Estimated read time: 9-10 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE CHINA CABLES
Secret documents reveal how China mass detention camps work
Newly revealed classified documents show that camps the Chinese government runs in the country’s far west are not for voluntary job training, as Beijing says, but for forced ideological and behavioral re-education.
The documents lay out the government's deliberate strategy to lock up predominantly Muslim minorities to forcibly assimilate them and rewire their thinking. They also show how Beijing is using a high-tech surveillance system to target people for detention, trying to predict who will commit a crime.
The documents were issued by a Communist Party body in charge of the security apparatus of China’s Xinjiang region and were leaked to a consortium of journalists. Experts say they are the most significant description yet of how the detention camps and mass surveillance work in the words of the Chinese government itself.
US NAVY SEAL MURDER CASE
Pentagon chief fires Navy secretary over SEAL controversy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper has fired the secretary of the Navy in connection with the controversy over a SEAL whose case has been championed by President Donald Trump.
A Pentagon spokesman says in a statement Sunday that Esper has lost trust and confidence in Navy Secretary Richard Spencer “regarding his lack of candor” over conversations with the White House involving the handling of the SEAL case.
Spokesman Jonathan Hoffman says Spencer submitted his resignation at Esper’s request. Esper has also recommended to Trump a replacement.
HONG KONG-ELECTION
Pro-democracy camp looks to have won Hong Kong election
HONG KONG (AP) — The pro-democracy opposition appears to have swept to victory in Hong Kong elections, as a record turnout dealt a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam and her handling of violent protests that have divided the Chinese territory.
Votes were still being counted Monday morning, but Hong Kong media tallied that the pro-democracy camp had easily won a majority in the vote for 452 district council seats.
The result will likely force the central government in Beijing to rethink how to handle the unrest, which is now in its sixth month.
The district councils have little power, but the vote became a referendum on the protests. The record 71 percent turnout for a Hong Kong election was slowing down the vote counting.
THE CHINA CABLES-MAN IN CHARGE
The man behind China’s detention of 1 million Muslims
Newly revealed classified documents show a lifelong Han Chinese official in China’s far west played a key role in planning and executing the region’s mass detention campaign.
The documents show that 61-year-old Zhu Hailun directed mass arrests and signed off on notices ordering police to use digital surveillance to target tens of thousands of Uighurs.
Zhu is a rarity among China’s dominant Han Chinese because he is fluent in Uighur, the language of the local Turkic Muslim minority. He spent his entire career in the Xinjiang region and was regarded as a capable but domineering official.
The documents show that camps the Chinese government runs in the country’s far west are forced ideological and behavioral re-education centers, not voluntary job training as Beijing says.
ALABAMA-SHERIFF KILLED-THE LATEST
The Latest: Suspect in custody in Alabama sheriff’s death
HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — State authorities have taken a suspect in the shooting death of an Alabama sheriff into custody.
Authorities say Lowndes County Sheriff John Williams was shot and killed Saturday night at a gas station. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency had issued an emergency alert seeking 18-year-old William Chase Johnson.
While the alert didn’t mention the shooting, state law enforcement authorities on the scene confirmed to news outlets that Johnson was wanted in connection with the shooting at the QV station. The alert was canceled early Sunday, with a note saying Johnson was in custody.
A Montgomery Advertiser reporter on the scene tweeted that Johnson walked up to the shooting scene just after midnight with a firearm in hand and was taken into custody.
RURAL TELEVISION
For some rural US TV viewers, local news is anything but
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — In many rural corners of America, television viewers who want to watch local news are getting stuck with irrelevant stories from out-of-state stations hundreds of miles away.
It’s a major problem for viewers who rely on satellite television because they live too far from local stations to get a conventional broadcast signal.
In parts of rural, western Nebraska, TV watchers often end up with news from Denver or Rapid City, South Dakota, stations. Others find themselves watching Los Angeles news.
Part of the problem stems from a dispute between satellite TV providers and the local broadcasters they pay for access to local news programs.
They’re fighting over a federal law that allows satellite providers to retransmit out-of-state programming at a steep discount. It’s set to expire this year.
HEALTH CARE-ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Paging Dr. Robot: Artificial intelligence moves into care
Artificial intelligence is spreading into health care, and patients should expect more interaction with it.
It can already detect an eye disease tied to diabetes and does other behind-the-scenes work like helping doctors interpret scans.
This push into medicine is at an early stage, and AI won’t completely take over health care.
Experts say even the best software can’t replicate certain things doctors need to treat patients like empathy and common sense.
At the University of Southern California, researchers are testing an AI-based program called Ask Ari to help students manage stress and stay healthy. Ari doesn’t replace a therapist, but its designers say it will connect students through their phones or laptops to reliable help whenever they need it.
T25-COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
AP Top 25: No. 2 Ohio State gains on LSU; Oregon drops to 14
No. 2 Ohio State gained some ground on No. 1 LSU in The Associated Press college football poll and Oregon dropped out of the top 10 after being upset by Arizona State.
The Tigers remained No. 1 for the fifth straight week in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank, receiving 50 first-places votes. The Buckeyes got nine first-place votes, up from five last week. No. 3 Clemson received three first-place votes. No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Alabama also held their spots.
Ohio State is coming off a 28-17 victory over Penn State that dropped the Nittany Lions three spots to No. 12.
Oregon dropped eight spots to No. 14 after losing 31-28 at Arizona State. That allowed Utah to move up a spot to No. 6 and Oklahoma to No. 7. Florida, Minnesota and Michigan round out the top 10.
___
POLL POINTS
Alabama has now been ranked for 209 consecutive weeks, starting with the 2008 preseason poll, tying Florida (Sept. 9, 1990-Oct. 5, 2002) for the third-longest streak in poll history. Nebraska has the longest streak at 348 weeks (21 years, Oct. 12, 1981-Sept. 22, 2002) and Florida State is second with 211 weeks (12 years, Sept. 24, 1989-Nov. 11, 2001).
The Tide should tie Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles this season and surpass them in next year’s preseason poll. There are typically 16 polls in a season, counting preseason and final. At that rate, Alabama would pass the record Nebraska set under coach Tom Osborne in Week 5 of the 2029 season.
FYI, Nick Saban would be about a month shy of his 78th birthday.
IN
— No. 24 Navy jumped into the rankings, knocking out American Athletic Conference rival SMU.
— No. 25 Southern California finished its regular season by beating rival UCLA and jumping back into the rankings. The Trojans have had two previous one-week stays in the poll this season.
OUT
— Texas A&M fell out after a brief return to the AP Top 25. The Aggies lost for the fourth time, this time to Georgia. All of A&M’s losses have come against teams ranked in the current top 16. It gets no easier for the Aggies next week. They will face No. 1 LSU and become the first team in the history of the AP poll, which dates to 1936, to face a No. 1 three times in one season. Playing the No. 1 team twice in one season has happened 30 times previously, and that’s including seven teams that played one of those games in the postseason.
Texas A&M lost to No. 1 Clemson 24-10 in September and to No. 1 Alabama 47-28 in October.
CONFERNCE CALL
Big Ten — 6 (Nos. 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 19).
SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 8, 16).
American — 3 (Nos. 17, 18, 24).
Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 11, 21).
Pac 12 — 3 (Nos. 6, 14, 25).
ACC — 2 (Nos. 3, 23).
Mountain West — 1 (No. 20).
Sun Belt — 1 (No. 22).
Independent — 1 (No. 15).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 10 Michigan. Is THIS the year Jim Harbaugh finally breaks through against the Buckeyes?
No. 5 Alabama at No. 16 Auburn. All eyes on Alabama backup quarterback Mac Jones in the Iron Bowl.
No. 7 Oklahoma at No. 21 Oklahoma State. Bedlam is for bragging rights and the Sooners’ playoff hopes.
No. 13 Wisconsin at No. 9 Minnesota. The winner goes to the Big Ten championship game as West Division champion.
No. 18 Cincinnati at No. 17 Memphis. The Tigers need a victory to clinch the AAC West — and a rematch at home with the Bearcats the next week.
____
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/APTop25CollegeFootballPoll and https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP\_Top25
ASIA-POPE
Pope in Japan says world must rethink reliance on nuke power
TOKYO (AP) — Pope Francis has met with victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and called for the world to rethink its reliance on nuclear power.
Francis recalled Monday that Japan’s Catholic bishops called for the abolition of nuclear power plants in the aftermath of the “triple disaster,” in which three Fukushima reactors melted down after an earthquake triggered a tsunami.
The meltdown coated the area in radioactive fallout and at one point forced the displacement of 160,000 people. Nine years later more than 40,000 people still can’t return home.
Francis didn’t make the call to abolish nuclear power in his speech before victims. But he made clear that “important decisions will have to be made about the use of natural resources, and future energy sources in particular.”
HARRY MORTON
Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Cafe co-founder, dies at 38
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harry Morton, a restaurant mogul who is the son of the Hard Rock Cafe chain co-founder and grandson of the Morton’s The Steakhouse founder, has died. He was 38.
Pink Taco, a restaurant business Morton founded and previously owned, confirmed his death in a statement Sunday. Specifics about the circumstances surrounding Morton’s death were not immediately available.
Morton was also an owner of the Viper Room nightclub in West Hollywood and had been romantically linked to several celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
