Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara chose Hamed Bakayoko to be prime minster, replacing Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who died suddenly earlier this month.Coulibaly had been the preferred successor to Ouattara.Ouattara did not confirm if he will seek a third term, but he said he will make an announcement next week.Ouattara was nominated to be the presidential candidate of his RHDP party on Wednesday.Opposition groups in Ivory Coast oppose Ouattara extending his 10-year reign, saying a third term in office would be unconstitutional.The parties have until the September 1 to declare their candidates for the election, scheduled for October 31. 
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The passage of a Chinese civilian ship across part of Malaysia’s continental shelf this month shows China aims to bolster its claim over a widely contested sea in the face of U.S. opposition, observers of the dispute say.The Sansha II, a 400-seat transport vessel, parked briefly at James Shoal around July 16 and then returned to a base closer to the Chinese mainland, according to ship activity maps, a U.S. think tank and a U.S. Naval War College researcher. The submerged feature sits at the southern boundary of Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea and within Malaysia’s 370-kilometer maritime exclusive economic zone.China vies for sovereignty over the sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which have weaker militaries and less infrastructure on the sea’s tiny islets. Claimants prize the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea for fish, energy reserves and shipping lanes.Southeast Asian countries that dispute China’s claims worry that the transport could someday ferry supplies to fortify Chinese-controlled artificial islands in the sea’s Spratly archipelago near James Shoal, said Shahriman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies research organization in Kuala Lumpur.In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76, front) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68, rear) Carrier Strike Groups sail together in formation, in the South China Sea, July 6, 2020.“I think Southeast Asian claimants will be concerned about the possible dual use nature of the Sansha II,” Lockman said. “Its recent voyage could be interpreted as a familiarization trip. Although the ship is designed for passengers and cargo, it could also be used to resupply China’s artificial islands in the Spratlys.”The 128-meter-long transport would have visited the shoal days after U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the submerged feature doesn’t belong to Beijing. The U.S. government has no claim to the sea but seeks to control rival superpower China’s maritime expansion.“James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the ‘southernmost territory of China,’” Pompeo said July 13. “International law is clear. An underwater feature like James Shoal cannot be claimed by any state and is incapable of generating maritime zones.”China cites historical usage records to defend its maritime claims and rejected Pompeo’s words.“It’s pretty unusual for [the Sansha II] to go 1,000 miles from shore to James Shoal,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.“It was clearly meant to send a message immediately after the statement, because the U.S. statement specifically called out James Shoal,” Poling said.Chinese naval ships visit the shoal about once a year to assert sovereignty over the same sea tract, Poling said. Malaysian gas and oil projects operate in the nearby Spratly Islands.Chinese officials hope the transport’s voyage will demonstrate to other countries civilian authority over the outer limits of their nine-dash line, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines. The line is composed of nine dashes that roughly delineate China’s claim to about 90 percent of the sea.“What they’re doing is just part of an overall effort to try to make it appear that the entire South China Sea is under their civilian control and civilian administrations,” Batongbacal said.The Sansha II was christened about a year ago to “take on multiple roles,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency says. Roles include transport and supply services, emergency rescue, medical assistance and scientific surveys on small islands, it says.James Shoal, being 20 meters underwater, cannot be used by any single country to claim a separate, surrounding maritime economic zone under international law, analysts believe.For China, “it’s an excessive claim that has no basis,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.    
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More than 70% of Americans hold unfavorable views toward China, a record disapproval rating as many fault Chinese authorities for failing to contain the coronavirus, according to the latest survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.  The same survey found more than 3 of every 4 Americans – Democrats and Republicans alike – believe the U.S. should try to promote human rights in China even at the cost of economic ties between the two countries. The Changes in U.S. public opinion toward China from 2005 to 2020, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center.The latest Pew report comes as the U.S. government, led by President Donald Trump, has toughened its stance toward Beijing and questions concerning China are emerging as key to the early November presidential election.  At the time, 64% of Americans said China has done a bad job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, with 78% of Americans placing “a great deal or fair amount” of the blame for the global coronavirus pandemic on China’s mishandling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan and subsequent spread of COVID-19.  Faith in Chinese leader Xi Jinping “to do the right thing in world affairs” has also deteriorated, according to the survey, with 77% saying they have either little or no confidence in Xi. The question on Xi was first included in the Pew Research Center’s nationwide polling in 2014, Laura Silver, a senior researcher at the center and lead author of the report, told VOA in a phone interview.  In 2014, 28% of Americans said they had some or a lot of confidence in the Chinese leader but today, “that number has gone down 10 percentage points,” she said. Americans appear divided on the question of whether it is more important to get tougher than to build a strong relationship with China on economic issues – 33% of Democrats versus 66% of Republicans favor “get tougher.”  FILE – Police arrest a protester after a Chinese flag was removed from a flag pole at a rally in support of Xinjiang Uighurs’ human rights in Hong Kong, China, Dec. 22, 2019.But on human rights, there’s greater alignment with 70% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans saying the U.S. “should try to promote human rights in China, even if it harms economic relations with China.” Americans ages 18 to 29, who have traditionally viewed China more favorably than their elders, now have a less positive perspective with more than 50% of them viewing China unfavorably, “for the first time,” Silver said.  The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fact tank that takes no money from any government, the U.S. government included, started conducting surveys on Americans’ views toward China in 2005.  A graph detailing the trend over the past 15 years shows that until 2012, the majority of Americans surveyed viewed China favorably. Negative opinions rose during the second Obama administration that began in January 2013 and lasted until January 2017. Negative opinions flattened out during the first year of the Trump administration, then quickly rose starting in 2018.
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Big Tech companies reported mixed quarterly earnings Thursday, a day after their top executives faced a tough congressional grilling over their market power and alleged monopolistic practices.The staggering economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic was reflected in reports released Thursday from Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet.Apple delivered surprisingly strong numbers with both its revenue and profit rising, defying analysts’ lowered expectations. The iPhone maker’s revenue rose 11% to nearly $60 billion while profit rose 12% to $11.3 billion.Alphabet, Google’s holding company, reported its first-ever drop in quarterly revenue compared with the prior year. Although it was only a 2% decline, it was a telling sign of a downturn in the digital ad market while also serving as a reminder that the economy is struggling even more than it did more than a decade ago during the Great RecessionGoogle’s low point during that time came during the second quarter of 2009 when its revenue edged up by 3%. Alphabet’s profit for its most recent quarter plunged 30% to nearly $7 billion.Facebook, which also makes most of its money from digital ads, recorded an 11% increase in revenue from the prior year, the social networking company’s slowest growth since going public eight years ago. The company’s profit nearly doubled to roughly $6 billion from the same time last year. Part of the big jump stemmed from special charges last year.Amazon was a pandemic winner, with people stuck at home relying on the company to shop online. It reported record quarterly profit, doubling to $5.2 billion from last year while its revenue soared 40% to $88.9 billion.
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Conservationists are lauding the arrest Wednesday in Kenya of alleged wildlife trafficker Abubakar Mansur Mohammed Surur, who also is wanted in the United States. Kenya authorities, with the help of U.S. officials, arrested Surur in the coastal city of Mombasa.Philip Muruthi, vice president of species conservation and science at the Africa Wildlife Foundation, said he welcomed the arrest.  “By catching a kingpin, you can actually disrupt the illegal wildlife trade. He is a very dangerous individual who has funding and who is involved in multiple illegalities, and those are the kingpins you really want to catch,” Muruthi said. “One of the weaknesses of fighting the illegal wildlife trade is that we don’t get to the kingpin. A lot of the arrests are of the smaller guys.” Surur is charged with conspiracy to traffic 190 kilograms of rhino horns and 10 tons of ivory worth more than $7 million. The Kenyan national also is accused of money laundering and distribution of heroin. Investigators believe Surur is a member of the Kromah network, a smuggling organization that trades in drugs and illegal wildlife products.The network shipped its goods out of ports in Pemba, Mozambique, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Mombasa.  FILE – A ranger gestures to a rhino after it was killed for its horn by poachers in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Aug. 27, 2014.Last year, authorities in Uganda arrested the head of the network, Liberian national Moazu Kromah. In 2017, Kenyan police arrested two other key figures, brothers Ibrahim Akasha and Baktash Akasha. The brothers were extradited to the U.S., where they are now serving long-term jail sentences.Such high-profile arrests have been made possible by authorities from different countries working together, said Alastair Nelson, who works with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a network of 500 experts in the fields of human rights, democracy, governance and development issues.”One of the reasons that we saw this law enforcement success is that we had long term investigations by groups that were mandated to work across different countries and work with different local law enforcement authorities,” Nelson said Wednesday in an online discussion. “That was the U.S. DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] with the Akashas, that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the Kromah case and China Anti Smuggling Bureau, and they use long term traditional investigation methods. So they used a lot of human intelligence, they got close to the organized crime groups, but the key is that they had to work with very closely in partnership with trusted national law enforcement authorities.”Corruption and political connections often are blamed for the failure of some African countries to arrest and prosecute high-level figures in the illegal drug and wildlife trades. Now, the global effort to save Africa’s wild animals is yielding fruit, with the Africa Wildlife Foundation showing elephant and rhino populations are on the rise in some parts of the continent.  
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NASA aims its new rover to an ancient Martian river delta searching for evidence of past life.  A French astronaut is scheduled to become the first European astronaut aboard a SpaceX capsule destined for the International Space Station. And Virgin Galactic unveils a new spaceship. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space.
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The U.S. House of Representatives begins a new mandated face mask policy Thursday, following an order from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was facing increasing pressure to address safety concerns in one of the nation’s most high-profile office complexes.  Pelosi issued the order late Wednesday after U.S. FILE – Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert studies notes during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, July 28, 2020.Gohmert said in an interview with CNN last month he did not wear a mask because he was being tested regularly for the coronavirus.  “I don’t have the coronavirus, turns out as of yesterday I’ve never had it,” Gohmert said. “But if I get it, you’ll never see me without a mask.”  The 66-year-old Republican lawmaker attended a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday with Attorney General William Barr, during which chairman Jerry Nadler scolded several other Republicans for not wearing masks.  Politico also reported Gohmert returned to his Capitol Hill office after receiving the diagnosis at the White House so that he could inform his staff in person. Responding to news of the positive test, House Majority leader Steny Hoyer criticized Gohmert and many other Republicans for not consistently donning a mask.  “Too many Republicans have continued to act extraordinarily irresponsibly, including Louis Gohmert. Louie Gohmert ought to quarantine himself right now. He had this test, as I understand it prior to the Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, he was in the committee room. He put on his mask when he sat down in his chair.  He came into the room without a mask on,” Hoyer told reporters.  Under the new mask policy in the House, all members of Congress and staff are required to wear a mask at all times in the Capitol and office buildings.  The policy instituted under the direction of the U.S. Capitol’s attending physician says, “Any person not wearing a face cover will be asked to put on a face cover or leave the building. This requirement will remain in effect until a determination is made that such a requirement is no longer necessary.”   
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For the first time, U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting delaying this year’s election.  
 
Trump, on Twitter on Thursday morning, alleged, without evidence, that mail-in balloting would be make the 2020 presidential balloting the “most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history.”
 
The president added: “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020The president does not have the power to delay the election, which is to be held November 3rd. The date is set by Congress under the Constitution.  
 
Delaying the election would violate American law, wrote presidential historian Michael Beschloss on Twitter.  
 
“Never in American history—not even during the Civil War and World War II–has there been a successful move to ‘Delay the Election’ for President,” said Beschloss, the author of ten books about American history.Never in American history—not even during the Civil War and World War II–has there been a successful move to “Delay the Election” for President.— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) July 30, 2020Polls indicate Trump is significantly trailing the presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden in key battleground states.  
 
The director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Chris Krebs, told the Brookings Institution on July 17th, “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The 2020 election will be the most secure election in modern history.”
 US Officials Promising ‘Most Secure Election in Modern History’The officials say while the November presidential election will not be risk free, defense and back-up systems should guarantee a free and fair resultKrebs said that said at least 92% of U.S. states now have systems in place to ensure there is a paper record of every vote cast, making it easier to audit election results to make sure no one is able to tamper with the tally. And that number could rise as a growing number of states are expected to turn to mail-in ballots instead of in-person voting because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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