A new motorbike club in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is made up of women. The aim is not just to develop their abilities to maneuver in heavy traffic but also to empower them to steer past sexist stereotypes. Radhia Adam reports from Nairobi.
…
Month: September 2019
US Kid Population Shrinking Faster than Expected
Sixty years ago, children accounted for more than one-third — 36% — of the U.S. population. Today, that CLICK ON GRAPHIC TO ENLARGE — Courtesy Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data CenterMeanwhile, the overall adult population has continued to climb since 2009.The decline in births might be attributable to the fact that young American adults in their 20s and 30s, among the hardest hit by the Great Recession of 2007-2009, are still recovering professionally and financially from their rough entry into the workforce, prompting them to postpone starting their families.Meanwhile, the graying of America continues. By 2030, all Baby Boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — will be over the age of age 65, meaning that 1 in every 5 residents will be of retirement age.Experts had expected the U.S. birth rate to stabilize by now. America’s senior citizens will need more young workers, not fewer, to help bolster economic safety net programs like Social Security, which was designed in 1935 primarily to provide retired workers with a continuing income.The program currently also serves disabled workers and their dependents as well as survivors of deceased workers.In 2014, there were 35 workers per every 100 people drawing Social Security benefits. By 2030, the number of workers is projected to drop to 44 for every 100 beneficiaries.As of June 2018, about 175 million workers paid Social Security taxes while approximately 62 million people received monthly Social Security benefits.
…
Zimbabwe Police: Doctor Who Disappeared is Safe, in Hospital
Police in Zimbabwe say the leader of a doctors’ strike, who allegedly was abducted by government agents, is receiving care at a Harare hospital and is not under arrest.Dr. Peter Magombeyi reappeared in the village of Nyabira late Thursday, five days after he went missing. In his absence, doctors and nurses held protests in Harare, demanding the government find him and ensure his safe return.Speaking Friday to VOA’s Zimbabwe service, national police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said Magombeyi is under observation at a hospital. “He has been examined by his own medical team and a government team,” Nyathi said. “He is safe and has not been arrested at all as claimed in some sections of the media.”He added: “Dr. Magombeyi has accessed his lawyers who are interacting with the police. He has accessed his family and they are also interacting with the police.”Nyathi said police will interview Magombeyi once he is cleared by doctors.Magombeyi is acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, whose members went on strike September 3. The doctors, who are paid less than $200 per month, are demanding a pay raise to keep pace with Zimbabwe’s soaring inflation. The doctors have rejected government calls to return to work while negotiations continue.Officials have denied accusations that agents kidnapped Magombeyi as a form of punishment or intimidation.Speaking Thursday on VOA Zimbabwe Service’s Livetalk program, a disoriented-sounding Magombeyi confirmed he was alive, but said he could not remember exactly what happened to him or how he ended up in Nyabira.“That part I’m just so vague about, I need time to recall,” he said.Magombeyi said his last recollection before being taken by unnamed people was the memory of being electrocuted.“I remember being in a basement of some sort, being electrocuted at some point, that is what I vividly remember. I, I just don’t remember,” Magombeyi said, struggling to speak.Officials also suggested a third party could be involved in the disappearance to taint the government’s image.Responding to the police allegation, and also Twitter posts alluding to the same accusations, Magombeyi said he had no answers. “I need time to think about it, I don’t know,” he said.
…
Harry and Meghan Make 1st Official Tour as Family in Africa
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, along with their infant son, Archie, are making their first official tour as a family, starting Monday in a troubled South Africa whose president says women and children are “under siege” by shocking violence.South Africa is still shaken by the rape and murder of a university student, carried out in a post office that sparked protests by thousands of women tired of abuse and impunity in a country where more than 100 rapes are reported every day. This is “one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday.Empowering women is one of the issues Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will address on a 10-day, multi-country visit, along with wildlife protection, entrepreneurship, mental health and mine clearance, a topic given global attention by Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, when she walked through an active mine field during an Africa visit years ago.Some in South Africa said they are happy to see the arrival of Meghan, who has been vocal about women’s rights and is likely to speak out again. One of her first events is a visit to a workshop that gives self-defense classes to young girls.“I think the Duchess of Sussex’ visit is perfectly timed. She’s coming to South Africa at an incredibly turbulent time,” said Lara Rosmarin, who leads a local tech incubator that will be part of the royal visit. “People are anxious, people are scared, people are worried … She’s coming at a time when she can instill some hope and some promise and perhaps highlight the struggles of women in South Africa.”The high-profile visit by the royal family is expected to contrast with the breathtaking series of stories in local media in recent weeks about the reported abuse of women and children – “even babies,” the president reminded Parliament this week.
The scope is now well known. More than 2,700 women were murdered last year and more than 1,000 children, the government says. One in five women over age 18 has faced physical violence from a partner.“The conviction rate for rape is a shameful 5%,” the leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, said Wednesday. The state should oppose bail for suspects, deny parole to those found guilty and ensure that a life sentence means life in prison, South Africa’s president now says.Some women want more, saying South Africa should bring back the death penalty for rapists. Capital punishment was abolished in the country in 1995.Despite the recent unrest, the royal family likely will focus on the positive. Planned events in their first public stop, Cape Town, include a visit to a non-governmental group that trains surfers to provide young people with mental health services.“She is a very influential person and just for her to be here and to some way influence the girls on our program is a big part of why we’re excited to have her here,” said Courtney Barnes, a surfing coach with Waves For Change.Harry and Meghan also will visit the oldest mosque in South Africa and meet with Nobel Peace Prize winner and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A “rare privilege and honor,” Tutu and his wife, Leah, said Thursday.The prince later will break away for visits to Botswana, Angola and Malawi with a special focus on wildlife protection.
In Angola, Harry will walk in the footsteps of his mother, whose walk across a mine field in 1997 helped to inspire an international ban on anti-personnel mines later that year. That field in Huambo is now a busy street, and Angola’s government, now years past a grinding civil war, hopes to be free of land mines by 2025.
“He will revisit the area his mother visited, and I think that will be a very poignant moment of coming full circle,” said Ralph Legg, country director for the mine-clearing organization The HALO Trust, adding that local people remember Diana fondly for taking notice of their plight. “It will be very striking once people compare those images from the two visits to see how far Angola has come.”Huambo province is one mine field away from being declared mine-free, Legg said, adding that Angola could achieve its goal of being mine-free by 2025 with enough support from the international community.
While Harry is traveling, Meghan will remain in South Africa with events including a Johannesburg visit to a charity that helps to raise awareness of sexual violence in schools.The royal family’s Africa visit ends on Oct. 2.
…
Ukraine Preparing More Troop Withdrawals
Hints of another exchange of prisoners, talk of a bilateral withdrawal of combat soldiers and heavy weaponry from the 450-kilometer frontline in Ukraine’s east, and rising signs that Moscow and Kyiv are close to a deal on a new Russian gas-transit contract — what’s happening?Five-and-a-half years after the start of Russia’s war in eastern Ukraine, “there is a sliver of hope that the fighting will stop,” the English-language Kyiv Post newspaper editorialized Friday. The editors fear, though, the peace will be built on discord.A day earlier, the top military commander of the Ukrainian forces deployed in the eastern region of the Donbas, Gen. Volodymyr Kravchenko, told U.N. envoys he’s currently laying down plans for a withdrawal from the frontline.“Such a task has been set by the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine [Ruslan Khomchak], the Minister of Defense [Andriy Zahorodniuk] and the Head of State [President Volodymyr Zelenskiy],” the general said at the September 18 meeting. “We are ready for this for the sake of making the lives of our citizens better,” he said.FILE – Ukrainian servicemen are seen standing on top of tanks during a drill in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region, Nov. 21, 2018.But he cautioned that separation of the skirmishing forces would depend on whether Moscow will order a reciprocal pullback of the forces it controls in Ukraine’s easternmost provinces, where Kyiv’s forces have been battling pro-Moscow separatists since 2014 in a conflict that’s claimed more than 13,000 lives.Since his surprise election earlier this year to the top job in Kyiv, Zelenskiy has been urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to join in a new round of peace talks involving U.S. President Donald Trump and other Western leaders. In a video statement released in July to coincide with a one-day EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, the political novice and former television comic, who won a landslide election victory in April, appealed to Putin directly. “We need to talk? We do. Let’s do it,” he said, looking directly into the camera.Last month it was announced the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany would meet to discuss the Donbas conflict. Some seasoned diplomats remain skeptical of the outcome. In July, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker cautioned against optimism in an interview with VOA’s Ukrainian Service.FILE – A Ukrainian soldier takes his position near the frontline with Russia-backed separatists, in Shyrokyne, eastern Ukraine, Nov. 28, 2018.“Unfortunately, we’ve really not heard much news from Russia. They are still saying that everything is Ukraine’s responsibility … that Ukraine needs to negotiate with the two so-called ‘separatist people’s republics’ that they created in Ukraine,” he said, referring to the Kremlin-back self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.Skeptics argue Putin isn’t serious about ending a conflict of his own making and has every reason to nurture it as a way to disrupt Ukraine, halt its embrace of the West and to continue to punish Ukraine for the popular 2014 Maidan uprising, which forced out of power his ally Viktor Yanukovych.Until recently Zelenskiy didn’t appear to be getting anywhere with Moscow, according to some analysts. “Despite his more moderate line on Russia compared to his predecessor, Vladimir Putin has given him no room for maneuver, issuing Russian passports to residents of the occupied territories, instituting an oil blockade, celebrating ‘statehood’ for the occupied territories and continuing with violations of the cease-fire,” commented Chatham House analysts Mathieu Boulègue and Leo Litra earlier this year.FILE – U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker speaks during a press-conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 27, 2019.But a prisoner swap earlier this month has prompted some optimism. Speaking in Kyiv at a conference Sunday, Volker welcomed the prisoner exchange, noting there were new dynamics in play between Kyiv and Moscow, although he urged caution, too.Russian officials say they’re ready to participate in a four-way summit in Paris to try to kickstart the long-stalled peace process, but they say they have strict preconditions for such a meeting. It would be the first major sit-down between Moscow and Kyiv since 2016 when Ukraine and Russia signed a framework agreement on the mutual withdrawal of troops in Donbas. The warring parties were meant to withdraw at least one kilometer back and to dismantle the emplacements for heavy weaponry.That agreement envisaged a period of stable cease-fire and earmarked three demilitarized zones in frontline areas in Luhansk Oblast, including around the towns of Zolote, Petrivske and Stanytsya Luhanska.FILE – A member of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service signals for people to stop as they approach a checkpoint at the contact line between Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian troops, in Mayorsk, eastern Ukraine, July 3, 2019.Speaking at a conference earlier this week, Zelenskiy said troop withdrawals were “a priority” for him, and he laid out a path for elections in “parts of the Donbas occupied by separatists,” in accordance with the 2016 Minsk deal. In June, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported that both sides had effected a complete and mutual pullout from Stanytsya Luhanska.Zelenskiy’s embrace of the idea of elections is alarming former officials who served in the administration of his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, who was highly skeptical of elections, fearing voting in the Russian-controlled Donbas could easily be manipulated by Moscow.Russian officials say they have preconditions for the scheduled summit — including the troop withdrawals outlined in the Minsk deal and pre-agreed wording on the Donbas’ “special status” within Ukraine.For Zelenskiy, the risks are high. Miscalculation could wreck his presidency before it has got going. Some of his domestic critics say he’s entering a trap and that Moscow has no reason to be serious about talks. Ukrainian withdrawal amounts to a military retreat and a surrender of Ukraine’s vital interests, they say.FILE – Relatives hold portraits of Ukrainian soldiers killed by Russian artillery near the village of Ilovaysk in eastern Ukraine, during a protests in front of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug.28, 2019.Ukrainian officials say they have no choice but to try to get a resolution to the conflict in the Donbas, noting there is “Ukraine fatigue” in western Europe. In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said the sanctions the West imposed on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea and other incursions are getting increasingly inconvenient for the West.He said time may be running out, and Ukraine needs to strike a deal. “Even if Western sanctions are not ideal, and it’s getting more and more difficult for our Western partners to maintain them, they still damage the Russian economy,” he said. “And this forces Russia to make steps in the right direction.”Pristayko said Zelenskiy “wants to achieve true progress within six months,” but added, “I don’t know what the Kremlin’s aspirations are. We will not surrender the territory of Ukraine and have notified the Russians about our red lines. For example, we oppose Russia’s attempts to strengthen its positions on parts of the Ukrainian territory,” he said. “We want to return our citizens back.”
…
WATCH: President Trump Joint Press Conference with Australian Prime Minister
President Donald Trump participates in a joint press availability with the Prime Minister of Australia
…
Nurses Staging 1-Day Strike at 12 Hospitals in 3 States
Registered nurses staged a one-day strike Friday against Tenet Health hospitals in Florida, California and Arizona, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
About 6,500 National Nurses United members walked out at 12 Tenet facilities after working without a contract for two years in Arizona and under expired contracts for months in California and Florida, the union said. They plan to resume working Saturday.
Members are also passing out leaflets in Texas, where contracts at two Tenet hospitals in El Paso expire later this year.
Yajaira Roman, a union leader and neurological intensive care nurse at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Florida, said that although the Tenet nurses want higher wages, they also want a lower patient-to-nurse ratio as a way to avoid burnout and improve care. For example, the union says Tenet assigns eight patients per nurse in Palmetto’s surgical unit, double the level the union says research recommends.
“We are nurses — we are really proud of what we do and we’re happy that we’re serving the community, but we want to do it in a way where when patients leave the hospital they are extremely satisfied,” said Roman, a nurse for 18 years.
Tenet, which has 65 hospitals and 115,000 employees nationwide, issued a statement saying it has negotiated in “good faith” and it is disappointed the union chose to strike.
“While we respect the nurses’ right to strike, patients and their loved ones can be assured that our patients will continue to be cared for by qualified replacement registered nurses and other caregivers,” the Dallas-based company’s statement said.U.S. numbers
According to the U.S. Labor Department, almost 3 million registered nurses are employed nationally, with an average annual salary of $75,510. Florida’s average RN salary is $66,210, Arizona’s is $77,000 and California’s is $106,950, tops in the nation. RNs typically have either an associate degree or bachelor’s degree in nursing or graduated from a three-year program at a teaching hospital. They then must pass a state licensing exam.
The Tenet walkout is one of several strikes and organizing efforts nationwide as unions work to rebuild from a steep membership decline that began 50 years ago. Many are focusing on white-collar, female-dominated and service-sector industries such as health care, teaching, the media and hospitality instead of just blue-collar, male-dominated industries like manufacturing, where the United Auto Workers is striking against General Motors.
A recent Gallup poll showed Americans support unions by a 2-to-1 margin, up from a near even split 10 years ago and nearly the highest level since the 1960s.
…
Leader of Zimbabwe Doctors Strike Reappears After 5 Days Missing
The Zimbabwean doctor whose disappearance sparked off a wave of doctors’ protests across the country, has reappeared, alive.Speaking Thursday on VOA Zimbabwe Service’s Livetalk program, a disoriented-sounding Dr. Peter Magombeyi, the president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association, confirmed he was the one on the other end of the phone.“I honestly don’t know how to truly identify myself, but I am Dr. Peter Magombeyi, I work at Harare Hospital,” he said.The doctor, who had been spearheading calls for an increase of doctors’ salaries when he disappeared on September 15, said he could not remember exactly what happened to him or how he ended up where he was — an area called Nyabira, about 33 kilometers from Harare.“That part I’m just so vague about, I need time to recall,” he said.A Zimbabwean doctor lays on a banner during a protest in Harare, Sept, 18, 2019.Dr. Magombeyi said his last recollection before being taken by unnamed people was the memory of being electrocuted.“I remember being in a basement of some sort, being electrocuted at some point, that is what I vividly remember. I, I just don’t remember,” Dr. Magombeyi said, struggling to speak.Zimbabwe’s government and police have denied involvement in Magombeyi’s disappearance, but said they were doing all they could to find the doctor. Officials also suggested a third party could be involved in the disappearance to taint the government’s image.Responding to the police allegation, and also Twitter posts alluding to the same accusations, Magombeyi said he had no answers. “I need time to think about it, I don’t know,” he said.
…
Protests Could Undermine Hong Kong’s Ability to Compete with Singapore
Hong Kong and Singapore have always been rivals of a sort. Government stability and transparent legal systems have attracted thousands of multinationals to both since the 1960s, giving each the title of Asian financial center.Antigovernment protests since June suddenly threaten the prowess of Hong Kong. The millions of people massing in the streets, shutting down the airport and setting fires in public places are eroding the sense of stability that multinationals want when they pick a base in Asia.Singapore is standing by now to take any Hong Kong refugees.Pro-democracy protesters react as police fire water cannons outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 15, 2019.Hong Kong would start giving ground to Singapore, people close to one or both places think, if the protests show signs of going on long term and especially if they drive changes in the law or keep snarling the airport. That would mean an exodus of multinationals to Singapore or at least corporate decisions to add Singapore staff rather than Hong Kong staff during Asia expansions.“It really depends how long this continues,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at the market research firm IHS Markit. “If it becomes protracted and the disruptions are ongoing, then I think it does erode confidence in the financial center. Definitely it could undermine Hong Kong’s ability to compete with Singapore.”The rise of two dragonsHong Kong was described in the 1960s as one of Asia’s four economic dragons, a reference to fast industrialization and economic growth.Under British rule through 1997, the territory attracted multinationals with rules that made business easy and transparent for outsiders. It had been described as a financial center as early as 1950. The World Bank ranked Hong Kong No. 4 this year in its worldwide ease-of-doing-business survey.Hong Kong remains one of the world’s four largest international financial centers, though pressured by the rise of Chinese hub cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, Biswas says in a Sept. 9 research note. Singapore is on the list too, along with London and New York.A woman uses her smartphone to take pictures of a lantern display depicting Singapore’s iconic architecture and multiracial society during Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations at Jurong Lake Gardens in western Singapore, Sept. 9, 2019.Singapore averaged 8% GDP growth from the 1960s to the 1990s, putting it among the Asian dragons.About 3,000 multinationals from developed countries keep offices there. The fellow former British colony ranks No. 2 on the World Bank’s ease-of-doing-business chart and 13th on the World Justice Project’s scale for adherence to rule of law. The World Justice Project evaluation covers absence of corruption, presence of security and the transparency of government.An historic haven in AsiaA Sept. 12 survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore found that Hong Kong was “unlikely to attract those” who don’t have any presence there now.More than 80% of respondents said the protests had affected their decisions related to investing in Hong Kong. Among the companies eyeing a move from Hong Kong, the survey found, 91% called Singapore the backup location.Singapore has come through as a historic “haven” when crises pop up elsewhere in Asia, said Song Seng Wun, economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore.Despite higher costs than in much of Asia, he said, Singapore offers “strong” rule of law, he said. “Singapore has always been a neutral, safe haven place during times of uncertainties, especially around the region,” Song said.Protesters carrying umbrellas take part in march in Hong Kong, Sept. 15, 2019.No tipping point yetProtests to date have a “temporary” aura, Biswas said, compared to a scenario of lasting for “years.” He doesn’t expect companies to uproot just yet from Hong Kong in favor of Singapore, but those with offices in both places might now consider focusing more resources on the Singapore side.Protests began in Hong Kong June 9 in reaction to a proposed extradition bill that would let citizens get deported to China for political crimes and face harsh sentences. Protesters have added calls for democracy in Hong Kong despite rule by Communist China since 1997.Hong Kong people have a way of reacting vehemently to a cause at first and then quickly relenting, said Michael McGaughy, portfolio manager with Fusion Wealth Management in Hong Kong. He recalls how people covered their faces in masks during the deadly SARS outbreak of 2002 but suddenly stopped when the epidemic showed a decline in early 2003.Common law and the tax system that financial companies like about Hong Kong show no signs of changing, McGaughy said. Anyone tempted to leave because of the protests would “think twice,” he said. His company has not discussed pulling out.“My gut feel is that there’s going to be a lot of talk about it, but if the legal system stays the same then I’d be surprised if people leave,” McGaughy said.
…
Latinos May Have Clout to Determine Outcome of US Presidential Election
Henry Hernandez contributed to this report.READING, PENNSYLVANIA — Café owner Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz, the only Latino on the six-member city council in Reading, Pennsylvania, says it has been a struggle to educate her community about its bulked-up voting muscle.“People feel disenfranchised. And they always feel like their vote does not count and their vote does not matter,” she said.More than a half century ago, a group of Puerto Ricans moved to Reading to work the nearby mushroom fields. Since then, the Latino population of the city itself has mushroomed to 65%, supplanting the traditional base of conservative Protestant whites of German ancestry.Although she is a city official, Cepeda-Freytiz, born in New York City of parents from the Dominican Republic, recounts how some non-Latino constituents suspect she is not a citizen, accusing her of “buying her papers.”’Latino community is going to make a difference’That and the underrepresentation at the polls among the Latino community may explain why Reading has never had a Hispanic mayor. Eddie Moran, vice president of the Reading school board, is seeking to become the first one in this year’s city election. He also is keeping an eye on next year’s presidential contest.“I think next year is going to be huge, where the Latino community is going to make a difference in this electoral campaign,” he said.FILE – President Donald Trump talks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 4, 2019.Indeed, the 32 million Latinos registered to vote in next year’s U.S. presidential election will make them FILE – Delegates hold Hillary Clinton signs at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pa., July 28, 2016.Swing state of PennsylvaniaThen there is the swing state of Pennsylvania, which has seen a 28% increase in its Hispanic population in the last decade. Pennsylvania was one of several blue-collar Rust Belt states that narrowly went for Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Those states may prove pivotal again next year.Many have migrated to the once-prosperous city of Reading, which The New York Times in 2011 deemed poorest city in the nation.The trend has spread out along what is now known as the Route 222 Latino corridor, encompassing more than half of Pennsylvania’s Hispanic population.Moran and Cepeda-Freytiz spent the past Saturday hugging supporters and courting undecided voters as they participated in Reading’s first Puerto Rican parade and street festival.Social entrepreneur Angel Figueroa, the first Puerto Rican elected to Reading’s city council in 2002, organized the parade and festival. Figueroa notes the pivotal role of Reading and Berks County historically in the outcome of presidential elections.“This election in 2020 is so key with all of the hate and rhetoric that’s been going on,” Figueroa said. “I think it’s time that as a bloc, that we send a message to both political parties.”While some Hispanics blame Trump for the divisive rhetoric, about 30% nationally voted for him in 2016, and he retains supporters in Reading like Nancy Rodriguez and Junior Cruz-Morales.A supporter of President Donald Trump holds up a sign during campaign rally at the Santa Ana Star Center, Sept. 16, 2019, in Rio Rancho, N.M.“I support him because I’ve seen more opportunities for Latinos, and he’s been focusing more on the Latino community,” Rodriquez said.Her husband, Cruz-Morales, agreed. “We voted for Donald Trump, and he’s doing a good job. I’m not sure if he’s going to get four more years, but if he does, we welcome that.”Unemployment among Hispanics nationally is 4.2%, a record low Trump has touted and taken credit for repeatedly at his campaign rallies.Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016 by less than 1%, or less than 45,000 votes out of a total of 6 million cast, and the narrowest margin in a presidential election in the state in 176 years.Hillary Clinton handily won every precinct in Reading.Many Democrats say they are confident Latino voters in Reading and along the entire Route 222 corridor will overwhelmingly support their nominee next year. Others are sounding a warning.“Dissatisfaction with the current president will not be enough to get Latinos to vote,” according to Grecia Lima, political director for Community Change Action in Washington. “It will require early engagement, personalized outreach and information from trusted messengers. Latinos are under duress, something that they are relating back to the president.”Gloria Garces kneels at a makeshift memorial near the scene of a mass shooting at a shopping complex, Aug. 6, 2019, in El Paso, Texas.According to her organization’s research, 69% of Latino voters believe Trump’s sharp anti-immigrant rhetoric influenced the recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where witnesses say the gunman targeted Hispanic-looking shoppers at a Walmart store.Trump held a rally in El Paso in February and visited the city again after the attack in which 22 people died.“I’ve continued to say the president’s policies are a win for Latino voters across America,” Trump’s re-election campaign chairman Brad Parscale said, adding, “One of the first symbols of this was the El Paso rally.”Parscale says “thousands of voters who did not vote for the president in 2016” attended the rally and registered to vote.Overall in Texas — the state with the second-largest Hispanic population after California — Republican officials say their data show a 20% jump in support for Trump since 2016.“That means he has nearly 1 million new Hispanic supporters!” tweeted the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel.Our data shows @realDonaldTrump’s approval among Hispanic Americans in Texas has increased by 20% since 2016. That means he has nearly 1 million new Hispanic supporters!https://t.co/LTQ2akAFJD— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) September 13, 2019The Trump re-election campaign is trying to extend its appeal to other states with large Latino populations, including New Mexico, which Trump lost to Clinton in 2016 by more than 8%.Despite an affinity among the majority of Hispanics for Democratic candidates, Trump and his supporters insist that many Latino voters share the president’s concern about illegal immigrants.“The Hispanic Americans understand they don’t want criminals going across the border. They don’t want people taking their jobs. They want security, and they want the wall,” Trump said at a rally in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, on Monday, where most of those placed in tight view of the cameras behind the president wore “Latinos for Trump” shirts.Hispanics compose nearly half of the population in New Mexico, the highest share of any state. In another closely watched state, Nevada, Latinos are 50% registered Democrats, 20% Republicans and the rest independent.Culinary Union Local 226 in the state’s biggest city, Las Vegas, represents 60,000 hotel and casino workers — half of whom are Latinos. The union, which endorsed Clinton in 2016, has its own citizenship project for members, then registers them to vote and ensures they get to the polls.As far as the Republicans in the state trying to put up a challenge to the clout of the Latino-dominated union, David Damore, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas says, “There’s really no point to it.”For Republicans who think they can capture Nevada next year, Damore asserts, “They’re delusional.”The only feasible approach for the Republican Party with Latinos in Nevada and most of the rest of the country “will be cutting the margin and trying to suppress the vote,” according to Damore.One thing is certain about Hispanic voters nationwide between now and November of 2020, according to Madonna, a prominent political pollster in Pennsylvania.“They’re going to be continually courted by the candidates.”
…
US Military to Present Several Options to Trump on Iran
The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to President Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.In a White House meeting, the president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he also will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.The national security meeting will likely be the first opportunity for a decision on how the U.S. should respond to the attack on a key Middle East ally. Any decision may depend on what kind of evidence the U.S. and Saudi investigators are able to provide proving that the cruise missile and drone strike was launched by Iran, as a number of officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have asserted.
Iran has denied involvement and warned the U.S. that any attack will spark an “all-out war” with immediate retaliation from Tehran.Both Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence have condemned the attack on Saudi oil facilities as “an act of war.” Pence said Trump will “review the facts, and he’ll make a decision about next steps. But the American people can be confident that the United States of America is going to defend our interest in the region, and we’re going to stand with our allies.”The U.S. response could involve military, political and economic actions, and the military options could range from no action at all to airstrikes or less visible moves such as cyberattacks. One likely move would be for the U.S. to provide additional military support to help Saudi Arabia defend itself from attacks from the north, since most of its defenses have focused on threats from Houthis in Yemen to the south.Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized to a small number of journalists traveling with him Monday that the question of whether the U.S. responds is a “political judgment” and not for the military.”It is my job to provide military options to the president should he decide to respond with military force,” Dunford said.Trump will want “a full range of options,” he said. “In the Middle East, of course, we have military forces there and we do a lot of planning and we have a lot of options.”
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said in an interview Thursday that if Trump “chooses an option that involves a significant military strike on Iran that, given the current climate between the U.S. and Iran, there is a possibility that it could escalate into a medium to large-scale war, I believe the president should come to Congress.”Slotkin, a former top Middle East policy adviser for the Pentagon, said she hopes Trump considers a broad range of options, including the most basic choice, which would be to place more forces and defensive military equipment in and around Saudi Arabia to help increase security.
A forensic team from U.S. Central Command is pouring over evidence from cruise missile and drone debris, but the Pentagon said the assessment is not finished. Officials are trying to determine if they can get navigational information from the debris that could provide hard evidence that the strikes came from Iran.Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Thursday that the U.S. has a high level of confidence that officials will be able to accurately determine exactly who launched the attacks last weekend.U.S. officials were unwilling to predict what kind of response Trump will choose. In June, after Iran shot down an American surveillance drone, Trump initially endorsed a retaliatory military strike then abruptly called it off because he said it would have killed dozens of Iranians. The decision underscores the president’s long-held reluctance to embroil the country in another war in the Middle East.Instead, Trump opted to have U.S. military cyber forces carry out a strike against military computer systems used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to control rocket and missile launchers, according to U.S. officials.The Pentagon said the U.S. military is working with Saudi Arabia to find ways to provide more protection for the northern part of the country.Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters Wednesday that U.S. Central Command is talking with the Saudis about ways to mitigate future attacks. He would not speculate on what types of support could be provided.Other U.S. officials have said adding Patriot missile batteries and enhanced radar systems could be options, but no decisions have been made.
…
Guinean President Visits US, Faces Term Limit Questions
As Guinea’s president visits the U.S. preaching economic development, a debate rages back home about term limits.President Alpha Condé spent the week visiting U.S. diplomats, granting interviews and meeting with business leaders. He said his goal is to attract investment and transform his country’s economy, which historically has been heavily dependent on mineral extraction.“Guinea has potential. We don’t want to be providers of primary materials. We want businesses to come here, work here and create value,” he told VOA’s French to Africa service. “My dream is that Africa [becomes] not only a factory for Africa but a factory for the world.”Voices of concernGuinea, AfricaBut observers are voicing concern about the state of Guinea’s young democracy. Condé was elected in 2010 in the country’s first free and fair election in nearly 50 years. According to Guinea’s Constitution, he must leave office next year after his second term expires. But a campaign has emerged, believed to be supported by Condé and his allies, to strike down the term limits restriction. Condé instructed Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana to travel the country and gather opinions about the amendment.“Changing those term limits requires writing a completely new constitution and submitting it to parliament for approval and then submitting it for a popular referendum for approval,” said Alix Boucher, an assistant research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington. “So the current situation is that the administration seems to be wanting to work towards taking those steps.”Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, shown Oct. 5, 2018, is the prime minister of Guinea, named by President Alpha Conde.The move has provoked a backlash. According to a 2018 poll by Afrobarometer, 82 percent of Guineans support a two-term limit. Additionally, more than 70 percent prefer democracy to single-party rule.“Guineans really don’t seem to like that idea. They think democracy is preferable. They don’t want single-party rule. They don’t want one man rule,” Boucher said.For his part, Condé is keeping an arm’s length from the question of the constitutional amendment. He told VOA, “I did not come to discuss politics, I came here for business.”But when asked directly how long he intends to stay in power Condé said: “Only God knows and the people of Guinea. It is normal. The people are sovereign. I want to remind you that the United States has changed [its] constitution 27 times, so it is normal that we ask the people. The world evolves.”OppositionGuineans in the diaspora are expressing their opposition. On Sept. 11, Guineans living in the U.S. held a protest outside the State Department. Opposition members urged U.S. leaders to question Condé on his aspirations to extend his time in office. “Alpha Condé is not here just for the United Nations. He is here to campaign for getting a third term, in direct violation of Guinea’s Constitution,” Talibe Bah, vice president for foreign relations and communications of the opposition Liberal Bloc Party told VOA’s Daybreak Africa.Bah also said Guinea was scheduled to hold legislative elections earlier this year, but none have taken place. This, he said, is further evidence of Condé’s tightening control over the country’s political process. The national election commission recently announced that the delayed elections will take place on Dec. 28.“The legislative election was supposed to be held back in the beginning of this year — the first trimester of the year 2019. That has already passed. At this time, the legislative officers are there illegally,” Bah said.But Condé said he is not concerned by the criticism, particularly that coming from people living outside the country. “Guinea is independent and sovereign, therefore Guinean affairs are discussed in Guinea, not outside,” he told VOA.
…
Zimbabwe’s Hospitals Turn Away Patients As Doctors Strike Continues
Government hospitals in Zimbabwe have started turning away patients as a strike by doctors and nurses drags on. Negotiations have been held up by the disappearance of the strike leader, Peter Gabriel Magombeyi, whom fellow health workers believe was arrested or abducted by security forces.For much of Thursday, the entrance to Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe’s biggest hospital, was turned into a place to protest and to address journalists. No patients were being treated at the facility.
Zimbabwe Hospitals Turn Away Patients as Doctors Strike Drags on video player.
Embed” />CopyWATCH: Zimbabwe Hospitals Turn Away Patients as Doctors Strike Drags on”With these petitions, we are trying to send a message to the responsible authorities to account for the whereabouts of our acting president, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, because as doctors we can’t go back to work. We feel threatened and our safety is not guaranteed. We believe that the government has a responsibility for the security of its citizens. So we want them to address all those concerns.”While the standoff between the government and health workers continues, patients like Tembo go untreated, with no choice but to wait until the situation is resolved.
…
Zimbabwe Hospitals Turn Away Patients as Doctors Strike Drags on
Government hospitals in Zimbabwe have started turning away patients as a strike by doctors and nurses drags on. Negotiations have been held up by the disappearance of the strike leader, a young doctor who fellow health workers believe was arrested or abducted by security forces. Columbus Mavhunga has the latest from Harare.
…
Taipei: Kiribati Considers Switching Diplomatic Ties to China
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is considering switching diplomatic relations to China from Taiwan, a senior Taiwan government official said on Friday, amid Chinese pressure on the remaining nations with ties to the self-ruled island.China claims Taiwan as its territory, and says the democratic island has no right to formal ties with any country.The official’s remarks to Reuters came days after the Solomon Islands cut ties with Taipei, which accused China of trying to influence its presidential and legislative elections in January with diplomatic pressure.
…
South Korea Reports 2 More Suspected Swine Fever Cases
South Korean officials are investigating two more suspected cases of African swine fever from farms near its border with North Korea, as fears grow over the spread of the illness that has decimated pig herds across Asia.An agriculture ministry official said Friday that officials are testing samples of dead pigs from two farms in Paju city that are about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) away from a farm where the country’s first case of the disease was confirmed Monday. A second case was confirmed Tuesday in the nearby town of Yeoncheon.South Korea has stepped up efforts to contain the disease, which may have crossed from North Korea, which reported an outbreak in May.Workers had culled some 10,400 pigs at border area farms as of Friday morning.
…
‘Middle of the Herd’ no More: Amazon Tackles Climate Change
Online shopping giant Amazon revealed a carbon footprint Thursday that rivals that of a small country and vowed to reduce the damage to the planet by cutting its use of fossil fuels.The company, which ships more than 10 billion items a year on fuel-guzzling planes and trucks, said it has ordered 100,000 electric vans that will start delivering packages to shoppers’ doorsteps in 2021. It also plans to have 100% of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030. That’s up from 40% today.“We’ve been in the middle of the herd on this issue and we want to move to the forefront,” said Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, who announced the initiatives at an event in Washington.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during his news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019. Bezos announced the Climate Pledge, setting a goal to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early.Amazon said it emitted 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, a number that comes close to pollution rates of some small nations.“Its greenhouse gas emissions are about 85% of the emissions of Switzerland or Denmark,” said Gregg Marland, a professor at the Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics at Appalachian State University.Amazon’s employees have pressed the company to do more to combat climate change. Earlier this year, more than 8,000 Amazon staffers signed an open letter to Bezos, demanding that Amazon cut its carbon emissions, end its use of fossil fuels and stop working with oil companies who use Amazon’s technology to find drillable oil faster. More than 1,500 employees are planning a walkout Friday to support the Global Climate Strike, a worldwide climate change protest.Amazon plans to be carbon neutral by 2040 and wants other companies to join it. Bezos unveiled a climate pledge and said he would talk with CEOs of other large companies to get them to sign it.“We want to use our scale and our scope to lead the way,” Bezos said.FILE – Emily Cunningham, left, who works at Amazon.com, speaks as Kathryn Dellinger, right, who also works for Amazon, looks on, May 22, 2019, in Seattle. Both women are part of the group “Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.”Amazon workers get ‘huge win’A climate change advocacy group founded by Amazon workers said the company’s announcement amounted to a “huge win” and proved that employee pressure works. In a statement, Amazon Employees For Climate Justice said that it would keep pushing the issue as long as Amazon continues working with oil and gas companies and donating to politicians who deny climate change.Bezos defended Amazon’s work with the oil and gas industry, arguing that “we need to help them instead of vilify them,” and said Amazon would take a “hard look” at campaign contributions to climate deniers. However, he stopped short of saying such donations would stop.Employees from other big tech giants, including Google and Microsoft, also planned to walk out Friday. Their gripes mirror those of Amazon’s employees, including that their companies provide technology to the oil industry. Ahead of the strikes, Google made its own announcement Thursday, saying it would buy enough renewable energy to spur the construction of millions of solar panels and hundreds of wind turbines across the world.Comprehensive carbon footprintTo measure its carbon footprint, Amazon looked at emissions from all of its businesses, including the planes it operates and the energy it uses to make Echos, Kindles and its other devices. Amazon even included customers’ trips to Whole Foods, the grocery chain it owns.“It’s very comprehensive,” said Beril Toktay, professor of operations and supply chain management at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. She said she would like to see Amazon include the carbon footprint of the products it sells on its website, which could help drive people to shop for items that are less damaging to the environment.Robin Bell, a research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said it was exciting to see Amazon taking meaningful steps to reduce its carbon footprint.“They’re blazing a trail for other companies to follow suit,” Bell said.
…
Russia, Ukraine Move Ahead With EU Talks to Avert Supply Cut
This story originated in VOA’s Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Oleksiy Orzhel attends a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium Sept. 19, 2019.Earlier news reports had indicated that Ukrainian Energy Minister Oleksiy Orzhel had hoped to reach a deal with his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak, at Thursday’s meeting.The talks follow a Sept. 10 decision by the top European Union court in Luxembourg to reimpose limits on gas flows via the Opal pipeline, a spur that connects Germany with the Nord Stream pipeline system operated by Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.Gazprom is pushing to complete the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipeline projects in 2020, after which it no longer may need Ukraine’s pipelines for transit. Ukraine’s loss of roughly $3 billion gas-transit fees — about 3% of national GDP — would be a substantial blow to the Ukrainian economy.Moscow currently meets a third of Europe’s gas needs — 14 EU countries receive more than 50% of their gas from Russia — much of which flows through Ukraine’s Soviet-era pipelines.Gazprom had been seeking full access to the Opal pipeline and received 80% of its available capacity after a 2016 European Commission ruling.The Sept. 10 decision will reduce Gazprom’s Nord Stream flows by 12.4 billion cubic meters a year, said PGNiG, Poland’s state-run oil and gas company, the country’s largest.
…
US Military Vows to Defend US Elections
The U.S. military is joining federal, state and local officials on the frontlines of the battle to protect the country’s elections from foreign interference.Defense Secretary Mark Esper made the announcement Thursday, saying that, from now on, election security will be one of the military’s enduring missions, and that his department will seek to take the fight to the country’s enemies.“The lines between war and peace have now blurred,” Esper said, citing an exponential expansion of dangers in cyberspace. “Our paradigm for war has changed.”“Our adversaries see cyberwarfare as a way to take on the United States and impose costs without confronting our traditional strengths,” he said.FILE – U.S. Department of Homeland Security election security workers monitor screens in Arlington, Va., Nov. 6, 2018.Election securityThe decision to make election security a core part of the military’s mission comes with campaigning for the 2020 U.S. presidential election well underway, with more than a dozen candidates looking to unseat President Donald Trump.It also represents a significant expansion of the military’s role in protecting the integrity of U.S. elections, which until now had been more modest.Despite concerns about Russian and Chinese efforts to meddle in last November’s midterm elections, the Defense Department was in the background, standing up a handful of cyber protection teams that could have been called upon to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), if needed.“There would not be any independent DoD teams. We would operate in concert with DHS for incident response for election security,” Ed Wilson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, said at the time, emphasizing Homeland Security officials would be in the lead.But Esper said the growing threat landscape necessitated a larger military role.“We need to do more than just play goal line defense,” he said. “The Department of Defense has an important role in defending the American people from this misinformation, particularly as it pertains to preserving the integrity of our democratic elections.”For months now, current and former U.S. intelligence and security officials have warned that Russia is actively working to interfere in the 2020 elections, whether with disinformation campaigns or by targeting U.S. election infrastructure, such as voter databases.FILE – Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in before the House Intelligence Committee to testify on his report on Russian election interference, on Capitol Hill, July 24, 2019, in Washington.“It wasn’t a single attempt. They’re doing it as we sit here,” former special counsel Robert Mueller, tasked with investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections, told lawmakers this past July. “And they expect to do it during the next campaign.”Intelligence officials’ warningsMueller also echoed warnings from top intelligence officials that in 2020, Russia would not be alone.“Many more countries are developing capabilities to replicate what the Russians have done,” he added.Esper agreed.“Our adversaries will continue to target our democratic processes,” he warned Thursday. “This is already happening in preparation for the 2020 elections.”In addition to Russia, officials have said evidence shows Iran and China tried to meddle in the 2018 elections. And they expect the list to grow.“2018 was maybe a playoff game; 2020 is the Super Bowl with election security,” Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Thursday.“State and local election officials are standing on the frontlines of a renewed conflict, defending our nation’s election systems against state and criminal actors,” he said. “I’m committed to ensuring that they do not stand alone.”For state and local election officials, more help may soon be on the way.FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suffered a broken shoulder at his home during the August recess. Congress returned, Sept. 9, 2019, with pressure mounting on McConnell to address gun violence, election security and other issues.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday agreed to support legislation that would provide states with an additional $250 million for election security.Congressional approval neededThe measure still needs approval from the full Senate and from the House of Representatives, as well as Trump’s signature, for the funds to be doled out. But while lawmakers and officials see McConnell’s support as a positive sign, other security officials worry it, by itself, will not be enough.“I think (it’s) a great step forward. But what’s next?” Chris Krebs, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said to reporters.“Because if it’s these inconsistent, mass injections of cash every 10 years or eight years, that creates some disruption,” he said. “The thing they (state officials) want more than anything with funding, whether it comes from their state or whether it comes through the federal government, is consistency.”At least one key lawmaker believes the U.S. is at least on the right track.“I’m quite confident in 2020, in terms of the election being legitimate and secure,” said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee.“Russia has always been trying to interfere. They always have, always will. Iran, China. We just have to be more discerning as consumers,” he said.
…
More International Cooperation Called Key to Curbing North Korea’s Sanction Evasion
Christy Lee contributed to this report, which originated with VOA’s Korean Service.WASHINGTON — Increased international cooperation is essential for curtailing the ship-to-ship transfers that Pyongyang continues to use to evade sanctions, said a former United Nations panel expert on North Korean sanctions enforcement.“Every member state (of the United Nations) has one or two pieces of the puzzle,” said Neil Watts, a maritime expert who served as a member of the United Nations panel that monitors North Korea sanctions compliance from 2013 to 2018. “And if they all cooperate, they can put together the full picture.”North Korea seemingly is receiving a steady supply of oil through illegal transshipments, said Watts, as indicated by fuel prices that he said have been stable for the last 18 months in North Korea.Two essential tacticsWatts told VOA’s Korean Service Tuesday that two things are essential for going after Pyongyang’s illicit ship-to-ship transfers at sea: Identify key North Koreans driving illicit transshipping networks, and follow the money trails.FILE – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the testing of a super-large multiple rocket launcher in North Korea, in this undated photo released Sept. 10, 2019, by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency.Watts said there are a handful of key North Korean individuals whom the country relies on to operate illicit networks for ship-to-ship transfers.“It’s an activity that involves a number of characters. But you can be sure that there are only a few trusted individuals from (the) North Korean side that are making these arrangements with complicit actors.”Then, Watts suggested following the money trail to disrupt North Korea’s networks that involve numerous front companies and banks in different countries that coordinate deceptive shipping practices to evade sanctions.“One needs to find the money trails,” he said, “because it’s substantial amounts of money involved. They always make sure that the money is deposited beforehand. … The key is also to find which companies are involved so that you can identify the banks involved and thereby contact the banks to curtail the banks keeping the money for these North Korean entities that are used to pay for the transactions.”Watts said this is possible only when U.N. member states investigate and share information among themselves and with the maritime and shipping industries.“One can go a lot further in terms of cooperation between the member states and the maritime industry involving the brokers or the commodity brokers, the shipping industry,” he said.According to Watts, North Korea operates its illegal networks across borders to make it difficult for authorities to track down foreign individuals and companies involved in ship-to-ship transfers. This setup also makes it difficult to find North Korean entities overseeing the activities designed to evade sanctions.“The North Koreans, knowing full well that should they involve companies and entities that are in multiple jurisdictions, it makes it very hard to follow the trails back to these individuals that are driving it from the North Korean side,” he said.Watts said North Korea uses ship-to-ship transfers as a primary method to evade sanctions and obtain fuel because it knows monitoring and interdicting illicit practices in international waters are difficult.“International waters are often in disputed areas of jurisdiction, also, and they take advantage of that, as well,” he said.FILE – This Japan Ministry of Defense photo shows North Korean-flagged tanker SAM JONG 2, bottom, alongside MYONG RYU 1, a vessel of unknown nationality, in the East China Sea, May 24, 2018, in a suspected illegal transferring of fuel.North Korea uses several deceptive shipping practices such as removing a flag, name, and identification number of a vessel it uses. It also turns off the transponders, called an automatic identification system (AIS), that sends off its location and identification to nearby ports and ships.“What has been done in the commercial sector is to get companies to include in contracts no switching off AIS as a clause to say that there’ll be severe penalties,” Watts said. “In the case of insurers,” he added, “they would lose the insurance.”Illegal historyThere is a history to North Korea’s use of illicit ship-to-ship transfers.In 2017, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution banning sales of Pyongyang’s key export commodities, including coal and seafood, in order to cut off its foreign sources of income — money needed to support its nuclear weapons program. In the same year, the council also prohibited North Korea from importing more than 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum per year.This satellite image from the Department of Justice shows what it says is the North Korean cargo ship Wise Honest docked at an unknown port. The Trump administration has seized the North Korean cargo ship used to supply coal in violation of international sanctions, May 9, 2018.More recently, on Aug. 30, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted two Taiwanese-based individuals and two Taiwanese-based companies, and a Hong Kong-based company, for helping North Korea evade sanctions. It also listed a tanker suspected of transferring oil to North Korean ships and in connection to all three companies and two individuals. In its interim report released in August, the U.N. Panel of Experts said North Korea exceeded the cap on refined petroleum in the first four months of the year and continued to violate sanctions through illicit ship-to-ship transfers.In June, the U.S. and dozens of other countries claimed North Korea violated a U.N. sanctions cap on fuel imports by using at least eight illegal ship-to-ship transfers and 72 illegal deliveries.
…
Watchdog Report Claims Profiteers Have Looted Billions From South Sudan
A large array of international players, including corporate giants in the United States and China, have profited from South Sudan’s long civil war, according to a report by a Washington-based watchdog group.
The Sentry, which reports on links between corruption and mass atrocities in Africa, charged in its report released Thursday in London that several business owners and corporate entities engaged in widespread, government-sanctioned corruption, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese during the civil war.
“Dar Petroleum, a multinational oil consortium led by the China National Petroleum Corporation, is not just a passive beneficiary of the horrific status quo. The company actively participated in the destruction of South Sudan,” George Clooney, an actor and co-founder of The Sentry, said at the group’s news conference in London.
The oil giant “supported deadly militias, polluted communities, endangering hundreds of thousands of people, and paid off government officials along the way,” Clooney said.
Activist George Clooney speaks at a press conference about South Sudan in London, Sept. 19, 2019. The largest multinational oil consortium in South Sudan is “proactively participating in the destruction” of the country, he said this week.The Sentry’s other co-founder, John Prendergast, praised the U.S. Treasury Department for its actions to end the chain of corruption connected to U.S. assets.
“Rather than just sanctioning one official at a time, the U.S. Treasury Department has frozen the U.S. assets and dollar-denominated transactions of entire networks of people and companies complicit in terrorism, nuclear proliferation, drug trafficking and other illicit activity,” he said.
Prendergast urged the U.S. and U.K. governments to investigate Dar Petroleum’s activities in South Sudan and, “if appropriate, impose these kinds of sanctions” on the Chinese company and other entities and individuals named in The Sentry report.
The report found that throughout South Sudan’s 5½-year civil war, international investors “have been willing to form commercial partnerships” with senior politicians and members of their families, several of which had ties to violent activities.
FILE – A Petronas logo is seen near its twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.It said a multinational oil consortium in South Sudan, controlled by China’s Dar Petroleum and Malaysia’s state-owned oil firm, Petronas, provided “material support to a pro-government militia that committed atrocities, including the burning of entire villages, targeting civilians, and an attack on a U.N. protection-of-civilians site.”
The report said Ara Dolarian, an American arms dealer operating from Fresno, California, tried to sell $43 million worth of weapons in early 2018 to General Paul Malong, identified as a “warlord” by The Sentry, who was fired by President Salva Kiir and has since formed his own rebel group.
The report also accused two British citizens of forming an oil company with “a warlord,” Lieutenant General David Yau Yau, who has been accused of “forcibly recruiting thousands of child soldiers.”
It cites a 2013 report by the Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan that found Yau Yau’s troops “killed and raped civilians, looted property and slaughtered those who will not join [his] rebellion.” (Yau Yau is a Murle militia leader who led a military rebellion against the government, leading to the creation of the Greater Pibor Administrative. Yau Yau was appointed administrator of the region by Kiir.)
The Sentry recommends the U.S., European Union, Australia and Canada investigate and, if appropriate, sanction the individuals and entities named in the report. It also advises banks and governments to act to “prevent the purchase of luxury real estate by South Sudanese elites and their international enablers.”
…
Imelda Brings Heavy Rains, Floods to Texas
Remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda drenched southeast Texas, forcing more than 1,000 rescues and evacuations because of rising floodwaters.Imelda is largely targeting Houston, the U.S.’s fourth-largest city. Forecasters predict the area will receive more than 100 centimeters of rain this week.”We’re still putting water on top of water,” said Jeff Linder, meteorologist of the Harris County Flood Control District.Floodwaters surround a home in Winnie, Texas, Sept 19, 2019.The heavy rains grounded flights Thursday and brought George Bush Intercontinental Airport to a halt. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airport was not expected to reopen until Friday.All public transportation was shut down in the Houston metro area, and city officials asked residents to avoid driving and stay indoors.The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for several counties from Houston to the Louisiana state border.Imelda has weakened to a tropical depression since making landfall Tuesday near Freeport, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 64 kilometers per hour.Imelda is the first named storm to inundate Houston since Harvey hovered over the city for several days in August 2017, dumping nearly 130 centimeters of rain in some areas.
…
Justice Department Backs Michigan Muslim Group’s Effort to Open a Mosque
The U.S. Justice Department is supporting a Muslim group’s bid to open a mosque in the Midwestern state of Michigan, suing the City of Troy for blocking the proposed project.The department filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of 80,000 north of Detroit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects houses of worship against discriminatory land use regulations. The lawsuit is part of a 2018 Justice Department initiative to increase enforcement of RLUIPA and a broader Trump administration focus on promoting religious freedom.Efforts blockedA similar lawsuit brought last year by the Muslim group, the Adam Community Center, accuses Troy officials of repeatedly blocking their efforts to open a place of worship, and urging them to look at nearby cities to find a suitable location for a mosque. At issue in both civil complaints is whether Troy violated RLUIPA when it rejected Adam Community Center’s zoning application in 2018 to convert a recently acquired former restaurant and banquet hall into a mosque.55 houses of worshipAccording to the city’s official website, there are 55 houses of worship in Troy, including one synagogue, one Hindu temple, and many churches. The city has no mosque for its nearly 200 Muslim families.While the city’s zoning laws allow houses of worship in its business district, city officials turned down the Muslim group’s application last year to use the building as a mosque, saying the structure could only be used as a “nonreligious” place of assembly, such as a banquet hall or a theater.The Justice Department says this “unequal treatment of all places of worship in the city compared to nonreligious uses” violates RLUIPA.”Troy is obligated to treat religious assemblies and institutions on equal terms with nonreligious assemblies and institutions,” said Matthew Schneider, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “This complaint reflects our commitment to protect the religious liberties of all people in this district.”Waiting on lawsuitIn a statement to VOA, Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm said the city has not yet been served with the Justice Department lawsuit but that it “vehemently denies it engaged in any impropriety or discrimination.”Amy Doukoure, a staff attorney for CAIR Michigan, which represents Adam Community Center in its lawsuit, said she welcomed the Justice Department’s lawsuit.”We’re very happy that they decided to file this lawsuit,” she said.”It only strengthens our case.”The Justice Department’s lawsuit comes as the Trump administration has pushed government agencies to promote policies in support of religious freedom.While religious conservatives have welcomed this effort, LGBTQ activists and other critics say it threatens their rights.In June 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a religious conservative, announced an initiative to increase enforcement and public awareness of RLUIPA, saying the effort “will help us bring more civil rights cases, win more cases, and prevent discrimination from happening in the first place.”In the first year since its launch, the department doubled the number of RLUIPA investigations to 15 from an average of seven a year between 2010 and 2016.A majority of the investigations resulted in a resolution without a lawsuit.The Justice Department says it has resolved 10 RLUIPA investigations since the initiative was announced.
…
Envoy Insists Brexit Must Produce No ‘Hard Border’ With Irish Republic
As the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline approaches, Ireland’s ambassador to the United States is expressing a degree of optimism that a creative solution may be found, but he insists there has to be a legally binding agreement “that there can never be a hard border on the island of Ireland.”
The so-called “backstop” negotiated between former British Prime Minister Theresa May and the European Union “is a guarantee that there can never be a hard border on the island of Ireland,” Ambassador Daniel Mulhall said in an interview with VOA.
“It is not enough for us to be told that ‘we promise you, there will not be a problem,'” he said. “There has to be a legally binding agreement, and that’s where I think we have to work hard over the next six weeks between the United Kingdom and the European Union to find a solution to this problem, because nobody wants to see Britain crash out of the European Union.” NAFTA example
Mulhall cited the process of the renegotiation of a trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico as an example of how things could work out.
“When the U.S. wanted to replace NAFTA, they had negotiated a successor agreement. Until that agreement, the USMCA, comes into force, NAFTA remains in force, so as to provide for a framework for trade between the U.S., Mexico and Canada — and the same should be done between the UK and the EU,” Mulhall said.
What Ireland wants, Mulhall added, “is to maintain the open border on the island of Ireland and to preserve the precious peace process that has saved so many lives over the last 21 years.” He noted that peace process was achieved “with huge support” from both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government over a long period of time.
Mulhall described the withdrawal agreement negotiated by May and the EU as meeting that objective. “If there is to be an alternative set of arrangements, those arrangements would have to achieve the same outcome; if they [Britain] have ideas that can achieve the same outcome, it would be good for us to hear them,” he said. Mulhall said, “There are those who think that maybe a solution could be to have a backstop for Northern Ireland only, but that’s something that doesn’t seem to be popular with the British government.” Such a plan was rejected early in the Brexit negotiations by May’s Northern Irish coalition partners, who feared it would threaten their role as part of Britain. ‘Unique place’
Mulhall pointed out that Northern Ireland “is a unique place, because it’s got a land border with the rest of Ireland, therefore a land border with the European Union.”
The question of how to prevent that land border from becoming a hard border with customs and other controls that would threaten the peace on the island constitutes “the whole crux of this negotiation,” he said.
…