A Spanish navy frigate sailed from Cadiz Wednesday to escort the humanitarian vessel Open Arms back from Italy with a token number of 10 refugees Spain has agreed to take in what could be the Barcelona-based ship’s last voyage under mounting pressure to stop rescuing shipwrecked African migrants.The Italian government said Tuesday it would hold the ship for two weeks to conduct an investigation after it was allowed to land with 80 migrants following a 20-day ordeal at sea. Interior ministry officials suggested Spain should take all the migrants as the ship’s voyage originated from there.Migrant crisisIn an apparent policy shift by Spain’s socialist government, top officials publicly threatened to clamp a $1 million fine on the Open Arms charity after its latest “unauthorized” rescue of 160 refugees off Libya’s coast.Italy also has moved to impound the ship. The humanitarian ordeal caused by the country’s refusal to accept the refugees touched off a government crisis, and led to tense negotiations with the European Union to determine the fate of the migrants on board.Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo attend the final day of the investiture debate at the Parliament in Madrid, July 25, 2019.“The Open Arms does not have permission to rescue, and the captain was informed of this by the minister of public works. It has a license for humanitarian aid and to transport supplies from the viewpoint of Spanish law,” Spain’s deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, said in a radio interview Wednesday. “We are all subject to the law and everyone knows what they can or cannot do and no one is exempt from this, including this ship.”Legal spokesmen for Open Arms have said they were only complying with their obligation under international maritime law to rescue shipwrecked survivors at sea and that no charges have yet been filed.The Open Arms pulled into the Italian port of Lampedusa Tuesday night, following a three-week standoff during which the Italian government refused safe harbor. The governments of France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Romania agreed to distribute the migrants among their respective countries, but political strains caused by the tense episode led to the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.Italy has been closing its ports to humanitarian vessels carrying migrants from sinking barges off North Africa. A backlash against permissive immigration policies that allowed more than 100,000 refugees to reach Italy in past years boosted the rise of right-wing populist politician Matteo Salvini, who is now interior minister.A migrant is helped off the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms NGO, as it arrives in Lampedusa, Italy, Aug. 20, 2019.Spain no longer welcomingSpain stepped in last year, allowing Open Arms to bring refugees to the Spanish ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras. Conservative politicians accused the government of delivering an “open call” for tides of migrants to go to Spain and, as the number of arrivals surpassed 50,000 last year, the political consequences emerged.The upstart far-right VOX party captured 10% of the vote and its first parliamentary seats based on calls for the expulsion of illegal immigrants. Socialists lost their regional bastion in Andalusia, the area hardest hit by mass landings of migrants.VOX filed a lawsuit against Open Arms Wednesday, accusing the nongovernmental organization (NGO) of “promoting illegal immigration” and “human trafficking.”“Open Arms is not an NGO but an operating base of the extreme left,” said VOX leader Santiago Abascal, who accused the organization of “attacking Italy and the European identity” by delivering “ political merchandise.”Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has vilified VOX and attacked center-right conservatives for dealing with the group. However, “there seems little doubt that he is running scared of anti-immigrant sentiment,” Spanish law professor and political analyst Ramon Peralta said.Sanchez lacks support in the country’s parliament and may have to call new elections soon.Earlier troublesOpen Arms was blocked from leaving the port of Barcelona for three months at the start of the year when authorities accused it of violating EU rules with its mass rescues and of lacking the necessary certification to take a large number of people on board. The ship was allowed to leave in April, but only to deliver supplies and humanitarian aid to refugee camps in the Greek island of Lesbos.
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Month: August 2019
Australia Sees Rush of Hong Kong Millionaires
Australia is seeing an increase in interest in its millionaires-only visa program from wealthy Hong Kong residents who are eyeing a safety net amid political turmoil in the Chinese-ruled territory, migration lawyers told Reuters.The New South Wales state migration department “has noticed a significant increase in applications” from Hong Kong in recent months, it said in a letter to agents this week, and seen by Reuters.The interest has coincided with the “beginning of the current unrest in Hong Kong,” the department said, referring to a A$5 million ($3.4 million) Significant Investor Visa (SIV) program that provides direct residency to applicants.An alternative planBill Fuggle, Sydney-based partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie, said there had been a rise in applicants for the A$5 million SIV program.“What I am hearing from my clients is there definitely has been an uptick in the number of SIV applications from Hong Kong,” Fuggle said. “Anybody who can make an alternate plan is trying to do so.”Protests in the former British colony erupted in early June over a now-suspended bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.The unrest has been fueled by broader worries about what many say has been an erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” formula put in place when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997.SIV program Australia’s New South Wales treasury department confirmed that the immigration team’s letter was sent out to migration agents Monday but declined to provide any further details, saying only that the increase was off a small base.In the letter, the department assured agents it was committed to providing “appropriate support” to help them discuss migration options with their clients.The SIV program used to be hugely popular with people from China, though recent strict investment requirements have somewhat dented its appeal. The SIV now requires at least 40 percent of the A$5 million to be invested in small-cap and venture capital (VC) funds while direct real estate investment is barred.“Money is also moving out but Australia is probably not your first choice to park wealth … it’s a high tax jurisdiction. I suspect we’ll get more people than money here,” Baker & McKenzie’s Fuggle said.Data on applications received or visas granted in recent months was not available as Australia publishes these figures only annually.According to the latest data, China accounted for 87% of the 2,022 SIV visas granted between November 2012 and June 2018 while Hong Kong stood a distant second at just 3.2%.Juwai.com, China’s largest international property website, had seen “some increase” in demand for Sydney property by Hong Kong buyers since the unrest began, Executive Chairman Georg Chmiel told Reuters in an email.“Purchasing real estate is not the first step in coming to this country. More important is to obtain legal residency,” Chmiel said. “Over the next two to five years, there could be a substantial impact on the property market as these individuals look to settle down and purchase, but for now, it is too early for that.”
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Fallout Swift for Planned Parenthood After Quitting Program
Planned Parenthood clinics in several states are charging new fees, tapping into financial reserves, intensifying fundraising and warning of more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases in the wake of its decision to quit a $260 million federal family planning program in a dispute with the Trump administration over abortion.The fallout is especially intense in Utah, where Planned Parenthood has been the only provider participating in the nearly 50-year-old Title X program, and will now lose about $2 million yearly in federal funds that helped serve 39,000 mostly low-income, uninsured people. It intends to maintain its services, which include contraception, STD testing and cancer screening, but is considering charging a small copay for patients who used to get care for free.Planned Parenthood in Minnesota is in a similar situation, serving about 90% of the state’s Title X patients, and plans to start charging fees thanks to the loss of $2.6 million in annual funding.The organization is concerned about the spread of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.“We believe there will be a public health crisis created by this denial of care,” said Sarah Stoesz, the Minnesota-based president of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “It’s a very sad day for the country.”New rule prompts providers to withdraw Planned Parenthood and several other providers withdrew from the program earlier this week rather than comply with a newly implemented rule prohibiting participating clinics from referring women for abortions. Anti-abortion activists who form a key part of President Donald Trump’s base have been campaigning to “defund Planned Parenthood” because, among its varied services, it is an abortion provider, and they viewed the grants as an indirect subsidy.About 4 million women are served nationwide by the Title X program, which makes up a much bigger portion of Planned Parenthood’s patients than abortion. But the organization said it could not abide by the abortion-referral rules because it says they would make it impossible for doctors to do their jobs.Family planningMindy Dotson, a single mother in Utah, is among the women who use the family planning program. She started going to Planned Parenthood as doctors’ bills for treating recurring yeast infections mounted. The services became even more important when she gave up her employer-sponsored health insurance because she couldn’t afford the $500 monthly bill.She is unsure what she’d do if the services stopped.“It would put me in a very dangerous position,” said Dotson, who works as an executive assistant for an accounting and consulting firm. “It covers so many things: STD testing, emergency contraception, birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings … you name it, they have treated me for it.”‘Pain on all sides’Planned Parenthood says it’s dedicated to maintaining its current services in Utah, but CEO Karrie Galloway acknowledged it won’t be easy and could cause some “pain on all sides.”She said the organization plans to lean heavily on donors to make up the funding gap while staff members assess how they’ll cope. Among the possibilities are instituting copays of $10-$15 per visit, shortening hours and trimming spending. She doesn’t plan to lay off staff, but said she may not be able to fill jobs when people leave or retire.Minnesota is planning fees as well.“We’ll continue to offer all services, and keep clinic doors open, but we’ll be charging patients on a sliding scale who we didn’t charge before,” Stoesz said. “Vulnerable people who previously were able to access birth control and STD testing for free will no longer be able to do so.”State by stateElsewhere, the impact of Planned Parenthood’s withdrawal will vary from state to state.Governments in some states, including Hawaii, Illinois, New York and Vermont, say they will try to replace at least some of the lost federal funding. In the Deep South there will be little impact because Planned Parenthood did not provide Title X services in most of the region’s states.The chief operating officer for Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest and Hawaiian Islands, Rebecca Gibron, said Southern Idaho could be hit hard by the changes, with other health care providers in the area saying they can’t fill the gap if the roughly 1,000 low-income women served by Planned Parenthood in Twin Falls are no longer able to receive care.“This was not money that can simply be made up by raising dollars from donors,” Gibron said. “We have rent to pay, we have staff salaries … there are limits to what we are able to do in terms of providing free care without the Title X program.”Gibron said Planned Parenthood is working with Washington state officials in hopes of securing “bridge funding” to keep operating more than 20 Title X clinics serving roughly 90,000 people.“We’re going to do everything we can to provide care for patients in the same way, but we know that it’s not sustainable and we’re looking at all of our options,” she said.Others leave program, tooAmong other providers withdrawing from Title X is Maine Family Planning, which oversees a network that serves about 23,000 patients per year and will be losing $1.8 million in annual funding. Its CEO, George Hill, said the organization will rely on reserves and intensify fundraising efforts to bridge the gap while seeking more aid from the state.In anticipation of the changes, Democrats in neighboring New Hampshire added about $3.2 million in the state budget they passed earlier this year to make up for the federal funding. But that’s on hold after Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed the budget in June for other reasons.
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South Sudan’s Men4Women Takes on Cultural Taboos of Menstruation
In South Sudan, a group of men and boys is trying to break cultural taboos on a topic that often drives young girls out of school — menstruation. Men4Women is distributing menstrual pads to girls while also encouraging boys and men to engage in conversations and advocate policies that make sanitary hygiene products more accessible to girls. Sheila Ponnie reports from Juba.
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Greenland Controversy Continues as Trump Cancels Copenhagen Trip, Calls Danish PM ‘Nasty’
The controversy over U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly postponing his trip to Copenhagen continues, as he criticized Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, calling her “nasty” and “inappropriate.” The Danish leader had rebuffed Trump’s overture to buy Greenland, the Arctic country that is part of the kingdom of Denmark. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Coal Industry’s Decline Hits Nation’s Largest Producer
Coal has powered progress since the Industrial Revolution. While coal-fired power is on the rise in Asia, it’s declining in the United States and much of Europe as cheaper alternatives and climate concerns push it out of the market. While the fall has hit coal towns hard in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States, the Western state of Wyoming is the nation’s leading coal producer. Now, coal’s troubles have arrived in this energy-rich state, too. VOA’s Steve Baragona has a look.
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Experts: Trump’s Approach Could Push Pyongyang Toward Beijing
As a top North Korean military official concluded a visit to China this week in an effort to boost military ties with Beijing, experts said Washington’s big-deal approach could push Pyongyang to deepen its military relations with Beijing, a consequence that could create a rift between Seoul and Washington.“If we are not going to play a sophisticated strategy … then I guess we’re going to just drive North Korea into the arms of China,” said Ken Gause, director for Adversary Analytics Program at CNA. “It puts China in a greater position to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea if North Korea is leaning toward China.”Kim Su Gil, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), FILE – Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk during Xi’s visit in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency, June 21, 2019.Closer ties with ChinaThe pledge to bolster military ties between Beijing and Pyongyang followed an agreement that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping made during their fifth summit held in June in Pyongyang. The two leaders agreed to “maintain the tradition of high-level exchanges.”Pyongyang and Beijing renewed relations when Kim and Xi met for their first summit in March 2018. Relations had been rocky since Kim took power in 2011 and carried out nuclear and missile tests despite Beijing’s opposition. The alliance between Beijing and Pyongyang dates to the Korean War in 1950 when the Chinese army fought on the side of North Korea against South Korea and the U.S.Experts said while the latest military meeting was largely seen as Beijing’s effort to restore its relations with Pyongyang, including military ties, Washington’s so-called “big-deal approach” could prompt North Korea to pivot toward China, which has been more lax about enforcing sanctions.“We can go and continue with maximum pressure like we are now,” said CNA’s Gause, referring to a key focus of U.S. policy. “And if we do, it’s going to just push China and North Korea closer together.”
VOA Interview: John Bolton’s Take on World’s Hotspots video player.
FILE – People watch a TV news program reporting about North Korea’s firing projectiles with a file image at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 16, 2019.Missiles fly, talks do notTalks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since the Hanoi summit in February, but when Trump and Kim held an FILE – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, left, and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, right, shake hands ahead of a meeting at Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 9, 2019.China may also seek tighter military cooperation with North Korea if the U.S. decides to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Asia. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said earlier this month that he favored placing the missiles in Asia, which angered China.“If we are destined for increased U.S.-[China] strategic rivalry, then it would make sense for Beijing to ensure that North Korea remain within its orbit, even while making every effort to wean [South Korea] away from the U.S. alliance structure,” Revere said.The U.S. consideration for the missile deployment came after it formally withdrew from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty Aug. 2. Washington said the move was a response to repeated treaty violations by Russia.The U.S. and former Soviet Union agreed upon the Cold War arms control treaty in 1987. It banned them from deploying their nuclear and conventional land-based missiles with ranges between 480 to 5,500 kilometers anywhere in the world.Bolton said earlier this month that the U.S. willingness to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Asia is in part an effort to protect South Korea.“Such a move would increase likelihood of expanded strategic military cooperation among China, North Korea and the Russians,” said Revere, adding, “The ‘great game’ in East Asia is about to get more interesting and dangerous.”
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US Charges Kansas Researcher Over Ties to Chinese University
WASHINGTON – A researcher at the University of Kansas was indicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday for allegedly concealing ties to a Chinese university while doing research funded by the U.S. government, the U.S. Justice Department said. Feng “Franklin” Tao, 47, an associate professor at a University of Kansas center that conducts sustainable technology research, was charged with one count of wire fraud and three counts of program fraud. The indictment came amid increased concern by U.S. officials about the risk from China to U.S. universities, part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to confront Beijing over what Washington sees as the use of
sometimes illicit methods for acquiring rapid technological advancement. Intelligence officials have issued dire warnings about the threat of intellectual property theft or even espionage, amid an ongoing trade war with China. China denies such activities. U.S. authorities said Tao hid the fact that he was working full time for Fuzhou University in China while conducting research at the University of Kansas funded through U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation contracts. Five-year pactThe indictment alleges that Tao signed a five-year contract in May 2018 with Fuzhou that required him to be a full-time employee of the Chinese school. Kansas required Tao to file an annual conflict-of-interest report, but Tao “falsely claimed” he had no conflicts of interest in those reports, the Justice Department said. The indictment says Tao fraudulently received more than $37,000 in salary from the Energy Department and National Science Foundation. A Justice Department spokesman said Tao had not entered a plea. Department of Justice officials in Kansas did not immediately respond to questions about whether Tao is a U.S. citizen or whether he was working with classified materials. If convicted, Tao faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the wire fraud count, and up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each of the three program fraud counts. The University of Kansas cooperated and assisted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe of Tao.
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Trump Denies Telling NRA More Background Checks for Gun Buyers Are ‘Off the Table’
President Donald Trump is denying reports he told the NRA chief that expanded background checks for gun buyers are “off the table,” and now says he backs such measures.Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House Wednesday as he appears to waver back and forth on how he plans to address gun violence in the United States.He said Wednesday he is considering ways to make background checks stronger, but warned of what he calls the “slippery slope” he believes would restrict legal gun ownership.”I want guns in the hands of people that are mentally stable,” Trump said Wednesday. “I want them to be easily able to get a gun. But people who are insane, people who are sick, I don’t want them to be able to get a gun.”Trump expressed strong support for more background checks after two gunmen massacred 31 people earlier this month in EL Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.FILE – National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre speaks at the NRA Annual Meeting of Members in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 27, 2019.But he seemed to grow lukewarm toward tougher gun measures after conversations with Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association, White House officials have said.A report by The Atlantic magazine Tuesday said Trump told LaPierre that expanded background checks were “off the table.”Trump said Wednesday, “We have a lot of background checks right now, but there are certain weaknesses. We want to fix the weaknesses.”He has also noted that many of his supporters are strong believers in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to own guns.Some Democrats who wholly support more gun control say they are upset with Trump’s perceived back-and-forth on background checks.”It’s time for Republicans and President Trump to decide whose side they’re on,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said. “Are they going to stand with 90% of Americans who want universal background checks, or are they going to once again kowtow to the desires of the gun lobby?”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted that Trump’s “retreats are heartbreaking, particularly for the families of the victims of gun violence.”FILE – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer heads to a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 10, 2019.White House and congressional teams from both parties have been talking about ways to strengthen gun laws. But the NRA has been a major force on Capitol Hill in opposing more regulations. A gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso Aug. 3 in a shooting that appears to have targeted Mexicans. The suspect is in jail.Hours later, another gunman shot and killed nine others in Dayton before police killed him. The motive for that attack is still unclearBoth shooters used military-style assault weapons.The killings, along with past mass shootings and a recent spate of threatened shootings, have renewed the nationwide debate over gun control in the U.S.
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Putin: US Missile Test Raises New Threats to Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the test of a new U.S. missile banned under a now-defunct arms treaty has raised new threats to Russia and will warrant a response.The U.S. tested a modified ground-launched version of a Navy Tomahawk cruise missile that accurately struck its target more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. Sunday’s test came after the U.S. and Russia withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that banned such weapons.Speaking after talks Wednesday with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Putin argued that the quick test indicated the U.S. had begun work on the missile long before declaring its intention to withdraw from the pact.FILE – The Defense Department conducted a flight test of a conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, Calif., Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Defense.gov)”The Americans have tested this missile too quickly after having withdrawn from the treaty,” Putin said. “That gives us strong reason to believe that they had started work to adapt the sea-launched missile long before they began looking for excuses to opt out of the treaty.”The U.S. has explained its withdrawal from the treaty by Russian violations — the claim Moscow has denied.The Russian leader said that Russia would also work to design such weapons, but reaffirmed that it wouldn’t deploy the missiles previously banned by the INF treaty to any area before the U.S. does that first.Putin charged that Sunday’s test was performed using a launcher similar to those stationed at a U.S. missile defense site in Romania. He argued that the Romanian facility and a prospective similar site in Poland could also be used for missiles intended to hit ground targets instead of interceptors.”Such missiles could be launched from facilities in Romania, as well as those to be deployed in Poland,” he said. “It only requires software tweaks. I’m not sure that our American friends will share the information about which software they use even with their European partners.”He said that for Russia that means “the emergence of new threats, to which we will react accordingly.”
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Zimbabwe’s Rights Abuses May Dent Hope of Lifting Sanctions
Activists and the main opposition party in Zimbabwe say the country is not ready for the end of U.S. and European sanctions, accusing the government of continued human rights violations. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s sympathizers say lifting sanctions will help country’s ailing economy, but economists disagree. Tatenda Mombeyarara, the leader of the activist group Citizens Manifesto, opposes planned protests by regional leaders to demand the end of Western sanctions imposed on former President Robert Mugabe and his allies in 2002 for election rigging and human rights abuses. A visitor talks to Tatenda Mombeyarara of Citizens Manifesto in a private hospital in Harare, Aug. 21, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA)Mombeyarara — speaking while recovering in a private hospital after being abducted by about 10 armed men who he suspects were members of the security forces — said the recent crackdowns by security forces on protesters and a spate of abductions showed that Zimbabwe’s rights record hasn’t improved. ‘Much worse situation’“So it would be wrong for any body or institution to have sanctions removed on the falsehoods that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe has improved,” he said. “The reality is that they have worsened. We are in a far, far much worse situation. So if we got sanctions because of human rights abuses, what should actually be happening is tightening those sanctions.”
Rachel Kamangira of Broad Coalition Against Sanctions in Harare, Aug. 20, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA)Racheal Kamangira, a member of a pro-government group called Broad Coalition Against Sanctions, has the opposite view.
Since February, Kamangira and members of her group have been camped outside the U.S. Embassy in Harare, demanding the sanctions be lifted.
Members of a pro-Zimbabwe government group called Broad Coalition Against Sanctions have been camped outside the U.S. Embassy in Harare, demanding the sanctions be lifted, Aug. 20, 2019. They say sanctions hurt ordinary citizens. (C. Mavhunga/VOA)”Those targeted ones, if they get sick, they go to other countries to get medication,” she said. “When we get sick, we have no medication. They were targeting our former president. Right now, he is no longer ruling this country. But the ones suffering are ordinary Zimbabweans.”
The 43-year old widow said that once the sanctions are lifted, the economy will improve and she will be able to find a job and send her three children to school. Spending, corruption
But Daniel Ndlela, a former economics professor at the University of Zimbabwe, said Harare first has to cut expenditures and deal with corruption before there can be any economic improvement.
Daniel Ndlela, a former economics professor at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, says sanctions have little to do with Zimbabwe’s economy. Aug. 21, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA)Sanctions, he said, have little to do with Zimbabwe’s economic problems.
“The idea [is] that if they are lifted, we will immediately have loans coming through,” he said. “But that won’t happen until we service the debts owed to the IFIs — international finance institutions. The money we owe all around is not due to sanctions.”
Zimbabwe has been mostly cut off from international loans and foreign investment since the early 2000s because of Mugabe’s abuses and policies seen as unfavorable to outside companies.
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UN Chief to Travel to Epicenter of DRC Ebola Outbreak
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo next week.The DRC is no stranger to periodic outbreaks of the Ebola virus, but this most recent epidemic is the worst the African nation has seen in 40 years.The World Health Organization says the country has recorded more than 2,800 confirmed cases and at least 1,900 deaths from the virus, which spreads primarily through contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected fruit bats or monkeys.FILE – U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks after a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Aug. 1, 2019.Guterres plans to visit the country for three days, arriving Aug. 31. His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters that Guterres wants to assess the situation and mobilize additional support for the response. “In the province of North Kivu, he is scheduled to meet with Ebola survivors and health workers during a visit to an Ebola treatment center,” Dujarric said.He also is to meet with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa. In July, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern.The majority of cases have been concentrated in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, in the country’s northeast, but cases have emerged in other parts of the country. At least three cases were also confirmed in June in neighboring Uganda. The people infected with the virus there had traveled from the DRC and had been in contact with a relative who died of Ebola.
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US Takes Aim at Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Networks
The US Treasury took action Wednesday to crack down on Chinese traffickers of deadly fentanyl, sanctioning producer-exporters and warning banks on financial schemes used to distribute the synthetic opioid behind thousands of US overdose deaths.The Treasury identified Zheng Fujing, 36, and a company he controls, Qinsheng Pharmaceutical Technology, and a partner, Zheng Guanghua, as a major, Shanghai-based production fentanyl production and trafficking organization.The Zheng drug trafficking organization, the Treasury said, produced and shipped hundreds of controlled substances, including fentanyl analogues such as carfentanil, which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl.”Zheng created and maintained numerous websites to advertise and sell illegal drugs in more than 35 languages,” it said.Moreover, it said, Zheng was producing counterfeit cancer pills that replace the active cancer-fighting ingredient with “dangerous synthetic drugs.”Yan, meanwhile, produces and trafficks in synthetic opioids, cannabinoids, and cathinones, and amphetamine-like drug, the Treasury charged.”Yan has tried to evade prosecution by modifying the chemical structure of his synthetic analogues based on his monitoring of legislation and law enforcement activities in the United States and China,” the Treasury said.All three men have already been indicted in separate trafficking cases in the United States.The Treasury’s designation of the three as “significant foreign narcotics traffickers” under the US Kingpin Act allows the Treasury to use more sanctions and controls to attack their networks.The Treasury said it had also issued an advisory to banks and other financial institutions describing how synthetic opioid producers and traffickers operate in financial networks, with the aim of closing off their ability to produce and sell their drugs.”We are making the financial sector aware of tactics and typologies behind illicit schemes to launder the proceeds of these fatal drug sales, including transactions using digital currency and foreign bank accounts,” said Kenneth Blanco, the head of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.The Treasury said both the Zheng and Yan groups used digital currencies like bitcoin for production operations and sales.
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British PM Set For G7 Debut, as Fears Grow Over Brexit Chaos
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make his debut on the world stage Saturday at the G7 Summit in France – where he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss a trade deal. Johnson has tried to put a positive spin on the political chaos over Britain’s European Union exit later this year – and is pinning his hopes on negotiating a trade accord with the United States after Brexit. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, Prime Minister Johnson’s political honeymoon looks to be short-lived – as the potential impact of a so-called ‘no-deal Brexit’ become clear
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US Space Command Launching Next Week
Smita Nordwall contributed to this report.PENTAGON — The United States military is launching next week its first new combatant command in more than a decade.
Vice President Mike Pence and Pentagon officials told the National Space Council Tuesday the U.S. Space Command will officially be up and running Aug. 29.The U.S. military has created a command since the U.S. Cyber Command was established in 2009. The Defense Department currently has 10 combatant commands, and each have either a geographic or functional mission for military operations.Air Force Gen. John Raymond has been confirmed by the Senate as the command’s first leader.Creation of the command is seen by some officials as a likely step toward the creation of a space force as a separate military entity.
“The United States Space Force will ensure that our nation is prepared to defend our people, defend our interests, and to defend our values in the vast expanse of space and here on Earth with the technologies that will support our common defense for the vast reaches of outer space,” Pence said.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump looks to Vice President Mike Pence during a signing ceremony to establish a Space Force as part of the U.S. Armed Forces, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Feb. 19, 2019.
Pence said the future Space Force still needs congressional funding and authority, but he said he expects that to happen soon.
The launch of the Space Command will accelerate what has been a decades-long effort to reorganize and improve the military’s technological capabilities in space, which at times have gotten less attention as the Air Force has focused on warplanes and other combat priorities.The military’s role in space has been under scrutiny because the U.S. increasingly is reliant on orbiting satellites that are difficult to protect. Satellites provide communications, navigation, intelligence and other services vital to the military and the national economy.Over the past year, the issue gained urgency amid growing competition and threats from adversary nations.The U.S. military previously had a Space Command, but it was dissolved in 2002, and its functions were turned over to a reorganized U.S. Strategic Command. That command’s primary mission remains deterrence against global threats, including maintaining the U.S. military’s nuclear arsenal.
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Child Migrants To Be Held In Detention Longer under New Trump Administration Rule
The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled new rules that would allow officials to detain migrant families indefinitely while judges consider whether to grant them asylum in the United States.The new rules, which are certain to draw a legal challenge, would replace a 1997 legal agreement that limits the amount of time U.S. immigration authorities can detain migrant children.The agreement is generally interpreted as meaning families must be released within 20 days.Administration officials blame the so-called Flores Settlement Agreement for a spike in immigration, saying it encourages migrants to bring children with them so they can be released into the United States while their court cases are pending.Department of Homeland Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new rule would have a deterrent effect by showing prospective immigrants that they will not necessarily get released into the country if they show up at the border with children.Families typically have to wait several months for their cases to work their way through immigration court, DHS officials said, and the new rule would allow DHS to keep those families at detention facilities.The American Academy of Pediatrics has repeatedly said that detention is not suitable for children, who may suffer numerous negative physical and emotional symptoms. Officials said the families would receive mental health treatment and other services.Trump has made a crackdown on immigration, legal and illegal, central to his presidency. The administration unveiled a sweeping rule last week that would deny visas and permanent residency to poor migrants, a move that experts say could cut legal immigration in half.Immigration officials have struggled to handle a surge of families and children fleeing violence and poverty in Central America that have at times overwhelmed border officials.DHS officials say they have apprehended 390,000 family units since last October.The administration sought to deter migrants last year through a “zero tolerance” policy that separated thousands of children from their parents but abandoned the effort in the face of widespread public outrage.Over the last four years, only 18% of immigrants who have been released into the United States complied with a court order to leave the country, while 97% of those in detention were removed, according to DHS figures.The new rule is due to take effect in 60 days, but that deadline is likely to slip as it is certain to face numerous legal challenges.
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Concerns Growing that China’s Influence Operations Getting Bolder
Nike Ching contributed to this report, which includes information from Reuters.Revelations that China has been using social media accounts to influence public opinion on continuing protests in Hong Kong are reinforcing warnings from U.S. intelligence that the battle for information dominance has been joined. Until now, much of the focus on been on Russia for its use of social media to meddle in a number of Western elections, including the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and, more recently, the 2018 congressional elections.But top U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly warned Russia is not alone, and that other U.S adversaries would be using lessons from Moscow’s successes for their own purposes.No adversary, they said, posed a bigger threat than China.”The Chinese government uses all of the capabilities at their disposal to influence U.S. policies, spread propaganda, manipulate the media,” former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said during a talk last September.Around the same time, President Donald Trump began calling out China for placing ads and stories critical of the U.S.-China trade talks in regional newspapers.China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. That’s because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over! FILE – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang speaks during a press briefing in Beijing, July 11, 2017, in this image made from video.U.S. reactionThere has also been little public reaction from U.S. officials, though many remain wary.”This is another element of their efforts to manipulate data,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday, asked about China’s alleged activity on social media shortly after the news broke.Others have tried to frame the influence campaign as another attempt by Beijing to distract the world’s attention.”The Chinese government chooses to blame the United States rather than address its own governance failures in Hong Kong,” a senior administration official told VOA. “When a quarter of the population takes to the streets to voice their discontent, it’s not because they were tricked into doing it.”Yet there is concern among intelligence officials and analysts that this use of social media shows that the Chinese Communist party, which already controls the information environment inside of China, is moving ambitiously to control the narrative fed to the outside world.”This is a big deal because it’s the first time that we’ve had confirmation of anything like this from any Western social media platforms,” Matt Schrader, a China analyst at The Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, told VOA.”You have to start asking, is China looking beyond Hong Kong? Is it looking beyond Taiwan? Is it practicing these tactics to be able to influence people globally?”
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Danish PM Regrets Trump’s Canceled Visit After She Rejected Greenland Sale
Updated Aug. 21, 2019, 12:10p.m.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday she regretted and was surprised that U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his scheduled visit to Denmark when she rebuffed his overture to buy Greenland, the Arctic country that is part of the Danish kingdom.”I had been looking forward to the visit, our preparations were well underway,” she told reporters in Copenhagen. “It was an opportunity, I think, to celebrate Denmark’s close relationship to the U.S., and who remains one of Denmark’s closest allies. I was looking forward to having a dialogue on the many shared interests Denmark has with the U.S.”But Trump called off the September 2-3 visit late Tuesday, while saying that, “Denmark is a very special country with incredible people.” But he said that with Frederiksen declaring that “she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time.”Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Snow-covered mountains rise above the harbor and town of Tasiilaq, Greenland, Jan. 10, 2019.Danish political figures assailed Trump’s trip cancellation, saying his snub of the Danish visit was ill-mannered.”It’s an insult from a close friend and ally,” Danish parliamentarian Michael Aastrup J ensen said, adding that Trump “lacks even basic diplomatic skills.”Denmark’s former business minister, Rasmus Jarlov, said on Twitter, “For no reason Trump assumes that (an autonomous) part of our country is for sale. Then insultingly cancels visit that everybody was preparing for. Please show more respect.”Left-wing politician Pernille Skipper wrote on Twitter, “Trump lives on another planet. Self-sufficient and disrespectful.”Trump recently floated the idea of buying Greenland from Denmark but officials in Denmark and Greenland immediately responded that the island was not for sale. Many at first thought Trump’s suggestion was a joke until they realized it was not.”Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously,” Frederiksen told the newspaper Sermitsiaq during a visit to Greenland.The Danish prime minister said that while she considers the United States to be her country’s closest strategic ally, “thankfully, the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over.”Trump had been invited to Denmark for a state visit, but White House spokesman Judd Deere confirmed late Tuesday that the trip was canceled.
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China Confirms Detention of Employee of Hong Kong’s British Consulate
China has confirmed it has detained an employee of Hong Kong’s British consulate.Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the employee has been placed “in administrative detention for 15 days as punishment” for violating a law on public order. He didn’t provide further details but said the man was a Hong Kong resident and not a British citizen.Hong Kong’s local news website HK01 said the employee, identified as Simon Cheng, failed to return to the former British colony from the neighboring southern city of Shenzhen on Aug. 9, where he had gone to attend a business meeting.Britain’s Foreign Office said it was “extremely concerned” by reports that he had been detained. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a statement Tuesday saying it is providing support to Cheng’s family and is “seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong province and Hong Kong.”Hong Kong has been gripped by nearly two months of heated and often violent anti-government protests. Beijing was angered when British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had a telephone conversation Friday with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam about the demonstrations earlier this month. China’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “solemnly demands” that the British “immediately stop all actions that meddle in Hong Kong affairs and interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
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China Threatens Sanctions on US Firms Linked to Taiwan Warplanes Sale
China on Wednesday blasted a huge planned U.S. arms shipment to self-ruled Taiwan and threatened to sanction firms involved in the sale of F-16 fighter jets.The U.S. State Department on Tuesday approved the transfer of 66 Lockheed Martin-built F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan in a U.S.$8 billion deal, following another huge military hardware sale agreed just last month.The deals come as ties between Washington and Beijing are already strained by a punitive multi-billion dollar trade war.”China will take all necessary measures to safeguard our interests including imposing sanctions on the U.S. companies participating in this arms sale to Taiwan,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing.The sale “is a serious U.S. interference in our internal affairs and undermines our sovereignty and security interests”, he said.China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.It bristles at any countries that might lend Taiwan diplomatic support or legitimacy.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday that President Donald Trump had approved the proposed sale after Congress was notified last week.The F-16s “are deeply consistent with the arrangements, the historical relationship between the United States and China”, Pompeo said.”Our actions are consistent with past U.S. policy. We are simply following through on the commitments we’ve made to all of the parties.”‘Cancel at once’China said it had lodged diplomatic protests against the deal and on Wednesday urged the U.S. to “cancel this arms sale plan at once, stop selling arms to Taiwan and cut its military contact with Taiwan”.Taiwan’s plan to upgrade its air defenses comes amid increasing Chinese military incursions into its air space and a spokesman for the president said the jets would “substantially enhance our air defense capabilities”.Taiwan currently has a fleet of old-model F-16s purchased in 1992, which have undergone several crucial upgrades.Manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the newest version, known as the F-16 Block 70/72, includes many avionics, weapons and radar technologies not in existence when earlier models were created.It is structurally stronger, the company says, so that it “can fly and fight to 2070 and beyond”.The approval of the sale comes as Washington and Beijing face off in tough trade negotiations that economists say are hurting both of the superpowers, as well as dragging down the global economy.In a statement, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees U.S. foreign military sales, said Taiwan’s purchase of the F-16s “will not alter the basic military balance in the region”.”This proposed sale will contribute to the recipient’s capability to provide for the defense of its airspace, regional security, and interoperability with the United States.”
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New ‘Sovereign Council’ Sworn in to Lead Sudan
Sudan’s top general has been sworn in as head of a military-civilian council that will run the country until elections are held.State news agency SUNA reports that General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took the oath Wednesday, followed by the other members of the 11-member Sovereign Council.Prime minister-nominee Abdalla Hamdok is expected to be sworn in by the end of the day.Burhan led a military council that seized power in April after the military ousted longtime president Omar al-Bashir, following mass protests against his 30-year rule.A man climbed a billboard in Khartoum to wave Sudan’s flag in honor of the agreement signing (E. Sarai/VOA)The new council was set up under a power-sharing deal between military leaders and protesters who demanded a civilian-led government.The military came under international pressure to reach a deal after security forces attacked protesters outside the Defense Ministry in early June, killing dozens.Burhan is scheduled to lead the Sovereign Council for 21 months, followed by a civilian leader for the next 18.
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Pompeo: Iran’s Interference Has ‘Devastating Humanitarian Consequences’
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has named Iran as the biggest threat to the security and stability of the Middle East. In a speech to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday addressing complex challenges facing the Middle East, Pompeo called for “fresh thinking” to solve “old problems.” Some participants blamed regional and international powers, including the United States, for adding to the tensions in the region with their selfish unilateral moves. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Russian Parliament Accuses US of Political Interference
Russian politicians are accusing the United States of trying to interfere in Moscow’s upcoming elections by helping to organize mass rallies, a charge the U.S. denies. Parliament members meeting this week have formed a committee to investigate to investigate foreign meddling, as Yulia Savchenko reports from Moscow.
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Philippine Trust in China Has Hit 1-Year Low over Maritime Incidents
Sino-Philippine ties are showing signs of cooling since the two countries made friends in 2016, according to a recent survey on how much Filipinos trust their powerful Asian neighbor.Social Weather Stations, the Metro Manila research institution behind that survey, released new numbers last month saying people’s trust had fallen to a one-year low. It found that 51% felt “little trust” and 27% placed “much trust” in China.The institution’s surveys, seen as bellwethers of popular opinion, reflect a growing resentment of Beijing’s pressure on the Philippines over contested claims in the South China Sea and perceptions that Chinese nationals have too much sway over the economy, Philippine citizens told Voice of America this week.Protesters march under the rain towards the Philippine Congress to protest the 4th State of the Nation (SONA) address by President Rodrigo Duterte Monday, July 22, 2019 in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines.Politics, businessHundreds of Chinese vessels have passed near Philippine-held islets in the sea’s contested Spratly archipelago this year as late as April. In early June, a Chinese fishing boat hit and sank a Filipino boat near the disputed sea’s Recto Bank, raising questions about a possible ramming incident.“A sinking of a Filipino vessel, any incident like those gets magnified 100 times, which is probably not good for the relationship with China, because it erodes whatever little trust there remains,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.Since Sino-Philippine ties began warming in late 2016, China has offered at least $4.7 billion for infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian country, socioeconomic planning secretary Ernesto Pernia said in February in Manila.Now some Filipinos believe Chinese nationals are taking over local businesses by marrying Philippine nationals, said Rhona Canoy, president of an international school in the southern Philippines, who is part of a politically influential family in the country. Foreigners legally cannot own businesses outright. Chinese or Chinese-Filipino citizens run most Philippine-based businesses today, due to historical trade and investment trends, the consultancy China Philippines United Enterprises says.”The Chinese being here goes beyond just the maritime border and area dispute,” Canoy said. “A lot of that which is more directly impacting our people is the fact that they are the ones who are opening businesses.”Fear, hope and bewildermentPeople interviewed randomly this week on two parts of Luzon, the Philippines’ largest island, often hesitated to discuss China. Some professed no knowledge of the issues. Others said they worried about China eroding Philippine claims to the South China Sea, including 10 islets their government controls in the Spratly archipelago. One was working in China as an English teacher – dependent on Chinese students for her income. FILE – An aerial view of Southwest Cay, also known as Pugad Island, controlled by Vietnam and part of the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea, April 21, 2017.For Santy Mallorca, a 50-year-old motor-trike driver, China represents a threat to his government’s maritime claims. “Because so many people get money from fishing – accidents, you know,” he said. About 2 million Filipinos depend on fishing for a living. “Maybe China conquers the Philippines,” a roadside breakfast stall vendor said.Winston Sayson, a 41-year-old who was waiting Tuesday for a flight in the capital Manila, said China showed no obvious signs of deposing the Philippines from the disputed sea – or of helping it economically. He said he wasn’t worried.Only 27% of Social Weather Stations respondents said most of what the Chinese government wants in the Philippines is “good for the Filipinos.” Questions for the Philippine president Filipinos may worry little about China because they trust Duterte to handle foreign relations, Araral said. The president had earned a 68% net satisfaction rating in the second quarter this year, Social Weather Stations survey found. Duterte plans to bring up the maritime dispute with China at a meeting before month’s end with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Opposition politicians who tried to make China an issue in the May midterm congressional elections this year couldn’t beat candidates backed by Duterte. People’s views about China “depend on who’s handling the relationship,” Araral said. Whoever succeeds Duterte in 2022 may chart Sino-Philippine relations based more on “sentiments on the ground,” he added.
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