U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he had “second thoughts” about escalating his reciprocal tariff war with China, but the White House quickly clarified that he meant that was because he did not raise the taxes even more than he did.Last week, before heading to France for the Group of 7 summit of the leaders of some of the world’s leading economies, Trump boosted tariffs on $550 billion worth of Chinese products shipped to the United States after Beijing said it would raise tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. exports to China, which itself was in retaliation to an earlier Trump tariff hike.U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson attend a working breakfast at the Hotel du Palais on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 25, 2019.On Sunday, as he sat down to a breakfast meeting with new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a reporter asked Trump whether he regretted the tit-for-tat tariff war with China. Trump responded, “Yeah, sure. Why not.””Might as well,” he said. “Might as well. I have second thoughts about everything.”When asked if he would declare a national emergency to block U.S. companies from buying Chinese goods, Trump said, “I have the right to, if I want.”But Trump then claimed that trade talks were going well with China and that he planned to walk back some of his recent threats, such as seeking to force American companies to leave China.News stories from the site of the summit in the Atlantic coastal town of Biarritz quickly interpreted Trump’s “second thoughts” remark as having regrets about boosting tariffs on Chinese exports.The international attention the remark drew came in part because Trump has been defiant in confronting China’s trade practices and its wide trade surplus with the U.S., which totaled $419 billion in 2018, and partly because Trump rarely publicly regrets any pronouncement he has made.But not long after, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said, “His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President Trump responded in the affirmative — because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher.”The U.S.-China tariff war has roiled world stock markets for weeks, with wild gyrations in market performance, depending on the tariff announcements coming out of Washington and Beijing and then regaining ground when some hopeful signs surfaced that the world’s two biggest economies might yet reach a trade agreement in the coming months.A screen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Aug. 23, 2019.On Friday, U.S. stock indexes plummeted more than 2% after China first announced the tariff hike on the $75 billion worth of U.S. exports, followed hours later by Trump saying he would increase existing tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods from 25% to 30% as of Oct. 1. In addition, he said a new round of tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese exports would be increased from 10% to 15%. The first batch of those tariffs are set to take effect next Sunday, Sept. 1.China expecting worsening trade relationsWhatever Trump’s intentions on the tariff war, China said it expects worsening economic conflict with the U.S.Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the state-run People’s Daily newspaper, wrote on Twitter, “Regardless of his specific expression each time, we’re seriously making preparations for scenario in which China-U.S. trade relations deteriorate further, even much worse than now.Trump was also asked whether world leaders at the summit have asked him to curb his trade war with China, and he responded, “No, not at all. I haven’t heard that at all.”But Johnson nudged Trump in that direction, saying, “Just to register the faint, sheep-like note of our view on the trade war, we’re in favor of trade peace on the whole, and dialing it down a beat.”U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin walks to a working breakfast at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 25, 2019.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday from France, “Our first choice is to have fair and reciprocal trade with China,” but said Trump “absolutely” intends to raise the tariffs on Chinese tariffs on Sept. 1.Last week, as the tariff conflict heightened, Trump raised the question on Twitter of who was the “bigger enemy,” Chinese President Xi Jinping or Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, whom Trump has often attacked for not cutting the Fed’s benchmark interest rate fast enough to boost the U.S. economy.Mnuchin said Trump still considers Xi a friend on several issues, but that they are “still enemies” on trade.As for Trump calling Powell, a Trump appointee as Fed chair, an enemy, Mnuchin said, “I don’t think it was a literal comment.”
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Month: August 2019
Australia to Join Strait of Hormuz Tanker Protection Mission
Australia will send a warship and surveillance aircraft to the Persian Gulf to join an international effort to combat Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.Australia has for several weeks been considering joining the U.S.-led military effort, which also includes Britain and Bahrain.The Iranian supertanker Grace 1 sits anchored in the British territory of Gibraltar, Aug. 15, 2019, seized last month in a British Royal Navy operation.Tensions in the region increased after United Kingdom forces helped authorities in Gibraltar seize an Iranian tanker, believing it was carrying oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Iran retaliated by impounding a British ship in the Persian Gulf.Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to Sydney, urged Australia to join efforts to counter “Iran’s unprovoked attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”The government in Canberra has decided to send a warship, surveillance aircraft and military personnel to join the U.S.-led mission. The navy frigate is scheduled to arrive in January.Officials believe any disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is a “potential threat” to the Australian economy.Up to 30% of Australia’s imports of refined oil is transported through the key shipping route that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it is vital oil tankers move freely through the narrow waterway.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will discuss his country’s involvement in the Strait of Hormuz, with world leaders at the G7 summit in France.”Our decision is based on our national interest, and solely on our national interest. We have considered Australia’s interest in this matter, our commitment to issues such as freedom of navigation, shipping. I went through the precise details of how much of our own oil supplies come through this pathway, and so there is a clear interest here,” he said.Prime Minister Morrison has traveled to France for the G7 meeting, where Australia’s involvement in the Strait of Hormuz would be discussed with world leaders.Australia has insisted its role is to de-escalate rising tensions in the region.In Canberra, the opposition Labor party has supported the military deployment, stating it was “an appropriate response”.But many of the United States’ allies in Europe, including Germany, have been reluctant to join the military effort, for fear of provoking open conflict with Iran.
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Commemoration of 400th Anniversary of Slavery Brings Calls for Reflection, Unity
Africans and African Americans participating in events marking 400 years since the start of slavery in the United States say everyone must work harder to unite societies divided along racial and economic lines. VOA reporter Kennes Bwire reports from Norfolk, Virginia, where people gathered Saturday to observe the anniversary of the beginning of more than two centuries of slavery in English-speaking America. *For more on the anniversary, check out our Special Page.
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Trump Touts USMCA in Meeting with Canada PM Trudeau
SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ, FRANCE – U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted their trilateral trade agreement in their meeting at the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France.“Quite frankly, around the table there’s a lot of people wanting to make trade deals with each other,” Trudeau said, adding that the U.S. and Canada have a deal that’s “good for our workers, good for our citizens, good for the middle class.”My focus at the This satellite image provided by NASA shows the fires in Brazil on Aug. 20, 2019. As fires raged in the Amazon rainforest, the government denounced critics who say President Jair Bolsonaro is not doing enough.French President Emmanuel Macron, host of the summit has put climate issues high on the agenda for discussion, particularly focusing on the wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.The leaders’ focus on climate change have put them at odds with an American president known for his anti-climate stance. In June 2017, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Accord, a multilateral climate pact championed by the Obama administration. The New York Times reported that senior Trump administration officials have accused Macron’s aides of ignoring requests by White House officials to keep the focus on security and the threat of a recession, and emphasizing instead on climate change, gender equality, and African development, which highlight disagreements the Trump administration.
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G-7 Meets in France
The leaders of the world’s major industrialized countries are holding their annual summit. The Group of Seven, or G-7, is meeting in Biarritz, France. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on French wine, one of the most iconic industries of the host country, ahead of the summit has added to the tension among the leaders who remain at odds over issues ranging from climate change, how to deal with China and Iran, whether to bring Russia back into the fold, and Britain’s exit from the European Union. With these deep divisions, consensus seems unlikely. After Sunday’s first session the leaders failed to come to an agreement on readmitting Russia to the group in 2020. Russia was ousted after its invasion of Ukraine and seizure of Crimea in 2014. The French government announced after the first working session on the global economy, foreign policy and security affairs that the G-7 leaders had agreed to have French President Emmanuel Macron send a message to Iran and hold talks with Iranian officials. No details were released about the message, and Trump said he had not discussed anything about a message or talks with Iran. However, later Trump said he is not stopping anybody from talking with Iran.Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has acknowledged that “it has been increasingly difficult for us to find common language.” No joint communique planned
French President Emmanuel Macron already has declared that there will be no joint communique at the end of the summit, citing disagreements involving Trump and other leaders on the key issues as one of the reasons.It will be the first time in G-7 history that a summit will end without a communique. The summit marks the first meeting between Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson since Johnson took over from his predecessor Theresa May who failed to deliver on Brexit. The members of the G-7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States.
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No US-Japan Trade Deal Announced at G-7
U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France but did not announce they have reached a trade deal.”We’re working on one and we’re fairly close,” said Trump.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been leading the negotiations with Japan added, “We’ve worked very intensively and probably as a result of this meeting will be able to come to agreement on core principle.” Prior to the Trump-Abe meeting, Lighthizer held talks with Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Washington.Japanese media have reported that a deal is close, with Tokyo agreeing to lower tariffs on American beef and pork to levels set by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while letting Washington maintain its 2.5% levy on Japanese autos for now.Earlier Sunday during his meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trump said that he was “very close to a major deal with Japan”.”Prime Minister Abe and I are very good friends,” he added.The two leaders enjoy close ties but Trump often complains that Tokyo has an unfair advantage in bilateral trade.In January 2017, very early in his presidency Trump withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a signature multilateral trade deal of the Obama administration.After the U.S. withdrawal, in 2018, the 11 remaining TPP countries, including Japan, signed a version of the trade deal, championed as an antidote to growing American protectionism under Trump.North Korea missile testsPeople watch a TV news program reporting about North Korea’s firing projectiles with a file image at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 16, 2019.Asked about recent North Korean missile tests, Trump said he is “not happy” about it but that he doesn’t consider Pyongyang to be violating agreements.When Trump offered Abe to give his thoughts, the Japanese leader repeated his stance that the tests were a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.Trump responded, “I can understand how the Prime Minister of Japan feels” but said that the North Korean leader is not the only one testing those missiles.”We’re in the world of missiles, folks, whether you like it or not,” said Trump.
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75 Years Later, US World War II Veterans Say: Never Forget
Seventy-five years ago, they helped free Europe from the Nazis. This weekend, U.S. veterans are back in Paris to celebrate, and commemorate.Now in their 90s, these men aren’t afraid to cry about what they saw in World War II. And they want everyone to remember what happened back then, so that it doesn’t happen again.“The veterans, all the veterans of World War II, I think we saved the world,” said Harold Angle, who came to France with the U.S. 28th Infantry Division in 1944, and recounted his experiences to The Associated Press in Paris. “To be under the domination of a dictatorship like the Hitler regime and some of the terrible, terrible things that they did.“When you talk about taking little kids out on a firing range and shooting them for target practice….” Emotion choked his voice. “I can’t imagine anybody doing things like that. So I think we really did save the world. The guy had to be stopped.”Now 96, he’s among Allied veterans, French resistance fighters and others taking part in ceremonies Saturday and Sunday marking the 75th anniversary of the military operation that liberated Paris from Nazi occupation.Angle, from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, landed in Normandy in 1944 and moved into eastern France, where his division fought through a brutal winter. He saved a piece of a bullet that hit his helmet, and keeps it with a wartime photo of himself and a letter he wrote home to his mother, describing his scrape with death.Steve Melnikoff, 99, of Cockeysville, Maryland, came ashore on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with the 29th Infantry Division. It was one of the most pivotal days in the war — but to him, just one of many life-and-death experiences infantrymen faced on the front lines of history’s deadliest conflict.“What we went through, to do what we did, people don’t realize,” he said. He still has pictures in his head of a fellow soldier falling beside him, and another. Of the muddy holes he called home. Of the German machine guns, each capable of firing thousands of rounds.War, he says, is “nasty, smelly, terrible.” But he maintains, “it was important for someone to do this,” to stop Hitler from taking over more of the world.Donald Cobb of Evansville, Indiana, took part in the invasions of Normandy and of southern France from aboard ship, operating high-frequency antennae to detect German submarines and helping load ammunition. He’s back in peaceful Paris this week with the Greatest Generations Foundation, which organizes trips for veterans. He sometimes feels “survivor guilt,” and has one fundamental message for younger generations: “Learn history, and don’t repeat mistakes.”Harold Radish, now a 95-year-old retired teacher, arrived in France in 1944, fought his way to Germany — and then was captured. Hunger, lice and dysentery dominated life as a prisoner of war. His family in Brooklyn thought they’d never see him again.As a Jew, he remembers a German guard accusing him, and Wall Street, of starting the war. He remains surprised and grateful to have made it out alive.He came to Paris later, and reveled in Parisians’ appreciation.“That’s what’s important about the liberation of Paris, it was a new thing, something good had changed, the world was gonna get a little better. … You came in to Paris, you were a hero. There were the mademoiselles all around.” He smiled. “You know, we, in the prison camp, talked about food constantly. As soon as we were liberated that day, the talk was all sex.”Gregory Melikian, 95, now a hotel owner in Phoenix, was a high-speed radio operator working at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in nearby Versailles when Paris fell.“It was very important,” he said. “There was only one Paris.”The fight for the French capital was faster and easier for the Allies than their longer-than-expected battle through Normandy and its gun-filled hedgerows. But it was still messy and deadly, with more than 1,400 Parisians and 3,200 German troops killed.In May 1945, Melikian was in the Reims high school where the Germans surrendered. As the youngest radio operator available, Eisenhower wanted him to send out the encrypted news of the momentous occasion so that he could talk about it the rest of his life.“And here I am,” he said, incredulous, “75 years later.”
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Hong Kong Braces For New Protests
Hong Kong is bracing Sunday for more anti-government protests with tens of thousands of people expected to participate. One rally, however, has already been staged. This one, the French news agency (AFP) reports, was held to honor Hong Kong’s police officers who have often been criticized for their actions at the demonstrations. “If the whole world spits on you, we as family members will not,” one woman, who has a relative on the force, told the officers. Reuters is reporting that police arrested 29 people overnight after officers sprayed tear gas Saturday to break up a crowd. Hong Kong protests turned violent Saturday for the first time in nearly two weeks, as hundreds of demonstrators dressed in black and armed with baseball bats and bamboo poles hurled petrol bombs and bricks at police.Hong Kong police brandished batons and fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the protesters, who had set up makeshift street barricades using bamboo scaffolding outside a police station and a nearby shopping mall.Meanwhile, China freed a British consulate worker, Simon Cheng, whose detention served to ratchet up tensions. He was detained for 15 days in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong, for allegedly violating public security management regulations, according to police there.Authorities say Cheng’s legal rights were upheld, claiming he had confessed to the charges for which he was held. This is a standard rejoinder from Chinese police, despite the fact Cheng was not given a chance to defend himself in court. Cheng’s family said on Facebook he had now returned to Hong Kong. Protesters had been demanding his release for the past several days, and Britain said it welcomed the news.Four MTR subway stations were shut down in Kwun Tong, a densely populated area of the Chinese-ruled city, though thousands of protesters filled the streets anyway, many carrying umbrellas as protection from the sun. “Give me democracy or give me death” was spray-painted on a wall.As the rallies entered their third month, protesters also cut down a “smart lamppost” because they feared it was being used for surveillance by Chinese authorities. Hong Kong’s government maintained, however, the lamppost only collected data on traffic, weather and air quality.Last week, Hong Kong’s airport was forced to close when protesters occupied terminals. China called the behavior “near-terrorist acts” and some protesters later issued an apology. Hong Kong police said Friday said the city’s high court extended an order restricting protests at the airport.”Any person who unlawfully or willfully obstructs or interferes with the normal operation of the airport” is liable to face criminal charges, said Foo Yat-ting, the senior superintendent of Hong Kong Police Force’s Kowloon East Region.Hong Kong’s Airport Authority also published a half-page notice in newspapers urging people to “love Hong Kong” and not to block the airport.Saturday’s demonstration in Hong Kong is the latest in a weekslong movement that began with calls to stop an extradition bill, which has now been scrapped, and has expanded to include demands for full democracy.
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Powerful, Obscure Law Is Basis for Trump ‘Order’ On Trade
President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted “order” to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a spiraling trade war between the two nations.China’s announcement Friday that it was raising tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. imports sent Trump into a rage and White House aides scrambling for a response.Trump fired off on Twitter, declaring American companies “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” He later clarified that he was threatening to make use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in the trade war, raising questions about the wisdom and propriety of making the 1977 act used to target rogue regimes, terrorists and drug traffickers the newest weapon in the clash between the world’s largest economies.It would mark the latest grasp of authority by Trump, who has claimed widespread powers not sought by his predecessors despite his own past criticism of their use of executive powers.”For all of the Fake News Reporters that don’t have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977,” Trump tweeted late Friday. “Case closed!”For all of the Fake News Reporters that don’t have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Case closed!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2019The act gives presidents wide berth in regulating international commerce during times of declared national emergencies. Trump threatened to use those powers earlier this year to place tariffs on imports from Mexico in a bid to force the U.S. neighbor to do more to address illegal crossings at their shared border.It was not immediately clear how Trump could use the act to force American businesses to move their manufacturing out of China and to the U.S, and Trump’s threat appeared premature — as he has not declared an emergency with respect to China.Even without the emergency threat, Trump’s retaliatory action Friday — further raising tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. — had already sparked widespread outrage from the business community.”It’s impossible for businesses to plan for the future in this type of environment,” David French, senior vice president for government relations at the National Retail Federation, said in a statement.The Consumer Technology Association called the escalating tariffs “the worst economic mistake since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 — a decision that catapulted our country into the Great Depression.”And trade association CompTIA stressed the logistical strain that would follow if companies were forced to shift operations out of China, saying it would take months for most companies.”Any forced immediate action would result in chaos,” CEO Todd Thibodeaux said in emailed comments.The frequent tariff fluctuations are making it hard to plan and are casting uncertainty on some investments, said Peter Bragdon, executive vice president and chief administration officer of Columbia Sportswear.”There’s no way for anyone to plan around chaos and incoherence,” he said.Columbia manufactures in more than 20 countries, including China. This diversification helps shield the company from some fluctuations, but China is an important base for serving Chinese customers as well as those in other countries, Bragdon said. The company plans to continue doing business there.”We follow the rule of law, not the rule of Twitter,” he said.Presidents have often used the act to impose economic sanctions to further U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. Initially, the targets were foreign states or their governments, but over the years the act has been increasingly used to punish individuals, groups and non-state actors, such as terrorists.Some of the sanctions have affected U.S. businesses by prohibiting Americans from doing business with those targeted. The act also was used to block new investment in Burma in 1997.Congress has never attempted to end a national emergency invoking the law, which would require a joint resolution. Congressional lawmakers did vote earlier this year to disapprove of Trump’s declared emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border, only to see Trump veto the resolution.China’s Commerce Ministry issued a statement Saturday condemning Trump’s threat, saying, “This kind of unilateral, bullying trade protectionism and maximum pressure go against the consensus reached by the two countries’ heads of state, violate the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and seriously damage the multilateral trading system and normal international trade order.”
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Hong Kong Protests Turn Violent
Hong Kong protests turned violent Saturday for the first time in nearly two weeks, as hundreds of demonstrators dressed in black and armed with baseball bats and bamboo poles hurled gas bombs and bricks at police.
Hong Kong police brandished batons and fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the protesters, who had set up makeshift street barricades using bamboo scaffolding outside a police station and a nearby shopping mall.
Meanwhile, China freed a British consulate worker, Simon Cheng, whose detention served to ratchet up tensions. He had been detained for 15 days in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong, for allegedly violating public security management regulations, according to police there. Police and demonstrators clash in Hong Kong, Aug. 24, 2019. The city’s pro-democracy protesters took to the streets again, this time to call for the removal of “smart lampposts” that raised fears of stepped-up surveillance.Authorities said Cheng’s legal rights were upheld, claiming he had confessed to the charges for which he was held. This is a standard rejoinder from Chinese police, despite the fact Cheng was not given a chance to defend himself in court. Cheng’s family said on Facebook that he had returned to Hong Kong.
Protesters had been demanding his release for several days, and Britain said it welcomed the news.
Four MTR subway stations were shut down in Kwun Tong, a densely populated area of the Chinese-ruled city, though thousands of protesters filled the streets anyway, many carrying umbrellas as protection from the sun. “Give me democracy or give me death” was spray-painted on a wall.
As the rallies entered their third month, protesters also cut down a “smart lamppost” because they feared it was being used for surveillance by Chinese authorities.
Hong Kong’s government maintained, however, the lamppost collected only data on traffic, weather and air quality. Demonstrators put papers on a fallen smart lamppost during a protest in Hong Kong, Aug. 24, 2019.Last week, Hong Kong’s airport was forced to close when protesters occupied terminals. China called the behavior “near-terrorist acts” and some protesters later apologized.
Hong Kong police said Friday that said the city’s high court had extended an order restricting protests at the airport.
“Any person who unlawfully or willfully obstructs or interferes with the normal operation of the airport” is liable to face criminal charges, said Foo Yat-ting, the senior superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Force’s Kowloon East Region.
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority also published a half-page notice in newspapers urging people to “love Hong Kong” and not to block the airport.
Saturday’s demonstration in Hong Kong was the latest in a weekslong movement that began with calls to stop an extradition bill, which has now been scrapped, and has expanded to include demands for full democracy.
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At G-7, Trump May Find Common Ground on Gender Equality, Africa
U.S. President Donald Trump is in Biarritz, France, for the G-7 summit, where he will be meeting world leaders who oppose his stances on many issues, including tariffs, Brexit, climate protection, China, Iran and Russia. But in this meeting of the leaders of the world’s major industrialized countries, there could be areas of cooperation where Trump is willing to offer support, or at least not resist: women’s empowerment and Africa. French President Emmanuel Macron, as the G-7 2019 president and summit host, has chosen combating inequality as the theme, with gender equality and partnership with Africa as key issues. He will be pushing several initiatives, including the Biarritz Partnership for Gender Equality and Partnership for the African Sahel. Macron also will be calling for renewed support for Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa. Despite Trump’s skepticism of foreign aid and his rejection of globalism, including his famous statement in front of the 2018 U.N. General Assembly that the U.S. “will not tell you how to live or work or worship,” his administration has indicated it may support at least some of these initiatives, noting that the White House has launched similar efforts. On Sunday Trump will participate in a G-7 working lunch on inequality and a session on the partnership with Africa later in the afternoon. FILE – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women, speaks during the opening ceremony of the Women’s Forum Americas in Mexico City, May 30, 2019.Biarritz partnership for gender equality Earlier this year, Macron formed a Ivanka Trump leaves the African Women’s Empowerment Dialogue, with Overseas Private Investment Corp. acting CEO David Bohigian, right, and security staff, April 15, 2019, at the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Despite not outwardly obstructing the G-7 agenda on Africa, it’s unclear how much substantive support the administration would provide. A White House statement ahead of the summit applauded the efforts of partners and the international community to promote peace and stability in Africa but did not mention whether the U.S. would provide additional economic or security assistance in the Sahel as called for by Macron. The White House instead pointed to its Prosper Africa private-financing initiative and the BUILD Act as proof of the administration’s commitment. The law was passed in 2018 and aims to facilitate private capital in developing low-income economies. Analysts say the administration’s policy on Africa is focused more on investment, in particular in the context of countering China. While it hasn’t abandoned any of the pillars of focus that previous administrations have had on the continent, the Trump administration is “doing less with less,” said Judd Devermont, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The administration is running the traps on some of the security stuff,” said Devermont, “but without the same robustness of previous administrations and certainly not anywhere near where we were in democracy and governance.” He added that Trump does not have the personal connection that President Barack Obama had with the continent, nor the interest in development that President George W. Bush had. On Thursday, Trump scrapped a proposal to freeze more than $4 billion in foreign aid after objections from lawmakers of both parties and his own Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Divisions elsewhere While there may be some consensus on gender equality and Africa, there clearly are deep divisions between members. For the first time in its history, this summit will not produce a joint communique amid deepening divisions between leaders over myriad issues.
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Thousands of Congolese Refugees in Angola Head Home to DRC’s Kasai
The U.N. refugee agency said Saturday that 8,500 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kasai province had spontaneously abandoned their camp in Angola and were heading to the homes they fled more than one year ago. The march home from the Lovua settlement in Angola’s Lunda Norte province began one week ago. U.N. refugee spokesman Andrej Mahecic said more than 1,000 refugees already had crossed into DRC and many more were moving toward the border with DRC’s Kasai region. “This appears to be in response to reports of improved security in some of their places of origin,” Mahecic said. “It is also linked to their wish to return, as well as to be back home in time for the beginning of the new school year.” Displaced by violenceViolence broke out in the Kasai region in August 2016, triggered by tensions between traditional chiefs and the government. Deadly clashes intensified between the government and armed groups in March 2017, displacing about 1.4 million people from their homes. An estimated 37,000 others fled across the border into Angola in search of refuge.
Mahecic told VOA the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was engaged in tripartite discussions with Angolan and Congolese authorities to make sure this refugee return movement was well-organized and sustainable.
“The key point for us is to make sure there is proper planning and transport,” he said. “That is why we have engaged both governments on setting up a system where this can be planned, and the transport can be facilitated for those who wish to return home. And that is the key factor. The refugees themselves are the ones making that decision.” Staff members along routes
Mahecic said UNHCR staff members were placed along the return routes to monitor the condition of people arriving and to assess the nature of these spontaneous returns. He said staff members were on hand to provide immediate help and to get firsthand information about the type of assistance the refugees would need when they returned home. He added that not everyone was on the move. He noted most of the Congolese refugees remained in Angola. He said the UNHCR would continue to monitor the situation to make sure those who returned to their homes in Kasai were doing so voluntarily.
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Afghan Taliban Say Peace Deal With US in Sight
The Taliban said Saturday that they expected negotiations with the United States to conclude the following day, finalizing a peace deal to end the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan. The crucial ninth round in the yearlong dialogue between the two adversaries started Thursday in the traditional venue, the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. Afghan-born U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad is leading the American team of negotiators.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA on Saturday that the two sides were fleshing out details of a mechanism for U.S.-led foreign troops to withdraw from the country. ‘We are hopeful’
“Inshallah [God willing], this time we are hopeful that each and every thing will be finalized. Work is underway to streamline the mechanism, but there is no such sticking point left that is not agreeable,” Mujahid said.
He said the “mechanism” would outline the nature of an American troop drawdown, areas where it will begin and the duration needed to complete the process.
Mujahid said Taliban and American negotiators would require “one more day” to shape up the details. He spoke to VOA just before the two sides resumed a third day of discussions Saturday night in Doha, Qatar. Mujahid would not discuss the foreign troop withdrawal timeline, nor has the American side shared specifics. FILE – Taliban negotiator Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai attends a conference arranged by the Afghan diaspora, in Moscow, Feb. 5, 2019.Pro-Taliban media outlets, meanwhile, released a video message Saturday from the head of the insurgent negotiating team, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai, claiming his group had brought U.S. and its NATO allies “on their knees” in war.
“I believe that Americans will leave Afghanistan very soon. Americans stand defeated and Afghanistan will again be liberated,” Stanekzai said while addressing his colleagues in the Qatar office just days before he entered into the current round of talks with American interlocutors. Stanekzai’s assertions strengthen fears that the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces would embolden the Taliban, and that the insurgents may not uphold their commitments.Khalilzad plans to travel to Kabul after finishing the talks with the Taliban in Doha, reportedly to share details of the agreement with the Afghan leadership.
Taliban political spokesman Suahil Shaheen, in a recent interview, told VOA the final agreement with the U.S. would be signed in the presence of international guarantors, including Russia, China, Pakistan and other neighbors of Afghanistan, as well as the United Nations.
The U.S.-Taliban deal reportedly could mean the withdrawal of all 20,000 foreign troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2020. Residual force
Within the first few months, Washington would bring down the number of American forces to about 8,600 from roughly 14,000 now. The residual military force reportedly would remain in Afghanistan to ensure the Taliban are living up to their part of the commitments outlined in the agreement.
Taliban officials have said the deal being negotiated with the U.S. would require the insurgent group to open a peace process with Afghan stakeholders to discuss a cease-fire or reduction in attacks against government forces and matters related to future political governance.
U.S. officials say the Taliban also would be bound to prevent al-Qaida from establishing a safe haven in insurgent-controlled Afghan areas, and to help defeat Islamic State terrorists in the country.
The Afghan branch of Islamic State has intensified its deadly attacks in the country lately, raising questions about whether a U.S.-Taliban deal could end violence in Afghanistan. Last week, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in Kabul that killed more than 80 people and injured about 160 others. Almost all the victims were civilians.
President Donald Trump has been a strong critic of U.S. involvement in overseas wars. He promised during his 2016 presidential campaign that he would extricate America from international conflicts.
Trump appears to be eager to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan before next year’s presidential election. Afghan leaderAfghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s aides have said a U.S.-Taliban deal must lead to a cease-fire and direct peace talks between the government and insurgents.
Ghani, who is seeking re-election in the presidential vote set for Sept. 28, told a campaign rally in Kabul this week that his administration was determined to hold the election because only an elected government could represent Afghans in peace talks with the Taliban.
The insurgent group refuses to engage in any talks with the government in Kabul, however, dismissing them as American puppets and an outcome of the “foreign invasion” of Afghanistan. The intra-Afghan talks, if and when they start, will include government officials among the delegates representing the Afghan society, but they will not participate as government representatives, Mujahid reiterated Saturday.
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Virginia Marks 400th Anniversary of Slave Ship Arrival
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced Saturday a new state commission to review educational standards for teaching black history in the state, as officials observed the arrival of enslaved Africans to what is now Virginia 400 years ago.
Northam, who noted we are a state that for too long has told a false story of ourselves,'' spoke at the 2019 African Landing Commemorative Ceremony in Hampton. The event was part of a weekend of ceremonies that are unfolding in the backdrop of rising white nationalism across the country and a lingering scandal surrounding Northam and a blackface photo. Virginia's Gov. Ralph Northam speaks at the 2019 African Landing Commemorative Ceremony, observing the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, in Hampton, Va., Aug. 24, 2019.Northam said he signed a directive to create the commission to review instructional practices, content and resources currently used to teach African American history in the state. We often fail to draw the connecting lines from those past events to our present day, but to move forward, that is what we must do,” said Northam, a Democrat.
We know that racism and discrimination aren't locked in the past. They weren't solved with the Civil Rights Act. They didn't disappear. They merely evolved.'' some painful truths.”
In February, Northam faced intense pressure to resign after a racist picture surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook page. He denied being in the picture but admitted to wearing blackface as a young man while portraying Michael Jackson at a dance party in the 1980s.
On Saturday, Northam said he has met with people around the state over the past several months to listen to views about inequities that still exist, prompting him to confront
Among those truths was my own incomplete understanding regarding race and equity,'' Northam said.I have learned a great deal from those discussions, and I have more to learn, but I also learned that the more I know, the more I can do.”
1619 Town Hall HOUSE video player.
Embed” />CopyVOA Town Hall Looks at Legacy of Slavery in USThe event was held on Chesapeake Bay, where ships traded men and women from what’s now Angola for supplies from English colonists. The landing in August 1619 is considered a pivotal moment that presaged a system of race-based slavery.
The legacy of racism continues not just in isolated incidents, but as part of a system that touches every person and every aspect of our lives, whether we know it or not, and if we're serious about righting the wrong that began here at this place, we need to do more than talk,'' Northam said.We need to take action.”
U.S. Representative Karen Bass, a California Democrat who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus and attended the event, said it was important to hear the truth about the nation’s past, not just the parts that make us feel good, but the difficult parts as well.'' The sad thing about our nation and why we continue to have the issues we do is because we have denied part of our history, and I believe that if the entire nation could experience, could learn and understand our true and full history, we might not be witnessing the resurrection of hate,” Bass said.
Members of the Africa Queen Mothers participate in a sunrise service and spiritual cleansing ceremony in remembrance of the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, in Hampton, Va., Aug. 24, 2019.Saturday’s event is one of several commemorating the arrival. A family that traces its roots to the Africans gathered at a cemetery Friday. A bell will ring at the landing spot during Sunday’s “Healing Day.”
Bells also are scheduled to ring Sunday in Vicksburg National Military Park — a Civil War battleground in Mississippi — as well as during events in Alabama.
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Nigeria’s Prisons Set to Undergo Long-Awaited Reforms
After Clinton Kanu was arrested and charged with murder in 1993, he spent 13 years in prison awaiting trial. He waited another 14 years on death row at a prison in southern Nigeria.
He says that prison is horrible and that his entire youth was wasted in an awful situation. In April this year, Nigeria’s Supreme Court acquitted Kanu, saying there was not enough evidence to prove he committed murder. After 27 years in prison, Kanu was released.
Suspects sit on a bus taking them to prison after a hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos, March 7, 2011. The prison service is now called the Nigerian Correctional Service.It’s cases like Kanu’s that a prison reform bill signed into law this month by President Muhammadu Buhari is aimed at addressing. The new law, which changed the name of the Nigerian Prison Service to the Nigerian Correctional Service, has been described as unprecedented in Nigeria.
Francis Enobore, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, told VOA the new law was inspired by prison reform initiatives being taken in other countries.
Nigeria’s prison service currently has about 250 prisons and 74,000 inmates.
The recently passed law may fix what many say is the most glaring problem in the sector: overcrowding. The prison where Kanu was on death row houses more than 4,000 inmates; it was built for 804.
The new law allows comptrollers to reject additional prisoners when the prison in question is already filled to capacity. Ways to avoid prison
The law also addresses overcrowding by administering community service, parole and meditation between the offender and the offended. This is so those convicted of minor or petty crimes can avoid prison.
There’s also an option for judges to change a death sentence to life imprisonment if an inmate sentenced to death has exhausted all appeals and 10 years have elapsed without the execution of the sentence.
FILE – Arrested prisoners’ fingers are seen through a window in September 2005 after a riot by inmates who tried to set fire to part of overcrowed Ikoyi Prison in Lagos, Nigeria.Nigeria currently has the highest number of death sentences in sub-Saharan Africa, with 621 people sentenced to death in 2017 and more than 2,000 inmates on death row, according to Amnesty International.
Giving judges the option to commute death sentences could be a game-changer. But legal analysts and activists like Sylvester Uhaa are already expressing concern about implementation. Sometimes, Uhaa said, money intended for implementation is not released to the relevant agencies. But corruption is also an issue, he added. Since 2008, Uhaa has directed the Nigeria chapter of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants, or CURE. He’s among the activists and policymakers who have been waiting for the approval of the 11-year-old bill.
One area the reform law does not address is transparency in contracting for prison services. Earlier this month, about 50 inmates at a prison in Keffi tried to escape, complaining of being poorly fed, forced to live in unsanitary conditions and not receiving medical attention. The prison also has a problem with sewage disposal and a severe shortage of drinking water.
Monies are budgeted for feeding. Monies are budgeted for drugs,” Uhaa said. “So why are inmates not getting the food that they need to get? Who is getting these contracts to feed these inmates? Can we know the people and how much is involved? Large backlog
Slowness and corruption in the country’s criminal justice system have resulted in an enormous backlog of cases. Out of the nearly 74,000 inmates in the country, only about 24,000 have actually been convicted. That’s means 68 percent of the total prison population is awaiting trial.
A section in the law mandates that steps be taken to speed up these cases. Such a mandate could have drastically reduced Kanu’s 27 years in prison.
At 56, he’s still getting used to his newfound freedom. He’s been applying for work at human rights organizations, where he hopes to focus on prison reform.
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US Citizen Accused of Spying Remains in Russian Custody Amid Investigation
Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen whom Russia accuses of being a spy, will remain in custody while Russian authorities continue their investigation of the former U.S. Marine. Whelan, his family and the United States believe the charges are baseless. Yulia Savchenko reports from Moscow.
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Syrian Forces Take Control of Northern Hama Province for First Time Since 2012
Syrian state media report that government forces now control all of northern Hama province for the first time since 2012 and that they have encircled a Turkish military monitoring post in the town of Morek. Turkish President Erdogan says that he will discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet next week.Supporters of the Syrian government in the country’s fourth largest city of Hama shot fireworks into the air overnight, following news by state media that the Syrian military had captured all of northern Hama province for the first time since 2012. A Syrian Army spokesman announced the victory over state TV late Friday.He said Syrian Army forces have pursued their advance in the north of Hama and the south of Idlib provinces, liquidating armed rebel groups after inflicting heavy casualties on them, and that army forces are intent on continuing operations to liberate all Syrian territory.Amateur video showed Syrian Army forces encircling a Turkish military monitoring position in the northern Hama town of Morek. Syrian forces did not, however, attack the Turkish position.Turkish media reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will protest the Syrian government advance to Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits Moscow on Tuesday. Erdogan claims that Damascus has not respected the de-escalation agreement signed in the Russian resort town of Sochi, last year.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wait to enter a hall during their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Sept. 17, 2018.A Syrian state TV correspondent in northern Hama reported that the Syrian Army was demining areas it had recaptured from rebel groups and had re-opened a large stretch of the main highway linking Damascus to Aleppo, which it had recaptured.One Syrian Army officer told Syrian state television the “most significant part of recapturing the area was the fact that it allowed many residents of these towns to be able to return home.”A woman resident of a town already under government control was also pleased by the victory:She said the government victory means there no longer will be any warning sirens going off and that children can now play outside safely and be able to return to school.Nadim Shehadi, executive director of the Lebanese American University Academic Center in New York, told VOA that he does not think the Syrian government military operation in northern Hama is a “significant victory.” He also envisions a sort of stalemate settling over Syria, like the one that prevailed in Iraq between 1991 and 2003, with the country remaining under economic sanctions.Syrian government analyst Mahmoud Maraie told state TV, however, that the advance of government forces in Hama was a “major victory,” since it “allows the government to take control of the area for the first time since 2012, defeating several terrorist groups.”He also claimed that “Turkey did not abide by the Sochi agreement signed in 2018, forcing the Syrian government to find a military solution.”Damascus insists that Turkey had agreed to stop supporting what it considers terrorist groups in the Idlib and Hama provinces and to allow the re-opening of the strategic main highway linking Syria’s two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
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US Government’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Plan Sparks Tension and Confusion
Migrants fleeing poverty and the threat of violence have found themselves caught up in fast-shifting U.S. immigration and asylum laws. Under a recently expanded U.S. program, some of those who arrived at a port of entry or were detained upon crossing into the U.S. are forced to await their immigration hearings in Mexico. As a result, migrant families and individuals have found themselves stranded with few resources, second-hand information from acquaintances, and fear for their lives — especially in a Mexican city like Nuevo Laredo known for cartel activity. VOA’s Ramon Taylor and Victoria Macchi report on the widespread confusion that is affecting migrants’ decision to wait and test their chances at asylum, or head home.
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Trump in France for G-7 Summit Where Consensus Is Unlikely
U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived in Biarritz, France, to attend the Group of 7 summit, a meeting of the world’s most advanced democracies.Immediately after his arrival on Saturday, Trump had lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders reiterated their desire to work together as they discuss a range of issues including climate change, Syria, North Korea, Ukraine and Iran this weekend.Macron called Trump his “special guest.” Dismissing reports of a rift with his host, Trump said that he and Macron “actually have a lot in common” and “have been friends a long time.”“So far, so good,” Trump said, “The weather is fantastic. Everybody’s getting along. I think we will accomplish a lot this weekend.”U.S. President Donald Trump (L) sits for lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, at Hotel du Palais in Biarritz, France, Aug. 24, 2019.French wineAs he left the White House on Friday night, however, Trump threatened to to impose tariffs on French wine if France imposed a tax on U.S. tech companies.“If they do that …we’ll be taxing their wine like they’ve never seen before,” Trump said.Trump first hinted at taxing French wine in a tweet last month.France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies. If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Anti-G-7 activists carry pictures of the G-7 leaders during a protest in Hendaye, France, Aug. 24, 2019.Tusk has acknowledged that “it has been increasingly difficult for us to find common language.” Meanwhile, Macron declared earlier there will be no joint communique at the end of the summit, citing disagreements involving Trump and other leaders on the key issues as one of the reasons.It will be the first time in G-7 history that a summit will end without a communique.Trump-JohnsonOne of the most highly anticipated bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit is between Trump and Boris Johnson, who took over as British prime minister after Theresa May failed to deliver on Brexit.With less than three months until the deadline, Johnson was hammering the message earlier this week to get his country out of the EU in meetings with Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Johnson is hoping his meeting with Trump can further the prospect of a bilateral trade deal post-Brexit.Analysts say such a deal is unlikely.
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Embed” />CopyWatch: Biarritz Prepares for G-7, Leaders Brace for Trump“There may be some people in the Trump camp who hope that there’s going to be some discussion of a U.S. – U.K. trade agreement,” said Matthew Goodman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “but I don’t think that’s very likely until the issues around Brexit are resolved.”Tusk has stressed that the bloc will not cooperate with Britain on a no-deal Brexit. He said, “we are willing to listen to ideas that are operational, realistic and acceptable to all EU member states,” but he added that he hopes Johnson will not go down in history as “Mr. No Deal.”
Trump is a long-time supporter of Brexit. In June, ahead of his visit to Britain, Trump urged Britain to go for a no-deal Brexit if it does not like the terms offered by the EU.“If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away,” he said.Trump and Johnson are known as controversial and unpredictable personalities. Many will be watching what kind of headlines the two leaders will generate in the summit over the weekend.
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54 Dead, Tens of Thousands Displaced in Heavy Sudan Flooding
The United Nations reports nearly two months of heavy rains and flooding in Sudan have wiped out livelihoods, rendered tens of thousands of people homeless and created a humanitarian emergency that needs a swift international response.At least 54 people are known to have died from the torrential rains that have hit Sudan since the beginning of July. Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission reports nearly 194,000 people have been affected and more than 37,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports 15 of Sudan’s 18 states have been affected, with White Nile State taking the biggest hit.OCHA spokesman, Jens Laerke, said flood victims urgently need emergency shelter, food, health services, and clean water and sanitation. He says vector control to limit the spread of water-borne diseases by insects is crucial.“In many places families have lost their livestock which may aggravate already rising food insecurity. Across Sudan, the number of severely food-insecure people rose to an estimated 5.8 million at the beginning of the lean season in July this year, an increase of more than two million compared with the start of the 2018 season,” Laerke said.Laerke said many homeless people are living with family and friends. Others are seeking shelter in schools and other public places. He told VOA the government is responding as best it can by providing tents, sheeting and emergency shelter.“There has been political turbulence in Sudan of late. I also mentioned that the government has maintained its coordination of the response. It is the government’s humanitarian aid commission that is leading the so-called flood task force, which is co-chaired by OCHA,” Laerke said.The United Nations has appealed for $1.1 billion for humanitarian aid for Sudan this year. Donors have provided just 30 percent of that amount. The U.N. estimates it will need an additional $150 million to respond to the most urgent flood needs. If that money is not provided, Laerke said funds will have to be re-directed from one place or activity to another to meet immediate emergency needs. He warned shifting money around in this manner has a negative impact on humanitarian operations as a whole.
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How US Government’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Plan Unfurled Into Confusion
This is the second story in a series on how the U.S. government’s Migrant Protection Protocols are being carried out in Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Read the first story here.VOA News Center Immigration Reporter Ramon Taylor, and VOA Spanish Service reporters Jorge Agobian and Celia Mendoza contributed to this report.
Like border cities everywhere, Nuevo Laredo is a portal. People and merchandise cross the five road and rail bridges between the U.S. and Mexico every day, in both directions, for work, school, business meetings, shopping, family visits, doctor appointments – the quotidian building blocks of life along the Rio Grande.Pay 25 cents and you can walk right across Puente #1, as it’s known colloquially, in a few minutes if you’re in a rush and there’s no line at the immigration agent desks.Formally the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge, it links Laredo’s historic city center neighborhood of San Agustin, to the commercial strip of shops, pharmacies and low-key lunchtime restaurants on Nuevo Laredo’s Avenida Guerrero.It’s at the end of this bridge, when entering Mexico from the U.S., in the parking lot built for buses and trucks at the Mexican immigration agency’s customs office, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have dropped off migrants and asylum-seekers sent back to Mexico under the Trump administration’s Migration Protection Protocols (MPP) policy to wait for their immigration court dates.FILE – FILE – People walk back to Mexico on the Americas International Bridge, a legal port of entry which connects Laredo, Texas in the U.S., with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, July 18, 2019.“In Nuevo Laredo, we’re used to seeing a lot of migrants (traveling through), historically,” said Raul Cárdenas Thomae, secretary of the Nuevo Laredo city council. “But in the last few months, the number of people crossing into the U.S. has definitely increased.”Register in MexicoAt first, asylum-seekers would register with Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, which in turn would share lists of the asylum-seekers with the U.S. government, Cárdenas Thomae said. The list would allow the asylum-seekers to schedule an initial hearing with a U.S. immigration judge.Beginning on July 9, however, Nuevo Laredo began receiving people from the other direction under the Trump administration’s new policy. Since then, more than 3,000 asylum-seekers who had crossed into the U.S. and are awaiting immigration court dates have been returned to Mexico under the MPP policy.Moreover, migrants aren’t the only — or even the main — issue for local government for this city of about 400,000.Nuevo Laredo maintains a prickly balance among massive amounts of transnational business, politics, migration and organized crime, and it’s long been a base for the Los Zetas cartel, whose activities are deeply entrenched in the city’s fabric.Nuevo Laredo Mayor Enrique Rivas Cuéllar said every city has its dangers, its risks. But the city is not the one that is pushing migrants to leave, he insists.“We obviously can’t force anyone not to be in the city of Nuevo Laredo, but what we can be strict about is that the laws are followed; that there is an order that doesn’t disrupt the rights of others,” he told VOA.Officials didn’t know how many people to expect. At one point, local officials understood they might receive as many as 15,000 returnees, Cardenas Thomae said. Moreover, they don’t know how long people will stay — or even if they will stay.Bus route from Nuevo Laredo to Tapachula, MexicoThe Homeland Security Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to multiple VOA requests for comment on Mexico’s busing plan and concerns over how people would be able to return for their U.S. court dates.Calling the busing plan “voluntary,” said Maureen Meyer, director of Mexico programs at the Washington Office on Latin America, a Washington-based human rights organization, “seems hard to justify when the people aren’t even very clear on what they’re going into.”Meyer traveled to Chiapas this month to see the buses from Nuevo Laredo arrive, after a more than 30-hour trip. Mexican immigration agents at the border with Guatemala seemed confused about what they should advise the busloads of people, she told VOA.The arrival also raised issues for the migrants themselves, each theoretically with a U.S. court date in the coming months. Being closer to home could mean a place to shower and regroup, or pick up more paperwork for their cases. However, they often don’t understand that even a brief return home could weaken their asylum cases, Meyer said.Behind the scenes, CBP officials, journalists, shelter directors, politicians, and immigration lawyers are asking questions about how MPP functions. Unlike CBP and DHS officials, though, Nuevo Laredo municipality officials were willing to not only talk, but sit down for interviews on camera and address MPP.The migrants themselves don’t have access to these discussions, though, or to people whom they could ask questions. They have some paperwork that in some cases they don’t understand, or don’t trust, such as a list of free or low-cost lawyers from CBP. The migrants have often thrown away their cellphones before crossing the river and haven’t seen the news in weeks or months.FILE – A woman and her 7-month-old baby stand on a sidewalk after being bused by Mexican authorities from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey, Mexico.Immigration attorneys acknowledge that even if the migrants could get cellphone service in Mexico, and can pay for phone credit, there’s a good chance they couldn’t get a lawyer. Border attorneys are stretched thin, and the length of some asylum cases — which can take years — makes it difficult for outside lawyers to connect with potential clients.US Border PatrolThe long wait may push people to reattempt a stealth border crossing, possibly in a more dangerously remote area.“I envision a time where everybody… (is) going to try and traverse and evade apprehension and become part of this smuggling effort that happens on this side of the border, as opposed to just on the Mexican side of the border,” Del Rio Sector U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said.Meanwhile, the migrants and asylum-seekers are still arriving to Nuevo Laredo, and still deciding how and where to wait out the months until their first hearing.Lilian, a Honduran woman traveling with her 9-year-old son, said the group dropped off at Puente #1 on August 8 was told if they didn’t get on the buses to Chiapas, they would be put out on the street.She and her son, along with a woman and her children in the CBP facility, did not get on the bus, but headed to another Mexican city.“What I don’t want is to go back to Honduras. … If we go to Chiapas, how much is it going to cost me to come back? I don’t have that kind of money,” said Lilian, who was given a November court date.
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Russian Spacecraft Fails to Dock With Space Station
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft failed to dock with the International Space Station Saturday. The craft was carrying a humanoid robot that was scheduled to conduct a mission on the station with the cosmonauts who are there. NASA said on its blog that the docking system of the Soyuz spacecraft failed to properly lock onto its target on the ISS. The Soyuz has backed away from the ISS while the cosmonauts work on the station’s docking system. Officials say the Soyuz will attempt another ISS docking Monday.
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Hong Kong Protests Continue, Enter Third Month
Hong Kong is experiencing another Saturday of protests, as the rallies enter their third month. Police clashed with demonstrators and used tear gas to disperse the crowd outside a police station Saturday.Protesters also cut down a “smart lamppost” because they feared it was being used for surveillance by Chinese authorities.Hong Kong’s government said, however, that the lamppost only collected data on traffic, weather and air quality.Protesters have called for an attempt Saturday to blockade routes to the city’s airport, which could disrupt the complex if large numbers turn out.
Last week, Hong Kong’s airport was forced to close when protesters occupied terminals. China called the behavior “near-terrorist acts” and some protesters later issued an apology.Police and demonstrators clash in Hong Kong, Aug. 24, 2019. The city’s pro-democracy protesters took to the streets again, this time to call for the removal of “smart lampposts” that raised fears of stepped-up surveillance.Hong Kong police said Friday said the city’s high court extended an order restricting protests at the airport.
“Any person who unlawfully or willfully obstructs or interferes with the normal operation of the airport” is liable to face criminal charges, said Foo Yat-ting, the senior superintendent of Hong Kong Police Force’s Kowloon East Region.
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority also published a half-page notice in newspapers urging people to “love Hong Kong” and not to block the airport.
On Friday, thousands of Hong Kong protesters joined hands to form human chains in a peaceful protest, recreating a “Baltic Chain” that pro-democracy demonstrators used against the Soviet Union three decades ago.
Demonstrators linked hands or held their lighted phones above their heads, creating a line of lights against the night sky.
The “Baltic Chain” or “Baltic Way” was one of the largest anti-Soviet demonstrations, with more than one million people linking hands over 600 kilometers on August 23, 1989.Demonstrators put papers on a fallen smart lamppost during a protest in Hong Kong, Aug. 24, 2019.Saturday’s demonstration in Hong Kong is the latest in a weeks-long movement that began with calls to stop an extradition bill, which has now been scrapped, and has expanded to include demands for full democracy.
Also Saturday, the news emerged that China has released from custody an employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong. Protesters had called for Simon Cheng’s release.Cheng was allegedly arrested by Chinese police on the night of August 8 while traveling back to Hong Kong from a business trip. His whereabouts remained unknown for some time. China confirmed Wednesday that Cheng had been held for a 15-day administrative detention became of allegations of violating local laws.He was arrested in Shenzhen, the mainland city neighboring Hong Kong.
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Seoul’s Decision to End Intelligence-Sharing Pact Could Backfire
Kim Dong-hyun and Han Sang-mi contributed to this report, which originated with VOA’s Korean Service.WASHINGTON — Seoul’s decision to end a military intelligence pact with Tokyo could have far-reaching consequences that could put its own security at risk, reducing its ability to defend against potential North Korean aggression, experts say.Seoul announced Thursday it would FILE – Plaintiffs’ attorneys Lim Jae-sung, right, speaks as Kim Se-eun listens during a press conference in Tokyo, Dec. 4, 2018. Lawyers for South Koreans forced into wartime labor have taken legal steps to seize the South Korean assets of a Japanese company.Trade feud, historical animositySeoul and Tokyo have been escalating a trade feud since early July. The FILE – North Korea test-fires a weapon in this undated photo released Aug. 16, 2019, by the Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang conducted another launch Aug. 23, violating a promise to U.S. President Donald Trump to refrain from such tests.The end of the agreement, according to Maxwell, means the three countries will be hampered in their ability to have open three-way talks on detecting early warning signs of North Korea’s missile launches, countering its weapons proliferation, and conducting operations against its sanctions evasion.Although information can be shared using the U.S. as an intermediary, the flow will be slow or severed if South Korea or Japan asks the U.S. not to share its information with the other, Maxwell added.“This plays into Kim Jong Un’s (and Chinese and Russian) hands to disrupt U.S. alliance,” he said.While testing missiles this month, FILE – A woman walks past an advertisement featuring Japanese and South Korean flags at a shop in the Shin Okubo area in Tokyo, Aug. 2, 2019.Dangerous consequencesTerminating the pact could have dangerous consequences if a crisis erupted on the Korean Peninsula, said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp. An example would be if American troops would need to be brought from the U.S. and routed through Japanese air force bases, requiring three-way communications through a confidential network.“That’s all going to be coordinated very closely,” Bennett said. “It’s not going to be coordinated by open radio calls … that would tell North Korea what to hit next. So we need to have the GSOMIA to be able to coordinate in a classified manner in terms of the deployment of U.S. forces. And that’s what the South Korean government is risking by saying it won’t renew the GSOMIA.”Bennett, citing a South Korean military white paper, said the U.S. would need to bring about 690,000 troops to South Korea during a conflict with North Korea. The estimated number is more than the 28,000 American soldiers stationed in South Korea.South Korea has about 17 airfield bases that can be used to bring in troops from the U.S. during wartime, Bennett said, but they are “not an adequate [number of] airfield structures to deploy forces rapidly.”South Korea has 20 airfields, but among them, Gimpo and Incheon are within North Korean artillery range and thus cannot be used to land U.S. forces, Bennett said, adding that another airfield on Jeju Island would not be suitable either if the troops needed to fight on the peninsula.“Are we going to have arrangements with Japan to help us use Japan’s bases and infrastructure to bring those forces to Korea?” Bennett asked. “Because if we don’t, that’s going to significantly slow the ability of U.S. forces to get to Korea and could put Korea at a disadvantage for a period of time.”Seoul decided to scrap the intelligence-sharing agreement despite these risks, Bennett said, because it believes it will “be able to peacefully coexist with North Korea.” He added South Korea “doesn’t have other places where it’s got a lot of leverage on the Japanese” as a way to retaliate against Tokyo in their trade dispute.
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