NEWS IN BRIEF
Hong Kong students to boycott new term as protests continue
AFP, Hong Kong
Hong Kong student leaders yesterday announced a two-week boycott of lectures from the upcoming start of term, as they seek to keep protesters on the streets and pressure on the government.
The financial hub has been rocked by three months of unrest, with students making up a large number of the pro-democracy protesters taking to the streets almost daily.
Student leaders representing most of the citys major universities said students will miss lectures between September 2 -- the planned start of the new term -- and September 13.
They threatened further action if the government does not adequately respond to the protesters five demands, which include spiking a controversial extradition bill, universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into alleged police abuses during the protests.
Two weeks should be enough for the government to really think through how to respond, said Davin Wong, acting president of the Hong Kong University Students Union. As the situation has gotten more intense, we believe the social situation will bring more students into the boycott. Wong said students will be encouraged to take time to understand what happened in our society... what we can do for our citys future.
Students have featured prominently in the weeks of protests that have rocked Hong Kong.
The demonstrations were sparked by an attempt by the citys government to bring in a bill that would have allowed for extradition to China.
But they quickly morphed into a wider pro-democracy campaign, in a city where young people are boxed in by the soaring cost of living and worsening job prospects.
Trump under fire from American Jews over disloyalty remark
AFP, New York
US President Donald Trump has been hit by a wave of criticism for accusing Jewish Democratic voters of disloyalty, but his comment also highlighted the unease of some in the community with its traditional party of choice.
Trump, who has positioned himself as a staunch ally of Israel, made the remark on Tuesday night while criticizing Democratic politicians who support a boycott of the Jewish state.
Where has the Democratic party gone? Trump said, adding: I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.
Asked about the comments before flying to Kentucky the following day, Trump -- in typical fashion -- doubled down: You vote for a Democrat, youre being very disloyal to Jewish people and youre being very disloyal to Israel.
Members of Americas more than five million-strong Jewish community -- 80 percent of whom voted Democratic in the 2018 mid-term elections, according to the Pew Research Center -- have denounced his notion of loyalty and blamed the president for fuelling anti-Semitism. Its a bit unclear what the president was trying to say in terms of who Jews are disloyal to... While he wasnt exactly clear about that, I will be exactly clear on what that was: anti-Semitic, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said on CNN.
