ROME — A young American tourist has confessed to fatally stabbing an Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag and cellphone before dawn Friday, the Italian news agency ANSA and state radio reported.
ANSA, citing unidentified investigators, said two American tourists allegedly snatched the bag of a drug dealer who had swindled them. It said the owner called police to say he had arranged a meeting with the thieves to get back his bag and phone.
When two plainclothes officers arrived at the rendezvous site in Rome’s Prati neighborhood about 3 a.m., there was a scuffle during which Carabinieri paramilitary officer Mario Cerciello Rega was stabbed eight times, ANSA said.
RAI state radio reported early Saturday that the two tourists are 19 years old and had been seen on video surveillance cameras apparently running away with the bag, which was stolen in another neighborhood, Trastevere, which is very popular with young Italians and foreigners for its night life.
The Carabinieri police corps did not immediately confirm the alleged confession.
Questioning continues
Prosecutors were apparently still questioning the Americans at a Carabinieri station in Rome early Saturday.
Police said earlier Friday evening that several people, including two American tourists, were being questioned in the case.
Carabinieri Lt. Col. Orazio Ianniello said the Americans were staying at an upscale hotel near where the policeman was stabbed. He said their identities and hometowns were not being immediately released.
Earlier, the Carabinieri said the thieves had been demanding a 100-euro ($112) ransom to return the bag with the cellphone.
Stabbed in the heart and the back, the officer died shortly after in a hospital, Italian media said.
Cerciello Rega’s station commander, Sandro Ottaviani, said the 35-year-old officer had married his longtime sweetheart about five weeks ago and had returned from his honeymoon just a few days ago.
Colleagues and charities praised Cerciello Rega for his generosity. He sometimes accompanied ailing people to a religious shrine in the town of Loreto, Ottaviani said.
Others recalled that the Carabinieri officer would frequently check on the homeless living in Rome’s main train station, helping dish out hot meals to the hungry, distributing clothes and sometimes even buying lunch for them out of his own pocket.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who commands state police, another national law enforcement branch, vowed to apprehend the killer, saying authorities would “make him pay dearly.”
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.
The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using Defense Department money. Funding for the projects had been frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit over the money proceeded. The court’s four liberal justices wouldn’t have allowed construction to start.
The justices’ decision to lift the freeze on the money allows President Donald Trump to make progress on a major 2016 campaign promise heading into his race for a second term. Trump tweeted after the announcement: “Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall. The United States Supreme Court overturns lower court injunction, allows Southern Border Wall to proceed. Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!”
FILE – A Customs and Border Protection agent patrols on the U.S. side of a razor-wire-covered border wall along the southern U.S. border east of Nogales, Ariz., March 2, 2019.
The Supreme Court’s action reverses the decision of a trial court, which initially froze the funds in May, and an appeals court, which kept that freeze in place earlier this month. The freeze had prevented the government from tapping approximately $2.5 billion in Defense Department money to replace existing sections of barrier in Arizona, California and New Mexico with more robust fencing.
The case the Supreme Court ruled in began after the 35-day partial government shutdown that started in December 2018. Trump ended the shutdown in February after Congress gave him approximately $1.4 billion in border wall funding. But the amount was far less than the $5.7 billion he was seeking, and Trump then declared a national emergency to take cash from other government accounts to use to construct sections of wall.
The money Trump identified includes $3.6 billion from military construction funds, $2.5 billion in Defense Department money and $600 million from the Treasury Department’s asset forfeiture fund.
The case before the Supreme Court involved just the $2.5 billion in Defense Department funds, which the administration says will be used to construct more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of fencing. One project would replace 46 miles (74 kilometers) of barrier in New Mexico for $789 million. Another would replace 63 miles (101 kilometers) in Arizona for $646 million. The other two projects in California and Arizona are smaller.
The other funds were not at issue in the case. The Treasury Department funds have so far survived legal challenges, and Customs and Border Protection has earmarked the money for work in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley but has not yet awarded contracts. Transfer of the $3.6 billion in military construction funds is awaiting approval from the defense secretary.
The lawsuit at the Supreme Court was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition. The justices who lifted the freeze on the money did not give a lengthy explanation for their decision. But they said among the reasons they were doing so was that the government had made a “sufficient showing at this stage” that those bringing the lawsuit don’t have a right to challenge the decision to use the money.
FILE – A border wall prototype stands in San Diego near the Mexico-U.S. border, seen from Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 22, 2018.
Alexei Woltornist, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said in a statement, “We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognized that the lower courts should not have halted construction of walls on the southern border. We will continue to vigorously defend the administration’s efforts to protect our nation.”
ACLU lawyer Dror Ladin said after the court’s announcement that the fight “is not over.” The case will continue, but the Supreme Court’s decision suggests an ultimate victory for the ACLU is unlikely. Even if the ACLU were to win, fencing will have already been built.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan would not have allowed construction to begin. Justice Stephen Breyer said he would have allowed the government to finalize the contracts for the segments but not begin construction while the lawsuit proceeded. The administration had argued that if it wasn’t able to finalize the contracts by Sept. 30, then it would lose the ability to use the funds. The administration had asked for a decision quickly.
The Supreme Court is on break for the summer but does act on certain pressing items.
Близько 80% людей, які курять, живуть у бідних країнах та країнах із середнім достатком, а всього курців у світі – 1,1 мільярда. Такі дані містить звіт Всесвітньої організації охорони здоров’я, презентований 26 липня.
За висновками звіту, країни по всьому світу докладають значних зусиль, аби ускладнити куріння і зробити його дорожчим. Однак, вважають автори, уряди повинні робити більше, щоб допомогти курцям, які хочуть кинути палити.
«Кинути палити – одна з найкращих речей, які людина може зробити для власного здоров’я», – заявляє генеральний директор ВООЗ Тедрос Абханом Гебрейесус.
За даними організації, вживання тютюну в більшості країн знизилося, однак зростання населення світу означає, що й кількість курців лишається великою.
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Згідно з останніми даними ВООЗ, куріння та інші види вживання тютюну щорічно вбивають понад сім мільярдів людей по всьому світу. В багатьох випадках смерть настає внаслідок серцевих нападів, інсультів, раку легень або інших захворювань, в тому числі онкологічних.
Наразі близько п’яти мільярдів людей живуть у країнах, де запроваджені обмеження щодо куріння, графічні зображення наслідків куріння на упаковках цигарок та інші види протидії тютюнопалінню. Однак чимало країн досі не запровадили адекватну політику в цій сфері, стверджують автори звіту.
ВООЗ закликає уряди докладати більше зусиль для впровадження антитютюнових заходів, в тому числі – безкоштовну допомогу для людей, які хочуть кинути палити. Йдеться про втілення так званих заходів MPOWER – державних політик, розроблених Групою дослідження людей, організацій, робочих процесів та працевлаштування Університету Мессі (Нова Зеландія) для зниження попиту на тютюн.
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«Хоча запровадження комплексної політики з контролю над вживанням тютюну стабільно поширюється з 2007 року, все ще треба чимало зробити. 59 країн досі не запровадили жодного MPOWER-заходу на вищому рівні – і 49 з них мають низький або середній дохід», – йдеться в дослідженні.
Згідно зі звітом, в Україні в 2017 році 23% дорослого населення курили тютюн, при цьому цигарки подорожчали за період з 2008 року. Як зазначають автори звіту, Україна належить до тих країн, які не мають національної стратегії з протидії вживанню тютюну, але натомість мають клінічні протоколи з припинення вживання тютюнових виробів. …
Two-month-old Lahya Kathembo became an orphan in a day. Her mother succumbed to Ebola on a Saturday morning. By sunset her father was dead, too.
They had been sick for more than a week before health workers finally persuaded them to seek treatment, neighbors said. They believed their illness was the work of people jealous about their newborn daughter, a community organizer said, and sought the guidance of a traditional spiritual healer.
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is ravaging Beni, a sprawling city of some 600,000, in large part because so many of the sick are choosing to stay at home. In doing so, they unknowingly infect caregivers and those who mourn them.
Two-month-old Lahya Kathembo is carried by a nurse waiting for test results at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 17, 2019.
“People are waiting until the last minute to bring their family members and when they do it’s complicated for us,” says Mathieu Kanyama, head of health promotion at the Ebola treatment center in Beni run by the Alliance for International Medical Action, or ALIMA. “Here there are doctors, not magicians.”
Nearly one year into the outbreak which has killed more than 1,700 and was declared a global health emergency this month, a rise in community deaths is fueling a resurgence of Ebola in Beni. During a two-week period in July alone, 30 people died at home.
Health teams are now going door-to-door with megaphones trying to get the message out.
“Behind every person who has died there is someone developing a fever,” Dr. Gaston Tshapenda, who heads the Ebola response in Beni for Congo’s health ministry, told his teams.
Fear of treatment centers
Many people still don’t believe Ebola is real, health experts say, which stymies efforts to control the disease’s spread.
Ebola symptoms are also similar to common killers like malaria and typhoid, so those afraid of going to a treatment center often try to self-medicate at home with paracetamol to reduce fever.
But Ebola, unlike those other illnesses, requires the patient to be kept in isolation and away from the comfort of family.
Dr. Maurice Kakule, who became one of this outbreak’s first Ebola patients after he treated a sick woman at his clinic, is now trying to make it easier for those who are ill to get help in and around Beni, near the border with Uganda.
He and other survivors, who are now immune to the disease, run a motorcycle taxi ambulance. After receiving a phone call for help they go to homes, reassure the sick and take them for medical care without infecting others.
People’s most common fear is that they will only leave an Ebola treatment center in a body bag, Kakule says.
An Ebola treatment center is seen next to the hospital in Beni, Congo, July 13, 2019.
“Some have heard of the problem of Ebola but there have been no survivors in their family,” he said. “Since they had relatives die at a treatment center, they think people are killed there and that’s why they categorically refuse to go.”
Humanizing care
They fear, too, that they will die alone, surrounded only by health care personnel covered in protective gear from head to toe.
To try to humanize the care of patients in isolation, ALIMA’s Ebola treatment center in Beni places some patients in their own transparent room called a “CUBE,” where they can see visitors from their beds. Others share a room with one other patient and a glass window where loved ones can gather.
While there is no licensed treatment for Ebola, patients in eastern Congo are able to take part in clinical trials. That’s a welcome change from the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa when many patients entered Ebola centers never to come out alive again. More than 11,000 people died.
Still, the measures needed to keep Ebola from spreading remain difficult for many people to accept.
“We cannot be oblivious to the fact that when you’re sick with Ebola you’re put somewhere away from your family, with a 50% chance of dying alone from your loved ones,” said Dr. Joanne Liu, president of Doctors Without Borders, which is helping to fight the outbreak. “I don’t blame people for not finding this attractive, despite the fact that we have a clinical trial going on.”
The day after the deaths of baby Lahya’s parents, a morgue team in protective clothing carried their carefully encased bodies to a truck for a funeral procession to a Muslim cemetery on the edge of town.
In the background was the sound of workers hammering away as they built more space at the nearby treatment center to accommodate the growing caseload.
Lahya developed a fever but has tested negative for Ebola. The infant with round cheeks and gold earrings is in an orphanage for now, while her 3-year-old sister is being cared for by neighbors who hope to raise them both.
But the sisters will have to wait a bit longer to be reunited — their adoptive father and former nanny both have tested positive for Ebola and are being treated.
‘I lost my entire family’
The fateful decision to avoid treatment centers haunts survivors like Asifiwe Kavira, 24, who fell ill with Ebola along with eight of her relatives.
Health teams came to the house in Butembo, trying to persuade them to seek treatment. Most of the family, though, said they wanted to treat their fevers at home. After three days of negotiations, Kavira finally agreed to seek help, believing she was on the brink of death.
She would be the only one to survive.
Her mother, grandmother, brother and four other relatives all died at home. An older sister joined her at the treatment center, but medical care came too late.
“I tell people now that Ebola exists,” Kavira says, “because that is how I lost my entire family.”
The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it is approving T-Mobile US Inc’s $26 billion takeover of rival Sprint Corp, clearing a major hurdle to a deal that would merge the nation’s third and fourth largest wireless carriers.
The companies have agreed to divest Sprint’s prepaid businesses including Boost Mobile to Dish Network Corp in order to move ahead with the merger, which was announced in
April 2018.
But the deal still faces a significant challenge. A group of U.S. state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York to block the merger on antitrust grounds,
arguing that the proposed deal would cost consumers more than $4.5 billion annually.
T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere, who will be the CEO of the combined company, said it would deliver a 5G network with lower prices, better quality and thousands of jobs, while unlocking $43 billion in synergies.
“We are pleased that our previously announced target synergies, profitability and long-term cash generation have not changed,” Legere said.
On Friday, the Justice Department and five state attorneys general said they were filing suit to enforce the settlement conditions that also include selling Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid and providing Dish with access to 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations.
Dish has agreed to acquire spectrum in a deal valued at $3.6 billion from the merged firm and pay $1.4 billion for Sprint’s prepaid business that serves about 9.3 million customers. Dish will get access to the combined firm’s network for seven years while it builds out its own 5G network.
Shares of T-Mobile, which is about 63 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, were up 3.7% at $82.90. Shares of Sprint, which is about 84 percent owned by Softbank Group
Corp, were up 6.5% at $7.92.
Prepaid wireless phones are generally sought by lower-income people who cannot pass a credit check.
T-Mobile, the third largest U.S. wireless carrier with about 80 million customers, pursued the deal in order to seek scale to compete with bigger rivals Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc. Sprint has about 55 million customers.
T-Mobile US on Thursday beat analysts’ estimates for second-quarter net new phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill, boosted by the U.S. mobile carrier’s wireless plans aimed at fending off its bigger rivals. The mobile carrier said it added a net 710,000 phone subscribers in the three months ended June 30.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has given his blessing to the merger in principle and said in a statement on Friday he would soon circulate a formal order.
The FCC is expected to give Dish more time to use spectrum it previously acquired but also impose strict penalties if it fails to create a consumer wireless network within a set
timeframe.
A top Sudanese editor who heads the main journalists’ union has been detained, the union said Thursday, calling on Sudan’s military rulers to free him or put him on trial.
The detention of Sadiq al-Rizaigi came as the military said it had arrested a top general, several security officers and Islamist leaders over a failed coup attempt announced earlier this month.
The Sudanese Journalists’ Union called on the ruling Transitional Military Council to “immediately release” its head Rizaigi, a prominent Islamist and editor of Al-Sayha newspaper, or that he be put on trial.
A senior journalist with Rizaigi’s newspaper told AFP that security forces had taken him away from outside the newspaper’s premises.
“We do not know where he is being held or the reasons for his detention,” said Awad Jad Al-Sayid, news editor of Al-Sahya.
On Wednesday, the military announced several arrests in connection with a failed coup attempt.
It said it had arrested General Hashim Abdel Mottalib, the head of the joint chiefs of staff, and a number of officers from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) along with leaders of the Islamic Movement and the National Congress Party.
On July 11, the military announced it had foiled a coup attempt without specifying when it took place.
Sudanese media also reported that among those arrested was General Bakri Hassan Saleh, a former first vice president and prime minister and a prominent figure in the 1989 coup that brought now ousted president Omar al-Bashir to power.
Also arrested was Ali Karty, a former foreign minister and Zubair Ahmed Hassan, an ex-finance minister, according to the reports.
During Bashir’s three-decade rule, the press was severely curtailed, according to media activists.
NISS agents cracked down regularly on journalists or confiscated entire print-runs of newspapers for publishing articles deemed critical of Bashir’s policies.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recorded at least 100 cases of journalists being arrested during the months of protests that finally led to Bashir’s ouster in April.
RSF ranks Sudan 175th out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Жительки Запоріжжя запустили флешмоб #забулазапитатьумарченка у відповідь на висловлювання заступника голови, уповноваженого із питань забезпечення рівних прав і можливостей жінок і чоловіків, запобігання та протидії насильству Запорізької облради Владислава Марченка щодо того, як має вдягатися й поводитися жінка. На знак протесту проти сексистських висловлювань чиновника учасниці акції публікують власні фото у бікіні, відкритому вбранні, мініспідницях чи шортах із відповідним тегом.
«Як у 21-му столітті взагалі таке може бути у когось на думках? Хто дав йому право диктувати, як має одягатися жінка? Це ж просто абсурд. З якої печери він виліз?… Але головний абсурд у всій цій ситуації, що цей сексист і гомофоб відповідає за гендерну рівність у області», – заявила Радіо Свобода учасниця флешмобу Катерина Маркова.
Більшість учасниць флешмобу наголошують, що допис, зроблений Марченком, є неприпустимим для посадовця, який відповідає за питання гендерної політики в регіоні. Так, учасниця флешмобу Вікторія Петрова зазначає, що вона бере участь в акції, адже виступає, в першу чергу, проти будь-яких ярликів і стереотипів.
«Такі висловлювання для мене набагато більше ніж критика конкретного зовнішнього вигляду. Вони живлять у суспільстві думку про те, що жінка має відповідати чиїмось очікуванням, що для жінки не має ніяких інших дефініцій: або ти шльондра, або королева. Саме це породжує згодом віктімблеймінг, коли жертву насильства звинувачують у тому, що з нею відбулось. Саме це породжує думку, ніби ніякої іншої цінності, окрім як сподобатись чоловіку, в жінок немає… Жодним чином не має права такі речі публічно озвучувати чиновник, депутат, який відповідає за гендерну політику в області», – пояснила своє обурення дописом посадовця інша учасниця флешмобу Вікторія Петрова.
Зранку 26 липня заступник голови Запорізької облради Владислав Марченко оприлюднив на свій сторінці у фейсбуці допис, де написав: «Багато в інтернеті, навіть серед моїх знайомих, жінок, що публікують власні фото у купальниках, мінісукнях і спідній білизні. Найцікавіше, що при цьому кожна продовжує думати, що має високу вартість, і до неї мають ставитися як до Королеви. Але як виглядає справжня Королева? Королева завжди закрита одягом від сторонніх очей».
Зараз допис чиновника закритий.
Владислав Марченко є заступником голови Запорізької облради з грудня 2015 року, а з липня 2018 року також є уповноваженим із питань забезпечення рівних прав і можливостей жінок і чоловіків, запобігання та протидії насильству Запорізької облради. Посадовець є головним фігурантом кримінальної справи щодо організації фіктивних тендерів, яка наразі слухається у суді.
Фактична російська влада планує побудувати в анексованому Криму новий слідчий ізолятор на 1,5 тисячі місць – така інформація з’явилася на російському сайті державних закупівель, повідомляє проєкт Радіо Свобода Крим.Реалії.
Згідно з даними, СІЗО планують будувати в Сімферопольському районі у два етапи. Спочатку – об’єкт на 1 тисячі місць площею близько 40,8 тисяч квадратних метрів, потім – ще один на 500 місць, орієнтовна площа сягатиме близько 13,6 тисяч квадратних метрів.
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На новий ізолятор витратять близько 3 мільйонів рублів. Кошти виділять з федерального бюджету Росії.
Проблема переповнення слідчих ізоляторів виникла в Криму після початку російської анексії 2014 року. Єдиний слідчий ізолятор розташований у Сімферополі і він переповнений – на це зокрема вказував генеральний прокурор Росії Юрій Чайка та керівництво російської Федеральної служби виконання покарань у Криму.
у 2018 році в Криму відкрили кримінальне провадження щодо заступника директора Федеральної служби виконання покарань Росії Олега Коршунова. Слідчий комітет Росії звинуватив його в розтраті 200 мільйонів рублів при будівництві СІЗО в Сімферополі. …
North Korea has formally announced its latest ballistic missile test, saying the launch was a warning to “military warmongers” in South Korea who are set to soon hold joint military exercises with the United States.
North Korean state media showed pictures of Kim Jong Un personally supervising the Thursday test of what it called a “new-type tactical guided weapon.” U.S. and South Korean officials say the projectile was a short-range ballistic missile.
The official Korean Central News Agency said the test was meant “to send a solemn warning to the south Korean military warmongers who are running high fever in their moves to introduce the ultramodern offensive weapons into south Korea and hold military exercise in defiance of the repeated warnings.”
Complaints about South Korea
North Korea has repeatedly complained about South Korea’s recent acquisition of U.S. F-35 fighter jets, as well as upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises. Pyongyang has warned it may not resume working-level talks with the United States if the drills take place.
“South Korean authorities show such strange double-dealing behavior as acting a ‘handshake of peace’ and fingering joint declaration and agreement and the like before the world people and, behind the scene, shipping ultra-modern offensive weapons and holding joint military exercises,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.
A view of North Korea’s missile launch Thursday, in this undated picture released by North Korea’s Central News Agency, July 26, 2019.
New type of missile
South Korea’s National Security Council expressed “strong concern” about the launch, which it determined was a “new type of short-range ballistic missile.” That is firmer than Seoul’s response after a similar North Korean launch in May. At the time, South Korea referred to the North Korean weapons as “projectiles.”
The U.S. military command in South Korea also assessed that North Korea tested a “new type of missile for the DPRK,” using an acronym for North Korea’s official name. “These two short range ballistic missiles were not a threat directed at the ROK or the U.S., and have no impact on our defense posture,” the statement said.
The test raises further doubts about working-level talks, which were supposed to resume shortly after last month’s meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
Trump, Pompeo optimistic
In an interview with the U.S. cable network Fox News, Trump was optimistic, saying he still gets along “very well” with Kim.
“They haven’t done nuclear testing. They really haven’t tested missiles other than, you know, smaller ones. Which is something that lots test,” Trump said.
In an earlier interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he still believes negotiations will start soon.
“We’re working our way towards that. I think we’ll be able to pull that off in just a handful of weeks,” Pompeo said.
“North Korea has engaged in activity before we were having diplomatic conversations far worse than this. … I think this allows negotiations to go forward. Lots of countries posture before they come to the table,” he said.
Asked about Kim’s unveiling Tuesday of a newly built submarine that is apparently capable of handling nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, Pompeo said: “We all go look at our militaries. And we all take pictures of them.”
UN resolution
Under United Nations Security Council resolutions, North Korea is banned from conducting any ballistic missile activity. But Trump administration officials have said they do not see North Korea’s short-range tests as a breach of trust.
Kim last year declared a moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear tests. During their meeting at the DMZ last month, Kim also promised Trump that he would “continue to avoid launching intermediate range and long-range ballistic missiles,” Pompeo said Thursday.
At a State Department briefing Thursday, spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the Trump administration’s focus is on continued diplomatic engagement with North Korea.
“And we continue to urge the North Koreans to resolve all of the things that the president and Chairman Kim (Jong Un) have talked about through diplomacy. We urge no more provocations, and that all parties should abide by our obligations under Security Council resolutions.”
FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in leave a meeting at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.
Trump and Kim have held three meetings since June of last year. At their first meeting, both men agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But neither side has agreed on what that idea means or how to work toward it.
North Korea wants the United States to provide security guarantees and relax sanctions in exchange for partial steps to dismantle its nuclear program. Washington has insisted it will not ease sanctions unless Pyongyang commits to totally abandoning its nuclear program.
North Korea has given the United States until the end of the year to change its approach to the talks. Trump insists he is in no hurry to reach a deal, insisting his friendship with Kim will eventually persuade the young North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons.
There was more flash than substance Thursday as the White House celebrated the anniversary of an initiative to spur job training by companies.
The initiative, led by President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, has garnered commitments from 300 companies to provide 12 million training opportunities in the years ahead. But there are questions about how much the administration is willing to spend to help U.S. workers, whether the agreements by companies will result in higher salaries and whether employers will stick to their nonbinding pledge if the economy sours.
A look at the celebratory rhetoric:
Ivanka Trump: “This administration believes that every American should have a chance to earn a great living doing work that they love. … The president’s call to action for the pledge has become a full-blown national movement. Over the last year, more than 300 businesses, 300 businesses, have signed the pledge, businesses large and small, and today we celebrate reaching 12 million pledged commitments. … This pledge is more than just a number. Every single pledge is a commitment to the promise of an individual and his or her potential.”
Vice President Mike Pence: “That is an astonishing accomplishment.”
The Facts: It’s much too early to declare the pledge a game changer for working Americans.
From left, President Donald Trump, joined by Shameka Whaley Green of Toyota, Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, and his daughter Ivanka Trump speaks during a “Pledge to America’s Workers” ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House
Spending cut
For one thing, the government has not devoted significant spending to training workers. In fact, the Trump administration has come up with budget proposals calling for cuts in that area. The government spends just 0.03% of the gross domestic product on job training, a level of support that has been halved since 2000, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Of the 36 countries in the organization, only Japan and Mexico spend less than the U.S. by that measure.
By having companies sign the pledge, the Trump administration is relying on the private sector to take on more of the financial burden of training workers. It’s unclear whether the commitment by 300 entities will be honored during the half-decade horizon if the economy begins to weaken and companies have less incentive to invest in employees.
Nor is it clear how many workers were already going to be trained, absent the initiative. In many cases, the pledge simply confers a presidential seal of approval on what some companies are doing anyway.
Not college
Major corporate leaders such as IBM CEO Ginni Rometty have worked with the administration and sincerely committed company resources to training workers. But she also told reporters at an event this year that the government should expand its grant and student debt programs to what were later described as “career-oriented learning programs” other than colleges. That means some workers would need to finance their training with personal debt. Other companies such as the tech firm Infosys have lengthened their training programs and partnered with universities.
Yet on the whole, companies have done relatively little to invest in workers — who increasingly hold college degrees — by paying them more money.
Until 2003, compensation and corporate profits had moved roughly in sync, according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. But they have sharply diverged in the past 15 years as profits shot upward while spending on employee pay has crept up much more slowly. This gap between profits and incomes has persisted under Trump.
A key victory
The Trump administration can claim one small victory as the number of registered apprentices — a key initiative — increased 10% last year to 585,026 people, according to the Labor Department.
It’s also worth putting the 12 million commitments for job training over five or so years into context.
Roughly 20 million people enroll in a college or university annually, according to the government. This means that plenty of Americans are already seeking out training, though not necessarily the kind of training that employers say they want.
Despite the arrest of a top Kremlin critic and police raids on the homes of several political activists, opposition leaders in Russia remained determined to go ahead with a planned protest in Moscow on Saturday.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was ordered jailed Wednesday for 30 days for calling “unauthorized protests” for this weekend to protest the disqualification of several opposition-minded candidates from the Sept. 8 Moscow city council elections.
Election officials have barred about 30 independent candidates from the ballot, saying some of the 5,500 signatures they needed to get on the ballot were invalid. The rejected candidates say the reason for not validating the signatures is to keep genuine independents off the ballots and ensure the ruling United Russia party and others who do President Vladimir Putin’s bidding maintain dominance.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is charged with participation in an unauthorised protest rally, attends a court hearing in Moscow, July 1, 2019.
“If the United Russia swindlers don’t register the independent candidates and spit on the opinions of the citizenry, then all of us … will come to the mayor’s office at Tverskaya 13,” Navalny wrote on a social media post earlier this week.
Last weekend, more than 20,000 people marched in the streets of Moscow to protest the disqualifications. That’s when Navalny called for an even bigger rally Saturday.
Mass protests
Rejected candidate Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, also called for mass protests after a meeting between the disqualified candidates and Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova.
The Russian authorities appear to be adopting a carrot-and-stick approach as the July 27 demonstration nears. Pamfilova met with the opposition candidates and heard their complaints — one of which was that Moscow election officials had refused to meet with them and hear their complaints.
Pamfilova promised to consider the complaints of the disqualified candidates, but warned them that the CEC does not have the authority to overturn decisions of the Moscow Election Commission. She said the law grants local election commissions such autonomy to prevent Moscow from exerting influence on them.
Pamfilova also urged candidates not to participate in protests, saying “the influence of street protests on the CEC is zero.”
Navalny was arrested just hours after the meeting with Pamfilova.
On the ballot
Sixteen regions will choose governors in Russia’s Sept. 8 elections, including the city of St. Petersburg. Fourteen regions and the city of Moscow will select legislative assemblies, and 21 other cities will choose municipal councils.
United Russia has entered the election season with a record-low public approval rating. Analysts and Kremlin critics say the authorities are resorting to numerous “dirty tricks” and other tactics to ensure the party maintains the grip on power it has enjoyed through most of Putin’s nearly two decades at the country’s helm.
The U.S. House on Thursday approved legislation aimed at protecting thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States from deportation by granting them Temporary Protected Status.
The measure was adopted on a 272-158 vote after a debate that required a simple majority for passage. The same bill failed earlier this week when 154 Republicans voted against it under a procedure for quick passage that required approval from two-thirds of the 435 House members. All 158 votes against the bill Thursday were Republicans, while 39 Republicans voted in favor.
Similar legislation has not moved forward in the Senate since it was introduced in February.
Arguments for, against
Temporary Protected Status is usually granted by the Department of Homeland Security to people from countries ravaged by natural disasters or war and lets them remain in the U.S. until the situation improves back home.
Rep. Doug Collin of Georgia, the top Republican on the House judiciary panel, said he opposed the bill because recent court rulings have blocked the Trump administration from terminating the TPS designation for some countries.
“We should not ensure renewal is automatic,” Collins said. “If we do not do that, we can continue the same broken TPS designation process.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a Republican who was a co-sponsor of the measure, urged other members of his caucus to support the bill.
“This is not to be confused with issues dealing with immigration,” Diaz-Balart said. “This is to deal with a specific case of the Venezuelans who are struggling under this oppressive regime and we should not return people back.”
200,000 Venezuelans
The Trump administration was one of the first to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of the South American nation, a step that has been taken by more than 50 other governments. Those countries contend President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election in 2018 was fraudulent.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 200,000 Venezuelans currently living in the United States could receive TPS. Under the measure, Venezuelan nationals would be eligible to get migratory relief and work permits valid for 18 months if they have been continuously present in the U.S. since the bill’s enactment and apply paying a $360 fee.
Stuck in the Senate
Rep. Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said after the vote that “we want this to be as bipartisan as possible because it gives us a better chance in the Senate.”
The TPS legislation is the fourth Venezuela-related bill adopted by the House so far this year, but none has made it yet to the Senate floor.
“Our hope is the vote today will really light a fire in the Senate to get going on the Venezuela bills,” said Rep. Donna Shalala, also a Florida Democrat.
The United Nations estimates that at least 4 million Venezuelans have left their country in recent years because of a chronic scarcity of food and medicines and a hyperinflation that reached 130,000% last year.
British Airways, part of International Airlines Group, will resume flights to Cairo following a week-long suspension over security concerns, the airline said Friday.
“Following a thorough assessment of the security arrangements, we are pleased that our service to and from Cairo will resume from Friday July 26,” a British Airways spokeswoman said in an email.
No details were given about the airline’s security review.
British Airways had suspended flights to Cairo on Saturday for seven days “as a security precaution” as it reviewed security at the Cairo airport.
An executive of Egypt’s state-owned EgyptAir said earlier this week that British Airways’ decision was “without a logical reason” while Egypt’s aviation minister, Younis Al-Masry, also expressed “displeasure” at the decision.
Egypt’s aviation ministry said on Sunday that British Airways took the move without consulting Egyptian authorities.
Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG also suspended flights to Cairo on Saturday but resumed them a day later.
Other airlines continued to operate flights to Cairo.
In nearly six months as a Democratic presidential candidate, Cory Booker has billed himself as many things: He’s both an optimist leading with “radical love” and a fighter against political machines. He’s both a supporter of “Medicare for All” and an advocate for more incremental health care policies that preserve the private insurance industry.
As the New Jersey senator prepares for a pivotal turn in the spotlight at next week’s debate, he’s trying on a new role: Joe Biden’s chief antagonist.
Ahead of an expected showdown in Detroit, Booker is blasting the former vice president as “an architect of mass incarceration.” Speaking to the National Urban League on Thursday, he assailed rivals whom he portrayed as latecomers to the fight against “structural inequality and institutional racism” — implying, without mentioning Biden’s name, that his opponent had embraced criminal justice reform to further his presidential candidacy.
FILE – Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the National Urban League Conference in Indianapolis, July 25, 2019.
One of two black major candidates in the Democratic contest, Booker is homing in on racial justice as he struggles to emerge from the bottom tier of most national polls. He has yet to meet the donor qualifications to participate in this fall’s Democratic debate, when tougher rules are expected to winnow the crowded field. Democrats say Booker’s new approach to Biden could provide a moment to lift his campaign — or sack it with more baggage.
“There’s a path that still exists for Booker, but he needs a galvanizing moment that not only boosts his hopes but also eliminates one of the opponents in front of him,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne, a veteran of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. “It’s possible, but it’s a tough path ahead.”
Booker’s aides see him as on track to qualify for the September debate regardless of what may take place in Detroit. His campaign remains focused on an early state strategy that takes him to Iowa on Friday for the seventh time since entering the race.
“Cory’s performance serves as a validation for the folks who have committed their early support to his campaign” in the Hawkeye State, said Mike Frosolone, Booker’s Iowa state director.
Booker’s organization is particularly strong in Iowa, where he counts nearly 50 staff members and has won a long list of potent local endorsements. Still, the campaign spent more money than it raised during the second quarter of the year, and Booker’s efforts are likely to mean little until he can get what Des Moines lawyer Grant Woodard called “his moment in the sun.”
“Something has to happen for him in the national narrative, I think, and he can really start to flex his muscle here,” said Woodard, a former Democratic operative in the state.
Looming hurdles
Booker faces several hurdles at this critical juncture. Biden’s camp has responded quickly to his potshots, suggesting the former vice president is more prepared to be hit next week than he was during the first presidential debate when he stammered in answering Kamala Harris.
FILE – Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Senator for California Kamala Harris speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019.
And, unlike the first debate, he’ll have to share the stage with Harris, whose campaign gained ground after she took aim at Biden’s recent comments about working with segregationists and his past opposition to school busing. Her broadside was so successful in part because Harris is not known for sharing personal stories.
Booker, in contrast, has built a brand on a personal, uplifting approach to politics. Trying to replicate Harris could make him seem insincere.
Yvette Simpson, chief executive of the progressive group Democracy for America, urged Booker to “speak from a place that’s real to him,” warning that he has verged on “a stage where it’s more platitudes and less authentic.” On issues beyond criminal justice, she added, the debates could exert pressure on Booker to be more than “the guy in the middle” who neither directly courts the left nor actively alienates it.
‘Verbal punches’
Indeed, Booker has at times edged away from a full-bore liberal approach in his campaign’s first months. He has proposed an ambitious, progressive immigration agenda, decrying President Donald Trump as “worse than a racist,” but clarified last week that he would not use the term “concentration camps” to describe immigration detention facilities, as New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has.
Booker also hasn’t fully endorsed a push by activists on the left to eliminate the Senate filibuster to help a future Democratic president accomplish his or her agenda. And on health care, Booker has joined Harris in supporting Medicare for All legislation but edged away from it on the campaign trail as Biden runs as a sharp critic of single-payer health insurance.
No matter how he’s drawn into a clash with Biden on the debate stage, Booker appears firmly on track for one. And he’s taking a more pugnacious tone with Trump as well, telling NBC talk show host Seth Meyers this week that he sometimes has to resist the temptation to punch the “elderly, out-of-shape” president.
Penny Rosfjord, a member of the Iowa Democratic Party’s state central committee, said that combativeness among candidates “can get dangerous” but suggested that Booker has more room to get sharper given the love-first tone that he started his campaign on.
“I personally think it’s the right tone, but he will at times have to get a bit more aggressive with people,” Rosfjord said. “He might have to throw some verbal punches here and there.”
Організатори «КривбасПрайду-2019» повідомили про скасування ЛГБТІ-ходи у Кривому Розі через ймовірність, що поліція не зможе гарантувати безпеку учасників. Відповідну заяву вони розмістили на сторінці спільноти у фейсбуці 24 липня.
«Як організатори публічних заходів, ми в першу чергу маємо працювати з ризиками, які можуть впливати на безпеку і здоров’я учасників маршу. На жаль, наразі ризики незабезпечення безпеки правоохоронними органами високі, і ми маємо бути реалістами, оцінюючи їх. Тим не менш, ми впевнені, що наступний «КривбасПрайд» завершиться маршем вулицями нашого міста», – мовиться у повідомленні.
Як зазначається, у рамках фестивалю дискусії про реєстровані цивільні партнерства, безпеку та ризики для громадських активістів в сучасних умовах, інтерактивні лекції, кінопокази та зустріч батьківської ініціативи «ТЕРГО». Урочисте відкриття відбулося 25 липня.
22 липня минулого року у Кривому Розі марш на підтримку ЛГБТІ-спільноти провели за участі кількох десятків людей. Паралельно представники кількох громадських і релігійних організацій проводили акцію «Молитовна варта: за родину, за святість нашого народу, за охорону духовного світу дитини», протестуючи проти маршу ЛГБТ.
30 червня 2018 у Кривому Розі невідомі напали на одного з організаторів фестивалю «КривбасПрайд» Бориса Золотченка. Поліція відкрила провадження за частиною 1 статті 125 Кримінального кодексу України (умисне легке тілесне ушкодження). Між тим, як повідомив він журналістам Радіо Свобода під час трансляції з «КиївПрайду-2019», за цей рік до відповідальності нікого не притягнуто.
Колишній доброволець з полку «Азов» Микита Макеєв (позивний «Одісей») записав відеозвернення, у якому підтвердив, що це він застрибнув сьогодні на капот авто, у якому їхав попередній президент України Петро Порошенко.
Відео опубліковане у твіттері користувачем @portnvateam_new. Чоловік заперечує, що це був замах.
«Я хотів помститися йому за всі ті п’ять років принижень, які він за допомогою своїх підлеглих в Адміністрації президента вчинив стосовно іноземних добровольців, обіцяючи їм громадянство, а замість цього запустивши їх по дев’ятьох колах бюрократичного пекла», – заявив він.
Близько 17:00 на авто експрезидента Петра Порошенка напали троє невідомих, коли воно тягнулося у заторі біля будівлі Державного бюро розслідувань, куди той приїжджав на допит. Після сутички з охоронцями зловмисники втекли. Пізніше журналісти начебто впізнали в одному із них добровольця російського походження Микиту Макеєва, який нещодавно, вже указом нового президента Володимира Зеленського, отримав українське громадянство.
Поліція Києва відкрила провадження за статтею «хуліганство» з приводу інциденту біля будівлі Державного бюро розслідувань. …
Управління спец розслідувань Генпрокуратури повідомило про підозру співробітникам одного з київських судів через ймовірні зловживання під час подій Майдану.
«На підставі зібраних доказів 22 і 25 липня 2019 року у передбачений законом спосіб повідомлено про підозру колишньому керівнику апарату суду та його заступнику одного із районних судів міста Києва у вчиненні злочину, передбаченого ч. 2 ст. 376-1 КК України, за фактом незаконного втручання в роботу автоматизованої системи документообігу суду (внесення неправдивих відомостей до цієї системи) при розподілі справ між суддями щодо застосування до учасників протестних акцій та інших громадян запобіжних заходів у січні-лютому 2014 року», – мовиться у повідомленні на сайті відомства.
У лютому 2014 року під час сутичок протестувальників із силовиками в центрі Києва загинули понад сто людей, сотні були поранені, найбільше з яких – 20 лютого. Згодом загиблих учасників акцій протесту почали називати Небесною сотнею. Досі винних за ці злочини не встановили. …
The clamor from “Game of Thrones” fans for a do-over of the drama’s final season has been in vain.
HBO programming chief Casey Bloys said Wednesday there was no serious consideration to remaking the story that some viewers and critics called disappointing.
There are few downsides to having a hugely popular show like “Game of Thrones,” Bloys said, but one is that fans have strong opinions on what would be a satisfying conclusion.
Bloys said during a TV critics’ meeting that it comes with the territory, adding that he appreciates fans’ passion for the saga based on George R.R. Martin’s novels.
Emmy voters proved unswayed by petitioners demanding a remake: They gave “Game of Thrones” a record-breaking 32 nominations earlier this month. The series also hit record highs for HBO.
HBO will want to keep the fan fervor alive for the prequel to “Game of Thrones” that’s in the works. The first episode completed taping in Ireland and the dailies look “really good,” Bloys said. The planned series stars Naomi Watts and is set thousands of years before the original.
Asked whether negative reaction to the “Game of Thrones” conclusion will shape the prequel, Bloys replied, “Not at all.”
A federal judge is considering whether to order Georgia to immediately stop using its outdated voting machines, even as state officials prepare to announce their replacement.
A lawsuit filed by election integrity activists argues that the paperless touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are unsecure, vulnerable to hacking and can’t be audited. It seeks statewide use of hand-marked paper ballots.
A law passed this year and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp provides specifications for a new system, which state officials said will be in place for the 2020 presidential election.
But the plaintiffs are asking U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to order the state to immediately stop using the current system, which it plans to use for special and municipal elections this year and which the plaintiffs fear would be used in 2020 if a new system isn’t implemented in time. Totenberg has scheduled a hearing Thursday on those requests.
Georgia’s voting system drew national scrutiny last year during the closely watched governor’s race in which Kemp, a Republican who was the state’s top election official at the time, narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams.
The plaintiffs in this case _ the Coalition for Good Governance and individual voters asked Totenberg last August to force Georgia to use hand-marked paper ballots for the November election. While Totenberg expressed grave concerns about vulnerabilities in the state’s voting system and scolded state officials for being slow to respond to evidence of those problems, she said a switch to paper ballots so close to that election would be too chaotic.
The plaintiffs argue the state has done nothing to address the problems, and the outdated machines should not be used. They argue a switch to hand-marked paper ballots would be relatively easy since the state already uses such ballots for absentee and provisional voting, and the scale is smaller given that there are no statewide elections this year.
They cite problems they say arose in last year’s election, including malfunctioning voting machines, long lines, electronic poll book errors and an extreme undervote in the lieutenant governor’s race on ballots cast using voting machines.
In addition to the use of hand-marked paper ballots, they asked the judge to order the state to take some other immediate steps, including post-election audits to verify results.
Lawyers for state election officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, argue concrete steps have been taken to address the concerns, including arranging for the purchase of new voting technology statewide and adding security measures to existing systems.
They also argue that paper ballots have vulnerabilities and that putting an intermediate system in place while the state is moving to a new voting system “places an impossible burden on both state and local election officials and may result in voter frustration and disaffection from the voting process.”
The new law calls for voters to make their selections on electronic machines that print out a paper record that is read and tallied by scanners. The state is expected to choose a vendor soon. The request for proposals specifies that vendors must be able to distribute all voting machine equipment before March 31, which is a week after the state’s presidential primary election is set to be held on March 24.
The plaintiffs argue the ballot-marking machines provided for in the new law have many of the same fundamental flaws as the machines they’re replacing. They say any system that puts a computer between the voter and the permanent record of the vote can’t be effectively audited and is unconstitutional. They’ve said they plan to challenge the new system once the state announces which machines it plans to use.
The plaintiffs also say the state’s plan to implement a new system statewide in time for the 2020 elections is extremely ambitious and that putting a hand-marked paper ballot system in place now would be a secure and constitutional backup plan, unlike using the current system.
This lawsuit is one of several that challenge various aspects of Georgia’s election system. Another, filed by a group founded by Abrams, alleges systemic problems in the election system and accuses election officials of mismanaging the 2018 election.
У Києві 25 липня під будівлею посольства Росії пройшла 38-ма акція громадської організації «КримSOS», присвячена насильницьким зникненням людей у Криму, повідомляє кореспондент проєкту Радіо Свобода Крим.Реалії.
«Ми понад три роки виходимо під посольство Росії для того, щоб нагадати передусім українцям, що в Криму зараз все дуже погано (з правами людини – ред.). Про те, що є 15 людей, у зникненні яких точно винна Росія або окупаційна влада, але при цьому нічого не відбувається. Це наш обов’язок – нагадувати і говорити про це», – сказав заступник координатора «КримSOS» Денис Савченко.
Цього разу організатори акції принесли під посольство стіл, на якому розставили посуд для 15 громадян України, яких викрали в Криму з моменту початку анексії. Один з учасників акції розкидав над столом аркуші з календаря. За словами учасників, це символізує очікування родичів викрадених.
«Росія, як і раніше, повністю ігнорує як ситуацію з насильницькими зникненнями людей, так і наші спроби звернути на це увагу. При цьому Прокуратура Автономної республіки Крим почала активно ініціювати кримінальні справ (щодо насильницьких зникнень – ред.). Але, з іншого боку, закон про правовий статус жертв насильницьких зникнень хоча й був ухвалений, але не працює. Певні рухи з боку як державних інститутів, так і громадянського суспільства відбуваються», – додав він.
Після анексії Криму 2014 року на території півострова фіксуються випадки викрадення людей, переважно з числа кримських татар. При цьому в «кримському управлінні» Слідчого комітету Росії стверджують, що «масових зникнень кримських татар на півострові немає».
За даними правозахисників, з моменту анексії Криму Росією зникли 44 кримчанина, 15 – досі вважаються зниклими безвісти. …
An African Union special envoy is urging South Sudan’s leaders to enact and enforce laws to end the pervasive problem of sexual violence in the country. AU special envoy on youth, Aya Chebbi, said authorities must involve men if South Sudan is going to end gender-based violence.
“Men should be doing all these initiatives to end gender-based violence. Why? Because these women are their mothers, their sisters, their daughters, they are not some women out there who are suffering and I don’t care about; these are their communities,” Chebbi told South Sudan in Focus.
During a five-day visit to South Sudan, she said the AU’s plan for ending gender-based violence focuses on eliminating all forms of violence, including genital mutilation and child marriage. “So I call on civil society to advocate for legal frameworks that protect women. For the communities, there is also resilience and community policing which means the community must protect itself,” Chebbi told VOA.
Simon Marot Tonloung, a member of the African Union’s Youth Advisory Council, says preventing sexual violence begins at home.
“How will you feel if your sister, if your daughter, or your mother undergoes such kinds of troubling experiences? It’s sad. So it will start from families. It will not come from outside,” Tonloung told South Sudan in Focus.
FILE – women and girls speak to members of a UN peacekeeping patrol as they walk to get food in Bentiu, a 38 kilometers (24 mile) journey where there are fears of being attacked on the main road.
Tonloung said AU member states like South Sudan must ratify policies that protect all citizens including women, and it is the duty of every citizen to hold the government of South Sudan accountable for enforcing those policies.
“So, if we don’t hold out our institutions at the grassroots level accountable, then we’ll not have an impact even if we pass a lot of policies,” Tonloung told VOA.
Earlier this month, the AU’s legal counsel signed a document to form the Hybrid Court for South Sudan as stipulated in the 2018 peace deal. Once in operation, the court will combine South Sudanese and other African judges and staff to investigate and prosecute allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
After a gang rape last Friday in Jonglei state, women rights activists and leaders called on state officials to do more to protect women and girls against sexual abuse. Jonglei officials accused armed cattle raiders from neighboring Fangak state of gang-raping two women in Jonglei state’s Duk-Padiet county.
A 30-year old mother of three who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the stigma attached to rape victims in South Sudan, said she was walking to Bor from her village about five kilometers away when armed men attacked her.
“When that happened, I hated myself and felt like that was the end of my life. I felt so crushed and useless. But because God can turn a bad situation around, that is why I am here today talking to you,” the woman told South Sudan in Focus.
She said a local non-profit called African Leadership And Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) brought her to a counseling center in Bor where she received counseling.
Jonglei state information minister Atong Kuol Manyang said the men were hiding until the women came along the road.
“They went and hid in the bush for some hours and they met two women who had gone to collect firewood in the forest. So in that process they continuously raped the women and these men were from Gaweer [of Fangak state],” Manyang told South Sudan in Focus.
Manyang did not explain how he knew the women’s attackers were from neighboring Pangak state.
Jonglei state assembly lawmaker Hellen Akech Marial said South Sudanese women are often at high risk of being attacked while carrying out daily chores.
“We don’t have electricity so that people cook in the houses and so women always resort to going out to look for firewood. Once they are out, they are subjected to such criminal acts,” Marial told South Sudan in Focus.
The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concern about the high level of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls in South Sudan.
У Державному агентстві рибного господарства повідомили, що на українському судні «Іван Голубець», де 19 липня сталася пожежа, загинув один і членів екіпажу – громадянин України.
У відомств зазначили, що пожежа почалася через несправність у машинному відділенні.
«У зв’язку з надзвичайною ситуацією капітном судна було ухвалене рішення про евакуацію екіпажу на бор іншого рибацького судна, яке перебувало поблизу. За наявною інформаією, в результаті інциденту загинув один громадянин України. Пізніше під час буксирування судна до порту міста Нуадібу (Ісламська республіка Мавританія), «Іван Голубець» затонув у зв’язку з його пошкодженням пожежею», – йдеться в повідомленні агентства.
Держрибагентство звернулося до компетентних органів Грузії (судно ходило під грузинським прапором) та Мавританії, щоб забезпечити розслідування події.
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Згідно з сайтом відомства, «Іван Голубець» належить державному підприємству «Сервіс», а фрахтувальником судна є компанія «Евіале Бізнес ЛП». Підпиємство експлуатує судно з лютого 2016 року, термін дії оренди – 10 років.
«Іван Голубець» був тимчасово зареєстрований у Міжнародному реєстрі флоту Грузії на термін чинності договору. Судно ходило під прапором Грузії та здійснювало промисел в територіальних водах Мавританії та Белізу.
21 липня з’явилися перші повідомлення про те, що біля берегів Мавританії сталася пожежа на борту океанського траулера «Іван Голубець».
Також поширилася інформація, що на борту перебували кадети «Керченського державного морського технологічного університету», що в анексованому Криму. Наразі ці повідомленні офіційно не підтверджені. …
As part of sweeping reforms, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed Meaza Ashenafi to be the first woman to lead the country’s Supreme Court. This charismatic lawyer has built a career advocating for women. VOA’S Salem Solomon has this profile.
Electric power is slowly returning in Venezuela after a devastating blackout that ground activity to a virtual halt in a country beleaguered by a protracted political power struggle. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports that the Trump administration is renewing calls for the departure of embattled socialist ruler Nicolas Maduro, who remains defiant, insisting that conditions in Venezuela will improve.
Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party leader, began assembling his political team as soon as he took office Wednesday. New Cabinet members include the country’s first ethnic minority person to head the Treasury and several women. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Johnson’s first day on the job was marked by demonstrations by his supporters, as well as his opponents.
