World News Briefs For Sunday, 18 August 2019
Hello Australia!! - Did Trump give a tacit endorsement to fascist demonstrators? - An eerie clam descends on Hong Kong as cops insist they've got this - How Scott Morrison might have caused a "sea change" in the Pacific - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
Portland, Oregon spent Saturday on the brink as far-right group flooded into the city of Portland, Oregon in the US Pacific Northwest to rally and provoke local anti-racist and anti-fascist activists. Every city police officer was on duty and for the most part they managed to keep the opposing demonstrators away from each other. The fear for violence had been running high because the far-right organizer had preceded the event with a series of social media posts calling for the deaths of anti-fascists and showing off assault weapons. Donald Trump attempted to fan the flames by clearly choosing sides tweeting claiming that officials might label unorganized, loosely knit "Antifa" a terrorist group, but failing to mention the far-right groups implicated and prosecuted in actual cases of political and racial violence around the US.
Another city on edge: Hong Kong. Police have reorganized and kept on top of pro-democracy demonstrations, sending a message to a huge swarm of Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) battalions massed just over the border in Shenzhen. Top Hong Kong police officials told the BBC their officers are not coordinating with the force from the mainland, nor have they ever trained together in any capacity, let alone on crowd control, and if the PAP comes in "we'd be in completely new territory". But the pro-democracy side is mindful of Beijing's desire to put a lid on this thing and mostly avoided clashes with cops on Saturday night.
Sudan's pro-democracy opposition and military have signed a landmark power-sharing deal. It ushers in a new governing council, including both civilians and generals, to pave the way towards elections and civilian rule. Protests drove long-time strongman leader Omar al-Bashir from office in April, but the military then assumed power without any guarantees of democratic elections. The new deal hopefully solves that.
A suicide bomber struck a wedding party in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing or wounding dozens of people at the Dubai City wedding hall in the capital's west. The venue is right in the middle of the Shiite Muslim Hazara minority, which is frequently targeted by terror groups such as Al Qaeda or the so-called Islamic State.
At least nine people died in a hotel fire in Ukraine, and several people were in a critical condition. This happened at the Tokyo Star Hotel in the southern port city of Odessa, but it's not clear how many of the 273 rooms were occupied. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the fire was caused by "criminal negligence and ignoring the elementary norms of fire safety, because of the superficial attitude to human life", and vowed prosecutions.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is slamming Australian PM Scott Morrison of being "very insulting and condescending" at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu last week. The Fiji leader was so taken aback, he told The Guardian, "I thought Morrison was a good friend of mine, apparently not." Deputy PM Michael McCormack appeared to make everything worse by telling a business group in Wagga Wagga that Pacific Islanders would survive climate change by moving to Australia and picking fruit - which Bainimarama described as insulting and disrespectful. The rift is so bad that Bainimarama is hinting at a power shift in the region: "After what we went through with Morrison, nothing can be worse than him," he said, "China never insults the Pacific."
Scientists are still evaluating the damage caused by the heat wave in the northern hemisphere, but Salmon runs in the state of Alaska are clearly in trouble. The heat wave raised the temperature in the rivers and streams where Salmon spawn, killing thousands of the fish. The dead fish had no signs of parasites or disease, and many had full egg sacs that will not grow to be next year's generation of Salmon. The temperature along the fish runs had never gotte hotter than 24 C degrees in modern record keeping - but last month, it exceeded 27.5 C degrees, showing just how precarious and sensitive that many species are to climate change.