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Argentina fires head of navy over submarine tragedy

Argentina fired the head of its navy a month after a submarine disappeared in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members on board, a government spokesman said on Saturday.

 Letting go of Navy Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipólito Srur was the first known disciplinary action taken by President Mauricio Macri’s administration since contact was lost with the ARA San Juan on Nov. 15.

“It was decided to remove him,” a government spokesman said.

Families of the crew members criticized Macri’s government for not clearly communicating with them and for abandoning rescue efforts.

The navy said on Nov. 27 that water that entered the submarine’s snorkel caused its battery to short-circuit before it went missing. The navy had previously said international organizations detected a noise that could have been the submarine’s implosion the same day contact was lost.

The hope of rescuing survivors was abandoned on Nov. 30. The navy said it searched for double the amount of time the submarine would have had oxygen. An international search for the submarine is still underway.

Source: Reuters

 

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France bans plastic cups, plates and cutlery

France has passed a new law to ensure all plastic cups, cutlery and plates can be composted and are made of biologically-sourced materials.

The law, which comes into effect in 2020, is part of the Energy Transition for Green Growth – an ambitious plan that aims to allow France to make a more effective contribution to tackling climate change.

Although some ecologists’ organisations are in favour of the ban, others argue that it has violated European Union rules on free movement of goods.

Pack2Go Europe, a Brussels-based organization representing European packaging manufacturers, says it will keep fighting the new law and hopes it doesn't spread to the rest of the continent.

"We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law," Pack2go Europe secretary general Eamonn Bates told The Associated Press. "If they don't, we will."

Bates believes there is no proof the biologically-sourced materials are more environmentally beneficial and that the ban might make the situation worse as people may misunderstand the extent of degradability.

"The ban will be understood by consumers to mean that it is OK to leave this packaging behind in the countryside after use because it's easily bio-degradable in nature. That's nonsense! It may even make the litter problem worse," he said.

Source : The Independant, UK

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Report: Toronto billionaire and his wife found dead in their home

Toronto billionaire and philanthropist Barry Sherman and his wife were found dead in their mansion Friday afternoon, CNN affiliate CTV reports.

The Toronto Police Service is investigating the deaths as "suspicious."

During a press conference Friday, Constable David Hopkinson would not identify the two bodies. Hopkinson said police, fire units and ambulance responded to a "medical complaint" just before noon on Friday.

Ontario politicians who spoke out on social media said the deceased were generous philanthropists.

Minister of Health Dr. Eric Hoskins tweeted: "I am beyond words right now. My dear friends Barry and Honey Sherman have been found dead. Wonderful human beings, incredible philanthropists, great leaders in health care. A very, very sad day. Barry, Honey, rest in peace."

Minister of Economic Development Brad Duguid also expressed his condolences on Twitter. "Deeply shocked & saddened to hear of the deaths of Barry & Honey Sherman. Philanthropists and entrepreneurs who made our province a better place to live."

Hopkinson said that there are no concerns for the public's safety.

"The circumstances of their death appear suspicious and we are treating it that way," he said.

According to CTV, Sherman was the chairman of generic drugmaker Apotex, which he founded in 1974. Apotex went on to become the largest Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company.

Jordan Berman, global director of corporate communications for Apotex, called the news of the deaths "tragic."

"All of us at Apotex are deeply shocked and saddened by this news and our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time," Berman said in a statement to CNN.

Constable Hopkinson said that the investigation was still in its early stages and the deaths were not being treated as homicides.

"This is just a suspicious death. We are only investigating that as such right now. If it is determined to be a homicide, then our investigators from homicide will come in."

 

 

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China, Russia, India commit to regional security, economic architecture in Asia-Pacific

China, Russia and India agreed to maintain regional security and economic architecture in the Asia-Pacific, said a joint communique issued Monday after the 15th trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries.

Maintaining regional security and economic architecture that is "open, inclusive, and based on multilateralism, universally recognized principles of international law" is imperative for lasting peace and stability in the region, said the communique.

The three countries emphasized the need for coordination and cooperation in various regional forums and organizations such as East Asia Summit to maintain regional peace and stability and to promote regional development and prosperity.

During the one-day meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj discussed a wide range of global and regional issues of common concern, according to the communique.

The three countries reiterated the importance they attached to cooperation and strategic partnership within BRICS.

"We will work together to implement all outcomes of BRICS summits to strengthen cooperation in economic, political, security and people-to-people fields, so as to usher in the second golden decade of BRICS cooperation," said the communique, while commending the successful hosting of the ninth BRICS summit in Xiamen by China in September 2017.

The three countries also attached special importance to the joint work within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), saying the SCO is an important instrument in promoting multilateral political, security economic and people-to-people interaction in the region.

Describing Russia-India-China Trilateral format as a platform to foster closer dialogue and practical cooperation in identified areas among the three countries, the communique said such cooperation is not directed against any other country.

"We wish to strengthen the trilateral dialogue for consultation and coordination on regional and global issues of mutual interest in the spirit of mutual understanding and trust,"it said.
"Our cooperation is conducive to maintaining international and regional peace, stability and promoting global economic growth and prosperity," it added.

Source : Xinhua

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US May Stop Spouses Of H-1B Visa Holders From Working

US President Donald Trump's administration is set to propose revoking a rule that makes spouses of thousands of H1-B visa holders eligible to work while in the US, potentially complicating a major driver of technology jobs, the media reported.

Since 2015, the spouses of H-1B, or high-skilled, visa holders waiting for green cards have been eligible to work in the US on H-4 dependent visas, under a rule introduced by former President Barack Obama's administration, CNN reported on Friday.

The tech sector is a major employer of H-1B visa holders.

But in a statement late Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it intended to do away with the rule.

However, the department did not explain its reasons in the announcement, saying that it was only acting "in light of" the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order that Trump had signed in April.

The formal process to rescind the rule will still need to be initiated at a later date.

While changing the rule would not prevent spouses of H-1B holders from pursuing other avenues for work authorisation, it could deter a number of high-skilled immigrants from staying in the US if their spouses cannot easily find work.

As well as dropping the rule allowing spouses to work, the Department of Homeland Security statement mentioned plans for other changes to the H-1B visa programme, reports CNN.

They include revising the definition of what occupations are eligible for the programme "to increase focus on truly obtaining the best and brightest foreign nationals", which would be a standard potentially far above what is currently understood under the law.

The Obama-era rule allowing spouses to work already faces a legal challenge. A group called Save Jobs USA filed a lawsuit in April 2015 arguing that it threatens American jobs.

It has continued to press the case following Trump's election, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said in the past that the H-4 rule "hurts American workers".

The administration's plans to overhaul the H-1B programme has caused particular alarm in India, which accounts for 70 percent of all H-1B workers.

The H-1B is a common visa route for highly skilled foreigners to find work at companies in the US. It is valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.

It is a programme that's particularly popular in the tech community, with many engineers vying for one of the programme's 85,000 visas each year.

In October, the government said it was toughening up the process for renewing the visa. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services instructed its officers to review requests for renewal as thoroughly as they would initial visa applications.

Source: NDTV

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New York Port Authority attack: Man held after Manhattan blast

A man is being held after an attempted terror attack at New York City's main bus terminal, officials say.

"Terrorists won't win," Mayor Bill de Blasio said after a blast at the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan during the morning rush hour on Monday.

The suspect, named as Akayed Ullah, 27, was wounded when a "low-tech explosive device" strapped to his body blew up in an underpass, officials say.

They say four other people suffered minor injuries. A photo circulating on social media shows a man, said to be the suspect, lying on the ground with his clothes ripped and lacerations on his upper body. Mayor De Blasio said he was believed to have acted alone.

The explosion occurred at about 07:30 (12:30 GMT). Andre Rodriguez, 62, told the New York Times: "I was going through the turnstile. It sounded like an explosion, and everybody started running."

Another eyewitness, Alicja Wlodkowski, told Reuters news agency that she had seen a group of about 60 people running. "A woman fell. And nobody even went to stop and help her because the panic was so scary," she said.

Nearby subway stations were evacuated, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal temporarily shut.It is the biggest and busiest bus terminal in the world, serving more than 65 million people a year.

Source: BBC

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Japan expands unilateral sanctions against North Korea

Japan has imposed fresh sanctions against North Korea as it seeks to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the assets of another 19 entities and individuals would be frozen.

More than 210 organisations and people from countries including China and Russia will now be targeted.

Businesses on the blacklist include banks, coal and minerals traders, and transport firms.

The widening of sanctions comes ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council to be held on Friday.

Japan said it is facing a "pressing threat unseen before" after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) across its territory in September.

"North Korea launched an ICBM ballistic missile that landed in our exclusive economic zone and continues to repeat provocative commentaries", Mr Suga told reporters on Friday.

Suga said it would freeze more assets to "further increase pressure" on Pyongyang.

Japan already imposes strict restrictions on North Korea, including a blanket ban on trade and port calls.

South Korea and the US also impose unilateral sanctions on North Korea, in addition to sanctions enforced by the UN.

The UN Security Council meeting on Friday is aimed at finding peaceful ways to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

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Rahul Gandhi elected Congress president unopposed, to take charge on Dec 16

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday named Rahul Gandhi its new president.

"I hereby declare Shri Rahul Gandhi elected as the president of the Indian National Congress," senior party leader Mullappally Ramachandran said at a press conference in New Delhi.

While making the announcement, Ramachandran, who is also the All India Congress Committee returning officer for the election, added that all 89 nominations proposals were found to be valid, and Rahul had been elevated to the top post since he was the only candidate in the fray.

The 47-year-old leader will take over the reins of the party from his mother and current president, Sonia Gandhi, on December 16. Sonia has held the position for 19 years.

The announcement of his elevation came after the time for withdrawal of nominations had lapsed.Rahul had taken over as the party's vice-president in January 2013.

"The entire country has lots of expectations from Rahul Gandhi. Much before he was elected, he has shown his mettle. He knows his responsibility," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Source : Times of India

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India, Australia Hold First Two-Plus-Two Foreign and Defense Secretaries Meeting

In a first, the top diplomatic and defense bureaucrats of the Indian and Australian governments met this week for a so-called two-plus-two meeting.

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Defense Secretary Sanjay Mitra hosted Australian Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Frances Adamson and Secretary of the Department of Defense Greg Moriarty in New Delhi for the meetings.

According to a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, the meeting covered “All aspects of bilateral relations with a focus on strategic and defence relations between the two countries.”

In November, representatives from both India and Australia participated in a working-level quadrilateral meeting with representatives from Japan and the United States.

This so-called “Quad” had originally met in 2007 and the latest meeting focused on the concept of a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” an idea that all four sides backed in statements released after the working-level meeting.

Unsurprisingly, the India-Australia two-plus-two meeting referenced the idea: “Both sides agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs noted in its statement.

On regional security matters, India and Australia have seen a fair bit of convergence recently. The two countries conduct bilateral naval exercises in the Indian Ocean, and Australia may potentially participate in the trilateral U.S.-India-Japan Malabar drill in the coming year.

In 2017, Australia, despite its interest, did not participate in the Malabar drills, owing to Indian hesitation. The Indian Navy nevertheless joined its Australian counterpart for the AUSINDEX drill this year.

Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited New Delhi for a four-day state visit, where he met with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The joint statement released by the two leaders during that visit, which described them as “partners in the Indo-Pacific,” focused considerably on regional issues.

“The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, based on mutual respect and cooperation. Australia and India share a commitment to democratic values, rule of law, international peace and security, and shared prosperity,” the statement noted.

“The strategic and economic interests of both countries are converging which opens up opportunities for working together in a rapidly changing region.”

 By Ankit Panda

The Diplomat

Pic: MEA India

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21 Rohingya women recount rape by Myanmar armed forces

UKHIA, BANGLADESH (AP): The newlyweds were asleep in their home in western Myanmar in June when seven soldiers charged in.

The woman, a Rohingya Muslim who agreed to be identified by her first initial, F, knew enough to be terrified. She knew the military had been attacking Rohingya villages, as part of what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing in the mostly Buddhist nation. She heard just days before that soldiers had killed her parents and that her brother was missing.

Now they had come for her. The men bound her husband with rope, and tied her scarf around his mouth. They yanked off her jewelry and tore off her clothes. They threw her to the floor.

And then, she says, the first soldier began to rape her.

She struggled against him, but four men held her down and beat her with sticks. Her husband finally wriggled the gag out of his mouth and screamed.

And then she watched as a soldier fired a bullet into the chest of the man she had married only one month before. Another soldier slit his throat.

Her mind grew fuzzy. When the soldiers were finished, they dragged her outside and set her bamboo house ablaze.

It would be two months before she realized her misery was far from over: She was pregnant.

The Associated Press reported this story with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

The rape of Rohingya women by Myanmar's security forces has been sweeping and methodical, the Associated Press found in interviews with 29 women and girls who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

These sexual assault survivors from several refugee camps were interviewed separately and extensively. The women gave AP their names, but agreed to be publicly identified only by their first initial, citing fears they or their families would be killed by Myanmar's military.

They ranged in age from 13 to 35, came from a wide swath of villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state and described assaults between October 2016 and mid-September.

Yet there was a sickening sameness to their stories, with distinct patterns in their accounts, their assailants' uniforms and the details of the rapes themselves.

The testimonies bolster the U.N.'s contention that Myanmar's armed forces are systematically employing rape as a "calculated tool of terror" aimed at exterminating the Rohingya people. The Myanmar armed forces did not respond to multiple requests from the AP for comment, but an internal military investigation last month concluded that none of the assaults ever took place.

When journalists asked about rape allegations during a government-organized trip to Rakhine in September, Rakhine's minister for border affairs, Phone Tint, replied: "These women were claiming they were raped, but look at their appearances — do you think they are that attractive to be raped?"

Doctors and aid workers, however, say they are stunned at the sheer volume of rapes, and suspect only a fraction of women have come forward. Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors have treated 113 sexual violence survivors since August, a third of them under 18. The youngest was 9.

Each woman interviewed by the AP described attacks that involved groups of men, often coupled with other forms of extreme violence. Every woman except one said the assailants wore military-style uniforms, generally dark green or camouflage. The lone woman who described her attackers as wearing plain clothes said her neighbors recognized them from the local military outpost.

Many women said the uniforms bore various patches featuring stars or, in a couple cases, arrows. Such patches represent the different units of Myanmar's army.

Though the scale of these attacks is new, the use of sexual violence by Myanmar's security forces is not. Before she became Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi herself said Myanmar's armed forces used rape as a weapon to intimidate ethnic nationalities.

Yet Suu Kyi's government has not only failed to condemn the recent accounts of rape, it has dismissed the accounts as lies. In Dec. 2016, the government issued a press release disputing Rohingya women's reports of sexual assaults, accompanied by an image that said "Fake Rape."

 Pic Caption: In this Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, photo, K, 25, right, cries as she recounts being gang raped by members of Myanmar's armed forces during an interview with The Associated Press in her tent in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh (AP File Photo)

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UN envoy : Korean tensions are world's most serious security issue

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are the world's most dangerous security issue and must be resolved fast and diplomatically to avoid war, a top United Nations envoy said after a rare visit to North Korea.

Jeffrey Feltman, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, visited the reclusive nation between Tuesday and Friday, the first trip there by a top UN official in six years.

During his visit, he met with Ri Yong Ho, the North Korean minister for foreign affairs. Their meeting came at a particularly tense time -- a week after North Korea tested an advanced long-range missile and South Korea conducted military drills with its ally, the United States.

Ri and Feltman "agreed that the current situation was the tensest and dangerous peace and the security issue in the world today," the UN said in a statement.

Feltman stressed the need for relevant Security Council resolutions to be implemented, saying a diplomatic solution could be achieved through sincere dialogue.

In a statement to journalists, he said there's an "urgent need to prevent miscalculations and open channels to reduce the risks of conflict." He emphasized that the international community is alarmed by escalating tensions, and is committed to a peaceful resolution.

"Time is of the essence," he said.

Missiles and drills

North Korea remains technically at war with its neighbour South Korea after the Korean War ended in armistice but not peace in 1953.

Feltman's trip coincided with the annual Vigilante 18 military drill held by the US and South Korea, which the US Air Force says is designed to boost the "combat effectiveness" of the alliance.

North Korea's state media described the drills as "joint air war exercises targeting the DPRK," a reference to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The drills came after Pyongyang test-fired a Hwasong-15 missile November 29.

It was North Korea's first ballistic missile test since September. The Hwasong-15 is believed to be its most dangerous and technologically advanced long-range ballistic missile and demonstrated a range of around 13,000 kilometres (8,000 miles), which puts most of the planet in range. North Korean state media purports it can carry a "super-large heavy warhead."

UN in North Korea

Feltman's visit to North Korea was a response to a "long-standing invitation" from Pyongyang authorities for policy dialogue, the UN said ahead of the visit.

The last senior UN official to visit North Korea was emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos in October 2011, according to the UN. The last time an undersecretary-general for political affairs visited the country was in February 2010.

Six UN agencies are represented in North Korea, staffed by a team of about 50 people from across the globe, the UN said in a statement.

Feltman visited several UN projects in North Korea, including a pediatric hospital and Tuberculosis prevention institute.

The former American diplomat is a key adviser to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on global peace and security issues. He spent nearly 30 years at the US State Department before joining the UN in 2012.

Pic Source: UN

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Beijing forces migrant workers from their homes in 'savage' demolitions

Beijing (CNN) Modern Beijing was built on the backs of low-paid migrants like Zhao Guihua.

The 50-something cook and cleaner is one of thousands of people critics say have been forced from their homes in the past two weeks as part of a drive by the municipal government to shut down what it claims is unsafe and overcrowded housing.

Now homeless, she's selling all her possessions and preparing to return to her village -- hundreds of miles away in Henan province in central China.

"Our apartment was demolished and new housing is too expensive to afford. We're not making enough money," she says, with her shoes, cups, pans, pots, a space heater and tools spread out in front of her on a cloth on the street.

"I have no choice but to go home. I thought I could make more money in Beijing than by farming at home. But now, it's time to go home."

pic 01

(Zhao Guihua is a migrant worker in Beijing who has been evicted from her home due to the city's ongoing crackdown on "unsafe" buildings.)

Zhao says government workers destroyed her home on November 26, as a part of a 40-day operation that comes in the wake of a deadly fire in Daxing, an industrial neighborhood in south Beijing, in which 19 people died. The town where the fire took place, is home to 175,000 residents, among which 120,000 are migrants, according to the town's website.

Both residential and commercial properties -- factories and warehouses -- have been earmarked for demolition, and the government has acted with breathtaking speed.

Zhao says residents in her building of several dozen small apartments were given just over a day's notice to move out. A small warning was posted at the gate on November 25, reading: "Tenants: Please clean out before November 26, 2017, at 5 p.m. or there will be consequences."

As advertised, government officials showed up the next day, she says, wielding sledgehammers. Doors were pulled off hinges. Ceilings were torn down. The power was shut off.

"The demolition crew was savage," said the building's landlord, who asked to be identified only by his surname, Yang.

"The glass shards from the demolition of the ceilings fell on a baby and hurt its arm when a family was moving out. My heart sank when I heard the baby cry," Yang said.

Anyone who hadn't cleared out by the tight deadline had their belongings either destroyed or tossed into the street. The building was made uninhabitable in a matter of hours, forcing people from their homes in Beijing's frigid winter temperatures.

Yang said he was licensed to rent out the building and had contacted local authorities to see if he could rectify any risks. He believes his building was targeted only because migrants lived there. CNN cannot verify his claims.

What happened to Zhao does not appear to be unique. There's no hard numbers on the number of people affected but Beijing officials in an interview by state news agency Xinhua said they found 25,395 sites with some sort of safety risk one week after the safety checks began. Videos on Chinese social media show ruthless evictions taking place across the city.

pic 02(A migrant worker packs his things after being evicted from his rented apartment.)

Harsh criticism

Critics have accused the government of using the Daxing fire, which broke out in the basement of a residential and manufacturing building, as an excuse to tackle a long-standing headache for the government -- Beijing's huge and growing population.

In a rare move, more than 100 prominent Chinese intellectuals circulated an open letter online, criticizing the forced evictions.

The group says that hundreds of thousands of migrants could be affected by the crackdown -- Beijing is home to 3 million migrants.

"In our view, this is a vicious incident that breaks the law and tramples on human rights and should be resolutely stopped and rectified," the group wrote.

Authorities have publicly said they plan to cut the population in downtown Beijing by 15% from 2014 levels -- about 2 million people -- as part of efforts to cap Beijing's population at 23 million by 2020.

The easiest way to meet those goals, critics say, is by targeting the poorest of the poor -- migrant workers with little money and nowhere else to go, except back to the rural poverty of their home provinces.

The municipal government has denied that the evictions are targeting migrant workers, or that they're part of the wider plan to reduce Beijing's population.

Beijing Communist Party Chief Cai Qi has said that "ongoing safety checks" should be "human-centered," and the local government has held job fairs for those who've lost their jobs where factories and warehouses have been shut down.

The Beijing government said that more than 1,800 jobs had been offered to those displaced; however, that falls far short of the total number of people who have been evicted, according to critics.

The government says it's also offering assistance for those workers who wish to leave Beijing and return to their hometown, and building subsidized rental housing -- though it gave few details on those plans.

The Beijing Work Safety Commission that initiated the cleanup drive didn't respond to a request for comment.

pic 03

(A market in south Beijing is torn down by a bulldozer days after the government issued demolition orders for thousands of structures.)

 'Low end'

In some of the first government documents on the so-called cleanup, officials referred to targeting areas with a "low-end population."

The term sparked backlash among social media users, some of whom are now using it as an irreverent badge of honor.

"What qualifies as high-end then? A great number of people have contributed their youth and dreams to the great city of Beijing. They should be remembered and respected! But not to be left homeless!" one user wrote on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

However, in response to the growing outrage, China's Internet censorship machine ramped up.

Posts including the keywords "low-end population" have been censored on social networks WeChat and Weibo, and the Beijing government has denied using this term and appears to have stopped using it in public documents.

pic 04
(A street view of a once bustling market street after buildings on one side were demolished by authorities. Remaining stores prepare to shut down.)

 Middle class sympathy

The evictions appear to have awoken some members of China's ever-expanding middle class to the plight of the average migrant worker -- the people who not only helped build Beijing, but make sure that its day-to-day needs are met.

Some complain about increased delays in package and food delivery services -- some 90% of Beijing's famed delivery drivers, who navigate the city on scooters, are migrant workers, according to Zhao Xiaomin, an analyst with Guansho Consulting.

Miao Ting, 23, a white-collar worker at an automobile company in Beijing, said that online vendors had refused to ship her orders to Beijing unless she paid double for premium delivery. She also said she'd noticed fewer tuk tuk drivers and a small grocery store in her neighborhood was shut down.

"The city is not inhabitable anymore if it continues," posted another Weibo user, grumbling about the delivery disruptions.

pic 05
(Demolition crews wield sledgehammers as they enter a residential compound to enforce an eviction.)
For the migrant workers CNN spoke to, the government's assurances fall on deaf ears and the middle-class sympathy is cold comfort.

Li, who has owned a small hardware store in south Beijing for 13 years, said the Daxing fire is clearly an excuse to force out people like him.

"The government welcomed migrant workers to come and contribute to building the city 10 years go. But now they want us to leave when they don't need us anymore," said Li.

"People are left no leeway at all. Why are they in such a rush?"

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