U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Republican-led Senate will vote “as soon as this week” on COVID-19 relief legislation after negotiations with Democrats broke off last month.“It does not contain every idea our party likes. I am confident Democrats will feel the same. Yet Republicans believe the many serious differences between our two parties should not stand in the way of agreeing where we can agree and making law that helps our nation,” McConnell said in a statement.Millions of workers remain unemployed in the United States. Some U.S. employers have called back those who were laid off during mandatory business shutdowns earlier this year. Yet hard-hit businesses have been slow to ramp up their operations again or have closed permanently, leaving workers idled or searching for new jobs.Until the end of July, the national government sent an extra $600 a week to unemployed workers on top of less generous state jobless benefits. But Trump administration negotiators and opposition Democratic lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement on how long to extend the federal benefit and for how much.White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, center, waits in the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 3, 2020.The Senate returned to Capitol Hill Tuesday for a shortened preelection session, as hopes continue to diminish for passage of another relief bill to cope with the economic decline brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. After bipartisan unity led to the approval of a nearly $3 billion COVID-19 rescue package in the spring, the two sides have not been able to reach another agreement. The House of Representatives does not return to work until Sept. 14.White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said earlier Tuesday he was optimistic another measure would be passed before the Nov. 3 presidential election but gave no indication of progress in talks with congressional Democrats.Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Aug. 27, 2020.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement Tuesday the Senate vote was a political maneuver.“After months of inaction, Republicans are finally realizing the damage their pause has done to the American economy and our nation’s health. As they scramble to make up for this historic mistake, Senate Republicans appear dead set on another bill which doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.The U.S. leads the world in confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with nearly 190,000. The U.S. is also home to a world-leading 6.3 million coronavirus infections, nearly one-quarter of the more than 27.3 million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Month: September 2020
South Africans Bristle Over Alleged Trump Comments on Mandela
South Africans are angry about comments that U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly made in private about South African icon Nelson Mandela, the nation’s first black president and Nobel Peace laureate. The alleged comments — which Trump denies — are full of profanity and include Trump saying of Mandela, “he was no leader,” and are part of a tell-all book by indicted former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.President Trump’s alleged comments about South African icon Nelson Mandela are ruffling feathers in the Rainbow Nation, with the beloved leader’s grandson sharply criticizing Trump for his leadership and with ordinary South Africans clamoring to the defense of the leader many here simply call Tata, or father. Trump’s comments, as put forward in a book by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, were reported by American media over the weekend and were strongly denied by the White House. Cohen was convicted in 2018 of a slew of charges including campaign-finance violations, tax crimes and making false statements.White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement over the weekend that said Cohen lacked credibility and noted he was a disgraced felon found guilty of lying to Congress.According to the book, Trump said shortly after Mandela’s 2013 death that the former South African president was “no leader.” The other reported comments include an expletive Trump has allegedly used to describe African countries, plus slurs against Black people.FILE – The coffin of South African former president Nelson Mandela is carried on a gun carriage for a traditional burial in Qunu, South Africa, Dec. 15, 2013.Mandela’s grandson Ndaba Mandela spoke exclusively to VOA on Google Hangouts shortly after the comments began to spread through South African news.“Donald Trump is the last person to speak about Nelson Mandela, or about leadership. Because he needs to look at the failure of his own leadership, because America is currently burning right now. You know, there have been several Black Lives Matter movements across the country where people have been rioting, people have been burning, stores and you name it and protest after continuous killing of black people by their police,” he said.The Mandela Foundation, in a statement this week, said, “we do not believe that leaders who conduct themselves in the way Mr. Trump does are in a position to offer authoritative commentary on (Mandela’s) life and work.”The ruling African National Congress party also issued statement on the alleged comments, saying on Tuesday “All freedom-loving people of the world are appalled by these insults which come from a person who, himself, is not a model of competent leadership.”Mandela received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the racist apartheid system and ushering South Africa into a peaceful new era. In South Africa, he is universally loved and ever-present: since 2012, his face has appeared on all of the nation’s money.Mandela said that to his knowledge, his grandfather did not have a relationship with Trump, and did not speak of him.“When you attack, Nelson Mandela, for me, that says that you clearly do not see or value the very same principles and values that the people that we see as progressive in this world, who are trying to create a much more united world — that you are not really such a person who has those same values. You know, we see him as a person who has actually created disparity and even division, not only in America, but influenced the cohesion of the global community.”Trump has publicly made comments about South Africa before, tweeting a week after Mandela’s death that the nation was a ‘crime-ridden mess ready to explode.’VOA approached dozens of people in three locations in Johannesburg. Many did not want to speak about Trump, but those who did were invariably critical of the American president.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has not publicly responded to the alleged comments.U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks, a Trump appointee, said in a statement that she had discussed South Africa numerous times with the president, and “he has only ever spoken positively about the country.”
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House to Investigate Possible DeJoy Campaign Law Violations
House Democrats said Tuesday they will investigate whether Postmaster General Louis DeJoy encouraged employees at his former business to contribute to Republican candidates and then reimbursed them in the guise of bonuses, a violation of campaign finance laws.
Five people who worked for DeJoy’s former company, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy’s aides or by DeJoy himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his mansion in Greensboro, North Carolina, The Washington Post reported. Two former employees told the newspaper that DeJoy would later give bigger bonuses to reimburse for the contributions.
It’s not illegal to encourage employees to contribute to candidates, but it is illegal to reimburse them as a way of avoiding federal campaign contribution limits.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that if the allegations are true, “DeJoy could face criminal exposure — not only for his actions in North Carolina, but also for lying to our Committee under oath.”
She was referring to DeJoy’s testimony before her committee last month, when he forcefully denied that he had repaid executives for contributing to Trump’s campaign.
Maloney, a New York Democrat, urged the Postal Service Board of Governors to immediately suspend DeJoy, whom “they never should have selected in the first place.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the oversight panel’s government operations subcommittee, said DeJoy has “repeatedly broken the trust of the American people and must resign or be fired.”
Monty Hagler, a spokesperson for DeJoy, told the Post that DeJoy was unaware that any workers felt pressure to make donations. Hagler also said DeJoy believes he has always complied with campaign fundraising laws and regulations.
President Donald Trump said Monday that DeJoy, a major donor to Trump and other Republicans, should lose his job if campaign finance irregularities are uncovered.
DeJoy already faces unrelated scrutiny from Congress for U.S. Postal Service changes that some fear will slow delivery of mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 elections.
DeJoy was put in charge of the Postal Service in June after a career in logistics and set in motion a series of policy changes that have delayed mail and sparked concern over the agency’s ability to process a flood of mail-in ballots expected this fall due to coronavirus fears.
The oversight committee recently subpoenaed DeJoy for records about widespread mail delivery delays that have pushed the Postal Service into the political spotlight.
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South Africans Bristle Over Alleged Trump Comments on Mandela
South Africans are angry about American media reports that President Donald Trump privately disparaged South African icon Nelson Mandela, the nation’s first black president and Nobel Peace laureate, before taking office. The comments, which Trump denies having made, are part of a tell-all book by his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg.
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China Launches Data Security Initiative
China’s foreign minister announced Tuesday the start of a global data security initiative, outlining principles that should be followed in areas ranging from personal information to espionage.Wang Yi announced the initiative in a video as part of conference on international cooperation. The initiative comes as the U.S. continues to put pressure on China’s largest technology companies and tries to convince countries around the world to block them. China’s initiative has eight key points including not using technology to impair other countries’ critical infrastructure or steal data and making sure service providers don’t install backdoors in their products and illegally obtain user data.Wang, speaking in Beijing, also said the initiative seeks an end to activities that “infringe upon personal information” and opposes using technology to conduct mass surveillance against other states.The initiative says companies should also respect the laws of host countries and stop coercing domestic firms to store data generated overseas in their own territory. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month unveiled the “Clean Network” program, saying it is aimed at protecting citizen privacy and sensitive information from “malign actors, such as the Chinese Communist Party.” Many points of the initiative appear to address some of those accusations. In an apparent reference to Pompeo’s comments, Zhao said,” China has always been broad and level, open and cooperative. If all countries, especially those intentionally smearing and slandering China with wild allegations, could make such a promise like China, it will be beneficial to the mutual trust and cooperation on digital security issues among all countries.”The U.S. has accused China’s technology companies of posing national security threats by collecting user data and sending it back to Beijing. Companies, including Huawei and ByteDance, have denied those allegations.It is unclear if any other countries have signed on to China’s initiative and how it will be implemented and policed.
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Summer of COVID-19 Ends With Health Officials Worried
The Lost Summer of 2020 drew to a close Monday with many big Labor Day gatherings canceled across the U.S. and health authorities pleading with people to keep their distance from others so as not to cause another coronavirus surge like the one that followed Memorial Day.
Downtown Atlanta was quiet as the 85,000 or so people who come dressed as their favorite superheroes or sci-fi characters for the annual Dragon Con convention met online instead. Huge football stadiums at places like Ohio State and the University of Texas sat empty. Many Labor Day parades marking the unofficial end of summer were called off, and masks were usually required at the few that went on.
“Please, please do not make the same mistakes we all made on Memorial Day weekend. Wear your masks, watch your distance and wash your hands,” said Dr. Raul Pino, state health director in Orange County, Florida, which includes the Orlando area.A few people are seen on the beach on the first day of a record heat wave, amid the global outbreak of coronavirus disease, in Hermosa Beach, near Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 4, 2020.The U.S. had about 1.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around Memorial Day, before backyard parties and other gatherings contributed to a summertime surge. It now has more than 6.2 million cases, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Deaths from the virus more than doubled over the summer to nearly 190,000.
In New Orleans, which had one of the largest outbreaks outside of New York City this spring, city officials reminded residents that COVID-19 doesn’t take a holiday after they received 36 calls about large gatherings and 46 calls about businesses not following safety rules on Friday and Saturday.
“This is not who we are, and this is not how we — as a community — get back to where we want to be,” the city said.
In South Carolina, which was a hot spot of contagion over the summer before cases started to decline in early August, 8,000 fans, including Gov. Henry McMaster, were allowed to attend the NASCAR race at the Darlington Raceway on Sunday. State officials approved a socially distant attendance plan at the track, which can hold 47,000 people.
It was the biggest gathering in the state since the outbreak started six months ago. Many rows and seats were kept empty to keep groups of fans apart, and people were asked to wear masks.
Debbie Katsanos drove down from New Hampshire with her husband, her father and a friend. It was their first trip out of state since COVID-19 started spreading. They had time off because the Labor Day weekend fair where they typically sell concessions canceled this year.
Katsanos said they wore masks at all times when they were away from their motor home, ate in a restaurant only once on the way down and tried to stay socially distant when visiting with other people at their campground.
“It’s probably our only chance to get somewhere before the summer ends, ” Katsanos said Monday as she sat in traffic on Interstate 95 in North Carolina on the long trip home. “I saw it as the turning of the corner. We survived this. Let’s live life a little.”
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Беларусы, проснись: чебурнет и чебурпедия уже на вашем пороге!
Беларусы, проснись: чебурнет и чебурпедия уже на вашем пороге!
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В путляндии создают чебурпедию, чтобы закрыть доступ к Википедии, а чебурнет уже действует и весь трафик контролируется
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«Обнуление» концлагеря: самообман обиженного карлика пукина даёт трещину
«Обнуление» концлагеря: самообман обиженного карлика пукина даёт трещину.
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Обнуление» сроков обиженного карлика пукина уже через месяц дало совершенно обратный эффект – началось реальное обнуление созданного им режима
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Холодильник побеждает телевизор
Холодильник побеждает телевизор.
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Цены на продовольствие в путляндии растут значительно быстрее, чем доходы населения, а резкое падение уровня жизни на фоне пандемии еще больше увеличило разрыв
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Prince Harry Repays Taxpayer Money for UK Home Renovation
Prince Harry has repaid 2.4 million pounds ($3.2 million) in British taxpayers’ money that was used to renovate the home in Windsor intended for him and his wife Meghan before they gave up royal duties and moved to California.A spokesman for the couple said Monday that Harry had made a contribution to the Sovereign Grant, the public money that goes to the royal family. He said the contribution “fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage,” near Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor Castle home, west of London.He said Frogmore Cottage will remain the home of Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, when they visit the U.K.Royal accounts for 2019 show that 2.4 million pounds was spent renovating the house, including structural work, rewiring and new flooring. Harry and Meghan agreed to pay back the money and start paying rent as part of the plans drawn up when they quit as senior working royals in March.They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California, and last week announced a deal with Netflix to produce a range of films and series for the streaming service.
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Theater, Brinkmanship Mark Brexit Talks
Negotiators on both sides of the English Channel say this week is the “moment of reckoning” for a post-Brexit trade deal between the European Union and Britain. But after six months of toxic wrangling the odds are mounting an agreement will not be struck, both British and European officials concede.That result that could poison relations between Britain and its near neighbors for years to come with far-reaching consequences, not only economic but impacted security and intelligence cooperation, too, say analysts.In the run-up to an eighth round of formal discussions that were to start Tuesday in London both sides were locked in an accelerating cycle of furious recriminations, accusing each other of negotiating in bad faith in talks about Britain’s future relationship with the bloc of 27 European countries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, said there needs to be “more realism” from Brussels about Britain’s “status as an independent country.” Patience wears thinAides of the EU’s top negotiator, Michael Barnier, warned patience is wearing thin and that European officials are ready to abandon the meetings this week in the light of plans by Johnson to unveil new legislation that would override key parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, a framework treaty struck last year that set the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU.European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speaks during a media conference after Brexit trade talks between the EU and the UK, in Brussels, Aug. 21, 2020.Johnson has said that unless there is an agreement by October 15, he will walk away from talks. “There is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on,” Johnson said in a statement last week. His threat worries many sectors of British business, whose bosses say Britain will be worse of without a trade deal. Northern IrelandThe eve of the talks has been dominated by fallout from the proposed publication of the new legislation, which could result in aspects of the withdrawal deal being negated. They mainly concern Northern Ireland, which will remain within the EU’s internal market under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, avoiding the necessity of a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but requiring customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and for EU rules limiting state aid to businesses in the province to be observed. Johnson’s plans to pick and choose about customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and he is keen to water down state aid rules. The disclosure about the proposed legislation, which is due to be published Wednesday, have added a new source of friction to the talks. FILE – People wave the British Union Jack and England flags as they celebrate in Parliament Square on Brexit day in London, Britain, Jan, 31, 2020.But mistrusts runs deep in the British parliament, too. Some uncompromising Brexiters in Johnson ruling Conservative party, who want a clean break from the EU, fear Johnson might be laying the ground to offer significant concessions to the EU to get a last-minute deal that he will trumpet as a great win. They worry he is engaging in a piece of highly staged theater that he can parade as diplomatic triumph.Brexiters point to what happened last year when he repudiated the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by his predecessor in Downing Street, Theresa May, only to sign an almost identical divorce deal after he was elected as her successor. Some observers, though, hazard that Johnson may not have made up his own mind about whether Britain should go it alone without a trade deal or compromise. “My guess is that the really big decision government Brexiteers must take — between scary clean break and safety-first compromise — remains entirely unresolved because the prime minister’s mind cannot be read,” wrote commentator Matthew Parris, a former Conservative lawmaker, last week.
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Black Woman to Lead Police force Reeling from Breonna Taylor
For the first time, a Black woman will lead Kentucky’s Louisville Metro Police Department, which has been been heavily criticized since officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor in March.
Mayor Greg Fischer announced on Monday that Yvette Gentry will serve as interim chief of the department, according to The Courier-Journal.
Gentry is a former Louisville Metro Police deputy chief who retired from the force in 2014. She will be the first woman and the third African American to serve as chief of the Louisville Metro Police. Interim Chief Robert Schroeder plans to retire at the end of September after four months in the role. Schroeder took over on June 1 when Fischer fired longtime Chief Steve Conrad after learning officers did not have body cameras turned on during the fatal police shooting of the owner of a popular West End eatery.FILE – This undated photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar shows Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky.Gentry’s appointment comes at a low point in relations between police and Black residents in Louisville. Protesters have marched for more than 100 consecutive days since Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot and killed as officers attempted to serve a no-knock search warrant at her apartment.
Protesters want serious changes to the city’s police and other systems they say have perpetuated systemic racism.
Taylor’s death is under investigation by the FBI and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is expected to announce in coming weeks whether criminal charges will be brought against the officers. Authorities have said the officers fired back after Taylor’s boyfriend started shooting at them.
In an emotional speech after Monday’s announcement, Gentry addressed residents of the West End neighborhood who have been at the heart of more than 100 days of protest over racial injustice since Taylor’s death.
“I’m not here just to help you unboard your beautiful buildings downtown,” she said. “I’m here to work with you to unboard the community that I served with all my heart in west Louisville, that was boarded for 20 or 30 years.”
She said the past four months have been tough on police officers as well as on protesters, adding that it’s tough “seeing things just feel so hopeless.”
“I will just say: That is just a glimpse of how a lot of people have been feeling for a long time, and we can’t go back,” Gentry said. “I think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of. Only truth can break us out; only truth can take away darkness.”
Gentry told the newspaper in an interview that she doesn’t want to be the permanent police chief — and didn’t apply for the position.
“When you live in Louisville, and you raise your kids here, like I do, and your family’s here, I want that chief to be successful,” said Gentry, a Louisville native. “So, even though I wasn’t interested in the full-time job, I realized that somebody has to stand in the gap.”
Fischer is expected to name a new leader by the end of 2020.
In an interview, Gentry acknowledged that improving community relations, reducing crime and boosting officer morale simultaneously won’t be an easy task, but said she’s in as “good a position as anyone could be.”
“Being a Black woman, and a veteran and a former police officer, when you’ve worn all the hats of people who are out here, wanting to be heard, and you’ve worked in a place where you’ve tried to be heard and didn’t necessarily feel like you were, I just feel like I have that type of experience that I can bring in there,” Gentry said. “People are just so far apart. And maybe, I can be in the middle and I can bridge it.”
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Don’t Ignore North Korea Human Rights, UN Says
Negotiations with North Korea have been stalled for months, but if and when they resume, the United States and South Korea should ensure the talks incorporate concerns about North Korean human rights abuses, the United Nations’ human rights office in Seoul said Tuesday. Activist groups have long complained that human rights were not discussed during the 2018-19 North Korea talks, which focused on eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons and improving Pyongyang’s relations with Washington and Seoul.”Human rights issues have so far not been part of this process, and the voices of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including women, have been absent,” said a report published Tuesday by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul. The paper, presented at the South Korean government-hosted Korea Global Forum for Peace, said Seoul and Washington should “integrate human rights into the peace and denuclearization talks” and “promote a participatory and inclusive peace process” by involving escapees living outside North Korea. Escapee complaints The report was based on interviews with 63 people who recently left North Korea, mostly in 2018 and 2019. Many expressed concerns that Pyongyang’s rights abuses have been ignored.“This is a disappointment to escapees living in South Korea because, in the past, both the United States and South Korea raised North Korea’s human rights issues but, with the start of the summits, the human rights agenda has disappeared,” lamented one escapee quoted in the report. Since the start of 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has met three times with U.S. President Donald Trump and conducted three summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. North Korea eventually walked away from the talks, after the United States refused to relax sanctions and provide security guarantees. Some members of the Trump administration have raised concerns about North Korean human rights abuses. But Trump himself rarely mentions the issue.FILE – North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (L) and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea.Rationale South Korea’s left-leaning government also shies away from criticizing North Korean human rights abuses. Instead, Seoul prefers to focus on expanding ties with Pyongyang, hoping that will someday lead to a unified Korea that would respect human rights. A more aggressive approach, they argue, not only prevents reunification but also could lead to hostilities. “We cannot be too competitive in discussing this human rights issue,” said Kyung-ok Do, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification. “That will…ignite resistance on the North Korean side and put us even further away from peace and the protection of human rights.”North Korea consistently ranks at or near the very bottom of most global human rights rankings, but often becomes enraged when other countries or international bodies mention its rights violations.Earlier this year, North Korea lashed out at defector activists in South Korea who often float anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials into North Korea. At one point, North Korea demolished its de facto embassy with the South, citing the leaflets as a pretext.South Korea crackdownSouth Korea responded by carrying out a wide-ranging crackdown on North Korea-focused rights groups, including many run by defectors. Many of the NGOs have said the crackdown risks stifling the entire North Korean human rights movement in South Korea.Officials with the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul have criticized Seoul’s NGO moves, saying it is important to continue highlighting the concerns of North Korean escapees. Among the urgent human rights issues to be addressed, according to the escapees mentioned in the U.N.’s latest report: discrimination based on family background, torture and ill-treatment, sexual abuse, inhumane conditions in prisons and detention facilities, and the existence of political prisons. “I strongly suggest that discussions on human rights issues take place,” said one escapee quoted in the report. “Without human rights issues discussed, no other issues can be properly addressed.”
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Australian Researchers Unveil Environmentally Friendly Plan to Power Coal Plants
Researchers in Australia say they have developed a technique to make coal-fired power plants run without coal. They say new thermal energy storage blocks can heat water, which, in turn, produces steam to power turbines using existing power station infrastructure. Researchers at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales say their thermal blocks would allow coal-fired power stations to run coal-free, delivering clean, renewable electricity. The bricks are made of graphite and metals, including zinc and aluminum, plus other undisclosed materials. The Australian team says they store energy from solar and wind farms in the form of heat, which can make steam to run electricity-generating turbines. The aim is to fit the technology to existing power stations where, instead of burning coal, the blocks would generate power without pollution. Professor of engineering at Australia’s University of Newcastle Erich Kisi says the technology would allow coal-fired stations to phase out the use of the fossil fuel. “As coal burning is reduced, storage of renewable as thermal energy is ramped up. The final thermal energy storage volume is comparable in size to the existing boiler houses, and that these massive power stations were themselves built with six or seven decade-old technology, I do not think we should baulk at the challenge of renewing their vitality with 21st century technology,” Kisi said. Engineers believe the Australian-made blocks could be used in combination with other energy storage options, such as lithium batteries and hydroelectricity, to provide reliable power. The university team says its graphite and metal invention has been proven in the laboratory. In 2019, it set up the company MGA Thermal, which aims to sell the technology. In partnership with a Swiss company, a full-scale trial of the bricks at a modified power plant is expected to start next year. Like any new technology, the blocks’ inventors concede they must be financially viable before they could be expected for wide use in commercial projects. Australia is one of the world’s worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases. That’s in large part because of its reliance on cheap supplies of domestic coal to generate its electricity.
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Belarusian Opposition Figure Detained Trying to Enter Ukraine
Belarus border officials say Maria Kolesnikova, a leading member of Belarus’ opposition, was detained early Tuesday while trying to cross into neighboring Ukraine. The officials said Kolesnikova was traveling with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, who both successfully entered Ukraine. The circumstances of how the group ended up at the border was not immediately clear. Monday brought calls from Germany and Britain demanding Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko disclose Kolesnikova’s location after reports she was seized by unidentified men in Minsk. Kolesnikova was the last of three women left inside Belarus who came together in the opposition coordination council to try to defeat Lukashenko in an August 9 election. He was declared winner, but opposition parties, along with the United States and the European Union, say the poll was rigged.Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, then presidential candidate (C), Veronika Tsepkalo, wife of opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo (L), and Maria Kolesnikova, campaign representative of another opposition candidate, gesture in Minsk, Belarus, July 30, 2020.Kolesnikova’s ally Olga Kovalkova went to Poland Saturday, saying authorities forced her out of the country, while Belarus’ main opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has been in Lithuania with her children since the election for what she says is her own safety. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted that the European Union is “working flat out on a sanctions package. If #Lukashenko does not change course, we will respond.” The EU is considering sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials, Reuters reported Monday, citing three EU diplomats. “The EU expects the Belarusian authorities to ensure the immediate release of all detained on political grounds before and after the falsified 9 August presidential elections,” its diplomatic head, Josep Borrell, said. Further, the EU called Monday on Belarus to release the more than 600 people it said it arrested over the weekend for protesting what thousands of Belarusians believe was a rigged election. “The EU will impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence, repression and falsification of election results,” Borrell added.A man waves a flag during an opposition demonstration to protest against presidential election results at the Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 24, 2020.The demonstrations against Lukashenko entered their fifth straight week Sunday, again drawing tens of thousands of people into the streets, shouting slogans and waving red and white opposition flags. More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported in the month of protests. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations. In an interview with VOA, Tsikhanouskaya said she is working to organize new elections despite Lukashenko’s refusal to do so. “Our plan is absolutely clear. It’s organization of new elections, fair and transparent,” she said. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994.
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US May Ban Cotton-Made Products from China’s Xinjiang Region: New York Times
The New York Times on Tuesday reports the Trump administration is considering imposing a ban on some or all products made with cotton from China’s Xinjiang region amid reports of forced labor and other human rights violations. Quoting “three people familiar with the matter,” the newspaper said the U.S. action could come as early as Tuesday. It would follow recent studies and news reports documenting how groups of people in Xinjiang, especially the largely Uighur Muslim and Kazakh minorities, have been recruited into programs that assign them to work in factories, cotton farms, textile mills and menial jobs in cities. Xinjiang is a major source of cotton and textiles used by many of the world’s largest and best-known clothing brands. A newspaper says a ban could result in a “stampede” of major apparel brands from China. The Times says the ban would be issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agency, which has in the past put out such orders against individual companies suspected of using forced labor in Xinjiang. The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized China over its harsh crackdown of Xinjiang’s minority ethnic Muslims, especially the mass incarceration of as many as 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. President Donald Trump signed legislation back in June that he said would hold accountable the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses including forced labor, the use of indoctrination camps and other measures that he said are meant to eradicate the religious beliefs of Uighurs and other minorities in China.
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Fearing Arrest, Two Australian Journalists Leave China
Two Australian journalists left China overnight Monday to Tuesday, fearing they would be arrested, their employers said Tuesday. Bill Birtles, Beijing correspondent for the ABC channel, and Michael Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, took refuge for several days in Australia’s embassy in Beijing, before leaving China accompanied of Australian diplomats. They arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, according to ABC. The hasty departures come after the arrest last month for undetermined reasons of an Australian business journalist working for the Chinese state-run English-language channel CGTN, Cheng Lei. This arrest greatly strained relations between Beijing and Canberra. According to ABC, Birtles was advised last week to leave the country by the Australian Foreign Office. But shortly before his return to Australia, scheduled for last Thursday, seven Chinese police officers came to his home in the middle of the night and informed him that he was going to be questioned on a “national security matter” and that he had no right to leave the country. After this, the journalist took refuge in his embassy in Beijing. Birtles was subsequently questioned by Chinese police, in the presence of two Australian diplomats, and allowed to leave the country. Smith was also visited by police at his home the same night, according to AFR, which added pressure on the two journalists was linked to the arrest of Cheng last month. Smith took refuge in Australia’s Shanghai consulate. Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated sharply over the past two years. Canberra then decided to act against what was seen as Beijing’s growing interference in the affairs of Australia. Canberra also caused fury in Beijing a few months ago for its requests to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan. China has since taken steps to reduce Australian imports and encouraged its students and tourists to avoid Australia.
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Amnesty Says Malta Using ‘Illegal Tactics’ Against Migrants
Amnesty International condemned Malta on Tuesday for using what it described as “illegal tactics” in the Mediterranean against immigrants making the dangerous crossing from North Africa. The approach taken by the Maltese government might have led to avoidable deaths, it argued, in a report that alleged a string of human rights abuses against illegal immigrants. Amnesty’s report was released hours after U.N. rights agencies on Monday called on Malta and the European Union to end the latest humanitarian crisis on board a cargo ship off the Maltese coast. “The Maltese government has resorted to dangerous and illegal measures for dealing with the arrivals of refugees and migrants at sea,” Amnesty said. “This escalation of tactics included arranging unlawful pushbacks to Libya, diverting boats towards Italy rather than rescuing people in distress and illegally detaining hundreds of people in ill-equipped ferries off Malta’s waters,” Amnesty said. MaltaThe signing of an agreement between Valletta and Tripoli in late May “to prevent people from reaching Malta” further exposed them to brutal treatment upon return to Libyan refugee camps, Amnesty said in the 34-page report. “Some of the actions taken by the Maltese authorities may have involved criminal acts being committed, resulting in avoidable deaths, prolonged arbitrary detention and illegal returns to war-torn Libya,” it said. Malta PM rejects responsibility Malta and Italy in April closed their ports to migrants as the coronavirus pandemic closed its grip on the two countries, with Malta saying it needed all its resources to fight the disease. Since the start of the year Malta has received 2,161 illegal immigrants “and the resources and efforts necessary to ensure reception, access to protection and protection from COVID-19 are undoubtedly considerable for such a small country,” said Amnesty. That did not however “relieve Malta of the responsibility to indicate a place of safety for the people rescued under its coordination,” Amnesty said. The Amnesty report came as yet another cargo ship carrying rescued migrants was being denied permission to dock, its shipping company said this week. The Maersk Etienne on August 4 rescued the 27 migrants at the request of the Maltese authorities, which has since declined to let it into port. The U.N.’s refugee agency (UNCHR) as well as International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Chamber of Shipping “called for the immediate disembarkation … of the people trapped on board the ship.” The Maltese government did not immediately comment on the Amnesty report, but Prime Minister Robert Abela said Sunday the situation on the Maersk Etienne “was not Malta’s responsibility,” as the ship was sailing under a Danish flag. “While I understand the humanitarian aspect of migration, I have to understand the interests of the Maltese,” Abela told the Malta Today online newspaper. Amnesty’s report is titled “Waves of impunity: Malta’s violations of the rights of refugees and migrants in the Central Mediterranean.”
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UW-Madison Restricts Student Movement Amid Coronavirus Spike
The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday canceled all in-person social events and ordered undergraduate students to restrict their movements for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The order from Chancellor Rebecca Blank comes as the number of coronavirus cases among students has continued to rise. Among the restrictions, from now through Sept. 21, all student gyms and recreational facilities will be closed, dining halls will offer carry-out only and visitors will not be allowed in dorms. Blank also warned that the campus might shut down if the situation gets worse. “We’ve reached the point where we need to quickly flatten the curve of infection, or we will lose the opportunity to have campus open to students this semester, which we know many students truly want,” Blank said. Court Filing Shows 11-3 Big Ten Vote to Postpone Football SeasonThe decision not to play fall football has created a firestorm in Big Ten country, fanned by the fact the ACC, Big 12 and SEC are pushing ahead with plans to start their seasons in SeptemberIn-person classes have not been canceled and study spaces remain open. The restrictions also don’t apply to graduate students, faculty or staff members. “In particular, I am asking all undergraduates to avoid social gatherings,” Blank said. The number of cases among students at UW-Madison has grown daily for the last five days. The university reported Monday that 148 UW-Madison students and one employee had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Among the students testing positive, 37 live in residence halls and 111 live off campus. Blank said many of the positive cases have been linked to people neglecting to wear masks or practice social distancing. She also pointed to social media posts, which seem to show students disregarding the seriousness of the virus. “Unfortunately, too many students have chosen to host or participate in social gatherings that seem to demonstrate a high disregard for the seriousness of this virus and the risk to our entire community,” Blank wrote. UW-System President Tommy Thompson said in a statement that Blank was “taking prudent steps to mitigate outbreaks.” “We knew there would most likely be an increase in early cases and today’s decision, while inconvenient to students, is necessary,” Thompson said. Statewide, Wisconsin health officials confirmed an additional 567 cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 81,760. There were no new deaths reported in Wisconsin. A total of 1,168 people have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
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Hopes Fading for Coronavirus Deal as Congress Returns
At least there won’t be a government shutdown. But as lawmakers return to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill — or much else. Talks between top Democrats and the Trump administration broke off last month and remain off track, with the bipartisan unity that drove almost $3 trillion in COVID-19 rescue legislation into law this spring replaced by partisanship and a return to Washington dysfunction. Expectations in July and August that a fifth bipartisan pandemic response bill would be agreed on despite increased obstacles has been replaced by genuine pessimism. Recent conversations about COVID-19 aid among key players have led to nothing. Democrats seem secure in their political position, with President Donald Trump and several Senate GOP incumbents lagging in the polls. Trump is seeking to sideline the pandemic as a campaign issue, and Republicans aren’t interested in a deal on Democratic terms — even as needs like school aid enjoy widespread support. Trump said Monday that Democrats “don’t want to make a deal because they think that if the country does as badly as possible … that’s good for the Democrats.” FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a question during a news conference at the White House in Washington, Sept. 4, 2020.”I am taking the high road,” he told reporters at the White House. “I’m taking the high road by not seeing them.” All of this imperils the chances for another round of $1,200 direct payments delivered under Trump’s name, the restoration of more generous unemployment benefits to those who’ve lost their jobs because of the pandemic, updates to a popular business subsidy program, and money to help schools reopen and states and local governments avoid layoffs. “I personally would like to see one more rescue package, but I must tell you the environment in Washington right now is exceedingly partisan because of the proximity to the election,” said GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at an appearance in Kentucky last week. “We’ve been in discussion now for the last month or so with no results so far. So I can’t promise one final package.” McConnell had been a force for a deal but does not appear eager to force a vote that exposes division in his ranks. Many Senate Republicans are also wary or opposed outright to another major chunk of debt-financed virus relief, even as GOP senators imperiled in the election, such as Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado, plead for more. Republicans are struggling to coalesce around a unified party position — and that’s before they engage with Democratic leaders, who are demanding far more. FILE – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Aug. 27, 2020.The relationship between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and her preferred negotiating partner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is civil but isn’t generating much in the way of results, other than a promise to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month by keeping a government-wide temporary spending bill free of controversy. That measure is likely to keep the government running into December. It’s likely to contain a bunch of lower-profile steps, such as an extension of the federal flood insurance program and a temporary reauthorization of spending from the highway trust fund. The decision for a controversy-free stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution, means that both sides will forgo gamesmanship that uses the threat of a government shutdown to try to gain leverage. Trump forced a shutdown in 2018-2019 in a failed attempt to extract money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall, while Democrats lost a shutdown encounter in 2017 over legislation to help immigrants brought illegally to the country as children win permanent legal status. “Now we can focus just on another relief bill, and we’re continuing to do that in good faith,” Vice President Mike Pence said Friday on CNBC. But if talks continue to falter, there’s little to keep lawmakers in Washington long, particularly with the election fast approaching. The Senate returns Tuesday to resume its diet of judicial and administration nominations. The House doesn’t come back until Sept. 14 for a schedule laden with lower-profile measures such as clean energy legislation and a bill to decriminalize marijuana. Some Democrats are expected to continue to take advantage of remote voting and may not return to Washington at all.
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Belarus Opposition Figure Missing; Germany, Britain Demand Her Return
Maria Kolesnikova, a leading member of Belarus’ opposition, was reportedly seized Monday by unidentified men in Minsk, and Germany and Britain are demanding that President Alexander Lukashenko disclose where she is. Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for “clarity on the whereabouts and the release of all political prisoners in Belarus,” in comments tweeted by the foreign ministry. FILE – A handout image released by 10 Downing Street, shows Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaking during a remote press conference to update the nation on May 5, 2020.Dominic Raab, Britain’s foreign secretary, tweeted: “Seriously concerned for the welfare of Maria Kolesnikova in #Belarus. Lukashenko’s regime must make her safe return their highest priority. The regime must cease brutalising protestors, release political prisoners and begin dialogue with the opposition.”A witness identified as Anastasia told Belarusian website Tut.by Monday that she saw Kolesnikova being forced by men in civilian clothing into a minibus and driven away. Kolesnikova is the last of three women left inside Belarus who came together in the opposition coordination council to try to defeat Lukashenko in the August 9 poll. He was declared winner in the election, but opposition parties, along with the United States and the European Union, say the poll was rigged. Kolesnikova’s ally Olga Kovalkova went to Poland on Saturday, saying authorities forced her out of the country, while Belarus’ main opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has been in Lithuania with her children since the election for what she says is her own safety. FILE – German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas addresses the media during a statement at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany, June 3, 2020.Maas, the German foreign minister, also tweeted that the European Union is “working flat out on a sanctions package. If #Lukashenko does not change course, we will respond.”The EU is considering sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials, Reuters reported Monday, citing three EU diplomats. “The EU expects the Belarusian authorities to ensure the immediate release of all detained on political grounds before and after the falsified 9 August presidential elections,” said its diplomatic head, Josep Borrell. Further, the EU called Monday on Belarus to release the more than 600 people it said it arrested over the weekend for protesting what thousands of Belarusians believe was rigged elections. People take cover from rain under umbrellas during an opposition rally to protest against police brutality and to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 6, 2020.”The EU will impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence, repression and falsification of election results,” Borrell added. The demonstrations against Lukashenko entered their fifth straight week Sunday, again drawing tens of thousands of people into the streets, shouting slogans and waving red and white opposition flags. More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported in the month of protests. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations. In an interview with VOA, Tsikhanouskaya said she is working to organize new elections despite Lukashenko’s refusal to do so. “Our plan is absolutely clear. It’s organization of new elections, fair and transparent,” she said. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994.
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Southern Africa’s Hunger Upsurge Blamed on Climate, COVID-19
An estimated 45 million people in southern Africa are food insecure, with the number of people without access to adequate, affordable and nutritious food up 10% from last year, the World Food Program said Monday.The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with climate change and the struggling economies of several countries, are the main causes of the food insecurity, said international aid organizations in a webinar organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa.Zimbabwe is the country affected the most, with the number of its food insecure people expected to reach 8.6 million by the end of this year, World Food Program director in southern Africa, Lola Castro, said.”We are going to see levels of food insecurity that we have never seen for many years,” in 13 of the region’s 16 countries, Castro said.”We have chronic underlying causes that we know very well, and they are basically mostly related to climatic shocks … drought, floods or big cyclones,” Castro said.She said COVID-19, the disease caused by the coonavirus, was an additional emergency that has enormously hurt the livelihoods of many poor people in the region. Lockdowns have made large numbers of people unemployed, increasing food insecurity, she said.Many farmers, especially women, had been severely affected by COVID-19 and its impact on food production, ActionAid Africa humanitarian adviser Chikondi Chabvuta said.”Southern Africa has faced impacts of climate change for the past four years nonstop. … I have witnessed the short-lived hope in people’s eyes these past four years when seeds are distributed or exchanged in the hope for a better yield next season, only to be disappointed by more climate disasters,” she said.”COVID-19 is exposing the existing systematic weaknesses of the regional policies meant to develop resilient food security,” Chabvuta said. “This includes reliance on imports for agricultural production for food supply.” Zimbabwean farmer Juliet Hove said lack of access to water and the markets were also major problems for small-scale farmers in her country.According to Hove, COVID-19 restrictions on movements were preventing small-scale farmers from traveling to marketplaces to sell seeds and produce, reducing their ability to earn an income.
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Somali Soldiers Killed, US Service Member Injured in Al-Shabab Attack
Four Somali soldiers were killed and a U.S. service member was injured Monday in an al-Shabab attack on an outpost 60 kilometers west of the Somali port town of Kismayo. A senior leader in the Jubaland regional administration told VOA Somali that the soldiers died when a vehicle-borne explosive device hit their camp early Monday. Several other soldiers were wounded, including a U.S. service member. The official said the U.S. soldier suffered injuries to a leg. A spokesman for the United States Africa Command confirmed that a U.S. soldier was injured in the attack. Colonel Chris Karns told VOA that the incident happened in Jana Abdalle at a time when the U.S. and Somali forces were conducting an advice, assist and accompany mission. The U.S. service member is in stable condition and receiving treatment for injuries that are not considered to be life-threatening, according to Karns. Karns said the militants used a vehicle employed as an improvised explosive device and mortar fire. At least one al-Shabab fighter was killed in the attack, he said. The senior Jubaland official told VOA Somali that the suicide vehicle, driving at high speed, approached the outpost as soldiers fired on it in an attempt to detonate it before it reached them. Somali and U.S. forces seized the area from al-Shabab on Saturday. Regional officials said the area is a strategic economic hub for al-Shabab, which uses it to collect tax and other extortion from commercial vehicles and goods traveling within Somalia and to Kenya.
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Trump, Biden Clash Over COVID-19 Vaccine Rhetoric
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday unleashed another extended verbal attack on his opponent in the November election, claiming that the Democratic Party nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris “should immediately apologize for the reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric.” Biden said on Monday that he would like to see a vaccine tomorrow, even if it cost him the election. But “if we do have a really good vaccine, people are going to be reluctant to take it” because the president’s repeated misstatements and falsehoods with respect to the virus are “undermining public confidence.” “He’s said so many things that aren’t true,” Biden said. Trump, holding his first news conference on the North Portico of the White House, said that contrary to “political lies,” any vaccine approved for mass inoculation by the federal government will be “very safe and very effective.” The Republican and Democratic party nominees made their remarks as the presidential campaign turned to the homestretch on the annual Labor Day holiday – a time when COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is still killing about 1,000 Americans every day, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden went Monday to the key political battleground state of Pennsylvania in the eastern U.S. for a virtual town hall with AFL-CIO union President Richard Trumka in the state capital of Harrisburg. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event with local union members in the backyard of a home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sept. 7, 2020.Biden, a former vice president, has accused Trump of mismanaging the pandemic, spawning greater economic turmoil and the layoffs of millions of workers. Trump, in contrast, hailed his administration’s performance amid the pandemic, predicting a swift, “Super-V” recovery for the U.S. economy and predicting that if Biden, whom he called “a stupid person,” wins the election, “China will own this country.” Trump has portrayed himself as standing up to China on trade issues and criticizing that country for allowing the coronavirus to spread globally, wrecking America’s economic recovery. The U.S. jobless rate dipped to 8.4% in August, but economic experts say it could take months for a more robust recovery to take hold. Only about half the 22 million jobs that were lost in the pandemic have been recovered, with many employers paring their payrolls even as they have reopened their businesses. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference on the North Portico of the White House, Sept. 7, 2020, in Washington.Biden is collecting endorsements from three organized labor groups: The Laborers’ International Union of North America, the International Union of Elevator Constructors and the National Federation of Federal Employees. Collectively, the three unions represent hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide the Biden campaign hopes to mobilize for support. Trump has emphasized his endorsement for the unions representing police officers, stressing a “law and order” message amid peaceful urban demonstrations and some violence at protests in response to the deaths of Blacks by police in numerous cities. Trump is also fighting to maintain support among veterans and those serving in the U.S. military after a magazine, citing four unnamed people, reported that he had referred to Marines buried in an American cemetery near Paris as “losers” and “suckers” and declined to visit their graves during a 2018 trip to France. “Only an animal would say that,” Trump replied when asked about The Atlantic’s article during Monday’s news conference. He termed the article a “phony story” that others have refuted. Several news organizations, including Fox News, which is generally sympathetic to Trump, have confirmed elements of the story, attributed to their own sources, which they have not named. Biden on Monday met with three union workers who had served in the U.S. military at a home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “Do you think most of those guys and women are suckers?” Biden asked, adding a sarcastic chuckle. Biden’s vice presidential running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, and Vice President Mike Pence both visited the highly contested battleground state of Wisconsin in the Midwest on Monday. Harris, in her first solo, in-person campaign appearance as part of Biden’s ticket, met with unionized electrical workers and Black business owners in Milwaukee. She also met with the family and legal team of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in front of three of his children last month. Pence, Trump’s second in command, toured an energy facility in the city of La Crosse. Both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two traditionally Democratic states that Trump won in 2016 to help him capture a four-year White House term, are again expected to be pivotal states this November. Polls show Biden narrowly ahead in both states. Biden, who has a thin lead in some other battleground states, is maintaining his advantage over Trump in national polls by about 7 percentage points. While the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed about 190,000 people in the country, has sharply curtailed huge political rallies that are a mainstay of typical U.S. presidential campaigns, both Trump and Biden are planning numerous trips in the coming weeks to politically important states in front of more modest crowds. Trump plans to visit North Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania later in the week. Biden plans to return to Pennsylvania on Friday, when both he and Trump plan to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the U.S. in Shanksville, where a jetliner crashed into a field as passengers tried to commandeer the plane from the hijackers. Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
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