A British newspaper reported Sunday that Britain’s ambassador to the United States has described U.S. President Donald Trump as “inept” and “uniquely dysfunctional.”The Mail published the highly unflattering portrait of the U.S. leader, quoting comments allegedly taken from a cache of leaked diplomatic memos from Ambassador Kim Darroch. According to the newspaper, Darroch described Trump as someone who “radiates insecurity” and who is “incompetent.””We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal,” Darroch is reported to have written.The ambassador cautioned British officials, however, not to dismiss Trump’s chances for re-election, saying the president has a “credible path” to another four years in the White House. The Mail said Darroch warned that Trump could “emerge from the flames, battered but intact, like [Arnold] Schwarzenegger in the final scenes of The Terminator.”Britain’s Foreign Office has not denied the comments. A spokeswoman said ambassadors are expected “to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country.” She added, “We pay them to be candid.”
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Month: July 2019
US Defeats Netherlands 2-0 in Women’s World Cup Final
The heavily favored United States team has defeated Netherlands 2-0 in the women’s World Cup soccer final in Lyon, France, securing its fourth title and winning back-to-back tournaments for the first time.The Americans defeated four other European teams — Sweden, Spain, France and England — on their way to the final, and dominated Sunday in defeating the reigning European champion Dutch.Football analysts say the United States women’s national team went into the match as favorites because of their greater depth and experience than the Dutch.One of the top American players, Megan Rapinoe, who sat out the semi-final win over the British with a slight hamstring strain, scored the opening goal for the U.S. side on a penalty kick in the 61st minute. Rose Lavelle added a goal in the 69th minute to seal the victory.Former U.S. soccer star Julie Foudy explained before the match what was at stake for the Americans.“They’ve done all the hard stuff. Weathering the storm that was the Spanish game. Beating the hosts in Paris. Knocking out a very good English team. But they … must bring it home to secure their legacy, especially against a team that doesn’t have the same depth of talent and which is playing on less rest,” she said.US team celebrates after winning the Women’s World Cup final soccer match at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, July 7, 2019.Even as its success in the tournament earns it unprecedented acclaim at home, the U.S. women’s team is suing the country’s soccer federation for equal pay with members of country’s much less successful men’s national team. The pay disparity is pronounced, with female soccer players’ base salary roughly $30,000 less a year than their male counterparts. The players agreed to submit to arbitration following the end of the tournament.The soccer federation awarded the men’s team a $5.4 million bonus after it lost in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, while handing the women’s team $1.7 million when it won in 2015.FILE – Megan Rapinoe eyes the ball during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Spain and the United States at Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, France, June 24, 2019.Rapinoe has also feuded with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that in opposition to his presidency she would not accept an invitation to go to the White House if the Americans won the title.Trump said in response, “Megan should WIN before she TALKS,” and invited the whole team whether it wins or loses the title.
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Malawi President Warns of Action Against Protest Organizers
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has warned of unspecified action against the leaders of violent protests following his narrow recent election victory. Mutharika, whose legitimacy is being challenged by key opposition leaders, said during the country’s 55th Independence Day celebration in Blantyre on Saturday that he has learned the protests have nothing to do with election results, but are aimed at toppling his government. The protests organizers dispute this and say they cannot be intimidated.Thousands of Malawians attended the Independence Day Celebration at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, July 6, 2019. (VOA/Lameck Masina)The celebrations started with a morning of prayer, with religious leaders appealing for the return of peace and unity to a country now torn by political violence.
Malawi has faced street protests, which in many cases turned violent, since the Malawi Elections Commission announced on May 27 that President Mutharika had been re-elected.
The MEC declared Mutharika the winner with 39 percent of the vote, and said opposition Malawi Congress Party leader Lazarus Chakwera was a close second with 35 percent.
Vice President Saulos Chilima’s opposition United Transformation Movement Party came in third with 20 percent.
Chakwera and Chilima are challenging the election results in court, alleging ballot-stuffing and the use of a popular correction fluid to alter ballots.
Both opposition leaders shunned Mutharika’s Independence Day speech, in which he called for peace.
“This is the day we must raise our flags of patriotism,” said Mutharika. “This is a day everyone must show how we love this country. Malawi is the only country that we have. If we destroy this country, as we are currently doing, we have destroyed ourselves.”
Heavily armed security personel was deployed after resports that some people were planning to disturb the celebrations. (VOA/Lameck Masina)However Mutharika had harsh words for the organizers of the protests. He said he knows that opposition leaders want to use the protests to unseat him because they lost the election “big time.”
“Let me assure them that they will take over this government over my dead body. They will never, never take over this country. Let me warn them,” he said.
Mutharika said his government will soon hold accountable those who are leading the violent protests.
Gift Trapence is the deputy chairperson of the Human Rights Defenders Forum, a civil society group organizing the protests.
“We are not targeting unseating the government. But our issue is with Dr. Jane Ansah, who failed to manage the election,” said Trapence.
Trapence said the protests will continue until Ansah resigns.
“You cannot be intimidated because for us to do demonstration is in our [Malawi] constitution. So, for us to be intimidated because people were exercising their rights, that’s something regrettable,” he said.
Political commentator Vincent Kondowe said Mutharika could have used the occasion to call for peace talks with the opposition leaders.
“I think the president coult have gone further and reach out to the opposition and probably call for dialogue and then thereafter, moving forward peacefully. Because what it means now, where the tempers are already very high, it sparks more violent protests, on the side of opposition,” said Kondowe.
The protesters said Friday that they would hold another protest in Blantyre on Monday should Ansah fail to resign by before then.
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US Call for Syria Troops Divides German Coalition
Discord broke out in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition Sunday, after the United States urged the country to send ground troops to Syria as Washington looks to withdraw from the region.”We want ground troops from Germany to partly replace our soldiers” in the area as part of the anti-Islamic State coalition, U.S. special representative on Syria James Jeffrey had told German media including Die Welt newspaper.Jeffrey, who was visiting Berlin for Syria talks, added that he expects an answer this month.Last year U.S. President Donald Trump declared victory against IS and ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 American troops from Syria.A small number have remained in northeastern Syria, an area not controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and Washington is pushing for increased military support from other members of the international coalition against IS.”We are looking for volunteers who want to take part here and among other coalition partners,” Jeffrey said.A clear rejection of the American request came from Merkel’s junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD).”There will be no German ground troops in Syria with us,” tweeted a member of the interim SPD leadership, Thorsten Schaefer-Guembel.”I don’t see people wanting that among our coalition partners” in Merkel’s centre-right CDU, he added.But deputy conservative parliamentary leader Johann Wadephul told news agency DPA that Germany should “not reflexively reject” the US call for troops.”Our security, not the Americans’, is being decided in this region,” added Wadephul, seen as a candidate to succeed Ursula von der Leyen as defense minister if she is confirmed as European Commission chief.Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.’This isn’t a banana republic’Washington has two goals in northeastern Syria: to support the US-backed Kurdish forces that expelled IS from northern Syria as they are increasingly threatened by Turkey, and to prevent a potential IS resurgence in the war-torn country.The US is hoping Europe will help, pressuring Britain, France and now Germany, which has so far deployed surveillance aircraft and other non-combat military support in Syria.However Germany’s history makes military spending and foreign adventures controversial.Berlin sent soldiers to fight abroad for the first time since World War II in 1994, and much of the political spectrum and the public remains suspicious of such deployments.As well as the SPD, the ecologist Greens, liberal Free Democrats and Left party all urged Merkel to reject the US request for troops.The US appeal comes after Trump has repeatedly urged Berlin to increase its defence spending, last month calling Germany “delinquent” over its contributions to NATO’s budget.But such criticisms have more often hardened resistance to forking out more on the military rather than loosening the country’s purse strings.Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told business newspaper Handelsblatt on Saturday that Trump wanted “vassals” rather than allies.”I’d have liked the federal government to tell him once or twice that it’s none of his business” how much Germany spends on defense, Schroeder said.”This isn’t a banana republic here!”
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Pope Leads Prayers for Migrants Killed in Libyan Detention Center
Pope Francis on Sunday invited the crowd gathered in Saint Peter’s Square to join him in prayer for the “poor, unarmed people” who were killed or injured by an air strike on a detention center for migrants in Libya.
A United Nations assessment of the attack this week in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura reported that more than 50 people were killed, including six children, and 130 others were injured. It said there were reports that “following the first impact, some refugees and migrants were fired upon by guards as they tried to escape.”Pope Francis told the faithful that the “international community cannot tolerate such serious incidents.” He expressed the hope that “humanitarian corridors may be opened in an organized and concerted manner for the migrants who are most in need.”
Since his election, the pope has often spoken out in favor of migrants and on the need to provide assistance to people fleeing wars and famine. His first trip outside of the Vatican after being named pope in March 2013 was to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, which for decades has borne the brunt of many of the arrivals of these desperate people.Tomorrow on the sixth anniversary of that visit, the pope will celebrate a special Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Some 250 people including migrants, refugees and people involved in assisting migrants will be taking part in the Monday morning service.
On Sunday the pope also told the faithful he wished to remember “all the victims of the recent massacres in Afghanistan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.”Meanwhile many migrants continue to attempt to reach European shores in every possible way. The Alan Kurdi, a German rescue ship, with 65 migrants on board, was heading toward Malta on Sunday after Italy refused to allow it to enter its territorial waters. The migrants will be transferred onto a vessel of the Maltese armed forces and then relocated from Malta to other European Union member states.The Alan Kurdi is the latest of several vessels to be turned back in the last 10 days as Italy maintains its “closed ports” policy and imposes stiff fines on NGOs that break that rule in their efforts to bring migrants to safety.
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Wife of Arrested Chinese Ex-Interpol President Sues Agency
The wife of former Interpol President Meng Hongwei is suing the international police agency, accusing Interpol of failing to protect him from arrest in China and failing to protect his family.Meng’s wife Grace Meng said her lawyers filed a legal complaint in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. In a statement sent to The Associated Press, she says Interpol “breached its obligations owed to my family” and “is complicit in the internationally wrongful acts of its member country, China.”Interpol said Sunday it strongly disputes the allegations.The court in The Hague did not respond to requests for comment. Such cases generally take many months to settle, and its proceedings and rulings are not made public.Meng Hongwei was arrested in September amid a campaign against corruption and political disloyalty led by Chinese President Xi Jinping. A Chinese court said Meng confessed last month to accepting more than $2 million in bribes, but his wife calls the case “fake” and politically driven.The arrest, shrouded in secrecy, was a troubling episode for Interpol.Meng – who was elected Interpol president in 2016 but retained responsibilities as Chinese vice minister of public security – vanished into custody while visiting China. Interpol was not informed about the detention, and was forced to ask China about his whereabouts.After the arrest, Grace Meng and her family stayed in France, where Interpol is based. She said she received threats, and was put under French police protection.
Interpol’s general secretariat said in a statement Sunday that it “forcefully disputes” any wrongdoing.The agency said the arbitration case was filed in April by lawyers representing Meng and his family, and says the allegations are “legally baseless.” Interpol says the proceedings are meant to be confidential.Interpol denies the agency “had any involvement with China’s actions” against Meng.
There are suspicions Meng fell out of political favor with Xi, who has come down hard on corruption and perceived disloyalty in what observers say is a campaign calculated to strengthen party control while bringing down potential challengers to his authority.
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Rising French Far-Right Star Resurfaces and Flirts with Fire
She vowed to stay out of politics and even dropped the French far right’s signature name – Le Pen – from her moniker. But Marion Marechal, a former star lawmaker who’s still only in her 20s, is now tip-toeing back into the political arena, and is already causing trouble.Widely seen as a potential party leader, the 29-year-old’s discreet meetings in recent days to build bridges with enemy conservatives, crippled by their crushing defeat in European Parliament elections, are further unsettling the mainstream right.The forays into forbidden territory by the woman once voted the most popular in the far-right National Rally party (formerly the National Front) led by her aunt, Marine Le Pen, have also raised questions about Marechal’s political intentions – and whether a new war within the Le Pen clan is afoot.Marechal is the darling of her controversial grandfather, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a National Front co-founder expelled by daughter Marine for repeating anti-Semitic remarks that got him convicted. Marechal is more conservative than her aunt. Addressing a major forum for American conservatives last year, she decried the European Union and said France is becoming “the little niece of Islam.”To Jean-Marie’s disappointment, Marion dropped out of politics two years ago, refusing to seek a new mandate as a National Rally lawmaker to found a private school in Lyon seen as a training ground for far-right leaders.She denies speculation she is making an end-run around Aunt Marine for a comeback. Nevertheless, the noise created after at least two below-the-radar meetings became known underscores Marechal’s potentially pivotal role in the power politics of the French right.A dinner in late June between Marechal and more than a dozen officials and lawmakers of The Republicans, or LR, caused a firestorm within the main conservative party. The conservative mainstream has long been extremely wary of liaisons with France’s far right, but the meeting suggested that some conservatives may believe the only way to survive is by joining forces with the likes of Marechal.Senate leader Gerard Larcher, of the LR, said those who met at a Paris restaurant with Marechal have placed themselves “outside” the party.”I have always said there was a firewall between us and the National Rally,” party, he said on LCI TV. “Whether you like it or not, this (dinner) was a breach.” Those who attended risk exclusion from the party, Larcher said, making clear that for him they already had “placed themselves outside the values of our political formation.”Meanwhile, France’s powerful business lobby Medef invited Marechal to speak about the rise of populism at its annual summer gathering – but then canceled the whole panel after the idea left many aghast.The National Rally came to the forefront of French politics with its win in the European Parliament elections in May. The party bettered President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and hopes to maintain momentum ahead of municipal elections next year.In a TV interview in early June, she said she wanted to build a “grand alliance of the right” – though she insisted her intentions were devoid of personal ambition.She had some stinging words for the National Rally, saying it is “indispensable to political life, but unfortunately it isn’t sufficient.” Defending the nation, and countering Macron’s progressives, needs “other voices from other movements, currents” to create alliances.Marechal has been regarded as a potential presidential candidate in the 2022 election, or later, raising occasional tensions with her aunt, who was roundly defeated in 2017 by Macron after making it to the runoff. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon praised her as a “rising star” – on a stage he shared with Marine Le Pen at an important National Rally congress.If Marine Le Pen is wary that her niece is setting the stage for a return to politics, neither she nor her camp is saying so.Le Pen was politely dismissive of her niece’s initiatives.”That Marion wants to build bridges with people of the traditional right closer to us than to Emmanuel Macron, so much the better,” she said in an interview with BFMTV this month after her niece’s remarks. As for Marechal’s “regret” about short-comings of the National Rally, Le Pen took a diplomatic dig.”One should not be pessimistic when one is young,” she said.
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Economic ‘Game Changer? African Leaders Launch Free-Trade Zone
African leaders met on Sunday to launch a continental free-trade zone that if successful would unite 1.3 billion people, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development.After four years of talks, an agreement to form a 55-nation trade bloc was reached in March, paving the way for Sunday’s African Union summit in Niger where attendees will unveil which
nation will host the trade zone’s headquarters, when trading will start and discuss how exactly it will work.It is hoped that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) — the largest since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994 — will help unlock Africa’s long-stymied economic potential by boosting intra-regional trade, strengthening supply chains and spreading expertise.”The eyes of the world are turned to Africa,” Egyptian President and African Union Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at the summit’s opening ceremony.AfCFTA “will reinforce our negotiating position on the international stage. It will represent an important step.”Africa has much catching up to do: its intra-regional trade accounted for just 17% of exports in 2017 versus 59% in Asia and 69% in Europe, and Africa has missed out on the economic booms
that other trade blocs have experienced in recent decades.Economists say significant challenges remain, including poor road and rail links, large areas of unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and petty corruption that have held back growth and
integration.Members have committed to eliminate tariffs on most goods, which will increase trade in the region by 15-25% in the medium term, but this would double if these other issues were dealt with, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates.The IMF in a May report described a free-trade zone as a potential “economic game changer” of the kind that has boosted growth in Europe and North America, but it added a note of caution.”Reducing tariffs alone is not sufficient,” it said.Divergent interests Africa already has an alphabet soup of competing and overlapping trade zones — ECOWAS in the west, EAC in the east, SADC in the south and COMESA in the east and south.But only the EAC, driven mainly by Kenya, has made significant progress towards a common market in goods and services. These regional economic communities (REC) will continue to trade among themselves as they do now. The role of AfCFTA is to liberalise trade among those member states that are not currently in the same REC, said Trudi Hartzenberg, director at Tralac, a South Africa-based trade law organization.The zone’s potential clout received a boost on Tuesday when Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, agreed to sign the agreement at the summit. Benin has also since agreed to join.
Fifty-four of the continent’s 55 states have signed up, but only 25 have ratified.One obstacle in negotiations will be the countries’ conflicting motives.For undiversified but relatively developed economies like Nigeria, which relies heavily on oil exports, the benefits of membership will likely be smaller than others, said John Ashbourne, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.Nigerian officials have expressed concern that the country could be flooded with low-priced goods, confounding efforts to encourage moribund local manufacturing and expand farming.
In contrast, South Africa’s manufacturers, which are among the most developed in Africa, could quickly expand outside their usual export markets and into West and North Africa, giving them
an advantage over manufacturers from other countries, Ashbourne said.The presidents of both countries are attending the summit.The vast difference in countries’ economic heft is another complicating factor in negotiations. Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa account for over 50% of Africa’s cumulative GDP, while its six sovereign island nations represent about 1%. “It will be important to address those disparities to ensure that special and differential treatments for the least developed countries are adopted and successfully implemented,” said Landry Signe, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative.Regulations governing rules of origin, removal of non-tariff barriers and the development of a payments and settlements system are expected to be unveiled at the summit.
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3 People Gored on First Day of Spanish Bull-Running Festival
Three people were gored and a further two people suffered head trauma during the first day of Spain’s best-known bull-running festival in the northern town of Pamplona on Sunday, the Red Cross said.One man was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher shortly after the dash through the medieval town center’s narrow streets to the bullring, which lasted two minutes and 41 seconds.Thousands of runners, dressed head to toe in white, with bright-red neckerchiefs, gather every year for the traditional morning run, after which the animals are kept in the bullring until the afternoon’s fights.A total 53 people were treated by the Red Cross. Runners often get injured at traditional bull-runs in Spain, but no one has died at Pamplona’s San Fermin festival since Spaniard Daniel Jimeno was gored in the neck by a Jandilla bull in 2009.This year, the bulls were from cattle breeder Puerto de San Lorenzo, whose bulls have been responsible for one goring in the past. One person was gored on the opening day of the festival last year.Locals and tourists alike will join in the 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) run every morning until next Sunday.The festival regularly stokes debate about the treatment of animals. On Friday, protesters lay half-naked on the street with fake spears coming out of their backs to protest against what they see as cruelty.
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‘New Home, New Laws’ – Helping New Migrants Settle in Australia
Students at one of Sydney’s most multicultural schools are filming a series of videos to explain some of Australia’s confusing laws to new migrants. New settlers say one of the main stresses on arrival in Australia is understanding a complex web of regulations from road rules to laws on firearms and bribery. In 1949, Australia held its first ceremony for new citizens. It would be almost 25 years before a policy that discriminated against non-white migrants gave way to multiculturalism.More than a quarter of the population was born overseas, making Australia one of the world’s most culturally diverse places. But with three levels of government — local, state and federal — it has plenty of laws, and that can be a minefield for newcomers.Mona Ibrahim, an art instructor in Sydney, says in some countries weapons are routinely carried, but not in Australia.“It is normal overseas to have that in your pocket. It is even recommended for your safety, but here we are learning a new concept for safety. You are already safe. If you are not safe you just call the police.”High school students are making animated films to help new settlers, especially those from non-English speaking countries — understand Australia. It’s part of a crime prevention project called ‘New Home, New Laws.’ “Where we come from there are different ways to avoid crimes, and one of it is bribery; bribing a police officer or bribing a teacher for you to get good marks. That is why we put it on the screen there that in Australia it is a crime,” said Brima Turay, a migrant from Sierra Leone.The program is supported by Rob Lindsay, a retired school teacher, who says young migrants can easily find themselves in trouble.“In some cases you might be pulled over by the police and the police issue an on-the-spot fine, which is paid and goes directly into the policeman’s pocket. Well, that really does not work here and I can see young people getting themselves into all sorts of difficulties just because they did not understand things like that, whereas in other places it is just the way the system works,” said Lindsay.Australian immigration is dominated by new settlers from India and China.There is opposition to multiculturalism in some quarters, but most Australians believe diversity has given their nation great strength.
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Hong Kong Business Reputation at Stake, as Beijing Closes in
Hong Kong has long been seen as a good place to do business, thanks to its proximity to China and the one-country, two systems policy that provides a wide degree of economic freedom. But as Beijing expands its control, that reputation is at risk, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports.
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Sources: Jeffrey Epstein Arrested in NY on Sex Charges
Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the 2000s, according to law enforcement officials. Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain’s Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump, was taken into federal custody, according to two officials.The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case. Epstein is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court. A message was sent to his attorney seeking comment. Epstein’s arrest was first reported by The Daily Beast. Plea deal scrutinyThe arrest comes amid renewed scrutiny of a once-secret plea deal that Epstein entered into. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person younger than 18 for prostitution. The deal ended a federal investigation that could have landed Epstein in prison for life.Instead, he was sentenced to 13 months in jail and was required to reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims. Epstein also was required to register as a sex offender.
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Greeks Vote as Leftist Syriza Days in Power Seem Numbered
Greeks vote on Sunday in a snap election that polls say will bring opposition conservatives to power, ending four years of leftist rule blamed for saddling the country with more debt and mismanaging crises.The election is largely a showdown of two contenders.Incumbent Alexis Tsipras of the Syriza party is on one side — a 44-year-old radical leftist who stormed to power in 2015 vowing to tear up the austerity rule book, only to relent weeks later.On the other side of the fence is Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 51, of New Democracy. He is from a famous political dynasty; he hopes to follow the footsteps of his father as prime minister, while a sister of his was foreign minister.Opinion polls put New Democracy’s lead at up to 10 percentage points, potentially giving it an absolute majority in the country’s 300-seat parliament. Voting starts at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and ends at 7 p.m., with first official projections expected about two hours after voting ends.Financial crisisGreece endured a debilitating financial crisis from 2010 that saw the country needing a cash lifeline from its European Union partners three times.The economy is the public’s main concern, said Thomas Gerakis of pollsters MARC.”Voters want to know the government can give Greeks a better tomorrow,” he said. Some voters wanted to punish Syriza for reneging on past pledges, he added.Tsipras was also roundly criticized for mismanagement of crises on his watch, and for brokering a deeply unpopular deal to end a dispute over the name of neighoring North Macedonia.One hundred people died in a devastating fire that swept through a seaside village east of Athens last year; while Mitsotakis was quick to the scene to console survivors, Tsipras was out of the public eye for several days.Greece wrapped up its last economic adjustment program in 2018, but remains under surveillance from lenders to ensure no future fiscal slippage. Though economic growth has returned to the country, unemployment is the eurozone’s highest at 18 percent.Main opposition New Democracy conservative party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses supporters during a pre-election rally in Athens, July 4, 2019.New Democracy has promised to invest in creating well-paying jobs with decent benefits. The outgoing government, meanwhile, hopes voters will reward it for upping the minimum wage by 11 percent and reinstating collective bargaining.Mitsotakis hopes that his reforms will persuade lenders to show more flexibility in due course.”The first thing that is necessary for economic growth to be boosted is a stable government, a strong majority in the next parliament,” Mitsotakis told Reuters.Tsipras said that a vote cast in favor of Mitsotakis would go to the political establishment that forced Greece to the edge of the precipice in the first place.”Each and every one of you must now consider if, after so many sacrifices, we should return to the days of despair,” he told voters, wrapping up the pre-election campaign on Friday.
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Report: UK Interior Minister to Back Johnson for PM
British Interior Minister Sajid Javid will soon formally endorse Boris Johnson to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country’s next prime minister, the Sunday Times reported. Johnson is the front-runner in a contest with Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt to be the next leader. Voting is due to close on July 22, with the winner set to be announced the following day. Johnson has pledged to leave the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31 if he becomes prime minister, while Hunt has said that he would, if absolutely necessary, go for a no-deal Brexit. The Sunday Times said Javid has positioned himself to be Johnson’s finance minister, taking over from current Finance Minister Philip Hammond. It reported that in a speech on Tuesday, Javid will say: “Trust in our democracy will be at stake if we don’t make Oct. 31 a ‘deal or no deal’ deadline. To prepare that, we are agreed on the need for ramped-up no-deal preparations, including a budget.” The newspaper also said that Johnson would visit the United States before the end of September to meet President Donald Trump.
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‘Like the World Was Ending’: Shopping Plaza Blast Injures 21
A vacant pizza restaurant exploded Saturday in a thundering roar at a South Florida shopping plaza, injuring more than 20 people as large chunks of concrete flew through the air.The blast flung debris widely along a busy road in Plantation, west of Fort Lauderdale. The restaurant was destroyed, and nearby businesses and cars were damaged. Though firefighters found ruptured gas lines afterward, authorities said it was too early to determine a cause.”We thought it was thunder at first, and then we felt the building shake and things started falling. I looked outside and it was almost like the world was ending,” said Alex Carver, a worker at a deli across the street from the explosion. “It was nuts, man. It was crazy.”Debris thrown 50-100 yardsThe explosion hurled large pieces of concrete up to 50 yards (45 meters) away and sent pieces of metal scattering as far as 100 yards (90 meters) across the street. Carver said two of his co-workers’ cars were destroyed.At least 21 people were injured though none of the injuries was life-threatening, Police Sgt. Jesica Ryan said.The explosion demolished the building, leaving behind only part of its metal frame. The restaurant, called PizzaFire, had been out of business for several months. The blast also blew out the windows of a popular fitness club next door at the shopping plaza in Broward County.Close call for familyJesse Walaschek had just left the fitness club with his wife and three children, ages 4, 6 and 8. They were parked near the restaurant and had just driven about 50 yards (45 meters) away when they heard the blast.”It was a massive explosion like I have never experienced,” he said.Walasheck said dust and debris filled the air.”Everything just stopped. You didn’t see anybody. I just wanted to get these guys safe,” he said, pointing to his children. “If this had happened a minute before when we were getting the kids in the car, it would have been really bad.”Firefighters investigateDozens of firefighters responded and could be seen picking through the rubble with dogs sniffing through the debris to make sure people weren’t trapped underneath. There were no known fatalities immediately after the explosion.Fire department Battalion Chief Joel Gordon said there were ruptured gas lines when firefighters arrived, but he couldn’t say for certain that it was a gas explosion.”At this point, nobody was killed. Thank goodness for that. As bad as it is, it could have been a lot worse,” Gordon said.
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Seized North Korean Ship Sought for American Student’s Death
The parents of Otto Warmbier have filed a claim for a seized North Korean cargo ship in a bid to collect a multimillion-dollar judgment in the American college student’s death.Attorneys for the Warmbiers said in a court filing Wednesday they have a right to the assets after North Korea failed to respond to their wrongful-death claim.The Warmbiers say their son was tortured after being convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster and imprisoned for months.
He died days after being returned to the U.S. in a vegetative state in 2017. A U.S. judge has ordered North Korea to pay more than $500 million in the Warmbiers’ wrongful-death suit.North Korea has denied mistreating Warmbier.The U.S. seized the cargo ship in May because it was carrying coal in violation of U.N. sanctions.
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North Korea Says Released Australian Student Was Spying
North Korea said Saturday that an Australian student who it detained for a week had spread anti-Pyongyang propaganda and engaged in spying by providing photos and other materials to news outlets with critical views toward the North.Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, said North Korea deported Alek Sigley on Thursday after he pleaded for forgiveness for his activities, which the agency said infringed on the country’s sovereignty.North Korea has been accused in the past of detaining Westerners and using them as political pawns to gain concessions. KCNA provided few details about Sigley’s alleged spying activities other than that he, at the “instigation” of the media outlets, provided them with photos and data that he had collected.North Korea, which closely monitors visitors and enforces a stringent information blockade on its citizens, is extremely sensitive about controlling the flow of information, which made Sigley, who had a lively presence on Twitter, an anomaly in the country.Sigley arrived in Tokyo on Thursday after telling reporters he was in “very good” condition, but without saying what happened to him. His father, Gary Sigley, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Western Australia, said his son was treated well in North Korea.Sigley had been studying at a Pyongyang university and guiding tours in the North Korean capital before disappearing from social media contact with family and friends.KCNA said Sigley, who was caught “red-handed” by a “relevant institution” of the North on June 25, had abused his status as a student by “combing” through Pyongyang and providing photos and other information to news sites such as NK News and other “anti-DPRK” media, a reference to the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The news agency said the North expelled Sigley out of “humanitarian leniency.”“He honestly admitted his spying acts of systematically collecting and offering data about the domestic situation of the DPRK and repeatedly asked for pardon, apologizing for encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK,” the agency said.The North had not commented on Sigley before Saturday.Sigley was released following intervention by Swedish diplomats. After his arrival in Beijing, he went to Tokyo to reunite with his Japanese wife, who he married in Pyongyang last year.During his time in North Korea, Sigley often shared details about his life in Pyongyang through social media and the website of his travel agency, Tongil Tours, frequently challenging negative outside perceptions about the North and at times boasting about the extraordinary freedom he had as one of the few foreign students living there.He also wrote op-eds and essays that appeared in the Western media, including NK News, although none of them seemed outwardly critical about the North’s government and political system.In a statement published on its site, NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll said it would be a “misrepresentation” for the North to describe the articles Sigley wrote for the outlet as anti-state. He said NK News is an independent, specialist information website that aims to provide objective news and analysis about North Korea.“Alek Sigley’s well-read columns presented an apolitical and insightful view of life in Pyongyang which we published in a bid to show vignettes of ordinary daily life in the capital to our readers,” O’Carroll said.“The six articles Alek published represent the full extent of his work with us and the idea that those columns, published transparently under his name between January and April 2019, are ‘anti-state’ in nature is a misrepresentation which we reject,” he said.Sigley’s ordeal had a much happier ending than that of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was convicted of attempting to steal a propaganda poster and imprisoned in North Korea. Warmbier died shortly after being sent back home to the U.S. in a vegetative state in June 2017.
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California Assesses Damage After Second Major Earthquake
Emergency workers in Ridgecrest, Calif., were assessing damage after a second major earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck the desert community northeast of Los Angeles on Friday night.It followed a magnitude 6.4 quake near the city on Thursday. No deaths or major injuries have been reported from either major temblor, but Friday’s 7.1 magnitude quake, which was felt throughout Southern California and in neighboring Nevada, caused additional damage and left residents shaken.Again, food flew off the shelves of supermarkets, and thousands of dollars’ worth of stock was destroyed in a liquor store.“This earthquake was longer, but also concluded with a very, very strong jolt that felt like it was going to knock the whole place down,” said Victor Abdullatif, the owner’s son.Far bigger joltSeismologists said the quake Friday was 10 times more powerful than Thursday’s earthquake.“The [Friday] quake did last for some time,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “It was felt widely throughout most of Southern California and even as far north here as Sacramento.”Eugene Johnson looks at the chimney collapsed by an earthquake the day before at his home in Trona, Calif., July 6, 2019. Crews in Southern California were assessing damage to buildings, roads, water and gas lines, and other infrastructure.California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested Saturday from President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency a Presidential Emergency Declaration for Direct Federal Assistance “to further support the communities impacted by the earthquakes.”The larger size of the quake meant the temblors that came before it, including the 6.4, are now classified as pre-shocks. Aftershocks continue to rattle the region.Fires, leaksEmergency workers have dealt with fires, and water and gas leaks.“Obviously, 34 hours in between earthquakes, we’re concerned about future aftershocks and where they’re going to be,” said Kern County Fire Chief David Witt. Hundreds of smaller quakes have jolted the region since Thursday.Play continued at a Dodgers baseball game in Los Angeles, as fans decided what to do.“Whether to run or stay in place and hope for the best,” recalled Dodgers fan Chris Banakas. “We stayed in place and it went over. “We were cool.”
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Reports: Apparent Gas Explosion at Florida Shopping Center Injures Several
An apparent gas explosion at a shopping plaza in Plantation, Florida, injured several people on Saturday, authorities and local media reported.Video posted to Twitter showed the force of the blast scattered debris across a parking lot and blew out several windows at a nearby L.A. Fitness gym, sending patrons running for the exits.The Plantation fire department said on Twitter that there were multiple patients being treated at the scene.The Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported that witnesses said a vacant restaurant appeared to be the source of the explosion. The city of Plantation is about 6 miles west of Fort Lauderdale.
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UK-flagged Tanker Reported ‘Safe and Well’ After Stop in Gulf
UK-flagged supertanker Pacific Voyager which halted in the Gulf on Saturday is “safe and well,” a British official told Reuters, after Iran dismissed reports its Revolutionary Guards had seized the vessel.A Revolutionary Guards commander on Friday had threatened to seize a British ship in retaliation for the capture by Royal Marines of Iranian supertanker Grace 1 in Gibraltar.The Pacific Voyager stopped in the Gulf en route to Saudi Arabia from Singapore before resuming its course, Refinitiv Eikon mapping showed.It stopped as part of a routine procedure to adjust its arrival time at its next port, an official at UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) told Reuters.The UKMTO, which coordinates shipping in the Gulf, had been in contact with the tanker, the official said.On Saturday an Iranian cleric said Britain should be “scared” about Tehran’s possible retaliation for the seizure of the Grace 1, the Fars semi-official news agency reported.
“I am openly saying that Britain should be scared of Iran’s retaliatory measures over the illegal seizure of the Iranian oil tanker,” said Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, a member of the
Assembly of Experts clerical body.Tensions are high in the Gulf following last month’s attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route, and Iran’s downing of a U.S. drone. Washington and Saudi
Arabia have directly blamed Iran for the attacks on tankers, something Tehran denies.The attacks have raised fears of a broader confrontation in the region where the United States has boosted its military
presence over perceived Iranian threats.
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US Welcomes Sudan Power-sharing Deal as ‘Important Step Forward’
The United States on Saturday welcomed a provisional agreement forged by Sudan’s ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups to share power for three years as an “important step forward.”The U.S. State Department said in statement that special envoy for Sudan Donald Booth will return to the region soon. The agreement brokered by the African Union and Ethiopia Union, announced on Friday, is due to be finalized on Monday.”The agreement between the Forces for Freedom and Change and the Transitional Military Council to establish a sovereign council is an important step forward,” the State Department said. “We look forward to immediate resumption of access to the internet, establishment of the new legislature, accountability for the violent suppression of peaceful protests, and progress toward free and fair elections.”The deal revived hopes for a peaceful transition of power in a country plagued by internal conflicts and years of economic crisis that helped to trigger the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in April.Relations between the military council that took over from Bashir and the Forces for Freedom and Change alliance broke down when security forces killed dozens of people as they cleared a
sit-in on June 3. But after huge protests against the military on Sunday, African mediators brokered a return to direct talks.
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Hometown of First on Moon Ready to Launch 50th Celebration
A small Ohio city is shooting for the moon in celebrating its native son’s history-making walk 50 years ago this month.The hometown of Neil Armstrong has expanded its usual weekend “summer moon festival” to 10 days of Apollo 11 commemorations . Tens of thousands of visitors — the biggest crowds here since Armstrong’s post-mission homecoming — are expected.There will be hot air balloons, ’60s-themed evenings, concerts, rocket launches and a visit from five other Ohio astronauts. And “the world’s largest moon pie,” all 50 pounds of it.Event planning began two years ago in a city of about 10,000 that has added nearly 3,000 residents since 1969 but retains that everybody-knows-everybody rural town feel. Jackie Martell of the chamber of commerce calls the moon landing anniversary an event that “just resonates for the entire world,” and a continuing source of local pride.Dave Tangeman turned 12 on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 took Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon, and he and his family gathered around the black-and-white TV in their living room that evening to watch their neighbor. Hundreds of millions of people around the world were watching with them as Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface to make “one giant leap for mankind.”“It was just so unbelievable that somebody from this little town could accomplish something like that,” said Tangeman, now transportation director for the local schools. He likes to joke that the town puts on a big birthday party for him every July.Though Tangeman doesn’t remember much else about his 12th birthday, he has vivid memories of Armstrong’s triumphant welcome-home parade that Sept. 6, when most of the city of some 7,000 people joined tens of thousands of visitors to line the streets or climb onto roofs to see Armstrong, celebrities including entertainer Bob Hope, and the marching band from Armstrong’s Purdue University alma mater.“History will always record that the first person to set foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong from Wapakoneta, Ohio,” said Dante Centuori, executive director of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. “That’s not going to change.”Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, at his grandparents’ farm just outside Wapakoneta. His family moved around Ohio before settling back at Wapakoneta for his high school years. Growing up some 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) north of the Dayton home of the aviation-pioneering Wright Brothers, young Neil was fascinated with airplanes from an early age, building models and hanging them up in his bedroom.As a teen in Wapakoneta, he used earnings from an after-school job at a drugstore to pay for flying lessons, pedaling his bicycle a few miles every day to an airfield to practice his skills. He made his first solo flight at age 16, 20 years before he went into space for the first time inside Gemini 8 for what became a harrowing mission that he survived to make history in 1969.Celebrations got started last October with a red-carpet gala for a special showing of “First Man ,” starring Ryan Gosling and based on historian James R. Hansen’s Armstrong biography, in the historic downtown Wapa theatre .Downtown shops are well-supplied with T-shirts, coffee mugs, moon artwork and moon landing memorabilia to sell in the coming days. But the museum — with its moon base-shaped top visible from Interstate 75 — will be the centerpiece for activities around the anniversary, including a NASA livestream broadcast on July 19.Centuori, the museum director who joined the facility in January, has been overseeing construction and remodeling to get ready for the expected influx eager to see planes and space artifacts associated with Armstrong. Those include the Aeronca Champion plane Armstrong flew as a teen, an F5D Skylancer plane he flew as a Navy test pilot, the Gemini 8 capsule he rode into space, and a small moon rock. The museum also will debut an expanded Armstrong education center for students to focus on science, technology, engineering and math.The museum, which opened in 1972, also will unveil two of three new statues in town honoring Armstrong. Although James Rhodes, Ohio’s governor at the time, began planning for the museum even before Armstrong was back on Earth, the astronaut himself preferred a low profile in his post-NASA years. He lived in the Cincinnati area until his death in 2012 at age 82.In keeping with Armstrong’s nature, the museum advises entering visitors that “Mr. Armstrong has never been involved in the management of this museum nor benefited from it in any way.”He did, though, embrace his Wapakoneta connection, telling his welcome-home crowd: “I’m proud to stand before you today and consider myself one of you.”Helping represent those who came after him in space at the celebration will be five of the two dozen other astronauts with Ohio ties: Michael Good, Gregory Johnson, Robert Springer, Donald Thomas and Sunita Williams.
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Russia Lays to Rest Seamen Killed in Sub Fire
The 14 Russian naval officers who died in a military nuclear-powered submarine earlier this week were buried Saturday amid tight security at a St. Petersburg cemetery. The cemetery was cordoned off by the military, and the media was not allowed to attend either the burial or the vigil at a local church.Details remain scant about Monday’s fire on the research submersible in the Barents Sea. Moscow has indicated the crew was studying the sea floor.The Russian Defense Ministry said the sailors were killed by toxic fumes from the fire, and that others survived, although the military hasn’t said how many. Officials didn’t name the nuclear-powered vessel, but Russian media has reported it was Russia’s most secret submersible, the Losharik.News about the accident wasn’t made public until Tuesday — a full day after it occurred. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not confirm until Thursday at the Kremlin that the vessel was nuclear powered.Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the unit remains in working order after crew members took all measures to save it.The submersible was able to return to port in the city of Severomorsk. Russian officials said the officers died of smoke inhalation.The defense ministry says the fire broke out as the vessel was involved in data collecting in Russian waters.Norwegian officials who track radiation in those waters say they have not detected any irregular radiation.
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Cameroon and Nigeria Pledge to Combat Terrorism
Nigeria has promised to assist Cameroon in combating the separatist crisis rocking the central African country’s English speaking region. The pledge, made during a security meeting, has been described by Cameroon authorities as reassuring, following accusations that separatist fighters in Cameroon were being trained in Nigeria, and that weapons they use are brought in through the neighboring country.Weapons used by separatist fighters suspected to have been made in Nigeria and brought into Cameroon, June 6, 2019. ( Moki Kindzeka/VOA)Brigadier General Emmanuel Adamu Ndagi, leader of the Nigerian delegation to the Cameroon-Nigeria transborder security meeting that ended in Yaounde Saturday, says his country has been seriously affected by the separatist crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.The closure of parts of the border has led to a sharp decline in food imports, like sorghum, rice and onions, to Nigeria on one hand, while basic commodities exported from Nigeria, like fuel, are hard to get into Cameroon. Ndagi says because of the security, economic and humanitarian threats caused by the separatist war, Nigeria will support Cameroon in bringing peace to its troubled regions.”The current political upheavals in that region will not be allowed to affect our cordial relations,” said Ndagi. “We will continue to support your efforts to bring lasting peace to the region. This will facilitate the return of Cameroonian refugees that have crossed the border into Nigerian territory. We must reduce vulnerabilities along our borders that are being exploited to perpetrate transnational organized crime notably terrorism, proliferation of small arms and light weapons as well as piracy.”Paul Atanga Nji, head of Cameroon delegation (left) and Brigadier General Emmanuel Adamu Ndagi, leader of the Nigerian delegation (right) in Yaounde, Cameroon, July 6, 2019. ( Moki Kindzeka/VOA)When Cameroon declared war on the armed separatists in November 2017, it said gunmen were attacking border localities in Cameroon’s southwest and escaping to Nigeria, where some of them were trained. Nigeria denied the assailants were crossing over from its territory into Cameroon.In January 2018, 47 separatists, including Ayuk Tabe Julius, head of a group from Cameroon’s Angolphone regions pushing for a breakaway from the French-dominant country, were arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, extradited and jailed in Cameroon.Paul Atanga Nji, territorial administration minister and Cameroon’s leader of the delegation to the security meeting, says in spite of the collaboration, the separatists continue to use porous borders to import weapons through Nigeria, making the security situation very uncertain.”The security situation along our common borders has all of a sudden become a cause for concern,” Nji said. “These threats take the following forms. Secessionist tendencies, illegal exploitation of natural resources, conflicts between boarder communities, highway robbery, drug and human trafficking, illicit trafficking of fire arms, agro pastoral conflicts etc.”The UNHCR says that by December 2018 there were more than 32,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria’s Cross River state.Nigeria’s longest international border is with Cameroon. All along the 1,975 kilometer border there are violent crises. Nigeria’s northeast states of Borno and Adamawa continue to have Boko Haram terrorist attacks.As the Yaounde security meeting was going on, Kildadi Taguieke Boukar, governor of Cameroon’s Adamaoua region that shares a boundary with Nigeria’s Taraba state, announced renewed conflicts with Nigerians escaping farmer-herder clashes to Cameroon.”There is a conflict along some tribes in Nigeria’s Taraba state. About 100 people from Nigeria flee [have escaped] to our territory around Kontcha division [administrative unit and], there is agro-pastoral [farmer-herder] conflicts,” Boukar said.Nigeria has not confirmed the renewed violence, but confrontations erupted last year in Cameroon’s Adamaoua region between farmers and Nigerian cattle ranchers who had escaped tribal wars in Taraba state.The Cameroon-Nigeria Transborder Security Committee has as prime objective strengthening border security for both countries. It was created in 2012 in Nigeria.Cameroon and Nigeria agreed on Friday to take further measures to boost multifaceted cooperation in the fight against terrorism along their shared border.They did not disclose details of how their cooperation will be carried out, but they said they would share information regularly to stop terrorist activities including Boko Haram attacks and separatists fighting for the independence of an English-speaking sate in Cameroon.They said they would make it difficult for criminals to leave Nigeria for Cameroon and vice versa.
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