Author: Selleco

Mourners gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday to pay their respects to former President Jacques Chirac, whose death unleashed a flood of tributes to a charismatic but complex giant of French politics.    Chirac, president from 1995 to 2007, died Thursday at age 86 after years of deteriorating health since suffering a stroke in 2005.    Ahead of a national day of mourning announced for Monday, the French presidency threw open the doors of the Elysee Palace for people wanting to sign a book of condolences.    “I express my admiration and tenderness for the last of the great presidents,” read one tribute. “Thank you for fighting, thank you for this freedom and good spirits.”    In a televised address Thursday night, President Emmanuel Macron praised “a man whom we loved as much as he loved us.”    Chirac is also to be given the honor of a public memorial ceremony on Sunday as well as a mass on Monday, which will be attended by Macron and foreign dignitaries including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.    A minute of silence will also be observed Monday at public institutions, schools and football matches.    Schools have also been urged to dedicate class time on Monday “to evoke the former head of state’s memory,” with the education ministry saying it will propose potential discussion themes for teachers.    And the Quai Branly museum of indigenous art founded by Chirac, who had a deep appreciation of Asian …

When California’s largest utility warned it would cut power to thousands to prevent its equipment from starting wildfires during warm, windy weather, officials in the wealthy wine region of Sonoma County sprang into action. They declared a state of emergency and called up additional first responders who could direct traffic or take vulnerable residents to places with electricity. Nearly 200 miles (275 kilometers) north, officials in rural Butte County simply posted Pacific Gas & Electric information online about which neighborhoods would be affected and what to do with perishable food. FILE – Pacific Gas & Electric crews work on restoring power lines in a fire-ravaged neighborhood in the aftermath of a wildfire in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 14, 2017. Rich county, poor county Both counties had communities decimated in wildfires ignited by power lines in recent years. They face the long-term prospect of frequent power shutoffs during fire season as PG&E and other utilities try to prevent their equipment from sparking blazes like the one last year that killed 85 people and nearly destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise. More populated, wealthier counties have adapted their emergency plans to respond to the new reality of thousands of residents losing power for an undetermined amount of time. But the preventive outages are proving to be a burden to smaller, poorer counties without resources to set up places for people to cool off or mobilize staff to deal with emergencies if outages stretch past two days. “The outages are to avoid an …

Hundreds of thousands of people joined teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg for a march in Montreal Friday, part of a second wave of global protests demanding action on climate change. Thunberg responded to critics, including U.S. President Donald Trump, saying she doesn’t “understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead.” Without mentioning Trump by name, Thunberg said, “We’ve become too loud for people to handle so people want to silence us.” She called on world leaders to do more for the environment, following a meeting earlier Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “My message to all the politicians around the world is the same,” she said. “Just listen and act on the current best available science.” “He (Trudeau) is of course obviously not doing enough, but this is just a huge problem, this is a system that is wrong,” she said. Trudeau earlier praised Thunberg’s activism saying, “She is the voice of a generation.” Protests also took place Friday across Europe and Asia, with organizers saying 200,000 people, mainly youths, joined a march in Milan and another 100,000 in Rome. Protesters gathered in a host of countries, including India, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Austria and Germany. The demonstrations come a week after millions of youths and adults rallied worldwide ahead of the U.N. summit in New York. …

The head of Zimbabwe’s Doctors Association has left the country for urgent medical treatment in South Africa after being held captivity, during which his medical team says he was poisoned.  Police tried to block his departure even though he had a court order allowing him to leave.  Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare for VOA News. …

Losing a job is seldom a good thing.  Repeatedly losing that job on the same day sounds nightmarish. Get ready to feel sorry for a person who does not exist. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi plugs us in to an alternate reality created to help managers hone skills at performing an unpleasant but sometimes necessary task. …

Health experts warn we are due for a cataclysmic pandemic — they just don’t know when it will happen. The warning was delivered this week to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly by a special global health monitoring group that said the next pandemic could traverse the world in 36 hours, killing up to 80 million and causing devastating economic loss. The group, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, operates independently of the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the entities that created it last year with a mandate to issue an annual assessment. The first report was grim. A health worker vaccinates a child against malaria in Ndhiwa, Homabay County, western Kenya, Sept. 13, 2019, during the launch of a malaria vaccination campaign in the country. Lack of medical care a threat Despite remarkable gains in medicine, politics and social issues keep those in rich countries as well as poor ones from desperately needed medical care, and this threatens the entire world. Medical achievements of the past several decades are remarkable. AIDS once meant enduring a horrible death, but now treatment has changed that and research on a vaccine is promising. Moreover, there’s talk about ending malaria, a disease that kills half a million people each year, most of them children. Scientists are also closing in on Ebola. A vaccine and two new drugs to treat those infected are saving lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ebola used to kill up to 90% of its victims. Now, …

This week, world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly heard warnings about massive loss of life and diseases that could circle the global in just three days. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports that a special global preparedness monitoring group issued a report that says inaction will have grim consequences. The report said prevention heavily depends on political and social action as well as good medical care.   …

Every two years Democrats and Republicans come together for a charity Congressional Football Game. Together with former NFL professionals, lawmakers play against the U.S. Capitol Police and politics stays off the field. Daria Dieguts talked to some of the players after the game.  …

A shallow tremor Thursday sent terrified residents of northeastern Pakistan onto the streets, days after a powerful quake killed 38 people and caused widespread damage in the area. The tremor stretched already-frayed nerves in Mirpur, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, as fears of aftershocks from Tuesday’s quake sent hundreds into the streets and put local hospitals on alert. The US Geological Survey put the quake at 4.7 magnitude and 10 kilometres (six miles) deep, adding that it had struck just four kilometres outside of Mirpur. City residents huddled in streets following the quake, some still barefoot, while others recited verses from the Koran. “It’s hell. I am running to save my life,” Mohammad Bilal told AFP moments after the tremor. “I thought most of the building would have tumbled down,” said Sagheer Ahmad. “Allah is very kind to us.” Dozens of patients were evacuated from the main government hospital in Mirpur, some in wheelchairs or on stretchers. Dr Farooq Noor, the medical superintendent at the hospital, told AFP that 93 people were brought in after the tremor. Most were swiftly discharged with minor wounds or shock, but some with head injuries and broken limbs were admitted, he added. The city’s hospitals were already packed with hundreds injured by the quake earlier in the week. ‘Poor construction’ The tremor came as rescuers continued to pick through toppled buildings to reach victims from Tuesday’s earthquake. “You can see we have no arrangements, we don’t have any place to live, have nothing to eat, we …

A Jewish civil rights group has added dozens of new entries to its online database of hateful symbols, slogans and memes that white supremacists have adopted and spread. The “OK” hand gesture is one of the images that the Anti-Defamation League has added to its hate symbols database. Online trolls have used the gesture to dupe viewers into perceiving it as a “white power” symbol, but the ADL says far-right extremists also are using it as a sincere expression of white supremacy.   California Synagogue Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Hate Crimes The man suspected of killing a woman in a shooting at a Southern California synagogue pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges Tuesday. John T. Earnest spoke twice during the brief hearing — to acknowledge his name and to say he agreed with his court-appointed attorney’s decision against seeking bail. Earnest, 19, is charged with bursting into the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27 and opening fire with an assault rifle, killing one and injuring three.    Peter Ko, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the judge that the government had not decided whether to seek the death penalty. The database additions also include “Happy Merchant,” an anti-Semitic meme that depicts a stereotypical image of a Jewish man rubbing his hands together.   ADL launched the database in 2000 to help law enforcement officers and others recognize signs of extremist activity. It has grown to nearly 200 entries. …

The fate of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency of France may lie in the fate of his planned overhaul of the retirement system, which has already prompted strikes and protests. Knowing that it’s not going to be the easiest of sells following the yellow vest movement that brought France to a near-standstill last winter, Macron is embarking Thursday on a “Tour de France” of meetings to try to convince skeptical workers that reform is exactly what France’s stretched and hugely complicated pension system needs to survive into the long-term.     Here’s a look at the planned changes, and why they are generating debate:  France old-age pension system The country’s retirement system has its roots in 1673 and the reign King Louis XIV. Initially for royal marines, the system swelled to include civil servants in the wake of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. Military personnel were added in 1831, followed by others over the decades to come, before employees in the private sector were finally added in 1930.   Now, all French retirees receive a state pension. The average French pension this year stands at 1,400 euros per month ($1,500 per month) once taxes are deducted. But that average masks an array of different pension regimes. In total, there are 42 pension regimes.  So many special regimes   The easy bit: Employees from the private sector are affiliated to the overall system. The account for around 7 of 10 workers.   The more complicated bit: many professions …

Scores of protesters chanted slogans outside a stadium in Hong Kong where embattled city leader Carrie Lam held a town hall session on Thursday aimed at cooling down months of demonstrations for greater democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The community dialogue with 150 participants, selected randomly from over 20,000 applicants, was the first since massive protests began in June sparked by an extradition bill that the government has now promised to withdraw. Protesters have refused to stop demonstrating until other demands including direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability are met. Riot police carried equipment including shields, pepper spray and tear gas canisters into Queen Elizabeth Stadium in the Wan Chai area. Authorities also set up X-ray machines and metal detectors to ensure participants did not bring banned items inside such as umbrellas, helmets and gas masks — gear used by protesters. Protesters gather outside Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong, Sept. 26, 2019, chanting slogans outside the venue as embattled leader Carrie Lam began a town hall session aimed at cooling down months of pro-democracy demonstrations. The security measures came as hundreds of students and others formed human chains at roads near the stadium, chanting slogans expressing their demands. Some protesters later marched outside the stadium and continued chanting slogans as the dialogue began. In her opening remarks, Lam expressed hope that the two-hour dialogue would help bring change for a better Hong Kong. The session, broadcast live, was the first in a series of dialogues …

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul on Thursday but authorities said no immediate damage was reported in Turkey’s financial and cultural center. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said the earthquake struck in the Sea of Marmara at 1:59 p.m. (1059 GMT) at 7 kilometers  (4.4 miles) deep. The official Anadolu news agency, quoting the Istanbul governor’s office, said there were no reports of damage. Turkish media showed children being evacuated from schools and city residents waiting outside their homes. Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, A 7.4 magnitude earthquake in western Turkey killed more than 17,000 people. Experts have long warned a major earthquake is expected to hit Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city with more than 15 million residents. A smaller earthquake of 4.6 magnitude was felt in Istanbul on Tuesday. …

Israel’s president has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to form a new government after last week’s deadlocked elections that have paralyzed the country. The office of President Reuven Rivlin made the announcement after meeting Wednesday with Netanyahu and his primary challenger, Benny Gantz. Rivlin has the responsibility of selecting the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a coalition government after neither Netanyahu nor Gantz captured the required support of the parliamentary majority. Rivlin mediated two previous meetings this week between the politicians, hoping to reach a deal between Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party and Gantz’s centrist and liberal Blue and White alliance. FILE – Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz delivers a statement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 19, 2019. The talks ended, though, because of disagreements over who should lead a new unity government. Gantz has said he would not participate in a Netanyahu-led government because of the prime minister’s legal problems. Netanyahu is desperate to remain as prime minister amid an ongoing corruption investigation against him. The country’s attorney general recommends charging Netanyahu fraud, bribery and breach of trust stemming from a number of scandals. Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, is scheduled to appear before the attorney general next week, after which a decision on the charges is expected. Final election results announced Wednesday show the Blue and White won 33 seats in the 120-seat parliament, one more than the Likud’s 32 seats. Even with the support of other allies, both parties remain …

The decision by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump has complicated what already was Trump’s uncertain road to re-election next year.  Public opinion polls suggest Trump is in a weaker position for re-election than most other incumbent presidents have been, and he is counting on a strong economy and loyal supporters to overcome what is expected to be an intense turnout of motivated Democratic voters next year. …

VOA Burmese Service contributed to this report The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation aimed at advancing efforts to hold senior Myanmar leaders accountable for crimes committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. The BURMA act was approved on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate for consideration. Andy Levin, D-Mich, arrives for member-elect briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2018. “Journalists, activists and anyone who is willing to use their voice to call out wrong doing must be protected. That is why Congresswoman Ann Wagner and I introduced the Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act, Rep. Andy Levin (D) said. “This bill calls for the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Burma and directs our State Department to bolster its works to achieve this act.” Amnesty International urged the Senate to act on the legislation.  “Over two years have passed since the world witnessed atrocities committed against Rohingya women, men, and children. Yet the U.S. Congress has so far failed to speak with a united voice on the issue. Further inaction by the U.S. sets a terrible precedent for other countries and risks emboldening the Myanmar military to continue committing crimes across the country,” Amnesty International USA’s Asia Pacific Advocacy Manger Francisco Bencosme said. Last month, A U.N. fact-finding mission concluded that the Myanmar military intended to perpetrate genocide on ethnic Rohingya Muslims when it drove hundreds of thousands of them from the country in 2017. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine …

Sentences against four of the once most powerful men in Algeria were handed down in the middle of the night by a military tribunal in Blida after a trial which lasted two days. Former intelligence chiefs Bachir Tartaq and Mohamed Mediene were given 15-year sentences, alongside former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s brother and right-hand man, Said. Former Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar received a 20-year sentence in absentia. FILE – An Algerian man reads a local newspaper, En-Nahar, bearing a picture for the first time of former Algerian intelligence chief General Mohamed Mediene, better known as General Toufik, on the front cover in the capital, Algiers, Sept. 13, 2015. The four men, along with well-known politician Louisa Hanoun, were accused of “conspiring against the army” by allegedly meeting with a foreign intelligence chief to determine who would succeed ailing former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Bouteflika was forced to step down in April. Two presidential elections have been postponed since then, as a widespread popular uprising roils the country. Acting President Abdel Qader Bensalah recently set Dec. 12 as the date for new elections, and appointed members of an electoral commission to oversee the vote. Deputy Defense Minister General Ahmed Gaid Salah — said to be the most powerful man in the country — says the military will remain neutral and not try to influence the election. FILE – Algerian chief of staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah presides over a military parade in Algiers, July 1, 2018. He added that the appointment of a …

A threat by Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the global postal system could lead to a “nightmare scenario” of mail going undelivered, packages piling up and American stamps no longer being recognized abroad, the U.N. postal agency said. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has been holding an emergency meeting in Geneva to persuade Washington not to follow through on a threat to quit the agency, which sets rules to ensure mail gets delivered around the globe. The Trump administration says it wants to charge other countries more than UPU rules now permit to have letters and packages delivered in the United States. It has set a deadline of next month for rates to be raised or it will quit. Universal Postal Union (UPU) Director General Bishar Hussein attends a press conference during an extraordinary congress of the UPU in Geneva, Sept. 24, 2019. “It is really a nightmare scenario,” the UPU’s secretary-general, Bishar Hussein, told a news conference, noting that no country had ever left since the agency was founded nearly 150 years ago. It now has 192 members. “If the United States leaves, you’ll get those piles, because somehow every country has to figure out how to send mail to the United States. … A major disruption is on the way if we don’t solve the problem today.” Were the United States to quit the UPU, U.S. stamps would no longer be valid abroad, he said. He said he was “very optimistic” that a compromise …

Sweeping goals to end poverty, inequality and other global ills are being derailed by climate change, conflicts and violence, the head of the United Nations told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, calling for a “decade of action.” Sustainable development needs more financing, investment in health and education, and broader access to technology to succeed, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the first high-level review of the global goals adopted in 2015. Launched with great fanfare and optimism, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by the 193 U.N. member states set out an ambitious “to-do” list tackling conflict, hunger, land degradation, gender inequality and climate change by 2030. But assessments of their progress have been bleak. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the Climate Summit in the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York. “Let us be clear: we are far from where we need to be. We are off track,” Guterres said. “Deadly conflicts, the climate crisis, gender-based violence and persistent inequalities are undermining efforts to achieve the goals. “Uneven growth, rising debt levels, heightened global trade tensions are creating new obstacles to implementation. Another assessment came on Tuesday from global business leaders who complained of being hampered by political uncertainty and market constraints in their efforts to contribute to the goals’ progress. Four in 10 chief executives said political uncertainty was slowing or stalling their efforts, and a third said closing global markets and limits on free trade were hindrances, according to a study by …

House and Senate leaders are reacting along party lines to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of a Trump impeachment inquiry. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is accusing Democrats of having a “predetermined conclusion” about Trump’s guilt, calling Tuesday’s developments part of an “impeachment parade in search of a rationale.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivers remarks during a weekly Senate Luncheon press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 24, 2019. “It simply confirms that House Democrats’ priority is not making life better for the American people, but their nearly three-year-old fixation on impeachment.” McConnell’s statement came just after he was part of the Senate’s unanimous consent agreement that the whistleblower’s complaint be immediately handed over to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. McConnell’s House counterpart, Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, says Democrats are still bitter about losing the 2016 presidential election and have wanted to impeach Trump from “day one.” FILE – House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) addresses a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, Aug. 7, 2019. But the Democratic chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, reminded Republicans that history will show they ignored their duty to the Constitution if they “close their eyes and put party over country.” He called Trump’s alleged appeal to another government to interfere in a U.S. election “an affront to the Constitution and a grave breach of his oath of office.” Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has been calling for Trump’s impeachment for months …

A former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officer who admitted he betrayed his country for financial gain was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for attempted espionage on behalf of China, the U.S. Justice Department said. Ron Rockwell Hansen, 60, of Syracuse, Utah, pleaded guilty in March to trying to pass classified U.S. national defense information to China, and admitted to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars as an agent for the Beijing government. FBI agents arrested Hansen in June 2018 as he was on his way to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to board a flight to China, the Justice Department said. This photo released by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office shows Ron Rockwell Hansen, a former U.S. intelligence officer who pleaded guilty to trying to sell secrets to China. As part of his guilty plea, Hansen acknowledged soliciting U.S. national security information that he knew China would find valuable from a fellow Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) case officer, and agreeing to sell that information to the Chinese. The documents he received from the DIA officer related to U.S. military readiness. Hansen also admitted to having advised the DIA case officer how to record and transmit the documents without detection, and how to hide and launder any funds received as payment for those secrets. Unbeknownst to Hansen, the case officer reported his conduct to the DIA and acted as an FBI informant in the case. Hansen, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Russian, was hired by …

Opera singer Placido Domingo on Tuesday dropped out of a performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York while disputing accusations of sexual misconduct leveled by several women in the classical music world. Domingo, one of the world’s leading tenors, was due to appear in “Macbeth” on Wednesday. He also suggested he would never perform at the Met again. “While I strongly dispute recent allegations made about me, and I am concerned about a climate in which people are condemned without due process, upon reflection, I believe that my appearance in this production of Macbeth would distract from the hard work of my colleagues both on stage and behind the scenes. As a result, I have asked to withdraw and I thank the leadership of the Met for graciously granting my request,” the Spanish singer said in a statement. “I am happy that, at the age of 78, I was able to sing the wonderful title role in the dress rehearsal of Macbeth, which I consider my last performance on the Met stage,” he added. More than three dozen singers, dancers, musicians, voice teachers and backstage staff have said in the past month that they had witnessed or experienced inappropriate behavior by the singer at different opera houses over the last three decades. …

World leaders involved in some of the most high profile geopolitical issues are among those set to speak on the first day of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. After opening remarks from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, those gathered for the annual meeting will hear from a group that includes U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Korean President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron. The addresses come a day after Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders at a U.N. summit calling for climate action, saying people are suffering and dying from the effects of global warming and that all the leaders have are empty words.  “We are in [the] beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money,” said Thunberg, who ignited a youth movement with her Friday school strikes for climate action. She said the science has been clear for 30 years, and still they are not doing enough.  “You are failing us! But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” Thunberg said in a voice filled with emotion. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you.” The 16-year-old warned the more than 60 presidents and prime ministers gathered in the General Assembly hall for the summit that the youth would not let them “get away with this.” She said they draw the line here and now and “change is coming,” …

Honda said on Monday it would phase out all diesel cars by 2021 in favor of models with electric propulsion systems, as the Japanese automaker moves to electrify all of its European cars by 2025. Honda is the latest automaker cutting production of diesel cars to meet stringent global emissions regulations. The plan is part of its long-term goal to make electric cars, including all battery-electric vehicles, to account for two-thirds of its line ups by 2030 from less than 10% now. By next year, according to European Union emission targets, CO2 must be cut to 95 gram per km for 95% of cars from the current 120.5 gram average, a figure that has increased of late as consumers spurn fuel-efficient diesels and embrace SUVs. All new cars in the EU must be compliant in 2021. For Honda, declining demand for diesel vehicles and tougher emissions regulations have clouded its manufacturing prospects in Europe. Honda said in February it would close its only British car plant in 2021 with the loss of up to 3,500 jobs. Japan’s No. 3 automaker has said it would cut the number of car model variations to a third of current offerings by 2025, reducing global production costs by 10% and redirecting those savings toward advanced research and development. …