U.S. and European stock markets plunged sharply Wednesday as key economic indicators signaled the distinct possibility of a global recession in the next year.Key indexes in New York fell more than 2% in midday trading, while markets in Europe sustained similar losses. The bellwether Dow Jones average of 30 key U.S. stocks was down more than 700 points at one point, reversing sharp gains on Tuesday after the United States announced it was delaying a new 10% tariff on key Chinese imports.Analysts pointed to weak German and Chinese economic data as warning signs of a possible world economic slowdown, but most importantly, to a so-called yield curve inversion for interest rates on two- and 10-year U.S. Treasury notes.Typically, interest rates on longer-term government bonds are higher than those for shorter periods of time. But when that interest rate phenomenon is reversed, as occurred Wednesday, it can be a sign that investors have worries about the immediate state of the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, and are demanding a higher rate of return on the shorter-term notes.The yield on a 10-year Treasury note briefly hit 1.622%, dropping below the 1.634% yield for a two-year bond, although the longer-term yields moved higher in later trading ahead of the two-year notes.It was the first time such an interest rate inversion had occurred since 2005, two years before the start of the U.S. recession that was the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Millions of U.S. workers lost their jobs in the recession a decade ago, as well as their homes, when they no longer had enough money to make monthly home loan payments.The bond interest rate inversion has preceded the last nine U.S. recessions over the last six decades, although the barometer is not a perfect indicator. No recession occurred in 1966, even though there had been an interest rate inversion. China said its factory production was the weakest in 17 years, while Germany, Europe’s most powerful economic engine, said its economic output shrank in the April-to-June period by one-tenth of a percentage point. The negative economic indicators could push central banks around the world to cut their key interest rates, following U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers who last month trimmed the key U.S. benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point.One financial analyst, Joe Manimbo of Western Union Business Solutions, told investors in a note, “The so-called yield inversion signaled that the U.S. economy could be a little more than a year away from recession. Sinking yields are the bond market’s way of pressuring the Fed to step on the monetary gas pedal and cut interest rates. Others worry that central bankers may be low on tools to ward off recession given that policy settings are already accommodative” with low interest rates.U.S. President Donald Trump, who has touted a robust U.S. economy as a key reason voters should re-elect him in 2020, has frequently criticized the independent Federal Reserve Board for not cutting interest rates fast enough.”They must cut rates bigger and faster,” Trump said recently on Twitter.The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the April-to-June period, down a percentage point from the first three months of the year.
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Month: August 2019
Teenage Activist Greta Takes Climate Campaign To The High Seas
With the wind in her hair and TV cameras pointing at her, Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg began a trans-Atlantic crossing in a racing yacht on Wednesday to further her campaign for stronger action against climate change.The 16-year-old activist, who shot to global fame last year after she started missing school every Friday to demonstrate outside the Swedish parliament, is bound for New York, where she will take part in a United Nations climate summit.Standing on a pontoon in a marina in Plymouth, southwest England, Thunberg gave a news conference in front of a throng of TV crews and photographers just before setting sail under a typically English grey sky on the 60-foot yacht Malizia II.The vessel has been equipped with solar panels and underwater electricity turbines to ensure that it leaves no carbon footprint. Conditions on board are Spartan, with no shower or toilet, and meals will consist of freeze-dried food.Thunberg, who was wearing a black waterproof jacket emblazoned with the slogan “Unite Behind the Science”, was asked how she expected other people to travel across continents, given that not everyone could muster a racing yacht and crew.”I am not telling anyone what to do or what not to do,” she responded. “I am one of the very, very few people in the world who actually can do this and I think I should take that chance.”She said that her voice was not heard at all when she first started campaigning on climate change issues, and it was only after she started her school strikes and other teenagers began to emulate her that she made an impact. This had convinced her of the value of creative forms of campaigning.Having previously said it would be a waste of time for her to meet President Donald Trump, who has pulled the United States out of the Paris accord on limiting the effects of climate change, Thunberg was pressed on why she would not want to seize any chance to convince him or other sceptics.”I’m not that special. I can’t convince everyone. Instead of speaking to me and to the school-striking children and teenagers they should be talking to actual scientists and experts in this area,” she said. “There are climate delayers who want to do everything to shift the focus from the climate crisis to something else, or want to make people question the science. I’m not worried about that. I’m just going to do as I want to do and what I think will have most impact.”Thunberg is taking a year off school to travel around the Americas. She said she did not yet know how she would come home at the end of her travels.
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US Commerce Chief: Tariff Delay Designed to Protect Holiday Shoppers
U.S. Commerce chief Wilbur Ross said Wednesday that the postponement of a new 10% tariff on Chinese-manufactured consumer products was not a concession to Beijing, but rather to help U.S. consumers during this year’s Christmas shopping season.”Nobody wants to take any chance of disrupting the Christmas season,” Ross told CNBC. He said, “This was not a quid pro quo” in the contentious and oft-delayed trade negotiations with China.The U.S. on Tuesday delayed the planned 10% tariff on laptop computers and computer monitors, cellphones, video game consoles, some toys, shoes and clothing until Dec. 15. Many Americans buy such items as gifts during the end-of-year holiday shopping season.FILE- In this Dec. 22, 2017, file photo people shop at the Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Va.U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the tariff increases were delayed “so they won’t be relevant in the Christmas shopping season, just in case they might have an impact on people.”U.S. consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the American economy, the world’s largest, and a disproportionate amount of that spending, compared to the rest of each year, occurs during the Christamas shopping season.Trump’s statement on the effect of tariffs on shopping was a tacit acknowledgement that the tariffs he has imposed on Chinese imports are paid for by U.S. corporations that often then pass on their extra costs to American consumers. Earlier Tuesday, Trump echoed his long-standing baseless claim that the Chinese government pays the tariffs to the U.S. Treasury.The U.S. also is exempting tariffs altogether on a separate group of Chinese imports “based on health, safety, national security and other factors.”FILE – China Shipping Company and other containers are stacked at the Virginia International’s terminal in Portsmouth, Va., May 10, 2019.But it still plans to levy the 10% tariff on the remainder of the original list of $300 billion worth of Chinese goods entering the U.S. that Trump said he planned to tax. A year ago, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese exports.Before acknowledging that a tariff on key Chinese imports could impact U.S. consumers, Trump claimed on Twitter, “Through massive devaluation of their currency and pumping vast sums of money into their system, the tens of billions of dollars that the U.S. is receiving is a gift from China. Prices not up, no inflation. Farmers getting more than China would be spending. Fake News won’t report!”Through massive devaluation of their currency and pumping vast sums of money into their system, the tens of billions of dollars that the U.S. is receiving is a gift from China. Prices not up, no inflation. Farmers getting more than China would be spending. Fake News won’t report!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019He added, “As usual, China said they were going to be buying ‘big’ from our great American Farmers. So far they have not done what they said. Maybe this will be different!”Over a two-year period, Trump has sent or promised to pay U.S. farmers more than $26 billion in government aid to compensate them for losses they have sustained since China stopped buying American grains and other products.The next round of trade talks between the U.S. and China are expected to occur in September after the U.S. tariffs take effect.
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Explainer: Hong Kong Airport
Here’s a look at the numbers behind the air hub, one of the busiest on the world.
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Russian Scientists Face Curbs on Meetings with Foreigners
Russian scientists are raising the alarm about new Soviet-style restrictions on interactions with foreign colleagues.The science newspaper Troitsky Variant on Tuesday published a copy of a recent Russian Education Ministry decree that introduces a broad range of restrictions on meetings and communication between employees of state-owned think tanks and institutes and foreign nationals.
Russian scientists are now obliged to inform officials about any visit by a foreign scientist five days in advance and report on the meeting afterward, the published decree said. The newspaper called on the ministry to scrap the order, saying the Soviet-style restrictions would hurt the standing of Russian science in the world.
“Such ridiculous decrees that are impossible to comply with will do nothing to bolster our country’s security but will only increase its isolation from developed nations and discredit authorities,” scientist Alexander Fradkov said.
Similar restrictions were widely used in the Soviet Union but were largely scrapped by the end of the 1980s.
The Education Ministry on Wednesday insisted that the decree was not an order but merely a recommendation and denied suggestions that it aims to control the scientists.
It also added that Russian scientists are increasingly facing “certain restrictions” while visiting organizations abroad.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he thought that the restrictions were “too much.”
The reports of authorities trying to monitor scientists come amid an intensifying pressure on the scientific community.
Elderly rocket scientist Viktor Kudryavtsev has been in jail for over a year now, facing vague treason charges. His colleague was arrested last month on similar charges. Russian scientists have appealed to authorities to drop the charges against Kudryavtsev and his associate but to no avail.
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Autopsy Conducted on Body of British Teen Found in Malaysian Jungle
An autopsy was performed Wednesday on the body of a 15-year-old French-Irish girl who disappeared from a Malaysian jungle resort more than a week ago. The results have not yet been disclosed.The unclothed body of Nora Anne Quoirin was located Tuesday near a stream about two kilometers from the Dusan resort in Negeri Sembilan state. Her body was airlifted out of the rainforest transported to a hospital where she was identified by her parents. The teenage girl, who had learning and physical disabilities, was reported missing on August 4, a day after her family checked in at the resort located about 70 kilometers from the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Police classified her as a missing person, but her family suspected she had been kidnapped.Her family said Nora was “the heart of our family” in a statement issued through The Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity that helps out Britons who are in crisis while traveling overseas. “The cruelty of her being taken away is unbearable. Our hearts are broken.” More than 350 people had joined in the search for Nora, backed by helicopters, drones, and sniffer dogs. Police from Britain, Ireland and France also came to Malaysia to assist in the search. Nora’s mother is from Ireland and her father is a Frenchman, but the family has lived in Britain for several years.Sankara Nair, a Malaysian lawyer hired by the family, told reporters Wednesday the family hopes police will investigate possible every possible angle into Nora’s death, including foul play.
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Car Bombs Hit Government Military Base in Southern Somalia
A government military base in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia was struck by car bombs and gunfire on Wednesday, residents said, and the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack.The incident occurred in Awdhigle, an agricultural district along the Shabelle River, 70 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu.”We heard two huge blasts and gunfire from the direction of the Somali military base. I saw several soldiers running away from the base to escape but we cannot know how many were killed,” Awdhigle elder Aden Abdullahi told Reuters.
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Five Decades Post-Woodstock, Extracting Legacy from Myth
A generation-defining political statement, an epiphany of peace, three chaotic days that altered music history — the tropes of Woodstock are many, sometimes muddying meaning with myth.The festival carries significant cultural weight, but decades of rehashing its legend through the lens of nostalgia can leave the legacy of half a million youths partying in the rain feel less like a revolutionary subculture and more like a pop culture cliche.In 1969, American society was reeling from the draft, anti-Vietnam War protests, race riots and assassinations of figures like Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy — implicitly setting up Woodstock’s peace and love vibes as an antidote to the anger.”The mood in the country was a little bit like today. There was a sense of violence, of real hatred and division,” said Martha Bayles, a culture and music scholar at Boston College.Despite the sentimentality of baby boomers, however, Woodstock may strike younger generations as a simple iteration of the “narcissism of the sixties,” said Bayles, 71.In spite of the social and political turmoil of the decade, 1969 was also the last time the U.S. statistically ran a budget surplus until 1998 — partially thanks to war manufacturing. Education was cheap, and jobs plentiful.”That was one essence of Woodstock in 1969. Illusory or not, a certain abundance was taken for granted,” wrote Jon Pareles, a New York Times pop music critic who attended Woodstock.”We absolutely thought we were the center of the universe,” he wrote. “And afterward, someone else had to clean up the giant mess we left behind.””Insert the global-warming analogy.”Political influence?While Woodstock included some obviously political protest songs, Bayles called the popular notion that Woodstock was political a “misunderstanding.””To the anti-war movement, to the black power movement — nobody on that side of things saw Woodstock as anything but a joke,” Bayles told AFP.For activists, Woodstock “was a bunch of druggie hippies who were not serious; who didn’t understand how grave the situation was,” she said. “It was seen as silly and self-indulgent by the hardcore political crowd.”The most politically active artist on the line-up was folk artist Joan Baez, who recalls Woodstock as “a joy festival.””This three-day hoo-ha is an important thing. But it was not a revolution,” she told the New York Times. “A revolution or even social change doesn’t happen without the willingness to take risks.””And the only risk at Woodstock was not being invited.”Musical milestoneBut stylistically Bayles said the music that Woodstock brought to the fore lent the festival cultural clout.It showcased a rock genre rooted in American folk, blues and gospel traditions that gave a generation a common thread despite stark societal fissures.”The music did unite all the different sectors of that generation,” she said. “Working people, elite students, soldiers.”Commercialization and packaging underpin today’s festival circuit, but inklings of Woodstock’s spirit remain, according to Bayles, who said it was also a precursor to rave culture.”The power of it really had to do with the music and the crowd,” she said. “This illusion that people had that they were all being swept up into some kind of transcendent collective experience.”Industry-wise, Danny Goldberg, who covered the festival for Billboard at age 19, said post-Woodstock, resources were reallocated to promote rock music in a way that hadn’t been done before.”It certainly demonstrated to the big concert promoters, the big record companies, and the big broadcasters, that the audience for what then was called ‘underground music’ — kind of album-oriented rock music — was significantly bigger than had previously been perceived,” he said.”It was certainly an inflection point in the music business.”Beginning of the endThe 1970 release of the more than three-hour Oscar-winning documentary “Woodstock” burnished the festival’s image from chaotic mud fest to utopian village of peace.For Goldberg, 69, the film played a large role in mythologizing Woodstock.By the time Jimi Hendrix played his now legendary feedback-heavy abstraction of the U.S. national anthem on Monday morning, most people had already left — but its central place in the movie gave the performance symbolic heft and political undertones, Goldberg said.”Suddenly and intangibly we kind of expanded the notion of what patriotism was,” he said.Though the hippie movement did leave residues of influence on mainstream culture, like environmental activism or the prevalence of yoga, Goldberg said “it got too big to be a subculture anymore.””It became an object of satire instead of an object of idealism,” he said. “That counterculture aspect of Woodstock’s legacy — it was the end of something, more than the beginning of it.”
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Former NBA All Star Pays It Forward to South Sudan’s Youth
When he was a child, Luol Deng and his family fled civil war in what would become South Sudan. Deng later became a star in the U.S. National Basketball Association and now uses what he learned on the court to support South Sudanese youth and bring them hope.Deng is a two-time NBA All-Star who joined the Chicago Bulls in 2004. He played his last game, for the Minnesota Timberwolves, in 2018.This month, the former NBA player visited the land of his birth, present-day South Sudan. At the Manute Bol Court that his foundation built, he encouraged young players and talked to reporters about the game.“It’s a tool to take kids off the street but also to occupy them and teach them how to work together, how to communicate, so it’s really more than a sport,” Deng said. As a youngster, Deng and his family fled Sudan’s civil war and went to Egypt. There, Deng met former NBA center and South Sudanese humanitarian activist Manute Bol, who taught him to play basketball.In 2015, the Luol Deng Foundation opened the Manute Bol Court in Juba in memory of Bol, who died in 2010.“I also wanted to dedicate a court after Manute Bol for everything that he’s done for the country. I think that his legacy should always be remembered,” Deng said.The foundation works with the United Nations refugee agency and NBA Africa to build outdoor basketball courts that bring communities together.The courts, and Deng’s example, inspire young South Sudanese players like Sandi Abrahm.“There are some players that are getting scholarships to Europe and America, all because of how they are playing,” Abrahm said.But Deng told reporters that his foundation is about more than just basketball. “We do a lot of other things. For example, we have 10 doctors that we send every year, we’ve been doing it for five years now. They perform surgeries all over South Sudan,” Deng said.Juma Stephen Lugga is the minister of youth and sport for Jubek State. He says Deng’s charity work is invaluable. “What Luol is doing is very great and appreciated because it’s bringing hope for our youth and teenagers,” Lugga said.He says plans for South Sudan include building a basketball academy and including more girls in the program.
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Trump Criticizes China’s Stance on Trade, But Not on Hong Kong
U.S. President Donald Trump attacked China’s trade and financial policies, but refused to criticize Beijing’s pressure on Hong Kong. In a speech Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Trump said China has manipulated the World Trade Organization and the Chinese currency to its advantage. But he said tensions between Beijing and Hong Kong are to be resolved between them. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Chinese Tariffs’ Devastating Impact on Lobster Exports
In July, 2018, China imposed tariffs on many American goods and products, including its highly coveted Maine lobsters. In just one year, export sales of the tasty crustaceans plummeted by more than 80%, forcing American companies exporting to China to make drastic changes. VOA’s Julie Taboh traveled to the northeastern state of Maine to learn first-hand about the economic impact of Chinese tariffs on the industry.
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San Francisco Sues Trump Administration Over Rule to Limit Legal Immigration
The city of San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new rule that would drastically reduce legal immigration by denying visas to poor migrants.Some experts say the new rule could cut legal immigration in half by denying visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people if they fail to meet high enough income standards or if they receive public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, public housing or Medicaid.”This illegal rule is just another attempt to vilify immigrants,” San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement. Trump has made efforts to curb both legal and illegal immigration, an issue he has made a cornerstone of his presidency and one that he has stressed again as the campaign for the 2020 presidential election heats up.The rule, unveiled on Monday and to take effect Oct. 15, expands the definition of a public charge, allowing denials to visa applicants who fail to meet income requirements or who receive public assistance.”The final rule rejects the longstanding, existing definition of public charge, and attempts to redefine it to include even minimal use of a much wider range of non-cash benefits,” said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.”The final rule will worsen the health and well-being of the counties’ residents, increase risks to the public health, undermine the counties’ health and safety-net systems, and inflict significant financial harm,” the suit said.San Francisco is both a city and a county. Santa Clara County includes the city of San Jose and various other parts of Silicon Valley.The suit names U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security and their directors as defendants. The former agency declined to comment and the latter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The suit claims the new rule violates the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 by contradicting the longstanding definition of public charge as a person “primarily” dependent on public assistance for survival.The suit also claims the new rule would split families, undermining immigration laws to prioritize family unification; misapplies the intent of Congress on the description of self-sufficiency of immigrants; and runs contrary to the statutes governing SNAP, also known as food stamps.The National Immigration Law Center said it also will file a lawsuit to stop the rule from taking effect. The attorneys general of California and New York have also threatened to sue.
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AP Interview: Kamala Harris on Her Bus Tour Through Iowa
Kamala Harris is on the move.During the course of a five-day sprint across Iowa that included 17 stops across 11 counties, the Democratic presidential candidate ordered tacos from a tacqueria in Storm Lake, sampled a pork chop at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, called bingo at a senior center in Muscatine and toured the Coyote Run farm in Lacona.The Associated Press interviewed Harris on her bus, which blared her name in bold, vibrant colors as she traveled through a state that she repeatedly said has “made me a better candidate.”Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., enters a rally, Aug. 12, 2019, in Davenport, Iowa.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Q: What have you learned from the people you have met on this trip so far?A: I’ve heard from everyone from farmers to teachers, to people who have been laid off, to seniors who are worried about their Medicare coverage and their prescription drug costs, to students really worried about student loan debt. A lot of people worried about climate change, and there’s an intersection between some of those. What I’ve enjoyed about it is, you know, given the travel schedules we all have, to be in for me, with all of the states that we have to cover. Being in one state for five to six straight days, doing it on the bus in a way that we’re not just going to the places where there are airports and kind of … but instead can get out to places where there are no airports but where people live. How many people came up to me and said, ‘Thank you for coming,’ because they’re not necessarily used to seeing with any frequency at all presidential candidates. I’ve been saying from the beginning, and I’m still in that phase, that it’s really important for me to listen as much as I’m talking.
Q: Why was it so important to be in Iowa for so long?A: There are some practical reasons, to be sure. The Senate’s not in session so I could actually do five straight days. Five straight days, it’s a luxury of sorts. To be able to do that, to do it and to stay, and, really, we’ve been all over the state. It’s almost like being embedded when you as a journalist do that, right? Which is being able to really just dive in and not to have split attention to really just be here. Like this, looking out the window and seeing the flooding and seeing … one of the things I am very focused on in Iowa is the water issue, both in terms of issues of rain and flooding but also clean water is just a big issue in the state. I was just in Michigan. It’s a big issue there. When you talk to a mother in Flint or in Detroit, and you talk to a mother here, they’re having the same conversation, which is that there is poison in the water that their babies are drinking. That’s real. And they’re saying, What is my government doing about it? And they’re saying, “I don’t have any other source of water, and sometimes I have to drink that water that I know has chemicals in it that my child shouldn’t be drinking.” That’s real. For me, that’s the thing about these kinds of trips, which is very affirming. It’s about proving my hypothesis, if you will, which is that we have more in common than what separates us.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., arrives for a visit at the Bickford Senior Living Center, Aug. 12, 2019, in Muscatine, Iowa.Q: How do you think about balancing telling people why you want to be their president and responding to things that President Donald Trump says?A: I feel the need to speak about what he says when it is so clearly destructive, hateful or not reflective of the words of a leader, which is often. But I just think that this is a moment that is challenging leaders to have the courage to speak and say that is not effective of a leader, much less the leader of our nation and the so-called free world. People gotta speak up. There’s a speech that I give about hate, and it was actually part of my stump for a long time. Which is about the importance of speaking truth even when it makes people uncomfortable and speaking the truth about racism, anti-Semitism on and on. … We must agree that whoever is the subject of that and is being attacked should never be made to fight alone. That’s what is going on in my head when I hear certain statements that he makes. It’s about all of us collectively saying we’re not going to stand by and witness an attempt to beat people down without standing up, collectively, and saying we’re all in this together.Q: Your campaign’s headquarters are in Baltimore. What did you think of the president’s comments about the city and its residents?A: Our headquarters are in Baltimore, very purposely chosen. I remember spending time in Baltimore when I was at Howard. Baltimore is a great American city. It’s got a profound history, it’s got a profound culture. And yeah, it has challenges, but it also has made incredible contributions. I put his attack on Baltimore in the same lane of all of the other attacks, right? He is disrespectful. He clearly is not a student of history in terms of understanding the historical significance of certain moments in time or certain places, and the fact that he spoke the word he did about Elijah Cummings … it’s just continually further evidence of a person who does not understand the significance of the words of the president of the United States. Those words should be used in a way that is about lifting people up, not beating them down. The people of Baltimore are the people he represents. To speak of them like the other is just vivid evidence of the fact that the guy does not understand his job and therefore should not be in that job. Most other people, if they keep showing they don’t understand what the job requires, get fired. He needs to get fired. That’s why I’m running against him. Dude gotta go!Q: How did you come up with that line?A: It was a Saturday night in Las Vegas. It was one of our last events and I’m going on. I’m making the point about how our campaign is so much bigger than about getting rid of Donald Trump, it’s about the future of America and making the transition. As a point of emphasis, and also because I got very casual in my conversation because it was just late … So I said, just as a basic point, ‘We all know dude gotta go.’ At which point people — because it was Las Vegas on a Saturday night — people started chanting, ‘Dude gotta go, Dude gotta go.’ I don’t know how many times, the whole place. I did it again, I think, last night, and people kind of liked it. But it makes the point. At some point the conversation about what is not right … At some point, these things are just really self-evident, and so for me, the issue that our campaign is about is not only that kind of obvious point, but what are we going to build. That’s why I talk about the fact that people want a problem-solving president, somebody who can be transformative in a way that is about transforming lives, that is about building up our country in a way that is about strengthening us.
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Ex-Hostage: Aid Worker Kidnappings ‘Big Business’ as Criminals Wade In
Kidnapping of aid workers has become “big business” as militants often work with crime networks to carry out abductions, a senior United Nations official and former hostage said on Tuesday.
Vincent Cochetel, who was held captive in Chechnya in 1998, said countries must bring kidnappers to justice to stem a steep increase in attacks, which are undermining aid operations.
“We need to absolutely get the perpetrators to court,” Cochetel, who works for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that it was usually possible to trace many of those involved.
“These people can be tried any time, anywhere, and they can be extradited, so it’s important to make sure that when those individuals are known everything is done to bring them to justice.”
Last year 130 aid workers were abducted, up from 45 in 2007, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, which records attacks on aid workers. High-risk countries included Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Kidnapping is a longstanding problem in Afghanistan, either for ransom or to put pressure on Western governments, while rebels in South Sudan have carried out mass abductions of humanitarian convoys to control aid delivery.
Most kidnap victims are national staff, held on average for 12 days, according to database research in 2013. International staff are usually held for longer as demands for money or concessions are often steeper.FILE – UNHCR’s Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Refugee Crisis in Europe Vincent Cochetel attends a news briefing at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, March 8, 2016.
Cochetel, who spent 317 days in captivity, said attacks were increasing as militants teamed up with criminal organizations to form hybrid groups, which saw kidnappings as “part of their business model.”
Aid agencies and most governments do not pay ransoms, he said, but payments are sometimes made by third parties such as businessmen with connections to the country where a hostage is being held.
Although kidnapping aid workers is a crime under international law, it is rarely punished, which is fueling the violence, Cochetel said.
Even if hostage-takers cannot be held to account because they live in an area outside state control, states should hit them with travel bans and freeze their assets to stop them benefitting from their crimes and to deter others, he said.
Cochetel was working as head of the UNHCR office in the Russian republic North Ossetia when he was ambushed by armed men outside his flat.
Blindfolded and stuffed in a car boot, he was driven to Chechnya where he was kept handcuffed to a bed in darkness.
The kidnapping was ordered by Chechen militants but outsourced to criminals, said Cochetel, now UNHCR special envoy for the Mediterranean.
Three “small fish” were jailed afterwards, but he knew of few other cases where hostage-takers had faced justice.Submarine syndrome
Aid agencies have boosted security in recent years, but it eats into resources that could be spent on assistance, and armed escorts and fortified offices create a distance between aid workers and the people they are trying to help.
This can fuel mistrust, and consequently increase security risks for staff, said Cochetel who saw the problems first-hand in Chechnya.
“For some (of the population) it was not clear who we were.
We spent so little time in the places we were visiting because we were scared for our own security,” he said.
“It was (a case of) go visit, deliver assistance, go back to the base, sleep in the bunker. And after some time you develop … submarine syndrome. You don’t understand the broader landscape around you.”
Cochetel said the UNHCR spent about 2% of its budget on security, but many smaller organisations could not afford to take the same measures – and even seemingly safe interactions could pose risks.
Earlier this year some colleagues were attending a cultural event with women leaders in southeast Niger when two female “dancers” blew themselves up.
Cochetel also called for more help for hostages following their release, including medical, psychosocial and financial support.
He said many were abandoned by their former employers, particularly if their contract had ended during their captivity or they had to stop working because of trauma.
“I’m aware of many … people who were dropped by their organizations. Some fell into depression, some even took their lives,” he said.
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Red Cross Chief: Geneva Conventions Not Being Respected
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Tuesday that 70 years after countries adopted the Geneva Conventions to limit the barbarity of war, the terrible suffering in conflicts today shows they are not being respected.Peter Maurer told a U.N. Security Council meeting marking the anniversary that continued violations of the rules in the conventions doesn’t mean they are inadequate, “but rather that efforts to ensure respect are inadequate.””We can — and must — do more. You can do more,” he told the 15 council members.The four Geneva Conventions were adopted on Aug. 11, 1949, and have been universally ratified by the world’s countries.
The first three were revised from earlier treaties to update rules on protecting the wounded and sick in the armed forces on land and sea and prisoners of war. The fourth was the first-ever treaty specifically dedicated to protecting civilians in times of war. A new provision is now included in all four conventions to provide protections in conflicts that aren’t between countries, such as civil wars and those involving armed groups not affiliated with governments.FILE – German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, July 31, 2019.Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, told the council the Geneva Conventions are “the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, and their spirit is upheld by the brave men and women in humanitarian operations worldwide who dedicate their lives to saving the lives of others.”But Maas said respect for humanitarian law “is declining” and the complexity of modern warfare is adding deadly challenges. He pointed to extremist groups, conflicts without borders, and daily attacks on civilians, medical facilities and schools.”We are failing the most vulnerable,” Maas said. “We are not living up to our legal and ethical obligations. … It is a threat to peace and security when thousands of people die, when tens of thousands fear for their lives.”FILE – Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz speaks to the media during the NATO Foreign Minister’s Meeting at the State Department in Washington, April 4, 2019.Polish Foreign Minster Jacek Czaputowicz, who presided as this month’s council president, said the greatest challenge to protecting lives in modern conflict is ensuring that armed forces and armed groups respect the rules of warfare.”These violations of humanitarian law occur for a number of circumstances: brutal conduct of warfare, willingness to intimidate opponents, feeling of impunity of perpetrators,” Czaputowicz said. “If existing rules were followed, much of the human suffering in contemporary armed conflicts would not occur.”
Maurer said the challenge is to ensure not only that the conventions are part of military doctrine and rules but that they become an ethical standard of behavior and “that fighters facing a choice to act in violation of the law know and say, ‘This is wrong; this is not who I am.'”
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UN Urges Reluctant EU Nations to Help Stranded Migrants
The United Nations refugee agency urgently appealed to European governments Tuesday to let two migrant rescue ships disembark more than 500 passengers who remain stranded at sea as countries bicker over who should take responsibility for them.
The people rescued while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa are on ships chartered by humanitarian aid groups that the Italian government has banned from its territory. The archipelago nation of Malta also has refused to let the ships into that country’s ports.It’s unclear where they might find safe harbor, even though the Italian island of Lampedusa appears closest. About 150 of the rescued passengers have been on the Spanish-flagged charity ship the Open Arms since they were plucked from the Mediterranean 13 days ago. FILE – Migrants are seen aboard the Open Arms Spanish humanitarian boat as it cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, Aug. 9, 2019.”This is a race against time,” Vincent Cochetel, the International Red Cross special envoy for the central Mediterranean, said in a statement. “Storms are coming, and conditions are only going to get worse.”
While the number of migrants reaching Europe by sea has dropped substantially so far this year, the Red Cross says nearly 600 people have died or gone missing in waters between Libya, Italy and Malta in 2019.
The agency said many of the people on the ships “are reportedly survivors of appalling abuses in Libya.” Cochetel said the ships “must be immediately allowed to dock” and their passengers “allowed to receive much-needed humanitarian aid.”
“To leave people who have fled war and violence in Libya on the high seas in this weather would be to inflict suffering upon suffering,” the envoy said.The captain of the Open Arms, Marc Reig, sent a letter Monday to the Spanish Embassy in Malta asking Madrid to grant asylum to 31 minors on his ship. A senior Spanish official said Tuesday that Reig’s request carries no legal weight because the captain doesn’t have authority to seek protection for the minors.A member of the Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) registers the details of a rescued migrant onboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship after 81 migrants were rescued from their dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea, Aug. 11, 2019.Two charity groups that are operating the Ocean Viking rescue ship — Doctors Without Borders and sea rescue group SOS Mediterranee — also formally asked Italy and Malta to allow the 356 migrants aboard that vessel to be allowed to disembark.The limbo of the Open Arms and Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking is the latest in a string of standoffs that kept Europe-bound migrants at sea in miserable conditions.
Southern nations that have been the main arrival points since 2015 — notably Italy, but also Malta and Greece — have complained of feeling abandoned by their European Union partners to cope with the influx.Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, reiterated Tuesday his intent to ensure that the ships don’t enter Italian ports.Migrants rest on the desk of the Ocean Viking rescue ship, operated by French NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), during an operation in the Mediterranean Sea, Aug. 13, 2019.Differences among EU member nations over how to manage mass migration have sparked a political crisis in Europe, while attempts to reform the bloc’s asylum system have failed. The issue has been a vote-winner for far-right and populist parties.
The EU’s executive commission said it has urged member countries to take action to resolve the status of the recently rescued passengers and stands ready to offer national governments support but cannot act alone.”There’s nothing more we can do,” a European Commission spokeswoman said Tuesday.
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Khmer Rouge Tribunal: Death Stops Defendant’s Appeal
The U.N.-assisted tribunal trying leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge on charges of genocide and other crimes affirmed Tuesday it will cease legal proceedings against Nuon Chea, the communist group’s No. 2 leader who died at age 93 on Aug. 4 while his conviction was under appeal.
A statement by the tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber cited Cambodian law and international criminal tribunal precedent as the basis for its ruling. It also acknowledged a request by Nuon Chea’s defense team to clarify how ending the appeal due to Nuon Chea’s death affects “the trial judgment and underlying convictions” — whether it leaves his conviction standing, or nullifies it.Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue for the Khmer Rouge, was convicted in two separate trials of crimes against humanity, genocide and other offenses committed when the Khmer Rouge held power in the late 1970s. About 1.7 million people died from starvation, disease, overwork and executions under its rule. He was tried along with Khieu Samphan, the regime’s former head of state, who like him received life sentences in both trials. Cambodia does not have capital punishment.FILE – Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, is seen on screen at the court’s press center at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 16, 2018.One of Nuon Chea’s lawyers, Australian Doreen Chen, said last week that her team believes that according to law, their late client “is presumed innocent until a final appeal judgment is delivered.””Since the Supreme Court Chamber hasn’t issued the appeal judgment, he is now considered innocent and that trial judgment against him is effectively vacated. We have asked the Supreme Court Chamber to confirm this view and let us know what should happen next,” she said in an interview over the internet.She also said they are seeking to have his appeal continue despite his death “so that there can be a final judgment and confirmation of the truth, not only for Nuon Chea but for the Cambodian people.”The tribunal, which has cost hundreds of millions of dollars, has convicted only one other defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who as head of the Khmer Rouge prison system ran the infamous Tuol Sleng torture center in Phnom Penh. Two other defendants died before their trials could be completed.Khieu Samphan, 88, is the only surviving defendant and almost certainly will be the last one to face trial, due to the Cambodian government’s opposition to launching any more prosecutions.
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Child Soldiers and Deaths Surge in Mali as Violence Worsens
The number of children forced to join armed groups in Mali has doubled since last year amid worsening jihadist and ethnic violence, the United Nations said Tuesday.In the first six months of 2019, the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, recorded 99 cases of children in Mali being recruited or used by armed groups, often as soldiers, spies, cooks or cleaners, compared to 47 in the same period last year.”This is very much a reflection of the deteriorating security situation, in particular in the center of Mali,” UNICEF spokeswoman Eliane Luthi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.The West African country has been in conflict since 2012 when Islamists hijacked an ethnic uprising by Tuaregs in the north. More recently the violence has moved to central Mali, where fighting between farmers and herders has surged this year.The number of children in Mali who were killed or maimed in conflict almost quadrupled to 229 in the first half of 2019, up from 59 in the same period last year, UNICEF said.Fulani herders and Dogon farmers have long competed for land and resources in Mali, but jihadist groups have exploited their ethnic rivalry to boost recruitment and expand their reach.FILE – Two Fulani children walk across a puddle in an Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camp in Faladie, Mali, May 16, 2019.In March, suspected Dogon militiamen killed more than 150 Fulani in central Mali, one of the worst acts of bloodshed in the country’s recent history.The insecurity has forced over 900 schools to close, which is another factor driving recruitment of children, said Luthi.”We know very well that when children are out of school they are exposed to all sorts of other violations,” she said.The figures reflect a wider trend of children being more caught up in conflicts globally, said Keyan Salarkia, an expert on conflict with British charity Save the Children.”The rules and the laws of conflict aren’t being upheld,” he said.The number of violations against children in war have tripled globally since 2010, according to Save the Children.
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Pakistan Asks UN Security Council to Meet over India Moves in Kashmir
Pakistan on Tuesday asked the United Nations Security Council to meet over India’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Himalayan region that has long been a flashpoint in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors.The move by India blocks the right of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to frame its own laws and allows non-residents to buy property there. Telephone lines, internet and television networks have been blocked since the Aug. 5 decision and there are restrictions on movement and assembly.”Pakistan will not provoke a conflict. But India should not mistake our restraint for weakness,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote in a letter to the Security Council seen by Reuters.”If India chooses to resort again to the use of force, Pakistan will be obliged to respond, in self defense, with all its capabilities,” he said, adding that “in view of the dangerous implications” Pakistan requested the meeting.A man sells Kashmir’s flags and patriotic memorabilia ahead of Pakistan’s Independence Day, in a market in Karachi.It was not immediately clear how the 15-member council would respond to the request and whether a member of the body would also need to make a formal request. Pakistan said on Saturday it had China’s support for the move.Poland is president of the Security Council for August.Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday that the council had received a letter from Pakistan and “will discuss that issue and take a proper decision.”The Himalayan region is divided between India, which rules the populous Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the Security Council stakeout at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Aug. 1, 2019.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on India and Pakistan to refrain from any steps that could affect the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Guterres also said he was concerned about reports of restrictions on the Indian side of Kashmir.The U.N. Security Council adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in the 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan over the region, including one which says a plebiscite should be held to determine the future of the mostly Muslim Kashmir.Another resolution also calls upon both sides to “refrain from making any statements and from doing or causing to be done or permitting any acts which might aggravate the situation.”U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Warden at New York Jail Where Financier Epstein Died Removed
U.S. Attorney General William Barr ordered the removal of the warden at the federal jail where financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, the Justice Department said on Tuesday, after condemning “serious irregularities” at the facility.The staff shakeup at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan announced by the department included temporarily reassigning the warden to another post within the federal Bureau of Prisons, appointing a temporary replacement and placing two corrections officers assigned to Epstein’s unit on administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations.Epstein was found dead on Saturday morning, having apparently hanged himself in his cell.The department’s announcement of the staff changes was made hours after President Donald Trump said he wanted a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.”Additional actions may be taken as the circumstances warrant,” Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in a statement.FILE – A photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein, March 28, 2017.Epstein, who once counted Trump and former President Bill Clinton as friends, was arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14.Kupec said James Petrucci, the warden at Federal Correctional Institution Otisville in New York, was named as acting MCC warden. The previous warden was reassigned to the bureau’s Northeast Regional Office, Kupec added. The corrections officers were not identified.The department did not name the warden who was reassigned, but sources familiar with the matter identified him as Lamine N’Diaye, who formerly was in charge of the Bureau of Prisons office of internal affairs.Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official, on Monday vowed to carry on the Epstein investigation following the death of the wealthy and well-connected money manager. Barr said he was “appalled” at the jail’s “failure to adequately secure this prisoner.” Barr cited “serious irregularities at this facility,” but did not offer specifics.The 66-year-old financier had been on suicide watch, but a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was not on watch at the time of his death.At the MCC, two jail guards are required to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed overnight, according to the source.Trump earlier on Tuesday praised Barr’s handling of the matter, adding, “I want a full investigation, and that’s what I absolutely am demanding. That’s what our attorney general, our great attorney general is doing.”President Donald Trump talks to reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Aug. 13, 2019.Speaking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, Trump also defended his decision on Saturday to retweet an unfounded conspiracy theory from a conservative comedian named Terrence K. Williams that Clinton was involved in Epstein’s death.”He’s a very highly respected conservative pundit,” said of Williams. “He’s a big Trump fan. And that was a retweet. That wasn’t from me. … So I think I was fine.”New York City’s medical examiner has said an autopsy on Epstein was completed on Sunday, but the cause of death remained pending.U.S. lawmakers have demanded that the government hold responsible people who allegedly helped Epstein engage in sex trafficking. Senator Ben Sasse, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee, urged Barr to void a 2008 agreement that Epstein entered into with federal prosecutors in Florida that has been widely criticized as too lenient.Under that deal, Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges and served 13 months in jail, but was allowed to leave the detention facility regularly for his office.’Crooked Deal’Some of Epstein’s accusers have called on the federal judge overseeing that case to scrap portions of the agreement, which provided immunity to Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators. In a letter to Barr, Sasse said the agreement should be thrown out altogether.FILE – Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks during a legislative summit sponsored by the Omaha and Lincoln Chambers of Commerce, which was held at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska, Aug. 8, 2019.”This crooked deal cannot stand,” and should be voided to “ensure that some measure of justice is finally delivered to Epstein’s victims who have been let down time and time again by their government,” Sasse said.One of the prosecutors involved in the 2008 agreement, Alexander Acosta, resigned as Trump’s labor secretary in July as the Epstein deal came under fresh scrutiny after the financier’s arrest in New York.The Epstein scandal has also enmeshed Leslie Wexner, the billionaire chairman and chief executive behind Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works parent L Brands Inc, who had previously entrusted Epstein to manage his personal finances and serve as trustee of his charitable foundation.Wexner recently hired white-collar defense lawyer Mary Jo White, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the matter, as scrutiny of Epstein’s finances intensifies.Wexner has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.CNN earlier reported Wexner’s hiring of White.Neither White nor a representative for Wexner immediately responded to requests for comment. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan declined to comment.
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Gibraltar Denies It is Due to Release Seized Iranian Tanker
Opposing news reports fueled confusion Tuesday over the fate of an oil tanker seized near the British territory of Gibraltar last month. Jalil Eslami, deputy head of Iran’s maritime agency, said Tuesday that the tanker, Grace 1, would soon be released by Gibraltar authorities. “We believe that (the) Grace 1 oil tanker will resume operation under (the) Iranian flag in international waters in the very near future,” Eslami said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. Fars, quoting unidentified Gibraltar authorities, said the tanker would be freed by late Tuesday.But Western media reports said a senior official in Gibraltar called the report “untrue.” Although Grace 1 was seized by British forces, Britain said on Tuesday that investigations into the tanker were a matter for Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a hearing on the case on Thursday.Britain has accused the vessel of violating European sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a charge Tehran denies.In retaliation, Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 for alleged maritime violations.Tensions in the Persian Gulf have been rising since the United States pulled out of the international 2015 nuclear treaty, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for lifting most international sanctions on Tehran.Britain and other European parties to the nuclear deal have been trying to salvage it by shielding Iran’s economy from reimposed tougher U.S. sanctions.
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Burundian YouTube Child Star’s Death Spotlights Malaria Epidemic
The death of a six-year-old YouTube star from a malaria epidemic in Burundi has spotlighted the growing challenge of combating malaria in a warmer world, health experts said on Tuesday.Darcy Irakoze – known as Kacaman – who was popular for his comedy performances on YouTube and in local theaters, died on Thursday after contracting the mosquito-borne disease in his home city of Gitega, east of the commercial capital Bujumbura.Neighbors in the tiny central African nation told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the primary school student had been suffering from fever for a few days and his mother had taken him to a local clinic, but he had died the following day.”The death of Kacaman is very tragic,” said Marshal Mukuvare of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).”We are losing many children to malaria – not just in Burundi, but across sub-Saharan Africa,” he said, adding that Burundi was struggling to stop mosquitoes breeding around homes and to provide bed nets to protect people while sleeping.The young comic’s death has prompted a wave of tributes and sparked debate about malaria in Burundi, where the United Nations says it has reached “epidemic” proportions with almost 6 million cases and 1,800 deaths reported this year.The Burundian government says the figures are lower – with 4.3 million recorded cases and 1,400 deaths this year.Mukuvare, who is the IFRC’s East Africa disaster management delegate, said many families increased risk of death by delaying seeking medical treatment as they did not have money and instead attempting to treat the disease with painkillers.Malaria, spread when female mosquitoes bite humans, kills almost half a million people each year, with 90% of deaths in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).Irakoze, who played an outspoken, opinionated character in his sketches, had performed with popular Burundian comics and tributes on social media mourned his loss.”Another precious life lost,” tweeted James Elder, a regional spokesman for the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF. “Malaria robbed his future; as it does to a child every two minutes.”Although WHO has declared 38 countries malaria-free since 1955, its campaign has stalled as mosquitoes have become resistant to drugs and bed net insecticides and global warming is enabling the malaria parasite to survive in new areas.”We are seeing increased rainfall across parts of East Africa and more agricultural development, which is increasing the number of mosquito breeding sites,” said Melanie Renshaw, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance’s chief technical advisor. “We are also witnessing higher temperatures and heavier rainfall in mountainous countries such as Rwanda and Burundi which may be driving malaria into areas in the highlands where it didn’t exist before.”
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Not Just Bali: Indonesia Hopes to Develop More Tourism Sites
Hundreds of tourists, many of them young Westerners, sat on gray stone steps atop the world’s largest Buddhist temple, occasionally checking cellphones or whispering to each other as they waited for daylight.Sunrise wasn’t spectacular on that recent summer day. But even an ordinary dawn at Borobudur Temple — nine stone tiers stacked like a wedding cake and adorned with hundreds of Buddha statues and relief panels — provided a memorable experience.The 9th century temple is in the center of Indonesia’s Java island, a densely populated region with stunning vistas. Other highlights include the towering Hindu temple complex of Prambanan, like Borobudur a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Mount Merapi, the country’s most active volcano, whose lava-covered slopes are accessible by jeep.While the two temples draw many visitors, other foreigners head to the relaxing beaches of Bali, just east of Java and by far the most popular tourist destination in a nation of thousands of islands and almost 270 million people. More than 6 million tourists visited Bali last year, or about 40 percent of 15.8 million visitors to Indonesia overall, according to official figures.Local tourists take a selfie with the background of Mount Merapi, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 6, 2019. Yogyakarta and its hinterland are packed with tourist attractions, including Buddhist and Hindu temples of World Heritage.Recently reelected President Joko Widodo wants to change this dynamic by pushing ahead with “10 new Balis,” an ambitious plan to boost tourism and diversify Southeast Asia’s largest economy.Key to the plan is to upgrade provincial airports and improve access to outlying destinations, such as Lake Toba on Sumatra island, more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Jakarta, the capital. Yogyakarta, the provincial city from where visitors head to Borobudur and Prambanan, is getting a second airport, expected to be fully operational later this year.Widodo has been promoting his plan in meetings with foreign leaders and in recent interviews, including with The Associated Press, in hopes of encouraging foreign investment. The president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation told the AP in late July that as part of his push, he would like to see more business ties with the Middle East.“For investment and tourism, we would like to invite investors from the Middle East as much as possible because … we have many tourism locations in Indonesia, not only one or two or four, but many,” said Widodo. He did not give specifics.Muslim tourists, including from the Middle East, might also be an easier fit for some of the more conservative areas earmarked for tourism development. Tourism officials have played down the possibility of cultural friction that might accompany the influx of more non-Muslim visitors, arguing that Indonesia’s brand of tolerant Islam can accommodate everyone.“Maybe there are some particular locations that are very strict (religiously),” said Hiramsyah Thaib, who heads the “10 New Balis” initiative. “We believe we won’t have any problems. Sometimes we have problems in the media, but not in reality.”Yet Islamic hard-liners have become more assertive in recent years, potentially spooking investors by undermining Indonesia’s image as a moderate nation. Thaib said he believes investor confidence rose “significantly” after Widodo defeated former special forces general Prabowo Subianto in April’s presidential election. Subianto had been backed by Muslim groups favoring Shariah law.The tourism plan remains key to Widodo’s final five-year term, though at least one target — 20 million visitors this year — appears to have been too ambitious. The 2019 visitor tally is expected to be 18 million, based on current growth figures, said Thaib.Still, the Indonesian tourism sector grew by 7.8 percent in 2018, or twice the global average, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.Tourists inspect a Buddha statue at Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, Aug. 12, 2019.One of the 10 sites earmarked for development is the Borobudur Temple area and nearby Yogyakarta, a city of several hundred thousand people that is embedded in a large metro area. The city is a center of Javanese culture and a seat of royal dynasties going back centuries.In 2017, former President Barack Obama and his family visited the city, where his late mother, Ann Dunham, spent years doing anthropological research. Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a child, toured Borodbudur and Prambanan during the nostalgic trip.But while the Obamas got around with relative ease, including private jet travel, ordinary visitors struggle with congested streets packed with motorbikes weaving in and out of slow-moving traffic.Travelers hoping to be in place at Borobudur just before sunrise need at least 90 minutes to get there from Yogyakarta, a journey of 40 kilometers (24 miles). A 230-kilometer (140-mile) round trip to the Dieng highlands, with terraced fields, small temples and a colorful volcanic lake, requires a full day of travel, some of it on bumpy back roads.Anton McLaughlin, a 55-year-old visitor from York, England, said he was astounded by the number of motorbikes in the streets. Speaking during a jeep tour of the slopes of Mount Merapi, he said he’s become more aware of the natural disasters Indonesians endure regularly. Indonesia straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people, and the ruins of one destroyed hamlet were part of the tour.“People just seem to crack on with life,” McLaughlin said.Just a day after his tour, the volcano shot out hot clouds and lava that flowed 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) down its slopes. No casualties or damage were reported.Jan Tenbrinke, 37, from Zwolle in the Netherlands, said Bali is the next stop for his family of four, but that he hoped to get a better sense of Indonesian culture in Yogyakarta.In the city, tourists can visit workshops for Batik textiles, silver jewelry and Kopi Luwak — coffee made from partially digested coffee cherries that were eaten and defecated by wild tree cats, or civets. Billed as the “world’s most expensive coffee,” Kopi Luwak became known to a wider audience in the 2007 Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman movie “The Bucket List.”Local museums, including two royal palaces and a former Dutch fort, pose a challenge for foreign visitors eager to learn more about local history and culture because they mostly lack easily accessible explanations in English.Thaib, the tourism official, acknowledged that there is room for improvement. He said Indonesia is determined to catch up to other Asian nations, including Thailand, which he said began developing their tourism industries much sooner.“There is still a lot of work,” he said of his nation’s efforts. “We believe we are on the right track.”
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UN: Credible Evidence Hong Kong Police Use Banned Tactics to Suppress Protesters
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michele Bachelet, has called for an investigation into what she said is the use of banned tactics by Hong Kong police to quell anti-government demonstrations. Bachelet is voicing concern about the escalating violence in Hong Kong and worries about it spiraling out of control. She is urging protesters to express their grievances peacefully and not to resort to violence or the destruction of property.Bachelet, however, is urging Hong Kong authorities to refrain from hard-nosed tactics that violate peoples’ rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and which are likely to cause civilian casualties.An anti-extradition bill protester throws a tear gas cartridge back at police during clashes in Wan Chai in Hong Kong, Aug. 11, 2019.Her spokesman, Rupert Colville, said the high commissioner is alarmed by the methods used by the security forces that are both dangerous and forbidden.”OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) has reviewed credible evidence of law enforcement officials employing less lethal weapons in ways that are prohibited by international norms and standards,” Colville said. “For example, officials can be seen firing tear gas canisters into crowded, enclosed areas and directly at individual protesters on multiple occasions, creating a considerable risk of death or serious injury.” Colville said there are clear guidelines on how supposed non-lethal weapons, such as tear gas, batons and rubber bullets should be used.”Law enforcement officials should only employ tear gas to disperse crowds as a last resort when widespread violence creates an imminent threat of serious injury or damage to property. And, in this situation, the canisters must be fired at a high angle to create indirect fire.” The U.N. human rights office is calling on Hong Kong authorities to investigate these incidents immediately and ensure security personnel comply with the rules of engagement. It warns excessive use of force will only inflame tensions and worsen the situation.Rights chief Bachelet is also urging all sides to resolve the situation through calm, meaningful dialogue.
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