News in Brief
BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Romania is recalling its ambassador to Belarus in solidarity with Lithuania and Poland, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Friday, joining several other states amid continued tensions after Minsk’s disputed presidential election. Belarus has accused its neighbors Poland and Lithuania of meddling in its affairs by hosting exiled opposition leaders and refusing to recognize Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in the Aug. 9 poll. Romania joins Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria and Slovakia in recalling its envoy. "We decided to recall our ambassador in Belarus for consultations in solidarity with Lithuania and Poland,” Aurescu said on Twitter. "Belarus needs to understand that using diplomatic pressure on EU member states will not help dialogue and will not bring positive results.”
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CARACAS (Dispatches) -- Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly on Thursday approved a law allowing President Nicolas Maduro to confidentially sign new oil deals with private firms and foreign nations, in response to U.S. sanctions. Maduro last week delivered the "anti-blockade” bill on Tuesday to the assembly, a parallel legislature he created to bypass the opposition-controlled congress. "We can provide President Nicolas Maduro with a legal instrument to continue fighting, confronting the blockade,” said Diosdado Cabello, the assembly’s president and the vice president of the ruling Socialist Party. The law will allow changes to the ownership of joint ventures between state oil company PDVSA private companies, but does not say what percentage of participation PDVSA would have in future joint ventures.
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SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia’s right-wing former prime minister Tony Abbott registered as an agent of foreign influence Friday, after controversially taking up a role as a trade advisor to the UK government. Abbott -- who lost his seat in parliament at the last election -- is registered under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, which is designed to monitor outside influence over Australian public life. The scheme is similar to the United States’ Foreign Agents Registration Act, and was introduced in late 2018 amid concerns about growing Chinese lobbying efforts Down Under. "Anthony John Abbott” -- "Occupation: Former Prime Minister” -- appeared on register Friday as "an unpaid adviser to the UK Board of Trade. The role is to advocate for free and fair trade especially trade with the UK and its allies.” Abbott’s 2013-2015 tenure was marked by hardline policies on illegal immigration, opposition to same-sex marriage and skepticism of man-made climate change. His appointment prompted outrage in Britain, where he was pilloried as a "climate change-denying, Trump-worshipping misogynist” and raised questions in Australia about whether a former prime minister should work for a foreign state. In 2014, Abbott -- an ardent monarchist -- reintroduced knights and dames to the Australian honors system, and his subsequent decision to knight Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was met with ridicule and disbelief. The titles have since been removed from the honors system by his successor.
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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- A South African corruption inquiry will issue a summons for former president Jacob Zuma to appear to give evidence next month, the judge chairing the proceedings said on Friday. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said Zuma would be required to appear on Nov. 16-20, adding that this could be via videolink if appropriate arrangements were made. The inquiry was set up more than two years ago to test allegations that Zuma allowed the Gupta brothers, friends of his, to plunder state resources and influence government appointments during his nine years in power. Zuma, who appeared at the inquiry in July 2019, denied he had broken the law with the Guptas. The inquiry’s evidence leaders have tried to get Zuma to appear this year to answer more questions but he has not done so.
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Lake Charles, United States (AFP) -- As Hurricane Delta hurtles towards the U.S. south coast, residents of Lake Charles are fleeing and for many it’s the second time in two months they have had to leave faced with a potentially devastating storm. The city, in Louisiana’s southwest, is still in disarray, with roofs ripped off houses, trees uprooted and streets littered with debris -- damage caused by Hurricane Laura that packed winds of record-breaking speeds. On Thursday, many were heading for the exits, leaving their homes and hoping for the best as a new and strengthening hurricane churned towards them. The damage done by Hurricane Laura at the end of August has made the new storm more dangerous, as high winds can scoop up materials still lying about and hurl them at speed.
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BERLIN (AFP) -- Graffiti tributes to mark one year since a deadly anti-Semitic attack in the German city of Halle have been sprayed over with swastikas, police said on Friday. A left-wing group called Antifa Halle had sprayed stencil images with the names of the two victims of the October 2019 attack in various locations across the city on Sunday night, according to a report in the Bild daily. But some of the images with the inscription "Never forget -- Kevin and Jana” were smeared with red swastikas on Thursday night, the eve of the anniversary of the Halle attack, the report said. An investigation has been launched and work has begun to remove the swastikas, police told AFP. The attack targeting a synagogue in Halle on October 9, 2019 came during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and was one of the worst acts of anti-Semitic violence in Germany’s post-war history.
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CARACAS (Dispatches) -- Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly on Thursday approved a law allowing President Nicolas Maduro to confidentially sign new oil deals with private firms and foreign nations, in response to U.S. sanctions. Maduro last week delivered the "anti-blockade” bill on Tuesday to the assembly, a parallel legislature he created to bypass the opposition-controlled congress. "We can provide President Nicolas Maduro with a legal instrument to continue fighting, confronting the blockade,” said Diosdado Cabello, the assembly’s president and the vice president of the ruling Socialist Party. The law will allow changes to the ownership of joint ventures between state oil company PDVSA private companies, but does not say what percentage of participation PDVSA would have in future joint ventures.
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SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia’s right-wing former prime minister Tony Abbott registered as an agent of foreign influence Friday, after controversially taking up a role as a trade advisor to the UK government. Abbott -- who lost his seat in parliament at the last election -- is registered under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, which is designed to monitor outside influence over Australian public life. The scheme is similar to the United States’ Foreign Agents Registration Act, and was introduced in late 2018 amid concerns about growing Chinese lobbying efforts Down Under. "Anthony John Abbott” -- "Occupation: Former Prime Minister” -- appeared on register Friday as "an unpaid adviser to the UK Board of Trade. The role is to advocate for free and fair trade especially trade with the UK and its allies.” Abbott’s 2013-2015 tenure was marked by hardline policies on illegal immigration, opposition to same-sex marriage and skepticism of man-made climate change. His appointment prompted outrage in Britain, where he was pilloried as a "climate change-denying, Trump-worshipping misogynist” and raised questions in Australia about whether a former prime minister should work for a foreign state. In 2014, Abbott -- an ardent monarchist -- reintroduced knights and dames to the Australian honors system, and his subsequent decision to knight Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was met with ridicule and disbelief. The titles have since been removed from the honors system by his successor.
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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- A South African corruption inquiry will issue a summons for former president Jacob Zuma to appear to give evidence next month, the judge chairing the proceedings said on Friday. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said Zuma would be required to appear on Nov. 16-20, adding that this could be via videolink if appropriate arrangements were made. The inquiry was set up more than two years ago to test allegations that Zuma allowed the Gupta brothers, friends of his, to plunder state resources and influence government appointments during his nine years in power. Zuma, who appeared at the inquiry in July 2019, denied he had broken the law with the Guptas. The inquiry’s evidence leaders have tried to get Zuma to appear this year to answer more questions but he has not done so.
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Lake Charles, United States (AFP) -- As Hurricane Delta hurtles towards the U.S. south coast, residents of Lake Charles are fleeing and for many it’s the second time in two months they have had to leave faced with a potentially devastating storm. The city, in Louisiana’s southwest, is still in disarray, with roofs ripped off houses, trees uprooted and streets littered with debris -- damage caused by Hurricane Laura that packed winds of record-breaking speeds. On Thursday, many were heading for the exits, leaving their homes and hoping for the best as a new and strengthening hurricane churned towards them. The damage done by Hurricane Laura at the end of August has made the new storm more dangerous, as high winds can scoop up materials still lying about and hurl them at speed.
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BERLIN (AFP) -- Graffiti tributes to mark one year since a deadly anti-Semitic attack in the German city of Halle have been sprayed over with swastikas, police said on Friday. A left-wing group called Antifa Halle had sprayed stencil images with the names of the two victims of the October 2019 attack in various locations across the city on Sunday night, according to a report in the Bild daily. But some of the images with the inscription "Never forget -- Kevin and Jana” were smeared with red swastikas on Thursday night, the eve of the anniversary of the Halle attack, the report said. An investigation has been launched and work has begun to remove the swastikas, police told AFP. The attack targeting a synagogue in Halle on October 9, 2019 came during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and was one of the worst acts of anti-Semitic violence in Germany’s post-war history.