| Phyllis Omido: The woman who won $12m fighting lead battery poisoners Posted: 31 Jul 2020 05:33 PM PDT  Kenyan activist Phyllis Omido has been ignored, harassed and arrested, but she never gave up.
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| Truck smashes into bus in north Sudan, killing at least 13 Posted: 31 Jul 2020 04:07 PM PDT |
| Change laws that shield police, Missouri prosecutor says Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:31 PM PDT  After a third review failed to uncover enough evidence to charge the officer who fatally shot Black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, some prosecutors and civil rights leaders agree it's time to focus on changing the laws that shield police. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said legislators need to take a hard look at laws that offer protection against prosecution for police officers that regular citizens aren't afforded, pushing a message that has gained strong momentum in the two months since George Floyd's death by Minneapolis police launched a national reckoning over racial injustice and police brutality.
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| Supreme Court won't halt challenged border wall projects Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:03 PM PDT  The Supreme Court declined by a 5-4 vote Friday to halt the Trump administration's construction of portions of the border wall with Mexico following a recent lower court ruling that the administration improperly diverted money to the project. The court's four liberal justices dissented, saying they would have prohibited construction while a court challenge continues, after a federal appeals court ruled in June that the administration had illegally sidestepped Congress in transferring the Defense Department funds. "The Court's decision to let construction continue nevertheless I fear, may operate, in effect, as a final judgment," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in a brief dissent for the four liberals.
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| Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg released from hospital Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:41 PM PDT |
| AP Analysis: Why Trump's election delay tweet matters Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:09 PM PDT  President Donald Trump's pattern is now familiar: He makes a stunning assertion, on Twitter or impromptu. The fear among Democrats and many elections experts in 2020, however, has been that Trump would wield the power of his office to affect the outcome of the election or Americans' ability to vote — particularly if he thought he might be headed for defeat.
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| Joe Biden's search for a running mate enters final stretch Posted: 31 Jul 2020 01:42 PM PDT  As Joe Biden nears the announcement of his vice presidential choice, the top contenders and their advocates are making final appeals. The campaign hasn't finalized a date for naming a running mate, but three people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans said a public announcement likely wouldn't happen before the week of Aug. 10. Biden said in May that he hoped to name his pick around Aug. 1 and told reporters this week that he would "have a choice in the first week of August."
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| Students return to campus amid virus growth in some states Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:47 PM PDT  What they found Friday were strict safety protocols and some heightened anxiety amid a global pandemic where virus infections are growing in dozens of states. Elon University in North Carolina, mailed testing kits to all 7,000 students ahead of their arrival in a few weeks.
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| Iraqi prime minister: Early elections to be held next June Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:10 PM PDT  Iraq will hold early general elections next June, the country's prime minister announced Friday, fulfilling a promise made when he took office to meet a key demand of anti-government protesters. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said the June 6 vote will come a year earlier than scheduled. The protesters had demanded early elections and a reformed electoral law when they took to the streets in anti-government demonstrations that erupted last October.
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| East Libyan military court sentences journalist to 15 years Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:46 AM PDT  A military court in eastern Libya has sentenced a local photojournalist to 15 years in prison on vague terrorism-related charges, prompting an outcry Friday from human rights groups. The verdict sent a chilling message, local advocates said, underscoring the perils that journalists must navigate in east Libya, where military commander Khalifa Hifter has moved to quash all dissent — and more broadly in a war-torn country overrun with fractious militias. Ismail Bouzreeba al-Zway, 39, was first scooped up by security agents while covering a local news event in his hometown of Ajdabiya, east Libya, in 2018, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a global press freedom group.
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| US astronauts pack up for rare splashdown in SpaceX capsule Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:34 AM PDT  Two U.S. astronauts about to make the first splashdown return in 45 years said Friday they'll have seasick bags ready to use if needed. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken back Sunday afternoon in the company's Dragon capsule, aiming for the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. Hurley said if he and Behnken get sick while bobbing in the waves awaiting recovery, it won't be the first time for a crew.
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| Thirty-six new peers include Boris Johnson's brother, a former Tory treasurer and a union firebrand Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:28 AM PDT  Boris Johnson's brother, a former treasurer of the Conservative party and a Labour-backing union firebrand are among dozens of new peers entering the House of Lords. Jo Johnson, Michael Spencer and Tony Woodley are among 36 new peers in the Dissolution honours and political peerages lists. Just one third of the new peers are women. Mr Johnson, a Remainer, quit as an MP last year after citing an "unresolvable tension" between loyalty to his brother the Prime Minister, and the national interest, while Mr Woodley, former general secretary of the Unite union, made the list despite saying in 2018 that he was "not seeking nomination to the House of Lords". Mr Spencer's elevation to the Lords came after he was initially blocked from receiving a peerage in 2016 over a £60million fine for his broker ICAP's involvement in the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Mr Spencer was never personally implicated in any wrongdoing. Two journalists who worked with Mr Johnson - ex-Evening Standard editor Veronica Wadley and former Daily Telegraph editor and Margaret Thatcher's biographer Charles Moore - are made members of the Lords. Mr Moore will sit as a non-affiliated peer while Ms Wadley will take the Tory whip. Evegeny Lebedev, owner of the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers and Sir Ed Lister, the PM's chief of staff, are also made peers. Other new peers include ex England cricketer Sir Ian Botham, former Brexit Party MEP Claire Fox, and City financier Dame Helena Morrissey. The list includes 10 former Tory MPs: Mr Johnson, Sir Henry Bellingham, Ken Clarke, Philip Hammond, Nick Herbert, Mark Lancaster, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, Ed Vaizey, James Wharton and Lorraine Fullbrook. The Dissolution list also includes a knighthood for Philip May, Theresa May's husband which means that Mrs May may now need to be addressed as Lady May. Aamer Sarfraz, the Conservative Party Treasurer, is also made a peer. Five Brexit-backing ex-Labour MPs were put forward by Mr Johnson for non-affiliated peerages: Ian Austin, Gisela Stuart, Kate Hoey, Frank Field and John Woodcock. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer put forward two nominations: former Labour MP Katy Clark and union official Brinley Davies. Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, is also made a peer. Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Nigel Dodds, who helped support Theresa May's minority government from 2017 to 2019, is also made a peer. The separate Political list also included Andrew Sharpe, the chairman of the grassroots National Conservative Convention, Dame Louise Casey, the PM's rough sleeper adviser, and Dame Minouche Shafik, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. Three peers were created after being put forward byformer Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - Mr Woodley, former Labour MP Sue Hayman and academic Prem Sikka. Mr Corbyn's recommendations of peerages for former Labour MP Tom Watson, ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow and former Labour official Karie Murphy were blocked earlier this year. However there was no room for former Tory MEP Dan Hannan and City financier Peter Cruddas after their names were blocked by the House of Lords watchdog. One source said their exclusion by the House of Lords Appointments Commission was a "completely spurious" way to give the PM "a bloody nose". Mr Johnson - who is said to be furious about the snub - is understood to have made clear that he will now push for a second list of peers, with the excluded names on it along with other financial backers, in the early Autumn. Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said the 36 new peers could cost the taxpayer £1.1 million a year if they all submitted regular claims for allowances. He said: "By appointing a host of ex-MPs, party loyalists and his own brother, the PM is inviting total derision. That he can get away with it shows what a private member's club this House is." He added: "This move is an absolute insult to voters. This is making a mockery of democracy. Today marks a nail in the coffin for the idea that the Lords is some kind of independent chamber of experts." Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, branded the latest list of nominations for the upper house a "lost opportunity" as it again boosts numbers in the chamber. The Tory former cabinet member insisted his concerns were not a "matter of personalities", but that at a size of nearly 830, the Lords would have nearly 200 more members than the 650-seat House of Commons. Dissolution and Political peerages list Political Peerages Nominated by Boris Johnson, Conservative leader Lorraine Fullbrook, former Tory MP for South Ribble Sir Ed Lister, Chief Strategic Adviser to the Prime Minister Daniel Moylan, former member of Kensington and Chelsea Council Andrew Sharpe, chairman of the National Conservative Convention Michael Spencer, founder of City trader Icap Veronica Wadley, former editor of the Evening Standard newspaper James Wharton, former Tory MP for Stockton South Dame Helena Morrissey, City financier and campaigner Neil Mendoza, Provost of Oriel College Nominated by Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour leader Sue Hayman, former Labour MP for Workington Prem Sikka, professor of accounting at Sheffield University Tony Woodley, former Joint-General Secretary of Unite Nominations for non-affiliated Peerages Claire Fox, founder of the Institute of Ideas and former Brexit Party MEP Charles Moore, former editor of The Daily Telegraph and biographer of Margaret Thatcher Nominations for Crossbench Peerages Sir Ian Botham, former England cricketer Dame Louise Casey, Government adviser Evgeny Lebedev, owner of The Independent and The Evening Standard newspapers Dame Minouche Shafik, former deputy Governor of the Bank of England Dissolution Peerages Nominated by Boris Johnson, Conservative leader Sir Henry Bellingham, former Tory MP for North West Norfolk and former minister Ken Clarke, former Conservative MP Rushcliffe and former Cabinet minister Ruth Davidson MSP, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Philip Hammond, former Tory MP for Runnymede and Weybridge and former Cabinet minister Nick Herbert, former Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs and former minister Jo Johnson, former Tory MP for Orpington and former minister Mark Lancaster, former Tory MP for North East Milton Keynes and former minister Sir Patrick McLoughlin, former Conservative MP for Derbyshire Dales and former Cabinet minister Aamer Sarfraz, Conservative Party Treasurer Ed Vaizey, former Tory MP for Wantage and former minister Nominated by Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader Katy Clark, former Labour MP North Ayrshire and Arran Brinley Davies, director of Union Pension Services Ltd Nominated by Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster Nigel Dodds, former DUP MP for North Belfast and Deputy DUP leader Nominations for non-affiliated Peerages Frank Field, former Labour MP for Birkenhead Kate Hoey, former Labour MP for Vauxhall Ian Austin, former Labour MP for Dudley North and ex-minister Gisela Stuart, former Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston John Woodcock, former Labour MP for Barrow and Furness Knighthoods Philip May, for political service Raymond Puddifoot, for services to the London Borough of Hillingdon
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| Canada says requirements for Huawei CFO's extradition to U.S. met, documents show Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:21 AM PDT  Meng, 48, was arrested in December, 2018, on a warrant from the United States, which alleges that she misled the bank HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran. Meng has been on house arrest in Vancouver since then, fighting extradition, and has said she is innocent.
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| Tsitsi Dangarembga - Booker Prize nominee arrested in Zimbabwe Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:18 AM PDT  Tsitsi Dangarembga was detained as she took part in a protest against alleged government corruption.
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| Canada says requirements for Huawei CFO's extradition to U.S. met, documents show Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:18 AM PDT |
| UK's Johnson names brother and Brexiteers to House of Lords Posted: 31 Jul 2020 10:43 AM PDT  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson named 36 new members to Parliament's unelected House of Lords on Friday, including his brother, a slew of prominent Brexit supporters and a Russia-born newspaper owner whose father was a KGB agent. The list of new peers also includes Brexit-backing former lawmakers and ex-cricket star Ian Botham, a vocal proponent of leaving the European Union. Former Treasury chiefs Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond, who both opposed Brexit, were also appointed to the Lords.
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| US officials seek limits on "habitat" for imperiled species Posted: 31 Jul 2020 09:57 AM PDT  The Trump administration is moving to restrict what land and water areas can be declared as "habitat" for imperiled plants and animals — potentially excluding locations that species could use in the future as climate change upends ecosystems. An administration proposal obtained in advance by The Associated Press and publicly released Friday would for the first time define "habitat" for purposes of enforcing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that has dictated species protections efforts in the U.S. since 1973. A final decision is expected by year's end, with broad implications for how lands are managed and how far the government must go in protecting plants and animals that could be sliding toward extinction.
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| Road trip? Quarantines mess with Americans' travel plans Posted: 31 Jul 2020 09:25 AM PDT  Families trying to squeeze in a summer vacation before school starts better do some homework on COVID-19 restrictions before loading up the minivan. The web of state and local quarantines is growing more tangled by the day: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have ordered visitors from a whopping 34 states to quarantine for 14 days. The restrictions — and maybe the confusion, too — are contributing to a sharp drop in travel, dealing a blow to a key industry.
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| Spain sets temperature records, UK sees hottest day of 2020 Posted: 31 Jul 2020 07:58 AM PDT  As parts of Spain set record temperatures during a heatwave, people in Britain sweltered and flocked to beaches Friday on the country's hottest day so far this year. San Sebastian on Spain's northern coast witnessed 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday -- the hottest temperature there since records began in 1955, the national weather agency said. The city of Palma, on Spain's Mediterranean island of Mallorca, set a local record of 40.6 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.
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| Iran's Khamenei says sanctions failed, no talks with Trump Posted: 31 Jul 2020 07:55 AM PDT  Iran will not open talks with the United States that will only benefit Donald Trump, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, insisting the US president's sanctions policy had failed. Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington have soared in the past year or so, with the sworn enemies twice appearing to come to the brink of war. The tensions have been building since 2018, when Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear accord and unilaterally reimposed crippling sanctions.
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| Global Opaque Polymers Industry Posted: 31 Jul 2020 07:47 AM PDT |
| Despite virus threat, Black voters wary of voting by mail Posted: 31 Jul 2020 06:38 AM PDT  Despite fears that the coronavirus pandemic will worsen, Victor Gibson said he's not planning to take advantage of Michigan's expanded vote-by-mail system when he casts his ballot in November. Many Black Americans share similar concerns and are planning to vote in person on Election Day, even as mail-in voting expands to more states as a safety precaution during the pandemic. Ironically, suspicion of mail-in voting aligns with the views of President Donald Trump, whom many Black voters want out of office.
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| Two Citgo executives detained in Venezuela moved to house arrest, U.S. diplomat says Posted: 31 Jul 2020 06:12 AM PDT |
| VIRUS DIARY: Cycling in COVID London gives hope in the gloom Posted: 31 Jul 2020 06:11 AM PDT  I moved to London in 1997. Over the course of my London life I've accumulated at least 12,000 commuting hours — 500 days — in the London Underground, locally known simply as "the Tube." Hopping on a bike to cover that journey up above was never an option — racing double-decker buses and heavy lorries through busy London streets wasn't my cup of tea.
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| Can't Beat Bordeaux as Pricing Experts Call 2019 Vintage an Excellent Investment Option Posted: 31 Jul 2020 05:20 AM PDT |
| Moscow demands that Belarus free 33 detained Russians Posted: 31 Jul 2020 04:32 AM PDT  The Kremlin demanded Friday that Belarus quickly release 33 Russian private security contractors it detained on terrorism charges, dismissing accusations of plots during the Belarus presidential campaign as bogus. The allegations represent an unprecedented escalation of tensions between Russia and neighboring Belarus, traditionally close allies, as Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko seeks a sixth term in the Aug. 9 election.
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| 22 migrant kids with medical needs go to Germany from Greece Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:55 AM PDT |
| Marine vehicle deep under sea, complicating rescue search Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:47 AM PDT  A military seafaring assault vehicle that sank off the coast of Southern California is under hundreds feet of water, beyond the reach of divers and complicating rescue efforts for eight missing troops, officials said Friday. One of the eight Marines who were rescued died at a San Diego hospital. A total of 16 troops — 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman — were on board when the amphibious assault vehicle started taking in water Thursday evening as it was about a half mile (more than 1,000 meters) from the shores of San Clemente Island.
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| Global Peer-to-peer Lending Industry Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:47 AM PDT |
| Supreme leader says Iran won't negotiate with US Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:02 AM PDT  Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday his country will not negotiate with the United States because America would only use talks for propaganda purposes. The Trump administration has said it is willing to talk with Iran "with no preconditions," but that the U.S. will continue its campaign of pressure against the Islamic Republic. In a televise speech marking the Eid al-Adha holiday, Khamenei said President Donald Trump would benefit from talks, saying Trump wants to "use negotiations with us for propaganda like negotiations with North Korea."
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| Hong Kong elections: candidate disqualification faces international criticism Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  The Hong Kong government's decision to disqualify 12 opposition pro-democracy figures from running in elections has been internationally condemned.The strongest remark came from British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who said: "I condemn the decision to disqualify opposition candidates from standing in Hong Kong's Legislative Council elections."He said it was "clear they have been disqualified because of their political views", adding that "the Hong Kong authorities must uphold their commitments to the people of Hong Kong".The government decision, Raab said, undermined the integrity of "one country, two systems" principle - which stipulates China's relationship with Hong Kong - and the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's Basic Law.In addition, lawmakers from more than a dozen countries issued a statement on what they called "the obstruction of the democratic process"."We urge the international community to meet this further diminution of Hong Kong's rights and freedoms with a proportionate response," said the group led by US Senator Marco Rubio and former British Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith.Reinhard Butikofer, the European Parliament member in charge of China, called on European Union leaders to impose sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.Chris Patten, former British governor of Hong Kong, called it "an outrageous political purge of Hong Kong's democrats"."The national security law is being used to disenfranchise the majority of Hong Kong's citizens," Patten said. "It is obviously now illegal to believe in democracy, although this was what Beijing promised in and after the Joint Declaration. This is the sort of behaviour that you would expect in a police state."Citing the city's national security law and the pan-democrats' previous calls for foreign governments to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong as key reasons, election officials on Thursday invalidated the candidacies of four incumbent lawmakers - the Civic Party's Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok and Kwok Ka-ki, along with that of accountancy sector lawmaker Kenneth Leung.Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor attends a press conference at Central Government Offices (CGO) in Tamar to announce tightened measures in curbing COVID-19 from further spreading in the community. 19JUL20 SCMP / Edmond So alt=Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor attends a press conference at Central Government Offices (CGO) in Tamar to announce tightened measures in curbing COVID-19 from further spreading in the community. 19JUL20 SCMP / Edmond SoThe returning officers cited similar reasons, as well as the opposition hopefuls' pledge to vote down the government's budget and other proposals should it win its first-ever legislative majority, in barring four activists including Joshua Wong and four district councillors.Speaking on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Hong Kong government to proceed with the election as planned on September 6."The next big marker will be a set of elections scheduled for - goodness - a month and half from now on September 6th ... They must proceed on time. They must be held," Pompeo said on The Joe Pags Show, a radio programme."The people of Hong Kong deserve to have their voice represented by the elected officials that they choose in those elections."If they destroy that, if they take that down, it will be another marker that will simply prove that the Chinese Communist Party has now made Hong Kong just another communist-run city," Pompeo added.Several Hong Kong media outlets on Wednesday reported the government may delay the election for a year. There was no announcement on Thursday.While pro-Beijing lawmakers said the election should be delayed because of coronavirus, pan-democrats accuse them of usurping an election highly likely to result in the first ever majority for the opposition camp.Meanwhile, China's ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, accused the UK of having "poisoned the atmosphere" of its relations with China and said that it is putting the post-Brexit vision of "Global Britain" at risk by "decoupling" from Beijing.In a belligerent online press conference, Liu said the relationship between the two states was at "a historic political juncture" following recent disputes over Hong Kong and the role of tech firm Huawei in the UK's 5G network. He warned that London would "pay the price" if it treated China as a hostile state."Does it see China as an opportunity and partner or a threat ... as a friendly country or a hostile or potentially hostile state?" Liu said.Additional reporting by POLITICOThis 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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| With new export controls, US takes another step to clamp down on China Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  New US rules restricting exports to China to prevent sensitive technologies from being used by the Chinese military are the latest development in the deteriorating relationship between the two countries. And the worst is yet to come, legal experts say.The new rules, which went into effect on June 29, expanded requirements for US exporters to obtain licenses for goods intended for military purposes, including for weapon development, military aircraft or surveillance operations.The expansion, first introduced by the US Commerce Department in April, also banned exports to any entities in any relationship with China's People's Liberation Army, labelling them as potential military end users.While the rules, also applicable to Russia and Venezuela, have existed for more than a decade, the expansion shows the Trump administration's commitment to find every angle in its "whole of government" approach to confronting China and containing China's technological ambitions.People's Liberation Army soldiers wearing protective face masks as they march past the Forbidden City in Beijing. The US has tightened export restrictions for products that could wind up used by the PLA. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=People's Liberation Army soldiers wearing protective face masks as they march past the Forbidden City in Beijing. The US has tightened export restrictions for products that could wind up used by the PLA. Photo: EPA-EFEThe administration has ratcheted up fights against China, first in trade, then on multiple fronts with a focus on tech. US export policy has toughened extensively. In recent years, the Commerce, Defence and State departments have instituted a slew of regulations to rein in tech transfers to China.Among other measures, Chinese tech acquisitions have faced more stringent reviews, and scores of Chinese individuals and companies have been placed on an "entity list" to block them, for national security concerns, from doing business with American counterparts.After China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong a month ago - alarming US officials who now regard the city as merely another part of the mainland - Washington swiftly removed Hong Kong's export licensing privileges to restrict its access to "sensitive US technology" and cut off Beijing's access to hi-tech goods that can be used to bolster the PLA."This is just one rule out of a number of actions we've seen that are impacting China. And there is more to come," George Grammas, a Washington-based international trade lawyer at law firm Squire Patton Boggs, said on Wednesday.Grammas said he anticipated more regulations that would be "taking technologies, goods and products that are not subject to a license requirement for China today and transition into a license requirement."And I don't think it will be limited to this administration."The Hogan Lovells law firm assembled a "toolbox" of export controls, sanctions and other measures the US can use against China. Chart: Hogan Lovells alt=The Hogan Lovells law firm assembled a "toolbox" of export controls, sanctions and other measures the US can use against China. Chart: Hogan LovellsThe US government has been concerned with technology leadership by China at least since the Obama administration. China's ambitions were publicised in 2015 through its "Made in China 2025" initiative, shifting the government's focus to developing higher-tech products and emphasising critical industries including robotics, aerospace and artificial intelligence.Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing's industrial policies are seen to leverage China's private sector for state-directed objectives through "military-civil fusion", a national strategy to develop the PLA into a world-class military by 2049."The Chinese government's military-civil fusion policy aims to spur innovation and economic growth through an array of policies and other government-supported mechanisms, including venture capital funds, while leveraging the fruits of civilian innovation for China's defence sector," the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a Congressional advisory body, wrote in its annual report last year."Business partnerships between the United States and China could aid China's military development," the report warned.As one example, the report noted that China is already the global leader in producing commercial drones. If through involvement with US companies, it learns how to make cheaper, lighter and longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, it can make unmanned aerial vehicles that strengthen its military capability.Military end-use and end-user restrictions aren't new. In 2007, the Commerce Department introduced a rule that significantly expanded the types of commercial products requiring a license for export to China. That new rule was colloquially referred to as the China "Military Catch-All".But export controls have previously focused narrowly on so-called dual-use technologies and sanctions violations.Now the regulations seem to be coming from a range of angles, lawyers said. The US has put more than 80 Chinese companies - including Huawei Technologies - and their affiliates on the Commerce Department's entity list, effectively blocking them from doing business with American suppliers.With the latest expansion of the export rules, the administration is "really clamping down on Chinese companies that are supporting Huawei as [it] seeks to outsource its production or development efforts", Grammas said.Separately, last month the Defence Department issued a list of 20 companies that it said were operating directly or indirectly in the US and were owned or controlled by "Communist Chinese military".Along with Huawei, the list included leading Chinese tech firms Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, China Mobile Communications and China Telecommunications.Huawei Technologies and its affiliates have been a particular focus of US export restrictions. Photo: Reuters alt=Huawei Technologies and its affiliates have been a particular focus of US export restrictions. Photo: Reuters"I wouldn't be surprised to see the DOD list being transitioned to the entity list," said Grammas. "We'll certainly see more use of the entity list."If there is a silver lining to the wave of regulations, Ajay Kuntamukkala, who specialises in national security issues at the Hogan Lovells law firm, noted that the US has so far stayed clear of invoking "the nuclear option": the Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.The assets of those persons or entities on that list are blocked and US persons and businesses are generally prohibited from dealing with them.The entity list "has a more limited impact", Kuntamukkala said.Yet nobody can rule out the possibility of harsher regulations to come, legal experts said, as the US-China relationship - already in its worst state in decades - continues to degrade.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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| Anti-China sentiment in US at 'historic high', Pew Research survey finds, amid friction over trade, coronavirus and human rights Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT |
| US 'considering' measures to let Hongkongers settle in the country in wake of national security law, Mike Pompeo says Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  The United States is "considering" measures to allow Hongkongers to settle in the US following Beijing's imposition of its sweeping national security law over the city, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers on Thursday."We're reviewing that, we're considering it," Pompeo said when asked whether the US should extend asylum or visa opportunities to people in Hong Kong, adding that he thought Britain had made a "good decision" by offering a path to UK citizenship.US President Donald Trump was "actively considering how we ought to treat those who seek asylum coming to us from Hong Kong, or to grant a visa programme that surrounds that," said Pompeo, appearing before senators at a State Department budget hearing.But in a sign that the issue is not cut-and-dry for an administration that has sought to curtail immigration and has slashed refugee quotas, Pompeo said that the government also wanted to "encourage people to try to work from within to the extent that they can".But the ability of those still in Hong Kong to effect political reform was cast into further doubt just hours before Pompeo's appearance, when the Hong Kong government disqualified 12 pro-democracy hopefuls from running in the legislative council elections, citing the candidates' past appeals to foreign governments for sanctions against China.Officials previously stressed that the national security law, which criminalises a broad range of acts under the categories of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with a foreign power, would not be applied retroactively following its enactment in June.The Trump administration's weighing of measures to welcome Hongkongers to settle in the US comes on the heels of similar moves by other countries, including the UK, which will provide a path to citizenship for holders of the British National (Overseas) passport and their immediate family members.A broad executive order signed by Trump this month did not commit to providing unconditional support to Hongkongers fleeing the city, but did order that "admissions within the refugee ceiling set by the annual Presidential Determination [be reallocated] to residents of Hong Kong based on humanitarian concerns".Yet the Trump administration has repeatedly lowered the annual refugee ceiling, which stands at 18,000 for the 2020 financial year. Trump, meanwhile, has made an iron-fisted approach to immigration a cornerstone of his past and present presidential campaigns."The disturbing reality is that the Trump administration has crippled and decimated this country's ability to provide life-saving asylum or refugee resettlement to people fleeing persecution, whether they are fleeing Hong Kong or other places," said Eleanor Acer, senior director of refugee protection at advocacy organisation Human Rights First.Given its slashing of the refugee quota, the administration's move to reallocate refugee allotment slots to Hongkongers was "disingenuous lip service", Acer added.Pompeo's appearance on Capitol Hill came after Democrat staffers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a scathing report on Tuesday criticising the State Department's failure to fill key vacancies, alleging mistreatment and retaliation against career officials, and describing a "crisis of morale" in the department."I'm disappointed that instead of making America first among the nations of the world, we have relinquished our leadership to the applause and approval of China and Russia," said Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, at the start of Thursday's proceedings. "That makes America last."During the hearing - a tense affair though notably less combative than Attorney General William Barr's Capitol Hill appearance earlier this week - Pompeo contended that the US had in fact been successful in forging alliances with other countries, particularly on matters relating to China.He had been "surprised and dismayed", however, that 53 countries had voiced their support at the United Nations Human Rights Council for Beijing's national security law over Hong Kong, almost double the number of states that formally opposed the law.Pressed on remarks he made last week calling for a global, anti-China "alliance of democracies", Pompeo charged that some nations understood the "threat" that China posed but did not yet feel "empowered" to take a stand against Beijing.Mike Pompeo is seen in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday. Photo: The Hill via Bloomberg alt=Mike Pompeo is seen in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday. Photo: The Hill via Bloomberg"So we are working our diplomats, trying to build out a set of relationships," he continued. "Whether that's part of a formal organisation or not, I'm not sure I know the answer to [that] yet."Pompeo also faced a critical line of questioning about accusations made by former national security adviser John Bolton that Trump had expressed his support of mass internment camps in Xinjiang in a private conversation with Xi.Pompeo did not address those reported remarks when asked by Senator Jeff Merkley whether the US government should be "more robust at every level in condemning the Chinese enslavement of the Uygurs," but said he was "proud" of the way the US had responded to the alleged human rights abuses.Without elaboration, he also said that his department was working with the Treasury to roll out new punitive measures against Chinese entities over the treatment of ethnic minority groups.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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| UK puts lockdown-easing on hold as virus spread accelerates Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:19 AM PDT  Prime Minister Boris Johnson put some planned measures to ease the U.K.'s lockdown on hold Friday, just hours before they were due to take effect, saying the number of new coronavirus cases in the country is on the rise for the first time since May. Under the new restrictions, people from different households in Greater Manchester, England's second largest metropolitan area, have been asked to not meet indoors.
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| Vietnam reports 2nd death, more cases linked to hospital Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:04 AM PDT  A second person died of coronavirus complications in Vietnam, officials said Saturday, a day after it recorded its first-ever death as it struggles with a renewed outbreak after 99 days with no local cases. Both men died in a hospital in Da Nang, a hot spot with more than 100 cases in the past week, more than half of them patients. The Health Ministry said a 61 year-old man died on Friday evening of septic shock and chronic kidney failure.
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| Global PID Controllers Industry Posted: 31 Jul 2020 01:07 AM PDT |
| Final days of hajj and Eid festival impacted by coronavirus Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:27 AM PDT  Small groups of people performed one of the final rites of the Islamic hajj on Friday as Muslims worldwide marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday amid a global pandemic that has impacted nearly every aspect of this year's pilgrimage and celebrations. The last days of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia coincide with the four-day Eid al-Adha, or "Feast of Sacrifice," in which Muslims slaughter livestock and distribute the meat to the poor.
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| John Cleese Sounds Off on ‘Complete Asshole’ Trump and His ‘Very Stupid’ Voters Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:20 AM PDT  When John Cleese tells people that he has a new show called Why There Is No Hope, they assume the title is a joke. "A lot of people think that I mean it humorously," he tells me on an upcoming episode of The Last Laugh podcast, "but of course I don't." The Monty Python co-founder is talking via Zoom just a few days before he's set to present the comedy performance-slash-philosophical lecture in his first-ever international live stream event on Sunday, Aug. 2 from an empty Cadogan Hall in London. While the darkly comic title feels especially fitting for this historical moment, Cleese has actually been developing the show for years. He first came up with the idea during one of his many trips to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. "It's one of the most staggering parts of the world," he says. "Only trouble is the roads keep disappearing." Cleese first suggested the title to a group of friends there more than 15 years ago. "I thought to myself, are audiences going to like this?" he remembers thinking. A couple of years ago, he performed an early version of the show in Ottawa and Toronto, cities "where you get rather bright audiences," as he puts it. "And they liked it much better than I expected. So I thought, well, I must be onto something."Patton Oswalt Sounds Off on Trump Jokes, 'Evil' Fox News, and 'Star Wars' Haters"I don't mean there's no hope for us as individuals," he clarifies when I ask him to elaborate on the ominous title. What he means is, "There is no hope for us that we could ever live in an intelligent, kind, well-run society. Mainly because most people have no idea what they're talking about." Whenever he meets someone who is at the top of their respective field, Cleese asks them how many people in their profession "really know what they're doing." He says most people answer in the 10-15 percent range, which may say more about individual arrogance than widespread ineptitude, but he takes them at their word. "So that means that six out of seven people really don't know what they're doing," he says. "They can just follow routines. But if the routines don't work, then they don't understand it at that deeper level." As is often the case with Cleese, the serious point is followed by a joke: "They're like I am when my computer crashes." From there, Cleese says he moves on the question of why people seek power, which of course brings him to Donald Trump. The comedian has been prolifically anti-Trump on his Twitter account for the past several years and does not need much prompting to start ranting against the American president. "If you look around at the moment, most of the people who seek great power are complete assholes, who are really only out for themselves," he says. "Well, if someone's out for themselves primarily, like our dear President Donald Trump, with no interest in other people at all, it's not very likely that they're going to be very good at building a society. And you see that the characteristics of people who are powerful is that they have a deep, deep fear of losing their power." "So with all these things going on there's very little chance we will ever have a sensible society and this is a particularly bad moment," Cleese adds.Referring to the rise of strongman leaders around the world like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and others, Cleese says, "We have madness and power-seeking and complete unscrupulousness and pathological lying. And it's very interesting why. Is it because people are very stupid? That's a possible explanation." Subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast to hear our full conversation with Monty Python co-founder John Cleese next week. Tig Notaro Tried to Warn Us About Louis C.K. Now, She's 'Happy to Move On' From Him.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's Bihar state fights twin threat of virus and floods Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:17 AM PDT  Monsoon floods have swamped large parts of India's densely populated Bihar state and displaced more than 300,000 people as of Friday, officials said, exacerbating the risk of the coronavirus and stymieing the state's response to the pandemic. The floods have killed at least 24 people in the state, where heavy rain has submerged thousands of villages in 14 districts and threatened the already feeble health care system. India's National Disaster Response Force said it has deployed 28 teams to help with rescue and relief work.
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| Hong Kong postpones elections by a year, citing coronavirus Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:56 PM PDT  Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections by one year, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support of the Chinese government in making the decision to hold the elections on Sept. 5, 2021.
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| Global Pneumatic Actuators Industry Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:27 PM PDT |
| Highways raise alarm in Cairo's historic City of the Dead Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:08 PM PDT  For centuries, sultans and princes, saints and scholars, elites and commoners have been buried in two sprawling cemeteries in Egypt's capital, creating a unique historic city of the dead. Now in its campaign to reshape Cairo, the government is driving highways through the cemeteries, raising alarm from preservationists. In the Northern Cemetery last week, bulldozers demolished walls of graves, widening a road for a new expressway.
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| EU sanctions Russian intelligence, North Korean and Chinese firms over alleged cyberattacks Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:43 PM PDT  The European Union on Thursday imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia's military intelligence service and on firms from North Korea and China over their suspected participation in major cyberattacks across the world. In its first ever sanctions related to cybercrime, the EU targeted the department for special technologies of the Russian military intelligence service, known as Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it said in a statement. The bloc accused the Russian service of having carried out two cyberattacks in June 2017, which hit several companies in Europe resulting in large financial losses. The service is also accused of two cyberattacks against Ukraine's power grid in 2015 and 2016. Four individuals working for the Russian military intelligence service were also sanctioned for allegedly participating in an attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands in April 2018. North Korean company Chosun Expo was also sanctioned on suspicion of having supported the Lazarus Group, which is deemed responsible for a series of major attacks worldwide, including an $81 million (£61.74 million) heist against Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016, the world's biggest cyber fraud. The company is also allegedly linked to an attack against Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures to prevent the release of a satirical movie about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2014. The U.S. Treasury last year imposed sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two other North Korean hacking groups for their alleged participation in the attacks on Sony Pictures and the central bank of Bangladesh, among others. It said North Korea's main intelligence service was behind the hacking groups. North Korea has denied any involvement in cyberattacks. The EU sanctions also hit Chinese firm Haitai Technology Development, which is accused of having supported cyberattacks - known as Operation Cloud Hopper - aimed at stealing commercially sensitive data from multinationals across the world. Two Chinese individuals allegedly involved in the attacks were also sanctioned. Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes. EU individuals, companies and other entities are forbidden from making funds available to those blacklisted. China's diplomatic mission to the European Union said in a statement early on Friday that China "is a staunch defender of network security and one of the biggest victims of hacker attacks." China wants global cyberspace security to be maintained through "dialogue and cooperation" and not by unilateral sanctions, the statement added.
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| Trump faces rare rebuke from GOP for floating election delay Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:28 PM PDT  President Donald Trump repeatedly tests the Republican Party's limits on issues including race, trade and immigration. GOP officials from New Hampshire to Mississippi to Iowa quickly pushed back against Trump's suggestion on Thursday that it might be necessary to delay the November election — which he cannot do without congressional approval — because of the unfounded threat of voter fraud. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu vowed his state would hold its November elections as scheduled: "End of story."
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| Portland, Oregon, protests relatively calm after US drawdown Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:26 PM PDT  Leaders in Portland, Oregon, caught their breath and moved forward with cautious optimism Friday after the first nightly protest in weeks ended without any major confrontations, violence or arrests. The dramatic change in tone outside a federal courthouse that's become ground zero in clashes between demonstrators and federal agents came after the U.S. government began drawing down its forces in the liberal city under a deal between Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and the Trump administration. As agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled back, troopers with the Oregon State Police took over.
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| Some educators of color resist push for police-free schools Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:10 PM PDT  School districts nationwide are working to remove police officers from campuses, but some Black and Indigenous educational leaders are resisting the push prompted by the national reckoning over racial injustice and police brutality. Cities from Portland, Oregon, to Denver to Madison, Wisconsin, have taken steps to remove police from schools following George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
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| Turkey and Greece Need Angela Merkel’s Intervention Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:00 PM PDT |
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