism of the matter, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the existence of the project in October, saying that “It turns out we’ll be able to serve well over 99 percent of the queries.”

That missing 1 percent? The Intercept reports that on behalf of the Chinese government, Google would blacklist searches of terms including “human rights,” “Nobel Prize,” and “student protest.” It would also reportedly link Chinese users to their mobile numbers, and provide that information, along with their search history and activity, to a company that would in turn report that to the government.

Google previously ended its search business in China in 2010, citing human rights abuses. Though China’s authoritarian regime has strengthened in recent years, it apparently reversed that decision. Employees cited an unsatisfactory explanation for this change as one of the reasons they were speaking out.

“Many of us accepted employment at Google with the company’s values in mind, including its previous position on Chinese censorship and surveillance, and an understanding that Google was a company willing to place its values above its profits,” the employees wrote. “After a year of disappointments including Project Maven, Dragonfly, and Google’s support for abusers, we no longer believe this is the case. This is why we’re taking a stand.”

The Google employees joined Amnesty International in their protest, which mobilized on Tuesday to send a message to Google — including a scathing video. The employees and the advocacy organization have launched a petition calling for the end of the project.

“If Google is willing to trade human rights for profit in China, could they do the same in other countries,” reads the petition. “Stand in solidarity with the staff members at Google who have protested the project and tell CEO Sundar Pichai to #DropDragonfly before it can be launched.”

Pichai previously stated that China was too big of a market to pass up, and that Google is not a democracy.

“Throughout Google’s history, we’ve given our employees a lot of voice and say, but we don’t we don’t run the company by holding referendums,” Pichai said in October.

Employee protests on how Google handled sexual misconduct incidents, and a larger culture of discrimination at Google, recently prompted changes to Google’s sexual abuse reporting and other processes. 

That same impact of employee voices on Google policy might not apply when it comes to Project Dragonfly. But that’s not stopping Google employees and advocates from trying.

“Google is too powerful not to be held accountable,” the employees wrote. “We deserve to know what we’re building and we deserve a say in these significant decisions.”

Amsterdam – The late-November arrival of Sinterklaas in the Netherlands heralds three weeks of holiday festivities.

And, for the eighth year running, it is also accompanied by protests against Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, Sinterklaas’ helper, who many see as a racist stereotype.

While Sinterklaas, portrayed as an elderly white man, arrives by ship and rides a white horse through parades across the Netherlands, hundreds of adults and children dress up as his helper, Zwarte Piet, wearing blackface, painted large red lips and black curly wigs, and some with large golden earrings.

This year, Sinterklaas’ arrival on November 17 was greeted by protests against Black Pete in 18 cities across the Netherlands. Around 40 people were arrested, primarily counter protesters supporting Zwarte Piet, who attacked anti-racist demonstrators with eggs and bananas, and in some places Hitler salutes.

In Eindhoven and Rotterdam, the counter protests in support of Black Pete were particularly intense, with reports that extreme right-wing supporters had dressed up as Zwarte Piet, and handed out candy and right-wing political party stickers to children.

We were threatened by these people, very aggressively. They even did the Hitler sign, and in some places white power signs. It was a like a weekend of Dutch racism in full display

Jerry Afriyie, anti-racism campaigner

Jerry Afriyie, along with Quinsy Gario, was one of the two founders of the Zwarte Piet is Racisme campaign in 2011.

He said: “There were bananas thrown at us. There were eggs thrown at us. We were called all types of racists slurs. We were threatened by these people, very aggressively. They even did the Hitler sign, and in some places white power signs. It was a like a weekend of Dutch racism in full display, and people saw it.

“A lot of people were shocked, but you know who was not shocked? Black people are not shocked. We have been saying it.”

Afriyie arrived in  the Netherlands from Ghana when he was 10.

“They would call me Zwarte Piet, or you are dirty just like Zwarte Piet. You are only good to be Zwarte Piet.”  

Until then, he thought the Sinterklaas festivities were just about fun and collecting sweets.

“I was a child and not politically aware, but I realized we played this dress up with this character who is dumb, who is silly, who doesn’t know much, who needs someone to lead the way, who keeps messing up, who is looking very ugly, and then realising that I am the butt of the joke, I was 12 years old when I realised it.

“So I was like hold on, this thing that I thought was fun seems to be that I am the star of this play without knowing it, and definitely not the role I want to have. On the bus, people would throw those candies they make for Sinterklaas season, they would throw it at you making monkey sounds.”

He tried to engage both students and teachers in a dialogue, but as he puts it, the country just looked away.

Many people in the Netherlands support Black Pete, and a majority of the country seems resistant to changing the tradition.  

In a controversial statement in 2014 that has gone viral, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “Black Pete is black and I can not change that because his name is Black Pete.”

“It is not green Pete, or brown Pete, it is Black Pete … I can only say that my friends in the Dutch Antilles they are very happy when they have Sinterklaas because they don’t have to paint their faces, and when I am playing Black Pete I am for days trying to get the stuff off my face.”

The exact origins of Black Pete are mired in myth and controversy. Dutch people have a slightly different origin story depending on when and where they grew up -in the big cities of the industrial west or in rural parts of the rest of the country.

The basic story of Sint-Nikolaas, or Sinterklaas, in the Netherlands is that he comes from Spain, arriving by steam ship, with a black helper, who, when his sack of toys was empty, would fill his bag with children who had been bad and return to Spain.

Most would agree that it was a schoolteacher from Amsterdam, Jan Schenkman, who first introduced the character of Zwarte Piet in an illustrated book, Sint Nikolaas en zijn Knecht, in 1850.  

It was a time when the Netherlands was still deeply engaged in the slave trade. The Netherlands didn’t abolish slavery in its territories until 1863.  

Historian Lise Koning has written about the link between Zwarte Piet and the blackface minstrel shows created in America in the 1800s that were known throughout Europe.

Others connect Zwarte Piet to traditional narratives from the Middle Ages in which Saint Nicholas was paired with a dark helper who represented a tamed devil or evil character. 

Whatever the exact origins, it is clear that the character of Zwarte Piet is a tradition and history that many Dutch have yet to come to terms with.

Wil Eikelboom, a human rights lawyer in Amsterdam who represents many in the anti-Black Pete movement, says he grew up with a “Chimney Piet” myth, “who was black because he came through the chimney and was a harmless helper. It was embarrassingly late when I realised that if he came through the chimney you don’t have thick red lips or black curly hair, this is probably a stereotype of a black man, and this had to be pointed out to me by protesters.” 

“To accept that a part of your childhood memory is in hindsight a racist thing is very difficult for a lot of people.”

A typical refrain from those who don’t want change is that the festival is “for the children”, but Afriyie sees it differently. 

He lives in a black community, Amsterdam Southeast, and was raised there. 

“I was trying to do my part to put some pride into these young black girls and boys, be proud of who you are, because we have seen many examples of children coming home and jumping in the shower trying to wash their skin off because the children at school are teasing them that they are ugly, that they are dirty.

“One girl recently was asking why can other kids get clean but I can’t? Why is my dirtiness permanent? And she was referring to her skin.”

People are free to do Shabbat, Ramadan, pray three times a day but a Dutch person is not free to celebrate Black Pete? It’s an outrage.

Jonathan, hospitality entrepreneur

The Black Pete narrative has already changed in Amsterdam in recent years.  

As the beginning of change, you can see white people with smudges, whereas before they made blackface Piets.  

But you don’t have to travel far out of Amsterdam to find people celebrating in blackface Zwarte Piet.  

Just 20 minutes north of Amsterdam lies the small idyllic tourist center of Zaandam, with windmills and chocolate factories.  

This year Zandaam hosted the main Sinterklaas arrival parade on November 17, televised live by the largest Dutch broadcaster, NTR.

Today, anti-racist protestors peacefully calling for the abolition of ‘Black Pete’ – the blackface servant of the Dutch Santa Claus – were spat on by bystanders, attacked by violent mobs, and beaten by the police officers supposedly in charge of their protection.

— Tom Vandeputte (@tvandeputte) November 17, 2018

Even though the broadcaster said in October there would be no Zwarte Piet characters in blackface, Zwarte Piets were there by the bus load, 150 in total, escorted by dozens of police officers. No protesters were allowed near the event. 

In a traditional Dutch bar, Jonathan, a hospitality entrepreneur sits watching a football match. He’s reluctant to comment at first, but eventually says that he believes the Black Pete debate is ridiculous.  

“If there is one country where people don’t discriminate, it’s the Netherlands. Why do all Dutch traditions have to be ruined? People are free to do Shabbat, Ramadan, pray three times a day but a Dutch person is not free to celebrate Black Pete? It’s an outrage. In all honesty I think it’s a political game. It’s a distraction from the things that really matter.”

“Black Pete is not about Black Pete,” says Lambrecht Wessels, who works in the NGO sector. 

He sees the growing battle over Sinterklaas’ helper as a proxy for much larger issues in the country, mainly rapidly changing demographics, economic insecurity and a lack of a proper migration policy, all of which have fuelled a recent rise of nationalist politics in the Netherlands.  

“People’s fears are expressed through Black Pete. When these other issues are addressed, then people will be more ready to change Black Pete to sooted Pete, or chimney Pete.”

While some feel that those changes are still not enough, Afriyie is optimistic about the progress being made.  

He spends much of his time talking to schools about race and Zwarte Piet.   

“A lot of schools have changed Zwarte Piet. Utrecht has changed, this year Rotterdam says they will do like Amsterdam next year. When we started there was this big goliath, now we see the big group is getting smaller and the small group is getting larger.”

As the debate continues, one thing is clear: when Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet leave the Netherlands on December 6, the controversy of Black Pete will remain, awaiting their arrival next year.

The postponed Copa Libertadores final second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors will be played outside of Argentina on 8 or 9 December.

Saturday’s game was initially delayed until Sunday after River Plate supporters attacked the Boca Juniors team bus, before being postponed.

A statement from South American football’s governing body Conmebol said a date and venue would be decided “as soon as possible”.

The first leg of the final ended 2-2.

Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez met with the presidents of both clubs on Tuesday.

The statement added that Conmebol would co-ordinate security with the relevant authorities before the rearranged fixture.

The fixture had been poised as the biggest club match in the 127-year history of Argentine football.

But it was marred by the “shameful” attack in which Boca players suffered cuts from the glass from broken windows, and were also affected by the tear gas used by police to disperse the crowds.

A number of players, including Boca’s former Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus striker Carlos Tevez, reportedly suffered from dizziness and vomiting and were being treated by club doctors.

The mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, said River Plate hooligans described as the “mafia of Argentine soccer” were behind the attack.

It came a day after police raided the house of a leader of the Barra Brava – the powerful and violent wing of River’s hardcore support – and confiscated 10m pesos (£207,285) and 300 tickets for the final.

Paraguay, Brazil and Italy have all offered to hold the match.

On Monday, the city government of Genoa wrote to both clubs offering to host the postponed match because of the role immigrants from the Italian city played in forming the two Argentine clubs.

No Shave November is almost over, but Ted Cruz’s “beard” looks like it’s just seconds old.

On Monday, Business Insider’s Joe Perticone tweeted that Ted Cruz had “grown a beard” over the Thanksgiving break, but some people are having a hard time locating it.

If you zoom in on the photo of Cruz, you’ll notice that dark area around certain parts of his jawline (and not at all his chin) appears to be hair. Not a shadow. Not dirt. Hmm. Fascinating.

If staring at Ted’s bare chin has boggled your mind a bit and you’ve forgotten what a beard looks, shift your gaze to the two men behind the Texas Senator who definitely have beards. See the difference?

There are several theories floating around as to why exactly Cruz decided to go grunge, but those who aren’t overthinking the reasoning behind the facial hair are just plain appalled at how comically bad it looks.

In the paraphrased words of Green Day, “Wake me up when No Shave November ends.”

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have jointly announced that their ongoing blockade of Qatar would remain in effect until further notice, according to the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television channel

The two countries on Tuesday reiterated their ongoing refusal to “make any concessions” towards Doha, which has been facing sanctions from four Arab states for more than a year. 

The announcement was made following a meeting in Cairo between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the latter of whom visited Egypt’s capital on Tuesday as part of a regional tour.

Later on Tuesday, Prince Mohammed is expected to arrive in Tunisia where protesters have taken to the streets to oppose to his visit and demand justice for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month in the kingdom’s consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Ongoing blockade

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates cut off ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Gulf state. 

The quartet accuses Doha of supporting terrorism and proscribed opposition political movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless.

Shortly after breaking ties with the country, the quartet issued a list of demands for Qatar, which it had to comply with in order to normalise ties.

The list included demands to shut down the Al Jazeera media network, expelling Turkish troops from the country, cutting off ties with Iran, and making reparation payments to the states. These were also rejected by Qatar, which denounced them as attempts to infringe its sovereignty.

Despite an initial disruption to its supply chains, Qatar has managed to weather the embargo by establishing new trade links, primarily with its ally Turkey, and injecting around $40bn from its ample foreign currency reserves into the economy. 

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

Former England defender Sol Campbell has been appointed as manager of Macclesfield Town, the bottom club in the English Football League.

It is the 44-year-old’s first managerial position and he has taken charge with the Silkmen five points adrift at the foot of League Two.

Campbell played 73 times for England and appeared in six major tournaments.

He also won several domestic honours, including Premier League titles with Arsenal in 2001-02 and 2003-04.

Macclesfield were National League champions last season but have struggled on their return to the EFL, winning only two of their 19 league games so far this season.

BBC Radio Manchester reported on 23 November that Campbell had held initial talks with Macclesfield, and he was pictured on Tuesday arriving at the club’s Moss Rose ground to finalise an 18-month contract.

Campbell’s chance finally comes

Since retiring as a player in 2012, Campbell has been linked with managerial jobs at Grimsby Town and Oxford United.

He once described himself as “one of the greatest minds in football” and, in 2014, claimed he would have been “England captain for more than 10 years” had he been white.

Campbell begins his managerial career four years after describing the lack of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) managers in English football as a “sad indictment” of the game.

The former Tottenham, Portsmouth and Newcastle centre-back has a Uefa Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification available, which is mandatory for all first-team managers wishing to work in the Premier League.

He has recently been worked alongside England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd as part of a Football Association initiative to address the issue of under-representation of BAME coaches.

“The more [BAME] guys who qualify for their coaching badges at B, A and Pro, the better it is,” he told the FA website.

“The main thing is that the pathways are there and that’s key and the FA are addressing that.

“The best moment for me was when I actually got on the pitch and I was a part of the sessions.

“There’s things you have to do yourself and it’s given me the confidence to know that I’ve got the tools, but I just need to get a situation and a nice gig somewhere.”

Campbell’s appointment takes the number of BAME managers in England’s top four divisions up to eight:

• Chris Hughton (Brighton & Hove Albion)
• Nuno Espirito Santo (Wolves)
• Jos Luhukay (Sheffield Wednesday)
• Darren Moore (West Bromwich Albion)
• Chris Powell (Southend United)
• Keith Curle (Northampton Town)
• Dino Maamria (Stevenage)
• Sol Campbell (Macclesfield Town)

Echoes of Ince appointment

Campbell follows in the footsteps of former England team-mate Paul Ince by taking charge of a Macclesfield side struggling at the bottom of England’s fourth tier.

Ince was handed his first managerial job by the Silkmen in October 2006. They were seven points adrift at the foot of the table when he was appointed, but he guided Macclesfield to 22nd place in League Two before leaving for MK Dons.

He went on to take charge of Blackburn, Notts County and Blackpool, but has been out of management since January 2014.

Analysis

Mike Minay, BBC Radio Manchester

It is a strange appointment for Macclesfield but one that will ultimately generate a bit of attention and positive PR for a club that, so far, has been full of negativity this season.

Since John Askey’s departure in the summer, the club got it wrong with Mark Yates and putting club legend Danny Whitaker in temporary charge has failed to light any touch paper, so maybe this is the spark they need.

The vacancy screamed for someone with experience, but the owners have chosen differently. Mind you, it worked before with Paul Ince.

Campbell, proven as a player, seems ready for it, with various speeches and social media postings suggesting he has worked hard for his coaching badges and is fully prepared for his first managerial position.

The top line, I think, in all of this is “time will tell”.

Remember the infamous gender reveal party that went so wrong it sparked a massive wildfire? Well, video of it has finally been released, and it as gloriously idiotic as you’d expect. 

The incident happened back in Arizona in April 2017, but now thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Arizona Daily Star the video has been made public.

It begins as off-duty Border Patrol Agent Dennis Dickey shoots an explosive target to reveal the gender of the baby he and his wife were expecting. You can briefly see a cloud of blue — it’s a boy! — before the grass around the target quickly goes up in flames. Smart location choice, guys!

The fire spread and ended up burning 47,000 acres around the Santa Rita Mountain foothills in southeast Arizona before it was finally contained thanks to the efforts of 800 firefighters. All told, fighting the wildfire cost over $8 million but Dickey was ordered to pay only $220,000 when, in September, he pled guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of causing a fire without a permit.

Let this be a lesson: End gender reveal parties.