A White House announcement said that Indian American Geeta Pasi will be nominated as
ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the US to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Pasi, a career member of the senior foreign service, class of career minister, is principal deputy assistant secretary for African affairs at the Department of State. She previously served as United States ambassador to Chad and as United States ambassador to Djibouti, according to her bio. Pasi also served as director of career development and assignments for the State Department; director of the Department’s Office of East African Affairs; deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and deputy principal officer at the United States Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany. Her other past assignments include Afghanistan desk officer in the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs; political officer at the United States Embassy in New Delhi, India; and political officer at the United States Embassy in Accra, Ghana.
Singer-songwriter Zoya releases new pop album
Indian American singer-songwriter Zoya has released her third album, “Bad Girls Dream.” The 22-minute pop album consists of nine songs, and is produced by Chuck Inglish – who has worked with artists like Chance the Rapper – and Mark Nilan Jr., who won a Grammy for ‘Best Soundtrack’ for Lady Gaga’s film, “A Star is Born.” Also, the title track, “Bad Girls Dream,” which is a radio-friendly pop anthem and was released as a single in 2019, features rapper Jack Harlow. “Pop used to be one thing in the late ‘90s, but pop now is a very ambiguous term. The pop charts on Billboard are a giant mix of hip-hop, singer-songwriter, country, electronic dance music, and rock. It’s a cool time to be a pop artist because there aren’t really any rules anymore,” she said. The Berklee College of Music alum was born in New Delhi but grew up in Southern California. Her full name is Zoya Mohan but she prefers to go by her first name.
Indian American appointed chief financial officer
New York-based Safe Water Network recently announced Indian American Nisha Chakravarty as its chief financial officer. Chakravarty leads the organization’s financial management efforts, overseeing human resources and administrative advancement, ensuring regulatory, legal and risk compliance, as well as spearheading the business case development and advancement of all program investments. Before joining the company, Chakravarty founded and led two social enterprises, LeadersXL and Nuru Social Enterprises, in India and in Kenya, respectively. Those ventures focused on base-of-the-economic-pyramid communities. She has served as a senior adviser, consulting on thought leadership, financial systems and human capital, as well as authoring white papers for companies such as Unitus Capital and UNICEF.
Doctors Without Borders closes Kabul operation
Doctors Without Borders said it closed its operation in Kabul, ending its work to support a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital. The closure came a month after a horrific attack at the facility killed 24 people, including two infants, nurses and several young mothers. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it would keep its other programs in Afghanistan running, but did not go into details. The May 12 attack at the maternity hospital set off an hour-long shootout with Afghan police and also left more than a dozen people wounded. The hospital in Dashti Barchi, a mostly Shiite neighborhood, was the Geneva-based group's only project in the Afghan capital. No one claimed responsibility for the assault.
US reduces troops in Afghanistan to 8,600
The United States has reduced its troop strength in Afghanistan to 8,600, well ahead of a schedule agreed with Taliban militants in late February, in part because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, US and NATO officials said. Two US officials said that the United States was close to 8,600 troops and could reach that number in coming days. “Due to Covid-19 concerns, we are moving towards that planned drawdown faster than anticipated,” one of the officials said. The other official said the United States had focused on quickly removing non-essential personnel and those considered to be at high risk from the virus. According to reports, US had less than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, putting the Trump administration ahead of schedule. US President Donald Trump said there were “7,000-some-odd” US soldiers in Afghanistan but officials clarified that number was slightly over 8,600 troops.
Trump signs order on police reforms
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order encouraging police departments to adopt best practices and 'highest professional standards' amid calls for police reforms following nationwide protests over the brutal killing of African-American George Floyd in police custody.
“Today, I am signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. These standards will be as high and as strong as there is on earth. The vast majority of police officers are selfless and courageous public servants,” Trump said. Trump said he strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defend, dismantle, and dissolve the police departments, especially now when they have achieved the lowest recorded crime rates in recent history. “Americans know the truth. Without police, there is chaos. Without law, there is anarchy. And without safety, there is catastrophe,” he said.
US hits Syria with toughest sanctions
The US imposed its toughest sanctions ever targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to UN-led negotiations and broker an end to the country’s nine-year long war. The fresh sanctions on Syria penalize 39 companies and individuals, including Assad and his wife Asma, whom along with her family, who US secretary of state Mike Pompeo described as “one of Syria’s most notorious war profiteers.” The sanctions are the result of legislation known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, named after the pseudonym of a Syrian policeman who turned over photos of thousands of victims of torture by the Assad government. Pompeo said, “We anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war against the Syrian people and the Syrian government agrees to a political solution to the conflict,” he said.
Man fined for farting ‘with full intent’ at police
A man in Vienna has been fined 500 euros ($565) for breaking wind loudly in front of police - a move that the Austrian capital’s police force was at pains to defend. The Oesterreich newspaper reported that the fine stemmed from an incident on June 5 and that the offender was fined for “offending public decency”. City police wrote on Twitter that “of course no one is reported for accidentally ‘letting one go’.” They added that the man had behaved “provocatively and uncooperatively” during an encounter with officers that preceded the incident. He got up from a park bench, looked at officers and “let go a massive intestinal wind apparently with full intent,” they said. “And our colleagues don't like to be farted at so much.” Police noted that the decision could be appealed.
Putin protected by disinfection tunnels
A special disinfection tunnel has been installed in the residence of Russian President Putin outside Moscow and two more in the Kremlin, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed. Reports about the tunnel spraying anyone passing through it with disinfectants appeared in Russian state media. Peskov said, “When it comes to the head of the state, additional precautionary measures are justified.”
Oz state extends emergency as cases spike
Australia's second most populous state, Victoria extended its state of emergency for four more weeks to July19, as it battles a spike in coronavirus infections with a pick-up in community transmission. The move came a day after the state said it would reimpose restrictions capping visitors to households to five people and outdoor gatherings to 10. The limits had been relaxed on June 1 to allow up to 20 people in households and public gatherings. Victoria reported 19 new infections on Sunday, the fifth day of double digit-rises. The state has now had 1,836 total confirmed cases, a quarter of the cases in Australia, since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted. The surge in Victoria has alarmed other states, which have had few, if any, new cases for several weeks. Queensland and Western Australia, which shut their borders in March and April respectively, said they would weigh Victoria's situation before reopening. "But the last thing we want to do is lift the borders, have lots of people come here, for example for school holidays, spread coronavirus in our state and then force us to go backwards on restrictions," Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.
Floyd’s brother urges UN probe into US racism
The brother of the late George Floyd called on the top UN human rights body to investigate police brutality and racial discrimination in the US. “The way you saw my brother tortured and murdered on camera is the way black people are treated by police in America,” Philonise Floyd, speaking via video to the Geneva forum, said of his brother’s death. “I hope that you will consider establishing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate police killings of black people in America,” he said.
China charges 2 Canadians with ‘espionage’
Chinese prosecutors said they have charged two detained Canadians for suspected espionage, indictments that could result in life imprisonment, in a case that has driven a diplomatic wedge between Ottawa and Beijing. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he was “very disappointed” and would keep pressing China to release the duo. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested in late 2018 on state security charges, soon after Canadian police detained Huawei Technologies Co’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on a US warrant. While China maintains the detentions are not linked to Meng, experts have said they are being used to pressure Canada.
Partygoers run riot in Stuttgart
German authorities expressed shock over a rampage of an "unprecedented scale" overnight in the city centre of Stuttgart, where hundreds of partygoers ran riot, attacking police and plundering stores after smashing shop windows. Two dozen people, half of them German nationals, were arrested provisionally, as police reported 19 colleagues hurt. "They were unbelievable scenes that have left me speechless. In my 46 years of police service, I have never experienced this," said Stuttgart police chief Frank Lutz. Tensions built up shortly after midnight when officers carried out checks on a 17-year-old German man suspected of using drugs, said Stuttgart deputy police chief Thomas Berger. The groups of mostly men also used sticks or poles to smash windows of police vehicles parked in the area.
Theaters reopen in US
After more than three months of coronavirus-mandated limbo, Hollywood is headed back to the big screen - and hoping that Russell Crowe's road rage thriller "Unhinged" will jump-start the recovery. The action film, due out July10, is set to be the first wide release since US theaters shut their doors in mid-March. Christopher Nolan's much-hyped "Tenet" will follow soon after. But will the gamble pay off for those quick-moving studios? While top theater chains across the country plan to fire up their projectors in the first half of July, screens in badly hit New York and Los Angeles don't yet have permission to reopen. And even with social distancing and sanitation measures boosted, moviegoers' enthusiasm for piling into dark, enclosed auditoriums amid a possible "second wave" of virus cases may fluctuate.
Pandemic is accelerating, warns WHO
The head of the WHO said the coronavirus pandemic is “accelerating” and that more than 150,000 cases were last week - the “highest single-day number” so far. In a media briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly half of the newly reported cases were from the Americas, with significant numbers from South Asia and the Middle East. “We are in a new and dangerous phase,” he said, warning that restrictive measures are still needed. “Many people are understandably fed up with being at home (and) countries are understandably eager to open up their societies.” But Tedros warned that the virus is still “spreading fast” and that measures like social distancing, mask wearing and hand-washing are still critical. He noted the toll would be especially great on refugees in particular, of whom more than 80% live in mostly developing nations.
