WAUCHULA, Fla. – A orangutan named Sandra, who was granted legal personhood by a judge in Argentina and later found a new home in Florida, celebrated her 34th birthday on Valentine’s Day with a special new primate friend.

Patti Ragan, director of the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, says Sandra “has adjusted beautifully to her life at the sanctuary” and has befriended Jethro, a 31-year-old male orangutan.

Before coming to Florida, Sandra had lived alone in a Buenos Aires zoo. Sandra was a bit shy when she arrived at the Florida center, which is home to 22 orangutans.

“Sandra appeared most interested in Jethro, and our caregivers felt he was a perfect choice because of his close age, calm demeanor, and gentle nature,” Ragan said in a news release. “Sandra still observes and follows Jethro from a distance while they are in the process of getting to know and trust each other. But they are living harmoniously in the same habitat spaces as they continue to gain confidence in their relationship.”

Judge Elena Liberatori’s landmark ruling in 2015 declared that Sandra is legally not an animal, but a non-human person, and thus entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by people, and better living conditions.

“With that ruling I wanted to tell society something new, that animals are sentient beings and that the first right they have is our obligation to respect them,” she told The Associated Press.

But without a clear alternative, Sandra remained at the antiquated zoo, which closed in 2016, until leaving for the U.S. in late September. She was in quarantine for a month at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas before arriving in Florida.

On Friday, Sandra celebrated her birthday, complete with pink signs and wrapped packages. Jethro, who was once in the entertainment business, attended the party.

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From: MeNeedIt

Syria says that Israel attacked five separate targets near Damascus overnight with missiles from the Golan Heights. Israel did not accept responsibility for the attacks but news reports said the targets were Iranian weapons. Iran has threatened a harsh response to any Israeli attacks.

Missile explosions sounded in the skies above Damascus just before midnight Thursday.

Syria said the missiles were fired from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and that Syrian forces shot down several of them. At least seven fighters, both Iranian and Syrian, were reported killed.

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Syria Says It Responded to Attack Over Damascus 

Israeli military spokesman says warplanes struck several targets southeast of capital; objective was to abort planned ‘terrorist attack’

Israel did not comment on this attack, but in the past has acknowledged hundreds of attacks on Iranian weapons on Syria. Israeli press reports said the Iranian weapons had arrived in Damascus Wednesday and were destined for the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.  

The attack came a week after a similar strike, also allegedly by Israel.

Israeli security analyst Amir Oren told I24 News that Israel did not take responsibility for the attack because it does not want a war with Iran or Syria.

“It is not going to gladly suffer any transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah or the pro-Iranian militias in Syria, and incidentally the fact that this attack was carried out according to the reports by ground to ground missiles launched from the Golan Heights rather than from the air shows the operational value of the Golan Heights for Israel,” Oren said.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed the territory, a move that President Trump recognized last year.

The alleged Israeli attacks have raised tensions between Israel and Iran. Before this latest attack, Iran had repeatedly threatened Israel, and it’s ally the U.S. In Iran, crowds chanted calls for revenge.

Israel’s situation is complicated by the fact that Russia is operating in Syria. Last week, during the previous alleged Israeli attack, Syria fired anti-aircraft missiles, one of which narrowly missed a Russian passenger plane with 172 people aboard. Russia warned Israel against unilateral action in Syria. But Israeli officials say they will not let Hezbollah, which already has more than 100,000 rockets that can hit all of Israel, get more sophisticated weapons.

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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged world security leaders Saturday to “wake up” to China’s efforts to influence world affairs, maintaining the world’s most populous country plans to achieve its goals by any means necessary.

“It is essential that we as an international community wake up to the challenges presented by Chinese manipulation of the long-standing international rules-based order,” Esper declared at an international security conference in Munich.

Esper emphasized the U.S. does not seek conflict with China but voiced concern over what he said were China’s goals to modernize its military by 2035 and dominate Asia militarily by 2049.

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‘The West is Winning,’ Pompeo Tells China, Russia

The US secretary of state responded to criticism of US policies 

He accused China of increasingly involving itself in affairs in Europe and elsewhere outside its borders with the intent of “seeking advantage by any means and at any cost.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said later that Esper and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who accused China of using a “nefarious strategy” to win support for its next-generation wireless network equipment maker Huawei Technologies, of telling “lies.”

Pompeo said, “We can’t let information go across networks that we don’t have confidence won’t be hijacked by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s just unacceptable.”
Wang said “The U.S. does not want to see the rapid development and rejuvenation of China” and would especially dislike “the success of a socialist country.” He also said it is “most important” for the two superpowers to begin talks to “find a way for two major countries with different social systems to live in harmony and interact in peace.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Munich Security Conference that China presents both challenges and opportunities for the West. He said the U.S. and Europe must agree on a unified approach to address China’s increasing global influence.

Esper sought to garner European support for competitors to Huawei after Britain decided weeks ago to use Huawai’s 5G equipment. Britain’s decision dealt a blow to U.S. efforts to persuade allies to ban Huawei from their networks, claiming China could use the equipment for spying, an accusation Huawei and Chinese officials have denied.“

We are encouraging allied and U.S. tech companies to develop alternative 5G solutions and we are working alongside them to test these technologies at our military bases as we speak.”

Esper also discussed the war in Afghanistan, saying a U.S. deal with the Taliban that could result in the withdrawal of U.S. troops is not without risk but “looks very promising.”

Esper’s remarks came one day after a senior U.S. official said a seven-day “reduction in violence” agreement had been reached with the Taliban and that it would be formally announced soon.

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From: MeNeedIt

US House Democrats’ attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress failed in the U.S. Senate this month, and some polls show the president is now more popular than ever before. But that hasn’t stopped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from criticizing Trump for what she says is a “manifesto of untruths.” VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports on what happens next in the relationship between the White House and Capitol Hill.

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From: MeNeedIt

Americans want bigger, beefier vehicles if the Chicago Auto Show is any indication. Billed as the nation’s largest, the Chicago Auto Show became America’s first-of-the-year showcase for the automotive industry when the Detroit Auto Show moved to June.  As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, this year’s Chicago event brought new offerings geared to the changing tastes of American motorists.

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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. Attorney General William Barr says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets about the Justice Department, its people, and its cases “make it impossible for me to do my job.”  VOA’s  Michael Brown reports, the comments come as the Justice Department is embroiled in controversy over a sentencing recommendation for a convicted Trump ally.

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From: MeNeedIt

A powerful earthquake hit off Japan’s northern coast on Thursday, but there were no reports of serious damage or injuries and no danger of a tsunami, officials said.

Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake measured a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was located far off the northeastern coast of Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido. It was centered 60 kilometers (100 miles) below the ocean’s surface and east of Etorofu island, a Russian-held island that is also claimed by Japan.

NHK public television showed video monitors and shelves shaking at its office in Kushiro on the southeastern coast of Hokkaido.

Hokkaido prefectural police said they had received no reports of damage or injuries. Officials said the quake was unlikely to cause any because of its depth and distance from the coast.

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From: MeNeedIt

Pro-Trump groups raised more than $60 million in January and have more than $200 million on hand for this year’s general election, shattering fundraising records on the path toward a goal of raising $1 billion this cycle.

The Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s campaign have raised more than $525 million since the start of 2019 together with two joint-fundraising committees. The RNC and the Trump campaign provided the figures to The Associated Press. The January haul coincided with most of the Senate’s impeachment trial, which resulted in the Republican president’s acquittal earlier this month.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, “We already have 500,000 volunteers trained and activated, and this record-breaking support is helping us grow our grassroots army even more.”

Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said Democrats’ “shameful impeachment hoax and dumpster fire primary process” have contributed to the “record-breaking financial support” for Trump’s reelection.

“With President Trump’s accomplishments, our massive data and ground operations and our strong fundraising numbers,” Parscale said, “this campaign is going to be unstoppable in 2020.”

The pro-Trump effort said it has gained more than 1 million new digital and direct mail donors since Democrats launched their push to impeach Trump in September 2019. The investigations proved to be a fundraising boon for Trump’s campaign, even as the president was personally frustrated by the scar it will leave on his legacy.

The Trump team’s haul and cash on hand were twice that of former President Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee at the same point ahead of his 2012 reelection.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

 Japan’s health ministry says a woman infected with the new virus has died, becoming the country’s first confirmed fatality.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato announced Thursday that the victim is a woman in her 80s who had been treated at a hospital near Tokyo since early February after developing symptoms. Her infection was confirmed after her death.

Japan has confirmed 247 cases of the virus, including 218 from a cruise ship quarantined at the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, amid growing fears of the spreading virus.

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From: MeNeedIt

Closing arguments at the Harvey Weinsten rape trial are set to begin Thursday, with the jury hearing first from a Chicago attorney who’s taken #MeToo movement heat for representing the disgraced Hollywood mogul and making provocative mid-trial comments about his case outside of court.
    
Donna Rotunno faces the tricky task of convincing a Manhattan jury that there are too many inconsistencies and contradictions in the testimony of six Weinstein accusers who took the witness stand to convict her client – all without her breaking a promise made in defense opening statements that jurors wouldn’t hear any “victim shaming.”
    
In a podcast interview that aired last week, Rotunno said Weinstein is “well aware of the fact that his life is on the line here” and that he “deserves to have a voice out there.”
    
Weinstein, 67, is charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a different woman in 2006. Other accusers testified as part of a prosecution effort to show he has used the same tactics to victimize many women over the years.
    
Weinstein, whose lawyers informed the court on Tuesday that he wouldn’t testify, has maintained any sexual encounters were consensual.
    
The jury of seven men and five woman is scheduled to hear the prosecution closings on Friday before getting instructions on the law from Judge James Burke next week and starting deliberations.
    
In often emotional testimony stretching over three weeks, Weinstein’s accusers described in lurid detail how he lured them to hotels in New York and Los Angeles on the pretense of promoting their acting careers before sexually assaulting them. The defense countered on cross-examination by confronting some with warm emails and other communications with Weinstein that continued for months or even years after the alleged attacks.
    
The jury has already heard about emails, certain to be a focus of Rotunno’s closing, in which the victim of the alleged rape wrote to Weinstein afterward to accept party invitations from him, give him new phone numbers and even express gratitude. One read: “I feel so fabulous and beautiful, thank you for everything.”
    
The lawyer is also likely to highlight the testimony of a friend and former roommate of the same accuser who said she never heard the woman say anything bad about the defendant. Instead, the woman once called Weinstein her “spiritual soulmate,” the witness said.
    
Rotunno’s closing argument will come less than a week after she came under fire on social media for a podcast interview in which she blamed victims for getting sexually assaulted. Rotunno told The New York Times’ “The Daily”’ she’d never been attacked “because I would never put myself in that position.”
    
In court, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon questioned the timing of the interview and rebuked Rotunno for calling the prosecution’s witnesses “liars.”
    
“That was taped a long time ago” Rotunno interrupted, claiming that she hadn’t talked to anyone in the media since the case began.
    
She was later contradicted by a Times spokeswoman, who told reporters the interview was recorded on Jan. 28, five days after opening statements and the start of testimony.

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From: MeNeedIt

75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we still see remnants of neo-Naziism in today’s society. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren marks the beginning of the end of the Holocaust with VOA reporter Auschwitz survivor Stanislav Zalewski; Gretchen Skidmore from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; Oren Segal from the Anti Defamation League (ADL); and Christian Picciolini, a reformed neo-Nazi who was recruited at age 14. Air date: February 12, 2020.

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From: MeNeedIt

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From: MeNeedIt