Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Saturday that he and Poland’s president had agreed that sanctions ought to continue against Russia until Ukraine regained the territory it lost in Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Zelenskiy, accompanied by some members of his Cabinet, was on his first visit to Poland as president for political talks and to attend ceremonies planned for Sunday to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II.
He said he and Polish President Andrzej Duda had discussed the next steps needed to end the war in eastern Ukraine and to return the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine.
We have agreed on our next steps to stop the war in eastern Ukraine and to bring back occupied Crimea,'' Zelenskiy said.Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 in a move that Ukraine and almost all the world views as illegal. The European Union and the U.S. imposed sanctions. joint and principal position” is that the EU
In eastern Ukraine, a deadly conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has gone on for five years. A member of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service gives a sign to people to stop as they approach a checkpoint at the contact line between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops in Mayorsk, Ukraine July 3, 2019.Zelenskiy said his and Duda'ssanctions should be reviewed only to be increased — not otherwise,'' unless existing peace agreements are fully implemented andthe territorial unity of Ukraine according to its internationally agreed borders” is restored.
Duda said he assured Zelenskiy of his support for continuing sanctions on Russia and protecting Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.'' we must stress how very important it is that no one, in Europe or in the world, is allowed to change borders by force.”
Duda said especially in the context of Sunday's World War II anniversary,
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and dozens of world leaders also will take part in the anniversary ceremonies in Warsaw. The invasion of Poland by Nazi German troops on Sept. 1, 1939, marked the outbreak of World War II.
Poland remained under Nazi German occupation for more than five years and lost some 6 million citizens.
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Month: August 2019
Police Chief: 5 Dead, 21 Hurt in West Texas Shooting
Five people were killed and at least 21 others were injured Saturday in a West Texas shooting, the police chief of the city of Odessa said. Police in nearby Midland said at least one suspect was shot and killed near the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa.At a news conference, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said that at least three law enforcement officers were among those shot. Odessa, TexasHe spoke after a chaotic afternoon during which police reported that a suspect had hijacked a U.S. Postal Service vehicle and had begun firing at random in the Odessa-Midland area, hitting multiple people. Police initially reported that there could be more than one shooter, but Gerke said authorities came to believe it was just one shooter. Gerke said he thought the threat was over but authorities remained vigilant. The Texas Department of Public Safety urged residents to avoid major highways in the area, including Interstate 20.No other details were immediately available.Odessa is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Midland. Both are more than 300 miles (483 kilometers) west of Dallas.
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Ginsburg on Way to Feeling ‘Very Well’ Following Cancer Treatment
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s on her way to being very well'' following radiation treatment for cancer. no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.”
The 86-year-old justice spoke Saturday at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. The event came a little over a week after Ginsburg disclosed that she had completed three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas.
It was the fourth time since 1999 that Ginsburg has been treated for cancer. In announcing the news, the Supreme Court said in a statement that after the treatment there was
Ginsburg was treated for colorectal cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer in 2009, and she had lung cancer surgery in December.
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This Time, Trump’s Tariffs Will Hit US Consumers
President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, until now mainly an abstraction for American consumers, is about to hit home.
Beginning Sunday, the U.S. government will begin collecting 15% tariffs on $112 billion in Chinese imports — items ranging from smartwatches and TVs to shoes, diapers, sporting goods, and meat and dairy products. For the first time since Trump launched his trade war, American households face price increases because many U.S. companies say they’ll be forced to pass on to customers the higher prices they’ll pay on Chinese imports.
For more than a year, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in a high-stakes duel marked by Trump’s escalating import taxes on Chinese goods and Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs.
The two sides have held periodic talks that seem to have made little progress despite glimmers of potential breakthroughs. All the while, they’ve imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of each other’s products in a rift over what analysts say is Beijing’s predatory tactics in its drive to become the supreme high-tech superpower.
American consumers have so far been spared the worst of it: The Trump administration had left most everyday household items off its tariff list (valued at $250 billion in Chinese products so far) and instead targeted industrial goods.
FILE – President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. China will raise tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation for Trump’s Sept. 1 duty increase.That’s about to change. When Trump’s new tariffs kick in at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, 69% of the consumer goods Americans buy from China will face his import taxes, up from 29% now.
More in DecemberThat isn’t all. Higher tariffs are set to kick in for another batch of Chinese products — $160 billion worth — on Dec. 15. By then, roughly 99% of made-in-China consumer goods imported to the United States will be taxed, according to calculations by Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Overall, Trump’s trade war will have raised the average tariff on Chinese imports from 3.1% in 2017, before the hostilities began, to 24.3%.
“The bottom line is that, for the first time, Trump’s trade war is likely to directly raise prices for a lot of household budget items like clothing, shoes, toys and consumer electronics,” Bown wrote in an report.
For months, Trump — who famously declared that trade wars are “easy to win” — falsely claimed that China itself paid the tariffs and that they left Americans unscathed. In fact, U.S. importers pay the tariffs. They must make a high-risk decision: whether to absorb the higher costs themselves and accept lower profits or pass on their higher costs to their customers and risk losing business.
This has become an ever more difficult decision. After years of ultra-low inflation, consumers have grown more resistant to price hikes, especially when they can easily compare prices online for household products and choose the lowest-price options. For that reason, many retailers may choose not to impose the cost of Trump’s higher tariffs on their customers.
FILE – A man walks by an exchange shop decorated with Chinese yuan in Hong Kong, Aug. 6, 2019. China let the yuan sink to an 11-year low against the dollar after President Donald Trump threatened to block U.S. firms from doing business with China.And the higher costs U.S. importers face could be offset somewhat by the declining value of China’s currency, which has the effect of making its products somewhat less expensive in the United States.
Still, certain goods will cost Americans more. Trump tacitly acknowledged this a few weeks ago by announcing a delay in his higher tariffs on $160 billion in imports until Dec. 15 — to keep them from squeezing holiday shoppers. $1,000 per household
Even before the December tariffs, though, 52% of shoes and 87% of textiles and clothing imported from China were to be hit by Trump’s tariffs, according to Peterson’s Bown. And not even counting the increase — from 10% to 15% — that Trump announced for his new tariffs a week ago, J.P. Morgan had estimated that his import taxes would cost the average household roughly $1,000 a year.
“The story that holiday goods [were] given a reprieve is fake news,” said Stephen Lamar of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. Overall, the 15% September and December tariffs will force Americans to pay an extra $4 billion a year for shoes and boots, according to a footwear trade group.
Retailers, engaged for a battle for survival with Amazon and other e-commerce rivals, are bracing for the worst. Macy’s raised an alarm when it reported earnings in August: In May, Trump had raised separate tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25%. In response, Macy’s tried to raise prices of some items on the hit list — luggage, housewares, furniture. But according to CEO Jeff Gennette, customers just said no.
Some retailers are trying to force their suppliers to eat the higher costs so they won’t have to raise prices for shoppers. Target confirmed to The Associated Press that it warned suppliers that it wouldn’t accept cost increases arising from the China tariffs. Some small retailers are even more vulnerable.
Jennifer Lee, whose family owns Footprint shoe store in San Francisco, stands by a wall of athletic shoes, Aug. 28, 2019. Many of the shoes are made in China and will be subject to new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods starting Sept. 1.”Any cost increase puts us in a tough place,” said Jennifer Lee, whose family owns the Footprint shoe store in San Francisco. “It makes it tough for business owners because we will have to take a hit on our margins, but it will also be difficult for us to pass it on to our shoppers.”
Albert Chow, who owns Great Wall Hardware in San Francisco, said he’s already raised prices on some Chinese-made products because an earlier round of tariffs led his suppliers to raise prices 10% to 20%.
Albert Chow of Great Wall Hardware in San Francisco points to faucet parts, whose prices have increased because of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, Aug. 28, 2019. He had to raise the price from $5.49 to $5.99.”I will try to keep the prices down for as long as I can,” Chow said. “But at some point, when the tariffs are just too much, we have to eventually raise the prices, and then it goes down to the end user — the customer.” Otherwise upbeatWhat’s frustrating for retailers is that consumers might otherwise be in an exuberant mood this holiday season: For most Americans, their jobs are safe and their wages are rising. Unemployment is near a half-century low.
Yet the economy itself looks increasingly fragile. Growth is slowing as the global economy weakens. And Trump’s mercurial approach to trade policy — imposing, delaying, reimposing import taxes via tweet — makes it nearly impossible for companies to decide on suppliers, factory sites and new markets. So they delay investments, further straining the economy.
“We worry about the average family in this country paying $500, $600, even $1,000 more annually because of the impact of tariffs,” said Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We worry about what it means for business confidence, business certainty and investment.”
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Italian Bodybuilder, Actor Columbu Dies at 78
Italian bodybuilder, boxer and actor Franco Columbu, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s closest friends, has died at age 78.
Columbu died in a hospital in his native Sardinia on Friday afternoon after becoming ill while he was swimming in the sea.
His longtime friend Schwarzenegger tweeted:I love you Franco. I will always remember the joy you brought to my life, the advices you gave me, and the twinkle in your eye that never disappeared. You were my best friend. https://t.co/X3GhZKlgAd— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 30, 2019 After starting his career as a boxer, Columbu progressed into Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting and later bodybuilding, winning the prestigious title of Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981.
Besides his athletic career, Columbu also acted in popular TV series and movies. He appeared in Schwarzenegger’s films The Terminator, The Running Man and Conan the Barbarian.
Columbu was Schwarzenegger’s best man at his marriage to Maria Shriver in 1986.
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Trump Tweets, Golfs Amid Hurricane Preparations
After canceling a trip to Poland to stay stateside to oversee the federal government’s response to an approaching hurricane, President Donald Trump took time out to golf and to send a thinly veiled warning to his ousted Oval Office gatekeeper.The president, on Saturday morning, was flown on Marine One from Camp David in Maryland to his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
Camp David has a driving range and a single golf hole with multiple tees, but the president, keeping to his weekend routine when the weather is fair, chose to head to the nearest of his private 18-hole courses.Before departing the presidential retreat, which he rarely has used, Trump dispatched a blizzard of tweets – at a rate of nearly one per minute over an hour – on his personal @realDonaldTrump account.Some of his tweets referenced Hurricane Dorian, a Category 4 storm poised to damage the southeastern U.S. coast, with Trump noting it could pose more of a threat to South Carolina and Georgia than the original forecast of landfall in Florida.Looking like our great South Carolina could get hit MUCH harder than first thought. Georgia and North Carolina also. It’s moving around and very hard to predict, except that it is one of the biggest and strongest (and really wide) that we have seen in decades. Be safe!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – President Donald Trump’s personal secretary Madeleine Westerhout stands outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 2, 2018.A pair of Saturday tweets by Trump focused on the abrupt departure of Oval Office gatekeeper Madeleine Westerhout, who had dished gossip to a group of reporters during an off-the-record dinner and drinking session about the president’s eating habits. She also disparaged daughter Tiffany Trump, claiming the president does not like being photographed with her because he thinks she is overweight.Book publishers reportedly have been seeking to contact Westerhout after she was not permitted to return on Friday to her job as a personal assistant to the president.Trump, on Twitter, said Westerhout had signed a confidentially agreement, but “I don’t think there would ever be reason to use it. She called me yesterday to apologize, had a bad night. I fully understood and forgave her! I love Tiffany, doing great!”While Madeleine Westerhout has a fully enforceable confidentiality agreement, she is a very good person and I don’t think there would ever be reason to use it. She called me yesterday to apologize, had a bad night. I fully understood and forgave her! I love Tiffany, doing great!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2019In a subsequent tweet, the president claimed he is “currently suing several people for violating their confidentiality agreements,” including former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, who was fired after one year as the communications director in the White House Office of Public Liaison….Yes, I am currently suing various people for violating their confidentiality agreements. Disgusting and foul mouthed Omarosa is one. I gave her every break, despite the fact that she was despised by everyone, and she went for some cheap money from a book. Numerous others also!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2019A number of former federal lawyers and private attorneys rebutted Trump on Twitter, asserting that the non-disclosure agreements are not legally enforceable unless classified information is revealed.Trump himself is facing some criticism about revealing sensitive U.S. government information after he tweeted on Friday a detailed photograph of a launchpad explosion of an Iranian rocket that was set to put a satellite into space. Analysts say the public release of an image with such resolution is unprecedented and was probably taken by a KH-11 American spy satellite known as USA-224.”We had a photo and I released it, which I have the absolute right to do,” Trump told reporters on Friday.U.S. presidents are able to declassify information at their discretion – the most prominent example being John Kennedy’s decision in 1962 to make public pictures taken by a U-2 spy plane that revealed Soviets troops were placing missiles in Cuba aimed at the United States.
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Thousands March in Moscow Protest Defying Authorities
Current Time TV is a Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
MOSCOW — Thousands of Russians defied authorities and marched in central Moscow, ignoring officials’ warnings and pressing demands to let independent candidates run in upcoming city council elections.Police did not interfere with the August 31 protest, which was markedly smaller than previous ones.However, camouflaged officers linked arms to keep marchers out of the road when demonstrators arrived at Pushkin Square — a symbolically important public park closer to the Kremlin. A heavy presence of detention buses and water-cannon trucks were visible on nearby side streets.Neither police nor independent watchdogs reported any arrests or detentions from the action — in contrast to other recent protests in which thousands were detained, sometimes violently.The August 31 action was the latest in a series of confrontations between liberal activists, and Moscow city authorities — and the Kremlin.Demonstrators clapped and chanted “Russia Will Be Free!” and “Down With The Tsar!” (in a reference to President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power in Russia for two decades), as they walked along a leafy boulevard just a few kilometers north of the Kremlin.A leading opposition figure and one of the organizers of the march, Lyubov Sobol, led people chanting “Freedom For Political Prisoners.””People of different ages have come out because everyone wants justice. They want Russia to be free and happy and to not drown in lawlessness and mayhem. We demand this and we will not back down,” she told reporters.At Pushkin Square, the ending point for the march, participants milled around, occasionally yelling political chants. One group entered the crowd carrying a large banner citing the clause in the constitution that gives Russians the right to gather peacefully, and yelled “We Need Another Russia!”Unofficial estimates put the crowd size in the low thousands.Protesters also yelled “Let Them Through!” as they marched — a reference to the City Duma elections scheduled for Sept. 8.The refusal by election officials to register some independent candidates has been the impetus for the protests that have been held weekly since mid-July.However, they’ve also turned into a major challenge for the Kremlin and a reflection of growing impatience among Russians with President Vladimir Putin.The weekly protests first erupted in July as election authorities blocked some independent candidates from registering to run on September 8.The initial rallies drew tens of thousands of people in some of the largest political demonstrations seen in the country since 2012. Some, though not all, were authorized by officials ahead of time.Police have violently dispersed several of the earlier demonstrations, some of which authorities described as “illegal mass gatherings.” More than 2,000 people have been detained, some preemptively, drawing international condemnation.
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Georgian Deputy FM: Russia Exclusively to Blame Over Latest Tensions
This story originated in Russian military vehicles and personnel are reportedly seen from a birds-eye view near the village of Chorchana, Khashuri municipality, Georgia. (Social media)Georgian police had quickly erected the tower after observing the “mobilization of military equipment and personnel” by Russia near the village of Chorchana, in Georgian territory, about three kilometers south of territory controlled by the Russian-backed South Ossetian de facto authorities.Russia has been engaged in a process of “borderization” in the Gori region, where the Russia-Georgia War happened in 2008. The Russian occupation forces have been erecting fences and other barriers to separate land it occupies from the remainder of Georgian territory.VOA footage shot from the Georgian police observation post Friday morning shows a partially constructed barrier along the edge of Chorchana. The new Russian barrier is the first in the Khashuri region. Georgian police set up the observation tower overlooking the wall construction site to determine whether it crossed into Georgian-controlled land, which would physically expand the footprint of Russian-occupied territory.Pro-Russian separatists have objected to the police presence, saying the observation tower is right next to a village on South Ossetian territory called Uista, known as Tsnelisi in Georgia.
Georgian Checkpoint video player.
Embed” />CopyGeorgian Checkpoint”I hope Georgia … will do everything to resolve the instability they caused by their illegal actions,” the breakaway region’s leader, Anatoly Bibilov, was quoted as saying by Russian agencies. “Resolving this issue by force would be highly undesirable.”Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia says no law has been broken.”Our position is that this is central government-controlled territory, and the Georgian government is not considering any withdrawal of the police position from the area,” he told VOA’s Georgian Service in an exclusive interview Friday. “At the same time, we all have to work together toward the de-escalation process.”Russia in ‘full control’Darsalia also said that, despite the fact that it is de facto authorities of the breakaway region who are protesting the Georgian police presence, is only Moscow that is responsible for the situation on the ground.”I want to highlight that I really don’t distinguish de facto authorities from the only one [Russia], which has full responsibility for the situation and de-escalation processes there,” he said. “The Russian Federation is the one who exercises full control of these territories. This is important to highlight.”
Chorchana Border Buildup video player.
Embed” />CopyChorchana Border BuildupHe also said the situation on the ground, while still tense, was currently “more calm as compared to this morning.”The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Russia’s mobilization of military equipment in the conflict zone and in a tweet called the latest actions “yet another provocation.”Statement of @MFAgovge.The Ministry expresses concern about mobilisation of military equipment and personnel by t/occupation forces at t/occupation line, close to village Chorchana. such actions represent yet another provocation https://t.co/64naQNC4Xz— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) August 29, 2019Earlier Friday, Kakha Kemoklidze, Georgia’s National Security Council chief of staff, told VOA “this is an average incident that requires a pragmatic, calm approach, and activation of all diplomatic means at our disposal.”The village of Chorchana — before and after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war — was in territory controlled by the government of Georgia,” he added. “On this territory, the EU monitoring mission, as well as Georgian police mobile patrol units, were conducting operations with varying intensity.” Kemoklidze said the statement by the Russian-backed South Ossetian authorities that “Georgian police have ‘started to appear’ is not newsworthy: Georgian police have always been present here, although there was no permanent observation point.”Kemoklidze also said he anticipates that “we can resolve this through a dialogue — at least, that is the great desire of the Georgian government.”On Thursday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had said in a statement that “recent developments along the administrative boundary line had negatively impacted the overall security situation.”Tensions in this region escalated in August 2008, when Russia invaded South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and penetrated deeper into Georgian territory, before agreeing to an EU-brokered cease-fire. Shortly after the invasion, Russia recognized these territories as independent states, as did Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru sometime later.No other countries recognize the independence of these territories, and instead consider Russia’s ongoing military presence as an “illegal occupation” of 20% of Georgia’s sovereign territory.The U.S. State Department has issued multiple statements over the preceding two weeks saying that it has been “monitoring reports of military buildup” in the area and calling on Russia to “prevent further escalation.”We are monitoring reports of military buildup near the administrative boundary line (ABL) of the Russian-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia. We call on the Russian Federation to utilize all available channels to prevent further escalation of the situation along the ABL. pic.twitter.com/fLXUdX3TSZ— Morgan Ortagus (@statedeptspox) August 30, 2019
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Experts: Muted US Criticism of North Korea’s Missile Tests Emboldens Its Weapons Program
Baik Sung-won and Kim dong-hyun contributed to this report.WASHINGTON — Muted U.S. criticism of North Korea’s missile tests is encouraging Pyongyang to escalate its weapons program, undermining Washington’s own diplomatic efforts aimed at denuclearization, experts have told VOA in recent days.“Trump’s casual dismissal of seven rounds of [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un’s ballistic missile tests [since late July] is an inexcusable act that, in effect, is viewed by Kim as license to continue to pursue his weapons of mass destruction programs,” Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told VOA by email Thursday.North Korea has conducted U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks to reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon, Aug. 28, 2019.Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at a Pentagon news conference Wednesday that the U.S. is concerned about North Korea’s short-range missile tests. But Esper said, “On the other hand, we’re not going to overreact.” He continued, “We want to take a measured response and make sure that we don’t close the door to diplomacy.”The Trump administration has largely played down North Korea’s missile tests, in an apparent move to continue diplomacy aimed at denuclearizing the country. In response to the latest round of tests North Korea conducted on August 23, Trump said Kim did not violate a promise made to him because “we never restricted short-range missiles.”Dennis Wilder, the National Security Council’s senior director for East Asia affairs during the George W. Bush administration, said by email Thursday, “Because it seems there is no way to get the North to the negotiating table, the administration is prepared to allow the short-range missile testing, as long as it does not destabilize the situation on the peninsula or in Northeast Asia.” “The cost of doing this,” he said, “is that Kim continues to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons and develop other parts of his military arsenal.”FILE – This photo taken Feb. 8, 2018, and released on Feb. 9, 2018, by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Hwasong-15 ballistic missile during the military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea.North Korea said Thursday it would be a “mistake” for the West to think it would give up weapons it says are required to maintain peace.The statement, circulated by North Korea’s U.N. mission, was issued in response to a joint British, French and German statement issued in a closed-door U.N. Security Council session Tuesday condemning North Korea for recent missile tests. Evans Revere, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific during the George W. Bush administration, said by phone Tuesday Washington’s “constant dismissal of the significance of things like ballistic missile launches … has the effect of encouraging the North Koreans into thinking that they are on the right track.”North Korea has apparently developed advanced missile technology that can evade preemptive strikes targeted to destroy missiles before they are launched and missile defense systems designed to intercept incoming missiles in flight.According to Douglas Paal, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Trump administration’s dismissal of North Korea’s missile tests has also made South Korea as well as Japan skeptical of Washington’s security policy in East Asia.FILE – President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019.“The muted criticism of North Korea, following President Trump’s lead, is reinforcing doubts in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. does not share their concerns about the growing missile threats to them and cares more about missiles that can reach U.S. territory,” said Paal by email Thursday. “The U.S. sense of detachment from Korean security interests is contributing to a drift in the alliance.”Against U.S. recommendations, Seoul pulled out of an intelligence-sharing pact that shares sensitive military information with Tokyo last week. The U.S. has been expressing disappointment and concerns about Seoul’s move to end the agreement.In response, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young reportedly asked U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris Wednesday to refrain from publicly expressing disapproval of its decision to terminate the agreement.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe disagreed with Trump on North Korea’s missile tests when the two met in France for an annual Group of Seven summit last Sunday.Abe said, “It was extremely regrettable for us to experience another around of the launch of the short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea in recent days.”
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Sudan’s Ex-President Bashir Charged With Corruption
A Sudanese judge formally indicted former president Omar al-Bashir on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption on Saturday.Questioned in court for the first time, Bashir said that he had received $25 million from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as funds from other sources, but that he had not received or used the money for his own benefit.A lawyer for Bashir said that his client denied the charges against him and that witnesses for the defense would be presented at the next hearing.The judge denied a request for bail and said a decision on the duration of Bashir’s detention would be taken at a hearing on Sept. 7.Sudan’s military ousted and arrested Bashir in April after months of protests across the country. His prosecution is seen as a test of how far military and civilian authorities now sharing power will go to counter the legacy of his 30-year rule.Bashir was also charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters. He has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of masterminding genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.A police detective told the court earlier this month that Bashir had acknowledged receiving millions from Saudi Arabia.
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Australia Plans to Rescue at-Risk Native Fish
A worsening drought is pushing parts of eastern Australia towards a “Fish Armageddon,” according to senior politicians.With not much rain on the horizon, as well as record low river levels, there are fears eastern Australia will witness more fish dying at a higher rate than last summer.A million fish died in January at Menindee, 1,000 kilometers west of Sydney, when a sudden drop in temperature caused algae to die. As the algae decomposed, oxygen was sucked out of the river, suffocating marine life.Farmers and conservationists accused the state government of allowing cotton growers to drain too much water from the Murray-Darling River Basin, one of Australia’s key waterways. Officials, though, blamed a worsening drought. They have announced a multimillion dollar fish rescue plan to help avert an “ecological disaster.”Modern Noah’s ArkThe New South Wales Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall says vulnerable native fish will be relocated from the river to hatcheries for safety.“I cannot sugar-coat it, it will be the equivalent of a ‘Fish Armageddon’ in New South Wales this summer, and I say that based on all the evidence. We will use hatcheries like this to create a modern-day Noah’s Ark for native fish species in New South Wales,” Marshall said.The fish will be kept in captivity until river conditions improve.Environmental groups, however, say changes are needed to water policy and management to improve flows to ensure “living, functioning” rivers.Playing God?Paul Humphries, an ecologist at Charles Sturt University, believes the Noah’s Ark plan probably will not work.“It is a terrible choice because it was actually floods that caused the problem that Noah was trying to solve and here we are talking about droughts. It is also, I think, a problem because Noah was essentially being instructed by God and in some ways we are playing God with this sort of stuff,” Humphries said.Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent. Scientists are warning that climate change not only threatens national treasures such as the Great Barrier Reef, but also critical river systems that sustain the nation’s agriculture.
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At US-Mexico Border, Africans Join Diversifying Migrant Community
VOA’s Ramon Taylor contributed to this report.SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — It took Julia and her two daughters five years to get from Kassai, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to a cot on the floor of a migrant shelter in Laredo, Texas, on a Sunday night in August 2019.First, it was four years in Angola. She saved money, she says, by working as a hairdresser.They flew to Ecuador. Took a bus and boat to Colombia. They spent 14 days crossing through Panama’s Darien Gap, lost part of the time in the dense jungle. Three weeks in Panama, then three more in Costa Rica while Julia recuperated from an illness. Then Nicaragua. Honduras. Guatemala.Finally, after a month of waiting in Acuña, on the U.S.-Mexico border, they stuck their feet in the sandy dirt along the southern bank of the Rio Grande. They were alone, and didn’t know how to swim.“We prayed first, then we got into the water,” Julia recalled. “My daughter was crying.” “‘Mom, I can’t…’” Julia remembers her pleading in chest-high water.Halfway across, she says, U.S. soldiers — possibly border agents — shouted to them: “‘Come, give us your hands.’““I did,” Julia recalls, “and they took us out.”Migrants from African countries rest outside a barn used as a shelter in Peñitas, Darien Province, Panama, May 10, 2019. African and Asian migrants tend to pay smugglers to shepherd them through the Darien Gap on their journey north to the U.S.More families from afarHistorically, the majority of people caught crossing into the southwest U.S. without authorization were single Mexican adults. In fiscal 2009, Mexicans accounted for 91.63% of border apprehensions, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.But demographics of migrants and asylum-seekers crossing into the U.S. from Mexico are shifting in two significant ways: In the last decade, nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras began migrating in greater numbers. In the same period, the number of Mexicans dropped.Then, in the last year, families became the top source of Southwest border migration. The Border Patrol apprehended 432,838 adults and children traveling in family units from October 2018 through July 2019, a 456% increase over the same period the previous fiscal year.To the surprise of longtime border agents, while the overwhelming majority of these families continue to be from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Central America, a small but growing proportion are from countries outside the Americas, nearly twice as much as two years ago.By the end of July this year, A U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Dive Team searches for a 2-year-old Haitian girl in Rio Grande River in Del Rio, Texas, July 2, 2019.CBP does not release the breakdown of where detained migrants come from until after the end of the fiscal year in September. But anecdotes and preliminary data show an increasingly diverse group of migrants and asylum-seekers, including more than 1,600 African nationals from 36 countries, apprehended in one border sector alone.They are unprecedented numbers.Allen Vowell, an acting deputy patrol agent in charge with the U.S. Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas, said the recent demographic changes are unlike any he has seen in two decades of working on the border.“I would say until this year, Africans — personally I’ve probably only seen a handful in over 20 years,” Vowell said.From Oct. 1, 2018, to Aug. 22, 2019, Del Rio sector agents apprehended 51,394 people, including 1,681 nationals of African countries. They are largely, like Julia, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola or Cameroon, according to sector officials.The arrival of sub-Saharan nationals — often Congolese, according to Del Rio Sector officials — posed new challenges. A lot of border agents are bilingual in English and Spanish. But when apprehending a group that primarily spoke French and Portuguese, the agents had to scramble for interpreters.While many migrants from the Northern Triangle have relatives in the U.S. as a point of contact or a destination, those from Africa are less likely to have those relationships.That means they are more likely to stay in migrant shelters in the U.S. or in Mexico for longer, waiting to figure out their next steps until their immigration court hearing.There is the political tumult in Venezuela, leading to the exodus of millions of people scattered throughout the region.FILE – Yenly Morales, left, and Yenly Herrera, right, immigrants from Cuba seeking asylum in the United States, wait on the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2018.The end of the “wet foot dry foot” policy with Cuba that allowed migrants who reached the shores of Florida to remain, Cubans who want to leave the island for the U.S. to take a more circuitous route.And then, to the surprise of Border Patrol agents, FILE – A man shovels snow from the roof of his home after a storm in Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2014.“My dream is to arrive there, to New York. To get a job. To put the girls in school,” Julia responds.“I suffered a lot already,” she says, something she repeats without going into more detail. She has a tendency to stare off, lose herself in thought when the conversation nears the darker parts of their family history.“I don’t want my children to go through the same,” she says. “We suffered a lot. I don’t want that anymore for my children.”The shelter where they stayed does not track migrants after they’ve left, and for privacy and safety reasons, shelters do not share whether individuals are staying with them.Attempts by VOA to locate Julia, Ketsia and Jemima in the weeks following the interview were unsuccessful.
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At U.S.-Mexico Border, Africans Join Diversifying Migrant Community
VOA’s Ramon Taylor contributed to this report.SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — It took Julia and her two daughters five years to get from Kassai, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to a cot on the floor of a migrant shelter in Laredo, Texas, on a Sunday night in August 2019.First, it was four years in Angola. She saved money, she says, by working as a hairdresser.They flew to Ecuador. Took a bus and boat to Colombia. They spent 14 days crossing through Panama’s Darien Gap, lost part of the time in the dense jungle. Three weeks in Panama, then three more in Costa Rica while Julia recuperated from an illness. Then Nicaragua. Honduras. Guatemala.Finally, after a month of waiting in Acuña, on the U.S.-Mexico border, they stuck their feet in the sandy dirt along the southern bank of the Rio Grande. They were alone, and didn’t know how to swim.“We prayed first, then we got into the water,” Julia recalled. “My daughter was crying.” “‘Mom, I can’t…’” Julia remembers her pleading in chest-high water.Halfway across, she says, U.S. soldiers — possibly border agents — shouted to them: “‘Come, give us your hands.’““I did,” Julia recalls, “and they took us out.”Migrants from African countries rest outside a barn used as a shelter in Peñitas, Darien Province, Panama, May 10, 2019. African and Asian migrants tend to pay smugglers to shepherd them through the Darien Gap on their journey north to the U.S.More families from afarHistorically, the majority of people caught crossing into the southwest U.S. without authorization were single Mexican adults. In fiscal 2009, Mexicans accounted for 91.63% of border apprehensions, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.But demographics of migrants and asylum-seekers crossing into the U.S. from Mexico are shifting in two significant ways: In the last decade, nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras began migrating in greater numbers. In the same period, the number of Mexicans dropped.Then, in the last year, families became the top source of Southwest border migration. The Border Patrol apprehended 432,838 adults and children traveling in family units from October 2018 through July 2019, a 456% increase over the same period the previous fiscal year.To the surprise of longtime border agents, while the overwhelming majority of these families continue to be from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Central America, a small but growing proportion are from countries outside the Americas, nearly twice as much as two years ago.By the end of July this year, A U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Dive Team searches for a 2-year-old Haitian girl in Rio Grande River in Del Rio, Texas, July 2, 2019.CBP does not release the breakdown of where detained migrants come from until after the end of the fiscal year in September. But anecdotes and preliminary data show an increasingly diverse group of migrants and asylum-seekers, including more than 1,600 African nationals from 36 countries, apprehended in one border sector alone.They are unprecedented numbers.Allen Vowell, an acting deputy patrol agent in charge with the U.S. Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas, said the recent demographic changes are unlike any he has seen in two decades of working on the border.“I would say until this year, Africans — personally I’ve probably only seen a handful in over 20 years,” Vowell said.From Oct. 1, 2018, to Aug. 22, 2019, Del Rio sector agents apprehended 51,394 people, including 1,681 nationals of African countries. They are largely, like Julia, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola or Cameroon, according to sector officials.The arrival of sub-Saharan nationals — often Congolese, according to Del Rio Sector officials — posed new challenges. A lot of border agents are bilingual in English and Spanish. But when apprehending a group that primarily spoke French and Portuguese, the agents had to scramble for interpreters.While many migrants from the Northern Triangle have relatives in the U.S. as a point of contact or a destination, those from Africa are less likely to have those relationships.That means they are more likely to stay in migrant shelters in the U.S. or in Mexico for longer, waiting to figure out their next steps until their immigration court hearing.There is the political tumult in Venezuela, leading to the exodus of millions of people scattered throughout the region.FILE – Yenly Morales, left, and Yenly Herrera, right, immigrants from Cuba seeking asylum in the United States, wait on the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2018.The end of the “wet foot dry foot” policy with Cuba that allowed migrants who reached the shores of Florida to remain, Cubans who want to leave the island for the U.S. to take a more circuitous route.And then, to the surprise of Border Patrol agents, FILE – A man shovels snow from the roof of his home after a storm in Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2014.“My dream is to arrive there, to New York. To get a job. To put the girls in school,” Julia responds.“I suffered a lot already,” she says, something she repeats without going into more detail. She has a tendency to stare off, lose herself in thought when the conversation nears the darker parts of their family history.“I don’t want my children to go through the same,” she says. “We suffered a lot. I don’t want that anymore for my children.”The shelter where they stayed does not track migrants after they’ve left, and for privacy and safety reasons, shelters do not share whether individuals are staying with them.Attempts by VOA to locate Julia, Ketsia and Jemima in the weeks following the interview were unsuccessful.
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Many From Africa, Haiti Seek Asylum at US Southern Border
While most migrants who arrive at America’s southern border are from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas’ Del Rio Sector reports apprehending people from more than 50 countries in the last year. VOA’s Ramon Taylor and Victoria Macchi spoke with asylum-seeking families who have journeyed across the Atlantic and through the Americas en route to the US-Mexico border, desperate for a new beginning.
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Is Russia Using Patriotism as a Political Tool?
In Russia, countrywide celebrations have been held to mark the 350th anniversary of the national flag. Yet, only 50 percent of respondents polled in a recent survey could correctly name the sequence of the colors on the flag. Russia recently saw a surge of patriotic celebrations orchestrated by local and federal authorities. Yulia Savchenko has more from Moscow on the state-promoted events.
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Kennedy Assassin Sirhan Sirhan in Hospital After Prison Stabbing
Sirhan Sirhan, imprisoned for more than 50 years for the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was hospitalized Friday after being stabbed by a fellow inmate at a San Diego prison.A statement from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the stabbing occurred Friday afternoon at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.“Officers responded quickly, and found an inmate with stab wound injuries. He was transported to an outside hospital for medical care, and is currently in stable condition,” the statement said.The statement did not name Sirhan, but a government source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Associated Press that he was the victim. The source spoke under condition of anonymity, citing prison privacy regulations.The stabbing was first reported by TMZ.Corrections officials reported that the alleged attacker has been identified and has been segregated from the rest of the prison population pending an investigation.Kennedy assassinationSirhan, 75, was convicted of shooting Kennedy shortly after midnight June 5, 1968, immediately after the New York senator had declared victory in the previous day’s California Democratic presidential primary.Kennedy had just finished delivering his victory speech to cheering supporters at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel when he decided to walk through the hotel kitchen. He had stopped to shake hands with a busboy who had delivered food to his room the day before when he was shot in the head. He died the next day.Sirhan was originally sentenced to death. But when California briefly outlawed capital punishment, his sentence was reduced to life in prison. He has been denied parole several times.Five bystanders were wounded during the shooting. In the chaos, Los Angeles Rams football great Rosey Grier, Olympic champion Rafer Johnson and others wrestled the murder weapon away.High-profile prisonerOver the years, Sirhan has claimed to have no recollection of the shooting or his initial confession.As a high-profile prisoner, Sirhan had once been kept in a protective housing unit at Corcoran State Prison in Northern California. After he told authorities several years ago that he would prefer being housed with the general prison population, he was moved to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
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North Korea: Pompeo’s Remarks Make Talks More Difficult
A recent remark by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about “North Korea’s rogue behavior” will make talks with the United States more difficult, the North’s KCNA news agency Saturday quoted its vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, as saying.“We recognized that North Korea’s rogue behavior could not be ignored,” Pompeo said Tuesday, while speaking at the American Legion National Convention in the state of Indiana.Pompeo’s comment was unreasonable and provocative, Choe said, according to the news agency.“Pompeo has gone so far in his language and it made the opening of the expected DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations more difficult,” Choe said in statement.”Stepped up criticismChoe also warned that North Korea’s expectations of talks with the United States are gradually disappearing and the country is being pushed to re-examine all measures.“The U.S. had better not put our patience to the test any longer with such remarks irritating us if it doesn’t want to have bitter regrets afterwards,” Choe said.North Korea has stepped up its criticism of Pompeo lately, calling him a “diehard toxin,” and casting doubt on attempts to restart talks.Negotiations aimed at dismantling the North’s nuclear and missile programs have stalled since a failed second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in February.Trump and Kim met again in June at the inter-Korean border and agreed to reopen working-level negotiations, but that has not happened.Koreans: Replace PompeoSince the Vietnam summit, North Korea has demanded that Pompeo be replaced with a “more mature” person, while lauding the rapport built between Kim and Trump.North Korea has fired a series of short-range missiles in recent weeks in protest against U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises and the adoption of new weapons, complicating the reopening of the talks.
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Hong Kong Police Urge Residents to Stay Away from Unauthorized Rallies
A major protest planned for Saturday was called off by organizers after an appeals board denied permission for the demonstration.It is not clear whether some protesters would still demonstrate on their own.On Friday, two prominent pro-democracy activists were granted bail after being arrested and charged with inciting people to join an unauthorized protest in June.Joshua Wong, founder of the political party Demosisto, and Agnes Chow, also of Demosisto, were arrested Friday morning.Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow leave the Eastern Court after being released on bail in Hong Kong, Aug. 30, 2019.Demosisto, which advocates for greater democracy in Hong Kong, said on its official Twitter account that Wong “was suddenly pushed into a private car on the street.” Chow was arrested at her home.Wong was a prominent figure of Hong Kong’s Umbrella movement for full democracy during protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days. In June, he was released from jail after serving a five-week term for contempt of court.On Thursday, police also arrested Andy Chan, a founder of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party on suspicion of “participating in riots” and “attacking police” during a protest July 13.Intense China responseIn an interview with VOA, Wong said protesters are “afraid of Beijing” and that China’s response to the current protests is much more intense than its approach to the Umbrella Movement.“During the Umbrella Movement, the police fired 80 to 90 [rounds of] tear gas in Hong Kong. Now, they fired 2,000 [rounds of] tear gas in Hong Kong. So, we experienced a stronger crackdown on human rights,” he said.Police have arrested about 900 protesters since the demonstrations, generally peaceful, began in June to stop a now-suspended extradition bill that would allow for sending criminal suspects to mainland China for trial.The protests have evolved into a movement for democratic reforms, but have recently turned violent, with protesters clashing with police.Beijing has positioned paramilitary forces at Hong Kong’s border as part of its campaign to suppress the protests. Wong declared the move “is not a solution to silence the voices of the protesters.”Another TiananmenWong warned it is “time for people to be aware that perhaps another Tiananmen Massacre may happen in Hong Kong,” a reference to the deadly 1989 student-led demonstrations in Beijing. “So the world’s leaders should support the Hong Kong people with [their] solidarity.”Wong also told VOA his invitation to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping still stands.“President Xi should come to Hong Kong and meet with the protesters, not only meeting with me. If he comes to the crowd of the protesters, I think the protesters will chat with him and express the voices of the Hong Kong people.”
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Uganda Returns 5 to DRC; All Had Contact With Ebola Victim
Uganda’s Health Ministry on Friday evening repatriated five Congolese people who had contact with a 9-year-old girl with Ebola to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The girl, also of Congolese origin, traveled with her mother Wednesday from Goma in the DRC and entered Uganda through the Mpondwe border post for medical care.She was subsequently isolated and transferred to the nearby Bwera hospital Ebola Treatment Unit, where a blood test confirmed Thursday that she was positive for the Ebola virus.Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Uganda’s state minister for primary health care, said even though Bwera’s Kasese district has the capacity to handle a disease outbreak, including an Ebola outbreak, it was too late to save the girl.“Unfortunately, the girl passed on early in the morning today. Upon the request of the father, plans are underway to repatriate the body to DRC for safe and dignified burial,” Kaducu said.Five return to DRC for careSince June, Uganda has vaccinated 8,000 health workers who have been in the proximity of infected patients. Kaducu said health workers observed the appropriate practices regarding infection, prevention and control while the girl was under treatment, but the Uganda surveillance teams listed five people who had come into contact with the girl. Three shared the Ebola treatment unit with the girl, while two were tending to the patients, including the girl’s mother.“All these five people, they are of Congolese origin. And they were transported in the same ambulance with the confirmed case from Mpondwe point of entry to Bwera hospital. Four of these contacts have been taken back to DRC for vaccination and for appropriate and effective follow-up,” Kaducu said.The fifth contact, the mother of the confirmed case, is scheduled to return to DRC for burial of her daughter.Vaccine in limited supplyWhile Uganda has managed to control Ebola from spreading beyond Kasese district, availability of the vaccine, manufactured by the U.S. firm Merck, is limited.WHO Country Representative to Uganda Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam said that after the latest case, 300 doses were delivered to Kasese on Friday.“Currently, there is a shortage of the Merck vaccine globally,” Woldemariam said. “So, we are using it with a strict criteria of who is at risk, so that we can protect those people. And, it is also a tool to interrupt if there’s any sustained transmission in a population.”The Health Ministry has reassured the public that the current threat poses no major risks to the rest of the country. A rapid-response team has been dispatched to Kasese to support the district teams to continue with the various Ebola response activities, including case management, community engagement, contact tracing, psychosocial support and vaccination.
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Tanzanian Journalist’s Lawyer Presses for Trial, Medical Care
Peter Clottey of VOA’s English to Africa service contributed to this report.A lawyer for Tanzanian investigative journalist Erick Kabendera on Friday asked that he get a speedy trial and medical attention after more than four weeks of incarceration.Appearing with Kabendera at a hearing in magistrate’s court in Dar es Salaam, attorney Jebra Kambole asked that the journalist’s case be resolved quickly. It was adjourned for the third time until Sept. 12, according to Reuters news service, reportedly because the prosecution’s investigation is continuing.Kabendera was arrested at his home July 29 over what authorities at the time said were problems with his citizenship. He subsequently was charged with involvement in organized crime, money laundering and tax evasion.Kabendera is being held at Segerea prison on the city’s outskirts.Kambole later told VOA, in a phone interview, that he had asked prison authorities to allow the journalist to be taken to a state hospital for treatment of respiratory and leg problems that have developed during his incarceration.“The last time we sit and talk,” Kambole said, the journalist had experienced faintness and leg numbness. “He cannot walk properly.”Kabendera has been critical of President John Magufuli’s administration and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in stories for The Guardian, The East African and The Times of London.On Thursday, ahead of the court hearing, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called for authorities to drop all charges against Kandera.In a statement, the IFJ cited its concern “that the journalist’s arrest and the confused prosecution based on spurious charges are an attempt to hide what merely is a ruthless retaliation against Kabendera for his reporting.”After Kabendera’s arrest, the United States and Britain raised concerns about the “steady erosion of due process” in the east African country. Their governments put out a joint statement raising concern about “the irregular handling of the arrest, detention and indictment” of Kabendera.
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Teen Climate Activist Thunberg Leads Rally at UN
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined several hundred other young people Friday outside the United Nations to demand action on global warming.
To chants of “Greta! Greta!” the petite 16-year-old climate rock star made her way through a sea of young people, many of whom said they had drawn inspiration from her activism.
She rose to fame last year after she started skipping school on Fridays, leading strikes over the lack of action on climate change.
Greta arrived in New York on Wednesday, ahead of a Sept. 21 Youth Climate Summit at the United Nations, which she will address. Adult leaders will meet two days later to have a climate summit of their own.
She has said she will not fly because air travel leaves too big a carbon footprint, and she put her principles to the test, crossing the Atlantic in a zero-emissions, no-frills sailboat with her father and a small crew. The trip took two weeks and the seas were often rough.
On Friday, she looked tired and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by the large and enthusiastic crowd and the aggressive pack of photographers and reporters. She answered a few questions, but her comments were mostly inaudible because there was no sound system and she is not one to shout her message. But it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the many young people who had come to see her. Youths gather Aug. 30, 3019, outside the United Nations in New York to demand action on global warming. (M. Besheer/VOA)”We came today because we want to support Greta,” 12-year old Tilly told VOA. She had a sturdy grip on the hand of her 8-year old sister, Izzy. Tilly noted that her family recycles.
Olivia, 15, from Long Island, New York, came by commuter train with her friend Defna, also 15, to see Greta. Olivia said her school is very conservative and climate change is not a subject that gets much attention. She wants to change that.
“We want to start being a voice for our school, because we have to, because no one else is,” Olivia said. “We don’t have any clubs about the environment. We don’t have anything. We are trying to start, we have to, because people need to know about it, because they think it’s not as bad as it is.”
This youth movement is angry at world leaders and adults who they think are not taking rising atmospheric temperatures, melting ice caps and greenhouse gas emissions seriously.
“They [adults] have to strike with us, definitely,” Defna said. “And people who do not believe in the issue have to come here and support the kids, because it is our future.”
A speaker addresses young climate activists outside the United Nations in New York, Aug. 30, 2019. The rally preceded a Sept. 21 Youth Climate Summit at the U.N.; adults will meet two days later for a climate summit of their own. (M. Besheer/VOA)Demonstrators carried signs that warned, “Protect the planet because your life depends on it,” “Our house is on fire,” and messages to the grownups that included, “Act now or we will!”
Greta received an impromptu invitation to meet with the president of the U.N. General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés. She took two of the young New York activists with her, Alexandria Villasenor, 14 and Xiye Bastida, 17.
As they entered the U.N. building, Thunberg noted, “There is a lot of air conditioning.” ‘Tipping point’
In her meeting, she spoke of the upcoming summit.
“I think this U.N. summit needs to be some kind of breaking point, tipping point, where people start to realize what is actually going on,” Thunberg said. “And, so we have high expectations in you, too, and all member states to deliver. And we are going to try to do our part to make sure that they have all eyes on them and they have put the pressure on them so they cannot continue to ignore it.”
Espinosa told VOA that she was impressed with Thunberg because of all that she has done and for “her commitment, strength and intelligence.”
She said they discussed how governments, the private sector, citizens and youth all have roles to play to change the tide of global warming.
Also Friday, a Brazilian delegation met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, “to thank [him] for his support during the crisis surrounding the fires in the Amazon rainforest.”
The meeting was not previously announced in the president’s daily schedule but was tweeted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro late Thursday.- Nosso Chanceler @ernestofaraujo e o Deputado Eduardo @BolsonaroSP serão recebidos, nessa sexta-feira, pelo Presidente @realDonaldTrump na Casa Branca em Washington.— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) August 29, 2019Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo downplayed the fires. “It’s basically on average of the last years, and Brazil is already controlling the fires,” he said.
More than 75,000 fires covering the Amazon region have been detected this year, with many of them coming this month. Experts have blamed farmers and ranchers for the fires, accusing them of setting them to clear lands for their operations.
About 60% of the Amazon region is in Brazil. The vast rainforest also extends into Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
At the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, last weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron and Bolsonaro went head to head several times over the Amazon fires issue.
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White House: US, Poland May Sign 5G Network Security Agreement
The United States and Poland may sign an agreement aimed at securing 5G networks when U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits Warsaw in the coming days, a senior White House official said Friday. Pence leaves Saturday night on a trip to Poland, Ireland, Iceland and Britain. President Donald Trump had planned to make the trip himself, but Pence is going instead so that Trump can remain in the United States as Hurricane Dorian approaches the Atlantic coast. Pence will attend ceremonies marking the start of World War II 80 years ago. But he will also discuss with Polish officials how to maintain cybersecurity with 5G technology edging closer and Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. under scrutiny.
The United States has led a global campaign to persuade allies to ban Huawei, the world’s top telecommunications equipment supplier, from 5G networks. The U.S. government says Huawei can spy on customers, has violated U.S. sanctions on Iran and has stolen American intellectual property. Huawei denies the allegations. FILE – A pedestrian walks past a Huawei product stand at an EE telecommunications shop in London, April 29, 2019.Guarding against ‘adversary nations’A goal of a U.S.-Poland 5G agreement would be to protect networks from unauthorized access and interference from telecommunications suppliers controlled by “adversary nations,” the official said, without naming any companies or countries.
“Important steps are being taken, some of which we may be able to announce in the next day or two, to develop a common approach to a 5G network security between our two countries to ensure a secure and vibrant 5G ecosystem,” the official said.
The comments echoed those of a senior Polish official on Thursday. Poland in July proposed tightening its cybersecurity standards and could ban certain products or suppliers from parts of a future 5G network.
The Polish official said no specific company or equipment from any particular country would be excluded as part of any agreement with the United States, although security and cooperation with Washington would be an important aspect. Visa waiver programNo announcement is expected from Pence about Poland’s request to join the U.S. visa waiver program. Poland has made progress toward meeting the necessary requirements but has not cleared the final hurdles, the senior U.S. official said.
Washington has touted Poland’s commitment to fund its military to meet NATO requirements, and Trump signed an agreement during a June visit by Polish President Andrzej Duda to send 1,000 U.S. troops to Poland. Trump previously visited Poland in July 2017, a few months after taking office.
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Indonesia Says Internet Access Block to Stay Until Calm Returns to Papua
VOA’s Yuni Salim contributed to this report. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology said Friday that it would continue to block telecommunication services in Papua and West Papua, in an effort, it said, to restore security in the wake of civil unrest that flared in several cities over allegedly racist attacks on Papuan students. Acting ministry spokesman Ferdinandus Setu said in a news release that the restrictions on telecommunication services were implemented Aug. 22 to speed the process of restoring order in Papua and other areas. The ministry said the block would remain until calm returned to Papua. Henri Subiakto, senior adviser to the communication and information technology minister, told VOA separately that there was no timeline for restoring service. “The other day what triggered the unrest was videos and photos. We slowed it [internet service] down so that photo and video sharing was not possible but people could still communicate,” Subiakto said. He added that the decision to slow down the internet and other policies was based on Article 40 of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law. According to Article 40, “It is mandatory for the government to prevent the spread and the use of Electronic Information and/or Electronic Documents which have contents prohibited as stated by law.” Riot police fire tear gas during a protest in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, Aug. 29, 2019 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.Protest origins Protests began in mid-August after it was reported that Indonesian police in the region had been saying and committing “racist acts” against Papuan college students. Protesters occupied several student dormitories, and street demonstrations spread across the region. VOA has reported that demonstrations continued into this week. However, because of the telecommunications blackout, VOA was unable to verify whether there had been casualties. The government’s decision to shut down the internet has not only caused an information blackout but also has drawn attention to the potential for human rights abuses in Indonesia’s restive easternmost provinces. “Embarrassing things are going on, and the instinct is to keep the outside out from mucking in and learning of them, rather than to remedy the situation,” John Miller of the East Timor Action Network told VOA. “So Indonesia can be seen as it likes to portray itself — as a reformed nation that now acknowledges and defends human rights.” Other criticsOther human rights groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Indonesian LBH Pers Foundation, have also criticized the measure. Director of LBH Pers Ade Wahyudin said the policy could cut off access for human rights activists and journalists to monitor conditions in Papua. Further, Wahyudin said, the legal basis used for enforcing the internet block was inaccurate. Earlier in the week, the Communication Ministry contended that Veronica Koman, a human rights lawyer, was behind a phony news story regarding Surabaya police. Wahyudin said Koman could potentially sue the ministry for defaming her and spreading fake news by making false claims about her. Koman told VOA she was demanding a public apology. “I have checked on the ministry’s web page and it hasn’t been corrected,” she said. “This is disinformation on the ministry’s part. It has defamed and damaged my credibility, including the information that I have published.” Koman said she was open to the possibility of taking legal action if the ministry did not publicly apologize soon. The free-speech advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranks Indonesia 124th out of 180 nations surveyed in terms of press freedom. The group specifically cites growing violence against reporters in West Papua, among other abuses.
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Alliance Seeks $7.4B to Immunize 300M Children
Gavi, the global vaccine alliance that targets developing countries, said Friday that it was appealing for $7.4 billion to immunize 300 million children in 2021-25. Gavi’s latest fundraising drive is its most ambitious to date. Officials said they expected huge returns from what would be the agency’s most comprehensive and cost-effective preventive health package ever.
Gavi said the vaccines would protect against 18 diseases, saving up to 8 million lives. Spokeswoman Frederique Tissandier said sustainable investment was needed for the project because there still are 1.5 million people dying every year from vaccine-preventable diseases. “The situation is increasingly fragile because of climate change, because of wars, because of the rise of the population in the urban slums,” she said. “So you have more and more epidemics that are spreading around.” Tissandier said Gavi planned to introduce new vaccines to prevent deadly diseases. For instance, she said, Gavi is ready to invest up to $150 million in a new Ebola vaccine stockpile once it is prequalified by the World Health Organization.
She told VOA that Gavi also would help the Democratic Republic of the Congo obtain the lifesaving vaccines it needs to immunize children against other killer diseases.
“We are going to fund, for instance, starting in September, measles campaigns in DRC to cover — I think the number is close to 18 million kids — to strengthen routine immunization, because we really focus on routine immunization,” Tissandier said. “We fund the stockpile against cholera, yellow fever or meningitis to respond to outbreaks.”
She said support for the global polio eradication program remained a priority. Tissandier said Gavi would invest up to $800 million to accelerate the rollout of inactivated poliovirus vaccine. This would protect against a re-emergence of the disease in areas such as Africa, which is on the cusp of becoming polio-free, and other regions that already have achieved that status.
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