Advocates are warning of an “epidemic” of mental health problems and suicide among Australian farmers. Isolation, financial pressures and the impact of drought are all part of the problem. Seven days a week, Joe Meggetto is up before dawn on his dairy farm near the town of Warragul, 100 kilometers southeast of Melbourne in southern Australia.He is the son of Italian migrants. He’s tough and hard working, but for years he has battled the demons of mental illness.“I used to carry a bullet around in my pocket and I remember talking to my brother one day on the road just here, I was bringing the cows home on the road and I was talking to him and I was angry at the time and I kept this bullet in my pocket all the time,” he said. “And I got the bullet out and said to my brother — I showed it to him — and I said one day I’m going to bloody blow my head off, you know. I was really down in the dumps and by that afternoon I was milking the cows and before I knew it there were two policemen at the milking shed and they pulled me out of the shed and they had a bit of a talk and before I knew it the guns were seized.”Counseling, support from the community and small doses of medication have helped Joe to fight his mental illness. Advocates believe much more needs to be done to help those struggling to cope on Australian farms.Higher suicide ratesSuicide rates for male farm workers are reported to be twice those for the general population.Lia Bryant is an associate professor from the University of South Australia.FILE – A menu board at Sydney’s Old Fitzroy Hotel displays the slogan ‘Parma for a Farmer’, meaning that sales of the dish will result in proceeds going to farmers in Australia’s parched interior for drought relief, in Sydney, Aug. 9, 2018.She believes that capitalism disadvantages those on the land because it takes power away from individual farmers and puts it into the hands of big corporations, who control the prices producers receive.“I think it is imperative we turn away from that concept of mental ill-health and think about our context of our policies, our state government policies, our federal government policies — we think about how corporate agriculture functions and challenge that, and most importantly we challenge capitalism, and the way it constructs the farmer and takes away, strips the autonomy of the farmer and produces distress,” she said.Researchers also say that unprecedented weather events across Australia have had a “clear and devastating” impact on the mental health of many people, not just farmers. Droughts, bushfires and floods have caused the loss of homes, land and livelihoods.Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent. Last summer was the hottest ever recorded.
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Month: September 2019
Scientists Enlist Bacteria to Help Fight Dengue Virus
It’s been a bad year for dengue fever, a painful, debilitating virus that is surging in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam and other nations. There is no cure for dengue, which is spread by mosquitos. However, scientists are enlisting a bacteria in the fight against dengue because they think will make it harder for mosquitos to spread the often deadly dengue virus. VOA’s Jim Randle has our story.
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Ugandan Women Turn Plastic Bags Into Backpacks
Faith Aweko of Uganda describes herself as a “waste-preneur.” She has come up with an innovative way to transform discarded plastic bags into backpacks for everyday use. Halima Athumani reports from the town of Mpigi.
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Demands for Sanctions as Global Links to South Sudan War Exposed
The international community must do more to tackle networks of global corruption that are fueling violence in South Sudan, according to activists. The call follows publication of a report detailing how corporations profited from the country’s civil war. The investigation by The Sentry organization, co-founded by actor George Clooney, shows the links between armed groups involved in the civil war, global oil giants, and British and American citizens. Henry Ridgwell has more.
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Mideast Conflicts, Brexit to Take Center Stage at UN
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the threat posed by Iran and Britain’s fraught exit from the European Union are likely topics Thursday as world leaders gather for a third day of speeches at the United Nations.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and diplomats from Israel and Saudi Arabia, which blames Tehran for an attack on its key oil sites, are expected to push their causes.Iran has denied any involvement in the Saudi strike, which jolted global oil prices and temporarily knocked out nearly 6% of daily global crude oil production.Saudi Arabia insists Iranian weapons were used and has invited U.N. investigators to assess where the strikes were launched from. The U.S., France, Britain and Germany also blame Iran.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not refer to the attacks in his speech Wednesday. He has scheduled a news conference for Thursday.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 24, 2019.Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and has been a leading opponent to the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb — which Iran denies — and has accused the Iranians of violating provisions of the agreement.Israel, meanwhile, finds itself in a political deadlock after national elections in which neither Netanyahu’s Likud party nor Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White secured the required parliamentary majority needed to form a government.Since Netanyahu’s 2009 election, the Palestinians have refused to negotiate with Israel, which has expanded its settlements and won U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The outgoing president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, also is scheduled to speak as the EU steels itself for the possibility that Britain could crash out of the bloc without a deal on Oct. 31.Britain’s embattled prime minister, Boris Johnson, did not touch on his country’s crisis in his inaugural address to the world body late Tuesday, when he delivered a frenetic speech on the dangers and merits of technology.Leaders from small countries struggling with war, poverty and inequality also will have their say before the world body.
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House Passes Bill Allowing Banks to Serve Cannabis Companies
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would allow banks to provide services to cannabis companies in states where it is legal.By a vote of 321-103, lawmakers approved the bill, which now heads to the Senate. The bill received nearly unanimous support from Democrats, as well as nearly half of all Republicans.The measure now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate. Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo has said he wants to consider similar legislation in the coming months, but it is not clear if the full Senate will vote on such a measure, analysts say.Marijuana federally illegalSome Republicans are wary of giving banks the green light to engage in marijuana business while it is still federally illegal. And some Democrats have said they would rather consider broader legislation around marijuana legalization or criminal justice reform rather than a targeted banking bill.The bill clarifies that proceeds from legitimate cannabis businesses would not be considered illegal, and directs federal regulators to write up rules for how they would supervise such banking activity.Banks have thrown their weight behind the legislation, telling lawmakers they need clarity on whether they can do business with cannabis companies where it is legal at the state level despite the fact that marijuana remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government.“Our members are committed to serving the financial needs of their communities – including those that have voted to legalize cannabis,” said the American Bankers Association in a letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday seeking their support.Legal in some form in 33 statesThirty-three states allow for some form of legal cannabis use, but banks have by and large been unwilling to do business with companies that sell marijuana or related enterprises, out of concern they could run afoul of federal laws.In particular, banks are wary that taking deposits from pot businesses could violate federal anti-money laundering laws, which in turn could put at risk their federal charters or access to federal payments systems.That has left companies in the marijuana industry with extremely limited options, including relying on just a handful of small financial institutions or strictly doing business in cash.
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China Opens Beijing’s Second International Airport
China President Xi Jinping on Wednesday inaugurated Beijing’s second international airport, which boasts the world’s largest single-building terminal. Beijing Daxing International Airport (BCIA) opened for business just days ahead of the 70th anniversary of Communist rule in China on October 1.At the start, only domestic flights will use the airport, but it will offer 112 international destinations by next spring.The airport, shaped like a starfish, was built in less than five years at the cost of nearly $17 billion. Designed by British Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, it has four runways. There are plans to build as many as three additional runways in the future. Even though the airport’s main terminal is 1 million square meters, or the size of 100 soccer fields, officials say travelers will have to walk no more than 600 meters to reach even the farthest gate. China is forecast to overtake the United States as the world’s largest air travel market by 2022. In preparation, Daxing is designed to accommodate up to 72 million passengers a year, eventually reaching 100 million.Currently, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL) airport in Georgia is the world’s largest, with more than 107 million passengers per year. The existing Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), the world’s second-busiest aviation hub, is at full capacity with 101 million passengers per year.
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Marshall Islands Shows Support for Taiwan After Neighbors Favor China
The Marshall Islands confirmed it was maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan on Wednesday, a welcome show of support for President Tsai Ing-wen who has seen two other Pacific nations drop ties in favor of China in a matter of weeks.The neighboring Solomon Islands and Kiribati decided to recognize China earlier this month, dropping self-ruled and democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own province with no rights to state-to-state relations.The small developing nations lie in strategic waters that have been dominated by the United States and its allies since World War II, and China’s moves to expand its influence in the Pacific have angered Washington.’Profound appreciation’In a statement, the Marshall Islands said it had adopted a resolution to show its “profound appreciation to the people and government of Taiwan.””We’ve all seen China’s attempts to expand its territory and footprint, and this should be of great concern to democratic countries,” President Hilda Heine said.The Foreign Ministry in Taiwan, which has denounced China for luring its allies with promises of easy loans, expressed “deep thanks” for the message of support and pledged to further deepen cooperation with the Marshall Islands.In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said cooperation was warmly welcomed and had brought the Pacific island nations real benefits.”Anyone who understands the situation and is not prejudiced can see this very clearly,” he told a daily news briefing, when asked about Heine’s criticism of China’s role.Ties to 15 countriesSelf-ruled Taiwan now has formal relations with only 15 countries, many of them small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru.Seven countries have dropped Taiwan as a diplomatic ally since 2016, when Tsai took office. So the show of support from the Marshall Islands will provide some relief for her ahead of presidential elections in January.Last week parliament in the tiny South Pacific country of Tuvalu elected a new prime minister, making a change that analysts say could give China a chance to further undermine Taiwan in a region that has been a pillar of support.Having retained his seat at a general election earlier this month, Tuvalu’s pro-Taiwan leader Enele Sopoaga had been expected to keep the premiership, but the 16-person parliament instead selected Kausea Natano.Taiwan’s embassy in Tuvalu said that its ambassador there, Marc Su, met Natano and Foreign Minister Simon Kofe on Tuesday, having met with all members of the new Cabinet late last week.It did not provide details of their conversations.
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French #MeToo Founder Fined for Defamation
The woman who launched France’s #MeToo movement against sexual harassment has been ordered to pay damages to the man she accused of harassment.A Paris court on Wednesday ruled that journalist Sandra Muller must pay TV executive Eric Brion $22,000 for defaming him.In 2017, at the height of the global push against sexual harassment, Muller tweeted her accusation using the hashtag #balancetonporc, which roughly translates to “squeal on your pig.”Brion’s lawyers had argued that his inappropriate comments to Muller were an attempt at flirting during a party, not harassment and that he had apologized for them.The court on Wednesday also ordered Muller to delete her tweet and replace it with the statement of the court.Muller said the court’s decision sends a message to victims: “Be quiet.” She said she will appeal the ruling.Muller’s lawyer said the decision also sends a message to men in France. “If they only do it one time, it will be excused by the court,” Francis Szpiner said.Brion hailed the ruling on Twitter as a “victory of true justice.’’
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UK Car Production Rises for First Time in 15 Months
British car production increased by an annual 3.3% in August, the first rise in 15 months, helped by several factories having moved their summertime shutdowns to April in preparation for the original Brexit date, an industry body said Thursday.MW, Peugeot, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover all closed factories ranging from a few days to four weeks in April over concerns that Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union in March could lead to disruption, including delays to the arrival of parts.The move led to a 44.5% decline in output in April, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and ended up being in vain as Brexit was eventually pushed back to the end of October.August saw a small bounce back with output rising 3.3% to 92,158 cars, helped by a 15.2% increase in domestic demand, data showed.“Today’s figures mask the underlying downward trend and strengthening global headwinds facing the sector, including international trade tensions, massive technological upheaval and, in the UK, political and economic uncertainty,” said SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes.“We now need parliament and government to redouble efforts to get a deal that maintains free and frictionless trade.”
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US, Honduras Sign Immigration Deal
The United States and Honduras signed an agreement Wednesday as part of a U.S. effort to stem the flow of Central American migrants trying to cross from Mexico.Details of the agreement have not been released, but it comes after two so-called “safe third country” deals the U.S. recently signed with El Salvador and Guatemala.Those agreements require anyone seeking refuge in the United States to apply for asylum in the first apparently safe country they enter after fleeing their homelands.A top Homeland Security official told reporters the Honduras deal “will allow migrants to seek protection as close to home as possible.”But advocates for immigrants criticize the safe third country deals, saying they keep migrants stuck in the same violent and impoverished conditions they are trying to escape.A 2018 State Department report described Honduras as being overrun by violent gangs and drug traffickers who carry out murders, extortion, kidnapping and torture, and intimidate human rights officials, judicial authorities and others.Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado addresses the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 25, 2019.Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez met with President Donald Trump at the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday in New York. The press was not invited.U.S. Homeland Security and Honduran officials issued a joint statement promising “increased protection options for vulnerable populations.”
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Nine Things to Know About Trump Impeachment Controversy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a “formal impeachment inquiry” into President Donald Trump, escalating a long-running clash between Democratic lawmakers and the White House over alleged presidential malfeasance. The announcement followed disclosures that Trump in a July 25 call to Ukraine’s president asked him to investigate front-running Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.Here are nine things you need to know about the festering impeachment controversy.
What is impeachment?This refers to the constitutional process of removing a sitting president from office. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to oust a president for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” While there is no single definition of the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors,” it is generally understood to include actions that violate the oath of office and the public trust. The impeachment process begins with formal charges brought in the House of Representatives and ends with a trial in the Senate where two-thirds of senators must vote to convict the president.This would be the fourth congressional impeachment attempt in history. Former presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached and brought to trial in the Senate, but subsequently won acquittal. Former President Richard M. Nixon resigned before being impeached in the House.What happened on Tuesday?To be clear, what Pelosi did is at least several steps from formal action against Trump. By ordering a formal impeachment inquiry, Pelosi brought a half dozen House investigations of Trump under a new rubric. She instructed the chairmen of six House committees — Intelligence, Judiciary, Government Oversight, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means and Financial Services — to speed up their investigations to determine whether to impeach Trump.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump waves after speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, June 14, 2019.What is the Senate trial process?Once the House passes one or more articles of impeachment, the process shifts to the Senate where a trial is conducted. The proceeding is presided over by the chief justice of the United States. House Judiciary Committee members serve as prosecutors, while the president is represented by his defense lawyers. It takes two-thirds of senators to convict the president on any one count. Republicans currently hold a 53 to 47 seat majority in the Senate. If the president were found guilty, he would be expelled from office and replaced by the vice president. What’s the point of impeaching the president if the Republican-controlled Senate won’t convict a Republican president?It’s a question that’s often asked, and one that was shouted at Pelosi Tuesday after she announced the impeachment inquiry. For many Democrats, it comes down to principle, having sworn to uphold the Constitution and safeguard the republic, said Melanie Sloan, a senior adviser at American Oversight, a nonpartisan ethics watchdog.What about the risks to the Democrats of a political blowback?With just 6% of Republican voters in favor of impeachment and most Republican senators in the president’s corner, the prospect of a failed impeachment could backfire against the Democrats, allowing Trump to claim vindication and boosting his 2020 re-election prospects. Clinton survived impeachment in 1998, and he saw his party surge to victory in the following midterm elections.
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Compromise Keeps US in Universal Postal Union
After two days of intense negotiations, the Universal Postal Union has reached a compromise agreement on mailing rates that has averted a threatened walkout by the United States, which could have caused a major disruption to the global postal system. The United States declared victory in the UPU’s “Extraordinary Congress,” saying it got what it wanted. The head of the U.S. delegation, Peter Navarro, said member countries unanimously approved the adoption of a comprehensive set of reforms based on the U.S. proposal.
Navarro, who is the director of trade and manufacturing policy at the White House, said the measure lets the United States immediately self-declare its postal rates, thereby covering the costs of bulky letters and small parcels sent from abroad. FILE – U.S. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro speaks during an interview at the White House in Washington, Sept. 11, 2019.Major savings seen
Navarro called this a big deal.
“The U.S. got immediate self-declared rates that saves us a half a billion dollars,” he said. “It eliminates market distortions. It creates tens of thousands of jobs for America. It also helps our friends and allies, and other nations — Norway, Finland, Brazil — who are getting hammered by this situation. It allows them in a multispeed option to get to that path.”
UPU Secretary-General Bishar Hussein said the deal would not kick in until July 1, 2020, for the U.S., when the American self-declared rates will go into effect. For other member states, he said, the new postal rate system will begin in January 2021.
Once a country declares its rates, he said, the exporting country will have to factor in that cost. This, he said, means that cost will be transferred to the person who is mailing that item. Global impact
“When you are in a country and you buy items overseas, the end customer will definitely have to get a higher price, because it is not the old price which is in force now,” Hussein said. “So, I have no doubt in my mind that it will have a financial impact, or rather an impact, on the customers globally.”
Hussein said the negotiations were intense, tough and at times worrisome. But in the end, he said, countries agreed on a compromise that maintains the UPU as a strong, well-functioning organization. He said no country got everything it wanted. But he noted that no country walked out.
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Ugandan Woman Turns Plastic Bags Into Backpacks
MPIGI, UGANDA — Faith Aweko of Uganda describes herself as a “waste-preneur.” She has come up with an innovative way to transform discarded plastic bags into backpacks for everyday use. Aweko has no problem picking up waste. She had to do it all the time as a child, when rainwater and trash would flood her home, located in a slum, in a low-lying part of Kampala.Now, she works with women who are hired to collect and wash plastic bags in the Mpigi district of southern Uganda. The bags are then transformed into durable, sustainable, waterproof and beautiful bags.Women wash polythene bags at Reform Africa, in Mpigi district, Uganda. (H. Athumani/VOA)
Aweko and her colleagues, through the Reform Africa project, wanted to do something with the plastic bags that litter streets across Uganda, soiling the environment.“They are collecting plastic bottles around, but the polythene bags are really being left. Yet they are the most dangerous for the environment. And you find them poorly disposed. Some people even burn them, others dump it in their gardens which doesn’t lead to good agricultural production,” Aweko said.In Uganda, the most popular imported polythene bag is the 30 microns polythene. Research has shown that it will take 1,000 years for each bag to decompose.Faith Aweko, center, and her colleagues sort through garbage to pick polythene bags to be used to make plastic backpacks, in Mpigi district, Uganda. (H. Athumani/VOA)Aweko’s idea was to compress bags together using an iron, then stitch the material into backpacks.“We iron this. We have to compile 15 plastic bags of these ones to come up with a strong back pack. We have designs, our customers need designs on it, we cannot iron it as plain as it is, so we have to get these Lato milk buveera’s (polythene), or the plastics, other plastic small bags to really add in the creativity so that it looks very strong,” Aweko said.Rachel Mema, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is working with Reform Africa.A tailor sits next to a display shelf in the Reform Africa workshop, in Mpigi district, Uganda. (H.Athumani/VOA)When she lived in one of Uganda’s refugee settlements, Mema says, there was a lot of plastic trash, which bred mosquitoes, leading to disease outbreaks.“So, those solutions is something that is not just for urban people but also those people out there who really need to have something like that and eco-friendly and it’s an action towards our health right now, for who are suffering from plastic,” Mema said.As world leaders set new agendas to fight climate change and save the environment, Mema, Aweko and others at Reform Africa believe they are doing their part — and generating some income in the process.
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House Approves Bill to Aimed at Holding Myanmar Leaders Accountable for Atrocities
VOA Burmese Service contributed to this reportThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation aimed at advancing efforts to hold senior Myanmar leaders accountable for crimes committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.The BURMA act was approved on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate for consideration.Andy Levin, D-Mich, arrives for member-elect briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2018.”Journalists, activists and anyone who is willing to use their voice to call out wrong doing must be protected. That is why Congresswoman Ann Wagner and I introduced the Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act, Rep. Andy Levin (D) said. “This bill calls for the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Burma and directs our State Department to bolster its works to achieve this act.”Amnesty International urged the Senate to act on the legislation. “Over two years have passed since the world witnessed atrocities committed against Rohingya women, men, and children. Yet the U.S. Congress has so far failed to speak with a united voice on the issue. Further inaction by the U.S. sets a terrible precedent for other countries and risks emboldening the Myanmar military to continue committing crimes across the country,” Amnesty International USA’s Asia Pacific Advocacy Manger Francisco Bencosme said.Last month, A U.N. fact-finding mission concluded that the Myanmar military intended to perpetrate genocide on ethnic Rohingya Muslims when it drove hundreds of thousands of them from the country in 2017.More than 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state in August and September 2017, after attacks by Rohingya militants against state security forces led to military reprisals. They continue to seek shelter in a refugee camp in neighboring Bangladesh.
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Former Top Algerian Officials Given Prison Terms Amid Scramble to Hold Presidential Election
Sentences against four of the once most powerful men in Algeria were handed down in the middle of the night by a military tribunal in Blida after a trial which lasted two days.Former intelligence chiefs Bachir Tartaq and Mohamed Mediene were given 15-year sentences, alongside former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s brother and right-hand man, Said. Former Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar received a 20-year sentence in absentia.FILE – An Algerian man reads a local newspaper, En-Nahar, bearing a picture for the first time of former Algerian intelligence chief General Mohamed Mediene, better known as General Toufik, on the front cover in the capital, Algiers, Sept. 13, 2015.The four men, along with well-known politician Louisa Hanoun, were accused of “conspiring against the army” by allegedly meeting with a foreign intelligence chief to determine who would succeed ailing former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.Bouteflika was forced to step down in April. Two presidential elections have been postponed since then, as a widespread popular uprising roils the country.Acting President Abdel Qader Bensalah recently set Dec. 12 as the date for new elections, and appointed members of an electoral commission to oversee the vote.Deputy Defense Minister General Ahmed Gaid Salah — said to be the most powerful man in the country — says the military will remain neutral and not try to influence the election.FILE – Algerian chief of staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah presides over a military parade in Algiers, July 1, 2018.He added that the appointment of a new electoral commission to oversee the vote is proof of the army’s neutrality.However, Hilal Khashan, who teaches political science at the American University of Beirut, contends that the Algerian military is deeply involved in politics and that the former top officials sentenced Wednesday are being used as “scapegoats” to appease the public’s wrath.”The deep state is very much alive,” he said. “[Political] Figures are expendable and you sacrifice them so that the military institution which runs Algeria remains intact. For the past few months, there has been a simmering uprising in Algeria. The armed forces stepped in to contain it … and by issuing these sentences, they hope that they could put the lid on the pot.”Former intelligence chief Mediene — known as General Towfiq — called the charges against him politically motivated and maintained that he has fought hard to investigate and contain corruption.Each Friday, popular protests against the country’s ruling business and political elites continue in towns and cities across Algeria, with many protesters demanding that the country’s political system be completely revamped.
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‘We Were Dragged Into This’: What Ukrainians Think About The Trump Scandal
On Sept. 24, in Washington, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped up to a podium and announced that the U.S. House of Representatives would start formal impeachment procedures against President Donald Trump, accusing him of betraying his oath of office and national security by pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate a political rival.Meanwhile, more than 8,000 kilometers to the east, Alina Kosse was sheltered inside her bullet-riddled cottage in the eastern Ukrainian town of Mariyinka, where government forces were engaged in a firefight with Russia-backed separatists.Mariyinka has been largely destroyed in the war that erupted in 2014, after Russia seized Crimea and fomented separatism following the ouster of a Moscow-friendly president in Kyiv, and most of its residents have fled. The front line runs through its center. There is no running water, electricity is spotty, and food is scarce.A White House-released rough transcript of President Donald Trump’s July 25, 2019 telephone conversation with Ukraine’s newly elected president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, released Sept. 25, 2019.So the last thing on Kosse’s mind — and on the minds of the few hundred people left in town, she said — was the political scandal gripping Washington, even if it centers around Ukraine and its new president.”People here aren’t talking about it at all,” she told RFE/RL by phone, adding that a soldier had been killed in action overnight. “You can’t spread this on bread. We are only interested in what can be put in our stomach. People are interested in cheap potatoes.”Even if Kosse had been watching any of the various Ukrainian news reports aired that night — assuming she could hear the presenter’s words over the din of automatic weapons fire and shelling she said was endless — she would not have seen that Democrats had taken the extraordinary step of launching a process that could unseat the U.S. president.While the impeachment debate has been plastered across the front pages of every newspaper and led every evening news program in the United States for days, in Ukraine there has been little coverage of it.Other challengesLead stories on major news sites on Sept. 24 included news about the new chief of the National Police, the Cabinet of Ministers sending to parliament a bill on land sales, and an e-ticket system for public transport in Kyiv.Ukrainians who spoke to RFE/RL for this story said that conversations around their dinner tables and workplace water coolers — or the equivalent — have continued to center mostly on everyday life and domestic issues.FILE – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a luncheon for world leaders at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Sept. 24, 2019.Their country faces huge challenges as it tries to implement reforms, jump-start the economy, and stave off what Zelenskiy, in remarks in a U.N. speech, called Russia’s war on Ukraine.Zelenskiy, who defeated former President Petro Poroshenko in an April runoff with 70 percent of the vote, has promised to tackle these issues head-on.Those who have followed the Ukraine-focused drama in Washington tend to come from the political elite, and their silence may have substantial motivation. Pressure from Trump and his allies to probe the actions of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and a Ukrainian company that had Biden’s son Hunter on its board have forced them to walk a political tightrope.Trump and his allies accuse Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge the incumbent in 2020, of using his clout to help the company Burisma — which was paying Biden’s son Hunter, who was on its board of directors — avoid damage from a criminal investigation by pushing for the dismissal of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, who was fired in March 2016.’I know the essence of it’Ukrainian officials and anti-corruption activists contend that the Burisma probe had long been dormant at the time and that the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, had in fact been the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the investigation.”My first reaction was, ‘Well, OK,'” Anna Dotsenko, a Kyiv resident who works in television production, said about the scandal in Washington that Zelenskiy has been caught up in. The Ukrainian president was potentially thrust deeper into it on Sept. 25 when the White House released a memorandum of a phone call that Trump and Zelenskiy held two months earlier.FILE – President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, Sept. 24, 2019.Olha Ivanova, a charity worker in the capital, said she knows about the news but has not followed it closely.”I know the essence of it and I am curious [about] what will happen now,” she said. “It looks like a very American scandal, where we are just unfortunate victims due to the will of the U.S. establishment and mistakes or certain political interests of a few Ukrainian officials.”Kristina Berdynskykh, a reporter for Novoye Vremya, a Ukrainian news magazine, said “Ukrainian media don’t pay attention to this topic, since it is obvious that Zelenskiy is not the most important person in this story — Trump is.”Ukrainian readers, she added, “think that this is the internal business of the Americans.”Many agree. Halyna Odnoroh, a civic activist in the Azov Sea city of Mariupol, which sits 20 kilometers from the front line of the war and found itself at the center of a major geopolitical firefight last year, when Russian border guard and security service boats attacked Ukrainian Navy vessels near the Kerch Strait, said, “the problem is between Congress and the president.””We were drawn into this problem,” she added.Katya Gorchinskaya, a former CEO of the independent Hromadske TV news outlet, suggests that is the wrong way to look at it.”Almost nobody [in Ukraine] understands the geopolitical consequences and significance of Ukraine being dragged into American politics,” she said. “They don’t understand the short-term and long-term effects that could come from this.”But some say they do understand the stakes.Odnoroh said now that Ukraine has been thrust into the middle of a major political drama, “we need to try to get the most out of it.””Attention is always good,” she said. “The more [people in the West] talk about Ukraine, the greater the chance of people seeing how Russia is violating us.”Still, others would have preferred to stay out of the spotlight altogether.A Kyiv barista, so nervous about having his name published in the media that he asked for anonymity to speak openly to this reporter, wondered what would have happened “if Zelenskiy hadn’t picked up the phone.”
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Bulgarian Economist Selected as New Leader of IMF
A Bulgarian economist who grew up when her country was a communist nation has been selected to be the next leader of one of capitalism’s premier institutions, the 189-nation International Monetary Fund.Kristalina Georgieva, a top official at the World Bank, was chosen by the IMF’s executive board on Wednesday to become the IMF’s managing director. She succeeds Christine Lagarde who is stepping down to take over as head of the European Central Bank.The IMF is the world’s lender of last resort, providing emergency loans when countries are facing financial crisis. Georgieva takes over at a time when the global economy is slowing and the two biggest economies, the United States and China, are engaged in an escalating trade war.
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Former US College Football Player Home From Prison in China
Former college football player and American citizen Wendell Brown says he is enjoying his “freedom” at home in Michigan after being imprisoned in China for his involvement in a bar fight.Brown told The Associated Press on Wednesday at his family’s Detroit home that people “don’t really understand that word to its fullest extent” until they’re without it or “in a cage.”Brown, who played for Ball State University in Indiana, was teaching English and American football in southwest China when he was arrested in September 2016 and charged with intentional assault. The Detroit native denied hitting a man and said he was defending himself after being attacked.Brown was sentenced to four years in prison, but that was reduced to three years by a Chinese court. He returned to Detroit on Wednesday.
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US Imposes Fresh Iran-Related Sanctions on Chinese Entities
The United States is announcing new sanctions on Chinese entities for “knowingly transporting oil from Iran contrary to United States sanctions,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in New York on Wednesday.The measures targeting five Chinese individuals and six entities, including two COSCO Shipping corporation Ltd. subsidiaries, are the latest move by the U.S. to intensify what it calls the maximum pressure campaign against Iran.“We’re also imposing sanctions on the executive officers of those companies as well,” said Pompeo at a forum on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, adding “we will sanction every violation of sanctionable activity.”The sanctions target COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Company and COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman and Ship Management Company but do not apply to the parent company.China Concord Petroleum Co., Kunlun Shipping Company Ltd., Kunlun Holding Company Ltd and Pegasus 88 Limited, are also targeted.Last week, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “substantially increase” sanctions on Iran, following missile and drone strikes against the world’s largest crude-processing plant and oils field in Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials have accused Iran of carrying out the attacks. Tehran has denied the claim.
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Police Block Ailing Zimbabwe Doctor From Leaving Country
A Zimbabwean doctor desperate to leave the country for medical treatment after his recent abduction has been blocked after police approached the High Court asserting he is “unfit to travel.”The head of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, was freed last week after disappearing for several days. His alleged abduction after leading a pay strike led to days of protests by health workers and expressions of concern by diplomats and rights groups, who said more than 50 government critics and activists in Zimbabwe have been abducted this year alone.
Peter Gabriel Magombeyi, acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, pictured in Harare in Sept. 3, 2019, had been reportedly abducted from his home over the weekend. (C. Mavhunga/VOA)Police stopped Magombeyi from leaving for treatment in neighboring South Africa on Tuesday even after a judge ruled he could travel outside Zimbabwe as he is not under arrest. He has been recuperating in a local hospital, and lawyers have said preliminary medical assessments show possible physical harm and psychological trauma.
Magombeyi’s lawyers now say police are violating the court order, and they worry his condition will deteriorate as the drama plays out. The doctor must stay in Zimbabwe until the police application to the court is resolved.
Police dismissed accusations that they are preventing the doctor from traveling, saying they are providing him with protection “for his own personal safety.”
In the court application filed Tuesday night, police said Magombeyi should remain at the hospital until he is fit to travel, adding that they also want to sort out his security while in South Africa.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-governmental group helping the doctor, described the police assertions as “shocking.”
The government has bristled at the accusations of abductions, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other officials over the weekend warning against so-called “false” abductions they assert are meant to make the government look bad. Mnangagwa is attending the United Nations annual gathering of world leaders this week.
Zimbabwe’s health sector, like its economy, is in crisis. Many services are unavailable due to collapsed infrastructure, lack of medicines or unavailability of doctors and nurses who say they can no longer afford transport to return to work.
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New Climate report: Oceans Rising Faster, Ice Melting More
Due to climate change, the world’s oceans are getting warmer, rising higher, losing oxygen and becoming more acidic at an ever-faster pace and melting even more ice and snow, a grim international science assessment concludes.But that’s nothing compared to what Wednesday’s special United Nations-affiliated oceans and ice report says is coming if global warming doesn’t slow down: three feet of sea rise by the end of the century, many fewer fish, weakening ocean currents, even less snow and ice, stronger and wetter hurricanes and nastier El Nino weather systems.“The oceans and the icy parts of the world are in big trouble and that means we’re all in big trouble too,” said one of the report’s lead authors, Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. “The changes are accelerating.”Even if warming is limited to just another couple of tenths of a degree, the world’s warm water coral reefs will go extinct in some places and be dramatically different in others, the report said.“We are already seeing the demise of the warm water coral reefs,” Portner said. “That is one of the strongest warning signals that we have available.”The report gives projections based on different scenarios for emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. One is a world that dramatically decreases carbon pollution — and the worst case is where little has been done. We are closer to the worst-case situation, scientists said.Outside scientists praised the work but were disturbed by it.“It is alarming to read such a thorough cataloging of all of the serious changes in the planet that we’re driving,” said Texas A&M University climate scientist Andrew Dessler, who wasn’t part of the report. “What’s particularly disturbing as a scientist is that virtually all of these changes were predicted years or decades ago.”The report’s authors emphasized that it doesn’t doom Earth to this gloomy outlook.“We indicate we have a choice. Whether we go into a grim future depends on the decisions that are being made,” Portner said. “We have a better future ahead of us once we make the right choice.”“These far-reaching consequences can only be brought under control by acute emissions reductions,” Portner said.
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Baby Archie Makes Rare Public Appearance in South Africa
Baby Archie made a rare public appearance on Wednesday as his parents, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, continued their first official tour as a family in South Africa.Meghan held Archie as the royal couple met with Nobel Peace Prize winner and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.
The youngest member of Britain’s royal family had been out of the spotlight since his christening in July. Archie, born in May, is the first child of Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle and seventh in line to the British throne.
Tutu greeted the baby with a delighted smile.
“It’s very heartwarming, let me tell you, very heartwarming to realize that you really, genuinely are caring people,” he told the royal couple, according to a statement by his Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.
“We all try to make things better,” Harry replied.
Gifts for the baby included children’s books written and signed by the archbishop.
The royal couple’s 10-day, multi-country tour also includes stops for Harry in Botswana, Angola and Malawi with a focus on wildlife protection, 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.
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China Rejects Trump Criticism on Trade
China urged President Donald Trump on Wednesday to listen to developing countries and oppose bullying after the American leader criticized its trade status at the United Nations.A foreign ministry spokesman called on Trump to “meet China halfway” in settling trade disputes.
The two governments are locked in an escalating tariff war over complaints about Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions. It threatens to tip the global economy into recession.Trump complained Tuesday that the World Trade Organization improperly gives China preferential treatment. He was referring to complaints China, the No. 2 global economy and biggest trader, is abusing the leeway given to developing countries to subsidize exports or delay opening markets.The United States should “listen to developing countries’ calls for rapid development, opposition to bullying and suppression and aspirations for peace and stability,” said the Chinese spokesman, Geng Shuang.China has insisted it has the right to pursue development in response to complaints by Washington and other trading partners that its industry plans violate Beijing’s market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring companies to hand over technology.U.S. and Chinese negotiators are due to meet in October for a 13th round of talks aimed at ending the trade war. There has been no sign of progress since talks deadlocked in May. “The United States should see China’s development with an open, inclusive and win-win attitude and meet China halfway to control differences on the basis of mutual respect,” Geng said.
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