| 6 Western countries urge Russia to withdraw from Georgia Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:58 PM PDT ![6 Western countries urge Russia to withdraw from Georgia]( "6 Western countries urge Russia to withdraw from Georgia") The United States and five European countries on Thursday marked the 11th anniversary of the conflict between Russia and Georgia with an appeal to Moscow to implement agreements reached in 2008 to withdraw its military forces to positions held before hostilities began. After closed U.N. Security Council consultations, the ambassadors of Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Britain and the United States issued a statement supporting Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Georgia made a botched attempt to regain control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia during the presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili, sparking the war with Russia beginning on Aug. 7, 2008.
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| U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:45 PM PDT ![U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying]( "U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying") (Bloomberg) -- The White House is holding off on a decision about licenses for U.S. companies to restart business with Huawei Technologies Co. after Beijing said it was halting purchases of U.S. farming goods, according to people familiar with the matter.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose department has vetted the applications to resume sales, said last week he's received 50 requests and that a decision on them was pending. American businesses require a special license to supply goods to Huawei after the U.S. added the Chinese telecommunications giant to a trade blacklist in May over national-security concerns.Huawei suppliers Micron Technology Inc. and Western Digital Corp. declined as much as 2.2% after the news on the delay in license approvals. The Australian dollar and offshore yuan fell versus the greenback and the yen gained.Trade TrucePresident Donald Trump said in late June after agreeing to a now-broken trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Japan that some restrictions on Huawei would be loosened. But that promise was contingent upon China beefing up its purchases from American farmers, which Trump has complained the country has failed to do.In the past week tensions have escalated further as Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports as of Sept. 1 and his Treasury Department formally labeled China a currency manipulator.Still, Trump said last week there were no plans to reverse the decision he made in Japan to allow more sales by U.S. suppliers of non-sensitive products to Huawei. He said the issue of Huawei is not related to the trade talks.The White House had no immediate comment, and the Commerce Department declined to comment.Tech PitchTechnology companies have already made their pitch to the White House for a rapid granting of licenses that would allow them to resume some shipments of components to Huawei.The Chinese company is one of the world's biggest purchasers of semiconductors. Continuing access to that market is crucial to the fortunes of chipmakers such as Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc. who sent their chief executives to meet with Trump in July.Companies such as Xilinx Inc. and Micron have publicly said they've applied for licenses and called on the U.S. to allow them to resume doing business with Huawei. They argue that many of their products are easily obtainable from their overseas rivals, making a ban ineffective and also harmful to the industry that the trade dispute with China is supposed to be helping.Some U.S.-based makers of electronic components have already reported earnings and given forecasts that show the negative effects of the trade dispute.(Updates with share price moves in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Adam Haigh and Jeran Wittenstein.To contact the reporters on this story: Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net;Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, ;Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, ;Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Scott LanmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump heads for golf club holiday - but summer storms loom Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:27 PM PDT  Now is the summer (vacation) of the president's discontent. As Donald Trump prepares to leave Friday for his annual August holiday at his lush New Jersey golf club, he's confronting a storm of crises, at home and abroad, that could set the course for his upcoming re-election bid. With his poll numbers stalled and his ability to rally the country questioned, he's being tested by an escalating trade war with China that may slow the economy, rising tensions with both Iran and North Korea and, in the aftermath of the latest mass shootings, pressure to act on guns and face accusations of his own role in fostering an environment of hate.
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| Guam's Catholics reckon with decades of 'horrific' sex abuse Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:42 PM PDT  Walter Denton wanted to grow up to be just like Father Tony Apuron, until the night he says the parish priest raped him in a church rectory. Denton told his mother, but says she accused him of making it up. Long after it erupted into scandal on the mainland, clergy sexual abuse remained a secret on Guam.
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| As UK accelerates post-Brexit freeport plans, trade secretary takes lessons from U.S. Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:36 PM PDT ![As UK accelerates post-Brexit freeport plans, trade secretary takes lessons from U.S.]( "As UK accelerates post-Brexit freeport plans, trade secretary takes lessons from U.S.") Britain is accelerating its post-Brexit plans to develop freeports to boost trade, Trade Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to discuss similar U.S. projects and a U.S-UK trade deal. Truss was due to visit the Port of Newark, New Jersey, one of roughly 300 U.S. freeports, on Friday as part of her first overseas trip after taking office two weeks ago. Freeports, also known as free trade zones, are areas where goods or raw materials can be stored or made into finished goods free of customs duties and taxes before being exported again.
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| Boris Johnson Says There Are ‘Bags of Time’ Left to Renegotiate Brexit With EU Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:31 PM PDT ![Boris Johnson Says There Are 'Bags of Time' Left to Renegotiate Brexit With EU]( "Boris Johnson Says There Are 'Bags of Time' Left to Renegotiate Brexit With EU") (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged European Union leaders to show "common sense" and re-write the Brexit divorce deal, as he steps up preparations to take the country out of the bloc without one.With just 84 days to go until the U.K.'s scheduled departure from the EU on Oct. 31, Johnson said there's plenty of time for his European counterparts to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement struck by his predecessor Theresa May, which was rejected three times in Parliament."I very much hope that our friends and partners will show common sense and that they will compromise," he said in an interview with the BBC Thursday.Johnson has repeatedly said he'll take the U.K. out of the EU with or without a deal, and has allocated an additional 2.1 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) for government departments to step up their preparations for crashing out of the bloc. While he's spoken to EU leaders on the phone his office has suggested he won't meet them to discuss Brexit unless they first agree to rip up the exit contract that they agreed with May.'Bags of Time'The new British premier's main demand is to remove the so-called backstop plan from the divorce agreement. This is a legal guarantee intended to ensure there's no need for checks on goods crossing the land border with Ireland.Members of Britain's Parliament voted to reject May's Brexit deal three times, with many saying the backstop was the major problem because it threatens to tie the U.K. indefinitely to EU trade rules. For pro-Brexit politicians such as Johnson, that would defeat the point of leaving the EU."There's every possibility for the EU to show flexibility," Johnson said Thursday. "There's bags of time for them to do it and I'm confident they will."Officials in Brussels disagree and are not willing to re-open the withdrawal agreement. As the stand-off continues, the clock ticks down toward the Halloween deadline, and with it, the chances of a messy no-deal Brexit grow. The pound has fallen in recent weeks amid rising concerns that the negotiations over Britain's exit from the EU will fail, damaging the U.K. economy.Election AlertIn London, politicians are readying for a possible general election in the fall. Johnson's ruling Conservative Party is clinging on to power by its finger nails, with a working majority in the House of Commons of just one. He is facing a battle in September with politicians who oppose his last resort option of leaving the EU without a deal.One option to break the deadlock would be for either Johnson, or his opponents to trigger an election.In his BBC interview, Johnson brushed aside questions about whether he could hold a general election before Oct. 31 in order to deliver on his Brexit pledge. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, has indicated he'll call for a vote of no confidence in the Government when Parliament returns from summer recess in a bid to stop Johnson forcing the U.K. out of the EU with no deal.Asked if he would resign if he lost such a confidence vote, Johnson said he was focused on getting a deal with the EU and preparing the country to cope with a no-deal split, if that becomes necessary. He said British people did not want to have another election, after one was held in 2015 and 2017, with a national referendum in 2016.For his part, Corbyn tried a new tactic to limit Johnson's options. He wrote to the U.K.'s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill asking him to rule that the prime minister could not delay any election until after the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline in order to force the U.K. out of the bloc without a deal.To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Forcing a no-deal Brexit would be "abuse of power", says Labour's Corbyn Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:30 PM PDT ![Forcing a no-deal Brexit would be "abuse of power", says Labour's Corbyn]( "Forcing a no-deal Brexit would be \"abuse of power\", says Labour's Corbyn") In a letter to cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill, Britain's most senior government official, Corbyn said Labour would never support leaving the European Union without a deal and was concerned after reports suggested Johnson would do exactly that. Earlier this month, the Sunday Telegraph said Dominic Cummings, Johnson's senior adviser, had told ministers that the prime minister could schedule a new election after the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline if he lost a vote of no confidence.
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| Wife of US student held in Iran says husband 'not a spy' Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:18 PM PDT  The wife of a Princeton University graduate student imprisoned in Iran said Thursday that her husband is not a spy as she appealed for international cooperation to secure his release. "I plead for the gate of mercy to be opened for him, and I hope he can come back to us as soon as possible," Hua Qu said in a speech marking the third anniversary of her husband's detention. Hua also said there have been no recent productive conversations between the United States and the Iranian government about Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American history researcher who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of "infiltrating" Iran and sending confidential material abroad.
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| Iraqi national dies 2 months after being deported from US Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:05 PM PDT ![Iraqi national dies 2 months after being deported from US]( "Iraqi national dies 2 months after being deported from US") A 41-year-old Iraqi-born man who had lived in the U.S. since he was an infant but was deported in June for committing multiple crimes died in Baghdad, American Civil Liberties Union officials said Thursday. Ann Mullen, a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Michigan, said relatives of Jimmy Al-Daoud told the organization that he died this week. Al-Daoud, who lived in the Detroit area, was among hundreds of Iraqi nationals who were arrested to enforce deportation orders.
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| Altering global diets, food systems could help combat climate change: UN Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:46 PM PDT  A United Nations panel says countries around the world need to adapt food systems to limit climate change, including adopting more sustainable agriculture practices and altering diets to eat less red meat. Agriculture and other uses of land around the world contribute more than 23% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report and warming from climate change could start to make food more expensive as heat, drought or extreme rains make crops less productive.
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| Egypt says security forces killed 17 Islamic militants Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:09 PM PDT  Security forces killed at least 17 suspected militants in raids in Cairo and in another province, Egypt officials said Thursday, four days after a car filled with explosives wrecked outside the county's main cancer hospital, killing at least 20 people in the ensuing explosion. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said in a statement that eight of the militants were killed when security forces stormed their hideout in the town of Atsa in Fayoum province, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Cairo. It said another seven were killed in the Cairo suburb of Shortouk.
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| Trump criticizes French president for sending Iran 'mixed signals' Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:22 PM PDT  Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Thursday accused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron of getting in the way of US policy and sending "mixed signals" to Iran.
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| UPDATE 2-It's up to EU to avoid no-deal Brexit, says UK foreign minister Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:01 PM PDT ![UPDATE 2-It's up to EU to avoid no-deal Brexit, says UK foreign minister]( "UPDATE 2-It's up to EU to avoid no-deal Brexit, says UK foreign minister") Britain's foreign minister on Thursday pressed the European Union to amend the terms of Britain's EU withdrawal agreement, saying Brussels would have to take responsibility for a no-deal Brexit if it does not compromise. In an interview with Reuters during a visit to Mexico City, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the British government wanted to leave the European Union with a deal, but would do so without one if EU negotiators did not alter their stance.
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| UN rights chief condemns latest US Venezuela sanctions Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:37 AM PDT  The UN rights chief on Thursday intensified criticism of US sanctions targeting Venezuela, condemning the latest measures as "extremely broad" with the potential to exacerbate suffering among an already vulnerable population. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has raised concern about previous sanctions imposed by Washington against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In the new measures, President Donald Trump's administration ordered a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States and barred transactions with its authorities.
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| Turkey says deal with US for safe zone in Syria a good start Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:32 AM PDT  Turkey said Thursday the deal it has reached with Washington to set up a so-called safe zone in northeastern Syria is a good start but warned against delays in implementation. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's comments came a day after the U.S. and Turkey announced they agreed to form a joint operations center to set up the safe zone. The announcement provided few details, but Turkish officials said the center would be set up in Turkey as soon as possible.
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| UPDATE 3-Trump accuses France's Macron of sending 'mixed signals' to Iran Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:28 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Trump accuses France's Macron of sending 'mixed signals' to Iran]( "UPDATE 3-Trump accuses France's Macron of sending 'mixed signals' to Iran") U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States, and he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Tehran over possible talks. "I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself," Trump said in a series of tweets.
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| Hundreds attend funeral of Israeli soldier stabbed to death Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:03 AM PDT  Hundreds of people attended Thursday's funeral of an 18-year-old Israeli soldier who was found dead hours earlier with stab wounds near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the killing as a terror attack and vowed the killers would be brought to justice. Israeli troops raided a nearby Palestinian village and the military said it was sending reinforcements to the West Bank.
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| The Global Food Supply is Delicate. Climate Change Is Making Things Worse. Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:02 AM PDT  A new report from the United Nations paints a bleak picture of the future of food.
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| Why fighter pilots will always be relevant to US military Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:00 AM PDT ![Why fighter pilots will always be relevant to US military]( "Why fighter pilots will always be relevant to US military") In the wake of recent provocations by Iran, a former naval aviator says fighter pilots will always be needed.
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| Trump accuses Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Iran Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:53 AM PDT ![Trump accuses Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Iran]( "Trump accuses Macron of sending \"mixed signals\" to Iran") U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States and he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Tehran over possible talks. "I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself," Trump said in a series of tweets. It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but a report earlier this week said Macron had invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to this month's G7 summit to meet Trump.
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| U.S. Rushes to Ready New China Tariffs as Companies Fear Damage Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:38 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. The Trump administration is rushing to finalize a list of $300 billion in Chinese imports it plans to hit with tariffs in a few weeks' time, as U.S. companies make a last-ditch appeal to be spared from the latest round of duties.President Donald Trump's announcement last week on adding a 10% tariff as of Sept. 1 to virtually every Chinese import that's not yet subject to punitive duties took U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer by surprise, people familiar with the discussions said. Lighthizer and his staff are now under pressure to revise an initial list targeting more than 3,800 Chinese product lines based on issues raised during a public comment period and hearings.The USTR is planning to publish the final list this week or early next, the people said. In that meantime, companies are making a final attempt at convincing the Trump administration not to impose duties or to drop items they import from the tariff list.In a meeting shortly before the president announced the new duties, Lighthizer argued against them. He instead urged patience to allow more time for a tariff increase in June to 25% from 10% on an earlier round of $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to inflict pain on the Asian economy, the people said.A USTR spokesman disputed that account, and said the agency was following the same legal process as it had in previous tariff rounds. Trump decides when the tariffs will go into effect and USTR will publish the final list before the effective date, the spokesman said.Still, companies are complaining about the lack of certainty for their business decisions and say a couple weeks' notice isn't enough time."Companies don't plan by tweet," Jon Gold, of the National Retail Federation, said. "These are all contracts that are already executed and cargo is on the water."After Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed on yet another tariff truce in late June, businesses didn't expect another escalation this soon and felt like they had more time to plan, Gold added. Companies and trade associations are still trying to weigh in with the administration to make their case and potentially get their products taken off the list.The proposed list of goods, which USTR published in mid-May, includes consumer items like smart-phones, laptops, clothes and toys. Since this batch extends tariffs to nearly all imports from China, there appears to be less flexibility than previous rounds to lobby for products to be excluded, as companies such as Apple Inc. had done with the Apple Watch and AirPods headphones.Even some products that were removed from previous tariff lists are back on the latest list.Imaginary ElvesJay Foreman, the chief executive of Basic Fun! toy company in Florida, which makes the Lite-Brite and other products, said he'll have no choice but to reduce employees by the same percentage as the duty."We are not making toys here using imaginary elves from the from North Pole," Foreman said Wednesday on conference call with reporters arranged by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a campaign of trade groups opposed to the tariffs. "American workers are designing, developing, selling, shipping and trucking our toys."White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow this week signaled the tariffs could be called off before Sept. 1 if Beijing shows goodwill on buying American agriculture goods and getting back to the negotiating table."The president and our team is planning for a Chinese visit in September," Kudlow said Tuesday on CNBC. "Movement toward a good deal would be very positive and might change the tariff situation. But then again, it might not."It's not clear if businesses are able to submit requests for product exclusions once the duties are imposed. For previous lists, such an option was only available once the tariff rate was bumped up to 25%.It also hasn't been clarified whether Sept. 1 applies to the date when the item arrives in the U.S. or when it leaves China -- a critical question for importers because of the amount of product that is already on the water traveling to America.Of the almost 13,750 exclusion requests submitted for the initial tariffs imposed last year on $50 billion in goods, only 23% have been approved as of Aug. 2. About 60% were rejected and the rest are still being revised, government data show. Companies can file for exclusions in the last round of tariffs on $200 billion of products until Sept. 30.Wait-and-SeeWin Cramer, the chief executive officer of California-based JLab Audio, said he was in Minneapolis on Wednesday visiting with two retailers -- and instead of talking about holiday plans, they were discussing tariffs. It's impossible to plan because of the uncertainty of what Trump will do next, he said."The answers aren't there yet because we don't know what we don't know," Cramer said on the conference call. "These decisions are made with a tweet, they can also as easily be reversed with a tweet. So we're kind of in wait-and-see mode."(Updates throughout)To contact the reporters on this story: Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net;Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Jeffrey BlackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Russia freezes assets of Kremlin critic Navalny's anti-graft group Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:20 AM PDT  Russia on Thursday froze the assets of an anti-corruption group that major opposition figure Alexei Navalny set up to expose the questionable wealth of top government officials, his spokeswoman said. The ruling comes amid a crackdown on the opposition that has seen Navalny jailed and thousands of people detained at a series of rallies in Moscow calling for free and fair elections. The Foundation for Fighting Corruption (FBK) has published reports detailing the lavish lifestyles of figures close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Moscow first deputy mayor Natalia Sergunina.
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| UK must leave EU on Oct. 31, PM Johnson says when asked about prospect of resigning Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:00 AM PDT ![UK must leave EU on Oct. 31, PM Johnson says when asked about prospect of resigning]( "UK must leave EU on Oct. 31, PM Johnson says when asked about prospect of resigning") Parliament should honour the 2016 Brexit referendum and leave the European Union on Oct. 31, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday when asked if he would resign if his government lost a vote of no-confidence. Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU at the end of October, with or without a deal, setting himself up for a clash with lawmakers who have vowed to try and stop a no-deal Brexit, including by trying to collapse the government. Some reports have said Johnson could refuse to resign even if he lost a no-confidence vote, in order to delay an election beyond Brexit day and ensure the country leaves the EU.
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| Tensions rise among Yemen allies after separatist attack Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT  A senior official in Yemen's embattled government on Thursday accused a southern separatist leader of "fomenting sedition" after his forces clashed with Yemeni troops near the presidential palace in Aden, as concerns rose about a new front opening up in the country's devastating civil war. In a statement carried by the official news agency, Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maisari called on the followers of separatist leader Hani Ben Braik to ignore his calls to overthrow the government, saying "they only aim at engendering war" and undermine the fight against Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned rebels since 2015 on behalf of the internationally recognized government, which is largely confined to the southern city of Aden.
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| Kyrgyzstan in crisis as former president arrested after taking special forces hostage in botched raid Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:56 AM PDT  After a 24-hour siege, Kyrgyz special forces on Thursday captured former president Almazbek Atambayev in his fortified compound, an arrest that will test the stability of Central Asia's most fragile state. At least one special forces soldier was killed and 52 people were injured in a botched operation on Wednesday evening when government forces fought with armed supporters of Mr Atambayev, Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov's mentor-turned-nemesis. Six soldiers were held hostage overnight before being released. Speaking at an emergency session of Parliament before his capture, Mr Jeenbekov called Mr Atambayev a criminal. "By putting up fierce armed resistance to the investigative measures undertaken within the framework of the law, Almazbek Atambayev heavily trampled upon the constitution and laws of Kyrgyzstan," he said. The eventual capture of Mr Atambayev, Kyrgyz president from 2011 until 2017, ends a six week stand-off which started when Parliament voted to strip him of his immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. But for Mr Jeenbekov it also comes with major risks. Injured supporters of former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev guard his house Credit: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/ AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin had flown Mr Atambayev to Moscow in July for talks after which he publicly told the two men to make up. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin has been kingmaker in Kyrgyzstan, which lies at the heart of Central Asia, a region it sees as vulnerable to radical Islam. For Kyrgyzstan, Russia is a vital source of income, generating nearly half its GDP through remittances. Erica Marat, Associate Professor at the National Defense University in Washington DC, said that the violent end to the stand-off had weakened Kyrgyzstan. "My biggest worry is Kyrgyzstan has entered a phase of political instability with Atambayev's followers protesting against his trial," she said. Riven through with corruption, short of valuable minerals and landlocked, Kyrgyzstan is already considered the least stable country in Central Asia. Supporters of the former President surround a member of state security forces, who was injured during an operation to detain Atambayev Credit: VLADIMIR PIROGOV/REUTERS It has suffered two violent revolutions since 2005 and ethnic violence in 2010 around Osh in the south of the country killed several hundred people. Kyrgyzstan's politics are also fractious, based on personal relationships rather than policies. Broadly, Mr Atambayev draws his support from the north of the country and Mr Jeenbekov from the south. The two men had been friends and Mr Atambayev had handpicked Mr Jeenbekov as his successor as president in 2017 but it wasn't long until they clashed. Supporters of the former president celebrate in his private residence after fending off the raid Credit: IGOR KOVALENKO/EPA "Atambayev thought Jeenbekov would be a loyal successor and saw himself as a central political figure beyond presidency," Dr Marat said. "Jeenbekov is also an ambitious politician who prefers to be the centre of power in the country." In Kyrgyzstan's macho culture, TV images of Mr Atambayev's supporters fighting off government forces on Wednesday evening will also damage Mr Jeenbekov's reputation. Supporters of former Atambayev blockade a street in the village of Koi-Tash - the site of the former president's residence Credit: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP One Western source based in Bishkek said that the botched security operation was "utterly embarrassing" for the Kyrgyz security forces. Supporters of Atambayev guard his house Credit: VLADIMIR PIROGOV/REUTERS The second attack, before dusk on Thursday, though, appeared to take Mr Atambayev and his supporters by surprise. Mobile phone footage showed a relaxed-looking Mr Atambayev shaking hands with supporters in his sprawling compound, on the outskirts of the capital Bishkek, when shouting punctured the relative calm. Shots followed and Mr Atambayev's bodyguards whisked him away. A couple of minutes later the government's forces appeared to force their way into Mr Atambayev's compound. He surrendered a short time later.
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| Migration, corruption hover over Guatemala presidential vote Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:41 AM PDT  SAN MARTÍN JILOTEPEQUE, Guatemala (AP) — Most people in Guatemalan farming towns like San Martín Jilotepeque have a relative or two living in the United States, giving them sympathy for the plight of migrants. Such migration fears, poverty and corruption provide the backdrop to Guatemala's presidential runoff vote Sunday, which is generating little enthusiasm among a population embittered after witnessing a succession of presidents accused of graft and other crimes, and the expulsion of a U.N. commission that was fighting the impunity. "I no longer believe them," grumbled Efraín Morales, 49, as he listened to final campaign pitches from the two candidates: former first lady Sandra Torres and Alejandro Giammattei, the top vote-getters in the first round election June 16.
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| Guam victims say clergy sex abuse ruined their lives Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:32 AM PDT  One by one, they file into a darkened room to have their pictures taken, gracious while loosening their grip on long-held secrets. Each brings along a childhood photo of himself at around the age when they say they were abused by Catholic clergy. In response, the Guam archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, estimating at least $45 million in liabilities, and survivors have until Aug. 15 to file for a financial settlement.
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| Lebanese daily publishes blank edition to protest crisis Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:21 AM PDT  Each page of The Daily Star's Thursday edition bore a single phrase referring to one of the country's problems, including government deadlock, rising public debt, increasing sectarian rhetoric and unemployment. "We are sounding the alarm bell over the many challenges the country is facing," the paper's editor-in-chief Nadim Ladki told The Associated Press. Lebanon has been in the grip of an economic crisis for months, and the government has not met since a June 30 shooting in a mountain village that escalated tensions between the Christian and Druze communities.
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| Modi Promises New Era in Kashmir After Scrapping Autonomy Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:39 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- India's government rid Kashmir of dynastic politics and entrenched corruption by revoking its seven decades of autonomy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an address to the nation late Thursday.Modi's address came after rival Pakistan cut diplomatic and trade ties and sought to garner international support for its opposition to what New Delhi has called "entirely the internal affairs" of India.The federal government will look at ways to reduce the state deficit in Kashmir, Modi said, seeking to reassure Kashmiris that governance will continue as normal without undue influence from the capital, New Delhi. Several leaders, including former state chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who belong to prominent political families, have been arrested in the recent days.Under Article 370 of India's constitution, the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs, while Indian citizens, living outside the state, were prohibited from purchasing land."A new era has been started in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," Modi said. "Article 370 did not give the people anything apart from separatism and terrorism and kept them from progress -- it was being used as a weapon by Pakistan."Modi made not more than a couple of references to Pakistan in his 40-minute speech which aimed to explain the decision to scrap Article 370. Instead, he kept the focus firmly on jobs and governance in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh."For decades, the political dynasties have kept my Kashmiri youth from the opportunity to govern," Modi said. "I appeal to young men and women to come forward and lead their own areas."The government would immediately begin hiring for posts in police, the armed forces and federal government-run businesses, Modi said. Promises of job benefits like rent and travel allowances -- not as yet available to local government employees -- and extending scholarships to students and sportspeople also took up a large part of his speech.He emphasized that Kashmir would revert to full-statehood under India's federal structure, although Ladakh would continue to be administered by the federal government. Modi also indicated that restrictions on movement and communication in Kashmir would be lifted soon.His Kashmir move fulfilled a campaign promise made to his Hindu base, which opposed special treatment for the region. The state has been the main flashpoint between the two nuclear powers, which have fought three wars since the British left the subcontinent in 1947.Yet the manner in which the decision was implemented -- imposing restrictions on movement, cutting telephone and Internet connectivity, evacuating tourists and Hindu pilgrims and arresting local political leaders -- has raised concerns.Pakistan TiesThe Indian decision triggered Pakistan into downgrading diplomatic relations and suspend bilateral trade with India.As Modi was delivering his address, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted criticisms of India's treatment of citizens living in Kashmir. "The whole world is waiting to see what happens to oppressed Kashmiris in IOK when curfew is lifted," Khan said. "What should be obvious is the international community will be witnessing the genocide of the Kashmiris."His government announced a series of measures on Wednesday to oppose what it called "unilateral and illegal actions" by India. He also said Pakistan will take the matter to the United Nations Security Council and ensure the army remains vigilant. It also canceled a two-decade-old bi-weekly train service between the two countries.New Delhi urged Pakistan to review its actions so "that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved," foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.'Undermines Sovereignty'China has also criticized India's actions.A strongly-worded statement released by Beijing was most critical of the impact of India's actions on the mainly Buddhist region of Ladakh -- an area of strategic importance nestled between Tibet and Pakistan."The recent unilateral revision of domestic laws by the Indian side continues to undermine China's territorial sovereignty, which is unacceptable and will not have any effect," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying said in the statement Tuesday.To contact the reporters on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.net;Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. Intel Officials Eye Disinformation Campaign Targeting John Bolton’s Family Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:38 AM PDT  GettyAmerican intelligence officials are monitoring a social media disinformation campaign that attempted to falsely implicate the White House National Security Adviser in a global money laundering and drug trafficking operation.On Monday, a Twitter user claiming to be a high-ranking Canadian law enforcement official posted records supposedly showing a $350,000 wire transfer from a Canadian children's apparel company to a Swiss bank account owned by National Security Adviser John Bolton's daughter. "Police investigations show [the company] and its CEO are accused of laundering and transferring dirty money between Canada and some European countries, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States," the Twitter account claimed.The claims are clearly fabricated, and the effort does not appear particularly sophisticated. But a U.S. official familiar with the apparent disinformation campaign said intelligence community officials were aware of the effort. And Lee Foster, an information operations intelligence analyst at the cybersecurity firm FireEye, told The Daily Beast that the hoax's techniques are "consistent with what we've seen with previous pro-Iranian influence operations."Foster emphasized that there wasn't enough information to attribute the Bolton hoax to Iran or any other specific party yet, but said the incident did share some similarities with other campaigns documented by FireEye.The Twitter account at issue impersonated a high-ranking Toronto police officer named Donald Belanger. Twitter suspended the fake Belanger account and Toronto Police Service spokesman Alex Li confirmed to The Daily Beast that it was "a fraudulent" persona. The real police official the account had impersonated has never had a Twitter account and Toronto's Police Service does not tweet out information naming witnesses, victims, and other sensitive information in the course of criminal investigations, Li said. The tweet from the fake police official also made another mistake when the supposed wire transfer record in "Belanger's" tweet misspelled Bolton's daughter's name.The operator of the account first registered it in 2013 and appears to have originally tweeted in Arabic before repurposing the account into a fake Toronto police service official. The account, under the now defunct handle @BelangerPolice, retweeted an unremarkable stream of content from Canadian police accounts and mentioned nothing about Iran or Bolton until Monday.A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to questions about the "Belanger" account.Bolton is among the Trump administration's most aggressive critics of the Iranian regime. The U.S. official, while not commenting on this week's disinformation campaign specifically, said Bolton has been the target of state-sponsored influence operations designed to weaken his standing in the administration.Though Twitter quickly removed the tweet on Monday and suspended the account, it had already been picked up and covered by a handful of websites with editorial positions sympathetic to the Iranian government. News outlets such as Iran Front Page blared "Belanger's" claims that a Canadian business had supposedly transferred the funds at issue had been caught smuggling "a significant amount of opium" and "has close ties with the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group."The outlet attributed its story to a tweet from a "senior Canadian law enforcement agent from the Toronto Police Drug Squad"—the fake police account—but has not updated or corrected its story to reflect the account's suspension or the Toronto Police Service's confirmation that the account was fake. "John Bolton," the "exclusive" article added, "is a fervent supporter of MKO terror group," using one of several acronyms for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq organization, or MEK. Bolton has earned tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees for appearances at MEK conferences. The MEK participated in the 1979 revolution which installed Iran's theocratic government, but eventually sought exile in Iraq, where it carried out terrorist attacks in Iran on behalf of Saddam Hussein's government. The United States removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist groups in 2012, but critics claim the organization, which has paid influential former American officials thousands of dollars to speak at events, is a cult bent on pushing the U.S. to war with Tehran. In May, FireEye assessed with "low confidence" that a series of fake Twitter accounts impersonating U.S. and Israeli political candidates and reporters "was organized in support of Iranian political interests." The fake accounts published content in line with Iranian foreign policy, but FireEye was unable to pinpoint the identity or location of those behind it. In other cases, FireEye has found more direct ties between social media influence campaigns and Iran. An August 2018 report from the company cited a network of interconnected fake news websites and Facebook pages echoing "anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes" tied to Iranian state-run media outlets. Send The Daily Beast a TipFoster noted that one of the Iran-linked fake news websites identified in that FireEye report, "US Journal," published a story based on the fake account's tweet. In contrast to the other stories, which summarized the fake Torono police account's tweet, U.S. Journal also claimed to have "other documents we got our hands on," in addition to the @BelangerPolice tweet. The apparent disinformation campaign comes as the feud between Iran and the Trump administration over U.S. sanctions and a 2015 nuclear agreement have grown increasingly personal. In late July, the Trump administration sanctioned Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif "because Zarif acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Zarif has spent the past few months blasting Bolton as part of a so-called "B_team" bent on war with Iran and undermining President Trump's attempts at diplomacy with the Islamic Republic. The Daily Beast was initially alerted to "Belanger's" tweets by a Twitter user claiming to be a U.S.-based freelance journalist covering the Middle East. The Twitter account was created in June, and has posted numerous tweets in broken and grammatically incorrect sentences consistent with someone whose first language is not English.Of the account's 63 tweets, 47 were devoted to promoting the "Belanger" story. Another 11 attacked Bolton by name.The Daily Beast could not identify any bylines by the purported Middle East freelance reporter. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| You Will Get Crushed: 5 Reasons No One Goes to War with Israel (And Wins) Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:33 AM PDT  The IDF has developed systems of recruitment, training, and retention that allow it to field some of the most competent, capable soldiers in the world. None of the technologies above work unless they have smart, dedicated, well-trained operators to make them function at their fullest potential.Since 1948, the state of Israel has fielded a frighteningly effective military machine.Built on a foundation of pre-independence militias, supplied with cast-off World War II weapons, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have enjoyed remarkable success in the field. In the 1960s and 1970s, both because of its unique needs and because of international boycotts, Israel began developing its own military technologies, as well as augmenting the best foreign tech. Today, Israel boasts one of the most technologically advanced military stockpiles in the world, and one of the world's most effective workforces.(This first appeared in 2015.)Here are five of the most deadly systems that the Israeli Defense Forces currently employ.Recommended: 8 Million Could Die in a War with North Korea MerkavaThe Merkava tank joined the IDF in 1979, replacing the modified foreign tanks (most recently of British and American vintage) that the Israelis had used since 1948. Domestic design and construction avoided problems of unsteady foreign supply, while also allowing the Israelis to focus on designs optimized for their environment, rather than for Central Europe. Around 1,600 Merkavas of various types have entered service, with several hundred more still on the way.
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| Magnitude 6 quake shakes western Turkey; more than 20 hurt Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:31 AM PDT  A strong earthquake hit western Turkey on Thursday, damaging homes, causing residents to run into the streets in panic and injuring over 20 people. The quake was centered on the town of Bozkurt, in Denizli province, according to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, AFAD. It said the quake struck at 2:25 p.m. (1125 GMT) with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0.
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| P&O cancels Gulf cruises due to tensions Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:27 AM PDT  US-owned British company P&O Cruises on Thursday said it was cancelling its programme in the Gulf between October 2019 and March 2020 to guarantee the safety of guests and crew. Iran has seized three tankers in strategically-important Gulf waters since last month, including a British-flagged vessel. "The increased tension in the region... means as a British company flying the Red Ensign it is not advisable for us to maintain our planned Dubai and Arabian Gulf programme this winter season," P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said in a statement.
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| Iran's Military Is Making Strides Into Twenty-First Century Technology Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:15 AM PDT  Recent Iranian ship interceptions highlight Iran's military challenge and continue to drive a regional arms race. Whereas Gulf Cooperation Council states spend lavishly on high-end, off-the-shelf, U.S.-built platforms, decades of sanctions and post-revolutionary strategic decisions to be militarily self-sufficient has led Islamic Republic to focus more on its own indigenous industries. Direct comparisons of defense spending between Arab states and Iran is difficult. While a superficial reading of public statistics shows Saudi and Emirati spending far outstrips Iran's as a proportion of GDP, it would be a mistake to take public Iranian statistics at face value. Still, post-revolutionary Iran has long embraced asymmetric strategies such as terrorism or perhaps nuclear technologies to counter enemies, both real or imagined.
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| UPDATE 1-Rivals keep fighting in Yemen's Aden, bystander killed Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:14 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Rivals keep fighting in Yemen's Aden, bystander killed]( "UPDATE 1-Rivals keep fighting in Yemen's Aden, bystander killed") Southern separatists and presidential guards fought for a second day on Thursday in Aden, the seat of Yemen's government, with at least one person killed, residents said. The separatists are nominally allied with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in a Saudi-backed coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis. After Wednesday's funeral for some of the troops killed in that missile strike on a parade, separatist supporters fought with guards near the hilltop presidential palace in the Crater district of the southern port city, witnesses said.
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| Want a cheap, effective and popular policy, Prime Minister? Abolish Air Passenger Duty Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:03 AM PDT  Refresh Banner Welcome to Refresh – a series of comment pieces by young people, for young people, to provide a free-market response to Britain's biggest issues In the early days of a new government æ and the days leading up to Brexit – wildly popular, low-cost, genuinely effective policies aren't easy to come by. In the political climate of Brexit, the best policies are those which are outward-facing, can help make the economy competitive, and won't cost the Chancellor an absolute bomb. So it's a wonder to me that we haven't heard more about abolishing Air Passenger Duty (APD). Getting rid of APD is exactly the kind of policy that Boris (and Dominic Cummings) would embrace wholeheartedly. It's a cheap, feel-good idea which is likely to be embraced by hard-working people, and can be sold as Britain turning its face towards the world. According to Jonathan Isaby, formerly of the TaxPayers' Alliance, 'Air Passenger Duty is just another way for the taxman to squeeze the extra bit more from hard pressed families planning a well-earned holiday.' There are very few countries which specifically tax flights - and the rates in the UK are disproportionately high compared to them - it adds more than £78 to all long-haul adult tickets. Germany – the next highest in Europe – has a significantly lower rate. Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark all phased APD out years ago. The environmental case for the Air Passenger Duty – a levy paid by passengers to leave British airports – is rather thin, removing arguably the only valid argument for the tax. Flights within the European Economic Area (EEA) are already covered by the EU emissions trading scheme – which caps the accepted C02 emissions from European businesses – so there's next to no emissions-based reason to tax EEA flights. All that APD is doing, therefore, is dipping into the pockets of hard-working people who just want a break and harming the aviation industry. Some airlines are actively and openly admitting the APD is the reason behind reducing their services – or being unable to expand their offering to British travellers. Norwegian Airlines recently announced plans to cut its Edinburgh to New York service as a result of the Scottish government's decision to postpone a reduction in the tax. A Frontier Economics report found that scrapping Air Passenger Duty would reduce the cost of air travel between Heathrow and the UK regions by around £24 million per annum - and stimulate an 8 per cent increase in point-to-point demand on Heathrow's domestic routes. The Frontier Economics report argues that this equates to around 75,000 more round trips per year to and from Heathrow. Refresh | A free-market response to Britain's biggest issues The Irish example shows that getting rid of Air Passenger Duty is a practical policy which genuinely incentivises business. As soon as the government announced they were erasing the tax, Ryanair announced it was establishing 8 new services out of Shannon – the Airports Association estimated the addition of these services alone added 15 per cent to Shannon Airport's passenger growth. More options for consumers and businesses at lower cost. PwC's report into the abolition of Air Passenger Duty strengthens the case further: abolishing APD would boost UK GDP by an estimated 0.45 per cent in the first 12 months. Using the PwC model, chucking APD would lead to an average net gain of £250 million per year – suggesting that getting rid of the tax could pay for itself. Post-Brexit, and with a new Conservative government looking to get some wind beneath its wings on areas other than our future relationship with the European Union, abolishing Air Passenger Duty - most pressingly on economy flights - is a win-win policy. The code has been simplified, and the top rates of this anti-growth tax were abolished in 2015, but the Exchequer can do more to help British business to be part of a global future. According to Graham Brady, formerly Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Air Passenger Duty holds back our economic growth and limits choice for consumers. He's right. Abolishing Air Passenger Duty is just one example of practical, popular policies which Boris Johnson's new government should be focussing on in order to get Britain ready for Brexit. Coupled with the liberal, outward-facing agenda which has already led to Liz Truss' freeports pledge, abolishing APD can not only help businesses flourish, but will start the essential work of reducing the record-high tax burden – which hurts the poorest the most. For more from Refresh, including lively debate, videos and events, join our Facebook group here and follow us on Twitter at @TeleRefresh
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| Vaccination rate in Germany dangerously low according to new study Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:02 AM PDT  Child vaccination rates in Germany are much lower than previously thought and could put the country at risk from an outbreak of serious diseases such as measles and rubella, a new study has found. Vaccination rates against the 13 most serious conditions are all under 90 per cent, according to the study for the Barmer public health insurance fund. That is well below the 95 per cent level considered by scientists to provide "herd immunity" and protect those who cannot be immunised. The findings will add to concerns "anti-vaxxer" campaigns and parents' refusal to have their children immunised have left Germany at risk of a dangerous outbreak. One in five German two-year-olds is not vaccinated against measles, according to the study, leaving 166,000 children exposed to the potentially deadly disease. Angela Merkel's government moved last month to make measles vaccinations compulsory for all children and impose fines of up to €2,500 on parents who not comply, but the study found that immunisation rates also lag on other dangerous diseases such as rubella. It found that 3.3 per cent of children born in 2015 received no vaccines at all in the first two years of their lives. Measles vaccines have prevented 21m deaths since the turn of the millennium, according to the public health insurance fund behind the study Credit: Lindsey Wasson/REUTERS The study is is the first time vaccination rates in Germany have been subject to proper scientific scrutiny. Authorities previously believed the vaccination rate was 93 per cent, but those figures relied on self-reporting by parents. "There are still too few children being vaccinated in Germany. This makes the elimination of specific infectious diseases impossible and prevents the protection of those who can not be vaccinated," said Prof Christoph Straub, the head of Barmer, the public health insurance fund behind the study. A vaccination rate of 95 per cent is considered necessary to protect those who cannot be immunised because they are too young or have other health issues from exposure to infection. The "anti-vaxxer" movement has seen a growing number of parents refuse to have their children immunised over fears the vaccine may cause autism or other developmental disorders, despite the fact there is no scientific evidence to support this. "We need specific vaccination campaigns for target groups to reduce skepticism and fear of vaccination," Prof Straub said. "Measles vaccines alone have prevented around 21m deaths worldwide since the turn of the millennium. Not only measles but also rubella infection is not an unavoidable health risk, but a failure of healthcare."
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| Iraq hands over remains of Kuwaitis missing since 1991 Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:56 AM PDT  Iraq on Thursday handed over to Kuwait the remains of 48 of its citizens who went missing after Saddam Hussein's invasion of the country 28 years ago and subsequent Gulf War. Kuwait says hundreds of people went missing during Iraq's seven-month occupation, and the issue has remained a sticking point between the two countries. The remains, which were put in caskets and wrapped in Kuwaiti flags, were handed over to Kuwaiti authorities at the Safwan border crossing at a ceremony attended by officials from the two neighboring countries.
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| Trump's No-Worries Stance on Kim's Provocations Is Under Strain Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:35 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- For the fourth time in two weeks, North Korea has tested an increasingly sophisticated, hard-to-track missile system that could wipe out South Korean and Japanese cities -- not to mention U.S. forces based in both countries. Yet Donald Trump says he's not worried.The president and his team contend that diplomacy with North Korea remains on track, thanks in part to his personal rapport with leader Kim Jong Un. They say Kim has kept his word by holding off from testing a nuclear weapon or launching longer-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.The risks in that strategy are growing more worrisome as Kim seems increasingly intent on forcing Trump into concessions, critics say -- and some members of the president's own administration privately agree. They argue that Trump is needlessly giving up leverage and may even encourage Kim to cross the U.S.'s red line on nuclear testing."The president has been so vocal and complimentary of Kim refraining from such testing and his own diplomatic 'success' that he's really painted himself into a corner," said Jung Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "That also gives Kim leverage: He can threaten privately and obliquely to Trump that he's thinking about resuming testing to try to goad the president into giving up some concessions."'An Understanding'While Kim has so far avoided actions that might jeopardize his personal relationship with Trump, he could decide to force a crisis if the administration doesn't budge. The North Korean leader has given the U.S. until the end of the year to make a better offer, and the regime has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it might reconsider its freeze on more significant weapons tests.The recent missile launches show the limits of Trump's personal diplomacy. When Trump met Kim six weeks ago at the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, he predicted working-level talks would begin in two to three weeks. They haven't.Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Tuesday that the talks could happen in a couple of weeks. He's said that before.Kim's commitment at his first summit with Trump last year remains intact, National Security Advisor John Bolton said this week. The leaders "have an understanding that Kim Jong Un is not going to launch longer-range, intercontinental range ballistic missiles," he said on Fox News. "The president's watching this very, very carefully."But North Korea has made its dissatisfaction with the lack of relief from devastating U.S.-led sanctions clear through the short-range missile tests and increasingly vocal criticism: The regime has renewed its threat to take a "new road" with the U.S. and warned of a "heavy price" if Washington and Seoul continued to disregard warnings against holding joint military exercises. Bolton has said current drills are "largely computer-driven," with fewer troops maneuvering than in exercises that Trump ordered halted.Pompeo has hinted that the U.S. might be sending a sterner message to North Korea privately, while suggesting that North Korea's missile launches were just part of the diplomatic back-and-forth. Asked at a news conference on Tuesday if the launches sour the environment for talks, Pompeo responded simply, "No."In the meantime, the tests of the short-range missile, similar to a Russian system known as the Iskander, show that North Korea is making progress on the technology required to deploy a sophisticated, highly mobile and hard-to-track weapon that could be equipped eventually with a conventional or nuclear warhead and used in a first strike should war break out."It's extremely hard to shoot down and it's being developed for the purpose of taking out U.S. and South Korean troop concentrations and population centers," said Evans Revere, a former U.S. diplomat in South Korea. "If that isn't a threat to the U.S. and its allies, I don't know what is."While South Korea's President Moon Jae-in is a strong backer of detente with Kim, tensions with the U.S. remain over cost-sharing for the American troop presence in South Korea. Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday that "talks have begun" for South Korea to take on more of the burden as a "very wealthy nation." A South Korean official countered that the next round of negotiations on the issue hasn't yet started.Trump's room to maneuver or punish North Korea is limited partly because he's already imposed what his administration calls "maximum pressure" sanctions against the isolated regime. The only added actions he could really take, such as punishing major Chinese banks that do business with North Korea, would risk major damaging effects on the global economy.Even publicly, some administration officials have hinted at some distance from Trump's personality-driven stance on North Korea.While Trump has scoffed that the North Koreans "really haven't tested missiles other than, you know, smaller ones," Bolton has made clear that the tests violate United Nations Security Council resolutions.Showing FrustrationLower-level officials have been more direct about their frustration. In a briefing with reporters during Pompeo's recent trip to Asia, a State Department official said North Korea's unwillingness to meet in the time-frame they had laid out wasn't a positive or constructive response.The official also criticized the missiles tests, saying that any provocations are unwelcome and that the view among U.S. allies is that North Korea needs to stop them and re-engage in diplomacy.That reflected the awkward dance that officials have had to perform in honoring Trump's belief that his personal diplomacy with Kim is working despite the lack of progress toward denuclearization, according to Victor Cha, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington."The president is more and more on his own on this policy," Cha said. "This is Trump's show now."(Adds U.S.-South Korea cost-sharing tensions in 13th paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, Brendan ScottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Germany Says There's Been No Decision to Give Up Balanced Budget Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:27 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Germany's finance ministry said in response to media reports that there has been no government decision to abandon its policy of running a balanced budget.The yield on Germany's 10-year note was up 3 basis point to -0.55%, paring an earlier rise to -0.58%.The comment from a spokesman at the German finance ministry followed a report by Reuters news agency that the government is considering issuing new debt to fund a climate protection package. Reuters cited an unidentified senior government official.The finance ministry earlier said that the existing climate and energy fund has considerable scope to fight climate change. The government is scheduled to meet Sept. 20 to discuss its next measures.German legislators came to the support of Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, saying there are no plans to ease fiscal discipline now.There's an agreement between the Social Democrats and Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats not to take on new debt, Johannes Kahrs, the SPD's budget spokesman, told Bloomberg News. "If we use up all our fire power now then the state won't have any resources when it really gets bad economically," he said.Calls to take on new debt are gaining force in advance of the planned cabinet meeting when the government is expected to agree on additional measures to help fund environmental works."The government will need to take on new debt if the economy slows down," Karl Lauterbach, deputy caucus leader of the Social Democratic junior coalition partner, said in a television interview Thursday. "We need to create exemptions from the constitutional tax brake for education or new energy to increase our efforts in these areas."Lauterbach is campaigning to become co-chair of his party.(Updates market move in the second paragraph.)\--With assistance from James Hirai.To contact the reporter on this story: Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt, Richard BravoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Cruise giant P&O cancels Dubai season amid rising Gulf tensions Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:09 AM PDT  UK cruise line P&O; Cruises has cancelled its Dubai and Arabian Gulf voyages this winter following rising tensions in the region. The company – which carries a British flag on its ships – said the decision followed close monitoring of the situation within the Straits of Hormuz and advice from external authorities. Paul Ludlow, P&O; Cruises president, said: "The increased tension in the region highlighted by the attacks on tankers in the Straits and the detention of a British-flagged tanker by the Iranian authorities means, as a British company flying the Red Ensign, it is not advisable for us to maintain our planned Dubai and Arabian Gulf programme this winter season. "We have therefore taken the unusual step of withdrawing Oceana from the region for the upcoming season. Whilst we appreciate our guests will be disappointed, the safety of our guests and crew is absolutely paramount and given our UK status, coupled with the uncertainty in the region, we have had to make this difficult decision." All bookings departing the UK from October to March next year will be cancelled and refunded. The Dubai skyline Credit: Getty Last weekend Iran claimed to have seized a third foreign oil tanker in the Gulf. It said the tanker was found in the Strait of Hormuz, where P&O; ships pass on their route to the Emirate. Oceana was next due to stop in Dubai on October 30, 2019. British passengers will still be travelling to Dubai via cruise this season, however, with a number of lines still sailing in the region. At the time of writing, this includes MSC Cruises, Marella and Seabourn. A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said it closely monitors the public safety and security situation in each of the destinations it visits and sails through, consulting travel advisory bodies, local and international authorities and UK-based organisations. It added: "While we're aware of P&O; Cruises' decision – as a British flag carrier – to withdraw its operation from the Gulf for the coming season, we have not received any intelligence suggesting that there is reason for our plans to be altered. MSC Cruises' upcoming winter season in the Gulf doesn't start until the end of November. Guests and Crew can always be assured that their safety is our first priority." Oceana, the P&O; Cruises ship due to head for Dubai this winter Credit: P&O; Cruises The Foreign Office has not issued any specific cruise guidelines relating to Dubai, however, warns about the sensitive political situation in the region. It says: "You should consider how regional tensions may affect your route. Vessels operating in the Gulf of Oman, Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab El Mandeb regions may be at increased risk of maritime attack." P&O; Cruises continues to list cruises in the region for 2020 to 2021 – guests whose trips have been cancelled this winter have been offered exclusive rates for the following Arabian Gulf season. The offer extends to this season's Caribbean fly and cruise holidays. Inspiration for your inbox Sign up to Telegraph Travel's new weekly newsletter for the latest features, advice, competitions, exclusive deals and comment. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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| 10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:01 AM PDT  A new United Nations scientific report examines how global warming and land interact in a vicious cycle. Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the land, while the way people use the land is making global warming worse. President Donald Trump paid visits to cities reeling from mass shootings that left 31 dead and dozens more wounded.
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| A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:43 AM PDT ![A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power]( "A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Events in Kyrgyzstan, a poor nation of 6 million on China's western border, show why post-Soviet leaders are so reluctant to part with power peacefully: It's hard for any of them to get any kind of credible guarantee that his successor won't try to lock him up, or worse.On Wednesday night, Kyrgyz special forces tried to arrest the country's former president, Almazbek Atambayev, at his residence near the capital, Bishkek. Atambayev, wanted on corruption charges, wasn't easy to take, though. He'd barricaded himself in his house, and he reportedly fired shots at the troopers who'd come for him. He was aided by about 1,000 supporters, who managed to repel the attack; one officer was killed and 80 people were injured. Atambayev's successor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, took 12 hours to respond publicly to the events, a sure sign that he hadn't expected this kind of resistance. He chose to pretend he could have overcome the rebels, but not at the cost of more lives. At the time of this writing, the standoff continues; more Atambayev supporters have surrounded his residence, and more special forces have been sent to get him. Internet access has been shut off in the area. Jeenbekov was Atambayev's chosen successor as president (in Kyrgyzstan, leaders are limited to one six-year term – an exception in post-Soviet Central Asia, where rulers usually remain in office until they die). In 2017, he won an election European observers described as competitive and praised as a peaceful power transfer. This was the first time an elected Kyrgyz leader had left his post without being overthrown.Problems arose, however, when Atambayev refused to recede quietly into the background and Jeenbekov showed a reluctance to share power with him. A split in the ruling Social Democratic Party followed; Atambayev allies were fired from government jobs and mutual corruption allegations flew. In April, the parliament stripped ex-presidents of immunity from prosecution, clearly a move directed against Atambayev. Criminal cases in which he was officially only a witness escalated; the ex-leader refused to show up for interrogations. The conflict blew up into Wednesday's violence.Jeenbekov appears to have the upper hand for now since the military, police and special forces are still on his side. But the bigger issue is not who wins the standoff in tiny Kyrgyzstan, one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. It's whether any post-Soviet leader can safely hand off power after an election.That's also a question Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko must be asking himself. Poroshenko lost an election to former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. Late last month, Roman Truba, head of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations, said the ex-leader was a person of interest in 11 criminal cases, mostly involving corruption. Zelenskiy has mentioned at times he'd like to hold Poroshenko responsible for misruling the country, and though, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general (a Poroshenko appointee), the ex-president is only seen as a witness so far, the Atambayev case shows that can quickly change. A peaceful, democratic (or at least relatively democratic) power transition isn't everything. With post-Soviet justice systems largely unreformed and law enforcement agencies serving each master individually rather than the state, a ruler who gives up power is in grave danger, especially if he continues to dabble in politics and speak his mind. There will always be past transgressions for which he can be held responsible.In Ukraine and in Russia, ex-presidents have usually done their best to keep out of their successor's way. (Current Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, who kept the presidential chair warm for Vladimir Putin between 2008 and 2012, is a kind of exception, but then he's always faithfully served Putin.) Poroshenko, however, vocally opposes Zelenskiy as head of a parliamentary faction; as a result, a Atambayev-style scene in the future is not entirely unimaginable.All this has a direct bearing on Putin's plans for 2024, when his last constitutionally allowed presidential term ends. He has few workable options for staying in power without changing the constitution to extend his rule, a scenario he's vowed to avoid. Watching the events in Kyrgyzstan must make him wonder about the feasibility of handing off to a supposedly tame successor, as Atambayev thought he was doing in 2017. Whatever Putin invents for 2024 will have to be less risky for him and his family. To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:43 AM PDT ![A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power]( "A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Events in Kyrgyzstan, a poor nation of 6 million on China's western border, show why post-Soviet leaders are so reluctant to part with power peacefully: It's hard for any of them to get any kind of credible guarantee that his successor won't try to lock him up, or worse.On Wednesday night, Kyrgyz special forces tried to arrest the country's former president, Almazbek Atambayev, at his residence near the capital, Bishkek. Atambayev, wanted on corruption charges, wasn't easy to take, though. He'd barricaded himself in his house, and he reportedly fired shots at the troopers who'd come for him. He was aided by about 1,000 supporters, who managed to repel the attack; one officer was killed and 80 people were injured. Atambayev's successor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, took 12 hours to respond publicly to the events, a sure sign that he hadn't expected this kind of resistance. He chose to pretend he could have overcome the rebels, but not at the cost of more lives. At the time of this writing, the standoff continues; more Atambayev supporters have surrounded his residence, and more special forces have been sent to get him. Internet access has been shut off in the area. Jeenbekov was Atambayev's chosen successor as president (in Kyrgyzstan, leaders are limited to one six-year term – an exception in post-Soviet Central Asia, where rulers usually remain in office until they die). In 2017, he won an election European observers described as competitive and praised as a peaceful power transfer. This was the first time an elected Kyrgyz leader had left his post without being overthrown.Problems arose, however, when Atambayev refused to recede quietly into the background and Jeenbekov showed a reluctance to share power with him. A split in the ruling Social Democratic Party followed; Atambayev allies were fired from government jobs and mutual corruption allegations flew. In April, the parliament stripped ex-presidents of immunity from prosecution, clearly a move directed against Atambayev. Criminal cases in which he was officially only a witness escalated; the ex-leader refused to show up for interrogations. The conflict blew up into Wednesday's violence.Jeenbekov appears to have the upper hand for now since the military, police and special forces are still on his side. But the bigger issue is not who wins the standoff in tiny Kyrgyzstan, one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. It's whether any post-Soviet leader can safely hand off power after an election.That's also a question Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko must be asking himself. Poroshenko lost an election to former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. Late last month, Roman Truba, head of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations, said the ex-leader was a person of interest in 11 criminal cases, mostly involving corruption. Zelenskiy has mentioned at times he'd like to hold Poroshenko responsible for misruling the country, and though, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general (a Poroshenko appointee), the ex-president is only seen as a witness so far, the Atambayev case shows that can quickly change. A peaceful, democratic (or at least relatively democratic) power transition isn't everything. With post-Soviet justice systems largely unreformed and law enforcement agencies serving each master individually rather than the state, a ruler who gives up power is in grave danger, especially if he continues to dabble in politics and speak his mind. There will always be past transgressions for which he can be held responsible.In Ukraine and in Russia, ex-presidents have usually done their best to keep out of their successor's way. (Current Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, who kept the presidential chair warm for Vladimir Putin between 2008 and 2012, is a kind of exception, but then he's always faithfully served Putin.) Poroshenko, however, vocally opposes Zelenskiy as head of a parliamentary faction; as a result, a Atambayev-style scene in the future is not entirely unimaginable.All this has a direct bearing on Putin's plans for 2024, when his last constitutionally allowed presidential term ends. He has few workable options for staying in power without changing the constitution to extend his rule, a scenario he's vowed to avoid. Watching the events in Kyrgyzstan must make him wonder about the feasibility of handing off to a supposedly tame successor, as Atambayev thought he was doing in 2017. Whatever Putin invents for 2024 will have to be less risky for him and his family. To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Fighting resumes in Yemen's Aden amid tensions - sources Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:36 AM PDT ![Fighting resumes in Yemen's Aden amid tensions - sources]( "Fighting resumes in Yemen's Aden amid tensions - sources") At least one person was killed in renewed fighting in Aden, the seat of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, a day after clashes between supporters of rival political groups killed around three, local sources said. The violence is highlighting a rift within the Saudi-backed coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, in a more than four-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. Clashes erupted on Wednesday between presidential guard forces and supporters of the southern separatist movement, after the funeral of those killed in a Houthi attack last week on a military parade which has increased frictions between Aden's parties.
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| WHO says it has 'zero tolerance' for corruption in Yemen Posted: 08 Aug 2019 05:29 AM PDT  The World Health Organization says it follows "a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of corruption" amid calls for greater transparency following an Associated Press report on fraud and mismanagement marring some U.N. operations in the country. The audit, it said, identified "conflicts of interest" and "suspected wrongdoing" among staffers in Yemen. In a report Monday , the AP revealed investigations by the WHO and UNICEF into operations in Yemen.
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| UK PM Johnson to hold election soon after Brexit if lawmakers sink government - FT Posted: 08 Aug 2019 05:18 AM PDT ![UK PM Johnson to hold election soon after Brexit if lawmakers sink government - FT]( "UK PM Johnson to hold election soon after Brexit if lawmakers sink government - FT") British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold an election in the days following Brexit if lawmakers sink his government with a vote of no-confidence, the FT reported on Thursday, citing unidentified senior aides to the prime minister. The FT said his aides expect he will face a confidence vote soon after parliament returns from its summer break.
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| Protecting critical resources like forests crucial to slowing climate change: United Nations Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:49 AM PDT  A United Nations climate panel said in a report on Thursday that divesting from fossil fuels alone won't be enough to limit warming from climate change, adding that issues including deforestation and agriculture must be addressed to drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Land-surface temperatures have increased nearly twice as much as global average temperatures, the report said, as human activities on land have released more than 20% of global emissions. Protecting forests that absorb carbon and reforming agricultural practices could play a large role, according to the report.
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| Cast out by HIV: How hundreds of children have been infected Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:44 AM PDT  Cast out by HIV How hundreds of children have been infected Cast out by HIV How hundreds of children have been infected More than 800 children in Pakistan face a potential death sentence after being infected with HIV. Ben Farmer meets families at the centre of an unprecedented outbreak. Pictures by Saiyna Bashir This article has an estimated read time of seven minutes One-by-one Irshad Khatoon points out the children in her family who have tested positive. In the cramped brick compound she shares with five related families, 22 people have been told they have HIV. Seventeen of those are children. None had ever heard of the virus before April, or knew how it could be caught. Now they know little more except they have a potentially deadly infection, must travel miles for medicine and their neighbours shun them. "We had never seen such a disease. We had never heard of it," the 43-year-old widow explains. Among her immediate family, she is infected with the virus that causes AIDS, as are her daughter and two grandchildren. With the shock diagnosis, the family of rural labourers in a village outside Ratodero, near Larkana in Sindh province, have found themselves rejected by their neighbours. Irshad Khatoon, left, along with her daughter-in-law, Heera Khatoon, and grandchildren have all been diagnosed with HIV "They don't shake hands with us, they don't talk to us, they don't mingle with us. "The doctors told us not to segregate the children. But still because of fear, I am keeping their utensils separate from the others." The story is repeated in the nearby village of Thango Bozdar. There, 21 have tested positive, all but three of them children. As parents bring the children out to sit under a tree while the heat pushes 120F, some appear healthy and lively, while others, like Mohammad Ilyas, who leans weakly against his father's shoulder, appear emaciated and exhausted. Only three months ago, this corner of southern Pakistan discovered it was harbouring an unprecedented HIV outbreak which has shocked the town and alarmed public health officials. The outbreak is blamed on backstreet quack clinics and lax doctors spreading the virus among patients by reusing dirty needles. By the end of July the number of cases found was nudging 1,000 with 80 per cent of them children. The high proportion of children makes the outbreak unparalleled, health officials believe. Dr Imran Arbani was one of the first doctors to notice something was amiss among his patients and raised the alarm Lab technician Mansoor Ali tests for HIV testing at a screening camp at Tehsil Headquarter Hospital In the early days of the outbreak, in late April, the town was gripped by panic as hundreds thronged a makeshift screening centre and scores tested positive each day. But as the shock subsides and number of new cases dwindles, residents and health officials are now facing up to how they cope in the long term in an area already blighted by lack of education, poverty and malnutrition. For epidemiologists and public health workers, there is also now the concern that what was discovered in Ratodero could be the tip of a nationwide problem. It was a Ratodero native called Dr Imran Akbar Arbani who first noticed something was amiss and went on to raise the alarm. The 40-year-old urologist also keeps a general practice in the town of 300,000 where he has been practising for 15 years. It was a little girl called Emaan Fatima who first alerted him to the unseen outbreak. When she arrived at his clinic in late February, she had a history of stubborn fevers that multiple doctors had been unable to relieve. Suspecting something was wrong with the 15-month-old's immune system, he sent her to a lab for an HIV test. "When it came back positive, I was astonished in such a small child," he told the Telegraph. "The father and mother were negative. Her siblings were also negative." He began sending other patients for tests and was even more shocked by the results. In 20 days, 20 more patients had tested positive. He went to the town's local media. Waqar Ali, three, sits on the ground in front of five-year-old Abdullah Khan (left) and six-year-old Zeeshan Ali. All three were diagnosed with HIV in Subhani Shar village, around 8 km from Ratodero Gul Bahar Sheikh, a 40-year-old reporter for local channel Sindh TV News was one of the first journalists on the story. He had already seen social media postings of a man complaining he could not get public treatment for his 17-month-old daughter suffering from HIV. When he spoke to the man, he said five other families were in the same situation. The first television reports in the last week of April triggered panic. As far as health officials knew, the only previous local cases had largely been confined to high risk groups like sex workers and drug addicts. "The whole city was shocked and surprised and people were asking what has gone wrong? But the surprising issue was that the parents were negative and the children were positive," Mr Sheikh said. As word spread, a government screening camp was overwhelmed with up to 1,800 people a day and sometimes 50 or 60 being tested positive. Officials quickly pointed to a culprit. Many of those affected had been treated by Ratodero's only paediatrician, Muzaffar Ghanghro. The doctor worked at a local public hospital, but also ran a thriving private practice. Residents took their sick children to him where he often prescribed injections or IV drips. The biggest story Mr Sheikh had ever reported on had suddenly become horribly close to home. The paediatrician had treated all of the reporter's seven children. He and his wife took them all to be screened and found his youngest daughter, two-year-old Rida Batool, was positive. Gul Bahar Sheikh and his wife shower affection on their two-year-old daughter, who has been shunned by other relatives since her HIV diagnosis Gulbahar Sheikh takes a rickshaw with his two-year-old daughter Rida Batool as part of a 30 km journey to receive HIV treatment "That is the tragedy. When I was trying to put out the fire, I didn't realise that the disease is also in my own house," he said. His daughter's infection has seen her shunned by his own relatives. "My wife and I are educated. We hug our daughter and love her, but when our relatives come they push her to one side," he said tearfully. Dr Ghanghro was arrested within days and accused of spreading the disease deliberately. Local anger against him rose when it was disclosed he was HIV positive himself. An investigation team later rejected the allegation he had spread the virus deliberately, but he remains on bail and is accused of being a major source of infection. Now working at a rural health centre, he told the Telegraph he had done nothing wrong and denied sharing needles between patients. As a qualified doctor it was impossible he would use unsafe practices, he said. He believes he was infected with the virus himself during blood transfusions when he lost his foot in a road accident three years ago. Faraz Rabail, three, has been diagnosed with HIV along with 11 of his family members The outbreak is almost certainly the fault of more than one doctor, health officials said. Lax safety rules and the reuse of syringes or needles happen among both the town's registered medics and unregistered quacks. Medical waste is not safely disposed of and syringes are even recycled in the bazaar and sold again. Unsterilised dentists instruments and barbers' razors, and poorly regulated blood-transfusions all add to the risks of spreading blood-borne diseases. The number of new infections has now slowed to one or two each day, but as the initial panic subsides, health officials are left with the question of how to stop the spread of the infection and how to treat those who have it. Medics at Pakistan's AIDS Control Programme admit they were overwhelmed to start with. There were not enough medicines or staff to address the crisis. Parents complain they were not receiving medicine and have to travel 20 miles from Ratodero to Larkana to get drugs. Health officials now deny there is a shortage, and say a clinical service to treat patients is being set up from scratch. More than half of patients are receiving antiretroviral drugs and the rest will be as soon as they are treated for other infections like TB. Yet despite the reassurances, an estimated 25 HIV positive children have already died since they were diagnosed, in an area already hit by malnutrition and high infant mortality. Treatment for AIDS is patchy at best in Pakistan, with the United Nations estimating 6,400 died from the disease last year. Dr Sikander Ali Memon, director of Sindh's AIDS control programme, said: "Not all the patients have been provided all the treatment because certain people have prior infections, like TB. When they get cured of those, they will start treatment of HIV." He said so far 600 are on antiretroviral drugs. He said a public information campaign would run to try to remove some of the stigma surrounding infection, which many still associated with sex or drugs. Mohsin Ali, 11 Jeehjan, aged three Muhammad Ilyas, three Lax infection control among doctors and lack of education among the public means the virus is almost certainly still spreading as well. Such problems are not restricted to this corner of Sindh either, raising concerns there could be other undiscovered outbreaks elsewhere. "The truth is the infection control practices in Larkana are not very different from other cities of Pakistan," said Dr Fatima Mir, a child health expert at Karachi's Agha Khan University. "There is quackery, there is poor and unsafe injection practices. The baseline knowledge of infection control even in registered practitioners is very poor." The United Nations estimates a total of 160,000 people had HIV last year in Pakistan, up from 67,000 in 2010. But screening is minimal and the true figure could be far higher. Until March, only 1,400 children had ever been registered with the national AIDS control programme and since then 800 new child cases have been found in Ratodero alone. As Mr Sheikh watches his daughter play in his home above a shoe shop, he fears that Ratodero's HIV-infected generation will need more than medicine. He is worried about hundreds growing up as outcasts unless a public education campaign informs people how the disease is spread. He said he had seen women in remote villages chained up outside their homes after testing positive, as ignorant relatives tried to keep the infection at bay. "What I fear is that many more will die and even those like us who are getting treatment, their children will go to school and people will hate them," he said. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Global Health Bulletin REFERRAL article
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