The United States military is once again ramping up its arsenal in the Middle East to counter a potential attack from Iran. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more on the Iranian threat and the American military response.
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Month: May 2019
French Military Frees Foreign Hostages from Burkina Faso
French special forces have rescued four foreign hostages from Burkina Faso but lost two of their elite soldiers in the mission.
France’s military said the special forces carried out the raid during a predawn operation Friday, supported by U.S. intelligence.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said all four hostages were safe. Two of the hostages are French, one is American and one is South Korean.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly told a news conference Friday that no one involved in the operation knew about the presence of the American and South Korean hostages, only the French ones.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said the United States was grateful for the successful recovery of the hostages.
The two French tourists went missing last week during a visit to the Pendjari National Park wildlife reserve in Benin. Their guide was later found dead and their captors were tracked to neighboring Burkina Faso.
Macron expressed condolences in a Friday statement over the deaths of two French commandos who were killed during the operation. A military ceremony is planned for them next week.
France’s army chief Francois Lecointre told reporters that four kidnappers were killed in the operation and two escaped. He described the kidnappers as “terrorists.”
France has about 4,500 troops in Africa’s Sahel region to help local governments fight Islamist extremists. The region has seen an increase in violence by militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State in recent years.
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Trump Starts Process to Raise Tariffs on Remaining China Imports
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered officials to begin the process of raising tariffs on “essentially all remaining imports from China,” valued at about $300 billion, according to the U.S. trade representative.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made the announcement in a statement Friday after the United States increased tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
He said details on the process for a public comment period on the proposal for more tariffs will be published shortly.
The development comes after the United States and China ended their latest round of trade negotiations without announcing any agreement.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Lighthizer met briefly Friday with the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He. After the talks, Mnuchin briefly spoke to reporters saying that discussions had been “constructive.”
After the talks ended, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that the relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping remains “a very strong one” and that conversations “will continue” but that the U.S. is imposing tariffs on China which “may or may not be removed.”
Earlier in the day, Trump sent a series of tweets on the escalating trade war with China. Beijing has vowed to retaliate for the U.S. action.
“We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!”
Trump went on to tweet that trade talks with China are proceeding in a “congenial manner” and “there is absolutely no need to rush” to finalize a trade agreement.
The president noted that Washington sells Beijing about $100 billion worth of goods, and with the more than $100 billion in tariffs received, the U.S. will buy agricultural products from U.S. farmers and send them as humanitarian assistance to nations in need.
While some taxes are paid directly to the government when products are imported, these taxes, also known as customs duties, are frequently added to the price of the imported product. This means the taxes are paid by those who buy the product. In this case, it would be the American consumer.
Trump also chided China for trying to “redo” the deal at the last minute after the terms already had been set.
Trump said he also received “a beautiful letter” from Chinese President Xi Jinping that expressed a sentiment of “let’s work together.”
Trump told reporters he believes “tariffs for our country are very powerful,” and would benefit America’s economy.
Some economists, however, predict such tariffs would cut the U.S. economic growth rate.
David French of the U.S. National Retail Federation said in a VOA interview “a negotiating strategy based on tariffs is the wrong direction” and expressed hope the Chinese “make substantial concessions to avert this disaster.”
Shanghai University economics professor Ding Jianping told VOA the tariffs would also adversely impact the U.S. financial markets, which have climbed to record highs. Jianping said the record performance makes the markets “most vulnerable” because they are “not supported by science and technology.” He added, “The peak created by fiscal and monetary policy is unsustainable.”
The Trump administration hopes the new tariffs will force changes in China’s trade, subsidy and intellectual property practices. The two sides have been unable to reach a deal due, in part, to differences over the enforcement of an agreement and a timeline for removing the tariffs.
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Medics: Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian at Gaza Border Protest
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian on Friday during weekly protests along the border with Israel, Gaza health officials said.
In addition to the 24-year-old male fatality, 30 other people were wounded by live gunfire during the protest, in which thousands participated, they said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops, facing around 6,000 Palestinians at the border with Gaza, opened fire when some of them approached the fortified fence.
Egyptian security mediators were visiting the region to cement ceasefire understanding between Israel and Gaza militants, led by the Islamist Hamas group. Their visit follows last weekend’s flare-up in fighting, which killed 29 Palestinians, over half them civilians, and four Israeli civilians.
The protesters are demanding an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza and Palestinians’ rights to lands from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel’s founding in 1948.
Israel sees the protests as potential cover for cross-border attacks and a bid by Hamas to distract from its internal governance problems.
More than 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the “Great March of Return” started on March 30, 2018, according to Gaza health officials. An Israeli soldier was also killed by a Palestinian sniper.
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Libya Rescues More Than 200 Europe-Bound Migrants Off Coast
Libya’s navy says it has rescued 213 Europe-bound African and Arab migrants off the Mediterranean coast.
The navy released a statement online Friday saying its coast guard came to the aid of two rubber boats that had sailed separately on May 8. One of the two boats was carrying 88 men, 12 women and seven children. The second boat carried the remaining 106.
The statement says the migrants — nationals of several Arab and African countries — were handed over to Libya’s police after having received humanitarian and medical aid.
Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Libyan authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of migrants, with European assistance.
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Iran Rejects Trump’s ‘Call Me’ Invitation
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency on Friday quoted a top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as saying Tehran would not negotiate with the United States. The statement followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s indirect invitation to Iranian leaders to give him a call.
Trump called for negotiations with Iran several times on Thursday. He told reporters, “What I’d like to see with Iran, I’d like to see them call me.”
But Tasnim on Friday quoted Gen. Yadollah Javani as saying “there will be no negotiations with America.” He also said the United States would not dare to take military action against Iran.
Show of force
On Thursday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bomber aircraft arrived in the Middle East in response to concerns that Iran might be planning an attack against American targets.
The carrier strike group completed its transit Thursday through the Suez Canal, U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban told VOA. He also said two B-52 bombers arrived in the region Thursday, while two others arrived Wednesday.
The bombers are now positioned at the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a defense official confirmed on condition of anonymity.
The request for more military assets in the Middle East was “in direct response to a number of troubling and escalatory indicators and warnings” from Iran, CENTCOM commander Marine Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr. said Wednesday in Washington.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told VOA the swift military movement “sends a message that we can face any threat at a time and place of our choosing.”
The American military assets arrived in the Middle East as European leaders denounced threats from Iran that it would stop curbing its nuclear program, a move that would breach a landmark global agreement.
Hours before new sanctions were imposed Wednesday by the United States, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would enrich uranium beyond allowable limits if world powers didn’t protect Iran from the sanctions within 60 days.
“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments,” the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said Thursday in a joint statement.
Support for accord
The European leaders also said they wanted to preserve the 2015 agreement, which requires Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the elimination of sanctions. The deal was signed by China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the U.S. and the EU. The U.S. abandoned the agreement one year ago.
Trump introduced new sanctions Wednesday on Iranian metal exports, major sources of revenue for the country. The U.S. had previously slapped sanctions on Iranian oil, which have devastated its economy.
The sanctions have created a quandary for Washington’s European allies, which have said they share concerns about Iran’s behavior but believe Trump’s strategy will most likely backfire.
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Nigeria Losing $1B Annually to Medical Tourism, Authorities Say
Nigerian authorities say the country is losing more than $1 billion annually to medical tourism as tens of thousands of Nigerians travel abroad in search of the best treatment. Nigeria’s Health Ministry says it is building six world class health centers to address the issue; but, as Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja, not even the president seems to trust health care in Nigeria.
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Is it Curtains for Daylight Saving Time?
Twice a year, Americans change their clocks in accordance with the federally mandated switch to daylight saving time (DST), a concept first introduced during World War I in order to save energy by maximizing sunlight.
The idea was to take an hour of sun from the morning, when people were likely to be asleep, and tack it to the end of the day, when most Americans were still awake.
“I hate losing an hour of sleep, and I hate the disruption in the fall,” DST activist Scott Yates told VOA in an email. “But I’m trying not to complain as much about things that I can’t do anything about, so I’m doing something!”
The Colorado technology entrepreneur wants to remain on DST year-round and runs a website dedicated to achieving that goal.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 requires most Americans to comply with the semiannual time change.
Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March, when clocks “spring forward” an hour. Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks “fall back” an hour. That means we lose an hour of sleep in the spring and gain an extra hour of sleep in the fall.
South Carolina is the latest U.S. state to call on Congress to authorize DST year-round. The southern state joins more than two dozen other states that are considering or have already passed similar legislation.
Changing the clock is not only annoying to some people, but it might also be bad for your health.
Researchers say the risk of stroke is 8% higher during the first two days after a DST transition, and a 2012 study suggests the risk of having a heart attack is 10% higher on the Monday and Tuesday after the clocks move ahead one hour in March. There’s also a significant increase in vehicle accidents.
“If someone proposed today that we start changing the clocks around twice a year, we’d all say they are crazy,” Yates says. “There has been a ton of research showing that it’s just plain dangerous in terms of heart attacks, workplace accidents, traffic accidents, strokes. The list goes on and on.”
Critics of making DST permanent say the change will hurt high school students, who already have a hard time waking up in the morning, by forcing the teens to get up earlier from November to March.
There are also concerns that children would be walking to school, or waiting for the school bus, in the dark on winter mornings, which could lead to more pedestrian accidents.
Even President Donald Trump has weighed in on the issue, tweeting that, “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!”
Yates is delighted that his cause appears to be gaining momentum.
“When I first started this movement there were a lot of bills, but they never passed,” Yates says. “This year they are passing, and now there’s some movement on the federal level. People laughed at me a lot at the start, but now they seem to appreciate all the work I’ve put into it.”
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Ugandan Legislator-Singer Vows to Continue Protest in Music
The Ugandan singer and legislator known as Bobi Wine has vowed to continue using music to denounce longtime President Yoweri Museveni. But his music increasingly faces stiff controls from the state.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has been singing and entertaining Ugandans since he was a teenager.
Now 37 and a member of parliament, his songs today carry a political message. Wine says it’s time for the country’s young people to awaken and challenge Museveni.
“Our message has been primarily a message of mental emancipation. Of knowing that Ugandans are actually the owners of this country and the leaders must do everything they do in the benefit of the people, which is not the case here today,” he said.
Concerts canceled
It’s rare that Wine gets to sing these days. Since 2017, more than 120 of his planned concerts have been canceled by the police, who say his management failed to meet minimum security standards required to host revelers.
To stop his concerts, police have used arrests and tear gas to clear the crowds.
Wine’s supporters, such as Kifampa Nsambu, are not happy.
“He’s singing about the Ugandan who is suffering, and he’s talking about the reality on ground. Those who are living in posh houses and posh cars, moving in AC (air-conditioned) cars, they do not feel the situation that is having here. But, it’s the government that is destroying the peace that is here,” Nsambu said.
Under house arrest, the musician once again turned to his music to send a message to the police.
His message? I am fighting for you and not against you.
Days later, he was arrested again on charges of unlawfully engaging in a protest against Uganda’s 2018 social media tax. He was released on bail.
Message part of appeal
Political analyst Miria Matembe says the message of Wine’s music helped get him elected to the legislature.
“They elected him because they believe in what he stands for. Now, why should you? Why should you brutalize him, torture him, simply because you fear, that he’s threatening your position as a president of Uganda,” Matembe said.
Solomon Silwanyi, deputy chief whip of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, says he does not have a problem with Wine as long as he can differentiate between music and politics.
“Of course, as a musician I love Bobi Wine so much. I love the music. I support his music. But, as a president of Uganda, of course I don’t support him. I support President Museveni because I believe he still has a vision for this country,” Silwanyi said.
During the 2011 election campaign, Museveni’s team created a song off a rhyme he made during a speech.
Museveni isn’t competing with Wine on the music stage, but he will have to test his popularity next to Wine in the political arena if the legislator decides to run for president in 2021.
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Uganda Legislator, Musician Vows to Continue Anti-Government Songs
Robert Kyagulanyi, the Ugandan singer and legislator better known as Bobi Wine, has vowed to continue using music to denounce longtime President Yoweri Museveni. But, as Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, his music is now facing stiff control from the state.
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China ‘Fed Up’ With US Criticism of Belt and Road
China has expressed annoyance at U.S. criticism of its Belt and Road Initiative, inspired by the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that connected parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. Xi Jinping’s administration has promoted the initiative as a development strategy involving investment and infrastructure in more than 150 countries. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that China’s opaque financing could trap many countries in unsustainable debt. VOA’S Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Remains of Nazi Victims to be Buried in Berlin
More than seven decades after the end of World War II, the remains of political prisoners executed by the Nazis and dissected for research will be given a proper burial in Berlin.
The microscopic remains — 300 tissue samples each a hundredth of a millimeter thin and about 1 centimeter square — were uncovered by the descendants of the late Hermann Stieve, an anatomist who worked on the bodies of Third Reich opponents.
“Such small tissue samples are usually not deemed worthy of burial,” Andreas Winkelmann, who had been tasked to determine the origin of the histological samples, told AFP. “But this is a special story, because they came from people who were actively denied graves so that their relatives would not know where they are buried.”
Monday ceremony
A ceremony will be Monday with descendants of the victims expected to attend, before the remains are laid to rest at the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in central Berlin.
The site was picked because there are many graves and memorials for the victims of Nazism there, said Johannes Tuchel, director of the German Resistance Memorial Center, which is organizing the special event along with Berlin’s university hospital Charite.
Tuchel said a decision was made to bury the specimens because they are “the last remains of people who were victims of the Nazi unjust justice system.”
“They were denied a grave at that time, and so today, a burial is a matter of course,” he said.
A plaque will also be put up to explain the find.
Research specimens
More than 2,800 people held at Berlin-Ploetzensee prison were put to the guillotine or hanged between 1933 and 1945, and most were then sent for dissection at the Berlin Institute of Anatomy.
Most of the 300 specimens found in Stieve’s estate stemmed from women, adds the plaque, which would not list the names of individual victims at the request of relatives.
Winkelmann, who had done extensive research into Stieve and his controversial experiments, said it was unclear how many individuals’ remains were included in the batch of specimens.
Some 20 specimens came with names, others only numbers.
The clues have however helped draw a firm link with the Ploetzensee victims.
Crucially for the history books, the specimens each set on 2 by 7 centimeter (0.8 by 2.7 inch) glass plates provided rare concrete proof that prisoners’ bodies were sent for dissection.
Stieve was the director from 1935 to 1952 of the Berlin Institute of Anatomy, where he carried out his controversial research on the female reproductive system.
Among those executed at Ploetzensee were 42 resistance fighters from the Berlin group Red Orchestra.
Stieve is believed to have dissected at least 13 of 18 female Red Orchestra fighters executed.
He was never charged with a crime and continued his career after the war as did many other scientists who collaborated with the Nazis.
Only the highest-ranking physicians under the Third Reich were prosecuted at Nuremberg for grotesque human experimentation and mass murder under the “euthanasia” program.
Winkelmann said it was particularly objectionable that while Stieve did not directly experiment on live victims, he was examining the physical impact of fear experienced by the women sitting on death row.
“That’s of course very cold-hearted and turned these people into mere objects,” Winkelmann said.
‘Open questions’
“The Nazi justice system found that interesting for them, not because they wanted to back Stieve’s research, but because it was a way to humiliate the victims once again,” Winkelmann said.
“First, by sending them to anatomy … and it was also a way to deny the victims a grave,” he said.
Adolf Hitler’s regime sought to dump the remains in unmarked mass graves because it did not want sites where relatives could mourn the victims, and from where political demonstrations could ensue.
While Monday’s burial may finally provide a form of closure to relatives of victims, Winkelmann said “there are still open questions that haven’t been answered about Hermann Stieve and how he went about his research.”
“I don’t want to close this chapter, because the future generations need to be informed about what happened there and why we think it was wrong. All that is relevant for the future.”
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US Voters to Have Mueller Report Final Say in 2020 Election
President Donald Trump’s approval rating in the latest Gallup poll is up to 46 percent, the highest it has been in that poll since the earliest days of his presidency.
Some Republicans say the time is right for the president to move on from the aftermath of the Russia probe, led by special counsel Robert Mueller. But it seems neither Trump nor his Democratic critics are in any hurry to let the issue go.
On the campaign trail in Florida Wednesday, President Trump made sure to remind his supporters about the outcome of the Mueller report.
“Did you see what just happened, by the way? No collusion. No obstruction. No anything!” Trump said to cheers at a rally in Panama City, Florida. “They want to do what they are doing, which looks so foolish. And maybe I read it wrong, but I think it drives us right on to victory in 2020 because people get it.”
WATCH: Russia Probe Debate Likely Won’t be Resolved Until Election
What report found
The Mueller report found insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to meddle in the 2016 election.
Mueller did not reach a conclusion on the issue of obstruction of justice, but he pointedly did not exonerate the president either, a claim Trump often makes.
The president still likes to gripe about the Russia probe on Twitter. On Sunday, Trump tweeted:
Republicans: Move on
The president’s Republican allies in Congress have closed ranks around the idea that it is time for the country to move on.
“It’s over. I mean, I can understand why our friends on the other side are disappointed. They have been trying to look for some way to overturn the 2016 election for two long years,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters earlier this week.
Democrats including Senate leader Chuck Schumer have countered that the president and his Republican allies have no interest in preventing another Russian attack on the U.S. election system in 2020.
“This Russian interference or any foreign government interference in our election erodes at the root of our democracy and could actually topple the mighty oak that has been our republic for 200 years, and they are doing absolutely nothing,” the New York senator said.
Congressional Democrats have also vowed to keep the pressure on with oversight hearings and investigations.
They are also moving toward citing Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress for not producing an un-redacted version of the Mueller report.
“They are stonewalling the American people from all information and this cannot be,” said Democrat and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York.
Oversight crisis
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she agreed with Nadler’s view that the country now faces a “constitutional crisis” over the Trump administration’s resistance to congressional oversight, particularly demands coming from the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
But it is also clear that Democrats remain divided over whether to pursue Trump’s impeachment.
“We won’t go any faster than the facts take us or any slower,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol Thursday.
Last week, Pelosi told reporters at a speaking engagement in Massachusetts that she is being cautious because “impeachment is one of the most divisive and dividing paths that you can take. And if you go down that path, you have to have a prospect for success.”
Republicans control the Senate, making any Democratic impeachment bid a long shot, according to University of Miami legal expert David Abraham.
“An impeachment proceeding that enjoys zero Republican support will be effectively portrayed in the presidential election as more of this ‘witch hunt’ by sore losers.”
Campaign fight
As a political issue, many analysts said the Russia investigation appears far from over and could figure prominently in next year’s presidential campaign.
“Democrats are very unhappy with the president while many Republicans are very happy with him,” said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. “So that is a formula for enthusiasm even though it may not be a very pretty sight, it is likely that we are going to see people wanting to turnout in this next election.”
So far, the president’s poll numbers do not appear to be suffering in the wake of the Mueller report. But it has also been clear for some time that the strong U.S. economy has done little to boost Trump’s standing in the polls, according to George Washington University expert Matt Dallek.
“His ceiling is pretty low, around 44 percent of the public. He has never cracked 50 percent, the first time in the history of polling that a president has not gone above 50 percent approval. But his floor is also pretty solid, pretty hard and he has rarely gone below 36 percent.”
Both Republicans and Democrats expect Trump will continue to proclaim vindication in the Russia investigation right through next year’s presidential campaign.
And for their part, Democrats will persevere with their oversight hearings and may eventually have to make a decision about whether to press the issue of impeachment.
But in the end, it is U.S. voters who are likely to render a final verdict on Trump when they go to the polls in November of 2020.
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British Royals Launch Mental Health Texting Service
Britain’s young royals, brothers Prince William and Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan, launched a new phone messaging service Friday to help people suffering a mental health crisis.
The two princes have been widely praised for speaking out about their own struggles with mental health in the wake of the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 car crash and have made the issue one of their main charitable causes.
Shout
The new text messaging service, called “Shout,” aims to provide 24/7 support for people suffering from crises such as suicidal thoughts, abuse, relationship problems and bullying by connecting them to trained volunteers and helping them find longer-term support.
“We are incredibly excited to be launching this service, knowing it has the potential to reach thousands of vulnerable people every day,” the four royals said in a statement. “We have all been able to see the service working up close and are so excited for its future. We hope that many more of you will join us and be part of something very special.”
The service is particularly aimed at younger people and using text messaging means it is silent and private, allowing people to use it at school, on a bus or at home, the organizers said.
Appeal for volunteers
As part of the launch, William appears in a video appealing for people to come forward as the service seeks to expand from 1,000 to 4,000 volunteers.
The initiative is one of the first to involve the quartet of royals who are joint patrons of the Royal Foundation, their primary vehicle for helping charities and good causes and which is supporting the Shout scheme.
It comes after the British media has been rife with speculation of a rift between the brothers and their wives, although there has been no public indication of any disagreements.
On Monday, Meghan, 37, and Harry, 34, celebrated the birth of their first child Archie, with William, 36, and Kate, 37, saying they were absolutely thrilled at the news.
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Blast Rocks Baghdad Marketplace; Accounts on Casualties Differ
A blast rocked Baghdad’s northeastern Sadr City district on Thursday, but there were differing accounts on whether it caused any casualties.
Police Colonel Jamal Hameed told Reuters a parcel had been found on the side of the road near a market and detonated in a controlled explosion, hurting no one.
He said an earlier statement by the joint military-police Baghdad Operations Command mentioning a suicide bomb and several deaths had been released in error.
That statement had said a bomber detonated an explosive belt surrounded by security forces. Local media reported that at least eight people were killed. Reuters was unable to independently verify whether there were any casualties.
The blast hit days after the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and tend to congregate in public places after breaking their fast.
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Report: EU Nations Living Far Beyond Earth’s Means
The European Union’s 28 countries consume the Earth’s resources faster than they can be renewed and none of them has sustainable consumption policies, a report released Thursday said, as EU leaders met to discuss priorities for the next five years.
“All EU countries are living beyond the means of our planet. The EU and its citizens are currently using twice more than the EU ecosystems can renew,” the report by the World Wide Fund (WWF) and Global Footprint Network said.
It was issued as leaders met in the Romanian city of Sibiu to set the course for the bloc after Britain’s planned departure from the EU.
Climate change key priority
French President Emmanuel Macron said before the summit that climate change was among his key priorities and it was included in the bloc’s 10 “commitments” for the future until 2024, agreed by all the 27 leaders meeting in Sibiu.
But the bloc is divided on how to achieve any ambitious climate goals and it remains far from clear how the Sibiu declaration would be implemented.
Some 100 Greenpeace activists and students from several European countries marched through Sibiu carrying a huge banner saying “Broken Climate Broken Future.”
“We cannot talk about a prosperous future without a healthy climate,” Greenpeace climate activist Alin Tanase told Reuters.
Views on concrete action to be taken to combat climate change differ between EU countries, influenced greatly by their dominant industries, such as carmakers in Germany or the coal industry in Poland.
Tusk sensitive to climate change
The chairman of the summit, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, said there was no future for politicians who were not sensitive to climate change and environment protection issues.
“The young generation is much more united on this than the member states. The truth is that nothing has changed when it comes to this divide and different opinions about this. What is new is this very fresh and energetic pressure,” he told a news conference after the summit.
Climate protection and sustainable development is also an important topic in the election campaign for the May 23-26 European Parliament elections, which will influence the leadership of European institutions and their programs.
The European Commission has been pushing for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050 through reducing carbon emissions that will otherwise boost the Earth’s average temperatures with devastating consequences.
“The EU uses up almost 20 percent of the Earth’s bio-capacity although it comprises only 7 percent of the world population,” the WWF report said.
“In other words, 2.8 planets would be needed if everyone consumed at the rate of the average EU resident,” it said.
Luxembourg smallest but fastest
It said the EU’s smallest and richest country, Luxembourg, was also the one which used up renewable resources the fastest last year. Just 46 days into the year, it had consumed its full share of the Earth’s resources, it said.
The EU’s poorest nation, Romania, took the longest to arrive at that point, on July 12th. But that was still earlier than the world’s average of Aug. 1, called Earth overshoot day.
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US Prosecutors Add Hate Crime Charges in Synagogue Shooting
Federal officials announced Thursday that they have filed 109 hate crime charges against the 19-year-old man accused of opening fire in a Southern California synagogue.
Prosecutors say the gunman, identified as John T. Earnest, killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl, her uncle and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was leading the service at the Chabad of Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday.
In a court appearance last month, Earnest pleaded not guilty to state charges of murder and attempted murder. In a separate case, he has pleaded not guilty of burning a mosque in nearby Escondido.
Authorities say he fired at least eight shots in the synagogue before fleeing.
Earnest would be eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of murder that is classified as a hate crime. California Gov. Gavin Newsom in March issued a moratorium on executions while he is in office.
‘Intent to harm’
Prosecutors say Earnest expressed his “intent to harm Jews” in an online posting. He also acknowledged using gasoline to spark a blaze that charred a wall of the Escondido mosque and scrawling graffiti praising the gunman who killed 50 people at two New Zealand mosques last month.
Earnest was an accomplished student, athlete and musician whose embrace of white supremacy and anti-Semitism stunned his family and others closest to him. He lived with his parents and made the dean’s list both semesters last year as a nursing student at California State University-San Marcos.
Earnest frequented 8chan, a dark corner of the web where people often post extremist, racist and violent views.
“I’ve only been lurking here for a year and half, yet what I’ve learned here is priceless. It’s been an honor,” he wrote.
Federal hate crime charges were also filed against the gunman who last fall opened fire at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, killing 11 worshippers. Authorities in that case say Robert Bowers also expressed hatred of Jews. Bowers, 46, has pleaded not guilty.
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Trump: Paperwork Started for New Tariffs on Chinese Products
“We’re starting that paperwork today” for imposing new “very heavy tariffs” on Chinese products,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters just hours before trade talks in Washington are to resume between officials of the world’s two largest economies.
The United States is set to impose Friday an increase in tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Vice Premier Liu He is leading the Chinese negotiating team for the talks which threatened to collapse after the Trump administration accused Beijing of backtracking.
“We were getting very close to a deal, then they started to renegotiate the deal,” Trump said Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
“It was their idea to come back” and resume discussions ahead of the Friday deadline for additional tariffs, the president said.
Liu He, who is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, is to sit down with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Trump said he had also received “a beautiful letter” from Xi that expressed a sentiment of “let’s work together.”
Trump told reporters that he happens “to think tariffs for our country are very powerful,” in line with a view he has been expressing that such increased punitive taxes would be good for America’s economy.
Some economists, however, predict such tariffs would cut in half U.S. economic growth seen in the first quarter of this year.
Officials in Beijing say they have “made all necessary preparations” if Trump follows through on the pledge to impose the new set of tariffs.
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that China will not bow to any pressure, and warned it has the “determination and ability to defend its own interests.”
The ministry issued an earlier statement vowing to take any necessary countermeasures if the tax is implemented.
The Trump administration hopes the new tariffs will force changes in China’s trade, subsidy and intellectual property practices.
The two sides have been unable to reach a deal due, in part, to differences over the enforcement of an agreement and a timeline for removing the tariffs.
Trump says despite being poised to impose the additional tariffs, he is not looking for a trade war with Beijing.
“I want to get along with China,” he told reporters.
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Still Most Visited Place, Orlando Had 75 Million Visitors in 2018
Orlando, Florida, had 75 million visitors last year as the theme park mecca continued to be the most visited destination in the United States
Orlando had 75 million visitors last year as the theme park mecca continued to be the most visited destination in the United States, tourism officials said Thursday.
Orlando in 2018 had 68.5 million domestic visitors, a year-to-year increase of 4.1%, and almost 6.5 million international visitors, a year-to-year increase of 5.4%.
The overall 4.2% increase over 2017 figures was slightly smaller than the previous year-to-year increase of 5%. But there was a robust return of international visitors, a segment that had softened in previous years.
The international improvement was driven by Latin American visitors, especially from Brazil and Mexico, said George Aguel, CEO of Visit Orlando, the area’s tourism marketing agency.
“When folks are thinking about what they can and can’t do, we try to market why this is a good place for them to come. We focus on the feeling you get when you come here,” Aguel said. “There really is no place in the country … where you have the ability to make a connection emotionally. We play a lot on the memories we create.”
Orlando has been in the middle of a years-long expansion of rides and hotel rooms.
Accommodation expansion is at a 20-year high. The metro area already has more than 120,000 hotel rooms, the second highest in the nation behind only Las Vegas.
Additionally, attractions at the area’s theme parks are opening at a break-neck pace.
In 2017, a new water park, Volcano Bay, opened at Universal Orlando, and a new section, Pandora-The World of Avatar, opened at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.
Last year, Disney World opened a Toy Story Land.
Disney World is opening a Star Wars-themed land in August, SeaWorld debuted a Sesame Street land this spring and Universal Orlando is opening a new Harry Potter-themed ride this summer.
“We think it will help us carry over in 2020,” Aguel said. “A lot of these things start to kick in the following year.”
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2 Russians, Others Sentenced in 2016 Montenegro Failed Coup
VOA’s Eurasia Division contributed to this report.
A Montenegran judge on Thursday sentenced two political opposition members and two Russian intelligence officers for a 2016 plot to overthrow the government and kill the prime minister on election day.
The judge in the capital, Podgorica, said on Oct. 16, 2016, the 13 people sentenced had planned to attack state institutions, murder then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and install a pro-Russian regime in government.
The two Russians, Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, were convicted in absentia of “attempted terrorism” and “creating a criminal organization.” The court gave Shishmakov a 15-year prison term and Popov a 12-year term. The two men — who returned to Russia to avoid arrest — are suspected to be members of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. Moscow denies involvement.
Interpol has released an international arrest warrant for Popov, who, the Bellingcat investigative website reports, is also known as Vladimir Moiseev.
Two Montenegrin opposition members, leaders of the Democratic Front movement, were each given five years in prison, while two Serbian citizens, Nemanja Ristic and Predrag Bogicevic, were given sentences in absentia of seven and eight years.
The Montenegrin politicians say they plan to appeal the ruling.
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EU Leaders Denounce Threats From Iran to Bolster Nuclear Program
European leaders have denounced threats from Iran one day after Tehran announced plans to curtail curbs on its nuclear program and threatened to breach a landmark global agreement.
In response to new sanctions imposed Wednesday by the United States, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would enrich uranium beyond allowable limits if world powers don’t protect Iran from the sanctions within 60 days.
“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments,” the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said Thursday in a joint statement.
The European leaders also said they wanted to preserve the 2015 agreement, which requires Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the elimination of sanctions. The deal was signed by China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. The U.S. abandoned the agreement one year ago.
Despite the U.S. withdrawal, President Donald Trump introduced new sanctions Wednesday on Iranian metal exports, major sources of revenue for the western Asian country. The U.S. had previously slapped sanctions on Iranian oil, which have devastated its economy.
The sanctions have created a quandary for Washington’s European allies, which have said they share concerns about Iran’s behavior but believe Trump’s strategy will likely backfire.
The allied nations are also opposed to Trump’s abandonment of the nuclear pact, contending it emboldens Iranian hardliners and undermines pragmatists who want to ease the country’s isolationist approach.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted to the European leaders, saying on Twitter their statement proves “the U.S. has bullied Europe — and rest of world — for a year and the EU can only express “regret.” Zarif added, “Instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord, EU should uphold obligations – incl normalization of economic ties.”
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Tehran’s goal was to bring the agreement “back on track.” But Tehran has also said it would leave the agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unless it gets more economic support.
your ad hereUS Carrier, Bombers Arrive in Middle East to Deter Iran
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bombers have arrived in the Middle East in response to concerns Iran may be planning an attack against American targets.
The carrier strike group completed its transit Thursday through the Suez Canal, U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban told VOA. He said two B-52 bombers arrived in the region Thursday, while two others arrived Wednesday.
The bombers are now at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a defense official confirmed on condition of anonymity.
The request for more military assets in the Middle East was “in direct response to a number of troubling and escalatory indicators and warnings” from Iran, CENTCOM commander Marine Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr. said Wednesday in Washington.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told VOA the swift military movement “sends a message that we can face any threat at a time and place of our choosing.”
The American military arrived in the Middle East as European leaders denounced threats from Iran to stop curbing its nuclear program, a move that would breach a landmark global agreement.
Hours before new sanctions were imposed Wednesday by the United States, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would enrich uranium beyond allowable limits if world powers didn’t protect Iran from the sanctions within 60 days.
“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments,” the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said Thursday in a joint statement.
The European leaders also said they wanted to preserve the 2015 agreement, which requires Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the elimination of sanctions. The deal was signed by China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the U.S. and the EU. The U.S. abandoned the agreement one year ago.
Despite the U.S. withdrawal, President Donald Trump introduced new sanctions Wednesday on Iranian metal exports, major sources of revenue for the country. The U.S. had previously slapped sanctions on Iranian oil, which have devastated its economy.
The sanctions have created a quandary for Washington’s European allies, which have said they share concerns about Iran’s behavior but believe Trump’s strategy will most likely backfire.
The allied nations are also opposed to Trump’s abandonment of the nuclear pact, contending it emboldens Iranian hard-liners and undermines pragmatists who want to ease the country’s isolationist approach.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted to the European leaders on Twitter:
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Tehran’s goal was to bring the agreement “back on track.” But Tehran has also said it will leave the agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, unless it gets more economic support.
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South Africa Counts Votes in Contested National Poll
South Africa’s electoral commission counted votes Thursday, the day after a national poll that was expected to be the toughest test yet for the long-ruling African National Congress. Initial results showed the ANC with a slimmer lead than in past elections. The electoral commission also said it would conduct an audit after reports of double voting. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg.
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UK Scientists Liken Anglo-Saxon Burial Site to King Tut’s Tomb
Archaeologists say an underground chamber discovered accidentally by road workers may be the site of the earliest Christian royal burial in Britain.
The chamber was uncovered between a road and a railway line in the village of Prittlewell in 2003. It turned out to be a 1,400-year-old burial site containing items that were interred with whoever was buried there.
The contents included a golden belt buckle, remnants of a harp, glassware and an elaborate water vessel.
New details of archaeological findings were announced Thursday.
Researchers say the luxury burial items indicate the chamber’s occupant was of high standing, possibly a prince. Two gold-foil crosses at the head of the coffin suggest a Christian burial.
Sophie Jackson, director of research and engagement at Museum of London Archaeology, called the discovery “our equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb.”
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