Civil liberties groups are asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s effort to effectively end asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
 
The American Civil Liberties Union and others filed the request Wednesday, seeking a Thursday hearing in San Francisco. The groups sued Tuesday and want the judge to block the policy while the case is heard.
 
The Trump administration rules went into effect Tuesday and prevent most migrants from seeking protection as refugees if they have passed through another country first. It targets tens of thousands of Central Americans who cross into the U.S. through Mexico. But it also affects people from Africa, Asia, and South America who come to the southern border.
 
Immigrant advocates say the plan illegally circumvents the asylum process Congress established.

On a two-day visit to New York this month, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed in a speech never to “succumb to any threats” from China. She mixed too with U.S. Congress members in America’s largest city. Reporters were allowed to cover some of her events. It is more open and welcoming  than past U.S. trips by Taiwan presidents.

Tsai, passing through New York on her way to visit former  diplomatic allies in the Caribbean, will return to Taipei after spending another two days in the United States before July 22. 

In the past, Washington has held visits by Taiwanese presidents to shorter periods, smaller cities and lower-profile activities – sometimes just aircraft refueling. The idea was to offer transit stops, for comfort and convenience, but avoid upsetting China. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory rather than a state entitled to foreign relations. Washington and Beijing recognize each other diplomatically.

Tsai is getting to do more than usual this month because the U.S. government is upgrading relations with Taiwan and expressing exasperation with China, experts believe. 

“At this moment, I think both the Taiwan government and the U.S. government prefer to see this as kind of  a one-step further enhancement of diplomatic relationships,” said Liu Yih-jiun, public affairs professor at Fo Guang University in Taiwan.

Time, place and activity upgrades

Taiwan presidents have been allowed stopovers in the United States since the 1990s. They are officially transit stops between Taipei and visits to diplomatic allies in the Americas and South Pacific.

In 2006, Taiwan ex-president Chen Shui-bian stopped in the relatively remote city of Anchorage for a simple refueling – and he complained then of inconvenience. But Chen had ruffled the United States by provoking China at a time when U.S. officials hoped the two Asian governments would seek peace.

Seven years later, Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou visited New York for 40 hours but avoided slamming China in any meetings there. Ma had set aside disputes with China to start landmark negotiations with the Communist government.

Last August, in a move that upset China, Tsai became the first Taiwanese president since the 1970s to visit a U.S. federal property, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  

Shift in U.S.-China-Taiwan ties

China has blamed Tsai for shunning more negotiations. Unlike Ma, she rejects Beijing’s dialogue conditions that both sides fall under one flag.

U.S. policy toward stopovers has not changed over the years, said Aaron Huang, acting spokesman for the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei. But the Trump government has tightened Taiwan-U.S. ties by offering military aid for Taiwan as well as support for more high-level visits. 

Trump, unlike his predecessors, is battling Beijing over trade. He is resisting Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea at the same time, largely by sending Navy ships and enlisting help from third countries.

The length of Tsai’s U.S. stays this month, the choice of New York as a venue and China’s past criticism of Tsai will stir China again, said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. 

“I think from those perspectives, her visit will be interpreted as more provocative than otherwise it would have been,” Sun said.

Between her U.S. stops, Tsai is scheduled to visit Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Kitts and Nevis. Beijing protested before Tsai started her journey.

Washington next?

Tsai hopes to grow closer with the United States, especially as China pressures her toward talks through military aircraft flybys and squelching Taiwanese foreign relations, political scientists in Taipei say. 

But with U.S. stopovers routine, Taiwanese voters hope their president can take her U.S. visits even further, said Ku Chung-hua, standing board member with the Taiwan advocacy group Citizens’ Congress Watch. 

Common Taiwanese often resent China’s pressure and hope the U.S. government can help in their defense. 

Tsai almost got the chance earlier in the year, when a group of U.S. senators asked, unsuccessfully, that she be able to address Congress. 

“If she went and spoke to the U.S. Congress, that would be a big breakthrough, but if she’s just passing through for a few nights, though there’s some relaxation compared to the past, it doesn’t change approval ratings that much,” Ku said.

An International relief agency says the Taliban has forced them to close dozens of clinics in an embattled central – eastern region of Afghanistan, depriving  hundreds of thousands of people, particularly women and children, of  receiving medical treatment and health services. 

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) said in a statement issued Wednesday the insurgents’ action in the Wardak province had stemmed from last week’s deadly attack by Afghan security forces against one of the agency’s health clinics. It noted that the condemnable raid killed four people, including SCA doctors, and one employee is still missing.

“The Taliban forced SCA to close 42 out of 77 health facilities in six out of nine districts of Wardak province so far, and due to this closure, an estimated number of over 5,700 patients are affected on daily basis,” the aid agency lamented. 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid justified their action, alleging the July 8th raid against the SCA hospital was jointly conducted by American and Afghan forces. He told VOA the relief agency’s health units have come under regular attack by pro-government forces but the SCA has not effectively protested nor has the Swedish government taken up the issue with Americans or the international community. 

“On the request of an association of local clinics, doctors and paramedical staff in Wardak, we have contacted Sweden and urged them to take immediate steps to protect their health facilities as well as staff working on them. Until then, we have told SCA to close their clinics,” Mujahid said.

“If they (Sweden) fail to act accordingly, we (Taliban) will approach and seek help from other international charity organizations to take charge of these clinics to ensure the people in Wardak continue to receive medical treatment and health services,” he added. 

The SCA country director, Sonny Mansson, denounced the insurgent move as an obvious violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“We demand immediate reopening of all health facilities for the people and we strongly urge all parties involved in conflict to refrain from such actions which deliberately puts civilian lives at risk”, he added.

The SCA had just days after the raid against its health clinic strongly condemned it as a serious violation of international humanitarian law and demanded an independent international investigation into the incident. The agency, however, had exclusively blamed Afghan forces for conducting the deadly raid. 

Last week’s attack on the hospital was the second in three years.  In 2016, security forces had raided the facility and dragged out two hospital patients along with their 15-year-old caretaker and later displayed their bodies.

The SCA operates in rural Afghanistan, including Taliban-controlled areas, with approximately 6,000 local staff around the country. 

While deforestation has devastated many African countries, in the west African nation of Niger more than 200 million new trees have sprung up in recent decades.  These trees, mainly a variety known locally as Gao – weren’t planted.  Instead, they were protected by Nigerien farmers who realized the trees were assets to agriculture and animal feed.  Moki Edwin Kindzeka has this report by Anne Nzouankeu in Niamey, Niger.

Monsoon flooding and landslides continued to cause havoc in South Asia on Tuesday, with the death toll rising to 78 in Nepal and authorities in neighboring northeastern India battling to provide relief to over 4 million people in Assam state, officials said.

Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center said more than 40,000 soldiers and police were using helicopters and roads to rush food, tents and medicine to thousands of people hit by the annual flooding. Rescuers also were searching for 32 missing people.

In Bangladesh, more than 100,000 people were affected by flooding in the north and forecasters warned that major rivers continued to swell across the country.

Rivers burst their banks in the northern district of Lalmonirhat, marooning villages, news reports said, quoting local water board officials.

In the Indian state of Assam, officials said floodwaters have killed at least 19 people and brought misery to some 4.5 million.

More than 85,000 people have taken shelter in 187 state government-run camps in 30 of the state’s 33 districts, the state disaster management authority said in a statement.

Atiqua Sultana, a district magistrate, said a flooded river washed away a 150-meter (490-foot) stretch of Assam’s border road with Bangladesh, flooding 70 villages on the Indian side.

Around 80% of Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, home to the endangered one-horn rhinoceros, has been flooded by the Brahmaputra river, which flows along the sanctuary, forest officer Jutika Borah said.

After causing flooding and landslides in Nepal, three rivers have been overflowing in India and submerging parts of eastern Bihar state, killing at least 24 people, said Pratata Amrit, a state government official.

More than 2.5 million people have been hit by the flooding in 12 of 38 districts of Bihar state, Amrit said.

In Bangladesh, at least a dozen people, mostly farmers, have been killed by lightning since Saturday as monsoon rains battered parts of the low-lying country.

Bangladesh, with 160 million people and more than 130 rivers, is prone to monsoon floods because of overflowing rivers and the heavy onrush of water from upstream India.

Monsoon rains hit the region in June-September. The rains are crucial for rain-fed crops planted during the season.

At least two people were killed when a four-story residential building collapsed on Tuesday in India’s financial capital Mumbai. Dozens are trapped in the rubble.

Teams from the national disaster response force and firefighters are racing to extricate those buried under the debris. Located in a maze of crowded, narrow lanes, rescue crews had to access the site by foot, parking vehicles some distance away. Local volunteers joined the effort, trying to remove the rubble by hand.

A young child and a woman were among the handful that were pulled to safety and taken to hospital in the hours after the collapse.

Eyewitnesses said the building, which was in a dilapidated condition, came crashing down after a loud thud was heard shortly before noon. Heavy rains in the city had inundated the area.  

Maharashtra state Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, told reporters the structure was about 100 years old and home to about 15 families. He said an investigation would be conducted.

Authorities say they had told the residents to evacuate the building, but people had ignored the warning.

Efforts are underway to rescue people from adjacent buildings, which are also unsafe. Low-income families, residing in such structures, often find it difficult to find alternate accommodations.

India is no stranger to building collapses, especially during the monsoon season that lasts from June to September when rains weaken the foundations of old structures. Poor construction standards are also often to blame for such disasters.

Mumbai has been pummeled by some of the heaviest rains in recent weeks. The city witnessed another disaster earlier this month when a wall collapsed burying shanty homes and killing 26 people.

On Monday, a building came crashing down in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, killing 14 people.

Journalists in Pakistan have staged demonstrations across the country to denounce censorship by the country’s powerful military and security services, layoffs due to budget cuts, and months-long delays in wage payments.

The protests on July 16 are spearheaded by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists to fight “unprecedented censorship.”

Afzal Butt, president of the union, said the rallies are only the “beginning of a protest movement.”

“We have launched a movement for the rights of journalists from today,” Butt said.

“Around 5,000 journalists have lost their jobs in the last eight months and we believe it is a continuation of censorship,” Butt said.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last week blasted a decision by Pakistani authorities to suspend three TV news channels from cable networks for broadcasting an opposition figure’s news conference.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a report released in September that the climate for press freedom in Pakistan was deteriorating as the country’s army “quietly, but effectively” restricts reporting through “intimidation” and other means.

Pakistan ranks 142nd out of 180 countries listed on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday turned up the pressure on Turkey after approving an initial batch of sanctions against the country over its drilling for gas in waters where EU member Cyprus has exclusive economic rights. 

The ministers said in a statement that in light of Turkey’s “continued and new illegal drilling activities,” they were suspending talks on an air transport agreement and would call on the European Investment Bank to “review” it’s lending to the country.

They also backed a proposal by the EU’s executive branch to reduce financial assistance to Turkey for next year. The ministers warned that additional “targeted measures” were being worked on to penalize Turkey, which started negotiations to join the EU in 2005.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued his own warning last week that his country would step up drilling activities off Cyprus if the EU moved ahead with sanctions. 

Two Turkish vessels escorted by warships are drilling for gas on either end of ethnically divided Cyprus.

The EU ministers repeated the “serious immediate negative impact” that Turkey’s illegal actions are having on EU-Turkey relations and called on Ankara to respect Cyprus’ sovereign rights in line with international law.

They also welcomed the Cypriot government’s invitation to Turkey to negotiate the borders of their respective exclusive economic zones and continental shelf.

Turkey doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a state and claims 44% of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone as its own, according to Cyprus government officials. Turkish Cypriots in the east Mediterranean island nation’s breakaway north claim another 25%.

Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece. A Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence is recognized only by Turkey, which keeps more than 35,000 troops in the breakaway north. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys full membership benefits. 

Turkey contends that it’s protecting its rights and those of Turkish Cypriots to the area’s hydrocarbon deposits. Cypriot officials, however, accuse Turkey of using the minority Turkish Cypriots in order to pursue its goal of exerting control over the eastern Mediterranean region.

The Cypriot government says it will take legal action against any oil and gas companies supporting Turkish vessels in any repeat attempt to drill for gas. Cyprus has already issued around 20 international arrest warrants against three international companies assisting one of the two Turkish vessels now drilling 42 miles (68 kilometers) off the island’s west coast.

The Cyprus government has licensed energy companies including ExxonMobil, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni to carry out gas drilling in blocks, or areas, off the island’s southern coastline. At least three significant gas deposits have so far been discovered there.  

Meanwhile, Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will chair a meeting of political leaders Tuesday to discuss a renewed proposal by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa AKinci to establish a joint committee with Greek Cypriots on managing offshore gas drilling activities.

Akinci has repeatedly called for the creation of such a committee that he says would give his community a say in how newly found gas deposits off Cyprus’ southern coast are managed and future proceeds are divvied up. A similar proposal was made by Akinci’s predecessor Dervis Eroglu in 2011. 

The Cypriot government says energy discussions with Turkish Cypriots should be part of overarching reunification talks, adding that Turkish Cypriot rights to the island’s energy reserves are assured. The government says future gas proceeds that will flow into an established hydrocarbons fund will be shared equitably after a peace deal is signed.

Former Democratic U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke raised a lackluster $3.6 million for his struggling presidential campaign in the second quarter of the year, his campaign said on Monday.

The fundraising haul was a warning sign for the Texas politician and a stark drop in campaign cash after he raised more than $9 million in two weeks the previous period.

O’Rourke, who entered the race after gaining national prominence in his failed 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate from Texas, has failed to gain traction in opinion polls.

Some two dozen Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. The crowded nominating contest will require candidates to spend millions of dollars to be competitive.

U.S. Senator Cory Booker reported on Monday he raised $4.5 million in the three months ended June 30.

Booker’s haul, nearly a quarter of it raised in the four days after his strong appearance in the party’s first debate last month, lagged those of other Democratic contenders, including front-runner Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who each raised more than $20 million.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders raised $18 million in the second quarter.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren brought in $19 million and spent $11 million, according to the report her campaign filed on Monday to the Federal Election Commission.

Senator Amy Klobuchar raked in just under $4 million.

Senator Kamala Harris, who has traded places with Warren as voters’ third and fourth choices in recent polling, said last week her campaign had raised $12 million.

By comparison, Trump and the Republican National Committee said they raised $108 million for Trump’s re-election campaign.

Trump made the unprecedented move to file for re-election the day he took office on Jan. 20, 2017, allowing him to spend the past two years building his re-election operation.

Candidates are required under federal law to disclose their donors and campaign expenses. The latest reports cover the second quarter of the year, which ended on June 30.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Monday at the base of Hawaii’s tallest mountain to protest the construction of a giant telescope on land that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred.

At about daybreak, a group of kupuna, or elders, tied themselves together with rope at the road to the summit of Mauna Kea. Another group of protesters were on the ground, attached to a cattle grate. 

Around them, protesters sang and chanted. 

The road was later officially closed, hours after it was essentially blocked by protesters. The prone elders tied together were expecting to be arrested. 

After two protest leaders spoke with police, they addressed the crowd and told them anyone who didn’t move would be arrested. The group would move aside, but the elders were expected to remain, protest leaders Kaho’okahi Kanuha and Andre Perez said. 

Officials said anyone breaking the law will be prosecuted. Protesters who blocked the roadway during previous attempts to begin construction have been arrested. No arrests were immediately reported Monday morning.

Telescope opponent Jennifer Leina’ala Sleightholm said she expects protests to remain peaceful. “I don’t anticipate anybody will get out of hand,” she said. “We have never given them any reason to think that we would.” 

She said she hopes the construction convoys turn around and leave. 

“I think I know what will happen, but what I hope will happen is I hope that they would just turn around and save our kupuna,” she said, using the Hawaiian word for elders. 

A puuhonua, or place of refuge, set up at the base of Mauna Kea won’t be swept by authorities, Kanuha and Perez told protesters after consulting with police. Protesters planned to stay there overnight. 

Scientists hope the massive telescope they planned for the site — a world-renowned location for astronomy — will help them peer back to the time just after the Big Bang and answer fundamental questions about the universe.

But some Native Hawaiians consider the land holy, as a realm of gods and a place of worship.

Groups of activists sang and prayed at the base of the mountain on Sunday afternoon. They declared the area, which is well off the highway at the intersection of the mountain’s access road, a place of refuge and safety. 

 This is Hawaiian homelands,” said Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the protest leaders. “We’re clearly out of their way, we’re not obstructing anything, everyone is in ceremony.”

The project already has been delayed by years of legal battles and demonstrations, drawing attention from the likes of “Aquaman” actor Jason Momoa, who has Native Hawaiian ancestry and has voiced opposition to the telescope. 

Scientists selected Mauna Kea in 2009 after a five-year, worldwide search for the ideal site.

Protests disrupted a groundbreaking and Hawaiian blessing ceremony at the site in 2014. After that, the demonstrations intensified.

Construction stopped in April 2015 after protesters were arrested for blocking the work. A second attempt to restart construction a few months later ended with more arrests and crews pulling back.

But Hawaii’s Supreme Court has ruled the construction is legal, permits are in place, and the state has given the company behind the telescope a green light to resume its efforts. The company is made up of a group of universities in California and Canada, with partners from China, India and Japan.

According to the University of Hawaii, ancient Hawaiians considered the location kapu, or forbidden. Only the highest-ranking chiefs and priests were allowed to make the long trek to Mauna Kea’s summit above the clouds.

Today, the university leases the land at the summit from the state for existing telescopes and observatories on the summit. A road built for telescope access decades ago is used by thousands of tourists and locals each year, including Native Hawaiians who go there to pray.

Supporters of the $1.4 billion giant telescope say the cutting-edge instrument will not only make important scientific discoveries but bring educational and economic opportunities to Hawaii.

The telescope’s primary mirror would measure 98 feet (30 meters) in diameter. It would be three times as wide as the world’s largest existing visible-light telescope, with nine times more area.

Gov. David Ige said unarmed National Guard units will be used to transport personnel and supplies and enforce road closures, but they will not be used in a law enforcement capacity during planned protests.

In a news conference Sunday, Ige said that he “respected the right of people to protest” at the telescope site as long as protesters behave lawfully.

“As construction begins, our number one priority is keeping everyone safe,” Ige said, adding that he wants to make sure construction workers and truck drivers have unimpeded access to the telescope site.

Two leading UN agencies report nearly 20 million children worldwide—more than one in 10—were not vaccinated against killer diseases, such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018. 

Global life-saving vaccine coverage remains at 86 percent.  This is high, but the World Health Organization says it is not high enough.  It says 95 percent coverage is needed to protect against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.  

The worldwide measles outbreak is the starkest and most alarming example of what can happen when vaccine coverage across countries and communities falls below 95 percent.  Last year, nearly 350,000 measles cases were reported globally, more than double that of 2017.

WHO’s director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Kate O’Brien warns measles outbreaks are not just persisting, but are increasing.  She agrees some of the problem is due to misinformation and false information regarding the safety of the measles vaccine.  But she says low coverage is mainly linked to sharp inequalities in both low-income and high-income countries.

“Even in high-income countries, access to vaccines, inequality and quality of care are often the greatest obstacles for parents to get vaccines for their children.  So, we want to emphasize both of these things that barriers to vaccination are not only about poor countries, they are also about the situation in high-income and middle-income countries,” she said. 

Nevertheless, O’Brien notes most unvaccinated children live in the poorest countries; especially in fragile or conflict-affected States.  Almost half, she said, are in just 16 countries.  Ten of them are in sub-Saharan Africa.

WHO reports Nigeria, India and Pakistan have the lowest vaccination rates. It finds only two regions, the Americas and Western-Pacific had lower vaccination coverage in 2018 than in 2017.   Vaccinations in every other region, it says, have gone up or have plateaued.

While Africa remains the region with the lowest vaccine coverage, WHO says it has not gone backwards.  However, due to expected population rise, WHO projects fewer children in Africa are likely to receive life-saving vaccines in the coming decades.

 

Federal prosecutors, preparing for a bail fight Monday, say evidence against financier Jeffrey Epstein is growing “stronger by the day” after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were underage.

Prosecutors say Epstein, 66, is a flight risk and danger to the community and should remain incarcerated until he is tried on charges that he recruited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.

His lawyers counter that their client has not committed crimes since pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution charges in Florida in 2008 and that the federal government is reneging on a 12-year-old deal not to prosecute him. They say he should be allowed to await trial under house arrest in his $77 million Manhattan mansion, with electronic monitoring.

In a written submission Friday to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, prosecutors revealed new information about their investigation and why they perceive Epstein as dangerous.

They said several additional women in multiple jurisdictions had identified themselves to the government, claiming Epstein abused them when they were minors. Also, dozens of individuals have called the government to report information about Epstein and the charges he faces, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they believe Epstein might have tried to influence witnesses after discovering that he had paid a total of $350,000 to two individuals, including a former employee, in the last year. That came after the Miami Herald reported the circumstances of his state court conviction in 2008, which led to a 13-month jail term and his deal to avoid federal prosecution.

“This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations,” prosecutors said.

The decade-old secret plea deal led to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s resignation last week. Acosta came under renewed criticism following Epstein’s arrest over the 2008 non-prosecution agreement he oversaw as the U.S. attorney in Miami.

In addition to the charges in the indictment, prosecutors are also reviewing dozens of electronic files seized during a raid on Epstein’s residence after his July 6 arrest, finding even more photos than the hundreds or thousands of pictures of nude and seminude young women and girls they had reported prior to a court hearing a week ago.

In their submission to the judge, Epstein’s lawyers say their client has had a clean record since he began registering as a sex offender after his Florida conviction.

They said the accusations against Epstein are “outside the margins of federal criminal law” and don’t constitute sex trafficking since there were no allegations he “trafficked anybody for commercial profit; that he forced, coerced, defrauded, or enslaved anybody.”

Prosecutors said efforts by defense lawyers to characterize Epstein’s crimes as “simple prostitution” were “not only offensive but also utterly irrelevant given that federal law does not recognize the concept of a child prostitute – there are only trafficking victims – because a child cannot legally consent to being exploited.”

 

Unknown armed assailants killed a reporter for a local radio station in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province.

Nader Shah Sahibzada, a reporter for Voice of Gardiz local radio, went missing on Friday and authorities found his dead body on Saturday near his home in capital city, Gardiz.

Initial autopsy reports suggest that Sahibzada has been severely tortured and stabbed to death.

Aminullah Amiri, an editor of the Voice of Gardiz radio, told VOA that Sahibzada was running entertainment shows at the station and had no conflicts with anyone, suggesting he may have been killed because of his work.

Sardar Wali Tabassum, the provincial police spokesperson, told VOA that an investigation has been launched into the killing of Sahibzada and efforts are under way to bring those responsible for his death to justice.

Sahibzada’s case is not an isolated incident.  According to media advocacy groups in Afghanistan, so far this year seven local journalists have been killed by unknown armed men.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Sahibzada’s killing, but late last month the Taliban warned Afghan media outlets that if they do not stop what the militant group called “anti-Taliban statements”, they would be targeted.

“Those who continue doing so will be recognized by the group as military targets who are helping the Western-backed government of Afghanistan,” the insurgent group said in a statement.

“Reporters and staff members will not remain safe,” the statement added.

Both U.S. and Afghanistan condemned Taliban’s threats against the Afghan media outlets.

“Freedom of expression and attacks on media organizations is in contradiction to human and Islamic values,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said in a statement.

John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said in a tweet that the Taliban should stop threatening Afghan journalists.

“More violence, against journalists or civilians, will not bring security and opportunity to Afghanistan, nor will it help the Taliban reach their political objectives,” Bass said.

Deadliest place for journalists

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which advocates for freedom of the press around the world, reported that Afghanistan was the world’s deadliest country for journalists in 2018 followed by Syria.

The group said in its annual report in late December that 15 journalists have been killed in Afghanistan and 11 others have been killed in Syria, making both countries the deadliest places for journalists around the world.

The increased fatalities among journalists in Afghanistan is due in part to bombings and shootings that targeted media workers.

In April of 2018, a double bombing in Kabul killed nine journalists, including six Radio Free Europe reporters.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group claimed responsibility for those attacks, which they said deliberately targeted journalists.

Some of the materials used in this report came from Reuters.

 

Police used batons and pepper spray to disperse thousands of protesters who again took to the streets of a Hong Kong suburb to demand the complete withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China, as well as the resignation of the Beijing-approved leader Carrie Lam.
 
The protest in Sha Tin was peaceful through most of Sunday, but scuffles broke out between police and the demonstrators as the day came to an end. Some protesters ran into a local shopping mall where the scuffles continued.
 
Riot police used pepper spray and batons to clear protesters from the mall while demonstrators were seen using umbrellas and other make-shift weapons to fight police.
 
Protesters have begun taking their marches to farther-flung areas of Hong Kong in an effort to reach the wider population. Sha Tin is located in the New Territories close to the border with mainland China, and is popular with mainland visitors.
 
Organizers said 110,000 protesters took part, while police put the number at 28,000, according to broadcaster RTHK.

 Hong Kong has been the site of weekend demonstrations for weeks.
 
The protests began because of the controversial extradition bill that would have allowed the extradition of Hong Kong criminal suspects to mainland China.
 
After several weeks of controversy and large, angry street protests, Lam recently said the extradition bill is “dead.”
 
But the protests have continued. Some are demanding Lam’s resignation, others an investigation into complaints of police violence and some called genuine elections.
 
Residents of Hong Kong do not directly choose their leaders, rather they are picked from a pool of candidates approved by the Communist regime in Beijing.
 
The former British colony was granted special autonomy for 50 years after it returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. But many in Hong Kong are concerned that China is slowly encroaching on those rights and tightening its grip on the territory.

 

At least 10 people have died and thousands of shanty homes have been destroyed since April by monsoon rains in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh’s southeast, officials said Sunday.

Bangladesh’s meteorological department said the Cox’s Bazar district — home to nearly one million Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar — has seen at least 58.5 centimeters (nearly two feet) of rain since July 2.

An International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman said heavy rains triggered mudslides in the refugee camps — which are mostly built on hill-slopes — destroying some 4,889 tarpaulin and bamboo shacks.

More than 200 landslides have been reported since April in the camps, built near the border with Myanmar, and at least 10 people were killed, a UN report said.

In the last week alone, two Rohingya minors died and another 6,000 people were left without shelter because of heavy rains.

Displaced refugees said they were suffering as rain disrupted logistics and daily activity in the camps.

“It’s tough to go to food distribution centers by wading through a swamp of mud,” Nurun Jan, a Rohingya refugee, told AFP.

“Rains and gusty wind have made our life miserable.”

World Food Program (WFP) spokeswoman Gemma Snowdon said they had to significantly increase assistance in the camps to cope up with the monsoon.

“So far 11,400 people have required the extra food assistance due to the heavy rains, compared to 7,000 during the whole of July 2018,” she said.

Last year the UN refugee agency moved 30,000 Rohingya out of areas considered at high risk of landslides and floods.

Heavy rains frequently trigger flooding and landslides in Bangladesh’s southeastern hill districts, and in 2017 at least 170 people were killed.

Some 740,000 Rohingya fled a military crackdown in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017, joining about 200,000 already living in camps in Bangladesh.

Officials said landslides were increasing in the region because forests had been cleared to make way for the sprawling Rohingya camps. One of the settlements, Kutupalong, is now the world’s largest refugee center.

Bangladesh wants to relocate up to 100,000 of the refugees to Bhashan Char, a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, but this is opposed by the refugees and international rights groups.

Dhaka says any relocation to the island would be voluntary.

 

Thousands rallied in Hong Kong for a second day Sunday, in an area popular with mainland Chinese shoppers, as deep-seated anger and frustration at the government’s handling of an extradition bill refuses to dissipate.

Demonstrators marched in heat of about 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees F) in Sha Tin, a town between Hong Kong island and the border with China that has previously been a battleground for those upset by the flood of Chinese day-trippers.

“I never missed a march so far since June,” said a 69-year-old man who gave only his surname, Chen, referring to a wave of protests that has drawn millions to the streets of the Asian financial hub, plunging it into turmoil.

“I support the youngsters, they have done something we haven’t done. There is nothing we can do to help them, but come out and march to show our appreciation and support,” he said.

A few protesters waved British and American flags, with banners calling for independence for Hong Kong flying from makeshift flagpoles. Some marchers beat drums and others carried banners that read, “Free Hong Kong.”

Chants of “Carrie Lam go to hell,” rang through the crowd, referring to the city’s embattled leader.

Biggest crisis since 1997

The protests have fueled the former British colony’s biggest political crisis since China regained control of Hong Kong in 1997 and pose a direct challenge to authorities in Beijing.

The focus of the rallies has veered occasionally from the extradition bill, which would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, to broader issues fueling tension between Hong Kong people and mainland Chinese.

On Saturday, a largely peaceful demonstration in a town close to the Chinese border turned violent, as protesters hurled umbrellas and hardhats at police, who retaliated by swinging batons and firing pepper spray.

Critics see the now-suspended bill as a threat to the rule of law in Hong Kong. Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said it is “dead,” but opponents say they will settle for nothing short of the bill’s formal withdrawal.

They are also demanding that Lam step down and seeking an independent investigation into complaints of police brutality.

Erosion of freedom a worry

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule 22 years ago under a “one country, two systems” formula that allows its people freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the liberty to protest and an independent judiciary.

Beijing denies interfering in Hong Kong affairs, but many residents worry about what they see as an erosion of those freedoms and a relentless march toward mainland control.

More than 23.6 million mainland Chinese visited Hong Kong in the first five months of this year, government data show, up 17.5% from a year earlier, and equivalent to at least three times Hong Kong’s population of 7.4 million.

The government condemned violent acts during Saturday’s protests against so-called “parallel traders” from the mainland who buy goods in bulk in Hong Kong to carry into China for profit.

It said that during the last 18 months it had arrested 126 mainland visitors suspected of contravening the terms of their stay by engaging in parallel trading, and barred about 5,000 mainland Chinese also suspected of involvement.

Earlier Sunday, hundreds of journalists joined a silent march to demand better treatment from police at protests.
 

Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast Saturday, flooding highways, forcing people to scramble to rooftops and dumping heavy rain that officials had feared could test the levees and pumps that were bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane, the system weakened to a tropical storm as it made landfall near Intracoastal City, about 160 miles (257km) west of New Orleans, with its winds falling to 70 mph (112km), the National Hurricane Center said.

By early evening, New Orleans had been spared the worst effects, receiving only light showers and gusty winds. But officials warned that Barry could still cause disastrous flooding across a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast and drop up to 20 inches (50 cm) of rain through Sunday across a part of Louisiana that includes New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

“This is just the beginning,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “It’s going to be a long several days for our state.”

Levees overtopped south of New Orleans

The Coast Guard rescued a dozen people from flooded areas of Terrebonne Parish, south of New Orleans, some of them from rooftops, a spokeswoman said. The people included a 77-year-old man who called for help because he had about 4 feet of water in his home.

None of the main levees on the Mississippi River failed or were breached, Edwards said. But a levee in Terrebonne Parish was overtopped by water, officials said. And video showed water getting over a second levee in Plaquemines Parish, where fingers of land extend deep into the Gulf of Mexico. Terrebonne Parish ordered an evacuation affecting an estimated 400 people.

Nearly all businesses in Morgan City, about 85 miles west of New Orleans, were shuttered with the exception of Meche’s Donuts Shop. Owner Todd Hoffpauir did a brisk business despite the pounding winds and pulsating rain.

While making doughnuts, Hoffpauir said he heard an explosion and a ripping sound and later saw that the wind had peeled off layers of the roof at an adjacent apartment complex.

Still filling sandbags

In some places, residents continued to build defenses against rising water. At the edge of the town of Jean Lafitte just outside New Orleans, volunteers helped several town employees sandbag a 600-foot stretch of the two-lane state highway. The street was already lined with one-ton sandbags, and 30-pound bags were being used to strengthen them.

“I’m here for my family, trying to save their stuff,” volunteer Vinnie Tortorich said. “My cousin’s house is already under.”

In Lafayette, Willie Allen and his 11-year-old grandson, Gavin Coleman, shoveled sand into 20 green bags, joining a group of more than 20 other people doing the same thing during a break in the rain. Wearing a mud-streaked T-shirt and shorts, Allen loaded the bags onto the back of his pickup.

“Everybody is preparing,” he said. “Our biggest concern is the flood.”

Many businesses were also shut down or closed early in Baton Rouge, and winds were strong enough to rock large pickups. Whitecaps were visible on the Mississippi River.

Oil and gas operators evacuated hundreds of platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 70% of Gulf oil production and 56% of gas production were turned off Saturday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which compiles the numbers from industry reports.

Barry preceded by deluge 

Barry developed from a disturbance in the Gulf that surprised New Orleans during the Wednesday morning rush with a sudden deluge that flooded streets, homes and businesses. For several days, officials braced for more flooding. But as sunset approached, the city saw only intermittent rain and wind, with occasional glimpses of sunshine.

Elsewhere, more than 120,000 customers in Louisiana and another nearly 6,000 customers in Mississippi and Alabama were without power Saturday, according to poweroutage.us.

During a storm update through Facebook Live, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham pointed to a computer screen showing a huge, swirling mess of airborne water.

“That is just an amazing amount of moisture,” he said. “That is off the chart.”

Weekend of heavy rain

Barry was moving so slowly that heavy rain was expected to continue all weekend. Forecasts showed the storm on a path toward Chicago that would swell the Mississippi River basin with water that must eventually flow south again.

For a few hours, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), just above the 74 mph (120 kph) threshold to be a hurricane. Barry was expected to continue weakening and become a tropical depression Sunday.

Downpours also lashed coastal Alabama and Mississippi. Parts of Dauphin Island, a barrier island in Alabama, were flooded both by rain and surging water from the Gulf, said Mayor Jeff Collier, who drove around in a Humvee to survey damage. He said wind damage was minimal.

Flooding closed some roads in low-lying areas of Mobile County in Alabama, and heavy rains contributed to accidents, said John Kilcullen, director of plans and operations for Mobile County Emergency Management Agency.

Governors declared emergencies in Louisiana and Mississippi, and authorities closed floodgates and raised water barriers around New Orleans. It was the first time since Katrina that all floodgates in the New Orleans area had been sealed.

Still, Edwards said he did not expect the Mississippi to spill over the levees despite water levels already running high from spring rains and melting snow upstream. The barriers range in height from about 20 feet to 25 feet (6 meters to 7.5 meters).

Authorities told at least 10,000 people in exposed, low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast to leave, but no evacuations were ordered in New Orleans, where officials urged residents to “shelter in place.”

Despite the apparent calm in her city, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell cautioned that the storm continued to pose a threat.

“The slow pace pushed the timing of expected impacts further into today, tonight and Sunday,” Cantrell said. “This means that New Orleans residents are not out of the woods with this system.”

NEW YORK — Authorities said a widespread power shortage in Manhattan on Saturday evening left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled. 
 
Power reportedly went out at much of Rockefeller Center, and the outage reached the city’s Upper West Side. The full extent of the outage, however, wasn’t clear. 
 
A diner on Broadway at West 69th Street lost its lights, as did other surrounding businesses. 
 
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority tweeted that there were outages at various underground stations. The MTA was working with Con Edison to determine the cause.   
 
Con Edison did not immediately respond to phone messages. 

KIOSSI, CAMEROON — Analysts and businesspeople in the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community say that although the African Continental Free Trade Area launched in Niger last Sunday at an African Union summit brings hope for pan African trade, they are not sure CEMAC will be fully implemented anytime soon. 

CEMAC’s similar free-trade area has been plagued by corruption, national egos and a limitation of movement that have stunted the initiative.  

For instance, the Cameroonian town of Kiossi shares borders with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and quite often, authorities in those two countries seal their borders without any comment. 
 
Last December, Equatorial Guinea sealed its borders for a month. That same month, Gabon was expelling foreign citizens, especially Cameroonians, from its territory for what it called security reasons. 

Puzzled by move
 
Gabonese-born Gabriel Ndongma, who buys building material from Cameroon and supplies for his country and Equatorial Guinea, said recently that he did not understand why the borders have to be sealed and people have to be chased away when central African states have a common monetary and economic community created to facilitate movement and trade. 

He said CEMAC leaders should make strong political decisions that will make it possible for their people to travel freely among Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon and Congo, the members of the economic bloc. 

CEMAC was created in 1994. All member states ratified the treaty creating it in 1999, and free movement of goods, services, capital and people was officially implemented in 2000. It has a population of about 45 million and covers 3 million square kilometers.  

In 2017, CEMAC said it had reached a milestone after heads of state meeting in Chad lifted visa requirements for their citizens traveling within the bloc.  

Chadian-born transporter Bismau Halidou said that besides the regular closure of borders by some states in the region, nontariff barriers have made it difficult for free interstate trade to take off. 

Corruption problems
 
He said there were high levels of corruption among police, tax and customs officials in all central African states. He also noted that, surprisingly, Cameroon — which should pilot the integration process because it has a population of more than 25 million, more than half the region’s total — was viewed as a country not to be trusted because of notorious corruption. 

Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, said security challenges were making it difficult to ensure free movement that can deepen economic integration for its citizens. He said carnage has continued in CAR, Boko Haram terrorism has continued along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, and the separatist crisis has killed thousands in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.   
 
He said the region remains a place where pockets of tension and violence scare entrepreneurs away from investing or trading. He said it is still very difficult for people and goods to move freely because commuters are harassed by rebels and terrorists, and at times by security forces who are supposed to protect them. 
 
Chadian-born Fatima Haram Acyl, CEMAC commissioner for trade and industry, said Central Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world, with 70 percent of the population living on less than $1 a day and 30 percent of the people going hungry. He said the people there see the African Continental Free Trade Area as providing a way to fight poverty. He also said the challenges faced by the region require that uncompetitive industries be developed or knocked out of the market by stiffer competition. 
 
“We are going to have a big continental market in Africa, so it is very, very important for us to protect ourselves,” he said. “You know, when we have a big continental free trade area, there is going to be a lot of foreign products coming, so we have to protect our industries, we have to protect our people, we have to protect our market, because it is attractive for the whole world.” 

Much yet to do
 
Acyl said that despite the launch of the ACFTA, much work needs to be done before the agreement — signed by all 55 members of the African Union except Eritrea — becomes effective.  
 
Trade between African countries has been held back by several bottlenecks, such as poor infrastructure, cumbersome border procedures, trade regulations, tariffs and the high cost of transactions.  
 
The U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, however, estimates an increase in intra-African trade of 52.3 percent by 2020, asserting it will increase employment, facilitate better use of local resources for manufacturing and agriculture, and provide access to less expensive products. 

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will not impose quotas on importing uranium, backing away from a possible trade confrontation and breaking with a Commerce Department assessment that America’s use of foreign uranium raises national security concerns. 
 
The decision is unusual for Trump, who has pointed to national security concerns in calling for restrictions on foreign metal and autos in trade negotiations. It’s also drawing rare criticism from Republicans in energy-rich states. 
 
Uranium is a vital component for the U.S. nuclear arsenal, submarines and power plants, which prompted a monthslong Commerce Department investigation into whether such materials fall under the national security umbrella. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said that just 5 percent of the uranium the U.S. needs for military and electricity generation comes from domestic production. Russia, China and other countries supply the rest. 
 
In a statement issued late Friday, Trump said Ross’s findings about national security “raise significant concerns.” Yet the president opted against quotas as advocated by the domestic uranium industry, which would limit imports to guarantee that U.S. miners supply 25 percent of uranium for domestic use. 

Working group
 
Trump instead announced he was going to order a working group to take 90 days to formulate recommendations to increase domestic uranium production. 
 
Two Colorado-based uranium mining companies — Energy Fuels Inc. and Ur-Energy Inc. — petitioned the Commerce Department in January 2018 to impose the 25 percent requirement under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The companies said relying on imports poses a “serious threat to our national defense and energy security.” 
 
Much of the uranium mined in the U.S. comes from Wyoming. “The decision by the Trump administration is a missed opportunity to protect America’s uranium producers,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who denounced using foreign materials. “America should not rely on Vladimir Putin and his satellites to supply our uranium. It’s dangerous and unacceptable.” 
 
Environmentalists saw the mining companies’ petition as part of an effort to expand mining across the U.S. They also were worried about the area outside the boundary of Grand Canyon National Park, where an Obama-era decision placed roughly 1 million acres off limits to new mining claims for 20 years. 
 
“We’re obviously relieved there’s not a quota, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said Amber Reimondo, energy program director for the Grand Canyon Trust, an environmental group in Flagstaff, Ariz. “There’s clearly some concern with this working group that the president has ordered. And, depending on what comes out of that, it seems likely that there could be additional shortcuts to environmental safeguards.” 

Critical minerals
 
Last month, the Trump administration designated nearly three dozen minerals, including uranium, as critical. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said at the time the department would work “expeditiously” to streamline the permitting process for mining to locate domestic supplies of minerals. 
 
Energy Fuels has been waiting for uranium prices to rise to restart operations at its Canyon Mine near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim entrance. In a statement, the energy companies said they “commend” Trump for recognizing that the nuclear industry was “under siege” and for establishing the working group. 
 
The decision was a rare moment in which the Trump administration did not use the powers of the government to give American companies a trade advantage over international competition. The administration had previously levied tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, leading to retaliatory tariffs from Canada, Mexico, China and Europe.