From The Daily On News, this is your daily briefing for Monday the 21st of November 2022. Good afternoon. Today we'll be talking about the start of the 2022 World Cup, as well as discussing three other important news stories from around the world, and talking about how number 10 and Buckingham Palace plan to stop Boris Johnson. But first, the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
On Sunday afternoon, the 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar. The Middle Eastern country was awarded the tournament way back in 2010 and has been preparing for it ever since, building stadiums, accommodation and the transport infrastructure necessary to accommodate over 1 million football fans. In total, Qatar successfully built seven stadiums and a number of hotels, albeit with the use of unpaid foreign workers. This use of exploitative practices has been a key feature in the press coverage surrounding this year's tournament.
And that's because there's been reports that workers were paid less than $1 an hour, and that around 6,500 workers have died in the past 12 years since the Qatar World Cup was awarded. Additionally, due to the Qafala system, construction companies have been allowed to deny their foreign workers permission to change jobs, locking them in place in an exploitative environment. Now, normally, this practice was outlawed in 2020 after much international backlash. But the human rights watch have claimed that despite this, migrant workers still face arrest and deportation for leaving their employer without permission.
Unfortunately, migrant workers are the only group that face oppression in Qatar. Homosexuality and sex outside of marriage are illegal in the country, and are classified as a hooded crime, which means that Muslim homosexuals have been known to face vlogging and even death as a punishment. Now, the Qatari government have denied this claim, and have even said that they will tolerate foreign members of the LGBTQ plus community for the duration of the tournament. But questions from maintenance to whether the community will really be safe over the next weeks, let alone beyond the tournament's extension.
Moreover, women in Qatar also face discrimination, with laws being used to punish women who have sex outside of marriage. Ultimately, the human rights situation in Qatar will have caused understandable backlash and will undoubtedly lead to much of the coverage over the course of the tournament to be heavily caviated in order to highlight the controversy surrounding the host. In fact, the BBC opted to forego covering the opening ceremony yesterday in favor of broadcasting criticism of the tournament. If you want to know more about the human rights situation in Qatar, then we've released a separate video on this topic, which goes into more detail, and you can find it linked in the description.
Nonetheless, even aside from the controversy surrounding the host nation, it seems that FIFA have been navigating their way through a whole host of crises over the weekend. The organization had been assured that alcohol would be sold during the World Cup, but Qatar backtracked on this decision at the last minute, causing serious friction between FIFA and a number of alcohol brands, including Budweiser, who had signed a multi-million dollar deal with FIFA to sponsor the tournament. That's not all though, there was also a lot of controversy surrounding FIFA's banning of one love armbands, designed to be worn by players to show solidarity to oppressed groups in Qatar. That story is still evolving, but it's certainly not adding to FIFA's image or the reputation of the World Cup.
OK, so that's the biggest story of the day, but there's a lot more going on around the world, so here's a rundown of three other stories. Over the weekend, it was reported that a shooting had taken place in a gay club in Colorado. At least five people were killed and eight injured after being shot by the gunman, who was subsequently arrested and is being treated for injury. And the gunman was able to be arrested thanks to two individuals inside the club who successfully subdued the attacker.
Police are yet to determine the motive behind the attack, but they're obviously investigating whether it's a hate crime considering the LGBTQ plus venue it took place at. A number of US politicians have already spoken out following the tragedy. The governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, who is himself gay, praised the brave individuals who blocked the gunman, likely saving lives in the process. And added that Colorado stands without LGBTQ plus community and everyone impacted by the tragedy as we mourn.
While President Biden said that Americans cannot and must not tolerate hate. This attack comes just six years after a shooting at another gay club in Orlando, Florida, where 49 were killed and 50 injured. At the time, it was the most deadly mass shooting in US history, and although this one was fortunately on a smaller scale, it's nonetheless a reminder of hatred and danger directed towards the LGBTQ plus community. Now, there's more on the way, but be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the day briefing part of your daily routine.
Or just search for us in your podcast app of choice to listen along. Next up, the United Nations Nuclear Watchdog has condemned the shelling of Ukraine's zaparisha nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control. This Saturday evening, more than a dozen blasts were reported at the nuclear power plant, which is Europe's biggest, ending a period of relative calm at the facility. The head of the International Autonic Energy Agency, who have a team on the ground there, said that it was extremely disturbing.
Adding that whoever is behind this must stop immediately, you're playing with fire. Now, damage to some buildings, systems and equipment have been reported, but nothing so far has been critical for nuclear safety and security. Now, as with earlier strikes to the plant, both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other's forces of hitting the plant, which is on the front line of the current conflict. The plant itself is currently occupied by Russian forces, while Ukraine controls the territory across the Neapro river.
But regardless of whose fault it is, it's certainly worrying to see a nuclear power plant at the front line of a conflict. Next, one of Twitter's most controversial and prolific posters formed President Donald Trump has been officially un-banned from the social media platform by the company's new owner, Elon Musk. Musk remarked that the people have spoken, after holding a poll in which 51.8% of some 15 million voters voted in favor of reinstating Trump's account, which was banned in the wake of the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol in order to prevent further incitement of violence. But don't assume that you'll see any new tweets from the ex-President any time soon.
He's so fast, nubs Twitter, saying I don't see any reason for it when he was asked if he'd return to the platform. Instead, he said that he'd be staying on his own new platform, Truth Social, which he claims is doing phenomenally well. Also back on Twitter is rapper Kanye West, who posted testing, testing, seeing if my Twitter is unblocked, and then later the Hebrew greeting Shalom after his account was previously blocked for anti-Semitic posts. For our final story today, the US Federal Drug Administration has approved, for the first time, a drug to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
The drug, which is called Teasield, is a monoclonal antibody injection. In effect, it works by preventing the body's immune system from mistakenly attacking the cells in the pancreas which make insulin, and as such, it delays the onset of type 1 diabetes. That's all we have time for on YouTube today, but if you want to hear number 10 and Buckingham Palace's plans to stop Boris Johnson back in the spring, then you'll watch the extended ad-free edition of the daily briefing exclusively on Nebula. That's because Nebula subscribers not only get everything you've just watched entirely ad-free, but they also get an extended version of the show every single day, available to watch on Nebula or stream on their podcast app of choice.
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