Thousands of people rallied to the support of a German captain of a migrant rescue ship who was arrested after she defied orders to stay out of Italian waters.Carola Rackete remained under house arrest Sunday after her ship, the Sea-Watch 3, rammed the Italian border police motorboat that was blocking the entry to the port at Italy’s Lampedusa island.The Sea-Watch 3 picked up the migrants adrift in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya on June 12 and had remained on open waters after being denied entry by several European countries.On Wednesday, Rackete ignored Italian warnings and headed to Lampedusa island.The captain “had no intention of hurting anyone” and only wanted to get her passengers to land, Italian lawyer Salvatore Tesoriero said.Two German radio personalities appealed for donations for Rackete. In just over 24 hours, some 20,000 people had donated more than $745,000.Rackete also received the support of German leaders. “Italy is at the heart of the European Union, a founding state of the European Union,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told German public broadcaster ZDF.” And that’s why we can expect a country like Italy to deal with such a case differently.”Italy’s anti-immigration Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was quick to respond. “We ask the German president to keep busy with what’s happening in Germany and possibly invite his fellow citizens to avoid breaking Italian laws, risking the killing of Italy’s law enforcement forces,” Salvini said in a tweet Sunday evening.No one was hurt when the Sea-Watch 3 collided with the police boat.Salvini has promised fines, arrests and seizures for any vessel that enters Italian waters without authorization. “We will use every democratic means to stop this mockery of law,” Salvini said. “Italy cannot be the landing spot for anyone deciding to unload human beings.”He has repeatedly accused charity rescuers of being complicit with people smugglers by waiting off the Libyan coast to pick up migrants from unseaworthy vessels that couldn’t make it all the way to Europe. Until recently, Italy had been the preferred landing spot for migrants fleeing North Africa for Europe. But in June 2018, the far-right government closed its ports to migrant rescue vessels.Migrant arrivals to Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office a year ago. So far this year, just 2,456 have arrived across the Mediterranean, according to official data, down 85% for the same period in 2018 and down 96% from 2017 levels.
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Month: June 2019
5 Killed as Thousands Rally in Sudan to Demand Civilian Rule
A Sudanese doctors group says five people have been killed and several seriously wounded in a day of demonstrations against continued military rule in Sudan.Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the country Sunday calling for a civilian government nearly three months after the army forced out the long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir.Marchers demand the generals who took over power from al-Bashir make way for civilians.The protesters, some of them waving Sudanese flags, chanted “Civilian rule! Civilian rule!” and “Burhan’s council, just fall,” targeting General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the military council. Security forces fired tear gas at the demonstrators.”We’re fed up with the military. For decades, this country has been ruled by the military. It didn’t work and it will not work,” one demonstrator said.Sunday’s protests were the first since June 3 when security forces violently broke up a protest camp in Khartoum. The opposition says at least 128 were killed while the government puts the death toll at 61.”Despite what they did at the sit-in, despite the people they killed…the revolution will not die in the hearts of the youth,” the demonstrator said.General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council, said the generals want to reach an “urgent and comprehensive agreement with no exclusion. We in the military council are totally neutral. We are the guardians of the revolution. We do not want to be part of the dispute.”The European Union and several Western countries have called on the generals to avoid bloodshed.The June 3 raid followed the collapse of talks on a new government, whether it should be led by a civilian or soldier.Ethiopia and the African Union have offered a plan for a civilian-majority body, which the generals say could be the basis for new negotiations.
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Thousands of Protesters Demand Civilian Rule in Sudan
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across Sudan on Sunday against the ruling generals, calling for a civilian government nearly three months after the army forced out the long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir.The mass protests, centered in the capital, Khartoum, were the first since a June 3 crackdown when security forces violently broke up a protest camp. In that confrontation, dozens were killed, with protest organizers saying the death toll was at least 128, while authorities claim it was 61, including three security personnel.Sunday’s demonstrators gathered at several points across Khartoum and in the sister city of Omdurman, then marching to the homes of those killed in previous protests.The protesters, some of them waving Sudanese flags, chanted “Civilian rule! Civilian rule!” and “Burhan’s council, just fall,” targeting Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the military council. Security forces fired tear gas at the demonstrators.Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council, said the generals want to reach an “urgent and comprehensive agreement with no exclusion. We in the military council are totally neutral. We are the guardians of the revolution. We do not want to be part of the dispute.”The European Union and several Western countries have called on the generals to avoid bloodshed.The June 3 raid followed the collapse of talks on a new government, whether it should be led by a civilian or soldier.Ethiopia and the African Union have offered a plan for a civilian-majority body, which the generals say could be the basis for new negotiations.
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White House: Trade Agreement with China Not Close
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday resumption of trade talks between the U.S. and China “is a very big deal,” but acknowledged there is no immediate prospect for an agreement between the world’s two largest economies.”The talks will go on for quite some time,” Kudlow told the Fox News Sunday interview show.He said the countries had reached agreement on 90 percent of a new deal by early May, before talks broke down in what has turned out to be a seven-week stalemate. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in Japan to restart negotiations.U.S. President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping during the G-20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.But Kudlow assessed that “the last 10 percent could be the toughest,” with such unresolved issues as cyberattacks, Chinese demands that U.S. companies turn over proprietary technology they use, Chinese government support for its companies and the sale of U.S. technology components to the giant Chinese multinational technology giant Huawei.Trump agreed in his meeting with Xi to ease sales of some U.S.-made components to Huawei, a policy change that some of Trump’s Republican colleagues in the U.S. disagree with because they contend that Huawei can insert Chinese intelligence eavesdropping chips in their consumer products sold overseas. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called it a “catastrophic mistake.”Kudlow said he realizes “there are national security concerns” with sales to Huawei. “We will look at this carefully,” Kudlow said, adding that Trump’s easing of sales of components to Huawei “is not a general amnesty.”Trump, in a series of Twitter comments, said, “I had a great meeting with President Xi of China yesterday, far better than expected. I agreed not to increase the already existing Tariffs that we charge China while we continue to negotiate. China has agreed that, during the negotiation, they will begin purchasing large amounts of agricultural product from our great Farmers. At the request of our High Tech companies, and President Xi, I agreed to allow Chinese company Huawei to buy product from them which will not impact our National Security.”I had a great meeting with President Xi of China yesterday, far better than expected. I agreed not to increase the already existing Tariffs that we charge China while we continue to negotiate. China has agreed that, during the negotiation, they will begin purchasing large…..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2019He said the U.S. relationship with China “continues to be a very good one. The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry, but things look very good! There will be no reduction in the Tariffs currently being charged to China.” ….again with China as our relationship with them continues to be a very good one. The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry, but things look very good! There will be no reduction in the Tariffs currently being charged to China.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2019China Daily, an English-language daily Beijing often uses to relay messages, agreed with Kudlow’s assessment that a trade agreement is not close.”Even though Washington agreed to postpone levying additional tariffs on Chinese goods to make way for negotiations, and Trump even hinted at putting off decisions on Huawei until the end of negotiations, things are still very much up in the air,” the Chinese Daily editorial published late Saturday said.”Agreement on 90 percent of the issues has proved not to be enough, and with the remaining 10 percent where their fundamental differences reside, it is not going to be easy to reach a 100-percent consensus, since at this point, they remain widely apart even on the conceptual level,” the editorial said.
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Hong Kong Braces for More Protests on Handover Anniversary
More than 50,000 people rallied in support of the Hong Kong police on Sunday as the semi-autonomous territory braced for another day of protests on the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
The crowd filled a park in front of the legislature and chanted Thank you'' to the police, who have been criticized for using tear gas and rubber bullets during clashes with demonstrators that left dozens injured on June 12. Some carried Chinese flags. Police estimated the turnout at 53,000.A protest march has been called for Monday, the third in three weeks, this one on the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997. Activists have also said they will try to disrupt an annual flag-raising ceremony attended by senior Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in the morning.one country, two systems” framework.
Police have erected tall barriers and shut off access to Golden Bauhinia Square, where the flag-raising will be held, to prevent protesters from massing there overnight.
The anniversary always draws protests, but this year's is expected to be larger than usual because of widespread opposition to a government proposal to allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face charges. More than a million people took to the streets in two previous marches in June, organizers estimate.
The proposal has awakened broader fears that China is eroding the freedoms and rights that Hong Kong is guaranteed for 50 years after the handover under a
The government has already postponed debate on the extradition bill indefinitely, leaving it to die, but protest leaders want the legislation formally withdrawn and the resignation of Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam. They also are demanding an independent inquiry into police actions on June 12.
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at the Education University of Hong Kong to hold a moment of silence and lay flowers for a 21-year-old student who fell to her death the previous day in an apparent suicide. Hong Kong media reports said she wrote a message on a wall stating the protesters’ demands and asking others to persist.
“It’s reminding us we need to keep going on the process of fighting with the, I wouldn’t say fighting with the government, but we need to keep going on fighting not to have the extradition law,” said student Gabriel Lau.
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Conservative Contenders Harden Brexit Language, Prompting EU Warnings
Both candidates to succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader and Britain’s next prime minister are now laying the political groundwork for a so-called “hard Brexit” — and are ready to leave the European Union without any withdrawal deal, an outcome independent observers and analysts warn could poison relations between Britain and its European neighbors for decades.The exit Boris Johnson and his rival Jeremy Hunt, the country’s current foreign minister, are plotting would likely involve Britain withholding all or some of the $50 billion the country already agreed formally it would owe the EU for past financial obligations on exiting.Johnson, the frontrunner, former London mayor and onetime journalist, is turning to hardline Brexiters in his party to draw up his plans and says the withdrawal agreement Theresa May struck with Brussels last November, and which she failed three times to get approved by a deadlocked House of Commons, is dead.His rival is also hardening his Brexit rhetoric in what is turning into a ‘bidding war’ between the contenders as they vie for the votes of the 160,000 Conservative party members who will choose between them. The party members are being balloted by mail with the result scheduled for July 22. In recent months the party has seen a wave of new members with an estimated 30,000 new recruits being dubbed ‘Brexit entryists.’Jeremy Hunt, a leadership candidate for Britain’s Conservative Party, leaves BBC studios in London, June 30, 2019. (Reuters)On Sunday Hunt said in a newspaper interview that he wants “to change the withdrawal agreement” but if it isn’t possible, “I’ll take us out without a deal.” In a no-deal exit Hunt would withhold about half of the withdrawal money already agreed between London and Brussels. “Anyone who thinks I am going to write a blank check to the European Union is sorely mistaken,” he said.Hunt has recruited the former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to lead his Brexit team, if he wins the keys to Downing Street, to help him to try to negotiate a free-trade deal with Brussels along the lines of the one agreed after seven years of talks between Ottawa and the EU.But such a deal would only cover the trade in goods and not in services, which account for 79 percent of Britain’s economic output.“Stephen Harper knows how you negotiate trade deals with both the EU and the U.S.. He’s got the T-shirt,” Hunt said.The hardline positions being crafted by Johnson and Hunt would put whoever is elected on a collision course with Brussels and the national leaders of the EU 27. The French government warned both candidates Saturday that the divorce deal May brokered with EU is not up for renegotiation, echoing warnings from Brussels and across the continent all last week.“If the United Kingdom wants to leave the union and to leave in an orderly fashion, the deal on the table is the deal we negotiated over two years,” France’s newly appointed European Affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin told the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris. “To reopen the withdrawal agreement, the position of the Council [of EU leaders] is very clear, it’s: ‘no’,” she added.FILE – British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves the podium after addressing a media conference at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels, April 11, 2019. (AP)May’s premiership was wrecked after she failed to get her Brexit deal approved by the British parliament — the agreement is unpopular with both hardline Brexiters, who say it keeps Britain too closely tied to the bloc, and by Europhiles, who favor greater participation in the EU. She was forced to delay, with reluctant EU agreement, the deadline for Britain’s departure, to October 31.EU national leaders and senior officials in Brussels have insisted for months that there can be no renegotiation of the withdrawal deal, although they say they are amendable to amending an accompanying political declaration outlining in more detail Britain’s possible future trade relationship with the bloc, which will be negotiated following Brexit.May herself has warned her possible successors that they will face the same political impasse she did, as well as a parliament determined to block Britain leaving the EU without a withdrawal deal, which is designed to limit the economic pain Brexit will cause on both sides of the English Channel.Neither Johnson nor Hunt have outlined what the trade-offs would be, if Britain left without a withdrawal agreement, say Conservative critics and EU officials. “Johnson’s sole contribution to the conversation about the difficult trade-offs involved in Britain’s most important political challenge since the Second World War has been a reheating of his two-decade-old adage: ‘My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it,’” said Matthew Parris, a former Conservative lawmaker and now a columnist at The Times of London.Both Britain and the EU — especially the near neighbors of Ireland, France, Belgium and The Netherlands — would be hurt economically by a no-deal and the reimposition of trade barriers and tariffs between the bloc and Britain.According to a study by the University of Leuven in Holland, there will be close to two million job loses across the continent as a result of a no-deal Brexit. With Germany possibly losing nearly 300,000 jobs as a result. But the biggest immediate impact would likely be felt in Britain, which could see more than half-a-million jobs lost and the country’s GDP take a 4.4 percent, according to the study. Bank of England economists have predicted a recession in Britain, if there is a hard Brexit.Johnson’s supporters say such studies should give Brussels pause and will convince EU leaders to cave to British demands.EU officials fear both Conservative candidates — especially Johnson — are backing themselves into a corner in a competition of political machismo. Johnson is stating unequivocally that he will, if in Downing Street, lead Britain out of the EU on October 31, deal or no deal, pledging to do so “do or die.” Hunt has allowed himself some wiggle room, saying the deadline could be passed if there is a chance of a new deal.
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IOM: Migrant Deaths Globally Top 32,000 Since 2014
The International Organization for Migration says more than 32,000 migrants worldwide have died or gone missing between 2014 and 2018, with most fatalities occurring on the deadly Mediterranean Sea crossing from North Africa to Europe.The U.N. migration agency says its global figures underestimate the true nature and extent of the problem as many migrant deaths are never reported and many bodies are never recovered. Nevertheless, researchers say the statistics paint a very grim picture of the perils awaiting the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants risking their lives in search of protection or a better life.The report shows nearly 18,000 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean between 2014 and 2018. It says the remains of almost two thirds of those victims have not been found.IOM spokesman, Joel Millman said Rohingya refugees comprise the vast majority of the 2,200 deaths recorded in South-East Asia and most of the 288 deaths recorded in South Asia since 2014 were of Afghan migrants.”Despite the conflict in Yemen, people continue to attempt the sea crossing from the Horn of Africa across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. At least 125 people drowned off the shores of Yemen in 2018, compared with 53 in 2017. An increasing number of deaths on the United States—Mexico border have been recorded each year since 2014, with the total we have over the five years is 1,907,” he said.Millman told VOA that the numbers included in IOM’s Missing Migrants Project are defined as people in transit. He said there is a separate category for people who die in custody, though exceptions do occur. He said recent cases of people who have died while in custody for less than two hours are included in the current data base.”In general, in transit is the rule of thumb. But we have had some cases, I think six or seven already this year of recently in custody in the U.S. or recently released from custody that resulted in deaths within a few days and those we parse the best we can in the data base,” he said.A related report recently released by IOM and the U.N. children’s fund focuses on the growing number of children embarking on dangerous migrant journeys. The data finds nearly 1,600 children, about one every day, were reported dead or missing between 2014 and 2018. Researchers add the full extent of this tragedy is unknown as many of these migrant child deaths go unrecorded.
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Trump Meets Kim at DMZ, Crosses Into North Korea
Donald Trump on Sunday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit North Korea, stepping across the border during a meeting at the demilitarized zone with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At the impromptu summit, Trump said they agreed to resume working level negotiations, which had been stalled, as VOA’s William Gallo reports from Seoul.
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Taliban Say Latest Round of Talks with US ‘Critical’
The seventh and latest round of peace talks between the U.S. and Taliban is “critical,” said Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen on Sunday, the second day of talks with Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Mideastern state of Qatar, where the militant group maintains a political office.Shaheen told The Associated Press both sides are looking for “tangible results” as they try to hammer out the fine print of agreements that will see the eventual withdrawal of over 20,000 U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan, and end America’s longest-running war.The agreements are also expected to provide guarantees that Afghanistan will not again harbor terrorists to carry out attacks worldwide.The talks began on Saturday and are expected to continue into the next week. The two sides sat down to negotiate just days after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was hopeful of a deal to end Afghanistan’s protracted war by Sept. 1.”Getting a comprehensive peace agreement with the Taliban before Sept. 1 would be nothing short of a miracle,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson’s Center. “That said, I could certainly envision a more limited deal being in place by Sept. 1 on a U.S. troop withdrawal, given that there’s already been ample progress on this issue.”Pompeo and Khalilzad have both said the final accord will include not only agreements with the Taliban on troop withdrawal and guarantees of a non-threatening Afghanistan, but also agreement on intra-Afghan dialogue and a permanent cease fire.Until now the Taliban have refused direct talks with the Afghan government while holding two separate meetings with a wide array of prominent Afghans from Kabul, including former president Hamid Karzai, members of the former northern alliance that fought the Taliban during its five-year rule as well as members of the government.The Taliban have said they will meet government officials but as ordinary Afghans, labeling President Ashraf Ghani’s government a U.S. puppet and noting that the U.S. is the final arbiter on their central issue, which is troop withdrawal. The Taliban have refused a ceasefire until the withdrawal is complete, saying that to restart their insurgency if the U.S. reneges on its promises could be difficult.But the accelerated pace of negotiations and the sudden announcement of a Sept. 1 target date for an agreement could be linked to Afghan President Ghani’s insistence on presidential polls scheduled for Sept. 28 in Afghanistan, say analysts.The upcoming elections have been criticized by many of his political opponents who often point to last October’s parliamentary polls. The voting was so badly mismanaged that Ghani fired the entire Independent Election Commission, and several of the parliamentary seats are still being contested.A biometric identification system aimed at reducing election fraud was prematurely rolled out for the polls, with the few people trained on the machines not showing up on election day.While there were incidences of violence during the polling, analysts widely agreed the greatest flaw was the widespread mismanagement and fraud. Khalilzad has also suggested that presidential elections could hamper reaching a peace agreement.”I do think the U.S. government recognizes that the election could pose a major obstacle to peace talks, given that it will be a distraction and given that it will accentuate and intensify the fractures and rivalries in the Afghan political environment that undercut reconciliation prospects,” said Kugelman.”Another reason for the focus on Sept. 1 is much simpler: President Trump wants out, and he wants a deal as soon as possible.”
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Libyan Fighters Threaten to Target Turkish Interests
The forces of Libya’s Khalifa Hifter said Friday that Turkish vessels and interests are “legitimate targets” in its battle to seize the capital of Tripoli, after it accused Turkey of helping rival militias allied with the U.N.-supported government.The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, already controls much of the country’s east and south. It launched an offensive against the weak Tripoli-based government in April. The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya into another bout of violence on the scale of the 2011 conflict that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and led to his death.A spokesman for the LNA, Ahmed al-Mesmari, said the country had “come under illegitimate Turkish aggression” in recent weeks.”Turkey has become directly involved in the battle (for Tripoli), with its soldiers, planes, sea ships and all the supplies that now reach Misrata, Tripoli and Zuwara directly,” al-Mesmari said.He said Turkey had helped push the LNA out of the town of Gharyan, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Tripoli. The town was a key supply route for Hifter’s forces pushing toward the capital.Turkish forces also bombed LNA positions and provided air cover for militias allied with the Tripoli-based government to retake the town, he said.Al-Mesmari said LNA forces have now been ordered to target any Turkish ships, strategic sites or companies operating in Libya or its territorial waters, and to arrest any Turkish nationals in Libya.Libyan officials said they had carried out “heavy” airstrikes in retaliation against the fighters who retook Gharyan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. The government in the east said LNA forces were killed after being captured alive in hospitals in Gharyan, a claim denied by Gharyan Gov. Yousef Bediri, who is loyal to the Tripoli government.Bediri called on rights groups to investigate the killing in Gharyan saying the LNA troops were killed earlier during the fighting.Col. Mohamed Gnono, a spokesman for the Tripoli government forces, told a news conference in Gharyan that they captured over 150 of Hifter’s troops and seized armored vehicles, three drones and U.S.-made weapons and missiles.Oded Berkowitz, an Israeli security analyst who specializes in the Libyan conflict, said “the most interesting and notable” of these seized weapons were FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles, UAE-made Yabhon drones, and Russia-made Kornet anti-tank guided missiles.”This is a game changer not only because it’s a highly advanced weapon, but because it’s also American,” he said.Last month, a Facebook page linked to the Tripoli government posted photos appearing to show more than a dozen armored vehicles arriving at port, without saying who supplied them. Supporters of the various militias allied with the government said the vehicles, which resemble Turkish-made Kirpi armored carriers, were supplied by Turkey.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he was unaware of the LNA’s orders. “If Hifter has given such an order, we’ll get that evaluated,” he said. He said Turkey had already taken “necessary” precautions. Erdogan said in April his government would stand by Tripoli authorities as they repel the offensive launched by Hifter’s forces.The U.N.-supported government condemned Hifter threats of targeting Turkey’s interests in Libya.The Government of National accord, backed by Turkey, urged the U.N. support mission in Libya to have “clear positions” toward these “unprecedented comments” by the LNA spokesman.In a press conference late Saturday, al-Mesmari said their airstrikes would continue on Gharyan and outskirts of Tripoli.He said LNA forces repelled attacks by militias allied with the U.N.-supported government on towns of Ain Zara and Wadi al-Rabie outside Tripoli.”Forensic reports showed that wounded in Gharyan hospitals were knifed, shot deal in their heads or rammed by cars,” he said.Hifter, who in recent years has been battling Islamic extremists and other militias across eastern Libya, says he is determined to restore stability to the North African country. His opponents view him as an aspiring autocrat and fear a return to one-man rule.Hifter has received support from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while his rivals receive support from Qatar and Turkey.The fight for Tripoli has killed at least 739 people, according to the World Health Organization.
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At DMZ, Trump Could Make History By Crossing Border
Donald Trump may become the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea when he visits the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas on Sunday.
Trump has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a quick meeting at the DMZ’s Panmunjom border village. Before landing in Seoul, Trump said he would feel “very comfortable” stepping across the border into North Korea.
“Virtually a handshake,” Trump said of the possible meeting. “But that’s OK. A handshake means a lot.”
Though it isn’t clear the meeting will go beyond a photo opportunity, many hope a DMZ handshake could restart stalled nuclear talks.
Speaking alongside Trump on Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said “he could truly feel the flower of peace was blossoming on the Korean peninsula” when he saw Trump’s invitation to Kim.
“I believe that picture in itself would represent a historic event and also would be a significant milestone in terms of the peace process,” Moon said of a DMZ meeting.
Kim has not publicly responded to the invitation, which Trump sent via Twitter. North Korea’s vice foreign minister on Saturday called Trump’s offer an “interesting suggestion.”After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019It would be the third summit between Kim and Trump, following meetings in Singapore last June and in Vietnam in February. Whereas those meetings were held at hotels, Panmunjom would provide a much more dramatic setting.
With its iconic light-blue buildings that straddle the North-South border, Panmunjom is the only place along the 250-kilometer-long DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers can stand face-to-face.Working-level talks stallSince the meeting in Hanoi, North Korea has not responded to U.S. requests to resume working-level talks. North Korea is unhappy with the U.S. refusal to relax sanctions in exchange for limited steps to dismantle its nuclear program.Given that neither side has publicly softened their negotiating position, progress may be unlikely for now.”It’s hard to see much more coming out of this other than showing the world that Trump and Kim are still on speaking terms after Hanoi,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.A banner shows images, from left, of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, displayed by protesters who demand peace on the Korean peninsula near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.Though international attention may focus on a possible Trump-Kim meeting at the DMZ, a key indicator of progress will be whether North Korea agrees to meet with Steve Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea.U.S. officials, including Biegun, have given mixed signals about whether they are open to an incremental approach, whereby Pyongyang would give up its nuclear program in stages in exchange for reciprocal steps by Washington.Trump wants Kim to agree to a “big deal,” under which Kim agrees to completely abandon his nuclear program.The U.S. refusal to relax sanctions on North Korea has prevented South Korean President Moon from implementing inter-Korean projects.”If Trump really wanted to send a signal to Kim that progress is still possible, he would cooperate with Seoul and allow for some of the inter-Korean economic cooperation to move forward,” says Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Stimson Center.Moon on Sunday confirmed he would accompany Trump at the DMZ.President Donald Trump, left, speaks as he sits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, during a bilateral meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, Sunday, June 30, 2019.Will Kim show?Some speculate that Kim may not show up at the DMZ to meet Trump.”I think Kim has much more to gain with a no-show than showing up for another photo op, with nothing substantive gained,” says Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.Instead, Lee speculates Kim may choose to have his sister Kim Yo Jong deliver a letter to Trump.”Kim can dictate the terms and pace of engagement better with a no-show,” he says.But Narang, the MIT professor, disagrees, saying Kim could exploit such a meeting to further bolster his reputation with his domestic audience.”For Kim, the fact that Trump reached out — in some ways desperately on Twitter — may help him considerably at home,” Narang says.Historic momentIf Kim does show up, Trump’s visit to the DMZ could well make history.Though U.S. presidents frequently visit the DMZ during stops in South Korea, none has ever stepped across the border into North Korea. Though such a move would be historic, it’s not clear what it would mean practically, some analysts warn.”President Trump delights in doing things no president has done before,” says Bonnie Glaser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But for Trump, “a step inside North Korea might not signify any policy intentions whatsoever.”
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Pittsburgh Confesses Its Love For Beer, Turns Church Into Brewery
There are hundreds of thousands of churches in the United States. And though some 4,000 to 5,000 new congregations open their doors in the country each year, just as many close, mainly due to economic reasons. The vacant churches are then remodeled and reused as apartment complexes, bookstores and museums. Or turned into breweries, as was done in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nataliya Leonova has the story.
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Trump, Kim Hold ‘Handshake Summit’ at DMZ
Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit North Korea, stepping across the border during a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone. After shaking hands with Kim at the Panmunjom border village, Trump stepped across the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas. Kim then crossed the border back into South Korea. “Good to see you again,” Kim told Trump. “I never expected to see you in this place.””Stepping across that line was a great honor,” said Trump, who invited Kim to the United States for another formal summit.Trump on Saturday had said the meeting would only last two minutes. However, the interaction lasted longer than expected, with Trump and Kim entering a nearby building for further talks.Trump, who visited the DMZ with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in, received a military briefing at a lookout point on the DMZ. “It used to be dangerous, very very dangerous,” Trump said at the lookout point. “But after our first summit, all the danger went away.” Trump also defended his North Korea policy and blasted media outlets that have questioned whether he should meet with Kim, given that talks with North Korea are stalled. “I say for the press, they have no appreciation for what we’ve done,” Trump said. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands at the start of a bilateral meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, Sunday, June 30, 2019.Many hope a DMZ handshake could restart stalled nuclear talks, but many analysts warn such a meeting would only be a photo opportunity and risks further legitimizing Kim. On Saturday Trump said he would have no problem setting foot in North Korea during his visit to the Panmunjom border village. If he does, he would be the first sitting U.S. president to do so. Kim has not publicly responded to the invitation. North Korea’s vice foreign minister on Saturday called Trump’s offer an “interesting suggestion.”It would be the third summit between Kim and Trump, following meetings in Singapore last June and in Vietnam in February. Whereas those meetings were held at hotels, Panmunjom would provide a much more dramatic setting.With its iconic light-blue buildings that straddle the North-South border, Panmunjom is the only place along the 250-kilometer-long DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers can stand face-to-face.Working-level talks stallSince the meeting in Hanoi, North Korea has not responded to U.S. requests to resume working-level talks. North Korea is unhappy with the U.S. refusal to relax sanctions in exchange for limited steps to dismantle its nuclear program.Given that neither side has publicly softened their negotiating position, progress may be unlikely for now.”It’s hard to see much more coming out of this other than showing the world that Trump and Kim are still on speaking terms after Hanoi,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Though international attention may focus on a possible Trump-Kim meeting at the DMZ, a key indicator of progress will be whether North Korea agrees to meet with Steve Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea.U.S. officials, including Biegun, have given mixed signals about whether they are open to an incremental approach, whereby Pyongyang would give up its nuclear program in stages in exchange for reciprocal steps by Washington.Trump wants Kim to agree to a “big deal,” under which Kim agrees to completely abandon his nuclear program.The U.S. refusal to relax sanctions on North Korea has prevented South Korean President Moon from implementing inter-Korean projects.President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, walk up to view North Korea from the Korean Demilitarized Zone from Observation Post Ouellette at Camp Bonifas in South Korea, Sunday, June 30, 2019.”If Trump really wanted to send a signal to Kim that progress is still possible, he would cooperate with Seoul and allow for some of the inter-Korean economic cooperation to move forward,” says Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Stimson Center.Moon on Sunday confirmed he would accompany Trump at the DMZ.Will Kim show?Some speculated that Kim wouldn’t show up at the DMZ to meet Trump.”I think Kim has much more to gain with a no-show than showing up for another photo op, with nothing substantive gained,” says Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.Instead, Lee speculated Kim would choose to have his sister Kim Yo Jong deliver a letter to Trump.”Kim can dictate the terms and pace of engagement better with a no-show,” he says.But Narang, the MIT professor, disagrees, saying Kim could exploit such a meeting to further bolster his reputation with his domestic audience.”For Kim, the fact that Trump reached out — in some ways desperately on Twitter — may help him considerably at home,” Narang says.Historic momentTrump’s visit to the DMZ is an historic moment.Though U.S. presidents frequently visit the DMZ during stops in South Korea, none has ever stepped across the border into North Korea. Though such a move is historic, it’s not clear what it means practically, some analysts warn.”President Trump delights in doing things no president has done before,” says Bonnie Glaser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But for Trump, “a step inside North Korea might not signify any policy intentions whatsoever.”
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Trump Administration Agrees to Delay Health Care Rule
The Trump administration has agreed to postpone implementing a rule allowing medical workers to decline performing abortions or other treatments on moral or religious grounds while the so-called “conscience” rule is challenged in a California court.
The rule was supposed to take effect on July 22 but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its opponents in a California lawsuit mutually agreed Friday to delay a final ruling on the matter until Nov. 22.
The agency called it the “most efficient way to adjudicate” the rule.
A federal judge in San Francisco permitted the change on Saturday.
A California lawsuit alleges that the department exceeded its authority with the rule, which President Trump announced in May.
The measure known as Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care; Delegations of Authority would require institutions that receive money from federal programs to certify that they comply with some 25 federal laws protecting conscience and religious rights.
Most laws pertain to medical procedures such as abortion, sterilization and assisted suicide.
The department has previously said that past administrations haven’t done enough to protect such rights in the medical field.
The rule is a priority for religious conservatives, but critics fear it will become a pretext for denying medical attention to LGBT people or women seeking abortions, a legal medical procedure.
“The Trump administration is trying to systematically limit access to critical medical care for women, the LGBTQ community, and other vulnerable patients,” San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement announcing Friday’s decision. “Hospitals are no place to put personal beliefs above patient care.”
San Francisco would have faced losing about $1 billion in federal funding for health care-related programs if the rule took effect, according to the statement from his office.
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Mexico Seeks Closer China Business Ties
Mexico wants to deepen economic ties with China by increasing its exports and attracting more investment from the Asian country, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Saturday ahead of a visit to Beijing. Ebrard was speaking to reporters via a video link from the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where he said that talks with other government officials had demonstrated there was growing interest in boosting trade and investment with Mexico. This was “very clear” in the case of China, where Ebrard said he would be giving priority to expanding business ties during his visit there at the start of next week. “What we’re interested in,” he said, “is increasing Mexico’s presence in China, Mexico’s capacity to export to China. And China’s investments in Mexico.” Ebrard was representing Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the summit, who in a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he could not attend because there were “urgent” matters requiring his attention in Mexico. Ebrard is due to speak to media on Tuesday in China, which exports much more to Mexico than vice versa. Last year, according to Mexican economy ministry data, Mexico imported $83.5 billion worth of goods from China, while its exports to China were worth $7.4 billion. FILE – Factory employees are seen working in the plant of General Motors in the city of Silao, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Nov. 25, 2008.Mexico sends around 80% of its exports to the United States, and is eager to sell more to other countries to reduce its economic dependence on its neighbor. That dependence has become an increasing liability since U.S. President Donald Trump last month vowed to slap tariffs on all Mexican exports to the United States if Mexico did not do more to stem a surge in migrants heading to the United States. During the summit, Ebrard said, Trump had told him the United States “had good signs that things were going well” in Mexico’s bid to cut the flow of mostly Central Americans seeking to cross the U.S. border. Ebrard also noted India was interested in doing more business with Mexico, and that he would visit New Delhi “soon.” Despite that, concern in business circles about the Lopez Obrador administration’s ability to attract investment grew last week when Mexican state power utility CFE said it wanted to get “fairer” terms for contracts signed under the last government. That drew criticism from Canada, whose government voiced its concerns at the G-20 about CFE’s desire to revisit a major pipeline contract involving a Canadian firm, Mexican Finance Minister Carlos Urzua said.
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Trump Confirms DMZ Meeting With Kim Jong Un Is On
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a handshake meeting later Sunday at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. “I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim,” Trump said at a press conference alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Trump, who is visiting South Korea, on Saturday sent a Twitter invitation for Kim to meet “just to shake his hand and say hello.” After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019Both Trump and Moon confirmed during the press conference that Kim has accepted the offer. “You really are the peace-maker of the Korean peninsula,” Moon told Trump.Many hope a DMZ handshake could restart stalled nuclear talks, but many analysts warn such a meeting would only be a photo opportunity and risks further legitimizing Kim. Asked why Kim “deserves this moment” given that nuclear talks have not made progress, Trump criticized the “fake news” who question his North Korea strategy.”We’ve made tremendous strides. Only the fake news says they weren’t,” said Trump. “In a way it’s insulting. But we’re doing well. Let’s see what happens in the end, but we’re doing well.”On Saturday Trump said he would have no problem setting foot in North Korea during his visit to the Panmunjom border village. If he does, he would be the first sitting U.S. president to do so. Kim has not publicly responded to the invitation. North Korea’s vice foreign minister on Saturday called Trump’s offer an “interesting suggestion.”It would be the third summit between Kim and Trump, following meetings in Singapore last June and in Vietnam in February. Whereas those meetings were held at hotels, Panmunjom would provide a much more dramatic setting.With its iconic light-blue buildings that straddle the North-South border, Panmunjom is the only place along the 250-kilometer-long DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers can stand face-to-face.Working-level talks stallSince the meeting in Hanoi, North Korea has not responded to U.S. requests to resume working-level talks. North Korea is unhappy with the U.S. refusal to relax sanctions in exchange for limited steps to dismantle its nuclear program.Given that neither side has publicly softened their negotiating position, progress may be unlikely for now.”It’s hard to see much more coming out of this other than showing the world that Trump and Kim are still on speaking terms after Hanoi,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.A banner shows images, from left, of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, displayed by protesters who demand peace on the Korean peninsula near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.Though international attention may focus on a possible Trump-Kim meeting at the DMZ, a key indicator of progress will be whether North Korea agrees to meet with Steve Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea.U.S. officials, including Biegun, have given mixed signals about whether they are open to an incremental approach, whereby Pyongyang would give up its nuclear program in stages in exchange for reciprocal steps by Washington.Trump wants Kim to agree to a “big deal,” under which Kim agrees to completely abandon his nuclear program.The U.S. refusal to relax sanctions on North Korea has prevented South Korean President Moon from implementing inter-Korean projects.”If Trump really wanted to send a signal to Kim that progress is still possible, he would cooperate with Seoul and allow for some of the inter-Korean economic cooperation to move forward,” says Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Stimson Center.Moon on Sunday confirmed he would accompany Trump at the DMZ.President Donald Trump, left, speaks as he sits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, during a bilateral meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, Sunday, June 30, 2019.Will Kim show?Some speculate that Kim may not show up at the DMZ to meet Trump.”I think Kim has much more to gain with a no-show than showing up for another photo op, with nothing substantive gained,” says Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.Instead, Lee speculates Kim may choose to have his sister Kim Yo Jong deliver a letter to Trump.”Kim can dictate the terms and pace of engagement better with a no-show,” he says.But Narang, the MIT professor, disagrees, saying Kim could exploit such a meeting to further bolster his reputation with his domestic audience.”For Kim, the fact that Trump reached out — in some ways desperately on Twitter — may help him considerably at home,” Narang says.Historic momentIf Kim does show up, Trump’s visit to the DMZ could well make history.Though U.S. presidents frequently visit the DMZ during stops in South Korea, none has ever stepped across the border into North Korea. Though such a move would be historic, it’s not clear what it would mean practically, some analysts warn.”President Trump delights in doing things no president has done before,” says Bonnie Glaser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But for Trump, “a step inside North Korea might not signify any policy intentions whatsoever.”
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American Baseball Brings a Wild Show to London
Rest assured, British fans: Most baseball games are not like the one played Saturday in London, not even the crazy ones between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Each team scored six runs in a first inning that lasted nearly an hour, with Aaron Hicks hitting the first European homer. Brett Gardner had a tiebreaking, two-run drive in the third, Aaron Judge went deep to cap a six-run fourth and the Yankees outlasted their rivals 17-13 in a game that stretched for 4 hours, 42 minutes — 3 minutes shy of the record for a nine-inning game. “Well, cricket takes like all weekend to play, right? So, I’m sure a lot of people are used to it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. We should remind them there's not 30 runs every game.'' Britain's Prince Harry, top left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, watch during the first inning of a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, June 29, 2019, in London.The game was played before a sellout crowd of 59,659 that included supporters from Britain, Beantown and the Big Apple plus royalty, and America's national pastime seemed to make a positive impression on British fans. I think we’re getting as good a reception as football has for the last couple years,” Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said. Great weatherThe weather helped. It was a warm, picture-perfect day in often overcast London — baseball weather at its best, played on a midsummer’s eve with sunlight that seemed to never fade. Things American fans take for granted, like standing for the national anthem, or joshing rival fans without getting overly crude, struck many Brits in London Stadium as a refreshing change.
“It’s brilliant, it’s amazing, it’s so American as well,” said Jack Lockwood, a 23-year-old who pitches and plays catcher in an amateur baseball league in the city of Sheffield. “I’ve been to hundreds of football (soccer) games and it’s just such a different atmosphere. I just like the American positivity.”
Lockwood spent about six hours on a train to get to and from London for the game, but he considered the trip well worth it, even though his favorite team — the Los Angeles Dodgers — wasn’t playing.
He said it would be impossible to have fans from two rival English soccer teams sit in the same stands — intermingled as Yankee and Red Sox fans were Saturday — without violent scenes.
“You put two rival football teams’ fans in the same stands, you’ll get a fight,” he said. “In baseball, you can put the fans together and you can have a laugh with anyone.” Fans arrive before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, June 29, 2019, in London. Major League Baseball was making its European debut with the game at London Stadium.British touches
There were some British touches at the game, like the roaming vendors selling Pimm’s cocktails and gin and tonics, but the focus was generally on typical American ballpark fare: hot dogs, nachos, burgers and beer. There were even supersized hot dogs, checking in at 2 feet long.
“It’s the way the Americans do sports,” said pleased British fan Stuart Graham, 45. “The way they have the spectator in mind. You know, you’re sitting there and the man comes around with your beer and your hot dogs, and you can relax and enjoy the game. It’s really very different to what we’re used to.”
He and Ian Muggridge bought the tickets months ago, spurred in part by the storied Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, which promised to bring top talent to the British capital.
“Two big heavyweights of U.S. baseball, sort of like Manchester United playing Liverpool in the UK,” he said, referring to British soccer rivals. “Great spectacle to come and see.”
He did find one disappointment to baseball in Britain: The hot dogs weren’t as good as the ones he’d enjoyed at an American park. Muggridge appreciated the mood in the park, with the playing of the U.S. and British national anthems before the game. A fan makes a diving catch in the “fan zone” before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankies at London Stadium, Jun 29, 2019. ( S. Flynn/USA Today Sports)’Patriotic feel’
“I like the fact that it’s got quite a patriotic feel about it,” he said. “You don’t often get that in British sports. We tend to avoid that, whereas in America you just put it out there.”
While many British fans only had to jump a Tube train to get to the park, thousands of American fans flew across the Atlantic at considerable expense to catch the historic games.
Yankees fan Danielle McCauley of Clifton, N.J., built a weeklong British holiday around Saturday’s game.
“It’s been fun. The whole thing has been really cool,” she said, although she found the crowd far less raucous than those she had been part of in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Call it British reserve.
“It’s quiet,” she said. “It’s the quietest sporting event I’ve ever been to.”
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Tens of Thousands Join Gay Pride Parades Around the World
Tens of thousands of people turned out for gay pride celebrations around the world on Saturday, including a boisterous party in Mexico and the first pride march in North Macedonia’s capital.
Rainbow flags and umbrellas swayed and music pounded as the march along Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma avenue got underway, with couples, families and activists seeking to raise visibility for sexual diversity in the country.
Same-sex civil unions have been legal in Mexico City since 2007, and gay marriage since 2009. A handful of Mexican states have also legalized same-sex unions, which are supposed to be recognized nationwide. But pride participants said Mexico has a long way to go in becoming a more tolerant and accepting place for LGBTQ individuals.
Revelers attend the gay pride parade in Quito, Ecuador, June 29, 2019.”There’s a lot of machismo, a lot of ignorance still,” said Monica Nochebuena, who identifies as bisexual.
Nochebuena, 28, attended the Mexico City march for the first time with her mother and sister on Saturday, wearing a shirt that said: “My mama already knows.” Her mother’s shirt read: “My daughter already told me.”
Human rights activist Jose Luis Gutierrez, 43, said the march is about visibility, and rights, especially for Mexico’s vulnerable transgender population. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says that poverty, exclusion and violence reduce life expectancy for trans women in the Americas to 35 years.
In New York City, Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, when a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan led to a riot and days of demonstrations that morphed into a sustained LGBTQ liberation movement. The city’s huge Pride parade on Sunday will swing past the bar.
Other LGBTQ celebrations took place from India to Europe, with more events planned for Sunday.
People take part in the first gay pride parade in Skopje, North Macedonia, June 29, 2019.In the North Macedonian capital of Skopje, U.S. Charge d’Affaires Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm attended the first pride march there in a festive and incident-free atmosphere despite a countermarch organized by religious and “pro-family” organizations.
People from across Macedonia took part, along with marchers from neighboring Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia and other countries.
“This year Skopje joined more than 70 Pride [marches] and the USA are very proud to be part of this,” Schweitzer-Bluhm told reporters. “There is a lot of progress here in North Macedonia but still a lot has to be done.”
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Thousands March in Madrid to Save Anti-Pollution Plan
Thousands marched through Madrid on Saturday to ask the Spanish capital’s new mayor not to ditch ambitious traffic restrictions in the center only recently set up to improve air quality.
“Madrid Central,” as it is called, was one of the measures that persuaded the European Commission not to take Spain to court last year over its bad air pollution in the capital and Barcelona, as it did with France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“Fewer cars, better air” and “The new city hall seriously harms your health” were the messages on banners as protesters walked through the city’s center in 40-degree-Celsius heat.
The capital’s new conservative mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, made ditching “Madrid Central” a priority during his campaign, saying it had done nothing to ease pollution and only caused a nuisance for locals.
But since he has taken power as part of a coalition with center-right party Ciudadanos, city officials have toned this down, saying the government is merely seeking to reform a system that does not work properly, having mistakingly handed out some fines.
When the system was launched in November, Madrid followed in the steps of other European cities such as London, Stockholm and Milan that have restricted traffic in their centers.
A woman takes part in a protest against Madrid’s new conservative People’s Party municipal government plans to suspend some anti-car emissions policies in the city center, June 29, 2019.But while in these cases drivers can pay to enter such zones, Madrid went a step further, banning many vehicles from accessing the center altogether and fining them if they did.
These fines will be suspended from July 1 to the end of September as the new city hall team audits the system.
For Beatriz Navarro, 44, a university biochemistry professor who took part in the march, the system is working fine.
“It’s a small seed … among everything that has to be done to slow down climate change,” she said.
In a statement, environmental group Ecologistas en Accion said “the levels of pollution from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) registered during May this year were lower than those of 2018 in all the [measuring] stations in the system.”
“In 14 of the 24 stations [in Madrid], the value registered in May 2019 was the lowest in the last 10 years.”
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Trump’s Korea Visit to Include ‘Long-Planned’ Visit to DMZ
U.S. President Donald Trump said early Sunday that his schedule while in South Korea would include a visit with U.S. troops and a trip to the Demilitarized Zone.
It did not mention, however, the invitation Trump had sent through social media on Saturday, in which he tweeted an invitation to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet him at the border “to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!”After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019Sunday morning, Trump plans to address South Korean business leaders. He will then travel to the presidential residence to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
He will travel to the DMZ Sunday afternoon, and then address U.S. troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, before departing for the U.S.Speaking to reporters at the Group of 20 summit in Japan, Trump said he decided Saturday morning to “put out a feeler” to meet Kim, adding such a meeting would last only two minutes.“We’ll see each other for two minutes,” Trump said. “That’s all we can. But that will be fine.”Trump later said he would feel “very comfortable” stepping across the border into North Korea. If that happened, it would be the first time a sitting U.S. president visited North Korea.Kim has not responded to Trump’s offer. But North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, called the invitation an “interesting suggestion.”FILE – Choe Son Hui, deputy director general of the Department of US Affairs of North Korea Foreign Ministry, briefs journalists outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, June 23, 2016.“We see it as a very interesting suggestion, but we have not received an official proposal in this regard,” Choe said in a statement published in the official Korean Central News Agency.“It would serve as another meaningful occasion in further deepening the personal relations between the two leaders and advancing the bilateral relations,” Choe added.Another meeting between Trump and Kim could help reset stalled nuclear talks. But a meeting without substance risks becoming theatrics and would appear to further legitimize the North Korean leader, many analysts warn.“The DMZ is too consequential a venue to be used simply as backdrop for a photo op,” said Daniel Russel, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un sign documents that acknowledge the progress of talks and pledge to keep momentum going, after their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018.Talks stalledTrump and Kim met in Singapore last June and in Vietnam in February. Since Vietnam, working-level negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have broken down because of disagreement over how to pace sanctions relief with the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.In recent weeks, Trump and Kim have exchanged personal letters, raising hopes the talks may get back on track. But it isn’t clear how additional top-level diplomacy can advance the talks, as neither side appears to have softened their negotiating position.A key indicator of progress is whether North Korean counterparts meet with U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.“Progress on inter-Korean relations and denuclearization requires that the Kim regime agree to working-level talks to negotiate next steps,” Easley said. Absent substantive talks, further summits with Kim “run the risk of appearing to accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” he added.FILE – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk together at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, April 27, 2018.Meeting at JSA?U.S. officials haven’t said where along the 250-kilometer Demilitarized Zone Trump intended to visit.The Joint Security Area (JSA) has long been mentioned as a possible venue for a Trump-Kim meeting. The JSA, also known as the Panmunjom border village, is the only spot along the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers can stand face to face.Past U.S. presidents have used visits to the DMZ to deliver messages on strengthening the U.S.-South Korea alliance, to pay respect to the troops, and to demonstrate a symbolic show of resolve against North Korea.“It is absolutely not the place to praise his ‘friend’ Kim, to complain about ‘freeloading’ allies, or to muse about withdrawing U.S. troops,” said Russel, the former State Department official who is now a vice president at the Asia Society.While Trump’s language may differ from that of past presidents, some analysts welcomed a more conciliatory approach.“While no major agreements will be signed, both sides can reaffirm their commitment to dialogue and diplomacy, essentially resetting the table for a future deal in the weeks and months to come,” said Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest.DMZ visit planned ahead of time?In 2017 during his first visit to South Korea as president, Trump canceled a surprise stop at the DMZ after heavy fog grounded the helicopters that were to take him there.Bad weather is again a possibility, with the onset of the rainy season in South Korea. However, because of the possibility of a summit with Kim, Trump could choose to take a motorcade to the DMZ, if the weather becomes an issue.Trump’s visit to the DMZ is less spontaneous than the president suggests. In an interview Monday with the Washington-based newspaper and website The Hill, Trump acknowledged a likely visit to the DMZ, adding he “might” want to meet Kim there.In Monday interview, Trump acknowledged likely visit to the DMZ and said he “might” want to meet KJU there. WH asked we delay publication, citing security concerns. We agreed. Then he just tweeted it out https://t.co/WHMqJ0ABHz— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) June 28, 2019However, White House officials asked the website to delay the publication of those remarks, citing security concerns.Before leaving Washington, Trump said he would “not quite” meet with Kim, though he said he may talk with him in a “different form.”Earlier this week, a North Korean state media article said Kim was “seriously contemplating” the “interesting” contents of a recent letter from Trump.In a statement, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said “nothing has been finalized,” adding it continues to call for more dialogue with North Korea.The Financial Times reported late Saturday that White House officials were drafting an “official invitation” for Kim to meet Trump at the DMZ.It isn’t clear whether South Korea’s Moon would also attend any meeting at the DMZ.Wide gapsThere appear to be wide gaps between North and South Korea on how to proceed with nuclear talks.Although Trump and Kim agreed in Singapore to work “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” U.S. officials have acknowledged that Washington and Pyongyang do not agree on what “denuclearization” means.North Korean officials have made clear they do not see “denuclearization” as Pyongyang unilaterally giving up its nuclear weapons.Instead, the North wants to see the United States take reciprocal steps, including ending U.S. and U.N. sanctions and providing various security guarantees.In Hanoi, Kim offered to dismantle a key nuclear complex in exchange for the lifting of most U.N. sanctions. Trump rejected that offer, insisting that Kim agree to give up his entire nuclear weapons program before receiving sanctions relief.Kim has given the United States until the end of the year to offer what it sees as an adequate counterproposal.
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Experts Warn Mali Border Violence Could Spiral Out of Control
A volatile mix of intercommunal conflict and violent extremism near Mali’s border with Niger and Burkina Faso has become a looming crisis, experts are warning.
Yearslong regional violence has spiked in recent months, making headlines and raising concerns that overstretched security forces could lose control of an already tenuous situation.
FILE – A Fulani herder leads his cattle to the landfill next to the internally displaced persons camp in Faladie, Mali, where nearly 800 IDPs have found refuge after fleeing intercommunal violence, on May 14, 2019.On June 14, gunfire near Liptako, Mali, forced a French Gazelle helicopter to make an emergency landing, defenceWeb, a South African defense news site, reported. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, a local affiliate of ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded the crew, the report added.
Counterterrorism
The helicopter and its crew were part of Operation Barkhane, a French-led counterterror operation based in the Sahel. At the time, they were conducting an attack on ISGS hideouts, which left 20 suspected militants dead.
Pauline Le Roux, a visiting assistant research fellow with the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said ISGS emerged in 2015 from the remnants of other extremist groups in the region. It gained international notoriety in 2017 when it claimed responsibility for an attack in Niger that left four U.S. Green Berets, four Nigerien soldiers and a Nigerien interpreter dead.
The extremist group has proven difficult to eradicate, and Le Roux said it has taken advantage of the sparsely populated border region between the three countries. Nearly 90% of ISGS’s attacks occur within 100 kilometers of the three countries’ borders.
“When they faced defeat, they basically relocated to other areas,” Le Roux told VOA. “This three-border region is quite porous. You have forests; you have vast desert zones. And so, it’s been quite easy for them to change locations.”
Intercommunal violence
Extremists have also benefited from long-standing tensions between communities in the border region. Those conflicts have turned violent with increasing frequency, creating opportunities for militias to recruit, and pushing security forces to the limit of their capabilities.
FILE – An aerial shows an internally displaced persons camp in Faladie, Mali, where nearly 800 IDPs have found refuge after fleeing intercommunal violence, on May 14, 2019.For many years, intercommunal conflicts have flared between nomadic and agrarian groups in the region, Corinne Dufka, the West Africa director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA.
But the situation has deteriorated since 2012, when militias began recruiting members of the Fulani, a local ethnic group, sparking reprisals and more violence, Dufka said.
“Other ethnic groups felt the need to organize ethnically allied civil defense groups. And those groups have not only defended their villages but, as we have seen, they have gone on the offensive and killed many, many Ful[ani], whom they blamed for supporting — or being direct members of — the armed dissident groups,” Dufka said.
All the while, radical preachers fanned the flames, Le Roux added.
“They endorsed feelings of injustice and discrimination, and they used these grievances” to foment violence, she said.
Climate change has also contributed to conflict, increasing competition for an already short supply of water and arable land.
But it is rising ethnic tensions that give analysts the greatest concerns.
“Right now, what is extremely worrying is the fact that these interethnic tensions appear to be growing and to become the most worrying trend, at least in Mali,” Le Roux said.
“The lethality and the frequency of these very serious incidents is increasing at an alarming rate,” Dufka added. “The violations are really at a fever pitch.”
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Sudan Forces Block Protest Press Conference Ahead of Rally
Members of Sudan’s powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces prevented protest leaders from addressing journalists on Saturday, the eve of a mass rally against the ruling generals, protest organizers said.
Sudan’s umbrella protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, has called for a “million man” march Sunday in Khartoum and its twin city, Omdurman, against the ruling generals, who have resisted calls to cede power to civilians.
The movement’s key group, the Sudanese Professionals Association, had called for a media briefing on Saturday evening to unveil plans for the rally, but it was blocked by members of the RSF, protest leader Ahmed al-Rabie said.
“Before we could start the press conference, three vehicles from RSF, full of armed men, came to our building and told us not to hold the press conference,” Rabie said.
They “also ordered all the people there to leave the building,” he added.
A Sudanese journalist at the site confirmed that armed men had prevented him and other journalists from attending the briefing in Khartoum’s eastern district of Burri, a hotbed of protests.
Rabie said two leaders from the movement had been arrested on Friday.
Sunday’s mass protest is the first such rally called by the alliance since a deadly crackdown on a protest camp on June 3 left dozens dead and hundreds killed.
Tensions remain high between the two sides despite Ethiopian and African Union efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.
Sudan’s generals seized power after the army ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir on April 11 following months of protests against his rule spearheaded by the Alliance for Freedom and Change. But they have since resisted calls to hand power to civilians.
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Ship Carrying Waste Returns to Canada From Philippines
A ship carrying 69 containers of waste mislabeled as plastic recyclables returned to Canada on Saturday from the Philippines, closing a chapter on a dispute that started in 2013 and sparked a diplomatic furor between Ottawa and Manila. The shipment was taken off the container ship Anna Maersk docked close to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and arrived at GCT Deltaport in Delta, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver, GCT said in a statement. Sarah Lusk, Metro Vancouver spokeswoman, said the waste would be sent to a Waste-to-Energy facility in Burnaby where it will be incinerated, but added that there was “uncertainty with respect to timing” and the facility may not receive the waste over the weekend. The waste containers became part of a diplomatic dispute between Manila and Ottawa, as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Canada with war and withdrew top diplomats from Canada after Canada missed a May 15 deadline to take back the waste. The waste was shipped to the Philippines in 2013 and 2014 and mislabeled as recyclable plastics. Instead, it was filled with garbage including used diapers and newspapers. A Philippine court ruled in 2016 that it be returned. Canada made arrangements in late May to accept the containers and said they hired Bollore Logistics Canada to safely bring them back as soon as possible. Waste disposal has emerged as a topic of political dispute between Southeast Asian countries and the developed world, with Malaysia in May becoming the latest to demand nations such as the United States, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and Britain take back 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste. The government department Environment and Climate Change Canada told Reuters earlier this month that the government was in talks with Malaysia to recover the plastic waste that originated from Canada.
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DRC Violence Threatens Lifesaving Ebola Operation
A senior World Health Organization official warns efforts to contain the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo will remain elusive unless the vicious cycle of violence in the region is broken. Latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases at 2284, including 1540 deaths and 637 survivors. WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response Ibrahima Soce Fall says there has been good progress in scaling up operations to contain the spread of the deadly ebola virus in conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces.Eastern DRC has been politically unstable since 1998. There are an estimated 4.5 million internally displaced people in the country. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says new displacements are occurring mainly in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North and South Kivu. More than 100 armed groups reportedly are engaged in sporadic fighting in the region. Fall says constant and skilled negotiations with the armed groups are needed to gain access to these volatile areas.“The outbreak started there last year and spread to other areas,” Fall said. “So, it is important to break this vicious cycle to contain very quickly the situation in Mabalako and Mandima, where we have more than 55 percent of the cases coming from.” Fall says it will be exceedingly difficult to contain the virus if more money is not immediately forthcoming. He says $98 million is needed to support the government-led response to defeat ebola. To date, he says less than half that amount has been received.
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