The head of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank pushed back on Tuesday against U.S. assertions that China’s Belt and Road lending has unfairly saddled poor countries with unsustainable debt.Jin Liqun, AIIB’s president, said during an investment conference panel discussion that debt problems associated with China’s massive infrastructure drive were often the result of long-standing fiscal mismanagement.”The debt problems of these poor countries were accumulated over the years. I don’t think it’s fair to put it down to the Belt and Road initiative,” Jin said at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.He appeared on a panel with World Bank President David Malpass, who as a senior Treasury Department official in the Trump administration was highly critical of Belt and Road lending, telling the U.S. Congress in December 2018 that it “often leaves countries with excessive debt and poor-quality projects.”Jin defended the program’s purpose as being aimed at upgrading infrastructure to improve the growth and development potential of many countries.”But we should learn from the history. For many countries I think the issue is not whether you borrowed the money from outside, it’s how you spend the money you borrow,” Jin said. “You spend it well or not.”He said China borrowed heavily from external sources over the past 40 years, but spent the money “judiciously” and never experienced a debt repayment problem.”You need to look at the debtor. The debtor will speak for themselves,” Jin said. He added that multilateral development banks such as the AIIB and World Bank help debtor countries prioritize which projects they should pursue and which can wait.FILE – World Bank President David Malpass speaks at a news conference during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, April 11, 2019.Malpass agreed that it was important to invest in quality projects that benefit a country’s population and said there needed to be more transparency in infrastructure lending, including the collateral, liens and other terms to avoid hidden clauses in contracts.”The debt burden has been going up so fast that the end result has been quite a few projects that the people of the country didn’t need,” he said, without naming specific cases.In 2017, Sri Lanka handed control of its Chinese-financed Hambantota port to Beijing as it struggled with $8 billion in debt owed to Chinese state-controlled firms. In 2018, Pakistan scaled back a Belt and Road railroad project to cope with mounting debt.
…
Month: October 2019
Hungary Shakes Up Top Jobs in Justice, Highlighting Govt’s Struggle for Influence
Hungary is set to reappoint its chief prosecutor to a new 9-year term and will remove its main judicial administrator, in moves that critics say highlight premier Viktor Orban’s mixed success in influencing the judiciary which remains one of the most independent bodies in Hungarian society.Despite constant clashes with Western partners over the rule of law, the conservative populist Orban has solidified his grip over most walks of Hungarian life.He rejects allegations that his government has eroded checks and balances and has said his strong mandate received in democratic elections empowers his Fidesz party to change laws.While the country’s prosecution system has been under the direct control of chief prosecutor Peter Polt, an Orban loyalist, the National Association of Judges has resisted Orban and has been engulfed in a bitter dispute over administrative attempts to rein it in, via appointments or financial pressure.President Janos Ader, a former head of Fidesz party and Orban’s key ally, proposed reappointing Polt as chief prosecutor for a second nine-year term on Tuesday. He gave no reasoning.Parliament, where Fidesz holds a large majority, will have to confirm Polt.The European Union said in 2019 Hungary lacked determined action to prosecute corruption in high-level cases and “the effective functioning of the prosecution service remains a concern.”Polt has dismissed those claims as “baseless”.Tunde Hando, the wife of Fidesz stalwart and European Parliament member Jozsef Szajer, will leave her position as chair of the judiciary administration a year early.As chief administrator she was ultimately responsible for the operation of the court system, with a say over issues like the nomination of new senior judges or budgeting.Hando said she always acted by the law, adding Hungary’s Constitution makes clear the fundamental division of powers.Balazs Toth, a legal expert at the rights group Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who has represented clients in cases against the government, said Fidesz wants a country without checks and balances, but judges have withstood the propaganda and pressure.Fidesz has nominated Hando to the Constitutional Court, once Hungary’s top arbiter of law but greatly weakened after Orban’s party started to appoint its members.Prosecutors filter criminal cases and decide which cases to investigate and how, choosing which cases to refer to the courts – a power that critics have said it used selectively to block cases detrimental to Fidesz or Orban’s associates.When investigating a case of suspected fraud in 2014 involving Orban’s son-in-law Istvan Tiborcz, Polt’s prosecutors found no wrongdoing. A later probe by the European anti-fraud body OLAF however, detailed alleged fraud totalling 13 billion forints ($44 million) and recommended Hungary investigate.Polt reopened the case but again dismissed it.Tiborcz has not commented on the case, in which he and his business partners were never charged, as matters did not proceed to court.Polt has rejected allegations of complicity.($1 = 296.3900 forints)
…
Guinea-Bissau president names new PM but old one refuses to go
Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named a new prime minister on Tuesday but his sacked predecessor refused to step down, intensifying a bitter power struggle between Vaz and the ruling party weeks ahead of a presidential election.Vaz, who is running for again in the Nov. 24 poll, dissolved the government late on Monday saying the political situation was undermining the normal functioning of state institutions in the West African country.It has suffered repeated bouts of instability since it became independent from Portugal in 1974, including nine coups or attempted coups and a surge in cocaine trafficking from South America that has been linked to senior military officials.The country has been largely peaceful since Vaz came to power in a 2014 election that followed a coup two years earlier.But he has repeatedly clashed over the balance of power in the semi-presidential system with a string of prime ministers put forward by the African Party of the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which controls a majority in parliament.In a decree on Tuesday, Vaz named as prime minister Faustino Fudut Imbali, who served in the same post from 2000-2003 and represents the small Manifest Party of the People.FILE – Aristide Gomes, speaks to journalists, Nov. 13, 2008, at his party’s headquarters in Bissau.Aristides Gomes, who was put forward for the job by PAIGC, told Reuters he was refusing to go: “I am in my office, working.”Gomes said Vaz’s orders were illegitimate since the president’s term technically expired on June 23. West African regional bloc ECOWAS declared a few days later that Vaz could stay in office through to the November election.Vaz won the 2014 presidential election as the PAIGC’s candidate but fell out with the party after sacking his prime minister in 2015. He is now running for re-election as an independent candidate.In a rare political protest, demonstrations from a party opposed to Gomes’s government took to the streets of the capital Bissau at the weekend, demanding the election be postponed so that voter lists could be checked for irregularities.One protester died on Saturday and several were wounded, according to the government, a hospital source and march organizers.Instability in Guinea-Bissau has typically taken the form of military coups, led by officers drawn mostly from a narrow military elite who fought for independence in 1963-1974.
…
With Little Fanfare and No Franco, Spain’s Valley of the Fallen Reopens
Visitors ranging from curious to nostalgic took in the new look of Spain’s Civil War shrine in the Valley of the Fallen, as it reopened on Tuesday five days after the government exhumed the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco from the mausoleum.A black marble slab, noticeably darker than its neighbors, covered the spot in the main basilica which once enclosed the tomb of the general whose name still divides opinion in Spain.Within hours of the site reopening, without fanfare or queues, red and yellow roses — the colors of the Spanish flag — appeared, strewn sparsely over the stone.But Juan Roig, a Spaniard in his late 50s visiting the site, said he felt better knowing that Franco was no longer there.”Much better, sincerely … I hadn’t come before, precisely because (Franco) was buried here. And today is my first time here,” said Roig, visibly moved.Spain’s ruling Socialists had long pledged to remove Franco’s remains and any elements celebrating the fascist dictator from the edifice, which serves as a mass grave for over 34,000 soldiers both nationalist and leftist republican.After the three-year civil war ended in 1939, Franco ordered thousands of republicans’ bodies be moved to the Valley of the Fallen, often against or without their families’ consent. The fact that a dictator was buried alongside his victims was part of the acting government’s rationale for removing his remains on Thursday.But the issue could prove a double-edged sword for the Socialists ahead of a Nov. 10 parliamentary election, Spain’s fourth in as many years, as it appeared to strengthen the far-right Vox party, which had opposed the move, in opinion polls.”On the other hand, so much focus on Franco seemed excessively like marketing to some left-wing voters, with the helicopters — it was all very Hollywood,” said Narciso Michavila, head of polling agency GAD3.For foreign visitors such as Ulrik Soldberg from Denmark, the Valley is a must-see with or without Franco. “We came because we heard so much about it,” Soldberg told Reuters on Tuesday.American tourist Murray Iansky, however, is conscious of the political significance of Franco’s exhumation: “The victors make the history. … Now this is the victory of (Spain’s) new government and democracy and everything.”
…
Boeing CEO Accused of Telling ‘Half-truths’ in 737 MAX Hearing
Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg faced intense grilling by U.S. lawmakers at a hearing on Tuesday over what the company knew about its MCAS stall-prevention system linked to two deadly crashes, and about delays in turning over internal 2016 messages that described erratic behavior of the software in a simulator.The hearing, the highest-profile congressional scrutiny of commercial aviation safety in years, heaps pressure on a newly rejiggered Boeing senior management team fighting to repair trust with airline customers and passengers shaken by an eight-month safety ban on its 737 MAX following the crashes, which killed 346 people.”You have told me half-truths over and over again,” Senator Tammy Duckworth told Muilenburg, questioning why the manufacturer did not disclose more details about MCAS’s lack of safeguards. “You have not told us the whole truth and these families are suffering because of it.”Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., asks a question of Boeing Company President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg on Capitol Hill, Oct. 29, 2019, during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing.Duckworth said the pilots did not know enough about MCAS.”You set those pilots up for failure.”Muilenburg acknowledged errors in failing to give pilots more information on MCAS before the crashes, as well as for taking months to disclose that it had made optional an alarm that alerts pilots to a mismatch of flight data on the 737 MAX.”We’ve made mistakes and we got some things wrong. We’re improving and we’re learning,” he said.Senator Jon Tester noted Boeing had won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to avoid having to add new crew alerts because it would have been expensive. “It wouldn’t have happened if FAA would have been doing their job and it also wouldn’t have happened if you had known what the hell was going on,” he said.Tester, a Montana senator, said widescale changes were needed. “I would walk before I would get on a 737 MAX. I would walk. There is no way … You shouldn’t be cutting corners and I see corners being cut.”Taking turns to grill Muilenburg during his first appearance at a hearing on Capitol Hill in the year since the first crash in Indonesia, senators suggested Boeing had not been completely honest and expressed dismay that the 2016 instant messages did not prompt an immediate reaction from the company.Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asks a question of Boeing Company President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg on Capitol Hill, Oct. 29, 2019, during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing.Senator Ted Cruz said he could not understand why the messages did not prompt an immediate response from Boeing senior management, saying the exchange about the problems “describes what happened in Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.”He questioned why Muilenburg did not read the messages earlier.”How did your team not put in front of you, run in with their hair on fire saying ‘we have a real problem here’?” Cruz said, asking why the messages did not prompt a “nine-alarm fire.”For months, Boeing had largely failed to acknowledge blame, instead vowing to make a “safe plane safer.” Tuesday’s hearing represents Boeing’s broadest acceptance of responsibility that it made mistakes but Muilenburg stopped short of what some lawmakers and family members had sought.Despite the tough questions, Boeing shares were up 2.1% at $348.01 on Tuesday afternoon.U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, questioned Muilenburg over the company’s delay in releasing the IMs in which a former test pilot described erratic behavior of a simulator version of the MCAS software and also mentioned “Jedi-mind tricking” regulators over training requirements.Wicker said those messages revealed a “disturbing level of casualness and flippancy.”The FAA is demanding significant new safeguards to MCAS before the plane can fly again.Flying CoffinsIn his opening remarks, Muilenburg walked the committee through software upgrades to limit the authority of the stall-prevention system that has been linked to both crashes. He also listed changes at the company and its board of directors to improve safety oversight and transparency.During one particularly tense exchange, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington questioned Muilenburg and Vice President for Boeing Commercial Airplanes John Hamilton over the extent of testing on MCAS. Cantwell asked Hamilton whether it was a istake for Boeing not to test a failure mode similar to the scenarios faced by pilots in the crashes.”In hindsight, senator, yes,” Hamilton said. Both he and Muilenburg, however, pointed to extensive testing by engineers and pilots during the certification process that lasted years.Muilenburg also acknowledged a “mistake on that implementation” for failing to tell the FAA for 13 months that it inadvertently made a so-called angle of attack disagree alert optional on the 737 MAX, instead of standard as on earlier 737s.The company insisted the missing display represented no safety risk.”One of the things we’ve learned … is we need to provide additional information on MCAS to pilots,” Muilenburg said.Rep. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., displays an email exchange behind him as he questions Boeing Company President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg as he testifies before a Senate committee hearing, Oct. 29, 2019.At one point, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut referred to the 737 MAX as “flying coffins.”Asked ahead of the hearing if he would resign, Muilenburg said that was “not where my focus is.””These two accidents occurred on my watch and I have a keen sense of responsibility,” said Muilenburg, who was stripped of his title as Boeing chairman by the board earlier this month.Family members, holding photos of victims of the crash, were seated just three rows behind Muilenburg during his testimony.Justin Green, co-chair of the Ethiopian Airlines plaintiffs’ committee, said, “Mr. Muilenburg has been apologetic in his testimony, but it is more important to my clients that Boeing do the right things than for it to say the right things.” He noted “Boeing denies responsibility for punitive damages.”Indonesian investigators reported Friday that Boeing, acting without adequate oversight from U.S. regulators, failed to grasp risks in the design of cockpit software on the 737 MAX, sowing the seeds for the Oct. 29, 2018, crash of Lion Air Flight 610.On Tuesday, Muilenburg denied Boeing’s initial statements about the investigative findings from the Lion Air crash sought to shift blame onto pilots.Muilenburg also rejected a characterization of Boeing’s “coziness with the FAA,” though he said the certification process “can be improved.”Muilenburg was then asked why Boeing had not grounded the plane in the wake of Lion Air Crash. “If we could go back, we would make a different decision,” he said.
…
US House Lawmakers Rebuke Turkey for Syria Invasion
The U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation on Tuesday sanctioning Turkey in a move aimed at reasserting congressional oversight of U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy.The legislation, co-sponsored by Democratic House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and ranking Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, would punish senior Turkish officials involved in the decision to invade northern Syria and perpetrate human rights abuses against the Kurds. The House passed the bill by a 403-16 vote.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about Turkey and Syria at the White House in Washington, Oct. 7, 2019.Trump announced the U.S. had brokered a “permanent” Turkish cease-fire in Syria last week, lifting sanctions imposed against Turkey via executive order. But U.S. lawmakers have expressed continued concern about the long-term impact of Trump’s unexpected decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, clearing the way for Turkish incursion into the area and endangering the United States’ Kurdish allies in the fight against Islamic State.Trump ordered the withdrawal of troops from northern Syria following a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was poised to invade Syria to create a buffer zone and to drive away Kurdish troops and civilians.Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Oct. 16, 2019, as they depart for Turkey.”This bill incentivizes Turkey to comply with the cease-fire. If they do not, there will be consequences in the form of crippling sanctions,” McCaul said Tuesday.The Protect Against Conflict with Turkey Act (PACT) would prevent sales of arms to Turkey for use in Syria, penalize Turkish financial institutions involved in the military sector and mandate U.S. reporting on Erdogan’s net assets and finances.Engel noted the legislation also requires the Trump administration to come up with a comprehensive strategy to combat a revival of IS in the region and to safeguard Kurdish partners.Earlier this month, the House passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria by a vote of 354-60. The Turkish sanctions bill that was passed Tuesday still has to pass the Republican-majority U.S. Senate and gain the president’s signature before becoming law.House lawmakers paired the sanctions bill with a piece of legislation that has long proved to be a sore point in U.S.-Turkish relations. A resolution affirming U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide passed by a 405-11 vote, after resolutions have failed to come up for a vote in one form or another for decades.The U.S. government has never formally recognized the murder of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 to 1923 as a genocide.House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., arrives for a gathering of the House Democratic Caucus as Congress returns for the fall session, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 10, 2019.”Turkey has not come to grips that this was a genocide,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday. Hoyer said it was important to acknowledge genocides to ensure they never happen again. “The Turks are somehow taking this as if we are alleging that the present government or previous governments have committed to genocide. I don’t believe that’s the case,” he said.Congressman Adam Schiff, sponsor of the legislation, told VOA’s Armenian Service that House passage of the resolution was “long overdue. And it is my hope that the passage of this resolution will bring about annual recognition of the genocide and much better education of the people in this country of the facts of that very dark chapter in human history.”The resolution has two Republican co-sponsors — Congressman Gus Bilirakis of Florida, and Congressman Peter King of New York — but did receive some criticism during floor debate.Republican Congressman Michael Burgess noted that other House resolutions have acknowledged injustices committed against the Armenians, and argued lawmakers’ time was better spent funding the government and securing the U.S.-Mexico border.Arman Tarjimanyan, Armenian Service contributed to this report.
…
DRC Unrest Sparks Concerns of Regional Refugee Crisis
Months of unrelenting militia attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are driving more people from their homes, adding to the millions already displaced and threatening to spread insecurity elsewhere in Africa’s Great Lakes region, observers warn.This week, people fleeing the conflict lugged small children and possessions as they trekked across the DRC’s eastern border into Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.They fault the Mai Mai, a general name for the scores of armed fighting groups that have engaged in ethnic clashes for decades. Since May, attackers have burned about 160 villages of Banyamulenge ethnic Tutsis, killed at least 200 people, stolen cattle that provide their livelihoods, and forced more than 200,000 to flee, according to Congo Today, a nonprofit group that promotes peace and reconciliation among Congolese tribes. FILE – Congolese families, who fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, prepare meals at United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Kyangwali refugee settlement camp, Uganda, March 19, 2018.”They say they do not want to see people of our ethic background,” a Congolese Tutsi woman told VOA on Monday as she tried to quiet her wailing children. She said they had walked for two weeks to reach safety in the southern Uganda town of Bunagana.”We are innocent; we have done nothing against them,” said the woman, who did not wish to disclose her identity. “They say that they do not want to hear us speak in this language; that we are not Congolese.”Uganda appeals for helpThe U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 4.5 million people are displaced in the DRC’s Kasai, Tanganyika, Ituri and Kivu regions, with “hundreds of thousands more” fleeing to Angola, Zambia and other neighboring countries.Uganda harbors more than 1 million refugees — including 384,000 Congolese, some 48,000 of whom have arrived this year — according to a spokesman for the UNHCR’s operations there.On Monday, Ecweru Musa Francis, the Ugandan cabinet minister in charge of refugees, told VOA his country was exhausting its ability to adequately care for refugees. He appealed for more aid and relief supplies from the international community. Meeting of military leadersWith an eye toward regional security, military leaders from Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda met last week in the DRC’s eastern border town of Goma. They were expected to commit to a joint operation against rebel forces, but they didn’t come to terms. Some Congolese blame DRC authorities for their country’s insecurity.”It is the government that is finishing us,” Muhire Meshach, an ethnic Tutsi chief of South Kivu’s Mibunda area, told an Oct. 7 gathering of central and local government officials, the Congolese army and a representative of MONUSCO, the U.N.’s stabilizing force in the DRC. Meshach’s comments were captured by the Mulenge Press Channel, based in the DRC’s South Kivu province, and shared on YouTube. Inamahoro Inarukundo echoed the chief’s sentiment. A nurse at the Mikarati Health Center in South Kivu, she told VOA’s Central Africa Service as she was fleeing the community on foot: “We have realized that the government is our first enemy. They help and provide ammunition to those who are killing us. They stand by and watch instead of defending their citizens.”Warnings of more strifeA Congolese parliamentarian disputes that notion.Speaking on VOA’s “Straight Talk Africa” last week, Lambert Mende said, “If those allegations are true, I would say such an officer is not fit to serve in the government’s forces.”Mende is a former DRC communications minister who is now a member of the United Congolese Convention, part of the ruling coalition. He warned that foreign influence could heighten instability in the region. “When a domestic dispute occurred, some people who are not implicated locally trying to serve foreign interests joined in. If we do not clear these issues, it will become a real furnace that nobody will be able to extinguish,” he said on the program.Another “Straight Talk” speaker, Jean-Paul Ruhosha of Congo Today, also warned of an increasing humanitarian crisis if the attacks continue.”We call upon the government and the international community to intervene immediately,” he said.This report originated with VOA’s Central Africa Service. Geoffrey Mutagoma reported from Washington, with Vedaste Ngabo contributing from South Kivu Province in the DRC and Ignatius Bahizi contributing from Kampala, Uganda.
…
Hong Kong Protesters Use Skin and Ink to Support Movement
Mike Chan’s tattoo needle buzzes gently as he draws a design on his customer’s thigh — a figure wearing a helmet, goggles and mask.
Dipping his needle into pots of black, red and yellow ink, Chan hunches over his client’s leg as he painstakingly brings to life the image of a Hong Kong protester clad in protective gear.
Using his art is Chan’s way of contributing to Hong Kong’s anti-government protest movement, which has consumed the semi-autonomous Chinese territory for months.While groups of hardcore protesters tangling with riot police have become the movement’s most visible symbol, others are using skin and ink to show their support.
“I am actually just a peaceful protester. I really want to go to the front line, but I don’t have the courage yet to stand and fight against the government at the front because I’m very frightened,” said Mary, who was getting the thigh tattoo, her first.A client who goes by the single name Mary chooses a tattoo image depicting protective gear-wearing protesters from a computer display in Hong Kong, Oct. 23, 2019.She chose her thigh because she could easily cover it up. She would reveal only her first name because she didn’t want anyone she works with to find out.Many protesters have sought to conceal their identities with face masks to avoid being identified, out of fear of arrest.
Hong Kong’s protest movement erupted in June in opposition to an extradition bill that would have sent suspects to stand trial in mainland China, and later expanded to include full democracy and police accountability.Rallies have frequently ended in mayhem, with hardcore protesters wearing goggles and gas masks throwing bricks and firebombs at police armed with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons.Now in its fifth month, the unrest has polarized the city.
Mary, 29, said she has taken part in mass protests that involved peaceful activity, such as singing along to the movement’s anthem.
But she added, “I really admire front-line protesters who fight at the front and are not afraid of getting arrested or being beaten up. Not everyone has this courage.”
Mary said she had been thinking about getting a protest tattoo for about two months. She hoped that it would inspire her friends to get them too.
Chan, who has been working as a tattoo artist for two years, said demand took off after he started doing the protest tattoos for free in July, though it has tapered off more recently.Tattoo artist Mike Chan’s needle buzzes gently as he draws a design on his customer’s thigh — a figure wearing a helmet, goggles and mask — in Hong Kong, Oct. 23, 2019.
“I do these resistance tattoos free of charge because I see this as part of protesting,” said Chan, comparing himself to supporters handing out free water bottles during rallies in Hong Kong’s sweltering heat.
He offers a few dozen variations of the mask and goggles figure for free and has done about 70 of them.
“I want to give them a choice, not just like a stamp that’s all the same,” he said.He charges for other protest-themed tattoos such as slogans like “Free Hong Kong” and “Fight for freedom” done in calligraphy, because they take more time.
Tattoos in Hong Kong used to have unsavory connotations, usually signifying that the bearer was a member of an organized crime gang. But Chan and Mary say those attitudes have changed in recent years and their acceptance as an art form has grown.
After about half an hour, Chan is finished and Mary shows off her thigh, now decorated with a stylized figure of a protester wearing a yellow helmet, goggles and respirator mask with pink filters.
Even though it’s permanent, Mary said she’d never regret it.
“Because of what has happened over the past few months, you actually can’t speak out much or do anything much,” she said. “This is the only thing that you can do to remember this for the rest of your life.”
…
Russia says Kurds Complete Withdrawal From Turkish Border
Russia’s defense minister said Tuesday that Syrian Kurdish fighters have completed their withdrawal from areas along the Syrian border, in line with a recent Russia-Turkey deal. Sergei Shoigu said Russian and Syrian troops have moved into the border zone following the Kurdish withdrawal.
Separately, a Russian military statement said an explosive device went off near Russian armored vehicles near the Darbasiyah border checkpoint, but there were no injuries or damage.
Last week’s Russia-Turkey deal to divide control of northeast Syria has halted the Turkish invasion of the area. Ankara aimed to drive out Syrian Kurdish forces there.
The Kurdish-led forces had been U.S. allies during a five-year campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria. But U.S. forces withdrew from the area, allowing the Turkish offensive. The Kurds have since turned to Russia and the Syrian government in Damascus for protection.
Moscow and Ankara have agreed that Turkey gets to retain control over the areas it seized when it launched its offensive on Oct. 9. Russian and Syrian troops will control the rest of the frontier.
Russia and Turkey are set to conduct joint patrols of areas east and west of the Turkish-held parts of the border area.
Later Tuesday, Turkey’s communications director Fahrettin Altun tweeted that his country’s forces would verify whether the Syrian Kurdish fighters had withdrawn once those joint patrols begin.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry didn’t immediately say if the Kurds have met the deadline. It said Russian and Turkish military officials completed a second day of talks about implementing last week’s deal struck by Moscow and Ankara to divide control of northeast Syria, but didn’t provide further details.
The Syrian Kurdish fighters had until 3 p.m. GMT to pull back to positions about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Turkish border. Ankara has threatened to resume its offensive if the Kurdish militias did not retreat.
…
Xi Jinping’s Blockchain Gambit Suggests Lively Communist Party Plenum
China’s ruling Communist Party has begun its long-awaited Fourth Plenum this week — a four-day closed-door meeting that is expected to set major policies for years to come and discuss crises ranging from Hong Kong to China’s nearly 2-year-old trade war with the United States.In the lead-up to the plenum, President Xi Jinping has called for China to urgently invest in blockchain technology, the innovative but still largely unproven technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Some analysts are viewing the proposal as a long-shot bid to stimulate an economy that has been hard hit by the trade dispute with Washington.”We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies,” Xi was quoted as having told the Political Bureau of the ruling party’s Central Committee last week.”[We must] clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation.” The remarks sparked a surge in the value of Bitcoin and other blockchain-related products and technologies.A blockchain is a time-stamped series of immutable data records, managed by cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. The technology relies for security on a highly decentralized network or a democratized system, which runs counter to the Chinese leadership’s usual insistence on centralized power.
Blockchain fever
“Xi’s rushing to touch upon [blockchain technology] and fueling the blockchain fever shows that he couldn’t find other feasible stories to boost the local economy,” said a Chinese economics professor who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about Chinese economic policy.
He added the technology is still in its early stage of development in China, with fraudulent activities being exposed from time to time.
The economist predicted a heated discussion on blockchain during the plenum, given the pressure on the ruling party to find answers to the slowing economy and rising unemployment. But that debate is unlikely to end with agreement on a clear policy direction, he said, given the party’s reluctance to ease its control over the political and economic landscape.Chinese soldiers and security personnel secure the main entrance of the Jingxi Hotel, site of the Fourth Plenum of China’s Communist Party Central Committee, in Beijing, Oct. 28, 2019.Rivalry with WashingtonThis week’s plenum comes at a critical point in the U.S.-China trade war, with the two countries expected to complete a preliminary deal next month addressing some of the more difficult issues.Analysts say Xi has no choice but to secure approval at the plenum for concessions that will be included in that deal. But the economics professor doubts the plenum will produce much progress toward a broader resolution of the trade dispute.Nevertheless, Chinese political analyst Willy Lam said, striking a deal with Washington will remain Xi’s top priority since China cannot afford to go back to being a self-reliant economy. That leaves him little choice but to seek support from the top policy-making body.Xi “will get the backing of the central committee on reaching a deal with the U.S. through making some concessions regarding opening up the market to multinationals in the financial sector, the protection of intellectual property rights, and also, cutting pay subsidies on certain Chinese state enterprises,” Lam said.
“So these are institutional issues which go against Xi Jinping’s belief in the party’s tight controls over the economy.”
Reaching a deal soon?
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that negotiations for the so-called phase one of the U.S.-China trade deal were “ahead of schedule.”
“That would take care of the farmers. It would take care of some of the other things. It will also take care of a lot of the banking needs,” the president said.
Trump had previously hinted that China plans to buy $50 billion worth of U.S. agricultural goods and that such a deal could be signed during his planned summit with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile on Nov. 16-17.
The Fourth Plenum, attended by the party’s roughly 370-member Central Committee, is being held at the Jingxi Hotel in west Beijing. The official theme of the plenum is how to “modernize China’s system and capacity for governance.”A Chinese paramilitary soldier secures an entrance at the Jingxi Hotel in Beijing, Oct. 28, 2019.Tight security
Security around the hotel is tight, with police stopping traffic and searching passersby in the vicinity. Foreign media and many Chinese reporters have been denied access.
Outspoken dissidents including veteran journalist Gao Yu are said to have been placed under house arrest or close surveillance for days.
In spite of the stress on governance in the plenum’s agenda, Lam said little progress can be expected on the issue because Xi is not really interested in reform. He predicted the top leader will take advantage of the meeting to further consolidate his power.
According to Lam, several market-oriented members of the Central Committee during the plenum have urged Beijing to reconsider electoral reforms in Hong Kong by allowing the popular election of the city’s chief executive. But any such proposal will likely be vetoed.
“Xi Jinping’s position is much more conservative. He will not allow political reforms to be discussed regarding Hong Kong. He will emphasize the use of harsh routes: arrest more people because, so far, more than 2,500 protesters have been arrested. So, [he’s] putting the emphasis on the use of police forces including deploying more police officers from Quangdong in Hong Kong,” Lam said.
…
NGOs: Greek Migration Overhaul Threatens Rights
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and MSF on Tuesday said a new Greek migration law was “extremely harmful” to vulnerable asylum-seekers.The groups said the bill currently being debated in Greece’s parliament introduces stricter rules for receiving asylum seekers, delays access to the right to work, narrows the definition of family, and imposes more burdens on torture victims in being recognized as such.Eva Cosse, Greece researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the new law “is a naked attempt to block access to protection and increase deportations” amid increasing arrivals.Greece has once again become the main point of entry for people seeking asylum in Europe, posing a challenge for the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis which took over in July.According to HRW, over 53,000 asylum seekers have reached Greek islands from Turkey this year, compared to 42,000 during the same period in 2018.Despite regular relocations to the mainland, there are over 34,000 people living in “abysmal” conditions in Greek island camps, HRW said.Facing a huge backlog of over 70,000 asylum claims, the government has vowed to stiffen its response with stepped-up patrols to deter migrant boats and to send 10,000 people back to Turkey next year.”Waves of refugees and economic migrants are now besieging European countries,” Mitsotakis said earlier this month.On Tuesday, he said that Greece “cannot shoulder the problems of three continents” in reference to migration.Eleni Takou, deputy director of civil society group HumanRights360, on Tuesday criticized the conservative government’s language on the issue as “toxic”, and claimed it incites intolerance.Last week, residents of the village of Nea Vrasna in northern Greece threw stones at buses carrying nearly 400 migrants, forcing authorities to relocate them hundreds of kilometers (miles) to the south.The northern Athens suburb of Penteli has also refused to allow a group of unaccompanied minors to settle in an abandoned hospital.
…
Federal Judge Blocks Alabama’s Tough Abortion Law
A federal judge blocked an Alabama abortion ban Tuesday that would have made the procedure a felony at any stage of pregnancy in almost all cases.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a preliminary injunction blocking Alabama from enforcing the law, which would have called for a sentence of 10 years to life in prison for the abortion provider with no exceptions for rape or incest.Anti-abortion activists march towards the U.S. Supreme Court, during the March for Life in Washington Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. (Photo by Diaa Bekheet)Alabama legislators approved the measure this year, hoping to mount a court challenge to abortion rights. Abortion providers sued to stop the law from going into effect.
Randall Marshall, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision was expected.
The law was set to take effect next month and is the most hardline of the anti-abortion measures enacted this year as states emboldened by the new conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court take aim at Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
…
Floods in Cameroon Claim 13, Render Hundreds Homeless
Authorities in Cameroon have deployed soldiers and rescue workers after a torrential downpour caused a landslide that killed at least 34 people overnight near the western town of Bafoussam. Rescue workers spent Tuesday searching through the wreckage of destroyed homes.Heavy rains Tuesday in a neighborhood called Carrefour Ngouache have not stopped rescue workers from digging through mounds of mud and debris.The workers are hoping to find more survivors, but are mostly searching for bodies trapped in the landslide that occurred late on Monday night.Augustine Awah Fonka, governor of the region, said he has called in four bulldozers to help clear away the crumbled houses.”There are several corpses that are buried in here,” she said. “The rescue operations are still ongoing, so at the end of it we will be able to identify the number of persons that are actually dead. But of course it is clear that we have to ask the people who are residents in this area to leave the area, because the area is actually very dangerous.”Thirty-four corpses have been pulled from the rubble so far and taken to the mortuary of the regional hospital in Bafoussam. More than 30 people are still missing.At least 70 people sustained injuries in the landslide. Some were taken to hospitals, where six are in critical conditions. About 20 houses were completely destroyed.Nzonkewe Tanyi, 61, says he is still in search of three of his children and uncle.He says it was very difficult for them who were in relatively safer areas to assist those who were crying help because the incident occurred at about 10 p.m. on Monday night when places were dark and they did not have electricity. He says his prayer is to find his relatives alive.Cameroon minister of decentralization George Elanga Obam visited the site and handed over a $50,000 donation from the government. He said the money is help those who have lost all of their belongings and are hungry without food and water.Obam suggested that survivors rebuild their houses elsewhere. He says it is rather unfortunate that so many families decided risk their lives by settling on the zone which is prone to flooding and landslides. He says the cause of the incident is the rains that have been pouring ceaselessly over the past two weeks.Less than two weeks ago, heavy rains and floods also left at least 100,000 people homeless on both sides of the border between northern Cameroon and Chad.
…
Can Sudan’s Railway, Once Largest in Africa, Get Back on Track?
Sudan once had the largest railway network in Africa, with most of the train cars obtained from the United States. But decades of negligence, economic troubles, and U.S. sanctions have made the railway reliant on Chinese-made trains and parts that it can hardly afford. With the recent ouster of Omar al-Bashir, the railway’s supporters are hoping the United States will soon lift sanctions to help restore it to its former glory.Sixty-five-year-old Mahdi Yassin has been working for the Sudan Railways Corporation since 1972.Yassin remembers the railway’s glory days, when it was the largest in Africa, running 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) from the Egyptian Red Sea and crisscrossing Sudan to what is now South Sudan.Yassin said Jebait school was graduating one hundred students per year – all qualified to work on the railway. It was a strong corporation. There was abundance in spare parts and locomotives.But the railway fell apart through mismanagement and a fear of organized labor’s influence on the economy and politics.Now, railway workshops in Sudan look like a graveyard, littered with dozens of vehicles, some of them idle for decades.Sudan fired thousands of qualified rail workers, replacing some with political appointees put in place after former president Omar al-Bashir came to power.Sudanese civilians ride on the train to join the celebrations of the signing of the power sharing deal, that paves the way for a transitional government, in Khartoum, Aug. 17, 2019.Railway workers hope Bashir’s ouster in April will encourage the United States to lift sanctions it imposed on Sudan for human rights abuses and harboring terrorists.Mahmoud Salih, director of engineers in the Khartoum train workshop, said if the sanctions are lifted, they can at least be updated with the technology of the trains. Salih added that Sudan is so late to update the current technology, it’s functioning with the past century’s technology, they need to update and then develop.After the British colonial era, the state-run railway became reliant on U.S. trains and replacement parts. But because of sanctions, Khartoum has been unable to buy U.S. parts leaving only 18 of the railway’s 106 U.S.-made trains in service.Sudan Railways corporation director Mohamed Hamid said the railway turned to China to keep the trains running.Hamid said when the U.S. embargo cut out everything; they had to import their spare parts and needs from other countries. He said that they resorted to China, they have the American locomotives and, of course, China cannot produce the American spare parts, especially the main machines from Caterpillar (Inc.), so what they were going to do?Importing a few Chinese trains in 2014 allowed Sudan to launch two new passenger lines. But poor track conditions means the trains can only go 60 kilometers per hour – half their maximum speed.Before Yassin retires at the end of this year, he hopes to see U.S. sanctions lifted and more efforts by Sudan’s transitional government to get the country’s railways back on track.
…
Unique School Immerses Students in Native American Arts
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a unique college has been immersing students in Native American contemporary arts and culture for more than 55 years. The one-of-a-kind school draws both native and non-native Americans from across the country who wish to explore their artistic abilities while learning more about the diverse range of native cultures in their homeland. VOA’s Julie Taboh takes us on a tour.
…
Vaccine Shows Promise for Preventing Active TB Disease
An experimental vaccine proved 50% effective at preventing latent tuberculosis infection from turning into active disease in a three-year study of adults in Africa.Doctors were encouraged because protection declined only a little after two years, and even a partially effective vaccine would be a big help against TB. The lung disease kills more than a million people a year, mostly in poor countries, and about one-third of the world’s people harbor the bacteria that cause it.Results were reported Tuesday at a conference in India, the country hardest hit by TB, and published by the New England Journal of Medicine.There is a TB vaccine now, but it’s given only to very young children and partly prevents severe complications. Researchers have been seeking a vaccine that also works in adults, to curb spread of the disease.
GlaxoSmithKline’s experimental vaccine was tested in nearly 3,600 adults in Kenya, South Africa and Zambia who were infected with TB but who did not also have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Half were given two doses of vaccine a month apart and the rest got dummy shots. Thirteen people in the vaccine group and 26 in the other group developed active TB.
The new results show that “the vaccine is holding up” over time, and mark an important step toward having a prevention tool that’s been sought for 100 years, said Dr. Paula Fujiwara, scientific director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, the group hosting the conference in Hyderabad, India.Plans are underway for another, definitive study, which will take at least several more years, she said.
After two-year results were announced last year, the World Health Organization called the vaccine a major breakthrough and has been holding meetings to discuss how to further its development.
…
EU-Led Conference Raises $133M for Venezuela Migrants
A “solidarity conference” has raised around 120 million euros ($133 million) in fresh money to help Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-wracked country, and in particular to assist neighboring communities struggling to host them, the European Union announced Tuesday.
About 4.5 million people have fled Venezuela in recent years to escape low wages, failing basic services and a lack of security. If departures continue at the same rate, the numbers are set to surpass as early as next year the 5.6 million who have left war-torn Syria since 2011.
Most people are being hosted in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Announcing the new funds, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the 120 million-euro effort “is quite remarkable” given that the two-day meeting was aimed at raising awareness about the plight of Latin America’s biggest exodus in recent memory and was not a donor conference.
Mogherini urged the international community to put the plight of Venezuelans at the top of its agenda, and not to give in to donor fatigue.
“It’s the best investment we can do,” she told reporters. “If we had invested a little bit, to support the Syrian migrant crisis, or other migrant crises, early in the process, we would have not only saved lives but also saved money.”
The South American nation of roughly 30 million people is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis. People live in fear of anything from violent street protests to a massive power failure. The International Monetary Fund says inflation is expected to hit a staggering 200,000% this year.
Colombia hosts the greatest number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants — an estimated 1.4 million people — while Peru is sheltering some 860,000. Chile, Ecuador and Brazil have each taken in hundreds of thousands more.
Organizers hope the meeting, which involved around 120 delegations from governments, international agencies and charity groups, will lead to a donor conference next year.
…
Argentina’s Grossi Chosen to Head UN Nuclear Agency
Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been chosen as the new head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, succeeding the late Yukiya Amano.Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors selected Grossi as its new director general.
Grossi is Argentina’s ambassador to the Vienna-based IAEA.Three other candidates were nominated for the job: Cornel Feruta of Romania, its chief coordinator under Amano and the acting director general since his death; Marta Ziakova of Slovakia; and Lassina Zerbo of Burkina Faso.Amano died in July.
…
Tokyo Officials Feud with IOC over Olympic Marathon Switch
Tokyo city officials are in a public feud with the International Olympic Committee over IOC plans – made without consulting the city or local organizers – to move next year’s Tokyo Olympic marathons 800 kilometers (500 miles) north to Sapporo to avoid the capital’s summer heat.The abrupt decision to shift the marathons and race walks was announced almost two weeks ago by the IOC.Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is angry about it. Her allies say no change is needed and have raised questions about who will pay if the move goes through, and have not ruled out a lawsuit to recover damages.Taro Shirato and Hiroshi Yamada, members of Koike’s political party in the metropolitan legislature, told a news conference Tuesday that moving the marathon would cost at least $34 billion yen (about $310 million).The IOC said it is making the change, thinking first of athletes’ safety from Tokyo’s blistering summer heat.Koike’s allies offered a different take. Koike is one of Japan’s most influential politicians and just a few years ago was viewed as a potential candidate for prime minister. And she’s miffed about not being consulted.”Although they (IOC) talk about so-called athletes first, this can only be perceived as IOC first,” Shirato said through an interpreter.”You get the sense that no considerations have been made for the athletes,” Shirato added, “or the spectators who had already bought their tickets and who were looking forward to these events, or the potential spectators who will be cheering on the streets, and also to the people involved in the operation.”In a statement to The Associated Press, the Tokyo city government said it wants to see “sufficient scientific evidence” to justify the switch. It also asked if any other city was considered besides Sapporo.Don’t expect the IOC to budge. It has inspectors in Tokyo this week looking at preparations with the Olympics opening in just under nine months on July 24.IOC member John Coates heads the team and is an ally to President Thomas Bach. He has said repeatedly the IOC does not intend to change its plans, and has told that to Koike.The IOC fears worldwide television audiences might see a repeat of the recent world track and field championships in Doha, Qatar, where 28 of 68 starters failed to finish the women’s marathon and 18 of 73 men failed to complete the course.The races started at midnight in Doha with TV showing runners collapsing on the course. The scenes apparently shocked IOC President Thomas Bach.Yamada acknowledged the heat posed a risk. He said Tokyo has proposed moving the start to 5 a.m., which is mid-summer sunrise in Tokyo. Last week city officials also floated the idea of a 3 a.m. start.Estimates suggest the temperature would be 27 degrees C (81 degrees F) at 5 a.m., and would be 25.4 degrees C (78 degrees F) in Sapporo for a 7 a.m. start. The starting temperature in Doha for the women’s marathon was 32.7 degrees C (91 degrees F).Yamada described the starting temperatures in Tokyo and Sapporo “on a par.””We do recognize and understand that the heat is a very important factor, but we do not believe that at this moment it represents an overly excessive risk,” Yamada said.Tokyo’s soaring costs are also a major issue.A government audit report last year said Tokyo was spending about $25 billion to organize the Olympics, all of which is public money except for $5.6 billion from a privately financed operating budget.Tokyo said in its bid in 2013 that the Olympic would cost $7.3 billion.Yamada was asked who would pay for the increased costs.”In the event this is changed to Sapporo, then I believe the citizens of Tokyo will not be convinced they need to pay,” Yamada said. “What I can say is that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government should not be the one to pay.”Asked if the Tokyo government might sue for damages, Yamada hedged.”That’s very difficult to respond to, but I believe in terms of discussions we need to clarify the legal context,” Yamada said.Tokyo organizing committee president Toshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister, seems to have sided with the IOC and not with Koike. He suggested a few days ago that it was a done deal.”Can we say no to the plan that the IOC and International Association of Athletics Federations already supported?” Mori said. “It’s not a question of good or bad, but we just have to accept it.”He also said cost was a major issue in moving the marathon.”Our overall cost has become a humongous amount, so it would cause us pain if the cost is added to our bill,” Mori said. “So I mentioned that to Mr. Coates, and he said he will look into it. We won’t be able to pay if it’s a significant damage to our finances. I have reminded him of that.”
…
China Accuses US of ‘Economic Bullying’ Over Equipment Ban
China on Tuesday accused the U.S. of “economic bullying behavior” after U.S. regulators cited security threats in proposing to cut off funding for Chinese equipment in U.S. telecommunications networks.China would “resolutely oppose the U.S. abusing state power to suppress specific Chinese enterprises with unwarranted charges in the absence of any evidence,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a daily briefing.
“The economic bullying behavior of the U.S. is a denial of the market economy principle that the U.S. has always advertised,” Geng said, adding the U.S. actions would “undermine the interests” of U.S. businesses and consumers, especially in rural areas.
“We would like to urge the U.S. once again to stop abusing the concept of national security,” Geng said.The Federal Communications Commission votes next month on whether to bar telecom companies from using government subsidies to pay for networking equipment from Huawei and ZTE.
The move mostly affects small, rural companies, since larger U.S. wireless companies do not use equipment from the two Chinese firms.The agency is also exploring the impact of requiring companies to rip out their current Huawei and ZTE equipment, a demand a trade group for small rural wireless carriers has said would cost up to $1 billion.
The government is seeking comments on how it can help companies financially if they’re required to do that. Bills in Congress have proposed setting $700 million to $1 billion aside for telecom companies to replace their networks.The U.S. government says Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of telecom gear and No. 2 smartphone manufacturer, poses an espionage threat. It has presented no evidence of its equipment being used for spying by the Chinese government and both Huawei and ZTE have denied their equipment is used for such purposes.
The U.S. government also has been pressuring allies to ban Huawei from their networks and has restricted exports of U.S. technology to Huawei.
…
US Captured Prisoner Combatants During Baghdadi Raid
More details are emerging about the daring U.S. military raid that took out Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Saturday. Once a powerful self-declared caliph, Baghdadi was found hiding in a tunnel as U.S. special forces closed in on capturing him. Cornered with no exit, he blew up himself and his three children.U.S. forces took Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s remains from a tunnel under the Islamic State leader’s hideout, reduced to rubble by U.S. air power, confirming his identification through DNA testing before burying him at sea.Officials are hopeful the treasure trove of data collected from the compound will aid American forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces they are partnering with.Meantime, President Donald Trump has turned his focus to another asset: oil fields in northeast Syria.“But we’re keeping the oil — remember that. I’ve always said that: ‘Keep the oil.’ We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month? Keep the oil,” Trump said.Securing the oil fields is now part of America’s mission, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper added U.S. forces would defend them from Russian and Syrian forces, if necessary.“We want to make sure the SDF does have access to the resources in order to guard the prisons, in order to arm their own troops, in order to assist us with the defeat-ISIS mission,” Esper said.A convoy of U.S. troops left Syria days ago amid cheers and taunts, but Esper tells VOA another convoy of American forces re-entered Syria Sunday to help resupply troops and prepare for the withdrawal that President Trump wants.“My expectation is that there will be fewer than we had before and they will be going home,” he said.But with forces flowing both in and out of Syria, it’s unclear how long the withdrawal will take.
…
Costs of GM Deal Could Make Talks With Ford, FCA Difficult
Just after workers ratified a new contract with General Motors last week, the president of the United Auto Workers union put out a statement that Ford would be next for “pattern bargaining.”
That pattern means the UAW will use the GM deal as a template in its talks with Ford, and Fiat Chrysler after that. But it could end up being a problem for both those companies.
GM gave out pay raises and a huge signing bonus, and it didn’t change the union’s top-notch health care that costs members little. In return it won millions in savings because it was able to close three factories that made slow-selling cars and parts.
Here are some questions and answers about what’s facing Ford, which began its negotiations in earnest Monday, and later Fiat Chrysler:
WHAT WILL FORD AND FIAT CHRYSLER OBJECT TO IN THE CONTRACT WITH GM?
GM agreed to raise pay of workers hired after 2007 to top production wages of over $30 per hour within four years. Those workers started around $17 per hour in a concession the union made to reduce labor costs when all three companies were in financial trouble. Both Ford and Fiat Chrysler have more new hires than GM, so the raises will be more expensive for the crosstown rivals, especially Fiat Chrysler. GM has just over 17,000 of the “in-progression” workers, but Ford has 18,500 and FCA has over 20,000.
Ford and Fiat Chrysler also are likely to seek smaller signing bonuses than the $11,000 per worker that GM agreed to, which is expected to cost the company more than a half-billion dollars. It’s unlikely either Ford or Fiat Chrysler will be able to change 4% lump-sum payments to older workers in the first and third years of the four-year deal, and 3% pay raises in years two and four.
WHY DID GM AGREE TO THESE PAYMENTS?
The union’s 40-day strike against GM influenced the contract terms because it cost the company production of 300,000 vehicles and over $2 billion in lost profits, analysts say. But GM got some wins, mainly the ability to close three car and transmission factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; and near Baltimore. GM will build battery cells for electric vehicles at a new plant in the Lordstown area, but it will be run by a joint venture and will pay workers far less than GM pays assembly plant workers.
Art Schwartz, a former GM labor negotiator who now runs a consulting business, said the contract was expensive, but many provisions are for one year only, such as lump-sum payments and the signing bonus. “In collective bargaining, nobody gets everything they want. So you have to prioritize,” Schwartz said. “The key thing for GM was the ability to restructure and run the company and follow their future product plan, and they retained that.”
CAN FORD AND FIAT CHRYSLER CHANGE THE PATTERN?
Not on most of the bigger economic items, but there can be differences. Ford may want to reduce its engine and transmission manufacturing capacity, but it won’t get close to the cost savings that GM got, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of labor and manufacturing at the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank. Ford and FCA can argue that they’re not in as good of financial shape as GM, so the signing bonus should be smaller. The companies have paid different signing bonuses in the past, Dziczek said.
GM also agreed not to change its 49,000 union workers’ health insurance, so they’ll still pay about 3% of the overall cost. Workers at most big U.S. companies pay closer to 30%.
Health care is a big reason why Detroit automakers have higher labor costs than non-union U.S. plants run by foreign automakers. Ford and Fiat Chrysler won’t be able to change the costs, although they might be able to get workers to take steps that make them healthier, such as having them see a primary care physician to get treatment before problems get worse and they end up in a hospital emergency room, Dziczek said.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER STRIKE?
It largely depends on how far Ford or Fiat Chrysler want to depart from the GM agreement. “I don’t want to predict it, but it’s not off the table in any sense,” said Dziczek.
There’s also the federal corruption investigation within the UAW that has implicated the current and previous union presidents, which could test the faith of members in their leadership. That’s especially true at Fiat Chrysler, where a now-deceased UAW vice president took hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from a company-funded training center.
…
Seychelles Leader: No Time for ‘Blame Game’ in Climate Fight
The Seychelles president is warning there’s no time for a “blame game” in the fight against climate change and he urges major nations to do more.President Danny Faure in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press says small island nations like his are the least responsible for the problem but among the most vulnerable as sea levels rise.“The science is clear,” he said. “The scientists have spoken. We all know that we have a problem. What is needed is responsible global action.”
Earlier this year Faure gave a groundbreaking speech from a submersible hundreds of meters below the Indian Ocean surface to highlight the fragility of one of the world’s least explored ecosystems.
He said the time to act on climate change is now.Faure recently visited the British-led Nekton Mission, which earlier this year spent seven weeks surveying Seychelles waters. The island nation of fewer than 100,000 people is on track to protect almost a third of its waters by next year, a sea area larger than Germany.
But already rising water temperatures are bleaching the Seychelles’ coral reefs. The increased frequency of extreme weather events is another threat.Even plastic waste poses a problem.The UNESCO World Heritage site of Aldabra, an important turtle nesting site, receives mounds of plastic waste brought on the waves.“A total of 25,750 kilograms of marine debris was collected, out of which 50,000 single flip flops,” Faure said. “It just shows you the amount of pollution caused by marine debris to one of the pristine sites that we have.”
For the Nekton Mission, marine scientists from the University of Oxford surveyed underwater life, mapped large areas of the sea floor and ventured deep beneath the waves with manned submersibles and remote vehicles.The scientists plan to present their research at a summit on the state of the Indian Ocean in 2022.Researcher Paris Stefanoudis said they are “pretty confident” they have discovered new species, from small zooplankton to soft corals, but the discoveries are yet to be scientifically verified.“There was an incredible diversity and abundance of fish, especially in protected areas like Aldabra, which shows that marine protected areas do work when they are put in place,” Stefanoudis said.Research assistant Nico Fassbender said it is clear the Seychelles’ policy of protecting its waters is working.“It’s reflected in the fish,” he said. “Not just by the amount that we see, as in there’s more fish than on unprotected islands, but also because there’s bigger fish, which then tells us it’s a healthier ecosystem.”Faure said he is hopeful the scientists’ conclusions will give the international community more reason to protect marine areas.“We as a country will be in a position scientifically to say, `This is how we measure and this is the difference,” he said.
…
Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activist Barred from November Local Elections
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong says he has been banned from running in the city’s upcoming local council elections.Wong posted the notice he received from an election commission officer on his Twitter page Tuesday declaring his candidacy invalid. He angrily tweeted that the decision proves “how Beijing manipulate the election with political censorship and screening.” I become the only candidate banned from running in November’s District Council Election as Returning officer, Laura ARON ruled my nomination invalid this morning. It proved how Beijing manipulate the election with political cersorship and screening. pic.twitter.com/mwZNKUApFM— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 ? (@joshuawongcf) October 29, 2019A government spokesman issued a written statement saying Wong’s candidacy was invalidated because he has advocated for “self-determination” for Hong Kong. The 23-year-old Wong, along with fellow student activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, stormed a courtyard on the grounds of the government’s headquarters in September 2014, which led to the “Umbrella Revolution” that shut down several major highways for more than two months, demanding fully free elections. The protests were launched after Beijing reneged on promises of universal suffrage by 2017, but ended without winning any concessions from the Hong Kong government.The semi-autonomous city has been mired in nearly five months of massive and oftentimes violent protests since June, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, along with an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned Tuesday that city’s economy could see negative economic growth this year due to the protests.Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the “one government, two systems” arrangement established when China regained control of the financial hub from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.
…