America’s annual Independence Day is celebrated a bit differently in Washington, D.C., this year, with a display of military might and a speech about patriotism by U.S. President Donald Trump. The event draws Trump supporters, as well as protesters who accuse the president of politicizing a nonpartisan holiday and wasting taxpayer money. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.

…

A single cigarette may have started the April fire that destroyed much of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Flames tore through the global tourist destination as firefighters struggled to find and extinguish their source.  German authorities want to make sure what happened in France, doesn’t happen there.  Arash Arabasadi has more.

…

The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has plunged from a record high to a record low in just three years, according to a new report released this week by the U.S. space agency NASA. Faith Lapidus reports scientists are not sure why.

…

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked southern California Thursday morning, centered near the desert community of Ridgecrest, 180 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, some people suffered minor injuries, and aftershocks continue to shake the region.

…

Sudan’s ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups reached an agreement to share power during a transition period leading to elections, setting off street celebrations by thousands of people.

The two sides, which have held talks in Khartoum for the past two days, agreed to “establish a sovereign council by rotation between the military and civilians for a period of three years or slightly more,” African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt said at a news conference.

They also agreed to form an independent technocratic government and to launch a transparent, independent investigation into violent events in recent weeks.

The two sides agreed to postpone the establishment of a legislative council. They had previously agreed that the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition would take two-thirds of a legislative council’s seats before security forces crushed a sit-in protest June 3, killing dozens, and talks collapsed.

Joy in the streets

The streets of Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city across the Nile River, erupted in celebration when the news broke, a Reuters witness said. Thousands of people of all ages took to the streets, chanting “Civilian! Civilian! Civilian!”

Young men banged drums, people honked their car horns, and women carrying Sudanese flags ululated in jubilation.

“This agreement opens the way for the formation of the institutions of the transitional authority, and we hope that this is the beginning of a new era,” said Omar al-Degair, a leader of the FFC.

“We would like to reassure all political forces, armed movements and all those who participated in the change from young men and women — that this agreement will be comprehensive and will not exclude anyone,” said General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the Transitional Military Council.

“We thank the African and Ethiopian mediators for their efforts and patience. We also thank our brothers in the Forces for Freedom and Change for the good spirit,” said Dagalo, who heads the Rapid Support Forces accused by the FFC of crushing the sit-in.

Talks resumed

The AU and Ethiopia made intensive efforts to bring the generals and the protesters back to the negotiating table.

Negotiations resumed earlier this week, following massive protests last weekend in which tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Sudan’s main cities in the biggest numbers since the razing of the protesters’ sit-in camp. At least 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to protest organizers.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday had called on Sudanese authorities to lift restrictions on the internet and properly investigate all acts of violence and allegations of excessive use of force.

More than 250 people have been killed since an uprising erupted against al-Bashir in December, according to protest organizers. The military overthrew the longtime ruler in April, but protesters remained in the streets, fearing the generals intended to cling to power or preserve some form of authoritarian rule.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

…

India said on Thursday it needs $330 billion in investments over the next decade to power its renewable energy dream, but coal would remain central to its electricity generation.

The energy guzzling country wants to raise its renewable energy capacity to 500 Gigawatts (GW), or 40% of total capacity, by 2030. Renewables currently account for 22% of India’s total installed capacity of about 357 GW.

“Additional investments in renewable plants up to year 2022 would be about $80 billion at today’s prices and an investment of around $250 billion would be required for the period 2023-2030,” according to the government’s economic survey presented to parliament on Thursday.

India wants to have 175 GW of renewable-based installed power capacity by 2022.

 The investment estimate reflects the magnitude of financial challenges facing one of the world’s most important growth markets for renewable energy, with government data indicating a growth slowdown in private and capital investments in the year ended March 2019.

India, which receives twice as much sunshine as European countries, wants to make solar a cornerstone of its renewable expansion, but also wants to make use of its cheap and abundant coal reserves, the fifth-largest in the world.

  The annual economic survey warned India against abruptly halting coal-based utilities, citing risks to its banking sector and the stability of the electricity grid.

“It may not be advisable to effect a sudden abandonment of coal based power plants without complete utilization of their useful lifetimes as it would lead to stranding of assets that can have further adverse impact on the banking sector,” the survey said.

Thermal power plants account for 80% of all industrial emissions of particulate matter, sulfur and nitrous oxides in India. India, one of the world’s largest coal producers and greenhouse gas emitters, estimates coal to be its energy mainstay for at least the next three decades. The country’s coal use rose 9.1% to nearly a billion tons in 2018-19.

The survey said it would be difficult for a growing economy like India to migrate to renewable power supply unless “sufficient technological breakthrough in energy storage happens in the near future”.

Environmentalists worry that India’s rising use of coal at a time when many Western nations are rejecting the dirty fossil fuel will hamper the global fight against climate change, despite the country’s commitment to renewable energy.

…

Malaysia’s anti-graft agency said Thursday it has detained Riza Aziz, the stepson of former Prime Minister Najib Razak and a Hollywood film producer, and will charge him with money laundering.

Anti-Corruption Commission chief Latheefa Koya said Riza was picked up Thursday but has been released on bail.

“He has to appear before the court tomorrow to face charges under AMLA,” she said, referring to the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. She declined to give details.

Riza was quizzed last July by the agency over alleged theft and money laundering at the 1MDB state investment fund.

U.S. investigators say Riza’s company, Red Granite Pictures Inc., used money stolen from 1MDB to finance Hollywood films including the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Red Granite has paid the U.S. government $60 million to settle claims it benefited from the 1MDB scandal.

Alleged corruption at the 1MDB fund helped bring on the unexpected defeat of Najib’s coalition in May 9 polls last year. The new government reopened investigations that were stifled while Najib was in office.

Najib is currently on trial for alleged criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering linked to 1MDB. He denies the charges. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, also has pleaded not guilty to money laundering and tax evasion related to 1MDB but her trial date has not been set.

Najib’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa, slammed the legal action against her brother.

“Despite the settlement in the U.S. and the fact that alleged wrongdoings occurred entirely outside of Malaysia, the MACC decides to press charges after a whole year of leaving this case in cold storage. He is not a criminal,” she wrote on Instagram, accompanied by a picture of her with Riza taken earlier Thursday before his arrest.

…

Thirty-seven Cambodian deported by the United States arrived in Phnom Penh on Thursday, 32 of them refugees who fled during the rule of the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the 1970s or war that followed their ouster, an aid group said.

Thousands of Cambodian refugees started new lives in the United States after fleeing the Khmer Rouge’s 1975-1979 reign of terror, in which up to 2 million people are believed to have been killed or died of overwork and starvation, and subsequent chaos.

Some of them, after spending most of their lives in the United States, are sent back to a homeland they hardly know after running afoul of U.S. law.

“They — their families, actually — fled the terrors of the Khmer Rouge era and post — Khmer Rouge chaos. Many were born in Thai refugee camps,” said Bill Herod, spokesman for the Khmer Vulnerability Aid Organization (KVAO), a group that helps Cambodian deportees adjust after being sent back from the United States.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has in the past criticized the United States over the deportations and accused it of breaking up the families of those forced to leave.

Thirty-five of the 37 deportees were convicted criminals who were sent back to Cambodia via a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flight from Dallas, ICE said in a statement on
its website.

ICE said it had increased the number of Cambodian immigrants it had deported from 2017 to 2018 by 279%. There are still about 1,900 Cambodians in the United States who are subject to deportation, of which 1,400 are convicted criminals, according to ICE.

“All of them have served time in prison for felony convictions. Some come directly from prison, but most completed their sentences long ago and were living freely at the time they were detained for deportation,” Herod said of the deportees who arrived on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has already deported thousands of people from Vietnam and Cambodia with criminal records as part of broader attempts to limit immigration to the United States.

The United States has been seeking to send thousands of immigrants from Vietnam back to the communist-ruled country despite a bilateral agreement that should protect most from deportation.

Trump has made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his administration and is highlighting the issue as he aims for re-election in 2020.

…

The Indian government on Thursday warned in a study that its population is going to start to age and it needs to be prepared to merge schools and raise the retirement age.

While India should be set to benefit from the so-called “demographic dividend” over the next decade as its working population is set to increase by about 9.7 million a year between 2021-31, that  will quickly fade as the nation’s fertility rate plunges below replacement level.

The conclusions in the study, “India’s Demography at 2040: Planning Public Good Provision for the 21st Century,” will have major implications for many companies, particularly those that have been eyeing consumer demand from India’s young population.

It said the number of children in the 5-14 age bracket will decline significantly, leading to the need for school mergers and less focus on building new ones.

Already states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have fewer than 50 students enrolled in more than 40 percent of their elementary schools, according to the study, which was included in the government’s annual Economic Survey.

It also said that policymakers need to prepare for an increasing number of elderly people, estimating there will be 239.4 million Indians over the age of 60 in 2041 against 104.2 million in 2011.

“This will need investments in health care as well as a plan for increasing the retirement age in a phased manner,” concluded the study, which was authored by India’s Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian and his team of economists.

The current retirement age for most government workers in India is 60.

Meanwhile, the number of Indians aged between 0-19 has already started to decline and the proportion of the population in that age group is projected to fall to 25 percent by 2041 from 41 percent in 2011.

The demographic dividend that is talked about in India refers to the current situation where the nation’s labor force is growing quicker than the rest of the population it supports.

If the newcomers to the labor market get well-paid jobs it boosts consumption and economic growth.

…

An anti-graft crusade promoted by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has led to swathes of arrests of politicians, but critics say the economy is suffering as vital projects are put on hold by officials fearful of being caught up in the dragnet.

Khan won power last year vowing to root out corruption among
what he cast as a venal political elite and views the probes
into veteran politicians – including jailed former premier Nawaz
Sharif and ex-President Asif Ali Zardari – as long overdue.
While few dispute the need to clean up Pakistani politics,
the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) campaign has become a topic of fierce political debate.

Some in the business community say they worry the drive is
hurting an ailing economy, which has just received a $6 billion
International Monetary Fund bailout.

And the focus of the NAB so far on the new government’s
political foes has prompted accusations it is a one-sided purge
backed by Pakistan’s powerful military, which is seen to favour
Khan. The government denies targeting political opponents.
NAB did not respond to a request for comment.

The military also did not respond, but in the past it has denied interfering in politics or influencing NAB, an independent body withi Pakistan’s legal system with its own investigators and courts.

The crackdown has also ensnared civil servants, who say they
have become collateral damage in the accountability drive.
Six high-ranking officials who spoke to Reuters painted a
picture of a civil service in disarray and decision-making at a
standstill, with senior officials avoiding signing off projects
or making decisions that could open them to bribery accusations.

“If a project works out, I don’t get a gold medal,” said one
senior federal official. “But if it doesn’t work out, I might go
to jail.” A second official spoke of an administrative “go-slow”
amid a climate of fear in the bureaucracy.

The government rejects accusations that NAB is impacting the
economy, calling such allegations opposition propaganda, and
says graft is to blame for Pakistan’s current economic woes.
Khan last month launched a commission to investigate
projects and agreements that helped increase overall debt
between 2008-2018, staffing it with members of NAB and military intelligence agencies.

Science Minister Fawad Chaudhry said government officials
make up a small number of NAB cases, but their concerns had
reached Khan and a special cell had been created within NAB to
deal with bureaucrats’ issues.

“The rise of Imran Khan is basically a middle class
revolution against corruption,” Chaudhry added. “You can’t
expect from us that we will take the issue of corruption
lightly.”

NAB last month arrested former President Zardari and his
sister over alleged false bank accounts and money laundering.
They both deny wrongdoing and call the arrests politically
motivated.

Since Khan assumed power last August, NAB has continued
investigating jailed former Prime Minister Sharif, who has
alleged the military’s hidden hand is behind many of the
anti-corruption cases against his family.

Fresh probes have also been opened involving Sharif’s
brother and many of his closest allies, including at least eight
ministers from the previous government. They all deny wrongdoing
and say they are victims of persecution.

“Everybody who is against this government has a NAB case,”
said one opposition politician who was a minister in the
previous government. Inquiries have also been launched against some prominent
businessmen.

Pakistan’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure,
erected at breakneck speed by the previous administration, has
emerged as a major anti-corruption battlefield.

LNG terminals built in 2016 and 2017 were vital to ending a
decade of electricity shortages and turned Pakistan into one the
world’s hottest LNG markets, with Qatar and Italy’s Eni signing
long-term gas deals worth billions.

But Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party has for
years alleged corruption. In April, on NAB’s instructions, the
government barred former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, ex-Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, and six bureaucrats involved in the Qatar deal for the first terminal from leaving the
country. They all deny wrongdoing. No allegations of wrongdoing have been made against the Qatari side.

Abbasi, who as petroleum minister masterminded Pakistan’s
embrace of LNG, said he had to take a lead role because many
officials were afraid of multi-billion dollar projects.

“Nobody wanted to do anything as they were scared of NAB,”
said Abbasi, who said bureaucrats were now paying a price
despite helping end electricity shortages.

“We had good people who stuck their neck out and they’re all suffering today.”

A third LNG terminal and a new gas pipeline needed to keep
up with rising energy demand have been on the “backburner” for
more  than a year as no decision making is taking place across
ministries, according to an energy official.

“Bureaucrats being barred from leaving the country kills
confidence,” he said. “We are going to have a (energy) crisis in
a year or two.”

The result, say the officials who spoke to Reuters, is that
senior colleagues nearing retirement are refusing to sign off on
projects due to fears of being dragged out of retirement to
answer NAB inquiries for years.

“If I have to make a decision about a $10 billion
refinery… I’ll sit on this file for six months, and get the
next guy to make that decision,” said the first senior federal
official.

A senior civil servant in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
said he hasn’t approved any major project since late 2018.
“All bureaucrats know that once you are tagged with NAB, no
matter if you’re innocent or you really did some corruption, you
have no future,” he said. “You’re finished.”

…

Scientists, government officials and conservationists are calling for a swift response to protect North Atlantic right whales after a half-dozen died in the past month.

All six of the dead endangered species have been found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Canada. At least three appear to have died after being hit by ships.

There are only a little more than 400 of the endangered species left. 
 
The deaths have led scientists to sound the alarm about a potentially catastrophic loss to the population.

Some say the whales are traveling in different areas than usual because of food availability. That change has apparently brought whales outside of protected zones and left them vulnerable.
 

…

U.S. President Donald Trump contended Wednesday that the government will still try to ask a question about citizenship in the once-a-decade census in 2020, a day after top officials announced they had given up on including the citizenship question following a Supreme Court ruling on the matter last week.

“The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!” Trump claimed on Twitter. “We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.”

The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE! We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019

But his comment sowed confusion about the inclusion of the question, coming after both the Department of Justice and the Commerce Department said they had abandoned the effort for the census that starts April 1. The government has said it already has started printing the questionnaires this week in order to have them all ready for use in nine months.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, “I respect the Supreme Court but strongly disagree with its ruling regarding my decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 Census,” for the first time since 1950. “The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question. My focus, and that of the Bureau and the entire Department, is to conduct a complete and accurate census.”

In a 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s four liberal justices in ruling that the reasoning the Trump administration offered for including the citizenship question — that the information was needed to protect minority voting rights — was “contrived” and did not meet the standards for a clear explanation of why it should be asked.

Government officials offered no explanation of why they were dropping their effort to include the question, but were confronting weeks and maybe months of new challenges to the question. The census is important because it determines how many seats in the House of Representatives each state is allotted and how $800 billion in federal aid is disbursed.

Trump’s Democratic opponents have claimed that including the question is a Republican ploy to scare immigrants in to not participating in the census out of fear that immigration officials might target them for deportation when they determine that they are in the country illegally. An undercount in Democrat-leaning areas with large immigrant and Latino populations could reduce congressional representation for such states and cut federal aid.

After the Supreme Court heard arguments on the citizenship question but before it ruled, documents emerged from the files of a deceased Republican election districting expert showing that the citizenship question was aimed at helping Republicans gain an electoral edge over Democrats.  

Although the citizenship question has not been asked in 70 years, Trump tweeted that it was”A very sad time for America when the Supreme Court of the United States won’t allow a question of ‘Is this person a Citizen of the United States?’ to be asked on the #2020 Census!” 

When the high court issued its ruling, Trump called it “totally ridiculous.”

…