China, North Korea, Russia test out new freight rail

China, Russia and North Korea are cooperating on a freight rail line, according to a Chinese state-owned enterprise in Jilin Province this week. File Photo by Yonhap

July 2 (UPI) -- A freight rail line connecting North Korea, China and Russia has begun trial runs, according to a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Jilin Province Northeast Asia Maritime Silk Road International Shipping Co. said on its proprietary website a train carrying six containers left from the city of Hunchun last Friday, arriving an hour later at a train station in the Russian Far East, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Thursday.


The train then left Russia via a branch line in Khasan, Russia, arriving at the last stop, the Tumen River Station in North Korea on Monday afternoon, the Chinese agency said.

"This trial run was carried out with the active support and under the guidance of the Moscow state headquarters of the ministry of railways of the Russian Federation and the Korean State Railway" of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea, the provincial agency said.

The Chinese state-owned firm said the trial run showed improvements in transportation efficiency and met the objective of lowering logistics costs.

Jilin Shipping said the plan is to "further increase the potential of the route," as well as to "increase the types of cargo, and two-way transportation." The Chinese agency added China and North Korea are to "study the possibility of operating refrigerator cars" across the border within the scope of "policies and regulations."

China is North Korea's No. 1 trading partner, but cross-border exchange declined dramatically following the outbreak of COVID-19 in China in January.

North Korea could be preparing to fight drought, an increasing problem that exacerbates food shortages in the country.

Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Thursday workers must do their utmost "to prevent damage from floods, wind and rain." North Korea's agriculture ministry also said a successful crop depends on the rainy season, according to North Korean state media.

Report: More than 60 countries violated sanctions with North Korea last year

A report from a U.S. think tank released Wednesday found that 62 countries violated international sanctions on North Korea over the past year. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo'


SEOUL, July 2 (UPI) -- Sixty-two countries violated United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea over a one-year period, according to a report from a Washington, D.C.-based think tank

The Institute for Science and International Security report, released Wednesday, cites over 250 alleged violations from February 2019 to February 2020 based on data compiled by the United Nations Panel of Experts on North Korea.

The 62 countries in violation represented an increase of six countries compared to the previous year, according to the institute.

China topped the chart with more than 60 alleged violations and Hong Kong followed with over 20. Sierra Leone, Russia and Indonesia each had a total of 10 or more alleged violations and several countries, including India, Italy, Singapore and Vietnam, had more than five violations each.

South Korea made the list for violating sanctions that included entities selling luxury goods to North Korea, including a pair of armored Mercedes Benzes, and importing coal from the North.

The United States was also listed as a country through which payments related to vessels and shipping were routed.

The report noted, however, that South Korea and the United States were among the countries "reported to have taken remedying actions since becoming aware of the violations and to have prosecuted or extradited responsible companies and individuals."

In May, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging 28 North Koreans and five Chinese citizens with operating a money-laundering scheme worth billions of dollars to help fund the North's nuclear weapons program.

The United States also issued guidance in May for the maritime industry and energy sector to help avoid practices that countries such as North Korea use to evade sanctions, including secretive ship-to-ship transfers done at sea and the disabling of automatic identification systems on vessels.

The Institute for Science and International Security report found that nine countries were involved in arms sales and other military-related cooperation with North Korea, including China, Egypt, Iran and Syria.

"The states in this category warrant special international scrutiny, as they provide a platform for the DPRK to sell arms and also make sensitive procurements for its own WMD and missile programs," the report said.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

The U.N. Security Council toughened sanctions against North Korea in 2017 after Pyongyang tested long-range ballistic missiles and detonated a nuclear weapon at its Punggye-ri test site.

Sanctions have remained a sticking point in nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, which have been stalled since a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February 2018 failed to produce an agreement.

North Korea had been seeking the lifting of some sanctions in exchange for taking steps to wind down its nuclear program.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pushed for another Trump-Kim summit before the U.S. presidential election in November, according to reports Wednesday.

MONOPOLY CAPITALISM
Health experts slam US deal for large supply of virus drug

By MARIA CHENG July 1, 2020

 This is an April 30, 2020, file photo showing Gilead Sciences headquarters in Foster City, Calif. The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday, June 29 for remdesivir, and said the price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. It will sell for far less in poorer countries where generic drugmakers are being allowed to make it. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

LONDON (AP) — Public health experts on Wednesday criticized the U.S. for securing a large supply of the only drug licensed so far to treat COVID-19.

The U.S. government announced this week that it had an agreement with Gilead Sciences to make the bulk of their production of remdesivir for the next three months available to Americans. The Department of Health and Human Services said it had secured 500,000 treatments through September, which amounts to all but 10% of production in August and September.

“To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

Ohid Yaqub, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex, called the U.S. agreement “disappointing news.”

“It so clearly signals an unwillingness to cooperate with other countries and the chilling effect this has on international agreements about intellectual property rights,” Yaqub said in a statement

Until now, Gilead had donated the drug. That ended Tuesday and Gilead this week set the price for new shipments at $2,300 to $3,100 per treatment course. The company is allowing generic makers to supply the drug at much lower prices to 127 poor or middle-income countries.

In a statement Wednesday, the California-based Gilead said its agreement with the U.S. allows for any unneeded supplies to be sent to other countries. The company said it is “working as quickly as possible” to enable access worldwide. But it noted that U.S. is seeing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases, while “most EU and other developed countries have reduced their levels of disease considerably.”

Early studies testing remdesivir in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 found that those who received the treatment recovered quicker than those who didn’t. It is the only drug licensed by both the U.S. and the European Union as a treatment for those with severe illness from the coronavirus.

Dr. Peter Horby, who is running a large study testing several treatments for COVID-19, told the BBC that “a stronger framework” was needed to ensure fair prices and access to key medicines for people and nations around the world. He said that as an American company, Gilead was likely under “certain political pressures locally.”

President Donald Trump signs his name on a piece of paper during a roundtable with governors on the reopening of America's small businesses, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, declined to criticize the United States for the move. He said the U.K. had a “sufficient stock” of remdesivir for patients who need it, but didn’t specify how much that was.

Thomas Senderovitz, head of the Danish Medicines Agency, told Danish broadcaster DR that the move could endanger Europeans and others down the road.
Full Coverage: Understanding the Outbreak

“I have never seen anything like that. That a company chooses to sell their stock to only one country. It’s very strange and quite inappropriate,” he said. “Right now we have enough to make it through the summer if the intake of patients is as it is now. If a second wave comes, we may be challenged.”

Dr. Michael Ryan, the emergencies chief of the World Health Organization, said the agency was looking into the implications of the U.S. deal for remdesivir.

“There are many people around the world who are very sick .... and we want to ensure that everybody has access to the necessary, life-saving interventions.” He said WHO was “fully committed” to working toward equitable access for such treatments.

Gilead had been developing remdesivir for years as a viral treatment, with millions in U.S. funding, before it was tried for coronavirus. The consumer group Public Citizen estimates that at least $70 million in U.S. public funding went to develop remdesivir.

On Wednesday, Gilead said its supply of remdesivir should increase by the end of September and meet global demand after that. It said some countries should have enough for current needs, from the supply they received for patient testing and other programs.

Gilead has said it expects to spend more than $1 billion by year’s end on testing and manufacturing of remdesivir.

Dr. Penny Ward of King’s College London, noted that many countries have legal provisions that allow them to prohibit the exportation of drugs to other countries during an emergency.

“It is unreasonable to expect that the U.S. government should deny their population access to drugs manufactured in the USA,” she said.

Ward pointed out that another drug that may help people with severe COVID-19, the cheap steroid dexamathasone, is long off-patent and available globally.

The U.S. has the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, with 2.6 million reported infected and 127,000 confirmed virus-related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. To date, COVID-19 has sickened more than 10.5 million people worldwide, killing around 512,000, according Johns Hopkins.

Numerous countries including Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands and the U.S. have struck deals with drugmakers to have millions of doses of experimental vaccines delivered before they are licensed. British politicians have said if a vaccine currently being developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca is proven to work, Britons will be first in line to get it.

___

AP writers Jill Lawless in London, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen and Linda A. Johnson in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

Trio of former UConn greats leading social justice charge

 In this March 31, 2009, file photo, Connecticut guard Renee Montgomery brings the ball up during the second half of a women's NCAA college basketball tournament regional final against Arizona State in Trenton, N.J. At rear is Connecticut coach Gene Auriemma. Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes appreciated what former UConn teammate Maya Moore was doing when the All-Star forward stepped away from basketball two years ago to focus on criminal justice reform. The Atlanta Dream guards admit they weren't sure why she couldn't continue keep playing at the same time. Now they have a better understanding. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Renee Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes appreciated what former UConn teammate Maya Moore was doing when the All-Star forward stepped away from basketball two years ago to focus on criminal justice reform.

The Atlanta Dream guards admit they weren’t sure why she couldn’t continue playing at the same time.

Now they have a better understanding.

“I had no idea,” Hayes said on a Zoom call last week. “I thought she wanted a break or something. ... Now I get it, I see what she was going through and trying to accomplish. I commend her for what she’s doing.”

Hayes and Montgomery are following Moore’s example with both deciding to take the upcoming WNBA season off to help with social justice reform and voter registration. They credit Moore’s decision to put her career on hold to help family friend Jonathan Irons get a conviction overturned for inspiration.

Irons was freed on Wednesday, walking out of a Missouri penitentiary nearly four months after a judge overturned his conviction on charges of burglary and assault.

“I saw what she was doing and admired it from afar,” Montgomery said. “Now I start to get it. ... I see why she couldn’t do both. For me, if I’m all focused on something else, I can’t do both. I started to just get why she did what she did.”

The trio of former UConn greats, along with Tina Charles, have come a long way off the court since they led the Huskies to an undefeated season in 2008-09.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been impressed by what many of his former players are accomplishing off the court.

“What’s amazing was all these guys were very much extroverts on the court,” the Hall-of-Fame coach told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “On the court, they have big games and personalities. They dominated games. Yet off the court they were so different, very introverted.”

He always knew they were passionate.

“One thing you can probably draw a line through was the passion they have,” he said. “This is coming out right now, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Montgomery, Moore and Hayes credit Auriemma for helping guide them, even long after graduation. He was one of the first calls that Montgomery and Moore made when they were deciding whether to take time away from basketball.

“A lot of our conversations were about being informed and intelligent,” he said. “When they put their mind to it, they go all in. They were all in on basketball. They were following who they are

Montgomery and Hayes smiled at the thought that a dozen years ago the UConn players had any aspirations of being social activists. They do know that Auriemma and the UConn staff have always fostered players using their voices — even if it took a little while for them to do so.

While most college coaches took to social media to support the movement, the current UConn Huskies were one of the first college teams to put out a statement about racial inequalities with the blessings of their coach.

Hayes said there’s no doubt that her group would have done something similar had the current movement happened during their time in Connecticut.

“I know Renee and Maya would have led the way,” said Hayes, who was a freshman on that championship team.

Both Hayes and Montgomery loved seeing Auriemma and his wife and family at a protest in his community last month. While they appreciated his support, they were a little concerned about the 66-year old being in the higher risk category for the virus.

“He doesn’t need to be out there. Appreciate his support, but we don’t want him to be at risk,” Montgomery said.

Skipping the upcoming WNBA season, which is set to begin later this month in Florida at a single site because of the coronavirus pandemic, was not an easy decision. After the death of George Floyd, neither Montgomery nor Hayes could focus on basketball.

“I knew my mind wasn’t there, my heart wasn’t there,” Montgomery said. “Since those 8 minute and 46 seconds, everyone was a little bit changed. That was the moment I knew I needed to do something different this year.”

Hayes said she has a different mindset now.

“I stopped going to workouts since my mind wasn’t in it anymore.,” she said. “I think that was one of the main reasons why I feel this is the right thing to do right now.”

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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this story.

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Catholic priest suspended for comparing BLM to ‘maggots’

CARMEL, Ind. (AP) — A bishop suspended a suburban Indianapolis Catholic priest from public ministry on Wednesday for comparing the Black Lives Matter movement and its organizers to “maggots and parasites” in a recent church bulletin.

Bishop Timothy Doherty, of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, took the action against the Rev. Theodore Rothrock, of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel, for comments that the pastor wrote Sunday in the weekly bulletin.

“The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own,” Rothrock wrote. “They are wolves in wolves clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others. They are maggots and parasites at best, feeding off the isolation of addiction and broken families, and offering to replace any current frustration and anxiety with more misery and greater resentment.”

The diocese expressed “pastoral concern for the affected communities” in a statement posted on its website.

“The suspension offers the Bishop an opportunity for pastoral discernment for the good of the diocese and for the good of Father Rothrock. Various possibilities for his public continuation in priestly ministry are being considered, but he will no longer be assigned as Pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Deacon Bill Reid will serve as Administrator of St. Elizabeth Seton,” the statement said.

Rothrock had been due to take over as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel next month.

Rothrock issued an apology Tuesday night in a message sent to parishioners and later posted on the church’s website, The Indianapolis Star reported.

“It was not my intention to offend anyone, and I am sorry that my words have caused any hurt to anyone,” Rothrock wrote.

The church must condemn bigotry, which is “a part of the fabric of our society,” he wrote.

“We must also be fully aware that there are those who would distort the Gospel for their own misguided purposes,” Rothrock wrote. “People are afraid, as I pointed out, rather poorly I would admit, that there are those who feed on that fear to promote more fear and division.”

Doherty said Tuesday that Rothrock should issue a clarification of the bulletin comments.

The newly formed Carmel Against Racial Injustice group sought Rothrock’s removal from leadership. The group has said it planned to demonstrate Sunday on the sidewalk surrounding the church. It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether Rothrock’s suspension changed that. The group didn’t immediately reply to a message left Wednesday seeking comment about the suspension.

Movement for Black Lives plans virtual national convention

By AARON MORRISON

1 of 10 https://apnews.com/1f6e88ae5f1be5730ac48b299398e746

 In this June 24, 2020, file photo, Antonio Mingo, right, holds his fists in the air as demonstrators protest in front of a police line on a section of 16th Street that's been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, in Washington. Thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold the 2020 Black National Convention on Aug. 28, 2020, via livestream to produce a new political agenda that builds on the protests that followed George Floyd’s death. Organizers of the gathering shared their plans with The Associated Press on Wednesday, July 1, ahead of an official announcement. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)


NEW YORK (AP) — Spurred by broad public support for the Black Lives Matter movement, thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold a virtual convention in August to produce a new political agenda that seeks to build on the success of the protests that followed George Floyd’s death.

The 2020 Black National Convention will take place Aug. 28 via a live broadcast. It will feature conversations, performances and other events designed to develop a set of demands ahead of the November general election, according to a Wednesday announcement shared first with The Associated Press.


The convention is being organized by the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 150 organizations. In 2016, the coalition released its “Vision for Black Lives” platform, which called for public divestment from mass incarceration and for adoption of policies that can improve conditions in Black America.

“What this convention will do is create a Black liberation agenda that is not a duplication of the Vision for Black Lives, but really is rooted as a set of demands for progress,” said Jessica Byrd, who leads the Electoral Justice Project.

At the end of the convention, participants will ratify a revised platform that will serve as a set of demands for the first 100 days of a new presidential administration, Byrd said. Participants also will have access to model state and local legislation.

“What we have the opportunity to do now, as this 50-state rebellion has provided the conditions for change, is to say, ‘You need to take action right this minute,’” Byrd said. “We’re going to set the benchmarks for what we believe progress is and make those known locally and federally.”

In this June 24, 2020, file photo, Tyshawn, 9, left, and his brother Tyler, 11, right, of Baltimore, hold signs saying "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe" as they sit on a concrete barrier near a police line as demonstrators protest along a section of 16th Street t that has been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington. Thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold the 2020 Black National Convention on Aug. 28, 2020,  hat has been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington. Thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold the 2020 Black National Convention on Aug. 28, 2020, via livestream to produce a new political agenda that builds on the protests that followed George Floyd’s death. Organizers of the gathering shared their plans with The Associated Press on Wednesday, July 1, ahead of an official announcement. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Wednesday’s announcement comes at a pivotal moment for the BLM movement. A surge in public support, an influx in donations and congressional action to reform policing have drawn some backlash.

President Donald Trump lashed out again Wednesday on Twitter over plans to paint “Black Lives Matter” in yellow across New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue, calling the words a “symbol of hate.” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump “agrees that all Black lives matter” but disagrees with an organization that would make derogatory statements about police officers. McEnany was referring to an oft-cited chant of individual protesters from five years ago.

The Black National Convention was originally planned to happen in person, in Detroit, the nation’s Blackest major city. But as the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March, organizers quickly shifted to a virtual event, Byrd said. The first-ever Black Lives Matter convention was held in Cleveland in 2015.

The most recent AP analysis of COVID-19 data shows Black people have made up more than a quarter of reported virus deaths in which the race of the victim is known.

Initial work to shape the new platform will take place Aug. 6 and 7, during a smaller so-called People’s Convention that will virtually convene hundreds of delegates from Black-led advocacy groups. The process will be similar to one that produced the first platform, which included early iterations of the demand to defund police that now drives many demonstrations.

Other platform demands, such as ending cash bail, reducing pretrial detention and scrapping discriminatory risk-assessment tools used in criminal courts, have become official policy in a handful of local criminal justice systems around the U.S.
Full Coverage: Racial injustice

Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, which organizes in 15 states, said the 2020 Black National Convention will deepen the solutions to systemic racism and create more alignment within the movement.

In this Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, Black Voters Matter Fund co-founders, LaTosha Brown, left, and Cliff Albright, right, lead Mississippi grassroots partners in some empowerment cheers aboard a bus tour to Greenville, Miss. Thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold a virtual convention on Aug. 28, 2020, to produce a new political agenda that builds on the protests that followed George Floyd’s death. Albright, said the 2020 Black National Convention will deepen the solutions to systemic racism and create more alignment within the movement. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

“We’re in this stage now where we’re getting more specific about how all of this is connected to our local organizing,” Albright said. “The hope is that, when people leave the convention, they leave with greater clarity, more resources, connectivity and energy.”

The coalition behind the convention includes Color of Change, BYP100, Dream Defenders and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, which has 16 official chapters nationwide.

Convention organizers said this year’s event will pay tribute to the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, which concluded with the introduction of a national Black agenda. The Gary gathering included prominent Black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, who ran for president, as well as Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz.

That convention came after several tumultuous years that included the assassinations of Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and outbreaks of civil unrest, all of which were seen as blows to the civil rights movement.

In this March 13, 1972, file photo, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, executive director of Operation: PUSH, speaks from the floor of the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Ind. Thousands of Black activists from across the U.S. will hold the 2020 Black National Convention on Aug. 28, 2020, via livestream to produce a new political agenda that builds on the protests that followed George Floyd’s death. Convention organizers said this year’s event will pay tribute to the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention. (AP Photo/Jim Wells, File)

The upcoming convention builds on more than a century of Black political organizing.

In 1905, civil rights activist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois formed the Niagara Movement after a national conference of Black leaders near Buffalo, New York. In a written address to the country, Du Bois and others decried the rise of institutionalized racial inequality in voting, criminal justice systems and public education.

In the 1950s, William Patterson, founder of the now-defunct Civil Rights Congress, led the effort to charge the U.S. with genocide of African Americans using legal standards set by the United Nation. The resulting petition, “We Charge Genocide,” is an oft-cited document in conversations about fatal shootings of Black people by police in the U.S.

And in 1998, organizers of the Black Radical Congress in Chicago met to strategize ways to beat back attacks on affirmative action policies that helped to diversify higher education and other facets of American life.

Like any large political gathering, consensus is not guaranteed. The National Black Political Convention caused divisions between participating organizations over the Black agenda’s position on busing to integrate public schools and statements on global affairs that some viewed as anti-Israel. Ultimately, the agenda prompted a leader of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, to sever ties with the convention.

Somewhat similarly, the Vision for Black Lives platform and its characterization of Israel as an “apartheid state” committing mass murder against Palestinian people drew allegations of anti-Semitism from a handful of Jewish groups, which had otherwise been supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement’s coalition has more than doubled in size in the years since the first platform, largely because of organizers’ laser focus on issues central to Black freedom, Byrd said.

“That actually is the Black self determination that our politics require,” Byrd said, “that we don’t just respond to the Democratic Party. That we don’t just respond to the Republican Party. We don’t just say ‘Black lives matter’ and beg people to care. We build an alternative container for all of us to connect, outside of the white gaze, to say this is what we want for our communities.”

The August convention will happen on the same day as a commemorative, in-person march on Washington that is being organized by Sharpton, who announced the march during a memorial service for Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer held a knee to his neck.

The Black National Convention will broadcast after the march, Byrd said.

August “is going to be a huge month of Black engagement,” she said.

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Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville in Washington and news researchers Randy Herschaft in New York and Monika Mathur in Washington contributed to this report. Morrison is a member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.

Court considers status of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia
yesterday

1 of 6 https://apnews.com/bf9f86b63e8bba72544007da4863e066
An aerial view of the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul's main tourist attractions in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Saturday, April 25, 2020. The 6th-century building is now at the center of a heated debate between conservative groups who want it to be reconverted into a mosque and those who believe the World Heritage site should remain a museum. (AP Photo)



ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A state attorney on Thursday recommended that Turkey’s highest administrative court reject a request that Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, which now serves as museum, be turned back into a mosque, state-run media reported.

The 6th-century structure was the Byzantine Empire’s main cathedral before it was changed into an imperial mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic, then turned into a museum that attracts millions of tourists each year.

Nationalist and religious groups have long been pressing for the landmark, which they regard as an Muslim Ottoman legacy, to be converted back into a mosque. Others believe the UNESCO World Heritage site should remain a museum, as a symbol of Christian and Muslim solidarity.

On Thursday, Turkey’s Council of State, began considering a request by a group that wants Hagia Sophia to revert back into a mosque.

The lawyer of the group argued that the building was the personal property of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Istanbul, and pressed for the annulment of a 1934 Council of Ministers’ decision that turned it into a museum, the Anadolu Agency reported.

A state attorney, meanwhile, argued that the 1934 decision was legal, Anadolu reported. He recommended the request be rejected, arguing that a decision on restoring the structure’s Islamic heritage was up to the government, the agency said.

A decision is expected within two weeks.

Greece as well as the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, have urged Turkey to keep Hagia Sophia as a museum. Bartholomew warned this week that its conversion into a mosque “will turn millions of Christians across the world against Islam.”

U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo waded into the debate Wednesday, urging Turkey to keep Hagia Sophia as a museum “to serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of differing faith traditions and cultures.” His comments sparked a rebuke from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, which said Hagia Sophia was a domestic issue of Turkish national sovereignty.

Built under Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia was the main seat of the Eastern Orthodox church for centuries, where emperors were crowned amidst ornate marble and mosaic decorations.

Four minarets were added to the terracotta-hued structure with cascading domes and the building was turned into an imperial mosque following the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople — the city that is now Istanbul.

The building opened its doors as a museum in 1935, a year after the Council of Ministers’

Pompeo urges Turkey not to convert Hagia Sophia into mosque  
Issued on: 01/07/2020 -

The United States has urged Turkey not to change the status of the Hagia Sophia, a church turned mosque turned museum Ozan KOSE AFP

Washington (AFP)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque and said Istanbul's celebrated former cathedral should remain open to all.

Erdogan, whose roots are in political Islam, has mused about turning Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, triggering tension with neighboring Greece.

Pompeo issued a statement on the eve of an expected Turkish court decision on whether Hagia Sophia was rightfully turned into a museum.

"We urge the government of Turkey to continue to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum, as an exemplar of its commitment to respect the faith traditions and diverse history that contributed to the Republic of Turkey, and to ensure it remains accessible to all," Pompeo said.

"The United States views a change in the status of the Hagia Sophia as diminishing the legacy of this remarkable building and its unsurpassed ability -- so rare in the modern world -- to serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of differing faith traditions and cultures," he said in a statement.

Pompeo -- an evangelical Protestant who often speaks about the rights of religious minorities -- said that the United States hoped to maintain dialogue with Turkey over the preservation of religious and cultural sites.

Muslim clerics in May recited prayers inside the landmark to celebrate the anniversary of the Ottomans' 1453 conquest of the city, then known as Constantinople.

The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centerpiece of Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the secularizing founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.

Erdogan mused last year about turning the museum into a mosque.

The remarks have drawn wide concern in Greece, whose Orthodox Church maintains its ecumenical patriarchate in Istanbul.

Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States but the two nations have seen friction in recent years, including over Ankara's incursions into Syria and its purchase of weapons from Russia.

© 2020 AFP

QUE?!

GOP candidate is latest linked to QAnon conspiracy theory


Businesswoman Lauren Boebert speaks during a watch party at Warehouse 25 Sixty Five in Grand Junction, Colo., after polls closed in Colorado's primary election on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Boebert, a pistol-packing restaurant owner who has expressed support for a far-right conspiracy theory has upset five-term Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton. Lauren Boebert is an ardent defender of gun rights and border wall supporter. She will run in November’s general election against Diane Mitsch Bush, who won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday. (McKenzie Lange/Grand Junction Sentinel via AP, File)
STRAPS ON A GUN FAILS TO WEAR SENSIBLE SHOES
DENVER (AP) — When Lauren Boebert was asked in May about QAnon, she didn’t shy away from the far-right conspiracy theory, which advances unproven allegations about a so-called deep state plot against President Donald Trump that involves satanism and child sex trafficking.

“Everything that I’ve heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means that America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values,” she said.

At the time, Boebert was on the political fringe, running a campaign largely focused on her gun-themed restaurant and resistance to coronavirus lockdowns. She is now on a path to becoming a member of Congress after upsetting five-term Rep. Scott Tipton in Tuesday’s Republican primary. The GOP-leaning rural western Colorado district will likely support the party’s nominee in the November general election.

Boebert is part of a small but growing list of Republican candidates who have in some way expressed support for QAnon. They include Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is advancing to a runoff for a congressional seat in a GOP-dominated Georgia congressional district, and Jo Rae Perkins, the party’s Senate nominee in Oregon.

The trend pales in comparison to previous movements that have swept Capitol Hill, such as the 2010 tea party wave. But at a time when the GOP is facing steep headwinds among women and in the suburbs, the QAnon candidates could add extra headaches.

“The more times you have candidates who are crazy, the more it hurts your brand,” said John Feehery, a Republican consultant and former House leadership aide. “The trick is for Republicans to embrace the anti-establishment mood without embracing the crazy.”

Republican leaders have distanced from some candidates, such as Greene. But now that Boebert is the nominee in Colorado, the GOP made clear Wednesday it would support her.

“Lauren won her primary fair and square and has our support,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the chair of the House Republican campaign arm, said in a statement. “This is a Republican seat and will remain a Republican seat as Nancy Pelosi and senior House Democrats continue peddling their radical conspiracy theories and pushing their radical cancel culture.”

Boebert’s campaign manager, Sherronna Bishop, said the campaign was ignoring the headlines tying the candidate to the QAnon conspiracy.

“We know exactly what we’re about and that’s the Constitution and freedom,” Bishop said. “We are not into conspiracy theories.”

She said Boebert was not available for an interview until Sunday because she is traveling to South Dakota for a Bikers for Trump event near Trump’s Independence Day rally at Mount Rushmore.


The QAnon theory has ricocheted around the darker corners of the internet since late 2017. It is based around an anonymous, high-ranking government official known as “Q” who purportedly tears back the veil on the “deep state,” often tied to satanism, child molestation and even cannibalism.

Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts. Followers flock to Trump’s rallies wearing clothes and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans.

Republican voters may not know the details of the theory, but they’ve become more amenable to the notion of conspiracies because Trump exploited them during his own campaign and administration, said Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories.

“Just as that worked for him, there are going to be copycats, too,” he said.

Uscinski stressed that Democrats also believe in conspiracy theories — he cited Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ insistence that the 1% run politics and that his 2016 losses in Democratic presidential primaries showed the system was “rigged.”

And Uscinski said there’s nothing in the QAnon theory that’s inherently conservative, and Boebert was nowhere near as enthusiastic about it as other candidates.

For example, Perkins, the GOP’s Senate nominee in Oregon, repeated the QAnon oath in a recent video. She took down a video backing the movement, then said she’d been duped by her own campaign staff and supported it again.

Still, Perkins has almost no chance in reliably Democratic Oregon. Boebert is running in a seat that leans Republican and stands the best chance of any of the candidates who have flirted with QAnon to end up in Congress.

“I shouldn’t have to guess if my congressperson believes in satanic, baby-eating child molesters,” Uscinski said.

Boebert owns Shooters Grill, an eatery where servers carry handguns in the aptly named western Colorado town of Rifle. She ended up on Fox News after confronting Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke in a Denver suburb last year over his plans to confiscate assault-style rifles.

Boebert’s sole known comments on QAnon came during a May interview with internet journalist Ann Vandersteel, whose site highlights other conspiracy theories. Vandersteel asked Boebert what she thought of “the Q movement.”

Boebert said she knew about it from her mother, who was “a little fringe.” Pressed, she added, “If this is real, it could be really great for our country.”

Some Republican candidates have referred to the conspiracy theory in social media posts but say they’re not believers. Angela Stanton-King, the GOP’s nominee in Georgia’s solidly Democratic 5th Congressional District, said in a statement that a post linking to a QAnon video on Instagram that begins: “This would explain why they tried so hard to make us hate him...” was just questioning the movement. She also said that her use of QAnon hashtags in tweets didn’t mean she was an adherent, explaining she peppers her social media with various hashtags to extend her reach.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the defeated Tipton was seen Wednesday sitting alone in the massive Capitol Rotunda. He said his campaign focused on the district’s issues and didn’t attack his opponent.

Asked if, in retrospect, he believed that was a winning tactic, he said: “I don’t know. Maybe we’re in a different world right now.”

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Fram reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

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Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.”

COMMON SENSE VS PENCE
Poll: Two-thirds of Americans say COVID-19 crisis getting worse


A woman wearing a mask jogs in New York City's Brooklyn Bridge Park on June 25, with One World Trade Center and the Manhattan Skyline in the background at sunset. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

July 2 (UPI) -- Nearly two-thirds of Americans, a record share, believe the coronavirus crisis is getting worse, according to a new survey Thursday.

Gallup said 65 percent of respondents polled last week, amid new surges in cases nationwide, said the overall COVID-19 situation is worsening either by a "little" or "a lot." That figure is an increase from 37 percent just two weeks earlier, and the previous high of 56 percent in April.

Less than a quarter, 23 percent, answered that the situation is getting better -- down from 47 percent earlier this month.
Gallup also said the share of U.S. adults "very" or "somewhat" concerned about catching the coronavirus disease has increased to 56 percent, the highest figure since it was at 57 percent in April.

RELATED Poll: With election 5 months away, 20% satisfied with U.S. direction

Gallup said the results are based on its online COVID-19 tracking survey, which interviews weekly random samples from its probability-based panel. The pollster says it uses probability-based, random sampling methods to recruit panel members.

"Americans may dispute whether the recent increase in new daily coronavirus cases represents a continuation of the first wave or the start of a second wave of infections -- but there is a growing public consensus that the situation is getting worse," Gallup wrote.

"Recent developments are a grim reminder that even as the number of new daily cases declined in recent months, the virus never went away. Consequently, Americans are increasingly likely to think the disruptions to daily life will persist in the U.S. through at least the end of this year."

RELATED Poll: More than 80% in U.S. confident they can ward off COVID-19

Gallup polled nearly 3,500 panel members for the survey, which has a margin of error of 3 points.

Long-shut factory helps COVID-struck Afghans breathe free


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A man helps his father to drink juice at the Afghan-Japan Communicable Disease Hospital, for COVID-19 patients, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday June 18, 2020. Afghan media reported last week that several COVID-19 patients died in government hospitals due to a shortages of medical oxygen, though the government denied the reports. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

A man tests oxygen at a privately owned oxygen factory, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday June 18, 2020. For seven years, Najibullah Seddiqi's oxygen factory sat idle in the Afghan capital Kabul. He shut it down, he says, because corruption and power cuts made it impossible to work. But when the novel coronavirus began racing through his country, he opened the factory's dusty gates and went back to work. Now he refills hundreds of oxygen cylinders a day for free for COVID-19 patients — and at reduced rates for hospitals. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Seven years ago, Najibullah Seddiqi closed his oxygen factory, frustrated with power cuts and with rampant corruption that kept him from getting contracts with hospitals.

But as the coronavirus raced through Afghanistan, he knew he had to help.

“I saw a man crying for his wife who died from coronavirus due to lack of oxygen,” Seddiqi said. “That moment I made the decision to reopen my factory.”

Now relatives of Afghans ailing with COVID-19 line up at his factory in the capital city of Kabul for free refills that can keep their loved ones alive.

Afghanistan has struggled with shortages of medical oxygen under the pandemic. The country gets its oxygen cylinders from abroad. Until recently, imports were halted by sealed borders.

Prices for new canisters have skyrocketed 10-fold, to 20,000 Afghanis ($250). With people stockpiling as much as they can, the price to refill a canister is now 2,000 Afghanis, or $25, five times what it once was. Many accuse retailers of price gouging and the government of failing to ensure a supply.


A man carries an oxygen tank from a privately owned oxygen factory, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday June 18, 2020. For seven years, Najibullah Seddiqi's oxygen factory sat idle in the Afghan capital Kabul. He shut it down, he says, because corruption and power cuts made it impossible to work. But when the novel coronavirus began racing through his country, he opened the factory's dusty gates and went back to work. Now he refills hundreds of oxygen cylinders a day for free for COVID-19 patients — and at reduced rates for hospitals. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)


So Seddiqi’s free service is a godsend for the many poor hit by the virus. Minivans of people bringing cylinders roll in as word of the distribution spreads on social media.

“This factory is doing great work offering it for free,” said Bilal Hamidi as he waited on the crumbling concrete floor.

Hamidi said he fills three small cylinders a day for his brother, who was infected while caring for their mother. She died of COVID-19 in early June.

The factory, closed and long idle, is dusty. Parts are run-down. But when Seddiqi reopened the doors to resume production, everything still worked.
“I’m happy I didn’t sell these machines,” said Seddiqi, who also owns an ice factory.

He hired 12 men, working in two shifts. Seddiqi even moved in temporarily so he’s always on hand: “I’m worried that I go home and someone in intense need comes late at night and doesn’t find anyone to help them.”

His factory refills 200 to 300 small cylinders a day free for COVID-19 patients. For hospitals and retail sellers, he fills close to 700 large cylinders a day for 300 Afghanis each, or $3.80. That’s far cheaper than the going rate but it’s enough to cover his free distribution, he said.


NOT UNLIKE THE CANADIAN LIQUID AIR PLANT I WORKED AT IN THE SEVENTIES

AND NO THIS IS NOT AS EASY AS IT SEEMS AND IF THEY FALL IT CAN BE DANGEROUS IF A NOZZLE BREAKS OFF THE CANISTER BECOMES A TORPEDO

Retailers insist they are not jacking up prices. Imports of cylinders from the United Arab Emirates and China stopped for months amid pandemic restrictions. They recently resumed, but “unbalanced supply and demand has caused prices to rise,” said Khanjan Alkozai, a board member at the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Afghan media reported last week that several COVID-19 patients died in government hospitals due to lack of oxygen, though the government denied it.

Lawmaker Fatima Aziz, who has been infected by the coronavirus, posted a video from her bed, an oxygen tube in her nose. She blamed corruption and government failures.

“People lose their life for two drops of oxygen,” she said. “I curse all the mafias in this business that take advantage.”

The Health Ministry’s deputy spokeswoman, Masooma Jafari, said shortages at hospitals are being resolved. She said the Health Ministry ordered oxygen factories to give the health sector priority over industry.

Seddiqi’s factory is one of six in Kabul that produce oxygen — but his is the only one giving free refills.

“My only aim is to save as many lives as I can,” he said. “When the virus spread ends, then I’ll go home.”

Video: Florida police laugh after shooting rubber bullets

BOYS AND THEIR TOYS

By KELLI KENNEDY

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LaToya Ratlieff looks at a photograph of herself, Friday, June 12, 2020, in Lauderhill, Fla. Ratlieff was hit in the face by a police officer's rubber bullet during a Fort Lauderdale protest over the death of George Floyd on May 31. Protests continue in support of Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Newly released body camera footage shows Florida police officers laughing and celebrating after shooting rubber bullets at a protest last month in which a Black woman was shot in the face and seriously injured.

Fort Lauderdale police posted a video on its official YouTube channel Wednesday taken from the body camera of Detective Zachary Baro, who was leading the department’s SWAT team unit on May 31. At one point in the video, Baro can be heard saying, “Beat it” and using a profanity, after officers shot the less lethal projectiles.

LaToya Ratlieff was hit in the face with a rubber bullet during what had been a largely peaceful demonstration less than a week after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The 34-year-old said she suffered a fractured skull and required 20 stitches. She couldn’t eat for a week and still has trouble seeing out of one blood-filled eye.

She’s asked to sit down with the police department to discuss reform and make sure there’s accountability going forward. However, her spokesman, Evan Ross, said the city has not yet accepted her invitation.

“I’m heartbroken. We deserve better,” she said in response to the latest video.

A Fort Lauderdale police officer was charged with battery during that same protest after video showed he pushed a kneeling woman to the ground. Witnesses said the peaceful gathering took an angry turn after that and protesters responded by throwing bottles. The officer’s colleagues quickly pushed him away from the woman and down the street.

During another section of the new video released Wednesday, Baro incorrectly tells another officer that his camera is not recording and the two officers begin laughing and joking about the people they had shot with rubber bullets.

Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione said the department was conducting an exhaustive review of nearly 8,000 minutes of body camera footage, with a report to be completed within the next month.

“The entire video clearly demonstrates our officers were under attack by a group of people who chose to use violence instead of peace to antagonize the situation,” Maglione said in a statement. “Although the language is extreme, and offensive to some, our officers were dealing with the chaos of a developing situation.”

Several disturbing videos have emerged from that protest in recent weeks. Ratlieff said they’re traumatizing and make her feel like she’s relieving the moment. She often turns them off.

One graphic witness video shows Ratlieff wearing a bright pink backpack, bending over and coughing from the tear gas. As she walks away from police, they fire a rubber bullet and a protester grabs her hand and tries to hurry her. A second shot cracks loudly through the air and Ratlieff crumples to the concrete with a bone-chilling cry.

“She’s hurt, she’s hurt. She’s bleeding,” a witness screams frantically, as several gather around her and blood is seen pouring onto the ground.

A stranger tore off his shirt and applied pressure to her head as another stranger drove her to the hospital.

Ratlieff has an attorney, but hasn’t filed a lawsuit, saying it’s not about money. She testified this week before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights & Civil Liberties during a briefing on government violence against peaceful civil rights protesters.

“I just didn’t want to think that the police did that,” she said. “I still want to understand why ... not having those answers, it does leave me in a place of frustration.”

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David Fischer contributed to this report in Miami