At a contentious summit where the United States stood apart from allies on many issues, including whether to help with the Amazon fires, bring Russia back into the fold and the tariff war with China, U.S. President Donald Trump did agree to support several G-7 initiatives, despite reports that his administration considers them “niche issues.”A senior administration official confirmed to VOA that the Trump administration signed several consensus documents, particularly in the area of gender equality, partnership with Africa, and digital transformation.The United States did not sign on to a $20 million aid offer from the G-7 to help the government of Brazil fight the Amazon rainforest fires.The US stands ready to assist Brazil in efforts to combat fires in the Amazon. We didn’t agree to a G7 initiative that failed to include consultations w/ White House Advisor Ivanka Trump talks to women entrepreneurs, at the demonstration cocoa farm in Adzope, Ivory Coast, April 17, 2019.In supporting the partnership on gender equality, the Trump administration points to its Women’s Global Development andProsperity (W-GDP) Initiative, which seeks to economically empower 50 million women across the developing world by 2025. The initiative is spear-headed by the president’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump.While analysts applaud that Ivanka Trump is continuing a long-standing U.S. policy to support gender equality world-wide, they point out to the fact that women’s economic empowerment is closely tied to reproductive rights, an area where the Trump administration has restrictive policies.While the hope is that G-7 nations will invest in broader measures to advance the status of women and girls, Bigio said that when the U.S. takes up the G-7 presidency next year, “the expectation is that they will only focus on women’s economic empowerment.”The W-GDP has “a narrow focus because we want to make sure that it has tangible results” said a senior Trump administration official. “We want to make sure that it is focused on economic growth. So it does not dive into the important health issues across the developing world,” she added.Economic empowerment is “more politically feasible for this administration than other areas critical to women’s lives like healthcare or protection from violence,” Bigio said.The administration has proposed significant cuts to aid and rolled out restrictive reproductive health policies around the world, including “the global gag rule,” a Reagan administration policy that blocks U.S. federal funding for foreign non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals, advocate to decriminalize abortion, or expand abortion services.All subsequent Republican administrations have enforced the rule and all Democratic administrations have rescinded it. In 2017 Trump expanded it so that even organizations that advocate for abortion with their own money are banned from National security adviser John Bolton talks to reporters about Venezuela, outside the White House, May 1, 2019.In 2018, National Security Advisor John Bolton unveiled “Prosper Africa”, the administration’s strategy on the continent, initially presented as a direct counter to Chinese influence. “Many Africans have really rejected the strategy,” said Devermont. “They felt it was about China. It wasn’t about Africa. The way in which the administration talked about China made it sound like Africans have no agency, that Africans are being hoodwinked, or taken advantage of by the Chinese,” he added.The strategy is now presented as a method of engaging with African leaders and entrepreneurs, with less reference to Beijing.Global impactG-7 statements are not legally binding but they can have an impact on global governance, said Karoline Postel-Vinay, a research professor at the Paris-based institute Sciences Po.Last year the G-7 in Canada produced a joint communique that Trump retracted. “So in that sense, the various statements of this year, constitute a progress in terms of consensus and therefore global impact,” Postel-Vinay added.Several times during this year’s G-7 Trump dismissed that there are divisions with other leaders and highlighted “unity.”According to a senior administration official, these are the consensus documents the U.S. signed on to at the G-7 summit:· G7 Leaders’ Declaration· Declaration on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment· Biarritz Partnership on Gender Equality· Sahel Partnership Action Plan· Biarritz Declaration for a G7 and Africa Partnership· Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship in Africa· Digital Transformation in Africa· Transparency in Public Procurement and the Common Fight Against Corruption· Metz Charter on Biodiversity· Biarritz Strategy for an Open, Free, and Secure Digital Transformation participation at the G-7 summit
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Month: August 2019
Brexit: British Lawmakers Trying to Block No Deal
British lawmakers will next week pull the trigger on their plans to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson leading the country out of the European Union without an exit deal. Johnson says he still wants to convince Brussels to give him an improved exit agreement, but will leave without one on Oct. 31 if he has to.A narrow majority of lawmakers in parliament has previously voted to try to stop this outcome, known as a “no-deal” Brexit. But, with only a few weeks left before the deadline and limited time in parliament to play with, what options do they have to block the prime minister?Change the lawBritish law says that the country will end its membership of the EU on Oct. 31. That date can only be changed by the government of the day. This means members of parliament need to find a way to pass a law that requires Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit and then, if the EU agrees to the request, make the required changes to domestic legislation.In extremis, a law change could even be used to force Johnson to revoke the government’s intention to quite the EU. However, passing a law against the government’s wishes is not easy because ministers have almost complete control over the parliamentary agenda. To do it requires lawmakers to clear three main hurdles: find a procedural opportunity to hijack the agenda in parliament; win several votes to pass a bill through the lower chamber; and then win a series of votes in the upper chamber.Each stage is fraught with risk. To gain control of the parliamentary agenda will likely require a helping hand from the Speaker John Bercow, who has in the past been supportive of efforts to hinder a no-deal exit. The opposition Labour Party is hoping to use an emergency debate next week to do this, but the method is untested.To win votes in the 650-seat House of Commons will require members of Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party to rebel against their leader. They have proven willing to do this in the past, but some recent decisions have come down to a single vote.The House of Lords, which is largely pro-EU, could also prove a stumbling block if eurosceptic Conservative lawmakers there try to filibuster. Above all, each of these steps take parliamentary time, which is in short supply after Johnson announced on Wednesday that he would suspend parliament for more than a month between mid-September and mid-October.Nevertheless, the approach has been successful once before, earlier this year when parliament passed a law demanding then-Prime Minister Theresa May delay Brexit. In the end, she decided to do so anyway, so the effectiveness of that legislation was not fully tested.Change the governmentParliament can collapse Johnson’s government using a no-confidence vote, creating two opportunities for lawmakers to try to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Firstly, if the government were to lose a no-confidence vote, this could lead to an election that brings in a new government with a strategy to either delay Brexit or revoke the decision to leave the EU.But it is within Johnson’s power to delay any election until after Oct. 31, and his aides have indicated he is willing to take this step to ensure Britain’s exit. The second method is untested and harder to predict. Losing a confidence vote triggers a 14-day period in which a new administration can be formed.If the majority who voted against Johnson were able to prove, by holding a vote in parliament, that they could form a stable alternative government they could try to extend Britain’s EU membership beyond Oct. 31. However, so far rival parties have been reluctant to rally around a single candidate who could lead an alternative
government.In addition, the electoral legislation allowing for this was introduced in 2011 and has never been tested in this way. It has been criticized for not defining exactly how the 14-day period would work and who has the power to do what during it.
Johnson could argue that he is not obliged to resign, decide to hold out until an election is triggered, and then hold that election after Oct. 31.
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Rights Groups Urge China to End Enforced Disappearances
Marking the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Aug. 30, several human rights groups called on China to stop using the practice of disappearances to silence human rights defenders, dissidents and other members of civil society.
They are urging the government in Beijing to immediately release those being held, including Yang Hengjun — an Australian writer of Chinese origin, whom Beijing has officially charged with espionage after a months-long detention. The former government official was detained in January as he prepared to head to Shanghai after traveling to Guangzhou from New York with family. He has been held without access to family or lawyers since then. Yang, who was later moved to Beijing, has been a vocal critic of Chinese authorities.
Rights groups, including the International Service for Human Rights and Safeguard Defenders, called China’s arrest of foreign citizens, including Yang and two Canadians, part of its aggressive “hostage diplomacy,” according to a joint statement.
Hostage diplomacy
Some observers believe that Yang’s incarceration may be linked to Australia’s decision to ban the purchase of equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei over security concerns. Others, however, argued that Yang may be a target under China’s campaigns to find double agents in politics or elsewhere.
Yang was formerly a diplomat at China’s foreign affairs ministry before working in the private sector in Hong Kong and moving to the United States and then Australia. Yang holds Australian citizenship.
Once a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, the 54-year-old writer, known as the “democracy peddler,” has been a popular political commentator. He has called for democratic reforms in China over the past decade.
He is also famous for his spy thriller Fatal Weakness, which is one of three books in a series.
Trade barbs
During a recent interview with CNN, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denounced the allegations against Yang as “absolutely untrue” and pledged to “stand up” for him.
In response, China on Thursday criticized Morrison for what it called his “wanton” comments.FILE – In a still image from video, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang speaks during a media briefing in which he commented on investigations into Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun in Beijing, July 17, 2019.“China is a country with the rule of law. China’s judiciary independently processes cases according to the law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing.
“I advise the Australian side to immediately stop making comments which are not backed up by evidence and are irresponsible and stop the hype and the pressure,” he added.
Under Chinese laws, the range of espionage offenses carries penalties from three years in prison to the death sentence.
Non-profit group PEN America noted that China’s legal action against Yang “is a chilling illustration of the abusive lengths the [Chinese] government will go to silence its critics.” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Yang’s case is indicative of China’s lack of press freedom.
“By charging a foreign journalist for espionage, the Chinese regime’s record of press freedom has taken another turn for the worse,” said Cedric Alviani, head of the media freedom group’s East Asia Bureau, in a press statement.
RSF called on the international community “to ramp up the pressure on Beijing so that they would immediately release Yang and all other [114] detained journalists and bloggers.”Political scapegoat
Although circumstances involving Yang’s arrest remain unclear, Xia Ming, professor of political science and global affairs at The City University of New York, said that infighting among factions of China’s diplomatic and secret services is clearly at play and that Yang is possibly a scapegoat of the defeated factions.
In a broader sense, Yang may also be a target of China’s drive in recent years to remove politicians who will not take a position on issues, say analysts.
“After Xi Jinping proposed to clean up double-faced people, I’m afraid people [like Yang] who have shuttled between China and Western countries are put at great risk,” Xia said.
Sharing a similar view, Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that the Communist Party now sees Yang, who came out of China’s diplomatic and intelligence systems, but trumpeted democratic values overseas, as a traitor.
Through Yang’s case, China further aims to send a message abroad, he said.
China-Australia tensions
“The Chinese government wants to teach a lesson to the Australian government, remind them that they shouldn’t push too hard against activities in Australia, against what China is doing to influence Australian politics and to promote its interests in Australia,” Cabestan said.
Yang’s detention comes amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
Despite their strong trade bonds, the two countries are clashing on issues, which include China’s rising ambitions in the South Pacific, its alleged attempts to influence Australia’s domestic politics and Canberra’s decision to ban Huawei’s technology from its 5G networks.
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How Democratic Insider Greg Craig Got Caught Up in the Russia Probe
Greg Craig is an improbable figure in the national saga formerly known as the “Russia Investigation.”While almost everyone caught in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s cross-hairs — from Paul Manafort to Roger Stone — had close ties to President Donald Trump’s orbit, Craig was a conspicuous outsider.The 74-year-old veteran Washington lawyer and Democratic insider served in prominent positions in the administrations of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama before joining a white-shoe New York law firm in recent years.Declining fortunesSince then, Craig’s fortunes have taken a hit. Now, the retired trial attorney is fighting a federal indictment that spun off the Russia probe and accuses him of lying to the Justice Department about his work for the government of Ukraine and his failure to register as a foreign agent.Taking the stand in federal court in Washington in his own defense, Craig, who once represented the likes of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards, rejected the allegation that he had misled the Justice Department unit responsible for enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act. “I did not withhold or conceal any information from the FARA Unit,” he said. A verdict in the case is imminent.Craig crossed Mueller’s radar as the special counsel was investigating Manafort’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Viktor Yanukovych, whose 2010 Ukrainian presidential victory Manafort had helped engineer. FILE – Paul Manafort makes his way through television cameras as he walks from Federal District Court in Washington, Oct. 30, 2017.Ukrainian connectionIn 2012, Manafort commissioned Craig’s international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York to investigate the controversial corruption trial the previous year of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The case against the Yanukovych rival had been criticized by Western governments as politically motivated, and Ukraine was eager to show Tymoshenko had received a fair trial.A partner in the firm’s global policy and litigation strategy, Craig led the investigation. But prosecutors allege he did more than merely fact finding. Throughout the months-long audit, Craig and Manafort strategized shaping the report’s news coverage, activities that agents of foreign governments must report to the Justice Department. In April 2012, for example, Craig emailed Manafort, “Ukraine is taking a public relations hit every day in every Western publication—and there has been no effective response. The damage may be irreversible.”Report backs Ukrainian governmentThe report, released in December 2012, largely sided with the Ukrainian government’s account of the Tymoshenko trial, acknowledging flaws in the process while concluding that the Ukrainian court that convicted Tymoshenko “based its findings on evidence” and that it was unlikely an American court would overturn her conviction.FILE – Then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2013.Kyiv liked the report and was eager to get the word out. A public relations plan by Manafort to Craig stated that the report’s release provides “an opportunity for the independent endorsement of the Government message” and suggested leaking it to a New York Times reporter before it was made public.The task of reaching out to the reporter fell to Craig, who, working closely with a PR firm retained by the Ukrainian government, hand-delivered an advance copy of the report to reporter David Sanger’s Washington home and later emailed him a prepared statement. The New York Times story, published the day before the report’s release, said that while Skadden lawyers concluded that “important rights” of Tymoshenko were violated during the trial, the report “seemed to side heavily” with the government of Ukraine.Craig’s PR roleThe Justice Department says Craig’s outreach to the Times reporter and others amounted to public relations.
“As a result of these acts in furtherance of Ukraine’s public relations strategy regarding the report, Craig had an obligation under FARA to register as an agent of Ukraine,” the 22-page indictment states.FILE – Protesters demand the release of then-imprisoned former prime minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, at a rally in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2013.Enacted in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda, FARA requires anyone acting as an agent of a foreign government or entity to register with the Justice Department and periodically report on his or her lobbying activities.The indictment alleges that Craig had a motive for avoiding registering under FARA: he was afraid it could prevent him from taking a government position in the future. He also was concerned registration would have required him to report two troubling facts: that a Ukrainian oligarch secretly paid Craig’s firm more than $4 million for the report, and that Skadden, Arps had a “parallel arrangement” with Ukraine to aid in the prosecution of Tymoshenko on additional charges.Manafort, former Manafort partner Rick Gates and Craig’s law firm, Skadden, Arps, have all admitted to engaging in illegal public relations activities on behalf of Ukraine. But Craig said he did not view his work as PR and saw no need to register under FARA.Craig takes the standAddressing the court on Wednesday, Craig said he spoke to reporters to ensure accurate coverage of the report.“It was important to me that the reports in the newspapers, that the media, accurately described the work that we had done and the report that we had written,” Craig said. “Otherwise, it would appear that we were just writing whatever Ukraine wanted us to write.”Craig faces a maximum of five years in prison, though he may end up receiving a far more lenient sentence under federal guidelines if convicted. Last year, Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who worked with Craig on the Ukraine report, was sentenced to 30 days in prison after pleading guilty to lying to investigators about his involvement in the report.In January, Skadden, Arps agreed to pay $4.6 million and retroactively registered as an agent of Ukraine to settle a Justice Department investigation into its work for the former Ukrainian government.
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Foreign Minister: Taiwan-US Relations Probably at Their Best Ever
Taiwan’s relations with the United States have reached their strongest point ever despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties as officials in Washington value the Asian government’s role in international causes, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Friday.Close ties with the United States give Taiwan military and diplomatic support that it struggles to get elsewhere because most countries recognize Beijing over Taipei. Taiwan faces a chronic military threat from nearby China.The government of U.S. President Donald Trump, though it also maintains formal ties with Beijing instead of with Taipei, is locked in a trade dispute with China and often sends naval ships to oppose Chinese maritime expansion.“I agree with most assessments that Taiwan’s relations with the United States relations are very good and probably better than at any time before,” Wu told VOA in an interview. He cited a pickup in recent U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, totaling some $12 billion, more high-level dialogue than before, and the welcome for Taiwan’s president in the United States in July as examples.“So, if you put all this together, I think Taiwan-U.S. relations are very good,” he said.More friends in the United StatesTaiwan has “more friends” in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump than it has had before, Wu added, citing increased cooperation on issues that matter to Washington.Previous U.S. presidents made less frequent contact with Taiwan, approved fewer arms sales and focused more on getting along with China.Washington broke official ties with Taipei in 1979 to establish relations instead with the bigger, faster-growing China. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China, not a state entitled to its own diplomacy.FILE – Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (3rd-L), and Chairman of U.S.-Taiwan Business Council Michael Splinter, (C) attend the U.S.-Taiwan business summit in New York, July 12, 2019.At the time, Washington agreed to downgrade ties with Taiwan as a condition of recognizing China.Taiwan has cultivated friendships in the United States since 2016 by helping Washington squelch terrorism and promote religious freedom abroad, Wu said. Like the United States, the government in Taipei also gave aid to Venezuela this year. Taiwan sent 3.5 tons of medical supplies to Venezuela for 106,000 patients.“If the United States needs some support on international issues, it can count on Taiwan to make contributions,” Wu said. U.S. officials believe Taiwan to be making “substantive contributions,” he added.Trump’s influenceU.S. officials have maintained informal ties over the past 40 years with Taiwan, a friend from the Cold War that they still prize as one in a chain of Asia Pacific allies.Trump tightened those ties first as president-elect in 2016 by taking a call from Taiwan’s then new president, Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai had already declined to talk with China on Beijing’s precondition that each side sees itself as part of one country. China still claims sovereignty over Taiwan, despite the island’s self-rule of more than 70 years.The Trump government went on to approve five arms sales, including $8 billion in F-16V fighter jets this month. The U.S. Navy has passed ships through the ocean strait between Taiwan and China routinely since mid-2018. In March the two sides kicked off an annual high-level dialogue. China fumes at many of these turns.“So far the kind of relationship between Tsai and the United States couldn’t be better,” said Liu Yih-jiun, public affairs professor at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. “I think until the last minute the United States government, doesn’t matter which sector, will support President Tsai all the way through her reelection.”Tsai will stand for reelection in January against a candidate advocating closer China-Taiwan ties.Trump’s government is enmeshed in a more than year-old trade dispute with China, which the U.S. side calls unfair in exports, currency policy and intellectual property. Some analysts in Taiwan warn that Trump may be using Taiwan as a bargaining chip to get more from China on trade.FILE – A Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighter jet lands on a closed section of highway during the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Chiayi, central Taiwan, Sept. 16, 2014. U.S. arms sales to Taiwan now reportedly total some $12 billion.Stronger allianceTaiwan has enough “friends” in American political circles, including in the Democratic Party, to sustain close ties after Trump steps down, Wu said.Wu, 64, was appointed foreign minister in February 2018. He had previously worked under Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian as his China policy architect and head of Taiwan’s informal diplomatic mission to Washington.Taiwan, an export powerhouse, still wants a bilateral trade deal with the United States, Wu said.Taiwan and the United State have been “pragmatic” over the past few years by not raising the idea of reestablishing formal diplomatic relations – the top goal for some Taiwanese.“We hope the U.S. can openly express that Taiwan is a sovereign independent country and even formally recognize Taiwan diplomatically,” said Michael Tsai, chairman of the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies in Taiwan.
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Prominent Hong Kong Activists Arrested in Crackdown on Protests
Police in Hong Kong have arrested three prominent pro-democracy activists, ahead of a major protest that had been planned for Saturday. The march had already been called off by organizers after an appeals board denied permission.Joshua Wong, founder of political party Demosisto, was arrested Friday on suspicions of organizing an unauthorized protest on June 21, according to police.”He was suddenly pushed into a private car on the street,” Demosisto, which advocates for greater democracy in Hong Kong, said on its official Twitter account.Pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow, left, and Joshua Wong speak to media outside a district court in Hong Kong, Aug. 30, 2019.Agnes Chow, also of Demosisto, was arrested at her home.Police said Wong and Chow, both 22, are being investigated on suspicion of “organizing unorganized assembly” and “knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly.”Wong was a prominent figure of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement for full democracy during protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days. In June, he was released from jail after serving a five-week term for contempt of court.On Thursday police also arrested Andy Chan, a founder of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, on suspicion of “participating in riots” and “attacking police” during a protest on July 13.In an interview with VOA, Wong said protesters are “afraid of Beijing” and that China’s response to the current protests is much more intense than its approach to the Umbrella Movement.Andy Chan, founder of the Hong Kong National Party, speaks during a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong, China, Aug. 14, 2018.”During the Umbrella Movement, the police fired 80 to 90 [rounds of] tear gas in Hong Kong. Now, they fired 2,000 [rounds of] tear gas in Hong Kong. So, we experienced a stronger crackdown on human rights,” he said.Police have arrested about 900 protesters since the demonstrations, generally peaceful, began in June to stop a now-suspended extradition bill that would allow for sending criminal suspects to Mainland China for trial. The protests have evolved into a movement for democratic reforms, but have recently turned violent, with protesters clashing with police.Beijing has positioned paramilitary forces at Hong Kong’s border as part of its campaign to suppress the protests. Wong declared the move “is not a solution to silence the voices of the protesters.” Wong warned it is “time for people to be aware that perhaps another Tiananmen Massacre may happen in Hong Kong,” a reference to the deadly 1989 student-led demonstrations in Beijing. “So the world’s leaders should support the Hong Kong people with [their] solidarity.”Wong also told VOA his invitation to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping still stands.”President Xi should come to Hong Kong and meet with the protesters, not only meeting with me. If he comes to the crowd of the protesters, I think the protesters will chat with him and express the voices of the Hong Kong people.”
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Uganda: Traveling Girl from Congo Dies of Ebola
A 9-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in neighboring Uganda has died, officials said Friday, as the World Health Organization said that the outbreak has neared 3,000 cases.The young girl’s body will be repatriated with her mother back to Congo for a funeral, according to Dr. Eddy Kasenda, Ebola representative in the Congolese border town of Kasindi.”We are finalizing the administrative formalities so that the body is repatriated and buried here in Congo, her native country,” Kasenda said. “We are collaborating with the health services of neighboring Uganda and we will strengthen the sanitary measures here in Kasindi.”A Ugandan official at the hospital where the girl had been in isolation confirmed her death overnight. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.The girl, who was traveling with her mother, was identified at a border screening Wednesday as a possible Ebola patient and isolated.Porous borders
Although cases of cross-border contamination have been rare, this case highlights the risk of Ebola spreading across the border into neighboring Uganda and Rwanda. Borders in the region are often porous, and many people traveling at night use bush paths to cross over. FILE – School-going pupils from the Democratic Republic of Congo cross the Mpondwe border point separating Uganda and the DRC, Aug. 14, 2019.In June, a family of Congolese with some sick family members crossed into Uganda via a bush path. Two of them later died of Ebola, and the others were transferred back to Congo.Uganda has had multiple outbreaks of Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers since 2000.Because the 9-year-old Ebola victim passed through an official entry point this week, Ugandan health authorities believe she had no contact with any Ugandan.Ebola has killed nearly 2,000 people in eastern Congo since August 2018. The disease is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.WHO said Friday that cases have reached 3,000 in Congo, with 1,893 confirmed deaths and some 900 survivors. An average of 80 people per week are sickened by the virus, which has infected most people in Congo’s North Kivu province.
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo hasn’t shown signs of slowing down despite new treatments and vaccines given to more than 200,000 people in the region and the use of two therapeutic treatments being used as part of a clinical trial. Obstacles
Insecurity has been one factor in a region where rebel groups have fought for control of mineral-rich lands for decades. Ebola also has spread because of mistrust by communities who have also staged attacks against health workers. Many people in eastern Congo don’t trust doctors and other medics.”Many people are afraid to seek treatment for illnesses, worried they will be sent to an Ebola Treatment Center where they fear they could contract the disease. As an actor within the response, we must assume our own responsibility,” said Bob Kitchen, Vice President of Emergencies at the International Rescue Committee. “One year into the response, the lack of community acceptance remains the single greatest obstacle to containing the outbreak. Building trust with the community doesn’t just mean dialogue with the affected population. It means working with the community to adapt the response and address the overall needs they are facing inside and outside of the Ebola outbreak.”WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will travel this weekend to Congo with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and senior officials, including Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.On Friday, he called on partners to increase their presence in the field.
“Our commitment to the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is that we will work alongside them to stop the Ebola outbreak,” Ghebreyesus said. “Our commitment also means strengthening the health systems to give them all the other things they need. Building strong systems is what will protect people, communities and the world.”
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Dorian ‘Extremely Dangerous’ As It Nears Bahamas, Florida
Hurricane Dorian is expected to strengthen into “a major hurricane later today,” the National Hurricane Center said Friday. “Dorian is likely to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula through the weekend,” the center said. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Aug. 29, 2019.The Bahamian government has issued a hurricane watch for the northwestern Bahamas, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the entire state.Rainfall from Dorian could produce life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane center says. Dorian is moving with maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour. Forecasters predict that Dorian could slam into southeastern Florida early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour.Category 4 storms are capable of what experts describe as catastrophic damage — destroying homes and stores, ripping up roads, and knocking down trees and power lines.U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled a planned trip to Poland to “ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm … it’s something very important for me to be here,” he said Thursday. Residents along Florida’s Atlantic Coast have been told to stand by for possible evacuation. They are filling their gas tanks and stocking up on food, water, and emergency supplies.Dorian largely spared Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, causing some floods and power outages but no major damage.
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Wave of Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits Could Swamp Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts of America is facing a threat from a growing wave of lawsuits over decades-old allegations of sexual abuse.The Scouts have been sued in multiple states in recent months by people claiming to be abuse victims, including plaintiffs taking advantage of new state laws or court decisions that are now allowing suits previously barred because of the age of the allegations.More litigation is on the way.In this Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 photo, Greg Hunt poses for a photo in St. Petersburg, Fla. Attorneys for victims from around the country of alleged childhood sex abuse by Boy Scout officials say they are preparing to sue the organization in New…A lawyer representing 150 people who say they were abused as Boy Scouts is planning a suit in New Jersey when the state’s new civil statute of limitations law takes effect Dec. 1. New Jersey was home to the Boy Scouts’ headquarters for about 25 years until 1978.Among the plaintiffs is Greg Hunt, 62, of St. Petersburg, Florida. He said he was abused during a camping trip in about 1969 in Pennsylvania, where his family lived at the time.“It’d be nice to have the Boy Scouts account for their lack of ability to do the right thing,” he said. “It would be nice for me to have the Scouts say we did wrong by you and by these other boys and by your parents.”The lawsuits raise the possibility that the Boy Scouts, one of the largest youth organizations in the U.S., might be staring at many millions of dollars in settlements or judgments that could lead it to declare bankruptcy, as several Roman Catholic dioceses have done amid litigation over abusive clergy.At least 25 lawsuitsThe New Jersey suit will come on top of at least 24 that have been filed against the Scouts in New York since Aug. 14, when that state opened a one-year window in which victims of child sex abuse will be able to sue over encounters outside the usual statute of limitations.Another lawsuit was filed against the Boy Scouts this month in Philadelphia by lawyers who say they have identified hundreds of victims, after a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that the state’s statute of limitations could be set aside if a victim could prove that abuse was concealed by fraud.Stewart Eisenberg, an attorney with the legal team of Abused in Scouting, speaks at a news conference held to announce that the team has identified more than 300 alleged child sex abusers in the Boy Scouts of America, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, at the…Hundreds of other lawsuits filed in Guam and other states have strained the Boy Scouts finances and have led the organization to consider bankruptcy, among other options.“The Boy Scouts are going to have to come to grips with the issues of their past,” said Michael Pfau, Washington state-based attorney planning the New Jersey lawsuit.In a statement responding to the pending New Jersey suit, the Boy Scouts said it apologizes to the victims and encourages them to report abuse to law enforcement.Boy Scouts statement“We believe victims, we support them, we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice, and we encourage them to come forward,” the organization said. It added that policies have also been changed to include mandatory criminal background checks. It also added a rule that at least two adult leaders must be present with children at all times during activities.New Jersey’s law, signed in May, allows child victims to sue up until they turn 55 or within seven years of their first realization that the abuse caused them harm. The current statute of limitations is age 20 or two years after first realizing the abuse caused harm. The bill also opens up a two-year window to victims who were previously barred by the statute of limitation. It also allows victims to seek damages from institutions.Caused harmThat has opened the door to lawsuits by people like Charles Wright, 75, of Salt Lake City, who said he was sexually assaulted by a “Scout commissioner” in Southern California when he was about 11.“I kept it all a secret for years. I became an alcoholic. I wanted to become a Baptist minister. Instead I became an alcoholic. I became addicted to numerous types of drugs,” he said. “It’s not easy with this thought rolling through your head about what happened to you when you were a kid.”The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they give permission, as both Wright and Hunt have.Plaintiffs’ attorneys say estimating how much the Boy Scouts have paid out to date and could be liable for is hard because the organization seeks confidentiality in settlements.Paul Mones, the plaintiff’s lawyer in a 2010 case that resulted in a nearly $20 million judgment against the Boy Scouts, said the organization never expected to face such staggering financial liabilities because of statutes of limitations, which barred many purported victims from suing and which states are now beginning to change to help those who say they were abused.“We are witnessing now, not just with the Boy Scouts, a major transformation (in) how victims of abuse and society view these institutions,” Mones said.All options consideredThe Boy Scouts also said in a statement that they’re considering “all options available so we can live up to our social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting.”If the suits in New Jersey and across the country lead the scouts to pursue bankruptcy, that would offer the organization a chance to come up with a plan to repay any plaintiffs, who would have to sign off on the plan, according to Pamela Foohey, a bankruptcy expert at the Maurer School of Law and Indiana University.
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Hong Kong Christians Call for Reform
Among protesters on the streets of Kong Kong are many who are prompted by their religious faith. Christians, like others in Hong Kong, are divided in their politics, but as Mike O’Sullivan reports, Christians in the pro-democracy movement say they hope to be a voice for peaceful change.
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Hong Kong Democracy Activists Arrested, Protest Canceled
Hong Kong police arrested well-known activist Joshua Wong and another core member of a pro-democracy group Friday in a mounting crackdown on people involved in this summer’s protests.Police also arrested Andy Chan, the leader of a pro-independence movement, at the airport Thursday night.An appeals board also denied permission for a major march planned for Saturday, the fifth anniversary of a decision by China against allowing fully democratic elections for the leader of Hong Kong.March canceledThe organizers said they were calling off the march.“The first priority of the Civil Human Rights Front is to make sure that all of the participants who participate in our marches will be physically and legally safe. That’s our first priority,” said Bonnie Leung, a leader of the group. “And because of the decision made by the appeal board, we feel very sorry but we have no choice but to cancel the march.”Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow attends a news conference at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, June 10, 2019.Police said that Wong and Agnes Chow are being investigated for their role in a June 21 unauthorized protest outside a police station. Both face potential charges of participating in the demonstration and inciting others to join it. Wong also is being investigated on suspicion of organizing it.Wong is secretary-general of Demosisto and Chow is a member. He was one of the student leaders of the Umbrella Movement, the major pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014.Demosisto first reported the arrests on its social media accounts, saying Wong was pushed into a private car as he was heading to a subway station around 7:30 a.m. and has been taken to police headquarters. It later said Chow had also been arrested, at her home.Wong was released from prison in June after serving a two-month sentence related to that protest. He has been speaking out regularly in support of the pro-democracy protests that have racked Hong Kong this summer.People hold placards and light up their smartphones as they take part in a rally at the financial district in Hong Kong, Aug. 28, 2019. Several thousand people protest against what they called sexual violence by the police.Extradition legislationThe protests were set off by extradition legislation that would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial and expanded to the general concern that China is chipping away at the rights of Hong Kong residents.The extradition bill was suspended but the protesters want it withdrawn and are also demanding democracy and an independent inquiry into police actions against protesters.Police said that Chan was arrested under suspicion of rioting and attacking police.
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Hurricane Dorian Strengthens, Florida Declares State of Emergency
Labor Day will be no holiday for Florida if Hurricane Dorian follows its projected path.The National Hurricane Center said late Thursday that Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane Friday and remain an “extremely dangerous” hurricane through the weekend as it sucks up the warm Atlantic waters.It strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane Thursday night with maximum sustained winds near 165 kilometers per hour.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Aug. 29, 2019.Forecasters predict that Dorian could slam into southeastern Florida early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour.Category 4 storms are capable of what experts describe as catastrophic damage, destroying homes and stores, ripping up roads, and knocking down trees and power lines.Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the entire state.U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip to Poland to “ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm. … It’s something very important for me to be here,” he said Thursday.Residents along Florida’s Atlantic Coast have been told to stand by for possible evacuation. They are filling their gas tanks and stocking up on food, water and emergency supplies.Local residents line up to fill their cars with gas ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Kissimmee, Fla., Aug. 29, 2019.Forecasters expect Dorian to move over parts of the northwest Bahamas Sunday.Dorian largely spared Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, causing some floods and power outages but no major damage.Labor Day is a U.S. federal holiday honoring the American worker. It is celebrated on the first Monday in September. This year is the 125th anniversary of the day being celebrated as a national holiday. Most businesses and schools are closed on Labor Day.
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Ukraine Official: Ukraine, Russia Swap Prisoners
Ukrainian prisoners, including sailors and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, are flying back to Ukraine after a prisoner swap was completed with Russia, according to comments that were reposted on Facebook by Ukraine’s general prosecutor.Neither the general prosecutor’s spokesman nor Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s spokeswoman were immediately available for comment.Russia had transferred Sentsov from a remote Arctic prison to custody in Moscow amid talks with Kyiv on a possible prisoner swap, news agencies TASS and Interfax reported Thursday.A Ukrainian court also freed a senior Russian journalist accused of supporting pro-Russian separatists.Securing a prisoner swap would be a win for Zelenskiy, who became president this year promising to bring an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.Ukrainian troops have been battling Russian-backed forces in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014, in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement.Russia is holding dozens of Ukrainian captives from the conflict as well as 24 sailors who were captured last year.
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Hong Kong Activist Arrested Ahead of Weekend Protests
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was arrested Friday ahead of another weekend of planned protests in the Chinese-ruled city that is grappling with its biggest political crisis since its handover to Beijing more than two decades ago.
Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s push for full democracy during protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days, was released from jail in June after serving a five-week term for contempt of court.
“He was suddenly pushed into a private car on the street,” Wong’s political party Demosisto, which advocates for greater democracy in Hong Kong, said on its official Twitter account.
“He has now been escorted to the police headquarters in Wan Chai,” it said, adding its lawyers were working on the case. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Extradition bill was trigger
Unrest in Hong Kong escalated in mid-June over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.
It has since evolved into calls for greater democracy under the “one country, two systems” formula, which guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary.
On Thursday, China brought fresh troops into Hong Kong in what it described as a routine rotation of the garrison.
Chinese state media stressed the troop movement was routine, and Asian and Western diplomats watching the People’s Liberation Army forces in the former British colony had been expecting it.
Chinese soldiers stationed in Hong Kong are not there merely for symbolic purposes and they will have “no reason to sit on their hands” if the situation in the city worsens, an editorial in the China Daily newspaper said Friday.
Police have refused permission for a pro-democracy march on Saturday, but organizers have appealed the decision.
The protest would mark five years since Beijing ruled out universal suffrage for Hong Kong and comes as Hong Kong faces its first recession in a decade, with all its pillars of growth under stress.
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North Korea Changes Constitution to Solidify Kim’s Rule
North Korea’s parliament has approved changes to the country’s constitution to solidify leader Kim Jong Un’s role as head of state, official state media said Thursday.
The move came after Kim was formally named head of state and commander in chief of the military in a new constitution in July that analysts said was possibly aimed at preparing for a peace treaty with the United States.
North Korea has long called for a peace deal with the United States to normalize relations and end the technical state of war that has existed since the 1950-53 Korean War, which concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. ‘Monolithic guidance’
Kim’s legal status as “representing our state has been further consolidated to firmly ensure the monolithic guidance of the Supreme Leader over all state affairs,” state news agency KCNA quoted Choe Ryong Hae, president of the presidium of the supreme people’s assembly, as saying.
The presidium president had historically been the nominal head of state. But the new constitution said Kim, as chairman of the State Affairs Commission (SAC), a top governing body created in 2016, was the supreme representative of all the Korean people, as well as “commander in chief.”
A previous constitution simply called Kim the “supreme leader” who commanded the country’s “overall military force.”
Thursday’s constitutional amendments appear to confirm that North Korea’s legal system will now recognize Kim as head of state.
The new constitution authorizes Kim to promulgate legislative ordinances and major decrees and decisions and appoint or recall diplomatic envoys to foreign countries, KCNA said. FILE – Senior military officials watch a parade as portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are seen at the main Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang.”With the amendment, Kim Jong Un is reviving his grandfather’s head of state system,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute. “He has become a de facto head of state.”
In reality, Kim, a third-generation hereditary leader, rules North Korea with an iron fist and the title change will mean little to the way he wields power.
The back-to-back constitutional revisions are unprecedented, and Kim is emerging as perhaps the most powerful leader since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who founded North Korea, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst with NK News, a website that tracks North Korea.
“By further bolstering the SAC chairman’s authority, Kim Jong Un is now on par with Kim Il Sung,” she said.
Other analysts noted that the moves simply codified the power Kim Jong Un already wields as supreme leader.
“This is more a matter of shuffling the card deck and clarifying a few lines of authority,” said Michael Madden, an expert on North Korean leadership and a fellow at the U.S-based Stimson Center.
“There is no question that Kim Jong Un is the regime’s key and — on strategic policy — sole decider,” he said. Little progress toward denuclearization
There has been scant progress in the U.S. aim of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program despite three meetings between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
Trump has said he and Kim agreed at their last meeting to resume working-level talks, although this has yet to happen.
North Korea has since conducted multiple missile tests, while accusing Washington of breaking a pledge to stop joint military exercises with South Korea.
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Space Command Launches Amid Threats from China, Russia
The United States Space Command officially launched Thursday to defend the military’s “ultimate high ground.”“This is a landmark day — one that recognized the centrality of space to America’s national security and defense,” U.S. President Donald Trump said during the establishment ceremony at the White House Rose Garden.The military hopes the new command will improve the defense of American interests in outer space.Space command aims to reorganize and improve U.S. space defenses and technologies, amid increasing aggression from Russia and China.“Our adversaries are weaponizing Earth’s orbits with new technologies, targeting American satellites that are critical to both battlefield operations and our way of life at home,” Trump said.Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan talks to the media before the arrival of French Defense Minister Florence Parly at the Pentagon, March 18, 2019.Defense concernsSecretaries of defense have long raised concerns about the need for increased defense capabilities in space.Earlier this year, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan warned the U.S. military “is not moving fast enough to stay ahead” of rivals China and Russia in space.He said Beijing and Moscow were creating weapons to “hold American space capabilities at risk,” adding that the U.S. is “not capable of tracking” some of China’s rapid advancements in space weapons, particularly in hypersonic weapons.Last year then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis suggested China’s use of a ground-based missile to destroy one of its own nonfunctional weather satellites in 2007 was a calculated demonstration to the United States of Chinese capabilities.“We understand the message that China was sending — that they could take out a satellite in space,” Mattis said during a trip to Brazil.Defense Mark Esper holds a document he signed to establish the U.S. Space Command with Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, left, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, Aug. 29, 2019, in Washington.Critical to military, commerceThe realm of space hits closer than some may realize, essential to everyday activities from navigation to banking.Space assets are also critical to military missions, from launching missiles to collecting intelligence.Space Command is the military’s 11th combatant command, each tasked with either a geographic mission or a functional mission.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 a deterrent against global threats, including maintaining the U.S. military’s nuclear arsenal.Administration officials say re-establishing the command brings them closer to realizing one of the president’s major goals, creating a new military branch to train, organize and equip a force specializing in space defense.“As a unified combatant command, the United States Space Command is the next crucial step towards the creation of an independent Space Force as an additional armed service,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Thursday.The Space Force would be the first new military branch since the Air Force was established shortly after World War II.But a future Space Force needs Congress to approve it and fund it, and that hasn’t happened yet.
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Trump Cancels Poland Trip Because of Hurricane Threat to Florida
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was pulling out of attending events in Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II so that he could ensure all federal resources were focused on the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, which was heading to Florida from the Caribbean. At the start of a White House Rose Garden event to launch the U.S. Space Command, Trump announced that Vice President Mike Pence would take his place in Warsaw. “It’s something very important for me to be here, the storm. Looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed,” he said. The hurricane was forecast to reach Category 4 strength while approaching Florida’s eastern coast on Monday night, after the time that Trump had been scheduled to return from Poland. The president said he had phoned Polish President Andrzej Duda to explain that his “highest priority is the safety and security of the people in the path of the hurricane. And I will be rescheduling my trip to Poland in the near future.” Speech was planned
Trump, along with Duda and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, had been scheduled to speak Sunday at a ceremony in Pilsudski Square. Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, June 12, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
During his planned two-day trip, the U.S. president also was to hold one-on-one meetings with several of the other 40-plus leaders attending the events.
This would have been Trump’s second visit to Poland, and he has hosted Duda twice at the White House.
Nearly two dozen former Polish ambassadors had written an open letter to Trump asserting that their country’s democracy was in jeopardy and urging him to use his visit to pressure Poland’s populist government to respect human rights and stop flouting the constitution.
“Mr. President, you are coming to a country where the rule of law is no longer respected,” declared the Conference of Ambassadors of the Republic of Poland.
A former U.S. ambassador to Poland, Dan Fried, said Wednesday that he hoped Trump would make it clear to Poland’s leaders “that democracy and the rule of law are critical” and have been “the fuel that drives American-Polish relations.”
During his 2017 visit, Trump gave a speech praising Poland as a defender of Western civilization, but he did not mention concerns that the young democracy was veering off course.
The latest visit would have also highlighted enhanced military cooperation between Washington and Warsaw. “The Russians hate it,” Fried said of the growing defense relationship between the United States and Poland. Demonstration for PutinFried, also a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, added, “Having American and non-U.S. NATO forces in the Baltic states and Poland shows [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that we are capable of drawing a line and stay standing by it.” FILE – Daniel Fried, then a U.S. assistant secretary of state, is pictured in Warsaw, Poland, March 21, 2007.U.S.-Poland Business Council President Eric Stewart predicted “Putin is going to move a lot of assets closer” to the borders with Poland and other European Union states and “he’s going to use energy to continue to be a part of his counterstrategy,” as well as improve relations with Central Asian countries and Belarus.
After Britain exits the European Union, the Poles “will be our next biggest best friend in the EU,” even closer to the United States than France or Germany, said Stewart, a former deputy assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasia at the Commerce Department.
Stewart said he was thrilled Pence would be making the trip “to represent the Trump administration’s views in these important talks with the Polish government to open up new investment opportunities for U.S. companies in Poland, particularly in the growing defense and energy sectors.”
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Hurricane Dorian Getting Stronger, Florida Declares State of Emergency
Labor Day will be no holiday for Florida if Hurricane Dorian follows its projected path.The National Hurricane Center predicts Dorian will build into an “extremely dangerous” storm as it sucks up the warm Atlantic waters over the next three days.The storm could slam into southeastern Florida early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour (130 mph).A shopper stands with a dolly of plywood at The Home Depot ahead of Hurricane Dorian on Aug. 29, 2019, in Pembroke Pines, Fla.Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the entire state. U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled a planned trip to Poland to “ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm … it’s something very important for me to be here,” he said Thursday. Residents along Florida’s Atlantic Coast have been told to stand by for possible evacuation. They are filling their gas tanks and stocking up on food, water, and emergency supplies.Category 4 storms are capable of what experts describe as catastrophic damage — destroying homes and stores, ripping up roads, and knocking down trees and power lines.As of late Thursday, Dorian was a Category 1 hurricane, centered about 535 kilometers (332 miles) east of the Bahamas with top winds of 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph).Forecasters expect Dorian to move over parts of the northwest Bahamas on Sunday.Dorian largely spared Puerto Rico and the U.S and British Virgin Islands, causing some floods and power outages but no major damage.
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Uganda’s Ministry of Health Confirms Ebola Case from DR Congo
Uganda’s Ministry of Health has confirmed a case of the Ebola virus in the western district of Kasese.In a statement released Thursday evening, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Uganda’s minister of state in charge of primary health care, said, “The confirmed case is a 9-year-old female of Congolese origin who traveled with her mother on Wednesday.”The child and her mother entered Uganda through the Mpondwe main border post to seek medical care. The child reportedly has symptoms including high fever, body weakness, rash and unexplained mouth bleeding.A blood sample was drawn and sent for testing at the Uganda Virus Research Institute and was confirmed positive for Ebola on Thursday.”She was subsequently isolated and transferred to Bwera Hospital Ebola treatment unit, where she is currently being managed,” Moriku said.This was the second time a confirmed Ebola case had crossed into Uganda. In June, a 5-year-old boy died in Uganda after crossing into the country with his family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than 1,800 people have died of the disease since August 2018.Uganda’s Ministry of Health is now repeating calls to citizens to cooperate with health workers, immigration officials and security officials “to ensure effective screening at all entry points to prevent the spread of Ebola to other parts of the country.” The case came amidst an ongoing Ebola vaccine trial by scientists in Uganda, a project aimed at preventing the disease from spreading.The new vaccine is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceutical, owned by U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson. It will be administered to health care professionals, as well as ambulance drivers, burial teams and cleaners. The trial is expected to last two years and cover 800 people in the Mbarara district in southwest Uganda.
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Gambia’s Former President Dawda Jawara Is Buried
Gambia’s first president after independence from Britain in 1965, Dawda Jawara, was buried Thursday in Banjul, the capital.Speaker of The Gambia National Assembly, Mariam Jack Denton, said he was known for his integrity, kindness and sense of humour.Dawda Jawara, Gambia’s first post-independence president, is pictured in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on Aug. 27, 2019.”Our hearts are heavy with this lost. He was an ardent promoter of human rights. He was a patriot and a true son of this country.”Sedia Jatta, one of the opposition leaders who contested 1987 elections against Dawda Jawara, described his former opponent as a democrat and a tolerant person.”We are not only here to pay homage to who brought independence to this country, but to learn from the challenges he faced as a leader. We have to learn tolerance from him.”Gambia President Adama Barrow said: “It is with deep regret that I deliver this statement on this solemn occasion. The entire Gambian nation is in a state of mourning. We are mourning because our nation has lost its first premier, prime minister and president for over 30 years.”Dawda Jawara, who died Tuesday at age 95, was a Glassgow trained veterinary doctor who ruled the small West African country from independence to 1994 when he was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Yahya Jammeh who ruled the country for 22 years.He sought refuge in the U.K. where he lived with his family up to 2002, when he returned home after President Yahya Jammeh granted him amnesty and returned his assets, which were seized by a Commission of Inquiry established by the military junta to investigate cabinet members and officials of the previous regime.
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Experts: North Korea’s Nuclear-Capable Missile Threat Real But Not Imminent
The threat of North Korea launching a nuclear-capable missile from a submarine is real but not imminent, experts said, after recent satellite images displayed a docked craft with missile capability.“If you really want to be able to launch a ballistic missile that could hold a nuclear weapon, you have to have a very high degree of reliability. And that can just take time,” said David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector who now is a nuclear proliferation analyst at the Institute for Science and International Security. “And the only evidence we have seen so far is the outer part of the submarine. And so, it’s a big jump from that to the imminent threat.”Satellite photos of North Korea’s Sinpo South Shipyard taken on Monday show vessels and a crane that could be used to move a missile barge for a ballistic missile test from a submarine, according to The CSIS report said Kim’s inspection in July seems to have taken place at the Sinpo South Shipyard, site of the Korean People’s Navy’s submarine missile tests.KCNA reported in July the “operational deployment” of the new submarine “is near at hand.” But the CSIS report called the threat from the submarine “emerging rather than imminent.”The submarine will have to go through a period of trials and tests that could take more than a year, the CSIS report said, before becoming fully operational. “There is no conclusive evidence at the moment that this is a near-term certainty,” said the report.James Holmes, a maritime expert at the U.S. Naval War College, said North Korea “has a strong incentive to hype its progress” because it “does burnish Pyongyang’s standing with the North Korean populace” while also creating “a kind of virtual deterrence.”“If a [North Korean] ballistic missile submarine appears poised to put to sea — whether the appearance is true or not — that will begin to influence diplomatic and military calculations in regional capitals right away,” said Holmes.The CSIS report, however, highlighted the fact North Korea’s submarine appears to be capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.“The construction and commissioning of a true [ballistic missile submarine] would present a significant escalation of the North Korean ballistic missile threat and complicate defense planning in the region,” the report said.It also noted the satellite images suggest “North Korea is making real progress in developing a second leg of the nuclear triad, bringing them closer to a survivable nuclear force and lessening prospects for full denuclearization.”The nuclear triad refers to three ways of launching nuclear weapons. Warheads can be carried by land-based Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, said the submarine that North Korea unveiled in July is not newly constructed but a modified version of an old Romeo-class submarine with added ballistic missile launch capabilities.Romeo-class submarines North Korea imported the Romeo-class submarines from China between 1972 and 1975 and built several more using Chinese-supplied parts between 1976 and 1995, said Bennett. The Romeo-class submarines were introduced in the late 1950s by the former Soviet Union, which shared the submarine’s design with China. In the 1970s, China transferred seven Romeo-class submarines to North Korea. North Korea is thought to have about 20 Romeo-class subs.Bennett said, “It is my perception that both the North and South Koreans have been overplaying the North Korean ballistic missile submarine threat, especially since the submarine that has been demonstrated thus far is actually a remake of a North Korean attack submarine, probably produced 25 or more years ago, based on a Russia design from over 60 years ago.”He continued, “Nevertheless, even this North Korean ballistic missile submarine will likely force the U.S. and [South Korean] navies to station [military] assets off North Korean ports to track the submarine if/when it goes to sea.”The submarine is believed to be capable of carrying three KN-11 ballistic missiles that have the range to threaten U.S. forces in the region.The submarine has some drawbacks, including being noisy, which makes it less stealthy and therefore susceptible to an attack.Bennett said, “Would the United States tell North Korea that it is not allowed to test a missile from this submarine, and that if it tries to do so, the submarine will be sunk?” He continued, “It is not clear to me that a U.S. president or a [South Korean] president would be prepared to make such a threat, making the regional countries vulnerable to a surprise attack from this submarine.”Trump has been downplaying North Korea’s recent missile launches, while South Korea pulled out of an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan last week against U.S. urgings to renew the agreement that shares sensitive military information with Japan.
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Outgoing Italian PM Accepts Fresh Mandate to Form New Government
Outgoing prime minister Giuseppe Conte has accepted a fresh mandate from Italy’s head of state to form a new coalition government backed by the populist Five Star Movement and the center-left Democrats party. Markets reacted positively the end to the 3-week political crisis, which could have triggered a snap election. But many in Italy are wondering how long such an alliance will last.Conte appears determined and convinced he will be capable of establishing a government backed by a new coalition made up of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Left party. Although the two political groups have been past enemies, they have agreed to unite and work together.The political crisis was caused by the League leader, Matteo Salvini, who announced three weeks ago he was no longer prepared to work with the Five Star Movement. League leader Matteo Salvini gestures as he speaks to the media after consultations with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome, Italy, Aug. 28, 2019.The decision by the Left Democrats to work with the 5SM stems not only from the desire to enter parliament but also from wanting to avoid a snap general election, which at this time would likely be won by Salvini’s League party.Coming out of his talks with the Italian president, Conte made clear the new government would not be one “against,” but “for the good of citizens.” He added that he would create a government that will represent a “novelty.”Conte also said Italy is undergoing a very delicate phase and must emerge from this political crisis as quickly as possible.He sais “we must get down to work immediately, to draw up a budget to avert the VAT hike that will protect savers and offer solid prospects for economic growth and social development.”The prime minister already has began to hold meetings to reach an agreement on policies and about how to divide the ministerial positions between the two parties, which will make up the new coalition government.Conte said he expects to go back to the Italian president with a full list in approximately a week. Once the new government is sworn in, it has 10 days to win a no-confidence vote in parliament.The new alliance and Conte’s good intentions in the name of political stability seem to have averted snap elections, for the time being, and markets reacted positively to the news. But Italians in the streets and political observers see it as an unlikely alliance and fear it is unlikely to last.For the time being, League leader Salvini’s plans for an early poll may have been thwarted and his move certainly backfired as he now will be relegated to the opposition. But it remains to be seen whether the move will, in fact, further increase his already soaring popularity.
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Nigerian Trafficking Survivors Lack Support, Report Shows
Nigerian trafficking survivors who escape a life as sex workers or slaves are not getting enough support from their government, Human Rights Watch says.A 90-page report shows that women and girls are being held in slavery-like conditions inside Nigeria, and reveals accounts of unlawful detentions in shelters. However, officials from Nigeria’s anti-human trafficking agency condemn the report. Six years ago, a Nigerian woman named Adaura was lured to Libya to work as a domestic servant when she was 18 years old. Once there, she says she was forced into prostitution, then abducted by Islamic State terrorists and held captive for three years. “They took us to an underground prison,” Adaura said. With the help of Libyan soldiers and the International Organization for Migration, she escaped and returned to Nigeria. But in Nigeria, she faced another set of problems. Human Rights Watch says Adaura was detained by Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, or NAPTIP. The federal government agency is tasked with helping trafficked victims, but Adaura says she was not allowed to leave one of its shelters, and she struggled to fend off thoughts of killing herself.Report’s findingsLike Adaura, thousands of Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked within Nigeria and to other countries in the past three decades.Nigeria is routinely listed as one of the countries with large numbers of trafficking victims overseas, particularly in Europe, with victims identified in more than 34 countries in 2018, according to the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.Adaura is one of the 76 trafficking survivors in Nigeria whom Human Rights Watch interviewed in a report released this week, called “‘You Pray for Death’: Trafficking of Women and Girls in Nigeria.” Girls as young as 8 years old are included. The report accuses Nigerian authorities of not doing enough to take care of repatriated women and girls, and claims they are kept in slavery-like conditions after they’ve escaped exploitation as sex workers or slaves. Human Rights Watch says the survivors struggle with issues like anxiety and depression, insomnia and flashbacks. Agnes Odhiambo, a senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, spoke at a press conference this week in Abuja.”The national anti-trafficking agency is locking, detaining many of these survivors in its shelters,” she said, adding that the detained women were not allowed to communicate with their families for months on end.Survivors’ interviewsA 24-year-old woman named Gladness, who is featured in the report, said she was kept in a NAPTIP shelter for about three weeks.Gladness was quoted as saying she was not told when she would be going home.Another woman, 18-year-old Ebunoluwa, said there were too many rules at the NAPTIP shelter and that her phone was confiscated.”We are forced to wake up with a bell to pray. I have not been told when I will go home,” she said in the report.Abdulganiyu Abubakar, director of the Save the Child Initiative in Nigeria, says NAPTIP should make sure that the shelters are comfortable and that people are not being held against their will. NAPTIP responseThe director general of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, denied the accusations when speaking to journalists this week. “The entire report is a mere figment of the imagination of the writers, as the narratives fall below the standards of the operations of our shelters,” she said.The shelters are supposed to be temporary spaces to help trafficking survivors with their basic and immediate needs like medical care, skills acquisition and financial assistance, all part of the NAPTIP’s victims’ support assistance program.However, Human Rights Watch says NAPTIP relies too heavily on the shelters which, with their high walls and manned gates, trigger painful memories for some trafficking survivors. Today, Adaura is learning how to be a hairdresser, with NAPTIP paying for her training. The agency also helped her go to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with an ulcer. NAPTIP was set up in 2003 to address the scourge of human trafficking and help repatriated victims settle back in Nigeria.Human Rights Watch is calling on Nigerian authorities to do more, like make it easier for survivors of trafficking to access community leaders, social workers, educators, health workers and religious leaders. It also encourages community-based rehabilitation and reintegration programs, as opposed to sub-standard shelters.
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Report: Conflict Rising Among South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda
A report by the International Refugee Rights Initiative reveals a mix of frustration, unemployment, post-traumatic stress and alcohol abuse escalating quarrels among refugee communities in northern Uganda.Uganda is home to 1.3 million refugees — 833,000 of them from South Sudan, among whom the research was carried out.
Amol Dorcus has lived as refugee in Uganda since early 2014 after running away from armed conflict in South Sudan. With Uganda’s free land policy for refugees on arrival, Amol got her 7.6 meters by 9.1 meters share of land in the Nyumanzi settlement, Adjumani district. She says the land is not sufficient, however, especially for those who want to grow crops for food.
Like most refugees, in order to survive, she had to enter an agreement with a member of the host community. The deal allows her to grow crops on their land on the condition that she pays some money at year end.
Dorcus says conflict arose when a member of the host community declined to respect the agreement.
“But when these crops do well, so, the owner of that land, actually, or an unknown person will just come, they will take them. So, without you knowing, and you’re staying in the settlement. We share the borehole with the host community. These boreholes also, they are not enough. Sometimes the women and the children can just collide at the water point and it’s like kind of bringing in conflict,” Dorcus said.
Land wrangling between South Sudan refugees and host communities are just one of many conflicts going on in refugee settlements in Uganda.
Among other challenges are recruitment of refugees as combatants, unemployment, post-traumatic stress and alcohol abuse.
This was revealed in a report released Wednesday by the International Refugee Rights initiative which described its findings as a cocktail of frustrations in which refugees are engulfed.
Combatant recruitment adds to problemsThijs Van Laer, the lead researcher for the International Refugee Rights initiative, points out that another issue of concern is the presence in refugee settlements of individuals involved in the South Sudanese conflict.
“Our research has confirmed that several parties to the conflict have attempted to recruit refugees as combatants. Although it does remain difficult to establish the full scope of this practice, and to what extent that has continued since the signing of a peace agreement in 2018. But members of the warring parties have visited the refugee settlements, sometimes to reunite with their families that are staying there, but also at times to target political opponents,” Van Laer said.
The 833,000 refugees from South Sudan live in settlements in northern Uganda. In the three districts of Adjumani, Lamwo, and Arua, which have the largest refugee populations, the number of refugees exceeds the number of Ugandan citizens. This has escalated conflict in the settlements.
In order to deter some of these conflicts, the Ugandan government and the U.N. Refugee Agency deliberately separated communities in some settlements to avoid incidents.
Ndahirwe Innocent, the government Refugee Integration and Legal Officer, told VOA that the government recently got partial funding from a World Bank grant worth $336 million that will be used to resolve land wrangles between host communities and refugees.
On refugee recruitment, Ndahirwe says they have heard of reports of husbands involved in the conflict visiting their wives in Uganda.
“It’s true we’ve picked [up] information that their husbands, not that they are armed, but they just sneak in through porous borders to check on their families. And of course, the communities keep this information with them. So, by the time we get this information, you cannot easily get these people. So, what we are doing is to, of course, increase security vigilance,” Ndahirwe said.
The report is urging the Ugandan government, UNHCR and the international community to increase funding for refugees in Uganda in an effort to build harmony and peace among the different communities.
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