Time - USA (2020-11-02)

11

NEWS

TICKER

Thai pro-

democracy

protests rage

Thailand’s embattled
Prime Minister Prayuth
Chan-ocha vowed to
protect the monarchy
on Oct. 19 after several
days of student-led
protests. For months,
protesters have called
for monarchy reforms,
a new constitution
and Prayuth’s ouster.
Thousands have rallied
in October, despite
dozens of arrests and a
ban on protests.

U.S. to execute

female federal

inmate

The U.S. will carry out

its fi rst execution of a

female federal prisoner

in nearly 70 years, the

Justice Department

announced on Oct. 16.

Lisa Montgomery, 52,

who was convicted

in 2007 of killing a

pregnant woman in

order to kidnap the

baby, is scheduled to

be executed by lethal

injection on Dec. 8.

Khashoggi’s

fi ancée sues

Saudi leader

In a lawsuit fi led in a

U.S. court on Oct. 20,

Hatice Cengiz accused

Saudi Crown Prince

Mohammed bin

Salman of ordering the

murder of her fi ancé,

slain Saudi journalist

Jamal Khashoggi. The

suit, which names 28

other people, could

reveal details about

what happened in the

kingdom’s Istanbul

consulate in 2018.

THE NIGERIAN ARMY AND POLICE SHOT

dead at least 12 peaceful protesters in two

suburbs of Lagos on Oct. 20, an Amnesty

International investigation confi rmed. Au-

thorities disputed the report, though video

footage that had emerged online appeared

to show authorities fi ring live rounds at par-

ticipants in nationwide #endSARS protests

over police brutality, which are calling for

the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery

Squad (SARS). U.S. presidential candidate

Joe Biden urged Nigeria to cease the “vio-

lent crackdown on protesters.”

NOTORIOUS FORCE The #endSARS hashtag

dates back at least to 2017, when it was used

to share experiences of assault and violence.

SARS was formed in 1984 to combat an

increase in armed robbery and crime, but

it has been widely accused of abusing its

power. Amnesty reported at least 82 cases

of torture, ill- treatment and extrajudicial

execution from January 2017 to May 2020.

Despite promises of reform, Amnesty says

SARS offi cers still act with impunity.

PROTESTERS’ DEMANDSOn Oct. 11, the

government announced the disbanding of

SARS. This is the fourth time in four years

there has been an announcement of either

the disbanding or the reform of the force,

but activists say the move does not go far

enough. Protesters also demand justice for

the families of victims of police brutality,

retraining of SARS offi cers before they are

redeployed to other police units, and cre-

ation of an independent body to oversee in-

vestigations into police brutality.

CRITICAL MOMENT The protests, organized

via social media, are leaderless, mostly

driven by young people who say they have

been unfairly profi led by SARS offi cers.

Those in the movement don’t plan to stop

the protests anytime soon, expanding their

aims beyond police brutality to harness

frustration over years of corruption and

bad governance. “Something has to give,”

says 28-year-old Jola Ayeye, speaking from

Lagos after the Oct. 20 violence. “We can-

not keep living like this.” —SUYIN HAYNES

THE BULLETIN

Nigeria’s youth rise up

against police brutality

CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG While working on part of the Nazca Lines on Peru’s southern coastal plain,

researchers discovered a 120-ft.-long feline fi gure etched into a hillside, as an image released by the

government on Oct. 15 shows. Ancient communities drew hundreds of geometric shapes in the area

by moving rocks to uncover the sands beneath. Offi cials said the cat art, dated to sometime between

200 B.C. and 100 B.C. and now preserved, “was about to disappear” because of natural erosion.