Journalists Jailed in Record Numbers Worldwide

NEW YORK, LELEMUKU.COM - Journalists are being jailed in unprecedented numbers across the globe, with 262 detained for their work at the end of 2017, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"The jailing of journalists is a brutal form of censorship that is having a profound impact on the flow of information around the world," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon told a press freedom event Friday at the United Nations.

At the end of 2017, the worst offenders were Turkey, with 73 journalists jailed; China with 41; and Egypt with 20.

CPJ says that slightly more than half of all imprisoned journalists were jailed for reporting on human rights violations.

Simon said the United Nations has not been a strong enough voice on the issue because it has a culture of rarely naming and shaming its member states.

The event, organized on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly annual meeting, highlighted the cases of five reporters CPJ says have been unjustly detained. They are nationals of Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and Myanmar.

The two most high-profile cases are of Reutersreporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo in Myanmar. The two men were detained in December 2017 while they were investigating the mass killing of Rohingya Muslim men and boys by Buddhist villagers in the Rakhine state village of Inn Din.

Myanmar's military launched a crackdown on the minority Rohingya in August 2017 after Rohingya militants attacked several police checkpoints and killed a dozen Myanmar police officers. In a matter of a few months, 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Survivors gave accounts of horrific abuses, including widespread rapes, torture, and the looting and burning of their homes. The United Nations has deemed the atrocities a "textbook case" of ethnic cleansing.

British barrister Amal Clooney is representing the two Reutersreporters. She says the Myanmar authorities did not want their story about the massacre at Inn Din to come out.

"So police planted government documents on the journalists while other officers lay in wait outside to arrest them," Clooney said of how the two men were set up. "The journalists were arrested and were then prosecuted and subjected to a show trial in which their conviction was guaranteed."

Earlier this month, the two were sentenced to seven years in prison for violating a law on state secrets. Clooney said they are seeking a presidential pardon in Myanmar for them, as it is the only avenue currently available to win their freedom.

"The attack on them is a chilling warning to other journalists worldwide," said ReutersPresident Stephen Adler. "Myanmar is not the only country where attempts are made to deter investigative news gathering, scare sources and whistle-blowers, dim the spotlight of reporting, and thereby allow officials to act in darkness with impunity."

Other arrests

Azimjon Askarov, a Kyrgyz journalist, has been serving a life sentence since July 2010. CPJ'sSimon says he was covering deadly ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in the summer of 2010. During the trial, he and his lawyer were both assaulted.

"CPJ conducted its own investigation into the case in 2012 and found that charges against Askarov were in retaliation for his reporting on corrupt and abusive practices by regional police and prosecutors," Simon said.

Bangladeshi photojournalist and commentator Shahidul Alam was arrested last month while covering student protests in Bangladesh. A Dhaka court ordered that he be held for seven days to determine if he violated an information law by spreading propaganda and false information.

"When Shahidul was brought into court, he screamed that had been tortured. He was unable to walk without assistance," Simon told the panel. He remains in detention.

Since 2013, CPJ says, Egypt has been among the world's worst jailers of journalists, often detaining reporters on politically motivated anti-state charges.

Alaa Abdelfattah, a well-known Egyptian blogger and activist who has written about politics and human rights, is one of them. He is serving a five-year sentence on charges that he organized a protest and assaulted a police officer.

"We believe the charges are trumped up and in retaliation for Alaa's coverage of alleged human rights abuses by the police and security forces," Simon said.

"We are witnessing a growing hatred of journalists worldwide, which unfortunately is not limited to authoritarian regimes," said Margaux Ewen, North America director of Reporters Without Borders. "We are seeing democratically elected regimes also attack the press more and more frequently, which is why we need to continue to address wrongs as they occur."

U.S. President Donald Trump refers to negative news coverage of him and his administration as "fake news," and reporters at his rallies and during his campaign reported encountering hostility from his supporters.

Reporters in the United States are facing a more dangerous work environment. CPJ says at least three journalists have been arrested this year and 34 last year. In June, five people were killed in the newsroom of an Annapolis, Maryland, newspaper.

Journalists covering white nationalism and the far-right political movement have reported receiving threats, and at least 24 journalists have been assaulted, shoved or had their equipment damaged while working.

"A free press is not an adversary, but an essential component of democracy," Ewen said. (VOA)

Palestinians Say 7 Killed as Israeli Troops Fire on Gaza Protest

TEL AVIV, LELEMUKU.COM - Israeli soldiers shot dead seven Palestinians, including two boys, who were among thousands of people who thronged to the fortified Gaza Strip border on Friday as part of weekly protests launched half a year ago, Gaza health
officials said.

Israel's military said its troops resorted to live fire, and an airstrike, after explosive devices and rocks were thrown at them and to prevent breaches of the border fence from the Islamist Hamas-controlled enclave.

Gaza health officials said 505 people had been wounded, 89 of them by gunshots. They identified the dead as males, two of them aged 12 and 14.

The boys' families could not immediately be reached for comment.

At least 191 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza protests began on March 30 to demand the right of return to lands that Palestinian families fled or were driven from upon Israel's founding in 1948, and the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade.

Anniversary of revolt

Hamas said Friday's protest also marked the 18th anniversary of the launch of the last Palestinian revolt against Israel.

A Gaza sniper has killed one Israeli soldier, and incendiary devices flown over by Palestinians using kites and helium balloons have set off fires that destroyed tracts of forest and farmland in Israel.

Israel accuses Hamas, against which it has fought three wars in the last decade, of having deliberately provoked violence in the protests, a charge Hamas denies.

More than 2 million people are packed into Gaza, whose economic plight is a focus of so-far fruitless U.S.-led efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, stalled since 2014. (VOA)

Top Takeaways From Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford Hearing

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh riveted Washington and the nation with hours of fiery, emotional testimony from the judge and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing him of sexual assault when they were high schoolers. Kavanaugh denied the accusation.

Here are some takeaways from the extraordinary hearing:

How did she do?

Ford gave a soft-spoken and steady account about what she said happened three decades ago in a bedroom at a small gathering of friends. She said she came forward not for political reasons, but because it was her “civic duty.”

She described in detail how an inebriated Kavanaugh and another teen, Mark Judge, locked her in a room at a house party as Kavanaugh was grinding and groping her. She said he put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams, and testified, “I believed he was going to rape me.”

The 51-year-old mother of two said the incident was seared into her mind through trauma, while admitting some gaps in her memory around the attack.

Ford, a California psychology professor making her first public remarks about the incident, choked up occasionally describing the alleged attack. Democratic senators questioned her directly, but the 11 Republican members on the committee instead chose to have a female sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona question Ford.

Asked how certain she was that Kavanaugh was her attacker, she declared, “100 percent.”

How did he do?

Kavanaugh ditched his prepared remarks and instead issued a blistering statement declaring the confirmation process “a national disgrace.”

He strongly denied Ford’s allegation, but said he believed she had been the victim of a sexual assault. The father of two daughters said one of his girls said they should “pray for the woman” accusing him.

“That’s a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old,” he said, choking up.

Kavanaugh’s scorched-earth strategy gave President Donald Trump what he wanted: a nominee willing to fight back aggressively and yield no ground to Democrats. Echoing Ford, he said he was “100 percent certain” he did not commit the assault.

At times, Kavanaugh’s frustrations boiled over. When Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota asked if he ever drank so much he blacked out, he snapped, “Have you?”

He later apologized.

Moments after the hearing finished, Trump tweeted that Kavanaugh “showed America exactly why I nominated him.”

What happened to the prosecutor?

Republicans appointed Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Ford, and she led off the questioning of Kavanaugh. Then she quickly faded away.

After Mitchell asked Kavanaugh several detailed questions about Ford’s allegations, the GOP senators took matters into their own hands. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., led the way with a scorching denunciation of Democrats for raising the allegations against Kavanaugh in the final days of the confirmation process. From there, each GOP senator handled his own questions, while Mitchell sat silently nearby.

Hours earlier, Mitchell opened her questioning of Ford by expressing sympathy for the professor, who said she was “terrified” to testify.

“I just wanted to let you know, I’m very sorry. That’s not right,” Mitchell said.

As her time for questioning Ford was coming to an end, Mitchell rhetorically asked Ford about the best way to question victims of sex crimes.

“Would you believe me that no study says that this setting in five-minute increments is the way to do that?” Mitchell asked.

What happens next?

Judiciary Committee Republicans are hoping to vote on the confirmation Friday. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a longtime committee member, said he thinks Kavanaugh will get confirmed by a party-line vote.

Republicans’ margin for error in the full Senate is slim. If all Democrats oppose the nomination, just two GOP senators would sink Kavanaugh’s confirmation if they were to oppose him as well.

Multiple Republican lawmakers haven’t said which way they will vote, including two women with reputations as moderates who have been willing to buck their party: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Graham cautioned them against voting no.

“To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you’re legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics,” he said. (VOA)

Indonesia’s National Gallery Hosts Art of Refugees, Highlighting Migrant Plight

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - The National Gallery of Indonesia is usually associated with such artists as Raden Saleh, Affandi and other icons of the nation’s artistic history. This month it plays host to the works of asylum seekers and refugees in an exhibition entitled Berdiam/Bertandang, which means Stay/Visit.

With about 13,800 people identified as “persons of concern” by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) residing in Indonesia, the exhibit aims to raise awareness of their plight while they wait in an uncertain and increasingly prolonged “transit.”

The exhibition is partly the culmination of a program called Art for Refuge, established by 16-year-old Indonesian high school student Katrina Wardhana, to teach art to children and young people at the Jakarta-based Roshan Learning Center for refugees.

“I felt art was like a really powerful tool where refugees in Indonesia can share their stories,” she told VOA.

Many from Afghanistan

About half of the refugees in Indonesia are from Afghanistan. Mumtaz Khan Chopan, a professional artist who arrived in Indonesia in 2013 and whose paintings were part of Berdiam/Bertandang, said being an artist in Afghanistan holds extreme risks. There are few art institutions, he said, restricting opportunities to “go and practice and talk to likeminded people, artists.”

“Most of the people in Afghanistan believe that art is not a valuable thing,” he added. “Not only valuable, it’s not even allowed … but this does not mean that Afghanistan doesn’t have art.”

Binam, a 17-year-old from Afghanistan whose name has been changed to protect his identity, came to Indonesia three years ago as an unaccompanied minor and lives in a shelter provided by the UNHCR. He learned photography as part of Art for Refuge and his work appeared in Berdiam/Bertandang.

“It’s my first work, exhibition and it’s a big exhibition,” he said. “I feel proud.”

Stuck in Indonesia

Indonesia has historically been a transit country for refugees seeking asylum in third countries, particularly Australia. While Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it also does not deport asylum seekers and refugees back to potential danger. Jakarta’s historical approach to refugees has been described by anthropologist Antje Missbach as a form of “benign neglect.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in January 2017 signed a presidential decree that for the first time acknowledged the presence of a refugee community in Indonesia as distinct from “illegal immigrants” and gave directives to various government institutions regarding their respective responsibilities in managing humanitarian aid. They continue to be denied the right to work, however, and opportunities for formal education are limited.

Moreover, resettlement in third countries such as Australia, the United States and Canada are increasingly unavailable to refugees residing in Indonesia. As of late 2017, the UNHCR reportedly began telling the refugee community there that resettlement elsewhere was highly unlikely for at least 10 to 15 years, if ever.

“We have to live in shelter[s] because in here we can’t work,” Binam said. “And now there is no resettlement for the refugee from other countries.”

According to UNHCR data, 269 out of almost 4,000 refugee children in Indonesia are enrolled in accredited national schools. The work of the Roshan Learning Center and other community-led education initiatives are therefore vital. Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for UNHCR Jakarta, told VOA that “by doing such activities, it’s good because it keeps their hopes alive. What’s more important is that friendship between Indonesians and the refugees are getting tighter with initiatives like this.”

Building relationships

The main goal of Art for Refuge is boosting understanding about refugees in the broader community, said Wardhana, its founder.

“Having just found out about refugees only quite recently after my involvement at Roshan, I realized how unaware and un-talked-about the issue is here in Indonesia,” she said.

Chris Bunjuman, a photographer who taught teenagers through the program, encouraged his students to attend a public festival in Jakarta and take photos of 40 people with mustaches as an assignment.

“Most of the time they always stay in the same community … they don’t really interact with people around them because of the language barrier,” he said. “Those assignments really pushed them, with their thinking … eventually they got out of their comfort zone.”

Alia Swastika, the curator of Berdiam/Bertandang, said that “the problem in Indonesia is that when we discuss about refugees they always think, ‘Oh, we have many other different problems that need to be solved and these are more related to Indonesian people themselves.’”

“People in Indonesia they are educated, of course they are very nice, but there is one thing they don’t know much about refugee[s] … what they are doing here,” said Chopan, the Afghan artist, who says he has found empowerment through the creative scene in Indonesia. “If I introduce myself to a person that I am a refugee, I get different reaction to if I say I am an artist.” (VOA)

Migrant Killed After Morocco's Navy Fires on Boat

MADRID, LELEMUKU.COM  - A migrant has been killed after Morocco's navy opened fire on a boat carrying her and more than two dozen others, a human rights group said Wednesday.

The 22-year-victim, who was studying law, died before reaching a hospital, said Mohamed Benaissa, the head of Morocco's Northern Observatory for Human Rights. Three other migrants were wounded in Tuesday's confrontation, he said.

The speedboat was carrying 25 Moroccan nationals and two Spanish captains, Benaissa said by telephone.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed that two of its nationals had been arrested by Moroccan authorities, one of them with a criminal record. The official declined to elaborate on the criminal record, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Spain's Europa Press, a private news agency, said the Spaniard had been charged twice and detained at least 16 times for violence against women and other unspecified crimes.

Morocco's Interior Ministry said the boat was illegally transporting migrants.

It was the second time in recent days that Morocco's Royal Navy intervened to stop a boat suspected of carrying migrants across the Mediterranean, and comes amid growing concerns about migrant trafficking in the western Mediterranean region. The central Mediterranean route, mainly between Libya and Italy, is being choked off by the Libyan coast guard chasing after smugglers' small boats and returning migrants to Libya.

One of the wounded was shot in the arm as he tried to urge one of the Spanish captains to stop the boat when the navy spotted it, Benaissa said. Doctors at the provincial hospital of the Prefecture of M'diq-Fnideq amputated his arm and he's been transferred to Rabat for intensive care, he said.

Moroccan authorities didn't immediately respond to requests for more details.

In a separate case, police in Tangiers have arrested two people aged 35 and 45, including a Spanish citizen residing illegally in Morocco, who are suspected of running a criminal network facilitating illegal migration. (VOA)

Will Smith Marks 50th Birthday with Leap Near Grand Canyon

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Like a scene out of a high-octane action movie that he would star in, Will Smith celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday by successfully bungee jumping from a helicopter near the Grand Canyon.

Cameras, which captured the stunt for a livestream on YouTube, showed the actor hooked to a harness and bungee cords dangling over a gorge in northeastern Arizona.

"This is some of the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen in my life," Smith said while still swinging over the chasm.

He described the experience as going "from pure terror to absolute bliss."

The entire event had the feel of a polished episode of reality TV. Camera crews showed Smith, wife Jada Pinkett Smith and his three children being greeted by dozens of relatives and friends on a platform. His "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro, served as a host interviewing Smith and others before and after.

The stunt was billed as a leap "in the heart of the Grand Canyon." But the jump was outside Grand Canyon National Park on the Navajo Nation. The tribe's reservation borders the east rim of the national park.

A Navajo medicine man gave Smith a blessing and thanked him for coming to the reservation.

Smith said the bungee jump was a challenge from Yes Theory, a YouTube channel that makes videos of people doing activities outside of their comfort zone. But the event also raised money for charity through an online lottery for a chance to watch the jump in person. The proceeds will benefit access to education for children in struggling countries. (VOA)

University of Minnesota Awarding Honorary Degree to Prince

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The University of Minnesota will award the late rock star Prince an honorary degree to recognize his influence on music and his role in shaping his hometown of Minneapolis.

University President Eric Kaler and Regent Darrin Rosha will present the school's highest honor, the Doctorate of Humane Letters, to Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, in a ceremony on campus Wednesday evening. The university had been preparing to present it to Prince himself before he died of an accidental painkiller overdose in 2016.

Students from the university's School of Music will be joined by guest artists Kirk Johnson, Jellybean Johnson, St. Paul Peterson, Cameron Kinghorn and a surprise guest in paying tribute to Prince by performing music associated with his career.

While the event is free, it's already booked to capacity. (VOA)

US Proposes Selling Taiwan Arms – This Time without Angering China

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Washington's notification of a second weapons sale to Taiwan in as many years is helping arm the client without, so far, enraging its military rival, China, or exacerbating already strained Sino-U.S. ties.

The Pentagon notified Congress Monday of a $330 million arms package, including parts for American-made aircraft such as F-16s and F-5s. The package omits new fighter jets, such as F-35s, or technology for submarines despite Taiwan’s requests over the years. But the deal has drawn just a routine protest from China rather than the outrage expected from bigger sales.

China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and insists the two sides eventually unify, by force if needed. Taiwanese prefer their autonomy of some 70 years. To resist China, Taiwan has fostered a military ranked by online database GlobalFirePower.com as the world’s 24th strongest. Sino-U.S. ties are already strained by a growing trade dispute.

"Some might see spare parts as a kind of rejection, because what Taiwan really wants from the U.S. is many other larger items," said Sean King, vice president of the Park Strategies political consultancy in New York. "But as I see it, this sale's just another step in President Trump's evolving support for Taiwan over the last 15 months or so."

Gains for Taiwan

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense thanked Washington in a statement Tuesday, adding that the latest arms package would help it keep peace with China. "The arms sale indicates strong concern by the U.S. side toward our security," the statement said.

Local defense ministry contractors have stepped up development of aircraft and missiles, but Taipei still relies on U.S. weaponry for its more advanced systems. China runs the world’s third strongest armed forces, including missiles that Taipei officials believed are aimed at Taiwan, and this year it announced an 8.1 percent defense budget increase.

The type and value of arms in the sale announced this week probably fall short of a laurel for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, whose party is campaigning now ahead of mid-term local elections, said Liu Yih-jiun, professor of public affairs at Fo Guang University in Taiwan.

But a longer trend of improved relations with the U.S. government – from a $1.42 billion U.S. arms package announced last year to Tsai’s two high-profile stopovers in U.S. territory last month – has raised hopes in Taiwan as China squelches the island’s diplomacy with other countries.

Chinese reaction

In China, a military spokesperson said the armed forces were “strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed to planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” Beijing’s official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday. The military formally protested to Washington, Xinhua said.

"Taiwan is a part of China and the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relationship," the spokesperson was quoted saying.

But experts call this type of reaction pro forma, short of retaliating against either the U.S. government or Taiwan. That’s partly because the sale excludes powerful weapons systems, Liu said.

"As long as they don’t sell Taiwan some kinds of F-35s and some kinds of most advanced equipment, then that could be a kind of (Sino-U.S. understanding)," he said. “They would register as some kind of goodwill on the part of the United States.”

When the U.S. government announced a $6.4 billion sale in 2010, Beijing called off scheduled Sino-U.S. military visits and threatened sanctions against American defense contractors doing business in China. After Beijing found out about last year’s sale, China said it was “outraged,” according to media reports at the time.

“If we (the United States) do end up selling Taiwan aircraft and or subs, I'd expect Beijing to pretty much lose it,” King said.

Sino-U.S. ties

Trump’s government may not want to anger China either, some scholars believe. The U.S. government has stepped up tariffs against China this year to cover some $250 billion worth of imports as Trump calls Beijing an unfair trader.

But Sino-U.S. trade talks are on hold, with Trump saying last month his government would focus first on North American trade issues. China may be eyeing November mid-term elections in the United States as a bellwether for the popularity of Trump and his trade policies, Liu said.

Taiwan should still brace for a longer-term Chinese reaction to the arms sale, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan. He said the Chinese government will make it easy for Taiwanese to work, study and invest but could take action against it politically at the same time.

"China will continue to consolidate its two-handed approach," Yang said. "On one hand, attract Taiwanese to engage in China, on the other hand holding a big stick and the stick is getting bigger and bigger."

China has flown military aircraft near the island about a dozen times and persuaded five diplomatic allies to switch allegiance since Tsai took office in 2016. Tsai upsets Beijing because she disputes its formal dialogue condition that both sides belong to a single China. (VOA)

Senate Republicans Hire Arizona Prosecutor To Question Brett Kavanaugh Accuser

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Senate Republicans have hired an Arizona prosecutor to question a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

A press release from committee chairman Chuck Grassley's office described woman attorney Rachel Mitchell as "a career prosecutor with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes." Mitchell worked in the Maricopa County Attorney's office in Phoenix as the chief of the Special Victims Division, which covers sex crimes and family violence.

Republicans have been keen to hire a woman to question Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers, to avoid the appearance of bias by the all-male group of Republicans on the Senate panel.

The U.S. Senate’s partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s embattled Supreme Court nominee intensified Tuesday, fewer than 48 hours before Judge Kavanaugh and Ford were expected to give contradictory testimony on the alleged incident.

Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky accused Democrats of rushing to convict Kavanaugh and “destroy his good name” with unproven allegations, abandoning any presumption of innocence -- a bedrock principle of American jurisprudence.

“Justice matters. Evidence matters. Facts matter,” McConnell said. “This is America here. ... Everyone deserves better than this, not just Judge Kavanaugh.”

Senate Democrats countered that, if Republicans wanted to learn the facts about the nominee’s past behavior, they would not have rejected calls for an FBI investigation of the allegations against him.

Democrats also accused Republicans of treating Ford dismissively at a time when victims of sexual crimes are speaking out across the nation. Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the 1980s, a charge the nominee has repeatedly denied.

“Labeling this a partisan smear job demeans not only the senators in my caucus,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “It demeans many, many women who have come forward … to share their stories.”

Schumer added, “Leader McConnell should rethink what he said in the heat of the moment and apologize to Dr. Ford.”

The sharp exchanges on the Senate floor came one day after Kavanaugh appeared on U.S. cable television -- an unprecedented move for a Supreme Court nominee -- to refute all allegations of sexual misconduct.

"I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school. Not ever," Kavanaugh told Fox News, adding that he has no intention of bowing out of the nomination.

In New York, President Trump accused Democrats of mounting “a con game” and heaped scorn on a second accusation leveled against Kavanaugh, that he exposed himself at a college party decades ago.

The new allegation, reported Sunday by The New Yorker magazine, prompted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, to call for a postponement of Thursday’s highly anticipated hearing where Kavanaugh and Ford are to testify.

Republicans have rejected any further delays in the confirmation process. Instead, they scheduled a judiciary committee vote for Friday, which will be followed by consideration by the full Senate.

Kavanaugh, a judicial conservative and Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement.

His confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate had seemed all but assured until allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced nearly two weeks ago. (VOA)

US-China Tensions Spilling Over into Military Arena

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - A deterioration in U.S.-China relations, seen most dramatically in their escalating trade dispute, is spilling over into the military arena.

The Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed that China had canceled a Washington visit by the head of its navy, and U.S. officials said China had denied a request for a U.S. Navy ship to make a port visit next month at Hong Kong.

Also on Tuesday, China demanded the Trump administration cancel a planned $330 million sale of military equipment to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing considers a renegade province. The Chinese foreign ministry warned of "severe damage'' to bilateral relations if the sale announced Monday goes through. Washington has no official relations with Taiwan's democratically elected government but is obliged by U.S. law to see that it has the means to defend itself.

The backdrop to these tensions is the U.S.-China trade dispute. Each imposed tariff increases on the other's goods Monday, and Beijing accused the Trump administration of bullying. A Chinese official said China cannot hold talks on ending the trade dispute while the U.S. ``holds a knife'' to Beijing's neck by imposing tariff hikes.

The two countries are mired in a dispute over Washington's allegations that Beijing pilfers foreign trade secrets and forces U.S. companies to hand over technology in return for access to the Chinese market. The predatory practices, the U.S. says, are part of China's relentless drive to challenge American technological dominance.

Also at stake, beyond economic cooperation, are U.S. hopes for gaining China's help in persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. In his address Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his assistance with the North Korea problem, but he also blasted China for what he called unfair use of international trade rules to diminish U.S. jobs and deepen U.S. trade deficits.

"Those days are over. We will no longer tolerate such abuse,'' Trump said.

Military ties between Washington and Beijing have been relatively stable in recent years, even as the U.S. complained of China militarizing reefs and islands in the South China Sea amid overlapping territorial claims by other Asian nations. In May, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis disinvited China from participating in a multinational naval exercise in the Pacific. Pentagon officials cited China's military buildup on disputed South China Sea islands.

In recent days the breadth of military tensions has grown. A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, said China informed the Pentagon that the chief of the Chinese navy has been recalled to Beijing, canceling a planned meeting with his American Navy counterpart at the Pentagon after visiting a naval conference at Newport, Rhode Island.

On Monday a reporter asked Mattis what he made of these developments and how he expected to address them.

"Right now, it's too early to say. We're still sorting this out,'' he said, adding that he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agree "we do have to have a relationship with China. ... And so we're sorting out the way ahead right now.''

Mattis visited Beijing in June, making him the first Pentagon chief to do so since 2014.

In addition to its anger over the $330 million military sale to Taiwan announced on Monday, China is strongly objecting to a U.S. decision to issue a visa ban and assets freeze on China's Equipment Development Department and its director, Li Shangfu. The U.S. action relates to China's purchase from Russia of Su-35 combat aircraft last year and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment this year. Those purchases violated a 2017 law intended to punish the Russian government for interfering in U.S. elections and other activities.

China's Defense Ministry said the U.S. had no right to interfere in Chinese military cooperation with Russia and demanded the sanctions be revoked.

In a further act of retaliation, China turned down a request for an October port call in Hong Kong by the U.S. Navy's amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. China last denied such a visit in 2016 amid a spike in tensions between the sides over the disputed South China Sea.

"We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, and we expect that will continue,'' said Eastburn, the Pentagon spokesman, in confirming that China had not approved the Wasp's visit. (VOA)

Michael Kelly Donates World's Largest Model Aircraft Collection

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - When Irishman Michael Kelly was a boy, he loved nothing more than gazing at planes taking off and landing at his nearest airport.

Now 67, after more than half a century building what he believes is the world's largest private collection of model aircraft, he has donated the lot to Shannon Airport, where his lifelong passion for aviation began.

"I always used to love the noise of the aircraft going over my house in Limerick city and I was very curious," Kelly said after cutting the ribbon on the airport's new aviation gallery which now houses his collection in rows of display cases.

"When I made my first holy communion I asked my mum and dad to take me to Shannon airport. So I got to see the beautiful aircraft and from that day on I was hooked."

While he would have loved the opportunity to have become a pilot, sourcing rare model aircraft still took the Limerick man around the world. None of his 2,300 planes were produced in Ireland.

A friend said Kelly has spent 10,000 euros or $12,000 ($1 = 0.8499 euros) a year amassing the record haul.

The collector's favorite? A Boeing KC Tanker, one of only 10 made around the world.

Living alone in his renovated farmhouse, Kelly said there were exhibitors on the other side of the world "that would do anything" to have the collection. Instead, he donated it closer to home.

"I think it's testament to the work he's done over the last 60 years and we are delighted that he has entrusted us to look after it for the next 100-years plus," said Niall Maloney, operations director at Shannon Airport. (VOA)

In 'Free Solo,' Love Proves A Steeper Challenge for Honnold Than El Cap

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The important thing to rock climber Alex Honnold is that the movie screen be big. IMAX, whatever. But big.

It's shortly before the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Free Solo, the documentary that chronicles Honnold's legendary, ropeless ascent up Yosemite's El Capitan, a 3,000-foot wall of sheer granite and possibly the world's most fabled rock face. Honnold has just come from free soloing — climbing without safety gear — a 69-story luxury apartment building in Jersey City, New Jersey.

From a hotel window he scans the Toronto skyline but doesn't see anything much appealing. "It has to be inspiring aesthetically," he says.

Honnold, 33, is widely acknowledged as the greatest free-solo climber in the world. And in a sport that demands absolute perfection from its strivers — death is the only alternative — Honnold's feat on El Cap is his masterpiece. An almost unfathomable climbing achievement, the four-hour climb is still spoken of in hushed reverence. The New York Times called it "one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, ever."

But whether scaling El Cap was Honnold's greatest challenge is an open question. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's Free Solo, in theaters Friday, not only chronicles Honnold's famed ascent, and the months of preparation and anguish leading up to it, but also an arguably steeper challenge for the 33-year-old Honnold: moving out of his van and maintaining a long-term relationship.

"Anybody, if you took two years of their life, you would see some growth, hopefully," Honnold says. "But it's easy to see growth when you're starting at zero."

After settling whether Free Solo would screen on IMAX (it wouldn't), Honnold was joined by Sanni McCandless, his girlfriend of several years. Just as Chin and Vasarhelyi, the filmmaking couple of the celebrated Meru, were beginning their film three years ago, McCandless slipped Honnold her number at a book signing. The exceptionally dedicated but goofy and boyish Honnold (in the film, he sums up the fearsome specter of El Cap with the phase "I mean, dude") is at first almost comically inept at making room for someone else in his life.

"When we started he was online dating, or on-phone dating, on his book tour. And then he met her. We were not expecting that," says Vasarhelyi.

'Extremely painful'

The two make an appealing and revealing match. McCandless, articulate and assertive, pushes back against the less mature, bluntly honest Honnold, long a bachelor adventurer. Vasarhelyi shakes her head. "It's painful at times," she says, smiling. "Extremely painful."

Case in point: When Honnold, shortly after meeting Sanni, is shown saying that she will come and go like previous girlfriends. Later, they buy a place in Las Vegas and are seen refrigerator shopping.

"How do you feel about that line, Sanni?" Honnold asks.

"How do YOU feel about that line?" she retorts.

"That's just one of many lines in the film I'm slightly horrified to hear back," says Honnold. "That's kind of the nature of two years of filming. They just have so much material of me saying terrible things."

What makes Free Solo so fascinating is how these developments influence Honnold just as he preparing to take his biggest risk as a climber. Just the slightest distractions can be potentially lethal for a free soloist, making both the onset of love and the presence of film cameras unpredictable factors in a zero-sum game.

"Soloing always come from some kind of particular mental space. And it has taken some effort to cultivate the right space for a relationship, the right space to still climb at a high level and just try to balance it," says Honnold.

'Glorious' climb

The high stakes also transferred to the film crew. Chin, himself an expert climber, estimates that he and the team of veteran climbers spent more than 30 days rigging and shooting on El Cap. The danger is very real. Many renowned solo climbers have died; just in June, two experienced climbers, Jason Wells and Tim Klein, fell to their death while "simul-climbing" El Cap with ropes.

"You're a pro, but when you have that much exposure and you're moving that much equipment and you're filming on top of it and thinking about your friend, it's a tremendous amount of physical and mental exertion," says Chin. "The crew was tortured by the idea that maybe you'll be filming your friend's death."

Vasarhelyi says the tension was highest when Honnold made his first, aborted soloing attempt of El Cap despite a recent injury. She felt he wasn't prepared.

"But I don't think our role as filmmakers was to tell him not do it," she says. "And that's weird, right? Especially when there's a life on the line."

McCandless has also had to come to terms with Honnold's obsessive pursuits.

"I don't think I ever wished that he wouldn't do it. I wanted him to not want it, but I never wanted him to not to do it," she says. "Knowing that he does want it, you realize he's going to be so bummed if he never brings it to fruition."

Free Solo in some ways demystifies soloing which, to some, can sound like lunacy. Honnold's preparation is extreme. He doesn't go until he's thoroughly mapped out every foot hold of a climb. Also worth noting: A brain scan revealed that Honnold barely registers fear.

"It's a crazy-seeming thing. I get that," he says. "I just think: Why does anybody seek out anything challenging? Humans do so many interesting and difficult things."

Honnold calls his El Cap solo the best climbing experience of his life. "Glorious," he says. For all their months of anxiety, witnessing the climb left the filmmakers mesmerized.

"I remember standing in the meadow being totally terrified, trying to get myself under control," says Vasarhelyi. "Then there was a certain moment where I was like: This is absolutely beautiful. It's exquisite." (VOA)

Global $500M Data Drive Aims to Boost Harvests, End Hunger

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - A $500 million data drive aims to improve the harvests of hundreds of millions of farmers worldwide as rising hunger levels threaten a global goal to end hunger by 2030, organizations involved in the initiative said Tuesday.

Developing countries and donors launched the "50 X 2030" scheme on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, seeking funding to gather farming data through surveys in 50 nations across Africa, Asia and Latin America over the next 12 years.

Basic statistics, such as what farmers are planting, their yields and access to finance, are often lacking, incomplete or unreliable, making it difficult for governments and donors to know where or how to invest their cash, the United Nations said.

"Each year, governments, businesses and the private sector invest hundreds of billions of dollars in agriculture and design policies without this critical information," said Emily Hogue, a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization senior adviser."This could cause losses in agricultural productivity and income and could also lead to continuing hunger and poverty."

The push for better data was announced weeks after new U.N. figures showed world hunger has risen for three years running, with 821 million people — one in nine — going hungry in 2017.

Eliminating hunger is one of the 17 U.N. sustainable development goals ( agreed upon by world leaders in 2015.

The initiative aims to increase the coverage and frequency of agricultural surveys so that governments have the information needed to plan and implement the right policies, experts said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where at least one in four people is estimated to have suffered from chronic hunger in 2017, only two out of 44 nations have high-quality agriculture data, according to the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.

For example, agriculture experts puzzled for years over why milk production was stagnant in an area of East Africa with an abundance of grazing land and rising consumer demand.A detailed survey conducted in 2014 discovered that a lack of basic livestock services, including veterinary care, was hampering production, which rose after the needs were addressed.

"Better data means governments can get the right support to farmers at the right time to increase production and improve their lives," Claire Melamed, head of the Global Partnership — a network of 300 partners — told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It's a long-term investment." (VOA)

Time Magazine Sold for $190 Million to Marc Benioff

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Time Magazine is being sold by Meredith Corp. to Marc Benioff, a co-founder of Salesforce, and his wife.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the iconic news magazine is being sold for $190 million to Benioff, one of four co-founders of Salesforce, a cloud computing pioneer.

The sale is occurring nearly eight months after Meredith Corp. completed its purchase of Time Inc.

Meredith, the publisher of such magazines as People and Better Homes & Gardens, had put four Time Inc. publications up for sale in March. Negotiations for the sale of the three other publications — Fortune, Money and Sports Illustrated — are continuing. (VOA)

Israeli lawmaker to Benjamin Netanyahu : Dismiss US Envoy Over Aide Scandal

TEL AVIV, LELEMUKU.COM - An Israeli opposition lawmaker on Sunday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss his ambassador to the United States for failing to report sexual assault allegations against a top Netanyahu aide, ballooning an already embarrassing scandal for the Israeli leader.

Karin Elharrar of the centrist Yesh Atid party said Ron Dermer should be recalled from Washington for not reporting the warnings he received about David Keyes, Netanyahu’s spokesman to foreign media. She also lashed out at Netanyahu himself for staying mum on an issue that has engulfed his close associates.

“His silence is thundering. I would expect from the prime minister a clear condemnation, if not at least a mention that the allegations were being looked into,” Elharrar told The Associated Press. “Who if not the prime minister should be an example on this matter? It’s time that this issue of sexual harassment be at the top of his agenda.”

Last week, Julia Salazar, a candidate for New York’s state senate, accused Keyes of sexually assaulting her five years ago. Wall Street Journal reporter Shayndi Raice tweeted she too had a “terrible encounter” with Keyes before he became Netanyahu’s spokesman. She described him as a “predator” and someone who had “absolutely no conception of the word ‘no.’”

At least a dozen other women have since come forward with varying allegations, some of which are said to have been committed since Keyes took up his current position in early 2016. Keyes, 34, denies the allegations, saying all “are deeply misleading and many of them are categorically false.” Keyes says he has taken a leave of absence amid the uproar to try and clear his name.

But the scandal has since spread to the rest of Netanyahu’s inner circle, which has previously been rocked with accusations of sexual improprieties. Natan Eshel, a former top aide, was forced to resign in 2012 after allegations emerged that he harassed and intimidated a woman in the prime minister’s office, including taking pictures up her skirt. Earlier this year, Netanyahu’s son Yair came under fire after a recording emerged of him joyriding at taxpayer expense to Tel Aviv strip clubs and making misogynistic comments about strippers, waitresses and other women.

Over the weekend, Dermer, who was perhaps Netanyahu’s closest associate before taking office in Washington, confirmed he was warned in late 2016 by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, then of the Wall Street Journal, about Keyes’ aggressive behavior toward women. The New York Times reported that Stephens, who said he had barred Keyes from visiting the Wall Street Journal opinion section because of harassment complaints women there made against him, warned Dermer that “Keyes posed a risk to women in Israeli government offices.”

Dermer said he did not report this further since he did not consider the harassment allegations criminal.

But Elharrar noted in a formal letter to Netanyahu that Dermer was unqualified to judge this. Under Israeli law, sexual harassment is a crime and public servants are required to report any knowledge of it. Dermer, as an Israeli ambassador, is subject to its laws even on American soil, Elharrar said, and therefore she demanded his dismissal since “it is unreasonable that someone holding such a prominent position would violate the law so blatantly.”

“I’m sure that if it were any other diplomatic or even gossipy issue he would have reported it further,” she told the AP. “We need to make clear that the issue of sexual harassment is no less important.”

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Media reports in recent days have included the testimonies of various women detailing what they called aggression on the part of Keyes, where in some cases he coerced them into sexual acts. The New York Times reported that in addition to Stephens’ move, some organizations Keyes worked for himself took measures to keep him away from interns because of his history of unwanted advances.

Salazar, a Democratic socialist who went on win her New York state senate primary last week after an ugly campaign that scrutinized her past, said she only decided to go public with her allegations against Keyes after a conservative news outlet planned to out her.

Netanyahu has yet to comment on the affair and made no mention of it in comments given at his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday.

Michal Rozin, a legislator with the opposition Meretz party, said his silence could be interpreted as tolerance of the alleged acts and she demanded he take a clear stance against sexual assault and harassment.

Rozin, who formerly headed Israel’s umbrella organization for victims of sexual violence before elected to parliament, has appealed to Israel’s Civil Service Commissioner asking for the allegations against Keyes to be investigated because of the “serious concern of serial behavior.” She demanded Dermer’s conduct be examined as well.

It’s not the first case the #MeToo phenomenon has erupted in Israeli public life. Last year, shortly after the allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood and sparked a flurry of allegations in other American industries, a senior Israeli TV journalist revealed on air that Israeli media mogul and International Olympic Committee member Alex Gilady had made an “indecent” proposal to her during a job interview 25 years ago. A well-known columnist then added that Gilady exposed himself to her during a 1999 business meeting at his home and two other women later came forward saying Gilady had raped them.

He denied the rape accusations, but Gilady, a former sports executive at NBC, soon stepped down as president of the local Keshet broadcasting company he founded.

When veteran Israeli media personality Gabi Gazit addressed the allegations dismissively on his daily radio show, it prompted Dana Weiss — another prominent local TV journalist — to accuse him of just such behavior. Weiss said Gazit had randomly kissed her on the mouth during chance encounters in TV studios. Gazit denied the accusations but three other women come forward with similar stories and he was forced to take leave from his show.

Even before the #MeToo era, Israel confronted the sexual assault of women by powerful men. A former president, Moshe Katsav, was sentenced and jailed for rape. (VOA)

Moon-Kim 3rd Summit to Top Trio of Inter-Korean Events

SEOUL, LELEMUKU.COM - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in as the pair meet for their third inter-Korean summit September 18-20 in Pyongyang. The forthcoming summit was preceded by two other events on the peninsula this week: working level military talks and the opening of a joint liaison office - the fruits of the initial inter-Korean summit.

Thursday, South Korea's special adviser to the president for unification, foreign affairs and national security, Moon Chung-in, told reporters he personally believes the correct context in which to view the meeting is as an extension of the April 27 summit, which resulted in the Panmunjom Declaration.

Moon, who said he was speaking as an expert and not on behalf of the Seoul government, said he expects the South Korean president to place his focus on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and “play the role of facilitator or mediator between Pyongyang and Washington” and promote dialogue between the two countries.

President Moon “believes that improved inter-Korean relations have some role in facilitating US-DPRK (North Korea) talks and solving the North Korean nuclear problem,” he said.

Commitment to denuclearize?

Visiting research fellow Cheon Seong Whun, with the Asian Institute for Political Studies, told VOA there is fundamentally one issue the international community needs to focus on at the summit.

He said that is if Kim Jong Un “is really willing to give up nuclear weapons in totality and return to the non-nuclear proliferation treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state.”

Cheon said after two inter-Korean summits and the Singapore summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, “It’s not crystal clear that Kim Jong Un and [the] North Korean regime is willing to give up all those nuclear weapons and programs.”

However, the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyung Nam University’s Professor Kim Dong-yub said denuclearization is not the focus of the upcoming summit.

“President Moon Jae-in said the goal of this inter-Korea summit is terminating military conflict between North and South and war threats during the cabinet meeting,” said Kim.

In his opinion, the bulk of discussions will focus on military issues.

New line of communication

Friday’s opening of a joint inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong was one of the measures outlined in the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration.

The benefit of establishing the joint liaison office, said Moon Chung-in, is that it allows for direct communication between North and South Korea.

A presidential office spokesman said after the facility opened, “there is a stout bridge connecting two Koreas.”

The staff “in the liaison office will be there as a family, whether they are from North or South,” the spokesperson said, adding, “I look forward to seeing this harmony will be expanded from Kaesong to overall Korea Peninsula.

However, the true benefit of the office won't be realized for some time, said Lee Kyu-chang, Senior Research Fellow, Unification Policy Research Division, at Korea Institute for National Unification.

“As we establish the trust step by step, it will get a fruitful outcome,” said Lee.

He noted that while it’s expected the liaison office will take on a number of roles, its exact role will be finalized after a “full agreement” with North Korea has been reached, but it will primarily facilitate consultation between the two countries.

A call for ‘bold’ actions

Tuesday, Moon Jae-in said U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would need to take "bold decisions" to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

“North Korea should abolish its nuclear programs, and the United States should foster such conditions with corresponding action, said Moon.

His remarks came after the White House announced that Trump received a letter from Kim asking for a second meeting, although White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration will not “release the full letter unless the North Korean leader agrees that we should.”

Washington and Pyongyang have been discussing North Korea's nuclear programs since a landmark meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore in June.

Sanders said a second summit with Kim “is something that we want to take place” and are “currently working to make happen.”

In the Thursday briefing to reporters, Moon Chung-in said if he could advise Kim Jong Un during the summit, he would suggest the North Korean leader take the initiative with his own bold move.

That would entail North Korea surrendering 15-20 nuclear warheads and missiles in return for Washington lifting economic sanctions, or at least the establishment of a liaison office with Pyongyang, and an end of war declaration. (VOA)

Pet Owners Loath to Leave Their Pals During Evacuations

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Nila Belfiore-Dulay and her husband, Henryk, took seven days to drive cross-country to their new life in Charleston, South Carolina, last week, because they didn't want to risk flying their dogs, Josie and Annie.

Soon after they arrived, they were told to turn back.

Charleston, in the line of Hurricane Florence, was in a mandatory evacuation zone.

"We were there about five days before they told us we would have to evacuate," Belfiore-Dulay said, sounding politely upbeat but a bit uncertain from a La Quinta motel in Jacksonville, Florida.

Who goes to Florida to escape a hurricane? (Florida is the most "hurricane-prone" state in the U.S., according to several weather-forecasting sites and the U.S. government.) Some pet owners from South Carolina and Georgia wound up there because they couldn't find rooms any closer as they evacuated the area Hurricane Florence was expected to pummel.

"The hotel is packed with dog owners. The dogs are having a blast," Belfiore-Dulay said. "They were unsettled at the beginning. But now that they are settled, they are having a blast."

Proprietor's call

While rumors have been spread on the internet thathotels and motels have to accept guests with pets during emergencies, it is up to the proprietor to accept or deny animal guests unless they are certified service animals, like dogs that assist the blind. Belfiore-Dulay said that after a number of frustrating tries for a room in Georgia, she turned towww.bringfido.comto find a place that would accept humans, plus Josie, herAiredale terrier, and Annie, her Yorkshire terrier.

That's where she found the welcoming La Quinta and other storm evacuees. Of the estimated 90 million pet dogs in the U.S., 50 of them had found refuge at the motel.

Not all people areable or willing to leave their homes and pets in a catastrophe. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005, one-third of those polled in a survey chose to stay behind. The main reasons for staying? Eighty-two percent said they did not want to abandon their homes. Forty-four percent said they did not want to leave their pets.

Only 18 percent said they did not want to leave family.

The data came from a poll conducted by the Fritz Institute, a nonprofit organization working "to innovate solutions … for rapid and effective disaster response and recovery."

Animal shelters

Those who cannot flee with their pets often turn to animal shelters to take the pets until the owners can return. Some shelters are so overwhelmed that they close their doors when filled to capacity or are fleeing the storm themselves.

Among those animals that survive a catastrophe after being abandoned, many have no identification collars or tags. Even if rescued, they may never be reunited with their humans. Overwhelmed shelters, as reported by The Washington Post, may eventually euthanize animals.

"Last year alone, the ASPCA responded to six disasters including hurricanes Harvey, Irmaand Maria, and the wildfires in California, assisting more than 37,000 animals through pre-evacuation, field rescueand post-disaster relief efforts," the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported on its website.

Belfiore-Dulay said the motel managers have been understanding of pet owners who couldn't or wouldn't leave animals behind.

"It's a little bit noisier because of the dogs," Belfiore-Dulay said. "As you walk down the hallway, you hear their noses sniffing at the door. Then they bark, then you hear their owners telling them to calm down."

Residents fled from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in a storm described by meteorologists as having an intensity never seen before. The refugees in Jacksonville are bonding over doggy play dates and shared concerns about what is happening back home.

"We've met people who were in the same boat, and had to leave. … We understand one another,"Belfiore-Dulay said.

Staying close to TVs
When not playing with their dogs on the grassy property or its pond — "There are cranes and ducks to torment. ... They are terriers, of course," Belfiore-Dulay said — most people dine out and then returnto the motel to gather around the televisions in their rooms.

"We watch a lot of the Weather Channel," Belfiore-Dulay said. The dogs seem to, as well.

The couple hopeto finally take possession of their new home next week. Meanwhile, their worldly possessions remain in a storage container near the North Carolina-South Carolina border in the path of Hurricane Florence.

"It's near where they are saying the surges are higher, and that's unsettling,"Belfiore-Dulay said.

News photos of drenched people being rescued from flooded areas show some with pets in tow or tucked under their arms. CNN interviewed a woman who had neither the resources nor ability to flee the storm with her seven dogs. Strangers crowdfunded enough money to rent her a van in which she fled to Tennessee.

These evacuees are not alone. Of the more than 66 million households that have pets in the U.S., 66.3 percent say they consider their pets to be family members, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

"Additional study and planning should be considered concerning the care and treatment of family pets and animals in the aftermath of natural disasters," advised Fritz in its report. "Animal assistance agencies should be taken into account in the preparedness planning for major disasters in the United States." (VOA)

Donald Trump Wants Tariffs on About $200 Billion in Chinese Goods

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed aides to proceed with tariffs on about $200 billion more in Chinese products, despite Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's attempts to restart talks with China about resolving the trade war, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which had an immediate effect on financial markets. It led U.S. stocks to trade lower, fueled drops in the Chinese yuan in offshore trading and gains in the dollar index, and sent the S&P 500 index negative.

The step comes exactly one week since Trump raised the possibility of duties on the $200 billion of imports and also threatened tariffs on $267 billion worth of goods. Trump has already levied duties on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

The United States only imported $505 billion in goods imported from China last year. But 2018 imports from China through July were up nearly 9 percent over the same period of 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. (VOA)

Brett Kavanaugh Denies Allegation of Sexual Misconduct in High School

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday denied a sexual misconduct allegation from when he was in high school.

In a statement released by the White House, Kavanaugh said: "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time."

Kavanaugh's statement comes after Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she has notified federal investigators about information she received about the nominee but won't disclose publicly.

The New Yorker reported the alleged incident took place at a party when Kavanaugh, now 53, was attending Georgetown Preparatory School. The woman making the allegation attended a nearby school.

The magazine says the woman sent a letter about the allegation to Democrats. A Democratic aide and another person familiar with the letter confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that the allegation is sexual in nature. Two other people familiar with the matter confirmed to the AP that the alleged incident happened in high school. They were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The AP has not confirmed the details of the alleged incident in The New Yorker's account.

Other women back Kavanaugh

Rallying to Kavanaugh's defense, 65 women who knew him in high school issued a letter, released by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying he has "always treated women with decency and respect."

"We are women who have known Brett Kavanaugh for more than 35 years and knew him while he attended high school between 1979 and 1983," wrote the women, who said most of them had attended all-girl high schools in the area. "For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect."

The Judiciary Committee, which has finished confirmation hearings for Kavanagh, is scheduled to vote next Thursday on whether to recommend that he be confirmed by the full Senate.

The White House called Feinstein's move an "11th hour attempt to delay his confirmation."

The California Democrat said in a statement Thursday that she "received information from an individual concerning the nomination." She said the person "strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision."

The FBI confirmed that it received the information Wednesday evening and included it in Kavanaugh's background file, which is maintained as part of his nomination. The agency said that is its standard process.

Feinstein's statement that she has "referred the matter to federal investigative authorities" jolted Capitol Hill and threatened to disrupt what has been a steady path toward confirmation for Kavanaugh by Republicans eager to see the conservative judge on the court.

Lawmakers react

Feinstein has held the letter close. Democratic senators on the panel met privately Wednesday evening and discussed the information, according to Senate aides who were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some senators, including the No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, learned about the information for the first time at the meeting, according to one of the aides.

A spokeswoman for Representative Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, declined to confirm reports that the congresswoman had forwarded a letter containing the allegations to Feinstein. She said her office has a confidentiality policy regarding casework for constituents.

A White House spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said the FBI has vetted Kavanaugh "thoroughly and repeatedly" during his career in government and the judiciary.

She said Kavanaugh has had 65 meetings with senators — including with Feinstein — sat through over 30 hours of testimony and publicly addressed more than 2,000 questions. "Not until the eve of his confirmation has Senator Feinstein or anyone raised the specter of new 'information' about him," she said.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican and a member of the committee, was also skeptical.

"Let me get this straight: this is (sic) statement about secret letter regarding a secret matter and an unidentified person. Right," he tweeted.

Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, was unaware of the information until it was made public, according to a GOP committee aide. Kavanaugh has undergone six federal background checks over time in government, including one most recently for the nomination, the aide said.

The new information on Kavanaugh was included Thursday in his confidential background file at the committee and is now available for senators to review, the aide said.

Democrats don't have the votes to block Kavanaugh's nomination if Republicans are unified in favor of it. (VOA)

ODI Claims United Nations Poverty Targets Remain Off Course

LONDON, LELEMUKU.COM - Aid money urgently needs to be redirected to the poorest countries in order to reach the United Nations' goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, according to a report.

The London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) says middle-income countries receive more aid than the 30 poorest nations. It also warns that at least 400 million people will still be living on less than $1.90 a day, despite government pledges to eliminate all extreme poverty.

In northern Ethiopia, teams of workers dig irrigation channels through orchards and grain fields. Such projects have turned arid plains into fertile farmland, which has quadrupled agricultural production.

The report from the ODI credits Ethiopia's "Productive Safety Net Program," launched in 2005, with lifting 1.4 million people out of extreme poverty. It also enabled Ethiopia to avoid another famine during severe droughts in 2010 and 2015.

In contrast, neighboring Uganda has seen extreme poverty levels rise recently, after a rapid reduction in previous years.

"One of the reasons is because climate change is starting to have an impact in that country," said Marcus Manuel, author of the ODI report. "Now in Ethiopia, they've managed, with a lot of support partly from the U.S., to have programs that support farmers when a sudden climate or weather event happens. In Uganda, they didn't. So when they had a drought, that led to a real increase in poverty. So it's a matter of having the right systems in place."

Ethiopia's program, the largest of any low-income country, pays beneficiaries to work on public works projects such as irrigation, roads, schools and health clinics, which helps to create long-term poverty relief.

Such programs are vital in ending extreme poverty, according to the ODI report. The report says there is an annual funding shortfall of $125 billion in the three core sectors of education, health and what it terms social protection transfers, or welfare.

"You need to do economic growth to do part of things, and you also need investment in the social sectors," Manuel said. "You need to have both sides of the coin to make this work. Donors are investing both in growth and in social sectors, but they're not investing it in the right countries to nearly the extent that's needed. And, in particular, in this report we've identified 29 countries which can't afford the investment needed in the social sectors and donors are not giving enough money to that group of countries."

The statistics show middle-income countries receive more aid than poorer countries, whose share of global aid has fallen over the past six years from 30 percent to 24 percent.

In addition to better aid allocation, the report says more donor nations need to reach the U.N. goal of allocating at least 0.7 percent of gross domestic product to aid budgets. Without urgent action, the authors warn the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 will remain out of reach. (VOA)

Dutch Ousted 2 Russians Over Alleged Swiss Lab Hack Attempt

BERN, LELEMUKU.COM - Swiss authorities said Friday that the Netherlands arrested and expelled two suspected Russian spies who allegedly tried to hack a Swiss laboratory that conducts tests for the U.N.-backed chemical weapons watchdog.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the attempted attack.

The Federal Intelligence Service says it worked “actively” with British and Dutch partners on the case involving Switzerland's Spiez Laboratory. Russia's foreign minister said earlier this year that the lab analyzed samples linked to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.

The confirmation came after Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported that two Russians suspected of being agents of military intelligence service GRU were kicked out of the Netherlands earlier this year as a result of a Europe-wide investigation.

“The Swiss authorities are aware of the case of Russian spies discovered in The Hague and expelled from the same place,” said FIS spokeswoman Isabelle Graber in an email. “The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service participated actively in this operation together with its Dutch and British partners.”

“The FIS has thus contributed to the prevention of illegal actions against a critical Swiss infrastructure,” she added, while declining to comment further.

The Swiss attorney general's office confirmed it had identified “two individuals” as part of a broader investigation opened last year.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry said it summoned Russia's ambassador on Friday to “protest against this attempted attack” and demanded that Russia “immediately” end its spying activities on Swiss soil.

Andreas Bucher, a spokesman for the laboratory, declined to comment on the expulsions, but added: “We have had indications that we have been in the crosshairs of hackers in the last few months.” He said the lab had taken precautions, and no data was lost.

The Russian state news agency Tass quoted Stanislav Smirnov, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Switzerland, as calling the Dutch news report “absurd.”

“We believe that this is a new anti-Russian bogus story made up by the Western media,” he was quoted as saying, alluding to the events that took place six months ago. “We have seen this article and it gives rise to a lot of questions ... It is absurd, just new groundless allegations.” (VOA)

Thailand's Junta Eases Politics Ban in Step Toward Polls

 BANGKONG, LELEMUKU.COM - Thailand has taken another step toward holding elections next year by easing some restrictions on political activities to allow parties to conduct basic functions, but they are still barred from campaigning.

A special order issued by the prime minister, which became law Friday following its publication in the Royal Gazette, allows political parties to gather funds to operate and, with the ruling junta's permission, recruit party members and choose new leaders.

The order comes two days after enactment of laws covering the selection of members of Parliament and senators that mandate that a general election be held between February and May next year. The ruling junta has previously postponed several promised election deadlines.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said Thursday that elections are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 24, repeating previous assertions by other senior officials.

The military banned virtually all formal political party activities after it took over from an elected government in a May 2014 coup.

Friday's order, issued under an emergency law the military enacted after seizing power, said restrictions are still necessary to make sure the country, which it says is now ``relatively stable,'' is on track to achieve the government's reform goals.

Critics have said that a new constitution and other laws enacted under military rule weaken democratic structures with the intention of limiting the power of elected politicians and keeping it in the hands of traditional Thai powerholders, including the judiciary and the military. For example, all senators in the next government will be appointed by the ruling junta, apart from six senatorial positions which automatically go to army and police chiefs.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to run in the polls, or at least make himself available for the next parliament to reappoint him prime minister.

Friday's six-page order allows parties to establish budgets and gather funds from their members. It also allows parties to make rule changes, recruit new members, and choose leaders on the condition that the junta is informed at least five days in advance.

Thawatchai Terdpaothai, a member of the Election Commission, said Friday that it will hold a meeting with all political parties on Sept. 28 to explain the regulations and to hear any concerns the parties may have.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, the country's oldest, announced Friday on the online messaging platform LINE that his party will hold a meeting of senior members on Monday to plan for a broader Sept. 24 meeting at which it will adjust its rules to meet the new election regulations and organize the registration of new members. (VOA)

Community Resistance to Ebola Growing in DR Congo

KINSHASA, LELEMUKU.COM - The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it is increasing Ebola prevention efforts in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The agency says community resistance to efforts to contain Ebola is growing and must be fought to stop the spread of the fatal disease.

Since the disease outbreak was declared on August 1 in Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces, UNICEF has been working with communities to inform them about how the virus spreads and what measures to take to protect themselves from being infected.

The U.N. agency is working with community and religious leaders in the city of Beni, where health workers are facing hostility and resistance. UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said the spread of false rumors and fear about Ebola are endangering efforts to contain the virus.

"We are working with anthropologists, particularly in this Beni neighborhood, who ensure that the response is sensitive to cultural beliefs and practices, particularly around caring for sick and diseased individuals, and addressing population concerns about secure and dignified burials," he said.

Boulierac said UNICEF is expanding its community outreach program to support thousands of people at risk in the city of Butembo. Two new Ebola cases recently were confirmed in this important commercial center with nearly one million inhabitants.

He said UNICEF is deploying a team of 11 specialists in community communication, education and psycho-social assistance. The agency also will provide water, sanitation and hygiene to help contain the disease and avoid further spread of the epidemic.

In its latest assessment, the World Health Organization counted 197 confirmed and probable cases, including 92 deaths.

The outbreak in the DRC is the 10th since Ebola was first identified in 1976. (VOA)

Indonesian Groups Call for Minority Religious Protections

JAKARTA, LELEMUKU.COM - Interfaith and human rights groups gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, this past week to show their support for Meiliana, an Indonesian Buddhist who was sentenced to 18 months prison in August for complaining about the volume of the call to prayer in the town of Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra.

The case has again brought the Muslim-majority country's controversial blasphemy laws to the fore, with religious minority groups concerned it signals further erosion of their rights amid rising Islamic conservatism.

In a declaration, the groups called for the release of Meiliana, saying she was "recently imprisoned for expressing her personal opinion peacefully." The statement was signed by Amnesty International, leading bodies representing Christian, Hindu and Confucian Indonesians, and the Alliance of Independent Journalists Indonesia.

In 2016, the now-44-year-old of Chinese ethnicity privately voiced to the son of an imam near her house that the call to prayer from the local mosque had become louder.

"Even if you look at the fundamental principles of the law, this is not blasphemy," said Rumadi Ahmad, a religious scholar and a senior member of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, who was used as an expert witness in the case. "But many judges do not have a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of blasphemy."

Suhadi Sendjaja, the chairman of Buddhist organization Niciren Syosyu Indonesia, said, "This is a ruling not from Islamic authorities, but from a law issued by the president … it is not only for Chinese people, or for Christians, or Buddhists, but also for adherents of Islam."

In contrast to Meiliana's sentence, however, several hardline Muslims who attacked Chinese businesses and 12 Buddhist temples in Tanjung Balai in anger over her alleged blasphemy were sentenced to a maximum of two months behind bars.

Politicization of religion

Blasphemy has technically been illegal in Indonesia since 1965, when it was made a crime to criticize, be hostile to or adhere to "deviant" interpretations of one of the nation's six official religions: Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Its use, however, has risen exponentially during Indonesia's democratic era — particularly since the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was elected in 2004. He served for 10 years.

Amnesty says at least 106 people were sentenced under blasphemy charges between 2005 and 2014. Prosecutions have disproportionately targeted minorities — particularly the Shia and Ahmadiyya communities that are considered "deviant" by the Sunni Muslim majority.

In May 2017, the country saw its most high-profile conviction yet — former Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. The widely popular ethnic Chinese Christian was sentenced to two years in prison after he was found to have insulted the Quran, following months of mass demonstrations by Muslim groups.

For Rafiqa Qurrata A'yun, a law lecturer at the University of Indonesia, the increased use of blasphemy laws in Indonesia is representative of the politicization of religion as a tool for the nation's "predatory politics."

"The Meiliana case reflects the rise of religious sentiments in the lead up to [North Sumatra's] gubernatorial election," she told VOA via email.

Protection of minorities

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's annual report for 2018 names Indonesia as one of 12 countries where violations of religious freedom are "systematic, ongoing and egregious," alongside Afghanistan, Iraq and Egypt.

"Indonesia's central government at times responded in a manner that supports religious freedom and related human rights, but provincial and local governments, as well as law enforcement, regularly exacerbated divisions and failed to prevent religious-based discrimination and violence," it said of the situation during 2017.

Irsyad Rafsadie, a researcher at the PUSAD Paramadina Center for the Study of Religion and Democracy, said local law enforcement across Indonesia is often reluctant to prosecute actors from the majority group for fear of further incensing communal tensions.

"Their rulings on perpetrators from the majority group are often not serious," said Irsyad, referring to the light sentencing of Islamic hardliners who attacked Buddhist temples in Tanjung Balai. "They proceed with prosecutions as a mere formality."

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said he "cannot intervene" in the case of Meiliana, but has suggested that she could appeal to Indonesia's Supreme Court.

A warning for Indonesia

Asked about the likelihood of Indonesia's blasphemy law being overturned, Rafiqa from the University of Indonesia said, "It would be very difficult because two judicial reviews have already been submitted and both of them failed." The conservative Constitutional Court denied a petition to repeal the law in July.

"This is a warning not just for Tanjung Balai or North Sumatra, but for all of Indonesia," said Rumadi of Nahlatul Ulama regarding the Meiliana case, suggesting that issuing a moratorium on the law could be a short-term solution. "There are signs there is narrowing space for tolerance," he added.

"I believe that tolerance is not enough. Tolerance still suggests distance," said Suhadi, the Buddhist leader. "We need acceptance." (VOA)