Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is calling for an evaluation of justice and police officials in Guanajuato state, where gunmen killed 26 people and wounded five others at an unlicensed rehabilitation center.Authorities said gunmen attacked the rehab center in the city of Irapuato in Guanajuato state on Wednesday.A day after the attack, Lopez Obrador called on the opposition-led Guanajuato government to launch an investigation saying, “The problem (violence, murders and gang confrontations) grew a lot, they let it grow and we’ll have to see if there is no criminal association between criminals and the authority.”Pedro Cortes, secretary of public security in Irapuato, said street-level drug dealers are known to seek shelter from drug gangs in the rehabilitation centers.The attack occurred northwest of Mexico City in an area where the Jalisco cartel has been part of a violent turf battle.The La Jornada newspaper said there have been four attacks since December on annexes in Irapuato, where people were abducted, some killed, and a building was set on fire. 
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Venezuela is expecting the European Union to take a more objective stance on events in the country after reversing its decision to expel the bloc’s ambassador.Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told local media Thursday that Caracas was making “a gesture” in order “not to hinder the dialogue with the European Union.” He said the government hopes “therefore, that there will also be gestures from Europe to have a much more objective position on the events in our country.”President Nicolas Maduro said the decision to rescind the expulsion was made after a joint communiqué was issued calling for a new stage of dialogue between EU High Representative Josep Borrell and Arreza.Maduro on Monday gave EU ambassador Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa 72 hours to leave the country, in response to European sanctions against 11 Venezuelans including a travel ban and a freeze on assets.Borrell condemned the expulsion, saying the EU would call Venezuela’s envoy to the bloc.Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament criticized the attempt to expel the EU ambassador as an “unacceptable expulsion.”   
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Botswana is investigating a growing number of unexplained deaths of elephants, having confirmed 275 had died, up from 154 two weeks ago, the government said Thursday. The dead elephants were first spotted months ago in the Okavango Panhandle region, and the authorities say they have since been trying to discover the cause. Poaching has been ruled out as the cause of death, as the carcasses were found intact. “Three laboratories in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Canada have been identified to process the samples taken from the dead elephants,” the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism said in a statement. In a report prepared for the government and seen by Reuters, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), a conservation organization, said that its aerial surveys showed that elephants of all ages appeared to be dying. The group counted 169 dead elephants on May 25, and another 187 on June 14, according to the report. The directors of EWB did not immediately respond to phone calls or text messages seeking comment on the report. “Several live elephants that we observed appeared to be weak, lethargic and emaciated. Some elephants appeared disorientated, had difficulty walking, showed signs of partial paralysis or a limp,” the report said. “One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members.” The report said urgent action was needed to establish if the deaths were caused by disease or poisoning. Africa’s overall elephant population is declining due to poaching, but Botswana, home to almost a third of the continent’s elephants, has seen numbers grow to 130,000 from 80,000 in the late 1990s. However, they are seen as a nuisance by some farmers, whose crops have been destroyed. President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted a five-year ban on big game hunting in May last year but the hunting season failed to take off in April as global travel restrictions meant hunters from many coronavirus-hit countries could not enter Botswana.  
 
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Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, has rebuked President Donald Trump for his handling of allegations the Russians paid bounties to kill American soldiers. It’s a reflection of Biden’s longstanding criticism of Trump’s national security and foreign policies. But as VOA’s Brian Padden reports, the two men aren’t actually all that far apart on many key issues. Produced by: Brian Padden
 
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Cameroon’s displaced Anglophones, who fled from the separatist war in western regions to the capital, are accusing authorities of harassment.  Last week, the government declared a security alert following two explosions in Yaounde and began raids on houses in English-speaking majority neighborhoods.Many English-speaking Cameroonians in the capital say they have stories of ordeals with the police, either in their houses or along the streets.Douala and Yaounde CameroonOne of them is a 31-year-old journalist whom we’ll call Rose to protect her safety.  She told VOA that since her national identity card expired a week ago, all her attempts to get a new one from the police identification office have failed.”When I approached the police officer, she asked my profession and I told her I was a journalist,” Rose said. “She shouted at me and drove me out of her office because I spoke in English. She told me that we are Anglophones and we are Ambazonians, and we ran from our places and we are hiding in Yaounde.”Rose, who fled fighting in the southwestern town of Mamfe two years ago, said she submitted a complaint to the police headquarters in Yaounde and was still waiting for a reply.Paid for his freedomBarber Genesis Ngumulah, 32, escaped fighting in the northwestern town of Bafut three years ago. He said he had been arrested twice this week, and both times he was accused of being a separatist fighter.Ngumulah said he was forced to pay an illegal fee of about $90 to regain his freedom.”They said that we were from Bamenda, that we are even the Amba boys [separatist fighters], that we came to hide at Mballa 2 [a neighborhood in Yaounde],” he said. “I was surprised that they locked me up there. Then the next day, they asked me to pay [the fee]. I was forced to borrow the money to pay before I go out of the place. We were more than 25 in one cell.”The harassment of English speakers has intensified within the past two weeks as Cameroon declared the security alert. Naseri Paul Bea, governor of the center region of Cameroon where Yaounde is located, said he had not sent out the police and military to harass anyone. He said the police were intent on making sure there was peace in the city.”A series of controls are taking place which have no objective to want to go to a particular quarter or particular area where people of particular regions live,” he said. “It is intended for the security of each and every one of us and when the police or the gendarmes come, we should be able to cooperate.”Bea promised to punish any police officer who abused the rights of civilians.Warning of radicalizationActivist Hamad Abdouramann of the Cameroon Rights Center said it was unfortunate that English-speakers who have escaped from crisis-prone regions for safety were being treated badly. He said that if care was not taken, the English-speakers might be radicalized.Abdouramann said Cameroonians should respect others’ language, origin and culture if they want to live in peace. He said the government should work together with rights groups to encourage all Cameroonians to cultivate tolerance.The United Nations says more than 500,000 English-speaking Cameroonians have fled the North West and South West regions since 2016, when separatist groups began fighting for an independent country.A majority of the displaced now live in the French-speaking regions of the central African state.
 
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The U.S. Senate approved a bill Thursday that would penalize individuals or companies for conducting business with Chinese officials responsible for implementing Beijing’s new national security law on Hong Kong.The Republican-led Senate unanimously passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act one day after the Democratic majority House approved the measure without opposition.  The approvals were a rare display of bipartisan support in the face of an erosion of autonomy in Hong Kong, a former British colony that prospered as China’s most democratic city and a global financial hub.The measure, which now goes to President Donald Trump to be signed into law, would impose mandatory sanctions on people or entities that materially contribute to China’s failure to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy. The bill would also sanction financial institutions that do business with those individuals or entities.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 16 MB540p | 20 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 84 MBOriginal | 103 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioUS Condemns New Chinese Security Law in Hong KongU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that China’s newly enacted Hong Kong national security law was “an affront to all nations” and that Washington was taking steps to end special permissions for the Chinese region.“The United States is deeply concerned about the law’s sweeping provisions and the safety of everyone living in the territory, including Americans,” Pompeo said.The Chinese legislature, the National People’s Congress, adopted the national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday, a day before the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.The law recommends harsh penalties for vaguely defined crimes such as “collusion with foreign countries.” Crimes such as damaging public transportation could be considered terrorist activity punishable by life in prison. Legal analysts say it effectively ends political freedoms that long allowed Hong Kong residents to publicly express their political views and helped transform the territory into an international business hub.“Article 38 of the new law also purports to apply to offenses committed outside of Hong Kong by nonresidents of Hong Kong, and this likely includes Americans. This is outrageous and an affront to all nations,” Pompeo said.Nike Ching contributed to this report.
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Russia overwhelmingly embraced changes to the country’s constitution in a weeklong national vote that ended Wednesday and was held during the coronavirus pandemic, scoring a controversial victory for President Vladimir Putin amid complaints of vote rigging and a constitutional coup by Kremlin critics.
 
Buried among nearly 200 amendments focusing on conservative and patriotic values was a little advertised measure to reset president term limits for Putin — in effect opening the door for the longtime Russian leader to remain in power beyond his current term and until the year 2036.
 
With nearly all votes counted, Russia’s Central Election Commission said 65% of registered voters had participated, with 78% endorsing the changes in an up or down vote. 21% voted against the packet of amendments, according to official results.FILE – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listens during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 19, 2019.“De facto, this was a triumphant referendum of trust in President Putin,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in assessing the outcome of the vote during a call with journalists on Thursday.
 
On the eve of the final day of voting, Putin urged all Russians to let their voices be heard.
 
“We’re voting for the country in which we want to live,” said Putin in a video address released on the eve of the vote.
 
“Each of our votes is the most important,” added Putin.
 
The Russian leader made no mention of the term limit extension, or that the both houses of parliament had already ratified the agreement, making the vote largely a question of optics.
 An unusual voteThe vote was part of a carefully choreographed event initially scheduled for April — but was pushed back by Putin amid concerns over rapid spread of the coronavirus in Russia.
 
Russia on Thursday sat third in the global count for coronavirus infections, with just over 650,000 documented cases.Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, wearing a protective mask, is seen at a news conference on the preliminary results of a vote on constitutional reforms, at the commission’s headquarters in Moscow, Russia, July 2, 2020.To assure voters to participate amid the outbreak, Russia’s Central Election Commissioner, Ella Pamfilova, unveiled what she termed “exclusive procedures” aimed at securing public safety while avoiding rules associated with a formal referendum.
 
The vote was extended for a full week, electronic voting was introduced in Moscow, and government vote monitors were put in place of independent observers, under new rules adopted.
 
“Our job is to control the vote, and it was absolutely impossible to control,” says Roman Udot of the independent election monitoring organization Golos in an interview with VOA.
 
“We’ve never had an experience like voting over a week. People were voting in streets, lawns, parks…everywhere.”
 
Voters were also screened for temperature checks and given masks and gloves and individual pens to mark ballots. The urns were disinfected every few hours.
 
“It’s perfectly safe,” said Nina Pavlovna, the head of a voting precinct central Moscow in an interview with VOA. “You can see we’re all wearing protective equipment.”
 
In an attempt to pump up turnout, prizes were also advertised — everything from free pizzas and soccer balls to raffles for smartphones, automobiles and government-gifted apartments.A woman wearing a protective mask stands by the door of her apartment as she prepares to cast her ballot in a mobile ballot box during a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2020.Opposition leader Alexey Navalny compared the whole experience to a theater performance desperate for an audience.
 
“The only thing he needed was people to turn out, because you can’t perform a play without an audience,” said Navalny in a video released just before the vote ended.
 
“We will never recognize the result,” added Navalny.
 Reality redefined
 
Despite appearances of an overwhelming victory, observers wondered the Kremlin had in effect achieved a result too glaringly at odds with the sour mood of the country.
 
Russia is just coming out of a three-month lockdown in the face of the pandemic that saw unemployment soar and Putin’s poll numbers go into a downward trend.
 
Voting stations were often empty and yet official turnout was high.
 
State-run polling that predicted support for the amendments also clashed with independent studies that showed society was highly split over the vote, and Putin’s extension on term limits in particular.A woman holds a placard reading “No to an eternal Putin” as she protests amendments to Russia’s Constitution, on Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow, July 1, 2020.Greg Yudin, a professor and polling specialist at Russia’s Higher School of Economics, suggests that Russia’s mayors and governors may have “over-performed” in their zeal to please the Kremlin.
 
“No one had any doubt about their ability to achieve the numbers that they want. The issue is whether people will believe the results. And this is still up for grabs,” said Yudin in an interview with VOA.
 
“It might be too much. Too much to be credible,” added Yudin.
 The dissenters
 
In central Moscow, several hundred demonstrators gathered on Pushkin Square to express outrage over the prospect of President Putin remaining in office for the next 16 years.
 
Although scores of police vans lined adjoining streets, no arrests were made.
 
“I don’t know anyone who voted for the amendment,” said Valentina Meshkova, a brand manager in her 20’s, in an interview with VOA.
 
“Russians think they can’t change anything, although people are tired of Putin and want a better future,” she added, noting disappointment in the small turnout.Law enforcement officers block protesters during an opposition rally against amendments to Russia’s Constitution on the last day of a weeklong nationwide vote on constitutional reforms, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 1, 2020.“It’s a constitutional coup,” said Alexey, 20, a student who wore a surgical face mask with the word “Nyet” – “No” in Russian – written on it.
 
“I decided not to participate in this circus,” he added. “But if they’d let me vote for specific amendments instead of all of them at once, I would have.”
 
In addition to the term limit extension, other high profile conservative amendments included a ban on gay marriage, a measure protecting “historical truth” of Soviet actions in World War II, and outlawing calls to “expropriate” Russian territory.
 
Other measures were targeted at working families — such as promise to re-index the pension fund and increases in funding for healthcare and education.
 
Even with the vote now secure, Putin has not indicated his intentions other than to say he is “not ruling out“ a run for the presidency following the end of his current term in 2024.
 
But observers have long argued Putin’s authority depends on the impression of a mandate — something lost in the rush to push through constitutional changes amid a global pandemic.
 
“It’s obvious that Putin doesn’t have the support of the majority — that which has protected him over many years and gave him the basis to do what he wants,” opined Boris Vishnevsky, a liberal political with the Yabloko party in Saint Petersburg in his telegram channel.
 
“And practice shows that when people don’t believe in the authorities, in the end, they stop following them, too,” Vishnevsky said.   
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China’s government and pro-Beijing activists in Hong Kong condemned what they called foreign meddling in the territory’s affairs on Thursday, as countries moved to offer Hong Kongers refuge and impose sanctions on China over a new security law.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said no amount of pressure from external forces could “shake China’s determination and will to safeguard national sovereignty and Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”
He urged the U.S. to abide by international law and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, and not sign a sanction bill into law.
His comments came after the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday joined the Senate in approving a bill to rebuke China over its crackdown in Hong Kong by imposing sanctions on groups that undermine the city’s autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to its residents.
If the bill becomes law, “China will definitely take strong countermeasures, and all consequences will be borne by the U.S. side,” Zhao said at a daily briefing.  
Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Beijing activists and lawmakers protested outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong to demand that the U.S. stop meddling. The group said it gathered 1.6 million signatures online in support of its call.
Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said on public broadcaster RTHK on Thursday that the new security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong was not harsh. If it were, no one would dare violate the law, he said.
His comments came a day after thousands of protesters marched against the security law, which took effect in Hong Kong late Tuesday.  
The security law outlaws secessionist, subversive and terrorist acts, as well as any collusion with foreign forces in intervening in the city’s affairs. Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
The maximum punishment for serious offenses under the legislation is life imprisonment, and suspects in certain cases may be sent to stand trial on the mainland if Beijing deems that it has jurisdiction.
The law takes aim at actions that occurred during anti-government protests last year. It says destruction of government facilities and utilities would be considered subversive, while damaging public transportation facilities and arson would constitute acts of terrorism.
About 370 people were arrested during and after Wednesday’s protests, including 10 on suspicion of violating the new security law. Some of those arrested allegedly possessed materials that advocated Hong Kong’s independence.
Hong Kong police arrested a man on a London-bound flight early Thursday on suspicion of having stabbed a police officer in the arm during Wednesday’s protests.
The 24-year-old man, surnamed Wong, was arrested on a Cathay Pacific flight after police received an anonymous tip-off about his travel plans, police said.
Wong had purchased a ticket on Wednesday and boarded the flight with no check-in luggage, police said. He did not respond to the crew when they called him by name, and was not in his designated seat. Police identified him after conducting a sweep of the plane.  
Meanwhile, two protesters were sentenced to four weeks in jail on Thursday for vandalizing a ticketing machine at a rail station in September last year. They were among nearly 9,000 arrests by police in connection with the anti-government protests between last June and May this year.
The central government’s passage of the security law for Hong Kong has triggered concern from the territory’s former colonial ruler, Britain, and other countries.  
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that imposition of the law was a “clear and serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the treaty that guaranteed the former British colony would enjoy a high degree of autonomy and civil liberties for at least 50 years after its handover to Chinese rule.  
The Foreign Office summoned Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming on Wednesday to a meeting with Permanent Secretary Simon McDonald, who reiterated Britain’s concern. Britain also announced that it is extending residency rights for up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports, stressing that it would uphold its historic duty to its former colony. Those eligible will be able to live and work in the U.K. for five years before applying for settled status and then again for citizenship.
On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in London said such a move would be in breach of “international law and basic norms governing international relations.”
“We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures,” it said in a statement, without elaborating. “We urge the British side to view objectively and fairly the national security legislation for Hong Kong, respect China’s position and concerns, refrain from interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any way.”  
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday his government is considering a move to provide a “safe haven” to Hong Kongers, and Taiwan opened an office to help Hong Kongers move to Taiwan for employment and other purposes.
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At least 113 workers at a jade mine in northern Myanmar were killed Thursday in a landslide.The disaster was announced on the Facebook page of Myanmar’s fire service. The miners were collecting the precious stones in Hpakant township in Kachin state when they were smothered by “a wave of mud” following heavy rains.Fatal landslides and other accidents are a common occurrence in the area in recent years.  Many of the victims are from impoverished ethnic communities who scour the jade mines searching for any of the precious stones missed by large mining firms. 
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Global markets were on the rise Thursday on news of a potential effective vaccine for the novel coronavirus.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index finished Thursday’s trading session 0.1 percent higher, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up over 2 percent in late afternoon trading. The Shanghai Composite was also up over 2 percent.Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX index was 1.6 percent higher, the KOSPI index in South Korea closed up 1.3 percent, and Taiwan’s TSEC index rose 0.8 percent. The Sensex in Mumbai was up 1.3 percent in late afternoon trading.European markets were also making gains in early morning trading: the FTSE in London was up 0.9 percent, Paris’s CAC-40 index was up 1.5 percent, and the DAX index in Frankfurt was 1.8 percent higher.Investors were optimistic after U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNtech said preliminary data from early-stage human trials of a new vaccine showed promise.Meanwhile, oil markets were also on the rise Thursday. U.S. crude was selling at $40.24 per barrel, up 1 percent, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, was selling at $42.46 per barrel, also up 1 percent.All three U.S. indexes were trending positively in futures trading.    
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