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This aerial photo taken with a drone, shows beachgoers as workers in protective suits continue to clean the contaminated beach in Huntington Beach, California on Oct 11, 2021. (Photo: AP/Ringo H W Chiu) - 

Officials were investigating an oil sheen spotted on Saturday (Nov 20) near last month’s crude pipeline leak off Southern California's coast.

The US Coast Guard said in a statement the oil sheen is about 21m by 9m and that it has dispatched “pollution responders, aircraft and boats” to investigate.

The oil sheen is located in the same area where a massive oil spill was confirmed last month off the coast of Orange County, officials said.

The spill confirmed on Oct 2 from a ruptured underwater pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy leaked up to about 25,000 gallons (94,635 litres) of crude. Oil washed ashore, tarring the feathers of dozens of birds and leading to rescues of marine mammals, though it wasn’t as bad as environmentalists feared.

The impact of the spill was less than initially feared, but it affected local wetlands and wildlife and shut the shoreline in surf-loving Huntington Beach for a week//CNA

Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef raises his fist in front of City Hall in the Loop to protest the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Nov (Photo: Chicago Sun-Times/Pat Nabong via AP) - 

Law enforcement in Portland on Friday night (Nov 19) declared a riot as about 200 demonstrators protested the acquittal of a teen who killed two people and injured another in Wisconsin.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said the protesters were breaking windows, throwing objects at police and talking about burning down a local government building in downtown Portland, KOIN TV reported, but the crowd had dispersed by about 11pm. Several people were given citations, the Portland Police Bureau said, but only one person who had an outstanding warrant from another matter was arrested.

The protesters gathered following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse killed two people and injured another during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year.

Protests have been held in several other US cities nationwide over the verdict, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

About 1,000 people marched through downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon, organised by Black Lives Matter Chicago and other local activist groups. According to the Chicago Tribune, protesters held signs that stated, “STOP WHITE SUPREMACY” and “WE’RE HITTING THE STREETS TO PROTEST THIS RACIST INJUSTICE SYSTEM” with a picture of Rittenhouse carrying a weapon.

Tanya Watkins, executive director of Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, spoke at a rally in Federal Plaza before the march, according to the Tribune.

“While I am not surprised by yesterday’s verdict, I am tired. I am disappointed. I am enraged. … I have lost every ounce of faith in this justice system,” said Watkins, who is black.

In North Carolina, dozens of people gathered on Saturday near the state Capitol building to protest the verdict, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. Speakers led the crowd of roughly 75 people in chants of “No justice, no peace!” and “Abolish the police!” Police officers on motorcycle accompanied the protesters and blocked traffic for them as they marched down a street past bars and restaurants.

After the murder of George Floyd last year by police in Minneapolis, there were ongoing, often violent protest in Portland. Some activists complained that the police were heavy-handed in their response. Shortly after the Rittenhouse verdict, Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell said that officers were working on plans for Friday night and the weekend.

By about 8.50pm, about 200 protesters had gathered in downtown Portland and blocked streets. By 9pm, windows were broken and doors of city facilities were damaged.

The police tweeted: “A crowd has gathered near SE 2nd Avenue and SE Madison Street and participants have begun breaking windows and damaging doors of city facilities in the area. People are throwing objects at police officers in the area.”

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office designated the event a riot, and said in a news release early Saturday morning that some demonstrators had thrown urine, water bottles and batteries at deputies//CNA

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday (Nov 20) his country was investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable levels of debt, as he witnessed the signing of contracts worth more than US$1 billion in Senegal's capital Dakar.

The deals between four US companies and Senegal are being billed as part of his country's pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with transparent and sustainable deals. 

Careful not to directly criticise Chinese infrastructure projects, which have proliferated across the continent in the past decade, Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria on Friday that international deals were too often opaque and coercive.

The US is investing "without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle," he said during the signing ceremony with Senegal's Economy Minister Amadou Hott.

He said he had a deep concern for the stability of neighbouring Mali, which has experienced two coups in the last 18 months, and that the upcoming election there must follow a timetable drawn up by the regional bloc ECOWAS.

Earlier this month ECOWAS, West Africa's main political and economic bloc, imposed sanctions on Mali's transitional leaders, after they informed the organisation they would not be able to hold presidential and legislative elections in February.

"We look forward to resuming the full array of assistance as soon as this democratically elected government takes office," Blinken told reporters.

Reuters reported in September that Mali's military junta was in discussions about deploying a Russian military contractor, Wagner Group, in Mali to help fight a growing Islamist insurgency.

"It would be especially unfortunate if outside actors engaged in making things even more difficult and more complicated and I'm thinking particularly of groups like the Wagner Group," Blinken said.

Blinken said the US has real concerns, widely shared with partners in Europe, over Russia's "unusual activity" at the Ukrainian border, after Ukraine said it feared Russia might be preparing an attack.

"We do know the playbook of trying to cite some illusory provocation from Ukraine or any other country and using that as an excuse to do what Russia was planning to do all along," Blinken said.

During a visit to Dakar's Institute Pasteur bio-medical research center, Blinken said the United States was working with partners to generate more financing for vaccine manufacturing in Senegal.

In October BioNTech signed an agreement with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the Rwandan government to construct the first mRNA vaccine facilities in Africa, starting in mid-2022//CNA

Indonesian warship KRI Bontang in Teluk Bayur Port, Padang, West Sumatra, supports Bank Indonesia's "Sovereign Rupiah" mission to provide new Rupiah banknotes to remote islands (Nov 21, 2021). ANTARA/Ikhwan Wahyudi - 

Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), is committed to continuing the mission to distribute mint-condition Rupiah banknotes across the country despite geographic and money circulation challenges.

"Bank Indonesia has been mandated by the nation to distribute the money to all of the Indonesian territories, and ensure sufficient and quality Rupiah banknotes circulating in public," BI's Banknotes Management Department Head Marlison Hakim said here on Sunday.

Rupiah, besides serving as the recognised medium of exchange, is also the symbol of national sovereignty, according to him.

"This has encouraged us to collaborate with relevant parties to distribute the banknotes and ensure that Rupiah would be available in all parts of the nation," he said.

Hakim informed that besides addressing banknotes availability issues, the central bank currently strives to correct disdained public behaviour potential to damage the banknotes.

"We currently engaged in a campaign to encourage residents to be proud and love our Rupiah currency," he said.

Bank Indonesia is also vigilant to prevent illegal utilisation of foreign currency as the medium of exchange, as Indonesia recognised Rupiah as the only legal tender in the country, he added.

Despite the existing challenges, Hakim reiterated the central bank's commitment to optimising its service coverage to ensure banknotes availability nationwide.

"Bank Indonesia will optimise its 45 regional offices, and we have also collaborated with the Indonesian Navy to distribute mint-condition banknotes to remote and border regions in Indonesia," he informed.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia's West Sumatra Office Head Wahyu Purnama confirmed that mint condition banknotes worth Rp4.35 billion (around US$304.5 thousand) are ready for distribution to six remote islands in Sumatra by the Indonesian warship KRI Bontang under the central bank's "Sovereign Rupiah" mission on November 21-29, 2021.

"The expedition will stop at Enggano Island in Bengkulu, and Polaga Island, Sikakap Island, Sioban Island, Mailepet Island, and Sikabaluan Island in Mentawai Islands region," Purnama informed//ANT