CPI leader Annie Raja on Wednesday alleged that inaction of the police was the reason for the increased incidents of atrocities against women in Left-ruled Kerala.

In controversial remarks against the State police, which is under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan holding the Home portfolio, Ms. Raja also said she suspected the presence of an RSS gang in the Kerala Police for its inaction in crimes against women in the State.

CPI is a key partner in the State’s ruling CPI(M)-led LDF.

Divided opinion

While Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Ms. Raja was a national leader and there would be some basis for such allegations, senior BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan flayed her statement, saying she was unnecessarily using the name of the RSS for political gain.

Talking to the media in New Delhi, Ms. Raja, wife of CPI national general secretary D. Raja, alleged that the atrocities against women were happening in Kerala because of the inaction of the police.

Citing the incidents of suicides of women in domestic violence cases due to inaction of the police despite making complaints, she alleged that the approach of the police created a “suspicion that there was an RSS gang in the (Kerala) police.”

The Chief Minister should take such matters seriously, said Ms. Raja, who is also general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women.

“Ms. Raja is a senior leader. I think there would be a basis for the allegations,” Mr. Satheesan said and urged the Chief Minister to take appropriate action after talking to her.

Criticising Ms. Raja, Mr. Rajasekharan said the State government was responsible for the plight of women in the State and sought to know why the RSS was being unnecessarily dragged into such a matter.

He also asked the CPI leader to provide names of RSS cadres in the State police.

Ms. Raja’s statement came a day after a woman’s family in Kannur alleged police inaction for her suicide at her in-laws’ residence.

The CPI leader also referred to the harassment of an eight-year-girl who was allegedly branded a thief by a woman police officer in Attingal last week.

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The US has warned Tigrayan soldiers against advancing on Ethiopia’s capital as residents were told to arm themselves in preparation for battle.

The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have reportedly seized two key cities on a major highway to Addis Ababa, sparking panic in the cosmopolitan city which has so far been spared in the brutal year-long war.

On Tuesday officials ordered the 5m residents to procure any weapon they could and be ready to defend their neighbourhoods.

“All residents must be organised by blocks and neighbourhoods to protect peace and security in their home area in coordination with security forces,” said Kenea Yadeta, chief of the city’s Peace and Security Administration Bureau.

Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning President, last year sent the federal army into Tigray in a bid to crush the powerful regional government, which has ruled the whole of the country for much of the past three decades.

But the TPLF, Tigray’s military force, has staged a stunning counter-offensive after initially being beaten back into the mountains.

Mr Abiy’s government has denied claims that the TPLF have made significant territorial gains. A tsunami of fake news, reporting restrictions and frequent communication blackouts make it difficult to confirm events on the ground.

But on Tuesday, the government declared a national state of emergency, indicating the situation was more severe than they were admitting and that the rebels now posed a real threat to the capital.

“Let me be clear: We oppose any TPLF move to Addis or any TPLF move to besiege Addis,” Jeffrey Feltman, the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said.

The US Embassy in Addis Ababa said it “strongly” suggested that US citizens “seriously reconsider” travel to Ethiopia and told those in the country to consider making preparations to leave.

Half a dozen residents of Addis Ababa said there was a growing sense of panic in the city.

“Police officers are going from house to house unlawfully detaining ethnic Tigrayans in districts where many ethnic Tigrayans live. Yesterday they rounded up and detained Tigrayans in the districts of Hayahulet, Semet and Bulbula,” claimed one ethnic Tigrayan who lives in the city, who has not been named for security reasons.

“I could not still believe this has happened. I could not believe the fall of the cities and the rapid advance of the rebels to Addis Ababa,” said another ethnic Amhara resident, referring to the cities of Dessie and Kombolcha on the A2 highway, which reportedly fell to rebels over the weekend.

“The government was lying to us. We are just learning from distant relatives who fled here about the reality. So many of our brothers have died. [Prime minister] Abiy has lost it.”

All of the residents interviewed said that only a few people were adhering to the government call to muster militias.  

Mr Abiy’s once-powerful federal army has suffered considerable losses in the conflict at the hands of the TPLF’s hardened guerrilla fighters.

In November 2020, Mr Abiy joined forces with Eritrea’s dictator Isaias Afwerki to crush the heavily armed Tigray regional government in a pincer movement.

Since then, tens of thousands have been killed, and millions pushed to the brink of famine and both sides accused of horrendous human rights abuses.

Ethiopian and Eritrean national forces have been accused of a dizzying array of war crimes, ranging from ethnic cleansing, gang rape and famine.

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October 18, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Game-changing MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max delivers extraordinary performance and battery life, and features the world’s best notebook display

The new MacBook Pro features a 1080p camera, the best audio system in a notebook, and the most advanced connectivity ever in a MacBook Pro

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today unveiled the completely reimagined MacBook Pro powered by the all-new M1 Pro and M1 Max — the first pro chips designed for the Mac. Available in 14- and 16-inch models, MacBook Pro delivers groundbreaking processing, graphics, and machine learning (ML) performance whether running on battery or plugged in, as well as amazing battery life — enabling workflows previously unimaginable on a notebook. The new MacBook Pro also features a stunning Liquid Retina XDR display, a wide range of ports for advanced connectivity, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and the best audio system in a notebook. Combined with macOS Monterey, which is engineered down to its core to take full advantage of M1 Pro and M1 Max, the user experience is simply unrivaled. Shattering the limits of what a notebook can do, MacBook Pro is designed for developers, photographers, filmmakers, 3D artists, scientists, music producers, and anyone who wants the world’s best notebook. The new MacBook Pro joins the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 to form the strongest lineup of pro notebooks ever. Customers can order the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models today, and they will be available beginning Tuesday, October 26.

“We set out to create the world’s best pro notebook, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max — a game-changing combination of phenomenal performance, unrivaled battery life, and groundbreaking features,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The all-new MacBook Pro adds a breathtaking XDR display, more ports like MagSafe 3, an advanced 1080p camera, and a sensational six-speaker sound system, all in a stunning new design. The new MacBook Pro simply has no equal and is by far the best pro notebook we’ve ever built.”

Two New Pro Chips, Game-Changing Performance

M1 Pro and M1 Max revolutionize the MacBook Pro experience and mark a huge step forward in the transition to Apple silicon on Mac. MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max applies a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture to pro systems for the first time, featuring fast unified memory and increased memory bandwidth for unparalleled performance with best-in-class performance per watt and industry-leading power efficiency.

M1 Pro takes the groundbreaking architecture of M1 to a whole new level. Featuring a powerful up-to-10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, along with an up-to-16-core GPU, M1 Pro delivers up to 70 percent faster CPU performance than M1, and up to 2x faster GPU performance. M1 Pro also delivers up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth — nearly 3x the bandwidth of M1 — and supports up to 32GB of fast unified memory. Designed to dramatically speed up pro video workflows, M1 Pro adds a ProRes accelerator in the media engine, delivering unbelievably fast and power-efficient video processing.

M1 Max — the world’s most powerful chip for a pro notebook — builds on M1 Pro, taking its amazing capabilities even further. M1 Max features the same powerful 10-core CPU as M1 Pro, and doubles the GPU with up to a massive 32 cores for up to 4x faster GPU performance than M1. It also has up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth — 2x that of M1 Pro and nearly 6x that of M1 — and up to 64GB of fast unified memory. With even the latest PC laptops topping out at 16GB of video memory, having this huge amount of memory available is game-changing for pro workloads, allowing pros to do things that were previously unimaginable on a notebook. 3D artists on the new MacBook Pro can now easily work with extreme geometry and textures in scenes that pro PC laptops can’t even run.¹ M1 Max also offers an enhanced media engine that features two ProRes accelerators for even higher multi-stream performance. As a result, pros can edit up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video or up to seven streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro — more streams than on a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner. And for the first time on any Mac, video editors can grade color in HDR on 8K ProRes 4444 video on battery when they’re miles away from the edit bay.²

Most Powerful Mac Notebooks Ever

The new MacBook Pro pushes the limits of what a notebook can do, delivering incredible performance and all-new capabilities.

When compared to the previous-generation high-end 13-inch model, the all-new 14-inch MacBook Pro is immensely more powerful.³

With the 10-core CPU in M1 Pro and M1 Max, the 14-inch MacBook Pro enables:

• Up to 3.7x faster project builds using Xcode.
• Up to 3x more Amp Designer plug-ins in Logic Pro.
• Up to 2.8x faster computational fluid dynamics performance in NASA TetrUSS.

Featuring the 16-core GPU in M1 Pro and the 32-core GPU in M1 Max, the 14-inch MacBook Pro transforms graphics-intensive workflows with:

• Up to 9.2x faster 4K render in Final Cut Pro with M1 Pro, and up to 13.4x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 5.6x faster combined vector and raster GPU performance in Affinity Photo with M1 Pro, and up to 8.5x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 3.6x faster effect render in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio with M1 Pro, and up to 5x faster with M1 Max.

Both M1 Pro and M1 Max are supercharged with a 16-core Neural Engine, allowing users to enjoy faster ML tasks, including:

• Up to 8.7x faster object tracking performance in Final Cut Pro with M1 Pro, and up to 11.5x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 7.2x faster scene edit detection in 1080p ProRes 422 video in Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Up to 2.6x faster performance when selecting subjects in images in Adobe Photoshop.

When compared to the previous generation, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers massive gains in performance for the most complex workflows in areas that matter most for pros.⁴

Featuring the same powerful 10-core CPU in M1 Pro and M1 Max, the 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers:

• Up to 3x faster computational fluid dynamics performance in NASA TetrUSS.
• Up to 2.1x faster project builds in Xcode.
• Up to 2.1x faster publish performance in Vectorworks.

With the 16-core GPU in M1 Pro and 32-core GPU in M1 Max, the 16-inch MacBook Pro offers faster graphics performance with:

• Up to 2.9x faster combined vector and raster GPU performance in Affinity Photo with M1 Pro, and up to 4.5x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 2.5x faster render in Maxon Cinema 4D with Redshift with M1 Pro, and up to 4x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 1.7x faster 8K render in Final Cut Pro with M1 Pro, and up to 2.9x faster with M1 Max.

With the 16-core Neural Engine on both M1 Pro and M1 Max, ML tasks are faster than ever on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, including:

• Up to 4.4x faster scene edit detection in 1080p ProRes 422 video in Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Up to 3.6x faster object tracking performance in Final Cut Pro with M1 Pro, and up to 4.9x faster with M1 Max.
• Up to 1.5x faster performance with M1 Pro and up to 2x faster with M1 Max when selecting subjects in images in Adobe Photoshop.

Industry-Leading Power Efficiency and Extraordinary Battery Life

From pro workflows on the go to everyday tasks, MacBook Pro delivers remarkable power efficiency for breakthrough performance — whether users are plugged in or using the battery — and extraordinary battery life, so they can get even more done on a single charge.

When compared to the previous-generation MacBook Pro on a single charge:⁵

• The 14-inch model delivers up to 17 hours of video playback, which is seven additional hours, while the 16-inch model gets up to a remarkable 21 hours of video playback, which is 10 additional hours — the longest battery life ever on a Mac notebook.
• Developers working in Xcode will be able to compile up to 4x as much code.
• Photographers on the go will get up to 2x longer battery life in Adobe Lightroom Classic when editing images.

Unlike other pro notebooks that lose performance when they are not plugged in, MacBook Pro delivers the same level of performance whether it is plugged in or using the battery. This unprecedented combination of system performance, on-battery performance, and battery life sets MacBook Pro apart from every other notebook.

Designed for Performance

Featuring a beautiful, brand new design, the 14- and 16-inch models of MacBook Pro were designed with a focus on performance and utility. Its all-new aluminum enclosure optimizes internal space for more performance and features. The enclosure is precisely machined around an advanced thermal system that can move 50 percent more air than the previous generation, even at lower fan speeds. The thermal design enables MacBook Pro to deliver phenomenal sustained performance while staying cool and quiet. And because of the efficiency of Apple silicon, the fans never even have to turn on for most tasks users perform every day.

The new MacBook Pro also comes with a Magic Keyboard that is set in a double-anodized black well, which elegantly highlights the backlit glyphs on the keys, and features a full-height function row. Physical function keys — including a wider escape key — replace the Touch Bar, bringing back the familiar, tactile feel of mechanical keys that pro users love. The new keyboard is complemented by the industry-best Force Touch trackpad that is perfect for pro applications.

Featuring the World’s Best Notebook Display

For the first time, MacBook Pro offers a stunning Liquid Retina XDR display. Featuring the mini-LED technology used in iPad Pro, the Liquid Retina XDR display delivers up to 1,000 nits of sustained, full-screen brightness, an incredible 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The extreme dynamic range brings HDR content to life with unbelievable detail in shadows, brilliant specular highlights, deeper blacks, and more vivid colors than ever before. It has a gorgeous P3 wide color gamut and supports one billion colors for smoother gradients. ProMotion technology also comes to the Mac on this new display, featuring an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. ProMotion automatically varies the refresh rate to match the motion of a user’s onscreen content to help preserve battery life, and makes tasks more fluid and even more responsive. Video editors can also lock in a refresh rate that is optimal for their footage. The combination of the outstanding XDR performance and super-fluid ProMotion technology make this the world’s best notebook display.

Both models come with a larger display than the previous generation — the 16-inch model offers an expansive 16.2-inch display⁶ with 7.7 million pixels, the most ever on a Mac notebook. And the 14-inch model gives users more screen real estate than before, with a 14.2-inch active area⁷ and a total of 5.9 million pixels — more pixels than the prior 16-inch MacBook Pro. The display features even thinner borders and extends up around the camera to provide users with even more room for their content. Whether users are watching a movie or grading 8K video, the new display offers a beautiful cinematic viewing experience.

Most Advanced Connectivity Ever in a MacBook Pro

The new MacBook Pro features the most advanced and versatile connectivity ever on a Mac notebook. Both models feature three Thunderbolt 4 ports to connect high-speed peripherals, an SDXC card slot for fast access to media, an HDMI port for conveniently connecting to displays and TVs, and an improved headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones. MagSafe returns to MacBook Pro with MagSafe 3, featuring an updated design and supporting more power into the system than ever before. MagSafe 3 makes connecting a charge cable quick and easy while protecting MacBook Pro. Additionally, fast charge comes to the Mac for the first time, charging up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. With M1 Pro, users can now connect up to two Pro Display XDRs, and with M1 Max, users can connect up to three Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV, all at the same time. For wireless connectivity, MacBook Pro also features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Best Camera and Audio Ever in a Mac Notebook

The new MacBook Pro comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera — the best ever in a Mac notebook — doubling resolution and low-light performance. The camera system taps into the powerful image signal processor (ISP) and Neural Engine of M1 Pro and M1 Max for computational video that enhances video quality — so users appear sharper with more natural-looking skin tones.

Delivering a next-level audio experience, the new MacBook Pro has industry-leading, studio-quality mics that have an even lower noise floor, resulting in clearer calls and voice recordings. A high-fidelity six-speaker sound system features two tweeters for a clearer soundstage and four force-cancelling woofers, resulting in 80 percent more bass. The sound system also supports spatial audio, which creates a sophisticated, three-dimensional listening experience. So whether users are listening to music or watching a movie in Dolby Atmos, they will get a theater-like experience. Altogether, this is the best audio system ever in a notebook.

macOS Monterey Optimized for M1 Pro and M1 Max

The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro come with macOS Monterey, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system. The combination of macOS Monterey and the powerful new M1 Pro and M1 Max delivers breakthrough performance and productivity for users. FaceTime includes new audio and video features that make calls feel more natural and lifelike, and new Continuity tools like AirPlay to Mac enable Apple devices to work even better together. Live Text and Visual Lookup bring new intelligence features to surface useful information, Safari includes powerful tab organization with Tab Groups, and the ease of automation comes to the Mac with Shortcuts. Coming later this fall, SharePlay will enable Mac users to have shared experiences together through FaceTime, and Universal Control will make it easy for users to work effortlessly across their Mac and iPad.

With macOS Monterey and Apple silicon, Mac users can run a greater range of apps than ever before. All of Apple’s Mac apps are optimized for and run natively on M1 Pro and M1 Max, and there are over 10,000 Universal apps and plug-ins available, including Lightroom Classic, Cinema 4D, Capture One, and many more. Existing Mac apps that have not yet been updated to Universal will run seamlessly with Apple’s Rosetta 2 technology, and users can also run iPhone and iPad apps directly on the Mac, opening a huge new universe of possibilities. Powerful new features also come to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, allowing creatives to take full advantage of the power and performance of M1 Pro and M1 Max.

Better for the Environment

When it comes to the environment, the new MacBook Pro raises the bar yet again, including an enclosure made with 100 percent recycled aluminum, 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of its main logic board, and, for the first time in a Mac notebook, the use of 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets. Both models are also built with 35 percent or more recycled plastic in seven components, and all of the packaging wood fibers are from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources. MacBook Pro remains free of harmful substances, is manufactured using even more renewable energy, and meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to have net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will be 100 percent carbon neutral.

Pricing and Availability

• The new MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max are available to order today on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app. They will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting Tuesday, October 26. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $1,999 (US), and $1,849 (US) for education; the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $2,499 (US), and $2,299 (US) for education. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options, and accessories are available at apple.com/mac.

• macOS Monterey will be available as a free software update on Monday, October 25.

• With Apple Trade In, customers can trade in their current computer and get credit toward a new MacBook Pro. Customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in to see what their device is worth.

• Customers in the US get 3 percent Daily Cash back when they buy directly from Apple with Apple Card. And when they choose Apple Card Monthly Installments, they can pay over time, interest-free.

• Every customer who buys a MacBook Pro from Apple can enjoy a free Online Personal Session with an Apple Specialist, get their product set up in select stores including help with data transfer, and receive guidance on how to make their new MacBook Pro work the way they want.

• AppleCare+ for Mac provides expert technical support and additional hardware coverage from Apple, including up to two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months, each subject to a fee.

About Apple

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

1. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1 Max, 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 8TB SSD, as well as production Intel Core i9-based PC systems with NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics with 24GB GDDR6, production Intel Core i9-based PC systems with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics with 16GB GDDR6, and the latest version of Windows 10 available at the time of testing. Prerelease OTOY Octane X Demo PR11 on preproduction 16-inch MacBook Pro systems, and prerelease OTOY OctaneRender Enterprise 2021.1 on Windows systems tested using a 6.45GB scene. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Pro.
2. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1 Max, 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 8TB SSD, as well as production Intel Core i9-based PC systems with NVIDIA RTX A5000 graphics, production Intel Core i9-based PC systems with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, and the latest version of Windows 10 available at the time of testing. Tested with prerelease DaVinci Resolve Studio 17.4 on macOS and shipping DaVinci Resolve Studio 17.3.1 on Windows, using a 30-second project with 8K Apple ProRes 4444 media, at 8192×4320 resolution and 23.98 frames per second. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Pro.
3. Compared to previous-generation 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 32GB of RAM, and 4TB SSD.
4. Compared to previous-generation 2.4GHz 8-core Intel Core i9-based 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with Radeon Pro 5600M graphics with 8GB HBM2, 64GB of RAM, and 8TB SSD.
5. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and other factors. Actual results may vary.
6. The display on the 16-inch MacBook Pro has rounded corners at the top. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 16.2 inches diagonally (actual viewable area is less).
7. The display on the 14-inch MacBook Pro has rounded corners at the top. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 14.2 inches diagonally (actual viewable area is less).

Press Contacts

Jennie Orphanopoulos

Apple

jennieo@apple.com

(408) 221-6621

Michelle Del Rio

Apple

mr_delrio@apple.com

(408) 862-1478

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

(408) 974-2042

For years Canadian officials prioritized trade with China and ignored warnings from Chinese Canadians that the Chinese government presented a serious political and moral challenge, a Canadian journalist argues in a new book.

Why it matters: An earlier response by democratic governments could have relieved the pressure on Chinese diaspora communities and sent a strong message to Beijing that exporting authoritarianism wouldn’t be tolerated.

Details: In her book “China Unbound: A New World Disorder,” Canadian journalist and former China correspondent Joanna Chiu offers a globe-trotting view of China’s ties with Canada, Australia, the U.S., Greece, Italy, Turkey and Russia.

• Chiu finds governments and societies often oversimplify narratives regarding China — some Americans, for example, believe the Chinese Communist Party poses an unambiguous existential threat, and some Italian politicians claim Chinese investment can save the country’s failing economy. The truth is rarely so black and white.
• Anti-Chinese racism, too, has been overly simplified and insufficiently understood, Chiu states. Tougher policies and confrontational rhetoric on China can make the lives of people in AAPI communities in western countries more difficult.
• But western leaders might have become aware of Beijing’s goals sooner if they hadn’t prioritized narrow business interests and had instead paid attention when people of Chinese descent living in the west were harassed, censored, and unjustly detained for long periods of time in China, Chiu argues.

What she’s saying: “Right now there’s a narrative that goes, if you don’t want to be racist and if you want to avoid further marginalizing the diaspora, then you shouldn’t say or do anything about Beijing’s actions. But that actually erases decades of warnings and diverse lived experiences of people in the diaspora,” Chiu told me in an interview.

• Concern about the erasure of Chinese diaspora perspectives is widely held among researchers who study the Chinese Communist Party’s political interference activities abroad.
• In her reporting, Chiu spoke with Chinese students living in Canada who faced threats from China’s security services and surveillance from the Chinese embassy, part of an overseas expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence arm the United Front Work Department.
• She also spoke with a Chinese Canadian community leader whose years of grassroots work to get Chinese Canadian voices heard was drowned out by a new organization with an almost identical name that was supported by the Chinese embassy and that tended to issue press releases making opposite claims.

When Chiu tried to report threats made against her in Canada for reports she had published about Xinjiang, a spokesperson for Canada’s Minister of Public Safety told Chiu the government “takes threats to the security of individuals living in Canada very seriously” and said people should report incidents to local police.

Driving the news: Canada-China ties are up in the air after a nearly three-year diplomatic standoff finally ended just weeks ago with Canada’s release of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, wanted by the U.S. for fraud charges, and China’s subsequent release of Canadian political hostages Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

• Chiu knew Kovrig personally and was relieved at his release. But in an August article, she also criticized Canada’s lack of a response when in previous years, Canadian citizens of Chinese descent had been similarly detained in China. “If China hadn’t targeted white Canadians, would Chinese-Canadian relations be business as usual?” Chiu asked.

Background: Anti-Chinese sentiment spiked globally during the COVID pandemic, but it’s nothing new. Chinese people have a long history of maltreatment at the hands of western countries, something Chiu’s family has personally experienced.

• Chiu’s great-great-great-grandfather came to Canada in the 19th century, tricked into believing he could mine for gold, but instead found he was only permitted to do grueling manual labor for low pay on the Canadian Pacific Railway.
• Discriminatory immigration policies made it nearly impossible for him to bring his family with him, so he ended up going back to China with few savings. Chiu herself was born in Hong Kong and came to Canada as a small child.

The bottom line: “What is needed is getting people in the diaspora into positions of influence and power, rather than using them as an excuse to continue with business as usual with China,” Chiu told Axios.

When Warner Bros. announced back in 2018 that Ava DuVernay had signed on to direct a New Gods film penned by comic book writer Tom King, the news was intriguing—if only for the promise of the creative team potentially bringing the likes of Mister Miracle, Big Barda, and Granny Goodness to the silver screen. While it first seemed as if New Gods was coming together in the time after Warner Bros.’ initial announcement, the studio changed its tune earlier this year.

New Gods wouldn’t have been the first time the DCEU’s focus turned to Apokolips, but it might have spent more time digging into inhabitants other than Darkseid, who was meant to be featured in 2017’s Justice League but was replaced by Steppenwolf in Joss Whedon’s version. When WB took New Gods and James Wan’s The Trench (which was actually a secret Black Manta project) off its production slate, it seemed possible that the decision was partially driven by Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the long-rumored director’s cut, where Darkseid did play a large role.

From the sound of recent comments DuVernay’s made about what went down with New Gods, that may have been the case. During an interview on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM show last week, DuVernay explained how, after signing onto her overall development deal with Warner Bros. in 2018, she immediately began looking into the studio’s catalog of DC Comics IP, and identified the New Gods as characters she was interested in. “I loved New Gods, which is the project that got axed,” DuVernay said. “The studio decided that they did not want to pursue a certain part of that comic world, based on some things that were going on with another film in that world.”

According to DuVernay, she wasn’t even able to fully finish working on New Gods’ script with King before Warner pulled the plug, and the director’s reference to “another film in that world” appears to be about Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the only other recent film project spotlighting DC’s Fourth World characters. A significantly larger amount of screen time for Darkseid was one of the major selling points of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and while the director’s cut was far less in sync with some of WB’s other recent DCEU projects, the studio’s flirtations with a multiverse have left open the potential for it to play a role in the cinematic universe’s future.

Hear the difference
The newly refreshed, 2021 AirPods Pro with MagSafe charging get their first big price cut.

While more of the Snyderverse’s take on Darkseid existing alongside DuVernay’s might have complicated audiences’ understanding of the Fourth World to a certain extent, Warner Bros. has recently gambled on multiple iterations of characters like the Joker and Batman being box office draws. It’s interesting to consider whether the powers that be felt that trying to adapt classic Jack Kirby comics into a live-action film might be too difficult, or if the studio might instead be merely waiting to introduce that lore to a wider audience.

What’s going to be really interesting to see going forward is what ends up becoming of DuVernay and co-executive producer Jill Blankenship’s upcoming adaptation of Naomi for the CW. As new a character as Naomi is, it wouldn’t be too surprising if ideas familiar to New Gods fans pop up in the series, particularly given DuVernay’s involvement.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now streaming on HBO Max, and Naomi premieres on the CW sometime in 2022.

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Nintendo has announced the main cast list for the upcoming Super Mario animated movie and confirmed a North American release of December 21, 2022.

Chris Pratt will play Mario in the Illumination-produced movie, as opposed to Mario’s usual voice actor Charles Martinet, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed in a Nintendo Direct on Thursday.

Martinet will, however, have some cameo roles in the film.

In addition, Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit) has been cast as Princess Peach, Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses) as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser. Seth Rogan will also play Donkye Kong in the movie.

The full cast list announced so far is as follows:

• Chris Pratt as Mario
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach
• Charlie Day as Luigi
• Jack Black as Bowser
• Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
• Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
• Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
• Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike
• Surprise cameos from Charles Martinet

The Mario movie is being co-financed by Nintendo and Illumination. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) are directing and the script is from The Lego Movie 2 writer Matthew Fogel.

“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honoured to have the unique opportunity to work closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie unlike any film Illumination has made to date,” said Illumination founder Chris Meledandri.

Shigeru Miyamoto added: “We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game.

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“The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen.”

Chris Meledandri, the American film producer and CEO of Illumination, was nominated as a new outside director of Nintendo in May 2021. Meledandri is currently producing the Super Mario movie alongside Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.

Shuntaro Furukawa recently indicated that Nintendo is exploring the possibility of creating more animation content featuring its other game series.

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He said nothing when his religion was being attacked on the streets and through legislation; when people like Kafeel Khan were being locked up for providing oxygen to suffocating children; when students from his own alma mater were being lathi-charged for protesting against the CAA and NRC; when his colleagues and peers were being harassed on the same baseless charges his son is now facing; when films of other stars were being banned and prevented from being screened.

Other stars of much lesser stature- Deepika Padukone, Swara Bhaskar, Javed Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah, even Aamir Khan, among others- spoke out, not once but repeatedly, and most paid the price in one way or the other. But they continue to speak out. Not, however, Shah Rukh Khan- not one word of sympathy, not one gesture of support for the victims, not one whisper of condemnation of the lumpen elements or an autocratic government on a majoritarian high.

But this has not saved him, or put him on our own Schindler’s list. He is as much grist to the mill of a repressive govt. as was Akhlaq or that little girl in Kathua or Father Stan Swamy. His international contacts could not save him, nor his billions, nor his adoring fans, nor the imposing gates of Mannat. He might as well have spoken up when he could- then at least he would have been deserving of our support for occupying the moral high ground.

The same lesson holds for our corporates and captains of industry. The voices here are even fewer- a Rajiv Bajaj here, a Parle there, an Anand Mahindra tweeting in the background maybe. The others are content to smother the sound of the jackboots so long as they can keep salting away their billions in the British Virgin Islands or St. Kitts or Bermuda.

But they are living in a fool’s paradise too: when it suits the BJP’s political purpose, or when they become inconvenient to the party, they too shall be subjected to New India’s version of the Inquisition, as the Tatas found out some time back when they were castigated publicly by the Union Commerce Minister for opposing the E- Commerce rules. The charge? Lack of patriotism and nationalism, naturally!

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —

A film starring actor Martin Lawrence is being filmed in Northwest Arkansas.

The movie is a thriller called “Mindcage,” a production company spokesperson said.

The spokesperson emphasized the film is being shot under tight COVID-19 protocols and asked the public not to approach the set.

Photos of Lawrence were posted on social media by passers-by in Springdale on Monday and in Fayetteville on Tuesday.

Lawrence is best known for his work in the sitcom “Martin,” and the “Bad Boys” movies.

Mauro Borrelli is listed as the director of the film on IMDbPro. Borrelli created concept art for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “Captain America,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and several Tim Burton films, including “Sleepy Hollow,” according to his biography.

His directing credits include the 2017 action-horror film “The Recall,” starring Wesley Snipes.

Actress Melissa Roxburgh, best known for her role in “Manifest,” has also been seen on set.