Archives par mot-clé : video

300 protest in Anaheim after videos show off-duty LAPD officer firing gun in dispute with teens

A day after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer fired his gun during a confrontation with a group of teenagers in Anaheim, videos purportedly showing the encounter spread online, prompting questions about the officer’s actions. 

No one was injured by the gunfire, but the footage — posted on YouTube and Facebook  — sparked a flurry of phone calls and emails to Anaheim police, who are investigating the officer’s actions. 

(Warning: The video contains indecent language. You can watch it here.)

On Wednesday night, about 300 demonstrators took to the streets of Anaheim to protest the case. The marchers began in the west Anaheim neighborhood where the shooting occurred and eventually moved into major streets.

Iraqi forces retake runway at Mosul International Airport

Iraqi federal police forces – backed by U.S. air support – entered Mosul International Airport and took control of the runway from the Islamic State, an official said Thursday.

Thursday’s advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive ISIS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Two police officers said the airport buildings were under fire from Iraqi forces. They would not provide more information but said the U.S.-led coalition is with the advancing forces.

Reuters reported Monday that Iraqi forces were closing in on the airport after pushing ISIS fighters back at a nearby hill. The troops were working on regaining the west side of the city and overtaking the airport completely would be a major blow to militants.

Mosul fell to ISIS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq. ISIS is estimated to have between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters in Mosul, Col. John Dorrian, the Baghdad-based spokesman told Pentagon reporters Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, a top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Monday the Iraqi forces are an « increasingly capable, formidable and professional force. »

« Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world, and the Iraqi forces have risen to the challenge, » he said in a statement.

Ground units pushed into a belt of villages outside the country’s second-largest city Sunday and plumes of smoke rose into the sky early in the morning as U.S.-led coalition jets struck militant positions southwest of Mosul and militarized Iraqi police fired artillery.

US TROOPS HAVE COME ‘UNDER FIRE’ IN AN AROUND MOSUL, OFFICIAL SAYS

The United Nations warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside their homes in Mosul « are at extreme risk, » with dwindling fuel, food and water and scarce electricity.

Iraq declared eastern Mosul « fully liberated » last month after three months of fierce fighting, but the militants have continued to stage attacks there, including two suicide bombings against government forces on Sunday.

The battle for western Mosul promises to be even more daunting, as the half of the city west of the Tigris River has older, narrower streets and is still heavily populated.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the latest operation on state TV. He said government forces were moving to « liberate the people of Mosul from [ISIS] oppression and terrorism forever. »

Police units quickly entered the village of Athba, about 3 miles southwest of Mosul’s international airport, encountering only light resistance. Separately, the Iraqi Army’s 9th Division moved into the village of Bakhira, also southwest of the city, the Ministry of Defense said.

Citing witnesses in western Mosul, the United Nations said nearly half of all food shops were closed and bakeries had shut down for lack of fuel and an inability to purchase costly flour. Prices of kerosene and cooking gas have skyrocketed, and many of the most destitute families are burning wood, furniture, plastic or garbage for cooking and heating.

US TOOPS IN IRAQ OPERATING CLOSER TO FRONT LINES

« The situation is distressing. People, right now, are in trouble, » Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement. « We are hearing reports of parents struggling to feed their children and to heat their homes. »

Peter Hawkins, of the U.N. agency for children, said: « Three out of five people now depend on untreated water from wells for cooking and drinking as water systems and treatment plants have been damaged by fighting or run out of chlorine. »

The humanitarian agencies were gearing up to aid 250,000 to 400,000 civilians who may flee because of the fighting, the statement said. The U.N. estimates 750,000 civilians may be left in western Mosul.

Iraqi special operations forces, regular army and federal police units are taking part in the offensive along with government-approved paramilitary forces, mainly consisting of Shiite militias, which are operating on the city’s outskirts.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive

Democrats on Wednesday decried the Trump administration’s rollback of a regulation extending certain protections to America’s transgender students.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued new guidance late Wednesday rescinding the Obama-era rules, citing a need to further consider their legal ramifications.

The Obama guidelines required public schools to allow students to use bathrooms and other facilities that correspond to their gender identities.

The Trump administration said that schools still must ensure that LGBT students are safe from bullying and discrimination, but questioned whether the transgender directive was justified by Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex.

Democrats were quick to jump on the decision.

“No student should face discrimination at school because of who they are,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. « Transgender students have the same right to a safe environment at school and in their community as everyone else.”

“Withdrawing the historic guidance from the Obama Administration to protect transgender students is a cruel blow to an already vulnerable group of young people,” she added.

“This move shows President Trump cannot be trusted to defend the rights of LGBT Americans. This is not a state issue. This is an issue of equality for all.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerCharles SchumerDems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive Ellison holds edge in DNC race survey Overnight Cybersecurity: Trump defends Flynn, blasts leaks | Yahoo fears further breach MORE (D-N.Y.) tweeted Wednesday’s move « is just plain wrong cuts directly across the drive for equality. »

Senate Democratic Whip Dick DurbinDick DurbinDems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive A guide to the committees: Senate McConnell: I’m very sympathetic to ‘Dreamers’ MORE (Ill.) also panned the Trump administration’s decision on Twitter Wednesday.

“Every student, no matter how their gender identity, should feel welcome in school,” he wrote. « We must do more, not less, to achieve this goal.”

“Trump’s decision to subject transgender kids to bigotry in the name of ‘states’ rights’ marks a major setback in the fight for civil rights,” Durbin said in a second tweet.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) tweeted that the new guidance is “an appalling decision that targets kids because of who they are.”

Sen. Ed MarkeyEd MarkeyDems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive A guide to the committees: Senate GOP sets sights on internet privacy rules MORE (D-Mass.) tweeted that the decision shows Trump “thinks LGBT stands for ‘Let’s Go Back in Time.’”

“He’s wrong,” Markey wrote. « We stand with the transgender community in fight to defend progress.”

Sen. Ron WydenRon WydenDems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive IPAB’s Medicare cuts will threaten seniors’ access to care A guide to the committees: Senate MORE (D-Ore.) called the measure an “absolutely shameful reversal of progress in civil rights equality for transgender students.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) additionally condemned the new guidance on Facebook, vowing his state would keep protection for transgender students in place.

« Washington state will continue to be a place where all children can feel safe from discrimination, harassment or assault based on their gender identity, » he said.

« We will continue to stand together to protect some of our most vulnerable students – we know these young people face high rates of bullying, harassment and even violence. »

Religious conservatives opposed the Obama-era guidelines, arguing that students should use the bathrooms that match their sex at birth, and rules otherwise are improper social engineering.

Women who assassinated half-brother of Kim Jong Un coated hands in poison, official says

The women suspected of assassinating the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un doused their hands with a toxic chemical before wiping them on the man’s face, Malaysian officials said Wednesday.

North Korea – which South Korean authorities believe may have been behind the murder – refuted the Malaysian account of Kim Jong Nam’s death and called for the release of the two “innocent” women being held in connection with the shocking airport attack.

If the toxins had been on their hands « then how is it possible that these female suspects could still be alive? » asked a statement from the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

But police have an answer for that: authorities say the women washed their hands soon after the encounter with Kim Jong Nam.

VIDEO SURFACES SHOWING APPARENT POISONING OF KIM JONG NAM

Officials have also shot down rumors that one or both of the women may have been tricked into the attack, saying that the women practiced the assault at two malls in Kuala Lumpur.

« We strongly believe it is a planned thing and that they have been trained, » Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.

Malaysia is still searching for two North Korean suspects, an employee of North Korea’s state-owned airline, Air Koryo, and the second secretary of North Korea’s Kuala Lumpur embassy.

« We hope that the Korean Embassy will cooperate with us, allow us to interview them and interview them quickly,” Khalid said. “If not, we will compel them to come to us. »

NORTH KOREA MORE ISOLATED AFTER LEADER’S HALF-BROTHER KILLED

Police said the substance used remains unknown, but it was potent enough to kill Kim Jong Nam before he could even make it to a hospital.

Khalid said the women knew they were handling poisonous materials and « were warned to take precautions. » Surveillance video showed both keeping their hands away from their bodies after the attack, he said, then going to restrooms to wash. Those details are not clear in video obtained by media outlets.

He also said a heavily armed special police force was deployed to the morgue holding Kim Jong Nam’s body after police detected an attempt to break into the facility. He declined to give details, but local media reported that a South Korean cameraman was detained briefly outside the morgue after he was found without any identification documents. He was released after a colleague confirmed his identity.

Police have already arrested four people in connection with the attack: a Malaysian, a North Korean and the two women – one from Vietnam and the other Indonesian. The Malaysian was to be freed Wednesday on bail, Khalid said.

Police are looking for seven other North Korean suspects in connection with the attack, including the two announced Wednesday. The embassy official and the airline employee are among three North Koreans believed to still be at large in Malaysia.

The four others are believed to have fled Kuala Lumpur shortly after the attack. Khalid said authorities believe they are back in North Korea, and that they provided the toxin.

« That’s why we asked the North Korean Embassy to trace them and hand them over to us, » he said, adding that Malaysian authorities had received no help from North Korea.

The case has perplexed toxicologists, who question how the two women could have walked away unscathed after handling a powerful poison.

Kim had spent most of the past 15 years living in China and Southeast Asia. He is believed to have had at least three children with two women. No family members have come forward to claim the body.

South Korea’s spy agency believes North Korea was behind the killing, but has produced no evidence.

North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. While Kim Jong Nam was not thought to be seeking influence, his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since its founding could have made him appear to be a danger.

He was at the airport to fly to Macau, where he had a home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The 96 hours that brought down Milo Yiannopoulos

 

Before Milo Yiannopoulos gained (and lost) a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) invitation, a book deal and a job, the now-former Breitbart News writer had already said and written many offensive things. That’s his appeal to the people who admire and elevate him: “Milo,” the personality, is built on the idea of triggering liberals. His Breitbart archives contain a regular stream of articles arguing all sorts of things designed to demean and offend: that feminism makes women ugly, that he would prefer it if teenagers self-harmed rather than discuss trans issues on Tumblr, and that women will be happy only if we “un-invent” the birth control pill and the washing machine.

None of these things, including the fact that the writer had already been banned from Twitter for, the platform said, inciting harassment against actress Leslie Jones, stopped Yiannopoulos from becoming a voice that CPAC felt was of value to their movement on free-speech grounds. Or for that matter, from appearing on Bill Maher’s HBO show and finding common ground with the more liberal comedian. Those opportunities for Yiannopoulos came right after the University of California at Berkeley canceled a speaking engagement of his because of intense protests — gaining him at least one indirect tweet from President Trump.

But about 96 hours after his appearance on Maher’s “Real Time” program, Yiannopoulos’s most considerable step yet toward leaving his alt-right adjacency and entering into mainstream conservative discourse, he became a castaway.

Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart on Tuesday. The day before that, he lost his book deal with Simon  Schuster, and his invitation to speak at CPAC was rescinded. The reason, as CPAC put it, was “the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning pedophilia.” That’s in reference to a series of videos that the Reagan Battalion, a conservative site, tweeted out days ago, showing examples of Yiannopoulos’s past comments on pedophilia and consent. Yiannopoulos has claimed that the videos were “selectively edited” to make it appear as if he was defending child abuse, and that their release was part of a “co-ordinated effort to discredit me.”

Here is a rough timeline of how Yiannopoulos went from a breakthrough moment to the opposite in a matter of days.

Friday night, Feb. 17, 10 p.m.: Yiannopoulos appears on “Real Time with Bill Maher.” The two sit down for a one-on-one interview, which is mostly friendly. The interview follows days of controversy over the very fact that Yiannopoulos is appearing on the show at all. He also sits down for a panel discussion with Maher’s other guests. It is substantially less chummy.

Saturday, Feb. 18, 1:40 p.m.: Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, announces that Yiannopoulos will be a speaker at CPAC:

In the minutes following, several prominent conservative writers and leaders start to protest the decision on Twitter, pointing to Yiannopoulos’s long history of remarks that, in their opinion, don’t fit with the values of CPAC.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2:30 a.m.: The Twitter account for the conservative blog Reagan Battalion, which had been tweeting and re-tweeting criticism of CPAC’s invitation to Yiannopoulos, tweets a link to a video interview between Yiannopoulos and Joe Rogan, saying that it shows him “defend [ing] pedophilia and pedophiles.” In the 2015 clip, Yiannopoulos discusses a parish priest who had a sexual relationship with him when he was a teen, declines to name the priest, and says, “It was perfectly consensual.” He adds: “When I was the 14, I was the predator.”

Sunday, Feb. 19: 11 a.m.: The Reagan Battalion tweets out another video, which edits together several of Yiannopoulos’s more controversial remarks. It includes a long segment from a separate statement Yiannopoulos has made about pedophilia in the past.

That statement comes from a January 2016 episode of the podcast Drunken Peasants, in which Yiannopoulos appears to defend sexual relationships between adults and “younger boys” in their teens.

Specifically, he says: “Some of those relationships between younger boys and older men, the sort of coming-of-age relationships, the relationships in which those older men help those young boys to discover who they are, and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable and sort of a rock where they can’t speak to their parents.”

“I’m grateful for Father Michael,” he said, in what appears to be an attempt at a joke. “I wouldn’t give nearly such good [oral sex] if it wasn’t for him.” He then argues that “pedophilia is attraction to children who have not reached puberty. Pedophilia is attraction to people who don’t have functioning sex organs yet who have not gone through puberty,” and not someone who is 13 years old and “sexually mature.”

The videos start to gain traction, and soon the outrage about Yiannopoulos starts to focus on these statements.

It starts to appear the writer is becoming the subject of a tactic he helped to popularize, that is, making noise about your opponents until it becomes unavoidable. In his case, the noise he began about one of his “enemies” could escalate into mob abuse. That’s why he was banned from Twitter months ago, after the platform said he broke their rules against inciting harassment.

In July, Yiannopoulos mocked actress Leslie Jones as she received an onslaught of viciously racist tweets. The harassment, it seemed, stemmed from the fact that she was one of the co-stars of the “Ghostbusters” remake. In one tweet, Yiannopoulos shared faked screenshots that made it appear as if Jones had tweeted profane and offensive things. Yiannopoulos called his suspension from the platform “cowardly” and disputed that he was directly involved in the harassment.

His use of Twitter was an extension of the sort of journalism for which he was known: opposition research-style investigations into the personal lives of people he sees as enemies, with the intention of discrediting them. His Breitbart archives include articles based on unverified claims that social justice activist Shaun King, who identifies as biracial, is lying about his ethnicity. King has said that the evidence cited by Yiannopoulos and other conservative writers is incorrect, and that the reports are “lies.” He has also written similar pieces, framed as exposés, about several feminist activists. At a December campus visit to University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, he spent time during a speech there to mock a transgender student by name, displaying her photograph on a screen.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 9 p.m.: Yiannopoulos posts a statement denying that his remarks were a defense of pedophilia. It reads, in part:

The videos do not show what people say they show. I *did* joke about giving better head as a result of clerical sexual abuse committed against me when I was a teen. If I choose to deal in an edgy way on an internet livestream with a crime I was the victim of that’s my prerogative. It’s no different to gallows humor from AIDS sufferers.

The rest is here. 

Sunday, Feb. 19: 9:45 p.m.: CNN’s Jake Tapper starts tweeting about the videos:

In response, Yiannopolos offers to go on Tapper’s show to “clear all this up.”

Monday, Feb. 20, 1 p.m.: CPAC announces that Yiannopoulos will no longer be speaking at CPAC.

Monday, Feb. 20, 1:30 p.m.: Yiannopoulos releases another statement on Facebook, which reads, in part:

“I’ve repeatedly expressed disgust at pedophilia in my feature and opinion writing. My professional record is very clear.

But I do understand that these videos, even though some of them are edited deceptively, paint a different picture.

I’m partly to blame. My own experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous. But I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, “advocacy.” I deeply regret that. People deal with things from their past in different ways.”

The rest of that statement is here. 

Monday, Feb. 20, about 5:15 p.m.: Simon  Schuster cancels Yiannopoulos’s book. Meanwhile, discussions are reportedly building at Breitbart about Yiannopoulos’s future there. Here’s what Dave Weigel and Robert Costa reported for us at the time:

By late Monday afternoon, there were ongoing discussions at Breitbart about Yiannopoulos’s future at the company, according to two people familiar with the organization who were not authorized to speak. Inside the newsroom, several staffers made clear to senior leadership that they felt uncomfortable and may decide to leave if he stays, the people said. There was also an aggressive liberal campaign to get advertisers to quit Breitbart News.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2:30 p.m.: Shortly before a news conference, Yiannopoulos announces that he is resigning from Breitbart.

“Breitbart News has stood by me when others caved. They have allowed me to carry conservative and libertarian ideas to communities that would otherwise never have heard them,” Yiannopoulos said in a statement. “They have been a significant factor in my success. I’m grateful for that freedom and for the friendships I forged there.”

“I would be wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues’ important reporting, so today I am resigning from Breitbart, effective immediately. This decision is mine alone.”

At 3 p.m., he held a news conference.

More reading: 

 

 

Flood evacuations underway in San Jose

(CNN) — Mandatory evacuations were underway Tuesday in parts of San Jose, California, due to an apparent breach of a creek, Mayor Sam Liccardo told reporters.

There have been several water rescues already, including one by helicopter, the mayor said. About 500 apartments are in the mandatory evacuation area and almost 200 people have been relocated, Liccardo said. Some were rescued from their homes by boat.

The mayor also expressed concern about a homeless encampment near Coyote Creek, where individuals were reluctant to leave.

Other low-lying areas near Coyote Creek are subjects of a voluntary evacuation order, the mayor said.

Coyote Creek hit a historic crest of 13.6 feet on Tuesday. The flood stage is anything above 10 feet.

On Tuesday, residents scrambled to fortify their homes with sandbags, but it was too late for some people. The flooding had submerged some southern San Jose homes.

Residents watched helplessly as the murky water poured into their homes and one flood victim, Jaunita Wilson saw her belongings starting to float around her apartment.

« That’s like a nightmare, » she told CNN affiliate KPIX. « It’s kind of like something you can’t believe is happening, but it is happening. »

Employees from two Santa Clara County facilities have been evacuated due to flooding, the county said. More than 300 social services workers were relocated.

« I cannot say that the worst is over, » Liccardo said. « My understanding is that the peak level may continue to rise. »

Jose Villalobos Chino, who lives near the creek, had to drive through several inches of water on Tuesday morning.

The water was almost up to his driveway at 9 a.m. when he was told to evacuate, he said.

Villalobos said he was unable to grab any clothes, important documents or other valuables before he left.

Later in the day, the water was up to the windows of cars parked in the street.

More than 2 inches of rain had fallen in San Jose in the past 48 hours, the National Weather Service said. The rain had stopped Tuesday afternoon. But there is a chance of rain this weekend.

The creek was rising because of water coming from Anderson Reservoir.

According to the Santa Clarita Valley Water District website, preliminary readings indicated the reservoir was at 105.5% of capacity on Tuesday afternoon and the water level was almost 4 feet above the top of a spillway.

The-CNN-Wire: By Steve Almasy and Keith Allen (CNN’s David Williams and Madison Park contributed to this report)
™ © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Trump’s plan to broaden deportation rules could cost billions and hurt the US economy, experts say

The sweeping immigration enforcement outlined by the Trump administration could cost billions of dollars to execute, cripple the American economy, and possibly present a humanitarian crisis the likes of which the country has never seen, experts say.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a pair of memos describing the plan on Tuesday that the U.S. “no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.”

The memos, combined with President Trump’s executive actions on immigration, call for the hiring of thousands of additional federal agents, enlisting local law enforcement to assist in apprehension, and beefing up the number of immigration judges.

Experts from both sides of the aisle aren’t quite sure where the money for the increased enforcement will come from and believe that the economic fallout from the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants could be staggering.

DHS releases expansive new deportation policies

“It’s a really significant amount of money and it’s difficult to see this coming together,” Philip Wolgin, the managing director for immigration policy with the progressive Center for American Progress, told the Daily News. “But they’ve made a ton of promises and are following through on a lot of them.”

More than 2 million immigrants were deported during the eight years Obama was in office, more than many previous administrations.

But the scope of Trump’s expulsion plans is beyond anything seen in the U.S. in decades.

Critics have compared the pledge to deploy a “deportation force” to an Eisenhower-era immigration crackdown he has praised: “Operation Wetback.”

Pol: NYC’s broken windows policing helps Trump deport immigrants

The 1950s undertaking targeted Mexican and Hispanic immigrants from Austin, Tex. to Chicago and carted them across the border via truck, train, and cargo ship.

Trump’s federal dragnet will not just take aim at the worst offenders as he promised on the campaign trail — it vastly expands the range of undocumented immigrants federal officials should seek out to include low-level offenders and longtime residents with ties to communities.

AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO PROVIDED BY U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT; MANDATORY CREDIT.

Experts from both sides of the aisle aren’t quite sure how the U.S. will find the money for the increased enforcement needed under Trump’s immigration plan. 

(Bryan Cox/AP)

“A lot of this is designed to put up numbers — but in doing so, you diminish the impact on public safety,” John Sandweg, who served as the acting director of ICE and acting general counsel of DHS under the Obama administration, told the Washington Post.

While Trump has pledged to triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to deal with his plans, there are other ways in which he can speed up the roll out of the plan.

Activists attach ‘Refugees Welcome’ banner to Statue of Liberty

Wolgin said he was most concerned about a section of the memo that appeared to expand the time frame of when people can be deported without seeing a judge from 14 days after arrival to two years could be devastating.

“The issue is how they do it. It means skipping the immigration courts and skipping due process and being able to get a lawyer,” he said. “I would imagine we will see legal challenges to theses memos, but in general once you’re deported your ability to challenge is greatly diminished.”

One of the memos directs ICE to expand a program that allows local law enforcement agencies partnering with the federal government “to perform the functions of an immigration officer,” including “investigation, apprehension and detention.”

To enforce Trump’s pledge to end a policy known as “catch-and-release,” in which interdicted undocumented immigrants were released pending deportation proceedings, the memos call for a vast expansion of the use of detention centers to hold people caught by immigration authorities.

Mayor de Blasio rips feds for deporting Queens immigrant

“It’s going to take a lot more resources and a lot more years,” Wolgin said. “The ability to deport that many more people is a matter of hiring people quick enough.”

The right-leaning American Action Forum last year analyzed the force necessary to apprehend and remove all 11.3 million illegal immigrants from the U.S. within two years.

“(T)he federal government would need to increase federal immigration apprehension workers from 4,844 to 90,582, immigration detention personnel from 5,203 to 53,381, federal immigration attorneys from 1,430 to 32,445, and immigration courts from 58 to 1,316,” the group found.

The scope of Trump’s expulsion plans is beyond anything seen in the U.S. in decades.

The scope of Trump’s expulsion plans is beyond anything seen in the U.S. in decades.

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The group estimated it would take hundreds of thousands of extra detention beds, 17,000 chartered airplane flights, and 30,000 chartered bus trips each year.

The total price tag would be $100 billion to $300 billion, the group estimates.

The sheer cost of Trump’s hardline efforts isn’t the only economic pain that will be felt if millions are deported.

Brian Garcia, a legal advocate for immigrant youth, told the Arizona Republic the “change in policy places a priority on hurting families” who “come to the U.S. to work, pursue an education, and contribute to our economy.”

According to an analysis from the American Action Forum, a conservative-leaning think tank, the U.S. economy could shrink by $1.6 trillion over the next 20 years as a result of the deportations.

Moody’s Analytics projected that Trump’s policies would shrink the labor force by about 5% — driving up not only wages, but also the cost of goods, creating inflation and higher interest rates.

Meanwhile, real gross domestic product would decline by 5.7%, or almost $1.6 trillion.

“The Trump administration’s continued attacks on immigrants have severe economic and social repercussions,” Main Street Alliance said in a statement. “As entrepreneurs and job creators, immigrants play an indispensable role in the economy and culture of the US. Main Street Alliance and our member businesses believe America is strongest when it is most inclusive.”

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How to nail Facebook travel ad campaigns

For the travel marketing world, social media is a key channel to communicate ideal destinations and packages to potential consumers. Not only does it help companies reach out to a wide range of new consumers, it also helps them find their most effective market through targeted means, reaching people who are interested in all things travel.

Facebook travel ad campaigns

We’ve compiled some of the most awesome Facebook ad campaigns by travel industry brands in the recent years, showing us how to nail the Facebook travel ad campaigns.

AirBaltic – FanDay

The AirBaltic Fan Day vote Facebook campaign allowed fans to choose between three potential destinations. By the end of the voting day, the fans who voted were able to buy tickets to the chosen city at a huge discount. In other words, the more interaction fans had with AirBaltic through Facebook, the more likely they were going to get an amazing deal.

As most companies know by now, interaction with Facebook content in the form of shares, comments and likes leads to greater exposure. AirBaltic took advantage of its fans’ love of discounts to rev up engagement like never before.

KLM – Orange Experience

In a long-haul approach to the Facebook advertising campaign, KLM (a Dutch airline) adapted the storytelling approach through video and interaction to create extensive views and interest in their brand. The strategy began in February 2014, when KLM overhauled their existing Facebook strategy and began to use video content to inspire the right audiences. The first video was the ‘Orange Experience’ that was made in partnership with Heineken.

The ‘Orange Experience’ video involved two people approaching random passers-by and offering them a “full orange experience”. Those who accepted were sent to Amsterdam to enjoy the famous Kings Day national feast. This surprising approach to advertising on a dynamic level helped the KLM video go viral, and the company reached approximately 19 million people within the space of a few days.

Eurail – Train Routes

Eurail used a combination of Facebook ads and inspiring creative to ensure that it caught the attention of its most lucrative customers. In an effort to ensure that ads were only shown to people at the times they were most likely to pay attention to them, Eurail used Facebook’s real-time proxy metrics to grab the attention of their audiences, and make sure they remembered them during crucial marketing times.

In its creative campaign, Eurail used various videos of some of the most beautiful train routes in Europe, showing potential travelers the places they could experience for themselves. From there, live ad recall optimised the campaign towards the ads that were most successful at capturing lasting attention. Eurail used Facebook’s laser-accurate targeting to zero in on its audience—such as universities that young customers were most likely to attend—and ensure maximum efficiency for the campaign.

Etihad Airways – Diwali with Family

The Hindu festival of Diwali, India’s biggest and brightest national holiday, is celebrated the world over. It’s also a time when people travel home to be with their families and friends. With 27 million Indians living outside India, Etihad Airways saw Diwali as the perfect occasion to bring families together.

Facebook and Etihad partnered to launch the first global expat targeting campaign for Diwali. Etihad used personalised messages in the newsfeed to encourage Indian expats to fly their families to Abu Dhabi for the festival. These link ads drove customers to its website, where they could easily book a flight.

Etihad uploaded a variety of images to Facebook and then, based on real-time results, made small but important changes to the creative to maximise the campaign’s impact. Using dynamic ads and powerful targeting tools, Etihad delivered personalized messages at the best possible time to the very people who were interested in seeing it. As a result, they achieved an astounding return on investment of over 51x.

Cape Town Tourism – My Cape Town Holiday

Cape Town Tourism urged travellers to send their profiles for a virtual tour of Cape Town’s least explored areas. After sending their Facebook profiles, entrants could create their own five-day Cape Town holiday, and watch their profiles explore the hidden gems of the Mother City.

After over 150 point of view (POV) videos, 400 first person Facebook status updates and 10,000 POV holiday photos, the campaign registered 5800 page impressions and 41,000 monthly page visits. Through the campaign, tourist numbers in Cape Town rose by 4% and Table Mountain received its highest volumes in 83 years. The competition also helped Cape Town Tourism win the Best Overall Use of Social Media Award (Convention and Visitors Bureau) at the 2013 Travel + Leisure Social Media Awards.

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That video of a woman cyclist getting revenge on her catcaller might be fake, but it still happens every day

A viral video, which showed a woman cyclist chasing after a van of men who catcalled her and ripping off their wing-mirror, has been revealed to be fake, a social media stunt by a London marketing company.

The video, which has received thousands of views on social media today, showed a cyclist being grabbed and harassed by a man in a van, who asked her for her number and shouted “are you on your period”. The enraged woman, followed by a man filming on a motorbike, chased the van and when they stopped ripped off their wing mirror in retaliation. The video ends with the motorcyclist telling the men they deserved it and calling them “scum”.

But the video has actually been revealed to be a social media stunt filmed by Shoreditch content firm Jungle Creations. A builder who witnessed the set up told The Sun: “I was across the road having a break and I saw this very attractive girl with a bike talking to a blonde guy who was giving her instructions.Then three guys dressed in orange site clothes turned up in a van and the blonde bloke was giving them instructions too. He was telling the girl: ‘You need to ride behind the van aggressively’.”

The company behind the video, who say on their website they create “viral video concepts”, say they bought the content from the filmmakers. They told The Sun: “We’ve never worked with them before. As a company we’ve known them for a few years but never really licensed videos from them.”

It’s easy to dismiss the video then as just another cynical viral marketing stunt, but for many women it means a lot more than that. There’s a reason it resonated with them – because even though it might be fake, this kind of catcalling and harassment is an everyday occurrence for millions of us.

Our readiness to believe it down to the fact we’re gullible idiots, it’s because it’s all too real. Women shared it and liked it on social media today not because they were marks for a content firm, but because everyone has felt the same anger and fleeting desire to get your own back on idiots who shout obscenities at you in the street.

It’s disappointing that the video isn’t real, but it’s not a harmful stunt – certainly, much less harmful than the armies of cynical video pranksters who abuse their girlfriends on film for views and notoriety. And hey, if it inspires the next woman in London – or anywhere – who gets catcalled to successfully attack the shit van of the man who did it, then that’s nothing but a very good thing.