Voice of America - Africa 54

Australia’s COVID-19 Hotspot, Victoria State Reports 5 New Cases

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:51:47 GMT

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.

VOA Connect Episode 141, The Outdoors and Covid (no captions)

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:43:44 GMT

We look at the role of nature, especially during Covid, and how it can play a positive role for your mental health. (some of the pieces in this program have previously aired).

UN Secretary General Welcomes Yemeni Prisoner Release Pact

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:28:07 GMT

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the U.N. chief “welcomes” the agreement Yemen’s warring parties have reached to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners; a move designed to revive the stalled peace process of the more than five-year-old conflict.

Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Monday that Guterres “urges the parties to build on this momentum and finalize arrangements for the release of all remaining detainees.”

The Yemeni government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Houthis reached the prisoner exchange deal after meeting for more than a week in the Swiss village of Glion.

The two sides are now set to release 1,081 prisoners.

Dujarric also said Guterres is “is grateful to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its tireless efforts as co-chair of the Supervisory Committee to ensure the implementation of the prisoner release agreement brokered in Sweden in 2018, as well as to the Government of Switzerland for hosting the parties over the past week.”

Dujarric said the secretary-general is encouraging “the parties to engage with his Special Envoy to agree on a Joint Declaration encompassing a nationwide ceasefire, economic and humanitarian measures and the resumption of a comprehensive, inclusive political process to end the war.”

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict between the Houthis and the coalition. The Houthis ousted Yemen’s internationally recognized government in 2014. The Western-backed coalition intervened in 2015.

The U.N. says the country is the site of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis where millions of people are facing famine.

New York Times Report Thrusts Trump Taxes Into 2020 Election Spotlight

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:15:20 GMT

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 published a lengthy report online Sunday showing that Trump, a billionaire who often has boasted of his business acumen, paid $750 in U.S. income taxes in both 2016, the year he ran for the presidency, and 2017, his first year in office.

The newspaper said it reviewed two decades of Trump’s tax returns and that they showed that the real estate titan, reality TV show host and now politician lost hundreds of millions of dollars in his business deals that allowed him to write off income and pay nothing in taxes in 10 of the 15 years before he ran for the White House.

Trump, unlike all other U.S. presidents in the last five decades, has refused to disclose his tax returns, saying they were under audit by the country’s tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service, although the IRS says that does not prohibit their disclosure by the taxpayer.

Asked about the report, President Trump called it “totally fake news.”

The New York Timesreported:

-Mr. Trump paid no federal taxes in 11 of the 18 years

-After factoring in a large refund, his average federal tax bill was $1.4 million per year

-He paid $750 in federal taxes in both 2016 and 2017

-Mr. Trump had $73 million in revenue from abroad during his first two years in office

-The president has more than $400 million in debts, much of it coming due in the next four years

The Times said the returns it reviewed were “provided by sources with legal access to it,” and that it verified the information by comparing it to publicly available information and confidential records it had previously obtained.

NY Times: Trump Paid $750 in US Income Taxes in 2016, 2017

Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years

The Times reported that its review of Mr. Trump’s returns showed the years he paid no income taxes were largely due to the fact that his declared losses were greater than his income in those years.

Tax records are not public, but since the presidency of Richard Nixon, candidates have voluntarily released theirs to make public their financial dealings and address any questions about potential conflicts of interest.

“We are publishing this report because we believe citizens should understand as much as possible about their leaders and representatives — their priorities, their experiences and also their finances,” New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet wrote in a statement.

Donald Trump broke the tradition during his 2016 election campaign, and said then that because his taxes were the subject of an IRS audit, he was not able to release them, while pledging to do so when he was allowed.

The IRS said at the time there was no such prohibition, and that filers were free to divulge their own returns.

“Almost every lawyer says, you don’t release your returns until the audit’s complete,” Mr. Trump said when he was challenged on the issue at a September 2016 debate.

He returned to that defense Sunday, telling reporters, “When you’re under audit, you just don’t release them.” He pledged again to make the records public at some point.

“But I will tell you that I look forward to releasing that. I look forward to releasing many things. I'm going to release many things, and people will be really shocked,” Mr. Trump said.

The Times said it summarized its findings in a letter to Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten, who responded that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.”

“Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015,” Mr. Garten said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

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.

Those returns, filed jointly with his wife, Jill, show the couple owed $1.5 million in federal taxes in 2018. That figure was $3.7 million in 2017, and in 2016, the last full year Biden was vice president, the couple owed $93,339 in federal taxes.

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.

Rabbis Ponder COVID-19 Queries of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Life

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:07:43 GMT

Must an observant Jew who has lost his sense of taste and smell because of COVID-19 recite blessings for food and drink? Can one bend the metal nosepiece of a surgical face mask on the Sabbath? May one participate in communal prayers held in a courtyard from a nearby balcony?

Months into the coronavirus pandemic, ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel are addressing questions like these as their legions of followers seek advice on how to maintain proper Jewish observance under the restrictions of the outbreak.

Social distancing and nationwide lockdowns have become a reality around the globe in 2020, but for religious Jews they can further complicate rites and customs that form the fabric of daily life in Orthodox communities. Many of these customs are performed in groups and public gatherings, making it especially challenging for the religious public to maintain its lifestyle.

One religious publisher in Jerusalem released a book in July with over 600 pages of guidance from 46 prominent rabbis. Topics range from socially distanced circumcisions (allowed) to Passover Seders over Zoom (forbidden) to praying with a quorum from a balcony (it’s complicated).

One rabbi responded to a query about blessings on food for those who lost their sense of taste and smell due to the coronavirus. His ruling? Prayers are still required, for “even though one does not sense the flavor of the food, his intestines nonetheless benefit and are satisfied by the food and its nutrition.” He then launched into a two-page legal argument citing rabbinic sources from the Talmud on down.

The collection — titled “Havieni Hadarav,” Hebrew for “Bring me to his chambers” — is one of many pamphlets, books, radio and social media Q&As published in recent months addressing matters of halacha, or Jewish religious law, during the pandemic.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up a little over 10% of Israel’s 9 million citizens and adhere to a close observance of Jewish law. The foundations of halacha are built on the Torah’s commandments and prohibitions, and the Talmud, a codification of Jewish law written down over the course of the early centuries of the first millennium.

Orthodox Jewish practice is the byproduct of generations of rabbis issuing legal arguments and rulings. Their decisions, known as responsa, can sometimes be lenient and other times strict.

“Every time a rabbi is asked a question, he has to essentially do what a judge would do, and bring up previous cases which he builds upon to come to his decision in this particular case,” said Issamar Ginzberg, a Jerusalem-based Hassidic rabbi. The method of questions and responses has underpinned centuries of the Jewish legal code.

There’s no way to say for sure how many people will follow this particular book’s rulings. But there are hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews, and opinions by prominent rabbis often carry great significance in daily life within the community.

“It’s more like a law textbook than a novel on the bestseller list,” said Ginzberg.
Rabbi Natan Feldman, head of the Tzuf Publishing House and editor of “Havieni Hadarav,” said the company has sold around 3,000 copies of the book, which meets “the need of the hour.”

“If people didn’t have it, they would err in all kinds of ways,” Feldman said. “It’s something with a lot of utility.”

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox minority has been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with cities and neighborhoods where they live among the country’s current hot zones. Overall, Israel has recorded around 200,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and more than 1,300 deaths. The Health Ministry does not break down those numbers by population groups.

Religious areas have been hard hit in part because they tend to be poorer and crowded, but also because of the tight-knit communal lifestyles, in which synagogues and seminaries play a central role. Some ultra-Orthodox schools have remained open in defiance of a nationwide lockdown imposed earlier this month to help clamp down on the country’s surge in new cases. While some rabbis have resisted orders to limit crowd sizes at prayers, especially for the current High Holiday season and this week’s gatherings for Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, the government has tried to work with religious leaders to spread the word on promoting public health regulations and restricting the sizes of prayer gatherings.

Many of the responsa contend with the complications of holding prayers — which traditionally require a quorum of 10 adult men — outdoors and in a manner that complies with social distance regulations. The rabbis offered differing opinions on what the law allows regarding participating in a minyan held in a communal courtyard from a balcony above.

Innovation has helped overcome some of the challenges of the lockdown but has also raised additional concerns for observant Jews. For example, can one enter a hospital on the Jewish Sabbath if there is a thermal camera at the entrance that takes visitors’ temperatures?

Activating such an electronic device could violate multiple prohibitions, so Rabbi Asher Weiss — a prominent ultra-Orthodox legal scholar involved in “Havieni Hadarav” — advised refraining from entering if only visiting a patient, but those in need of medical care ought not “avoid entering the hospital and endanger their lives.”

But the bottom line, written by Weiss in the book’s introduction, is that people must “take extra care to adhere to the instructions of qualified medical officials and the regulations of the Health Ministry and not violate them.”

Weiss did not respond to interview requests.

For Feldman, the publishing head, the tome of coronavirus laws not only helps those who desire to adhere to halacha, it’s a reminder for the future of the tribulations Jews faced during this outbreak.

“If there should be, God forbid, another pandemic in the century to come, there will at least be a memory, some kind of necessity for the coming generations,” he said.

South Korean President Expresses Regret Over Killing of Official by North Korean Troops

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 12:51:36 GMT

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.

Australia Gradually Eases Its Toughest COVID-19 Lockdown in Melbourne

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 10:11:34 GMT

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.

Asian Markets Begin the Trading Week on the Rise

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:53:01 GMT

Asian markets are mostly higher Monday.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index is up 1.3%. The S&P/ASX index in Australia is down 0.2%. The KOSPI index in South Korea is up 1.2%, while Taiwan’s TSEC index is up 1.8%.

In late afternoon trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is up 0.8%, Shanghai’s Composite is down 2.5 points, but is virtually unchanged percentage-wise, and Mumbai’s Sensex is up 1.2%.

In commodities, gold is trading at $1,863.00 an ounce, down 0.1%. U.S. crude is trading at $39.89 per barrel, down 0.8%, and Brent crude oil is trading at $41.61 per barrel, down 0.7%.

All three major U.S. indices are trending upward in futures trading.

Armenia and Azerbaijan Fighting for Second Day

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:43:48 GMT

Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan continued fighting around the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave for a second day on Monday, despite calls from the international community for the hostilities to end.

Both sides exchanged accusations of using heavy artillery. The Azeri defense ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the town of Terter.

The breakaway region reported that at least 15 additional soldiers were killed, bringing to over 30 the number of its soldiers killed since Sunday when it says Azerbaijan launched an air and artillery attack.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the heavy fighting and expressed regrets for “the loss of life and the toll on the civilian population,” his spokeswoman said in a statement.    

The Secretary called on all sides in the conflict “to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” the statement said, adding that Guterres will speak to the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia.     

Guterres reiterated his full support for the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, a role he said was very important, and urged “the sides to work closely with them for an urgent resumption of dialogue without preconditions.”     

The United States, also on Sunday, called for the hostilities to end. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus issued a statement saying the U.S. “condemns in the strongest terms this escalation of violence.” The statement urged both sides to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs “to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible.” 

In this handout photo released by the Armenian Foreign Ministry on Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, people watch the State TV as they gather in a bomb shelter to protect against the shelling in Stepanakert, the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The OSCE Minsk Group is tasked with finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. The OSCE is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  

The U.S., along with France and Russia, co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, which issued a joint statement Sunday concerning the “large scale military actions along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.”      

“We strongly condemn the use of force and regret the senseless loss of life, including civilians,” the co-chairs said. They appealed “to the sides to cease hostilities immediately and to resume negotiations to find a sustainable resolution of the conflict.”     

They called on the parties in conflict to take “necessary measures to stabilize the situation on the ground,” adding that there is no alternative to a peaceful negotiated solution of the conflict.”     

Armenia and Azerbaijan declared martial law and troop mobilizations on Sunday amid fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed, primarily ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.     

"Get ready to defend our sacred homeland," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook as the clashes erupted.     

About two dozen people, including civilians, were reported killed and over 100 wounded.  

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of attacks on civilian settlements in the disputed region.        

"Our response will be proportionate, and the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the situation," the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement.         

The ministry also said its troops shot down two Azerbaijani military helicopters and three drones after Baku’s forces began bombing the breakaway enclave, including its capital, Stepanakert.          

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said it had launched a military operation along the "Line of Contact" between the two countries, “to suppress Armenia's combat activity and ensure the safety of the population."    

The ministry confirmed the downing of only one Azerbaijani helicopter and said its crew had survived.  

Armenian separatists seized Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the 1990s that killed an estimated 30,000 people.    

Talks to resolve the conflict have been halted since a 1994 cease-fire agreement among Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh.  

Peace efforts in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, mediated by the Minsk Group, collapsed in 2010.  

Why Facebook Suddenly Closed 155 Accounts Targeting the Philippines

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:33:46 GMT

Facebook’s deletion of accounts targeting the Philippines from bases in China shows that the U.S. internet giant wants a better reputation in Southeast Asia after letting things slide in the past, say analysts who follow the case.

On September 22, Facebook said it had removed 155 of its own accounts and six Instagram accounts for violating an internal policy against “foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.” The accounts originated in China and focused “primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly” as well as on the United States, Facebook says.

Facebook’s move will endear it to Filipinos, who use the service so fervently that it has become a de facto official homepage for businesses and government agencies but who also worry that it has become too permissive, scholars say.

For Facebook, “it’s more from a kind of a PR point of view – I do this at a particular time, somehow, it’s seen as positive and I can say, ‘look, I have done this,’” said James Gomez, regional director at the Bangkok-based think tank Asia Center.

Operators of the deleted accounts had posted in Chinese, English and Tagalog about naval activity in the South China Sea as well as Philippine politics and tried to cover up their identities, Facebook said.

China and the Philippines dispute sovereignty over a tract of the sea that’s rich in fisheries as well as undersea energy reserves. China has the upper hand militarily, frustrating officials in Manila and fanning debate there over whether the Philippines should ask Washington for more help.

The connection to Facebook goes back to 2015, when the California-based service joined domestic mobile service provider Smart Communications to offer an app that allowed free access to 24 heavily used mobile sites.

The thumbs-up Like logo is shown on a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., April 14, 2020. Facebook's long-awaited oversight board is set to launch in October 2020.

But Facebook has made eyes roll in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries by allowing relatively unfettered access by politicians, hate-speech spreaders and purveyors of fake news, Gomez said.

“We would welcome that there is self-governance on the part of Facebook,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Metro Manila-based advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “There was a lot of that [problematic material] in the past up till now.”’

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte maintains an “online army” that was reportedly paid to pack Facebook with supportive material in the name of “grassroots activists”, Southeast Asian news outlet New Mandala reported in 2017, a year after Duterte took office.

Filipinos are starting now to eye the 2022 presidential election, motivating Facebook to clean up so it can avoid criticism, said Eduardo Araral, a Filipino and associate professor at the National University of Singapore's public policy school.

Some of the shuttered accounts carried “content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sara Duterte’s potential run in the 2022 Presidential election,” Facebook said, referring to the current leader’s daughter. Presidents can serve just one term in the Philippines.

“They have to be active in showing Facebook is no longer used or can no longer be used as a platform for inauthentic behavior,” Araral said.

Duterte has pursued friendship with China despite the maritime dispute, but common Filipinos remain leery of Beijing’s designs for the surrounding seas.

About 74 million people use Facebook in the Philippines, where the total population stands near 109 million. Facebook’s statement says 276,000 accounts followed one or more or 11 deleted Facebook Pages belonging to businesses. The service took down those pages along with the 155 non-business accounts. Facebook said that about 5,500 people followed one of more of the closed-down Instagram accounts.

Facebook has removed accounts in Singapore and Myanmar as well, as both countries approached political milestones, Gomez said.

In 2018, for example, a U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights mission found that Facebook had helped spread “hate” speech against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that has struggled to get along with the country’s government. Facebook took down a page authored by senior Myanmar military officials -- a long-time nemesis of the Rohingya -- after the U.N. findings appeared.

COVID Global Death Tally Approaches One Million

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:19:45 GMT

The world is rapidly approaching a death toll of one million from COVID-19, the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday. Hopkins said there are more than 33 million COVID-19 infections around the globe.

A CNN investigation of Hopkins data reveals the number of COVID-19 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 U.S. is also expected to continue in November and December.

People wait in long lines for COVID-19 testing in Houston, Texas, Sep. 21, 2020.

The U.S. has more than seven million COVID-19 infections, followed by India with over six million and Brazil with nearly five million, according to Hopkins data.

Europe is experiencing a new wave of coronavirus infections, leading some governments across the continent to reimpose restrictions on residents and businesses.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is warning that his country could see a “second wave” of the coronavirus. He said Sunday that “swift and decisive action” must be taken to battle the virus that causes COVID-19.

In France, Patrick Bouet , the head of the National Council of the Order of Doctors, told Journal du Dimanche that “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.

Dutch Prime Minister Make Rutte called the wave of infections in his country “very worrisome and will force us to take extra measures.”

In Spain, local 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.

California Wine Country Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Hospital, Hundreds of Homes

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:14:49 GMT

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 time

The 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.

Local Developer Creates Air Monitoring App

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:08:45 GMT

There are all kinds of apps that rate the air quality of your home inside and outside. But one young programmer has created one that has taken off in his native Macedonia. Now it’s also expanding worldwide. VOA`s Jane Bojadzievski reports.

Sri Lanka Returns Hazardous Waste to Britain

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:01:29 GMT

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.

US Threatens to Close Embassy in Baghdad

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 07:31:22 GMT

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.

Ex-Malian Diplomat Named PM in Transitional Government

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 06:58:36 GMT

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.

Switzerland Voters Reject Limiting Immigration from EU

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 06:24:35 GMT

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.

Chief Afghan Peacemaker Visits Pakistan

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 05:21:41 GMT

Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s peacemaking High Council for National Reconciliation, has begun a three-day official visit to Pakistan.

Abdullah is undertaking his first visit to the neighboring country in more than a decade amid peace negotiations between representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents underway in Qatar.

Officials in Islamabad said that in meetings between Abdullah and Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as other top Pakistani leaders, the two sides will discuss matters related to the U.S.-brokered intra-Afghan dialogue and strengthening of bilateral relations.

The ongoing talks between the Afghan warring factions, which commenced earlier this month in Qatar’s capital of Doha, are a product of the February 29 agreement the United States signed with the Taliban to close the war in Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump’s administration credits Pakistan, known for maintaining close contacts with the Taliban, for encouraging the insurgents to negotiate the deal to help the U.S. extricate its troops from America’s longest conflict.

“Pakistan is deeply gratified that it has fulfilled its part of the responsibility,” Khan said Friday while addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

Deputy Head of Political Office of the Taliban Abdul Salam Hanafi, center, heads to attend the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020.

He stressed the need for Afghan leaders to seize the “historic opportunity” to achieve reconciliation and restore peace in their war-torn country.

“Peace and stability in Afghanistan will open new opportunities for development and regional connectivity,” the Pakistani leader said.

Pakistan’s links to the Taliban have been a primary source of political tensions with Afghanistan. The two countries share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border, and each accuses the other of sheltering militants involved in subversive acts on their respective territories.

Landlocked Afghanistan has for decades relied mostly on Pakistani overland routes and seaports for bilateral as well as international trade. Mutual tensions, however, have significantly undermined bilateral trade activities in recent years.

"The visit of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will contribute to further strengthening amity, brotherhood and close cooperation between the two countries,” a Pakistani foreign ministry statement said Sunday.

Last week, Abdullah told a Washington-based think tank that the way forward for Kabul and Islamabad is to cooperate closely to deny terrorist groups a foothold in the region in favor of economic development.

“There is a lot of mistrust, founded or unfounded. We need to address those things, and in a sort of forward-looking ways. There are lots of grievances on both sides,” the chief Afghan peacemaker told the Council on Foreign Relations.

Battle Lines Drawn Over Supreme Court Justice Pick

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:19:06 GMT

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

Biden Calls for Delay in Vote on Supreme Court Nominee

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 23:16:23 GMT

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called Sunday for the Republican-controlled Senate to delay confirmation of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, saying voters “are not going to stand for this abuse of power.”

Biden said the Senate should delay action until after he or Trump is inaugurated in January for a new four-year term. But Trump has said that moving forward with his choice of Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his constitutional duty, even though no Supreme Court nominee has ever been put forth so close to a presidential election.

Biden’s comments come as Democrats and Republicans moved to use the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to energize voters in the Nov. 3 election.

"The Senate has to stand strong for our democracy," Biden said at a brief news conference in his home state of Delaware. He said the Senate moving ahead on the Barrett nomination “would be an irreversible step toward the brink. And a betrayal of a single quality that America is born and built on: The people decide.”

Should he win the election, Biden said the Barrett nomination should be withdrawn so he can make a pick.

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But Trump, after nominating Barrett, a staunch conservative appellate court judge, on Saturday, told the Fox & Friends show that he thinks she can be confirmed before the vote, saying there is a “tremendous amount of time.”

"I think we could have it done easily before the election," Trump said, adding that Republicans, with a 53-47 Senate majority are "going to try and have it done quickly.”

"I think she'll be confirmed [...] relatively long before the election," Trump said, although an initial timetable laid out by Republican senators does not call for a final vote on her confirmation until late October, in the week before the election.

Trump announced Barrett’s nomination Saturday. He has said she is needed on the court to fill the seat held by Ginsburg, a liberal icon, so that in case of election disputes, there would be a full complement of nine justices to avoid potential 4-4 votes.

Barrett, with a lifetime appointment, would increase the court’s current 5-3 conservative majority to 6-3. Now 48, she would be the youngest justice on the court.

Democrats have accused the president of trying to set the stage for a disputed election, in part by suggesting – with scant evidence – that widespread use of mail-in voting because of the coronavirus pandemic opens the door to fraud.

But rather than focus on her possible role in deciding an election dispute, Biden said a Justice Barrett could immediately threaten health care benefits for millions.

That’s because a week after the election, on November 10, the court is slated to hear arguments on a new challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the national health care law popularly known as Obamacare that was enacted in 2010 when then-President Barack Obama led the country and Biden was his vice president.

The Supreme Court, in another challenge to the health care law, narrowly upheld its constitutionality in 2012, with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the deciding vote. In a law review article before she was named for a judgeship by Trump in 2017, Barrett criticized Roberts’ reasoning. As such, some court analysts believe she would vote to overturn the law.

In a New York Times/Sienna College poll taken Sept. 22-24, 56% of those surveyed said they would like to see the winner of the election make the Supreme Court pick. And 41% said Trump should make the appointment. The national survey has a 3.5 percentage point margin for error.

In his news conference, Biden said Barrett’s nomination is “about people’s health care in the middle of a pandemic,” referring to the coronavirus that, according to the Johns Hopkins University, has killed more than 204,000 people in the United States, more than any other country.

President Donald Trump walks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett to a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington.

Despite Biden’s plea that the Senate “must not act on this nomination,” there is no indication that Republicans intend to delay the confirmation process.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that three days of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee could open Oct. 12. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet said whether the Senate will vote before the election.