| Pence-Harris debate to unfold as Trump recovers from virus Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:39 PM PDT  Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are poised to meet Wednesday for a debate that will offer starkly different visions for a country confronting escalating crises. The faceoff in Salt Lake City is the most highly anticipated vice presidential debate in recent memory. It will unfold while President Donald Trump recovers at the White House after testing positive last week for the coronavirus and spending several days in the hospital, a serious setback for his campaign that adds pressure on Pence to defend the administration's handling of the pandemic.
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| Chemical weapons watchdog says nerve agent traced in poisoning of Putin critic Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:26 PM PDT  The world's top chemical weapons watchdog said Tuesday that it traced hints of nerve agents in blood and urine samples taken from Alexei Navalny, the outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who fell ill on a flight in August. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement that the samples were marked by "similar structural characteristics" to the toxic Novichok family of agents, and that the finding amounted to "a matter of grave concern." The global organization's report reinforced the diagnosis of Berlin's Charité hospital, which treated the Russian opposition leader and said he was poisoned.
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| Trump campaign's next steps unclear after White House return Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:55 PM PDT  President Donald Trump's return to the White House is poised to reshape the campaign's final four weeks as aides debated Tuesday how to move past an extraordinary setback while grappling with how to send an infected president back on the road. A race that had remained steady throughout the tumult of 2020 now threatens to slip away from the president after he spent 72 hours hospitalized with COVID-19, the very disease that has fundamentally altered the country he leads and the campaign he wanted to run. Trump had stage-managed his dramatic, if reckless, reentry to the White House — tearing off his mask before stepping back inside Monday — and was pushing aides to return to the campaign trail as soon as possible, including to next week's second debate against Biden.
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| John Hagee, prominent megachurch pastor, ill with COVID-19 Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:14 PM PDT  Prominent megachurch pastor and conservative activist John Hagee has been diagnosed with COVID-19, his son announced during services at the Texas church his father founded. The 80-year-old pastor received the diagnosis Friday and was recovering after the illness was detected early, Matt Hagee said during Sunday morning services at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. John Hagee founded a ministry that the church says now has 22,000 members.
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| Nearly 40 nations criticize China's human rights policies Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:36 PM PDT |
| UN concerned at Turkish move to open up Cypriot beach Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:17 PM PDT  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern Tuesday over Turkey's decision to open to the public a beach in Cyprus that has been closed since war divided the island 46 years ago. Guterres' spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement that the U.N. chief urged all sides to enter into talks to resolve differences and repeated his readiness to arrange such a meeting. European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell echoed Guterres, saying the 27-member bloc is "deeply concerned" about the development that "will cause greater tensions and may complicate efforts" to restart negotiations.
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| AP FACT CHECK: False claims fly in Alabama U.S. Senate ads Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:07 PM PDT  Misleading claims are flying in attack ads for the closely watched Alabama U.S. Senate race between Sen. Doug Jones, a Deep South Democrat, and his Republican opponent Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach. Tuberville, a political newcomer, is challenging Jones, who pulled off a close win during a special election three years ago. Republicans hope to win back the once reliably red Senate seat.
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| Countering Trump, US officials defend integrity of election Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:26 AM PDT  Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with President Donald Trump's efforts to discredit the vote. "I'm here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher," Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in the video message. The video appeared to be aimed at soothing jangled nerves of voters ahead of an election made unique by an expected surge in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Supporters mirror Trump's rosy projection of virus infection Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:04 AM PDT  As an infected President Donald Trump urged Americans not to fear the virus that has killed more than 1 million people worldwide, many of his supporters were already in sync with that message. In interviews with Republican voters at Trump events and campaign offices, very few saw the president's illness as a cautionary tale. In Ohio, a "Women for Trump" group gathered indoors — many maskless and not distanced — to pray for the president's recovery.
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| Claudia Conway Isn’t Here To “Save Us” — & Neither Is Gen Z Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:49 AM PDT  President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis was revealed by POTUS himself via Twitter, but the almost-inevitable news of former counselor Kellyanne Conway testing positive came from a different, unexpected source: her 15-year-old daughter, Claudia, who posted about it on TikTok. Not long after that reveal, Claudia announced that she, too, tested positive for the coronavirus. Awful — if not surprising — as it is that any parent would put their child's health at risk so as to better fit in with the death cult that is the GOP, what really seems to have sparked Twitter's interest is the way in which Claudia has been making numerous comments about Trump's symptoms, including calling him out for being much sicker than he appears. And as a result, the teenager is being lauded as a Trump administration whistleblower — the Gen Z savior that America needs right now. Ok. So much about the president's current health condition is confusing. After Trump left Walter Reed, videos showed him visibly struggling to breathe and not wearing a mask, despite the fact that he said he was doing better. His statements about feeling better are also seemingly contradicted by the battery of medicines he's taking, which doctors say are only given when a COVID patient's symptoms are severe. There's seemingly no clarity. And this is where Claudia Conway comes in: On Tiktok, Conway began commenting on videos of Trump, writing, "guys lmao he's not doing 'better'" insinuating that President Trump is suffering from more severe COVID-19 symptoms than he or his doctors are letting on. "He is so ridiculous. Apparently he is doing badly lol and they are doing what they can to stabilize him," she clarified. Almost instantly, Claudia's comments began being called out on Twitter, as people began offering thanks, and calling her a "hero" and "savior" for us all. "Who knew that a 15 year old on TikTok would be the one to save us from this nightmare," read one Tweet. A Twitter employee also reposted one of Claudia's TikTok videos and said, "Is Claudia Conway an American hero? Who can be sure." Many began referring to her as the only trustworthy news source on the White House COVID-19 outbreak, even comparing her to teen girls in YA novels who lead revolutions. Eventually, Kellyanne Conway took to Twitter to tell people to back off. "My daughter, Claudia, is beautiful & brilliant. She has access to top doctors & health care & lives comfortably. Like all of you, she speculates on social media. Yet she's 15. You are adults. We have COVID, but it's clear who's really sick." While Kellyanne may only be trying to save her own reputation by dismissing the frenzy around her daughter, she is right about one thing: Claudia is only 15, and to label her a "hero" or the only "hope" during a world-wide pandemic that has killed over 210,000 Americans, grossly implies that it's the job of a kid to clean up the current mess. Unfortunately, that kind of generational projection is not anything new. Teenagers — which now means members of Gen Z — have long been asked to bail out America. Those putting Claudia on a pedestal as a hero who will save us from the Trump administration's lies are fetishizing her in the same way they did with the Parkland teens, or climate activist Greta Thunberg — the supposed "voices of a generation" who have demanded justice where adults have failed to. After facing an unspeakable tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, a group of students ignited a nation-wide conversation about school shootings, taking political leaders to task on implementing new gun control laws. David Hogg and his friends asked Congress to "please take action." And they quickly became known as the faces fighting back against mass shootings in American schools. Now-17-year-old Thunberg was no different: Her school walkouts were the largest global climate strike in history, making her some sort of "hero" among fellow activists. But when Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations in September 2019, she said something unexpected: "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us for hope? How dare you." Thunberg's point is unmistakable: Teens are not here to "save" anyone, and this isn't their battle to fight. Claudia Conway is only the latest in the conversation around how "Gen Z will save us." Much like Thunberg, the Parkland teens, and many other youth activists, Claudia is just a kid who is trying to do better than she thinks the generation before her did. But making her — or any other kids — a savior is not the solution. "I'm afraid we're always reading too much into every action of this generation," Michelle Ciccone, a K-12 curriculum specialist told The New York Times in June. It's unclear how Claudia even accessed so much information about Trump. We can assume that she is privy to certain truths that the greater public is not because of her parents' level of access. But what is clear is that we should not be relying on Claudia to share this information and be some kind of hero. It's understandable that so many people are craving any kind of information that they can get. We are all scared and we all want answers. But we just shouldn't be asking a teenager to deliver them. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Claudia Conway Says She Has COVID On TikTokTrump Spreads Lies About COVID Even While IllWhat Exactly Is The "Army For Trump"?
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| Dozens injured in clashes in Iraq's south during pilgrimage Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:17 AM PDT  Dozens of people were wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters in Iraq's south Tuesday during the annual Shiite Muslim pilgrimage of Arbaeen. The violence took place at a location between two important shrines in the holy city of Karbala as thousands of worshippers made their way to the area to observe Arbaeen, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. The Shiite pilgrimage marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammed's grandson.
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| U.N. Calls For Probe Into Killing Of South Korean Official Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:09 AM PDT  The United Nations is calling for an impartial investigation into the killing of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korean soldiers last month. The U.N.'s Seoul office called on both countries to investigate the matter and make the findings public.
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| Military leaders quarantined after official tests positive Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:06 AM PDT  The nation's top military leaders were under self-quarantine Tuesday after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and the vice chairman, Gen. John Hyten, were among those affected, U.S. officials said. Military leaders who were in contact with Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, were told Monday evening that he had tested positive, and they were all tested Tuesday morning, according to several U.S. officials.
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| Funeral for Reporter Who Set Herself on Fire Reawakens Russia’s Passion to Stand up to Putin Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:02 AM PDT  NIZHNY NOVGOROD—A funeral was held Tuesday for Irina Slavina, a celebrated local journalist, who set herself on fire outside the police headquarters in Nizhny Novgorod and died.But this is not a story about a reporter committing suicide.Hundreds of thousands read Slavina's website, Koza.Press, the bravest media outlet in the city. Her readers knew exactly what she meant in her final Facebook post: "Blame the Russian Federation for my death," it said.The authorities have been persecuting, investigating, and interrogating this sensible and dignified woman for years. On October 1, local law enforcement broke down the door to her apartment and confiscated her computer. "It was the last straw," opposition politician Alexey Sadomovsky told Kholod.Hundreds of citizens who cherish free, independent media came to say goodbye at the House of Scientists. They were here to listen, and to understand what has happened not only to this reporter but to freedom of speech in Russia.Images of a happy, blonde woman were projected onto a screen in the hall. The auditorium filled up with sobbing men and women, their faces hidden beneath medical masks. People came up to the stage and placed flowers around a white coffin that contained Slavina's burnt remains.The funeral soon turned into a something more—a significant event in a country where political rallies, even one-man protests, have been banned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kremlin critics, Slavina's friends, civil society leaders, and ordinary readers of Koza.Press took turns at the microphone. They spoke out. Some demanded the city rename Gorky Street after 47-year-old "martyr" Slavina, others thanked their favorite journalist for her "bravery," for "demonstrating dignity," for "waking us up."A prominent human rights defender, Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, came up to the microphone: "Stop being afraid, stop being silent! We should not just sit and grieve, she challenged all of us," he bellowed.A voice from the hushed crowd, rang out: "That's right!"The crowd in the auditorium burst into applause as Dmitriyevsky continued: "We cannot accept Irina's horrible act but if even her burning herself to ashes is not going to wake us up, we are just dust in our own emptiness. Let's face the truth: The power has killed her, the symbol of that KGB power is hanging on that wall."A woman in an elegant suit approached the portrait of Vladimir Putin on the wall by the staircase. She tried to hang a teddy bear's mask over it, but she was stopped by the building's security. A young man followed suit, trying to cover Putin's image with a stop sign on a piece of paper. Several people asked the security guard to allow them cover "the face of the power that killed Irina" but the guard stood firm.Slavina's daughter Margorita Nekrasova, watched the ceremony stoically. The day before she stood with a sign on the city's central street: "While my mother was burning, you were silent."Then she posted on Slavina's Facebook: "I will bring them to justice, mama."The funeral turned into a demonstration; people stopped being afraid to say what they really thought. Well-respected journalist Svetlana Kukina stood at the microphone: "When the time comes and all the bots who write disgusting things about Slavina get paid and shut up, I hope we turn Slavina into a symbol of all the right, just, light things that will help my city and my country become a better place."She was struggling to hold back tears, she was a close friend of Slavina. They had both been reporters in 1990s, solid democrats, who remembered the time when this city full of secret military factories was closed to foreigners. Boris Nemtsov, the city's first democratic governor, opened it up in 1991 and changed its name from Gorky back to its historical name, Nizhny Novgorod.Next year, this beautiful city on Russia's main river, the Volga, will celebrate its 800th anniversary. "Social media's been blowing up, thousands of Slavina's supporters want the street, where she died, to be named after her," young journalist, Iyulianna Guseva, told The Daily Beast.To understand what Slavina's generation of journalists were made of, one needs to think back to the tumultuous time of Perestroika, Viktoria Azarova, a local tourist guide and culture expert, told The Daily Beast. "I remember Slavina working day and night without weekends, even when she was taking care of her seriously ill husband, she used to say, 'A real reporter burns in her soul,'" Azarova said.The day before her self-immolation, Slavina posted a list of four names with a comment: "Here is a full of list of those serving the investigation and trying to shut everybody's mouth on the case of Mikhail Iosilevich."The authorities were investigating Iosilevich for his alleged cooperation with exiled Putin critic, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He is a businessman but also the leader of a parody cult, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.Investigators raided Slavina's apartment last Thursday. Slavina described what happened on social media: "I was still naked at 6 a.m., had to dress up, while a woman, a stranger was watching me." Officials took away all Slavina's equipment, including an expensive video camera, her husband's and her daughter's laptops. "Our journalists have very low incomes, can hardly afford buying a new camera. Irina's Koza.Press existed on crowdfunding," Azarova said.Koza.Press could not afford to pay freelancers, so Slavina wrote most of the articles herself. Court decisions "strangled" her, Dmitriyevsky told The Daily Beast. Once last year the reporter had to pay an approximately $1,000 dollar fine for "disrespecting" authorities after she published a piece mocking a new memorial to Joseph Stalin in the region.Next time she had to pay almost as much for reporting on the first COVID-19 patient in the small town of Kstovo. "I read that article, every word in it was true," Konstantin Yefimov, a taxi driver in the town of Kstovo, told The Daily Beast. "She was the first journalist to talk about the epidemic in our town, so they immediately tried to squash her."A crowd of about 300 people marched from the House of Scientists to the police headquarters on Gorky Street on Tuesday afternoon. At the ceremony, journalist Valentina Buzmakova remembered the Soviet times: "I sometimes think it was easier even in Stalin's times. Today the state machine is lying to us systematically, it is impossible to breathe, to scream, so Slavina chose to do what she did," Buzmakova said.Buzmakova, as well as dozens of Russian professionals and independent journalists, condemned the authorities for pushing Slavina to her last, terrifying protest.If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.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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| The Latest: Top Trump aide Stephen Miller tests positive Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:00 AM PDT  Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump's senior adviser and speechwriter, tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday. A senior administration official said Miller had previously tested negative as White House officials have tried to contain an outbreak on the complex that has infected Trump, the first lady and more than a dozen other aides and associates. Miller is an architect of the president's "America First" foreign policy and restrictive immigration measures.
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| Belarus opposition leader meets with Merkel and vows to continue struggle Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:48 AM PDT  The exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday as European leaders sought to keep up the pressure on the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. In a clear message to Minsk, Mrs Tsikhanouskaya was given a working visit usually reserved for visiting heads of government. "We need mediation in Belarus between the opposition and the regime," Mrs Tsikhanouskaya said ahead of the meeting. "Protests in Belarus are not about a fight against Russia or in favour of Europe: they're a result of an internal Belarusian crisis." Mrs Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to flee Belarus following August's presidential election, is touring Europe as she seeks to maintain international pressure on Mr Lukashenko. Her meeting with Mrs Merkel follows talks with Emmanuel Macron in France last week. Britain and the European Union have refused to accept the official results of August's election, which Mr Lukashenko claims to have won by a landslide. Mr Tsikhanouskaya said her main aim remains is to persuade him to hold fresh presidential elections.
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| Lebanon affirms deal to take back migrants sailing to Cyprus Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:45 AM PDT |
| Liberia man drowns rescuing dropped $20 note in Monrovia river Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:12 AM PDT  Street hawker Tamba Lamine dived into a river and found the money but then disappeared, police say.
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| Latam, Caribbean economies must ramp up stimulus to stay afloat amid crisis - UN agency Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:58 AM PDT |
| Syrian chemical weapons victims ask German prosecutors to investigate Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:46 AM PDT  A criminal complaint filed in Germany is the first to seek to apply universal jurisdiction to Syrian officials accused of killing hundreds of civilians in chemical attacks on rebel-held areas during the country's nearly decade-long civil war. Lawyers representing victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria filed the complaint with German federal public prosecutors on Tuesday, saying it outlined new evidence showing the Syrian government carried out the attacks. Germany has universal jurisdiction laws that offer a rare legal avenue against the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Russia and China have previously vetoed attempts at the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court. Tuesday's complaint is the first to pursue action over the alleged use of chemical weapons by Damascus on Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shaykhun in 2017. The attacks, which the complaint attributes to the Syrian government, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,500 Syrians. The Syrian government denies using chemical weapons against its own civilians. A UN-commissioned investigation concluded in 2016 that Syrian government forces had used chlorine and sarin gas. The complaint was the result of a two year investigation by three organisations; the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and Syrian Archive. "We've brought prosecutors evidence that we think significantly extends what was previously available with regards to these attacks," said Steve Kostas, lead counsel with the Open Society Justice Initiative. This included tracing the chain of command for the 2017 Khan Shaykhun attack to the highest level of the Syrian government, he said. Other countries, including the UK, recognise the principle of universal jurisdiction, under which courts can prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity anywhere in the world, regardless of where they were committed. But activists have favoured German courts because prosecutors have proved willing to bring cases to court in recent years. In April, two alleged Syrian intelligence officers went on trial in Germany on charges of crimes against humanity, murder, torture and rape. The prosecution is ongoing. German prosecutors have also opened an ongoing "structural investigation" into crimes committed during the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011. "German prosecutors have said they will accept this complaint and incorporate it into their ongoing investigation," Mr Kostas said. If German prosecutors proceed with an investigation they could eventually seek arrest warrants against individuals named in the complaint. "This is an important first step. Achieving justice for these crimes will be a long process. But we think it's essential for prosecutors to begin compiling evidence and building cases now so high level officials can be prosecuted in the future," Mr Kostas said. "We represent 17 victims of these attacks. It's important for our clients that these horrific attacks are not forgotten, that these crimes are seen as the atrocities that they were, and that the perpetrators are held accountable," he concluded.
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| Florida governor extends voter registration after site crash Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:02 AM PDT  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the state's voter registration deadline Tuesday after he said heavy traffic crashed the state's online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month's presidential election. DeSantis extended the deadline that expired Monday until 7 p.m. Tuesday. In addition to online registration, DeSantis ordered elections, motor vehicle and tax collectors offices to stay open until that hour for anyone who wanted to register in person.
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| Germany: OPCW confirms nerve agent used in Navalny poisoning Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:54 AM PDT  The global chemical watchdog group has confirmed Germany and other countries' findings that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a Soviet-era nerve agent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Tuesday. Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, had carried out its own analysis of samples taken from Navalny, and they "agree with the results already from special laboratories in Germany, Sweden and France." Navalny, a corruption investigator who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic, was flown to Germany two days after falling ill on Aug. 20 during a domestic flight in Russia.
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| Flooding hits six million people in East Africa Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:48 AM PDT  The number affected by heavy seasonal rains has risen more than five fold since 2016, the UN says.
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| Iran reports record infections in 'third wave' of virus Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:37 AM PDT  Iran reported record high coronavirus cases yesterday, a day after the health ministry warned the whole country was on red alert amid a 'third wave' of surging infections, The ministry registered a record 4,151 new cases over the past 24 hours, a period in which 227 patients died. The worst-hit country in the Middle East, Iran has now reported 479,825 COVID-19 cases and 27,419 deaths from the virus. All of Iran's 31 provinces are now considered hotspots, with the capital the worst affected city. Tehran entered a partial week-long lockdown on Saturday, with face masks mandatory in public. Mosques, libraries, schools, and public institutions have been closed. Other cities across the country have also reimposed partial lockdowns. Authorities have blamed citizens for the spread of the disease. On Saturday President Hassan Rouhani said only 53 per cent of citizens had observed containment regulations, including wearing masks and social distancing. He threatened fines for non-compliance and warned that anyone who failed to self-quarantine for 14 days after testing positive for the virus would face "the highest punishment".
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| New York to impose new shutdowns in coronavirus hot spots Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:25 AM PDT  New York state will reinstate restrictions on businesses, houses of worship and schools in and near areas where coronavirus cases are spiking, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, saying the severity of shutdowns would vary by proximity to the hot spots. Set to take effect no later than Friday, the new rules will affect parts of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, sections of Orange and Rockland counties in the Hudson Valley, and an area within Binghamton in the Southern Tier. The planned restrictions include school and business shutdowns in some areas; others will see limitations on gatherings and restaurant diners.
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| 18 killed in bombing in Turkish-controlled Syrian town Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:27 AM PDT |
| Iran Sees Venezuela's Unrest as Chance to 'Create Mischief,' US General Says Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:06 AM PDT |
| Global Cockpit Display for Land Vehicles Industry Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:18 AM PDT |
| As Bangladesh hosts over a million Rohingya refugees, a scholar explains what motivated the country to open up its borders Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Over 1.1 million Rohingyas continue to remain stranded in crowded camps in Bangladesh while the international community fails to provide a resolution to the crisis. When in 2017 this lower-middle-income, majority Muslim country opened its borders to the Rohingya fleeing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, they were largely welcomed. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated back then: "We have the ability to feed 160 million people of Bangladesh and we have enough food security to feed the 700,000 refugees." It wasn't just the government. Many private citizens came forward to offer assistance. Existing data indicates that 86% of residents in Teknaf, which is the closest administrative region to the Rakhine state from which most Rohingya originate, were involved in providing emergency relief and housing to the new arrivals. In an era when many rich nations have tried to stop the entry of refugees, Bangladesh's decision to accept refugees in the early days of the crisis could seem puzzling. A scholar of refugees and forced migration, I spent the summer of 2019 in Bangladesh to understand the forces that shaped this initial humanitarian response. Faith and moralityMy ongoing research indicates that many factors played a critical role in Bangladesh's political decision to host the Rohingya, including the country's cultural and religious identity, which centers around ideas of community and responding to those in need.Interviews conducted with political leaders, NGOs and local volunteers revealed that the shared Islamic faith and the Muslim identity of many of the Bangladeshis and the vast majority of the Rohingya galvanized humanitarian assistance in two specific ways. First, the Islamic concepts of "zakat," obligatory charity, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, and that of "sadaqa," or voluntary charity, played crucial roles in motivating private citizens to offer emergency assistance. Both these concepts emphasize the imperative to give to those in need. Religious leaders also used these concepts to encourage donations. In her 2019 address to the United Nations, Prime Minister Hasina referred to humanitarianism in Islam to explain her border policy. Second, the fact that the Muslim Rohingya in particular were being persecuted because of their faith compounded the sense of urgency among those who identified as Muslim to assist the Rohingya. While the vast majority of the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh were Muslim, smaller numbers of Hindu and Christian Rohingya who arrived with the influx also received emergency assistance and shelter.However, not all those who were interviewed invoked religion to explain their actions. A medical volunteer interviewed for the research said, "Why did we respond? Because it was … the moral thing to do, the humanitarian thing to do. Why shouldn't we? The crisis had literally arrived at our house. How could we even think of turning them away?" Role of culture and historyA recurrent theme in my research was the emphasis around Bangladeshi culture with its focus on sharing one's resources with others in need. Furthermore, like many other countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, which are commonly referred to as the global south, Bangladesh has historically had a fluid border – with Myanmar and India. People move across these borders for agricultural purposes. Marriages between Rohingya and Bangladeshis have been common, and the local population and the Rohingya are able to understand one another's languages.According to a 2018 survey, 81% of respondents believed that the local integration of the Rohingya is possible given that the vast majority of the local population and the Rohingya share many religious, cultural and linguistic practices. Memories of past traumaThe legacy of a painful past also played a role for many Bangladeshis. In 1971, during Bangladesh's war of independence from then West Pakistan (now Pakistan) 10 million Bengalis sought refuge in India to escape a campaign of genocide by the then West Pakistan military. A number of those interviewed for my research underscored the historical memory of this event as being a catalyst for explaining Bangladesh's decision to open its borders. Prime Minister Hasina invoked this history in her 2017 address at the United Nations. She talked about her own experience as a refugee following the 1975 assassination of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Known as the "Father of the Nation," Mujibur Rahman played a key role in Bangladeshi's independence movement.A researcher of Bangladesh's independence struggle stated, "The loss she suffered with the assassination of her whole family except her one sister who was abroad at the time, and the inability to return to her country following the tragedy has had a lasting impact on her life … something about the desperation of those people connected with her on a very personal level and she wanted to do something to help." Leadership in uncertain timesIn recent years, Bangladesh has demonstrated a growing interest in matters of international peace and security. It has received awards from the United Nations for fighting climate change and meeting goals of its immunization program, and it remains the largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations. Since 2017, Bangladesh has submitted three proposals at the United Nations General Assembly to address the Rohingya crisis, including in 2019, drawing support from Rohingya activists. Bangladesh, however, is not a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the post-World War II legal document that defines the term "refugee," the obligations of states to protect them, including not returning any individual to a country where they would face torture, or degrading treatment. Instead, Bangladesh refers to the Rohingya as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs). This means that, officially, the Rohingya do not have a legally protected status in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, low-and middle-income countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are not state parties to the convention, are among the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world. Disproportionate burdenHowever, in recent times, as the Rohingya situation becomes more protracted, Bangladesh is starting to face internal tensions as prospects for repatriation become less likely.The large refugee population has imposed significant infrastructural, social, financial and environmental pressures and has raised concerns about land insecurity – a serious issue in an overpopulated country. My research further indicated that the significant presence of international NGOs in the Cox's Bazar area, home to the world's largest refugee camp, is impacting the local economy by driving up prices. Local tensions have emerged over government and international aid that has been largely geared toward the Rohingya. In a change of tone, at a three-day Dhaka Global Dialogue in 2019, Prime Minister Hasina referred to the Rohingya as a "threat to the security" of the region. In 2020, Bangladesh began building barbed-wire fencing and installing watchtowers around the camps, citing security concerns. A restriction on access to high-speed internet in the camps was imposed but recently lifted. With the emergence of COVID-19 in the camps, additional challenges have emerged. These have included the spread of infection in cramped camps that lack access to water and testing as well as limited understanding about the virus. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]Meanwhile, Myanmar's reluctance to ensure a safe return for the Rohingya, and the realities of COVID-19, have made the prospects of repatriation increasingly dim. As Bangladesh grapples with the pandemic while serving as one of the world's largest refugee host countries, it serves as a reminder of the disproportionate responsibility carried by low-income countries of hosting refugees and the challenges therein.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * I visited the Rohingya camps in Myanmar and here is what I saw * Myanmar charged with genocide of Rohingya Muslims: 5 essential readsTazreena Sajjad 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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| US court orders Iran to pay $1.4 bn damages to missing intelligence agent Robert Levinson's family Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:03 AM PDT  A US court has ordered Iran to pay $1.45 billion to the family of a former FBI agent who is believed to have been detained by the Iranian government while on a secret CIA mission to an Iranian island. Robert Levinson, who disappeared aged 58 on Kish island in March 2007, is believed by his family and the US government to have died in Iranian custody aged 71 or 72 after becoming the longest-held hostage in US history. US District Judge Timothy Kelly signed an order last Thursday awarding his family $107 million in compensation and punitive damages of $1.3 billion. Iranian state media and officials have not acknowledged the ruling in the case, which Iran did not defend. The order is unlikely to be paid in full, with damages coming from a US government fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism, but Mr Levinson's family welcomed the judgement. "This judgment is the first step in the pursuit of justice for Robert Levinson, an American patriot who was kidnapped and subjected to unimaginable suffering for more than 13 years," his family said. "Until now, Iran has faced no consequences for its actions. Judge Kelly's decision won't bring Bob home, but we hope that it will serve as a warning against further hostage taking by Iran," the family said, adding: "We intend to find any and every avenue, and pursue all options, to seek justice for Robert Levinson." In March, Mr Levinson's family said information they received from US officials suggested he had died in Iranian custody. Iran denied this, saying he had left the country "years ago". Mr Levinson disappeared on Kish island after meeting an American Islamic militant who fled to Iran while facing charges over the murder of an Iranian embassy official in Washington. Months later, US government sources acknowledged that Mr Levinson had an informal contractual relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency. Shortly after he went missing, Iran said its security forces had detained Mr Levinson. That statement was later retracted and nothing was heard of him until 2010, when a video was released showing him looking haggard and thin. "I am not in very good health," he said in the footage in which he appealed to the US government to "answer the requests of the group" holding him. "I am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine," he said.
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| Belarus opposition leader sees inspiration in fallen Berlin wall Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:02 AM PDT |
| UN Libya rights probe stalled due to cashflow problems Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:44 AM PDT  The United Nations does not have enough funds to investigate rights violations in strife-torn Libya this year, the Human Rights Council decided Tuesday.
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| UN report says South Sudan has healed little since civil war Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:33 AM PDT |
| Kuwait's new emir asks Cabinet to stay on, despite custom Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:37 AM PDT  The new emir of Kuwait, who ascended the throne following the death of his half-brother last week, has asked the Cabinet to continue performing its duties despite the prime minister's offer to resign, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday. The prime minister of the tiny oil-rich Gulf country and his Cabinet made the offer in a nod to the new emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, giving him the chance to appoint a replacement as custom dictates. The move may signal Sheikh Nawaf's desire to follow the political path charted by his predecessor, the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, and also allows Kuwait to avoid the difficulties of forming a new government ahead of elections, when the Cabinet will end its term anyway.
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| Trump's top federal prosecutors are overwhelmingly white men Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The nation's top federal prosecutors have become less diverse under President Donald Trump than under his three predecessors, leaving white men overwhelmingly in charge at a time of national demonstrations over racial inequality and the fairness of the criminal justice system. The Associated Press analyzed government data from nearly three decades and found that a persistent lack of diversity in the ranks of U.S. attorneys has reached a nadir in the Trump administration. Eighty-five percent of his Senate-confirmed U.S attorneys are white men, according to AP's analysis, compared with 58% in Democratic President Barack Obama's eight years, 73% during Republican George W. Bush's two terms and at most 63% under Democrat Bill Clinton.
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| China's 'three red lines' strike delicate balance between curbing real estate debt and local government finances Posted: 06 Oct 2020 02:30 AM PDT  As China moves to tackle excessive borrowing in the real estate sector, it is walking a tightrope between providing cash-strapped local governments with revenues from land sales and keeping a lid on rising house prices.Chinese regulators in August tightened funding conditions for 12 major property developers, setting caps on the amount of debt they could hold in relation to cash on hand, the value of their assets and as a proportion of equity in their businesses - dubbed "the three red lines".Last week, mainland financial newspaper the 21st Century Business Herald reported authorities had asked large banks to keep the proportion of property loans below 30 per cent of all new loans, citing unidentified sources.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Property sales growth has surged this year, helping the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. But it has also raised the alarm among top Communist Party officials who fret speculation in the real estate sector could increase house prices further.In July, the Politburo - the party's top decision-making body - stressed President Xi Jinping's mantra that houses are "for living in, not for speculation".Given attempts to reign in property funding, analysts expect local government land sales to developers to weaken in coming months, something that could hurt regional finances and weigh on the broader economy."We don't think Beijing wants to kill the property sector. After all, the economy is still running below its trend growth," Macquarie Group said in a report last month."But it does send out a strong signal that Beijing wants to cool down the sector to save the ammo for the future. As such, property investment could peak soon."Zhang Ming, a researcher with the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said in August the central government does not want to see a sharp drop in property prices because it could cause risks for commercial banks, private wealth and local governments.Land sales have been an integral part of China's government finances at all levels over the past decade, according to research by Kate Jaquet, a portfolio manager at US-based Seafarer Capital Partners.In China, land is owned by the state and the sale of land and user rights have been rising steadily since 2010, making up 38.6 per cent of China's central government revenue last year, compared to 35.5 per cent in 2018, and 30.2 per cent in 2017, Seafarer Capital Partners said."One plausible explanation as to why Chinese authorities have allowed the listed portion of the sector to lever up so substantially, contrary to their stated commitment to reduce leverage in the financial system, is that this arrangement has been beneficial to the financial standing of the central and local governments," Jaquet said in the June report.Despite Beijing's push for local governments to increase the use of municipal bonds for financing, regional economies still rely on land sales for a significant portion of revenue, said Nicholas Borst, vice-president and director of China research at Seafarer Capital Partners."This creates a dilemma where the central government wants to reduce risks in the property market, but fears that acting too aggressively might damage local government finances," Borst told the South China Morning Post.In fact, the central government has granted provincial governments greater autonomy over land conversions this year in a bid to promote land sales.Local government proceeds from land sales grew 5.2 per cent in the first half of 2020, compared to a 1 per cent contraction over the same period last year, driven the State Council's more flexible land policy introduced in March at the height of the pandemic in China, according to a report by Moody's published in September.Local governments typically acquire land from farmers at knock-down prices and re-sell the land for property and industrial development, but the property market often generates higher revenue than industry.During a slowdown of the property market between 2014-15, local governments saw a decline in land sales revenue of almost 25 per cent, reflecting strong correlation between property market performance and money from sales.Land sales have been an integral part of China's government finances. Photo: Reuters alt=Land sales have been an integral part of China's government finances. Photo: ReutersLocal governments are facing increasing financial strain across the board this year, thanks to lower tax revenues caused by weaker economic conditions and orders from Beijing to cut business taxes to help the recovery.While the economy has rebounded in recent months, tax and non-tax revenue among local governments declined by 7.9 per cent in the first six months of this year, well below the official target of minus 3.5 per cent for 2020 and 3.3 per cent growth in the same period last year, Moody's said.Ni Pengfei, director of the Centre for City and Competitiveness at CASS, believes the latest property funding curbs are aimed at reducing debt in cities and sectors that rely heavily on the property market."[The three red lines] target certain cities, certain developers, certain financial institutions and relevant organisations," Ni said in a blog post last month. "The targets are getting more precise."The impact on the real estate sector is yet to be seen but if they are executing steadily and appropriately, it could be meaningful, helping to direct funds into the economy for development purposes."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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| Top Israeli, UAE diplomats meet in Berlin for talks Posted: 06 Oct 2020 02:26 AM PDT  The foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Israel met in Berlin on Tuesday for talks that Germany hopes will strengthen nascent ties between the two nations and bolster broader Middle East peace efforts. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was a "great honor that the Israeli and Emirati foreign ministers have chosen Berlin as the location for their historic first meeting" since the two countries agreed to normalize relations in a U.S.-brokered deal.
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| South Korean Activists Accuse China of Using Huawei to Hack Their Election Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:51 AM PDT  Conservative critics of South Korea's government persist in pressing claims of widespread fraud in the country's April elections, pointing to what they say is new evidence—in the form of alleged electronic distortions and mail-in balloting irregularities—to suggest the country's ruling party won its majority in the National Assembly with expertise and advice from China.The ongoing controversy comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and his Justice Department claim interference from China, not Russia, is the biggest threat to voting in the U.S. Facebook has already taken down a slew of China-linked pages targeting both Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. (Meanwhile a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower says Trump allies interfered with intelligence reports to downplay Russia's threat.)Charges of cheating in the South Korea assembly elections gained steam with the publication in May of a lengthy study, "Anomalies and Frauds in the Korea 2020 Parliamentary Election," by a University of Michigan professor and expert in detecting election fraud, Walter Mebane. "The statistical model," said Mebane, "offers evidence that fraudulent votes occurred in the election that may have changed some election outcomes."North Korea Killed South Korean Official and Set Fire to the Body to Prevent COVID Outbreak, Says SeoulYoo Gyeong-joon, former head of Statistics Korea, disagreed with Mebane's testing, saying he "lacked [an] understanding of the Korean electoral system." Nonetheless, conservative Korean activists, citing Mebane's paper, claim as many as 3 million of the 20 million votes cast in April were fraudulent. They are also criticizing mainstream conservative politicians for having accepted the results of those elections in which liberal adherents of President Moon Jae-in won 180 of the 300 assembly seats. Conservatives were left with 103 seats, their lowest showing in 60 years.The voting, they argue, was allegedly tainted by computer tricks engineered by the Chinese Communist Party with the connivance of Huawei, China's premier technology company. Activists have alleged that Huawei devices were hidden inside ballot-sorting hardware, and Choi Won-mog, a law professor at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, even claims that the Chinese Communist Party's slogan, "Follow the Party," was embedded as secret code in statistical data of the election results.Choi—who has floated conspiracy theories that China also interfered in elections in Turkey, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Iran and Kyrgyzstan—accuses the ruling party of altering election servers to cover their tracks. He and lawyer Park Joo-hyeon are convinced that China smuggled its own citizens into the country as election supervisors, and they claim that 18,000 fake South Korea passports—supposedly made for Chinese officials to pose as Koreans—were allegedly discovered on an external hard drive dumped near the Incheon International Airport. "Normal citizens of Korea examined the list of election supervisors and found many 'Chinese' names," Choi said.South Korea's Old Torture Factory Is Making Nice With Kim Jong UnMin Kyung-wook, a former assembly member who lost his bid for reelection in April, added, "This election in Korea is high-tech digital fraud. At the center of the fraud are computer services." Now, he claimed, "authorities are tampering with the evidence."The activists, however, are up against a wall of skepticism from some of their one-time conservative friends.Among the skeptics is an outspoken political figure, Ha Tae-kyung, who has accused Min of "merely dividing the party, hindering innovation" and making the party "a mockery of the people and an international disgrace." Activists say mainline conservatives just want to get along with the liberal government to hold onto comfortable business and political relationships.Korean officials have shrugged off the interference claims, attributing them to disgruntled opposition politicos, calling them conspiracy theories and pointedly ignoring them. They've pressured the Korean media not to disseminate the claims and have banned rightist protesters from staging demonstrations—ostensibly for fear of spreading the coronavirus, which Korea has been notably successful in keeping under control.Yet even as the South Korean activists' claims of election interference have come under fire, foreign analysts say they, too, are concerned about discrepancies in the voting data."The part that I found most convincing was the evidence showing the percentage of people who voted in the various districts," said Bruce Bennett, longtime Korea expert at the Rand Corporation. "The districts close to and especially over 100 percent voting are almost certainly cases of fraud. With close elections like you often have in Korea, you can make a big difference by even a modest amount of ballot box stuffing.""Whoever put together the fraud should have avoided getting voting percentages larger than 100 percent," he said. "The fact that they did not shows they were not well organized. But the fact that the turnout in many districts was over or near 100 percent does say that the fraud was widespread."And "if ballot boxes were stuffed," Bennett added, "some election officials were dishonest and likely did facilitate other forms of election fraud."U.S. officials in Korea and Washington have been notably uninterested in fraud claims ever since the U.S. ambassador, Harry Harris, congratulated the liberals on their success in the first flush of victory. In fact, accusations of fraud did not begin to circulate widely until well after the elections as Korean activists began studying the results in minute detail."I've been struck by how little attention the April 2020 elections are getting," said Grant Newsham, a former U.S. marine officer and commentator on Asian affairs, moderating a discussion at the National Press Club in Washington of election rigging in Korea and its lessons for Americans."You're seeing a grassroots movement saying the elections were rigged. The voting patterns were just so improbable, and the National Election Commission response has been half-hearted, non-convincing," he said.Ultimately, said Newsham, "The hardcore is trying to turn Korea into a one-party system."Conspiracy theories about Chinese influence and interference in the elections have regained currency as President Moon loses popularity amid criticisms of his attempts to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his pro-China policy.Accusations of electoral fraud coincide with what may be the worst moment for Moon since his victory in a "snap election" more than three years ago after the Candlelight Revolution toppled his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, impeached and jailed for embezzlement and influence-peddling.Opposition politicians in Seoul are castigating Moon for his weak response to the bizarre killing of a South Korean official who was shot and then cremated by North Koreans in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea off North's south west coast.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed "regret" over the incident, but the North has spurned South Korean requests for an investigation and warned South Korean navy vessels to stop looking for the body of the man, who was wearing a life vest, adrift in the sea, possibly after falling off a South Korean boat.Moon has said he hopes the case will "ignite the spark of dialogue" between North and South—a plaintive plea for renewing North-South talks while conservatives disparage his efforts at reconciliation and dispute the latest assembly elections. The man's brother, in Seoul, said no way was he was trying to defect to the North. Rather, said the brother, authorities had lost precious time before beginning the search, had not sent enough ships and search planes, and had refused to provide "accurate information."The Moon administration has yet to comment on South Korean election interference claims.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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| Global Concrete Floor Coatings Industry Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:38 AM PDT |
| Navalny says Russian authorities poisoned him as threat ahead of parliament elections Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:22 AM PDT |
| Kyrgyzstan annuls parliamentary election results amid unrest Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:11 AM PDT  Officials in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday nullified the results of a weekend parliamentary election after mass protests erupted in the capital of Bishkek and other cities, with opposition supporters seizing government buildings overnight and demanding a new vote. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president and form a new government in the Central Asian country. The decision to cancel the results of Sunday's vote was made to "prevent tension," Central Election Commission head Nurzhan Shaildabekova told the Interfax news agency.
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| Global Construction Aggregates Industry Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:38 AM PDT |
| Russia's Second Wave Raises Risk of Economic Scars Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:19 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Russia has done better than expected in the face of a pandemic and unprecedented oil crisis. That relative stability masks weaknesses that will impede its ability to recover fast, even if it can limit the cost of a second wave.Coronavirus cases are surging again: Russia reported nearly 11,000 new infections on Monday, the most since mid-May. Only around a third were in Moscow. Officials are hoping lockdowns can still be lighter than last time to limit economic pain. Experience, though, suggests that could also draw out the human and financial damage. This, at a time when fading fiscal support, lackluster oil prices, protectionism and geopolitical ructions further darkens unimpressive long-term prospects.It's an uncomfortable reality for the Kremlin, which needs to secure a win in nationwide parliamentary elections next year, the last before a presidential vote in 2024. With a slow convalescence ahead, President Vladimir Putin's promised prosperity looks distant.Russia's $1.6 trillion economy went into the crisis with robust foreign reserves, a wealth fund now worth nearly $180 billion and low debt. It contracted a respectable 8% in the second quarter. Bloomberg Economics forecasts a roughly 4% drop this year, far better than officials expected back in March.One reason is that with its large state-owned enterprises, Russia is less exposed to industries that ground to a halt at the height of shelter-in-place orders. The hotel and restaurant sector tumbled nearly 57% in the three months to June, while culture, leisure and entertainment fell by more than a quarter, as did other services — but that added up to less than 1 percentage point of the total drop, according to ING Groep NV.Russia's lockdown may also have been less draconian than it seemed, and it was lifted quickly in June ahead of a vote on constitutional changes that could keep Putin in power until 2036. While businesses didn't all grind to a halt in the spring, the outbreak remained at a plateau of more than 4,000 new daily infections through the summer. The latest spike may not look as worrying as outbreaks in, say, Spain when taking into account population size. But Russia's surge is broad. It was already threatening a recovery weeks ago, as infections began to rise and shoppers stayed home. Retail and auto sales fell more than expected in August. Polls show Russians are more concerned about jobs than they have been in years. Incomes were below 2014 levels even before the current crisis, and have fallen since. Unemployment hit 6.4% in August. Again, less dramatic than elsewhere, but the number of registered jobseekers still doubled between March and mid-May. As worrying, but harder to measure, is the increase in underemployment.Other problems loom at least as large for the Kremlin, however. Uncertainty overseas stretches from clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have hit the ruble, to November's U.S. presidential ballot and the threat of fresh sanctions. Oil prices are going nowhere.The result is an unusually conservative approach. It's not clear if stimulus measures such as cheap loans and extra unemployment benefits will be renewed, a potential blow to the very consumers that kept Russia going in the first virus wave. Moscow is borrowing in local currency and raising taxes on mining companies to plug the budget deficit, rather than dip into its rainy-day fund.There are a few reasons for optimism, including Moscow's promised vaccine. The adoption of remote work is a potential boon for a country of Russia's scale. There's been an increase in e-commerce too.Yet the economic structure that helped spare Russia at the height of the crisis, combined with political torpor, will hold it back while others bound ahead. Even after the events of 2020, there is little appetite at the top to unpick the conundrums that might spur real growth — say, reducing the state's footprint in the economy, cutting back dependence on oil and gas or reversing protectionist policies. Since 2009, average annual growth has barely exceeded 1%. Absent efforts to change the underlying dynamic, that's the long-term trend the country will return towards. One gauge of concern will be the timing of the legislative election currently due in September 2021. That could be brought forward.If only the economy was as pliant.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Global Construction Management Software Industry Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:18 AM PDT |
| Criminal Complaint Filed Against Assad and His Henchmen in Germany Over Chemical Weapons Attacks Posted: 06 Oct 2020 12:00 AM PDT  A coalition of human rights groups have filed a criminal complaint against Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons henchmen for their alleged role in two attacks against civilians in 2013 and 2017 that reportedly killed almost 900 people. Researchers for the groups say they've collected enough evidence to identify those responsible for the attacks and that it's time for officials to act.The three groups—the Justice Initiative, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Syrian Archive—filed a complaint with Germany's public prosecutor accusing senior Syrian officials of using chemical weapons against civilians in a 2013 attack in Ghouta and a subsequent attack in 2017 against the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun.The coalition, which is representing 17 Syrian victims of the attacks, say they've spent the past two years interviewing witnesses and scouring open sources to produce lengthy dossiers of evidence on the two most notorious chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Assad regime.Hadi al-Khatib, the head of the Syrian Archive, which documents and preserves evidence of war crimes in Syria, urged other European countries to open their own investigations into the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons against civilians."Now is the time for competent European prosecutors to jointly investigate Syria's chemical weapons program and issue arrest warrants for the Syrian officials responsible," Khatib said in a press release.The Syrian army used Sarin-packed rockets against the rebel-held enclave in the suburbs of Damascus followed by a conventional artillery bombardment in 2013, which allegedly killed more than 800 people. In 2017, Syrian Air Force aircraft dropped a Sarin-filled munition on the village of Khan Shaykun, which witnesses said killed between 70 and 100 people. The groups argue that President Assad and his brother, Maher, who allegedly controls the country's chemical arsenal should be prosecuted as well as former Syrian military Chief of Staff Imad Ali Abdullah Ayyoub and Air Force commander Major General Ahmad Ballul because of their leading role in Syria's chain of command.In addition to those top officials, researchers for the human rights groups urged prosecutors to investigate commanders of the Syrian Air Force's 22nd Division and its 685th Squadron for their role in the Khan Shaykun attack. In the Ghouta attack, researchers pointed to commanders of the Syrian Army's 155th Brigade and the Syrian Republican Guard's 105th Brigade and leaders from Syrian Air Force intelligence and the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center as targets for prosecutors to investigate.German law allows for universal jurisdiction against certain crimes, including war crimes and genocide, regardless of whether or not victims and perpetrators have a connection to Germany. In recent years, German prosecutors have taken a leading role in prosecuting alleged Syrian war criminals accused of carrying out atrocities on behalf of both the Assad regime and rebels since the beginning of the country's civil war.Over the summer, German prosecutors put two former Syrian intelligence officers on trial after they fled to Germany as refugees. Authorities say the men engaged in systematic torture of political dissidents on behalf of the Assad regime at the beginning of the civil war.In 2016, prosecutors convicted a German jihadi on war crimes charges after he posed for pictures with the heads of decapitated Assad regime troops while fighting on the rebel side in the conflict.A 2013 investigation by the U.N. found "clear and convincing evidence" that rockets loaded with sarin nerve agent were used in attacks on civilians in Ghouta but the investigators' mandate forbade them from attributing responsibility for the attack. The U.S. government, the European Union, the Arab League, as well as numerous independent investigations by journalists have all indicated that the Syrian military carried out the attacks.A 2017 investigation by the U.N. found that the Syrian Air Force was responsible for the chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykun, an attack carried out in defiance of the Assad regime's claims to have destroyed its chemical weapons arsenal.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Global Consumer Appliance Coatings Industry Posted: 05 Oct 2020 11:38 PM PDT |
| Global Consumer Billing Management Software Industry Posted: 05 Oct 2020 11:18 PM PDT |
| Amid rising infections, Israeli ultra-Orthodox defy lockdown Posted: 05 Oct 2020 11:05 PM PDT  After a revered ultra-Orthodox rabbi died this week from COVID-19, Israeli police thought they had worked out an arrangement with his followers to allow a small, dignified funeral that would conform with public health guidelines under the current coronavirus lockdown. Such violations of lockdown rules by segments of the ultra-Orthodox population have angered a broader Israeli public that is largely complying with the restrictions imposed to halt a raging coronavirus outbreak. The defiance on display has confounded public health experts, tested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's longstanding political alliance with religious leaders and triggered a new wave of resentment from secular Israelis who fear for their health and livelihoods.
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| Global Corrosion Resistant Alloys Industry Posted: 05 Oct 2020 10:58 PM PDT |
