Nation and world news in brief for November 19

Group of neo-Nazis march in Ohio, chanting racist slogans

(TNS) — A group of neo-Nazis marched through the streets of Columbus, the capital of Ohio, chanting racist and supremacist slogans and waving swastika flags. Although there were just over a dozen extremists, videos of their march through the streets of a neighborhood with many restaurants immediately made the rounds on social media, drawing condemnation from city and state authorities.

“Neo-Nazis, with their faces covered by red masks, circulated through the streets of Columbus, waving flags with racist symbols and uttering vile and racist words against people of color and Jews,” was the condemnation on X by Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio. “In this state there is no place for hatred, intolerance, anti-Semitism or violence and we must denounce them wherever we see them.”

The Anti-Defamation League said the Columbus events were similar to hundreds of similar events recorded in the past 18 months across the country: small, unannounced demonstrations to avoid counter-protests, explains Oren Segal, vice president of the League’s Center on Extremists. “The goal is to create fear in communities and be photographed and filmed,” said Segal, who along with his team follows the activities of white supremacists, explaining that the Columbus action was claimed by a group that calls itself the Hate Club.

House Ethics panel to meet amid calls for report on Trump AG pick Gaetz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee is expected to discuss next steps on Wednesday in its investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general pick Matt Gaetz, two sources with knowledge of the panel’s plans said.

The sources were granted anonymity to discuss the bipartisan panel’s inner workings.

A growing number of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate, which has a constitutional duty to confirm or reject high-level presidential appointments, have called on the House panel to turn over its findings on allegations of sexual misconduct involving a teenager and drug use by Gaetz.

It is uncertain whether the probe will continue because Gaetz, 42, resigned his seat in the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday, hours after Trump unveiled his choice of the lawmaker and as the probe was nearing completion. Gaetz denies any wrongdoing.

DOJ to ask judge to force Google to sell off Chrome, Bloomberg News reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet’s Google to sell off its Chrome internet browser, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plans.

The DOJ will also ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, the report said.

The DOJ declined to comment. Google, in a statement from Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President, Google Regulatory Affairs, said the DOJ is pushing a “radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” and would harm consumers.

The move would be one of the most aggressive attempts by the Biden administration to curb what it alleges are Big Tech monopolies.

Ultimately, however, the re-election of Donald Trump to the presidency could have the greatest impact over the case.

Two months before the election, Trump claimed he would prosecute Google for what he perceives as bias against him. But a month later, Trump questioned whether breaking up the company was a good idea.

The company plans to appeal once U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta makes a final ruling, which he is likely to do by August 2025.

Nearly 100 food aid trucks violently looted in Gaza, UN agencies say

GENEVA/CAIRO (Reuters) — Nearly 100 trucks carrying food for Palestinians were violently looted on Nov. 16 after entering Gaza in one of the worst aid losses during 13 months of war in the enclave, where hunger is deepening, two U.N. agencies told Reuters on Monday.

The convoy transporting food provided by U.N. agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from Kerem Shalom border crossing, said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer.

Ninety-eight of the 109 trucks in the convoy were raided and some of the transporters were injured during the incident, she said, without detailing who carried out the ambush.

Sons of Frenchman who organised mass rape of their mother ask for tough sentences

AVIGNON, France (Reuters) — The sons of the man who organised the mass rape of their mother Gisele Pelicot in a case that has rocked France, asked a court on Monday to punish him severely and said they would never forgive him.

Dominique Pelicot has admitted in court to inviting dozens of strangers over nearly 10 years to their house to rape his wife, now 71, after he drugged her. Fifty other men are also accused of raping her.

“Our family has been destroyed,” one of the sons, 50-year-old David Pelicot, told the court in Avignon. “I expect from this trial that … these men, and that man in the dock (his father), will be punished for the horrors they inflicted on my mother.”

At one point, Dominique Pelicot interrupted his son’s testimony, saying he wanted to apologise for what he had done. David Pelicot replied: “Never!”

He said he and other family members had destroyed photos to make sure they kept no trace of his father.

Speaking at times through tears, David said that he hoped the trial would encourage other women to speak up about rape, echoing previous statements by his mother who asked for the trial to be held in public to shed light on the abuse.

Under French law, she could have kept her anonymity and had the trial held behind closed doors. The case has triggered protests across France in support of Gisele Pelicot.

Boeing to lay off over 2,500 workers in US as part of sweeping cuts

(Reuters) — Boeing will lay off more than 2,500 workers in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Missouri, according to federally required filings posted on Monday and a union official, as part of the debt-heavy U.S. planemaker’s plan to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce.

Nearly 2,200 layoff notices went to workers in Washington and another 220 in South Carolina, the two states where Boeing builds commercial airliners. Boeing declined to comment on the layoffs on Monday.

The aerospace giant started telling affected U.S. workers on Wednesday that they will stay on Boeing’s payroll until Jan. 17, to comply with federal requirements to notify employees at least 60 days prior to ending their employment.

Trump picks oil industry CEO Chris Wright as Energy Secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, a staunch defender of fossil fuel use, would be his pick to lead the Department of Energy.

Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm based in Denver. He is expected to support Trump’s plan to maximize production of oil and gas and to seek ways to boost generation of electricity, demand for which is rising for the first time in decades.

He is also likely to share Trump’s opposition to global cooperation on fighting climate change. Wright has called climate change activists alarmist and has likened efforts by Democrats to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism.

“There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either,” Wright said in a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year.

Wright, who does not have any political experience, has written extensively on the need for more fossil fuel production to lift people out of poverty.