| EU chief proposes five billion euro Brexit emergency fund Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:01 PM PDT  EU Council president Charles Michel on Friday proposed setting up a five billion euro reserve fund for any unforeseen consequences of Brexit on bloc member states. "Brexit is challenging for all of us and that is why we propose a Brexit reserve of five billion euros ($5.7 billion)," said Michel as he unveiled his latest proposal for a long-term EU budget that will be debated by bloc leaders next week. Brexit with or without a agreement on future ties "will have consequences in Europe for the member states and that's why I think it's... necessary to ask the commission to prepare for a needs assessment by November 2021," he said.
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| Trump commutes longtime friend Roger Stone's prison sentence Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:01 PM PDT  President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison. Stone had been sentenced in February to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Stone told The Associated Press that Trump had called him earlier Friday to inform him of the commutation.
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| Breast cancer: Zimbabwe woman's struggle to avoid mastectomy Posted: 10 Jul 2020 04:29 PM PDT  A Zimbabwean woman is campaigning to get the machine fixed to avoid a mastectomy.
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| 11 people drowned at rocky beach in northern Egypt Posted: 10 Jul 2020 04:22 PM PDT |
| UN encouraged experts may get to visit oil tanker off Yemen Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:37 PM PDT  The United Nations said Friday it is encouraged that a U.N. team may be able to visit an oil tanker loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil that is moored off the coast of Yemen, posing a serious risk to Red Sea marine life, desalination plants and shipping. Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied U.N. inspectors access to the vessel.
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| Mali protesters occupy national broadcaster Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:33 PM PDT  Police have fired shots to disperse protesters calling for President Keita to stand down.
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| US appeals to proceed with 1st federal execution in 17 years Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:19 PM PDT |
| Sudan ratifies law criminalizing female genital mutilation Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:57 PM PDT  Sudan's ruling body ratified a law banning the widespread practice of female genital mutilation, the justice ministry announced Friday, handing the movement for women's rights in the African country a long-sought victory. The Sovereign Council passed a set of sweeping amendments to the country's criminal code late Thursday, including one that criminalized the deep-rooted practice. The draft law had been approved by the transitional government that came to power last year following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
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| It's not just the presidency: Trump is changing the Congress Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:45 PM PDT  More than perhaps any president in modern history, Trump has been willing to ignore, defy and toy with the legislative branch, asserting power and breaking norms in ways his predecessors would hardly dare. Republicans shrug it off as Trump being Trump, leaving Democrats almost alone to object. Think of it as "the incredible shrinkage" of Congress, said historian Douglas Brinkley.
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| REFILE-Pandemic exposes scientific rift over proving when germs are airborne Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:39 PM PDT |
| Church singing ban strikes sour note with California pastor Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Crossroads Community Church Senior Pastor Jim Clark wants to keep his 1,500 parishioners safe during the coronavirus pandemic but he's drawing the line at a new California ban on singing or chanting at religious services. "I said enough's enough," Clark said. The California ban was one of a number of restrictions on indoor businesses and gatherings put in place last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom amid fast-rising virus cases and hospitalizations.
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| WHO experts head to China to investigate origins of COVID-19 Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:46 PM PDT  Two World Health Organization experts were heading to the Chinese capital on Friday to lay the groundwork for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. An animal health expert and an epidemiologist will meet Chinese counterparts in Beijing to work out logistics, places to visit and the participants for a WHO-led international mission, the U.N. organization said. A major issue will be to "look at whether or not it jumped from species to human, and what species it jumped from," WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris said at a briefing in Geneva.
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| COVID hits dozens of Latin leaders, including presidents Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:30 PM PDT  The COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping through the leadership of Latin America, with two more presidents and powerful officials testing positive this week for the new coronavirus, adding a destabilizing new element to the region's public health and economic crises. In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro, 65, announced his illness Tuesday and is using it to publicly extol hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he's been promoting as a treatment for COVID-19, and now takes himself. Bolivian interim President Jeanine Añez, 53, made her own diagnosis public Thursday, throwing her already troubled political propects into further doubt.
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| Trump undercuts health experts -- again -- in schools debate Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:15 PM PDT  The White House seating chart spoke volumes. When the president convened a roundtable this week on how to safely reopen schools with coronavirus cases rising, the seats surrounding him were filled with parents, teachers and top White House officials, including the first and second ladies. Intentional or not, it was a telling indication of the regard that President Donald Trump has for the government's top health professionals as he pushes the country to move past the coronavirus.
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| Lawyer: Over 150 Minneapolis officers seeking disability Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:11 PM PDT  More than 150 Minneapolis police officers are filing work-related disability claims after the death of George Floyd and ensuing unrest, with about three-quarters citing post-traumatic stress disorder as the reason for their planned departures, according to an attorney representing the officers. While Floyd's death in May and the unrest that followed are not the direct cause of many of the disability requests, attorney Ron Meuser said, those events and what Meuser called a lack of support from city leadership were a breaking point for many who had been struggling with PTSD from years on the job. "Following the George Floyd incident, unfortunately it became too much and as a result they were unable to, and are unable to, continue on and move forward," Meuser said.
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| 'I'm Sorry to Everyone': In Death, South Korean Mayor Is Tainted by Scandal Posted: 10 Jul 2020 11:56 AM PDT |
| US court orders Iran to pay $879 mn over 1996 Saudi attack Posted: 10 Jul 2020 11:34 AM PDT  A US judge has ordered Iran to pay another $879.1 million over a 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US airmen, ruling again that Tehran bore responsibility. President Donald Trump's administration hailed the judgment, the latest over the attack against Iran, which denies involvement and refuses to pay. Saudi Hezbollah, a militant group from the conservative Sunni kingdom's Shiite minority, allegedly carried out the attack by driving an explosives-laden truck into the eight-story Khobar Towers complex where Western and Saudi forces were staying.
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| Border authorities use pandemic powers to expel immigrants Posted: 10 Jul 2020 10:53 AM PDT  The Honduran woman was nine months' pregnant and exhausted with stomach pain when the Border Patrol found her in the Southern California mountains with her longtime partner and their 9-year-old son. What happened next illustrates how difficult it has become to seek asylum in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. Alexy, 32, and his son Samuel were whisked to the border in the wee hours of June 28 and returned to Mexico.
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| Downing Street advertises for £135k data science 'skunkworks' chief in latest Cummings shake-up Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:59 AM PDT  Downing Street has placed an advert for £135,000 job to head up "skunkworks" in Number 10, in what appears the latest in Dominic Cummings' shake-up of Whitehall. The new job will be responsible for a new data science unit in Number 10, aimed to "transform" decision-making in government. A skunkworks is a term originating in America during WWII for a project developed by a small and loosely structured group focusing on radical innovation. The civil service advert says the role will involve leading a new "analytical unit known as '10ds" - which stands for "10 Data Science". It says: "The vision of 10ds is a skunkworks type organisation that builds innovative software to allow the PM to make data driven decisions and thereby transform government". Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief aide, is known for his disdain for traditional civil servants. He has said his focus after Brexit will be the establishment of a British version of the US's Advanced Projects Research Agency (Arpa). He recently instructed government advisers to read a book on Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock, as well as High Output Management by Andrew Grove. While the salary for the new role is advertised as up to £135,000, "outstanding" candidates could get more. The advert says the "newly created role will be responsible for establishing No10's quantitative ability" as well as advising the Prime Minister. It says the job presents an opportunity to work "at the heart' of government. Applications close on July 27. Earlier this year Mr Cummings placed an advert for "data scientists, project managers, policy experts and assorted weirdos" to apply for Downing Street jobs. Mr Cummings used his personal blog to invite applications from "true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole". In a much-publicised post, he said: "If you want to figure out what characters around Putin might do, or how international criminal gangs might exploit holes in our border security, you don't want more Oxbridge English graduates who chat about Lacan at dinner parties with TV producers and spread fake news about fake news." Shortly after the blog advert was posted, a new Downing Street adviser Andrew Sabisky quit following reports of his controversial comments on pregnancies, eugenics and race.
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| Thomas spoke, Roberts ruled in unusual Supreme Court term Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:58 AM PDT  Justice Clarence Thomas spoke and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled. The Supreme Court's most unusual term featured victories for immigrants, abortion rights, LGBTQ workers and religious freedoms. The usually quiet Thomas' baritone was heard by the whole world when the coronavirus outbreak upended the court's traditional way of doing business.
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| Lebanese hold raucous rally outside US Embassy in Beirut Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:31 AM PDT  Dozens of Lebanese protesters held a raucous anti-U.S. rally outside the fortified American Embassy in Beirut on Friday, denouncing what they said was Washington's interference in Lebanon's affairs while some chanted in support of the militant Hezbollah group. The crowd, made up of mostly men, hurled stones at riot police near the embassy, from which they were separated by layers of barbed wire. The protesters burned American flags and mock-up dollar bills, calling the U.S. the "mother of terrorism."
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| Trump threatens to pull tax exemption for schools, colleges Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:20 AM PDT  In his push to get schools and colleges to reopen this fall, President Donald Trump is again taking aim at their finances, this time threatening their tax-exempt status. Trump said on Twitter on Friday he was ordering the Treasury Department to re-examine the tax-exempt status of schools that he says provide "radical indoctrination" instead of education. "Too many Universities and School Systems are about Radical Left Indoctrination, not Education," he tweeted.
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| Kim Jong Un's sister says she doubts another U.S.-North Korea summit will happen this year Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:11 AM PDT  North Korea has insisted it is not interested in resuming nuclear talks with the U.S. as long as it continues to engage in behavior like extending sanctions.
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| Serbia, Kosovo renew 'very difficult' dialogue Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:20 AM PDT  The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo on Friday held their first talks in 18 months on resolving one of Europe's most intractable territorial disputes, agreeing to a face-to-face meeting next week on the "very difficult" process. Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence after the province broke away in the bloody 1998-99 war that was ended only by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops. Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held a video summit that was also joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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| Startling New Report Reveals 90% Reduction in Christian Refugee Resettlement from Countries with Persecution Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:00 AM PDT  Resettlement for other religious minorities -- Jewish refugees from Iran, Yezidi refugees from Iraq, Muslim refugees from Burma and others -- are all also on track to end 2020 down more than 90% from 2015.The report drew responses from leaders within the largest streams of American Christianity, including from the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention and the U.
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| Pompeo slams UN report on deadly US drone strike on Iranian Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:41 AM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticized an independent U.N. human rights expert's report insisting a American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January was a "watershed" event in the use of drones and amounted to a violation of international law. The report presented by Agnes Callamard to the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council on Thursday chronicled events around the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and the legal implications of his killing as part of a broader look on the use of drone strikes.
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| Comet streaking past Earth, providing spectacular show Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:38 AM PDT  A newly discovered comet is streaking past Earth, providing a stunning nighttime show after buzzing the sun and expanding its tail. Comet Neowise — the brightest comet visible from the Northern Hemisphere in a quarter-century — swept within Mercury's orbit a week ago. NASA's Neowise infrared space telescope discovered the comet in March.
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| Lebanon 'spiralling out of control': UN rights chief Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:25 AM PDT  Lebanon's economic crisis is getting out of hand, the UN rights chief warned Friday, calling for urgent internal reforms coupled with international support to prevent further mayhem. Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the social fabric of the country was at risk as vulnerable populations are threatened with extreme poverty. "This situation is fast spiralling out of control, with many already destitute and facing starvation as a direct result of this crisis," she said in a statement.
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| Indiana GOP ousts attorney general after groping allegations Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:18 AM PDT  Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill's bid for reelection was scuttled Friday as he lost the Republican nomination following a monthlong suspension of his law license over allegations that he groped a state lawmaker and three other women during a party. Former U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita prevailed in mail-in voting by state convention delegates after a campaign among party activists that centered on whether the allegations against Hill left him vulnerable to defeat in the November election. Rokita defeated Hill with 52% of the vote in a third round of voting after two lesser-known candidates were eliminated in earlier rounds, state GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer said.
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| Iranian official issues denial after another mysterious blast reported in Tehran Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:59 AM PDT  Iranian state media reported a blast in western Tehran early Friday, the latest in a string of mysterious incidents to shake the country in recent weeks. However, a senior official in that part of the city later denied there had been an explosion. State broadcaster IRIB said power was cut in several western suburbs near where online reports said an explosion occurred. It gave no further information about the cause of the blast or whether there were casualties. The governor of Qod city, Leila Vaseghi, told semi-official Fars news agency there had been no explosion but acknowledged a power cut that lasted about five minutes. It was not immediately clear if the reported incident had taken place in Qod or in a different area of western Tehran, and residents contacted by Reuters in other parts of the city said they had heard no explosion. There are reportedly several military facilities in the area which could have been the target of sabotage. A series of fires and blasts have been reported near Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities in recent weeks. Iranian officials have said many were caused by industrial accidents. A bright flash lit up the night sky over Tehran early on June 26, apparently coming from near the near Parchin military site. Fars news agency later said the fire was caused by "an industrial gas tank explosion" near a facility belonging to the defence ministry. A defence ministry spokesman told state TV that the fire was quickly controlled and there were no casualties. But after a similar unexplained fire at the Natanz nuclear plant in central Isfahan province on July 2, officials were forced to admit there had been significant damage to the country's primary uranium enrichment facility. A spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council of Iran said the "cause of the accident" at the centrifuge assembly plant had been identified, saying more information would be released at a later date "due to security considerations". The New York Times reported a Middle Eastern intelligence official and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander saying the Natanz incident was caused by an explosive. The head of Israeli intelligence, Yossi Cohen, was later accused of leaking information that Mossad planted a bomb that caused the damage. On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said Iran would retaliate if it were shown an international sabotage operation had caused the explosion in Natanz. "It is still too early to make any judgment on the main cause of the blast [in Natanz], and relevant security bodies are probing into every detail of the incident," Fars reported him as saying.
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| Hospitals in Syria's rebel area reduce services amid virus Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:36 AM PDT  Hospitals in Syria's overcrowded opposition-held enclave are suspending non-emergency procedures and outpatient services following the detection of the first case of coronavirus, a leading doctor in the area said Friday. The first case of COVID-19, a doctor in the area, was reported on Thursday in Idlib province, the last opposition-held part of Syria in a sliver of land bordering Turkey. There have been major concerns of an outbreak in northwestern Syria, an area packed with more than 3 million people, many of them living in tents and encampments, and where health facilities have been devastated by Syria's long civil war.
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| Turkey's president formally makes Hagia Sophia a mosque Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:17 AM PDT  The president of Turkey on Friday formally converted Istanbul's sixth-century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and declared it open for Muslim worship, hours after a high court annulled a 1934 decision that had made the religious landmark a museum. The decision sparked deep dismay among Orthodox Christians. Originally a cathedral, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque after Istanbul's conquest by the Ottoman Empire but had been a museum for the last 86 years, drawing millions of tourists annually.
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| WHO’s The Boss Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:02 AM PDT |
| Trump could still bounce back, but it looks less likely than ever Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:02 AM PDT  One, President Trump will inevitably claw his way back into contention, rallying Republicans who don't want to lose power and softening Joe Biden's support — a la what happened in the weeks after that disastrous "Access Hollywood" video in 2016. Or two, the numbers will either stay the same or even get worse for the GOP — since Trump is now the incumbent, not the challenger, amid a pandemic that has now killed almost 135,000 Americans and brought the U.S. unemployment rate into the double digits. It's that second scenario that should scare the heck out of GOP strategists: What if a majority of the electorate already has given up on Trump, like what happened to George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina and Iraq, or Jimmy Carter after the Iran-hostage crisis?
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| Dutch government to take Russia to European court over MH17 Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:41 AM PDT  The Dutch government is taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for its alleged role in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago, the foreign minister announced Friday. The move is intended to support individual cases being brought to the European court by relatives of some of the 298 people who were killed when a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels blew the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight out of the sky on July 17, 2014. "Achieving justice for 298 victims of the downing of Flight MH17 is and will remain the government's highest priority," Foreign Minister Stef Blok said.
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| Suicide of Egyptian activist Sarah Hegazi exposes the 'freedom and violence' of LGBTQ Muslims in exile Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:19 AM PDT  LGBTQ communities worldwide are mourning the death of 30-year-old Sarah Hegazi, a queer Egyptian activist who ended her life on June 14, 2020.Hegazi, who had been jailed for promoting what the Egyptian state called "sexual deviance" after raising a rainbow flag during a concert in Cairo in 2017, was released on bail three months after her arrest. Shortly afterwards, she she sought asylum in Canada. As the only queer woman among the 57 LGBTQ individuals arrested in the concert crackdown, Hegazi became prominent in queer activism circles in Egypt and beyond.In Canada, Hegazi escaped the violence of the Egyptian state but not, as she wrote in a 2018 essay, the post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and loneliness caused by her past. Like many queer and trans people living in exile, Hegazi felt rejected by her own people yet mourned the home she left behind. She yearned for the land that expelled her. In one Instagram post,from August 20, 2019, Hegazi wrote that she hoped her grandmother would be alive to greet her when she got home to Egypt. That reunion would never happen. Perpetual rejectionA queer suicide during Pride, a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ lives and resistance, is a painful thing to process, made harder by the coronavirus lockdown. For queer and trans Muslims in isolation, separated from their chosen communities in what may or may not be accepting family homes, mourning Hegazi's death has been a lonely, even secretive, process. As a queer Muslim, I feel Hegazi's death deeply. Back in 2012, I left my home country, Afghanistan, and later sought asylum in the U.S. Now, I live in the United States, but I don't truly belong anywhere. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]That alienation drives my academic research on how political violence and displacement intercede in the lives of LGBTQ Muslims. I recognize Hegazi's suicide as the tragic result of the discrimination and repudiation people like us face our entire lives. In her suicide note, Hegazi apologized for being "too weak to resist" the freedom of death. "To my siblings, I tried to make it, and I failed. To my friends, the experience is cruel…forgive me," she wrote. "To the world, you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive." The cruelty Hegazi experienced is echoed by many of the 36 LGBTQ Muslims I interviewed for my current research project on queer and trans Muslims living as refugees in the United States. Most said they had been rejected by friends and family because of their sexuality or gender identity. However, many also chose to forgive, as Hegazi did. "We continue to love the family that abandons us," said Hamza, a 24-year-old Afghan refugee I interviewed in 2017 in Fremont, California. "We long for the home that pushes us into exile. We miss friends that wouldn't even attend our funerals."This rejection stems from homophobia, which is rooted in both the interpretation of religious texts and in the anti-LGBTQ laws of some Southwest Asian and North African countries with colonial histories. As a result, some queer and trans Muslims and Arabs eventually try to escape the countries that criminalize their gender identity and sexual orientation. While there are no statistics on how many LGBTQ Muslims are refugees, a 2019 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report says ever more LGBTQ people are fleeing persecution worldwide. Unending danceQueer Muslim refugees who make it to Western countries may find that rejection has followed them in a new form: Islamophobia. Meanwhile, in LGBTQ communities, being Muslim and queer is seen as paradoxical. As a result, queer and trans Muslims in exile in the West become outsiders twice over."I was called a terrorist by a group of white gays in a bar in Washington, D.C," Abdullah, a 30-year-old Iraqi-American, told me in 2017. My interviews reveal that LBGTQ Muslim refugees are navigating two distinct and difficult spaces: the homophobia of their birthplaces and the Islamophobia in exile.Queer Muslim exiles cross these borders on a daily basis, and it's a complicated process. Their families are not merely a point of oppression, they tell me, nor is the queer community pure freedom. Rather, both environments pose certain constraints. Freedom and violence are an unending dance. Where do we belong?For Sarah Hegazi, the violence did not end with death. Homophobic cruelty continues on social media, with some commentators telling people not to pray for Hegazi because being queer and committing suicide are both "kabã'ir," or major sins, in strict interpretations of Islamic law.Hegazi's own last post on social media was on June 12, two days before her death. Under a photo of her lying peacefully on her back in lush grass, smiling to a blue sky, Hegazi wrote on Instagram that, "The sky is more beautiful than the earth. And I want the sky, not the earth."I have heard versions of Hegazi's pained laments before, in my own head. I have felt them in my own exiled body, lying in bed. For queer and trans Muslims and Arabs, belonging is but a dream. Mostly we are just trying to survive.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Deportation to Syria could mean death for women, children and LGBTQ refugees in Turkey * LGBTQ caravan migrants may have to 'prove' their gender or sexual identity at US borderAhmad Qais Munhazim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Hushpuppi's lawyer says FBI 'kidnapped' Nigerian Instagrammer from Dubai Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:59 AM PDT  "Hushpuppi", who posts about his extravagant lifestyle, is accused of multimillion-dollar fraud.
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| Illegal ivory trade shrinks while pangolin trafficking booms, UN says Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:57 AM PDT  The illegal global ivory trade has decreased, but trafficking of pangolins is on the rise, a United Nations report into wildlife crime has revealed. The study, compiled using four years of data, showed that revenue from ivory trafficking peaked between 2011 and 2013. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that national bans on selling ivory, particularly the ban enforced in China in 2017, have caused the global trade to fall. "The World Wildlife Crime Report 2020 has some good news and some bad news," UNODC research chief Angela Me told Reuters. "We see some shrinking in some markets, particularly the ivory and the rhino (horn) market, but we actually see huge increases in other markets, like the market of illicit trafficking of pangolins, in European eels but also in tiger parts and also in rosewood." Pangolins are a reclusive, nocturnal mammal covered in scales. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to promote blood circulation and reduce blood clots and there remains a large, legal market for this.
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| Nikki Haley positions herself to lead the post-Trump Republican party Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The ex-US ambassador to the UN is one of the few Trump officials to leave on good terms and has diligently built up a national profileNikki Haley has kept busy since leaving her post in the Trump administration as United States ambassador to the United Nations.A former governor of South Carolina, Haley is often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate for either 2024 or 2028 – depending on whether Donald Trump wins re-election in November.There has even been speculation that Trump might switch out Vice-President Mike Pence for Haley as his running mate in the hopes of boosting his lagging approval numbers among the broader electorate, though there has been no strong evidence that that will happen.Either way she has positioned herself as a national leader within the Republican party.A rare woman of color in the party's senior ranks, she has been fundraising for Republican congressional candidates as well as in the Senate and gubernatorial arena. She has set up a non-profit organization to boost her policy priorities. She has continued to pen editorials on foreign policy. And she has retained a small, tightly knit orbit of advisers.Haley is one of the few high-ranking Republicans to leave the Trump administration on good terms. She has pledged to campaign aggressively for the president and has echoed some of the same arguments Trump has made on national topics such as cancel culture, defunding police forces and statue removal, although the tone and frequency between Trump and Haley vary dramatically. At other times she has kept her distance.After serving in the Trump administration, some top-level officials have receded from public life, taking jobs at thinktanks and other academic institutions or retiring outright. But former and current aides to Haley see her recent moves as a carefully executed plan to stay involved in key Republican policy circles and the national discourse."When she left the administration she told the president that she wanted to stay engaged and promote good public policy," said Tim Chapman, the executive director of Haley's Stand for America non-profit group, the primary vehicle for Haley's policy-related initiatives. "SFA is partly a platform for her to do that type of voice, to be engaged in public policy."Stand for America is composed of a small team of about six people, including Chapman. The team has a weekly Zoom call with Haley and Chapman spends much of his time coalition-building and working with outside groups and policymakers.Haley often weighs in on foreign policy or "Democrats' embrace of socialism" as she did in a February op-ed for the Wall Street Journal's editorial section. Warning about advancing socialism is a favorite topic for Haley and her organization. A recent mailer sent out to supporters asked them to participate in a "REFERENDUM ON SOCIALISM". The mailer went on to tick off some liberal policy proposals like free college tuition or the Green New Deal proposed by the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."We're going to stay focused on that because even though [presumptive Democratic presidential nominee] Joe Biden got the nomination we still think the energy in the party is with the Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wing," Chapman said.Haley has fundraised for almost a dozen Republican Senate candidates, many of them in tough re-election races, and has been a special guest at Republican Governors Association (RGA) events. Last November, Haley authored a book, With All Due Respect, billed as "a first-hand perspective on major national and international matters". The book covers the end of her governorship as well as her time as ambassador.All this activity has generated speculation that Haley is taking a textbook approach to running for president. She has foreign policy experience through her time at the United Nations. She has executive and domestic policy experience through almost two terms as governor. "Nikki Haley's background as a governor and UN ambassador will make her formidable if she chooses to run in 2024," said Jon Thompson, a top Republican strategist and a former longtime communications director of the RGA."She has a strong résumé of actual governance and international experience, would likely appeal to female suburban voters who Republicans desperately need to attract to win future elections, and has a solid conservative record from her time as governor. Twenty-twenty-four is still a long way off, but she's making all the right moves now to be in a good position later."The knock on Haley is that she has been too calculating in her recent jobs. Democratic foreign policy officials said Haley delegated too much of the job of UN ambassador to her deputies and that all her speeches were political. In his recent book, Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton framed Haley as out of her depth and more focused on using her ambassadorship to raise her profile.Haley has surrounded herself with operatives who could lead a presidential campaign. The most commonly mentioned Republican strategist is Jon Lerner, who served as a deputy to Haley at the UN. Chapman previously ran the advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation giving him strong ties to influential experts and groups within the Republican party.The option of running for president partially depends on whether Trump wins re-election."If the president's re-elected I think she'll keep doing what she's doing for two years and then start running in earnest," a former Haley aide said. "If Biden wins it'll actually make it a bit easier because then she can kind of pound away at Biden from the moment he's inaugurated and then turn that momentum into a presidential campaign."Haley has had to stamp out persistent speculation that she could rejoin the Trump administration as vice-president. The rumor is not out of the realms of possibility. In 2012 Barack Obama's re-election team looked at switching Biden with Hillary Clinton as the then president's running mate but that idea was ultimately nixed. For Trump, the hope with putting Haley on the ticket is that she could win over key constituencies Trump is losing.Some Republicans in the Trump campaign's orbit wondered if that was happening when the campaign team serving Pence was gutted. But Haley has repeatedly denied any cooperation or rivalry between her and Pence. In August she tweeted "enough of the false rumors. Vice President Pence has been a dear friend of mine for years. He has been a loyal and trustworthy VP to the President. He has my complete support."If Trump loses, the Republican primary field for 2024 might get crowded. The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and Pence have all been mentioned as potential presidential candidates.When Haley and Pence were both governors their names were floating around as potential RGA vice-chair, recalled former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who was then the sitting vice-chair and poised to take the chairmanship. Walker has strong ties to both Pence and Haley.Walker remembers that in 2016 Haley called him to ask about the vice-chairmanship. This was before it was clear Pence would be vice-president. Walker noted that Pence might also be interested in the vice-chairmanship. A day later Haley called Walker again saying, "I talked to Mike, he's fine." Haley ended up becoming vice-chair for a short time before leaving the governorship to become UN ambassador.
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| Oxygen already runs low as COVID-19 surges in South Africa Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:54 AM PDT  The coronavirus storm has arrived in South Africa, but in the overflowing COVID-19 wards the sound is less of a roar than a rasp. Medical oxygen is already low in hospitals at the new epicenter of the outbreak, Gauteng province, home to the power centers of Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, visiting a hospital Friday, said authorities are working with industry to divert more oxygen their way.
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| Britain committed to agree principles on Brexit deal in July talks Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:54 AM PDT |
| Serbia, Kosovo to resume talks but won't budge on key issues Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:51 AM PDT  Serbia and Kosovo agreed Friday to resume long-stalled negotiations on normalizing their strained relations, but both sides refused to budge on key issues in their dispute during video talks led by France and Germany. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held virtual preparatory talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti aiming to set up the first face-to-face meeting of the Balkans leaders since November 2018 under a European Union-backed dialogue process.
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| WHO advance team on way to China to set up probe into virus origin Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:32 AM PDT |
| Digging in on rare earth, the next front in the US supply chain war with China Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  As US-China relations hit new lows, Washington is redoubling efforts to address a major Achilles' heel: its dependence on Beijing for rare earth elements " essential materials in various hi-tech products from smartphones and electric car batteries to Javelin missiles and F-35 fighter aircraft.China hawk Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, recently introduced a bill to spur US production of critical minerals, among the latest of several before Congress amid rising concern that China could leverage its dominance in economic and political negotiations."It's making people in Washington wake up and say this is not sustainable," said Martijn Rasser, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security. "If China really is willing to restrict exports, we're in for a rough ride over the next few years."But China's strategic-metals grip is so strong and the challenges in competing against its state-led model so great that some estimate it could take over a decade to create a relatively secure US supply chain. The US has also made some significant missteps that haven't helped, critics say.Strategic concerns over rare earths mirror larger calls to reduce US dependence on China " spurred on by critical Covid-19 shortages of personal protective equipment " as President Donald Trump threatens to "completely decouple" the two massive economies."The rare metals issue is a microcosm of the broader trend," said Paul Haenle, chair at the Carnegie " Tsinghua Centre and a former China affairs director at the National Security Council. "The issue of rare earth exports is particularly important because it also represents national security concerns."While many in Washington agree on the importance of reducing reliance on China, debate rages over how to get there.Legislation, reports and proposals " including those laid out in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing late last month on critical minerals " range from subsidising production, strengthening alliances and increasing research to forging industry co-operatives, boosting recycling and mining in national parks, the Arctic and even outer space.Most legislation faces a tough near-term slog as Congress grapples with Covid-19, economic meltdown and protests over police shootings of African Americans in an election year.But rare earth provisions are included in both the House and Senate versions of the massive annual defence budget bill, a crucial law all but assured to pass, amid heightened suspicion of Beijing's objectives and Trump's "America first" policies."We have to find an economic message to counter the Chinese state," said a Republican senate staffer who was not authorised to speak publicly. "And rare earth is a big part of that."The rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California. Photo: MP Materials alt=The rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California. Photo: MP MaterialsThe Pentagon, wary of its dependence on Chinese supplies for its weapons systems, has outlined a four-phase plan to bolster US mineral supply chains, even as powerful senators push the military for "US sources and at US facilities".The issue also taps into two of Trump's pet themes " reviving extractive industries in the US and "reshoring" American jobs. Analysts believe that Trump's bizarre proposal last year to buy Greenland was tied to its large rare earth reserves."The fact that he can show up with a hard hat and a bulldozer, it's a great photo op," said Rasser.Rare earths " 17 elements with nearly unpronounceable names like gadolinium and praseodymium " are not particularly rare nor universally valuable, but they are difficult and expensive to refine.And critics say that the US has badly misplayed its hand.Among the largest and most promising US mining operations is California's Mountain Pass, the global leader until China started dominating in the late 1980s. After its 2015 bankruptcy, Washington rather inexplicably opened the door to Chinese investors.In 2017, the US government committee that reviews national security deals approved a US$20.5 million sale to MP Materials, an investment consortium including the co-chairman James Litinsky, a financier; some New York investors; and the Chinese state-controlled Shenghe Rare Earth Shareholding Company, which holds a 9.9 per cent stake."All alarm bells should have been ringing in Washington," said Thomas Kruemmer, director of Singapore-based Ginger International Trade & Investment, which specialises in strategic metals. "The Trump administration messed up."In an interview, Litinsky said that attention on MP's Chinese shareholders is misguided. "It's impossible to lift a US$1.7 billion chemical plant and mine and send it over to Beijing," he noted."Our mission as a company is to return the full rare earth supply chain to the United States of America."The MP Materials website touts a contract the Pentagon awarded it in April, although that award faces resistance after several senators strongly objected to the company's ties with China.Even without the Chinese stake in MP Materials, the US relies on China for some 78 per cent of the rare earth elements it uses. The Asian giant is also the global leader in processing " including Mountain Top's output, which is currently sold to China for refining."[Chinese] ownership is maybe 9.9 per cent. But in terms of MP's revenue, 100 per cent of their revenues are coming from the Chinese side," said Daniel McGroarty, an advisory board member with USA Rare Earth, which controls the Round Top Mountain mine in far west Texas.Kruemmer put it more colourfully: "If China doesn't buy Litinsky's stuff, he can stir it into his morning coffee."Trucks hauling ore from the rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California. Photo: Reuters alt=Trucks hauling ore from the rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California. Photo: ReutersChina's dominance in processing " which tends to create cancer-causing material and often radioactive waste as by-products " is bolstered by a reported 23,000 US patents pending or realised."People were more than happy to have China do all the dirty work," Rasser said. "But now China has control of the market."The global market for rare earth elements " including their use in permanent magnets found in MRI scanners, batteries and missile wings " is expected to grow rapidly as demand increases for renewable energy products like electric vehicles.Driving US policy and subsidies is concern that, if pushed, Beijing could block rare earth exports. Politicians and military strategists tend to see a greater risk of that happening, industry executives somewhat less so.But Beijing has flexed its rare earth muscle before. A decade ago, China halted exports to Japan for several weeks after a territorial dispute. Beijing subsequently claimed that those rare earth exports were restricted to help market stability and the environment.Last year, as the trade war accelerated, Chinese state media blared "Don't say we didn't warn you," amid threats to cut off rare earth exports, adding "United States, don't underestimate China's ability to strike back." About the same time, President Xi Jinping visited a rare earth processing factory in Jiangxi province.Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit last year to a rare earth refinery in Jiangxi province spurred US officials to redouble efforts aimed at creating a domestic industry. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit last year to a rare earth refinery in Jiangxi province spurred US officials to redouble efforts aimed at creating a domestic industry. Photo: Xinhua"China tends to play this game far better than the United States does, but I think that was a misstep," said Pini Althaus, chief executive at USA Rare Earth. "All that was achieved by that visit by President Xi was to light a fire under the United States to say we have to do something ... It backfired."Even if Beijing doesn't play hardball, foreign customers face shortages as demand for rare earth expands in China, which already uses more than half the global annual output. And the nation's ambitious "Made in China 2025" blueprint is built on industries using rare earths and permanent magnets.Washington's sudden, belated response over an industry it once dominated underscores a US bias toward short-term profits and reactive fixes, analysts said, while China can take a more strategic approach befitting a state-directed economy overseen by a potential president for life."The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earths," paramount leader Deng Xiaoping noted in 1987 when visiting production facilities in Inner Mongolia.After China's 2010 strong-arm tactics against Japan, some in the West raised warnings but were soon drowned out by economics, a supply glut engineered by China and limited political will. "The Pentagon has built its entire advanced weapons on Chinese quicksand," military consultant James Kennedy wrote in a Defence One commentary in 2016.Mining groups, attracted by growing political tailwinds and the lure of Pentagon largesse, are struggling to build more "secure" rare earth supply chains, even as they acknowledge that US autonomy is a long way off. Althaus, of USA Rare Earth, said it will take the US "decades to get even close to where China is today".USA Rare Earth Chief Executive Pini Althaus said it would take the US "decades to get even close to where China is today". Photo: Handout alt=USA Rare Earth Chief Executive Pini Althaus said it would take the US "decades to get even close to where China is today". Photo: HandoutUSA Rare Earth announced last month that it had secured permit approval for a pilot processing plant in Colorado. Meanwhile, Mountain Pass plans to restart processing facilities that had been shuttered for financial reasons years ago.A US-Australia venture with ties to Malaysia has proposed a processing plant in Texas. And mining interests in Alaska and Wyoming are plugging their potential.But the sums in direct and indirect government subsidies required to build a full and viable US supply chain from ore to oxide are daunting, analysts say.Legislation backed by the Pentagon, which only consumes a small percentage of US rare earth elements, could see US$1.75 billion allocated for strategic minerals that are needed for munitions and missiles; US$350 million for microelectronics; and no ceiling for hypersonic weapons."No sane private investor will get into this, unless there are all kinds of government guarantees," Kruemmer, of Ginger International, added. "There is no market economy-based solution to this."Analysts also underscore the commercial challenges, which include the need for massive amounts of private capital and years without cash flow.The Round Top Mountain mine in Texas. Photo: USA Rare Earth alt=The Round Top Mountain mine in Texas. Photo: USA Rare EarthOther obstacles include the economics of separating and refining rare earths, which tend to throw off massive amounts of low value by-products, some of which are toxic. Moreover, output in some US mines is of low concentration and many "proprietary" processing technologies face resistance from community groups and hi-tech customers."Western large-scale end users diligently nod their heads if some US senator condemns China's stranglehold on rare earths," although in truth they prefer to buy Chinese rare earths given its quality and competitive price, Kruemmer said. "They don't want to be forced to use untested domestic stuff."Even the idea of securing more rare earth material underscores the weak US hand. "What's the point of having a stockpile ... if you know you're going to have to send it to China?" the senate staffer asked. "China is the game."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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| Israeli troops kill Palestinian accused of hurling firebombs Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:42 AM PDT |
| Exclusive: Japan may still build Aegis Ashore despite reports of cancellation, source says Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:19 AM PDT  Japan may still build Aegis Ashore missile defense systems to defend against attacks by North Korea and other regional rivals, including China, a source told Reuters just weeks after reports that the proposal had been killed. Japan's defense minister, Taro Kono, last month cancelled plans to build two Aegis Ashore sites, citing cost and concerns that falling booster stages from the interceptor missiles could drop on local residents. Japan, however, has not cancelled the $1 billion contract for the defense system's radars, built by Lockheed Martin, and is mulling a technical assessment from the U.S. government that makes recommendations on using other sites that would eliminate the safety issues, said the source, who has direct knowledge of the process.
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| AP EXPLAINS: Why India cases are rising to multiple peaks Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:07 AM PDT  In just three weeks, India went from the world's sixth worst-affected country by the coronavirus to the third, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. India's fragile health system was bolstered during a stringent monthslong lockdown but could still be overwhelmed by an exponential rise in infections. India has tallied 793,802 infections and more than 21,600 deaths, with cases doubling every three weeks.
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| Foreign students weigh studying in person vs. losing visas Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:34 AM PDT  International students worried about a new immigration policy that could potentially cost them their visas say they feel stuck between being unnecessarily exposed during the coronavirus pandemic and being able to finish their studies in America. Students from countries as diverse as India, China and Brazil told The Associated Press they are scrambling to devise plans after federal immigration authorities notified colleges this week that international students must leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools operate entirely online this fall. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a lawsuit this week to block the decision, and now California and Washington state are seeking injunctions against enforcing the new visa policy.
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| Israelis angry at Netanyahu over new outbreak, economic pain Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:17 AM PDT  With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel's economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. The flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi is symptomatic of what critics see as a bloated, out-of-touch government. One out-of-work Israeli erupted in anger during a live television interview, berating Netanyahu and warning the country is "going to burn" if aid is not given soon.
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