Officials say U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport thwarted a man’s attempt to import several pounds of African rat meat.
Customs spokesman Steve Bansbach said Tuesday that the man declared the 32 pounds of meat on June 26 when his flight arrived from the Ivory Coast. The meat was confiscated and destroyed.
Bansbach says the man did not face a fine and continued on his journey because he was forthcoming about what he was bringing into the country. He says customs officials prohibit the entry of African meats to prevent the spread of African swine fever.
The Department of Agriculture says the highly contagious and deadly viral disease affects domestic and wild pigs and is not a threat to humans. The department says it has never been found in the U.S.
Day: July 3, 2019
Rights groups urged Thai authorities Wednesday to investigate attacks against pro-democracy activists after one was beaten and left unconscious on a sidewalk in the latest case of growing violence.
Amnesty International submitted open letters to Thailand’s defense minister and its police commissioner asking them to bring to justice attackers against three vocal pro-democracy activists who have faced physical abuse on multiple occasions since the military seized power in a coup in 2014.
Authorities have so far failed to investigate the violence. The ruling junta has actively cracked down on dissent and political discussions while it enacted new election laws that favored its leader, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, in elections in March.
Amnesty said the attacks against the activists “appear to fit a pattern of systemic violence timed to coincide with their efforts to draw attention to perceived election irregularities and problems relating to the formation of a new government.”
The appeal follows an attack last Friday on Sirawith Seritiwat, who opposes the military’s role in politics. He was beaten until he was unconscious on a sidewalk near his home in Bangkok in broad daylight.
Photos of a bloodied Sirawith and security camera footage of the attack that were circulated online have sparked public outrage.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Tuesday he had instructed police to investigate the attack on Sirawith.
“I am not his enemy,” Prayuth said.
Police said they’re investigating.
The most recent attack on Sirawith left him with a fractured eye socket and head injuries. He was previously attacked on June 3 by at least five men after he had been working on a campaign to petition members of the junta-appointed Senate not to vote for Prayuth to become prime minister.
Other anti-military activists such as Anurak Jeantawanich and Ekachai Hongkangwan have faced physical abuse on multiple occasions by unknown assailants.
Anurak said he was most recently attacked in May by six-to-eight men, some wearing motorcycle helmets and using metal bars to hit his head, after he announced a plan to protest the election of the pro-army speaker of the lower house of Parliament.
Ekachai faced physical abuse on several occasions in addition to having his parked car set on fire twice this year. He was also subjected to at least four violent attacks in 2018 as he engaged in peaceful protests about official misconduct, according to Amnesty International.
“Intimidating activists by physical abuse appears to be becoming increasingly aggressive and involving a rising number of victims,” Angkhana Neelapaijit of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission said in a Facebook post last Friday after Sirawith was attacked.
“These incidents usually occur during the day in public places but authorities have never been able to apprehend the perpetrators, which leads to continued intimidation against political opponents without consideration for the law.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that Japan cannot give South Korean exports preferential treatment because the country is not abiding by an agreement regarding wartime issues that Japan insists have been resolved.
Abe was objecting to criticism over escalating tensions between the two neighbors amid disputes over Koreans forced to work as laborers during World War II.
He was defending a decision announced Monday to impose restrictions on Japan’s exports of semiconductor-related materials to South Korea. As of Thursday, exports of some materials used in manufacturing computer parts, including fluorinated polyimides used for displays, must apply for approval for each contract.
We did not intertwine historical issues with trade issues,'' Abe said.The issue of former Korean laborers is not about a historical issue but about whether to keep the promise between countries under international law … and what to do when the promise is broken.”
Abe made the comment when asked about diplomacy during a party leaders’ debate ahead of Tuesday’s start of official campaigning for the July 21 Upper House elections.
Relations between the two main U.S. allies in East Asia have rapidly soured since South Korea’s top court in October ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won ($88,000) each to four plaintiffs forced to work for the company during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea’s top court ordered the seizure of local assets of the company after it refused to pay the compensation. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also has refused an order by South Korea’s Supreme Court to financially compensate 10 Koreans for forced labor during Japan’s colonial era.
Abe said each country bears a responsibility to carry out export controls for national security reasons. “Within that obligation, if another country fails to keep its promise, we cannot give it preferential treatment like before,” he said.
Abe and other officials have offered conflicting explanations for the move, citing both a lack of trust and unspecified security concerns.
On Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga cited national security concerns and lack of trust'' after exchanges with Seoul for Japan's export control measures on South Korea. <br />resists” that are used for making semiconductors, and hydrogen fluoride used for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and polymers such as nylon and Teflon.
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Japan is a major supplier of materials used to make the computer chips that run most devices, including Apple iPhones and laptop computers. Tokyo's decision is also expected to affect exports called
In the United States, the Everglades National Park has been on the U.N.’s ‘World Heritage in Danger’ list since 2010. UNESCO is meeting this week and is expected to keep the troubled wetland on that list, despite decades of restoration efforts. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
With cellphones becoming more sophisticated, internet becoming faster, and VR headsets becoming cheaper, we are at the precipice of a whole new virtual world. Deana Mitchell talks to an expert who breaks down what this all means in, well—in reality.