23 cartoons that summarize current world events

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The situation in China has escalated in recent days and the biggest wave of civil disobedience since the Tiananmen protests of 1989 is sweeping through the country.

The protesters are demanding an end to the draconian Covid measurespolitical freedoms and the resignation of Xi Jinping.

The regime responded with numerous arrests and strict online censorship.

Apple boss Tim Cook has fully supported the China map and opened up to blackmail.

Just as anti-regime protests in China were gathering steam, Apple restricted the “AirDrop” feature. The feature was previously used by protesters with Apple devices to distribute “leaflets” critical of the government.

China is Apple’s most important sales market.​

Last year, the American media The Information reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook had already reached an agreement in 2016 with the Beijing regime to prevent official action against Apple. He promised Chinese investment of $275 billion. In return, China assured the US group “support and assistance” from government agencies.

Foxconn recently noticed a sharp increase in the number of corona infections at its iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, which is why the Taiwanese company closed the factory. Hundreds of workers protested, some standing in the way of people in white safety suits and riot police. The Chinese regime retaliated with police brutality and censorship.

Apple warned that it expects fewer shipments of iPhone 14 models for the Christmas business due to the production stoppage.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has brought tens of thousands of previously banned users back to Twitter in the name of free speech in recent days. In addition to Donald Trump, he had activated several right-wing influencer accounts, which had been blocked for homophobic and racist statements, among other things. himself a well-known neo-Nazi back on twitter. Musk also unblocked Ye (Kanye West’s) account, who responded by praising Hitler. The musician’s Twitter account has now been blocked again due to anti-Semitic statements.

Musk has recently revealed more and more that he is close to right-wing conspiracy tellers. On Twitter, he repeatedly endorsed statements by right-wing conservative accounts that spread conspiracy stories.

After Musk’s purchase of Twitter and several rounds of layoffs, hundreds of employees resigned themselves. Meanwhile, the chaos of verification check marks and copycat profiles is scaring off advertisers. They fear for their image if their ads appear next to racist or homophobic tweets.

After the chaos of the past few weeks, half of the main advertisers have left. Musk blames activists for calling for an ad boycott.

In late October, Musk marched into Twitter headquarters as the new boss — with a wash basin in his arm. He wrote that one should allow the whole to settle (to settle, to settle in English = to settle).

According to a report by the British Guardian, 6,500 workers have been killed since construction work began in Qatar. Tournament secretary Hassan al-Thawadi this week confirmed 400 to 500 dead guest workers in the context of the World Cup. A large proportion of the workers had an accident on other construction sites. So far, officials have always spoken of 34 fatalities during construction work for the World Cup.

Pointing the finger is easy, but…

Especially in Germany, the World Cup in Qatar is being boycotted – thanks to the early departure of the German team, this should not be too difficult for many. On the other hand, people do not want to do without the gas from Qatar. And Switzerland also wants the liquefied gas from the desert. Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer traveled to the Gulf state for the first time in July 2021 and was also present at the World Cup.

After concluding the gas deal with Germany, Qatar’s energy minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, attacked the West, stating that the World Cup would not change attitudes towards LGBTQ people in Qatar.

In protest against the regime in Tehran, the Iranian players refused to sing the national anthem. They were then summoned to meet with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In addition, their families were threatened with imprisonment and torture if they did not “behave”. The players sang along ahead of the games against Wales and the USA.

Meanwhile in the US.

Dry the swamp à la Donald Trump.

Trump recently had to answer for a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate with rapper and conspiracy teller Kanye West, which apparently included far-right nationalist Nick Fuentes. Trump said afterwards that he did not know Fuentes. Fuentes and West, now calling himself Ye, spread anti-Semitic hate speech, among other things.

Trump had resisted the disclosure of his tax documents for years. The U.S. Supreme Court has now denied his request to stop sending tax documents to the House Treasury Committee. Among other things, the Democrats want to investigate whether Trump used questionable methods to cut taxes.

Trump also suffered defeat in the legal dispute over the evaluation of classified government documents seized from him. The Justice Department investigating Trump may continue to use the documents. The former president had defended himself against the investigations in court and has now officially announced that he wants to run again for the Republicans in the 2024 presidential election.

With material from the SDA news agency

(oli)