Report: Canada, US Make Progress on NAFTA; No Deal Yet

Canada and the United States on Saturday narrowed their differences in last-ditch talks to save NAFTA but there is no guarantee an agreement will be forged, two Ottawa sources said, a notion echoed by a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two nations are trying to find a way to update the North American Free Trade Agreement and prevent it from collapsing.

The 1994 pact underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade and its demise would be enormously damaging, economists say. 

Trump is threatening to impose auto tariffs on Canada unless it signs a text of an updated agreement by the end of Sunday. Washington has a deal with Mexico, the third member of NAFTA.

Address to UN delayed

In a sign of the mounting pressure, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland postponed her country’s annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday to return to Ottawa. Freeland, who has spent many days in Washington over the last month, has no plans to fly back immediately, officials say.

The two sides are talking continuously by phone, and a Canadian government source said the tone of the negotiations was positive and intense.

“The fact talks are still going on shows there are issues to be settled. A deal is not necessarily going to happen,” said the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

‘Big issues solved’

Trump’s trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro, speaking Saturday to Fox News, struck an upbeat tone on the progress of talks.

“Most of the big issues are solved with Canada,” Navarro said, adding it would be “a great deal for all three countries.”

Trump blames NAFTA for causing U.S. manufacturing jobs to move to low-wage Mexico and is demanding major changes.

“We’ll see what happens with Canada, if they come along. They have to be fair,” Trump said Saturday during a rally in Wheeling, West Virginia, complaining about Canada’s dairy tariffs, which have been a particularly sore point for him.

“We’ve made the deal with Mexico, and it’s a great deal for both countries,” Trump said.

The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to comment Saturday’s talks. A spokesman for USTR did not respond to requests for comment on the talks.

Sticking point

A second Ottawa source said the two sides were still trying to resolve disagreements over a dispute resolution mechanism that Canada says is vital and the United States wants to scrap.

In exchange for a compromise on the mechanism, Ottawa is set to bow to a U.S. demand to offer significantly more access to Canada’s protected dairy market, said the source.

A third source familiar with the negotiations said the idea of a link between dispute resolution and dairy access was not currently being discussed.

Opening up the dairy market could cause problems for Trudeau, since the influential farming industry opposes the idea. The Dairy Farmers of Canada lobby group did not respond to a request for comment.

Sources familiar with the talks told Reuters Sept. 11 that Canada was ready to give the United States limited dairy access. Ottawa has offered farmers compensation to make up for conceding market share in two earlier trade agreements.

Automakers consulted

Automaker executives briefed on the plans said Saturday they expect a final deal similar to the one reached with Mexico that would effectively cap Canadian vehicle and auto parts exports at a level around 40 to 50 percent higher than existing imports.

The agreement would allow the United States to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on vehicles above the cap. The USTR’s office reached out to automakers over the weekend to seek input about how the cap will work and how the vehicle quota will be apportioned, an auto industry executive briefed on the matter said.

One big uncertain question for U.S. and foreign automakers is whether U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel will be lifted.

A NAFTA deal had looked unlikely Wednesday when, after a month of slow-moving discussions, Trump indicated he was fed up with Trudeau, who has insisted he will not sign a bad deal.

But late Thursday, U.S. officials reached out to Canada to ask for details of Ottawa’s negotiating demands and where it might be able to make compromises, Reuters reported.

Trump is under increasing pressure from U.S. business groups and some members of the U.S. Congress, who say excluding Canada from NAFTA would play havoc with the three member nations’ increasingly integrated economies.

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Macedonians Vote on NATO, EU, Changing Country’s Name

Macedonians go to polls Sunday to vote on whether to change their country’s name to Republic of North Macedonia, urged by a pro-Western government to pave the way for NATO and EU membership by resolving a decades-old name dispute with Greece.

The referendum is one of the last hurdles for a deal reached between Macedonia and Greece in June to settle their quarrel, which has prevented Macedonia from joining major Western institutions since it broke away from then-Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece, which has its own northern province called Macedonia, has always maintained that Macedonia’s name represented a claim on its territory. It vetoed Macedonia’s entrance into NATO and the EU, and forced it to enter the United Nations under a provisional name as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev argues that accepting a new name is a price worth paying for admission into the EU and NATO. But nationalist opponents say it would undermine the ethnic identity of the country’s Slavic majority population.

President Gjorge Ivanov has said he will boycott the referendum.

Polls for some 1.8 million voters will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. The question on the referendum ballot is: “Are you for NATO and EU membership with acceptance of the agreement with Greece.”

The referendum is advisory and not legally binding, but enough members of parliament have said they will abide by its outcome to make it decisive. The name change requires a two-thirds majority in parliament.

For the referendum to be valid, at least 50 percent of voters must turn out to vote and a majority of them must back the change.

Polls have indicated that a large majority of those who vote are likely to back the change, but achieving the required turnout may be difficult. While more than 80 percent of Macedonians support NATO and EU membership, many may boycott the referendum because of disagreement with the name change.

“The Macedonian people have never been so embarrassed than now with this agreement (with Greece),” said Violeta Petkoska, a 39-year-old nurse. “On the day of the referendum they want us to dig our own grave, so that from the next day the Macedonian people do not exist.”

Zaev says NATO membership will bring much needed investment in the country with unemployment rate of more than 20 percent.

“Macedonia should move forward to become a European state. We have no alternative,” said Asim Shainovski, 35, a public administration worker.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has accused Russia of attempting to influence the outcome of the referendum, which the Kremlin has denied.

Macedonia avoided the violence that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia, but was later rocked by an ethnic Albanian insurgency that almost tore the country apart in 2001.

Western governments see NATO and European Union membership as the best way of preserving the peace and stability in the Balkans after a decade of wars with the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

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UN Expert: Repressions in Sudan Continue

A U.N. human rights expert has described as deplorable the Sudanese government’s continued repression of fundamental freedoms and abuse meted out to women to keep them in line.  The findings were presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in a new report by the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nononsi.

Nononsi says while he welcomes positive steps taken by the Sudanese government toward reducing tensions and military operations in conflict-ridden parts of Darfur – including the collection of weapons used by various armed militia and criminals, and granting greater access by humanitarian agencies to people in need – he says he is very concerned by the large number of reports he received regarding restrictions on political rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, assembly, the press and freedom of religion.

He says Sudanese security forces reportedly use violence, intimidation and other forms of abuse to particularly silence women across the country.

“Public morality offenses, including ‘indecent dress,’ discriminate against women and are limiting their movement and role in public life.  Humiliating corporal punishments of lashing violate international human rights norms.… In Darfur, sexual and gender-based violence remained a serious concern during the reporting period.”  

Nononsi says displaced women and girls are most victimized by conflict-related sexual violence.  He says a climate of impunity in the country allows these crimes to flourish.

The independent expert also criticizes government austerity measures, which he says have led to a deterioration of economic and social rights.  He says it is critical for Sudan to address the root causes of poverty and inequalities to achieve long-term stability in the country.

Countering the criticism, Sudan’s minister of justice, Mohammed Ahmed Salem, said his country is making great progress in the sphere of human rights, which he said was reflected in a new constitution awaiting final approval.  

He said his country has taken measures to combat weapons trafficking and noted that Sudan’s name has been withdrawn from a list of countries that recruits children in armed conflict.

Over the objections of Sudan, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert to monitor the human rights situation in that country for another year.

 

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What’s Ahead for US Supreme Court as It Starts New Term

With President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hanging in the balance, the high court is scheduled to open its new term on Monday with oral arguments on a range of issues before eight ideologically divided justices.

This is not the first time the high court has had a vacancy at the start of a new term. In 2016, the court faced a similar situation after Justice Antonin Scalia died earlier in the year and Republicans in the Senate refused to hold confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama’s nominee, keeping the seat vacant for nearly a year.  

If Kavanaugh wins confirmation, he is expected to provide a critical conservative vote that could tip the court’s balance on key issues this year and beyond.  Legal experts say the justices may reschedule for re-argument some of the cases that have been set to be heard early in the term.

The high court usually accepts less than 100 of the more than 7,000 cases it’s asked to review every year.  So far this term, it has taken 44 cases with about half of them set for argument during October and November.

Big cases coming

Duke University law professor Brandon Garrett says the court has thus far shied away from accepting politically divisive cases in part because of the uncertainty over the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.

“And I think it’s a sensible thing to do to be a little bit more cautious about accepting cert when it’s a transition year for the Supreme Court,” Garrett said, referring to a petition for a federal or state court decision to be reviewed.

Last term, the court issued rulings on major issues, including executive power in Trump v. Hawaii, digital privacy in Carpenter v. United States, and religious freedom in Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement in June that he was stepping down set off a bitter political battle over replacing the high court’s swing vote on major issues.   

Senate Republicans had pledged to confirm Kavanaugh ahead of the Supreme Court’s new term.   But that prospect was thrown into doubt after the Republicans agreed late on Friday to a delay of up to one week in a full Senate vote.  

Kennedy cast the deciding fifth vote in landmark decisions such as a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same sex marriage.   

Solicitor General Noel Francisco called Kennedy a “great defender of First Amendment Freedoms” and said “it will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court “changes in many, many other significant ways now that we don’t have Kennedy on the court.”

Francisco, who argues cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government, said at the Federalist Society Monday that while the court had “one of the most consequential terms in recent history” last year, there are “several big cases in the pipeline” that could make it before the court before the end of the new term.

One of the early themes of the court’s new term, he said, is the court’s “willingness to reconsider precedent in some important areas of law.”   

What’s on the docket

Of the cases currently on the docket, there are three where the court will revisit past decisions:   

·    Knick v. Township of Scott.    The case, scheduled for next Wednesday, was brought by a property owner in Pennsylvania challenging the town’s ordinance requiring her to allow the public to visit an old cemetery located on her farm.  The justices will decide whether to overturn a 1985 ruling that property owners challenging municipal laws must first sue in state courts rather than federal courts.

·    Gamble v. United States.  Justices will decide whether to overrule the “dual sovereignty” exception to the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.   An Alabama man convicted of firearms violations in both state and federal courts is challenging the doctrine.   If the court rules in his favor, it will mean federal and state prosecutors will not be able to try a defendant for the same offense.    

·    Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt.   The case involves the so-called “sovereign immunity” of states.  The justices will decide whether to overturn a 1979 ruling that held that states don’t have “sovereign immunity” in the courts of other states.  Forty-five states have filed a brief in support of California’s petition to overturn the ruling.  A ruling in favor of California will mean states will be immune from faces charges in sister states’ courts.    

Paul Clement, a former solicitor general, said the cases present the justices with the question of whether to overturn past rulings or uphold them on the basis of principle known as stare decisis.

“So you really have three cases pretty much right off the bat for a new justice to decide whether or not to overturn law that has Supreme Court precedential effect,” Clement said at the Heritage Foundation in Washington last week.  

Historically, justices on both sides of the ideological divide have been willing to reconsider precedent, according Garrett.

“I think, in general, the justices all feel bound, as they should and as they say, to adhere to precedent unless there is a serious problem with precedent,” Garrett said.

“But you certainly see justices that far more willing on the conservative side to overturn precedent recognizing civil rights and then you have justices on the more liberal end of the spectrum, to overturn precedent to further protect civil rights,” he said.

In addition to the cases the court has so far agreed to review, other big cases in the pipeline that are likely to be taken up before the end of the court’s term include partisan gerrymandering and Trump’s rescission of DACA, according to Francisco.  

“Looking further out on the horizon, the lower courts have issued a number of decisions on significant issues that are percolating through the courts of appeals and very well could end up before the Supreme Court by the end of this term,” Francisco said.  

 

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African First Ladies Share Thoughts Ahead of Melania Trump’s Trip

First ladies in several African countries hope their American counterpart will find ways to tackle problems, with a nuanced understanding of the African experience, when she visits the continent next week.

The first ladies of Mozambique, Namibia and Sierra Leone spoke to VOA in New York during the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly and shared advice for U.S. first lady Melania Trump.

Isaura Nyusi, the first lady of Mozambique, told VOA through her interpreter and adviser that she looked forward to seeing Trump’s initiatives in the United States applied to African challenges. Trump would be welcomed in Mozambique, Nyusi added, although that country is not currently on the American first lady’s itinerary.

Trump is slated to visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt in what the White House is calling a trip about “maternal and newborn care in hospitals, education for children, the deep culture and history woven into each African country, and how the United States is supporting each country on its journey to self-reliance.”

Trump announced the itinerary Wednesday at a General Assembly reception. It’s her first major solo overseas trip as first lady.

Praise for USAID

On the trip, Trump will highlight the work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), whose efforts in Africa focus on agriculture, health care, governance and climate change.

“I am so proud of the work this administration is doing through USAID and others, and look forward to the opportunity to take the message of my ‘Be Best’ campaign to many of the countries, and children, throughout Africa,” Trump said in New York.

USAID’s 2019 budget includes $16.8 billion in assistance for developing countries around the world.

“Be Best,” Melania Trump’s signature campaign, focuses on children’s physical and mental health, tackling two issues of particular concern in the United States: social media use and opioid abuse.

“Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty, or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe,” she added.

Monica Geingos, the first lady of Namibia, said she hoped Melania Trump would bring to her trip an understanding of Africa that breaks through stereotypes.

“I think the narrative that is generally crafted around African issues is really one of these poor, incapable, helpless Africans. And that’s not the narrative of Africa when you actually get to the continent,” Geingos told VOA.

“Even in the worst cases of poverty, you’ll find the most dignified Africans,” Geingos added. “And you can only treat them with dignities they deserve if you understand where they come from and what they deal with on a daily basis.”

Sierra Leone first lady Fatima Maada Bio contrasted the stature of the first lady’s role in the United States to the many African nations that don’t have an Office of the First Lady.

“We should be the voice of the people, but we should not be respected just by having an office where we could actually sit and understand people’s issues,” Bio told VOA.

“I think the first lady of America, what she can do is actually start talking to African heads of state to start empowering the first ladies’ offices, because the first ladies’ offices, as much as we are not an elected office, but we can make very big changes to society,” Bio said.

This story originated in VOA’s Africa Division, with English to Africa’s Haydé Adams FitzPatrick reporting; additional reporting and writing by Salem Solomon, with Karina Choudhury contributing. The Voice of America hosted a Facebook Live session Sept. 27 for its upcoming show, Our Voices, in which African women will discuss topics from around the continent. Watch the conversation with the first lady of Namibia.

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African First Ladies Share Thoughts Ahead of Melania Trump’s Trip

First ladies in several African countries hope their American counterpart will find ways to tackle problems, with a nuanced understanding of the African experience, when she visits the continent next week.

The first ladies of Mozambique, Namibia and Sierra Leone spoke to VOA in New York during the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly and shared advice for U.S. first lady Melania Trump.

Isaura Nyusi, the first lady of Mozambique, told VOA through her interpreter and adviser that she looked forward to seeing Trump’s initiatives in the United States applied to African challenges. Trump would be welcomed in Mozambique, Nyusi added, although that country is not currently on the American first lady’s itinerary.

Trump is slated to visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt in what the White House is calling a trip about “maternal and newborn care in hospitals, education for children, the deep culture and history woven into each African country, and how the United States is supporting each country on its journey to self-reliance.”

Trump announced the itinerary Wednesday at a General Assembly reception. It’s her first major solo overseas trip as first lady.

Praise for USAID

On the trip, Trump will highlight the work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), whose work in Africa focuses on agriculture, health care, governance and climate change.

“I am so proud of the work this administration is doing through USAID and others, and look forward to the opportunity to take the message of my ‘Be Best’ campaign to many of the countries, and children, throughout Africa,” Trump said in New York.

USAID’s 2019 budget includes $16.8 billion in assistance for developing countries around the world.

‘Be Best’ campaign

“Be Best,” Melania Trump’s signature campaign, focuses on children’s physical and mental health, tackling two issues of particular concern in the United States: social media use and opioid abuse.

“Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty, or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe,” she added.

Monica Geingos, the first lady of Namibia, said she hoped Melania Trump would bring to her trip an understanding of Africa that breaks through stereotypes.

“I think the narrative that is generally crafted around African issues is really one of these poor, incapable, helpless Africans. And that’s not the narrative of Africa when you actually get to the continent,” Geingos told VOA.

“Even in the worst cases of poverty, you’ll find the most dignified Africans,” Geingos added. “And you can only treat them with dignities they deserve if you understand where they come from and what they deal with on a daily basis.”

Sierra Leone first lady Fatima Maada Bio contrasted the stature of the first lady’s role in the United States to the many African nations that don’t have an Office of the First Lady.

“We should be the voice of the people, but we should not be respected just by having an office where we could actually sit and understand people’s issues,” Bio told VOA.

“I think the first lady of America, what she can do is actually start talking to African heads of state to start empowering the first ladies’ offices, because the first ladies’ offices, as much as we are not an elected office, but we can make very big changes to society,” Bio said.

This story originated in VOA’s Africa Division, with English to Africa’s Haydé Adams FitzPatrick reporting; additional reporting and writing by Salem Solomon, with Karina Choudhury contributing. The Voice of America hosted a Facebook Live session Sept. 27 for its upcoming show, Our Voices, in which African women will discuss topics from around the continent. Watch the conversation with the first lady of Namibia.

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New FBI Investigation Begins Into Kavanaugh

The FBI has launched a new investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

President Donald Trump ordered the investigation at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump posted on Twitter Friday night:

Trump said in a statement the updated investigation, which follows sexual misconduct allegations, “must be limited in scope” and “completed in less than one week.”

The decision is a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh had been vetted.

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch

​Due diligence

Earlier Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination from Republican Jeff Flake, who requested a delay and investigation.

The committee of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted along party lines to move the nomination forward.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said Friday she agrees with Flake in wanting an FBI investigation. Because Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate, they have little choice now but to slow down the process to confirm Kavanaugh.

Republican leaders said Friday they still plan to move ahead with a procedural vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Saturday.

​Kavanaugh to cooperate

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he will continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate. 

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

The developments come one day after dramatic testimony by Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who has accused him of sexual assault when they were teenagers in 1982. Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately in lengthy hearings.

Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington.

Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed by the 100 member Senate. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate is evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would also have to do the same to block his confirmation.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, says he is willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI as Ford claims he was present when Kavanaugh allegedly attacked her at a party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.

 

WATCH: Personal and Political Debates Collide in Emotional US Supreme Court Fight

How key senators will vote

Also Friday, several Democrats from states that Trump won announced they would vote against Kavanaugh.

Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly from Indiana said he would vote against the appellate court judge. Donnelly said Ford’s sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh was “disturbing and credible” and repeated a Democratic call for the FBI investigation.

Senator Doug Jones, a first-term Democrat from Alabama, a state in which President Donald Trump won by a wide margin, said Thursday he is voting ‘no’ on Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court. 

“The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning,” he said, adding that Ford was credible and courageous.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of swing state Florida also said Thursday he would vote against Kavanaugh. Republicans are trying to gain the vote of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a state that Trump won comfortably, along with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Murkowski of Alaska.

Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, also said she needs time to decide how she will vote. She is running for re-election in a state that voted heavily for Trump.

​Bar association request

The American Bar Association late Thursday called on the Judiciary committee and the full Senate to delay the vote until the FBI has time to do a full background check on the claims made by Ford and other women.

“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law,’’ the ABA letter to committee leadership said. “Each appointment to our nation’s highest court [as with all others] is simply too important to rush to a vote.”

Earlier Friday, committee Chairman Charles Grassley flatly dismissed the ABA’s request, saying, “I’ve explained many times an FBI investigation is not necessary. The ABA is an outside organization like any other that can send us letters and share their advice, but we’re not going to let them dictate our committee’s business.”

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WHO: Risk of Ebola’s Spread From Congo Now ‘Very High’ 

The World Health Organization says the risk of the deadly Ebola virus spreading from Congo is now “very high” after two confirmed cases were discovered near the Uganda border.

 

The outbreak in northeastern Congo is larger than the previous one in the northwest and more complicated for health officials. Some of their work was briefly suspended in the past week following a deadly attack in Beni by one of several rebel groups active in the region.

 

WHO’s emergencies chief has said the insecurity, public defiance about vaccinations and politicians fanning fears ahead of elections in December could create a “perfect storm” leading this outbreak to spread.

 

Uganda has said it is preparing to begin vaccinations as needed. 

 

As of Friday there were 124 confirmed Ebola cases including 71 deaths.

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384 Dead, Hundreds Injured in Indonesia Quake-Tsunami

Indonesian officials say at least 384 people died and 540 were injured following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake Friday and a subsequent tsunami that hit two cities – Palu and Donggala – in central Sulawesi province.  

Authorities said Saturday hundreds of people were on the beach in Palu for a festival when the earthquake and tsunami struck, sweeping many people away to their deaths in the giant waves.

National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the tsunami hit with a speed of 800 kilometers per hour, destroying buildings and infrastructure.  He said thousands of houses, hospitals, shopping malls and hotels collapsed and a landslide has cut off Palu’s main highway.

A large bridge spanning a coastal river in Sulawesi province collapsed.  

Nugroho said search and rescue teams have been dispatched.  

Television footage showed people being treated outdoors in makeshift medical facilities, while bodies, some of them in bags, are lined up on the streets.

An Indonesia emergency official said, “Bodies of victims were found in several places because they were hit by the rubble of collapsing buildings or swept by [the] tsunami.”

Power and telecommunications lines have been knocked out, hampering the rescue operations Saturday.

There are conflicting reports about damage to the local airport and whether it will be able to receive relief aid.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. officials were in contact with Indonesian authorities and “stand ready to provide support as required.”

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth.  It sits on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific basin.

 


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Airline Now Says 1 Man Missing in Micronesia Crash

The airline operating a flight that crashed into a Pacific lagoon Friday in Micronesia now says one man is missing, after earlier saying all 47 passengers and crew had safely evacuated the sinking plane.

Air Niugini said in a release that as of Saturday afternoon, it was unable to account for a male passenger. The airline said it was working with local authorities, hospitals and investigators to try to find the man.

The airline did not immediately respond to requests for more details about the passenger, such as his age or nationality.

Local boats

Local boats helped rescue the other passengers and crew after the plane hit the water while trying to land at the Chuuk Island airport.

Officials said Friday that seven people had been taken to a hospital. The airline said six passengers remained at the hospital Saturday, and all of them were in stable condition.

What caused the crash and the exact sequence of events remains unclear. The airline and the U.S. Navy both said the plane landed in the lagoon short of the runway. Some witnesses thought the plane overshot the runway.

Passenger Bill Jaynes said the plane came in very low.

“I thought we landed hard,” he said. “Until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in. And I thought, well, this is not the way it’s supposed to happen.”

Jaynes said he and others managed to wade through waist-deep water to the emergency exits on the sinking plane. He said the flight attendants were panicking and yelling, and that he suffered a minor head injury.

“I was really impressed with the locals who immediately started coming out in boats,” Jaynes said in an interview with a missionary in Chuuk, Matthew Colson, that was posted online and shared with the AP.

US sailors

The U.S. Navy said sailors working nearby on improving a wharf also helped in the rescue by using an inflatable boat to shuttle people ashore before the plane sank in about 30 meters (100 feet) of water.

Air Niugini is the national airline of Papua New Guinea and has operated since 1973. Data from the Aviation Safety Network indicates 111 people have died in crashes of PNG-registered airlines in the past two decades but none involved Air Niugini.

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Typhoon Pounds Japan with Heavy Rain, High Winds

A powerful typhoon brought heavy rain and high winds as it approached southern Japan Saturday, leading to flight cancellations and power outages in several cities.

Typhoon Trami, rated Category 2 by Tropical Storm Risk, with Category 5 the highest, is the latest storm to threaten Japan in a year of grim weather-related woes, including punishing heat, heavy rains and landslides.

Outlying islands in the Okinawan chain, about 1,000 km southwest of Tokyo, were being pounded by heavy rain and high tides a day before an Okinawan gubernatorial election Sunday.

Flights canceled

Strong wind knocked down trees, blew off an outer wall from a building and left five people injured in Naha, a city in Okinawa. Trami also caused power outages in more than 30 towns in Miyakojima island, according to public broadcaster NHK.

NHK also said airlines had canceled more than 380 flights, mainly those flying in and out of Okinawa.

Trami was about 60 km (37.3 miles) south of Kume island, with winds gusting as high as 216 kilometers an hour (134 mph).

Well-traveled path

Churning north across Okinawa on Saturday, Trami is then predicted to move across the islands of Kyushu and the main island of Honshu on Sunday, a path similar to that taken by typhoon Jebi early in September.

Jebi, the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years, brought some of the highest tides since a 1961 typhoon and flooded Kansai airport near Osaka, taking it out of service for days.

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Journalists Jailed in Record Numbers Worldwide

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.

 

WATCH: A Pakistani American Startup Fighting Media Censorship

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 Reuters reporters 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 Reuters reporters. 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 Reuters President 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’s Simon 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.

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Finnish Unions Call for Oct. 3 Strike over Layoff Law

Four large Finnish unions called on Friday for tens of thousands of their members to go on strike on Oct. 3 to protest against what they called attacks on workers’ rights.

The unions said the strike was over government plans to make it easier for small companies to dismiss workers.

“The obstinacy of the right-wing government … has not left us with any choice,” the Industrial Union’s chair Riku Aalto said in a statement.

Service sector union PAM, professionals’ union Pro and the Finnish Electrical Workers’ Union also called the 24-hour strike.

Finnish food industry workers had already announced plans to strike on Oct 3. against the government plans.

The government led by the Center Party has said the changes will end up creating more jobs as they will make small companies more willing to hire.

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France Calls for New Global Coalition, With or Without US

France’s leaders are proposing a new international coalition to revive global cooperation that they say is being threatened by countries like the United States and Russia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced the plan Friday while speaking at Harvard University, calling for an alliance of “goodwill powers” that believe in cooperation and share democratic values.

Any nation could join, but the minister says he hopes it would include countries like India, Australia and Japan, along with others in Europe. He says it would go on with or without the U.S.

His speech came days after U.S. President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that he rejects “the ideology of globalism.”

French President Emmanuel Macron countered with calls for greater cooperation and said “nationalism always leads to defeat.”

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Former Vatican Diplomat: Pope’s Failure to Respond Indicates Guilt

The fact that Pope Francis has not responded to accusations of having covered up for former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is evidence the pope is guilty, according to a letter written by former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

Vigano renewed his charge that Francis knew five years ago that McCarrick had sexually harassed young men and did nothing.

The letter, written in English and dated Sept. 29, was published Thursday night on American Conservative as soon as it was received by U.S. blogger Rod Dreher.

The content of the letter echoes Vigano’s first letter, published a month ago, in which he accused three popes and other leading members of the Vatican hierarchy of covering up the serious sexual sins of McCarrick. Vigano called on Pope Francis to set the right example and resign.

In the new letter, Vigano explains why he revealed facts that were covered by the pontifical secret.

“Well aware of the enormous consequences that my testimony could have, because what I was about to reveal involved the successor of Peter himself, I nonetheless chose to speak in order to protect the Church, and I declare with a clear conscience before God that my testimony is true,” he wrote.

The archbishop added that the “decision to reveal those grave facts” was for him “the most painful and serious decision” that he’d ever made in his life. He said he took the decision “after long reflection and prayer, during months of profound suffering and anguish.”

Vigano continued in his letter saying, “Neither the pope nor any of the cardinals in Rome have denied the facts I asserted in my testimony.” He added that Pope Francis’ response so far has been to say, “I will not say a word about this.”

The former Vatican diplomat said Francis’ failure to respond to the accusations is a clear indication he is guilty. “The pope’s unwillingness to respond to my charges and his deafness to the appeals by the faithful for accountability are hardly consistent with his calls for transparency and bridge building,” he wrote.

The Vatican reportedly is expected to provide some clarification, but the pope has refused to answer the accusations directly. Francis has referred to the matter only indirectly in his morning homilies inside Vatican walls and when no one is able to question him.

Vigano said Francis compared his own silence to that of Jesus before Pilate, with the pope comparing Vigano to “the great accuser, Satan, who sows scandal and division in the Church,” though without naming Vigano. What the pope chose to do, according to Vigano, was to “put in place a subtle slander” against him.

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AP Source: Trump Signs Spending Plan, Avoiding Shutdown

President Donald Trump has signed an $854 billion spending bill to keep the federal government open through December 7, averting a government shutdown in the weeks leading up to the November midterm elections.

 

That’s according to a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the action.

 

Trump signed the legislation to fund the military and several civilian agencies without journalists present at the White House. The president is acting after the House and Senate approved the spending plan earlier this week.

 

Trump’s signature avoids a shutdown before the November 6 elections that will determine control of Congress. But he has expressed frustration that the bill doesn’t pay for his long-stalled wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

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