Headlines November 07, 2022 from Democracy Now!

Iowa Teen Who Killed Rapist Escapes Probation Center

Nov 07, 2022
Image Credit: USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

Here in the U.S., Iowa authorities are looking for 18-year-old Pieper Lewis, a sex trafficking survivor who escaped from the correctional center where she was serving her probation sentence. Lewis was 15 when she killed her rapist, and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. A judge sentenced her to five years probation, but the teenager could now face two decades behind bars for violating the terms of her sentence. Lewis was also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to her rapist’s family; a crowdfunding campaign raised over half a million dollars.   Rape

 

Egyptian Hunger Striker Alaa Abd El-Fattah gives up water as COP27 Opens

Nov 07, 2022
Image Credit: Twitter: @sana2

Ahead of COP27, Egyptian authorities arrested hundreds of activists in a broad crackdown on dissent. They also published guidelines limiting protests during COP27 to designated zones and will require 36 hours advance notice. On Sunday, Sanaa Seif arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh to demand Egyptian authorities release her brother Alaa Abd El-Fattah, the Egyptian British political prisoner. Abd El-Fattah intensified his six-month hunger strike by giving up water altogether as the climate conference opened. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed support for Alaa Abd El-Fattah and vowed to raise the issue while he is at COP27. In a letter, Sunak said securing his release was “a priority for the British government both as a human rights defender and as a British national.”  

COP27 Attendees Warned Egypt May Use App to Spy on Critics and Silence Dissent

Nov 07, 2022

Cybersecurity experts are warning some 25,000 COP27 attendees face a security risk from the summit’s official smartphone app. The software requires that users share their location, photos and even emails — raising fears that Egypt’s authoritarian government will use the data to silence critics and spy on dissent.

Democracy Now! will be broadcasting from COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, starting next week, November 14.

 

Biden, Obama Campaign for Fetterman in PA, Warn Voters Against Erosion of Democracy in Final Pitches

Nov 07, 2022
 

Political candidates and their supporters made their final pitches on the campaign trail over the weekend, just days ahead of Tuesday’s midterms. In the pivotal state of Pennsylvania, three U.S. presidents took to the stage Saturday. In Philadelphia, President Biden and former President Barack Obama made a rare joint appearance to get out the vote for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro. Meanwhile, Trump rallied with Fetterman’s opponent Mehmet Oz and Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano east of Pittsburgh.

Democrats have zeroed in on threats to democracy and rising political violence. Some 300 Republican candidates have denied or questioned the 2020 presidential election. This is Biden speaking Sunday while campaigning with New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

President Joe Biden: “We all know in our bones that our democracy is at risk. Latest polls say 76% of the American people worry about maintaining our democracy. And we know that this is your generation’s moment to defend it, to preserve it, to choose it.”

Governor Hochul’s opponent, Republican Congressmember Lee Zeldin, sought to help Trump overturn his 2020 election loss.

 

 

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