| DR Congo judge died by being 'stabbed in the head' Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:51 PM PDT  He was overseeing a case involving Vital Kamerhe, chief of staff to the DR Congo's president.
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| Africa urges UN probe of US 'systemic racism', police violence Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:38 PM PDT  African countries are pushing for the UN's top rights body to launch a high-level investigation into "systemic racism" and police violence in the United States and beyond, according to a draft resolution introduced Tuesday. The text was the subject of heated discussions in Geneva ahead of a so-called "urgent debate" on the topic at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday. The debate was called for following unrest in the United States and elsewhere over George Floyd's death in police custody.
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| Why Zimbabwean women are being dragged to court accused of lying Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:28 PM PDT  President Emmerson Mnangagwa is accused of reneging on promises he made after ousting Robert Mugabe.
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| N Korea's military to reenter inter-Korea cooperation sites Posted: 16 Jun 2020 03:18 PM PDT  North Korea said Wednesday it will redeploy troops to now-shuttered inter-Korean cooperation sites, reinstall guard posts and resume military exercises at front-line areas, nullifying the landmark tension-reducing deals reached with South Korea just two years ago. The announcement came a day after North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office in a choreographed display of anger that puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. The demolition was the most provocative act by North Korea since it entered nuclear talks in 2018, though the building in its border town of Kaesong was empty and the North had previously signaled plans to blow it up.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump on an AIDS vaccine that doesn't exist Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:47 PM PDT  Seizing on a medical milestone that doesn't exist, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he thinks the same scientific expertise that produced a vaccine for AIDS can deliver one soon for COVID-19, too. There is no vaccine for AIDS. Trump also accused the previous administration of making no effort to stop abusive policing, ignoring a conspicuous drive by President Barack Obama to do just that.
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| UN nations to elect new Security Council members Wednesday Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:39 PM PDT |
| Nasrallah says Lebanon should not observe US Syria sanctions Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:30 PM PDT  The head of Hezbollah group on Tuesday said Lebanon should not observe new U.S. sanctions against Syria which he described as deeply hurtful to his country if implemented. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah also blamed the United States for the dollar shortage in Lebanon, saying Washington is preventing the foreign currency from coming into Lebanon and is pressuring its central bank not to inject fresh amounts into the economy. Lebanon is facing an unprecedented confluence of economic and financial crises — characterized by a severe shortage of dollars and negative economic growth.
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| Love Justice International Focuses Relief Effort on Those Most Desperate Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:57 PM PDT  According to a recent article, the United Nations warns that an additional 130 million people could be on the brink of starvation by the end of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and its economic fallout. Even before this pandemic hit, 821 million individuals experienced chronic hunger while another 135 million were already struggling with acute starvation due to pre-existing crises.
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| UN Human Rights Council to take on racism, police brutality in U.S. Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:52 PM PDT |
| Simple math suggests complex back story at Supreme Court Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:37 PM PDT |
| TIMELINE-From historic summit to building destruction, North Korea unsettles U.S. Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:37 PM PDT |
| UK's Johnson: Israeli annexation breaches international law Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:36 PM PDT |
| UN envoy hopes for new Syria talks and warns of dire economy Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:11 PM PDT  The U.N. special envoy for Syria said Tuesday he hopes that talks on drafting a new constitution for the country can be held in late August, warning the war-torn nation has plunged into economic crisis with rising fears among its people. Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council that a long-delayed third meeting of the constitutional committee in Geneva is important but can't solely address the realities the Syrian people are facing, which require "real diplomacy among the key international players with influence." Last month, Pedersen called for talks between Russia and the United States to help end the more than 9-year-old war, saying the two major powers could play "a key role."
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| Hotelier Rocco Forte accuses Government of putting 'nail in coffin' of tourist industry with quarantine and two metre rule Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:41 AM PDT  Tory donor and hotelier Sir Rocco Forte has accused Boris Johnson of putting "another nail in the coffin" of the tourist industry with the two metre social distancing rule and 14-day quarantine. Sir Rocco, who gave £100,000 to Mr Johnson's 2019 election campaign, said "many, many" tourist businesses "will go under" this summer, yet the Government had introduced quarantine "just when there was a chance to save something out of the Summer season." "It's another nail in the coffin," he added. He said the two-metre rule had been plucked "out of the blue" but made it "impossible for people to open properly." "There's no scientific evidence behind it," said Sir Rocco, who is one of more than 500 travel, hospitality and hotel bosses who have formed a group Quash Quarantine to campaign against the Government's restrictions. "The World Health Organisation (WHo) has just come and said that if you are two metres, you have a one per cent chance of catching the disease. If you are one metre you have a three per cent chance of catching the disease. "The reality in continental Europe that has started to open up is that they have gone back to one metre. So the reality of this whole thing is that no one is concentrating on the economic impacts of this." Although he is reopening Forte hotels across Europe, they remain closed in the UK and are likely to continue so until the two metre rule is abandoned. "It's still difficult but one metre makes it possible," said Sir Rocco, who paid for a victory party for Boris Johnson in one of his hotels when he won the Tory leadership election. "The tourism industry has suffered disproportionately. It has been without income since March and will continue to be without income in this country until July so that's four months, a third of a year. Many, many businesses in the tourist industry will go under." "We are talking about thousands of people's livelihoods here. We are talking about millions of people who are going to lose their jobs and their families. It will affect their health and everything else." He said quarantine also had "no scientific evidence behind it." "The chief scientific officer says it's a political decision, not a scientific decision. We are closing down when the rest of Europe is opening up. "Until Sunday, you could come from Iran or Brazil, the two highest hotbeds of the disease with impunity. All of a sudden on Sunday evening, no-one could come in." He warned it would affect businesses across the UK that needed foreign visitors. "What about the resorts [in Britain] which depend entirely on the summer seasons. Those people are not going to be able to function, they are not going to be able to survive. "They have had another winter. They are going into another winter. The summer that should have lifted them up is not going to be there. All those businesses are going to be devastated and all the jobs that go with them." Sir Rocco established Rocco Forte Hotels in 1996 with his sister, Olga Polizzi. They have 14 hotels located in European cities.
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| UN alarmed about detention, abuse of Egyptians in Libya Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:38 AM PDT |
| Near Trump's rally site, black Tulsa lives with fiery legacy Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:25 AM PDT  In the real world, 74-year-old Donald Shaw is walking on the empty, parched grass slope by Tulsa's noisy crosstown expressway. "Everything they had downtown," Shaw said of the white-owned business district where Trump will rally, "we had here."
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| Watchdogs say Trump admin limiting oversight of virus aid Posted: 16 Jun 2020 10:47 AM PDT  Government watchdogs are warning that a legal determination by the Trump administration could severely limit their ability to oversee more than $1 trillion in spending related to the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to four congressional committees, a panel of inspectors general overseeing a sweeping economic rescue law said an "ambiguity" in the law could block the watchdogs from conducting independent oversight. The letter from Michael Horowitz and Robert Westbrooks, the officials leading the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, cites a May 7 memo by the Treasury Department's legal counsel concluding that disclosure requirements in the rescue law do not extend to more than $1 trillion in spending — nearly half of the $2.4 trillion committed to the rescue law by Congress.
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| France won't rule out 'no deal' on UK future ties Posted: 16 Jun 2020 10:27 AM PDT  France does not rule out Europe failing to reach a deal on its post-Brexit relationship with Britain but very much wants to avoid such an outcome, its foreign minister was quoted as saying Tuesday. "We cannot exclude the prospect of a 'no deal' but we want to avoid it," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview with the French daily La Croix to be published on Wednesday. Britain, which left the EU in January, is negotiating a trade deal to govern relations after December 31, when it stops abiding by EU rules.
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| Airman charged with murder of federal officer at courthouse Posted: 16 Jun 2020 10:16 AM PDT  In an eight-day span, an Air Force sergeant fatally shot a federal security officer and wounded his partner outside a U.S. courthouse and ambushed and killed a California sheriff's deputy and injured four other officers, federal authorities said Tuesday. In announcing murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting of the security personnel, authorities alleged Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, had ties to the far-right, anti-government "boogaloo" movement and that the plot to target them was hatched a day earlier during an online chat with an accomplice and a third person. David Patrick Underwood, 53, was killed and his partner was wounded as they guarded the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland while a large demonstration over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was underway nearby.
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| MSC Furthers Progress On Carbon-Reduction Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:53 AM PDT  Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) is helping its customers support carbon-reduction efforts.MSC has partnered with global climate solutions provider South Pole on a carbon-neutral program since early 2019. The container shipping line announced Monday that it was expanding the program to include clients worldwide."For years MSC has been investing heavily in low-carbon technology to help meet the targets to decarbonize shipping. Now MSC customers can share this vision and take responsibility for their emissions," the company said. MSC is working to decarbonize the ocean shipping industry. (Image: MSC)MSC said its carbon-neutral program supports projects that deliver measurable benefits aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through the program, MSC customers can support a hydroelectric power project in China and a forest protection plan in Zimbabwe.MSC calculates the emissions generated by the volume of cargo moved. The customer then can select one of the carbon-reduction projects "to compensate for the unavoidable emissions of the marine and inland transportation," it said."The program complements MSC's strategic approach to sustainability and massive investment in reducing emissions across its fleet," the company said.The world's second-largest shipping line recently completed the launch of its Gülsün Class, which MSC called the largest class of container ships that produce the lowest CO2 emissions per container carried.MSC said it also is testing a range of alternative fuel and propulsion technologies to support the container shipping industry's long-term goals to decarbonize. The company announced in December that it was using a 30% biofuel blend for ships calling Rotterdam, the Netherlands.MSC Chief Operating Officer Claudio Bozzo said, "In addition to running the biggest fleet investment program in the industry, MSC has ensured that customers have an option to compensate CO2 emissions through the global MSC carbon-neutral program."In 2018, the International Maritime Organization adopted a resolution that called for a 40% increase in overall fleet efficiency compared to 2008 by 2030 and then a 50% reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with emissions being reduced to zero or near zero within ocean shipping beyond the half-century mark.Blue Circle Award MSC announced Tuesday that it had received a Blue Circle Award from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority for the seventh consecutive year."The award acknowledges the highest level of fleet-wide participation in the port's EcoAction Program, which recognizes fuel, technology and environmental management options for ship operators. It also serves as further validation of MSC's commitment to reduce emissions and maximize our environmental performance," it said. Since 2007, Vancouver's program has been "encouraging efforts that go above and beyond regulatory requirements by offering incentives for vessels that have implemented emission-reduction measures and other environmental practices," the announcement said. "MSC has invested heavily in low-carbon technology and operational efficiency, in addition to retrofit programs to improve performance across its fleet."MSC said that for example more than 30% of its fleet is equipped for shore power supply, meaning the vessels can tap into a local power grid instead of relying on onboard generations. This allows ships to reduce their emissions in port by about 80%."MSC is committed to promoting a sustainable use of the sea and marine resources to minimize the environmental impact of business activities on land, oceans and populations," it said.Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Kim Link-Wills.Photo by Tom Fisk from Pexels.See more from Benzinga * Asian Trade Reveals Economic Distress * Volvo Group Cuts 4,100 White-Collar Jobs * Carriers Gain Customer And Credit Options As Volumes Surge(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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| US vows to prevent Assad victory on eve of sanctions Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:37 AM PDT  The United States on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he will never secure a full victory and must reach a political compromise, on the eve of stinging new sanctions. Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations, urged Assad to embrace Security Council Resolution 2254 of 2015 -- which called for a ceasefire, elections and political transition in Syria -- and talks under UN envoy Geir Pedersen.
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| VIRUS DIARY: `The meaning of abiding love in all its guises' Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:24 AM PDT  Loss and its many guises have been constants during the pandemic. My pandemic experience is one of unalterable loss and enduring love in the time of coronavirus with the death of my wife, Mary Lou. A young oncologist, with complete certainty, told us last fall that Mary Lou had six to nine months to live.
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| Iran warns against UN nuclear watchdog resolution Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:18 AM PDT  Iran criticised on Tuesday a plan to put forward a resolution at a meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog urging the country to allow access to two disputed sites. European states are expected to submit the resolution at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors' meeting this week. "Introduction of this resolution aiming to call on Iran to cooperate with the Agency... is disappointing and absolutely counterproductive," said Kazem Gharib Abadi, Iran's UN ambassador in Vienna.
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| Edén Pastora, Nicaraguan revolutionary, dead at 83 Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:14 AM PDT  One of the most mercurial, charismatic figures of Central America's revolutionary upheavals, Edén Pastora, died early Tuesday. On Aug. 22, 1978, Pastora, better known as "Commander Zero," led a group of guerrilla fighters in an armed takeover of Nicaragua's national congress, becoming the subject of an iconic image with rifle raised above his head as he boarded a plane to escape to Panama and then Cuba. Alvaro Pastora, one of his sons, said he died at Managua's Military Hospital of respiratory failure.
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| Merkel expects decisions on future EU finances in July -sources Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:12 AM PDT |
| Value of police body cameras limited by lack of transparency Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:05 AM PDT  In Oklahoma City, it took police more than a year to release video from the arrest of a man who died in custody. Nationwide, police departments have rushed to ramp up the use of body cameras, which have been hailed as a potential equalizer that would show the unvarnished truth of an encounter with officers. With budget crises looming and cries to "defund the police," some are asking whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars spent to outfit officers with cameras has provided the accountability and transparency expected.
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| Trump's German troop reduction shows he's ready to play hardball over defence spending Posted: 16 Jun 2020 08:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump's German troop reduction has been a long time coming and reflects three instincts at the heart of his sweep to power in 2016 and three-and-a-half years as US president. First, that America is being ripped off by its allies. The criticism is voiced across the board, not least on EU tariffs on US goods, but is aired most frequently in the when it comes to defence. Mr Trump has long hammered countries for not meeting the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending, often singling out Germany as one of the worst offenders. On Monday he accused Berlin of being "delinquent" for not paying up, directly linking his decision to reduce around 9,500 US troops from Germany to the issue. Germany is not alone. Mr Trump early in his presidency was itching to make South Korea pay for the American troops stationed there, despite generals insisting the US benefitted from having a military presence so close to North Korea. Mr Trump is transactional, seeing US deployments often in narrow cost-benefit terms. Germany is not paying enough on defence, he has concluded, so should get fewer of the 'freebie' of US troops.
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| NATO chief plays down Trump's decision to pull US troops out of Germany Posted: 16 Jun 2020 08:18 AM PDT  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday tried to dampen fears that the United States would pull thousands of troops out of Germany when the alliance faces an increasingly belligerent Russia. "It's not yet decided how and when this decision will be implemented," Mr Stoltenberg said in Brussels, after Donald Trump confirmed reports of a cut of 9,500 troops. "The US presence in Europe is not only about protecting Europe, but it's also about protecting US power beyond Europe," he said he told the US president. Mr Trump branded NATO ally Germany "delinquent" on Monday for not meeting a goal set in 2014 for members to halt budget cuts and move toward spending at least 2 per cent of gross national product on defence by 2024. Alliance defence ministers will discuss Mr Trump's plans to cut troops based in Germany, a hub for US operations in the Middle East and home to its European command headquarters, by a third to 25,000 during video talks on Wednesday and Thursday. The US, which will retain some 50,000 military personnel in Europe, may use the meeting to brief allies on the decision for the first time, two NATO diplomats said. The defence ministers will also sign off on a package of measures against Russia, including military exercises and bulk buying of air defence equipment after Moscow illegally beefed up its missile arsenal. Britain and the US are leading the push, which will remind Vladimir Putin of their nuclear arsenal and bring transatlantic security under a new "umbrella" for the first time in the Alliance's 71-year history. Sources described the move as "a significant step forward". In London, Boris Johnson suggested that UK aid money could be redirected from African to Eastern European countries on Russia's border, as he announced a merger of the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development. "We give as much aid to Zambia as we do to Ukraine, although the latter is vital for European security," the prime minister said. "We give ten times as much aid to Tanzania as we do to the six countries of the Western Balkans who are acutely vulnerable to Russian meddling". Mr Stoltenberg said he was consulting with German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. She said last week she had not been informed of the decision to pull US troops out of Germany. He refused to answer questions over whether Mr Trump's decision was influenced by November's presidential elections. Within German politics, only the opposition Free Democrats say Berlin should have done more to appease the Trump administration by increasing its military budget to the 2 percent target agreed upon by NATO. "The transatlantic partnership has become a form of blackmail," warned Left Party leader Dietmar Bartsch, adding that Berlin should now drop its commitment to the Nato defence spending target. Johann Wadephul, an MP for the ruling CDU, said "the actions and their justification are wrong and will weaken Nato. Germany is strengthening its defence capabilities even during the corona crisis." "US troops [...] are not there to defend Germany. They are there to defend trans-Atlantic security. They are also there to project American power in Africa, in Asia," Germany's ambassador to the US, Emily Haber, said. Retired US general Ben Hodges, who commanded American army forces in Europe, described it as a "colossal mistake". "If they go through with it, the damage to the relationship between Germany and the United States would be significant," he told Reuters. NATO diplomats said Mr Trump had made similar but ultimately empty threats in the past about troop withdrawals elsewhere in the world. They added that repositioning large numbers of troops is both expensive and logistically complicated. There is speculation the soldiers could move to Poland, where the government is friendly to Mr Trump.
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| North Korea Just Blew Up the North-South Joint Liaison Office Posted: 16 Jun 2020 07:44 AM PDT  Early Tuesday morning, reports from South Korean media filtered in, detailing that the Inter-Korean Liaison Office had been demolished by North Korea in an explosion.
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| US missionary Gregory Dow pleads guilty to sex crimes in Kenya orphanage Posted: 16 Jun 2020 07:24 AM PDT  Missionary Gregory Dow, 61, admits to abusing four girls in an orphanage that he helped set up.
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| Russia starts early voting on reform extending Putin's rule Posted: 16 Jun 2020 07:16 AM PDT  Russia's far eastern region of Kamchatka has kicked off early voting on the constitutional reform that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036, with election officials travelling to remote areas and bringing ballots to residents who don't have access to polling stations. Early voting on the reform has been officially allowed since June 10 — 20 days ahead of the vote scheduled for July 1 — with many regions starting the process this week.
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| Russia vows to stand firm by Iran on nuclear deal Posted: 16 Jun 2020 06:14 AM PDT  Russia on Tuesday vowed to stand by its ally Iran and resist attempts to promote an anti-Iranian agenda amid tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the comments during a visit to Moscow by his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, as Iran sought to fend off criticism over granting access to sites where past nuclear activity may have occurred. The standoff comes as a landmark deal brokered in 2015 between Iran and world powers to limit Tehran's nuclear programme continues to unravel.
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| Iran warns against UN nuclear watchdog resolution Posted: 16 Jun 2020 06:01 AM PDT Iran criticised on Tuesday a plan to put forward a resolution at a meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog urging the country to allow access to two disputed sites. European states are expected to put the resolution before the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors' meeting this week. "Introduction of this resolution aiming to call on Iran to cooperate with the Agency... is disappointing and absolutely counterproductive," said Kazem Gharib Abadi, Iran's UN ambassador in Vienna.
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| Calls for de-escalation training grow after Atlanta shooting Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:53 AM PDT  The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta in the span of less than three weeks have led to a push in the U.S. for more training of police officers in how to de-escalate tense situations before they explode in violence. "You've got to get cops to understand that it's not a cowardly act, that backing off could save this person's life," said Tom Manger, a retired police chief in Virginia and Maryland and former president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Officers undergoing de-escalation training are taught how to keep their cool, talk to people to calm them down, and use the least amount of force required.
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| MSF closes Kabul program after May maternity hospital attack Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:48 AM PDT  Doctors Without Borders said it closed its operation on Tuesday in Kabul, ending yearslong work to support a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it would keep its other programs in Afghanistan running, but did not go into details. The May 12 attack at the maternity hospital set off an hours-long shootout with Afghan police and also left more than a dozen people wounded.
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| Israeli PM sets August target date to open skies to flight Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:43 AM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Greek counterpart Tuesday he hoped to open Israel's skies as soon as August after a prolonged closure due to the coronavirus, and that Greece would be among the first destinations for Israeli tourists. The visit by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis marked his first overseas post-corona trip and the first official state visit of any foreign leader to Israel since the pandemic broke out several months ago, signaling the close ties between the Mediterranean neighbors. Greece is among the most popular tourist destinations for Israelis, and Netanyahu said that Aug. 1 would be the "target date" for resuming travel.
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| North Korea Blows Up Joint Liaison Office With South Korea Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:34 AM PDT  North Korea has blown up its joint offices with South Korea situated near the border of the two countries in the town of Kaesong. It is estimated the explosion took place at 2:50 p.m. KST local time.What Happened: Tensions between North Korea and South Korea have been escalating due to defector groups in the South sending propaganda across the border using a leaflet campaign.Pyongyang is reportedly furious at Seoul's failure to halt the air-dropping of propaganda over the border into the North. This latest move by North Korea is being called the most serious provocation in years and follows an escalating series of threats against South Korea.Nuclear Diplomacy At Risk: The office in Kaesong was opened back in 2018 and handles inter-Korean relations. North Korea's nuclear program is a huge concern for the international community.Over the years, Pyongyang says it has conducted a number of nuclear tests.In order to launch a nuclear attack on its neighbors, North Korea would need to be able to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit onto a missile, reports the BBC.North Korea claims it has successfully "miniaturized" nuclear warheads, but international experts doubt the claims.U.S. President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.There was hope that relations between North Korea and South Korea had improved, but this seems to no longer be the case. Photo by Mauricio Moreno via Wikimedia. See more from Benzinga * FDA Revokes Emergency Use Status Of Hydroxychloroquine, Hyped By Trump For Coronavirus * Why Tesla's Stock Is Trading Higher Today * Why iRobot's Stock Is Trading Higher Today(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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| North Korea bombs liaison office with the South Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:34 AM PDT  Earlier this month, North Korea threatened to permanently shut down the liaison office with South Korea.
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| Cheap drug is first shown to improve COVID-19 survival Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A cheap, widely available steroid reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients. The results were announced Tuesday and the British government immediately authorized the drug's use across the United Kingdom for coronavirus patients like those who did well in the study. Researchers said they would publish results soon in a medical journal, and several independent experts said it's important to see details to know how much of a difference the drug, dexamethasone, might make and for whom.
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| Poll: Americans are the unhappiest they've been in 50 years Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:00 AM PDT  It's been a rough year for the American psyche. This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they're very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018.
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| EU vows to 'try everything possible' to get Brexit trade deal done in time Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:18 AM PDT  The EU will "try everything" and "work to the point of exhaustion" to get the Brexit deal done, the European Commission president promised Boris Johnson after he called on Brussels to put "a tiger in the tank" of the trade negotiations. During Monday's summit talks, Ursula von der Leyen said her negotiators would work until the last minute before midnight on December 31 and do everything possible to avoid the UK leaving the transition period without a trade agreement with the bloc. Speaking in French, the Prime Minister had earlier invoked Jacques Delors, the commission president when Mr Johnson was the Telegraph's Brussels Correspondent in the early 1990s. Mr Delors once said his commission was the "tiger in the tank" of EU integration, borrowing an old slogan for Esso petrol. EU officials will be working through the summer holidays on Brexit and both sides have agreed an intensified schedule of talks in July and August. Failure to meet the deadline, which was definitively set on Friday when formal notice was given the UK would not ask for an extension to the transition period, would mean the UK and EU trading on WTO terms, which include tariffs. Mrs von der Leyen's determination to avoid no deal is shared by her mentor Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in July, which will hand Mrs Merkel an even more influential role in Brussels as the Brexit process enters its closing, crucial months.
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| Iran says virus death toll tops 9,000 Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:15 AM PDT  Iran said on Tuesday a third straight day of more than 100 coronavirus deaths took its overall toll past 9,000, attributing the spike to increased travel by its citizens. Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari warned the bleak figures could get even worse unless people stayed at home for the upcoming long weekend. "We ask you to avoid unnecessary trips during the upcoming holidays so as not to see an increase in statistics in the future."
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| North Korea bombs liaison office near border city used for talks with South Posted: 16 Jun 2020 03:55 AM PDT  According to North Korea state media, the structure was "completely destroyed" in the "terrific explosion." In taking responsibility for the bombing, North Korea said its "enraged people" were determined to "force (the) human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes," seemingly referring to North Korean defectors floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border in recent years. Officials in North Korea allege the brochures are in violation of a deal between leader Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in — initially laid out during the first inter-Korea summit in 2018, when both leaders agreed to cease "all hostile acts and eliminating their means, including broadcasting through loudspeakers and distribution of leaflets" along the border.
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| Neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst goes on trial for killing CDU politician Walter Luebcke Posted: 16 Jun 2020 03:11 AM PDT  A suspected far-right sympathiser went on trial in Frankfurt on Tuesday for shooting dead a pro-immigration politician last year in a case that raised questions about whether Germany is doing enough to tackle right-wing radicalism. Walter Luebcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, was found dead in a pool of blood outside his house in the western state of Hesse in June 2019. He had been shot in the head at close range. The defendant, identified only as Stephan E. to conform with German privacy laws, is charged with the homicide of Mr Luebcke in Hesse by shooting him on the night of June 1-2 2019, the court said. A second defendant, Markus H., is charged with aiding and abetting the killing. "Both defendants are charged with having committed these crimes based on extreme right-wing political convictions," the court said.
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| What are the potential long-term effects of having COVID-19? Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:49 AM PDT  It's hard to say exactly, because the coronavirus is still so new that scientists don't know much about long-term effects. The best evidence comes from patients themselves, and some experience a variety of symptoms long after their infections have cleared. For people who experience longer-term effects, the most common issues are bouts of exhaustion, headaches, anxiety and muscle aches that can last for at least several more weeks.
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| Huawei's Meng Wanzhou accuses US of giving Canadian court 'grossly misleading' evidence summary in extradition case Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:30 AM PDT  Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has accused the United States of providing a "grossly inaccurate [and] misleading" summary of evidence to the Canadian court hearing her extradition case, arguing that the case should be thrown out as a result.The new claims in Meng's bid to avoid extradition to the US to face fraud charges include that the US misrepresented and omitted details of a crucial PowerPoint presentation that Meng delivered to a HSBC banker in Hong Kong.The 2013 presentation forms the basis of the US claims that she defrauded HSBC by lying about Huawei's business in Iran, allegedly in breach of US sanctions, and that she should be sent to New York to face trial."Ms Meng will submit that the Requesting State's summary of evidence ... is grossly inaccurate and based on deliberate and/or reckless misstatements of fact and material omissions, thereby constituting a serious abuse of the extradition process that should disentitle the Requesting State to proceed," her lawyers said in a memo, released on Monday by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.Meng was arrested by Canadian police, acting on a US request, at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018, throwing China's relations with Canada and the US into turmoil.The new claims also allege that the US falsely asserted that only junior HSBC employees were aware of the nature of Huawei's relationship with Skycom, a company in Iran that the US says conducted business there on behalf of Huawei."Evidence will demonstrate that it is inconceivable that any decision to modify or terminate HSBC's relationship with Skycom or Huawei would not have been reviewed by the most senior management of HSBC," said the memo.The memo, dated Friday, was made public after a hearing in Vancouver to discuss the management of Meng's sprawling extradition case, which has been thrown into disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic.Meng's team submitted a schedule that would see hearings last until at least May 25, 2021, while the Canadian government lawyers representing US interests in the case proposed hearings until March 26. Appeals could ultimately stretch the case out for years.But Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes did not endorse either schedule and questioned the order that both sides wanted various arguments addressed.As a result, the hearing was adjourned until June 23, with Meng " who is Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder, Ren Zhengfei " bound over until then.Meng and both sets of lawyers attended Monday's hearing by phone, as part of the court's Covid-19 precautions.In the memo, Meng's lawyers also take issue with "false statements" in the US record of the case that "as a result of [Meng's] misrepresentations, HSBC extended US$900 million of credit to Huawei"."In fact, there never was a US$900 million credit facility between Huawei and HSBC," the memo says. Instead, it says, HSBC and eight other banks jointly provided HSBC with a US$1.6 billion credit facility, of which HSBC's contribution was US$80 billion.The claims about misrepresentation in the US record and supplemental record of the case " summaries of evidence provided to the court " represent a new third branch of an abuse-of-process argument by Meng's lawyers.The other two branches are that Meng was unlawfully searched and interrogated by Canadian border officers at Vancouver's airport at the behest of the US FBI, before she was formally arrested, and that the case is a matter of political abuse, highlighted by US President Donald Trump's comments on it."This is a very unusual extradition case. It has been described as unique," said one of Meng's lawyers, Richard Peck, at Monday's hearing. "It does give rise to three arguments on abuse ... [one] in relation to the president of the requesting state and his assertion that he would effectively do what he wanted with Ms Meng, which we consider to be an outrageous comment."That was a reference to comments made by Trump on December 11, 2018, when he told Reuters news agency that he would intervene in Meng's case if it was in the interests of US national security or it helped the US seal a trade deal with China."Whatever's good for this country, I would do ... If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made " which is a very important thing " what's good for national security " I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," Trump said.People hold signs calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig during an extradition hearing for Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on March 6, 2019. Photo: Reuters alt=People hold signs calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig during an extradition hearing for Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on March 6, 2019. Photo: ReutersMeng's lawyers have seized on those comments as proof that the case against Meng is politically inspired.As part of the other plank of the abuse claim, Meng's lawyers have described a report written by Canada's Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on the morning before her arrest, which they say provides evidence of "coordinated state misconduct" between the US and Canada against her.The spy agency's report predicted the impending detention would "send shock waves around the world", and stated that "advanced communication to the CSIS came from the FBI". The report's existence was made public last week.According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday that the CSIS report "shows once again that the whole Meng Wanzhou case is a serious political incident. It speaks volumes about the US political calculations to purposefully suppress Huawei and other Chinese hi-tech companies."Meng's arrest more than 18 months ago triggered a crisis in Chinese relations with the US and Canada. China arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig and accused them of espionage, moves that are widely believed in Canada to represent retaliation and hostage taking.Meng, 48, is living under partial house arrest in Vancouver on C$10 million (US$7.36 million) bail.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| African nations seek scrutiny of US, others over racism Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:24 AM PDT  The European Union and some Western nations appealed Tuesday for more time to discuss a resolution drafted for the U.N.'s top human rights body that seeks international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in response to the recent killings of African Americans by police. The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, singles out the United States and could become the centerpiece of a hastily scheduled debate by the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.
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| Does Trump Know How Scary Things Are Getting in Korea? Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:53 AM PDT  SEOUL—U.S. President Donald Trump is so fixated on protests sweeping the U.S. and his plans for razzle-dazzle campaign rallies that he seems oblivious to the scary turn of events in the land he claimed to have rescued from nuclear war by sucking up to North Korea's despot.While Trump has been absorbed elsewhere, Kim Jong Un on Tuesday literally blew up the glistening liaison office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex the South Koreans had built for cozy tête-à-têtes resolving differences with their North Korean counterparts. North Korean troops took over the zone despite entreaties from South Korea's President Moon Jae-in. The despot's high-profile sister, Kim Yo Jong, had earlier denounced "the useless North-South joint liaison office."Smoke from the building was visible across the line in South Korea, and the sound of the blast was audible several miles away. North Korea state radio said the building was "tragically ruined by a terrific explosion." South Korea was both angered and worried by what appeared as the death knell for whatever was left of a peace process. "We sternly warn we will strongly respond if North Korea takes any action that further worsens the situation," said an official with Moon's national security office after an emergency session.Kim Jong Un Dumps Trump"The North Korean leaders"—Kim, his sister and those closest to them—"have concluded Trump is not going to win reelection," says Shim Jae-hoon, long-time analyst for Yale Global, "so in the short window between now and November they want to saber-rattle as much as possible to press him to make concessions.""North Korea wants to maintain control of escalation and avoid a large-scale conflict," said Dan Pinkston, professor at Troy University here. "The North Koreans will continue to see what concessions they can get from the South and/or the U.S. through coercion… Buckle up."The North's aggressive action added teeth to a torrent of invective, much of it from Kim Yo Jong, leading the charge against the South in ostensible retaliation for a barrage of balloons bearing anti-North leaflets wafting over the North Korean countryside. The leaflets bare the excesses of the Kim ruling family along with denunciations of the North's nuclear and missile program for sapping vital funds needed to feed the country's hungry, impoverished people.The policy-makers up in Pyongyang were totally unimpressed by South Korean pledges to close down the leaflet campaign, which the North's leading paper Rodong Sinmun blasted as "merely a measure to escape from crisis." The paper pledged in an orgy of rhetoric before the blow-up of the liaison office that "the world shall see how our people will give a lightning strike on south [sic] Korean authorities as punishment and exterminate these scums."Of course, there's a considerable gap between the demolition of a single building and the extermination of "scums," but Pyongyang appears to be leaving the door wide open to escalation.South Korean officials, from Moon on down, hardly knew how to respond beyond bland pleas to honor previous commitments. Moon, speaking on Monday with what he said was "a heavy heart," expressed his hope North and South would "not stop the current inter-Korean relations again." Having overcome "a long-time severance and the crisis of a war," he said, "we cannot wait any more for the conditions to improve."Both the Pentagon and South Korea's defense ministry promised to remain ready for any military moves by North Korea, but they were totally helpless to stop North Korean troops from taking over the Kaesong complex 40 miles north of Seoul above the North-South dividing line on the western side of the Korean peninsula. Nor would they be able to stop North Korean troops from reoccupying several guard posts that they had given up on their side of the demilitarized zone in a show of goodwill when Moon also shut down guard posts on the South Korean side.All this comes in the wake of statement Friday by North Korea's foreign minister, Ro Son Gwon, marking the second anniversary of the Singapore summit, when he said flatly that "personal relations between our Supreme leadership" and "the U.S. President" were pretty well over.Trump appeared oblivious to this rude rebuff from the man with whom he had once professed in a flight of fancy to have fallen "in love," but North Korea appears determined to get his attention if not his affection."North Korea has decided the nuclear issue is strictly between them and the U.S.," said the veteran analyst Shim Jae-hoon. The atmospheric summits between Trump and Kim—first on June 12, 2018, in Singapore, then at the end of February 2019 in Hanoi and, finally, an impromptu session between Trump and Kim four months later at Panmunjom at which the two clasped hands on the line—got nowhere in the process of denuclearization. But the prestige that accrued to Kim from such one-on-one summitry was considerableThe North's desires are well known—an end to sanctions, reduction in the number of U.S. troops in South Korea, now standing at 28,500, and marked decrease in Washington's support for the Moon government."To achieve these objectives, Kim wants to raise tensions," said Shim. "He knows he cannot expect a full-scale war without blowback, but he is going to resort to provocations." As a dramatic example from the past, Shim cited the torpedo attack on the South Korean navy corvette the Cheonan 12 years ago in which 46 South Korean sailors died.Other scenarios include a possible launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile or a submarine launched ballistic missile and another nuclear test. The last one was conducted by North Korea in September 2017 .But is Trump concerned about any of this? "Trump right now could care less about Korea," said Tom Coyner, a long-time business consultant here. That is, he added, "unless something explodes in his lap."North Korean planners are well aware that Trump's concerns lie elsewhere, Coyner observed, "so one may argue the timing may be excellent for a military provocation." But then again, "these planners must also be considering that Trump may respond in a ham-handed manner to deflect Americans' focus from domestic issues to Korea."A South Korean businessman had some pointed advice for Trump: Come here and test the atmosphere within range of North Korea's heavy guns."For Trump to know how serious the situation is in Korea, he needs to live in Seoul," said Michael Kim. 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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| India: 20 troops killed in Himalayas clash with Chinese army Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:18 AM PDT  A clash high in the Himalayas between the world's two most populated countries claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers in a border region that the two nuclear armed neighbors have disputed for decades, Indian officials said Tuesday. The clash in the Ladakh region Monday — during which Indian officials said neither side fired any shots — was the first deadly confrontation between India and China since 1975. The Indian and Chinese troops fought each other with fists and rocks, Indian officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information.
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| LONGi Founder and President, Li Zhenguo, joined business leaders at the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Leaders' Summit 2020 Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:12 AM PDT  The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Leaders' Summit 2020 kicked off on 15th June, marking 20 years of uniting business for a better world. Global leaders and enterprise representatives from all over the world came together to discuss how to rebuild inclusive and sustainable economic and social solutions to achieve a world that combines social justice, low-carbon development, climate resilience.
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