Philippine activists on Tuesday welcomed a new law signed by the president that prohibits a range of acts of sexual harassment, but said it puts him in its crosshairs given his history of crude sexual remarks.Philippine officials on Monday belatedly released a copy of Republic Act 11313, known as the Safe Spaces Act,'' that President Rodrigo Duterte signed in April and penalizes such acts as catcalling, wolf-whistling and offensive sexual jokes.It’s basically ironic for him to do that because he is the primary purveyor of misogynism and catcalling,” said Jean Enriquez of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific, which fights exploitation and abuse of women.
Activists said Duterte is among those who could be targeted by the law.We are hoping that somehow, this will change the public consciousness, but as long as you have a president that's primarily reinforcing that culture, it remains an uphill battle for many women,'' Enriquez said.Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of the leftwing human rights group Karapatan, saidIt is the height of irony that one of the most misogynistic and sexist government officials has signed into law a measure that enumerates acts which he may later be charged with.”Supporters of Duterte, known for his brash speaking style and speeches laden with expletives and sexual jokes, defend him by saying he only wants to entertain crowds. They cite regulations he introduced as a longtime mayor to protect women’s rights.When he cracks jokes, it's intended to make people laugh, never to offend,'' presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters Monday, although many women have openly taken offense at Duterte's remarks.During the 2016 presidential campaign, Enriquez and several other activists filed a complaint against Duterte, then still a mayor, before the Commission on Human Rights for a joke about an Australian missionary who was gang raped by inmates in a jail in 1989.I got mad because she was raped. Yes, that’s one, but she was very beautiful, the mayor should have been first. Disappointing,” Duterte said, bringing the crowd to laughter.The commission found Duterte guilty of violating a law protecting women and left it to two government agencies to take punitive actions. Duterte, however, won the presidency by a wide margin and was sworn into office in mid-2016, making him immune from lawsuits.The new law expands coverage of a 1995 act that declared sexual harassment unlawful in workplaces, educational and training centers. The
Safe Spaces Act'' penalizes a range of acts including catcalling, wolf-whistling, intrusive gazing, cursing, misogynistic acts, sexist slurs and persistent telling of sexual jokes in public, including in streets, churches, parks, restaurants, recreational areas, bars or online.Other offenses include stalking, exposing private parts,groping or any advances, whether verbal or physical, that is unwanted and has threatened one’s sense of personal space and physical safety.”Restaurants, bars, cinemas and other places of recreation are required to install clearly visible warning signs against violations, including a hotline number to allow rapid reporting of offenses, and to designate an officer to receive complaints or apprehend perpetrators.Punishments include fines ranging from 1,000 pesos ($20) and a gender sensitivity seminar for first-time offenders to 100,000 pesos ($2,000) for third offenses. Jail terms range from a week for a second-time offender to six months for third-time offenders, depending on the gravity of the offense.Foreign violators will be deported after serving a jail term and paying fines.When he was mayor of southern Davao city in the mid-1990s, Duterte signed regulations to protect women and children, including a ban on swimsuit competitions, sex tours, forced marriages and any form of discrimination. But critics point to a history of sexist remarks that date back to his mayoral days.Last year, Duterte publicly ordered troops to shoot female communist guerrillas in the vagina to render them useless.'' Karapatan reacted by saying Duterte had distinguished himselfas a frothing-in-the-mouth fascist who incites the worst violations of international humanitarian law.”Duterte was also criticized for kissing a married woman on the lips last year in front of a large Filipino audience in South Korea. When Duterte asked if she could explain to her husband that the action would be just a joke, she said yes, and the president leaned in and kissed her as the audience erupted in cheers.Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the main author of the law, encouraged the public to read it to protect themselves and others and make it work.
The law is only as good as how it is implemented. We need to test the law and make sure it serves its purpose,'' Hontiveros said.Report sexual harassers.”
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Month: July 2019
Refugees Blame DRC’s Chronic Violence on Battle for Mineral Wealth
For decades, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — the Ituri and North Kivu provinces especially — has endured ethnic violence leaving thousands dead and many more seeking refuge in neighboring countries.Fifty-four-year-old Mwamoyo Shantal has lived in a Ugandan refugee settlement for six years now, after fleeing violence in Congo’s North Kivu province.When she arrived, Shantal found long lost family members who had fled the same region during what’s known as the First Congo War in 1996 and 1997.Shantal explains why she thinks fighting has persisted since the end of the 32-year rule of the late Mobutu Sese Seko.“He held the country like he owned it all alone. During the fighting, it seems they discovered that Congo has minerals. So, everyone is now fighting for the wealth in Congo,” she said.DRC refugees continue to arrive at the Ugandan border by the boatload, across Lake Albert.Refugee Joshua Oshaki says he lost contact with his wife during fighting in the DRC’s Ituri region, but managed to escape with his two children. “In the beginning the conflict was tribal. Different tribes would fight each other. The Hema and the Lendu would be joined by the Wangiti and other tribes. They would kill each other. Currently, the fighting has faces of government soldiers and civilians,” he said.
Refugees Blame DRC’s Chronic Violence on Battle for Mineral Wealth video player.
Embed” />CopyEven as the DRC’s people struggle to survive, the country is considered one of the richest in the world in mineral wealth.Critics say few benefits are harnessed by the state for ordinary people, while mining companies and the elite become rich. Dismas Nkunda is the executive director of the watchdog group Atrocities Watch Africa.“Who supports the strong militiamen, the individuals who hold sway in the vast lands of controlling properties and areas? Who does that? So, certainly foreign powers are involved, certainly countries neighboring DRC are involved. All of them, they have interest in a DRC that is not as stable as it should be,” he said.Last week, Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, João Lourenço of Angola and Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi held a meeting in Luanda to discuss among other things, the security situation in the Great Lakes Region. The three countries, plus Burundi and Eritrea, escalated the 1996 conflict in Congo – then known as Zaire – either by sending state forces or backing militia groups to defeat various rebel groups based in Congo.It’s not clear yet whether the presidential summit will yield any new effort to end the suffering of Congolese people who have to flee their homes.
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Thailand’s New Cabinet Sworn in, Ending Rule by Army Junta
Thailand’s new Cabinet has been sworn in, creating a nominally elected government after five years of military rule but keeping power in the hands of the same allies of the army.Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as army commander seized power in a 2014 coup and then served as junta leader and prime minister, returns to serve again as prime minister. This time he was elected by a parliamentary vote after a March general election gave pro-military parties a majority.The election was held according to laws enacted by Prayuth’s junta aimed at disadvantaging established political parties. Critics say the vote was undemocratic and engineered to prolong rule by the military and its conservative allies.A government spokeswoman said King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided over Tuesday’s swearing-in of the 36-member Cabinet.
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Africans Flee to South America on Dangerous Journey to US
Hundreds of Africans have joined Central American migrants on the long, dangerous journey to seek asylum in the U.S.One man says he fled his village in the Democratic Republic of Congo when an armed conflict killed hundreds of people, including some of his relatives. On the trip to the United States, Blaise Matshieba and his family first went to South America and passed through eight countries.As they traveled north, they slept along roads or in the jungle. They got sick and nearly starved. They encountered bodies. Now they are safe in Portland, Maine.Matshieba says he chose the route after seeing accounts of Europe-bound immigrants being turned away, of drownings in the Mediterranean Sea and of racism.
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US-South Korea Drills Could Impact Nuclear Talks, Says North
North Korea has criticized U.S. plans to hold a joint military exercise next month with South Korea, suggesting the drills could negatively impact upcoming working-level nuclear talks with Washington.In a statement from the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the exercise violates an agreement reached last year by Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un sign documents at the end of their summit in Singapore, June 12, 2018.“We will look at the future moves of the United States, and we will make a decision regarding the holding of working-level talks,” said the statement attributed to an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson.The U.S. and North Korea agreed to hold working-level talks following a hastily arranged meeting last month between Trump and Kim at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.That meeting helped restart talks that had broken down over disagreements on how to pace sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons.At their first summit in Singapore last June, Trump and Kim agreed to work “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” But neither side can agree on what that phrase means or how to begin working toward it.In Singapore, Trump also agreed to scale back U.S. military exercises with South Korea. But North Korea still regularly complains about the smaller exercises.The exercise scheduled for next month is called “Dong Maeng,” or “alliance” in English. The drill will replace the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise that was scaled back as part of the Trump-Kim talks.FILE – South Korean army soldiers aim their weapons during an anti-terror drill as part of Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, at Sadang Subway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 19, 2015.A statement earlier in the day from the North’s foreign ministry suggested that if the U.S. goes ahead with the exercises, Pyongyang could resume intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear tests.”Our decision to suspend nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests or the U.S. decision to suspend joint military drills was a pledge to improve bilateral relations, not some kind of legislated document carved on paper,” the statement said, according to a translation by South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.The statement said the drills would be a “clear violation of the basic spirit” of the declaration signed by Kim and Trump in Singapore.North Korea views U.S.-South Korea military exercises as preparation to invade. U.S. officials have called the drills necessary to deter North Korean attacks. Trump often dismisses the exercises as “war games” and says they are a waste of money.Trump last month became the first sitting U.S. president to visit North Korea, when he briefly stepped across the military demarcation line at the Panmunjom truce village in the DMZ.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.White House officials have portrayed that meeting as historic and an example of Trump’s successful outreach to Kim. Many observers say it risks becoming a stunt, unless accompanied by progress in working-level talks.In an interview Monday with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the DMZ meeting “has given us another chance to sit down” with North Korean officials and “have another conversation.”FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unveils the creation of Commission on Unalienable Rights, headed by Mary Ann Glendon, left, a Harvard Law School professor, in Washington, July 8, 2019.“I hope the North Koreans will come to the table with ideas that they didn’t have the first time. We hope we can be a little more creative too,” said Pompeo, who on June 30th said he hoped the working-level talks could resume in two to three weeks.Trump and other U.S. officials have at times said they will not relax sanctions until North Korea gives up all its nuclear weapons. At other times, White House officials signal they are open to a more gradual approach.A State Department spokesperson last week said the U.S. wants a freeze in North Korea’s nuclear program at the start of the process, but dismissed a report in The New York Times suggesting the U.S. was moving towards tacitly accepting North Korea as a nuclear state.In his Monday interview, Pompeo said Trump’s “mission hasn’t changed: to fully and finally denuclearize North Korea in a way that we can verify.”Kim wants substantial U.S. sanctions relief in exchange for partial steps to give up his nuclear program. In Hanoi, he offered to dismantle what is thought to be his main nuclear complex in Yongbyon in exchange for the removal of nearly all sanctions.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019.The North Korean leader has said he will give the U.S. until the end of the year to become more accommodating. U.S. officials have shrugged off the deadline.
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Trump Abortion Restrictions Effective Immediately
Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics must stop referring women for abortions immediately, the Trump administration said Monday, declaring it will begin enforcing a new regulation hailed by religious conservatives and denounced by medical organizations and women’s rights groups.The head of a national umbrella group representing the clinics said the administration is following “an ideological agenda” that could disrupt basic health care for many low-income women.Ahead of a planned conference Tuesday with the clinics, the Health and Human Services Department formally notified them that it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof would take effect next year.The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions that must be paid for separately. The organization is a mainstay of the federally funded family planning program and it has threatened to quit over the issue.Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen said in a statement that “our doors are still open” as her organization and other groups seek to overturn the regulations in federal court. “We will not stop fighting for all those across the country in need of essential care,” Wen said.HHS said no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule while the litigation proceeds.Clare Coleman, president of the umbrella group National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, said “the administration’s actions show its intent is to further an ideological agenda.”Abortion opponents welcomed the administration’s move. “Ending the connection between abortion and family planning is a victory for common-sense health care,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, said in a statement.Known as Title X, the family-planning program serves about 4 million women annually through independent clinics, many operated by Planned Parenthood affiliates, which serve about 40 percent of all clients. The program provides about $260 million a year in grants to clinics.The family planning rule is part of a series of Trump administration efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health.Other regulations tangled up in court would allow employers to opt out of offering free birth control to women workers on the basis of religious or moral objections, and grant health care professionals wider leeway to opt out of procedures that offend their religious or moral scruples.Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.Under the administration’s rule, clinic staff would still be permitted to discuss abortion with clients, along with other options. However, that would no longer be required.The American Medical Association is among the professional groups opposed to the administration’s policy, saying it could affect low-income women’s access to basic medical care, including birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. By law, the family planning program does not pay for abortions.Religious conservatives see the regulation as a means to end what they call an indirect taxpayer subsidy of abortion providers.Although abortion remains politically divisive, the U.S. abortion rate has dropped significantly, from about 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 1980 to about 15 in 2014. Better contraception, fewer unintended pregnancies and state restrictions may have played a role, according to a recent scientific report. Polls show most Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.The Trump administration’s policy echoes a Reagan-era regulation that barred clinics from even discussing abortion with women. It never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled it was appropriate.The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule took effect requiring “nondirective” counseling to include a full range of options for women. The Trump administration is now rolling back the Clinton requirement.
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Quest for Girl Scout Gold Enriches American and Zimbabwe Teens
Years of being a Girl Scout prepared Nyla Mpofu to serve others. When Nyla applied for the annual Girl Scout Gold Award, the organization’s highest and most prestigious prize, she decided to help girls thousands of kilometers away, in Africa.The idea behind Nyla’s project was providing girls in Zimbabwe with various personal health products, and the ultimate goal is raising awareness about health and hygiene.With the help of a group of her schoolmates, Nyla made a collection of boxes and distributed them around her neighborhood in Sterling, Virginia. The 16-year-old high school student made those boxes available for people to donate personal health products.“After that, I started receiving donations and mostly getting the word out with my friends. Then, they told their parents and stuff,” she says.Months of generous donations resulted in mountains of daily essentials and feminine hygiene products she needed for the project such as toothbrush and paste, towels, underwear and bras.The journeyNyla was not alone. Her friends helped her put the items into small packages. She also received support from Help for Others, a local non-profit run by her mother. “I supported her in helping with the flyers, just helping her get the word out and connecting her with individuals in Zimbabwe,” Gloria Mpofu says.Nyla traveled to Zimbabwe and met with teen girls in suburban areas — distributing the donated care packages and holding a seminar on hygiene.Her mother, who accompanied her, says the idea was encouraging girls to make healthy choices in their daily lives, and that these choices could prevent diseases and help improve the quality of life.“She talked about how it’s important simple things like washing your hands, brushing teeth and just being able to maintain a clean environment can help girls and women in the community just have a healthier life,” Mpofu adds.Nyla also gave printed information to the participants, “so they can take the information and teach their young siblings or just for themselves, to have knowledge about hygiene, the menstrual cycle and all that,” she said.Looking forwardA project that began as a way to help girls in Zimbabwe ended up showing Nyla her potential.“I, maybe, realized that I can do so much and not to think lower about any situation I’m in because of taking the lead and this role and planning those events and things like that,” Nyla adds. “So, it was a great impact.”The sweet memory of the trip, she says, is priceless.The winners of the Girl Scout Gold Award will be announced in August. The award is given to fewer than 6% of Girl Scouts annually, according to the organization. Since 1916, about one million girls have received the honor or its equivalent, according to the Girl Scouts. The winners spent one to two years on their projects.
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No Evidence of Russia Buying Iran’s Oil in Claimed Defiance of US Sanctions
This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Danila Galperovich of VOA’s Russian Service contributed.A Russian bid to defy U.S. sanctions on Iran appears to have failed, with Russian energy experts saying Moscow has made no recent purchases of Iranian oil as part of a sputtering 2014 deal with Tehran.Russian state media have said that under the August 2014 memorandum, which was never published in full, Moscow agreed to buy Iranian oil in order to deliver it to international customers, while Iran would use the payments received from Russia to buy and import Russian goods. Iranian state media have said only half of the received Russian funds would be used to buy Russian imports. The two sides reached the agreement on what they called an “oil for goods” program at a time when Iran was under a previous round of international sanctions against its oil exports. Russia said the deal was intended to boost trade ties with Iran, a longtime purchaser of Russian weapons. It was not aimed at delivering Iranian crude to the territory of Russia, already one of the world’s top oil producers.Moscow announced a brief suspension of the program in 2016 after having failed to get it operational. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the program was no longer necessary because oil sanctions on Iran had been lifted that year. The sanctions relief was Iran’s reward for a 2015 deal with world powers, in which it promised to restrict nuclear activities that could be diverted to making bombs.Russia began talks with Iran to revive the program in February 2017 after the inauguration a month earlier of U.S. President Donald Trump, who had campaigned on withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal. In May 2017, Russia and Iran declared a new agreement for Moscow to buy 100,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day, equivalent to 5 million tons of oil per year (1 metric ton equals 7.33 barrels). Russian media said Moscow secured its first, and so far only, Iranian oil delivery in November 2017, in the form of a tanker carrying just 1 million barrels, or about 136,000 tons, of crude. They did not specify to which country Moscow’s energy ministry re-sold the oil through Russian state-owned trading unit Promsyrioimport. The Russian state news agency Interfax said Novak later acknowledged that he was having problems finding buyers for the Iranian oil, telling journalists in March 2018 that Moscow had stopped taking deliveries from Tehran due to a “lack of contracts with end customers” for the crude. In further complications for Russia, Washington sanctioned Promsyrioimport in November 2018, accusing it of helping Iran to make illicit shipments of millions of barrels of oil to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, in defiance of Western sanctions on Damascus. The Trump administration also re-imposed U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports that month to pressure Tehran into negotiating a new deal to end its perceived malign behaviors.In the past year, Russian Energy Minister Novak has made several attempts to portray the “oil for goods” program as operational, but without disclosing evidence of any Russian purchases of Iranian oil.In September 2018, Interfax quoted Novak as saying the program had been “resumed.” In his next public comment on the program while visiting Iran in June, Interfax said Novak confirmed that Iran has imported Russian goods using proceeds from past “deliveries” of oil to Moscow. But he did not confirm any new delivery of Iranian oil to Russia since the apparent test-case transfer of November 2017. Earlier this month, Novak reiterated Russia’s rejection of U.S. sanctions that have targeted Iran’s ability to sell oil and other commodities. In an interview with U.S. TV network CNBC, he called the sanctions “unlawful.”(L-R) Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih are seen at an OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, July 2, 2019.Mikhail Krutihin, founder of the Moscow-based consultancy RusEnergy Agency, told VOA Russian that he has not heard of Russia buying any Iranian oil since its November 2017 purchase. Speaking by phone last week, he described the Russian government’s promotion of the oil for goods program as “purely political.”“Russian companies have no interest in buying any oil from Iran, and all these plans are just for loud statements, not for practical use,” Krutihin said.In a July 9 online article, Russian economist Alexander Karavayev of the Russian Academy of Sciences also said there had not been a single transfer of Iranian oil to Russia so far this year. Writing for the Valdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based policy forum whose annual meetings are attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Karavayev said: “The Russian ‘oil for goods’ program (with Iran) is seriously stuck.”The State Department has declined to respond to questions by VOA Persian about Russia’s policy of buying Iranian oil to sell to third parties and whether it would trigger secondary U.S. sanctions against Moscow.“The fact that the U.S. government has not moved forward with such sanctions may indicate one of two possible causes,” said John E. Smith, a former director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under President Donald Trump, in a VOA Persian interview earlier this month.“One is that the U.S. may have information that Russia has continued to buy Iranian oil but may be unwilling to go after the energy or financial institutions involved because of their size or magnitude,” said Smith, a partner at global law firm Morrison & Foerster. “More likely, U.S. officials may not have convincing evidence that such activity has continued after the November 2018 snapback of U.S. sanctions (on Iran’s oil exports),” he added.Smith said Russia likes to make political displays of support for Iran. “But they may not be willing to take the risk of having their companies sanctioned (by the U.S.), so they may be proclaiming support for Iran while actually not really buying Iranian oil in a way that would be sanctionable,” he said.There have been no recent statements by Iranian officials about selling oil to Russia.
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Undersea Quake Near Indonesia’s Bali Causes Panic, Minor Damage
An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck south of Indonesia’s Bali on Tuesday, the European earthquake monitoring agency EMSC said, causing minor damage and prompting residents and visitors on the tourist island to briefly flee buildings.There were no reports of casualties and no tsunami warning issued by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center or the Indonesian quake monitoring agency.The epicenter was 102 km (62 miles) southwest of the island capital Denpasar and was 100 km (60 miles) deep, the EMSC said.The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7.One resident said people in Denpasar ran out of their boarding house in pajamas after feeling the quake.A Twitter user with the handle Indounik in the city of Ubud on Bali said the quake was “strong enough to make me adopt the drop, cover & hold approach recommended to survive a quake.”Another Twitter user, Marc van Voorst, described the quake as feeling like “a heavy truck or train passing by at close range.” He said there was no panic, even though his hotel in the Uluwatu area shook quite a bit.Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency distributed a photograph of damage at the Lokanatha temple in Denpasar, showing smashed masonry lying on the ground. Bali is a predominantly Hindu enclave in overwhelmingly Muslim Indonesia.Lius Winarto, a sales administrator at the Mercure Hotel Nusa Dua, said by telephone a small part of the building’s roof had been damaged.”We felt the quake quite strongly…but thankfully no one was hurt and there was only minor damage,” he said. “Everything has gone back to normal now.”There was also minor damage at a school, a house and a temple in different areas on the southern side of Bali, according to online portal Balipost.com.The quake could also be felt in other cities on the neighboring islands of Lombok and Java, Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency said in a statement.A roof of a mosque in the city of Banyuwangi in East Java also partially collapsed, another photo from the disaster mitigation agency showed.The transport ministry said Bali airport was operating normally.Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, sometimes causing tsunamis, because it lies on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire.Its Moluccas islands were hit by a powerful 7.2 quake on Sunday that killed at least two people and prompted hundreds to flee their homes.The most devastating tremor in recent Indonesian history was on Dec. 26, 2004, when a magnitude 9.5 quake triggered a tsunami that killed around 226,000 people along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, including more than 126,000 in Indonesia.A tsunami also hit the city of Palu in Sulawesi last year, killing thousands.
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EU Slaps Sanctions on Turkey Over Gas Drilling Off Cyprus
European Union foreign ministers on Monday turned up the pressure on Turkey after approving an initial batch of sanctions against the country over its drilling for gas in waters where EU member Cyprus has exclusive economic rights. The ministers said in a statement that in light of Turkey’s “continued and new illegal drilling activities,” they were suspending talks on an air transport agreement and would call on the European Investment Bank to “review” it’s lending to the country.They also backed a proposal by the EU’s executive branch to reduce financial assistance to Turkey for next year. The ministers warned that additional “targeted measures” were being worked on to penalize Turkey, which started negotiations to join the EU in 2005.Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued his own warning last week that his country would step up drilling activities off Cyprus if the EU moved ahead with sanctions. Two Turkish vessels escorted by warships are drilling for gas on either end of ethnically divided Cyprus.The EU ministers repeated the “serious immediate negative impact” that Turkey’s illegal actions are having on EU-Turkey relations and called on Ankara to respect Cyprus’ sovereign rights in line with international law.They also welcomed the Cypriot government’s invitation to Turkey to negotiate the borders of their respective exclusive economic zones and continental shelf.Turkey doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a state and claims 44% of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone as its own, according to Cyprus government officials. Turkish Cypriots in the east Mediterranean island nation’s breakaway north claim another 25%.Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece. A Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence is recognized only by Turkey, which keeps more than 35,000 troops in the breakaway north. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys full membership benefits. Turkey contends that it’s protecting its rights and those of Turkish Cypriots to the area’s hydrocarbon deposits. Cypriot officials, however, accuse Turkey of using the minority Turkish Cypriots in order to pursue its goal of exerting control over the eastern Mediterranean region.The Cypriot government says it will take legal action against any oil and gas companies supporting Turkish vessels in any repeat attempt to drill for gas. Cyprus has already issued around 20 international arrest warrants against three international companies assisting one of the two Turkish vessels now drilling 42 miles (68 kilometers) off the island’s west coast.The Cyprus government has licensed energy companies including ExxonMobil, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni to carry out gas drilling in blocks, or areas, off the island’s southern coastline. At least three significant gas deposits have so far been discovered there. Meanwhile, Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will chair a meeting of political leaders Tuesday to discuss a renewed proposal by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa AKinci to establish a joint committee with Greek Cypriots on managing offshore gas drilling activities.Akinci has repeatedly called for the creation of such a committee that he says would give his community a say in how newly found gas deposits off Cyprus’ southern coast are managed and future proceeds are divvied up. A similar proposal was made by Akinci’s predecessor Dervis Eroglu in 2011. The Cypriot government says energy discussions with Turkish Cypriots should be part of overarching reunification talks, adding that Turkish Cypriot rights to the island’s energy reserves are assured. The government says future gas proceeds that will flow into an established hydrocarbons fund will be shared equitably after a peace deal is signed.
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Democrat Beto O’Rourke Trails Democratic Rivals in Cash Contest
Former Democratic U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke raised a lackluster $3.6 million for his struggling presidential campaign in the second quarter of the year, his campaign said on Monday.The fundraising haul was a warning sign for the Texas politician and a stark drop in campaign cash after he raised more than $9 million in two weeks the previous period.O’Rourke, who entered the race after gaining national prominence in his failed 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate from Texas, has failed to gain traction in opinion polls.Some two dozen Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. The crowded nominating contest will require candidates to spend millions of dollars to be competitive.U.S. Senator Cory Booker reported on Monday he raised $4.5 million in the three months ended June 30.Booker’s haul, nearly a quarter of it raised in the four days after his strong appearance in the party’s first debate last month, lagged those of other Democratic contenders, including front-runner Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who each raised more than $20 million.U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders raised $18 million in the second quarter.U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren brought in $19 million and spent $11 million, according to the report her campaign filed on Monday to the Federal Election Commission.Senator Amy Klobuchar raked in just under $4 million.Senator Kamala Harris, who has traded places with Warren as voters’ third and fourth choices in recent polling, said last week her campaign had raised $12 million.By comparison, Trump and the Republican National Committee said they raised $108 million for Trump’s re-election campaign.Trump made the unprecedented move to file for re-election the day he took office on Jan. 20, 2017, allowing him to spend the past two years building his re-election operation.Candidates are required under federal law to disclose their donors and campaign expenses. The latest reports cover the second quarter of the year, which ended on June 30.
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Pompeo Hopes US, North Korea Can Be ‘More Creative’ in Nuclear Talks
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he hoped both North Korea and the United States could “be a little more creative” as the two sides push to restart talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program.Pompeo did not say when the negotiations would begin.President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month. During the meeting, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to cross into North Korea and the pair agreed to restart talks.Trump and Kim have met three times and held two summits over the nuclear issue. Talks in Hanoi in February collapsed without agreement between the two leaders, as the United States insisted North Korea completely denuclearize and North Korea pushed for relief from sanctions.”I hope the North Koreans will come to the table with ideas that they didn’t have the first time. We hope we can be a little more creative too,” Pompeo said in a radio interview on “The Sean Hannity Show””The president’s mission hasn’t changed: to fully and finally denuclearize North Korea in a way that we can verify.That’s the mission set for these negotiations,” Pompeo added.Pompeo’s remarks come after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Trump to show flexibility in dealing with Pyongyang and to ease sanctions on the country “in due course.”China signed up for U.N. sanctions after North Korea performed repeated nuclear and missile tests, but has suggested they could be reduced as a reward for good behavior.South Korean officials have expressed uncertainty that the talks between the United States and North Korea can take place this month.North Korea has frozen missile and nuclear bomb testing since 2017, but U.S. officials believe Pyongyang has continued to expand its arsenal by producing bomb fuel and missiles.
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Turkey’s Erdogan Says Russian S-400s Will Be Fully Deployed by April 2020
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Russian S-400 missile defense system, parts of which have been delivered to Turkey over the past four days, would be fully deployed in April 2020.Turkey’s purchase of the Russian system has raised tensions with its NATO allies, particularly the United States, which has warned Turkey that it will respond with sanctions.Speaking at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport on the third anniversary of 2016’s attempted coup, Erdogan said eight planes had already brought parts of the Russian system and more were coming, as he had repeatedly promised.”With God’s permission, they will have been installed in their sites by April 2020,” he told the crowd.”The S-400s are the strongest defense system against those who want to attack our country. God willing, we are doing this as a joint investment with Russia, and will continue to do so.”Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to supporters following a rally to honor the victims of the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt on July 15, 2019.U.S. officials have said that in addition to being hit with legislation aimed at preventing countries from purchasing military equipment from Russia, known as CAATSA, Turkey could be thrown off the F-35 stealth fighter jet program.That would mean it would no longer make F-35 parts or be able to buy the jets it has ordered.On Sunday, Erdogan said that U.S. President Donald Trump has the authority to waive sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of Russian air defense systems and should find a “middle ground” in the dispute.Tensions between Turkey and Western allies have risen in recent months over the purchase of the S-400 system, with a series of other actions taken by the NATO member state compounding the situation.German and Austrian ministers said on Monday that the European Union would endorse a symbolic punishment for Turkey over what it calls “illegal” drilling for oil and gas off Cyprus and threaten harsher sanctions unless Ankara changes tack.Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said on Sunday that Turkey will continue drilling for gas in waters off Cyprus if the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government does not accept a cooperation proposal put forward by Turkish Cypriots.After sacking the central bank governor this month, citing differences over the timing of rate cuts, Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey would make serious cuts to interest rates and aims to reduce inflation to single digits by the end of the year.In his first remarks since taking office nine days ago, new governor Murat Uysal was reported as hinting at rate cuts, saying there was “room for manoeuvre” in monetary policy.Turkey’s benchmark interest rate was hiked to 24% last September to stem a sharp fall in the lira and has remained there to prevent renewed losses in the currency as the economy tumbled into recession.Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Turkey’s sovereign rating to BB- on Friday, saying the central bank chief’s dismissal heightened doubt over the authorities’ tolerance for a period of slower growth.On Monday, agency S&P Global said Turkey’s credit rating is only likely to be affected by U.S. sanctions if they specifically target the country’s banks.
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Von der Leyen Faces Crucial Vote in Quest to Lead EU Executive
Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen faces a make-or-break vote on Tuesday in her quest to be the European Commission’s first female leader, and a raft of promises made the previous day may help her win over skeptical European Union socialist and liberal lawmakers.To appease them, von der Leyen pledged more ambitious carbon dioxide emissions targets, a more growth-oriented fiscal policy and taxing big tech companies.She also vowed to create an additional comprehensive European rule-of-law mechanism that includes annual reporting, boost the EU’s border guards earlier than scheduled to deal with the migrant issue, and set a minimum wage for EU workers.Von der Leyen also suggested scrapping unanimous agreement by all 28 EU countries on climate, energy, social and taxation issues and give Britain more time to negotiate its exit from the bloc.Her pledges came amidst anger among some EU lawmakers over her nomination by EU leaders and their rejection of the “spitzenkandidaten,” the main parliamentary groups’ candidates for the job.Von der Leyen will address the 751-member European Parliament at 0700 GMT, to be followed by a debate and a secret ballot at 1600 GMT.The assembly however is currently four members short which means she needs 374 votes instead of 376.The kind of support she gets could complicate her job as head of the EU executive in charge of trade negotiations, economic and climate policy for 500 million Europeans and antitrust rulings involving powerful tech giants.She can count on 182 votes from the conservative European People’s Party and needs to win over the 153 members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and the 108 from the Renew Europe liberals.Backing from the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), nationalists from eastern Europe and British members of the European Parliament however could cast doubts on her legitimacy and weaken efforts to maintain the bloc’s democratic norms.If lawmakers reject von der Leyen, it would be a serious blow for the bloc, battered in the last decade by the eurozone debt crisis, Britain’s decision to leave and the rise of far-right and far-left eurosceptic parties.It would also create a headache for EU leaders who would have to come up with another candidate in a month.
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France’s Macron Pledges to Relaunch Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he would to help relaunch talks to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo in the next few weeks.After meeting his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, Macron said he would invite delegations from the two countries to Paris along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.An EU-sponsored dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has been stalled since Kosovo introduced a 100 percent tax on all goods imported from Serbia to put pressure on Belgrade to recognize its sovereignty.Kosovo declared independence with Western backing in 2008, but Serbia still considers it an integral part of its territory.Together with its traditional ally Russia, Serbia is blocking Kosovo from joining international organizations including the United Nations, UNICEF and Interpol.”We are seeing rising tension and sometimes these tensions are fueled here and there by external powers that have an interest in making sure no deal is found,” Macron said.”Reaching an agreement implies that each party abstains from unilateral and non-constructive gestures and, in that respect, developments over the last few weeks have been a concern, and decisions that were against past commitments must be abrogated.”Vucic said he had asked Macron to help Serbia in its bid to join the European Union, but Macron made no promises.He reiterated his previous view that the EU needed to make decision-making more efficient before Serbia and other countries can join.Recognizing Kosovo is a precondition for Serbia to join the bloc.Macron is the first French president to visit Serbia since 2001; a visit planned for last December was cancelled after “yellow vest” anti-government protests turned violent in Paris.In a sign of increased cooperation, Serbia has agreed to buy the French light surface-to-air missile system Mistral.During Monday’s visit, the two sides signed a letter of intent for construction of a metro in the capital Belgrade.Serbia and France have intensified economic cooperation in recent years; France’s Vinci has a 25-year concession to run Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport.Serbia is balancing its relations with Russia, a traditional Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally, with a push to join the European Union and foster ties with NATO, though it wants to remain militarily neutral. In 2016 it agreed to buy nine military helicopters from the European Airbus Helicopters.Vucic and Macron laid wreaths at a monument built to thank France for helping Serbia during World War I.
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Democrats in Congress Attacked by Trump Deem His Comments Racist
Updated: July 15, 2019, 7:47 p.m.WHITE HOUSE — Four Democratic Party members of the U.S. Congress have appeared together before reporters in a collective and blistering show of force to rebut President Donald Trump’s social media and verbal volleys against them. “He’s launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the United States House of Representatives, all of whom are women of color,” said Ilhan Omar, a Somalia-born Democrat from the state of Minnesota and a naturalized U.S. citizen. “This is the agenda of white nationalists.” Trump set off a firestorm of controversy Sunday by tweeting that the lawmakers should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” even though three of the four were born in the United States. The first tweets came shortly after a segment about the minority congresswomen on the Fox News Channel. So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly……— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, July 15, 2019.Earlier in the day, Trump amplified his remarks deemed by many as racist attacks on the lawmakers, rejecting widespread criticism that his comments run counter to American values.”It doesn’t concern me,” he told reporters Monday at the White House, “because many people agree with me.”The president said of the lawmakers: “If they’re not happy here, they can leave,” adding, “these are people that hate our country.”Asked whether his comments were racist, Trump said, “Not at all.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those characterizing the president’s comments as “disgusting attacks.””The House cannot allow the President’s characterization of immigrants to our country to stand. Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the President’s xenophobic tweets,” Pelosi said in calling for support for a House resolution to condemn Trump’s tweets.Most lawmakers of Trump’s party have stayed silent on the controversy. But four Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Mitt Romney of Utah —are criticizing Trump’s remarks.”The president has a unique and noble calling to unite the American people,” Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee, told reporters. “In that regard, he failed badly this weekend and continued to do so today.”Murkowski tweeted: “There is no excuse for the president’s spiteful comments — they were absolutely unacceptable and this needs to stop.”There is no excuse for the president’s spiteful comments –they were absolutely unacceptable and this needs to stop.— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) July 15, 2019″President Trump was wrong to suggest that four left-wing congresswomen should go back to where they came from,” Toomey said in a statement. “The citizenship of all four is as valid as mine.”Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who golfed with Trump over the weekend, said the president should “aim higher” with his criticism of the four, even as the lawmaker disparaged their views.On Fox News, Graham said Monday Ocasio-Cortez “and this crowd are a bunch of communists” who “hate Israel. They hate our own country. They’re calling the guards along our border — the border control agents — concentration camp guards. They accuse people who support Israel of doing it for the Benjamins [money]. They’re anti-Semitic. They’re anti-America.”‘The squad’The four female lawmakers, from what is called the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, are known collectively as “the squad.” “Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world,” Pressley told reporters. “And that is the work that we want to get back to. And given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we will not, be silenced.” Trump tweeted on Monday morning: “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said.”When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019A prominent U.S.-based anti-hate Jewish group is condemning the president’s attempt to use Jews as a shield.”As Jews, we are all too familiar with this kind of divisive prejudice,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League. “While ADL has publicly disagreed with these congresswomen on some issues, the president is echoing the racist talking points of white nationalists and cynically using the Jewish people and the state of Israel as a shield to double down on his remarks.”Omar, in particular, has been a frequent topic of critical coverage on Fox News, in part due to her frequent criticism of Israel and comments perceived as anti-Semitic.
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Trial Begins With High Stakes for US-Turkey Ties, Ex-Trump Adviser Flynn
In a court case that could further strain U.S. relations with Turkey and weigh on the sentencing of former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn, a criminal trial began on Monday involving a former Iranian-American business partner of Flynn.Bijan Rafiekian’s trial in the Eastern District of Virginia turns on whether he conspired with Flynn and others to lobby on Turkey’s behalf to try to persuade the U.S. government to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Turkey for a failed coup.Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general whose brief tenure in 2017 as part of President Donald Trump’s inner circle is still causing legal aftershocks, is not charged as a co-conspirator with Rafiekian. But the case could influence how U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan sentences Flynn later this year in Washington.FILE – Then-National security adviser General Michael Flynn delivers a statement at the White House in Washington, Feb. 1, 2017.Flynn had previously agreed to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors and testify against Rafiekian, known as “Kian,” in hopes of getting a lighter sentence after he pleaded guilty in December 2017 to having lied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about his contacts with Russian officials.In a reversal earlier this month, Flynn and prosecutors had a falling out and Flynn backed away from earlier admissions of making false statements to the U.S. Justice Department in paperwork that disclosed his work as a Turkish government lobbyist.Flynn now contends he relied on attorneys’ advice when filing the lobbying paperwork with the Justice Department and that he did not knowingly file false information.Government lawyers now no longer plan to call Flynn as a star witness in the Rafiekian case, although they may end up calling Flynn’s son Michael G. Flynn, who worked for Flynn’s lobbying firm known as the Flynn Intel Group. Defense lawyers for Rafiekian have listed the elder Flynn as a possible star witness in the case.Rafiekian faces two criminal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, making false statements to the Justice Department and acting as a foreign agent. His former client, Turkish national Ekim Alptekin, is also charged.Implications of trialFor already-strained ties between Ankara and Washington, the trial has implications. Jury selection began Monday, which is the third anniversary of a failed coup in Turkey that killed 251 people. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly blamed Gulen and his movement for the coup, a charge Gulen denies.FILE – Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Dec. 28, 2004.In the trial, U.S. prosecutors are expected to portray the Turkish government as being heavily involved in a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to return Gulen, a shadowy figure who lives in a fortified compound in Pennsylvania, to Turkey.The Turkish government has denied engaging in a conspiracy to evade U.S. regulations requiring foreign government lobbyists to register with the Justice Department.”The idea that we would conspire against the United States is preposterous. … We categorically reject any accusation of wrongdoing or illegal conduct in the United States,” Fahrettin Altun, spokesman for the Turkish presidency, said in a written statement over the weekend.Flynn was among the first people in Trump’s inner circle to be charged in Mueller’s probe with lying to investigators about his December 2016 conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s then-ambassador in Washington, regarding U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow by President Barack Obama.Flynn was due to be sentenced in December 2018, but his sentence was delayed after Judge Sullivan lambasted him for selling his country out to Russia and urged him to complete his cooperation with government prosecutors.
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China’s Growth Cools Further as Tariff War Pressures Mount
China’s economic growth sank to its lowest level in at least 26 years in the quarter ending in June, adding to pressure on Chinese leaders as they fight a tariff war with Washington. The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.2% over a year ago, down from the previous quarter’s 6.4%, government data showed Monday.Hopes for an early growth rebound faded after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports in May to turn up pressure on Beijing over the aggressive tactics it’s using to challenge American technological dominance. Now, economists say the slowdown might extend into next year.Weaker Chinese activity carries global repercussions. China is the world’s second-biggest export market behind the United States. Countries that feed raw materials to Chinese factories — from Chilean copper to Indonesian coal — are especially vulnerable to decelerating growth in China.The proportion of South African output going to China, for instance, has shot up from 2% in the mid-2000s to 15% now, according to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute. Then there’s the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which sends 45% of its exports to China, according to United Nations data cited in the McKinsey report. In addition, emerging market countries are increasingly dependent on Chinese investment. A man buys clothes from an American clothing store having a promotion sale at a shopping mall in Beijing, July 15, 2019.Among major economies, Australia sent 35% of its exports to China in April, Brazil 30% and South Korea 24%, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Besides hurting countries that export raw materials to Beijing, the Chinese slowdown could come back to squeeze American companies like Procter & Gamble and General Motors that sell into the vast Chinese consumer market. Slowing demand in China could depress their revenue, earnings and stock market value, said Mary Lovely, a Syracuse University economist who studies trade. Eventually, weaker stock prices could undermine U.S. consumer confidence and the American economy, she said.“President Trump is probably happy that he’s starting to tank the Chinese economy,” Lovely said. “But it’s a case of ‘be careful what you wish for.’” IHS Markit foresees world economic growth slowing this year to 2.8% from 3.2% in 2018. A decelerating “China is certainly part of that,” said Sara Johnson, IHS’ executive director for global economics.But the world faces other problems, too. For one thing, Trump’s tariffs on imports from a host of countries — and the retaliation they have drawn from America’s trading partners — are crimping world trade and investment. Manufacturers worldwide are also sitting on unsold stockpiles of goods, and growth will likely slow as they pare their inventories, Johnson said. People walk by a fashion retailer having promotion sale at a shopping mall in Beijing, July 15, 2019.Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed last month to resume negotiations in a fight that has battered both American and Chinese exporters. But economists warn their truce is fragile because they still face the same array of disputes that caused talks to break down in May.“The trade war is having a huge impact on the Chinese economy,” Edward Moya of OANDA said in a report. “As trade negotiations struggle for meaningful progress, we are probably not near the bottom for China’s economy.” Chinese leaders have stepped up spending and bank lending to keep growth within this year’s official target range of 6% to 6.5% and avert politically dangerous job losses. But they face an avalanche of unexpectedly bad news including plunging auto sales.In the second half of the year, “the external environment may still be more complicated,” said a government spokesman, Mao Shengyong, at a news conference.Quarterly growth was the lowest since China began reporting such data in 1993, according to an employee of the press office of the National Bureau of Statistics, Dong Hui. In 2009, the NBS reported growth of 6.1% for the first three months of that year. However, Dong said that later was revised up to 6.4%.Jittery consumers are putting off major purchases, depressing demand for autos, home appliances and other goods.“I don’t think the country’s economy is as good as it looks,” said Peng Tao, a 26-year-old delivery courier who said he makes 5,000-6,000 yuan ($750-$870) a month.“China has been surely hurt more in the trade war,” said Peng. “I am not very happy about job prospects because there just aren’t many opportunities out there.”The International Monetary Fund and private sector economists have cut this year’s Chinese growth forecast to as low as 6.2%, a further marked decline after last year’s three-decade low of 6.6%. Growth in retail sales slowed to 8.4% in the first half of 2019, down 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter, the government reported. Growth in factory output decelerated to 6% in the first half, down 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter. Auto sales, reported earlier, fell 7.8% in June, extending a yearlong contraction in the industry’s biggest market. Chinese exports to the United States fell 7.8% in June from a year ago.Urban families the ruling Communist Party is counting on to help propel consumer-driven growth to offset weak trade are being squeezed by rising living costs and slower wage growth.Qiu Wanli, who works for an insurance company in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, said her family has little left over each month after paying a mortgage and expenses for her 3- and 6-year-old daughters and two elderly relatives.“The burden to support the family is fairly heavy,” said Qiu, 30. “We rarely travel and have no plans to because of financial conditions.”The fight between the two biggest global traders has disrupted sales of goods from soybeans to medical equipment and rattled financial markets.The biggest factor in the latest Chinese economic weakness is lackluster activity in construction and industry, according to Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics. He said that was likely to worsen because a boom in real estate development is fading.“Combined with increasing headwinds from U.S. tariffs and weaker global growth, we expect this to culminate in a further slowdown in economic growth over the coming year,” Evans-Pritchard said in a report.
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Ethiopia Premier’s Aide Named to Lead Restive Amhara Region
Ethiopia’s Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) named the security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as head of the restive Amhara region on Monday after his predecessor was killed in a violent attempt to seize power there.Dozens were killed in fighting during the foiled coup by a rogue state militia in Amhara that claimed the life of regional president Ambachew Mekonnen and other top officials. The same night, the army’s chief of staff and a retired general accompanying him were killed in the capital Addis Ababa in a related attack, the government said.The ADP said on its Facebook page that it had nominated Abiy’s security adviser Temesgen Tiruneh as Ambachew’s successor in Amhara. The party controls the Amhara regional government and is also one of four in Abiy’s national governing coalition.The Amhara violence was the strongest challenge yet to the rule of Abiy, who has rolled out ambitious political and economic reforms in what was once one of Africa’s most repressive countries since coming to power in April 2018.Abiy has freed political prisoners and journalists, offered an amnesty for some rebel groups and opened up space for a number of parties ahead of planned parliamentary elections next year in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country.But his government has also presided over a rise of ethnic violence as regional powerbrokers try to grab more power and territory and air long-held grievances against the Addis Ababa coalition. More than 2.4 million of Ethiopia’s 100 million citizens are displaced.Temesgen’s nomination is expected to be ratified by the Amhara regional council at a later date, according to an ADP central committee member.
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DRC Refugees Flooding Into Uganda to Escape Armed Conflict
Aid workers in Uganda say armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has doubled the flow of refugees in past weeks, straining humanitarian funding. Many DRC refugees brave cold nights and risk big waves on Lake Albert to reach the Ugandan border.In the pitch-black hours of the early morning, a boatload of refugees from the DRC arrives on Uganda’s side of Lake Albert. Some of the babies are hysterical.Aid workers say the number of Congolese refugees fleeing armed conflict to Uganda has more than doubled since June to about 300 per day.Refugee Gipato Margaret says there has been intensive fighting in the last two weeks in the DRC town of Chomya.”There are so many soldiers, yet the enemy rebel groups are in the surrounding forests. If they find a person in the garden, they kill you. They completely finish you. And when they see government soldiers, they follow and kill and fight them. We saw it was too much, there is a lot of gunshots nearby and staying there got difficult. So, we had to find a way out,” Margaret said.Refugee Joshua Oshaki lost contact with his wife during fighting in the DRC’s Ituri region but managed to escape with his two children.
“We got here in the night. We moved with children and other people. We moved in the cold, the children are suffering, we are hungry till now. And so many things got lost, clothes, money and property. We do not have peace in Congo,” Oshaki said.Fighting over land, mineral wealth, and politics has raged in eastern Congo for more than two decades.Uganda works with the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, to register and transport new arrivals to camps already hosting over a million refugees, 350,000 of them from the DRC. The UNCHR’s deputy representative to Uganda, Kemlin Furley, says the influx of refugees has stretched the agency’s funding.“It’s about 17 percent of all the needs that need to be covered. So, this new influx is definitely challenging. You know we are short of funds for the assistance that they need immediately. Lifesaving assistance upon arrival,” Furley said.The World Food Program says it is managing to provide aid for the new refugees but Julie McDonald, the deputy country director for WFP-Uganda, warns its budget won’t last long.“At this point in time, we are scheduled to run out of food and cash by September. So, we do urgently need new contributions in order to ensure that we can continue to feed the refugees,” McDonald said.Meanwhile, there seems no end in sight to the flow of Congolese refugees fleeing for safety to Uganda.
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Jeffrey Epstein Will Remain Jailed As Judge Mulls Bail
Financier Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars for now as a federal judge mulls whether to grant bail on charges he sexually abused underage girls.The judge said he needed more time to make a decision during a hearing Monday in New York.Federal prosecutors maintained the well-connected Epstein, 66, is a flight risk and danger to the community _ saying he should remain incarcerated until he is tried on charges that he recruited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.Prosecutors said their case is getting stronger by the day'' after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were underage.Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller also revealed Monday that authorities foundpiles of cash,” dozens of diamonds'' and an expired passport with Epstein's picture and a fake name during a raid of his Manhattan mansion following his July 6 arrest .Epstein's lawyers said he has not committed crimes since pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution charges in Florida in 2008 and that the federal government is reneging on a 12-year-old plea deal not to prosecute him. They said they planned to file a motion to dismiss the case and that Epstein should be allowed to await trial under house arrest in his $77 million Manhattan mansion, with electronic monitoring.In a written submission Friday to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, prosecutors shared new information about their investigation and why they perceive Epstein as dangerous.They said several additional women in multiple jurisdictions had identified themselves to the government, claiming Epstein abused them when they were minors. Also, dozens of individuals have called the government to report information about Epstein and the charges he faces, prosecutors said.Prosecutors said they believe Epstein might have tried to influence witnesses after discovering that he had paid a total of $350,000 to two individuals, including a former employee, in the last year. That came after the Miami Herald reported the circumstances of his state court conviction in 2008, which led to a 13-month jail term and his deal to avoid federal prosecution .This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations,” prosecutors said.The decade-old secret plea deal led to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s resignation last week. Acosta came under renewed criticism following Epstein’s arrest over the 2008 non-prosecution agreement he oversaw as the U.S. attorney in Miami.In addition to the charges in the indictment, prosecutors are also reviewing dozens of electronic files seized during a raid on Epstein’s residence after his July 6 arrest, finding even more photos than the hundreds or thousands of pictures of nude and seminude young women and girls they had reported prior to a court hearing a week ago.In their submission to the judge, Epstein’s lawyers say their client has had a clean record since he began registering as a sex offender after his Florida conviction.They said the accusations against Epstein are outside the margins of federal criminal law'' and don't constitute sex trafficking since there were no allegations hetrafficked anybody for commercial profit; that he forced, coerced, defrauded, or enslaved anybody.”Prosecutors said efforts by defense lawyers to characterize Epstein’s crimes as simple prostitution'' werenot only offensive but also utterly irrelevant given that federal law does not recognize the concept of a child prostitute _ there are only trafficking victims _ because a child cannot legally consent to being exploited.”
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Palestinians Denounce Trump Tweets Against Hometown Hero
Palestinians on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s attack on U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, accusing him of racism and saying it once again proves his bias against the Palestinian people.
Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and daughter of Palestinian immigrants, was one of four congresswomen of color who were targeted in a Trump Twitter barrage over the weekend.
Trump said the women should go back to the broken and crime infested'' places they came from, ignoring the fact that all are American citizens and three, including Tlaib, were born in the U.S. Trump also accused them of sayingterrible things” about the U.S. and said they hate Israel.''a racist statement meant to target Rashida because she has Palestinian roots.”
Although Tlaib has never lived in the West Bank, she still has relatives in the area and is widely seen as a local hero for making her way to the highest levels of American government.
Bassam Tlaib, an uncle of the congresswoman who lives in the West Bank, called the president's comments
This statement proves that Trump is anti-Palestinian, anti-Islam and completely biased toward Israel,'' he added.insult” to the office of the presidency and the laws of the U.S.
Ibrahim Milhim, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, said Trump's statement is an
It's an insult to the Statue of Liberty, America's most famous symbol, an insult to the American values where migrants from all over the world are united as one nation under one law,'' he said.Thank you so much! You are the best friend the Jewish people ever had in the White House!” Yair Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.
The Palestinians had cut ties with the White House after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017 and subsequently moved the American embassy to the contested city. The White House responded by shuttering the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars of aid.
The Palestinians have pre-emptively rejected Trump's Mideast peace plan, accusing him of being unfairly biased toward Israel, and boycotted last month's conference in Bahrain where the White House launched the economic portion of its plan.
It was not clear why Trump mentioned Israel in his latest tweets. Omar ignited a bipartisan uproar in Washington early this year when she suggested that members of Congress support Israel for money. Tlaib, meanwhile, has endorsed the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel.
Israel, on the other hand, has forged strong ties with Trump, who in addition to moving the embassy, has recognized Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly praised Trump, drawing criticism from opponents in Israel and some Jewish American groups that he is politicizing and weakening what has traditionally been bipartisan support for his country in the U.S.
Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Trump's tweets. But Netanyahu's son Yair, who serves as an unofficial adviser to his father, welcomed them.
Yossi Shain, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University, said he was not surprised that Israel had been dragged into the debate.
“Their hostility toward Trump, and the fact that Trump is in intimate relations with Netanyahu, make progressive voices in the U.S. into Israel haters,” he said.
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German Defense Minister Resigns to Pursue EU’s Top Job
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen says she is resigning from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet to focus on becoming the next head of the European Commission, the top job in the European Union.Von der Leyen tweeted Monday that “tomorrow I will ask for the confidence of the European Parliament. Regardless of the outcome, I will step down as Minister of Defence on Wednesday in order to serve Europe with all my strength.”The EU parliament is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to confirm her as European Commission president.Von der Leyen, 60, was the surprise last-minute compromise candidate nominated by the leaders of EU nations earlier this month to replace Jean-Claude Juncker.
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Duterte Signs Law Punishing Catcalling, Sexual Harassment
The Philippine president has signed a bill into law penalizing a range of acts of sexual harassment including catcalling, wolf-whistling and persistent telling of sexual jokes, which pro-women’s groups have accused him of committing. Philippine officials released on Monday a copy of Republic Act 11313, known as the Safe Spaces Act,'' which Duterte signed in April. The reason for the delay in its public release was not immediately clear.massive victory” against a growing culture of rude sexist actions.The law defines a range of offensive acts, including catcalling, wolf-whistling, intrusive gazing, cursing, misogynistic acts, sexist slurs and persistent telling of sexual jokes in public or online. Punishments include fines and imprisonment depending on the gravity of the offense.
The bill's main author has called the new law a
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