Image: Richard Atrero de Guzman/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A strange Facebook problem has seen users confronted with the past.

People have reported a weird bug where old chat messages, some from years ago, are popping up again through Messenger’s tabs. 

The issue is particularly troubling for certain users who have seen from messages from loved ones who have passed away, or from people they haven’t spoken to in a long time.

A Facebook spokesperson told Mashable the company had fixed the issue in a statement:

“Earlier today, some people may have experienced Facebook resending older messages,” it read. “The issue, caused by software updates, has been fully resolved. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.”

It’s not the first time Facebook has dredged up memories we’d prefer to forget. 

When the platform launched On This Day last year, the feature was criticised for bringing up old photos and posts that might be painful or otherwise unwelcome. Facebook later introduced the ability to edit posts and control what memories you see.

The United Nations has held an emergency session on what Ukraine has called “an act of aggression” off the coast of Crimea, following the seizure by Russia of three Ukrainian ships during a naval clash in the Black Sea.

The Security Council meeting on Monday came just a few hours before the Ukrainian parliament passed a proposal by the country’s president to impose martial law for 30 days.

Addressing the council, Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, warned Russia that the seizure of the ships on Sunday in the  Sea of Azov was an “outrageous violation” of Ukraine’s sovereign territory and urged the international community to condemn Russia’s “arrogant” act.

Haley said such “outlaw actions” are preventing normal relations from developing between Washington and Moscow.

Russia has said the three ships – two small armoured artillery vessels and a tugboat – entered Russian territorial waters illegally.

Dmitry Polyansky, the Russian deputy representative to the UN, accused Ukraine of concocting a Russian threat in the Sea of Azov with Western support.

“Our country has never struck the first blow, but it can stand up for itself,” he told the council, adding: “The population of the Crimea, as well as other regions of Russia, is under reliable protection.”

Referring to Sunday’s incident, Polyansky said Ukraine had planned the “provocation” in advance with the coordination of Western states, which he said had given the Ukrainian government “carte blanche”.

Kiev has said its vessels did nothing wrong and has accused Russia of military aggression.

Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, called Russia’s claim that Ukrainian ships violated Russia’s borders “an outright lie” and warning that rising tensions with Moscow “constitute a clear threat to international peace and security”.

Also on Monday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to release the Ukrainian ships and sailors, saying there was no justification for Moscow’s actions.

“What we saw yesterday was very serious,” Stoltenberg told a news conference after an emergency meeting of the western military alliance held on Ukraine’s request.

“There is no justification for the use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel, so we call on Russia to release immediately the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized yesterday.”

Martial law

Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree imposing martial law in response to the naval standoff with Russia. The move was approved by parliament on Monday night.

Poroshenko ordered an emergency session of Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s lower house of parliament, to take place on Monday during which legislators voted on the decree.

The law will be imposed for 30 days from Wednesday onwards.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Kiev, said there was a “palpable anger” throughout the country but Poroshenko’s call for martial law had raised some eyebrows given the decision could affect upcoming elections.

“(Poroshenko) has to do something pretty special to regain popularity in these elections, the cynics and members of his own coalition are suspicious of his motivations in calling for martial law.”

Addressing fears of heightened tensions between Kiev and Moscow, the 53-year-old also said on Monday that the step did not mean a declaration of war against Russia.

“Ukraine is not planning a war against anyone,” he told the National Security and Defence Council.

Poroshenko also said Ukraine would stick to the Minsk Agreements, peace deals his government inked with Russia and pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine that were designed to stop a war that claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2014.

The conflict began after pro-West protesters overthrew pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, after months of violent protests in the capital, Kiev.

The separatists claimed the new, fiercely anti-Russian government planned a “genocide” of ethnic Russians in eastern regions, Ukraine’s rust belt and Yanukovych’s support base.

Additional reporting by Mansur Mirovalev

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

Image: keurig

A Keurig has the ability to unite people — they’re the one thing that poor college students, adults, and hotel continental breakfasts agree on.

Okay, they’re not the most decked-out DIY coffee and espresso maker you can get — but they’re small enough to fit on the tiniest counters, are just plain simple, and work with pods from over 75 brands including Starbucks and Folgers. Plus that low price? What’s not to love? 

(If you’re into the fancy devices, you’ll be happy to know that you can save up to 60% on Nespresso machines at Macy’s.)

Here are some of the best Cyber Monday Keurig deals at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart:

Just because Keurigs are simpler than more expensive brands doesn’t mean they can’t be premium — the K200 is clean, compact, and features a mini touch display to offer a high-tech feel to complement a modern kitchen. With nine brew sizes, settings for hot cocoa, and options for specialty beverages with flexible brewing options, this is the closest thing you’ll get to having your own personal barista. 

Regularly $139.99, you can save $50 and get it for $89.99 at Best Buy.

Nothing beats a classic: The K55 model is seriously versatile, brewing your choice of the six, eight, or 10 ounce K-Cups for days when you’re prepping for yourself or a room full of people. The large 48-ounce container allows you to brew over six cups before refilling — hooray for an easy morning routine, am I right? The light-up buttons are pretty basic, making it one of the most user-friendly models of the bunch. 

Regularly $99.99, you can save $20 and get it for $79.99 at Amazon.

Know one of those people who insists on drinking iced coffee even in the middle of winter? (Raises hand.) The Keurig K-Elite is your new best friend. One of the only Keurig models with cold and hot water settings to offer an iced coffee option, the K-Elite offers five brew sizes with various programmable strengths to up the customization in your drinks. With a brushed aluminum finish and sleek, flat buttons atop, it’s not bad on the eyes, either.

Regularly $169.99, you can save $40 and get it for $128.88 at Walmart.

 

• Best Cyber Monday deals on iPad, Instant Pot, Bose headphones 

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Countries must impose sanctions on China over the mass detention of ethnic Uighurs in its western Xinjiang region, hundreds of scholars said, warning a failure to act would signal acceptance of “psychological torture of innocent civilians”.

At a briefing in Washington, DC, on Monday, representatives of a group of 278 scholars in various disciplines from dozens of countries called on China to end its detention policies, and for sanctions directed at key Chinese leaders and security companies linked to abuses.

“This situation must be addressed to prevent setting negative future precedents regarding the acceptability of any state’s complete repression of a segment of its population, especially on the basis of ethnicity or religion,” the group said in a statement.

Countries should expedite asylum requests from Xinjiang’s Muslim minorities, as well as “spearhead a movement for UN action aimed at investigating this mass internment system and closing the camps”, it said.

In August, a United Nations human rights panel said it had received credible reports that one million or more Uighurs and other minorities were being held in what resembled a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy” in its far western region.

‘Rather die’

The scholars’ call came as a member of the Uighur minority, who arrved in the US in September, detailed the abuse she said she suffered in one internment camp.

Mihrigul Tursun said she was interrogated for four days without sleep, had her hair shaved, and was subjected to an intrusive medical examination following her second arrest in China in 2017. After she was arrested a third time, the treatment was worse.

“I thought that I would rather die than go through this torture and begged them to kill me,” Tursun, 29, told reporters at the National Press Club.

Born in China, Tursun moved to Egypt to study English at a university where she met her husband.

In 2015, after travelling to China to spend time with her family, Tursun was arrested, separated from her young children, and kept in detention for three months. She is convinced her children – triplets – were operated on while she was detained because one died and the others developed health problems.

Tursun was arrested for a second time about two years later and, when she was detained a third time, she spent three months in a prison cell with 60 other women having to sleep in turns, use the toilet in front of security cameras, and sing songs praising China’s Communist Party.

Tursun said she and other inmates were forced to take unknown medication, including pills that made them faint and a white liquid that caused bleeding in some women and loss of menstruation in others. Tursun said nine women from her cell died during her three months there.

One day, Tursun recalled, she was led into a room and placed in a high chair, and her legs and arms locked in place.

“The authorities put a helmet-like thing on my head and each time I was electrocuted my whole body would shake violently and I would feel the pain in my veins,” Tursun said in a statement read by a translator.

“I don’t remember the rest. White foam came out of my mouth, and I began to lose consciousness,” Tursun said. “The last word I heard them saying is that you being Uighur is a crime.”

She was eventually released so she could take her children to Egypt, but was ordered to return to China. Tursun contacted US authorities in Cairo and settled in Virginia in September.

Pressure needed

China rejects criticism of its actions in Xinjiang, saying it protects the religion and culture of minorities, and its security measures are needed to combat the influence of “extremist” groups.

The country’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said the world should ignore “gossip” about Xinjiang and trust the government in Beijing.

But after initial denials about the detention camps, Chinese officials have said some people guilty of minor offences were being sent to “vocational” training centres to be taught work skills and legal knowledge aimed at curbing militancy.

Michael Clarke, a Xinjiang expert at Australian National University who signed the scholars statement, told reporters that China sought international respect for its weight in global affairs.

“The international community needs to demonstrate to Beijing that it will not actually get that while it’s doing this to a significant portion of its own citizenry,” Clarke said.

A very eccentric nanny once said that a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” If, say, the medicine was simply a metaphor for the banality of everyday life, then Disney just dropped a spoonful of sugar to sweeten your day and (probably) put a smile on your face with the release of not one but two new original songs from Mary Poppins Returns.

First, spice things up with “Trip a Little Light Fantastic,” a rousing number for the film’s lamplighters led by Tony-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda. Think “Step in Time,” but instead of Dick Van Dyke’s endearing cockney accent, now we have Miranda’s. Honestly, I already have goosebumps just envisioning the dance number in this standout scene.

Then take a listen to Emily Blunt’s gorgeous “The Place Where Lost Things Go” — a sentimental ballad that sounds like a new Disney classic.

Written by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, these tracks capture the same balance of whimsy and emotion of the original film.

Set in the 1930s in Depression-era London — two decades after the first film and coincidentally the same time period of author P.L. Travers’s original book series — Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns finds grown-up Michael (Ben Whishaw) and his three children living back on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with her optimistic friend Jack (Miranda), “uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.”

The film will also introduce a slew of whimsical new characters, including Mary’s kooky cousin, Topsy (Meryl Streep), who will no doubt deliver a show-stopping performance of her own.

Mary Poppins Returns sweeps theaters December 19.

Newcastle recorded their third successive Premier League victory as they capitalised on Burnley’s defensive frailties to move up to 13th in the table.

Federico Fernandez’s effort, which deflected in off Clarets defender Ben Mee for an own goal, and Ciaran Clark’s header from a Matt Ritchie cross proved decisive for Rafael Benitez’s side.

Burnley had lost their past 23 top-flight matches in which they had conceded the first two goals and, although, Sam Vokes responded for the home side – connecting with Mee’s long ball to loop a header over goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from almost 18 yards – they were unable to force an equaliser.

In truth that would have been harsh on Newcastle, who were superior for long periods and could have added to their tally through Matt Ritchie and substitute Joselu, who struck the post.

The result leaves Burnley 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone.

Burnley’s defensive woe continues

While Burnley began the encounter having scored the same number of goals (12) as at this stage last term, their major problems have come at the other end of the pitch.

Their success in finishing seventh in the Premier League in May was largely based on their solid defence, but those foundations have crumbled in a start littered with individual and collective errors.

Clark’s goal was the 27th they have conceded this season – it took until 31 March for them to concede that many in 2017-18.

Both of Newcastle’s first-half goals were symptomatic of those problems. Mee’s own goal came after Clarets forward Chris Wood made a dreadful attempt to clear a corner under little pressure, and it was compounded when the defender diverted a shot past Joe Hart that appeared to be drifting wide.

Newcastle’s second was another gift, with Burnley initially failing to react at a corner and then allowing Clark a free header from eight yards.

Things might have been worse for the hosts but Magpies wing-back Matt Ritchie somehow contrived to miss from two yards out in the second period after another defensive error.

Burnley also appear to be suffering from another problem, with former England defender Danny Mills indentifying the predictable nature of their attacking play as a further area of concern.

“I’m a massive fan of Sean Dyche, but you can’t keep playing like that – pumping long balls up to two big lads up front,” Mills told BBC Radio 5 live.

“They need something different. They’ll score the odd goal like that but not two or three and then you’re not going to dominate sides, so you’ll always be under pressure. They need to change the way they play.”

Newcastle finding their feet

After an abject start, taking three points from a possible 30 in a winless 10-game run, Newcastle have at last found their feet.

Benitez’s side had lost each of their past 10 Premier League games played on a Monday night before this trip to Lancashire.

But if the omens were not in their favour, their performance at Turf Moor was indicative of a team growing in confidence.

Benitez’s tactics, which included the deployment of a trio of central midfielders, enabled them to control the game.

There were also solid performances from Fernandez and Fabian Schar at the heart of a reinforced rearguard.

The Argentina and Switzerland defenders both arrived in a summer when a lack of investment in the transfer market led to supporter protests.

But unity appears to have been temporarily restored and both played their part in this success, making 10 clearances each, alongside Clark, who made 11.

Man of the match – Ciaran Clark (Newcastle)

‘Every game is like a final for us’ – what they said

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez, talking to BBC Sport: “Every game for us is like a final. Winning is massive because it gives us more confidence. There is still a long race ahead but we are doing well and hopefully we can continue that.

“We needed to win and to perform well. The players did it and were amazing in terms of effort, organisation and team spirit.

“We were working in the week trying to manage Burnley’s two big centre-forwards and the players did really well.

“The main thing for us is to make sure we can get something out of these games. We have confidence now and the players will continue pushing and working hard.”

Burnley manager Sean Dyche, speaking to BBC Sport: “I’m frustrated that the margins that are so important in these games have gone against us.

“The first goal is frustrating because it is unlucky, going in off a deflection, and the second goal is a soft goal. From then on, in the main, we were very good, we deserved the goal and got back into it.

“The second half, after a slow start, we provided enough to get an equaliser. We created chances but now we have to take them and then lock the door. There were better signs but we need results, we know that.”

Burnley’s bleak home form – the stats

• Burnley have won just one of their last nine Premier League home games (D2 L6).
• Newcastle enjoyed their first win in their last 11 Premier League games played on a Monday night.
• 54.5% of Newcastle’s Premier League goals this season have been headers (6/11), a league-high proportion.
• Newcastle United’s opener against Burnley on 3 minutes 35 seconds was their earliest away Premier League goal since Yohan Cabaye scored against Sunderland in October 2012 (2:10).
• Since the start of 2016-17, only Lewis Dunk (4) has scored more own-goals in the Premier League than Burnley’s Ben Mee (3, level with Ryan Shawcross).
• Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark has bagged two goals in his last four Premier League appearances, as many as he managed in his previous 25.
• Matt Ritchie has registered 14 league assists for Newcastle United since joining the Magpies ahead of 2016-17, more than any other player for the club.
• Burnley’s Sam Vokes’ goal was scored from 17.65 yards out, the furthest distance for a headed Premier League goal since Jamie Vardy for Leicester against Sunderland in August 2015 (18.03).

What’s next?

Burnley travel to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League match on Saturday, 1 December (15:00 GMT).

Newcastle also return to league action on Saturday, 1 December when they host West Ham (15:00 GMT).

North Carolina police arrested 27 people Friday for trying to prevent an Immigration and Customs Enforcement van from leaving with a Mexican man during an immigration appointment.

Samuel Oliver-Bruno, an undocumented Mexican national, arrived at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Morrisville at 8:45 a.m. for a biometrics scan, according to Alerta Migratoria, an immigrants rights advocacy organization in North Carolina. The scan was part a petition for deferred action, which would allow him to stay in the country, the news release said.

He was accompanied by community members including congregants from CityWell United Methodist Church in Durham, where he’s been living in “protective sanctuary” for nearly a year. Oliver-Bruno “decided to attend the appointment because this was his only option to remain active in the immigration process,” according to a statement from the church.

Shortly after he entered the USCIS office with his son Daniel, Oliver-Bruno was arrested by plainclothes ICE officers who forced him into a van. Daniel, who was born in the United States, was also arrested for allegedly assaulting an ICE officer.

Supporters waiting outside the office rushed to block the vehicle. Morrisville police arrived on the scene around 9:15 a.m. according to a Facebook post from the department. After two hours of attempting to “de-escalate the situation and negotiate a peaceful resolution,” police started detaining more than 20 people who refused to leave.

By 11:25 a.m., the van was able to drive out of the area.

Cleve May, a pastor at CityWell, posted an hour-long video of the encounter. 

Congressmen David Price and G.K. Butterfield, both Democrats, released a joint statement saying ICE appears to have coordinated with USCIS to target Oliver-Bruno.

“We are extremely alarmed by Samuel Oliver-Bruno’s abrupt arrest,” the statement read. “At best, Mr. Oliver-Bruno was presented with a Catch-22 dilemma; at worst, he was entrapped.”

A group of people gathered Monday at the Wake Detention Center to protest Oliver-Bruno’s detention, WRAL-TV reported. Oliver-Bruno has been transferred to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, according to ICE records.

Oliver-Bruno came to the United States in 1994, to work construction in
Greenville, according to CityWell. His met his wife, Julia Perez Pacheco, who gave birth to their son in 1999.

In 2011, Oliver-Bruno’s family moved back to Mexico but, after two years, Julia’s health declined, the church said. Julia, who suffers from lupus, moved back to the U.S. with Daniel and later underwent open-heart surgery. Oliver-Bruno attempted to join his family a few months later and was detained at the border. 

He said he was later released on a stay of removal, which he said he was granted every year until November 2017.

Contributing: WCNC-TV, Charlotte

Follow N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

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Facebook’s vaunted election “war room” is currently empty, but the social network says that doesn’t mean it’s done fighting election interference. 

Bloomberg reported Monday that the so-called war room, the dedicated space at Facebook’s headquarters that served as the company’s ground zero for fighting election interference, had been “disbanded.”

Facebook’s war room consisted of a conference room staffed 24 hours a day and served as a command center for the company’s various teams fighting misinformation on the platform ahead of election in the United States and Brazil. Facebook’s Brazil office also had its own small war room. The room was put together after Facebook was criticized for not doing enough to respond to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Though much of the work that happened in the war room wasn’t actually new, executives said that bringing together representatives from the many teams working on election-related issues across the company was essential to its efforts to safeguard elections.

But not everyone was convinced that moving a few dozen desks into a single conference room was enough to fix Facebook’s problems. On the same day that several publishers (Mashable included) wrote about the war room, another headline surfaced: Brazilian marketing firms had paid the equivalent of millions of dollars for databases of phone numbers in order to target WhatsApp users with propaganda messages. Clearly, Facebook’s misinformation problem was far from solved.

To be clear, Facebook didn’t say its war room was meant to be a permanent fixture — in fact, the actual conference room was only booked until two days after the election, according to a photo taken by Business Insider. 

Guy Rosen, Facebook’s VP of Product, muddied the waters further when he pushed back on Bloomberg’s reporting. He stated that the room, which is not currently in use, “still stands” and that it will be “operational ahead of major events.”

In a statement sent to Mashable, a Facebook spokesperson said the company plans to create similar war room set-ups for future elections.

“Our war room effort is focused specifically on elections-related issues and is designed to rapidly respond to threats such as voter suppression efforts and civic-related misinformation. It was an effective effort during the recent U.S. and Brazil elections, and we are planning to expand the effort going forward for elections around the globe.”

But given how much emphasis was placed on the war room and the work that happened inside of it — executives routinely compared it to Facebook’s hugely successful push to mobile in 2012 — some onlookers were surprised to see it emptied so quickly. 

Image: karissa bell / mashable

Much of the confusion stems from how Facebook first presented the war room to the media. In October, the company hosted a large press event, where reporters were given brief tours of the space. A handful of Facebook executives were also present, and spoke at length about the importance of the war room.

While the U.S. midterms are over, there are other elections happening around the world. And misinformation is far from eradicated, even if specific voter suppression efforts have stopped. 

Bloomberg’s story also comes amid another a wave of bad news for Facebook. The company was forced to admit that it had hired an outside PR firm to attack the company’s critics, including billionaire George Soros. Like the latest Bloomberg story, Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg has borne much of the criticism for overseeing the teams that implemented the PR strategy, which critics say was more focused on deflecting criticism rather than changing systemic issues. 

Tunis, Tunisia – Dozens of Tunisians gathered on the capital’s main avenue to protest a planned visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed, commonly known by his initials MBS, is expected to arrive in Tunis on Tuesday as part of a regional tour as he makes his way to the G20 summit set to take place in Argentina at the end of the month.

It is also MBS’ first overseas tour after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two months ago. The murder – widely seen as orchestrated by MBS – created an international firestorm against Saudi Arabia that continues to reverberate.

“As a Tunisian citizen, I reject Bin Salman’s visit to Tunis,” Achraf Aouadi, a civil society activist, told Al Jazeera.

Tunisia adheres to a “human rights framework” that should protect the rights of the Yemeni people, preserve journalists’ right to do their work, and grant female activists rights to express themselves freely, said Aouadi.

In addition to the Khashoggi killing, Aouadi was referring to recent reports on the alleged torture and sexual harassment of female Saudi activists, as well as the four-year Saudi-led war in Yemen that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“It provokes me that we [Tunisia] are dismissing this framework for economic interests,” he said.

While the Saudi Royal Court did not clarify the official visit’s programme, Tunisia has long been a recipient of Saudi aid money. The two countries’ air forces held their first ever-joint exercises in October signaling tighter relations.

‘Tunisia, land of revolution’

Faces painted in stark black and white, a group of performance artists cleared the cascading series of steps where the hundred-something protesters gathered to perform a mime sketch.

Amid the crowd’s cheers and giggles, the lead artist, dressed in traditional tribal garb, began to throw paper planes at his peers.

They were acting out the war on Yemen where a Saudi-Emirati led military alliance has used air strikes against Houthi rebel targets, but also hit many civilian areas. Tens of thousands are believed to have died since the war began.

“Simply said, we came here today to say that the Tunisian people – who have exported the revolution to the rest of the [Arab] world and who fought for justice, dignity and human rights – cannot welcome a criminal like Bin Salman,” Hamza Nasri, the mime artist playing MBS, said.

Tunisia made world headlines in 2011 after long-time autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was deposed following mass demonstrations, triggering a wave of uprisings across the Middle East that saw the departure of three other Arab strongmen.

But the deposed leader has been a fugitive in Saudi Arabia since 2011, and Riyadh has consistently ignored extradition requests from Tunis.

Instead, Ben Ali was handed lengthy prison sentences and hefty monetary fines in a series of trials in absentia, on charges ranging from complicity in the killing of several hundred protesters during the uprising, to misappropriating public funds, to trafficking in drugs, weapons and archeological artifacts.

“Perhaps as a people in the past we [Tunisians] could not speak our minds. But today we can,” said Emna Mizouni, another protester.

“It is shameful for Tunisia, which received the Nobel Peace Prize, to receive someone like this,” she said of the Saudi crown prince.

In 2015, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quarter, a democracy group credited with staving off another uprising in the country, was awarded the international peace prize.

MBS also visited the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt – all staunch allies of Saudi Arabia – and is expected in Argentina for the G20 summit on Friday.

Because Tunisia is a pioneering country when it comes to promoting human rights, “there is no reason why not to come out and say no to MBS”, said Mizouni.

“Everyone is against whitewashing oppression. Unfortunately our Arab brothers could not organise similar protests,” she said, adding the demonstration not only highlighted Tunisians’ anger but spoke “in the name of all oppressed Arab people” who could not organise publicly to condemn the crown prince’s policies.

Symbolic lawsuits

MBS’ trip to Tunis, made known last week, has generated widespread condemnation among civil society members for days.

On Monday, the Tunisian Journalists’ Syndicate (SNJT) announced it planned to file a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed at an international court for “war crimes committed by the Saudi regime in Yemen”.

In an open letter addressed to President Beji Caid Essebsi days prior, the union slammed MBS as a “danger for the safety and the peace of the region and the world, and a real threat to freedom of expression”.

“Tunisians reject the war crimes being committed in Yemen and the obvious human rights transgressions against Saudi activists like Jamal Khashoggi,” Sakina Abdel Samad, a SNJT member, told reporters during a press conference.

A giant poster of the Saudi prince holding a chainsaw has been hung outside the group’s office. “No to the desecration of Tunisia, land of revolution,” read the banner.

In another symbolic move, a group of 50 lawyers announced they too filed a lawsuit with a Tunisian court to pressure the government to cancel MBS’ visit.

“We have officially requested an investigation into crimes committed by bin Salman,” Nizar Boujalal, a spokesman for the lawyers, told reporters.

MBS’ involvement in Yemen – in addition to his alleged role in Khashoggi’s killing and the detention of the female activists – has put the country’s ties with Western allies under tight scrutiny.

It remains to be seen which leaders shake hands and pose for photos with the crown prince at the G20 in Buenos Aires later this week. 

Only romaine lettuce from certain parts of California is unsafe to eat, federal health officials announced Monday. 

The multi-state outbreak of E. coli infections has been traced to the Central Coast regions of California, according to a statement from Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

“Romaine lettuce that was harvested outside of the Central Coast growing regions of northern and central California does not appear to be related to the current outbreak,” Gottlieb said. “There is no recommendation for consumers or retailers to avoid using romaine harvested from these sources.”

Romaine lettuce entering the market will now be labeled with information about when and where it was harvested, according to Gottlieb’s statement. If a product does not have this information, consumers are advised not to eat or use it.

More: Romaine lettuce linked to E. coli scare likely came from California: FDA commissioner

More: Is it safe to eat romaine lettuce yet? Here are latest details about E. coli outbreak

The FDA also said the market appears to have been successfully purged of potentially contaminated romaine lettuce related to the outbreak thanks to the market withdrawal request of Nov. 20.

The vast majority of the romaine on the market was being grown in the Central Coast region of California at the time of the outbreak, according to the statement. Romaine harvesting has ended there for the year and has since shifted to winter growing regions  including Florida, Mexico and desert regions in California and Arizona. 

The FDA said it has no information to suggest that these growing areas are tied to the current E. coli outbreak. Hydroponic lettuce and lettuce grown in greenhouses also do not appear to be affected by the outbreak.

The outbreak has sickened 43 people in 12 states, plus 22 people in Canada, according to the FDA. 

That’s up from 32 people sickened, including 13 hospitalized, in 11 states last week, and there could be more cases coming. Twenty days is the average amount of time that passes between when a person falls ill and when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is alerted, according to the FDA. 

More: Why women and girls bear the brunt of the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak

More: Romaine lettuce: Why it’s hard to keep it safe from E. coli and other bacteria

The most significant symptoms are severe stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea and  while the majority of diners sickened get well in five to seven days, five to 10 percent develop a potentially life-threatening type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Most at risk for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections are those younger than 5, older than 65 and with weakened immune systems. 

The CDC has advised consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they have in any form, such as whole heads, hearts or salad mixes containing it. If you don’t know if your lettuce is romaine, play it safe and toss it, too. Also, sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where romaine was stored using soapy water and, if desired, bleach.

Last week, the FDA said the strain of E. coli O157:H7 causing the current outbreak is genetically link to the strain the caused an outbreak last fall in the U.S. and Canada Twenty-five people got sick — including one death and two incidents of hemolytic uremic syndrome — in 15 states.

Federal investigators have found no connection between the current outbreak and the one that started this past spring. There were 210 cases, including five people who died and 96 who were hospitalized.

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Follow Zlati Meyer and N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer and @NdeaYanceyBragg

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