“An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said.He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — who surround incoming Republican president Trump. That “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” will have “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,” he said.
søndag 19. januar 2025
Can Oligarchs buy democracy?
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy.
“An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said.He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — who surround incoming Republican president Trump. That “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” will have “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,” he said.
“An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said.He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — who surround incoming Republican president Trump. That “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” will have “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,” he said.
Japan’s elderly are lonely and struggling. Some women choose to go to jail instead
The rooms are filled with elderly residents, their hands wrinkled and backs bent. They shuffle slowly down the corridors, some using walkers. Workers help them bathe, eat, walk and take their medication. But this isn’t a nursing home – it’s Japan’s largest women’s prison. The population here reflects the aging society outside, and the pervasive problem of loneliness that guards say is so acute for some elderly prisoners that they’d prefer to stay incarcerated.
“There are even people who say they will pay 20,000 or 30,000 yen ($130-190) a month (if they can) live here forever,” said Takayoshi Shiranaga, an officer at Tochigi Women’s Prison located north of Tokyo, during an extremely rare visit granted to CNN in September.
Within the prison’s light pink walls and strangely serene halls, CNN met Akiyo, an 81-year-old inmate with short gray hair and hands dotted with age spots. She was serving time for shoplifting food. “There are very good people in this prison,” said Akiyo, who CNN is identifying by a pseudonym for privacy. “Perhaps this life is the most stable for me.”
“There are even people who say they will pay 20,000 or 30,000 yen ($130-190) a month (if they can) live here forever,” said Takayoshi Shiranaga, an officer at Tochigi Women’s Prison located north of Tokyo, during an extremely rare visit granted to CNN in September.
Within the prison’s light pink walls and strangely serene halls, CNN met Akiyo, an 81-year-old inmate with short gray hair and hands dotted with age spots. She was serving time for shoplifting food. “There are very good people in this prison,” said Akiyo, who CNN is identifying by a pseudonym for privacy. “Perhaps this life is the most stable for me.”
TikTok restores service in US after Trump pledge
Around 12 hours after shutting itself down in the United States, TikTok is back for many users almost like it never left, attributing its return to a move by President-elect Donald Trump to save the app. TikTok welcomed users back with a notification that said: “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
The whiplash move to bring the app back comes after TikTok became unusable for Americans late Saturday night. Users who tried to open the app at that time were met with a message saying it was offline and asking users to “stay tuned.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” TikTok’s message read in part. The app was also unavailable on the Apple and Google Play stores, along with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance.
The whiplash move to bring the app back comes after TikTok became unusable for Americans late Saturday night. Users who tried to open the app at that time were met with a message saying it was offline and asking users to “stay tuned.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” TikTok’s message read in part. The app was also unavailable on the Apple and Google Play stores, along with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance.
When Beijing Was China’s Most International City
A newly translated book explores how international residents have shaped and recorded life in China’s ancient capital for hundreds of years.
Toward the end of the 13th century, while a guest in the court of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo was stunned by the beautiful grassland enclosed in the imperial palace, which teemed with fruit trees and breeding animals such as deer and goats.
Roughly 300 years later, Beijing had become a crowded, windswept city; the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci often wore a veil when he went out, partly to move around undisturbed and partly to keep out the dust. In the late 17th century, two Jesuits, Jean-Francois Gerbillon and Joachim Bouvet, were brought to the palace to teach the principles of Euclidean geometry to the Kangxi Emperor, who made time for four hours of daily lessons in between his other duties.
Toward the end of the 13th century, while a guest in the court of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo was stunned by the beautiful grassland enclosed in the imperial palace, which teemed with fruit trees and breeding animals such as deer and goats.
Roughly 300 years later, Beijing had become a crowded, windswept city; the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci often wore a veil when he went out, partly to move around undisturbed and partly to keep out the dust. In the late 17th century, two Jesuits, Jean-Francois Gerbillon and Joachim Bouvet, were brought to the palace to teach the principles of Euclidean geometry to the Kangxi Emperor, who made time for four hours of daily lessons in between his other duties.
Everyone is talking about Greenland. Here’s what it’s like to visit
A few weeks ago, Greenland was quietly getting on with winter, as the territory slid deeper into the darkness that envelops the world’s northerly reaches at this time of year. But President-elect Donald Trump’s musings about America taking over this island of 56,000 largely Inuit people, halfway between New York and Moscow, has seen Greenland shaken from its frozen Arctic anonymity.
Denmark, for whom Greenland is an autonomous crown dependency, has protested it’s not for sale. Officials in Greenland, meanwhile, have sought to assert the territory’s right to independence. The conversation intensified after January 7 when Donald Trump Jr. paid a fleeting visit. Had Trump Jr. stayed longer than for a photo-opportunity he would’ve discovered a ruggedly pristine wildernesses steeped in rich Indigenous culture.
Denmark, for whom Greenland is an autonomous crown dependency, has protested it’s not for sale. Officials in Greenland, meanwhile, have sought to assert the territory’s right to independence. The conversation intensified after January 7 when Donald Trump Jr. paid a fleeting visit. Had Trump Jr. stayed longer than for a photo-opportunity he would’ve discovered a ruggedly pristine wildernesses steeped in rich Indigenous culture.
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