Tens of thousands of Belarus opposition supporters march in Minsk: AFP

theSundaily – AFP, 16 Aug 2020

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the presidential election results
demanding the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
and the release of political prisoners, in Minsk, Belarus August 16, 2020. The
banner reads: "Fair elections. Tribunal. Freedom for political prisoners". - Reuters

MINSK: Tens of thousands of Belarusian opposition supporters gathered in Minsk on Sunday to join a “March for Freedom” over President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election.

Chanting “Leave!”, the protesters marched down Independence Avenue following an opposition call for the biggest rally yet in a week of demonstrations since the vote.

Columns of demonstrators raised victory signs and held flowers and balloons. Many wore white, the colour that has come to symbolise the opposition movement. Those marching included a group of veteran paratroopers in uniform berets.

Demonstrators held placards with slogans such as “We are against violence” and “Lukashenko must answer for the torture and dead”.

Protesters walked through the city carrying a 100-metre-long red-and-white flag, once the state flag and now used to represent opposition to the current regime.

They chanted “Long live Belarus!” and called for Lukashenko to “Leave!” as cars honked horns in support.

The protests came as Lukashenko held a rally for supporters in central Minsk, urging them to save the country from destruction.

McDonald's sues former CEO for lying about sexual relationships

Yahoo – AFP, DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS, August 10, 2020

McDonald's said former CEO Steve Easterbrook "destroyed information
regarding inappropriate personal behavior"

Fast-food giant McDonald's announced on Monday it is suing former CEO Steve Easterbrook for lying about allegedly inappropriate sexual relationships with employees.

Easterbrook was dismissed in November 2019 over his "poor judgment" in engaging in a consensual relationship with a member of staff in violation of company policy.

McDonald's said it had subsequently learned that Easterbrook lied "and destroyed information regarding inappropriate personal behavior" and relationships with three other employees, as well as providing stock worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to one of the employees.

The chain is seeking to recover compensation and severance benefits paid to the executive under the terms of his departure last year, according to a securities filing.

The lawsuit, which alleges that Easterbrook committed fraud by misleading the company over the separation agreement, has been filed in a state court in Delaware.

"(He) was knowingly untruthful with McDonald's investigators," says the complaint.

Easterbrook's separation agreement included six months' severance pay, plus stock options.

Steve Easterbrook, pictured here in July 2016, was CEO at McDonald's from
March 2015 to November 2019

US media reports have estimated his exit package at around $40 million.

In 2018, Easterbrook's base pay was $1.3 million and his total compensation including bonus and stock options was $15.9 million.

He was replaced by Chris Kempczinski, who joined McDonald's in October 2015 after working in a senior strategic role at Kraft Foods and previously at PepsiCo.

One day after Easterbrook's departure, McDonald's announced that its top human resources executive, David Fairhurst, who joined McDonald's in 2005 and was named chief people officer at the restaurant chain in 2015, had also left.

In May, an international group of labor unions filed a complaint against McDonald's for what it called systematic sexual harassment at the fast food chain's restaurants around the world.

The complaint, filed with the Dutch national contact point for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was the first of its kind to target a multinational company, the International Union of Foodworkers said.

The document cites witness testimony of "attempted rape, indecent exposure, groping, and sexual offers."

McDonald's said at the time it would review the complaint, stressing that the food giant was a "people-first company."

New 'threat' against former Saudi spy in Canada: media

Yahoo – AFP, Brendan Smialowski, August 8, 2020

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seen in Osaka,
Japan in June 2019

A former senior Saudi intelligence official who has accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of trying to have him assassinated in 2018 has been placed under heightened security after a new threat on his life, a Canadian newspaper reported.

The Globe and Mail said Canadian security services had been informed of a new attempted attack on Saad Aljabri, who lives at an undisclosed location in the Toronto region.

Aljabri served as a counterespionage chief under a rival prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, who was ousted in 2017 by Prince Mohammed.

The newspaper said its source -- someone "with knowledge of the situation" -- would provide no further details on the more recent threat by Saudi agents.

Aljabri is now under protection by "heavily armed" officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as private guards, the news report said.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday with a court in Washington, Aljabri accused Prince Mohammed of having sent a hit squad to Canada to kill and dismember him in 2018, the same fate that two weeks earlier befell dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

Aljabri's suit said he was wanted dead because he had intimate knowledge of Prince Mohammed's activities that could sour the close relationship being fostered with the Trump administration in Washington.

Asked to comment on the Globe report, Mary-Liz Power, spokeswoman for Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair, directed a reporter to an earlier comment by Blair about the 2018 attempt.

"While we cannot comment on specific allegations currently before the courts," he said then, "we are aware of incidents in which foreign actors have attempted to monitor, intimidate or threaten Canadians and those living in Canada.

"It is completely unacceptable and we will never tolerate foreign actors threatening Canada's national security or the safety of our citizens and residents."

Aljabri was already abroad in June 2017 when Prince Mohammed seized power, removing Prince Nayef as crown prince and placing him under house arrest.

After his children in Riyadh were hit with travel restrictions, Aljabri refused entreaties to return, fearing for his life, and moved to Canada, where a son lives.

In March his children in Saudi Arabia were taken away and haven't been heard from.

The suit against Prince Mohammed and several others was filed as a claim of attempted extrajudicial killing under the Torture Victim Protection Act. Aljabri asked the court for unspecified damages.

Head of US Christian college steps aside in flap over photo

Yahoo – AFP, Brendan Smialowski, August 8, 2020

President of Liberty University Jerry Falwell, Jr, shown here with US President Donald
Trump during the shool's commencement ceremony in 2017, posted a controversial
photo of himself with a woman on Instagram

Jerry Falwell Jr. has taken an indefinite leave of absence as president of a prominent US evangelical university amid a furor over an Instagram picture of him and a young woman, both with pants partly unzipped.

The 58-year-old Falwell, whose father was one of the country's best-known televangelists and who founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, is stepping aside at the request of the school's trustees.

He himself had posted the controversial picture showing him standing on a private yacht with one hand around the waist of a young woman -- later said to be his wife's assistant -- and the other holding an unidentified dark beverage.

Both sport broad smiles and have their zippers a few inches down, baring their midriffs.

A terse statement Friday from the Christian university said the trustees' executive committee had asked Falwell to "take an indefinite leave of absence from his roles as President and Chancellor of Liberty University, to which he has agreed, effective immediately."

It offered no explanation.

Falwell previously told radio station WLNI that he and the woman were at a costume party and "it was just in good fun."

He said he should never have posted the photo, adding, "I've apologized to everybody and I promised my kids I'm going to try to be a good boy from here on out."

The university has a strict code of conduct for students, who are told they must "dress modestly and appropriately at all times" while on campus and "avoid the appearance of impropriety."

One Republican member of Congress who is on a Liberty advisory board, Mark Walker of North Carolina, has called on Falwell to resign.

"I just think there's a code that leaders have to live by, especially when you're leading the largest Christian evangelical university in the country," he told CNN.

Falwell has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, who appeared on the campus twice before his 2016 election.

In one appearance, Falwell introduced him as "one of the greatest visionaries of our time."

Golden Globes voters hit with antitrust lawsuit

Yahoo – AFP, 4 August 2020

HFPA President Lorenzo Soria is named as a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit
against the group which awards the Golden Globes each year (AFP Photo/Robyn BECK)

Los Angeles (AFP) - The exclusive group of film journalists that awards the Golden Globes was accused Monday of sabotaging non-members while gorging on lavish perks and unparalleled access to Hollywood stars.

An antitrust lawsuit filed against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the organization illegally monopolized entertainment reporting in Los Angeles while creating near-impossible barriers to entry for new members.

"All year long, HFPA members enjoy all-expenses-paid trips to film festivals around the world where the studios treat them lavishly and accommodate their every desire," said the suit brought by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa.

"Qualified applicants for admission to the HFPA are virtually always rejected because the majority of its 87 members are unwilling to share or dilute the enormous economic benefits they receive as members," it adds.

The HFPA wields considerable power due to its annual Golden Globes -- one of Tinseltown's biggest and glitziest award shows, which is seen as a key step to success at the all-important Oscars.

Yet its membership -- which exclusively decides who walks away with the coveted Globes each year -- is shrouded in mystery.

Though some members work for well-respected foreign media outlets, many are freelancers writing for obscure publications.

The lawsuit details instances of members being wined and dined by Hollywood studios, including a Disney press trip to a Singapore five-star hotel last year.

"The studios, of course, resent having to lavish enormous sums of money on, and being required to cater to, the desires of a few dozen aging journalists who are regularly heard snoring through screenings, but given the importance of the Golden Globes, they see no way to end the farce," says the lawsuit.

Flaa, the plaintiff, applied for membership in 2018 and last year, but was rejected both times.

In her lawsuit, she accuses rival Scandinavian journalists of blocking her entry even though she is qualified to join according to HFPA criteria.

Any foreign journalist seeking entry must be sponsored by two members, and a newcomer's application can be rejected if one member of the association vetoes it.

The HFPA, which has yet to be served with the complaint, denied the allegations and accused Flaa of "ongoing attempts to shake down the HFPA."

"The HFPA has refused to pay ransom, telling Ms Flaa that membership was not gained through intimidation," the group said in a statement to AFP.

"Ms Flaa and her attorney are now asking a court to order her into the organization and pay her.

"The HFPA takes seriously its obligations as an organization and its dedication to foreign journalism and philanthropy, and it will vigorously defend against these baseless claims."

Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos heads for exile under corruption cloud

Yahoo – AFP, August 3, 2020

Spain's former king Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 (AFP Photo/JAIME REINA)

Madrid (AFP) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who is facing investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced Monday that he plans to go into exile.

The 82-year-old revealed he would leave the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI who accepted his decision, the royal palace said in a statement.

"Guided by the conviction to best serve the people of Spain, its institutions, and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to go into exile outside Spain," Juan Carlos wrote.

"It's a decision I take with deep anguish, but great peace of mind," he said.

Probes are under way in Switzerland and Spain where media regularly publish details of the murky management of funds allegedly paid to the former head of state by Saudi Arabia.

Spain's Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the legal responsibility of the ex-monarch -- but because of the immunity he holds only for acts committed after his abdication.

The suspicions focus on $100 million (85 million euros) alleged to have been paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.

Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.

He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship which ruled Spain from 1939-1975.

But an inquiry opened in Spain in September 2018 following the publication of records attributed to German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, allegedly a one-time mistress of Juan Carlos.

She claimed he had received a commission when a consortium of Spanish companies were awarded a high-speed railway contract to link the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Larsen told Swiss investigators he had transferred her nearly 65 million euros in the Bahamas, "not to get rid of the money" but "out of gratitude and out of love", according to El Pais daily.

Swiss media reported last March that Juan Carlos was paid 100 million dollars into a Panamanian foundation's Swiss bank account by then Saudi king Abdullah in 2008.

The same month The Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Felipe VI was also a beneficiary of the foundation.

The king withdrew from his father an annual royal allowance of nearly 200,000 euros and renounced his inheritance "to preserve the exemplariness of the crown".

Online outlet El Espanol reported that Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica told the Geneva public prosecutor's office he had been instructed to "create a structure" to hide the funds paid to Juan Carlos.

Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu

Yahoo – AFP, August 1, 2020

A bandana-clad protester blows a shofar, an ancient musical horn, as he
 walks alongside others during a demonstration against Israel's Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (AFP Photo/MENAHEM KAHANA)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Thousands protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu across Israel on Saturday night, demanding he resign over alleged corruption and a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

The protests took place at scores of intersections and bridges, where people held banners accusing Netanyahu of "failure" and calling for his resignation, as well as outside his private residence in the northern town Caesarea.

The main event took place outside the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, where organisers said thousands demanded Netanyahu step down.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds protested against rising unemployment and the government's alleged failure to support self-employed people who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic, media reports said.

Wearing face masks to forestall coronavirus transmission, protestors carried signs accusing Netanyahu, whose graft trial is ongoing at the Jerusalem district court, of corruption and failing to resolve the coronavirus crisis and the related economic malaise.

Israel won praise for its initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the government has come under criticism amid a resurgence in cases after restrictions were lifted starting in late April. Netanyahu has himself acknowledged that the economy was re-opened too quickly.

The country of some nine million people has so far recorded over 72,000 confirmed cases, including 523 deaths.

The protests have been going on for weeks, with Netanyahu on Saturday night accusing private television channels 12 and 13 of "delivering propaganda for the anarchist Leftwing demonstrations" by providing extensive coverage of the rallies.

"They are desperately trying to brainwash the public, in order to bring down a strong prime minister from the Right," his Likud party wrote in a post re-tweeted by Netanyahu on Twitter.

Netanyahu further accused the media of "ignoring the violent nature of the protests and the calls in them to murder the prime minister and his family".