Ethiopians celebrate progress in building dam on Nile River

August 02, 2020

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopians in the capital are celebrating progress in the construction of the country’s dam on the Nile River, which has caused regional controversy over its filling. In joyful demonstrations urged by posts on social media and apparently endorsed by the government, tens of thousands of residents flooded the streets of the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday afternoon, waving Ethiopia's flag and holding up posters. People in cars honked their horns, others whistled, played loud music, and danced in public spaces to mark the occasion. Similar events were held in other cities in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, called on the public to rally behind the dam and support the completion of its construction. “Today is a date in which we celebrate the beginning of the final chapter in our dam’s construction,” Demeke told scores of people who gathered at a hall in the capital. “We want the construction to complete soon and began solving our problems once and for all.”

Hashtags like #ItsMyDam, #EthiopiaNileRights and #GERD are also trending among Ethiopian social media users. Ethiopians around the world contributed to the festivities on social media. Sunday’s celebration, called “One voice for our dam,” came after Ethiopian officials announced on July 22 that the first stage of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir was achieved due to heavy rains. Officials in the East African nation say they hope the $4.6 billion dam, fully financed by Ethiopia itself, will reach full power generating capacity in 2023.

With 74% of the construction completed, the dam has been contentious for years and raised tensions with neighboring countries. Ethiopia says the dam will provide electricity to millions of its nearly 110 million citizens and help them out of poverty. The dam should also make Ethiopia a major power exporter. Downstream Egypt, which depends on the Nile River to supply its farmers and booming population of 100 million with fresh water, asserts that the dam poses it an existential threat. Sudan, between the two countries, is also concerned about its access to the Nile waters.

Negotiators have said key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the countries will resolve any future disputes. Negotiations to resolve the differences between the countries have broken down several times, but now appear to be making progress.

China condemns Germany's Hong Kong extradition suspension

August 01, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — China has condemned Germany's decision to suspend its extradition agreement with Hong Kong, accusing Berlin of a “serious breach of international law.” Germany's foreign minister announced the suspension Friday following the disqualification of 12 pro-democracy candidates from legislative elections and a subsequent decision to postpone the elections. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam cited a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory in postponing the vote.

The Chinese Embassy in Berlin expressed “strong indignation and firm opposition to the wrong remarks of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas” in a statement posted on its website and dated Friday. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States also have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong last month after the central government in Beijing imposed a new national security law on the city. The move raised fears that Hong Kong’s freedoms and local autonomy are being taken away.

Germany's Maas described the election decisions as “a further infringement of the rights of Hong Kong’s citizens.” The Chinese Embassy said the actions were justified and consistent with the “one country, two systems” framework under which Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to Chinese control in 1997.

“The German side’s erroneous remarks on Hong Kong and the suspension of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong are a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations and gross violation of China’s internal affairs,” the embassy statement said. “We firmly oppose them and reserve the right to react further.”

Germany currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.

1952 Helsinki: The Cold War comes to the Olympics

August 02, 2020

The United States and the Soviet Union formed an uneasy pact to help turn back Nazi Germany during World War II. Less than a decade later, most global events were seen as part of the Cold War between the two super powers, including the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland set a record for countries (69) and participants (nearly 5,000), numbers boosted by the USSR's first appearance in the games as a communist nation. The Soviets felt winning medals — and blocking the Americans in the process — could boost their profile on the world stage while espousing the superiority of their way of life.

In 1951, the USSR produced the equivalent of $8.2 billion in today's money on sports equipment. It was part of an effort designed to, not just close the gap on the Americans, but surpass them. They nearly did. The U.S. topped the medal table with 76 thanks to dominance in track, followed closely by the Soviets’ 71 thanks to a serious haul on the wrestling mat. The competition began an athletic tug-of-war at the world's largest sporting event that continues seven decades later. Either the Americans or the Russians have finished with the most medals at each of the last 17 Summer Olympics, the U.S. doing it nine times and their counterparts eight.

The USSR was still a mystery to much of the world in 1952. Details of the country's athletic progress were sketchy in the West. Reports of world records and eye-popping performances all came from the highly-filtered government-controlled media. The decision for all Soviet bloc nations to live in an Olympic village separate from Western nations only deepened the mystery.

Then the USSR surprisingly invited Westerners — including Americans — to enter the communist Olympic Village. The Soviets even hosted a swanky dinner for members of the U.S. Olympic delegation replete with vodka and whitefish caught in the Volga River, toasting goodwill under paintings of Joseph Stalin and the Politburo.

“We can't reciprocate,” an unnamed American official told The Associated Press. “We simply don't have the money.” The Americans did hold onto their edge in the medal standings, but just barely. And over the course of two weeks in a city less than 500 miles from the Arctic Circle, the Soviets sent a very loud message that they were very much ready to challenge the U.S. for global athletic supremacy.

Of course, back in the USSR, it would have been easy to think the country had dominated every event. When three Russian women took gold, silver and bronze in the discus, it was front-page news in Moscow. The stories, by the way, carried no mention of American Walt Davis winning gold in the high jump or that U.S. runner Charlie Moore's world record in the 400-meter hurdles.

ZAPOTEK ZIPS

The breakout star of the Games wasn't an American or a Soviet. It was a 29-year-old staff captain in the Czech Republic Army who ran as if he was in deep agony and his next step would be his last.

Yet Emil Zatopek cared little about form or even proper running decorum while winning the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon, a race he'd never run before he set an Olympic and World record by covering the 26.2-mile distance in 2:23:03. Early on in the marathon Zatopek asked British runner Jim Peters if his pacing was right. When Peters told Zatopek it was, Zatopek took off and cruised to victory by more than 2 1/2 minutes.

Zatopek — whose wife Dana Zatopkova won gold in the javelin — blew off the media after the race and headed back to the Olympic village for a nap.

MAGNIFICENT MATHIAS

American Bob Mathias was just 17 when he won the decathlon at the 1948 London Olympics. He stamped himself as the world's greatest athlete at age 21 when he defended his gold medal by posting a record score of 7,887 points over two days and 10 events in Helsinki. He then promptly retired.

“This is for sure,” Mathias said. “There's nothing left.”

Maybe on the track, but not in life. Mathias went on to dabble in acting before serving four terms as a Republican Congressman representing California's 18th district, just south of the Bay Area.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Long before hi-tech swimsuits and dolphin kicks became a thing, the pool at the 1952 Games showcased just how fast the sport was progressing.

During the modest-sized meet — there were only 11 events compared to 34 at the 2016 Summer Olympics — eight Olympic records were set. The Hungarian women dominated, winning seven out of 15 medals.

AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report

Thousands in Russia's Far East protest governor's arrest

August 01, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators rallied Saturday in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk to protest the arrest of their governor, keeping up a three-week wave of opposition that has challenged the Kremlin.

Smaller demonstrations took place in at least 10 other cities and 55 people were detained in those protests, according to the OVD-Info organization that monitors political arrests. No detentions were reported at the Khabarovsk rally.

Khabarovsk Krai Gov. Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his July 9 arrest on charges of involvement in murders that occurred before his political career started. He has denied the charges. Protesters in Khabarovsk see the charges against Furgal as unsubstantiated and are demanding that his trial take place in his home city, 6,100 kilometers (3,800 miles) east of the Russian capital.

His supporters have held daily protests, with the largest turnouts on weekends. The latest demonstration attracted about 10,000 people, according to some news reports. Police claimed the crowd was about 3,500.

Unlike in Moscow, where police usually move quickly to disperse unsanctioned opposition protests, authorities haven’t interfered with the unauthorized demonstrations in Khabarovsk, apparently expecting them to fizzle out.

Authorities suspect Furgal of involvement in the slayings of several businessmen in 2004 and 2005, when he was a businessman with interests focusing on timber and metals. A lawmaker on the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party ticket, Furgal won the 2018 regional gubernatorial election even though he had refrained from campaigning and publicly supported his Kremlin-backed rival.

His victory was a humiliating setback to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, which also lost its control over the regional legislature. During his time in office, Furgal earned a reputation as a “people’s governor,” cutting his own salary, ordering the sale of an expensive yacht that the previous administration had bought and offering new benefits to residents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named Mikhail Degtyaryov, a federal lawmaker who is also a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, to replace Furgal, a choice that was apparently intended to assuage local anger. Degtyaryov has not yet faced the protesters.

Virus surges in India, Philippines; Australia imposes curfew

August 02, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Surges of new coronavirus cases continued Sunday in India and the Philippines, which recorded another daily high to surpass 100,000 total infections, as officials across the globe considered stricter measures to stymie the spread of the pandemic.

A curfew was imposed on Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, following a spike in infections. Countries including the United States, India and South Africa are struggling to rein in their first wave of infections while South Korea and others where the disease abated try to avert a second wave as curbs on travel and trade ease.

Governments worldwide have reported 684,075 deaths and 17.8 million cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. India's 54,735 new cases were down from the previous day's record 57,118 but raised the total to 1.75 million. The month of July accounted for more than 1.1 million of those cases.

The major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai might have passed their peaks, said a government expert, Randeep Guleria. Subways, cinemas and other public facilities are closed until Aug. 31. The Philippines reported 5,032 new cases, raising its total to 103,185, with 2,059 deaths.

On Saturday, leaders of Philippine medical organizations appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to reimpose a lockdown on the capital, Manila. They said the health system was in danger as personnel fall ill or quit due to fear or fatigue.

In Japan, the government reported 1,540 new cases, close to Friday's record of 1,579. The spike in infections, most of them in their 20s and 30s, prompted warnings young people were letting their guard down. Gov. Yuriko Koike of Tokyo, which has about one-third of the new infections, says she might declare an emergency to contain the outbreak.

In Florida, authorities were trying to prepare storm shelters while enforcing social distancing as Tropical Storm Isaias churned toward the heavily populated state. It was due to be near the coast early Sunday.

Florida reported 179 deaths on Saturday, raising its total to more than 7,000. The governor warned residents to expect power outages and said they should have a week’s supply of water and food. The United States has the world’s biggest number of confirmed cases at 4.6 million, or one-quarter of the total, and 154,361 deaths. White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx said Sunday that the virus had entered a “new phase” in the U.S. as it has rapidly spread in rural and urban America.

“What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread," Birx told CNN’s “State of the Union” as she urged Americans to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures.

In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced a 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew on Melbourne, a city of 5 million people. Schools statewide are to return to home-based teaching and day care centers were closed.

Andrews said there were seven deaths and 671 new cases since Saturday. “If we don’t make these changes, we’re not going to get through this,” Andrews said. Also Sunday, China and South Korea reported more infections but spikes in both countries appeared to be tailing off.

China had 49 new confirmed cases, up from the previous day’s 45. Thirty were in Xinjiang in the northwest, where authorities are trying to contain an outbreak focused on the regional capital, Urumqi.

Three cases were found in students who returned from Russia to Wuhan, the southern Chinese city where the pandemic began in December. Most anti-disease controls were lifted there after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the disease in March.

Hong Kong reported 125 new infections as authorities tried to find the source of its latest outbreak. The Chinese government said a team of seven virus testing experts was sent to the city to help. South Korea reported 30 new cases, raising its total to 14,366 with 301 deaths, but said only eight were acquired in the country.

The government warned earlier case numbers would rise as South Koreans came home from the Middle East and other places with outbreaks. Authorities say cases from abroad are less threatening because arrivals are quarantined for two weeks.

On Saturday, the leader of a secretive Korean church was arrested in an investigation into whether the group hampered the anti-virus response after thousands of worshipers were infected in February and March.

On Saturday, South Africa reported 10,107 new cases, raising its total to 503,290. That put the country fifth behind the United States, Brazil, Russia and India in total cases, though its population of 58 million is much smaller than theirs.

In Europe, the number of new cases reported in Italy dipped below 300 for the first time. An employee in the Austrian chancellery tested positive for the virus but didn’t work directly with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian Press Agency reported.

McDonald reported from Beijing. AP journalists worldwide contributed to this report.

France starts testing travelers from 16 nations for virus

August 01, 2020

PARIS (AP) — Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely now must undergo virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last month that the tests would be required starting Aug. 1 for passengers France is allowing in from a list of approved countries unless they present proof of a negative test done within 72 hours of their departure.

Those who test positive in France as of Saturday must quarantine for 14 days. France is not permitting general travel to and from the 16 countries, which include the United States and Brazil. The testing requirement therefore only applies to people entering under limited circumstances: French citizens who live in these countries or citizens of these countries with an established residence in France.

Daniel Court was tested at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport after coming in from the French Riviera city of Nice. He acknowledged not loving the experience. “It’s very fast, but I have to say that it’s not very pleasant,'' he said. “But we have to do it.''

Another passenger who got tested after landing at Paris’ main airport, Nadia Vusik of Belarus, said she thought the new policy made sense. “It is definitely necessary, and I am happy that in France it is possible to do right here. It’s very convenient,” she said.

French health authorities say the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases has jumped on the French mainland in recent weeks. The government has already made mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces.

France has had over 225,000 confirmed infections and over 30,200 virus-related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts say all numbers in the pandemic are too low for various reasons, including limited testing and missed cases.

The French government has so far ruled out imposing another nationwide lockdown after the one that brought the country to a standstill for nearly two months between March and May.

Thousands protest in Berlin against coronavirus restrictions

August 01, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands protested Germany's coronavirus restrictions Saturday in a Berlin demonstration marking what organizers called “the end of the pandemic” — a declaration that comes just as authorities are voicing increasing concerns about an uptick in new infections.

With few masks in sight, a dense crowd marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate. Protesters who came from across the country held up homemade signs with slogans like “Corona, false alarm,” “We are being forced to wear a muzzle,” “Natural defense instead of vaccination" and “We are the second wave.”

They chanted, “We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom!” Police used bullhorns to chide participants to adhere to social distancing rules and to wear masks, apparently with little success. They tweeted that they drew up a criminal complaint against the rally's organizer for failing to enforce hygiene rules, then said shortly afterward that the organizer had ended the march.

Police estimated about 17,000 people turned out. The demonstrators were kept apart from counterprotesters, some of whom chanted “Nazis out!” Protesters continued to a subsequent rally on a boulevard running through the city's Tiergarten park, which police estimated drew 20,000 people. Police declared that event over as organizers again failed to get demonstrators to wear masks or keep their distance.

Protests against anti-virus restrictions in Germany have drawn a variety of attendees, including conspiracy theorists and right-wing populists. Unlike the U.S., Brazil and Britain, Germany’s government has been praised worldwide for its management of the pandemic. The country’s death toll — just over 9,150 people out of more than 210,670 confirmed virus cases as of Saturday — is five times less than Britain's, which has a smaller population.

The German government has been easing lockdown measures since late April but social distancing rules remain, as does a requirement to wear masks on public transit and in shops. Officials have been warning against complacency as the number of new COVID-19 cases has crept up recently. Amid concerns about residents bringing home infections from summer trips abroad, officials introduced free tests for people entering the country.

Germany's national disease control center registered 955 new cases Friday, a high figure by recent standards. “Thousands of #covidiots are celebrating themselves in Berlin as ‘the second wave,’ without distancing, without masks," tweeted Saskia Esken, a co-leader of the Social Democrats, the junior party in Germany's governing coalition.

“They are not just endangering our health, they are endangering our success against the pandemic and for the revival of the economy, education and society. Irresponsible!"