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The rumors that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s former sushi chef was arrested were cleared up on Tuesday after the British ambassador to the country shared a photograph with him.
Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese national, has served as personal chef to the Kim family for 13 years, even when the current leader was still a child. He returned to the repressive country in 2017 and reportedly opened a sushi restaurant called Takahashi.
But media reports last month speculated that Fujimoto may have been arrested by North Korean authorities, with Japan’s Daily Shincho magazine reporting that the chef had been detained over a “past betrayal,” the Telegraph reported.
Following the news, Japan’s foreign ministry was unable to confirm the chef’s location. But on Tuesday, Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to North Korea, put the mystery to rest after tweeting pictures of Fujimoto working at his sushi restaurant in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
He also feared that his outspokenness after he left the hermit kingdom in 2001 could cause him trouble and accusations of “disloyalty,” though he later met Kim in 2013 and was reassured of his safety, the newspaper reported.
Fujimoto was interviewed by the Washington Post’s Anna Fifield for the book on the North Korean leader, claiming that Kim once was rude to him, refused to shake his hand, and “glared at him with ‘sharp eyes’ that seemed to say, ‘You abhorrent Japanese.’”
WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Robert Mueller told a House panel Wednesday that the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 presidential election is “among the most serious” threats to American democracy he has seen over his career.
“This deserves the attention of every American,” Mueller said in his opening statement during his testimony on Wednesday, repeating the same phrase he said in his first public appearance since he was appointed to run the government’s investigation of Russian efforts to sway the election that put President Donald Trump in office.
Mueller began testifying before Congress on Wednesday at the start of a pair of hearings that Democrats hope could change the trajectory of Donald Trump’s presidency, though it became apparent soon after the start of his remarks that he was unlikely to offer information beyond what had been detailed in his office’s final report.
“The report is my testimony,” Mueller said. “And I will stay within that text.”
Mueller, who has spoken publicly only once since he was appointed to run the government’s investigation of Russian efforts to sway the election that put Trump in office, is appearing before two House committees in a back-to-back testimony. He faces questions from Democrats and Republicans, both factions eager to score points from his remarks even as many lawmakers have already made up their minds about whatever it is he might have to say.
Democrats are betting that the spectacle of Mueller’s public appearance will carry far more weight than a 448-page document his investigation produced. They’re hoping that words from Mueller himself would be pivotal and would make the case that the president’s conduct should be punishable by impeachment or a 2020 defeat.
Republicans, who have long questioned the integrity and genesis of the Russia inquiry that they say exonerated the president, will likely use the rare public appearance to highlight the lack of charges against Trump and the perceived political motivation behind the probe. The president and his allies have accused Democrats of trying to redo the investigation by staging a belated spectacle.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, began Wednesday’s hearing with a summary of Mueller’s years in public service as a Marine officer who was awarded a Purple Heart and as director of the FBI.
“Director Mueller, we have a responsibility to address the evidence you’ve uncovered,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a prepared opening statement. “You recognized as much when you said, ‘the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.'”
Nadler said the hearing would highlight episodes in which Trump sought to thwart Mueller’s investigation. “Any other person who acted this way would have been charged with a crime. And in this nation, not even the president is above the law.”
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia, emphasized that Mueller’s investigation did not find that Trump or his campaign conspired with Russia. Trump’s reaction to the investigation of him and his campaign was “understandably negative,” Collins said, “but he did not shut down” the inquiry.
Acknowledging his role as a reluctant witness, Mueller warned lawmakers that his answers would likely be limited to the contents of his investigation and will likely decline to respond to questions that may be central to ongoing investigations into the origins of the Russia inquiry.
“Public testimony could affect several ongoing matters,” he said. “In some of these matters, court rules or judicial orders limit the disclosure of information to protect the fairness of the proceedings. And consistent with longstanding Justice Department policy, it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any way that could affect an ongoing matter.”
Mueller also said that the Justice Department has asserted privileges concerning investigative information and decisions, ongoing matters and deliberations within the agency.
“I therefore will not be able to answer questions about certain areas that I know are of public interest. For example, I am unable to address questions about the opening of the FBI’s Russia investigation, which occurred months before my appointment, or matters related to the so-called ‘Steele Dossier,'” Mueller said. “These matters are the subject of ongoing review by the Department. Any questions on these topics should therefore be directed to the FBI or the Justice Department.”
Even before Mueller’s testimony began, Trump began issuing a series of pointed – and now familiar – critiques of the former special counsel and the investigation he ran. “Why didn’t Robert Mueller investigate the investigators?” Trump wrote in an early morning tweet, repeating unproven claims that Mueller had conflicts of interest and claiming that he had been the victim of “The Greatest Witch Hunt” in history.
In a letter made public on Monday, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer told Mueller that “any testimony must remain within the boundaries” of his report, a redacted version of which was made public in April. Weinsheimer said information such as presidential communications, discussions about investigative steps and decisions made during the investigation can’t be disclosed.
The department’s longstanding policy also prohibits publicly discussing the conduct of “uncharged third-parties,” Weinsheimer said.
Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told Mueller in his own letter late Tuesday that the Justice Department’s restrictions “will have no bearing” on what Mueller can and can’t say.
Mueller’s spokesman, Jim Popkin, reaffirmed that the former FBI director will not veer from his report’s findings.
Mueller spent two years investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump obstructed the inquiry that consumed Washington and the first half of his presidency. Trump and his allies spent nearly as much time questioning the basis of the investigation, deriding it as a witch hunt undertaken by a conflicted special counsel and politically biased investigators, some of whom the president has accused of spying and treason.
Mueller’s testimony comes about three months after the release of his exhaustive report. The investigation revealed a systematic effort by Russia to sway the election in Trump’s favor and a campaign that embraced the assistance but did not conspire with the Kremlin. The report also said Trump repeatedly tried to impede the Russia investigation, though Attorney General William Barr and former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein determined that the evidence does not establish Trump had committed a crime.
During the brief public appearance in May, Mueller did not clear Trump of criminal wrongdoing but said charges were “not an option” because of Justice Department policy of not indicting a sitting president.
“If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that,” Mueller said.
Mueller also said that allegations of “multiple” and “systematic” Russian interference in U.S. elections deserve “the attention of every American.”
The House Judiciary Committee first questions Mueller for three hours before the House Intelligence Committee gets its turn.
In his letter to Mueller, Weinsheimer underscored the forced nature of the testimony.
“As the attorney general has repeatedly stated, the decision to testify before Congress is yours to make in this case, but the department agrees with your stated position that your testimony should be unnecessary under the circumstances,” Weinsheimer wrote. “The department generally does not permit prosecutors such as you to appear and testify before Congress regarding their investigative and prosecutorial activity.”
Contributing: Bart Jansen
More on Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation:
The British government is in transition on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May steps down and Boris Johnson takes her place. Here’s how the day will unfold:
●May hosted her last session of Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament and will soon deliver farewell remarks at 10 Downing Street.
●May will then submit her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
●Johnson will formally become prime minister following his own audience with the queen.
●Johnson will deliver his first speech at Downing Street and begin to form his cabinet.
LONDON — The transition of power in Britain’s parliamentary democracy is brutal — and lightning quick. The United Kingdom is not without a premier for more than an hour. Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May will curtsy to the Queen Wednesday afternoon and resign. Boris Johnson will bow and be asked to form a new government.
When Johnson walks through the black enameled door of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, he will fulfill what his biographers describe as his relentless “blond ambition” to follow his hero, Winston Churchill, into Britain’s top job.
He will immediately face the buzz saw of Brexit. And although his supporters hope the charismatic Johnson will rally a divided Parliament and a divided country in a way that Theresa May failed to do, he comes into office as a controversial leader, not especially well-liked by most Brits.
Johnson — a bombastic, Latin-quoting Oxford classicist with a mop of intentionally mussed yellow hair — made his name as an over-the-top journalist and a colorful London mayor. He then galvanized the successful Brexit campaign in 2016, which won him many fans and many enemies.
On Wednesday, the transition began when May appeared in the House of Commons for her last session of prime minister’s questions, a weekly exchange between the ruling government and the opposition, as tradition dictates, “two sword lengths apart.”
Lawmakers thanked May for her term and her 33 years in public service. The harshest lines were reserved for Johnson, whom opposition rivals called “flagrant” and “reckless,” a usurper with no mandate, and someone who is prepared to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and his friends.”
May offered tepid support for her successor, said she was “pleased” to hand over to Johnson, whom “I worked with when he was in my cabinet,” and who is committed to delivering Brexit. Johnson notably quit May’s cabinet over her handling of Brexit.
When May herself came under attack, she gave as good as she got.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn laid into her — saying that under her tenure, child poverty was up, pensioner poverty was up, school class size was up, food bank use was up. May retorted that she was proud of her record. She then lowered her head, eyeballed Corbyn and poked him with her horns: “As a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same.”
Jo Swinson, the new leader of the ascendant Liberal Democrats party, asked May if she had any advice for “women across the country on how to deal with those men who think they could do a better job but are not prepared to do the actual work.”
May smiled but didn’t take the bait — if that’s what it was — to make any references to Johnson. Instead, she offered: “Be true to yourself, persevere and keep going.”
Harriet Harman, the longest-serving female member of the House, honored May as Britain’s second female prime minister. But Harman added a sly reference to May’s rocky relationship with President Trump: “Sometimes you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.”
Although May had a relatively short tenure for a British prime minister, she noted that she had answered more than 4,500 questions over the course of 140 hours in the House of Commons.
After she steps down as leader, May will return to the backbenches of Parliament as an ordinary and not very influential lawmaker. This is far different from the tradition in the United States, where a former president scoots offstage to write memoirs, deliver speeches and build a library. In May’s case, she will back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, asking questions of Johnson.
Outside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, Fleet Street was in a tizzy over possible picks for Johnson’s team — including the “great offices of state” — the chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary — and what they could mean for Brexit and his style of governing. Johnson has just 99 days to find a Brexit solution. Otherwise, he has warned that Britain might accept the economic risk of leaving the bloc without a withdrawal agreement or transition period.
Will Johnson lean toward compromise? Or tilt toward a ‘no deal’ Brexit? The lineup of his top team could also signal whether he intends to govern, as he suggested on the campaign trail, like he did as mayor of London, where he was known as a liberal Conservative.
Johnson awoke Wednesday to a pile of British newspapers on his doorstep announcing his victory — some celebratory, some not. The Metro tabloid went with “Don’t Panic!” as an all-caps headline. The Express front page read, “Hang Onto Your Hats. Here Comes Boris!”
Next on the schedule: May will deliver farewell remarks at Downing Street and then travel to Buckingham Palace — probably under the watchful eye of hovering media helicopters — where she will tender her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II and recommend Johnson as the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons.
After May’s car leaves the palace, one carrying Johnson will arrive for a ceremony known as “kissing hands.”
In the movie “The Queen,” starring Helen Mirren, the actor playing Tony Blair kissed the hand of the monarch, but in reality, there’s more likely to be shaking hands. Theresa May shook hands and curtsied — deeply — during her meeting with the queen when she became prime minister.
Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband, Philip, stand outside 10 Downing Street on July 13, 2016. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
Johnson will be the queen’s 14th prime minister. Over the course of her long reign, Elizabeth II has seen them come and go: Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and now Johnson.
Much attention today will focus on his remarks after he leaves the palace. The first speech a prime minister delivers is heavily scrutinized and often long remembered.
For her first speech as prime minister, May talked of tackling “burning injustices” in society and leading a government that worked for everyone, not the “privileged few.” Those promises for a Tory-led “social justice” program were often thrown back in her face, when May mostly failed to address those issues. She was consumed with Brexit. The same could happen to her successor.
Matt Hancock, a Conservative politician who has been helping with Johnson’s campaign, told the BBC he expected Johnson’s speech to include “a surprising amount of detail, especially on the domestic agenda.” He said that, at the same time as delivering Brexit, Johnson wanted to focus on domestic issues and pointed out that on the campaign trail Johnson spoke about education, social care and policing.
Once prime minister, Johnson is expected to start naming his new team and new cabinet. Johnson has said he wants a cabinet rich with pro-Brexit voices — with each chair filled by someone who is okay with the incoming prime minister’s vow, that if he does not get the Brexit deal he wants from Europe, then Britain will crash out with no deal.
Johnson handily won the leadership contest on Tuesday. The former foreign secretary Johnson captured 92,153 votes to current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 — a decisive victory.
New Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Boris Johnson leaves his campaign office in central London on Tuesday. (Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)
But the vote involved only dues-paying members of the Conservative Party. A mere 139,000 people cast ballots in a country of 66 million. A lot of Britons feel left out at a pivotal moment. On social media, #NotMyPM was one of the many Johnson-related hashtags trending. A YouGov survey found that 58 percent of Brits have a negative opinion of Johnson — a wicked-high number for a first day on the job.
The 55-year-old Johnson will take up residence at Downing Street. His 31-year-old girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications official and a top Tory spinner, may move in over the weekend, according to British news reports. Expect a lot of tabloid interest in this unprecedented arrangement.
When Johnson clocks in, he will face an overflowing in-box of items that need urgent attention, including a showdown in the Persian Gulf with a belligerent Iran. The two countries have been in a tense standoff since Britain impounded an Iranian tanker suspected of sending oil to Syria, and Iran retaliated by seizing a British-flagged oil tanker last week.
Politics watchers are keen to see whether Johnson continues Britain’s effort to salvage the 2015 deal designed to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons, or whether he bends to U.S. pressure to impose sanctions on Iran.
Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth, Pa. Officials with the school district are not responding to several offers to settle debt students accrued from not paying for cafeteria meals.
Courtesy of Luzerne County
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Courtesy of Luzerne County
Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth, Pa. Officials with the school district are not responding to several offers to settle debt students accrued from not paying for cafeteria meals.
Courtesy of Luzerne County
A public school district in Pennsylvania that faced a national outcry after threatening to place children in foster care over unpaid cafeteria debt has received several offers to pay off the entire delinquent meal tab, but school officials do not seem interested.
In a letter sent on July 9 to about 40 parents in the Wyoming Valley West School District in an effort to collect the debt, officials warned that if it went unpaid, “The result may be your child being taken from your home and placed in foster care.”
According to Luzerne County Manager David Pedri, at least five donors have stepped forward willing to satisfy the $22,000 in debt accrued by dozens of students whose parents did not give them money topay for the meals.
A prominent media figure is among those who has tried to settle the students’ debt. An assistant to this person, who requested anonymity, told NPR that attempts to reach school officials were unsuccessful.
“These are gracious and kindhearted people, and I have forwarded their information over to the Wyoming Valley West School District for their review,” Pedri said.
Another one of the potential donors is Todd Carmichael, the Philadelphia-based chief executive of coffee-roasting company La Colombe.
In an interview with NPR, Carmichael said he grew up poor, one of four kids raised by a single mom outside Spokane, Wash. Hearing about a school in rural Pennsylvania threatening to remove children from a household for not being able to paya lunch bill struck a nerve with him.
“I know what it’s like to be shamed at school. I know what these things are. And I know how my mother would react if someone threatened to take her children away,” Carmichael said.
So, Carmichael’s team contacted the district’s school board.
“And,” he said. “We were rejected.”
Carmichael said his assistant called the school district’s president, Joseph Mazur, and the conversation quickly became combative before Mazur abruptly hung up the phone.
Mazur and members of the Wyoming Valley West administration did not respond to NPR’s numerous requests for comment on Tuesday.
The situation has left Carmichael, who has done a fair amount of philanthropy, searching for answers.
“I’m just completely mystified by it,” he said. “I’m still picking through the pieces and saying, ‘What is this?'”
State records show that the school district is one of the poorest in Pennsylvania, and it is situated in a blue-collar community outside of Wilkes-Barre, which is a former coal mining town.
When Mazur talked to NPR earlier in the week, he defended the letter by saying the school district is strapped for cash and desperate for ways to save money.
That has left Carmichael wondering why the district would turn down donations.
“This really isn’t about the money,” he concludes. “I think it’s about teaching people who are struggling some sort of moral lesson they need to learn, no matter what the consequences are.”
Pedri, who oversees the foster care program in Luzerne County, recently sent the district a letter admonishing school officials for the letter and asking them never to do it again.
“Foster care is something we utilize as a shield to assist kids. It’s not a sword. We don’t like foster care being utilized to try to terrorize individuals,” Pedri told NPR.
In an a recent editorial, The Times-Tribune of Scranton called the threats “shameful” and “an act of hubris.”
“The state Department of Education and the Legislature had no way of knowing that some school district officials would play the schoolyard bully, issuing threats to separate children from their parents in pursuit of lunch money,” the editorial board wrote, urging state lawmakers to “outlaw such outlandish conduct by law and regulation covering lunch debt collection.”
BAWDIE, Ghana – A few years after coming as a teenager to this Ghanaian town to prospect for gold, Yaw Ngoha had made enough cash to marry his sweetheart and build a house with a porch, to which he would later add a flat-screen TV and satellite dish.
So when a town elder invited a doctor to talk to miners about the hazards of wildcat mining, “nobody listened,” said the 36-year-old, sitting on a wooden bench on his porch in a lush banana grove.
“We needed money.”
Since Ngoha started prospecting in the early 2000s, more and more people like him have helped Ghana grow into Africa’s biggest gold producer. Across the continent and beyond, millions have turned to the trade. Few are deterred by the risks.
Ngoha’s friends and family members started to sicken and die, but he told himself this had nothing to do with the amount of dust they’d been breathing in or the toxins – including mercury and nitric acid – they used to extract the gold.
One morning in 2016, Ngoha started coughing up blood. It felt like his airways were collapsing. His doctor treated him for tuberculosis.
The drugs didn’t help, but he carried on working.
“I said to myself the symptoms were the result of a certain wrongdoing,” he told a reporter during a visit in April. “Maybe someone has gone to a medicine man, or someone has gone to steal from someone, and we have all been cursed.”
For a while, this miner prospered
Shining rocks
Ngoha was living in the town of Bawdie (pronounced Bor-dee-ay) in Ghana’s Western Region. The area is a major producer of cocoa, rubber and palm oil grown by smallholder farmers – Ghanaian cocoa is used by chocolate-makers worldwide.
But cash crops are fickle, back-breaking, slow-paying, and hungry for land.
And the rocks here are laced with so much gold, they glisten.
Early colonists called this region the Gold Coast. The Ashanti people of southern Ghana have long made fortunes from what Ghanaians call “galamsay” (gather-and-sell) mining. Since 2008, gold prices have risen, digging equipment from China has become cheap and easy to get, and informal mining has mushroomed.
A 2016 report by researchers for the International Institute for Environment and Development estimated a million people in Ghana make a living in what some call artisanal mining, and 4.5 million more depend on it. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost 10 million such miners, according to a World Bank estimate: At least 60 million more are reliant on the sector.
As miners go for gold, they are poisoning rivers, farmland — and themselves.
Miners inhale fumes from explosives used to loosen rocks, and dust coming off crushing machines, which contains heavy metals such as lead. This weakens the lungs.
They use mercury and nitric acid, which also cause breathing problems, to leach precious ore out of sediment.
Then they toss the chemicals to the ground or into rivers.
Mercury is an especially dangerous poison.
After long exposure to the vapour, cases of pulmonary fibrosis, restrictive lung disease, and chronic respiratory insufficiency have been reported in the United States. In Ghana, too, researchers have published dozens of papers documenting evidence of mercury-linked toxicity in the blood and urine of residents, as well as mercury contamination in soil, food, water and fish. Around Bawdie, in 2016, Ghanaian researchers in a University of Michigan-funded study found average mercury levels in the water were at least 10 times higher than international safety levels, or up to 86 times higher in one area.
Big multinational mining firms also cause pollution, but informal mines can be worse. A United Nations report published this year said artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for up to 80% of emissions of mercury in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It is hard to measure what harms result. One study, published by the Lancet in 2018, estimated that more than 10 million people in Africa are exposed to mercury by artisanal mining, cutting short by almost two years their expectations for a healthy life.
Even so, efforts by health and environmental experts to stop or clean up informal mining almost always hit the same snag: For people with few other options, there’s too much money to be made in gold.
Vast amounts of gold from Africa’s informal mines go to the United Arab Emirates, much of it smuggled. Since 2003, the UAE has reported importing about $10.6 billion worth of Ghanaian gold. No industrial miners send gold to the UAE, the companies have told Reuters (see related story).
Gold dust
Yaw Ngoha was 19 and had a basic school diploma when he followed his older brother Peter out of one of Ghana’s poorest regions to Bawdie. He arrived in 2002, moved into Peter’s shack with some other men and before long, was operating machines to crush ore into powder ready for panning.
“The machines produced so much dust,” he said. “I was covered in dust and breathing in dust clouds all day.”
$10 billion
reuters graphic
worth of wildcat gold imported by UAE from Ghana
The miners run water through the powder to separate heavier metals for collection, then mix in mercury, which bonds with the gold to form an alloy. Using tweezers, they pick out what look like little balls of tin foil and place them in a fire.
The fire burns the mercury, sending its vapour into the air.
Mercury poisons every tissue it touches.
Besides lung damage, it can lead to memory loss, irritability or depression, kidney failure, tremors or numbness, and discoloured, peeling or scaly skin. Extreme mercury poisoning can cause paralysis, coma, or insanity.
Even people who are not directly exposed absorb it through water or, for those near the coast, seafood. In a developing foetus, it can cause difficulties with mobility and learning. In the 1950s, thousands of people in the Japanese city of Minamata fell victim to mercury in the wastewater of a chemical factory.
But the poison works slowly, making it hard to diagnose. And informal miners rarely take precautions. In Ghana, Ngoha and other miners said they would rip open sachets of mercury with their teeth, sometimes sucking it out and spitting it into bowls. They got it on their hands and didn’t wash before eating. They inhaled the fumes.
In a good week, Ngoha could make as much as $300. A less productive week might yield $60. Rarely, when a mine failed to yield, he might take home nothing. But mining beat the $5 a week he could expect from a cocoa or rubber plantation.
A few days after Ngoha arrived in Bawdie he met Mary, a trader who sold soft drinks, snacks and other goods to the miners. They married the following year. He had no problem paying the $800 bride price demanded by her father’s clan, or feeding the guests at their lavish wedding.
He bought land and built a two-room house, with kitchen and separate living space – rare in this part of Ghana. His gold money paid for a second-hand Toyota Corolla and school fees for all four of their children.
The town chief who wants mining to stop
Breathing problems
Galamsay penetrates all levels of society. Bawdie’s town chief, Nana Kwaw Fobri II, makes rent from mining operations. He declined to comment.
But the trade’s effects have long been a concern: In late 2005, another town chief who also was in the gold trade summoned about 120 townspeople to a meeting. A surgeon he knew who ran a clinic in Bawdie was alarmed about the mercury the miners were using. The chief, Nana Boateng, wanted miners like Ngoha to hear about it.
At the meeting Dr. Frederick Sarpong, a tall, bald man with deep-set eyes, tried to explain how mining dust and mercury fumes make people more vulnerable to lung diseases, including TB. Half the adult population in rural Ghana have the TB bacteria in their throats, although most are resistant.
Even as the miners listened, Sarpong sensed them tune out: “When a doctor is speaking, even if they have their reservations, they will not come out and say so.”
Miners started getting sick, often with symptoms that were similar. Broad-shouldered men with strapping muscles from digging and hauling rocks wilted into bony, hollow-cheeked starvelings.
Next came a hacking cough, bringing up puddles of red phlegm. They grew weak; many could not continue their work. Some, he diagnosed with TB.
Around 2008, miners started dying. In a single month, Sarpong recorded 30 deaths near Bawdie, all with the same symptoms. Bawdie’s population is around 5,000.
A government study in 2013 had put the TB mortality rate nationwide at 7.5 per 1,000 cases. The numbers in Bawdie who failed to respond to treatment meant there must be more to this than TB, Sarpong concluded.
DIFFICULT DIAGNOSIS: Dr. Frederick Sarpong at the El Shiva clinic in Bawdie. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko
“You might think it’s tuberculosis, but this is mercury poisoning.”
“They will come to the hospital … coughing up blood,” he said. “You might think it’s tuberculosis, but actually this is mercury poisoning.”
One night in 2009, Ngoha’s brother Peter, then 40, started coughing uncontrollably. Blood was squirting out of his nose. The family rushed him to hospital. Hours later, Ngoha received a call. Peter had died.
In the years that followed, eight of his closest friends died similar deaths, he said. Boateng, the chief who had called the town meeting with the surgeon, said he had seen the same story with at least 50 miners.
Though doctors had warned that their mining practices put them at risk of just these sorts of health problems, the miners weren’t blaming their trade. “We thought we had committed a sin against the gods,” Boateng said.
He and half a dozen other miners visited the sacred oracles in the shrines of Ashanti deities. At each one, he said, the fetish priest “couldn’t find anything we’d done wrong.”
His own brother, Kwaku, 30, died at a mine further north. Kwaku choked to death on his own blood.
Sometimes death came more quickly. Boateng recalled a man who made so much money at a blast-site, people started calling him “Mr. Big Stuff.” One day, friends said, Mr. Big Stuff just keeled over after inhaling a puff of smoke.
How to get gold from galamsay
FIRST, DIG: Miners start by digging rocks from inside the line shafts with a pick and shovel. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
SECOND, GRIND: Then they take the rocks to a breaking machine where they get ground up into gravel. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
THIRD, PAN:The gravel has to be sifted to get the gold ore out. This they do by putting it on a long wooden container tilted at an angle and pouring water over it. The heavier gold collects into a tray at the bottom. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
FOURTH, RINSE: They take the ore and sift it further by pouring water into it. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
FIFTH, ADD MERCURY: Few use protective equipment, despite the toxicity of mercury. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko
SIXTH, ROLL: The mercury gathers the gold into a little ball by chemical attraction. Miners remove the ball of gold and mercury, tossing mercury-contaminated water away. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
SEVENTH, BURN: The mercury is then burned off to leave the gold. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
For years Ghana’s government did little to curb illegal mining, but as concern grew, President Nana Akufo-Addo tried to crack down, banning all informal mining – even by miners who had licenses – between January 2017 and the end of 2018.
“Illegal mining has had a devastating effect on our environment,” Environment Minister Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng told Reuters in the capital, Accra.
He said 80% of Ghana’s waterways were polluted by miners stirring up sediment and dumping waste. The World Bank gives a similar figure. It says many of Ghana’s waterways have been effectively blocked, causing flooding upstream, which destroys farmland or cocoa fields. Last year, the state-run Ghana Water Company temporarily shut down four treatment plants, citing pollution caused by mining.
Out walking near Bawdie, Dr. Sarpong paused next to a river turned sand-coloured by people dumping mining waste and stirring up river sediment to pan for gold.
“This is water people are drinking,” he said.
The temporary mining ban was supposed to give the government time to register all miners and improve regulation. By the time it was lifted, however, fewer than 1,500 of Ghana’s million or so miners had been vetted. The government declined to comment on why.
A short drive south from Bawdie, a shanty town ringed with illegal mines called Nsuaem-Top shows how hard it is to enforce the rules. Even while the mining ban was in force last year, the place was buzzing with illegal activity.
Stephen Ble owns a bar and restaurant that pumps out reggae music and feeds hungry miners. He said that in just over a decade, he had gone from being an impoverished school dropout to a gold trader – sometimes of 50 grams at a time – and investor in mines. He owns a Kia saloon car, a gold-coloured watch and a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
“Look,” he said, squeezing a twinkling puddle of mercury into his palm, “none of us has ever been harmed by using mercury.”
He tossed it on the ground a few feet away from where his wife was cooking and their toddler playing.
The miner whose cash built a bar
In 2010, Boateng, the chief, got sick. Sarpong treated him for TB. By then, they’d both seen dozens die.
“It got to a point where people were dying who weren’t even mining,” Boateng said. “They were just traders working around the area where the mercury is dumped.”
Boateng was lucky. He recovered, quit mining and went into cocoa and rubber farming. But now when he tries to warn young men off mining, he says they laugh at him. Some threaten him.
In 2011, Boateng took a job running Sarpong’s mortuary. Now he records each body that comes in.
“The miners were seeing real money,” he said. “They won’t stop, whatever you tell them. They didn’t care. They had a saying: ‘with every job comes death.’”
Kidney damage
Late last year, Samuel Essien-Baidoo, a researcher at Ghana’s University of Cape Coast, studied the impact of mercury on miners in the Western Region. “Their kidneys were damaged, some extensively,” he said. A number had skin rashes and most suffered from itchy eyes, hair loss and persistent headaches. Mercury was a problem, he concluded: Two-thirds of patients on dialysis at the Cape Coast teaching hospital were from the gold mining region.
Ghana’s entire health budget for the next three years totals $850 million, so hospitals can’t offer dialysis for free. The ones who can’t pay “simply die,” Essien-Baidoo said. Treatments to remove heavy metals are out of reach of Ghanaian wildcat miners.
Officially in Ghana, as in many other countries, mercury is a controlled substance. Ghana’s 1989 Mercury Act allows miners to keep “reasonable quantities” for mining, but they can buy it only from licensed dealers. Ghana has also pledged to join a global pact named after the Minamata disaster to phase out mercury use in mining. Safer mining methods that have been proposed include burning off the mercury under glass to capture the fumes and condense them back into liquid. But the glass is fragile and tricky to handle. Another method requires a furnace and a source of energy, so it too hasn’t been widely used.
In Ghana as elsewhere, mercury is smuggled in.
Selling mercury without a licence in Ghana is an offence that officially carries up to two years in jail. In a Bawdie gold trading shop, which offered mercury for 50 cedis ($10) for a thumb-sized ball and sold nitric acid in 35 kg containers, owner George Ansa, 36, said he had no licence. He got the mercury from traders at Ghana’s ports, he said, and smuggled it inland using old Fanta bottles.
In a 2018 assessment, Ghana’s government said official imports averaged just 11 tonnes per year. At the same time, it estimated that at least 45 tonnes of mercury were used annually in galamsay.
Some studies have suggested that much of the mercury used by miners like Ngoha originates in China, but it could come from many places. A former mercury trader in Africa told Reuters he used to import it from Slovenia.
A spokesman for Ghana’s Minerals Commission declined to comment on its enforcement of mercury controls. Environment Minister Frimpong-Boateng told Reuters in 2018 that Ghana had trained about 4,000 miners to mine more safely, and plans to use drones to monitor mining. There are a number of initiatives in Africa aimed at producing ethical and environmentally-friendly gold, but they are not economically viable for now and run at small scale.
Solomon Kusi Ampofo, a natural resources expert leading Ghana’s national mercury survey, said most miners would continue to use mercury until other practical methods are available.
Globally, the U.N. estimates informal miners spilled about 1,220 tonnes of mercury into soil and water in 2015 – 252 tonnes of it in Africa, and even more in South America.
Winner take nothing
Back in Bawdie in April, 16 months of TB medication had failed to heal Ngoha.
He stopped mining. Mary was struggling to feed the family and look after him. His Corolla, parked outside the house, had a ‘For Sale’ sign on it.
His cough was rasping, his thighs as thin as his calves, and a thumb and forefinger could practically encircle his ankles.
Sitting with him at the house, Boateng produced a photo of a recent arrival at the mortuary. The corpse lay on the ground, blood encrusted on the man’s shirt, nose and the surrounding earth. A miner.
In turn, Ngoha pulled out an old photo. In it, he and Peter were sitting next to a rock-breaking machine in a gold-processing shack, with three friends standing around. All of them looked young and strong and healthy.
“They’re all dead now,” Ngoha said. “Everyone except me.”
In early May, Bawdie buried another miner whose lungs had given out.
His name was Yaw Ngoha.
DIALYSIS: A patient rests on the dialysis ward of Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko
Additional reporting by Ryan McNeill in London, Francis Kokoroko in Bawdie and Christian Akorlie in Accra
New Gold Rush
By Tim Cocks and David Lewis
Data: Ryan McNeill
Graphics: Aditi Bhandari
Photo editing: Simon Newman
Video: Tim Cocks, Matt Larotonda, Kojo Daniels, Francis Kokoroko
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a shake-up of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, appointing its third director in a year and backing an overhaul of the agency’s practices in response to widespread public complaints of poor service, including hours-long wait lines and a botched “motor voter” program.
“I recognize that people are outraged by their experience at DMV,” Newsom said at a Capitol press conference on Tuesday. “I am not naive about the challenges at the DMV. The technology is byzantine.”
Newsom appointed tech industry entrepreneur Steve Gordon of San Jose as director of the DMV. His first job will be overseeing changes being executed by a so-called strike team appointed by the governor in January to address shoddy services and outdated technology at the agency.
The task force’s recommendations included revamping the DMV’s technology, training and processes.
The DMV became the center of controversy last year when customers complained of having to wait four to six hours at field offices as the agency deals with complications caused by Real IDs, a new driver’s license and identification card design required for airline passengers starting in late 2020.
The delays were worsened by frequent computer crashes blamed in part on faulty and outdated computer systems.
The strike team report released on Tuesday said that in August, average wait times were nearly two hours in the state’s largest DMV offices, and 16% of all customers experienced wait times of more than two hours.
“It is clear that changes are essential if the DMV is to meet its most immediate challenge: successfully meeting increased demand for REAL ID driver licenses before the October 1, 2020 federal deadline without the surge in wait times that customers experienced in field offices during the summer of 2018,” the report said.
The department has also struggled in recent months with the implementation of an automated voter registration system. DMV customers are now registered to vote, or have their existing voter registration updated, unless they opt out of the process.
An audit of what went wrong in the creation of the voter program is expected to be released as soon as the end of this month. Asked Tuesday about the motor voter project, Newsom said his strike team has already anticipated some of what that audit is likely to show.
“All of those things happened, not on my watch. But I’m responsible for fixing them,” he said.
Newsom said some 28 million Californians might apply for Real ID licenses in the next year, which he said could swamp offices again unless changes are made. And the governor pointed out one sign of the seriousness of the problem: DMV computers crashed briefly Tuesday just before his press conference.
The proposals were met with skepticism from some longtime critics of the DMV, including Republican Assemblyman Jim Patterson of Fresno.
“After all the hype and hoopla, we’ve just been told by Gov. Newsom that it’s bad, it’s going to get worse and there’s nothing they can do about it,” Patterson said. “Millions of Californians are going to face exploding wait times again. This isn’t re-imagining a new DMV, it’s making excuses for the old one.”
Former Gov. Jerry Brown began making changes at the DMV last year, beginning an expansion of its budget and hiring. This year Newsom allocated an additional $240 million to the DMV and authorized the hiring of 1,800 people, most temporary, during the next year.
Newsom said the first goal is to stabilize and modernize the agency, but said large IT projects are likely going to take years to complete.
The strike team embarked on a redesign of the DMV’s website to be more user friendly, approved the acceptance of credit cards at some field offices starting in September and streamlined the customer experience, creating a new personalized mailer for customers to help them get through their five-year and 10-year license renewals.
The DMV has also begun offering more kiosks and “pop-up” services at other state buildings, and more training is in the works for field personnel to use tablets to serve large crowds showing up for new driver’s licenses.
The strike team also oversaw the approval of contracts to upgrade the agency’s computer systems.
“Over the next 12 months, the DMV will undergo a series of hardware and software upgrades, streamline operational activities required to stabilize the environment in the event of an outage, roll out monitoring tools to better manage and track critical systems and explore network architecture alternatives to reduce connectivity issues and minimize risk of DMV field office system outages,” the strike team report said.
The state agency is also developing a marketing campaign to educate the public about the Real ID requirements and how to get smoothly through the process.
“Even with all of the Strike Team’s efforts, the department will still likely struggle to meet the expected demand,” the report concluded. “However, the Strike Team believes the department is better prepared to deal with unexpected challenges and is on a path toward successfully serving the people of California more effectively and efficiently.”
Gordon — one of five new DMV appointees announced on Tuesday —
takes over from acting director Kathleen Webb, whom Newsom named in January when he appointed the strike team to overhaul the DMV. Webb becomes a deputy director of DMV. Previous DMV director Jean Shiomoto retired in December amid the controversy over long wait lines and errors in the motor voter program that has registered millions of new voters.
Gordon, 59, was a managing partner at ZTransforms for the last two years, and served previously as vice president of global service operations at Becton, Dickinson & Co., was principal consultant at SteveOnService and was co-founder of MySeatFinder. He also worked as president of technical services at Cisco Systems from 1993 to 2011, and he was an auditor for San Diego County from 1983 to 1984.
Newsom praised Gordon for his experience with high-tech companies.
“We have got a technology expert,” the governor said. “This is what he did at Cisco.”
Gordon said he decided to apply for the job after a frustrating experience of his own with the DMV.
“I know we have tremendous work ahead of us,” he said. “We will not modernize the DMV overnight.”
Gordon’s annual state salary will be $186,389, and his appointment must be confirmed by the state Senate.
Times staff writer John Myers contributed to this report.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has reportedly inspected a new submarine, but how new the vessel actually is remains uncertain.
The regime’s Korean Central News Agency featured several photos of Kim inspecting the vessel Tuesday. Kim was reportedly briefed on the sub’s new capabilities, though KCNA did not mention what those were.
Kim hailed the sub as “another demonstration of the might of our defense industry,” though it may have its origins in Soviet-era technology
The new submarine was expected to be a follow-up to North Korea’s Gorae ballistic missile submarine, according to defense analyst Joseph Dempsey. Some analysis of the pictures, however, shows it may be an updated version of a Soviet-era Romeo-class submarine.
Analyzing photographs of the two vessels, Dempsey pointed out similarities in the stern and bow of the new sub and the Romeo-class, a diesel-electric model first built in the 1950s.
While it may be based on an older model, the new sub is not necessarily obsolete. Experts are concerned it may actually be an advancement in North Korean military technology because it may be able to carry multiple ballistic missiles, which could be armed with nuclear warheads in the future.
Submarines are particularly dangerous platforms because of their ability to remain hidden and deliver nuclear warheads at a moment’s notice. A nuclear North Korea with a submarine capable of launching multiple nuclear missiles would be a game-changer for the security situation on the Korean peninsula.
The revelation of the sub comes at a time when U.S.-North Korea relations are in limbo. Nuclear talks between the two sides remain paused, and a date for a new round of deliberations has yet to be set.
SAN JUAN, July 24 (Reuters) – Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló was expected to step down on Wednesday after almost two weeks of protests against his administration that were sparked by the publication of offensive chat messages with aides, several of whom have already quit.
Rosselló had made no announcement by early Wednesday, but major local media were reporting his resignation was imminent.
Protesters had cheered those reports late on Tuesday but warned that his departure would not end the demonstrations now entering their 12th day.
If he does step down his replacement as the Caribbean island’s leader would likely be Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez, whom protesters reject because of her ties to Rosselló.
The governor’s chief-of-staff resigned on Tuesday as prosecutors investigated the scandal.
After some protesters threw bottles and police in riot gear used tear gas to disperse crowds on Monday, protests outside the governor’s mansion were comparatively tame on Tuesday and early Wednesday, limited to chanting and cheering.
The demonstrations, which drew an estimated 500,000 people to the streets of San Juan on Monday, continue to rock the U.S. territory as it struggles to recover from a hurricane two years ago that killed some 3,000 people. The island was already bankrupt.
The protests were spurred by the publication on July 13 of chat messages in which Gov. Rosselló and aides used profane language to describe female politicians and openly-gay Puerto Ricans like Ricky Martin.
They unleashed simmering resentment over his handling of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, alleged corruption in his administration and the island’s bankruptcy process.
A string of Rosselló’s closest aides have stepped down over the scandal. His chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi was the latest to hand in his resignation on Tuesday, citing concerns for the safety of his family after threats.
Puerto Rican officials on Tuesday executed search warrants for the mobile phones of Rosselló and 11 top officials involved in the leaked Telegram message group chats.
Puerto Rico’s Justice Department first requested the phones last Wednesday as part of its investigation into the chat scandal, nicknamed “Rickyleaks.”
Only Llerandi has so far said publicly he has handed in his phone.
Mariana Cobian, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to say whether the governor had surrendered his mobile.
Related: 10 things to do in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Visit the rainforest
The El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rain forest in the US national forest system. Although it’s small by comparison (29,000 acres), it is one of the most biologically diverse and is home to hundreds of unique animal and plant species, like the endangered Puerto Rican parrot.
Although many trails and facilities in the forest are closed off for repairs (especially post-Hurricane Maria), there are still plenty of places to visit and experience the forest.
Puerto Rican food is influenced by a combination of US, Spanish, African and native Taínos flavors. While there are more than enough great restaurants in San Juan, one with a view that’s as good as its menu is Perla (pictured). Perla is located at the La Concha Renaissance Hotel and sits in a conch-shell like exterior that was designed by an Italian architect in 1958. The “shell” sits on an infinity pool that overlooks the ocean.
Perla’s menu is appropriately seafood-focused with dishes like Baked Caribbean Lobster with Lobster Beurre Blanc and Seafood Ceviche and is rounded out with steak, chicken and an impressive dessert list. Just think of all the pics you’ll get for your Instagram…
Think of Old San Juan as the downtown area. There are no beaches or resort hotels, but it boasts bright colorful architecture, bustling streets and a rich history.
Visit and see the old home of Ponce de León, check out the kiosks along Pase la Princesa, go shopping, dine on Fortaleza Street (tons of good spots to eat!) and stop by to see the forts (more on that next).
The castle, also known as El Morro, sits on the water at the entrance to the San Juan Harbor. The building of it began in the 1400s by the Spaniards and over the years was rebuilt and modified — it’s over 475 years old! Today, the fort is a historical landmark and used for entertainment.
El Morro is part of the National Park Service and upon entering, you’ll be asked to pay an entrance fee. You’ll receive a map that can guide you around the “park” or you can take any of the guided tours offered there. Check out more on visiting here.
Shopping for jewelry in San Juan is great because you can get quality high-end items at lower prices than you might find on the US mainland. And, there are so many jewelry stores! (In addition to diamonds, make sure you check out the local spots for handmade accessories, too.)
Take a ferry from Old San Juan and visit Casa Bacardi. While Bacardi rum was founded in 1862 in Cuba, its Puerto Rican distillery opened in 1936. Today, you can visit and go on a historical tour, a rum tasting tour, take a mixology class or even bottle your very own Bacardi — each experience comes with a strong drink or two (or more!).
There are plenty of beaches in San Juan, so take a day to relax and enjoy the clear waters and sand.
Recommended beaches:
Most pristine: Flamenco Beach
Good for snorkeling & scuba: El Escambron
Closest to resorts: Playa Condado
Best for playing sand sports: Ocean Park Beach
Bioluminescent & wild horses: Mosquito Bay, Vieques
Most secluded: Playa Borinquen
Explore a bioluminescent bay
The water of a bioluminescent bay glows in a blue-green color. The glow is created by teeny tiny micro-organisms called flagellates; they make their food through photosynthesis, which creates the glow. It’s a sight to see, and a rare one — there are very few bioluminescent waters in the world. Luckily, you can find one near San Juan!
There are plenty of ways to explore around San Juan that don’t include walking or riding in a car. Take an ATV through the countryside, a jet ski around the islands, zipline through the rainforest or hike through the caves. There’s a lot to see and not everywhere is accessible via automobile.
A first-term governor in his first elected office, 40-year-old Rosselló has for almost two weeks resisted calls to step down as leader of the U.S. territory and its 3.2 million residents, though he has vowed not to seek re-election in 2020.
“The people are talking and I have to listen,” Rosselló said in a statement on Tuesday. He has apologized several times for the chats and asked Puerto Ricans to give him another chance.
But the island’s leading newspaper, prominent Democratic officials and Republican President Donald Trump have all called on Rosselló to step down.
(Reporting by Marco Bello and Nick Brown in San Juan; additional reporting by Luis Valentin Ortiz in San Juan, Zachary Fagenson in Miami, Karen Pierog in Chicago and Rich McKay in Atlanta; writing by Scott Malone and Andrew Hay; Editing by Catherine Evans)
(CNN)Robert Mueller arrives on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for the most highly anticipated hearings so far of this presidency, with the potential to reset the narrative about his two-year investigation into President Donald Trump.
Asked how much attention voters would pay, Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, predicted “little to none,” adding: “I think the American people have moved on. I think the issue’s dead as four o’clock. I think people have already drawn their own conclusions.”
While playing down expectations, Democrats were still hoping for a splash. Judiciary Committee Democrats conducted a mock hearing on Tuesday, with Norman L. Eisen, one of their lawyers, playing Mr. Mueller and another aide playing Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio. Party leaders separately coached their members on how to talk about Mr. Mueller’s testimony to make sure they can capitalize on any momentum he provides.
Aides to Speaker Nancy Pelosi circulated a six-page briefing packet, titled, “Exposing the Truth,” charging the Trump administration with “unparalleled abuses of power and corruption while hiding the truth from the American public.” It urged Democrats to talk not just about Mr. Mueller’s findings but also legislative actions the Democrat-controlled House has taken to harden the 2020 elections against foreign interference.
But it also smacked of a field test of something more ambitious, a 2020 campaign message meant to sow doubts about Mr. Trump’s loyalties and actions. And if Washington veterans were jaded about the hearings, Democrats were gambling that it would take only one or two viral video clips to engage the public.
A completely unscientific survey of out-of-town diners in a House cafeteria on Tuesday suggested the potential. Most were in Washington to lobby lawmakers, meaning they keep a closer eye on events in the Capitol than many Americans.
Kia Birkenbuel, 60, a disability rights advocate from Montana, said she had read Mr. Mueller’s report and was more concerned with its findings about Russian interference than its evidence that the president may have obstructed justice. “I’m excited to hear what he has to say,” she said, “even if he has to keep within the boundaries of the report.”
At another table, Gabby Saunders, 22, an advocate for wildlife conservation from Utah, said she had read most of the report — and what she had not read, she listened to on audio. She called the coming testimony “the pinnacle of what we’ve been waiting for,” adding: “I’m from Utah. This is my second time being on the Hill. If I could see that live, it would be extraordinary.”
Image caption
Boris Johnson will enter Downing Street for the first time as prime minister
Boris Johnson will begin the process of forming his government later after he succeeds Theresa May as prime minister.
The new Conservative leader will take office on Wednesday afternoon following an audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
After entering Downing Street, he is expected to announce a clutch of senior cabinet posts, including chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary.
Sources close to Mr Johnson say his top team will reflect “modern Britain”.
He is expected to use the opportunity to increase the number of women in full cabinet positions and boost the representation of ethnic minorities.
Mr Johnson won a decisive victory over Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a ballot of Tory members – gaining a 66.4% total share of the vote.
Conversations are said to be “ongoing” between Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson about the foreign secretary’s next role.
After his victory, MrJohnson said his priorities were to deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The ex-mayor of London is expected to address the nation for the first time outside Downing Street at about 16:00 BST after accepting the Queen’s invitation to form a government.
That will follow Theresa May formally giving her resignation as prime minister at Buckingham Palace.
All the makings of a disaster?
Boris Johnson’s political inheritance has all the makings of a disaster.
He has no Commons majority. There is no mandate from the general public – remember this election has only been decided by Tory members.
There are policy problems everywhere in sight, whether that’s trying to solve the conundrums of Brexit with a reluctant EU and a divided party, or trying to address deep-seated problems at home.
And just as among his fans there is genuine excitement that he will, at last, be in Number 10, there is scepticism and disbelief from the opposition parties, and double-sided concerns in his own party.
Image caption
Boris Johnson will be the 14th prime minister of Queen Elizabeth’s reign
Wednesday 12:00 BST onwards: Theresa May takes part in her last Prime Minister’s Questions. After lunch she will make a short farewell speech outside No 10 before travelling to see the Queen to resign.
Boris Johnson will then arrive for an audience at Buckingham Palace where he will be invited to form a government.
After that he will make a speech in Downing Street before entering the building for the first time as prime minister.
Later, he will begin announcing his most senior cabinet appointments, such as chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary, and will make and take his first calls from other world leaders.
Thursday: Mr Johnson is expected to make a statement to Parliament about his Brexit strategy and take questions from MPs. Parliament will break up for its summer recess later.
The new PM will also continue announcing his new cabinet.
Mr Johnson will inherit a wafer-thin parliamentary majority and, like his predecessor, will continue to rely on the support of the Democratic Unionists of Northern Ireland to govern.
Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP have said they will oppose Mr Johnson over Brexit, although they have stopped short of threatening an immediate vote of no confidence.
The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Mr Johnson’s choice of his top team would be critical in his efforts to bring the warring factions of his party together.
Those said to be in the frame include Home Secretary Sajid Javid, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Liz Truss, Mr Hammond’s current deputy at the Treasury.
Sweeping changes are expected with a number of other ministers, including Justice Secretary David Gauke and Development Secretary Rory Stewart, having said they cannot serve under Mr Johnson due to his determination to leave the EU, with or without a deal, on 31 October.
Among those tipped for promotion include Housing Minister Alok Sharma and Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
Priti Patel (far left) and Liz Truss (far right) are among those tipped for new jobs
Priti Patel could return to the cabinet less than two years after resigning as international development secretary over a row over unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials.
And sports minister Tracey Crouch, who quit last year in a dispute with the Treasury over fixed-odds betting terminals, could also be in line for a recall.
A source close to Mr Johnson said: “Boris will build a cabinet showcasing all the talents within the party that truly reflect modern Britain.”
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 23 are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com
Residents in a Tennessee neighborhood formed a human chain on Monday morning to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from taking a man into custody, according to reports.
The man, who lives in Hermitage, Tenn., which is about 20 minutes from Nashville, got into his van with his son when an ICE vehicle blocked him in, according to WTVF-TV.
The station added that the ICE agent had an administrative warrant, which allowed the agent to detain someone but did not allow ICE to forcibly remove someone from their home or vehicle.
“There were two immigration officials sort of bullying a family inside of their own vehicle, telling them that they had an administrative warrant, which isn’t the same thing as a judicial warrant, and trying to harass them and fear them into coming out,” Daniel Ayoadeyoon, a local lawyer who came to the scene to help, told WTVF-TV.
“They were saying, if you don’t come out, we’re going to arrest you, we’re going to arrest your 12-year-old son, and that’s just not legal, it’s not the right law.”
Over the next few hours, neighbors came out to help the man and his son and gave them essential items so that they did not have to leave their van, the television station reported.
“We made sure they had water, they had food, we put gas back in the vehicle when they were getting low just to make sure they were okay,” Felishadae Young, a neighbor, told the station.
After about four hours, the neighbors reportedly formed a human chain so that the father and son could run into their home. Once they did, ICE left, the station reported.
“I know they’re going to come back, and when they come back, we’re coming back,” Young told the station.
Several people who witnessed the situation reportedly broadcasted video on Facebook Live.
An ICE spokesman told Fox News the man the agency was trying to arrest is a convicted criminal who was ordered to be removed from the country “after receiving appropriate due process before the federal immigration courts.”
He added that ICE officers chose to deescalate the situation by leaving and pointed out that in general, people who interfere with or obstruct federal law enforcement officers are subject to arrest and potential federal criminal prosecution.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers were seeking a convicted criminal alien ICE fugitive with an outstanding removal order in metro Nashville July 22 when they were encountered by a small group of protestors. Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all persons involved, ICE personnel subsequently made the decision to depart without making an arrest to deescalate the situation.
ICE conducts targeted enforcement of federal immigration law on a daily basis in accordance with our routine, ongoing operations. In general, ICE continues to focus its enforcement efforts on criminal offenders as nearly 90 percent of persons arrested for violation of federal immigration law during the past year also had either a prior criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge. ICE does not conduct any type of random or indiscriminate enforcement that would encounter persons indiscriminately.”
Officers with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department were at the scene as well, but were not assisting in the man’s arrest, according to the department.
A statement sent to Fox News from Metro Nashville police said an ICE agent had requested the police department’s assistance after a driver would not stop when the agent tried to pull him over and then sat in the van with no intention of getting out.
The agent did not specify what he wanted the police department to do, according to the statement.
“The officers were instructed to not be involved in the service of the detainer, but to stand by from a distance to keep the peace if necessary,” the statement from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said.
“ICE ultimately left while the man was still in the van. The police left accordingly.”
(CINCINNATI) — An Ohio hospital paid the estate of astronaut Neil Armstrong $6 million in a confidential agreement to settle allegations that post-surgical complications led to Armstrong’s 2012 death, according to court documents and a report in the New York Times.
The 2014 settlement went to 10 family members, including Armstrong’s two sons, sister, brother and six grandchildren, according to documents filed with the Hamilton County Probate Court in Cincinnati which were publicly available on Tuesday. Armstrong’s widow, Carol, did not receive any money in the settlement.
Armstrong’s sons, Mark and Rick, contended care provided by Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital cost their father his life, according to the New York Times.
The 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon was celebrated Saturday. He died on Aug. 25, 2012.
A Sept. 24, 2014 motion to seal the settlement said the hospital and its caregivers stood by the treatment they provided.
“However, the hospital, on behalf of itself and the health care providers, agreed to a confidential settlement of $6 million to avoid the publicity the Estate might have initiated on behalf of certain members of the family if settlement had not been reached,” the document said.
Hospital spokeswoman Maureen Richmond declined to offer specifics on the matter, saying she was unable to discuss any individual’s care.
In an email statement to The Associated Press, she added: “The public nature of these details is very disappointing — both for our ministry and the patient’s family who had wished to keep this legal matter private.”
Messages were left for Armstrong’s widow and sons, and for Wendy Armstrong, Mark’s sister and a lawyer involved in motions to seal the settlement.
Carol Armstrong told the New York Times she signed off on the settlement in her role as executor but received no part of it.
Neil Armstrong was admitted to the hospital in August 2012 for vascular bypass surgery, according to a Sept. 24, 2014 motion filed by Carol Armstrong seeking to have the settlement approved.
“He underwent the cardiovascular surgery, but post-surgical complications arose and he subsequently died,” the motion said.
Most of the settlement, about $5.2 million, was split between Armstrong’s sons. The astronaut’s brother and sister each received $250,000, and six grandchildren each got $24,000. Attorneys’ fees of $160,000 were awarded.
A US military commander said a Navy ship may have downed a second Iranian drone last week in the Strait of Hormuz.
”As always it was a complex tactical picture, we believe two drones. We believe two drones were successfully — there may have been more that we are not aware of — those are the two that we engaged successfully,” Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told CBS News on Tuesday.
Speaking aboard the USS Boxer, the ship that targeted the drones, McKenzie said they are “confident we brought down one drone, we may have brought down a second.”
CBS said the incidents took place about an hour apart after the Navy believed the two aircraft were flying too close to the ship.
The USS Boxer was monitoring Iranian boats and helicopters in the region.
Iran claimed the US brought down its own drone, a notion that President Trump dismissed by saying during a White House event Monday that the US used “new technology that’s actually quite amazing.”
The development comes as Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last Saturday and after Trump called off a military strike against Iran last month for shooting down an unmanned US surveillance drone.
Tensions are running high in the region as Tehran is trying to enlist European countries to help it ease sanctions Trump imposed after pulling the US out of an Obama-era nuclear deal last year.
It was against that backdrop that Democrats in New York assembled their bill and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed it into lawthis month. As enacted, it requires state tax officials to hand over Mr. Trump’s state returns to the chairman of one of three congressional panels: the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation. The chairmen need only demonstrate a “specified and legitimate legislative purpose” for making the request.
State tax documents would most likely contain much of the information that Mr. Trump’s federal returns would.
Mr. Neal, a Democrat, has given no indication that he intends to actually make a request under the New York law. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have even viewed the New York measure with reservation, worrying it will jeopardize their pursuit of Mr. Trump’s federal returns.
But Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that Mr. Neal could change his mind at any time, and New York could comply “nearly instantaneously, mooting the president’s ability to object before his tax records are disclosed.”
“President Trump was thus forced to bring this lawsuit to safeguard his legal rights,” they wrote.
The legal maneuver is becoming familiar seven months into the Democratic House majority. Mr. Trump has also intervened in his private capacity to try to block private companies from complying with congressional subpoenas for various financial records.
Democrats in Washington and Albany were not happy.
Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey and a member of the Ways and Means Committee, called the lawsuit “a pathetic stunt, not worth the forms it’s printed on, and should be laughed out of court.”
State Senator Brad Hoylman, the Manhattan Democrat who sponsored the bill in Albany’s upper chamber, rejected arguments by Mr. Trump’s lawyers. Responding to their claim that the law targeted Mr. Trump specifically, Mr. Hoylman noted that it applied “to all public officials who filed taxes in the state of New York.”
“As I’ve said all along, this is bigger than one elected official,” he said, adding that the law “represents an important statement on behalf of balance of powers, of which states like New York have an important role.”
London — Former London Mayor Boris Johnson has been chosen by his party to become Britain’s next prime minister. He will replace Theresa May, who was forced to resign amid a bitter feud in the U.K. — and within both her and Johnson’s Conservative Party — over Britain’s exit from the European Union.
As CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata reports, the new leader of America’s closest ally is one of Great Britain’s most prominent figures, and probably a familiar face to many Americans.
By a quirk of British politics, Johnson was not elected by the general public but instead chosen to lead by about 160,000 registered Conservative Party members. He won with 92,153 votes to rival Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 — a margin of almost two to one.
Boris Johnson speaks after being announced as Britain’s next Prime Minister at The Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, Britain July 23, 2019.
REUTERS
The new prime minister will officially take office on Wednesday, when May formally resigns the post. Johnson thanked his opponent in the leadership contest, Hunt, and May in remarks to gathered party members in London after the results of the election were announced on Tuesday.
Johnson vowed to “unite this amazing country and take it forward” while pulling it out of the European Union to “take advantage of all the opportunities that it (Brexit) can bring,”
He replaces the beleaguered May, who was forced out after repeatedly failing to deliver a deal for Britain to leave the EU that the British Parliament could agree on.
What’s it mean for U.S. relations?
Despite once accusing President Trump of “stupefying ignorance” and “being unfit for office” for suggesting there were parts of London so violent they were “no-go” areas even for police, Johnson has recently softened his tone considerably.
Notably, he kept quiet about President Trump’s description of now-former British Ambassador Kim Darroch as “wacky” and “very stupid guy” after leaked diplomatic cables revealed Sir Darroch’s low opinion of the current American administration.
U.K. Ambassador Kim Darroch resigns over leaked cables criticizing Trump
Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s challenger to lead the Conservative Party whose loss was confirmed on Tuesday, was more forthright in condemning Mr. Trump’s stinging personal attack on Darroch, which forced the ambassador to resign.
Johnson’s brand of bombast, brashness and bad hair has earned him a reputation of something of a political renegade in the U.K. But he has repeatedly stressed the importance of having a close relationship with the United States.
President Trump welcomed Johnson’s victory, predicting in a tweet early Tuesday that the new prime minister would “be great!”
Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!
As a reminder of the potential geopolitical tinderbox he will inherit, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif sent a tweet addressing Johnson on Tuesday, congratulating him and adding a reiteration of Tehran’s view that the seizure of an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar, which preceded the seizure of Britain’s tanker by Iran, amounts to “piracy, pure & simple.”
“Iran does not seek confrontation,” Zarif said. “But we have 1500 miles of Persian Gulf coastline.These are our waters & we will protect them.”
The May govt’s seizure of Iranian oil at behest of US is piracy, pure & simple.
I congratulate my former counterpart, @BorisJohnson on becoming UK PM.
Iran does not seek confrontation. But we have 1500 miles of Persian Gulf coastline.These are our waters & we will protect them pic.twitter.com/svEqmEHQBM
The U.K. is working with other European nations to move more military vessels to the Gulf region to secure the vital shipping channels in and out of the body of water, but thus far most EU nations have resisted the Trump administration’s call for a “flotilla” specifically operating with a mandate to keep Iranian vessels in check.
Boris and Brexit
Johnson will take the reins of power in the U.K. just ahead of a crucial split in the road for Britain’s political future.
Britain is currently scheduled to leave the European Union on October 31 — per the wishes of a majority in Britain’s four countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) expressed in a 2016 public referendum.
Johnson has been a hardline “Brexiteer” since before the referendum, pushing for the U.K. to exit the trade and customs bloc it helped found more than half a century ago. He has vowed to deliver that exit on Oct. 31, with or without a deal in place with the EU to lay out new rules for trade and travel to replace the web of regulations built up over decades among the 28 member states.
Brits wonder if Trump will back them up post-Brexit
Economists and politicians have warned that such a “no-deal” divorce could wallop Britain’s economy, as the free-trade amongst neighbors and dozens of trade deals negotiated with the wider world by the bloc would suddenly be replaced for the U.K. by World Trade Organization rules.
That would require Britain, only the EU’s second largest economy, to negotiate new, unilateral trade deals with all of its trading partners across the globe, including the U.S. It would have to do so from a much weaker position, without the collective bargaining power of the rest of Europe behind it.
Dire warnings of bottlenecks at ports and airports as new customs and travel rules are put in place, and even possible shortages of food and medicine, have been issued over the “no-deal” Brexit scenario.
But Parliament could try to stop Johnson letting it get to that point. Many members of his own Conservative Party, and crucially a majority of all Members of Parliament, do not believe the U.K. should crash out of the EU without a deal in place.
If Johnson lasts long enough in the office (he could be ousted at any time with a vote of no confidence leading to a new national election) to try and force a no-deal Brexit, Parliamentarians have been working behind the scenes for weeks on a way to stop him — and the way Britain’s democracy works, they may well be able to do it.
If Parliament were to block a no-deal Brexit, it’s unclear when, how or even if Britain’s exit from the European Union might actually happen.
As has been the case with Brexit since the day after the referendum, regardless of who inhabits the Prime Minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street, nothing is certain.
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