China unveiled the details Saturday of a planned national security law for Hong Kong that will allow the Communist Party to markedly expand its power in and tighten its control of the Asian financial hub.China’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, wound up its meeting Saturday without the legislation being formally approved, though the details released by China’s official Xinhua News Agency prompted widespread unease among legal experts and analysts.China repeatedly has prompted Hong Kong leaders to enact legislation to plug the “loophole” of national security in the wake of the yearlong protests in Hong Kong sparked by a controversial extradition bill that could see individuals sent to China for trials.According to an explanation of the law released by Xinhua, a new national security commission headed by its Beijing-appointed top leader — but supervised by the Chinese government —  will be established in Hong Kong. Chinese security agents, which it says are required to follow Hong Kong laws, also will be stationed in the city to deal directly with some cases there.The release said an agency would be established to analyze the national security situation in Hong Kong and “monitor, supervise, coordinate and support” the local government’s efforts, collect intelligence and handle relevant cases.The release said the new legislation would grant power to Hong Kong’s top leader to choose judges to handle national security cases in the city — a move sharply criticized by legal experts as undermining the principle of the rule of law and the separation of powers.Basic LawAlthough Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, its post-handover mini-constitution, the Basic Law, safeguards the city’s basic freedoms and civil liberties, as well as the rule of law according to the common law tradition.Experts say the national security law, which the state media release says “will supersede local legislation should conflicts arise,” will effectively sabotage the rule of law. The statement added that the power of interpreting the new law is vested in the Chinese legislature’s top committee, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.Echoing a senior Chinese official’s rhetoric from Monday, the statement says the enforcement of the national security law will be mainly carried out by Hong Kong authorities, except in “‘very few cases” where Beijing’s national security commissioner based in Hong Kong will retain jurisdiction.”[This will] manifest the central government’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, which will be beneficial for strengthening national security and avoiding emergency situations,” it reads.Tam Yiu Chung, Hong Kong’s representative to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong, June 15, 2020.Tam Yiu Chung, Hong Kong’s sole member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, told reporters the Chinese authorities would directly intervene only in “exceptional” circumstances, such as if unrest turned into war or the local government “became out of control.”The Xinhua statement says the draft also contains penalties for offenses relating to separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, but it did not give details.Tam said the jail sentences were likely to range from three years for minor cases to five to 10 years for more serious cases. He also said it was likely the law would not be retroactive.Additionally, the statement also said while Hong Kong’s police are to set up a special unit to enforce the national security law, the city’s department of justice will create a special prosecution unit for national security crimes.The law also will require the Hong Kong government to strengthen supervision and management of schools and other organizations on matters relating to national security.’Stabbing … like a sword’Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung, a barrister, said the details of the legislation show “Beijing’s power is stabbing right into Hong Kong’s judicial and administrative organs like a sword.””Hong Kong’s worst nightmare has been mapped out,” he said, adding that the lack of details on specific criminal actions was “extremely worrying.”Kenneth Chan, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Hong Kong’s top leader being empowered to choose judges to hear national security cases undermines the rule of law and violates the principle of independent judiciary.Jerome Cohen, a New York University law professor and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow, said the Xinhua statement left many questions unanswered.“How are the national security crimes being defined? By what criteria will the [top leader] select judges, and why is this special system necessary?” he said.Although the Xinhua statement mentions that when enacting the law, Hong Kong authorities shall also “respect and protect human rights” and safeguard citizens’ rights and freedoms in accordance with the Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Cohen called these “eye candies.” He pointed out “the very provisions in the national security law violate those protections.”“The handover has clearly become the takeover,” he said, referring to the Hong Kong’s 1997 handover of sovereignty.No ability to challenge lawMichael Davis, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said it appeared that Hong Kong’s courts would not be able to contest the new legislation for possibilities of being unconstitutional.He also was worried about the fact that the law allows the Chinese government to select cases over which it will claim jurisdiction. “Whether this is a ‘rare case’ or not, it opens the door to the very sort of criminal justice people feared in opposing the extradition law,” he said.Political science expert Chan said, “We now see that the Basic Law and the institutional guarantees that are supposed to buttress the ‘one country, two systems’ policy is being dismantled by Beijing.”“The mainland Chinese practice of law and politics, which are not supposed to have any place in the city, now takes precedence in the name of national security, patriotism and sovereignty,” he said.Beijing reportedly wants to bring the law into force quickly, before the September election of the legislature, which currently is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers.  Analysts have said the authorities were wary that pro-democracy politicians could repeat the success they experienced in the district council election last November and garner more seats in the legislature in the wake of the anti-government movement.Chan said candidates who have opposed the national security law probably will be disqualified, as pro-Beijing politicians repeatedly have warned.“The world should care about [this development] because it means Hong Kong is being taken over by the communist system and fast becoming just another coastal city of China,” he said.
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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned Saturday that Cairo would not allow militias fighting for Libya’s U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli to capture the coastal port town of Sirte or the al-Jufra airbase in central Libya.Sissi’s warning came as Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune amid diplomatic efforts to forestall a looming conflict over Sirte and oil installations farther east.SirteIn a speech to Egypt’s armed forces, el-Sissi insisted that Cairo would defend its security along a 1,200-kilometer common border with Libya, aided by friends and allies, including Libya’s traditional tribal forces.Call for cease-fireHe added that Egypt did not covet any Libyan territory and said its objective was to support security and stability inside Libya and prevent mercenaries and terrorists from entering Egypt. He called on forces from each of Libya’s rival governments to observe a cease-fire and begin negotiations toward a political settlement.At the same time Saturday, media loyal to eastern commander General Khalifa Haftar showed video of armored forces that they claimed were heading toward territory controlled by rivals west of Sirte.Meanwhile, Sarraj made a one-day visit to neighboring Algeria to discuss a possible mediation effort by Tebboune. The Algerian president met with the head of the Libyan parliament, Aquelah Salah, an ally of Haftar, earlier in the week.Sarraj vetoed an Egyptian proposal to hold an emergency session of the Arab League to discuss foreign intervention in Libya. Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Saturday that Turkey has now sent 15,000 Syrian mercenaries to fight in Libya. VOA could not independently confirm the figure.A Turkish delegation met with Sarraj and his government several days ago, reportedly discussing a multibillion-dollar trade deal. Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates, which support Haftar, are concerned about any oil drilling concessions granted by Sarraj to Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.FILE – Khalifa Haftar, the military commander who dominates eastern Libya, arrives to attend an international conference on Libya at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 29, 2018.Russian mercenariesThe U.S., at the same time, has said it is concerned about the presence of several thousand Russian mercenaries and a number of Russian warplanes now based at Haftar’s al-Jufra airbase.Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches at the University of Paris, told VOA that “France has tried to make the case with Washington that allowing Turkish forces a major foothold in Libya is a strategic mistake.”
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Turkey is seeking to reap diplomatic rewards from its military success in Libya. Recent gains by Turkish-backed forces of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) are enhancing Ankara’s influence in Libya and with the European Union.Turkey sent military personnel to Libya in January to support the Tripoli-based GNA. It had been under sustained attack from forces led by Libyan General Khalif Haftar, who has a power base in eastern Libya. Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) has the backing of countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia.   
 
The Turkish military deployment to Libya, widely seen as a gamble by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, turned out to be a game changer in the civil war.  
 FILE – Mourners pray for fighters killed in airstrikes by warplanes of General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, in Tripoli, Libya, April 24, 2019.Haftar’s forces were driven from the suburbs of Tripoli and continue to sustain territorial losses.
 
Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, led a high-level delegation Wednesday to Tripoli, underlining the critical role Turkey is now playing in Libya. According to pro-government Turkish media reports, Ankara is looking to establish an air and naval base in Libya.  
 
The Turkish government so far hasn’t officially commented on the news reports, but Ankara’s military presence in Libya could be a big bargaining chip with the European Union.   
 
“Libya is so strategically important to the EU, as Libya is the gateway of Africa to Europe,” said retired Turkish ambassador to Qatar Mithat Rende.
 
The Libyan civil war’s chaos made the country one of the main smuggling routes for migrants trying to enter the EU.   
 
Ankara already has a deal with the EU to prevent refugees and migrants from trying to enter through Turkey, in exchange for billions of dollars in aid.   
 
Political science professor Ilhan Uzgel of Ankara University said Erdogan now sees an opportunity to extend Turkey’s role as the EU’s gatekeeper to Libya. Ankara has myriad issues it’s negotiating with Brussels in the renewal of a customs union on visa free travel.  
 
“Turkey used the Syrian refugees as a bargaining chip against the EU, it was a policy of blackmail, and it worked somehow. Now with Libya, Turkey has a new card or leverage against the EU. So, they [the EU] may not be happy, but the EU is usually making a bargain with Turkey over the refugee issues,” said Uzgel.  
 Russia Looks to Washington for Help in Libya Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says he would welcome any efforts by Washington to use its influence on Turkey to help fashion a truce in LibyaFrance and Germany have sharply criticized Turkish military intervention in Libya, although with Germany taking over the EU presidency in July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel could be looking to Erdogan for a deal.  
 
“Turkish military presence in Libya would strengthen its position vis-a-vis EU in general and Germany in particular,” said international relations expert Zaur Gasimov of Bonn University.   
 
“The fears of more influx of refugees have never been stronger than now in Europe, already heavily challenged by the [coronavirus] pandemic and economic recession,” he added.  
 
Merkel spoke by telephone with Erdogan this month about Libya. Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio flew to Ankara for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on stabilizing the North African country.   
 
“They [the EU] don’t like his [Erdogan’s] personality; they don’t respect him. But they know that he can make a deal, and he keeps his promises in a way,” Uzgel said.   
 
In the U.S., the Trump Administration also could see Ankara as a partner in Libya.  
 
“Turkey and the U.S. can together make a positive difference [in Libya],” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Friday.  
 
U.S. President Donald Trump and Erdogan agreed this month to cooperate on Libya, although the nature of the cooperation remains unclear.  
 
Also this month, the U.S. military accused Russia of seeking to push for a strategic foothold on NATO’s southern flank at the expense of innocent Libyan lives. Moscow is a key backer of Haftar, although it denies any military involvement. But Turkey’s Libya military intervention is seen as thwarting Russian ambitions.   
 
A meeting between Russian and Turkish foreign ministers called by Russia for June 14 to discuss Libya was canceled.  
 
“The cancelation came from Turkey,” Uzgel said. ” It’s the rule of any conflict it’s usually the losing side who asks for a cease-fire. Turkey does not want to stop in Libya.”    
 
Moscow, however, is accused of establishing a substantial military presence in Libya. On Thursday, the U.S. Africa Command published what it said were new images of Russian warplanes in Libya.   
 
“Russia has sent its military jets to Libya, but we have not heard they had used their jets effectively against GNA forces. It could have been used effectively because [Turkish] drones are no match against fighter jets. But they haven’t been used. It appears more like symbolic importance; it’s more of a bluff than a tool in a fight” said Uzgel.
 
Moscow may be reluctant to risk its relations with Turkey, which have markedly improved in the past few years, much to the alarm of Turkey’s NATO partners. The two countries have strong trade ties and are cooperating in the Syrian civil war, despite backing rival sides in the conflict. Turkey, Russia and Iran are part of the Astana Process, which is seeking to end the conflict. While Moscow and Ankara struck an agreement to enforce a cease-fire in Afrin, the last rebel-controlled region.
 
Observers say that despite Turkey’s success in Libya, it still needs to handle Moscow with care. Russia can undermine Turkey’s efforts to stabilize Libya or push back against Turkish interests elsewhere.   
 
However, Gasimov believes pragmatism is likely to prevail.  
 
“Turkey and Russia would highly likely manage a deal in Libya, as they did in Syria, and indeed the Libyan antagonism would even bond them closer,” he said.  
 
Gasimov said Russia could be accommodating to Turkey’s demand to end Haftar’s leadership role, as part of any Libyan deal.  
 
“The Russian position is heterogeneous and dynamic. Haftar, who studied in the U.S.S.R., is not seen any more as the only key factor for Russia’s presence in Libya. Moscow is searching for alternatives,” he said.  
 
Any Russian deal, though, is likely to be limited by Turkey’s desire to work with its Western allies in Libya.  
 
“Ankara can make a deal with Moscow but on its terms,” said Uzgel. “They may be a short-term limited deal with Russia. Anything more and the EU would not be happy or the United States. There may be a temporary small-scale deal with Russia.” 
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World Refugee Day is being observed Saturday with the aim of raising awareness of refugees throughout the world. In Italy, a special prayer vigil was held in Rome this week titled “Dying of Hope,” in memory of the thousands who lose their lives at sea, on their journeys in search of a better life in Europe.Inside the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, many gathered to pray in memory of those who have drowned in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa and for those who continue to do so. Africans and Italians maintained social distancing inside the church as they prayed together. The Secretary General of the Italian Bishops Conference, Monsignor Stefano Russo, addressed the congregation.A woman with a face mask speaks with medical staff in protective clothing at a refugee camp after two suspect cases of coronavirus were allegedly confirmed and the area cordoned off as a red zone, on the outskirts of Rome, April 8, 2020.Marco Impagliazzo is a member of the Catholic Community of Sant’ Egidio who organized the vigil. He said it is essential that everyone, Africans and Europeans, deal with the pandemic on the African continent together.Impagliazzo said that if this does not happen, there will be other long waves of migrant arrivals and the virus must help us understand that we must all row in the same direction.More than 40,000 migrants are believed to have died in efforts to reach Europe via land or sea crossings since 1990. 
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A top U.S. federal prosecutor whose office has been investigating President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, on Friday refused to step down after the administration abruptly said it was replacing him.
 
The dramatic standoff marks the latest in series of unusual actions by Attorney General William Barr that critics say are meant to benefit Trump politically and undermine the independence of the Justice Department.
 DOJ Tries to Oust US Attorney Investigating Trump Allies Berman said he was refusing to leave his post and said his ongoing investigations would continueIt also comes as Trump seeks to purge officials perceived as not fully supporting him. In recent weeks he has fired a series of agency watchdogs, including one who played a key role in Trump’s impeachment earlier this year.
 
Barr, in a surprise late-night announcement, said the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, was stepping down and that he would nominate Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to take Berman’s spot.
 
Berman, who leads a powerful office known for prosecuting high-profile terrorism cases, Wall Street financial crimes and government corruption, said he first learned of the move from Barr’s press release and would not go quietly.
 
“I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning my position,” Berman said in a statement. “I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.”
 
A Justice Department official, asked about Berman’s refusal to leave the post until a successor is confirmed, told Reuters the “timeline remains the same” as Barr laid out in announcing the replacement.
 
Since being appointed in January 2018, Berman has not shied from taking on figures in Trump’s orbit. His office oversaw the prosecution of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, indicted two Giuliani associates and launched a probe into Giuliani in connection with his efforts to dig up dirt on Trump’s political adversaries in Ukraine.
 
Prosecutors have not accused Giuliani of wrongdoing. Berman’s abrupt attempted dismissal came as the Justice Department asks a federal court to block publication of a book by former National Security Adviser John Bolton, whose claims include an allegation Trump tried to interfere with a probe overseen by Berman’s office.
 
“This late Friday night dismissal reeks of potential corruption of the legal process,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, wrote on Twitter. “What is angering President Trump? A previous action by this U.S. Attorney or one that is ongoing?”
 
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, also a Democrat, said he intends to invite Berman to testify.
 Timing
 
Berman replaced Preet Bharara, who was himself fired as U.S. Attorney in early 2017 soon after Trump became president. Bharara, an outspoken critic of the president, said the timing of the push to replace his successor was strange.
 
“Why does a president get rid of his own hand-picked US Attorney in SDNY on a Friday night, less than 5 months before the election?” Bharara wrote on Twitter, referring to the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November.
 
While the Senate considers Clayton’s nomination, Trump has appointed Craig Carpenito, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, as the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Barr said in his statement.
 
But it was not clear whether Barr can force Berman out. Berman was never confirmed by the Senate, the usual process for appointing U.S. Attorneys, and was instead appointed by the judges of the district in accordance with a U.S. law that says he can serve until the vacancy is filled.
 
Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, said the vacancy needs to be filled by someone who is Senate-confirmed or chosen by a judge. Carpenito, Vladeck wrote on Twitter, is neither of those. But Vladeck also cited a conflicting law that gives the president the authority to remove U.S. Attorneys.
 
Before Clayton joined the SEC, he was a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Sullivan & Cromwell. He is seen as a bipartisan consensus-builder during his time leading the SEC.
 
The Justice Department official said Clayton, who had been planning to leave the administration and return to New York, “expressed interest” in the U.S. Attorney role in New York, and Barr “thought it was a good idea.”
 
Barr’s announcement comes less than a week before Nadler’s committee is set to hold a hearing where Justice Department officials are set to testify about political interference at the Department.
 
Earlier this year, Barr intervened to scale back the sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump ally Roger Stone, prompting all four career prosecutors to withdraw from the case in protest. 
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Protesters in North Carolina’s capital pulled down parts of a Confederate monument Friday night and hanged one of the toppled statues from a light post.Demonstrators used a strap to pull down two statues of Confederate soldiers that were part of a larger obelisk near the state capitol in downtown Raleigh, news outlets reported.  DC Protesters Pull Down, Burn Statue of Confederate GeneralCheering demonstrators jumped up and down as the 3.4-meter statue of Albert Pike – wrapped with chains – wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backward, landing in a pile of dustPolice officers earlier in the evening had foiled the protesters’ previous attempt to use ropes to topple the statues. But after the officers cleared the area, protesters mounted the obelisk and were able to take down the statues.  They then dragged the statues down a street and used a rope to hang one of the figures by its neck from a light post. The other statue was dragged to the Wake County courthouse, according to the News & Observer.Earlier in the day, hundreds of demonstrators had marched through downtown Raleigh and Durham to protest against police brutality and to celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.Numerous Confederate statues have been vandalized or torn down across the South in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.Confederate monuments were toppled in nearby Durham and Chapel Hill in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 
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Activists and religious leaders are holding a virtual march Saturday to highlight the plight of poor people in the United States.The Poor People’s Mass Assembly and Moral March on Washington was to be held in front of the White House, but the coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to instead mount a digital gathering.Organizers began making plans for the event two years ago, seeking to focus attention not only on the poor, but also on the systemic racism in the U.S., a theme that has been highlighted in recent demonstrations across the U.S. and around the world. following the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer in Minneapolis held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.Poor people will talk about their lives in the online campaign that will be streamed on various media outlets, including MSNBC and Radio One.Organizers of the event are also looking to focus attention on the country’s systemic ecological devastation that disproportionately affects poor communities.Dr. William J.  Barber and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis are the co-chairs of the virtual event. Hosts of the event will include former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Danny Glover, Jane Fonda, David Oyelowo, Wanda Sykes, and Debra Messing. 
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Giant footprints found in a disused coal mine belong to Australia’s biggest predatory dinosaur, according to new research.Analysis by the University of Queensland estimates this huge meat-eating predator was about 10 meters long, almost as big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The tracks were found in the ceilings of old coal mines in the 1950s but were only recently scientifically examined.For years, they lay untouched in a museum but have now been investigated by paleontologist Anthony Romilio. He said they are likely to have been made by a fearsome prehistoric creature. His study is published in the journal Historical Biology.Romilio says while no bones have been found, the tracks provide a fascinating window into the distant past.“We find many more footprints than what we do skeletons, and we can tell by the shape that this particular animal was a meat-eating dinosaur,” he said. “We can tell by the size — nearly 80 centimeters in length — that the animal that made them had legs about 3 meters long, and probably a body up to 10 meters long. We can tell the environments in which they lived as well as the community of dinosaurs.”Dinosaur bones and fossils have been found in most parts of Australia, but the continent’s flat, exposed landscape is not considered suitable for preserving the remains of the ancient creatures.However, the state of Queensland has provided some significant discoveries.Fossils indicate it was home to an Ankylosaurus, which was covered in bony armor to protect it from carnivores.The Muttaburrasaurus was named after the small town of Muttaburra in Queensland, and was a huge herbivore, up to 8 meters tall, with a beak and sharp teeth for eating plants.  Scientists believe it would have lived in forests near the edge of a giant inland sea that covered vast areas of central Australia 110 million years ago.Many dinosaur species became extinct around 66 million years ago, but their descendants still exist in abundance today: birds.   
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In a surprise move, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday that it was replacing Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan whose office has been investigating Rudolph W. Giuliani, the personal lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump.Attorney General William Barr said in a news release late on Friday evening that Trump intends to nominate Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to replace Berman as head of the Southern District of New York.The reason for Berman’s departure could not be immediately determined.”I learned in a press release from the Attorney General tonight that I was ‘stepping down’ as United States Attorney. I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning my position, to which I was appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,” Berman said in a statement.pic.twitter.com/hFNvQs5orV— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 20, 2020He said that until a presidentially appointed nominee was confirmed by the Senate, the office’s “investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.”Since being appointed to the post in January 2018, Berman has not shied from taking on powerful figures in Trump’s orbit.He oversaw the prosecution of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, indicted two Giuliani associates and launched a probe into Giuliani in connection with his efforts to dig up dirt in the Ukraine on Trump’s political adversaries.While the Senate considers Clayton’s nomination, Trump has appointed Craig Carpenito, currently the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District, Barr said in his statement.Berman, who served on Trump’s transition team, could not immediately be reached for comment. Berman had replaced Preet Bharara, who was himself fired soon after Trump became president.Bharara said the timing and manner of the move to replace Berman was strange.”Why does a president get rid of his own hand-picked US Attorney in SDNY on a Friday night, less than 5 months before the election?” Bharara wrote on Twitter.Clayton, a former Wall Street lawyer seen as a bipartisan consensus-builder during his time leading the SEC, also could not immediately be reached for comment. 
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The United States Supreme Court this week delivered legal setbacks to the Trump administration with rulings on immigration and LGBTQ rights — two issues important to the president’s supporters. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report on the president’s reaction to these decisions and how they may impact him politically ahead of the November election.
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The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a request to require everyone attending President Donald Trump’s campaign rally Saturday in Tulsa to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The state court ruled Friday that several local residents who made the request for all rally attendees to wear face masks could not establish they a had clear legal right to seek such a mandate. The Trump campaign said organizers would be providing masks and hand sanitizer to all who want them. Organizers will be checking the temperature of all attendees to guard against the spread of the virus. The campaign said it is taking “safety seriously” as some health experts have warned that the large gathering could promote the spread of the coronavirus.  Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump camp near the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 19, 2020.The managers of the Bank of Oklahoma Center, the indoor multipurpose arena in Tulsa where the rally will take place, have asked the president’s campaign for a written health and safety plan. BOK Center officials said they requested the plan because Tulsa has experienced a recent increase in coronavirus cases.   The arena has seats for 19,000 people, and the Trump campaign says more than a million people have sought tickets. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum says crowds of 100,000 or more people are expected in the area around the rally.  Bynum declared a civil emergency and set an overnight curfew for the area around the arena, citing the unrest that followed some of the recent protests across the country against police brutality. However, Trump tweeted Friday that he spoke to Bynum and there would not be a curfew.I just spoke to the highly respected Mayor of Tulsa, G.T. Bynum, who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters attending the #MAGA Rally. Enjoy yourselves – thank you to Mayor Bynum! @gtbynum— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020The mayor’s office originally said the curfew would remain in effect from 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday and would again be in force on Saturday night.  Bynum said in his order, “I have received information from the Tulsa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies that shows that individuals from organized groups who have been involved in destructive and violent behavior in other states are planning to travel to the City of Tulsa for purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally.” Bynum did not identify the groups to which he was referring.  Trump tweeted on Friday, “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!”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, 2020A White House spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, said Trump was referring to violent protesters, not peaceful ones.  The Tulsa rally was originally scheduled for Friday but was pushed back a day after criticism that it fell on Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the United States, and takes place in a city where racial killings occurred in 1921 that left several hundred African Americans dead. It is Trump’s first major reelection event since a coronavirus shutdown across much of the country and recent nationwide protests sparked by the death of African American George Floyd while in the custody of white police officers in Minneapolis last month.
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Fugitive former Iranian judge Gholamreza Mansouri was found dead in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, in suspicious circumstances.Police initially told RFE/RL’s correspondent in Bucharest that the man fell from the sixth-floor window of the hotel onto the sidewalk, but later in the evening authorities said Mansouri’s body was found inside the hotel near the lobby.The correspondent said the hotel is not a large building, and has a small atrium. Photos of the building show it appears to also have a backyard.Reuters said Mansouri fell from the window but his body was inside the hotel.Based on initial official reports, the Duke Hotel receptionist in Bucharest informed the Romanian police that the body of a resident from one of the upper floors had been found at 2:30 p.m. local time on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.Police cars are parked outside the Duke Hotel where Gholamreza Mansouri died after falling from a high floor inside a hotel, in Bucharest, Romania, June 19, 2020.Mansouri’s name was not initially announced by the police, but later the correspondent cited the Romanian police spokesman as confirming that the deceased was Gholamreza Mansouri. He was already dead when the ambulance arrived. Police said he fell from the sixth floor.The spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry, Abbas Mousavi in Tehran, confirmed Mansouri’s death and said his country was waiting for Romania to officially convey the exact reason for the deadly incident.Detectives from the Romanian homicide department have initiated an investigation to determine whether the death was a murder, a suicide or an accident.Fugitive judgeThe fugitive judge is accused of receiving a bribe of half a million euros (about $560,000) in the Islamic Republic of Iran. During a recent court hearing about widespread financial corruption in the country’s judiciary, it was revealed that Mansouri had fled Iran.News about his presence in Europe earlier this month prompted Iranian human rights activists and Amnesty International to demand his arrest for persecuting journalists in Iran.Later, it was revealed that the fugitive judge was in Bucharest. Reacting to the revelation, the Islamic Republic said that Mansouri was under Interpol detention at Tehran’s request. “He will soon be extradited to Iran,” the Islamic Republic’s judiciary claimed at the time.Nonetheless, a Romanian court on June 12 postponed the extradition of Mansouri, demanding that Tehran present documents and evidence against the accused. He was released from custody and was under police watch.Meanwhile, Romanian media had reported that Mansouri protested his arrest by the local police and claimed that he was a permanent resident of Turkey, where he owns a residence.”If extradited to Iran, my life would be in danger,” Mansouri told local media.Additional accusationsMoreover, a complaint against Mansouri was also lodged in Germany by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for his role in human rights violations, including the mass arrest of journalists in 2013.Mansouri, who was previously the investigator of Branch 9 of the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office and the head of the prosecutor’s office, was also involved in the seizure of some newspapers in Iran and the arrest of a group of journalists in 2012.Adelina Radulescu of RFE/RL’s Romanian service contributed to this report.
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