Health Care Worker Says She Was Denied Medication During Melbourne’s Hard Lockdown Of Tower Blocks

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Health Care Worker Says She Was Denied Medication During Melbourne’s Hard Lockdown Of Tower Blocks

When health care worker Naima Mohamed arrived home from work to her Flemington public housing estate on the Saturday of the government-enforced hard lockdown, she had one thought when she saw police guarding her building: her migraine medication.  

Mohamed, who suffers from chronic migraines and has attacks at least four times a week, explained her situation to police officers ― the only people she could ask for help at that time.

“I was given a telephone number by the police to call,” the 32-year-old told HuffPost Australia. 

“It was the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) hotline. When I called the number, I explained I have pre-existing health conditions and need my medication. They took my details down, and I didn’t hear from anybody for two days.”

After multiple connections with the DHHS, Mohamed, who had needed to refill the prescription, ended up going without the migraine medication for the entire six days of the quarantine lockdown.  

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews ordered without notice on Saturday, July 4 that residents of the North Melbourne, Flemington and Kensington estates stay confined to their homes amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. The order brought widespread criticism from residents.

After testing all 3,000 people in the towers, residents in eight of the nine high-rise buildings were allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons on Thursday, the same rules in force throughout the state, including for residential buildings in the same postcode as some of the public housing estates. 

The remaining tower at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne is expected to remain on police-guarded lockdown for five more days. 

Four days into the hard lockdown and without medication, Mohamed walked down to the foyer of her building to look for help. She spoke to an employee from Inner Melbourne Community Legal who was gathering concerns from residents.  

Mohamed told the not-for-profit community organisation that she had not heard from the DHHS about her medication. When Inner Melbourne Community Legal staff called her the next day to follow up, Mohamed was still without medication. 

Mohamed said the DHHS had apparently “escalated” her case, but she went six days alone without her medication and was in “excruciating” pain.

“I had no choice but to wait,” she said. 

Mohamed is separated from her six-year-old daughter, who is in Malaysia with Mohamed’s sister. As the coronavirus took hold and borders closed, Mohamed could not get a flight to join her young daughter, who was born in Australia. 

“I live alone, I was seriously going crazy, I was sick and all I could think about was my daughter,” she said. 

It wasn’t until Thursday, when the Andrews government eased the hard lockdown to stage three restrictions, that Mohamed was finally able to get her medication. Inner Melbourne Community Legal is filing a joint complaint on behalf of multiple residents to the Victorian Ombudsman about claims that DHHS was unable to provide medication.  

Cohealth, the independent community organisation mobilised by the government to help collect medicines for residents in the hard lockdown and quarantine, said the original hotline set up by DHHS became blocked quickly.  

“We realised the wait was too long on the 1800-number DHHS hotline,” Cohealth’s Executive Lead of Strategy Kim Webber told HuffPost Australia.   

“It was stopping people getting through to us, so we set up our own line specific to health concerns on Monday. On Friday, we scaled up the phone line and asked that it be communicated to all residents.

“Last week our phone line team fielded 260 calls with medication, mental health support and diabetes management queries, which is the most common reason for calling.” 

Webber said that language has been a significant barrier for the community health group but about a third of the 3000 residents in hard lockdown are existing Cohealth clients, which provided some familiarity for patients.

Meanwhile, going without her migraine medication left Mohamed exhausted. 

“I am traumatised by my experience. Even though now I’m allowed to go to work as an ‘essential worker’, my mental and physical health is bad,” she said, adding that she will pursue the matter with Inner Melbourne Community Legal.

“I do not want people to suffer the way I did.”

Hani Ali, a resident at the 12 Holland Court, Flemington block, also lives alone and found limited health support. 

“No one helped me for my mental health. I had a breakdown,” said the 38-year-old, who has lived in the tower for eight years.

Now she fears leaving her home after what she described as a “traumatic” experience. 

“I am still traumatised and scared. I didn’t leave the house for two days even though the restrictions were eased, I was still so fearful. I thought I would run out into the fresh air, but something was holding me back — fear. Fear that I would be locked back in.”

Ali also faced a language barrier as her English is limited and there were no official services for mental health in her native Somali language. 

“The only time I could communicate effectively with police was when Fartun Farah (a community leader) showed up.” 

“After that, I had to get help from friends.”

The DHHS did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. 

Victoria recorded 270 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours up to 11am Tuesday. Melbourne and Mitchell Shire went back to stage three restrictions last Wednesday in an attempt to control the outbreak. 

Australia’s national total is now 10,250 reported cases and 108 deaths. 



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Intellasia East Asia News – China coronavirus cases ease on July 13, no new ones in Beijing

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Intellasia East Asia News – China coronavirus cases ease on July 13, no new ones in Beijing

China reported on Tuesday five new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 13, compared with eight cases a day earlier, the health authority said.

All of the new infections were imported cases, the National Health Commission said in a statement. There were no new deaths. Beijing, which saw a surge in new coronavirus cases a few weeks ago, reported no new cases for the eighth consecutive day.

China also reported five new asymptomatic patients, down from six a day earlier.

As of July 13, mainland China had a total of 83,605 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said.

China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,634.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-cases/china-coronavirus-cases-ease-on-july-13-no-new-ones-in-beijing-idUSKCN24F01E

 

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‘Better for Her Majesty not to know’: palace letters reveal Queen’s role in sacking of Australian PM Whitlam

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‘Better for Her Majesty not to know’: palace letters reveal Queen’s role in sacking of Australian PM Whitlam

Secret correspondence between Buckingham Palace and the governor general of Australia reveal discussion of a “last resort” option to dismiss then prime minister Gough Whitlam, but the final decision on the sacking was kept from the Queen as it “was better for Her Majesty not to know in advance”.

The historic trove of letters between the Queen, her representatives, and then governor general John Kerr in the lead-up to Whitlam’s dismissal clearly shows the extent to which the palace was drawn into Kerr’s 1975 plans to remove the Labor leader from office.

The 211 letters, dubbed the palace letters, were finally released on Tuesday, after a four-year court battle launched by historian Jenny Hocking to remove one of the final veils of secrecy still shrouding one of Australia’s greatest political crises.

The documents show Kerr clearly canvassed his powers to sack Whitlam with the palace, through the Queen’s private secretary, Martin Charteris.

On 4 November 1975, a week out from the dismissal, Charteris told Kerr that he was “playing the vice-regal hand with skill and wisdom”.

“Your interest in the situation has been demonstrated and so has your impartiality,” Charteris wrote.

He said the fact that Kerr had the powers to dissolve parliament “is recognised but it is also clear that you will only use them in the last resort and then only for Constitutional – and not for political – reasons”.

“To use them is a heavy responsibility and it is only at the very end when there is demonstrably no other course that they should be used,” he wrote.

Charteris also cautioned Kerr that Fraser wanted him to believe that the country was in a constitutional crisis, because he believed he would win the ensuing election.

On the day of Whitlam’s dismissal, 11 November 1975, Kerr wrote to the palace. He made it clear that he had not informed the palace directly of his decision.

He did so to protect the Queen.

“I should say I decided to take the step I took without informing the palace in advance because, under the Constitution, the responsibility is mine, and I was of the opinion it was better for Her Majesty not to know in advance, though it is, of course, my duty to tell her immediately,” Kerr wrote.

Charteris later responded:

“If I may say so with the greatest respect, I believe in not informing the Queen of what you intended to do before doing it, you acted not only with Constitutional propriety, but also with admirable consideration for Her Majesty’s position.”

The letters also further confirm that, in the lead-up to the dismissal, Kerr feared Whitlam may try to have him sacked as governor-general.

That may explain why Kerr did not give advance warning to Whitlam of his intentions.

Writing on 20 November 1975, Kerr explained to the palace that he had not wanted to put the Queen in a difficult position.

“History will doubtless provide an answer to this question, but I was in a position where, in my opinion, I simply could not risk the outcome for the sake of the monarchy,” he wrote.

“If, in the period of say 24 hours, during which he [Whitlam] was considering his position, he advised the Queen in the strongest of terms that I should be immediately dismissed, the position would then have been that either I would, in fact, be trying to dismiss him while he was trying to dismiss me – an impossible position for the Queen.”

Until Tuesday, the letters were kept secret from Australians by a potentially indefinite Queen’s embargo, despite their critical importance to the nation’s history.

The secrecy was aided by the classification of the records as “personal” communications between Kerr, the Queen, and her private secretary, thereby exempting them from the usual 30-year public release provisions applying to Commonwealth records.

Hocking challenged that interpretation through Australia’s federal court and high court, and was ultimately successful in dismantling the notion that the records were “personal”.

She told the Guardian following the release that it was a “great day for transparency”. Hocking was still working through the letters on Tuesday, but said she had felt “tremendously excited” to finally read them.

“This is a really historic moment in terms of the release of secret letters, but from a Queen to the governor general, so it’s a really important day for accessing material that’s going to shed a huge amount of light on just what transpired.”

David Fricker, the director general of the archives, said he was similarly pleased to have the documents made public.

He said the very function of the archives was to enable public release, but said it must do so according to the law.

“I am happy about [the release] for a number of reasons,” Fricker told the Guardian. “One, these documents are of intense interest, without doubt. We’ve never disputed the historic significance of these documents,” he said. “Not only are they historically significant, but they’ve inspired a lot of people in Australia to become interested in Australia’s history and I think that’s a good thing.”

The release of the palace letters is likely to spark renewed debate about the role of the monarchy in an independent Australia. The secrecy alone has been seized upon by the Australian Republic Movement as evidence of the “absurdity” of having a foreign monarch interfere in an independent democracy.

“This kind of transparency should be the norm in a democracy, not the exception” the ARM’s national director, Sandy Biar, said. “It’s time Australia had an Australian as our head of state that is accountable to Australians and Australian laws.”

Hocking has previously described the letters as the “single most important set of documents about the dismissal of the Whitlam government to have been released in the last decade”.

Kerr dismissed Whitlam on 11 November 1975 as a deep crisis engulfed his reformist Labor government.

Plagued by the damaging loans affair, the sacking of his deputy, Jim Cairns, and a bitter byelection defeat in a safe Labor seat, Whitlam was thrown further into turmoil when the conservative opposition blocked supply in the Senate, Australia’s upper house.

Then opposition leader Malcolm Fraser demanded Whitlam call an election. Kerr, a staunch monarchist, involved himself closely in the affair and sent dispatches back to the palace without Whitlam’s knowledge.

Five days before the 11 November sacking, Kerr reported to the palace that Whitlam would not call an election and that the only option for his removal was for the governor general to sack him.

Whitlam, though, had planned to go ahead with a scheduled half-Senate election and went to tell Kerr as much on the day of his dismissal.

When Kerr instead sacked him, it sparked a constitutional and political crisis that gripped the nation and led to years of rancour.

Whitlam retained the confidence of Australia’s lower house following his dismissal, but was soundly defeated in an election held weeks later.

Separate records, including Kerr’s 1980 journal, had previously suggested the importance of the letters in completely understanding Kerr’s motives, potential hesitations, and the extent to which he shared his plans with the palace.

Some of the content of Kerr’s dispatches have already been publicly revealed, including his advice that Whitlam was unlikely to call an election and that sacking him was the only option left for his removal.

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Intellasia East Asia News – China accuses US of interfering as Japan says Beijing is using pandemic to push territorial claims

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Intellasia East Asia News – China accuses US of interfering as Japan says Beijing is using pandemic to push territorial claims

China also accused of spreading propaganda and disinformation as it provides medical aid to nations fighting Covid-19.

China has attacked a US State Department statement rejecting Beijing’s disputed claims in the South China Sea and called Washington’s accusations of China bullying its neighbours “completely unjustified”.

The comment came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday rejected China’s disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, saying they were “completely unlawful”.

“The United States is not a country directly involved in the disputes. However, it has kept interfering in the issue,” the Chinese Embassy in the United States said in statement published on its website.

“Under the pretext of preserving stability, it is flexing muscles, stirring up tension and inciting confrontation in the region.”

Beijing insists its intentions in the waterway, through which around $3 trillion of global trade passes each year, are peaceful.

But Japan’s annual defence review accuses China of pushing its territorial claims amid the coronavirus pandemic and suspects Beijing of spreading propaganda and disinformation as it provides medical aid to nations fighting Covid-19.

China “is continuing to attempt to alter the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea,” Japan said in the defence white paper approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government on Tuesday.

The white paper described “relentless” intrusions in waters around a group of islets claimed by both nations in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

In the South China Sea, it said Beijing was asserting territorial claims by establishing administrative districts around disputed islands, that forced countries distracted by the coronavirus outbreak to respond.

Japan sees China as a longer-term and more serious threat than nuclear-armed North Korea. Beijing now spends four times as much as Tokyo on defence as it builds a large modern military.

Japan’s defence review also claimed China appeared to be responsible for “propaganda” and “disinformation” amid “social uncertainties and confusion” caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Such disinformation included online claims that the coronavirus was brought to China by a US military member, or that Chinese herbal remedies could treat Covid-19, a defence ministry official said at a briefing.

Other threats faced by Japan include North Korea’s ongoing development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as well as a resurgence of military activity by Russia in the skies and waters in Japan, at times in joint drills with China, the defence review said.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/14/china-accuses-us-interfering-japan-says-beijing-using-pandemic/

 

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Epstein’s Victims Will Speak At Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bail Hearing

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Epstein’s Victims Will Speak At Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bail Hearing

NEW YORK (AP) — One or more victims of Jeffrey Epstein will tell a judge Tuesday that his ex-girlfriend should be denied bail on charges that she recruited teenage girls for him to sexually abuse in the 1990s, prosecutors said Monday.

Prosecutors made the revelation in court papers as they argued there is no reason to free British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on bail.

They also revealed new details about Maxwell’s July 2 arrest at a $1 million New Hampshire estate she purchased in December, saying FBI agents had to bust into her residence after she failed to cooperate.

“As the agents approached the front door to the main house, they announced themselves as FBI agents and directed the defendant to open the door,” prosecutors wrote. “Through a window, the agents saw the defendant ignore the direction to open the door and, instead, try to flee to another room in the house, quickly shutting a door behind her.”

The government said agents were forced to break through the door to arrest Maxwell, who was in an interior room in the home. Prosecutors also revealed that Maxwell had been guarded at the home by a security company staffed with former members of the British military.

The descriptions were made as prosecutors sought to boost arguments that the 58-year-old citizen of the US, the United Kingdom and France should remain behind bars until trial. They said she had the money, the means and the incentive to flee since she could face many years in prison, if convicted.

Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge in court papers that at least one woman and possibly more were expected to exercise their right to appear at Tuesday’s hearing and ask that Maxwell be detained until trial. And they also revealed that additional individuals have offered the government evidence to support its case since Maxwell’s arrest.

“The Government is deeply concerned that if the defendant is bailed, the victims will be denied justice in this case,” prosecutors wrote.

They also revealed that two of three women who alleged they were recruited by Maxwell to be sexually abused by Epstein had never spoken to law enforcement authorities until last year.

The filing came a day before an arraignment and bail hearing for Maxwell, who has been held for the last week at a federal jail in Brooklyn.

On Friday, her lawyers filed arguments that said she’s being made a scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan lockup last August. They said she should be freed on $5 million bail with electronic monitoring.



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Tucker Carlson to Take ‘Long-Planned’ Vacation After Writer’s Resignation

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Tucker Carlson to Take ‘Long-Planned’ Vacation After Writer’s Resignation

The Fox News star Tucker Carlson said on Monday evening that he would leave on a vacation, starting immediately, days after a writer on his program, Blake Neff, resigned over racist, sexist and misogynist messages that Mr. Neff published pseudonymously on an online message board.

Mr. Carlson told viewers that he would return to his show next week and described the vacation as “long planned,” suggesting that his time off had been set before Mr. Neff was revealed on Friday as the author of the offensive posts.

It was not the first time that Mr. Carlson has announced that he would take a break from the anchor chair in the immediate aftermath of a sensitive moment for his prime-time program. Last August, Mr. Carlson went on vacation two days after he likened white supremacy to a “hoax,” saying it was “actually not a real problem in America,” remarks that prompted some advertisers to distance themselves from his show.

In response to an inquiry on Monday, Fox News said that Mr. Carlson’s vacation was “preplanned.”

Mr. Neff, who had written for “Tucker Carlson Tonight” since 2017, resigned last week after Fox News learned of his activity on AutoAdmit, an online forum popular with law students. There, Mr. Neff had written messages that denigrated African-Americans, Asian-Americans and women. Fox News’s top executives condemned Mr. Neff’s conduct as “abhorrent” in a memo to staff and said the show had not previously been aware of his writings.

Mr. Carlson addressed the controversy for the first time on his Monday broadcast.

“What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong,” the host told viewers. “We don’t endorse those words. They have no connection to the show. It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control.” He also described Mr. Neff as “horrified” and “ashamed” by the revelation of his online writings, which were first reported by CNN.

Mr. Carlson, who has used his platform to denounce a so-called cancel culture that he says stymies free speech, appended a somewhat defiant note. He said that Mr. Neff “has paid a very heavy price” for his behavior, “but we should also point out to the ghouls now beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man, that self-righteousness also has its costs.”

“We are all human,” Mr. Carlson continued. “When we pretend we are holy, we are lying. When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it, there’s no question.”

Mr. Carlson is a top ratings draw on Fox News, and his program’s viewership has soared in recent months as he has adopted a sharply critical line against national demonstrations over racial injustice and policing. The host has lamented the outbreak of violence in major cities and been critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last week, before Mr. Neff’s online posts were revealed, Mr. Carlson was already facing criticism after he questioned the patriotism of Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a Democrat who lost her legs fighting in Iraq. He called the senator a “moron” after Ms. Duckworth said she was open to arguments for removing statues of George Washington because he owned slaves.

On Monday, Mr. Carlson did not appear fazed by the various controversies surrounding “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” He began with a segment criticizing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and then interviewed Mark T. McCloskey, the lawyer who, along with his wife, brandished a handgun and a semiautomatic rifle at peaceful Black protesters in St. Louis last month.

The impact of the outside criticism seemed more pronounced during the commercial breaks. Many large sponsors have removed their ads from Mr. Carlson’s program in recent weeks, and his most prolific advertiser on Monday was MyPillow, the pro-Trump bedding company.

At the end of the broadcast, Mr. Carlson told viewers that he planned to “spend the next four days trout fishing.”

“This is one of those years where if you don’t get it in now, you’re probably not going to,” the host told viewers, noting that Brian Kilmeade, a co-host of “Fox & Friends,” would sit in for him. (Mr. Carlson is an avid fisherman: When he went on vacation last August, he told viewers he planned to “catch some brook trout.”)

“If something dramatic happens, of course, we’ll be back,” Mr. Carlson added. “In the meantime, we hope you have the best and happiest week, and we’ll be back on Monday, if not before.”

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Intellasia East Asia News – Raising stakes, US brands China claims in South China Sea illegal

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Intellasia East Asia News – Raising stakes, US brands China claims in South China Sea illegal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States would treat Beijing’s pursuit of resources in the dispute-rife South China Sea as illegal, ramping up support for Southeast Asian nations.

It was the latest forceful statement by President Donald Trump’s administration to challenge China, which he has increasingly cast as an enemy ahead of November elections.

“We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” Pompeo said in a statement.

“The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire.”

The United States has long rejected Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, which is both home to valuable oil and gas deposits and a vital waterway for the world’s commerce.

Pompeo’s statement goes further by explicitly siding with Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam, after years of the United States saying it took no position on individual claims.

“America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law,” Pompeo said.

“We stand with the international community in defense of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose ‘might makes right’ in the South China Sea or the wider region.”

China earlier this month defended itself against US criticism over Beijing’s military exercises in the South China Sea, saying its activities were “within the scope of China’s territorial sovereignty.”

– Rejecting basis of claims –

Beijing claims the majority of the South China Sea through the so-called nine-dash line, a vague delineation based on maps from the 1940s when the Republic of China snapped up islands from Japanese control.

Pompeo issued his statement to mark the fourth anniversary of a tribunal decision that sided with the Philippines against the nine-dash line.

Pompeo said that China, based on the court decision, cannot make claims based on the Scarborough Reef or Spratly Islands, a vast uninhabited archipelago.

The United States as a result now rejects Beijing’s claims in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, Lucania Shoals off Malaysia, waters considered in Brunei’s exclusive economic zone and Natuna Besar off Indonesia, Pompeo said.

“Any PRC action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these watersor to carry out such activities unilaterallyis unlawful,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo also rejected Beijing’s southernmost claim of James Shoal, some 1,800 kilometers (1,150 miles) from the Chinese mainland, saying the speck administered by Malaysia was completely submerged by water and therefore cannot determine a maritime zone.

The 2016 decision was issued by a tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Pompeo noted that China is a party to it and called the ruling legally binding.

The United States, however, is one of the few countries that is not part of the convention, with conservatives opposing any loss of autonomy to a global body.

– Friction across fronts –

The South China Sea statement comes amid rising tensions surrounding China, including a deadly border clash last month with India that Pompeo called part of a strategy by Beijing to challenge its neighbours.

Trump has also strongly criticised China for not doing more to stop the coronavirus pandemic, news of which was initially suppressed when it emerged in Wuhan late last year.

Critics both at home and abroad say that Trump is hoping to deflect attention ahead of the November election over his own handling of the virus in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll of any country.

Trump, after bipartisan calls in Congress, has also stepped up pressure on China over its incarceration of more than one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims.

The United States last week imposed sanctions on Chinese officials including Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party chief in the western region of Xinjiang.

China on Monday took tit-for-tat action against some of its outspoken critics in Congress, including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and Representative Chris Smith.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/raising-stakes-us-brands-china-claims-south-china-202208829.html

 

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Intellasia East Asia News – Pompeo says Beijing claims in South China Sea ‘unlawful’

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Intellasia East Asia News – Pompeo says Beijing claims in South China Sea ‘unlawful’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States would treat Beijing’s pursuit of resources in the dispute-rife South China Sea as illegal, ramping up pressure on another front.

“We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” Pompeo said in a statement.

The United States has long rejected Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, aligning itself with Vietnam, the Philippines and other US partners in the region.

But Pompeo went further by explicitly siding with Southeast Asian nations, after years of the United States saying that it took no position on the merits of individual disputes.

In line with the 2016 finding of an international tribunal, Pompeo said that the Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal both “fall fully under the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction.”

Pompeo also denounced China’s claims on the contested Spratly islands, where China earlier this year announced administrative districts, which would allow Beijing to expand its maritime claims.

The United States as a result now rejects Beijing’s claims in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, Lucania Shoals off Malaysia, waters considered in Brunei’s exclusive economic zone and Natuna Besar off Indonesia, Pompeo said.

“Any PRC action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these watersor to carry out such activities unilaterallyis unlawful,” Pompeo said.

The statement is the latest assertive step by President Donald Trump’s administration against China, which it has increasingly portrayed as an enemy ahead of November elections.

The United States in recent weeks has slapped visa restrictions on officials over the treatment of the Uighur and Tibetan minorities as well as over Beijing’s clampdown in Hong Kong.

Trump has also harshly criticised China over the coronavirus pandemic.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pompeo-says-beijing-claims-south-china-sea-unlawful-190220237.html

 

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Intellasia East Asia News – Reports: US to officially reject China’s South China Sea claims for the first time

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Intellasia East Asia News – Reports: US to officially reject China’s South China Sea claims for the first time

The US is planning to officially reject some of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea as early as this week, anonymous administration officials told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The officials said the US State Department is planning a document that will serve as the first time the US has officially rejected China’s territorial claims.

“China’s maritime claims pose the single greatest threat to the freedom of the seas in modern history,” states a draft of the paper seen by The Wall Street Journal. “We cannot afford to re-enter an era where states like China attempt to assert sovereignty over the seas.”

The US will reportedly reject claims China has made to territory in the South China Sea that has also been claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

(Flipboard)

China’s efforts to “harass Southeast Asian fishing or hydrocarbon development, or to unilaterally undertake such activities on its own, in these areas, are unlawful,” the draft of the US document also declares, according to The Wall Street Journal, and also reported by The Associated Press.

“The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire,” a draft of the statement says. “America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law. We stand with the international community in defense of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose ‘might makes right’ in the South China Sea or the wider region.”

Tensions between the US and China have been intensifying in the South China Sea recently as China is increasing its aggressive behavior and the US is increasing its freedom of navigation patrols in the region.

Earlier this month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy held a naval exercise near the contested Paracel Islands, which are claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. The US Department of Defense condemned the exercise as “unlawful.”

“The military exercises are the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbours in the South China Sea,” the DOD said in a statement, adding that the exercises violate the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

“Conducting military exercises over disputed territory in the South China Sea is counterproductive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability. The PRC’s actions will further destabilise the situation in the South China Sea,” the DOD noted.

At the same time as China’s exercise, the US deployed two aircraft carrier groups to conduct its own exercise in the region. USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan conducted tactical air defense exercises in its freedom of navigation mission. The warships remained in international territory and conducted their operations in accordance with international law, but China still lashed out.

“We hope the US will examine itself and stop its provocative military acts in the South China Sea, stop smearing and blaming the Chinese side for no reason, stop trying to drive a wedge between countries in the region, and stop creating this tense situation,” a spokesperson said on the Chinese defense ministry’s website.

China has been continuing its militarisation of artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea with the construction of military bases and other industrial facilities in the region.

Reports: US to officially reject China’s South China Sea claims for the first time

 

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Global coronavirus cases top 13 million: Live updates

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Global coronavirus cases top 13 million: Live updates

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

  • The World Health Organization has warned the pandemic could get far worse if countries around the world do not follow basic healthcare precautions. “The virus remains public enemy number one,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

  • More than 13 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and nearly 572,000 have died, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. The United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Italy have recorded the most deaths.

Here are the latest updates.

Tuesday, July 14

02:30 GMT – Mystery of Argentine sailors who caught virus while at sea

Argentina is trying to solve the mystery of how 57 sailors managed to come down with the coronavirus while they were at sea even though all had tested negative and spent 14 days in quarantine in a hotel before the voyage began.

The health ministry for the southern province of Tierra del Fuego says the fishing trawler is now back in port after 35 days at sea, with 57 of the 61 crew diagnosed with the virus after a new test. Two are now in hospital.

A team is trying to establish the “chronology of contagion” among the crew.

“This is a case that escapes all description in publications because an incubation period this long has not been described anywhere,” said Leandro Ballatore, the head of the infectious diseases department at Ushuaia Regional Hospital. “We cannot yet explain how the symptoms appeared.”   

01:25 GMT – No new cases confirmed in Beijing for eighth day

The wave of coronavirus cases connected with Beijing’s wholesale market that began in June appears to have been brought under control with no new cases of the disease reported in the Chinese capital for eight successive days.

China’s National Health Commission reported five new cases on the mainland on Tuesday, all among people returning from overseas.

01:00 GMT – Nearly 1,000 workers at US immigration detention centres have COVID-19

More than 930 people working for four private companies that run detention centres for US immigration have tested positive for coronavirus, according to executives speaking at a congressional hearing.

The four firms are CoreCivic (554 cases), the GEO Group (167 cases), Management & Training Corp (73 cases) and LaSalle Corrections (144 cases). US immigration has reported 45 cases amongst its own staff.

Lawmakers are concerned about the spread of the virus across the US’ nearly 70 detention centres. More than 3,000 detainees have tested positive for the disease and two have died. There are currently about 22,580 people in immigration custody.

00:00 GMT – UK to make masks mandatory in shops

The British government will announce on Tuesday that people will have to wear masks when they go into a shop from July 24. 

“There is growing evidence that wearing a face covering in an enclosed space helps protect individuals and those around them from coronavirus,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

Masks have been required on public transport since June 15.

23:45 GMT (Monday) – Worldwide cases surpass 13 million

More than 13 million people around the world have now been confirmed to have had the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Below are the five most-affected countries.

  • United States – 3,361,042

  • Brazil – 1,884,967

  • India – 878,254

  • Russia – 732,547

  • Peru – 330,123 

Read all the updates from yesterday (July 13) here.


SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies



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