Month: August 2020

Беспредел карателей! Экс-спецназ сжигает форму! МАЗ И БЕЛАЗ выходят на забастовки!

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Беспредел карателей! Экс-спецназ сжигает форму! МАЗ И БЕЛАЗ выходят на забастовки!

ЖЫВЕ БЕЛАРУСЬ!

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Псевдорай совецкого колгоспу. Історик пригадав сталіністам і брєжнєвістам, як воно було!

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Псевдорай совецкого колгоспу. Історик пригадав сталіністам і брєжнєвістам, як воно було!
 

 
 
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Number of Migrants Landing in Italy More Than Doubles in Past Year

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The number of migrants landing on Italy’s shores has more than doubled in the last year as an economic crisis in Tunisia fuels migration in boats across the Mediterranean, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Saturday.More than 21,000 people reached Italy between August 2019 and the end of July, up 148% year-on-year, the minister said, speaking at an annual Aug. 15 press conference.Lamorgese said the majority of the arrivals were “autonomous landings, hard to manage … with small boats and dinghies,” rather than those rescued at sea and brought ashore. Many of them land on Italy’s southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.In the 12-month period, just more than 5,000 people were rescued, mainly by ships operated by NGOs, according to data from the ministry.Over 80% of the migrants reaching Italy left from Tunisia and Libya, the data showed, with Tunisia’s crisis stoking the numbers attempting the treacherous crossing.”The numbers aren’t very high – they are certainly higher than last year’s, but we must put them into context: Tunisia is in a deep economic, social and political crisis,” Lamorgese told reporters.”We have seen entire families leave to reach Italian territory,” she said.For years Italy has been the primary route into Europe for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and other migrants and Libya’s west coast a main departure point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe.A peak was reached between August 2016 and July 2017, when almost 183,000 migrants reached Italy.Numbers started falling due to an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats but have picked up in 2020.Lamorgese’s predecessor, head of the anti-immigrant League party Matteo Salvini, took a hardline against charity ships that rescued migrants at sea, closing Italian ports and accusing the rescue groups of de facto collaboration with human traffickers.Lamorgese said that she would meet Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday to discuss the issue, along with Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio and EU Commissioners Ylva Johansson and Oliver Varhelyi. 
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Japanese Ship Involved in Mauritius Oil Spill Breaks Apart

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A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday.
 
The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said.
 
“At around 4.30pm, a major detachment of the vessel’s forward section was observed,” it said in a statement. “On the basis of the experts’ advice, the towing plan is being implemented.”
 
The vessel struck a coral reef on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tons of fuel oil and endangering corals, fish and other marine life in what some scientists have called the country’s worst ecological disaster.
 
On Friday, some residual oil from the ship leaked into the ocean, Mauritius Marine Conservation Society President Jacqueline Sauzier told Reuters on Saturday morning.
 
Authorities deployed booms on Saturday to help with oil absorption around the vessel.
 
The Crisis Committee said special attention was being given to sensitive sites such as the Blue Bay Marine Park, Ile aux Aigrettes and the Pointe D’Esny National Ramsar Site.
 
The weather is expected to deteriorate over the next few days with waves of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet), authorities said. Most of the oil from the vessels have been pumped out, the Mauritian government said on Thursday, but there was still 166 tons of fuel oil inside and authorities were working to remove it.
 
Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Saturday Tokyo planned to send a team of officials from the ministry and other specialists to assess the damage. The MV Wakashio is owned by Japan’s Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines.
 
Scientists say the full impact of the spill is still unfolding, but the damage could affect Mauritius and its tourism-dependent economy for decades.
 
Removing the ship is likely to take months. Former colonial power France has said it will assist with the cleanup.
 
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Somali, AU Forces Capture Shabab Stronghold

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Somali government troops, backed by African Union (AU) forces, have taken control from the al-Shabab militant group of a strategic town in the Lower Shabelle region, freeing dozens of children in the process, residents and official said.The town of Kuntuwaarey, in the southwest of Somalia, located 208 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu, has for many years been a strategic stronghold for al-Shabab.The “Somali National Army, backed by units from the African Union peacekeepers, have taken control of this strategic town from the militants,” said Isaq Ali Subag, the minister of internal security for the region.US Not ‘Adequately’ Investigating Airstrikes That Killed Somali Civilians, Rights Group Says HRW considers the deadly attacks possible violations of humanitarian law Subag said al-Shabab had been using the town as a base to launch attacks on cities and towns in the region that are controlled by the Somali government.“The militants have used the city as a military base from which to organize attacks they carry out in other parts of the region, and to run courts in which they impose taxes and other unfair sentences to innocent people,” he said.Children freed Following the capture of the town, the joint troops carrying out house-to-house searches freed 33 children from the militants, according to Somali military commanders.“The 33 rescued children were held in an al-Shabab-run center in the town. They told us they were forcibly taken from their parents,” Colonel Isma’il Abdi Malin told government military radio. “The militants were indoctrinating the children to draft them into their ranks.”Al-Shabab has lost control of several towns in the past, but still controls large swathes of territory in rural areas and in the major cities, including the capital, Mogadishu. It remains capable of carrying out targeted assassinations and suicide attacks.Danab offensive Somalia’s U.S.-trained elite forces, known as Danab, along with Ugandan troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia, entered the town Friday, facing resistance from al-Shabab fighters. They killed at least four senior al-Shabab militants, including the group’s financial coordinator and operations commander, government military radio reported Saturday.“The militants’ financial coordinator in the region, Mohamud Ahmed Gaboobe, and its operations commander in the town were among those killed during the military operation,” the radio service said.Witnesses told VOA on the condition of anonymity they saw about a dozen non-African military personnel supporting the Somali and AU forces as they moved into the city.Residents said many of the al-Qaida-aligned militants had begun withdrawing from the town early Friday as the troops advanced
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Hot, Dry Weather Could Spark New Wildfires in California

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Rising temperatures and falling humidity levels could spark new wildfires this weekend in the western U.S. state of California.Firefighters battled three wildfires Friday near the southern California city of Los Angeles.The so-called Lake Fire north of Los Angeles prompted evacuations after threatening more than 5,400 homes, destroying 21 buildings and at least five homes and torching more than 79.7 square kilometers of land, fire officials said.  A fire in the foothills above the Los Angeles suburb of Azusa remained uncontained Friday as it burned nearly 6 square kilometers of brush on Thursday. After the blaze moved away from homes, evacuation orders were lifted Friday morning.Fire crews also contained a blaze east of Los Angeles Friday after closing in on a neighborhood in the city of Corona.Friday’s wildfires were fueled by temperatures that peaked at 38 degrees. Forecasters expect more hot and dry weather conditions this weekend, along with the possibility of  gusty winds.Unusually high temperatures throughout the state prompted the California Independent System Operator Friday to declare an emergency and order utilities to rotate power outages. California’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, tweeted it would shut off power for about an hour at a time to about 200,000 to 250,000 customers if needed.The state last ordered rolling outages during an energy crisis in 2011. 
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Huge Crowds Continue Russia Protest Over Arrest of Former Governor

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Huge crowds took to the streets of the Russian city of Khabarovsk Saturday in continued protests following the arrest of former governor Sergey Furgal.Since his arrest on July 9, residents have demonstrated daily in the city, with attendance significantly increasing on weekends.”I do not agree with this government’s course, this is a criminal government, they rob our cities, our regions,” said Elvira, a protester. “I’m against Moscow. All evil comes from the Kremlin.”The governor was arrested by federal law enforcement officers on charges related to murders in 2004 and 2005. He was flown to Moscow, where he was ordered jailed for two months.Furgal, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, has denied the charges.The protesters in the Far East city near the border with China, 6,100 kilometers east of Moscow, believe the charges leveled against him are politically motivated.Khabarovsk protesters also expressed support for the opposition in Belarus, where election officials declared longtime authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko the winner of the August 9 election.”We are very worried about them (Belarusian people),” said Oleg, a businessman who wouldn’t give his last name. “The things president Lukashenko gets away with there – well, president for now still – are just totally unacceptable, you can’t do that to your own people. (Reporter: Do you think they will succeed?) I think so. But it will take time, not so fast.”The Belarusian Central Election Commission said on Monday that after all ballots were counted, Lukashenko took 80.23% of the votes and the main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had 9.9% of the vote.”I’ve never actually been to Belarus, it’s just that I understand we have a common historical past, which connects us,” said Yelizaveta Lipatova, an engineer. “Our political systems grew up side by side as well in the 90s and before that. And so I believe we have to follow each other closely, support each other, not lose sight of each other. I think that Belarusians are doing great, and we can learn a lot from them.” Some rally participants did not give their last names for fear of being arrested later.Aleksei Vorsin, Khabarovsk’s regional campaign chief for opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was detained Saturday after calling for a strike.
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Georgia Closes Park with Confederate Sculpture

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A park in the southern U.S. state of Georgia is not opening Saturday because of a planned right-wing rally.Pro-Confederate, white supremacists and other right-wing groups had called for the rally, following a peaceful demonstration by a Black militia at the park last month.Stone Moutain Park, in suburban Atlanta, feared a violent confrontation between the two groups, after the Black militia group called for a counter-demonstration. A rock carving in Stone Mountain, Georgia, depicts Confederate Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, two prominate generals, as well as Jeffereson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.The Black militia, however, canceled its demonstration plans earlier this week, according to the Associated Press. It was not immediately clear if the right-wing groups will still show up at the park Saturday. Stone Mountain Park, in suburban Atlanta, is home to a giant sculpture of Confederate leaders. The U.S. is undergoing a reckoning with its shrines to the Confederacy.  While some people see the Confederacy as a chivalrous defenders of states’ rights, others see the Confederacy as responsible for the enslavement and degradation of Black people.  
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US, Poland Sign Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement

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The United States and Poland signed a recently negotiated Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) Saturday in Warsaw.Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak inked the agreement after brief remarks by President Andrzej Duda. “The United States values our strong bilateral relationship with Poland. We look forward to Poland’s swift ratification of the EDCA, which will permit us to implement fully the enhanced defense cooperation envisioned by Presidents Trump and Duda,” the State Department said in a statement.The deal supplements an existing NATO Status of Forces Agreement and also allows U.S. forces access to additional military installations in Poland.About 4,500 U.S. troops are currently based in Poland and about 1,000 will be added, as both counties agreed and announced last year. Last July, the Pentagon said that about 12,000 troops would be withdrawn from Germany, from which some 5,600 would be stationed in other countries in Europe, including Poland.The relocation of U.S. troops is in line with President Donald Trump’s demand to reduce American forces in Germany.Also Saturday, Pompeo met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Poland’s capital, where he is honoring the centennial of the Battle of Warsaw, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.Pompeo and Morawiecki discussed a new draft bilateral agreement to cooperate in the development of Poland’s civil nuclear power program, which the two countries initialed this week.Besides defense cooperation, Pompeo and Morawiecki discussed the support for the people of Belarus, measures to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, securing 5G networks, and improving regional energy and infrastructure through the Three Seas Initiative, Ortagus said.Poland is the last leg of Pompeo’s four-nation tour of eastern and central Europe, during which he visited the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria, and met with the countries’ leaders.
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Romney: US Has Not ‘Distinguished’ Itself in Handling of Coronavirus

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There are more than 21 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.  The U.S., with more than 5.3 million infections, has more COVID-19 cases than anyplace else. Following the U.S. is Brazil, with 3.2 million cases, and India, with 2.5 million.“I think it’s fair to say we really have not distinguished ourselves in a positive way by how we responded to the crisis when it was upon us,” U.S. Senator Mitt Romney said Friday.  “And the proof of the pudding of that is simply that we have 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s deaths due to COVID-19,” the Republican senator from Utah added in an interview with the Sutherland Institute, a conservative public policy think tank located in Salt Lake City.A report in The New York Times says TeleTracking Technologies, the new manager of the Trump administration’s coronavirus database, is citing its non-disclosure agreement for not answering Democratic senators’ questions about the organization’s $10.2 million contract.Canada announced Friday that the border it shares with the U.S. will remain closed to nonessential travel for another month. Many Canadians remain concerned about reopening the border after Canada successfully flattened its epidemic curve.Canada has more than 123,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 9,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.Canada, which first announced the border restrictions in March, made the announcement one day after Mexico announced similar restrictions for its border with the U.S.Spain announced Friday a new set of restrictions to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. Health Minister Salvador Illa said all discos and night clubs will be closed across the country. He also said smoking in public areas would be banned if smokers are unable to stay at least 2 meters from other people.Spanish authorities have recorded nearly 50,000 COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks, an average of about 3,500 new cases a day.In Paris, officials are expanding the areas of the city where pedestrians are required to wear face masks, including the Champs-Elysees Avenue and the area around the Louvre museum, as cases continue to increase. France has nearly 250,000 cases and more than 30,400 deaths.Meanwhile, a glitch in California’s COVID-19 reporting system undercounted the state’s cases by as many as 300,000 cases, state officials say.According to a New York Times database Friday, California is the first U.S. state to reach more than 600,000 COVID-19 cases, with almost 11,000 deaths.Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that while the number of cases in California is increasing, the number of confirmed infections as a percentage of tests done has declined from 7% to 6% statewide over the past two weeks.”I’m not going to back off on more tests because I fear (more cases),” Newsom said.The U.S. Postal Service is warning states that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted as the country ramps up preparations for larger numbers of mail-in votes amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Washington Post reported Friday that the Postal Service sent warning letters to 46 states and the District of Columbia.Many states have made it easier to vote by mail to address voters’ concerns about public gatherings at election precincts during the pandemic.     
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US Announces Visa Restrictions on Sudanese Entities

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The United States government announced this week it will begin visa restrictions on people believed to be undermining Sudan’s civilian-led government. The order will affect former officials of ousted President Omar Al Bashir’s administration and others, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.The Trump administration will implement visa restrictions under the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 212(a)(3)(C) on individuals residing inside and outside Sudan “believed to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in undermining the transitional government’s efforts to implement the July 17, 2019, Political Agreement and August 17, 2019, Constitutional Declaration,” the statement said.Individuals who engage in corruption or abuse the human rights of citizens will also be denied U.S. visas, according to Pompeo.Sudan’s deputy ambassador to the U.S., Amira Agarib, welcomed the decision.“We consider this a positive move, and it indicates that our relationship with the U.S. is evolving and that we are making progress in getting Sudan removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” Agarib told South Sudan in Focus.A longtime Sudanese analyst was not impressed with the announcement. In a tweet, Eric Reeves, a 20-plus year Sudanese analyst and Senior Fellow at Harvard University said, “Unless the name of the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (#Hemeti) is on the list, it is nothing more than a charade by the Trump administration – not a serious effort to end violations of human rights in Sudan.”On Tuesday the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released the Sudan Program and Darfur Sanctions Guidance, which loosens restrictions on individuals and companies doing business in Sudan.“U.S. persons are no longer prohibited from engaging in transactions with respect to Sudan or the Government of Sudan that were previously prohibited by the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations,” OFAC said.OFAC’s sanctions on individuals and entities accused of being involved with the conflict in Darfur remain in effect. Sudan also remains on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism List, although transitional government officials have been trying to get Sudan off the list.U.S.-based companies including Microsoft and Zoom Video Communications are already working in Sudan, according to Agarib.“The U.S. is now allowing American companies to do business with Sudan, and this is an additional step and a follow-up on the U.S. government’s decision in 2017 to lift economic sanctions that had prevented U.S.-based banks and other institutions from doing business with Sudan, and this further shows that Sudan is now a priority to the U.S.,” Agarib told VOA.Imposing visa restrictions on individuals who undermine the transitional government “reflects the Department of State’s commitment to work with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok,” civil society activists and others who want to deliver freedom and justice to the Sudanese people, Pompeo said in his statement.“This shows that Sudanese-American relations are in the process of being normalized, and we expect very soon that Sudan will be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” Agarib told VOA.Sudan’s new ambassador to the United States, Noureldin Satti, arrived in Washington a few weeks ago. It marks the first time in more than 20 years that Sudan is being represented at the ambassador level in Washington following three decades of bad U.S.-Sudan relations during Bashir’s rule.Carol Van Dam contributed to this story.     
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South Korea Ready to Talk with Japan Over Historic Disputes

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday expressed his country’s readiness to discuss with Japan historic disputes that continue to divide the two countries.Moon spoke in Seoul on the anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender, which also marked the end of Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.”We have been holding discussions with the Japanese government on an amicable solution that the victims can agree on,” Moon said. “The door for negotiation is still wide open. Our government is always ready to sit down (to talks) with the Japanese government.”The two countries are in strong disagreement over a 2018 South Korea’s Supreme Court order that a Japanese steelmaker pay compensation for forced labor during the war.Japan argues that the ruling violated international law, since all claims for compensation linked to the colonization were settled under the 1965 diplomatic treaty between the two countries.Seoul, however, says the ruling is enforceable as a decision by an independent judiciary. 
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Evictions Across US Raise Concerns About Voting Process

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Over the past decade, Alison Eisinger has helped more than 1,000 people experiencing homelessness in Seattle register to vote. This year, despite the stakes involved in the U.S. presidential election in November, Eisinger isn’t making the same effort.Seattle already has 7,000 individuals who lack shelter, a number that could swell if a moratorium on evictions is lifted.“It would be irresponsible for us to think that voter registration is a top priority for someone who is wondering where they’ll get their next meal, or lay their head,” said Eisinger, who directs the King County Coalition on Homelessness, a nonprofit group. “Even for those of us who deeply, profoundly believe in the power of organizing and voter registration, we’re focused on other things, because that’s the nature of a crisis.”The same dynamic holds true across the country. Between 30 and 40 million American households may face eviction this year, according to one recent study. A federal program to block evictions for a third of the renting population has expired, as have eviction moratoriums in more than half the 50 United States. Others may run out just weeks before the election.It’s worth noting that eviction is not an immediate process. Evictions can drag on for months, fought out in local courts. A significant share of people clear out immediately when served with eviction notices; however, they are often unaware of their legal rights as tenants, housing advocates say.Voter registration processThat could have a profound effect on voting. Homeless individuals, like other citizens, have the right to vote. The voting registration process, however, generally depends on having a permanent address.“People’s voting rights are being taken away from them at the same time their homes are taken away from them,” said Claire Tran, an organizer with Right to the City Alliance, a progressive advocacy group based in Brooklyn, New York.Registration rules vary widely by state. Nineteen states have automatic voter registration systems to sign people up when they interact with state agencies (usually, the department of motor vehicles, or DMV). All those systems are fairly new, however, with the oldest dating back only to 2014.In most states, individuals still have to make an active effort, with registrations tied to their current place of residence.They’re supposed to update their information when they move, whether voluntarily or not. Often, people forget until an election is coming up, when it may be too late. Some states require individuals to register at least 30 days ahead of an election; fewer than half allow people to register as late as Election Day itself.“People don’t think about their voter registration when they’re moving, they think about it when they vote,” said Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, the top election official in the state.Voter registration in the U.S. lags well behind other nations.During the last presidential election, in 2016, of the 245.5 million Americans of voting age (those 18 and older), only about 157.6 million (64%) reported being registered to vote, according to the Census Bureau. Of those Americans of voting age, however, just over 137.5 million (56%) said they had actually voted, according to the census.By contrast, more than 90% of adults are registered in Canada and the United Kingdom. Nations such as Germany and Sweden automatically register people to vote.Hurdles in 2020People who lack stable housing always have a hard time voting in the U.S., but the hurdles will be higher this year. The county agencies that administer elections are facing nearly universal budget problems, with many shutting polling sites due to a shortage of temporary poll workers, even as they cope with a pandemic.The cottage industry that normally springs up in election years to register people has gone dormant, with the coronavirus pandemic canceling the type of large gatherings such as concerts and fairs where political parties and voting rights groups usually sign people up. (The wave of anti-racism protests across the country has been an exception.) Many DMV offices are closed, too.“Texas is the most difficult state in the country to register people to vote on a good day, and now we’re on the worst day,” said Charlie Bonner, spokesman for MOVE Texas, which promotes participation in elections. “We’ve seen the numbers drop dramatically, compared to the last presidential election, which is exceptionally frustrating because there was so much momentum.”Registration efforts are taking place online, but that’s of no use to people without computers or internet access – an increasing problem for homeless and low-income individuals, with many public libraries, which provide free use of computers, shuttered by the pandemic.In order to vote in most states, individuals need a form of government-issued photo identification. Getting a photo ID, however, usually requires having another form of identification. People who are homeless have often lost important documents or had them seized or stolen.Many homeless individuals list shelters as their mailing addresses, but some shelters have been shuttered since March.In all 50 states, individuals are allowed to register without an address (in some states, they can list an intersection or the bridge they sleep under as a domicile). In practice, however, people who are visibly homeless often find themselves turned away at the polls by ill-trained workers.“A homeless person is able to register and vote, but if people don’t know that, that’s unfortunately a means of voter suppression,” said Louis Bedford IV, an election protection fellow at the nonprofit Texas Civil Rights Project.Absentee ballot request formsThis year, eight states and the District of Columbia are sending all registered voters absentee ballot request forms to encourage more people to vote by mail; all but eight states are allowing every voter to send in absentee ballots by mail, without needing an excuse for being unable or unwilling to vote in person. If a person has been evicted and left no forwarding address, however, they won’t receive those forms or their ballots.“Mailing ballots is meant to increase participation and decrease exposure to COVID, but it requires an address to participate,” said Paru Shah, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.Shah is coauthor of a study that found foreclosures dampen voter turnout.Losing a home through foreclosure or eviction is always a traumatic event. Navigating the registration process won’t be a top-of-mind concern for most people who are coping with eviction in the middle of a pandemic. That will exacerbate long-standing inequities.Americans who own their own homes are more likely to vote than renters, while higher-income individuals vote more often than the poor, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A majority of homeless individuals are Black, Hispanic or members of other minority groups, according to the National Homelessness Law Center.“Unemployment rates and disproportionately poor health outcomes are falling, unfortunately, on Black and brown people,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, deputy director of the voting rights project at the American Civil Liberties Union. “Evictions are going to be another chapter in that story of problems falling on voters of color.”Americans elect lawmakers based on where they live. When they lose their homes, they may miss their chance to express their political will.“If people’s basic needs with food, housing and health care are not met, it’s going to be hard for them to focus on their civic duty,” said Franccesca Cesti-Browne, a Democratic candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, “and that’s a big concern.” 
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What is V-J Day?

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Q: What is V-J Day?A: V-J Day, or Victory Over Japan Day, is the day Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945. Japan’s unconditional surrender effectively ended World War Two. Japan’s surrender, which formally occurred aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, came months after Nazi Germany surrendered, ending six years of war.Q: Why did Japan surrender?A: The second U.S. atomic bombing of Japan on August 6, 1945, which is believed to have killed about 40,000 people in Nagasaki, prompted Japan’s surrender. Three days earlier, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, initially killing more than 70,000 people as a direct result of the blast and reducing the entire city to ruins. In the months ahead, at least 60,000 others in Hiroshima died from the effects of the radioactive fallout.With its bombings of Japan, the U.S. became the first and only country in world history to use atomic weapons on civilians.Q: What happened before V-J Day?A: While Allies declared victory in Europe May 8, 1945, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Allied forces continued to fight Japan in the Far East. Japan started the war in Asia with its bombing of Pearl Harbor in the U.S. state of Hawaii on December 7, 1941.For nearly four years after Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, some of the most intense fighting during World War Two took place in the Pacific, India, and in other countries before the war’s end.Q: What happened after V-J Day?A: Following Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s radio announcement of Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, the U.S. led the Allies in the occupation of Japan until 1952. Allies first began demilitarizing Japan by abolishing the country’s armed forces.The U.S. occupying forces, led by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, also enacted political, economic and social reforms, such as prohibiting the expression of patriotism in Japan’s public life, including in its schools.
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Trump Orders ByteDance to Divest Interest in US TikTok Operations Within 90 Days

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President Donald Trump ordered ByteDance on Friday to divest the U.S. operations of its video-sharing app TikTok within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure on the Chinese company over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles.”There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Trump said in the Order.Trump’s latest move comes on top of an executive order he issued last week that would prohibit certain transactions with TikTok unless ByteDance divests it within 45 days. ByteDance is already in talks to sell the North America, Australia and New Zealand operations of TikTok to Microsoft Corp.The new order adds to pressure for ByteDance to divest TikTok, and legally buttresses the U.S. government’s crackdown on the Chinese-owned social media app. It authorizes U.S. officials to inspect TikTok and ByteDance’s books and information systems to ensure the safety of personal data while the sale talks are ongoing.While TikTok is best known for its anodyne videos of people dancing and going viral among teenagers, U.S. officials have expressed concerns that information on users could be passed on to China’s communist government.ByteDance said on Friday in response to the order that it is used by 100 million Americans “because it is their home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection. We’re committed to continuing to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform for many years to come.”Trump has said he would support an effort by Microsoft to buy TikTok’s American operations if the U.S. government got a “substantial portion” of the proceeds but has also said there are other interested potential buyers.Last year, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. government panel that reviews deals for potential national security risks, opened a new review of ByteDance’s acquisition of app Musical.ly in 2017. That deal created TikTok in its current form.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday the order also requires ByteDance to divest “any data obtained or derived from TikTok or Musical.ly users in the United States.”He said CFIUS “conducted an exhaustive review of the case and unanimously recommended this action to the president in order to protect U.S. Users from exploitation of their personal data.”The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to purge what it deems “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks. Beyond TikTok, Trump has also issued an order that would prohibit transactions with Tencent Holding Ltd’s WeChat.Asked on Friday if he was concerned that the sweeping ban on WeChat could prevent Apple Inc from selling iPhones in China, Trump did not express worry.”I do what’s good in terms of the security of our country,” he told reporters.A group of major U.S. companies, including Apple, raised concerns this week about the potential negative implications on U.S. firms from the TikTok and WeChat orders.   
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Pompeo Keeps Focus on China During Eastern European Tour

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning leaders in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria that China’s Communist Party poses an even bigger security threat than the former Soviet Union.  VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more on Pompeo’s trip to Eastern Europe.
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Hong Kong’s Plight Casts Shadow Over Taiwan’s Diplomatic Coups

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China’s crackdown on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong has generated strong reactions in Taiwan, where senior officials are mourning Hong Kong’s losses even as they revel in a rare surge of diplomatic attention themselves. “We are saddened and alarmed to see this beacon of civil liberties become extinguished, in violation of the promises Beijing had made to the people of Hong Kong, as well as the international community,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told a Washington audience via teleconference this week. Tsai returned to the theme at a separate gathering of her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, where concerns for Hong Kong dampened her obvious enthusiasm over back-to-back visits to Taiwan by a delegation from Japan led by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and one led by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the most senior U.S. official to visit the island in more than 40 years. FILE – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, 2nd from left, answers to the media after visiting a mask factory in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Aug. 12, 2020.”Our citizens have all been excited over the visits by the American and Japanese delegations [but] it’s clear that the situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating,” Tsai said. The president remarked on televised scenes of Hong Kong citizens lining up at newspaper stalls in the middle of the night to purchase copies of Apple Daily, in a show of support for the paper and its publisher Jimmy Lai, who had just been arrested along with several colleagues and family members. “The paper is nearly sold out everywhere; some people even said that ‘even if [Apple Daily] only consisted a piece of white paper, I still want to buy it,'” she told the DPP officials. “I am extremely touched.” FILE – People queue up at a news stand to buy copies of Apple Daily in downtown Hong Kong, Aug. 11, 2020, as a show of support, a day after the arrest of its founder Jimmy Lai.Tsai is months into her second four-year term, which she won with a decisive election victory in January widely seen as an endorsement of her position that any potential economic benefits alone did not justify seeking closer ties with Beijing. “People say that the second term is supposed to be easier than the first, they must be people that have not experienced the year 2020 like we have,” Tsai said during Wednesday’s video conference, organized by the Hudson Institute and the Center for American Progress. She said Taiwan is “not immune” to the current pandemic’s aftershocks and has instituted stimulus measures like most other countries, even though the island has been one of the most successful in keeping the pandemic at bay. Taiwan’s vulnerability to Chinese aggression, felt more acutely as Beijing tightens its grip on Hong Kong, has forced Tsai’s government to beef up defense spending and strengthen alliances with the United States, its most significant partner, and other “like-minded democracies,” as Tsai put it. FILE – This photo taken May 25, 2018, by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry shows Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jet, left, monitoring one of two Chinese H-6 bombers that flew over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan and the Miyako Strait, near Japan’s Okinawa Island.The threat was driven home this week by Chinese media reports that China’s military had conducted live-fire drills and flown jet fighters across the “middle line” of the Taiwan Strait in response to the Azar visit. Tsai’s government this week proposed a roughly 10% increase in its defense budget from the current level, which is already 2.3% of GDP. Approval is expected, given her party’s solid legislative majority. But Tsai played down the fear of any imminent attack and said her approach to relations with Beijing will be governed by four principles she first announced in May during her second inaugural speech — peace, parity, democracy and dialogue. Taiwan “will neither act rashly to escalate confrontation, nor will we give in,” officials at the de facto embassy in Washington told VOA afterwards. Tsai said Taiwan “will always acknowledge the historical and cultural ties that exist across the Strait. And we will never stop believing that there can be a better future ahead.” She stressed the right Taiwan’s 23 million people have to determine their own future, a stand she called the “antithesis” of Beijing’s position. 
 
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Former FBI Lawyer Involved in Russia Investigation Pleads Guilty

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A former FBI lawyer charged with altering a key document used in connection with the FBI’s surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page has agreed to plead guilty on Friday to making a false statement. 
 
The charge against Kevin Clinesmith marks the first criminal case brought by U.S. Attorney John Durham’s yearlong probe into the origins of the 2016 Russian election meddling investigation, an inquiry President Donald Trump and his allies derided as a “hoax.”  FILE – This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.Durham was picked by U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr to probe possible misconduct by federal authorities involved in the FBI’s efforts to examine links between Trump’s campaign and Russia during Trump’s campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.Clinesmith, who worked for the FBI from 2015 to 2019, is expected to admit in federal court in Washington, D.C., that he altered a June 2017 email from the CIA in a way that suggested Page, an admitted CIA asset, was not a “source” for the agency. Relying on the falsified document, the FBI then applied for its fourth surveillance warrant on Page, according to court documents. The alteration was brought to light last year by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, who referred Clinesmith for criminal prosecution.Although the Page surveillance took place after he had left the Trump campaign and was part of the broader FBI examination of Russian election meddling, Trump and his allies have seized on it as evidence that the administration of former President Barack Obama “spied” on his election team.Calling Clinesmith a “corrupt FBI attorney,” Trump told White House reporters on Friday that it was just the beginning of more to come from Durham’s investigation.“The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught, and you’ll be hearing more,” Trump said. FILE – U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, June 4, 2020.In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday, Barr described the Clinesmith plea as “an indication that things are moving along at the proper pace as dictated by the facts in this investigation.”While Barr said he is “not going to do anything inappropriate before the election,” he suggested that he would likely release Durham’s findings ahead of the November vote.The Russia probe was launched in July 2016 shortly after the FBI received a tip from Australian intelligence that George Papadopoulos, then a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, had suggested that Russia had approached the Trump people with offers of help in the form of releasing thousands of embarrassing emails hacked from Democrats.In addition to Page and Padopoulos, the FBI investigated two other Trump campaign operatives. In the end, while special counsel Robert Mueller uncovered numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, he concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove a conspiracy.Little is known about what Durham has unearthed or whether anyone else will be charged. While Barr has made clear neither Obama nor former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is under investigation, he has said Durham has uncovered “troubling” evidence of misconduct.Barr, who became Trump’s second attorney general last year, has faced criticism over publicly discussing the Durham investigation and refusing to commit to not releasing his findings before the Nov. 3 presidential election pitting Trump against Biden.Justice department policies prohibit officials from commenting publicly making on ongoing investigations and taking steps “for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”In recent months, the attorney general has stepped up his attacks on the Russia investigation, saying in an April interview with Fox that it was carried out “without any basis” and calling it “one of the greatest travesties in American history.” During a July 29 congressional appearance, Barr referred to the Russia investigation as “the bogus Russiagate.”FILE – Former special counsel Robert Mueller checks pages in the report as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Russian election interference, on Capitol Hill, July 24, 2019.Mueller has pushed back against claims that the investigation was “illegitimate,” writing in the Washington Post in July that the probe was “of paramount importance.”“Russian efforts to interfere in our political system, and the essential question of whether those efforts involved the Trump campaign, required investigation,” Mueller wrote.In a report released last year, the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded the FBI investigation had been “predicated” on intelligence about Russian interference.Barr said he disagreed with some of the report. And in an extraordinary move for a prosecutor, Durham released a statement in response to the IG report saying “we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.” 
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Victims’ Families Await Compensation From Sudan 22 Years After US Embassy Bombings

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For Edith Bartley, the terror attacks that struck U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 22 years ago will never fade away. She lost her father and her brother in the bombing of the embassy in Nairobi, and she continues to speak out on behalf of the families of victims. “It’s about advocacy, about ensuring that the work of our diplomats and other embassy personnel at our American embassies around the world are not forgotten,” she said. “And that as a nation, we don’t forget what happened half a world away because it really was the precursor to later events. “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my father and brother. Their lives and all of their friends and colleagues were taken abruptly and far too soon,” she said.Her father, Julian L. Bartley, was the first African-American consul general to serve the U.S. in Kenya.   Her brother, Julian L. Bartley, Jr., was at the embassy for an internship and was considering attending universities in Kenya. “My brother was only 20. He had his entire life ahead of him.” FILE – An Army honor guard carries the caskets of Julian Bartley Jr., left, and his father Julian Bartley Sr. during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Aug. 18, 1998.Today, her advocacy centers on compensation for families of victims, specifically, a $335 million compensation fund Sudan has agreed to pay. Leading up to the attacks, the Sudanese government harbored the al-Qaeda militants, providing them with Sudanese passports and allowed them to transport weapons and money across the border into Kenya. Sudan had also given safe haven to Osama Bin Laden leading the U.S. State Department to place the country on a list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1993.   FILE – People lay flowers at the U.S. Embassy bombing memorial site in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 7, 2013, to mark the 15-year anniversary of the 1998 embassy bombing.”There is a third victim group which has emerged and that is really the point of debate at this point, which is African victims at the time of the attacks, but which since the attacks have become naturalized American citizens,” Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, told VOA. “And so that is a group of roughly 12 to 15 people who have immigrated to the United States, become U.S. citizens, and want to be compensated at the rate of American citizens at the $3 million rate, not at the rate of Africans. And so that’s where the debate lies right now.” U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has questioned the fairness of the deal.   FILE – Senator Bob Menendez talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 28, 2020.In recent reports, Menendez said the deal “favors some American citizens over others. We need a deal that, at minimum, is fair to all Americans with claims,” according to The Washington Post. But Bartley points out that the U.S. has a compensation fund for victims of terror. This fund, created in 2015, is the mechanism for both citizens and non-citizens to collect money from countries such as Sudan that have sponsored terror organizations.  The fund is administered by the Justice Department and, when the U.S. wins legal actions against sanctions violators, a portion of the damages collected goes into that fund. It is then distributed to victims. Hudson said the State Department is hoping to balance the interest of Americans and non-citizens. “What the lawyers at the State Department have done is they’re relying very heavily on the deal that was put together to remove Libya [from the state sponsors of terrorism list]. Part of that deal was essentially an exchange of compensation, which the Libyans paid to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing in exchange for Libya receiving legal immunity.” Hudson said Sudan wants that same type of immunity from individual lawsuits, but that requires Congress to act. “The wrinkle is that while the State Department has promised it, it cannot deliver. It’s only an act of Congress that can restore Sudan’s sovereign immunity,” Hudson said in a VOA interview via Skype. “And so the State Department needs the Congress. It otherwise would not need Congress to remove Sudan from the terrorism list.” Bartley and other family members pledge to keep fighting. “What I will continue to do is focus on fighting the good fight and doing what we can to make a difference and help our families feel that some portion of justice is achieved,” she said.  “That is the ultimate wish that we all have.” 
 
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Investigation Confirms Landslide Caused Scotland Train Derailment

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British investigators Friday confirmed that a landslide caused the fatal passenger train derailment in northeast Scotland that killed three people and injured six others this week. In a report published on its official website, the British Rail Investigation Branch says the train derailed after it struck a landslide that had covered the tracks in a rural area about 6.4 kilometers southwest of the coastal town of Stonehaven and 160 kilometers northeast of Edinburgh. The investigators say after the derailment, the train kept going in a straight line as the track curved to the right. The lead power car struck a bridge parapet and fell down a wooded embankment with the third passenger car. The report says derailment killed the train’s driver, its conductor and one passenger. One other member of the crew and five passengers were taken to the hospital, but their injuries were not considered serious. Heavy rains in previous days were believed to have caused the landslide. In a statement Friday, Chief Rail Inspector Simon French said that while fatal accidents on the railway remain rare, landslides “and other earthworks failures remain a risk to trains.” He said this is becoming more challenging for the rail industry due to the increasing incidence of extreme weather events.Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, meets first responders in Stonehaven where a passenger train derailed in northeast Scotland, Aug. 14, 2020.Prince Charles is visiting the accident site Friday to thank emergency workers who came to help others in rugged terrain. 
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Thai Authorities Arrest Pro-Democracy Protest Leader   

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Authorities in Thailand arrested a student pro-democracy protest leader Friday after he led demonstrations last month calling for government reforms and an end to military influence on politics.The arrest of Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, 22, was documented in a video apparently shot by a friend and posted to Parit’s Facebook page. In the video, police can be heard reading charges to him related to a July 18 protest before he was physically carried to a police car. Authorities took him into custody just outside Bangkok while Parit was traveling to a protest.This handout from the Royal Thai Government taken and released on Aug. 13, 2020 shows Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha speaking after a cabinet meeting at the Government House in Bangkok.The July 18 protest and almost daily rallies that have taken place around the country since are a reaction to a disputed election last year that kept junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister five years after he first took power in a 2014 army coup.Hours after Parit’s arrest, hundreds of students gathered at Chulalongkorn University in central Bangkok for a previously planned anti-government rally. Speakers called for a new constitution and for the government to resign.Students went ahead with the rally despite a ban by the university, which said it was given too little notice to adequately ensure student safety.Prime Minister Prayuth has responded to the student-led protests by appealing for unity. In a televised address Thursday, the prime minister urged citizens to “say ‘no’ to the politics of hate and division and to the politics that spread the disease of tribalism of ‘belief versus belief’, or ‘young versus old’, or ‘rich versus poor.’”The student protest groups plan to stage a large protest on Sunday to intensify their demand to reform the military-backed constitution and call for new elections.
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Tanzania Press Regulations Raise Concerns

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Tanzanian rights activists and media outlets are accusing the government of limiting press freedom after the release of new content regulations. The rules, which went into effect this week, prohibit local media from broadcasting foreign media content without government permission and require local journalists working with foreign reporters to have a government minder.Radio Free Africa, a local radio station based in Mwanza region, was questioned Monday by the regulatory body after airing a broadcast from the BBC Swahili service that included an interview with opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu. The regulatory authority complained that the interview lacked balance. Rights groups say the aim of Tanzanian authorities is to restrict press freedom in the country.”These are regulations that didn’t involve stakeholders and there are various things that have been seen,” Jebra Kambole, an independent lawyer and human rights activist told VOA, “including heavy penalties, imprisonment and fines.”He added that when it comes to freedom of expression and imprisonment, this leads to fear among the media and citizens, limiting their freedom of expression and access to information.Journalists like Sufiani Juma see the new regulations as restricting the way they do their jobs.  Juma said this is a series of events that involves suppression of press freedom and threats to journalists, adding that this is the way the government is forcing journalists and the media to report only stories about the government.  Leopold Mosha, a human rights activist from the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, is urging the government to remove what he called all contradictory and suppressive regulations.”I think the good thing is to completely erase these regulations and to remove all the segments that are contradictory to our constitution,” he told VOA, “especially those that prohibit people from expressing themselves and sharing their opinions especially as we are heading to the general election.”Mosha added that media and citizens should be granted the right to conduct debates, share and receive information without any oppressive restrictions.  In an interview with the BBC, Tanzanian Information Minister Harrison Mwakyembe said the government has not banned foreign content in the local media. Instead, he said, the new regulations will enable the government to know which stations airing programs in Tanzania have partnered with foreign broadcasters.  But with Tanzania expected to hold general elections in October, the government move has raised further questions about the state of democracy and free speech in the country. In a statement Friday, Acting VOA Director Elez Biberaj said this is the first time Tanzania or any East African government has made such a brazen move to restrict press freedom. If this is not reversed, he said, the Tanzanian people will be denied important information as they prepare to go to the polls. 
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In Belarus, Journalists Beaten and Detained, Internet Cut

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As Belarus cracked down on protesters contesting the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko, dozens of journalists were detained, beaten, and deported, and internet service was blocked as authorities tried to stifle opposition to the Aug. 9 vote.Mass demonstrations took place in the capital, Minsk, and other cities this week with protesters alleging the election was rigged and that opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya — and not Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years — won the vote. Belarus freed about 1,000 people overnight on Aug. 13 after public outcry at the harsh tactics.Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania after the election and has called on her supporters to not oppose the police. She ran for president after authorities detained her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular video blogger who was registered as a presidential candidate.  Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanouskaya speaks in a video message in an unknown location, in this still image taken from a video released, Aug. 11, 2020.About 80 violations against the media have been documented since the election, according to the People detained during recent rallies of opposition supporters, who accuse Alexander Lukashenko of falsifying the polls in the presidential election, show their marks from beatings as they leave the Okrestina prison, in Minsk, Aug. 14, 2020.In another incident, riot police beat Maksim Solopov, a Russian correspondent for Meduza, and arrested him while threatening his colleagues. Solopov’s whereabouts was unknown for two days. He was later handed to the Russian embassy, ​​along with the reporters from Dozhd TV.Security forces also detained and beat journalists from state-owned outlets including the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, Sputnik radio station, and RT TV, as well as the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, demanded the release of the country’s journalists. At least 10 of those detained were deported, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In the Dozhd TV case, the journalists were barred from returning to Belarus for 10 years. News crews from the BBC and Associated Press were also attacked or detained. Riot police beat a BBC cameraman and damaged his equipment. AP photographer Mstislav Chernov, was briefly detained and beaten on Aug. 10. While foreign media were released, many Belarusian journalists were detained on accusations of petty hooliganism, violating laws on mass media, or violations of the law on organizing mass rallies or events.  Some are still in custody, and it was not always clear where they were being held.Rights expert Bihr said the disappearance of journalists was disturbing.“This has happened to several Russian journalists in recent days, and they have all been released now. However, we have so far failed to discover the whereabouts of certain Belarusian journalists. And this is a distinctive feature of the recent detentions,” he said.People light flares and wave Belarusian flags to support Belarusian opposition in front of Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 14, 2020.International rights groups have criticized the government’s crackdown. “The problem was the complete lack of communication: the mobile internet was completely down, it was impossible to use any instant messengers or get any information from the phone at all while you were in the street,” Tanya Lokshina, director of the Russia program at Human Rights Watch, told VOA. “You could only figure out what was happening and where basically only by the noise. It was also impossible to find Wi-Fi there, because cafes where such a connection could theoretically be available were forcibly closed. I literally had to run in the direction of the noise,” said Lokshina, who was in Minsk. Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the internet block and attacks were an attempt by authorities to prevent independent information from being shared. “We believe that the basic goal of the Belarusian authorities before, during and after the elections is to control the flow of information, to prevent the dissemination of any opinions about the elections or the political situation in Belarus that differ from the narrative approved by Lukashenko,” she told VOA, adding that the brutality of the crackdown on protesters exceeds that of previous elections.“The international community was aware of the nature of Lukashenko’s regime, probably since the time Lukashenko came to power. And he has remained in power for so long, because the pressure on him to guarantee certain civil and human rights throughout Belarus from the international community was decidedly insufficient,” she said.Bihr said instructions appeared to be coming from the top.“Over the past few days and weeks, President Lukashenko has repeatedly warned and threatened independent media. He scolded the Belarusian Foreign Ministry for accrediting Radio Liberty,” Bihr said. “He threatened the journalists of (website) Tut.by and (television channel) Belsat, accusing them of instigating a revolution. In this way, he very openly and clearly empowered the state apparatus to crack down on independent journalists and arrange an information blackout in the country.”This article originated in VOA’s Russia service.
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Former FBI Agent to Plead Guilty to Altering Email Used in Secret Warrant Application

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A former FBI lawyer charged with altering a key document used in connection with the FBI’s surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page is expected to plead guilty on Friday to making a false statement, a person familiar with the matter said.The expected plea by Kevin Clinesmith is the first criminal case arising from top federal prosecutor John Durham’s year-long probe into the origins of the 2016 Russian election meddling investigation, which President Donald Trump and his allies have derided as a “hoax.”FILE – This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.Durham was picked by U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr to probe possible misconduct by federal authorities involved in efforts to prove links between Trump’s campaign and Russia during Trump’s campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.Clinesmith will plead guilty to one count of making a false statement, admitting in federal court that he altered an email that suggested Page was a CIA asset.The alteration was discovered by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, who referred it to Durham.Barr ordered the Durham investigation shortly after taking the helm of the Justice Department last year.In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Barr described the latest development in the Durham investigation as “an indication that things are moving along at the proper pace as dictated by the facts in this investigation.”While Barr said he is “not going to do anything inappropriate before the election,” he suggested that he will likely release Durham’s findings ahead of the November vote.Little is known about what Durham has unearthed during his year-long investigation or what other charges he’ll bring against others involved in the Russia investigation.FILE – U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, June 4, 2020.Barr has said neither former President Barack Obama nor former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is under investigation. But he has said the prosecutor has uncovered “troubling” problems with the 2016 investigation.Barr, a close Trump ally and defender, has faced criticism over publicly discussing the Durham investigation and refusing to commit to not releasing his findings before the Nov. 3 presidential election, which pits Trump against former Vice President Biden.Justice department policies prohibit officials from making public comment on ongoing investigations and taking steps “for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”Barr, a skeptic of the Russia investigation before he was appointed attorney general last year, has increasingly attacked the Russia investigation, saying in an April interview with Fox that it was carried out “without any basis” and calling it “one of the greatest travesties in American history.” Former special counsel Robert Mueller has pushed back against claims that the investigation was “illegitimate,” writing in the Washington Post in July that the probe was “of paramount importance.”“Russian efforts to interfere in our political system, and the essential question of whether those efforts involved the Trump campaign, required investigation,” Mueller wrote. In a report released last year, the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded the FBI investigation had been “predicated” on intelligence about Russian interference.Barr said he disagreed with some of the report. And in an extraordinary move for a prosecutor, Durham released a statement in response to the IG report saying “we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”
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