For years, dozens of scammers from Nigeria and other countries swindled millions of dollars from U.S. businesses and individuals, funneling the stolen money through accounts provided by two fellow Nigerian “brokers” based in Los Angeles.In the burgeoning underworld of online fraud, Nigerian nationals Velentine Iro and Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe were well-known operators who went by a raft of pseudonyms, including “Iro Enterprises” and “Chris Kudon.”Between 2014 and 2018, Iro and Igbokwe, working with nearly 80 other international swindlers, facilitated a series of schemes that resulted in the theft of at least $6 million and the attempted theft of $40 million more from victims in more than 10 countries, according to a 252-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday.The scammers victimized individuals and small and large businesses. In targeting businesses, they used a tactic called “business email compromise,” also known as CEO fraud. Under that scheme, a fraudster gains access to a company’s computer system and then, posing as a company executive, tricks an employee into making an unauthorized wire transfer into a bank account the fraudster controls.Federal agents hold a detainee, second from left, in downtown Los Angeles after predawn raids that saw dozens of people arrested in the L.A. area, Aug. 22, 2019, Most of the defendants are Nigerian nationals.The victimsThe indictment documents several corporate victims.In 2014, a San Diego clothing distributor wired nearly $46,000 into a bank account controlled by one of the scammers, believing it was paying a Chinese vendor for an order of men’s shirts.In 2016, an unidentified Texas company was tricked into wiring $187,000 into a fraudulent account. The company thought it was making a payment for an oil extraction equipment order.The conspiracy also targeted the elderly and victims of so-called romance scams.For example, in 2016 a Japanese woman, identified in court documents as F.K., lost more than $200,000 during a 10-month romance scam with a fraudster who impersonated a U.S. Army captain stationed in Syria.In 2017, an 86-year-old man with dementia and Alzheimer’s wired nearly $12,000 to a bank account controlled by one of the fraudsters.The Justice Department unsealed the indictment after the arrest of 14 people, including Iro and Igbokwe, early Thursday. Three others were already in custody. Six defendants remain at large in the United States, while authorities are working with partners in nine other countries to arrest 57 others, most of whom are believed to be in Nigeria.Nigerian statementIn a statement, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission Chief, urged “those accused in Nigeria to voluntarily turn themselves in to American authorities to clear their names.” She added that Nigeria should extradite the defendants “if relevant international treaties between the two governments are invoked.”Citing a Justice Department policy, a department spokeswoman declined to say whether the U.S. has made an extradition request. Since 2014, Nigeria has extradited three people wanted in the United States.While the sheer number of defendants named in the indictment is extraordinary in an online fraud case, the investigation also shed light on the evolving tactics and growing sophistication of scammers. Once targeting mostly individuals, they are increasingly victimizing businesses.“They were very inclusive as to the fraud they were perpetrating and laundering money for,” said Alma Angotti, a managing director at the consulting firm Navigant in London who advises government and corporate clients on anti-money laundering strategy.Federal agents work at a downtown Los Angeles parking lot after predawn raids, Aug. 22, 2019.PervasiveOnline fraud has become increasingly pervasive in recent years. In its annual Internet Crime Report in April, the FBI said online theft, fraud and exploitation were responsible for $2.7 billion in financial losses in 2018, up from $1.4 billion in 2017. Meanwhile, romance scams cost Americans $143 million last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.The Nigerian fraudsters targeted victims around the world, some of whom lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. At least 16 companies were among the victims.Iro and Igbokwe, the men at the heart of the scam, hail from the Nigerian city of Owerri, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.Many fraudsters knew them from Owerri. Others were directed to them through middlemen.“I am known all over the world,” Iro once bragged to a fellow Nigerian con artist, according to the complaint. “Even people I never meet before call me and give me better business.”For swindlers seeking a temporary haven for stolen funds, Iro and his partner allegedly provided a valuable service.“They would collect bank account information … field requests for bank account information from co-conspirators all over the world, and then send out bank account information to multiple coconspirators,” according to the complaint.Using a network of “money exchangers,” they then helped the fraudsters funnel the money out of the country.The men took a cut of 20% to 50% of each transaction. It was a lucrative business.In 2017, according to the indictment, Iro and Igbokwe sent at least $5 million to the Nigerian accounts of the fraudsters, family members and themselves, according to the complaint.Evidence seized by the FBI indicates the two men were using the stolen funds to build large houses in Nigeria.
…
Month: August 2019
Trump and Macron Agree Russia Should Join G-8 in 2020 But Will It?
Will Russia join next year’s G-7 summit? The question is being considered after U.S. President Donald Trump raised the idea ahead of the group’s annual summit this week in France. The group voted to suspend Moscow’s membership in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, which Russia continues to hold. Trump says it’s time for them to rejoin. Anna Rice reports on whether that’s likely to happen.
…
US, China Boost Tariffs on Each Other; Trump ‘Always Open to Talks’
VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.WHITE HOUSE — The trade war between Washington and Beijing further escalated Friday.The United States will additionally hike tariffs on Chinese products, President Donald Trump announced.Terming China’s announcement Friday of additional tariffs on $75 billion worth of American products “politically motivated,” Trump said he is retaliating by increasing the 25% tax, effective October 1, on $250 billion on goods of products from China to 30%.Additionally, Trump announced on Twitter, the tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese goods to be imposed September 1 will rise from the 10% level to 15%…..Sadly, past Administrations have allowed China to get so far ahead of Fair and Balanced Trade that it has become a great burden to the American Taxpayer. As President, I can no longer allow this to happen! In the spirit of achieving Fair Trade, we must Balance this very….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – China Shipping Company containers are stacked at the Virginia International’s terminal in Portsmouth, Va., May 10, 2019.Ordering companies to leave ChinaHours earlier, Trump declared he is “ordering” American companies “to immediately start looking for alternatives to China” after Beijing announced it is raising tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods and resuming 25% tariffs on American autos, in retaliation against Trump’s September 1 duty increase.In a series of tweets, the U.S. president said the companies should bring their manufacturing home. Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, May 1, 2019, in Washington.Markets dropThe escalating trade war unsettled markets Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of the New York Stock Exchange closed down more than 620 points, a loss of 2.37%.Trump, before boarding the helicopter Friday night, brushed off the plunge in share prices, saying that since the time of his November 2016 election “we’re up 50 percent or more.”Trump, earlier on Twitter, also criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, both before and after he made a closely watched speech at the institution’s annual symposium in the state of Wyoming.Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates last month for the first time in a decade, is willing to make another reduction to keep the U.S. economy growing, but he did not specify the amount or the timing of such action.That angered the president, who tweeted: “As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can speak’ without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly.” The president then added: “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or (Chinese Communist Party) Chairman Xi?”Xi is also China’s president.Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019Trump has repeatedly referred to Xi as a friend and touted his relationship with Xi as a way to achieve significant breakthroughs on trade and other major issues.China’s commerce ministry, earlier Friday, stated it will be imposing additional tariffs of 5% or 10% on a total of 5,078 products originating from the U.S., including agricultural products, crude oil, small aircraft and cars.Chinese tariffs on some U.S. products would take effect September 1 and on others December 15.“America’s manufacturing workers will bear the brunt of these retaliatory tariffs, which will make it even harder to sell the products they make to customers in China,” said Jay Timmons, the president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers.“While we share the president’s frustration, we believe that continued, constructive engagement is the right way forward,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Time is of the essence. We do not want to see a further deterioration of U.S.-China relations.”Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said: “This is not how you negotiate. This is tit-for-tat exercise that is hurting Americans and distracting from the task at hand — creating a sustainable trade agreement that solves long-standing and deep-seated issues.”“The administration needs to rise above the fray and start negotiating for the American people,” Helfenbein added.Analysts are expressing fears that if there is no truce soon in the trade war with China, it could lead to a recession in the United States.However, Trump is holding firm to his policies.“Our economy is doing great. We’re having a little spat with China and we’ll win it …” he said Friday night. Adding, “I think that our tariffs are working out very well for us, people don’t understand that yet…”“We’re not going to lose close to a trillion dollars a year to China,” Trump told reporters Friday. “This is more important than anything else right now, just about, that we’re working on.”
…
51 Homes, 3 Businesses Lost in Alaska Wildfire
A wildfire burning north of Anchorage has destroyed 51 homes and three businesses, officials said Friday.Another 84 buildings between the communities of Willow and Talkeetna, about 70 miles north of the state’s largest city, also have been destroyed, fire information manager Kale Casey said.Hundreds of people have been evacuated because of the fire that started Sunday night along the Parks Highway, the main thoroughfare that connects Anchorage to Denali National Park and Preserve and Fairbanks. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials have said it was human-caused.Homeowners at one of two evacuation centers had closed-door meetings Friday with officials from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to learn the fate of their homes, Casey said. Others who were not at evacuation centers have not been notified.The wildlife is one of two major blazes in Alaska.The fire had blackened nearly 6 square miles (16 sq. kilometers) and was 10% contained, said Tim Mowry, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Forestry. About 100 firefighters, 20 engine crews and three helicopters were fighting the fire, he said. Another 100 firefighters were expected to arrive Sunday.“They’re dropping water and retardant on and around it, but we really need people on the ground to reinforce those aerial assets,” Mowry said.Conditions were dry, giving the fire ample fuel, Casey said. A forecast of increased winds for Saturday has fire managers on edge, and additional residents were told to be ready to evacuate if needed.“With conditions so dry in this area, a 15 mph (24 kph) wind is a significant event,” Casey said. “The ground fuels are extremely resistant to control.”Alaska’s fire season is usually over by now, but hot, dry conditions have extended it. Alaska recorded its warmest month ever in July.It’s unusual for firefighters to be sent to Alaska from other states this time of the year.“Usually, our crews are in the Lower 48 by now, helping out there,” Mowry said.Another large wildfire is burning south of Anchorage, in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. It started in June but was reinvigorated. It had burned about 222 square miles (575 square kilometers) and was 20% contained.Smoke from the two fires has made Anchorage smoky, prompting health warnings and leading schools to cancel outdoor activities.
…
More Border Wall Work Begins in Arizona, New Mexico
Work crews in Arizona and New Mexico forged ahead Friday with construction of taller border fencing funded through a national emergency declaration by President Donald Trump.The work on his hallmark campaign promise involves mostly replacement fencing along a 46-mile stretch of desert west of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and on 2 miles of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. At the New Mexico site, about 20 workers placed rebar frames for concrete footers along the path of the wall. A 50-foot crane towered over the site, standing out on the treeless brushland and cracked washes that stretch for miles in every direction.Workers broke ground between Columbus and Santa Teresa — small towns near ports of entry along the border between New Mexico and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. In Arizona, crews were installing 30-foot (9-meter) steel fencing to replace older barriers next to a border crossing known as Lukeville Port of Entry.Funds redirected from Defense DepartmentBoth projects are being funded with money initially allocated to the Defense Department that was redirected by Trump’s executive order.Use of the money was previously frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit proceeded. Last month, however, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the use of about $2.5 billion.A border wall was a keystone of the president’s 2016 election campaign, but Congress has resisted funding all of it. This year it allocated $1.4 billion, but the president wanted much more. The administration has awarded $2.8 billion in contracts for barriers covering 247 miles (390 kilometers), with all but 17 miles (27 kilometers) of that to replace existing barriers instead of expanding coverage. Various forms of barriers already exist along 654 miles (1,046 kilometers) — about a third — of the border.The construction comes as immigrant apprehensions have fallen sharply over the past two months due to the summer heat and a clamp down in Mexico.Tens of thousands of people have come to the U.S. over the past year. Most are Central American families with children who turn themselves in to agents instead of trying to dodge them.Environmentalists turn to courtsEnvironmentalists have sued over some of the construction contracts for the fencing, saying the government unlawfully waived dozens of laws so it could build on protected lands.Conservationists say a wall — and its construction— would be detrimental to wildlife habitat and would block the migration of animals such as bighorn sheep and wolves. Two cases are pending in U.S. courts.”It’s astonishing and sad to see Trump’s border wall being built through the most spectacular Sonoran desert ecosystem on the planet,” Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said Thursday.Jordahl hoped the courts would step in to protect Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.The vast park is known for its oddly shaped cactuses that resemble organ pipes and for its many saguaros.Vistors warnedSigns all over the park warn visitors that they might encounter smuggling activity. Until five years ago, large swaths of the park were closed to the public due to dangerous conditions and following the 2002 shooting death of Kris Eggle, a park ranger who died while pursuing suspected drug cartel members.Groundbreaking occurred Thursday along the portion of existing fencing that stretches west from Lukeville Port of Entry, Border Patrol spokesman Jesus Vasavilbaso said. Many Arizona residents use the crossing on their way to Rocky Point, a beach destination in Mexico.Construction is expected to take about 45 days. The government then plans to tackle two other projects in Arizona, including nearly 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) of fencing in other parts of the national monument and areas of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
…
‘Epidemic’ of Rape Assailed in Nigeria
One in four boys and one in 10 girls under age 18 are victims of sexual violence, the U.N. children’s fund has said. Health experts say more children and young women are coming forward to talk about the problem as the stigma attached to discussing it slowly subsides.
Three survivors and their caregivers spoke about their experiences recently at the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Center in Gwamna Awan General Hospital in the northern state of Kaduna. They insisted, however, on remaining anonymous.
One was a 3-year-old girl who was under the care of her grandmother when she was raped twice by a 44-year-old neighbor. The grandmother said she was reluctant to report the assault to police because she did not believe justice would be served and because “being a poor widow, no one would believe me.” After the second attack, she fled to the Salama Center for help.
A second survivor, a woman in her late 30s, said she was kidnapped while sleeping with her husband and child. Her abductors took her to a dense forest where she was raped every day until a ransom was paid and she regained her freedom.
The third survivor, a 10-year-old girl, was reportedly raped by a 29-year-old man living in her neighborhood. He allegedly lured her, saying he wanted her to run an errand. Once they were out of sight, he allegedly stuffed her hijab into her mouth and raped her. Not strangers
Juliana Joseph, the manager of the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Center, said 90 percent of all victims are sexually abused by people they know. The center has treated women and children who have been raped by their grandparents, fathers and uncles.
“You are going out and you entrust your child to the care of a neighbor, and by the time you’re back, it’s a different story,” Joseph said, adding that poor investigations mean a good number of perpetrators move about freely.
Barrister Zainab Aminu Garba, the chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Kaduna, said rape has become an epidemic in northwestern Nigeria. She said victims are not just women, but men and boys as well.
“Underaged boys are being defiled,” she said. “Several cases [have been] reported to us. It’s an epidemic, and I pray and hope that the government will do something very, very fast.”
The Nigerian Criminal Code recommends life imprisonment for the perpetrators of rape and 14 years for attempted rape.
But Yakubu Sabo, the public relations officer for the police in Kaduna state, said many rape cases involving children are never investigated because parents want to protect their children from being stigmatized.
“Some families kill the evidence,” he said, maintaining the belief that rape victims will not be able to find a suitor for marriage.
Sabo advised parents to watch their neighborhoods closely and to be mindful of whom they leave their children with.
…
France Threatens to Scrap Trade Deal With South America Over Amazon Fires
France said Friday that it would block efforts to reach a major trade deal between the European Union and Brazil in an escalation of tensions over fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.Leading a growing wave of European anger, a French presidential statement said, “The decisions and statements from Brazil these recent weeks show clearly that President [Jair] Bolsonaro has decided to not respect his commitments on the climate, nor to involve himself on the issue of biodiversity.”As a result of Brazil’s actions, the statement said, France now opposes an EU trade deal “in its current state” with the Mercosur bloc of South American nations, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they supported France’s stance, which came ahead of a Group of Seven (G-7) summit in France this weekend.Under increasing pressure about the wildfires, Brazil’s president said Friday that he might send the military to battle the massive blazes.Bolsonaro did not say when the armed forces would get involved but suggested that action could be soon.Thousands of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest threaten to wipe out large parts of a vital ecosystem.A woman holds up a banner saying ‘ Their life does not belong to us’ during a demonstration against the wildfires in the Amazon outside the Brazilian embassy in Paris, Aug. 23, 2019.On Thursday, Bolsonaro accused his French counterpart of having a “colonialist mentality” for saying the Amazon wildfires should be at the top of the G-7 summit agenda.”The French president’s suggestion that Amazon issues be discussed at the G-7 without participation by the countries in the region evoke a colonialist mentality that is out of place in the 21st century,” Bolsonaro tweeted Thursday.He said countries that send money to Brazil for the Amazon are not doing it out of charity but “with the aim of interfering with our sovereignty.”Images from U.S. satellites show smoke blanketing South America from the thousands of fires burning in the Amazon.”Our house is burning. Literally,” Macron tweeted Thursday. “The Amazon rainforest, the lungs which produce 20% of our planet’s oxygen, is on fire. It is an international crisis.”Bolsonaro has said his government lacks the resources to fight the fires in such a huge area.Environmentalists put much of the blame on Bolsonaro, saying he encourages farmers and others to burn land for development and pasture.Brazil’s neighbors, Bolivia and Paraguay, have also struggled to contain fires that have gotten out of control in high winds. On Friday, a U.S.-based super tanker aircraft arrived in Bolivia to help with the firefighting effort.The Amazon rainforest is the world’s biggest ecosystem. Environmentalists call it “the world’s lungs” because it creates 20% of the globe’s oxygen and is able to absorb carbon dioxide, the gas primarily responsible for global warming.The Amazon is also home to much of Brazil’s indigenous population and thousands of species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
…
Nigeria on Course to Becoming Polio-Free
Nigerian activist Ayuba Gufwan made sure his five children received polio vaccinations soon after they were born.
“I was determined to make sure none of my kids got the polio virus because I am a victim myself,” he said. Gufwan came down with polio when he was 5 years old. Forced to crawl on the floor, he wasn’t able to attend school for years and faced ridicule. These days, Gufwan is a popular advocate for the needs of polio survivors. His organization has supplied more than 26,000 locally produced wheelchairs for Nigerians living with the disease.
The government has been working with organizations such as UNICEF, Rotary International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to train health workers, procure the vaccine and spread awareness. This week, those efforts paid off. On Wednesday, Nigeria marked three years without a new case of wild polio virus.
It’s a status many say is a cause to celebrate, but Dr. Usman Adamu, who helps coordinate the Nigerian government polio eradication operations center, offered a more measured response.
“It’s not a celebration per se,” Adamu said. “It’s just marking the milestone, which is significant in our quest to achieve eradication and, subsequently, certification.”
The next step for Nigeria to be certified polio-free will be rigorous surveillance to see that there are no further cases of the wild polio virus. Nigeria could be declared polio-free as soon as mid-2020. FILE – Health workers walk from house to house in search of children to immunize during vaccination campaign against polio at Hotoro-Kudu, Nassarawa district of Kano, in northwest Nigeria, April 22, 2017.Over the last few years, 400,000 health workers have been deployed across the country to administer the vaccine house to house and monitor and spread awareness about it. Since the early 2000s, the health teams have had to dispel misconceptions about the vaccine.
In the language of northern Nigeria, Hausa, polio is translated as shan innah. That conveys the idea that spirits are paralyzing a child’s legs, leaving the child with the telltale symptom of polio, floppy limbs.
Hostility toward the vaccine also came from respected Muslim leaders in Nigeria.
Gufwan, who was part of the awareness campaign, recalled some of the long-standing rumors spread in northern Nigeria, where Islam is the dominant religion. ‘Conspiracy theory’
“Some fundamentalist Muslims rejected the polio vaccine and came up with this conspiracy theory that the vaccine had been adulterated and that it had the potential to sterilize, particularly the girl child, and that it was a calculated attempt by the Western powers to reduce the Muslim population in Nigeria and other parts of the Islamic world,” he said. The conspiracies led to the suspension of the vaccination campaign in certain parts of the country in 2003. And that led to new cases.
Suspicions intensified again among Nigerian Muslims after it was made known that the American CIA set up a fake polio vaccination drive to track down and kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
It took the help of traditional leaders to finally stop the rumors swirling around northern Nigeria.
Alhaji Samaila Muhammad Mera, the emir of Argungu in Nigeria’s Kebbi state, decided to use his role as a traditional ruler to educate his community.
“Anything you think you need to do to change perceptions, to change attitudes, you need to get a messenger that is trusted by the community that you target,” he said. His state hasn’t had a new case of polio in five years, a drastic change from 15 cases in 2009. FILE – People stand amid the damage at a camp for displaced people after an attack by suspected members of the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency in Dalori, Nigeria, Nov. 1, 2018.Despite the successes, there are glaring problems. Boko Haram terrorism has made it nearly impossible to reach certain areas in the northeastern region, where an estimated 60,000 children have not been vaccinated.
In 2013, nine polio workers were killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen.
Another challenge is open defecation. Polio is usually passed through feces. Nigeria has the second-highest open defecation rate in the world, just after India.
But Gufwan said he was hopeful that Nigeria would finally be free of polio. He said it was long overdue but better late than never.
…
Overstock CEO Resigns Over Relationship With Alleged Russian Spy
The chief executive of the e-commerce firm Overstock.com has stepped down over his relationship with an alleged Russian intelligence operative jailed for meddling in U.S. politics.
Patrick Byrne only recently admitted that he had a close relationship with Maria Butina for three years, during the period when she beguiled top Republican and National Rifle Association officials with talk of strengthening Moscow-Washington relations and her flair with guns.
He said in an eccentric company statement last week that he had been pulled into the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by the “deep state” and “men in black,” charging that the FBI probe was “political espionage” more than law enforcement.
On Thursday he resigned, saying he had become “already far too controversial” to run the company and that he did “not wish to disrupt possible strategic discussions” about its future.
“The news that I shared is bubbling (however haphazardly) into the public,” he said.
“Though patriotic Americans are writing me in support, my presence may affect and complicate all manner of business relationships, from insurability to strategic discussions regarding our retail business.” ‘Romantic’ ties to Byrne
Butina is serving 18 months in jail after becoming the only Russian arrested and convicted in the sprawling three-year investigation into Russian election meddling.
With the backing of a Kremlin powerbroker, she parried her supposed grass-roots Russian gun rights group into a bridge into U.S. conservative politics, drawing the attention of U.S. counterintelligence though she had no direct links to Moscow’s main spy agencies.
She appears to have had what her lawyer termed a “romantic” relationship with Byrne at the same time she lived with her boyfriend, a Republican operative, in Washington while attending graduate school at American University.
Byrne has said he cooperated with the FBI investigations, but has not made public the details of that or of his relationship with Butina.
His resignation came as Overstock.com, which sells furniture online, endures mounting losses as total revenue rose last year to $1.8 billion.
The company’s shares plunged on Aug. 12 after he confirmed press reports of his involvement with Butina and his entanglement in the FBI Russia probe.
Byrne had reportedly been searching for a buyer for the retail business while he focused on a blockchain venture, which he discussed at length in his resignation letter Thursday.
The company said Thursday that Overstock veteran Jonathan Johnson would become interim chief executive.
…
US Supreme Court: Justice Ginsburg Treated for Tumor on Pancreas
The Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has completed radiation therapy for a tumor on her pancreas and there is no evidence of the disease remaining.The court said Friday the tumor was “treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.”
In a statement, the court said a biopsy performed July 31 confirmed a “localized malignant tumor.” The court said Ginsburg does not need any additional treatment but will continue to have periodic blood tests and scans.The court said Ginsburg canceled an annual summer visit to Santa Fe but has otherwise maintained an active schedule during treatment.Ginsburg, who is 86, has had several bouts with cancer beginning in 1999. In December 2018, she had surgery for cancerous growths on her left lung.
…
Russian Doctor Has Trace of Radiation After Explosion
Over Russian 100 medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday.The Aug. 8 incident at the Russian navy’s range in Nyonoksa on the White Sea killed two servicemen and five nuclear engineers and injured six. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but authorities insisted it didn’t pose any danger.The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks, and that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue. It said the man’s health isn’t in danger and argued that he could have got the radioactive isotope with food.The statement followed Russian media reports claiming that dozens of medical workers were exposed to radiation.FILE – This photo taken Oct. 7, 2018, shows a village of Nyonoksa, northwestern Russia.The reports claimed that medical teams at the Arkhangelsk city hospital hadn’t been warned that they would treat people exposed to radiation and lacked elementary protective gear. They said that Russia’s security agency forced the medical workers to sign non-disclosure papers.The workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing official reprisals, said many doctors and nurses felt angry about the authorities putting their lives at risk by concealing the vital information.Contradictory accounts Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the reports, questioning the veracity of anonymous sources. He also alleged that certain forces that he didn’t name could be interested in making false allegations about radioactive threats.Russian officials’ changing and contradictory accounts of the incident drew comparisons to Soviet attempts to cover up the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the world’s worst nuclear disaster.The Russian Defense Ministry at first denied any radiation leak in the incident even as the authorities in nearby Severodvinsk reported a spike in radiation and advised people to stay indoors and close windows. Terrified residents rushed to buy iodine, which can help reduce risks from exposure to radiation.Radiation readingsRussia’s state weather and environmental monitoring agency said the peak radiation reading in Severodvinsk on Aug. 8 briefly reached 1.78 microsieverts per hour in just one neighborhood — about 16 times the average. Peak readings in other parts of Severodvinsk varied between 0.45 and 1.33 microsieverts for a couple of hours before returning to normal.The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization said earlier this week that several Russian radiation monitoring stations went silent shortly after the explosion. Observers saw that as part of an effort to conceal the radiation data, which could help determine the technology that was being tested at the time of the explosion.President Vladimir Putin has hailed the victims, saying they were doing “very important work for the nation’s security,” but kept mum on what type of weapon they were testing. Some, including U.S. President Donald Trump, said the explosion occurred during tests of Russia’s prospective Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile that was code-named “Skyfall” by NATO.
…
Ebola Virus Spreads to New Areas in Eastern DRC, WHO Reports
The World Health Organization said Friday that the deadly Ebola virus had spread to new areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of cases was 2,934, including 1,965 deaths, it said. Since mid-June, the WHO has reported an average of 80 new Ebola cases every week. It said, though, that these numbers have been falling in recent weeks.
Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said two new health zones, Mwenga in South Kivu and Pinga in North Kivu, had reported cases in the past week, and that the risk of further spread remained high. “The geographic extension of the virus has increased while the intensity of transmission has reduced in that time,” he said. “So we are winning against the virus in the intense transmission areas, but still failing to prevent the further extension of the virus into other areas before the disease is properly extinguished.”
Ryan noted progress in containing the disease was being made in some areas. He said some powerful tools were being put to good use in tackling the disease. He said a vaccine now is available that is protecting people from becoming infected, which wasn’t the case in previous outbreaks. Also, two new therapeutics are successfully saving the lives of people with Ebola who seek early treatment. FILE – A health worker injects a man with Ebola vaccine in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Aug. 5, 2019.Community mistrust
But Ryan said pockets of community mistrust continued to hinder efforts to stop the epidemic. He said negative social media campaigns that have spread false information were creating difficulties in gaining community confidence.
He said, for instance, that some messages have said the vaccine is used to infect people, not protect them, and treatments are used to finish victims off. “And there are WhatsApp groups and many social media conversations that are going on at that level,” he said. “And populations, like in every country in the world, are exposed to both the positive and negative media around any intervention like this.”
Ryan said WHO must be smarter, quicker and more effective in getting communities to hear its messages about pathways to good health. He said the way to counter bad information is not by blocking it, but by putting out good information. Then, he said, it is up to the communities to choose the messages they believe will best ensure their own future.
…
West’s Divisions Empowering China and Russia, Analysts Warn
China and Russia believe they can behave as they want and have impunity to crush dissent because Western states are at odds with themselves and have lost confidence in their ability to shape the world around them, warn analysts. “There is a danger that we in the West are becoming bystanders to the great events swirling around the globe. Our inability to articulate a clear response that generates a change in behavior means a sense of impunity dominates,” argued Rafaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.Writing in Britain’s The Times newspaper, Pantucci said, “Our responses to the current protests going on in Hong Kong and Moscow are the clearest articulations of this problem. Beijing and Moscow have largely behaved as they would like.”Anti-G-7 activists march along a road near a tent camp near Hendaye, France, Aug. 23, 2019.Western diplomats and analysts fear this week’s three-day G-7 summit in the French resort town of Biarritz will demonstrate again the lack of unity among Western leaders over a series of issues, including climate change, relations with Russia, rising nationalism, and the trade war between the United States and China, whose fallout is hurting Europe far more than America. The G-7 comprises the world’s largest advanced democracies. In order to try to reduce a display of disunity, the summit host, French President Emmanuel Macron, is lobbying for the gathering not to issue a joint communique for the first time in the G-7’s history. He hopes to avoid a repeat of last year when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his endorsement of the joint statement 10 minutes after it was released. Macron wants instead to replace the communique by delivering as G-7 chairman a summary of the main discussions.Divisions fearedWhether that papers over disputes remains in doubt. Some analysts say the summit risks becoming explosive. “There is huge scope for the Western world to look more divided by the end of the meeting than it did at the beginning,” said William Hague, a former British foreign secretary. He says the G-7 leaders are “desperately short of ideas around which they can coalesce,” ones they need in order “to address the main threats that will overcome them unless they look far enough ahead now.”French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on environment and social equality to business leaders on the eve of the G-7 summit, in Paris, Aug. 23, 2019.On the eve of the meeting, Macron set out an ambitious plan to challenge fellow leaders to rethink their approach to global leadership. He will urge them to rescue democracy from nationalist populists, to temper capitalism, to lessen social inequality and to boost biodiversity, and to re-embrace multilateralism — all of which risks strong pushback from Trump. The U.S. leader is skeptical of multilateralism and frustrated with the lack of European support for his “maximum pressure” aggressive stance toward Iran. He is also pressing the Europeans to back his trade confrontation with China, arguing that short-term pain is necessary in order to “take on” Beijing, otherwise the West, in the long term, will be the losers.Blaming China, RussiaSome Western commentators blame Trump and other nationalist populists for Western disunity, but others see the fraying of Western-shaped global leadership as a consequence of a deeper, historical malaise amid the rise of an aggressive China, which uses commerce as a tool of statecraft and diplomacy, and an assertive Russia that increasingly voices disdain for the West and is eager to develop a partnership with China.Asked whether he would welcome Moscow being readmitted to the G-7, Russian President Vladmir Putin scoffed at the idea, saying, “The G-7 doesn’t exist. How can I come back to an organization that doesn’t exist?” Putin said he prefers the G-20 format because it includes countries like India and China. The G-20 refers to the group of 20 major economies.Investing heavily in the West and the developing world, Beijing isn’t shy about demanding a political quid pro quo and the Hong Kong protests have placed the Europeans, especially the British, in a dilemma. Should they champion the rights and freedoms the people of Hong Kong enshrined in a joint declaration signed with Beijing before the British handed the territory back to the Chinese in 1997, or muffle their complaints about Chinese heavy-handedness in order to ingratiate themselves with Beijing and reap commercial benefits? FILE – Hong Kong protesters gather outside the subway station in Sheung Wan district participate the “823 Road for Hong Kong” human chain rally (Photo: Iris Tong / VOA Cantonese)That dilemma is only going to become sharper as anti-government protests in Hong Kong continue, risking Chinese military intervention in the former British colony. Beijing has made it clear, with thinly-disguised threats, that British criticism needs to be tempered, otherwise London, which is desperate to boost its trade with China post-Brexit, will lose out financially.Hague argues that the G-7 “should be restating the case for freedom.” He says that the end of the Cold War “has deprived democratic nations of their automatic unity, and the global financial crisis has rocked their self-confidence.” The financial shock came amid a longer-term trend: the hollowing out of the West’s industrial base with manufacturing shifting eastward, prompting the anger of the working classes in the West, who resent losing out on the benefits of globalism, making them question the whole basis of multilateralism. According to Antonio Barroso, an analyst with the geostrategic risk consulting group Teneo, “We have passed from a world that was certainly much more multilateral than the one that we have now.”
…
Teacher Shortage, Protests Complicate Educator Pay Dynamics
Across the country, teachers and school districts alike are grappling with the latest political and economic realities of educator pay.
The dynamics have been complicated by both the recent national teacher protest movement that’s emboldened the workforce to demand higher salaries and better conditions, and the steadily brewing shortage of educators that’s forced many school districts to confront the money issue with more urgency.The National Education Association’s latest salary data estimates that the average public school teacher in the U.S. saw a 2% pay raise over the past two years since the national Red4Ed protest movement spread across the U.S.At the same time, the number of teacher vacancies have exceeded 100,000 jobs in the past four years, said Elaine Weiss of the Economic Policy Institute.
…
Billionaire David Koch, Conservative Donor Dies at 79
David H. Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries Inc. and a long-time philanthropist, has died at age 79.
His older brother, Charles, announced the death on Friday, saying, “It is with a heavy heart that I now must inform you of David’s death.”
David Koch, a billionaire who lived in New York City, was the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1980. He was a generous donor to conservative political causes as well as educational, medical and cultural groups.
The Koch brothers were best known for a vast political network they built that became popularly known as the “Kochtopus” for its far-reaching tentacles in support of conservative causes. The brothers founded the anti-tax, small government group Americans for Prosperity.
“I was taught from a young age that involvement in the public discourse is a civic duty,” David Koch wrote in a 2012 op-ed in the New York Post. “Each of us has a right- indeed, a responsibility, at times – to make his or her views known to the larger community in order to better form it as a whole. While we may not always get what we want, the exchange of ideas betters the nation in the process.”
After battling prostate cancer for 20 years, he told a reporter following the 2012 Republican convention that he was thinking about what he will someday leave behind.
“I like to engage where my part makes a difference,” he told The Weekly Standard. “I have a point of view. When I pass on, I want people to say he did a lot of good things, he made a real difference, he saved a lot of lives in cancer research.”
David Koch donated $100 million in 2007 to create the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also gave millions to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the M.D. Anderson Cancer in Houston, and other institutions.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History named in his honor a wing dedicated to the story of human evolution over 6 million years. David Koch donated $15 million to fund the 15,000 square-foot hall.
“The program has the power to influence the way we view our identity as humans, not only today, but for generations to come,” he said in a statement at the time.
David Koch, an engineer trained at MIT, joined Koch Industries in 1970, and served on its board. He also served as chief executive officer of Koch Chemical Technology Group, LLC, a Koch subsidiary. He retired from the company in 2018
Charles and David Koch, each with an estimated net worth of $50.5 billion, tied in fourth place in 2012 on Forbes 500 list of the nation’s richest men.
Two of the Koch brothers, Frederick and Bill Koch, sued the other two, claiming in a 1998 trial that they were cheated out of more than $1 billion when they sold their stake in Koch Industries back in 1983. David and Bill Koch are twins.
The dispute stemmed from a falling out three years earlier when Bill Koch criticized Charles’ management of the company, and with Frederick’s support, tried to gain control of the company’s board of directors. After the takeover move failed, the board fired Bill as an executive. Bill and Frederick Koch and other dissident stockholders sold their interests, and the brothers later sued claiming the company withheld crucial information that would have led to a higher sale price.
Bill and Frederick lost their case, but the lengthy public trial offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Koch family.
The Kochs’ father, Fred Koch, guessed early _ before two of his boys were out of diapers and before two were even born – that wealth might split his family apart.
“It will be yours to do with what you will,” the father wrote in a 1936 letter to his two oldest sons. “It may be either a blessing or a curse.”
David Koch and his wife, Julia, have three children.
…
Russian Court Extends Detention of former US Marine Accused of Espionage
A Russian court has extended by more than two months the detention of a former U.S. Marine accused of espionage.In a closed hearing in Moscow’s Lefortovo Court Friday, the presiding judge prolonged Paul Whelan’s detention until October 29th — the latest phase in an eight-month investigation by the country’s Federal Security Services, or FSB, that appears to be grinding toward presentation of formal charges by year’s end. “I am innocent of any charges resulting from this political kidnapping, No crime ever occurred,” said Whelan, 49, in a statement hurriedly read as police forced journalists from the courtroom following the judge’s ruling. Accused spy and former US Marine Paul Whelan in a Moscow court today proclaiming his innocence from espionage charges. The court prolonged his detainment until October 29th pending an ongoing FSB investigation. pic.twitter.com/UmxGz6Z4io— Charles Maynes (@cwmiii3) August 23, 2019“The latest that we’ve seen from the investigation plays into the hands of the defense,” Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said after the ruling. “Paul’s version that this crime was merely a provocation is justified in our view. Investigators think otherwise.”If convicted, Whelan faces the possibility of 10- to 20 years in prison.Entering the courthouse in handcuffs and led by masked police, the former Marine complained of rough treatment by authorities despite health issues. “They are dragging me along even though I have a medical condition which prohibits it,” said Whelan. In the initial open phase of the hearing, Whelan said he was in “great pain” and had repeatedly told the prosecutor about abuse and injuries at the hands of FSB and prison officials. Whelan said that despite his complaints, no action was taken. “The prosecutor is allowing unlawful acts that violate human rights, acts that violate Russian law by the FSB,” Whelan said. “The prosecutor’s office knows about this and has done nothing. Therefore she needs to go.” The judge rejected Whelan’s request but paused proceedings so that a doctor could conduct a brief medical examination. Whelan’s lawyers later clarified that the former Marine was considering possible surgery in a Moscow hospital for a hernia in his groin. The U.S. Embassy in Russia said it has asked the Russian Foreign minister “for immediate consular access” to meet with Whelan and “to speak with him about his serious health allegations.”We’ve asked @MFA_Russia for immediate consular access to meet with #PaulWhelan to speak with him about his serious health allegations. The health and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad is our highest priority. https://t.co/ltmUCVKQ9g— Andrea Kalan (@USEmbRuPress) August 23, 2019Whelan’s complaints also extended to the court proceedings themselves. “There’s no judicial process here, no due process,” said Whelan, noting prison officials had informed him of the court hearing just two hours prior. “I was not given notice for this hearing. I have not seen my attorneys for more than a month for consultation. I did not have an opportunity to talk to them or look at their documents,” he added.He also questioned the abilities of his court-appointed Russian translator and sharply criticized the closed-door nature of the hearings — a standard practice for espionage cases, say Russian officials. “This is part of the cover up,” said Whelan, as the judge ordered journalists out of the room. Whelan, who in addition to American citizenship, holds passports from Canada, Ireland, and Britain, was arrested by FSB agents in December of last year in a downtown Moscow hotel, after allegedly accepting classified materials on a computer ‘thumb’ flash drive. Whelan has repeatedly denied the charges, insisting he was in Moscow for a friend’s wedding and had accepted the drive from a Russian acquaintance without knowing or ever viewing its contents.The case has proven an additional irritant to already strained relations between the United States and Russia over larger issues such as Syria, Ukraine, and Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Whelan has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene on his behalf, asking the American leader “to tweet your intentions” about a case that Whelan has labeled “the Moscow goat rodeo.” While U.S. officials, including National Security Adviser John Bolton, have criticized Russia for providing scant evidence of Whelan’s wrongdoing, they have also stopped short of proclaiming his innocence, according to Whelan’s family members. Whelan had a message Friday for those following his case.“Only listen to what I say. Do not trust anyone else.”
…
Trump ‘Ordering’ US Companies to Bring Manufacturing Back Home
VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Donald Trump is “ordering” American companies “to immediately start looking for alternatives to China” after Beijing announced it is raising tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods and resuming 25% tariffs on American autos, in retaliation against Trump’s planned Sept. 1 duty increase.Trump did not explain under what authority he is making the order to American industry, although he said he would be responding Friday afternoon to the Chinese tariffs announcement. In his series of tweets, the U.S. president said the companies should bring their manufacturing home. Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell walks to the podium during a news conference in Washington, July 31, 2019.Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates last month for the first time in a decade, is willing to make another reduction to keep the U.S. economy growing, but he did not specific the amount or the timing of such action. That angered the president, who tweeted: “As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can ‘speak’ without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly.”
The president then added: “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or (Chinese Communist Party) Chairman Xi?” Xi is also China’s president. As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can “speak” without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly. We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed. I will work “brilliantly” with both, and the U.S. will do great…— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – A man wearing Nike shoes uses his smartphone near an advertisement for U.S. lingerie maker Victoria’s Secret, in Beijing, China, May 21, 2019.”While we share the president’s frustration, we believe that continued, constructive engagement is the right way forward,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Time is of the essence. We do not want to see a further deterioration of U.S.-China relations.” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday had said discussions this week between deputy-level negotiators were constructive.In response to a question from VOA, Kudlow said there are still plans for the Chinese trade negotiating team “to come over here in September.”Analysts are expressing fears that if there is no truce soon in the trade war with China that could lead to a recession in the United States.
…
Nigerian Refugees Start Voluntary Return from Cameroon
At least 130 Nigerian refugees who fled the Boko Haram insurgency have been flown back from Cameroon in the first phase of a voluntary repatriation exercise organized by the host state, their country Nigeria and the United Nations.The group of 133 refugees from 25 families was bound for Yola in Nigeria’s Adamawa state, expressing hope they will find peace in their country after several years of atrocities that made them escape.Among them was 31-year old Alim Bourkadia, who was anxious to return after four years in Cameroon.”We say thank God to Cameroon that helped to keep us in their country and today, our country needs us. Thanks [to] Cameroon and UNHCR that helped us,” he said.A Nigerian Air Force plane that will transport Nigerian refugees to Yola in Nigeria’s Adamawa state waits in Maroua, Cameroon, Aug. 22, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka/VOA)Bourkadia was one of 110,000 Nigerians whom the United Nations says fled to Cameroon from Boko Haram-related violence in Nigeria. He left Cameroon’s Minawao refugee camp, which is home to nearly 90,000 people. At least 30,000 additional refugees have been living in villages surrounding the camp.The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has not said how many people have voluntarily agreed to return.Sadiya Umar Farouq, Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, says the refugees are leaving following a March 2017 tripartite agreement for the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees living in Cameroon. Cameroon, Nigeria and UNHCR signed the deal.Sadiya Oumar Farouq, Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs, speaks to reporters in Maroua, Cameroon, Aug. 22, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka/VOA)Farouq says the necessary arrangements have been made for the refugees’ socioeconomic reinsertion into Nigeria.”We are going to put them in a reception center for a maximum of seven days, after which they will be taken back to their respective communities,” she said. “We are going to support them with skills, with empowerment so that they can be back on their feet. They can be economically self reliant.”Moving livestockMidjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s far north region that shares a border with Nigeria, says many of the refugees want to return, but are reluctant because airlifting them with the animals they have been keeping in Cameroon is difficult. Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s far north region, is seen in Maroua, Cameroon, Aug. 22, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka/VOA)”Many refugees have luggage, have cows, but it is difficult to go back by air and that is why some of them are still thinking that it is necessary to see [look for another] way or means to enable them to go back with all they gather [have] here without any problem,” he said.Bakari said Cameroon’s government will let them go with their livestock by road when they are sure of their security.Potential threatLast week, Cameroonian authorities warned that Boko Haram may be planning raids that could affect schoolchildren and their teachers when the academic year begins Sept. 3. Officials have begun giving consignments of food, money and equipment to militias on the northern border with Nigeria, defending areas from which the military has withdrawn. The United Nations reports that the 10-year Boko Haram violence has displaced more than 2.7 million people, including some 210,000 Nigerian refugees into neighboring countries. The insurgent group promotes an extreme form of Islamist fundamentalism and opposes Western-style education.
…
China-Vietnam Maritime Standoff: 3 Scenarios for the Next Stage
A standoff between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea has intensified with the return this month of China’s oil survey boat – followed by a reprimand from U.S. natural security adviser John Bolton.While Sino-Vietnamese spats regarding the disputed sea have surfaced regularly since the 1970s, this one is lasting longer and with little of the problem-solving diplomacy that often follows an upset. The standoff began in June when a Chinese energy survey ship, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, began patrolling waters near Vanguard Bank, 352 kilometers off the coast of southeastern Vietnam. Vietnam operates an undersea energy exploration platform near Vanguard Bank.China and Vietnam both claim western parts of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea. China is militarily and economically stronger than Vietnam.Here are three scenarios for an outcome to the Vanguard Bank standoffs:More players, more escalationChina’s vessel may stay near Vanguard Bank or get backup, especially if foreign governments level too much criticism on Beijing.“China’s recent escalation of efforts to intimidate others out of developing resources in the South China Sea is disturbing,” Bolton tweeted on Tuesday. “The United States stands firmly with those who oppose coercive behavior and bullying tactics which threaten regional peace and security.”FILE – A ship of the Chinese Coast Guard (top) is seen near a vessel of the Vietnam Marine Guard, in the South China Sea, about 210 km (130 miles) off the shore of Vietnam, May 14, 2014.Australian media reports say two days later, Australia’s prime minister, speaking in Hanoi, said Chinese neighbors should resist “coercion.” Dangers of tough messagingMessages such as these, if they get any tougher, could drive China to increase its show of strength toward Vietnam, said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center research group in Washington.China says the decades-old maritime dispute, the biggest in Asia, should be settled among the Asian claimants rather than outside countries. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also claim parts of the same resource-rich contested sea. To keep up relations, China is helping some of the claimants economically.The U.S. government regularly sends naval vessels into the sea to check China’s expansion.“If that is indeed the plan (for the U.S. government) to support Vietnam’s position, I don’t think the Chinese will stand aside,” Sun said. “I think it will escalate.”FILE – The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is anchored off Manila Bay, Philippines, Aug. 7, 2019, for a port call after sailing through the disputed South China Sea amid new territorial flare-ups involving China and rival claimant states.Stormy weatherSouth China Sea claimants have cited weather before in quitting standoffs with other countries. In June 2012, Philippine leaders cited stormy weather as a reason for withdrawing two coast guard ships from a shoal disputed by China. “Weather is always a good excuse,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. Other events may give China a convenient reason to retreat, too. The Chinese oil survey vessel had left Vanguard Bank by early August as top Chinese leaders met near Beijing for an annual conference. The vessel returned after leaders had hashed over foreign policy this year, Sun said.Party-to-party negotiationsThe two countries periodically ease disputes through meetings between envoys from the ruling communist party of each side. Those informal encounters often build enough goodwill to allow calm after an incident, yet without a formal resolution that would require tougher talks between officials.“The old tried and true third scenario is that party-to-party ties would see an envoy go,” said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at The University of New South Wales in Australia. To this end, he said, “Vietnam has repeatedly made full court press on every possible channel.”
The two sides normally wait until an incident has lasted a week or two before one proposes party-level talks, Oh said. Then the party representatives would usually resolve the issue within another month, he said.“I think at some point there will be some sort of face saving for both sides after the party channels are activated,” Oh said.
…
New Zealand Urged To End ‘Racist’ Immigration Policy
Human rights advocates have urged lawmakers in New Zealand to drop regulations preventing the resettlement of refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have family members living in the country. The measures were introduced by the previous center-right government in 2010, due in part to security concerns as New Zealand focused on facilitating immigration from Asia.Campaigners say the policy is discriminatory and undermines the integrity of a nation that has been praised for its response to deadly mosque attacks in March, when a lone gunman murdered 51 people and wounded dozens more in the city of Christchurch. Refugees from Syria and Somalia were among the victims.FILE – A flower tribute is seen outside Al Noor mosque after an attack by a suspected white supremacist during Friday prayers on March 15, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 27, 2019.Rights groups have filed a petition on the so-called “family link” immigration rules for Middle Eastern and African refugees to a parliamentary committee, which is reviewing the measures. Some lawmakers said the regulations are racist, but New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, disagreed.”Well, it is hardly racist,” he told TVNZ. “How could it possibly be racist when all the ones coming in are brown or black? How could that possibly be racist? None of these refugee countries have said that New Zealand is racist. That is why they are queuing up to come here — because we are not.”The current immigration policy does not apply to people who apply for asylum in New Zealand, although the isolated South Pacific island nation has few migrants seeking asylum compared to other developed countries.The government in Wellington has announced plans to increase by 500 the number of refugees it takes in each year, to 1,500, beginning in the year 2020.New Zealand has a population of about 4.7 million people.
…
Tanzanian Journalist Arrested for Publishing ‘False’ News: Lawyer
A Tanzanian journalist has been arrested for “publishing false information” after broadcasting a story about police brutality, his lawyer said Friday, in the latest crackdown on free press in the country.Joseph Gandye, who works for local station Watetezi TV, was arrested Thursday in the financial capital Dar es Salaam and held in police custody overnight.His lawyer, Jones Sendodo, said Gandye was transferred to Iringa in Tanzania’s south on Friday.”He is accused of publishing false information,” Sendodo told AFP.The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, which found Watetezi TV last year, said Gandye was arrested after airing a story on August 9 about police in Iringa forcing six young detainees to sodomise each other.His arrest comes less than a month after another Tanzanian journalist, Erick Kabendera, was detained in circumstances condemned by rights groups.Kabendera, a respected journalist and government critic, was initially questioned over his citizenship before being threatened with sedition charges.But in court these were dropped, and he was charged with organised crime and financial offences.The US and British embassies in Tanzania have formally expressed their concern over a “steady erosion of due process” in the country, underscoring Kabendera’s plight as a case in point.Accusations of “sedition” and other vague offences have been levelled against journalists and media houses under President John Magufuli, who has been criticised for his authoritarian leadership style.Magufuli has shut down newspapers, banned opposition rallies, switched off live broadcasts of parliamentary sessions and used the cybercrimes law to jail critics.Azory Gwanda, a Tanzanian journalist and government critic who disappeared in 2017, has never been found.Reporters Without Borders has labelled Magufuli a “press freedom predator” and dropped Tanzania 25 places on its annual press freedom index this year.
…
Baltics Mark 30th Anniversary of Key Anti-Soviet Protest
The three Baltic countries on Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the 1989 “Baltic Way,” a historic anti-Soviet protest that involved nearly 2 million people forming a human chain more than 600 kilometers (370 miles) long.On Aug. 23, 1989, as the Soviet Union was weakening, the gesture was a powerful expression on the part of Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians that they were not giving up on their independence even after decades of Soviet occupation.“People holding hands can be stronger than people holding guns,” said Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas in a tweet.
The celebrations come as the inhabitants of the three nations _ and many beyond _ worry about Russia’s renewed ambitions to influence the region.“We must remember the courage and dreams of the participants. But let it also be a reminder that freedom and democracy can never be taken for granted,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement.The Baltic News Service recalled Friday that then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Moscow “started realizing very clearly that the three Baltic nations were moving toward political independence.”The main commemorations are taking place in Vilnius, the capital of the southern-most Baltic country, and along the Lithuania-Latvia border, with a relay-race and an exhibition. In the evening, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will host a concert in central Vilnius.In the Latvian capital of Riga, the three Baltic prime ministers will lay wreaths at the foot of a freedom monument.
The chain has inspired others, including a 2008 human chain in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where a crowd of at least 100,000 people jammed Tbilisi’s main avenue.In Hong-Kong, protesters planned Friday to form a 40-kilometer (25-mile) human chain to demand more freedoms from China, saying it was inspired by the “Baltic Way.”The Baltic countries declared their independence from Russia in 1918 but were annexed to the Soviet Union in 1940. Friday’s events also marked the 80th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany that led to the occupation of the Baltic states and Poland.The Baltic nations remained part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
…
Putin Orders ‘Symetric’ Measures After US Missile Test
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to find a quid pro quo response after the test of a new U.S. missile banned under a now-defunct arms treaty.
In Sunday’s test, a modified ground-launched version of a Navy Tomahawk cruise missile accurately struck its target more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. The test came after the U.S. and Russia withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
The U.S. has explained its withdrawal from the treaty by Russian violations, a claim Moscow has denied. Speaking Friday, Putin charged that the U.S. wanted to untie its hands to deploy the previously banned missiles in different parts of the world.''take the necessary measures to prepare a symmetrical answer.”
He ordered the Defense Ministry and other agencies to
…
US-China Trade War Is Good News for Some Countries
As with any war, there are winners and losers. That is also the case with the U.S.-China trade war.As the two countries battle, companies affected by high tariffs are looking to manufacture their products elsewhere, and businesses outside of the U.S. and China are seeing economic booms.Two factories in Vietnam currently make electric bicycles for Pedego, an American company based in Fountain Valley, California. Eighty percent of Pedego’s bike parts used to be from China, but not anymore.“Now, we’re probably 70% in Vietnam, and 30% in Taiwan,” said Don DiCostanzo, Pedego’s co-founder and CEO.
US-China Trade War is Good News for Some Countries video player.
FILE – China Shipping Company containers are stacked at the Virginia International’s terminal in Portsmouth, Va., May 10, 2019.Return manufacturing to USManufacturing and outsourcing in a global economy is a fickle business, however. Any weather disruptions, political instability or the emergence of a cheaper competitor can cause businesses to shift to a different manufacturing hub.“Manufacturing has shown itself to be mobile in a way that we never could have imagined years ago,” Klowden said.Some companies in the U.S., such as Pedego, eventually would like to manufacture their products in America.“A number of companies would like to move manufacturing back to the U.S. just because of proximity to market because of stability. The catch is that manufacturing that moves back to the U.S. employs dramatically fewer people than it would have 20, 30 years ago,” Klowden explained.Any business that manufactures in the U.S. and can successfully compete in the global economic would use automation and robotics.“These robots, you don’t have to pay them overtime, and they don’t have to take time off, and they work 24/7,” Pedego’s DiCostanzo said. “So, the idea of robotics and the efficiency of a robot could actually drive the prices down.”DiCostanzo is part of a coalition of American bike manufacturers that is pushing for legislation to exempt bicycle assembly-related components from tariffs for 10 years, action that could spur the opening of automated bike factories in the U.S.
…