Dizzee Rascal, Kaiser Chiefs and The Streets are set to feature in a series of drive-in concerts across the UK.
A host of artists have been forced to cancel shows due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions and the prospect of large gatherings being allowed again is thought to be some way off.
But Live Nation Entertainment, which stages festivals such as Wireless and Reading and Leeds, says its series of live events will allow people to enjoy performances from the safety of their cars.
Image: Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs performing at Apollo Manchester
They will be staged across 12 UK venues in cities including London, Birmingham and Edinburgh this summer.
Live Nation promoter Peter Taylor said the ‘Utilita Live From The Drive-In’ shows would allow artists to get back on stage again.
“You know we can do all of these streams, we can do everything on Facebook… which is great. But there is nothing that compares to you seeing your favourite musician or band on that stage,” he said.
Other artists perfroming at the shows include Ash, Beverley Knight, Bjorn Again, Brand New Heavies, Camp Bestival Live, Cream Classical Ibiza, Embrace, Gary Numan, Jack Savoretti, Lightning Seeds and Nathan Dawe.
Also featuring will be Reggae Roast Vs Gentleman’s Dub Club, Russell Watson, Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sigala, Skindred, The Snuts, The Zutons and Tony Hadley.
Alongside the musicians lined up for gigs, there will also be a science show – Brainiac Live.
Organisers say a maximum of 300 cars will be allowed at each show, meaning both organisers and artists have had to make some profound changes to the way they do things.
“That’s going to feel very kind of imitate in terms of what we’re used to if you go into an arena or stadium,” said Mr Taylor.
“We have our artists who are working to a very different financial model than what they normally would. A lot of them are doing kind of different versions of their show. “
Image: Mike Skinner from The Streets performs in New Zealand in 2019
He said the concept would provide a good source of employment for the whole industry: “It’s been about making sure that our eco-system can be supported as much as possible.”
Mr Taylor said the company had been able to postpone some major tours and shows until 2020, including those from musicians such as Harry Styles and Dua Lipa.
Tickets will go on sale here for the shows on the Live Nation website from 22 June at 10am.
Over 70 Black Major League Soccer players have formed a new coalition aimed at addressing racial inequalities throughout the league, around the soccer world, and across the United States and Canada.
The Black Players Coalition, headed up by Toronto FC defender Justin Morrow and led by an 11-player board, was officially unveiled on Friday.
“We pledge to help bridge the racial equality gap that exists in our league by lobbying for initiatives like implicit bias training, cultural education courses, and diversification hiring practices,†read the BPC’s statement upon announcing its establishment. “Beyond addressing these overlooked systemic issues around soccer in this country, the BPC is committed to tackling the racial injustices that have prevented Black people from having an equitable stake in society.â€
Friday marks Juneteenth, a commemoration of the day of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
“As we celebrate Juneteenth and the coming together of our coalition, we must remind ourselves that such progressivism was once met with vehement backlash,†the coalition’s statement read. “May this reminder serve as a warning to us all that confronting systematic racism head-on will never be a smooth, constantly upward-trending path, but rather a timeless battle that will force us to reinvent the very essence of our institutions.â€
The BPC’s founding comes at a time when many athletes are speaking up and using their platforms to rid sports and society of racial injustices as part of the powerful Black Lives Matter movement.
Morrow is the executive director of the nonprofit organization. Among the coalition’s board members are Philadelphia Union defender Ray Gaddis, Chicago Fire forward C.J. Sapong, FC Cincinnati defender Kendall Waston, Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse, New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson, D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid, Nashville SC defender Jalil Anibaba, Colorado Rapids forward Kei Kamara, Minnesota United defender Ike Opara, D.C United goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. and former D.C. United forward Quincy Amarikwa.
Major League Soccer issued a statement in support of the new coalition, and its players association made a $75,000 donation:
As China’s government seeks to revive the economy, it has so far steered clear of excessive infrastructure spending, hoping to avoid the effects of building binges in the past.
Years of debt growth and environmental damage followed the government’s massive 4-trillion yuan (U.S. $566-billion) spending plan in November 2008 aimed at overcoming the impact of the global financial crisis.
The debt-backed spending spree on housing, highways, and other projects succeeded in sustaining economic growth through the crisis period. But many investments were unneeded and unproductive, resulting in a decade of higher energy consumption, pollution, and waste.
This year, the government has responded to the economic challenge of the COVID-19 crisis with a different set of tools. The focus so far has been on fiscal stimulus with a planned increase in the budget deficit from 2.8 percent to 3.6 percent.
Tax cuts, targeted interest rate cuts, and increased bank lending have been supplemented by authorization for issuance of 3.75 trillion yuan (U.S. $530 billion) of local government bonds.
Last month, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) brought forward the quota for 1 trillion yuan in special purpose local government bonds for infrastructure due to the fast pace of borrowing. The government has also announced it will issue 1 trillion yuan of special treasury bonds this year.
Special bonds are used to raise cash for a specific policy or problem, Bloomberg News reported. They provide funding outside of the official budget and are not included in deficit calculations, it said.
Limited effect on liquidity
But the bond plans have come with their own set of complications.
On Wednesday, state media hastened to assure the market that the first tranches of offerings would have a limited effect on liquidity as investors chased higher yields and bond prices plunged.
Analysts expect the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to respond by injecting more cash into the financial system, Bloomberg said.
Public expenditures by central and local governments to contain the epidemic and stabilize the economy are expected to reach 24.79 trillion yuan (U.S. $3.5 trillion) this year, the MOF said, according to the official English-language China Daily.
This month, the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report estimated that China’s monetary and fiscal responses to the economic effects of COVID-19 so far have amounted to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, while authorization for additional special central and local government bonds equaled 2.6 percent of GDP.
The country’s total debt-to-GDP ratio rose by about 17 percentage points in the first quarter of the year, the report said.
China’s central government is eager to draw distinctions between its financial strategies for overcoming the current crisis and the spending splurge of 2009 because regional and local governments are still struggling to pay their old debts.
“We’ve been watching some regions traditionally considered weak in repayment ability being able to issue new bonds recently,” said Ivan Chung, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service in Hong Kong, as cited by The Wall Street Journal.
Last month, the cabinet-level State Council said that government departments and large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) had cleared over 70 percent of their outstanding payments by the end of 2019, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
Regional governments had paid over half of their targeted overdue payments, the State Council said, without specifying the amount.
One distinction of the special purpose bonds is that the interest is expected to be paid from the income of a specific project rather than from fiscal revenues, the SCMP said.
A worker examines equipment at the Guangdong Ruigu Optical Network Communications Co. Ltd., an optical component and transceiver manufacturer in Dongguan, southeast China’s Guangdong province, May 7, 2019. Credit: AFP
‘New infrastructure’ projects
The central government is also promoting the use of local government bonds for “new infrastructure,” such as 5G telecom networks, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new energy vehicle (NEV) charging stations, rather than traditional energy-intensive construction of roads and bridges.
It remains to be seen whether the local new infrastructure projects mark the start of a technological leap that will generate sufficient returns, or whether they are just a bunch of new-age buzzwords that local governments can use to sell bonds.
The major advantage of the local bonds is that they offer greater transparency than the alternative of “local government financing vehicles” (LGFVs), analysts say. Central government regulators have been trying to shut down “shadow banking” and the LGFV channel of off-book bank lending for years.
“You can see exactly how much new funding local governments are taking on,” Jack Yuan, a Moody’s assistant vice president told the SCMP.
But local governments have been quick to jump on the new infrastructure bandwagon with all the alacrity that followed the big-bang lending program of 2008-2009.
This month, the city of Guangzhou, the capital of coastal Guangdong province, announced plans for nearly 500 billion yuan (U.S. $70.7 billion) of projects for this year in fields including 5G, AI, and big data centers, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
In May, agreements for 73 major projects valued at 180 billion yuan (U.S. $25.4 billion) were signed in Guangzhou, Xinhua said.
Shanghai plans to invest 270 billion yuan (U.S. $38.1 billion) in its first series of 48 new projects in the next three years, focusing on “new generation networks, innovative infrastructure, AI platforms and intelligent terminals,” Xinhua reported.
Further plans call for 100,000 smart charging piles for NEVs, and unmanned factories, production lines and workshops.
Not to be outdone, Guangdong province announced 1,230 “major projects” for this year with investments totaling 5.9 trillion yuan (U.S. $835 billion) in 5G, inter-city transit and other fields.
The Guangdong spending plans alone exceed the central government’s quota for local government bonds by over 57 percent. They are also equal to 70 percent of all the central and local government bonds expected to be issued this year, based on MOF figures.
‘Probably fake’
As of early May, China’s provinces had already made multi-year plans for investing over 40 trillion yuan (U.S. $5.6 trillion) in new and traditional infrastructure, said a commentary by the China Energy Program of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, citing a report by China’s ThePaper.cn.
Fortunately for China’s finances, huge numbers like those in Guangdong’s plans are unlikely to materialize.
“The most reassuring aspect of local spending plans is they are probably fake,” said Derek Scissors, an Asia economist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
“For obvious reasons, both central and local governments want to say more spending is on the way and will solve everything,” Scissors said.
The central government’s shift in focus to high-tech project funding may be a sign of bold thinking to redirect or redefine stimulus spending, but the result may be nothing more than old wine in new bottles.
“Technological rather than traditional infrastructure is a fun twist but the same problem remains. Worthwhile projects don’t materialize out of thin air when you announce new spending plans,” Scissors said.
The surge in local government spending plans contrasts with relative restraint in new yuan bank lending.
New bank loans of 1.48 trillion yuan (U.S. $208.9 billion) in May fell more than expected from a month earlier, down 13 percent from 1.70 trillion yuan in April, Reuters reported, although lending rose 25 percent from 1.18 trillion yuan a year before.
Scissors said the May jump in local bond sales is a concern, but the pace is likely to settle down as the year progresses.
“If spent, money would be wasted,” he said.
“But local borrowing is likely to slow in the second half, before it starts to resemble the 2009 lending fiasco. Relatively calm bank lending this year is the tip-off for that,” he said.
On Thursday, the PBOC responded to the calls for liquidity with a statement promising to keep it “at a reasonable and adequate level in the second half of the year,” Xinhua reported.
New loans this year are expected to reach nearly 20 trillion yuan (U.S. $2.82 trillion), up 19 percent from 2019. Total social financing, a broad measure of credit and liquidity, is expected to exceed 30 trillion yuan (U.S. $4.23 trillion), rising 17.2 percent, PBOC Governor Yi Gang said.
ISLAMABAD: A presidential reference filed against Supreme Court judge, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, over alleged failure to disclose properties in London was quashed by the apex court on Friday.
The reference “is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed, and in consequence thereof the proceedings pending in the Supreme Judicial Council against the Petitioner in CP 17/2019 (including the show-cause notice dated 17.07.2019 issued to him) stand abated”, the court’s short order read.
The apex court’s 10-member, larger bench — headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justices Maqbool Baqar, Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Faisal Arab, Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Munib Akhtar, Sajjad Ali Shah, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Yahya Afridi, and Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed — heard the case, reserving the verdict before it was announced after 4pm.
The case was wrapped up after Justice Isa’s spouse provided the money trail pertaining to her foreign properties and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) provided its input on the matter.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), wherein the reference was filed, had earlier initiated proceedings against Justice Isa on allegations that he had purchased three properties in London in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015 but did not allegedly disclose them in wealth returns declared in Pakistan.
In his petition challenging the reference, Justice Isa had requested the apex court declare that the government’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) — tasked to look into the properties — had no legal standing and, therefore, its actions with regard to the reference against him and his family were illegal.
At a glance:
Justice Afridi the sole judge to dissent from verdict
All information collected by authorities on London properties declared null and void
Seven of 10 judges on bench order FBR to review documents submitted by Justice Isa’s wife
Income tax commissioner directed to send notices to Justice Isa’s wife, children in London within seven days
Wife, children to respond with explanation of nature and sources of funds used to acquire properties
Proceedings not to be delayed over unavailability of a respondent; therefore, reply must be submitted timely
Proceedings to conclude within 60 days of receiving notices; order to be issued within 75 days by commissioner
FBR chairperson to submit entire record of proceedings to the SJC
If chairperson fails to submit report within 100 days of the court order, the SJC will demand explanation
Reference ‘rendered baseless’
The petition had contended that no proper research was ever conducted and the property details gathered were simply the product of online surveillance.
Speaking to Geo News after the verdict was announced, former attorney general Irfan Qadir said mala fide intentions and misunderstanding were two different things.
“Mala fide intentions are made when there is substantial evidence but misunderstanding took place in this case because properties were not declared and some people were of the opinion that non-declaration of the wife’s assets was misconduct.
“After Justice Isa’s wife clarified in court that her husband had no link with the [London] properties, the reference was rendered baseless and which lead to its dismissal,” said Qadir.
The short order
Justices Bandial, Malik, Arab, Miankhel, Shah, Akhtar, and Ahmed ruled that within seven days of the verdict, the “concerned Commissioner of Inland Revenue shall himself (and not some other officer) issue appropriate notices under the Income Tax Ordinance” to Justice Isa’s wife and children.
The notice would direct them to “offer an explanation regarding the nature and source of the funds whereby the three properties in the United Kingdom that are in the names of the spouse and the children were acquired”.
According to the court order, the respondents shall submit their replies and any “such material and record as is deemed appropriate”.
“In case any of them is outside the country, it shall be the responsibility of such person to timely file a response, and the proceedings before the Commissioner shall not be adjourned or delayed for the reason of non-availability in Pakistan of such person,” the order stated.
Upon receipt of the response, the Commissioner would “give an opportunity of hearing to the respondents in person or through an authorized representative/counsel”.
“The proceedings shall be concluded before the Commissioner within 60 days of the date of receipt of the notices as aforesaid, and the order shall be issued by him within 75 days of the said date of receipt, and no adjournment or extension in time whatsoever shall be given,” it added.
Subsequently, the FBR chairperson shall submit a report duly signed by him to the SJC regarding the proceedings, ensuring that the entire record of the proceedings was appended.
“If, within 100 days from the date of this Order, no report as aforesaid is received by the Secretary from the Chairman, FBR, he shall inform the Chairman of the Council accordingly and shall, if so directed by him, write to the Chairman, FBR requiring an explanation as to why the report has not been received,” the order added.
‘Satisfied’
Reacting to the apex court order, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar said the government is satisfied with the short order and believed that the SJC is the proper forum to deal with the issues related to the judges.
On the occasion, Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz said that this is a sensitive matter and they will not take any questions on it after the briefing.
“When the order was issued, an environment was created that this was someone’s victory. But I want to make it clear that the government has the highest regards for the judges and the judiciary,†SAPM Akbar said.
“It was also said that the court has declared the Asset Recovery Unit as illegal but I couldn’t find any reference to this in the order.â€
He said, for the last 13 months a lot has been said and written about the matter but the government never made any comment in this regard.
On sending the matter to FBR, Akbar said that the federal government had already agreed to the proposal given by the Supreme Court but the petitioner rejected it.
“PTI, Prime Minister Imran Khan and I as an advocate strongly believe in the independence of the judiciary.â€
Opposition demands resignation of PM Imran
Meanwhile, the opposition parties in a joint statement welcomed the SC verdict and demanded the president and the prime minister resign from their posts for filing a reference based on mala fide intentions.
“President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister [Imran Khan] should resign on filing an illegal and unconstitutional reference against the judge of the Supreme Court.â€
The statement was issued by PPP, PML-N, ANP, JUI-F, Jamat-e-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party and National Party.
“The truth about the ARU has come out and it should be shut down in the light of the SC order.â€
“The government tried to malign the judiciary by filing a reference based on mala fide intentions against the judge,†it said, adding “this was an attempt to pressurize the judiciary.â€
‘The wrong bus’
The petitioner’s lawyer, Munir A Malik, concluded his arguments in court by saying the federation “got on the wrong bus” in the case and urged for the dismissal of the reference against the judge.
Malik said a website had been used to search for properties in London. He told the court that if one wanted to search properties in London, they had to pay for the privilege.
He said the website sends a payment receipt to the relevant person who uses it to search for properties via email. He said British-Pakistani lawyer Zia ul Mustafa — who had searched for Justice Isa’s alleged assets — had received three copies of the high commission’s verified properties.
“Copies of politicians’ properties searched were attached as well [in documents submitted],” he said. “If the government provides receipts as well then it will be revealed as to who searched for the properties.”
Malik explained that if the ARU had conducted a search for the properties, then it should provide receipts. It seemed as if the unit had only facilitated the search, he added.
“The government only wants to remove the author of the Faizabad dharna case,” noted Malik.
Justice Isa’s wife submits money trail
Zarina Montserrat Khoso Carrera, the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, had on Thursday given the money trail for purchasing three properties in UK, saying £700,000 were transferred from her personal account through a private bank in Karachi.
The 10-member full court headed by Justice Bandial had resumed the hearing in a set of petitions challenging the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa for allegedly not disclosing his foreign properties in his wealth returns.
Justice Isa’s spouse had recorded her statement via video link before the court and submitted that details pertaining to her accounts were available with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The court, while expressing satisfaction over her statement, had asked her that in order to examine the matter on merit, she would have to approach the FBR or SJC and that a decision in that regard would be given by the tax authorities.
Justice Isa had informed the Supreme Court the other day that his wife was willing to explain before the apex court through video link about the three properties acquired in the UK.
Recording her statement, the judge’s wife had expressed gratitude to the apex court for allowing her the opportunity to explain.
“I am very much nervous as this is my first experience before the court, but I will try my best to follow your instructions,” Zarina had said, adding that it has been a critical time for her as her father was near to death these day.
Change in name and solicitor’s advice
The judge’s wife had clarified that she was a Spanish citizen and that she had used her passport to purchase the properties in London.
She had added that when her husband was a lawyer, she would get a five-year visa. However, the Pakistani authorities had issued a one-year visa after 2018 only to create hurdles.
Justice Isa’s wife had explained that since she was born in Spain and her father’s and mother’s names, respectively, were Khoso and Carrera, her name on her birth certificate and passport is Zarina Carrera Khoso.
After she got married to Justice Isa back in 1983, however, the Pakistani government registered her name on her CNIC as Zarina Isa.
She had also showed her birth certificate and the old national identity card (NIC), saying she did not know that she would buy properties in London after 21 years of marriage.
She had submitted that she obtained her computerised identity card in the year 2003 and her name remained the same, adding that at that time her husband was not a judge. She was entitled to Spanish passport as her mother was Spanish and, therefore, she had a Spanish passport, she had added.
Justice Isa’s wife had underscored that when her visa expired, she applied for a new one, adding that we she received it, her husband was not a judge but a lawyer. “So the allegation that I used the office of my husband for acquiring the visa was baseless,” she had contended.
Properties and tax payments
She had bought the first property in the UK in 2004 and that she was employed at an American school in Karachi, she had explained. At that time, her solicitor Rehan Naqvi used to deal with her tax matters.
In her statement, the judge’s wife had said her tax returns were filed after advice from Naqvi and that she owned a house in Clifton, as well as a plot in Shah Latif Town. She has also received agricultural land from her father, which is now in her name.
She had said she had agricultural lands in Jaccobabad, Sindh, and Dera Murad Jamali, Balochistan, while her father used to look after the land and that the government was well aware of all that.
Justice Isa’s spouse showed the court the certificate issued by the tax authorities as she was filing her tax returns. She had underlined that when her tax record was transferred from Karachi to Islamabad, she asked the FBR in that regard; however, she claimed that the FBR had not responded to her request.
She had noted that her solicitor had advised her to open foreign account, which she did, and that she transferred the money abroad to purchase the properties through it. She had shown the court the record of her foreign currency account, saying she had to face great difficulties in seeking its details as the bank did not maintain 10-year-old records.
She had bought one property for £236,000, adding that she transferred £700,000 through a private bank to purchase the properties. “All documents which I have shown are genuine and authentic and the London Bank Account is also in my name,” Zarina had added.
She had mentioned that another property was purchased for £245,000 in 2013 and that her son lived in that flat. Another property — which was in her and her daughter’s names — was purchased for £270,000. She was now filing tax returns both in the UK and Pakistan and that she had already filed tax returns of London properties in 2018, she had added.
Two other forums
Justice Bandial had told Zarina that they had no jurisdiction to hear the matter on merit but expressed satisfaction over her statement. He explained to her that she had two relevant forums available to her — the FBR and the SJC.
The judge had advised her to present her all documentary proofs to those forums as those were competent to decide her case.
“We felt that you have sufficient documents to present and I am sure that you will be heard properly; therefore, I wish you present these documents before the relevant forums,†Justice Bandial had told her.
To which, she had replied: “Why I was not asked earlier and I waited for 13 months while my son was subjected to harassment in London.”
She had added that she was not asking for any privilege but for treatment as an ordinary citizen in Pakistan.
Justice Bandial had responded by saying she would be treated with respect and dignity and that she was a brave lady. He had said he hoped that she would be able to address her matter effectively.
“I must tell you one thing, we, as judges, are answerable for our actions in private and public life; therefore, we are much more accountable than other people, as we are holding other people accountable,” he had told Justice Isa’s wife.
“This not the trial of your husband and yours as well, but the trial of our institution,” Justice Bandial had added.
Accountability in Pakistan
Justice Baqar had remarked that what was going on in Pakistan in the name of accountability would also be looked into. He had said the destruction of institutions was underway in the country in the name of accountability and they would write in the verdict on it as well.
When Justice Baqar asked if the SJC could review the president’s performance, Barrister Farogh Naseem — the federal government’s lawyer — said the council had the authority to review anyone’s performance.
Later, the court had directed Naseem to submit before in sealed envelop Zarina’s tax returns record from 2018.
Justice Bandial had informed the barrister that Justice Isa’s wife had also complained about the FBR’s attitude, to which Naseem had submitted that if the complaint was true, it could be directly lodged with the prime minister.
Naseem had submitted before the court that Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman, Khalid Ranjha, Irfan Qadir, and Sohail Mahmood — who were to represent president, prime minister, as well as other respondents — have adopted his arguments. Therefore, they would not argue before the court.
Former 2014 protest leader Joshua Wong announced he will run in forthcoming elections for Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo), in spite of concerns that he could be targeted for political reprisals by Beijing.
Wong announced he would run in primary elections run by pan-democratic parties in the city, which are hoping to sweep the board in LegCo in forthcoming elections this September.
The election comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party prepares to impose a draconian subversion and sedition law on the city, bypassing LegCo, that will see China’s feared state security police allowed to operate in the city, in spite of promises Hong Kong would retain its traditional freedoms and status as a separate jurisdiction.
Wong said he hopes to win “the endorsement of the people of Hong Kong” for his approach to the protest movement, which has been to use his international profile to build overseas alliances and support for the pro-democracy movement.
“Since the passing of the U.S. Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act [last November], we have seen increased support from international allies and successfully forced the government to withdraw [legal changes allowing extradition to mainland China],” Wong said.
“This is the outcome of our local resistance [to China] and highlights the importance of our international connections,” said Wong, who has already been publicly denounced by Chinese officials for being a “black hand” corrupting the youth of Hong Kong.
The draft national security law currently being discussed by the National People’s Congress (NPC) standing committee in Beijing criminalizes “acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security.”
State media have said that the law targets activities and actions that currently occur in Hong Kong, and that must be “prevented, stopped and punished.” Chinese and Hong Kong officials have repeatedly claimed that front-line protesters have engaged in “terrorism” and have been incited to do so by “foreign forces.”
Law widely criticized
The law has been widely criticized by foreign governments and rights organizations as being in breach of China’s obligations under the 1984 treaty governing the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, and as paving the way for further political prosecutions of peaceful critics of the government, democracy campaigners, and rights activists.
Wong said he hopes that a landslide victory in LegCo elections could make it clearer to Beijing and the rest of the world just how much Hong Kong’s voters oppose the national security law and support the move to boost overseas support for the protest movement.
“The more people vote for candidates active in the international campaign, the more opposition Beijing will face in its campaign to wipe out our international support,” Wong said.
“The Hong Kong people’s opposition to the national security law and support for our international and online campaign and links with our allies, will be quantified at the ballot box,” Wong said.
Pan-democrats are aiming to win more than 35 of LegCo’s 70 seats in the Sept. 6 general election. Primaries for the pro-democracy camp will take place on July 11 and 12.
Nathan Law, who co-founded the political campaign group Demosisto with Wong and Agnes Chow in the wake of the 2014 Occupy Central pro-democracy movement, also said he would run in the primaries.
“The fact that I am doing this doesn’t mean I’m not afraid,” Law said, announcing his candidacy on Friday. “Nobody would be so naive as to think that Nathan Law, Joshua Wong, and Demosisto aren’t on the list [of targets under the national security law].”
“But it’s important to make sure that if they do go after us and try to suppress us in future, that it’s going to cost them more [politically] to do that, because the rest of the world will notice,” Law said. Developments closely watched
United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet said her office is closely following events in Hong Kong.
She said the implementation of the law, regardless of its final wording, “must fully comply with China’s human rights obligations and respect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong.”
The UN Human Rights Office and independent UN human rights experts have previously said that a similar law adopted in mainland China doesn’t comply with international human rights standards.
“Such laws can never be used to criminalize conduct and expression that is protected under international human rights law,” Bachelet said in a statement on the agency’s website.
Reported by Lau Siu-fung for RFA’s Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Ahead of a campaign rally in a city where a racist massacre took place, President Donald Trump threatened violence against protesters, as people in cities around the country are set to participate in peaceful anti-racism marches to mark Juneteenth, the anniversary of the end of slavery in the U.S. on June 19, 1865.
Echoing his prior violent threats and actions toward protesters, the president tweeted Friday that “any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes†who come to Oklahoma ― where he is holding a rally in Tulsa on Saturday ― “will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis.â€Â Recent anti-racism protests in those cities have drawn violent police responses, though Trump’s tweet falsely suggests otherwise.
Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020
Earlier this month, police fired tear gas on demonstrators near the White House protesting the death of George Floyd and other instances of police brutality against Black people — in order to clear the way for Trump to stage a propagandistic photo-op in front of a nearby church, which was widely condemned by religious leaders.
Around the country throughout the last few weeks, anti-racism protesters have faced violent assaults and arrests from police.
Trump, who has a long history of promoting racism and white supremacy, has routinely incited violence — most notoriously in 2017, when he said there were “very fine people†at a white nationalist and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Tulsa, where the president will host thousands of supporters on Saturday, is the site of a 1921 racist massacre of Black people by white mobs. The rally had initially been scheduled for Friday.
“It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it,†he continued, apparently ignoring the years of Black activism dedicated to making the day more widely known in American history and trying to establish it as a national holiday.
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Mark Drakeford said the virus at the Anglesey factory was down to its internal organisation, but it had been brought into the Wrexham factory.
2 Sisters said “the health, safety and well-being of our colleagues is ultimately the thing that matters most at our business…
“We will not tolerate any unnecessary risks – however small – for our existing loyal workforce at the facility.”
It said it had no agency workers at Llangefni.
Meanwhile Rowan Foods, which employs 1,500 people, said 38 staff were “absent due to testing positive for Covid-19”, but said there was “no clear evidence to suggest that there is a spread of the virus within the site”.
Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What we’re being told is that there’s a different explanation in Wrexham and a different explanation on the island of Anglesey.
“On Anglesey, we think it may be to do with the internal organisation of the factory and the challenges of maintaining social distance.
“In Wrexham, so far the science is saying that wasn’t the cause, it’s not internal to the factory. It’s just that the disease was brought in by people who would become infected outside the factory so there’s not just one explanation for both.”
He said ministers did not believe the Wrexham factory had found social distancing a challenge.
In Wales, employers are required by law to do everything they can to make sure workers can socially distance while in the workplace, or face a fine of up to £120.
The Food Standards Agency said it was “very unlikely you can catch coronavirus from food” as the virus is a respiratory illness.
Image copyright Google Maps
Image caption
Staff at Rowan Foods in Wrexham, which makes ready meals, have also tested positive
2 Sisters is one of the largest food producers in the UK and produces about a third of all the poultry products eaten each day.
It has suspended production and closed the factory, which supplies local authorities, hospitals, restaurants and small businesses, following the outbreak.
The company also supplies food to KFC and supermarkets including Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, but not from the Anglesey site.
Public Health Wales said staff and contractors working at the processing plant, which has 560 workers, had been asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
It said staff would be tested, with all workers being contacted by the company to arrange the tests.
An army testing unit will be set up in Wrexham on Friday evening to test Rowan Foods workers for Covid-19.
The company, which is owned by Oscar Meyer Quality Foods, makes ready meals for companies including Aldi, Asda, and Sainsbury’s.
Image copyright Virginia Crosbie
Image caption
Virginia Crosbie won the seat of Anglesey in December’s general election
Anglesey MP Virginia Crosbie said she was “hugely concerned” by what had happened a 2 Sisters.
“This situation highlights the risks faced by people working in this sector and we should all be hugely grateful for the contribution that the 2 Sisters employees have made, and the courage that they have demonstrated, in supporting the fight against Covid-19,” she said.
She said she was liaising with the management at the plant to ensure that “none of the workers are left without pay during the duration of the plant’s closure”.
Anglesey council leader Llinos Medi told BBC Radio Wales the island may not be ready to reopen to visitors on 6 July – the date Mr Drakeford has indicated the ‘stay local’ restrictions will be lifted. – following news of this outbreak.
“People are scared at the moment and it is extremely important we are able to bring people with us in this discussion,” she added.
“We recognise the value of the tourism sector here on Ynys Môn, but also the people of Ynys Môn deserve to be protected as well.”
Anywhere cold, damp and indoors is an ideal environment for the coronavirus to thrive.
It survives best on cool surfaces, especially if there’s no dry breeze to get rid of the moisture or any ultraviolet light from the sun to kill it off.
Add to that the challenges of social distancing on a busy production line, together with loud machinery forcing staff to raise their voices.
Researchers know that situations where people sing – or have to shout – increases the chances of them projecting the virus to others nearby.
According to Prof Calum Semple, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Liverpool, and an adviser to the government, meat processing plants can be “a perfect environment for the virus to persist on surfaces and in the air.”
Crisis, what crisis? One carefree spender has just snapped up a coveted beachfront property in Clifton, Cape Town. The luxury location is famous for its ostentatious dwellings and was recently named as the ‘most expensive suburb’ in South Africa. The seller, meanwhile, seems to have got their business done just in time.
Photo: Supplied
Clifton beachfront property sells for R18 million
High Street Auctions Director and Lead Auctioneer Joff van Reenen has told us that the seller’s market usually “takes some time to catch up†to global events. Some experts predict that luxury properties could lose 20% of their value during the coronavirus pandemic, but van Reenen is optimistic the market can soldier on:
“The seller approached High Street auctions with the expectation of finding an un-suspensive true market value for this asset and that’s what we delivered. There has been a substantial market correction across every fixed asset class nationally because of massively depressed economic sentiment.â€
“The top end of the residential sector is feeling the effects. But the real estate market is cyclic, and it often takes sellers a while to catch up when this changes. At the moment there is still a fairly large gap between most sellers’ price expectations and current market levels.â€
“The sooner sellers realise this, the sooner they’ll begin to realise true market value for their assets, and at auction conclude a sale which in today’s market is key. The average time a property in the luxury band sits on the market is in excess of six months and can be higher than 18.â€
Joff van Reenen
What you get for the price
What’s so special about this Clifton property, we hear you ask? Well, some of the more opulent features include:
Two en-suite bedrooms.
A “well-appointed†kitchen.
An open-plan living space that flows onto an expansive entertainment deck.
The deck features a separate combined service bar/kitchen and a jacuzzi.
A swimming pool can be added, following the approval of the city council.
The property also comes with direct access to walk straight onto Clifton 3rd Beach.
Photo: Supplied
Clifton’s property market ‘priciest in South Africa’
The bungalow’s panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean are breathtaking, and the real jewel in this particular crown is that the beach is completely protected from wind. As if doorstep-access to one of the most stunning beaches in the country wasn’t enough, you’ve even got a built-in form of weather control in this lockdown paradise.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A young mountain lion that had been spotted sleeping in a planter box along a normally busy street and looking at his reflection in the glass of an office tower in downtown San Francisco was safely captured Thursday and released into the wild, officials said.
The disoriented cougar roamed the streets for two days until he was spotted by a police officer near Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, said Officer Adam Lobsinger, a police spokesman.
Officers set up a perimeter and waited for animal control officials to arrive. They safely captured the 50-pound cat in an apartment building’s green area with lots of shrubbery without the use of sedatives, Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Deb Campbell said.
“In 24 hours, it only moved a few blocks. The poor guy really needed some help,†she said.
Campbell said officials get reports of cougars in San Francisco about once a year. The animals come up along the Pacific Coast from the hills south of the city but eventually find their way back to the wilderness.
“We never had a mountain lion right in the middle of downtown San Francisco,†Campbell said.
Officials had been eyeing his movements since Tuesday, when a motorist first reported seeing it in Russian Hill, a neighborhood known for the famously crooked Lombard Street.
Hours later, surveillance cameras recorded it crossing the parking lot of a television station in the Embarcadero. Soon after, it was spotted again in an area of gleaming office towers.
Officials worried the animal wouldn’t find its way south and asked residents in the area to send in any photos or video of the cat so they could monitor its movements.
Photo and video images show it crossing streets and walking among apartment building and office towers.
“It was looking in windows, looking at his reflection or something. Maybe he thought it was his mom or brother or sister,†Campbell said.
Police sent out a tweet urging people to stay vigilant.
“It is likely the mountain lion is confused and lost, and will soon find its way south and out of the city,†police officials said in a tweet Wednesday. “If approached by the mountain lion, make yourself appear big and shout.â€
Mountain lions leave their families after they are 2 years old. But this lion is under that age, and it’s unclear what led him to leave its family, Campbell said.
The big cat was examined at the Oakland Zoo before California Fish and Wildlife officials released it at a wilderness preserve.
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“They don’t believe a word I say. They decided I’m a liar. They want me to be a liar.â€
Midway through “Sitting in Limbo,†a recent feature-length drama from the BBC, Anthony Bryan (Patrick Robinson) articulates a fury with the British government shared by many Caribbean-born Britons over the last eight years.
Written by Mr. Bryan’s half brother, Stephen S. Thompson, the 90-minute drama offers an intimate and fictionalized account of how a 2012 government policy with the stated aim of creating “a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants†in Britain upended Mr. Bryan’s life, as well as the lives of thousands of other legal residents of the country, in what became known as the Windrush scandal.
“I’d like it to concentrate people’s mind on the fact that the Windrush scandal is ongoing,†Mr. Thompson said in a recent phone interview. “Despite a number of documentaries and books and articles, it being a national scandal, it was in danger of fading off the scene completely,†he added.
In “Sitting in Limbo,†we meet Mr. Bryan in 2016, at which point he had been living in Britain for 50 years, a grandfather working as a painter and decorator in Edmonton, North London. We see him suddenly labeled an illegal immigrant, unable to get work, and arrested. The cost of applying for a passport almost tips him into destitution, as he and his partner are forced to move and face the looming threat of deportation to Jamaica, a country Mr. Bryan left at the age of 8.
This is the very human cost of the decision by the future prime minister Theresa May, when she was the cabinet minister responsible for immigration rules, to impose tough new requirements for people not born in Britain to prove their legal status. The policy left thousands of U.K. residents from former British colonies in the Caribbean mistakenly classified as being in Britain illegally.
In 1948, a passenger liner called “Empire Windrush†carried some of the thousands of colonial subjects who had been invited to rebuild Britain following World War II. They became known as the “Windrush generation†and under the law at the time had an automatic right to settle. Many children arrived on their parents’ passports. The government did not keep track of those arriving from the Caribbean, and in 2010, landing cards recording arrivals were destroyed. As a result, come the 2010s, thousands of people were unable to provide paperwork to prove they were in the country legally under Mrs. May’s new rules.
On Twitter last week, Priti Patel, the current holder of Mrs. May’s old post as home secretary, said the drama “epitomizes the unimaginable suffering endured by the Windrush generation†and apologized. An hour before the film’s release, Ms. Patel invited Mr. Bryan to join a video call, The Guardian reported, which he declined.
Stephen Thompson, left, and Anthony Bryan in London in 2019. “I’d like it to concentrate people’s mind on the fact that the Windrush scandal is ongoing,†Mr. Thompson said.
For Mr. Thompson, this is all lip service. Last week, Britain’s human rights watchdog said it would assess the hostile environment policy, but none of the measures that led to the Windrush scandal have been revoked. Many people are still awaiting compensation from the government’s £200 million hardship fund. Some have received little compensation for years of being unable to work, and others have since died.
For Glenda Caesar, 58, watching “Sitting in Limbo†revived traumatic memories of her own experiences over the last few years. “His mental breakdown was them coming and knocking the door,†she said in a phone interview, referring to Mr. Bryan. “But mine was more of a depressive mode, trying to accumulate paperwork that I couldn’t find, which the government had destroyed.â€
Having arrived in Britain as a three-month-old child from Dominica in 1961, Ms. Caesar fought for the right to remain in the country for years as she faced unemployment and mounting debt after being classified as an illegal immigrant.
Filming of “Sitting in Limbo†began late last year, and the release was then delayed by the global coronavirus pandemic. But in many ways, Mr. Thompson said, the timing couldn’t be better, given that in the last month Black Lives Matter protests have sprung up across the world following the killing of George Floyd.
For decades, the legacy of Britain’s empire has created fault lines across race and economic class. These tensions have revealed themselves in the racial abuse hurled at Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, by British tabloids, and, more recently, in the toppling of a statue of a slave trader by Black Lives Matter protesters.
In “Sitting in Limbo,†Mr. Bryan is forced to gather the paper trails of his life. As his story evolves, we see him motivated by a desire for belonging and for some validation of his dual identity. In the drama’s final act, when he shows his new British passport to his partner, Janet McKay-Williams (Nadine Marshall), she can only muster a single sigh.
“If you’d asked me how I felt whilst we were making the film,†Mr. Thompson said, when asked what it meant to be a black man in Britain, “I would have said ‘At least I live in a country which allows me the opportunity to tell this story and reach a wide audience.’â€
But now, he’s reassessing. The public’s response to the film on social media and in his inbox — praise, but also outrage at the continuing scandal and Britain’s structural racism — has given him more to think about, he said: “As a writer, but also as a black Briton, where do I go from here? What stories do I want to tell next?â€
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