Month: July 2020

Обиженный карлик пукин доигрался: он думал что обманул Эрдогана в Сочи

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Обиженный карлик пукин доигрался: он думал что обманул Эрдогана в Сочи.

Время показывает, такая реакция Анкары была не просто решительным ситуативным шагом, а началом принуждения путляндии к прекращению войны за Карабах
 

 
 
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Fauci Back on Capitol Hill as Virus Surge Drives New Fears

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Dr. Anthony Fauci returns to Capitol Hill on Friday to testify before a special House panel investigating the coronavirus pandemic. His testimony comes at a time when early progress on combating the virus seems to have been lost and uncertainty clouds the nation’s path forward.The government’s top infectious disease expert is testifying alongside Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Admiral Brett Giroir, a Health and Human Services official and physician serving as the “testing czar.”The panel, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, is divided about how to reopen schools and businesses, mirroring divisions among Americans.A rebound of cases across the South and West has dashed hopes for a quick return to normal life. Problems with the availability and timeliness of testing continue to be reported. And the race for a vaccine, though progressing rapidly, has yet to deliver a breakthrough.Fauci’s public message in recent days has been that Americans can’t afford a devil-may-care attitude toward COVID-19, and individuals need to double down on basic measures such as wearing masks in public, keeping their distance from others, and avoiding crowds and indoor spaces such as bars. That’s echoed by Redfield and Giroir, though they are far less prominent.Fauci’s dogged persistence has drawn the ire of some of President Donald Trump’s supporters and prompted a new round of calls for his firing. But the veteran of battles against AIDS and Ebola has stuck to his message, while carefully avoiding open confrontations with the Trump White House.In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this week, Fauci said he was “disturbed” by the flat-out opposition in parts of the country to wearing masks as a public health protective measure.”There are certain fundamentals,” he said, “the staples of what you need to do … one is universal wearing of masks.”Public health experts say masks help prevent an infected person who has yet to develop symptoms from passing the virus to others. For the mask wearer, there’s also some evidence that they can offer a degree of protection from an infected person nearby.Fauci said in his AP interview that he’s concerned because the U.S. has not followed the track of Asian and European nations also hit hard by the coronavirus.Other countries that shut down their economies knocked back uncontrolled spread and settled into a pattern of relatively few new cases, although they continued to experience local outbreaks.The U.S. also knocked back the initial spread, but never got the background level of new cases quite as low. And the resurgence of COVID-19 in the Sunbelt in recent weeks has driven the number of new daily cases back up into the 60,000-70,000 range. It coincided with economic reopening and a return to social gatherings, particularly among younger adults. Growing numbers of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths have followed as grim consequences.Nearly 4.5 million Americans have been sickened since the start of the pandemic, and more than 150,000 have died.Fauci said there’s evidence the surge across the South may be peaking, but upticks in the Midwest are now a concern.”They’ve really got to jump all over that because if they don’t then you might see the surge we saw in some of the Southern states,” he told AP.Though Fauci gets push-back from White House officials, other medical experts in the administration are on the same page when it comes to the public health message.Giroir, the testing czar, told reporters Thursday: “I think it’s very important to make sure that we all spread the public health message that we can control all the outbreaks occurring right now.”He said controlling the outbreaks will require people to wear masks, avoid crowded indoor spaces and wash their hands frequently.  
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Anti-Femicide Protests Sweep Turkey

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A wave of protests sparked by the slaying of a young woman has been sweeping across Turkey as the government considers leaving an international convention that protects women against violence, despite warnings from rights groups about the rising number of killings of women.Last week, police found the strangled and battered body of 27-year-old university student Pinar Gultekin. Local media, citing police sources, said she was buried in a bin encased in concrete, in woodlands in the Aegean province of Mugla.Gultekin’s killing triggered demonstrations across Istanbul and other cities with activists calling attention to reports of rising number of murdered women. At one protest last week in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, women chanted “we want to live,” “end femicides.”In the Aegean port city of Izmir, police broke up a women’s protest and detained several demonstrators.Across social media, women placed videos of their protests. On Instagram, Turkish women are posting black and white images of themselves in protest at Gultekin’s murder, in a campaign that has gone global.”From secular women to conservative women, from working women or not working, women are angry,” said Melek Onder of the Istanbul based campaign group, “We Will Stop Femicide.””But we know that this anger makes women movement in Turkey becoming more powerful and strong,” Onder added. “They are applying to our platform, saying we want to do something, we want to join the protests.”The protests in Turkey come amidst wider international protests against violence against women, much of which is a grassroots organized through social media, including the “me too” movement.The “We Will Stop Femicide” web page records the grim death toll of murdered women, which rises nearly every day. In the first six months of this year, the group says there were 172 femicides, compared to 416 for the whole of 2019.In a tweet, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Gultekin’s killing, but activists complain he has otherwise remained silent.The protests are happening as the Erdogan government faces new criticism over its commitment to gender issues.Erdogan’s ruling AKP party is openly questioning Turkey’s participation the international Istanbul Convention on protecting women against violence.Women march in support of the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, in Istanbul, Sunday, July 19, 2020.”I say that signing this Istanbul Convention was wrong,” said the AKP’s deputy leader Numan Kurtulmus in a recent television interview.”There are two critical issues in the text of this convention that we should draw attention to that we can never accept. One of them is gender rights; the other is sexual orientation rights,” Kurtulmus added.Turkey’s religious conservative media is backing Kurtulmus, accusing the Convention of undermining the family.The AKP, in its early years in power, introduced sweeping legislation to protect women, culminating in being the first signatory of the 2011 European, “Istanbul Convention.”The Convention was the first legally binding set of guidelines that created “a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women,” focusing on preventing domestic violence, protecting victims, and prosecuting accused offenders.But in recent years, critics have accused the government of increasingly backsliding in enforcing the agreement, in a bid to consolidate the ruling party’s religious and conservative voting base. The AKP campaigns vigorously on defending what it says are “traditional family values.”Parliament is expected to soon start discussing Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul convention.”We should evaluate well whether or not to abolish it,” said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the MHP, which is the parliamentary coalition partner of the AKP.Bahceli acknowledges the country is facing a problem, “If we cannot prevent the murder of women, we will all be buried under an avalanche,” he said.Erdogan has yet to weigh in on the future of the Istanbul convention.Opinion polls indicate a majority against withdrawal from the Convention. Pinar Ilkaracan, a veteran women’s rights campaigner who once worked closely with the AKP on gender reform, warns that Erdogan could pay a heavy political price if Turkey withdraws from the Istanbul Convention.”In terms of women murders, there hasn’t been a divide between secular and religious,” she said. “A lot of women have been supporting the AKP government, religious women, and also the women in AKP have written against withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention.” 
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Чехия и Румыния бьют по скрепам банды обиженного карлика пукина

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Чехия и Румыния бьют по скрепам банды обиженного карлика пукина
 

 
 
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Державна зрада зоофіла портнова. Агент казбек та його злочини проти України (частина 5)

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Державна зрада зоофіла портнова. Агент казбек та його злочини проти України (частина 5)
 

 
 
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Ход Эрдогана: Турция перебросила ударную группу в Азербайджан, карлик пукин рыдает

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Ход Эрдогана: Турция перебросила ударную группу в Азербайджан, карлик пукин рыдает.

Грядущие учения – это простое и понятное послание для обиженного карлика пукина. Сунешься в Баку, и тебя ждет море трупов ихтамнетов
 

 
 
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Украинский вариант танка Т-80БВ доказал, что намного лучше аналогов из путляндии!

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Украинский вариант танка Т-80БВ доказал, что намного лучше аналогов из путляндии!
 

 
 
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Багатомільйонні секрети олега кіпера – нового прокурора Києва, крадуна і холопа януковича

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Багатомільйонні секрети олега кіпера – нового прокурора Києва, крадуна і слуги януковича.

Політична шльондра венедіктова призначила крадуна і холопа януковича олега кіпера новим прокурором Києва. А в нього цілий набір: служба кривавому диктатору, люстрація, продаж службової квартири, елітний автопарк та мільйоні статки записані на родину. Від квартир і годинників до криптовалюти у 5 млн та бази відпочинку в Карпатах – все це записано на дружину. Вишенька на торті: дружба з дегенератом-прокурором сергієм кізем
 

 
 
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Isaias Strengthens Into a Hurricane

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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Isaias has strengthened into a hurricane, moving with maximum sustained winds of 130 kph as it churns along the Caribbean.A hurricane warning is in effect for the Northwestern, Southeastern and Central Bahamas.Earlier, Tropical Storm Isaias hit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, causing power outages and small landslides.A tropical storm warning is in effect for the entire southern and northern coastlines of the Dominican Republic, the north coast of Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the hurricane center.The Associated Press reported late Thursday that Tropical Storm Isaias’ powerful winds had hit Puerto Rico, still recovering from other hurricanes and earthquakes, transforming “several streets into fast-flowing rivers and toppled trees and some telephone and electrical cables.”More than 100,000 people are without fresh water.According to AP, 14 percent of Puerto Rico’s cell towers are out.Emergency workers had to rescue several families who were reluctant to leave their homes for public shelters because of fear of being exposed to the coronavirus at the shelters.Isaias has blown down trees in the Dominican Republic. Police arrested surfers who refused to heed warnings to find shelter. The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for parts of Florida’s east coast.A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours.U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, which has yet to fully recover from 2017’s Hurricane Maria and a recent series of earthquakes.Isaias is the ninth named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season. This is the earliest date a storm beginning with the letter “I” has formed.   
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Italian Senate Lifts Immunity for Former Interior Minister

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The Italian Senate has voted to lift right-wing Senator Matteo Salvini’s immunity from prosecution, related to his decision last August to not allow 164 migrants to get off a ship in Sicily.Thursday’s vote may clear the way for potential charges against the former interior minister who, during his 14 months in that position, repeatedly denied port entry to ships carrying rescued migrants at sea.Salvini’s policy resulted in several standoffs, forcing ships to remain at sea for weeks before European countries would allow entry to their ports or Italian courts ordered disembarking.For the case from last August, Salvini refused access to the rescue ship Open Arms for three weeks before it was allowed to enter a port on the Italian island of Lampedusa. 
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Ivory Coast President Names New Prime Minister

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Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara chose Hamed Bakayoko to be prime minster, replacing Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who died suddenly earlier this month.Coulibaly had been the preferred successor to Ouattara.Ouattara did not confirm if he will seek a third term, but he said he will make an announcement next week.Ouattara was nominated to be the presidential candidate of his RHDP party on Wednesday.Opposition groups in Ivory Coast oppose Ouattara extending his 10-year reign, saying a third term in office would be unconstitutional.The parties have until the September 1 to declare their candidates for the election, scheduled for October 31. 
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Why an Uninvited Chinese Ship Just Visited a Shoal on Malaysia’s Continental Shelf

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The passage of a Chinese civilian ship across part of Malaysia’s continental shelf this month shows China aims to bolster its claim over a widely contested sea in the face of U.S. opposition, observers of the dispute say.The Sansha II, a 400-seat transport vessel, parked briefly at James Shoal around July 16 and then returned to a base closer to the Chinese mainland, according to ship activity maps, a U.S. think tank and a U.S. Naval War College researcher. The submerged feature sits at the southern boundary of Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea and within Malaysia’s 370-kilometer maritime exclusive economic zone.China vies for sovereignty over the sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which have weaker militaries and less infrastructure on the sea’s tiny islets. Claimants prize the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea for fish, energy reserves and shipping lanes.Southeast Asian countries that dispute China’s claims worry that the transport could someday ferry supplies to fortify Chinese-controlled artificial islands in the sea’s Spratly archipelago near James Shoal, said Shahriman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies research organization in Kuala Lumpur.In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76, front) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68, rear) Carrier Strike Groups sail together in formation, in the South China Sea, July 6, 2020.“I think Southeast Asian claimants will be concerned about the possible dual use nature of the Sansha II,” Lockman said. “Its recent voyage could be interpreted as a familiarization trip. Although the ship is designed for passengers and cargo, it could also be used to resupply China’s artificial islands in the Spratlys.”The 128-meter-long transport would have visited the shoal days after U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the submerged feature doesn’t belong to Beijing. The U.S. government has no claim to the sea but seeks to control rival superpower China’s maritime expansion.“James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the ‘southernmost territory of China,’” Pompeo said July 13. “International law is clear. An underwater feature like James Shoal cannot be claimed by any state and is incapable of generating maritime zones.”China cites historical usage records to defend its maritime claims and rejected Pompeo’s words.“It’s pretty unusual for [the Sansha II] to go 1,000 miles from shore to James Shoal,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.“It was clearly meant to send a message immediately after the statement, because the U.S. statement specifically called out James Shoal,” Poling said.Chinese naval ships visit the shoal about once a year to assert sovereignty over the same sea tract, Poling said. Malaysian gas and oil projects operate in the nearby Spratly Islands.Chinese officials hope the transport’s voyage will demonstrate to other countries civilian authority over the outer limits of their nine-dash line, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines. The line is composed of nine dashes that roughly delineate China’s claim to about 90 percent of the sea.“What they’re doing is just part of an overall effort to try to make it appear that the entire South China Sea is under their civilian control and civilian administrations,” Batongbacal said.The Sansha II was christened about a year ago to “take on multiple roles,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency says. Roles include transport and supply services, emergency rescue, medical assistance and scientific surveys on small islands, it says.James Shoal, being 20 meters underwater, cannot be used by any single country to claim a separate, surrounding maritime economic zone under international law, analysts believe.For China, “it’s an excessive claim that has no basis,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.    
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WHO Warns Young People COVID-19 May Hit Hard

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The resurgence of the coronavirus in many countries is “driven in part by younger people letting down their guard during the Northern Hemisphere summer,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.Young adults, many without masks, are ignoring social distancing recommendations to pack bars, nightclubs, and beaches that have been reopened since authorities lifted coronavirus restrictions.“The majority of young people infected tend to have more mild disease. But that’s not always consistent,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist who called nightclubs “amplifiers of transmission.”Young people who show mild or no symptoms can spread the virus to more-vulnerable older people.In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the coronavirus on July 7 and then negative last Saturday, said that after 20 days indoors he had mold on his lungs. He is being treated with antibiotics. He had repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as “a little flu.”Brazil, as of Thursday evening, had 2.6 million confirmed cases and 91,263 deaths, according to the Muslims queue up to enter a disinfection chamber set up as a precaution against the new coronavirus outbreak, upon arrival for an Eid al-Adha prayer at Al Mashun Grand Mosque in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, July 31, 2020.“We are concerned that … we will see an increase in cases as we have seen in [other] countries” where restrictions have been eased too soon,” WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said.She said more than 20 African countries have recorded more new cases than in the previous weeks, with South Africa accounting for the most but increases also reported in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Moeti said Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius are doing well in controlling the virus.Cuba reported nine new cases Thursday, and 37 new cases earlier this week. Just 10 days ago, Cuba reported no new cases for the first time since the outbreak began in March. However, it has reported no deaths for more than two weeks.Cuba has so far been relatively successful in fighting COVID-19, but the island’s top epidemiologist, Francisco Duran, said Thursday that Cubans are getting careless.“People are holding different types of gatherings without taking into account distancing and often without even using a face mask,” he said. “Each small peak underscores a lack of discipline … prompting stricter measures.”Muslim women wearing face masks as precaution against the new coronavirus outbreak, take a selfie after an Eid al-Adha prayer at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 31, 2020.In Florida, Key West police arrested a couple who tested positive for COVID-19 for being in public in defiance of a quarantine order.Neighbors who videotaped the couple strolling and shopping gave the tapes to police.The couple’s arrest is among the first in the state for violating a quarantine.Florida, with 461,000 coronavirus cases and 6,600 deaths, is second only to California, which has 492,000 confirmed cases and 8,965 deaths, among U.S. states.National Geographic magazine is reporting that the first dog in the United States sickened by COVID-19 has died.Buddy, a 7-year-old German shepherd in New York became ill in April while his owner was recovering from the coronavirus.Buddy had the same symptoms as human patients, including difficulty breathing. He was euthanized earlier this month after he started vomiting and urinating blood and could no longer walk.Buddy’s doctors said he was also suffering from cancer. Doctors say humans with pre-existing conditions are more susceptible to COVID-19.The WHO says pet-to-people transmission of the coronavirus is unlikely.National Geographic says 12 dogs and 10 cats have tested positive for coronavirus in the U.S. 
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EU Sanctions Russian Intelligence, N.Korean, Chinese Firms over Alleged Cyberattacks

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The European Union on Thursday imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia’s military intelligence service and on firms from North Korea and China over their suspected participation in major cyberattacks across the world.In its first-ever sanctions related to cybercrime, the EU targeted the department for special technologies of the Russian military intelligence service, known as Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it said in a statement.The bloc accused the Russian service of having carried out two cyberattacks in June 2017, which hit several companies in Europe resulting in large financial losses. The service is also accused of two cyberattacks against Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016.Four individuals working for the Russian military intelligence service were also sanctioned for allegedly participating in an attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands in April 2018.North Korean company Chosun Expo was also sanctioned on suspicion of having supported the Lazarus Group, which is deemed responsible for a series of major attacks worldwide, including an $81 million heist against Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016, the world’s biggest cyber fraud.The company is also allegedly linked to an attack against Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures to prevent the release of a satirical movie about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2014.The U.S. Treasury last year imposed sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two other North Korean hacking groups for their alleged participation in the attacks on Sony Pictures and the central bank of Bangladesh, among others. It said North Korea’s main intelligence service was behind the hacking groups.North Korea has denied any involvement in cyberattacks. The EU sanctions also hit Chinese firm Haitai Technology Development, which is accused of having supported cyberattacks — known as Operation Cloud Hopper — aimed at stealing commercially sensitive data from multinationals across the world. Two Chinese individuals allegedly involved in the attacks were also sanctioned.Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes. EU individuals, companies and other entities are forbidden from making funds available to those blacklisted.China’s diplomatic mission to the European Union said in a statement early on Friday that China “is a staunch defender of network security and one of the biggest victims of hacker attacks.”China wants global cyberspace security to be maintained through “dialogue and cooperation” and not by unilateral sanctions, the statement added.
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Trump Suggests Election Delay, Pompeo Questioned About US Democracy

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested voting by mail could lead to a fraudulent November 3rd presidential election and asked whether the vote should be delayed. Trump’s tweet sparked a debate on election security on Capitol Hill, where Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was testifying. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington. 
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9 Civilians Die in Two Attacks in Northern Mozambique

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At least nine civilians were killed in new attacks carried out by Islamist insurgents in the restive province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique, local sources said.The attacks on the districts of Mocimboa da Praia and Macomia of Cabo Delgado on Wednesday forced the local population to flee their homes, seeking safety in nearby woods, residents told VOA.A group of armed men “hooded with Islamic handkerchiefs” invaded the village of Tandacua in Macomia, searching for food, according to a local resident.The insurgents “arrived around 6 in the evening [local time], so many residents fled the village,” the resident, who declined to give his name, told VOA.“When we returned the next day, we found eight dead people who were beheaded,” the resident said, adding that “the security situation is getting more complicated.”On Tuesday, Islamist militants entered the district of Mocimboa da Praia, killing one civilian at a flour mill before seizing food and livestock.The insurgents “entered Mocimboa da Praia twice this week,” said Zunaid, a Mocimboa da Praia resident who gave only his first name.“After they killed a man on Tuesday and left, they went in again [on Wednesday] to steal more food,” he told VOA.“All residents are in the woods out of fear,” Zunaid said, noting that “there are more military personnel than the local population, but al-Shabab [militants] still come in and attack us.”IS linksSince 2017, militant attacks on civilians and government security forces in Cabo Delgado have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over 210,000 others, according to the United Nations.Locally known as al-Shabab, Ahlu Sunna wa Jama is the main militant group responsible for these attacks in northern Mozambique. It is considered to be the Mozambique affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) terror group.However, Eric Morier-Genoud, a Mozambique expert at Queen’s University Belfast, says there is little “evidence that the Islamic State is behind this group, which radicalized its positions in the face of many existing inequalities” in the Muslim-majority province.“The group has approached the Islamic State, but it has little influence yet,” he told VOA, adding that the extent of the connection between the local militant group and IS “basically has been an exchange of information up to now.”In April 2019, IS declared its so-called Central African Province, known as ISCAP. Attacks attributed to its Central African Province affiliate have been limited to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Increased attacksIn recent months, militants have stepped up their attacks in Cabo Delgado, leading experts to predict that the conflict will likely continue for a long time.Murade Murargy, former executive secretary of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), says he doesn’t “believe a solution to the conflict in Cabo Delgado will be reached in the short term, but in the medium or long term.”The Mozambican diplomat told reporters this week that the insurgency in the northern Mozambican province “is beyond the religious question, but it has an economic aspect as well.”Cabo Delgado is a gas-rich region where major international oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Total, have several investment projects.Transnational insurgencyObservers say that some of the militants fighting in northern Mozambique are allegedly Tanzanian nationals. Tanzania, which borders Cabo Delgado to the north, recently deployed troops to the border area to prevent a spillover of the unfolding violence in the Mozambican province.Mozambican officials, however, believe they need to tighten their borders to stop the flow of foreign fighters into the country.“Those who attack us, burn our houses and destroy the infrastructure are based outside the country,” said Bernardino Rafael, commander-in-chief of the Mozambican Police, without naming any countries.They “enter through our borders, which we have to close so that the terrorists do not enter and those who enter do not leave,” Rafael said during a recent speech in the capital, Maputo.Murargy also asserted that militants have been penetrating Cabo Delgado by sea and across the border with Tanzania.South Africa is reportedly preparing to deploy troops to Mozambique to help combat the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, the online newspaper Carta de Mocambique reported Thursday. South African and Mozambican officials, however, have not made official comments on the matter.In May, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi called on regional governments to support his country in driving out the jihadists.VOA’s Alvaro Andrade from Washington and Ramos Miguel from Maputo contributed to this report.
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Survey: US Public Opinion of China, Xi Drops Decisively

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More than 70% of Americans hold unfavorable views toward China, a record disapproval rating as many fault Chinese authorities for failing to contain the coronavirus, according to the latest survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.  The same survey found more than 3 of every 4 Americans – Democrats and Republicans alike – believe the U.S. should try to promote human rights in China even at the cost of economic ties between the two countries. The Changes in U.S. public opinion toward China from 2005 to 2020, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center.The latest Pew report comes as the U.S. government, led by President Donald Trump, has toughened its stance toward Beijing and questions concerning China are emerging as key to the early November presidential election.  At the time, 64% of Americans said China has done a bad job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, with 78% of Americans placing “a great deal or fair amount” of the blame for the global coronavirus pandemic on China’s mishandling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan and subsequent spread of COVID-19.  Faith in Chinese leader Xi Jinping “to do the right thing in world affairs” has also deteriorated, according to the survey, with 77% saying they have either little or no confidence in Xi. The question on Xi was first included in the Pew Research Center’s nationwide polling in 2014, Laura Silver, a senior researcher at the center and lead author of the report, told VOA in a phone interview.  In 2014, 28% of Americans said they had some or a lot of confidence in the Chinese leader but today, “that number has gone down 10 percentage points,” she said. Americans appear divided on the question of whether it is more important to get tougher than to build a strong relationship with China on economic issues – 33% of Democrats versus 66% of Republicans favor “get tougher.”  FILE – Police arrest a protester after a Chinese flag was removed from a flag pole at a rally in support of Xinjiang Uighurs’ human rights in Hong Kong, China, Dec. 22, 2019.But on human rights, there’s greater alignment with 70% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans saying the U.S. “should try to promote human rights in China, even if it harms economic relations with China.” Americans ages 18 to 29, who have traditionally viewed China more favorably than their elders, now have a less positive perspective with more than 50% of them viewing China unfavorably, “for the first time,” Silver said.  The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fact tank that takes no money from any government, the U.S. government included, started conducting surveys on Americans’ views toward China in 2005.  A graph detailing the trend over the past 15 years shows that until 2012, the majority of Americans surveyed viewed China favorably. Negative opinions rose during the second Obama administration that began in January 2013 and lasted until January 2017. Negative opinions flattened out during the first year of the Trump administration, then quickly rose starting in 2018.
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Amid Pandemic, Big Tech Reports Mixed Earnings

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Big Tech companies reported mixed quarterly earnings Thursday, a day after their top executives faced a tough congressional grilling over their market power and alleged monopolistic practices.The staggering economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic was reflected in reports released Thursday from Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet.Apple delivered surprisingly strong numbers with both its revenue and profit rising, defying analysts’ lowered expectations. The iPhone maker’s revenue rose 11% to nearly $60 billion while profit rose 12% to $11.3 billion.Alphabet, Google’s holding company, reported its first-ever drop in quarterly revenue compared with the prior year. Although it was only a 2% decline, it was a telling sign of a downturn in the digital ad market while also serving as a reminder that the economy is struggling even more than it did more than a decade ago during the Great RecessionGoogle’s low point during that time came during the second quarter of 2009 when its revenue edged up by 3%. Alphabet’s profit for its most recent quarter plunged 30% to nearly $7 billion.Facebook, which also makes most of its money from digital ads, recorded an 11% increase in revenue from the prior year, the social networking company’s slowest growth since going public eight years ago. The company’s profit nearly doubled to roughly $6 billion from the same time last year. Part of the big jump stemmed from special charges last year.Amazon was a pandemic winner, with people stuck at home relying on the company to shop online. It reported record quarterly profit, doubling to $5.2 billion from last year while its revenue soared 40% to $88.9 billion.
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Fired Chinese Law Professor Hires Legal Team to Fight Charge of Soliciting Prostitution

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An outspoken former Chinese law professor has hired a legal team to defend him against charges of soliciting prostitution, saying he hopes to disprove the allegations that have damaged his client’s reputation, his lawyer told VOA.Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun was recently fired for “moral corruption” and publishing articles that undermine the Communist Party of China, according to the dismissal notice from his employer. Before that, he was detained for a week in early July on charges of soliciting prostitutes in the southwestern city of Chengdu last year.The outspoken liberal scholar, who just finished a 14-day quarantine at home, met with lawyers Mo Shaoping and Shang Baojun, as well as disbarred rights lawyer Pu Zhuqiang on Tuesday, and officially hired Mo and Shang to represent him in a case against the Chengdu police.According to Mo, Xu dismissed all accusations by the Chengdu police, adding that they did not provide evidence that he had solicited prostitutes, such as video footage, audio recordings or bank records.Mo said they planned to file an “administrative reconsideration” application to overturn the administrative ruling by the Chengdu police for soliciting prostitution.He noted there was a big hurdle in fighting the charges.“The Beijing police did not give him the administrative penalty statement issued by the Chengdu police over this alleged crime, and it would be difficult to submit the review application without it,” Mo told VOA.Shang, the other lawyer, said that at the end of Xu’s detention, the Beijing police would not let him go unless they could keep the document. At present, the only official document that Xu has is the dismissal letter issued by Tsinghua University.Chengdu police did not respond to VOA’s request for comments.Government oppression Chinese authorities have repeatedly targeted Xu for his essays critical of President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party. Chinese activists and intellectuals sounded alarm at Xu’s detention and dismissal.Sociologist Guo Yuhua appears to be the only current Tsinghua professor still willing to speak out publicly for Xu. She told VOA that the fact Xu did not fight his dismissal does not mean he agrees with the university’s decision.“A call to a woman equals soliciting prostitutes? Where’s the evidence? As for the new guidelines by China’s Ministry of Education, does that go with our constitution?” she asked. “Tsinghua made the decision to expel him while he was still in detention. Why in such a rush?”Guo was referring to a regulation quoted in Xu’s dismissal notification, which read, “We have verified that Xu Zhangrun has published many essays since July 2018, and it is a serious violation of the ‘10 standards of professional conduct for teachers in tertiary institutes in the new era.’ ”China’s Ministry of Education issued a set of new guidelines in 2018, prohibiting teachers from engaging in any activity that undermines the authority of the Communist Party or violates the directions and policies of the party.“Teachers have to be patriotic and uphold academic integrity,” the guidelines said.Guo said Tsinghua’s decision to dismiss Xu has deviated from Tsinghua’s motto of “independent thoughts and free spirit,” damaging its reputation.Growing support Very few current faculty members and students at Tsinghua have publicly discussed Xu’s case.“It’s not surprising that people are self-censoring themselves in today’s tightly controlled environment,” Guo said.Yet nearly 600 Tsinghua alumni came to support the former law professor, raising more than $15,000 in donations for him.In an open letter to his former colleagues and students, Xu expressed appreciation for their backing and said totalitarianism is doomed to failure, and freedom will eventually come to China.He also declined the donation, saying that the money should be sent instead to those in greater need.VOA has tried to contact Xu without success. His WeChat account showed that the option to add him as a friend was not available. People familiar with the matter said his WeChat has been blocked.
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Belarus Arrests Suspected Russian Mercenaries, Alleges Election Plot

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Relations between Russia and its erstwhile ally Belarus veered into uncharted territory after Belarusian security forces on Wednesday detained more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries near the capital Minsk — allegedly for trying to disrupt Belarus’ Aug. 9 presidential elections.
 
The arrests came in the midst of a charged election season, one that has seen Belarus’s longtime President Alexander Lukashenko detain several would-be rivals only to see their wives step up as placeholder candidates.
 
In particular, the candidacy of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya — whose husband, the political blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky now sits in jail on what she says are trumped up charges — has emerged as the opposition’s lead candidate and an unexpected political star attracting large crowds.
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The timing of the Russians’ detention prompted questions of whether the arrests were a pretext for canceling elections or declaring a national emergency.
 
On Thursday, the Belarusian election commission gathered remaining candidates for a meeting and announced that security measures at rallies and mass gatherings would be increased.
 
Belarus’ Investigative Committee also said the detained Russians and two would-be presidential candidates would face joint criminal charges — suggesting Belarusian authorities were trying to exploit the incident for political gain.
 
Lukashenko also appeared in a televised meeting with his Security Council, where he insisted on clarification about the Russians presence from Moscow.
 
“If they’re Russians, then we should reach out immediately to appropriate structures of the Russian Federation, so they explain what’s happening,” said Lukashenko.
 
The Belarusian leader added, “we don’t have any goal to smear a country with whom we’re close.”
 
In related moves, Belarus’ Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in Minsk and both countries said they were working to strengthen border controls.
 
Neither the Kremlin nor Russia’s Foreign Ministry has commented on the incident.
 An odd holiday
 
The arrests were first announced by the Belarusian state news agency Belsat, which claimed those arrested were part of a 200 strong paramilitary force that had infiltrated Belarus ahead of the vote.
 
Only the report claimed Belarus security services had discovered 32 of the Russians at a resort outside of Minsk — with the Russians standing out for both their camouflage clothes and un-holiday-like demeanor.People walk past a campaign poster of opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Minsk, Belarus, July 30, 2020.“They did not drink alcohol or visit entertainment facilities and kept to themselves to maintain a low profile,” said the TV report, while adding this was “atypical behavior for Russian tourists.”
 Video showed the men being detained in their underwear with guns and ammunition scattered about.
 
Belarus’s KGB later issued a statement identifying the men as part of the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian mercenary force that journalists have traced to Kremlin proxy battles in east Ukraine, Syria, and portions of Africa.
 
Zahar Prilepin, a renowned Russian novelist who has taken up arms with pro-Russian rebels in fighting in east Ukraine, said in an interview with Russia’s URA.ru news service that he recognized some of the detained men as Wagner fighters. 
 
The Wagner group is allegedly under the control of Evgeny Prigozhin — often referred to as “Putin’s Chef” for securing state food industry contracts in the armed forces and schools.
 
Despite years of mounting evidence, the Kremlin has always denied the paramilitary group’s existence.
 End game theories
 
Though formally allies, relations between Moscow and Minsk have frayed in recent years over a long-stalled reunification effort to create a supra-state.
 
Observers say Lukashenko, in particular, has resisted the union out of fear of playing the lesser figure to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
 
The Kremlin has also expressed displeasure over Lukashenko’s hands-off approach to battling the novel coronavirus —voicing concerns that the virus could spread across the border.
 
The Belarusian leader — who announced on Tuesday that he had been infected but survived the virus without showing symptoms or stopping work — has dismissed fear of the pandemic as “mass psychosis.”
 
In a sign of just how strained relations have become, the Belarusian leader openly accused Russia of trying to foment a street revolution earlier this week.  
It is a charge normally reserved for the United States.
 
Indeed, the primary debate surrounding the arrest episode centered on Lukashenko’s intentions and Moscow’s role.
 
Had Belarus really foiled a plot or was this a staged event ahead of the Aug. 9 vote?
 
Gleb Pavlovsky, a former political advisor to President Putin, said in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio that the size of the Russian force suggested more theater than threat.
 
“I don’t think that Moscow will angrily respond to it, because in these situations the actors are released at the end of the play,” said Pavlovsky.
 
“In other words, after the elections.”
 
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WHO Warns Africa Against Easing of Coronavirus Restrictions

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The World Health Organization on Thursday warned Africa against easing coronavirus restrictions as the number of infections on the continent has doubled in the past month.WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said at a virtual news conference, “We are concerned that … we will see an increase in cases as we have seen in [other] countries” where restrictions have been eased too soon.”She said more than 20 African countries have recorded more new cases than in the previous weeks, with South Africa accounting for the most but increases also reported in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Moeti said Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius are doing well in controlling the virus.The WHO said there have been nearly 890,000 reported coronavirus cases in Africa and 18,000 deaths.World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus.Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a new warning to young people across the world to not consider themselves invulnerable to contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.“Although older people are at a higher risk of severe disease, younger people are at risk, too,” he said. “One of the challenges we face is convincing younger people of this risk.“Evidence suggests that spikes of cases in some countries are being driven in part by younger people letting down their guard during the Northern Hemisphere summer,” Tedros said.“We have said it before and we’ll say it again: Young people are not invincible,” he said.The number of confirmed cases worldwide topped the 17 million mark, with nearly 670,000 deaths. The rising number of COVID-19 cases has researchers racing to develop and test a vaccine to blunt the spread of the virus.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it could authorize the emergency use of an experimental coronavirus vaccine within a matter of weeks, once it meets efficiency standards.Jennifer Degroff, owner of the Tipsy Rose Bar and Catering Services, protests in support of the live events industry receiving federal aid outside of the office of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., during the coronavirus pandemic, July 30, 2020, in Miami.In the US Some large U.S. states – California, Florida and Texas – are breaking their own records for new infections or deaths. California reported a record 197 COVID-19 related deaths on Wednesday, according to state health records, far surpassing the previous high of 159 recorded just last week. Florida posted a record 216 deaths, while Texas reported at least 313 deaths.U.S. health experts say many states reopened businesses and public attractions too soon. They also say a lack of clear guidance and enforcement from the national government means governors must develop their own public health directives to contain the spread of the coronavirus.The result is restrictions and directives that vary from state to state, including travel limitations for returning residents and nonresidents.In Australia Other countries are experiencing a surge of new coronavirus cases, chief among them Australia. The southern state of Victoria posted 723 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths on Wednesday, a new one-day record for the state hardest hit from the sudden spike of the disease.The new numbers exceed the 532 new coronavirus cases posted Monday for Australia’s second most populous state. Victoria has now reported a total of more than 9,900 COVID-19 infections and 105 deaths, making up the majority of Australia’s 16,298 total confirmed cases and 189 deaths.Melbourne, Victoria state’s capital, is the center of the state’s current COVID-19 surge. State Premier David Andrews has ordered all residents in Victoria to wear face masks outside beginning Sunday, extending a mandate already in place for Melbourne and the rural area of Mitchell Shire.Andrews also issued an order effective Thursday banning residents in communities outside Melbourne from bringing guests into their homes.Melbourne is at the halfway point of a six-week lockdown that has restricted residents from leaving home unless going to work, school, medical appointments or shopping for food.Traditional dancers wear costumes as they prepare their performance in Bali, Indonesia on July 30, 2020. Indonesia’s resort island of Bali will reopen Friday.Elsewhere Brazil’s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, following a positive test for her husband, President Jair Bolsonaro, earlier this month. The president’s press office said she “is in good health and will follow all established protocols.”Norway is imposing a 10-day quarantine on travelers from Belgium after a virus spike there. Oslo last week renewed similar restrictions on travel from Spain.Iceland launched stricter coronavirus measures after a spike in cases in the island country. Included is a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people. Gatherings of up to 500 people had previously been allowed.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “absolutely vital” for Britons not to “delude ourselves into thinking we are out of the woods or that this is somehow all over” as Europe is witnessing the possibility of a second coronavirus wave. “Don’t lose focus, don’t lose discipline, continue to follow those guidelines, and if you have symptoms, get a test,” he said.
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South African Environmentalists Sue to Clean Up Toxic Mines

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A sandy hill is all that remains of a Mintails gold mining operation, just outside Johannesburg.Mintails, an Australian-owned company, is being sued, along with the government, for not cleaning up environmental damage at its mines.The Federation for Sustainable Environment is taking the court action. The group’s director, Mariette Liefferink, says waste at the mines, including uranium, has released radiation on nearby communities and squatters.”We do not hold the directors ourselves criminally responsible, but we do ask for the court to order the government to take action against the directors,” Liefferink said. “So, we hope to achieve a precedent.”Mintails was liquidated last year, leaving an unfunded environmental liability.Meanwhile, the Department of Mineral and Energy Resources is seeking to avoid a lengthy legal process and wants to see the case settled out of court.The department’s Sunday Mabaso says a solution needs to be found.Illegal mining issue”We really would like to find a solution for the community, and we would love the mine to come back and work so that it can resolve the environmental challenges,” Mabaso said. “And also resolve the issue of illegal mining in that area, which is now becoming a nuisance to the community and everyone in the surrounding area.”Nearby communities such as Tudor Shaft are exposed to radiation and toxic tailings, leftovers separated from the ore, Liefferink said.“This was declared a radioactive hot spot,” she said. “The radioactivity in this area is significantly elevated. This community has been exposed for decades, or more than a decade, to the dust fallout from the tailings storage facility, the physical risks from open-pit mining and blasting.”Some Tudor Shaft residents have been relocated to safer areas, but many more have been left behind.The absence of basic structures in this impoverished area is making life unbearable for Tudor Shaft residents, said community activist Lucas Mitsipitso.”There is no infrastructure, no water, no electricity, and the community has been here since 1995,” he said. “And we try to engage with different, you know, municipal departments, as far as this is a concern. And there was no luck, no answers in our proposals that we made in regard to relocation.”With the fate of the legal action filed by environmentalists unclear, the contamination surrounding one of the biggest gold reserves in the world appears unlikely to be cleaned up anytime soon.
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Taiwan’s New Envoy to Washington Has Deep Ties to America

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Bi-khim Hsiao, a confidante of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, has arrived in Washington to lead Taiwan’s diplomatic mission. Hsiao told reporters this week that her schedule has been full of teleconferences and some in-person visits since she arrived in Washington a week ago.On Tuesday, she presided over a ceremony that saw Taiwan donate a quarter-million face masks to the American Legion, the largest organization of wartime veterans in the United States. The day before, she met with the top official at the FILE – In this March 28, 2017, file photo, Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., leaves a closed-door strategy session at the Capitol in Washington.Among its strongest supporters is Representative Ted Yoho of Florida, the most senior Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Asia Pacific subcommittee. Last month, he and the subcommittee chair, Representative Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, joined two senators in introducing a bicameral bill aimed at strengthening Americans’ knowledge of Taiwan.The bill, known as the Taiwan Fellowship Act, provides for 10 U.S. government officials to be chosen each year to spend two years studying and working in Taiwan.Yoho said the bill would not only strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship but also enhance the U.S. presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the bill “pushes back on China’s work to isolate the island nation diplomatically.”On Wednesday, Yoho, introduced another bill, the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, to “clarify and strengthen the commitment of the United States to defend Taiwan in the event of an armed attack” from across the Taiwan Strait.However, with congressional elections looming, both bills face uncertain prospects of becoming law.Hsiao, the first woman to serve as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, has identified her ultimate goal  as “helping to ensure that Taiwanese people stand tall and feel respected among the world community.”She said in the CNA interview that she was bringing her four cats with her to Washington, noting that cats are known for their ability to find their way out in tight and narrow spaces.In an age marked by China’s wolf warrior diplomacy, Hsiao said she didn’t mind being known as a cat warrior.VOA’s Mandarin service contributed to this report.
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One-Time US Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain Dies From COVID

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Herman Cain, a maverick conservative Republican businessman who briefly led the race for the U.S. party’s 2012 presidential nomination, died Thursday from the coronavirus. He was 74.Cain had been hospitalized for a month in the southern city of Atlanta and initially appeared to regain strength but faltered again in recent days.Cain attended President Donald Trump’s political rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20 that led to numerous coronavirus infections. But Cain, who was seen not wearing a mask during the rally, said he had traveled extensively elsewhere about the same time.  It is not known where he contracted the virus that has now killed more than 150,000 Americans.At his death, Cain was chairman of Black Voices for Trump. Last year, the president nominated Cain to a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. central bank, but Cain withdrew after opposition mounted against him.“Because I ran as a Republican for president and the United States Senate, and because I am an outspoken voice of conservatism, an outspoken voice of the Constitution and the laws, I’m being attacked,” Cain said.Cain held a string of corporate executive positions throughout his life, most prominently from 1986 to 1996 as president and chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, a national chain that he transformed into a success after it had been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.In 2011, as he campaigned for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, he pushed for sweeping tax reform that he called his “9-9-9 Plan” — a 9% business transactions tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% federal sales tax.Cain briefly pulled ahead of eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney in political surveys a year ahead of the election, but he withdrew from the race in December 2011, after two women accused him of sexual harassment while he was chief executive of the National Restaurant Association from 1996 to 1999.Cain denied the charges, and his wife Gloria stood by him, saying, “He totally respects women.”In a tweet, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said, “Herman Cain embodied the American Dream and represented the very best of the American spirit.” She also added, “Our hearts grieve for his loved ones, and they will remain in our prayers at this time. We will never forget his legacy of grace, patriotism, and faith.” 
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