Greek authorities on Monday began transferring hundreds of refugees from the island of Lesbos to reduce chronic overcrowding that caused hardship and fanned tensions with locals. Over 700 people were to sail to the Greek mainland aboard a ferry later Monday, organizers said, three weeks after a sprawling camp on the island burned down. Another group will leave on Thursday, state agency ANA said. Some 2,500 refugees and asylum-seekers are to be relocated overall, following coronavirus tests, according to the migration ministry. Over 12,000 asylum-seekers were left homeless on Sept. 8 after a fire ravaged the Lesbos camp of Moria, Europe’s largest. Six Afghan youths are on trial for arson in connection to the fire. They deny the charges. The Moria camp was notorious for overcrowding, poor sanitation and ethnic gang violence. The fire broke out shortly after more than 30 people there tested positive for the coronavirus. Also Monday, Greek police said they had identified 33 aid workers who allegedly facilitated illegal migration to Lesbos. A Greek police source later said the “preliminary” investigation was still under way. A police statement said the suspects, who worked for four nongovernmental organizations, were part of “an organized network” created to “systematically” facilitate illegal migration to the island. Two other foreign nationals, identified by state TV ERT as an Afghan and an Iranian, were also part of the alleged operation, the police said. No information was given on the aid groups in question, the identities of the suspects or whether any were in custody. The police said the alleged operation was active from at least June, “providing substantial assistance to organized migrant-smuggling networks” in an estimated 32 cases by helping direct migrant boats to shore safely. Meanwhile, Germany has offered to take 1,500 asylum-seekers from Greece, including former Moria residents. For its part, France has offered to take in 500 minors from the camp. Authorities and local residents on Lesbos had long campaigned for the immediate removal of most of the asylum-seekers. After the camp burned down, a makeshift tent facility was hurriedly erected to house some 9,500 people. But the temporary camp, on a hill overlooking the sea, is ill-equipped to handle winter conditions. The government is now in talks to build a smaller permanent camp on the island.
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Month: September 2020
Round 1 of 3: Trump, Biden Facing Off in Tuesday Night Debate
Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, are set to debate Tuesday night, five weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election, in the first of three planned face-to-face encounters over the next month. The high-stakes event in the midwestern city of Cleveland, Ohio, comes as Biden has maintained about a 7-percentage-point advantage over Trump for weeks in national polls, threatening to make Trump the third U.S. president in the past four decades to lose reelection for a second four-year term in the White House. However, the race is closer in several key battleground states, which raises the possibility that Trump could once again lose the popular vote — as he did against Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 — and still win more of the all-important state electors to claim victory. There are estimates that 100 million Americans will watch the two presidential contenders square off for 90 minutes in the widely televised and livestreamed event, facing questions from Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, as about 100 people watch in person. Until now, the candidates have not appeared together.FILE – This combination of file photos shows President Donald Trump, left, speaking to the media in Washington on March 3, 2020, and Democratic presidential hopeful and former Vice President Joe Biden at a Nevada Caucus watch party on Feb. 22, 2020. Wallace said he will pose questions on six topics in 15-minute segments: the candidates’ records; the coronavirus pandemic that has killed a world-leading 204,000 people in the U.S.; Trump’s nomination of conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court; the U.S. economy that has been buffeted by the pandemic; the integrity of the election; and “race and violence” in U.S. cities. One late-breaking topic is also sure to be a focal point — a New York Times report on Sunday that the billionaire Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he ran for the presidency, and in 2017, his first year in office. The report detailed how Trump, who has often boasted of his business savvy, has written off hundreds of millions of dollars in business losses. Trump called the report “totally fake news,” but the Biden campaign on Sunday highlighted it to advance its contention that Trump is out of touch with U.S. workers he claims to be fighting for. The Biden campaign started airing an ad showing that a typical elementary school teacher, a firefighter, a construction manager and a registered nurse all pay thousands of dollars in taxes a year while Trump paid $750. Debates in past presidential campaigns have occasionally proved crucial to the outcome, but whether that is the case this year is open to question. Opinion surveys show that more than 90% of voters say they have already made up their minds and have no intention of changing their choice. Early voting has started in many states, occasionally with long lines of people waiting to cast their ballots. Millions more have requested or been sent mail-in ballots to avoid meeting face-to-face with other voters on Election Day amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the sharp increase in mail-in voting this year will lead to a “rigged” election against him, and he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power at January’s presidential inauguration if Biden wins. FILE – Fox News’ Chris Wallace moderates the third and final 2016 presidential campaign debate between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at UNLV in Las Vegas, Oct. 19, 2016.The topics picked by Wallace for the debate reflect the news of the day in the United States, although critics say that Wallace’s description of race and violence in the U.S. mirrors Trump’s contention that protests over police abuse of minorities in recent months have been led by “thugs,” rioters and anarchists. Democrats supporting Biden say instead, the discussion should be about systemic racism in the U.S. and the country’s national reckoning over race relations brought to the fore by the May death of a Black man, George Floyd, while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of police. Ahead of their encounter, Trump has questioned Biden’s mental acuity and sought to diminish Biden’s skill as a debater, claiming, without evidence, that the Democrat must have been drugged when his debate performance improved as the large field of Democratic presidential contenders was winnowed to a single opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, before Sanders conceded to Biden. “I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night,’ Trump said on Twitter. “Naturally, I will agree to take one also. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???”The Biden campaign retorted, “Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine, he can have at it.” Trump tweeted back, “Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a Drug Test. Gee, I wonder why?” Dos and don’ts Aaron Kall, the debate coach at the University of Michigan and co-author of the book “Debating the Donald,” said that even with perhaps fewer undecided voters than in past presidential election years, the two candidates need to exhibit a certain competency for voters. Biden, now 77, served for 36 years in the U.S. Senate and eight as vice president under former President Barack Obama. Kall said Biden “needs to reassure undecided voters that he’s up physically and mentally to the task of being president, and holding your own with the incumbent president for 90 minutes is an excellent way to do this.” “Biden needs to contrast his experience, agenda and vision for the future with President Trump,” Kall said. Meanwhile, Kall said, Trump, at 74, “needs to make the case for why he should be reelected and deserves another four years in office. The economy is generally viewed as his biggest strength in opinion polls, and he must have a detailed plan to decrease unemployment and increase economic growth.” With the latest phase of coronavirus spending in Congress stalled, Trump should make his specific vision for that be known, according to Kall. Moreover, while health care is not one of the six topics for the first debate, Trump “should be able to articulate his desired replacement for the Affordable Care Act, since this will likely come up during the Supreme Court section” of the debate, Kall said. The debate coach said Trump “is hoping that Biden will make a major disqualifying error, but relying upon your opponent to make a mistake is not a sound debate strategy.” Trump often exaggerates claims about the news of the day, but Kall said Biden “needs to pick his battles regarding President Trump’s falsehoods, since they aren’t all created equal, and there will likely be many of them.” “It’s impossible to let some things go,” Kall said, “but Biden can’t spend the majority of his precious speaking time on the defensive and correcting President Trump. Biden has publicly stated that he intends to fact-check President Trump in real-time, but that would be a mistake.”He advised Trump against questioning Biden’s mental fitness for the presidency. “These accusations by President Trump prior to the debate have already decreased expectations for Biden and made the incumbent’s debate task even that much harder,” Kall said. “President Trump has generally been successful at turning his political opponents into caricatures, but it’s much more difficult to do this when someone else is sharing the stage with you,” Kall said. “President Trump would be better off attacking the Obama-Biden record, while contrasting it with his last four years in office.”
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Solar Mamas Brighten Rural Malawi
A group of Malawi women is changing lives in villages that have long lived without power by installing and maintaining solar equipment in homes and schools. The women, known as the Solar Mamas, were trained in India as solar engineers, with sponsorship from charities. The solar power has allowed students in rural Malawi to study at night and for their families to earn more income. The women may look like ordinary villagers, but a chat with them reveals they are trained solar engineers.The Solar Mamas are helping to bridge the power gap in rural Malawi, a country where only 10% of the population is connected to the power grid. Charity groups Barefoot and Voluntary Services Overseas, or VSO, sponsored the women’s six-month training in India.Mtisunge Mngoli managed the Solar Mamas’ program at VSO.“We trained illiterate women because we believed that education is not just in the classroom, Mngoli said. “And we wanted to tell people that even women can be solar engineers. So, we purposely selected older women that were about 45 years old and who did not go past standard (Grade) 5.”The women have so far brought solar power to over 200 households in villages around Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.The program helped some villagers, like Mailosi Banda a tradition leader for Kainja village, get into the battery-charging trade. (Lameck Masina, VOA)The program helped some villagers get into the battery-charging trade and remove lengthy travel to charge mobile phones. The Solar Mamas have also connected schools with solar power, allowing students — for the first time — to attend classes in the early mornings and evenings.Chatsala Primary school in Lilongwe is one of the beneficiaries of the Solar Mamas efforts. (Lameck Masina/VOA)Ethel Phiri is a Grade 8 learner at Chatsala Primary School in Lilongwe.Phiri said, “The coming of solar power here has helped me a lot. Because in the past, I was unable to study at night at home because my parents are poor and could not afford a lamp or a flashlight. But now, I can come here at night to study and work on assignments.”The Solar Mamas have also trained Malawi’s youth in solar engineering so they can become the next generation of Solar Mamas and Papas.
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African Union Election Draws Fire for Unopposed Candidate at Top
As the world’s attention focuses on the coming American election, another important vote for a key position is generating controversy in Africa.Chadian politician Moussa Faki Mahamat is running unopposed for reelection as chairman of the African Union Commission. Critics say his run is undemocratic and are seeking an extension of the nomination deadline to November.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Feb. 18, 2020.The uncontested race has provoked outrage from observers of the 55-member African Union, who say the AU is failing to represent the needs of the continent’s 1.3 billion people.Critics of the Ethiopia-based organization are lobbying for the vote to be postponed for at least six months to let more candidates come forward. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the former foreign minister of Chad, has held the post since 2017.Sarfo Abebrese, author of a petition by the Coalition of Supporters Unions of Africa, says the AU postponed the vote four years ago when there were only three candidates for that seat. At the time, the AU said that wasn’t enough.“How come, that four years down the line, at this same time, we are having only one candidate, and people are telling us that that is representative enough? If three wasn’t representative enough, how can one be representative enough? How can we go this way when we are preaching democracy throughout all the 55 African countries? When we are telling the people of Africa that we want to go the democratic way?”Analyst Liesl Louw-Vaudran of the Institute for Security Studies says this vote — cast by African heads of state, not by the general population — is important.“It’s a very important position. The AU commission chairperson also has to represent the continent on the world stage, basically, when it comes to Africa’s relations with the European Union, with China, with the U.S., with the UN. And he has quite a lot of leeway, I would say, although the African Union is an intergovernmental organization, which means it’s not the EU, where the organization can actually tell member states what to do.”That’s why, says pan-African activist Daniel Mwambonu, it’s critical to get a leader who truly represents the continent. Mwambonu says he supports the petition to delay the vote. He spoke to VOA from Nairobi, via Google Hangouts.“He has displayed a lot of incompetency in the organization and running of the African Union organization. At the same time, he has been unable to address issues that are facing people of African descent across the world. And there have been allegations of massive fraud at the African Union — corruption, nepotism — which governs the appointment of people to different positions. Over the years, we have seen that the African Union has failed to attain the objectives it was founded on.”So, if not Mahamat, then who? Critics say one candidate, the AU’s former ambassador to the U.S. — a Zimbabwean national — has been sidelined after she was removed from that position last year.Both critics also alleged the AU has been heavily influenced by former colonial leader, France. Since 2002, four of the five commission chairpersons have come from Francophone nations. Again, Abebrese:“Just by the uproar that came around after the purported sack of Madam Arikana Chihombori-Quao, I would say, and my organization says, that Faki Mahamat is a failure. He is not somebody that should lead Africa for another four years. And we want a change. Now, come to think of it, Madam Arikana Chihombori-Quao herself has filed an application for a nomination to become a runner for that same position. And we have a situation where her nomination has gotten lost at the AU headquarters. And that is very, very strange.”AU members have not been able to meet in person in recent months because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Abebrese says the petition to delay the election has garnered 16,000 signatures. If granted, the vote would be moved to early 2021.
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Poland Rejects Letter From Diplomats Urging Tolerance for LGBT People
Polish leaders on Monday rejected suggestions that LGBT people in Poland are facing any kind of discrimination or depravation of rights, following the publication of an open letter from 50 ambassadors and international representatives expressing their support for “challenges faced” by the LGBT communities in the nation. The ambassadors’ appeal, coordinated by Belgium’s embassy in Poland and published Sunday, comes as an increasingly visible LGBT community in Poland has faced a backlash from the right-wing government, many local communities and the Catholic Church. “Human rights are universal, and everyone, including LGBTI persons, are entitled to their full enjoyment,” the letter said, using the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. FILE – Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 17, 2020.At a news conference Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he agreed that every person deserves respect but that he completely disagreed with the ambassadors’ claim that LGBT people were being deprived of that. Morawiecki said no one needs to teach Poland tolerance, “because we are a nation that has learned such tolerance for centuries, and we have given many testimonies to the history of such tolerance.” Poland’s ruling party leaders, including the president, have cast the movement for civil rights for LGBT people as a threat to traditional families. President Andrzej Duda won a second term this year after calling LGBT rights an “ideology” more dangerous than communism. FILE – Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks to a crowd during an event in Gdansk-Westerplatte, Sept. 1, 2020.Meanwhile, dozens of towns in conservative parts of eastern and southern Poland have passed mostly symbolic resolutions declaring themselves to be “LGBT-free zones,” free of LGBT ideology. From her Twitter account Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeted, “Human Rights are not an ideology — they are universal, 50 Ambassadors and Representatives agree.” The ambassadors’ letter paid tribute to the work of the LGBT community in Poland as it seeks to raise awareness about the challenges it faces. The letter was signed by the ambassadors of the United States, many European countries, including Germany, Ukraine and Britain, and other nations such as Japan and Australia. The letter was also signed by representatives in Poland of the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Community of Democracies, which is based in Warsaw.
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Experts Warn of China’s Emergency Use of COVID-19 Vaccine
China in recent months has been injecting hundreds of thousands of people with three preliminary coronavirus vaccianes that are being tested for safety and efficacy.While the world awaits a proven drug to fight the pandemic, at least three vaccine candidates have been given to front-line medical professionals, staff of state-owned companies, and government officials since July under an emergency use program approved by Beijing.China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm, has administered two experimental vaccine candidates to around 350,000 people outside its clinical trials, CNBG chairman Yang Xiaoming said recently. The company also donated 200,000 doses of one of the candidate vaccines that is still undergoing clinical trials in Wuhan, where the pandemic was first reported.Another drugmaker, Sinovac Biotech, has injected 90% of its employees and their family members, or about 3,000 people, Yin Weidong, the company’s CEO, said this month.”At present, tens of thousands of people in Beijing should have been vaccinated with Sinovac’s vaccine,” Yin told Chinese state media.Separately, Beijing also gave approval in June for members of the armed forces to receive an experimental vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company that is backed by the military.A man works in the packaging facility of Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech, developing an experimental coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Beijing, China, Sept. 24, 2020.Phase 3 trial importantForeign experts have criticized using the experimental vaccines before clinical trials have been completed.”It is reckless and dangerous to distribute a minimally tested vaccine about which nothing has been published,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.”Puts too many people at risk without opportunity to study safety and efficacy in a large group,” Caplan told VOA in an email.Vaccines usually require years of research and testing before being made available to the public. In Phase 3 trials, vaccines are generally given to thousands of people and tested for safety and efficacy.”Before the completion of Phase 3 trials, we cannot have full confidence in the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine,” Lawrence Gostin, professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University, told VOA.Under China’s law, vaccines developed for major public health emergencies can be deployed for urgent use if the National Medical Products Administration considers that the benefits of the treatment outweigh the risks.Experts say speeding up the process introduces more risk, which could undermine the vaccination effort in the long run.“This practice can backfire if the rushed process causes a widespread distrust of the vaccine when fewer people are willing to take the vaccine. Or it can cause severe damages when vaccine complications were warned, due to the rushed trials, “Dr. Jennifer Huang Bouey, an epidemiologist and China expert at the RAND Corporation, told VOA.Most candidates failCurrently, there are 42 vaccine candidates that are being tested on humans, 11 of them developed by Chinese companies.Nurse Isabelli Guasso administers China’s Sinovac potential vaccine for the COVID-19 to volunteer Dr. Luciano Marini, at the Sao Lucas Hospital of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil Aug. 8, 2020.According to the American Council on Science and Health, a research and education organization, vaccines for infectious diseases in clinical trials only have a 33.4% success rate, meaning that most of the vaccines that entered the stage of clinical trials will fail.China claims that so far, there have been no obvious adverse reactions among the people who were inoculated.”Tens of thousands of people vaccinated have traveled to countries and regions with high risks of COVID-19. No one has been infected so far, and this proved the effectiveness of the vaccines,” said Zhou Song, chief legal adviser of CNBG.A box for a COVID-19 vaccine is displayed at an exhibit by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, Sept. 5, 2020.There are 11 candidates in Phase 3 trials, four of them are developed by Chinese companies. While Phase 3 is the final stage, it does not necessarily mean that successful results are imminent.A U.S. Food and Drug Administration study in 2017 found that vaccine candidates that had encouraging Phase 2 results could still fail. Of the 22 vaccines in Phase 3 trials that scientists studied, 14 of them did not confirm the effectiveness of the product that was indicated in Phase 2 trials. One vaccine in the study had a safety problem identified in Phase 3.”If the vaccine is ultimately proven to be poorly protective against the virus — which it may — they will have exposed many people to unnecessary risks and perhaps given people false confidence that they are protected, which undermines public health,” Dr. Charles Holmes, director of the Georgetown University Center for Innovation in Global Health, told VOA.Beijing’s global reachIt is possible that within weeks the world will see its first proven coronavirus vaccine, as some of the Phase 3 trials are expected to complete as early as November.China now has more candidates in the final stage of trial than any other nation and has been using the prospect of a vaccine’s discovery to shore up its global standing.Chinese vaccine developers are currently working with more than 40 countries and carrying out clinical trials in at least 10.The United Arab Emirates has recently approved a Chinese vaccine candidate for emergency use, making China the first nation to receive approval to deploy a COVID-19 candidate in a foreign country.Through various platforms like the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Beijing has promised to prioritize doses for dozens of countries. Officials are also claiming the countries’ vaccine makers are ramping up production.“Next year, our annual capacity will reach more than 1 billion doses,” said Zheng Zhongwei, director of the National Health Commission’s Science and Technology Development Center, at a news conference last Friday.A visitor wearing a face mask looks at a model of a coronavirus and boxes for COVID-19 vaccines at a display by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Sept. 5, 2020.Despite Beijing’s asserted ability to develop and deliver vaccines, experts warned that China is not necessarily ahead in the global vaccine race.”Before a Phase 3 trial is completed and a manufacturing capacity is used, any country that has a promising vaccine candidate can be equally successful,” said Bouey.Gostin, who is also the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, said China and its partner countries are exposing people to significant risk by deploying the vaccine before it has completed a large-scale placebo-controlled trial.”China is trying to exploit other countries, gaining political or commercial advantage in return for the vaccine,” Gostin said.In Indonesia, China’s Sinovac Biotech promised it would help Indonesia’s state-owned drugmaker Bio Farma produce at least 40 million doses of its potential vaccine before March 2021.Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, an academic at Universitas Islam Indonesia who researches China’s foreign policy in Indonesia, told VOA in an email that right now, there is little public attention on the risks of taking the experimental vaccine.”Most concerns are about whether the vaccine would work or not and if Indonesians have only become subjects of trial,” Rakhmat said.
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Turkey Vows Support for Azerbaijan in Escalating Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Turkey says it will back Azerbaijan with all means necessary as fighting entered a second day Monday between Azeri and Armenian forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, in a sign the conflict could be widening. Monday saw Azeri and Armenian forces exchange heavy artillery fire, with each accusing the other of starting the hostilities Sunday. Observers called the latest fighting over Nargono Karabakh, an enclave inside Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians, the worst since the 1990s. Witness reports put the number of dead, including civilians, at more than 20 and at least 100 wounded. People watch TV in a bomb shelter in Stepanakert, the capital of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, in this picture released Sept. 28, 2020. (Foreign Ministry of Armenia/Handout via Reuters)Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to voice support for Azerbaijan, labeling Armenia “the biggest threat to peace in the region.” The Turkish leader called on “the entire world to stand with Azerbaijan in their battle against invasion and cruelty.” The Armenian foreign ministry on Monday said Turkish military “experts” were “fighting side by side with Azerbaijan.” Turkish government officials declined to comment on the accusations. “Turkey troops will not be on the front line, Azeri forces don’t need them,” said Turkish analyst Ilhan Uzgel. But Uzgel says Ankara remains Baku’s key military ally. “Turkey is already supporting Azerbaijan militarily,” he said, “through technical assistance through arms sales, providing critical military support, especially in terms of armed drones and technical expertise. The line for Turkey’s involvement, is Russia’s involvement; actually, that is a red line for Turkey. Turkey doesn’t want a direct confrontation with Moscow.” An image from a video made available on the website of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry on Sept. 28, 2020, allegedly shows Azeri troops conducting a combat operation during clashes between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.Moscow is a vital supporter of Yerevan, and maintains a military base in Armenia. The Russian foreign ministry on Monday called for Armenia and Azerbaijan to exercise restraint. “Armenian-Russian relations are firm and solid,” said Dr. Zaur Gasimov, a Russian affairs expert at Germany’s Bonn University. “Now, having faced with casualties on the front line, Yerevan would search for more support from Moscow.” Ahead of Sunday’s outbreak of fighting, Baku had accused Moscow of emboldening Yerevan with significant arms shipments since July. “500 tonnes of military cargo has been delivered to Armenia. Let us be clear, from Russia,” said Hikmat Hajiyev, head of Azerbaijan department of foreign affairs, in a briefing to foreign journalists in Turkey earlier this month. Hajiyev highlighted the significance of Turkey’s military assistance. “We have seen firm and strong support of Turkey to Azerbaijan. Annually, we have 10 joint military exercises covering land troops, anti-terror special forces operations, and air force exercises.” In what observers interpreted as a message to Armenia, Turkish fighter jets carried out an exercise in Azerbaijan shortly after Armenian and Azeri forces clashed in July. Energy interests July’s fighting in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz region was close to crucial energy pipelines that serve Turkey, causing alarm in Ankara. “This is a very core security issue for Turkey for energy security,” said a senior Turkish energy ministry official speaking to journalists on the condition of anonymity. The official said Turkey “will take any relevant measures” to continue receiving energy deliveries from Azerbaijan. Ankara has long supported Baku in its efforts to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, and Erdogan on Monday asserted that if Armenia immediately leaves the territory that he said it is occupying, the region will return to peace and harmony. A view of a house said to have been damaged in recent shelling during clashes between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, Sept. 28, 2020. (Handout Photo from Armenian Foreign Ministry)Restoring Azeri control over Nagorno-Karabakh has the strong support of Turkish nationalists, a critical political base for Erdogan.”Two nations, one people” is a popular mantra used by Baku and Ankara to describe the countries’ relationship. Armenian separatists seized Nargono Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a bloody 1990s war that killed an estimated 30,000 people. Turkey appears poised to deepen its cooperation with Azerbaijan, analysts say. “But it’s quite a risky area. The Caucasus, it’s one of Russia’s near abroad, the Caucuses is part of Russian area of influence. They may not tolerate Turkish Azerbaijani military action against Armenia that results in heavy Armenian losses. If Turkey and Azerbaijan are planning to have a huge success through military means, that could put Turkish Russian relations at serious risk.” In recent years, Ankara and Moscow have deepened their relationship, cooperating in Syria and building trade ties that even extend to the purchase of sophisticated Russian military hardware.
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Coronavirus Global Death Tally Approaches 1 Million
The World Health organization says 120 million rapid diagnostic tests for the coronavirus will be made available to low- and middle-income countries as the world approaches a death toll of 1 million. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Monday that the tests would cost less than $5. He said manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor are working in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to “make 120 million of these new, highly portable and easy-to-use rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tests available over a period of six months.” COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported Monday that there were close to 1 million deaths worldwide. It said there are more than 33 million infections around the globe. In India, the country’s confirmed coronavirus infection tally reached 6 million Monday, behind only the United States, where infections passed 7 million last week. India’s Health Ministry on Monday reported 82,170 new coronavirus cases over a 24-hour period, as well as 1,039 new confirmed deaths, taking total fatalities in the country to 95,542. Surge expected in USIn the United States, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC, “We’re nowhere near the end” of the coronavirus pandemic.FILE – Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a hearing on the federal government response to COVID-19, Capitol Hill, Washington, Sept. 23, 2020.Redfield also repeated his argument that wearing a mask can be just as effective as a vaccine. “If every one of us did it, this pandemic would be over in eight to 12 weeks,” Redfield said. A CNN investigation of Johns Hopkins data reveals the number of cases has increased by at least 10% from the previous week in 21 U.S. states. Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told CNN an expected “huge surge” in coronavirus infections in October in the United States is also expected to continue in November and December. European countries debate next stepsMeanwhile, Europe is experiencing a new wave of coronavirus infections, leading some governments across the continent to reimpose restrictions on residents and businesses.FILE – A sign is placed across a closed road in London, Sept. 24, 2020, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a range of new restrictions to combat the rise in coronavirus cases in England.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is warning that his country could see a “second wave.” He said Sunday that “swift and decisive action” must be taken to battle the virus. Britain reported 4,044 new cases on Monday. The number of confirmed cases in the country now stands at more than 437,000, according to Johns Hopkins. In France, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the government has no plan to order a new nationwide lockdown, despite a rising number of coronavirus cases. Patrick Bouet, head of France’s National Council of the Order of Doctors, told Journal du Dimanche Sunday “if nothing changes, France will face a widespread outbreak across its whole territory for several long autumn and winter months,” and the health system would crumble under the demands. In Spain, Madrid authorities and the national government are clashing over the extent of the steps needed to control the outbreak of new infections in the capital region. Spain’s Health Ministry Monday reported 31,785 new cases since Friday.
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FBI: Violent Crime Down in 2019
Violent crime in the United States decreased in 2019, according to FBI statistics released today.Compared to 2018, violent crime fell 0.5%, according to an FBI news release. Property crime also fell by 4.1%, marking the 17th straight year of declines, the FBI said.In 2019, there were 366.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 2,109.9 property crimes per 100,000 people.A deeper look at the data reveals some types of violent crimes did increase. Aggravated assault rose by 1.3% from 2018, and murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rose 0.3%. Robberies were down 4.7%.The FBI said there were 6,925,677 property crimes in the U.S. in 2019. Burglaries dropped 9.5% compared to 2018, and motor vehicle theft fell 4%. The FBI estimates the total cost of property crimes, excluding arson, was $15.8 billion in 2019.During 2019, there were 10.1 million arrests, excluding traffic violations.The FBI statistics were compiled using data from law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the agency’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. The FBI said that 18,667 federal, state, county, city, university and college and tribal agencies are eligible to participate in the UCR Program, and 16,554 of those agencies submitted data.
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500 Arrested During Weekend Protests in Belarus
Police in Belarus arrested 500 protesters over the weekend, as demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko continued.Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, claimed his sixth reelection in the Aug. 9 election. But many in the country view the outcome as illegitimate. He claimed 80% of the vote.The country’s Interior Ministry said 150 people were arrested Saturday and another 350 on Sunday during protests across 22 cities, according to The Associated Press.Dozens Arrested as Protests Against Lukashenko Continue in Belarus The protests in Minsk, Homel, and other cities came after Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was inaugurated on September 23 in a secretive ceremony Around 100,000 protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk.A human rights group said the crackdowns on protesters over the weekend were not as violent as previous clampdowns, during which police used tear gas, truncheons and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Several protesters were reportedly killed.”Repressions get stuck when more than 100,000 people take to the streets,” said Ales Bialiatski, head of the Viasna Human Rights Center, according to AP. “The authorities’ scare tactics don’t work anymore.” Authorities recently began an investigation into members of the Coordination Council, which was created by the opposition and supports a peaceful transition of power. Alleged charges against members of the group include undermining of national security.Several have been arrested or forced to leave the country, according to reports.On Monday, Svetlana Alexievich, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, left for Germany. Another council member, Maxim Znak, was jailed earlier this month and has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 18.Both the United States and the European Union have said the election was not free nor fair, and many European countries have refused to recognize Lukashenko after his surprise inauguration earlier this week.
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Kenyan Government Fights Payout for Slum’s Lead Poisoning
Residents of a Mombasa slum won a landmark payout in July over pollution by a lead smelter that poisoned locals. Kenya’s government was ordered to pay $12 million to residents within 90 days because of its failure to enforce environmental regulations with the smelter, which closed in 2014. But the government has appealed the decision.Authorities shut down the lead smelter run by Kenya Metal Refineries EPZ Limited in 2014 due to severe pollution and after several deaths that locals blamed on lead poisoning. But it wasn’t until this past July that an environmental and land court awarded the residents of Mombasa’s Owino Uhuru slum a $12 million payout. It was the first time the Kenyan government was ordered to compensate victims for failing to stop pollution, setting a precedent for future claims. The celebration, however, was short-lived as Kenya’s attorney general’s office said it was dissatisfied with the decision and planned to appeal. Anastasia Nambo, a resident at the informal settlement, says the appeal has dashed their hopes for an early settlement. She says the government has shown that it does not value the residents of the settlement. People in the community are still suffering as a result, but the government has disregarded all this. Nambo says if the government was concerned about their welfare, they would have settled the claim but, instead, they are abusing the court process through the appeal. Forty-eight-year-old Nambo, a mother of four, says the pollution gave her constant migraines and body aches, and she can no longer afford her pain medication. Nambo says her entire family has been affected. They were all tested and found to have been poisoned by the emissions from the lead factory. She says her children’s memories were affected, leading to poor performance in school, and they also complain of joint aches and migraines every day.Smoke from the smelter discolored rooftops and a 2015 report by lawmakers said water in the area was contaminated by lead. The court in July also ordered Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to clean up remaining pollution. But the government’s appeal has put that clean-up effort in doubt. Kenya activist group Center for Justice Governance & Environmental Action (CJGEA) helped locals with suing the government. Tom Ooko is the programs officer at CJGEA. He spoke to VOA about the case.“It’s been like a decade of suffering for these people,” said Ooko. “When they continue prolonging this more people will continue to suffer and more will die. It also means that there’s no closure for the families that lost their loved ones, and also there’s no health and continuity of sustainable life in this community is at risk.” The attorney general’s office declined to comment on the appeal and requests for comment from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) went unanswered.
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Cameroon Campaigns for Schools Reopening
Cameroon has launched a campaign to encourage parents to send their children to schools that were closed in rebel conflict areas and for fleeing teachers to return. Cameroon authorities want the schools to reopen by October 5 and say the areas are secure but some parents and teachers question the safety of returning to the schools. Cameroon’s military liberated more than a hundred schools from rebel occupation in weekend fighting that left at least nine rebels and several troops dead. Cameroon’s Ministry of National Education says it has dispatched hundreds of its staff members to English-speaking regions to campaign for schools to reopen on October 5. Bernard Mbuwel, a pedagogic inspector is one of them. He says the future of 400,000 children is at risk should schools remain closed.
“When education is attacked, you have a generation that is failing, there is no succession,” he said. “You have increase in cycle of crisis because conflicts cannot be resolved when the children are not educated. We find children evolving while those that are conflict stricken cannot evolve. The children will not be competitive in the job market because they are not educated.”
Laboratory technician Philomena Ayeah, 41, fled fighting in the English-speaking northwestern town of Batibo to the capital Yaounde in July. She says she wants her younger siblings to have education without which their future remains bleak in a highly competitive world.
“I am very glad for the children to go back to school,” she said. “They should go and learn. They have forgotten so many things. For now they are in the house. They only eat. It is not easy. They play. They have forgotten so many things.”
Cameroon’s military reports that within the past four days, troops chased separatist fighters from at least a hundred schools in the English-speaking Northwest region. The Catholic church in the area said the corpses of two soldiers were seen in the northwestern village of Kikaikelaki. FILE – Deben Tchoffo, Governor of the English-speaking Northwest region of Cameroon in Bamenda, Feb. 6, 2019. (E. Kindzeka/VOA)Deben Tchoffo, the region’s governor did not confirm troops were killed but says at least 9 separatist fighters lost their lives and 12 others were arrested in Kumbo, Ndop, Santa, Bafut and Wum.
“It was not an easy process, but they [military] are doing their best to secure the region and it is hoped that come 5th of October we must have improved on the security of this region to allow schools to resume,” he said. “We have asked the population to organize themselves in vigilante groups to create security around the schools.”
Tchoffo said the attacks on schools used by fighters as hideouts is carried out at the same time as the campaign to reopen the schools.
Separatists’ spokesperson Capo Daniel admits that some fighters were attacked. Capo says the separatists now want privately owned schools to reopen in the country’s Anglophone regions after 4-years of closure. He says fighters have been asked to keep government schools closed. “In terms of the Cameroon government schools, we have complete non tolerance which is a complete ban of all schools that are sponsored or functioning under the Cameroon Ministry of National Education,” he said. “In areas that we control we have opened up community schools and the teachers who are providing education are doing so on a voluntary basis. The government of Cameroon this week said the military will escort teachers and students who want to return to schools in various towns and villages. Teacher Shuri Quinta, 26, who escaped from Kumbo to Yaounde after she was attacked in June for encouraging schools to reopen says their security is not assured. “Continuous kidnapping and beating of staff [teachers] and students of this region is an indication of inadequate security. I so much long for schools to reopen but in a secured atmosphere. It therefore falls on both sides of the ongoing conflict to guarantee this security and to institute confidence building measures otherwise we are going to be heading for an illiterate society and its associated ills,” she said. The United Nations says Cameroon’s four-year separatist conflict has left over 3,000 people dead and half a million displaced. The crisis started in 2016 when teachers and lawyers took to the streets to complain about the overbearing influence of the French language in the bilingual country. The military responded with a crackdown and separatists took up weapons claiming that they were defending civilians. They asked for a school shutdown and vowed to make the English-speaking regions ungovernable.
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Australia’s COVID-19 Hotspot, Victoria State Reports 5 New Cases
Officials in Australia’s Victoria state – considered the nation’s COVID-19 hotspot – reported five new cases Monday, the lowest case number in more than three months. At a news conference, Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters the state would immediately lift an overnight curfew that has been in place for the past month. He said beginning in October, most children will return to school, and many businesses, including manufacturing, construction and food processors can reopen, sending more that 125,00 people back to work.Andrews acknowledged the sacrifices people had made and said clearly their strategy had worked. As recently as early August new daily COVID-19 cases peaked at 725. But Andrews stressed the need to remain vigilant. “If we start doing things that we know deep down are not the right thing to do, then we can put at risk everything that we’ve built, everything that Victorians have given. I don’t want that to happen and I’m confident it won’t,” he said.Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, and surrounding parts of rural Victoria state were placed under strict “Level 4” lockdowns on Aug. 2, closing schools and non-essential businesses, imposing a nighttime curfew and prohibiting public gatherings.Many restrictions remain in place. Public gatherings of no more than five people from a maximum of two households will be allowed, and masks are still mandatory in public. But Andrews said a further easing could take place on October 19 if the average falls below five new cases per day.Overall, Australia has been one of the more successful nations in controlling the outbreak, with 27,000 total cases in a population of 25 million. Andrews said there are 359 active cases in Victoria.
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New York Times Report Thrusts Trump Taxes Into 2020 Election Spotlight
Nearly four years after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump first faced questions about his income tax returns, the issue has returned to the forefront of the 2020 election as Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden prepare for their first debate Tuesday night. The New York Times Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech on the Supreme Court at The Queen Theater, Sept. 27, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.Biden did not make any public comment about Trump’s taxes Sunday, but like Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, the former Vice President has challenged Trump to make his tax returns public.In July, Biden wrote, “The American people deserve to know what Donald Trump is hiding in his tax returns.”Biden, who served as vice president for eight years and has made his tax returns public, has on his campaign website copies of his state and federal returns from 2016, 2017 and 2018.FILE – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement late Sunday saying the Times report shows the need for lawmakers to be allowed access to Trump’s taxes for an oversight audit, and highlighted a provision in a bill the House passed last year that would make presidential disclosures of their personal and business tax returns mandatory. The measure was referred to the Senate Finance Committee with no further action.Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said in response to the legislation last year that House Democrats were seeking Trump’s tax information for political purposes and should leave auditing responsibilities to the IRS.“What they are interested in is using their oversight authority to collect as much information about this President’s finances as they can get their hands on,” Grassley said.A list of debate topics released last week ahead of Tuesday’s presidential debate did not include any specific mention of the tax issue, but given its history in recent elections the Times reporting makes its inclusion in Tuesday’s event likely.
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South Korean President Expresses Regret Over Killing of Official by North Korean Troops
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has apologized to the family of a civilian government official shot and killed by North Korean troops last week along a maritime border.President Moon offered the official’s family “words of deep condolences” during a meeting with his senior aides in Seoul Monday. The official, identified only as a 47-year-old employee of South Korea’s fisheries agency, was reported missing while on duty on a fishing boat north of the western sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line.After being intercepted at sea by North Korean troops, the man was questioned, shot to death, doused with oil, and set on fire, apparently all on orders from a superior, according to the South Korean military’s version of events.North Korea has given a different account. It says the border troops, following anti-coronavirus guidelines, fired 10 gunshots at the man from a distance. When they approached his flotation device, they found only blood. They then set the floating device on fire, the statement said.Moon also apologized to the South Korean people over their “shock and fury” over the incident, saying the government is responsible for safeguarding its citizens.The president also pointed out the rare public apology offered last Friday by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which he is quoted as saying the man’s death was “unsavory” and “should not have happened.” Moon said the letter shows that Kim is taking the case seriously and is eager to prevent a complete breakdown of inter-Korean relations. He urged Pyongyang to restore dialogue and reconnect the military communications channels it severed earlier this year. The opposition People Power Party and other critics have accused South Korea’s military of failing to rescue the man after it was revealed that he was spotted in North Korean waters hours before he was killed.South Korea on Saturday suggested the two countries undertake a joint probe into the shooting incident.
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Australia Gradually Eases Its Toughest COVID-19 Lockdown in Melbourne
A curfew imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus has been lifted in the Australian city of Melbourne. The Victorian state government has said that a fall in the number of infections is allowing them to gradually relax other restrictions. Melbourne was placed into a second lockdown in July because of a spike in COVID-19 cases. New cases of COVID-19 in Melbourne have fallen enough that officials are talking about re-opening the city. In late July, authorities had reported more than 700 new daily infections. On Monday, they recorded just five cases. Infections have fallen sufficiently for Australia’s second-biggest city to move to the second of a four-step recovery plan. A night-time curfew has ended, and all primary schools will reopen in two weeks’ time, while about 130,000 people will be allowed back to work. The next step could be taken earlier than its scheduled date of October 26. To achieve a ‘COVID-normal’ status, Victoria would need to have recorded no new infections for 28 days. Victoria premier Daniel Andrews says the state is “so close to beating” the coronavirus. He hopes other restrictions will soon be lifted. “This is a strategy that is designed to get us to a COVID-normal Christmas. We are well on track. In fact, we are ahead of time when it comes to achieving that outcome. That is a credit to every single Victorian who is staying the course, working hard, making sacrifices,” Andrews said.Many personal freedoms remain restricted in Melbourne. Residents can only leave their homes for one of four reasons, including study, work and caregiving. A second wave of infections in Victoria is blamed on security failures in the hotel quarantine system for Australian travelers returning from overseas. A judicial inquiry has heard that travelers infected hotel staff, who then spread the disease into the community with devastating consequences. Victoria has had 75% of Australia’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, and most of its fatalities. New South Wales, the nation’s most populous state, Sunday recorded no new infections for the first time since early June. Australia has had about 27,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. More than 870 people have died.
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California Wine Country Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Hospital, Hundreds of Homes
A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 809 hectares, forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes, authorities said. Fire crews were out in force, scrambling to fend off flames threatening neighborhoods and vineyards at the northern end of the famed wine-growing valley and surrounding hillsides, about 120 kilometers north of San Francisco. The blaze, dubbed the Glass Fire, broke out before dawn near Calistoga and raced toward the adjacent communities of Deer Park and St. Helena, with flames reaching within a mile of the Adventist Health St. Helena hospital. All 55 patients there at the time were safely evacuated by ambulance and helicopter over the course of five hours from about 7 a.m., hospital spokeswoman Linda Williams told Reuters. “We had ambulances lined up from all over the Bay area,” she said, adding that although smoke shrouded the facility, the skies above were clear enough for helicopters’ airlift efforts. It was the second wildfire-related evacuation of the 151-bed hospital in a month, after a massive cluster of lightning-sparked blazes that swept several counties north of the San Francisco Bay region in August. Authorities ordered about 600 homes evacuated on Sunday, with residents of 1,400 more warned to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice, said Tyree Zander, a spokesman for the state’s forestry and fire protection department (CalFire). The notices affected at least 5,000 people, he added. By evening, flames stoked by winds gusting up to 80 kph had scorched about 728 hectares of grassy rolling hillsides and oak woodlands, with little or no containment, Zander said. Fire at harvest timeThe cause of the fire is being investigated. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but a Reuters photographer in St. Helena saw some structures that had been burned. The blaze erupted midway through the traditional grape-harvesting period in the Napa Valley, world renowned as one of California’s premiere wine-producing regions. The area’s 475 wineries account for just 4% of the state’s total annual grape harvest but half of the retail value of all California wines sold, according to the Napa Valley Vintners trade group. Of Napa’s 16 wine-growing districts, or sub-appellations, the Howell Mountain area may have faced the greatest threat, said Lisa Covey, a spokeswoman for Hall Family Wines, which kept open during the day all its three tasting rooms in the county. Napa and other wine-growing regions have been hit by wildfires in and around the Bay area for several years. Susan Krausz, co-owner of Arkenstone Estate Vineyards in the Howell Mountain community of Angwin, said it would take days or weeks to assess the impact of the latest blaze on valley vintners. “Most people have harvested,” she said, but added, “Any time’s a bad time for a fire.” Tom Kaljian, 78, a realtor who owns a house about halfway between Calistoga and St. Helena, defied evacuation orders to spend the day with his wife hosing down their home and dry brush along a fence line separating their property from the Silverado Trail, a key north-south roadway. “We were told to get out of here, but I was trying to protect our little abode, so we stayed,” he told Reuters by telephone. After firefighters told him the house was no longer in danger, he added, “I stopped watering at that point, and came in and took a nap.” The Glass Fire came as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company said it was temporarily halting power to transmission lines in parts of 16 counties across northern and central California to guard against greater wildfire risks in hot, windy, dry weather. The public safety power shutoffs were expected to affect about 65,000 regional homes and businesses, said PG&E, the state’s largest electric utility. A red flag warning for extreme wildfire risks for Napa Valley would run through Monday morning, Zander said. CalFire said a fire weather watch would start on Monday across much of Southern California, following the forecast return of hot, gusty Santa Ana winds and low humidity. California wildfires have scorched more than 1.5 million hectares in the first nine months of 2020, far exceeding any single year in state history, killing 26 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures.
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US Judge Halts Government Ban on TikTok
A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted a Trump administration order to ban the popular video app TikTok from U.S. app stores. The ban was due to go into effect at the end of the day Sunday by order of the U.S. Commerce Department, the latest move targeting what administration officials have said are security concerns with Chinese companies. The judge gave lawyers for TikTok and the administration until Wednesday to meet and propose a schedule for further proceedings in the case. TikTok lawyers argued at a Sunday hearing that banning the app would infringe on the free speech rights of its users, while also bringing irreparable harm to the company’s business. “We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees,” the company said in a statement welcoming the judge’s decision. The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.The Commerce Department said after the ruling that an executive order President Donald Trump issued in August outlining concerns that TikTok collects a wide range of data that could end up in the hands of the Chinese government “is fully consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests.” The statement said the government is complying with the injunction but intends to “vigorously defend” the executive order and its implementation from legal challenges. The Trump administration also sought to shut another popular app, WeChat, out of U.S. app stores, before a judge issued an injunction a week ago stopping that ban as well. China has rejected the U.S. allegations that the apps present security concerns, while accusing the United States of bullying Chinese companies. The Justice Department asked Friday for the WeChat ban to be allowed to go into effect while that legal case plays out, arguing that allowing the app to continue to be available to U.S. users will cause the country harm. TikTok has sought to alleviate U.S. concerns by forming a partnership with two U.S. companies, Oracle and WalMart. The deal has not been finalized, and there have been conflicting statements among the parties about how much of the new venture each would own. Trump initially said he gave his blessing to the arrangement, before stating it would not go forward if TikTok’s parent company had any ownership stake in the new company. TikTok said after Sunday’s ruling that it will “maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement.”
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Sri Lanka Returns Hazardous Waste to Britain
Sri Lanka says it is shipping 21 containers of waste back to Britain. Officials said hazardous waste materials, including hospital waste, were found in some of the containers, in violation of international laws and European Union regulations. Officials said the containers were supposed to be holding used mattresses, rugs and carpets for possible recycling. An AFP reports says the containers arrived in Sri Lanka between September 2017 and March 2018. The containers left Sri Lanka bound for Britain Saturday, officials said. Several Asian countries have said they are tired of being the garbage dump for wealthy nations and have refused docking privileges to ships transporting waste.
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US Threatens to Close Embassy in Baghdad
The United States is threatening to close its embassy in Baghdad amid frustrations over attacks by Shi’ite militias. News organizations quoted U.S. and Iraqi officials Sunday as saying U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iraqi leaders in recent days that the embassy would close unless Iraq worked to stop attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic sites. Pompeo has not discussed the matter publicly, but the State Department said Sunday that “Iran-backed groups launching rockets at our embassy are a danger not only to us, but to the Government of Iraq.” The United States has demanded Iraqi action before, saying in January that Iraq has an obligation to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities in the country. That message came weeks after the U.S. military responded to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq with an airstrike that killed Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside the Baghdad airport. The strike sparked a round of protests in Iraq, with demonstrators, and several Iraqi lawmakers, objecting to the U.S. action as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and calling on the government to expel U.S. troops. The U.S. forces are in Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces in their missions against Islamic State militants. The Pentagon announced earlier this month the U.S. troop presence would drop from 5,200 to 3,000.
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Ex-Malian Diplomat Named PM in Transitional Government
Former Mali foreign minister Moctar Ouane has been named the West African nation’s prime minister as it struggles to return to normalcy following last month’s overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Ouane was named to the post Sunday by transitional President Bah N’Daw, who was installed by the ruling junta Friday, with coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita named vice president. Ouane served as foreign minister from 2004 to 2011, after representing Mali as its envoy to the United Nations from 1995 to 2002. The installation of Ouane as prime minister could lead to the removal of sanctions imposed on Mali by the regional economic bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) after the 75-year-old Keita and then-Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested by military troops on August 18 at Keita’s house in the capital, Bamako. Mali had been mired in months of protests led by the main opposition party, June 5 Movement, over an economic crisis, corruption and Keita’s failure to quell an eight-year-old Islamic insurgency that has gained a foothold in central Mali. Anger also brewed over the results of 31 disputed legislative races held in April. ECOWAS suspended all financial transactions between Mali and its 14 other member states and closed their shared borders after the coup. The bloc has called for the junta to return the country to civilian leadership and hold elections within a year for a president and prime minister in exchange for ending the sanctions. The military has been seeking a three-year transition, to include the writing of a new constitution.
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Switzerland Voters Reject Limiting Immigration from EU
Voters in Switzerland rejected a proposed limit on immigration from European Union countries in a national referendum Sunday. The freedom-of-movement proposal put forth by the populist Swiss People’s Party was defeated, with only 38% of voters approving the measure. The intent of the People’s Party was to prioritize access to jobs, social protection and benefits to Swiss citizens over those from the 27 countries of the EU, of which Switzerland is not a member. Critics of the proposal maintained that would have been disadvantageous to Swiss citizens wanting to live or work in any EU member countries. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the result, saying that it upheld “one of the core pillars of our relationship: the mutual freedom to move, to live and to work in Switzerland and the EU.” About 1.4 million EU citizens live in Switzerland, a country of roughly 8.2 million, while some 500,000 Swiss live in EU member countries. Regarding domestic issues included in the ballot, more than 60 percent of voters favored extending parental leave to fathers, which like maternity leave affords parents 80 percent of their salary, up to 196 Swiss francs per day. The $6.5 billion fighter jet purchase, an issue debated for about a decade, received a yes vote with only 50.1% in favor. Swiss voters rejected an attempt to make it easier to shoot wolves considered a threat to livestock. The turnout of about 60% in Sunday’s referendum was considerably higher than in most recent referendums.
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Federal Judge Postpones Trump Ban on Popular App TikTok
A federal judge on Sunday postponed a Trump administration order that would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from U.S. smartphone app stores around midnight. A more comprehensive ban remains scheduled for November, about a week after the presidential election. The judge, Carl Nichols of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, did not agree to postpone the later ban. The ruling followed an emergency hearing Sunday morning in which lawyers for TikTok argued that the administration’s app-store ban would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump declared that TikTok was a threat to national security and that it must either sell its U.S. operations to American companies or be barred from the country. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is scrambling to firm up a deal tentatively struck a week ago in which it would partner with Oracle, a huge database-software company, and Walmart in an effort to win the blessing of both the Chinese and American governments. In the meantime, it is fighting to keep the app available in the U.S. Judge Nichols did not explain his reasoning publicly, instead filing his judicial opinion under seal. Initially, both the U.S. government’s brief in the case and the entire Sunday morning hearing were also to be sealed, although the court later relented.The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.In arguments to Judge Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that TikTok is more than an app, saying it functions as a “modern day version of a town square.” “If that prohibition goes into effect at midnight, the consequences immediately are grave,'” Hall said. “It would be no different than the government locking the doors to a public forum, roping off that town square” at a time when a free exchange of ideas is necessary heading into a polarized election. TikTok lawyers also argued that a ban on the app would affect the ability of tens of thousands of potential viewers and content creators to express themselves every month and would also hurt its ability to hire new talent. In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security. Justice Department lawyer Daniel Schwei said that Chinese companies are not purely private and are subject to intrusive laws compelling their cooperation with intelligence agencies. The Justice Department has also argued that economic regulations of this nature generally are not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. “This is the most immediate national security threat,” Schwei argued. “It is a threat today. It is a risk today and therefore it deserves to be addressed today even while other things are ongoing and playing out.” Schwei also argued that TikTok lawyers failed to prove the company would suffer irreparable business harm. The Justice Department laid out its objections to TikTok’s motion for a temporary injunction in a brief under seal, but it was unsealed in redacted form to protect confidential business information. Trump set the process in motion with executive orders in August that declared TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, threats to national security. The White House says the video service is a security risk because the personal information of its millions of U.S. users could be handed over to Chinese authorities. Trump has given tentative approval to a proposed deal in which Oracle and Walmart could initially own a combined 20% of a new U.S. entity, TikTok Global. But Trump also said he could retract his approval if Oracle doesn’t have “total control” of the company; the president did not explain what he meant by that. The deal remains unfinalized, and the two sides have also appeared at odds over the corporate structure of TikTok Global. ByteDance said last week that it will still own 80% of the U.S. entity after a financing round. Oracle, meanwhile, put out a statement saying that Americans “will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global.” Government-owned media in China have criticized the deal as bullying and extortion. ByteDance said Thursday it has applied for a Chinese technology export license after Beijing tightened control over exports last month in an effort to gain leverage over Washington’s attempt to force an outright sale of TikTok to U.S. owners. China’s foreign ministry has said the government will “take necessary measures” to safeguard its companies but gave no indication what steps it can take to affect TikTok’s fate in the United States. TikTok is also asking a federal court to declare Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order unlawful. The Chinese firm said the president doesn’t have the authority to take these actions under the national-security law he cited; that the ban violates TikTok’s First Amendment speech rights and Fifth Amendment due-process rights; and that there’s no authority for the restrictions because they are not based on a national emergency.
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Battle Lines Drawn Over Supreme Court Justice Pick
With just 36 days to go before the U.S. presidential election, battle lines are being drawn over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called on Republican senators not to confirm her before the November 3 election to allow U.S. voters to have a say, a view key Republican leaders dismiss. Michelle Quinn reports
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