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As the first woman of color on a major party’s ticket, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is expected to galvanize the minority vote. But Harris also faces unique challenges, and opportunities, as she campaigns alongside presidential nominee Joe Biden. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story from Wilmington, Delaware, where Harris delivered her acceptance speech.
Camera: Rob Parsell
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Mexico has issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning for portions of the eastern Yucatan Peninsula northward to Cancun.The system is a remnant of Hurricane Genevieve, which weakened to a tropical storm Thursday before threatening Mexico’s Baja California with strong winds and fierce rain.Genevieve caused at least two storm-related deaths when a teenage girl was caught by high surf and the adult who tried to rescue her drowned.Another system triggered a tropical storm warning Friday for sections of Honduras and Nicaragua.Meanwhile, forecasters say two tropical depressions in the Atlantic could develop into tropical storms by Friday.Another tropical depression prompted forecasters to issue tropical storm watches for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. 
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Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan closed two bureaus of the regional television network NRT and arrested three of its journalists over claims that its coverage of protests was inciting violence.  Security camera footage The broadcaster’s general manager said he believes the stations were closed because of NRT’s coverage of protests in the autonomous region. “We were the only network to cover the protests that occurred in Zakho yesterday,” Awat Ali told VOA via a messaging app.“The authorities are afraid that these protests will become bigger, and they don’t want us to cover them. That is why they closed our station’s offices,” Ali said. The broadcaster was covering protests by local truckers in the town of Zakho, near the Turkish border, on August 19 over a government ruling that reopened the crossing. The border was closed under measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Local drivers said the ruling, which allowed foreign trucks’ drivers back into the region, would take away jobs.   The protest turned into a wider anti-government demonstration, local media reported. Security forces clashed with protesters and detained many of them overnight. The local government called them “looters.” NRT correspondent Ahmad Zakhoy was arrested on Wednesday while covering the protests and unrest.ڕاستەوخۆ.. خۆپیشاندانەکانى زاخۆ بەردەوامنڕاستەوخۆ.. خۆپیشاندانەکانى زاخۆ بەردەوامن و دەست بەسەر ئۆفیسی ئێن ئاڕ تى لە دهۆک گیراوەPosted by NRT on Wednesday, August 19, 2020Two other NRT journalists, Shkiran Zebari and Nihad Oramari, were arrested in other parts of Duhok province, according to a statement published by the network.  Taef Goran, a senior NRT correspondent in Duhok, told VOA that authorities freed two of the journalists after a few hours but that Zakhoy remained in detention.  “The security forces, which are affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), gave no substantive legal justification or produced any valid legal orders for why NRT’s offices were being closed or why its employees were being taken into custody,” according to a statement from the network.   NRT is owned by Shaswar Abdulwahid, the leader of an opposition party in the Kurdistan region.  Dindar Zebari, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), told VOA the broadcaster’s offices were suspended “due to [NRT’s] incitement of the people for actions of riots such as damaging public properties, attacking security forces, actions of violence.”  He did not specify how long the suspension would remain in place or address the arrests.  NRT is still able to broadcast from its other bureaus.  Rahman Gharib, the coordinator for Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, a regional press rights group, told VOA he believes authorities blocked NRT to prevent coverage of protests, which are expected to continue over the weekend.  In recent months, government employees have voiced discontent over a lack of pay and other issues caused by budget disputes between the KRG and Iraq’s federal government in Baghdad.  Experts say a decline in oil prices due to the coronavirus have contributed to the inability of Iraq and KRG to resolve the issues.  “I fear the upcoming protests planned for Saturday would turn very violent,” Gharib said, adding that authorities “don’t want an effective media outlet such as NRT to cover the irregularities.” Authorities have previously detained and obstructed journalists covering protests in the region, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international press freedom group.“By holding journalists without a warrant, seizing their equipment and attacking news teams in the streets, Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are clearly signaling their intention to censor coverage of protests and unrest,” Ignacio Miguel Delgado Culebras, a Middle East representative for CPJ, said in a statement last week.
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Sometime next year, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in an effort to combat persistent insect-borne diseases such as Dengue fever and the Zika virus.The plan approved this week by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District calls for a pilot project in 2021 involving the striped-legged Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is not native to Florida. But it does transmit several diseases to humans, particularly in the Keys island chain where nearly 50 cases of Dengue fever have been reported so far this year.The plan by the Oxitec biotechnology company is to release millions of male, genetically altered mosquitoes to mate with the females that bite humans because they need the blood. The male mosquitoes, which don’t bite, would contain a genetic change in a protein that would render any female offspring unable to survive — thus reducing the population of the insects that transmit disease, in theory.Kevin Gorman, an Oxitec scientist, said Thursday in a phone interview from the United Kingdom that the company has successfully done such projects in the Cayman Islands and Brazil.”It’s gone extremely well,” Gorman said. “We have released over a billion of our mosquitoes over the years. There is no potential for risk to the environment or humans.”Oxitec points to numerous studies by government agencies, ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that underscore the safety of the project. Several Florida government agencies have approved it as well.Yet, there are people who worry about using genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, that they believe could alter the planet’s natural balance. At a meeting Tuesday of the Florida Keys mosquito control board, several people questioned the wisdom of the project.”You have no idea what that will do,” Barry Wray, director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, told the board.Whether the modified mosquitoes can efficiently crash the population of these mosquitoes in Florida remains an open question, some experts say.”The mosquitoes created in a lab have not gone through a natural selection process, in which only the fittest survive and mate. Once they are released in the natural environment, will they be as fit as the naturally occurring males and able to outcompete them for mates?” said Max Moreno, an expert in mosquito-borne diseases at Indiana University who is not involved in the company or the pilot project.Another question is whether the mosquitoes may have other unintended effects on the environment. If a spider, frog or bird eats the mosquito, will the modified protein have any effect on the predator?”An ecosystem is so complicated and involves so many species, it would be almost impossible to test them all in advance in a lab,” said Moreno.Still, Keys mosquito board members voted 4-1 in favor of the project. One of the supporters, Jill Cranny-Gage, said at the meeting that insecticides and other chemical means have become less effective against the Aedes aegypti mosquito.”The science is there. This is something Monroe County needs,” Cranny-Gage said. “We’re trying everything in our power, and we’re running out of options.”
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Asian markets sank into negative territory Thursday, dragged down by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s sobering outlook on a post-pandemic recovery the day before.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index finished a full 1% lower. The S&P/ASX index was down 0.7%. South Korea’s KOSPI index plunged 3.6%, and the TSEC index in Taiwan dropped 3.2%.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was trading 1.8% lower in late afternoon trading, while Shanghai’s Composite index was down 1.3% and Mumbai’s Sensex was down just over 1%.In minutes of last month’s meeting of the U.S. central bank, released Wednesday, several members of the Reserve said the COVID-19 pandemic “would continue to weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term and was posing considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.”The Fed’s remarks caused a shockwave on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq downward.In commodities trading Thursday, gold was selling at $1,951.70, down 0.9.% U.S. crude oil was selling at $42.57 per barrel, down 0.8%, and Brent crude oil was selling at $45.02 per barrel, down 0.8%.All three U.S. indices were trending negatively in futures trading.  
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Sectarian violence in Nigeria’s Kaduna State has lingered for decades, claiming thousands of lives and forcing thousands more from their homes.  In late July, gunmen killed at least 43 people — making it 178 people killed so far in the southern part of Kaduna since the start of the year.  The Nigerian government has deployed more security forces but local community leaders and right groups accuse authorities of willful neglect. Timothy Obiezu reports from a village in Kaduna that was recently attacked.Camera: : Emeka Gibson    
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 The U.S. Justice Department has charged three people in connection with what prosecutors say was a campaign to move U.S. currency from the United States to Iran on behalf of Iran’s supreme leader.  Muzzamil Zaidi, a U.S. citizen living in Qom, Iran; Asim Naqvi, a U.S. citizen living in Houston; and Pakistani national Ali Chawla, living in Qom, are charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.  Justice Department officials said Wednesday the defendants “have considerable operational links” to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.  “The lifeblood of these terrorist operation is cash – and the defendants played a key role in facilitating that critical component,” said Michael R. Sherwin, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.  The Justice Department alleges Zaidi, Chawla and other members of an organization called Islamic Pulse received permission from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to collect a religious tax on Khamenei’s behalf and send half the money to Yemen.  Prosecutors say after the United States imposed sanctions on Khamenei in 2019, the group continued to collect U.S. dollars in the United States and send it to Iran, “structured in a such a way as to avoid reporting requirements.”  The Justice Department said Zaidi was also charged with acting in the United States as an agent of the government of Iran without first notifying the attorney general.  Prosecutors say that after arriving in the United States in June 2020, Zaidi “has exhibited behavior that is consistent with having received training from a foreign government or foreign intelligence service.   
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The Trump administration has suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong in its latest response over the new national security law imposed on the semi-autonomous city by China.The U.S. State Department issued a statement Wednesday saying the agreements covered the extradition of fugitives and convicted persons, and tax exemptions on income from international shipping.The administration has taken a series of steps against Beijing since it imposed the new law in June, which calls for punishing anyone in Hong Kong believed to be committing acts of secession, subversion, terrorism or colluding with foreign governments. The law was in response to last year’s massive and often violent pro-democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.The U.S. and other Western nations say the measure effectively ends the “One Country, Two Systems” policy under which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy after the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order last month ending Hong Kong’s preferential trade and diplomatic status and has followed up with such actions as imposing sanctions on current Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other officials in Hong Kong and mainland China.“These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijing’s decision to impose the National Security Law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. 
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The United Arab Emirates became the third Arab state to formally recognize Israel. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren examines the deal and its impact on the Middle East with White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, Israel’s ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and Yasmine Farouk from the Carnagie Endowment for International Peace. Air date: August 19, 2020.
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Many observers had predicted that verdicts in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would touch off disturbances in Lebanon, but none of that happened on Tuesday when those verdicts came. As Anchal Vohra reports from Beirut, many Lebanese are more worried about other pressing matters — like how to rebuild their lives after a recent massive explosion — and earning a living at a time when their country is suffering a debilitating economic crisis.Camera: Tilo Gummel  Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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A statute of Stephen A. Douglas, a 19th-century senator from Illinois who owned slaves and espoused the notion that each territory should decide whether slavery would be allowed, will be removed from the state Capitol lawn, officials decided Wednesday.  The board of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol voted unanimously to remove the statute of Douglas, whose career-long nemesis was Abraham Lincoln. Along with the statue of Douglas, a rendering of Pierre Menard, an early Illinois settler, politician and slave owner, could be gone by this fall, Architect of the Capitol Andrea Aggertt told the board.  Aggertt said she had spoken to contractors but did not have a cost for removal and storage in a secure location.  The action came after House Speaker Michael Madigan in July asked the board to consider removing portraits and statuary of Douglas in and around the Capitol. The Chicago Democrat said he had recently read about Douglas’ profiting from family-owned slaves. After George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparked a nationwide movement to remove Confederate symbols, Madigan decided that references to Douglas should be banished.  Douglas, who tangled with Lincoln in Illinois politics before he went to Washington, was elected to the Senate in 1847 and burnished his mark as statesman when with prominent Whig Sen. Henry Clay he fashioned the Compromise of 1850. It settled the matter of lands ceded in the Mexican War and put Douglas’ notion of “popular sovereignty” — that U.S. territories could decide for themselves whether to allow slavery — into the political lexicon.  The idea delayed the Civil War and helped him best Lincoln in his 1858 bid for reelection to the Senate, long remembered because of a series of debates between the two, but proved his undoing by the time the two squared off for president in 1860, on the eve of war.  The father of Douglas’ first wife bequeathed a Mississippi plantation with 100 slaves to his daughter in 1847. Douglas sidestepped a political conundrum by hiring a plantation manager while he kept 20% of the income.  Menard, who became a successful fur trader in southwestern Illinois nearly 30 years before statehood and was the state’s first lieutenant governor, owned slaves as late as 1830, records show. Other artworkMembers of the architect board, consisting of Tim Anderson, secretary of the Senate; House Clerk John Hollman; Scott Kaiser, assistant secretary of the Senate; and assistant House clerk Brad Bolin, said they have final say on the removal. But they took no action on the prominent Douglas statue inside the Capitol, or his portrait in the House chamber, voting to take an inventory of all paintings, murals, statues, and other art in the 1876 building.  The board also voted to seek a rule change that would allow Capitol lawn commemorations of people without direct ties to Illinois. It’s the reason a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. is across the street on the lawn of the Illinois State Library. The board would like to see King memorialized more prominently. Kaiser suggested that the King statue be replaced. The depiction of the Civil Rights leader marching with open collar and suit jacket slung over his shoulder has been criticized as too casual.  Douglas, whose grave in Chicago lies beneath a 96-foot granite monument, has fallen out of favor elsewhere. The Chicago Park District in July rededicated a park for Frederick Douglass, the Black scholar and abolitionist, and a member of the Springfield Park Board is seeking a similar change in the capital city. 
 
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