The suspect accused of carrying out last week’s mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, told police after the shooting that he had been targeting Mexicans, according to authorities.A police affidavit released Friday said the suspect, Patrick Crusius, confessed to the shooting after getting out of his car and surrendering to police, saying, “I’m the shooter.”The affidavit from Detective Adrian Garcia said Crusius waived his right to remain silent and, after being taken into police custody, “The defendant stated his target (was) Mexicans.”Crusius is accused of shooting and killing 22 people and wounding two dozen others last Saturday.Online postShortly before the attack, authorities believe Crusius posted online, expressing anger about a “Hispanic invasion” of the United States.Authorities said Crusius drove more than 10 hours from his hometown near Dallas, Texas, to the predominantly Hispanic border city of El Paso to carry out the shootings. Eight of the dead were Mexican nationals.Family members of the victims gathered at funerals on either side of the border Friday to remember their loved ones.Also Friday, top Trump administration officials met with social media giants, including Facebook, Twitter and Google to discuss ways to reduce online extremism and try to prevent mass shootings.“The conversation focused on how technology can be leveraged to identify potential threats, to provide help to individuals exhibiting potentially violent behavior and to combat domestic terror,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.Trump did not attend the meeting, and the White House declined to say which administration officials took part in the closed-door session.The Washington Post reported that tech leaders expressed doubts about how much it was possible to use technology to identify potential attacks before they occur, raising concerns about privacy risks, according to sources at the meeting.Two mass shootingsThe El Paso attack came hours before another mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, that left nine people dead.The two mass shootings have led gun control activists to renew their calls for Congress to take up action to reduce gun violence.Trump said Friday that he believes he can influence the powerful gun rights group, the National Rifle Association, to allow stronger federal background checks. However, he said he also assured the group that its gun rights views would be “fully represented and respected.”
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Month: August 2019
US, Britain Voice Concern in Case of Imprisoned Tanzanian Journalist
Britain and the United States are asking Tanzania to uphold the rights of all its citizens after a journalist was arrested on charges his lawyer and rights groups say are politically motivated. Concerns were raised about the case of freelance reporter and government critic Erick Kabendera, who is being held on charges of financial and other crimes. In a joint statement Friday, the United States and Britain cited what they called the irregular handling of the arrest, detention, and indictment of Kabendera. The statement said he was denied access to a lawyer in the early stages of his detention, contrary to Tanzanian law. In reaction to the case, both countries urged Tanzanian government officials to guarantee due process to all its citizens and raised concerns about what they termed the steady erosion of due process in Tanzania’s justice system.Charges are changedKabendera was arrested at his home amid questions about his citizenship. His mother, Verdiana Mujwahuzi, told reporters her son was born in Tanzania. Later, the charges were changed and he was accused of tax evasion, money laundering and organized crime. Media rights groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, also spoke out against Kabendera’s arrest by men dressed in civilian clothing. The 39-year-old journalist was arrested at the end of July and is in prison pending a hearing Aug. 19.Kabendera’s work has been published in international and national newspapers. He regularly covers Africa’s politics, trade and extractive industries for leading publications, including The Guardian and The Times, both based in Britain. Additionally, he has written for regional newspaper The East African, which is published in Kenya, as well as Paris-based magazine The Africa Report. Kabendera’s lawyer, Jebra Kambole, said his client faces sedition charges in connection with an article in The Economist, in which Kabendera said President John Magufuli, is “bulldozing” Tanzania’s freedom. Kambole said they are trying to see how they are going to insist on the government, because they wanted to know how they are questioning him and how they are determining someone’s charges.Search for chargesKambole said when someone is arrested and then they start searching what charges to give, before knowing what charges led to his arrest is not a good thing. He said it destroys the country’s image.The government has shut down newspapers, banned opposition rallies and jailed critics but rejects charges its policies are authoritarian. Reporters Without Borders ranks Tanzania 118th out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index. That marks a drop of 47 places in the past three years.
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Russia Says Five Killed in Mysterious Rocket Test Accident
Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom said early on Saturday that five of its staff members had been killed in an accident during tests on a military site in northern Russia, the RIA news agency reported.The accident occurred during tests on a liquid propellant rocket engine, RIA said, citing Rosatom.Rosatom was quoted as saying that a further three of its staff had received injuries of varying degrees of seriousness during the accident, including burns. They were receiving the necessary medical treatment in specialized facilities, it said.Russian authorities had previously said that two people had been killed in the incident and that a nearby city had reported a rise in radiation levels when the rocket engine blew up at a testing site in the Archangelsk region on Thursday.Authorities said they had been forced to shut down part of a bay in the White Sea to shipping as a result.Local residents have been stocking up iodine used to reduce the effects of radiation exposure after the accident, regional media have reported.Russia’s Ministry of Defense has given few details of the accident.Although the defense ministry initially said that no harmful chemicals were released into the atmosphere and that radiation levels were unchanged, authorities in the nearby city of Severodvinsk reported what they described as a brief spike in radiation. No official explanation has been given for why such an accident would cause radiation to spike.The radiation statement put out by the city of Severodvinsk disappeared from the Internet on Friday without explanation.An unidentified naval officer quoted by the Kommersant newspaper said the accident could have occurred at a testing site at sea and that the explosion of a rocket could have caused a toxic fuel spill.Russia media have said that the rocket engine explosion may have occurred at a weapons testing area near the village of Nyonoksa.Those reports say an area near Nyonoksa is used for tests on weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles that are used by the Russian navy.Greenpeace has cited data from the Emergencies Ministry that it said showed radiation levels had risen 20 times above the normal level in Severodvinsk around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Nyonoksa.
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Iranian Pleads Guilty in US of Bid to Export Technology Illegally
An Iranian woman has pleaded guilty in the United States of trying to illegally export technology to her home country.
Negar Ghodskani, 40, entered her guilty plea Friday in federal court in the northern state of Minnesota.
According to court documents, Ghodskani worked for a Tehran company, Fana Moj, from 2008 to 2011 and established with a co-defendant another company in Malaysia that operated as a front for Fana Moj.
As part of the conspiracy, Ghodskani falsely represented herself as an employee of the Malaysian company in order to acquire export-controlled technology from the United States. In her guilty plea, Ghodskani said she concealed the ultimate destination for the technology.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Fana Moj was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2017 as a company “providing financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ghodskani was arrested in Australia in 2017 and had fought her extradition for several years.
A co-defendant in the case, Alireza Jalali, pleaded guilty in November 2017 and was sentenced in March 2018.
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EPA Won’t Approve Warning Labels for Roundup Chemical
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — The Trump administration says it won’t approve warning labels for products that contain glyphosate, a move aimed at California as it fights one of the world’s largest agriculture companies about the potentially cancer-causing chemical.
California requires warning labels on glyphosate products — widely known as the weed killer Roundup — because the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said it is probably carcinogenic.'' It is irresponsible to require labels on products that are inaccurate when EPA knows the product does not pose a cancer risk,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagrees, saying its research shows the chemical poses no risks to public health. California has not enforced the warning label for glyphosate because Monsanto, the company that makes Roundup, sued and a federal judge temporarily blocked the warning labels last year until the lawsuit could be resolved.
We will not allow California's flawed program to dictate federal policy.'' probably carcinogenic,” triggering a warning label under California law.
State lawCalifornia's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, approved by voters in 1986, requires the government to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, as determined by a variety of outside groups that include the EPA and IARC. The law also requires companies to warn customers about those chemicals.
California regulators have twice concluded glyphosate did not pose a cancer risk for drinking water. But in 2015, the IARC classified the chemical as
Federal law regulates how pesticides are used and how they are labeled. States can impose their own requirements, but they can’t be weaker than the federal law, according to Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
Hartl said it is unusual for the EPA to tell a state it can’t go beyond the federal requirements.
It's a little bit sad the EPA is the biggest cheerleader and defender of glyphosate,'' Hartl said.It’s the Environmental Protection Agency, not the pesticide protection agency.”
In a letter to companies explaining its decision, Michael L. Goodis, director of EPA’s registration division in its Office of Pesticide Programs, said the agency thinks label warnings that glyphosate may cause cancer constitute a false and misleading statement,'' which is prohibited by federal law. 'Science-based conclusions'is fully consistent with the science-based conclusions reached by the agency and leading health regulators worldwide for more than four decades.”
Chandra Lord, a representative for Monsanto's parent company, Bayer AG, said the EPA's announcement
“Glyphosate is not carcinogenic,” Lord said.
An estimated 13,000 plaintiffs have pending lawsuits against Monsanto concerning glyphosate. Three of those cases went to trial in California, and juries awarded damages in each case, although judges later reduced the amounts.
In May, a jury ordered Monsanto to pay a California couple $2.055 billion after a trial in which they blamed the company’s product for their cancers. Last month, a judge reduced that award to $87 million.
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North Korea Fires More Missiles After Trump Receives ‘Beautiful Letter’
Updated: Aug. 9, 2019, 9:30 p.m.North Korea has launched more ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, its fifth such test in just over two weeks.The launch Saturday came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he received another “beautiful letter” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and reiterated he isn’t concerned about Pyongyang’s missile tests.South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials say the test appeared to involve a short-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s presidential Blue House.The missiles, launched from near the Hamhung area in eastern North Korea, traveled about 400 kilometers and reached a height of 48 kilometers, according to a statement by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South Korean statement said there is a “high probability” of more North Korean launches in the coming weeks because of ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises.North Korea has regularly launched short-range ballistic missiles into the sea the past two months, an expression of anger at the joint military drills. President Donald Trump talks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Aug. 9, 2019, in Washington.US-South Korea military exercisesIn his latest letter, Trump says Kim expressed displeasure about the “war games.””And as you know, I’ve never liked it either,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I’ve never liked it. I’ve never been a fan. You know why? I don’t like paying for it. We should be reimbursed for it.”The U.S. this week resumed military drills with South Korea, despite Pyongyang’s protests. Trump said he approved the drills because it helped prepare for “a turnover of various areas to South Korea.” “I like that because it should happen,” Trump added.The latest U.S.-South Korean drills are aimed in part at testing South Korea’s ability to retake operational control from the U.S. during wartime. The U.S. has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. Trump earlier this week announced in a tweet that South Korea had agreed to pay “substantially” more for the U.S. troop presence.South Korea refuted that allegation, however, saying cost-sharing negotiations with the United States have not yet begun.Trump has long criticized U.S. allies, including South Korea, Japan and others, for not paying enough for U.S. protection.U.S.-South Korea military exercises have been scaled back in an effort to support the Trump-Kim diplomacy. But North Korea remains unhappy, warning it may soon resume nuclear and longer-range missile tests.Since May, North Korea has conducted seven separate launches of short-range ballistic missiles, after having refrained from such tests for a year and a half. U.S. Army soldiers are seen during a military exercise in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 27, 2019.Virtually guarantees missile testsTrump has said he has “no problem” with the launches, because they are short-range and cannot reach the U.S. But that approach virtually guarantees continued North Korean testing, analysts say.”Kim knows that he can continue to launch these short-range missiles without consequences. He can continue to provoke, so long as he keeps emitting signals of hope to President Trump directly,” said Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst who now works at the U.S.-based Rand Corporation.”Kim’s plodding along faithfully according to plan. He’s dialing up the optempo (operational tempo) of his engagement’ with President Trump — remaining on our radar through these launches and friendly missives — to put the U.S. in a tighter bind,” she adds. North Korea’s launches apparently aim to increase pressure on the U.S. and South Korea ahead of possible talks. They also help North Korea develop its ballistic missile capabilities. Most of North Korea’s recent tests have involved its version of a Russian Iskander ballistic missile, which though short-range, is designed to evade missile defenses and can likely reach all of South Korea. Despite the repeated tests, Trump on Friday incorrectly said North Korea has not been launching ballistic missiles. “I say it again: There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range. No ballistic missile tests. No long-range missiles,” Trump said. That contradicts U.S. and South Korean officials, who view the North Korean weapons as ballistic missiles. United Nations Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from conducting any ballistic missile activity. North Korea views the resolutions as illegitimate, insisting that every country has the right to test its military capabilities.U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.Stalled US-North Korea talksNorth Korea has said it will give the U.S. until the end of the year to change its approach to the talks, which are stalled yet again. Kim wants the U.S. to relax sanctions and provide security guarantees.Trump and Kim have met three times since last June, but have failed to make any progress toward dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program.At their first meeting in Singapore, the two agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But neither side can agree on what denuclearization means or how to begin working toward it.At a second summit in Vietnam in February, Trump and Kim disagreed over how to pair sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.Trump and Kim held a third meeting in late June at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, where Kim allegedly agreed to revive working-level talks. Since then, North Korean officials have refused to meet their U.S. counterparts.On Friday, Trump suggested a fourth meeting could come soon.”I think we’ll have another meeting,” Trump said.
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Report: Eritrean High Schoolers Face Forced Labor, Abuse
For many teens, the last year of high school is a time of excitement filled with studies, athletics and dances. But young Eritreans spend the year at a military camp preparing for mandatory conscription and indefinite national service, where they face physical and mental abuse.
A new report by Human Rights Watch offers the most detailed look to date at Eritrea’s conscription system, which forces young people to complete their final year of high school in the desert town of Sawa at a facility that’s part school, part boot camp.
The report, They Are Making Us Into Slaves, Not Educating Us, draws on interviews with 73 former secondary school students and national service teachers to provide details on what happens in the camp.
HRW found that authorities at Sawa keep students under military command throughout the year, beat them for minor infractions and force them to perform labor. Teachers at the camp are not much older than the students. Since they are compelled to serve at the camp, they are often indifferent or absent. Impossible ‘to be a student’
In an interview with VOA, Laetitia Bader, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the system makes young people feel helpless.
“There was this sense that not only were young people not given really any control over their destiny,” Bader said, “but it was also the sense that, in the year at Sawa in particular, it was impossible, really, to be a student, to think like a student in such a militarized environment.”
Officials have required young people to complete 12th grade in Sawa since 2003. Each year, between 11,000 and 15,000 students arrive at the camp, according to HRW, a facility the group compares to “a large prison” surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
HRW also discovered that young people are dropping out of school in 11th grade to avoid being sent to the camp.
Students and teachers alike are risking their lives in large numbers to flee the country, the advocacy group said.
FILE – Young soldiers parade in Asmara during Eritrea’s Independence Day celebrations.In the report, former Sawa students describe training that began before daybreak, harsh drills, survivalist exercises requiring them to sleep outdoors in extreme heat, and food and water deprivation.
“Sawa is hell; they do everything to make you want to leave,” a 19-year-old told HRW. “From the first month, the alarm rings at 5 a.m., they make you run to the toilet, you had five minutes to wash — if we had water, which wasn’t always the case. Five minutes to put your uniform on. You get punished if you don’t manage.”
The minister of information, Yemane Gebremeskel, defended his government’s tactics on Twitter, suggesting the national defense strategy contributed to stability within the country and peace across the region.
Earlier this month, the government held a three-day-long celebration in Sawa commemorating national service with parades, songs and speeches. In an interview at the celebration with journalists dressed in military attire who belong to state media, President Isaias Afwerki emphasized that national service is a continuation of Eritrea’s 30-year struggle for independence.
“Maybe when you’re comparing it with the struggle for independence, the sacrifice might be different, but to develop a country is more difficult,” he said. Teachers feel trapped
HRW found that teachers felt as trapped as students and take great risks to escape. One teacher interviewed in the report said, “If you are sent with the national service to teach physics, you will be a physics teacher for life.”
Bader said the interviewees were desperate: “We also spoke to people who had been teachers for decades and who had, on multiple occasions, tried to be discharged from the national service jobs. But it came across very clearly in the research that being discharged is very arbitrary.”
A recent peace agreement with Ethiopia removes the justification for the current system to continue, HRW said. The group urged the Eritrean government to set a timetable for demobilizing national service conscripts and allowing students to complete their education at non-military institutions.
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Salvini’s Populist Seaside Gambit Stymies Critics
Italians take their August beach holidays very seriously and politicians traditionally avoid disturbing them for fear of losing votes.But Matteo Salvini has little time for tradition and nowhere is taboo for his high-octane, non-stop campaigning.When the leader of the right-wing League announced on Thursday he was pulling the plug on a year-old ruling coalition with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, he did it from the Adriatic beach town of Pescara.Salvini had prepared the ground with a fiery speech the night before in Sabaudia, a seaside resort on the Mediterranean coast, south of Rome. Both were stops on a “beach tour” that he hopes will lead him to triumph at elections he would like to see in a couple of months.Shrugging off frowns from high-brow commentators and opponents, Salvini has made the beaches his political stage, a perfect venue for his down-market, “man-of-the-people” persona – and the more crowded and less exclusive they are the better.”Jesus went from town to town to spread the word, Salvini isn’t Jesus but he knows he needs the support of everybody,” said Ubaldo Cuspilici, a 27-year-old business innovation specialist as he sunbathed on the rocks in Sicily.”He is a great chameleon, he is able to speak and identify with every social class,” he added.The League filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday, a move Salvini hopes will trigger snap elections. Even though parliament is in recess, Salvini chivvied lawmakers to get back to Rome.”There’s nothing to say that we cannot make parliamentarians work in the middle of August. Lawmakers should get off their bums and work,” he said.Conte, stung by Salvini’s move to sack him, said pointedly on Thursday that most ministers had been hard at work through summer and were “not on the beach.”Nutella and pot-belliesFar from being offended by the intrusion of a politician, selfie-seeking holidaymakers have swarmed to the attraction, and Salvini is always available to press the flesh and swap high-fives.He spent his own summer holidays last week at Milano Marittima, a popular Adriatic resort, where, in bermuda shorts among the masses, he drew much criticism for his daily antics ogling female beach dancers or improvising as a disc jockey.Chiara Saraceno, a sociology professor at Turin University, says Salvini’s beach gambit is harvesting support.”The message is that ‘I holiday like you, I am vulgar like you, I eat Nutella on bread like you do and I have a bit of a pot-belly like you’ — and it is very effective,” she said.”Whereas before Italian politicians holidayed on boats or quiet spots, Salvini mixes, and people say ‘he’s one of us and he’ll fight for our interests’.”Nonetheless, a national election campaign in August is unprecedented in post-war Italy. Salvini’s move to sink the government was the main talking point among those on Catania beach in Sicily — and he had plenty of critics.”He wants to exploit the weakness of the center-left opposition and launch a swift election campaign, riding high on the back of his European election triumph,” said Gianluigi Ferraris, a 27-year-old IT consultant.”He wants to speed up the vote so the other parties won’t have time to prepare for the campaign,” he added before putting his headphones back on to resume his sunbathing.Beatrice De Santis, 52, sitting up from her towel on a secluded spot on the rocks, said Salvini had behaved badly by sticking the knife into Conte.”He made his move in August because it’s a time when public opinion is distracted, when people are on holiday and are not thinking about politics,” she said.
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Hong Kong Protesters Expected to Defy Police
Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong are expected to defy police and march in four weekend protests, all of which officials banned because of safety concerns in a move that critics said further stifles freedoms in the Chinese territory.Of all the protest requests submitted for police approval, officials are allowing a single rally in Victoria Park, on Sunday. This is the third consecutive weekend that police banned some anti-government events in a city that is famous for its mass marches and vigils.Senior Police Superintendent Jim Ng said that the banned protests were set in neighborhoods or near locations that had recently seen volatile confrontations between demonstrators and police, and the proposed events would likely spill into violence. FILE – Protesters use makeshift protective gear to avoid tear gas during the city-wide strike to call for democratic reforms outside Central Government Complex in Hong Kong, Aug. 5, 2019.Government opponents defied police last weekend after their marches were barred, ending in clashes between riot squads and young people who fortified themselves with respirators, homemade shields and hiking poles. In the two months since the clashes began, officers have fired more than 1,000 rounds of tear gas, including on streets in residential neighborhoods.Some of the events were canceled as a result.One applicant for a march on Hong Kong Island told the South China Morning Post newspaper that he would consult a lawyer to consider an appeal.”All marches would run peacefully if there were no police and triads,” said Tse Lai-nam, the applicant. He was referring to men with links to an organized gang who are accused of staging a vicious assault with sticks and rods on protesters and a lawmaker last month.The march denials came as Carrie Lam, the city’s unpopular chief executive, ordered the protests and clashes with police to cease, saying they were stoking an economic downturn deeper than the one Hong Kong endured during the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.Lam told the press that the economic slump “is very fast, and some people have described it as coming like a tsunami.” Her claim was disputed by some scholars.Constitutional rightsHong Kong’s constitution provides for the freedom to speak, publish and protest.FILE – Anti-extradition bill demonstrators attend a protest at the arrival hall of Hong Kong Airport, China, Aug. 9, 2019.Amnesty International criticized the government, saying that any person should have the right to demonstrate without government approval. The group also noted that the government has begun to prosecute protesters, a move to “deter the public from participating in parade demonstrations, create white terror, suppress rallies and express freedom.”Protesters went ahead Friday with a planned three-day protest at the city’s airport to publicize their fight against an extradition bill. Their grievances have widened to include demands for an independent commission to examine claims of police abuse and to restart a voting plan that would bring full balloting rights to the city’s voters.Also set to meet is a pro-government group called the Safeguard Hong Kong Alliance, which organized a large rally last month.Extradition billThe denials came two months after the first mass march against a legal amendment that would have permitted Hong Kong to extradite criminal subjects to other jurisdictions, including mainland China. A broad swath of Hong Kong residents — including business owners, clergy, teachers and lawyers — turned out to plead that Lam withdraw the bill.FILE – A protester throws a tear gas canister back at the police during a demonstration in support of the city-wide strike and to call for democratic reforms in Hong Kong, China, Aug. 5, 2019.In a press release Friday, the government said officials have “clearly indicated on many occasions that all legislative work in relation to the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance has completely stopped.”Lam’s repeated refusals to permanently pull the bill fueled a movement that has grown progressively more belligerent and harder for the police to control. Withstanding tear gas, rubber bullets and prosecutions for riot, protesters have besieged police buildings, swarmed highways and rail stations, and thrown fire bombs.Protesters attacked police district buildings, set fires, and flooded highways and tunnels on Monday, with police firing more than 800 tear gas canisters that day.
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US Envoy Tells Germany: Spend More on Defense or We Move Troops to Poland
An envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s unwillingness to boost defense spending might give the United States no choice but to move American troops stationed in Germany to Poland.The comments by Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, signal Trump’s impatience with Merkel’s failure to raise defense spending to 2% of economic output as mandated by the NATO military alliance.”It is offensive to assume that the U.S. taxpayers continue to pay for more than 50,000 Americans in Germany but the Germans get to spend their [budget] surplus on domestic programs,” Grenell told the dpa news agency.Germany’s fiscal plans foresee the defense budget of NATO’s second-largest member rising to 1.37% of output next year before falling to 1.24% in 2023.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet U.S. troops at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, Dec. 27, 2018.Eastern European countries like Poland and Latvia, fearful of Russia after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, have raised their military spending to the 2% target, drawing praise from Trump who wants Germany to do the same.Deteriorating relationsU.S. complaints about Germany’s defense spending pre-date Trump but relations with the United States have deteriorated since he became president.The two allies do not see eye-to-eye on a range of issues, including Iran, trade tariffs and the NordStream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.Trump said in June he would deploy 1,000 U.S. troops from Germany to Poland, which sees the measure as deterrence against possible aggression from Russia.Georgette Mosbacher, U.S. ambassador to Poland, has made a similar criticism of Germany’s reluctance to commit more financial resources to NATO.”Poland meets its 2% of GDP spending obligation towards NATO. Germany does not. We would welcome American troops in Germany to come to Poland,” she wrote on Twitter on Thursday.U.S. troopsThe United States has more than 33,000 soldiers in Germany and an additional 17,000 U.S. civilian employees to support them. It is believed the United States also has nuclear warheads in Germany.”President Trump is right and Georgette Mosbacher is right,” Grenell told dpa. “Multiple presidents have asked Europe’s largest economy to pay for its own defense. This request has been made over many years and by many presidents.”Grenell added that the United States must react if Germany continues to ignore Trump’s demand to boost defense spending.Trump travels to France this month for the G-7 summit, where Iran will be a major topic. Trump will also visit Poland and Denmark.Grenell earlier this month criticized Germany for showing reluctance to join a planned U.S. naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, close to Iran.
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Trump Administration Moves to Limit State Powers to Block Pipelines
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday unveiled a proposal that would curb state powers to block pipelines and other energy projects, as part of the Trump administration’s effort to boost domestic oil, gas and coal development.The move, swiftly criticized by an organization representing progressive states, comes four months after President Donald Trump ordered the EPA to change a section of the U.S. Clean Water Act that states like New York and Washington have used in recent years to delay pipelines and terminals.”When implemented, this proposal will streamline the process for constructing new energy infrastructure projects that are good for American families, American workers, and the American economy,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a press release announcing the move.The EPA’s proposal is centered on changes to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which allows states and tribes to block energy projects on environmental grounds, it said.David Hayes, director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, part of the New York University Law School, which coordinates policy with state attorneys general, said the proposal runs counter to the Trump administration’s promises to support so-called “cooperative federalism” in which states are given broad authority to decide policy.”The Trump administration gives lip service to ‘cooperative federalism,’ but it practices ‘fair-weather federalism,” he said. “It’s a hypocritical double standard.”
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Trump Shares Kim’s Opposition to US-South Korea War Games
Shortly after the top military leaders in the U.S. and South Korea preached closer cooperation on multiple issues confronting Asia, U.S. President Donald Trump sided with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his opposition to U.S.-South Korean war games.Speaking to reporters Friday outside the White House, Trump said he received a “very beautiful letter” from Kim that said the North Korean leader “wasn’t happy with the war games.” Trump added, “You know, I’ve never liked it [them] either.”U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to New York and New Jersey from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Aug. 9, 2019.The U.S. president said Kim explained in the letter that the ongoing war games are the reason Pyongyang has been conducting missile tests, despite a June 30 meeting between Trump and Kim, during which the two agreed to revive denuclearization talks, which have yet to resume. Trump said Friday, before embarking on his annual August vacation at his New Jersey golf club, that he could meet again with Kim in an attempt to resolve North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but did not say when a meeting would occur.Esper commentsA few hours earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. and South Korea share a “vision of a peaceful” Korean Peninsula and declared the two allies would keep collaborating on North Korea and other issues.On his first international trip since being confirmed last month, Esper addressed the media in Seoul after meeting with South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo amid heightened regional tensions.Esper said the Washington-Seoul alliance is “ironclad” and the “linchpin of peace and security” in Southeast Asia. He added the two allies would ensure the “readiness of our combined forces to defend ourselves while also creating space for diplomacy.”U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, left, and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo hold their hands ahead of a meeting at Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 9, 2019.Washington and Seoul have not always enjoyed the warmest of relations and have not always agreed on how to address the nuclear-armed North. On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. has been supporting Seoul militarily for 82 years, and “we get virtually nothing” in return. South Korea is, nevertheless, increasing efforts to connect with the U.S. on North Korea, trade and other issues.South Korea commentsSouth Korean Defense Minister Jeong said his country was the “U.S.’s closest ally” and cited recent “urgent developments” in the region. Jeong said North Korea launching new short-range ballistic missiles amid ongoing efforts to denuclearize the peninsula do not help relieve regional tensions. But with the 2020 U.S. presidential elections on the horizon, Trump has been quick to tout his North Korea policy as a success. Trump has attempted to downplay the missile launches, maintaining they do not violate Kim’s promise to halt nuclear and long-range tests.Jeong also said Japan’s export trade restrictions against South Korea are “causing adverse effects on South Korean-Japan relations and security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.”FILE – President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019.Jeong praised Trump’s “amazing imagination that transcends conventions” for meeting with Kim at the inter-Korean border on June 30. He also expressed a desire to open “a new chapter” in the U.S.-South Korean alliance based on trust.New ambassador to U.S. During their meeting, Esper asked Jeong to commit troops to a U.S.-led maritime force off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.Jeong responded that Seoul was considering options to help protect South Korean people and vessels that use the strait.While Esper was visiting Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in appointed an experienced former diplomat as his new ambassador to the U.S. Moon tapped 70-year-old Lee Soo-hyuck, who was South Korea’s chief negotiator at disarmament negotiations between 2003 and 2005. Lee is also a former deputy foreign minister and first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service.Esper concluded his visit to South Korea on Friday. His overseas trip also took him to Australia, Mongolia and Japan.
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UN: Malians Need Protection as Country Descends into Chaos
The U.N. refugee agency is urging countries to provide international protection and asylum to people fleeing the increasingly chaotic conditions in Mali.The country’s 2015 peace and reconciliation agreement has all but collapsed as several rebel groups affiliated with a loose coalition of militias have failed to respect its provisions. The U.N. refugee agency says the armed factions and Islamist extremist groups operating in the country have been escalating the fighting.The conflict, which had been mainly waged in northern Mali, has spread to the central Mopti region and some parts of the southern region. Government authorities and institutions are largely powerless to stop the increasing turmoil, according to the U.N.UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says civilians, politicians, civil servants and security forces are being targeted and killed. Local populations, particularly in central regions, report widespread human rights violations, including summary executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrests.”The crisis has a devastating and disproportionate effect on Malian children,” Mahecic said. “Children are being forcibly recruited by armed groups, kidnapped and killed. More than 285,000 children are being denied education due to school closures.”FILE – A general view shows the damage at the site of an attack on a village in Mali, June 11, 2019.Protection guidelinesThe UNHCR has issued new protection guidelines in light of the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in Mali. The guidelines are meant for anyone involved in adjudicating asylum claims from Malian nationals, Mahecic told VOA, adding that people fleeing violence in Mali should be given protection. “Nobody from these conflict-affected areas should be forcibly returned to Mali and also … the remaining parts of the country should not be considered as an appropriate alternative to providing asylum until the security, the rule of law and the human rights situation in Mali has significantly improved,” he said. Mali has been in turmoil since a separatist uprising in 2012 overthrew the country’s president. The UNHCR says nearly 140,000 Malian refugees have fled, mainly to Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger, since 2013. More than 52,000 are internally displaced.The United Nations says nearly 200 of its peacekeepers have been killed in the last six years, making Mali the deadliest peacekeeping operation in the world.
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Britain’s Johnson: No-deal Brexit Preparation Is Top Priority
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote to all government employees on Friday to tell them that preparing for a no-deal exit from the European Union is his and their top priority, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters.Johnson has promised voters Britain will leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without an exit deal, demanding that Brussels drop parts of the existing proposed deal relating to the Irish border and negotiate a fresh exit arrangement.But the EU is adamant that the legal terms of the deal cannot be rewritten, raising expectations among politicians and financial markets that Britain is headed for an unmanaged divorce from the bloc in less than three months’ time.”I would very much prefer to leave with a deal — one that must abolish the anti-democratic Irish backstop, which has unacceptable consequences for our country,” Johnson said in the email.”But I recognize this may not happen. That is why preparing urgently and rapidly for the possibility of an exit without a deal will be my top priority, and it will be the top priority for the Civil Service too.”Previously, pro-Brexit campaigners have criticized the ranks of Britain’s civil service, which adopts a politically neutral stance while working to enact government policy, saying they were biased towards remaining in the EU and trying to obstruct the exit process.Many investors say a no-deal Brexit would send shock waves through the world economy, tip Britain into a recession, roil financial markets and weaken London’s position as the pre-eminent international financial center.”I know many of you have already done a great deal of hard work in mobilizing to prepare for a No Deal scenario, so that we can leave on 31 October come what may,” Johnson wrote in the email, first reported by Sky News.”Between now and then, we must engage and communicate clearly with the British people about what our plans for taking back control mean, what people and businesses need to do, and the support we will provide.”Although advocates of a no-deal exit say that Britain would swiftly recover from any disruption and benefit over the long term from improved economic flexibility, sterling and other economic indicators reflect a broadly pessimistic outlook.Data on Friday showed the British economy shrank unexpectedly for the first time since 2012 in the second quarter, dragged down by a slump in manufacturing.Johnson, however praised the work of government employees in the 650-word bulletin issued on Friday afternoon, and promised a reforming agenda beyond Brexit, highlighting plans for improved public services.”The Government I lead is fully committed to leaving the European Union by 31 October 2019 and getting a grip of the vital issues that affect people’s lives: the NHS, education and crime,” he wrote.”While there are no grounds for complacency, there is every reason for optimism.”
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Dozens Dead In New Bout of Intercommunal Fighting In Chad
At least 37 people have been killed in fresh fighting this week between rival ethnic groups in Chad, President Idriss Deby said on Friday.The violence broke out over three days in the eastern province of Ouaddie, a strategic area on the border with Sudan, he said.”The intercommunal conflict has become a national concern,” Deby told a press conference to mark the country’s independence day. “We are witnessing a terrible phenomenon.”Eastern Chad is in the grip of a cycle of violence between nomadic camel herders — many from the Zaghawa ethnic group from which Deby hails — and sedentary farmers from the Ouaddian community.The latest fighting erupted on Monday in the village of Hamra after a rancher was killed, according to a local charity.The violence continued on Tuesday in the Chakoya locality, a local tribal official told AFP.One hospital source told AFP the death toll was as high as 44.Describing the clashes, Deby said that police sent to the scene came under fire.”Gun owners do not hesitate to shoot the police. It is a total war… we must engage against those who carry weapons and killing people,” he said.Deby said he would visit the area in the future, without giving any timeframe.Last month Deby, who has been in power for almost three decades, hinted that military courts may be reintroduced in a bid to curb the unrest, a suggestion denounced by the country’s opposition.
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Richard Gere Visits Migrants Stuck in the Mediterranean
Carrying boxes of fruit, Richard Gere visited rescued migrants Friday on a humanitarian ship that has been struck in the Mediterranean Sea for over a week, landing smack in the middle of a debate over immigration that European nations have not been able to resolve.The American film star took food and supplies by boat to 121 people aboard the Open Arms, a rescue ship floating in international waters near the Italian island of Lampedusa after being blocked from entering ports in Italy and Malta. Those nations want fellow European Union countries to take in more of the migrants who come across the sea.The actor, 69, spoke to several migrants who had fled war-torn Libya on unseaworthy smuggling boats before being rescued, among them a man and his baby. A father of two, Gere shared photos of his youngest son, who was born in February.Gere has a long history of human rights activism and often campaigns for environmental issues and AIDS research. He has been banned from China for advocating for human rights in Tibet.He happened to be in Italy this week and after seeing news about the boat’s plight, contacted the Spanish charity Open Arms and asked “How can I help?” a spokeswoman for the group told The Associated Press.Two days later Gere was on Lampedusa, helping load a boat with supplies.”The most important thing for these people here is to be able to get to a free port, to get off the boat, to get on land and start a new life,” Gere said, urging the world to “please support us here on Open Arms and help these people, our brothers and sisters.”Other European countries have yet to respond to the aid group’s request for a solution to the impasse over the rescue ship.The International Organization for Migration says 39,289 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by sea so far this year as of Aug. 4, about 34% fewer than during the same period in 2018. It says another 840 people have died this year on the dangerous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Europe.
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US Defense Secretary Vows Close Collaboration with South Korea
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday the U.S. and South Korea share a “vision of a peaceful” Korean Peninsula and declared the two allies would keep collaborating on North Korea and other issues.On his first international trip since being confirmed last month, Esper addressed the media in Seoul after meeting with South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo amid heightened regional tensions.Esper said the Washington-Seoul alliance is “ironclad” and the “linchpin of peace and security” in Southeast Asia. He added the two allies would ensure the “readiness of our combined forces to defend ourselves while also creating space for diplomacy.”FILE – South Korean tanks fire during the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills in Pocheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Aug. 28, 2015.Washington and Seoul have not always enjoyed the warmest of relations and have not always agreed on how to address the nuclear-armed North. But South Korea is increasing efforts to connect with the U.S. on North Korea, trade and other issues.South Korean Defense Minister Jeong said his country was the “U.S.’ closest ally” and cited recent “urgent developments” in the region. Jeong said North Korea launching new short-range ballistic missiles amid ongoing efforts to denuclearize the peninsula do not help relieve regional tensions. Jeong also said Japan’s export trade restrictions against South Korea are “causing adverse effects on South Korean-Japan relations and security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.”Jeong praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s “amazing imagination that transcends conventions” for meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the inter-Korean border on June 30. He also expressed a desire to open “a new chapter” in the U.S.-South Korean alliance based on trust.During their meeting, Esper asked Jeong to commit troops to a U.S.-led maritime force off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.Jeong responded that Seoul was considering options to help protect South Korean people and vessels that use the strait.While Esper was visiting Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in appointed an experienced former diplomat as his new ambassador to the U.S. Moon tapped 70-year-old Lee Soo-hyuck, who was South Korea’s chief negotiator at disarmament negotiations between 2003 and 2005. Lee is also a former deputy foreign minister and first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service.Esper concluded his visit to South Korea on Friday. His overseas trip also took him to Australia, Mongolia and Japan.
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Huawei Unveils Phone System That Could Replace Android
Huawei on Friday unveiled a smartphone operating system that it said can replace Google’s Android, adding to the Chinese tech giant’s efforts to insulate itself against U.S. sanctions.The announcement of HarmonyOS highlights the growing ability of Huawei, the No. 2 global smartphone brand and biggest maker of network gear for phone carriers, to create technology and reduce its reliance on American vendors.U.S. curbs imposed in May threatened Huawei’s smartphone sales by limiting access to Android and blocking Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., from supporting music and other services based on the system.Huawei Technologies Ltd. wants to keep using Android, Richard Yu, CEO of its consumer device unit, said at a conference for software developers in the southern city of Dongguan.”However, if we cannot use it in the future we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS,” Yu said. He said that could be done in as little as two days if needed.Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of a battle between Washington and Beijing over the ruling Communist Party’s ambitions to develop companies that can compete in robotics and other fields.The Trump administration says Beijing’s efforts are based on stealing or pressuring companies to hand over technology. Washington and other trading partners say the Chinese campaign violates its free-trade obligations.Washington has labeled Huawei a security threat, an accusation the company denies. Some officials also see the rise of Huawei and other Chinese tech competitors as a potential threat to U.S. industrial leadership.Huawei spends about $12 billion a year on U.S. semiconductor chips and other components. The company said the U.S. export curbs might cut its projected sales by $30 billion over two years.Since then, authorities have said vendors will be allowed to supply technology that is available from other sources. That came after American technology suppliers warned they would be hurt by the loss of one of their biggest customers.Huawei also has developed its own chipsets for low-end smartphones and servers, though it still needs U.S. vendors for its most advanced products.Yu said Huawei’s first smartphone using HarmonyOS would be released Saturday under its Honor brand.Huawei, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, reported earlier its smartphone shipments rose 24% in the first half of 2019 over a year ago to 118 million.”We could have done better, but due to the challenges we face in the international market, our shipments dropped a bit,” Yu said.Huawei reported that sales in the six months through June rose 23.2% over a year earlier to 401.3 billion yuan ($58.3 billion). That was up from 2018 growth of 19.5%, but Chairman Liang Hua warned Huawei will “face difficulties” in the second half.Liang said then that Huawei was reviewing its product lineup to make sure it could fill orders without U.S. components if necessary.On Friday, Yu said HarmonyOS is designed to operate on PCs and tablet computers as well as smartphones, allowing users to integrate music and other functions across multiple devices.HarmonyOS will be open source to allow outside developers to contribute to its development, Yu said.”We want to build a global operating system, so it will not be used by Huawei alone,” he said.
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Equatorial Guinea’s Border Wall Plans Provoke Anger in Cameroon
Cameroon has instructed its military to be on the alert as Equatorial Guinea says it is building a border wall to stop Cameroonians and West Africans from illegally entering its territory. Equatorial Guinea’s announcement comes as officials of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) regional economic bloc, of which Equatorial Guinea is a member, are encouraging the free movement of people and goods to boost economic growth in the region.Thirty-two-year old Cameroonian merchant Kome Pascal imports wine from Equatorial Guinea. He also exports cement, roofing sheets and farm produce from Cameroon to the neighboring nation. “I feel very bad because goods will not come again into Cameroon and farmers who sell in Equatorial Guinea, what do they expect them to do with their goods,” he told VOA. “Building that particular wall is not going to permit Cameroonians to sell their goods.” When Equatorial Guinea said it was building the wall and erected milestones on the border near the Cameroon town of Kye-Ossi, Cameroon army chief Lieutenant General Rene Claude Meka visited the border. Meka said he was told the neighboring state was not respecting territorial limits and was encroaching on Cameroon land. He said the Cameroonian army would not tolerate any unlawful intrusion.Anastasio Asumu Mum Munoz, Equatorial Guinea ambassador to Cameroon, was called up by Cameroon’s minister of external relations on Thursday to explain his country’s plans for the border.Ambassador Munoz said his country plans to build a wall, but that reports that the its military had installed milestones in Cameroon territory are misleading.Equatorial Guinea has always accused Cameroon of letting its citizens and West Africans enter its territory illegally.More than 100 migrants from Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Benin on their way to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are currently stranded in Cameroon after they were rescued from their capsizing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cameroonian-born Christian Mbock, visiting lecturer of international relations at the National University of Equatorial Guinea, said the wall will stop illegal migrants and secure Equatorial Guinea.”There was a problem in Equatorial Guinea because there was a coup there, then the government had to protect itself and said that the government was suspending the implementation of [CEMAC’s decision for free movement],” he said. “It is a complex situation.”Equatorial Guinea has often sealed its border with Cameroon, complaining of security threats posed by illegal immigration.In December 2017, Equatorial Guinea said it had arrested 30 foreign armed men from Chad, the Central African Republic and Sudan on the border. The report said they possessed rocket launchers, rifles and a stockpile of ammunition to destabilize the government of President Theodoro Obiang, who has led oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979.Cameroon said it also arrested 40 heavily-armed men on the 290-kilometer boundary. Both countries are members of the CEMAC, which in 2017 said it had reached a milestone when heads of state meeting in Chad lifted visa requirements for their 45 million citizens traveling within the six-member nation economic bloc.
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UK Economy Shrinks for First Time Since 2012 as Brexit Bites
The British economy shrank in the second quarter for the first time since 2012 as Brexit uncertainties weighed on business investment and firms reduced their stockpiling after Britain’s departure from the European Union was postponed, official figures showed Friday.The decline is set to raise alarm that Brexit uncertainty is increasingly weighing on the economy. Most economists expected the economy to flat-line. The quarterly drop lowered the annual rate of growth to 1.2% from 1.8% in the first quarter.The Office for National Statistics noted there was “increased volatility around the U.K.’s original planned exit date from the European Union in late March.”Brexit was meant to happen on March 29, but was delayed to the end of October after Parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement that the previous prime minister, Theresa May, had negotiated with the EU.Before the extension request, many firms ratcheted up their inventories to help cushion the likely disruption from Britain crashing out of the EU on March 29 without a deal. That business activity helped the economy grow by 0.5% in the first quarter.Since then, companies have stopped stockpiling as much. Many car companies also brought forward their annual maintenance shutdowns to April from later in the year to cushion the potential blow from Britain leaving the EU without a deal on March 29.It was largely the combination of these Brexit-related developments that contributed to a sharp 1.4% quarterly decline in the output of production industries.The fact that the overall economy performed worse than anticipated is likely to increase concern about Brexit’s corrosive effect on the economy. Business investment, which has been historically weak since the country voted in June 2016 to leave the EU, weakened further in the second quarter, contracting by 0.5%.”Brexit uncertainty, and to a lesser extent, weaker global demand, has reduced firms’ appetites to expand,” said James Smith, an economist at ING bank. “Meanwhile, contingency planning activities for a no-deal Brexit are costly and often resource-intensive, reducing scope to lift capital spending. We expect this trend to continue for the rest of the year.”May’s replacement as prime minister, Boris Johnson, has insisted there will be no further delay to the Brexit date and that Britain will leave the EU on Halloween come what may. That’s stoked fears that Britain will leave the EU without a deal, a development that would see tariffs and other restrictions imposed on traded goods. Most economists think that would lead to a recession; even Brexit’s most passionate supporters say it would be disruptive at least in the short-term. The pound has fallen to 2-1/2 year lows against the dollar and was down 0.3% on Friday, at $1.2093Sajid Javid, Britain’s new Treasury chief, conceded that this is a “challenging” period for the British economy but insisted that the fundamentals remain “strong.””The government is determined to provide certainty to people and businesses on Brexit — that’s why we are clear that the U.K. is leaving the EU on 31 October,” he said.The British economy is not expected to fall into recession — commonly identified as two quarters of economic contraction — in the third quarter partly because the car manufacturers will be operating in August, having brought forward their maintenance period earlier in the year. Also Friday’s figures showed that British consumers remains upbeat as unemployment is at 44-year lows and wages are rising solidly and outpacing inflation.However, Brexit uncertainty looks like it will get more acute in September, when Parliament returns from its summer recess and the political debate and maneuvering around a no-deal Brexit intensifies.Add in worries over the global economy as a result of the trade conflict between the United States and China, and the economic headwinds are mounting. The Bank of England warned last week that there’s a one-in-three chance that Britain will slip into recession in the early part of 2020 even if a Brexit ends up being smooth.
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Police Arrest Armed Man at Missouri Walmart
Police said a man carrying a rifle and wearing body armor entered a Walmart store in the Midwestern U.S. state of Missouri Thursday. Springfield police said his appearance caused a “panic” in the store, but no shots were fired and no one was injured. An off-duty fireman held the man at gunpoint until police arrived. Lieutenant Mike Lucas told the Springfield News that the man had more than 100 rounds of ammunition. “All we know is the fact that he walked in here heavily armed with body armor on, in military fatigues and caused a great amount of panic inside the store,” Lucas said. “So he certainly had the capability, the potential to harm people.” The incident comes just days after two U.S. mass shootings — one at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas that left 22 people dead and another shooting in Dayton, Ohio that killed nine.
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Malaysia Charges Current, Former Goldman Execs in 1MDB
Malaysia filed criminal charges Friday against 17 current and former directors of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries, piling further pressure on the Wall Street titan over the multibillion dollar 1MDB scandal.Huge sums were looted from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a globe-spanning fraud, which allegedly involved ex-leader Najib Razak and his inner circle.Goldman’s role has been under scrutiny as it helped arrange a series of bond issues worth $6.5 billion for the investment vehicle.Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad re-opened investigations into the 1MDB affair last year after defeating Najib at the polls, in large part because of public anger at the scandal, and pressure has been steadily mounting on the bank since.FILE – Malaysia’s Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, center, speaks to the media after former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak appeared before a judge at the Duta court complex in Kuala Lumpur, July 4, 2018.Announcing the latest charges, Attorney General Tommy Thomas said: “Custodial sentences and criminal fines will be sought against the accused … given the severity of the scheme to defraud and fraudulent misappropriation of billions in bond proceeds.”Goldman said in a statement it believed the charges were “misdirected” and would be “vigorously defended.”Thomas listed the names of the 17 accused, whom he said were directors of three Goldman subsidiaries in 2012 and 2013.In December, Malaysia filed charges against the units — Goldman Sachs International, Goldman Sachs (Asia), and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) — and two ex-employees.They were accused of giving false statements, which led to $2.7 billion being misappropriated in relation to the bond issues.Goldman vowed to fight those charges, saying the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to the bank.Yachts, real estateFriday’s charges were brought under laws that mandate that directors, chief executives and other corporate representatives in position at the time of an offense are also deemed to have committed that crime, the statement said.This does not apply in cases where someone can prove that the crime was committed without their consent or that they sought to prevent it from being committed.Goldman earned about $600 million in fees for helping 1MDB arrange three bond issues in 2012 and 2013.Malaysia says the payments were far above regular market rates and is seeking compensation of $7.5 billion from the bank in relation to the scandal.The two former employees charged in Malaysia in December, Tim Leissner and Ng Chong Hwa, were also indicted in the United States.Leissner has pleaded guilty in America, while Ng was extradited to the U.S. from Malaysia in May and pleaded not guilty.The alleged mastermind of the scandal, Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who was close to Najib, has been charged in Malaysia and the U.S. but remains at large.US investigating scandalThe Department of Justice, which is investigating the scandal as money was allegedly laundered through the U.S. financial system, believes $4.5 billion was looted from the fund.It was allegedly spent on luxury goods ranging from a super-yacht to high-end real estate and artworks.Since his election loss last year, Najib has been hit with dozens of charges over the scandal and went on trial in April. He denies any wrongdoing.
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As Trump Scales Back, Asian Heavyweights Prep for World’s Biggest Trade Pact
The world’s biggest free trade pact may be just months from final signatures after talks this month appeared to bring the trade group’s 16 members closer to agreement.The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), is a trade deal hatched in 2012 by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) along with six free trade agreement partners (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand). It will cover about 32% of the world GDP and nearly 30% of global trade. The deal excludes the United States.During a meeting in Beijing Aug. 2-3, the countries hashed out core differences. The deal should be finished by year’s end, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told a news conference Sunday after an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting held in Bangkok.Exporters from the 16 signatory countries hope for freer, cheaper and more reliable trade, after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a Pacific Rim deal in 2017 and has since challenged countries across the world on existing agreements. The United States has been embroiled in a trade dispute with China since early 2018, with both nations raising tariffs on the other’s imports.“There is understandably concern in ASEAN about the effect of future U.S. trade barriers being introduced that will affect their countries,” said Stuart Orr, business and law professor at Deakin University in Australia. “Striking this deal will reduce their dependence on the U.S. as a market by creating a coordinated ASEAN market.”FILE – A grain salesman shows locally grown soybeans in Ohio, April 5, 2018. Trump’s tariffs have drawn retaliation from around the world.US pullback in free tradeMuch of Asia, especially major manufacturers such as China and Vietnam, traditionally count the United States as a major destination for exports.Last month, the United States said it would impose a final round of tariffs on China as part of an 18-month-old trade dispute, affecting $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.“China needs to strengthen its local trade opportunities to assist it in its trade war with the U.S.,” Orr said.Trump has also mulled placing tariffs on auto imports from the European Union and Japan, and threatened tariffs against Mexico.FILE – An officer stands by goods for trade at Tan Thanh Border Gate in Vietnam. (D. Schearf/VOA)Momentum in talks toward Asia trade dealIn China, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday more than two-thirds of the RCEP negotiations on bilateral market access had been completed with talks on what’s left “being actively pushed forward.”The RCEP also covers import tariffs, labor and intellectual property rights. The elimination of trade barriers would offer signatory states access to low-cost raw materials, Orr said, while the deal as a whole would expand the number of firms operating in Southeast Asia.“In the context of the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, Vietnam could have other markets,” said Trung Nguyen, international relations dean at Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities.Once implemented by the target year of 2030, the partnership, encompassing about 47% of the world’s population, will increase global real incomes by an estimated $286 billion per year, the Brookings Institute said in a report in November.But negotiators have reached agreement on just seven of RCEP’s 18 chapters, cautioned Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit, a market research firm in Singapore. A year-end finish line may be impossible, he said.“These kinds of deals take a long time to agree. Then, they have to be ratified by parliaments. Then, they have to be implemented in terms of legislation. So, there’s nothing fast about these kinds of deals,” Biswas said. “So, I think it’s unrealistic to have too much sense of urgency about it.”India edges on boardIndia has held back talks on the pan-Asian deal over the years on concerns about low-cost imports entering from China, and competition with China over manufacturing, Biswas said.“India is single-handedly holding up the other 15 negotiating parties,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “On this front, China and ASEAN countries, they almost have consensus, like greater market access and more free trade, and so on.”India’s Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing last week to hash out some of the issues, Indian news outlet BusinessLine reported Sunday. India can accept RCEP if it addresses “the existing level of trade imbalance,” BusinessLine said.
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Russia Using Tourism as Weapon Against Georgia
Russia appears to be using one of its most powerful weapons — tourism — against Georgia, its smaller neighbor to the south. Moscow has banned direct flights between Russia and Georgia, after the latest wave of protests in Georgia against Russia’s occupation of two of its regions. Moscow has also called for its citizens to return home. That is meant to damage the Georgian economy, which is highly dependent on tourism. Ricardo Marquina reports from Tbilisi in this report narrated by Jim Randle.
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