POPGAZETA

Every day, cutting-edge research is being performed in government and university labs across the country. Tech transfer is the process of taking that research out of the lab and transforming it into a business. One company jump-starts the process by introducing entrepreneurs to that research. Tina Trinh explains. …

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and opposition parties formally signed a political agreement this weekend after months of protests. Though many protesters are wary of the compromises made in the deal, the signing was marked by celebrations across the capital. In Khartoum, Esha Sarai and Naba Mohiedeen have more. …

Hong Kong pro-democracy protests that started in June have now spread around the world. Parallel demonstration took place in the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, France and other countries on Sunday. But as, VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, demonstrators in some places were confronted by pro-Beijing rallies. …

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has spoken with Apple Inc’s Chief Executive Tim Cook about the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports as well as competition from South Korean company Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Trump said Cook “made a good case” that tariffs could hurt Apple given that Samsung’s products would not be subject to those same tariffs. Tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, including consumer electronics, are scheduled to go into effect in two stages on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. “I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it,” Trump said. Trump made the comments while speaking with reporters on the Tarmac at the Morristown, New Jersey, airport. Apple was not immediately available for comment outside normal business hours.   …

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would likely wait until after Israel’s Sept. 17 elections to release a peace plan for the region that was designed by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is the main architect of a proposed $50 billion economic development plan for the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon that is designed to create peace in the region.  …

Violence was largely averted in Portland, Oregon, where police established concrete barriers, closed streets and bridges, and seized a multitude of weapons to preempt clashes between right-wing groups and anti-fascist counterprotesters. on Saturday. But at least 13 people were arrested and the protesters vowed to return to the West Coast city …

Delegates at a U.N. wildlife conference in Geneva voted Sunday to ban the practice of taking baby elephants from their natural habitat and placing them in zoos and circuses. Forty-six countries at the UN Convention ion International Trade in Endangered Species voted to outlaw the practice, white 18 voted against it, including the United States. Nineteen abstained. The ban proclaims entertainment venues to be “unacceptable and inappropriate destinations” for elephants. “This decision will save countless elephants from being ripped away from their families in the wild and forces to spend their lifetimes imprisoned in substandard conditions at zoos,” the Humane Society International said Sunday. “The capture of baby elephants is horribly cruel and traumatic to both the mothers, their calves and the herds that are left behind.” Sunday’s decision specifically targets Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. CITES says Zimbabwe has sent more than 100 baby elephants to China since 2012, traumatizing the animals who it says are beaten, kicked, and treated cruelly by their handlers. Several have died.     …

The U.S. has opened up secret communications with Venezuela’s socialist party boss as members of President Nicolas Maduro’s inner circle seek guarantees they won’t face retribution if they cede to growing demands to remove him, a senior administration official has told The Associated Press.   Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the most-powerful man in Venezuela after Maduro, met last month in Caracas with someone who is in close contact with the Trump administration, said the official. A second meeting is in the works but has not yet taken place.   The AP is withholding the intermediary’s name and details of the encounter with Cabello out of concern the person could suffer reprisals. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the talks, which are still preliminary.   Cabello is a major power broker inside Venezuela, who has seen his influence in the government and security forces expand as Maduro’s grip on power has weakened. But he’s also been accused by U.S. officials of being behind massive corruption, drug trafficking and even death threats against a sitting U.S. senator.   The administration official said that under no circumstances is the U.S. looking to prop up …

Mourners in Iceland gathered Sunday to bid a final farewell to 700-year-old Okjokull, the first Icelandic glacier lost to climate change. After about 100 people, including Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, Environment Minister Gudmundur Ingi Gudbrandsson, and former Irish President Mary Robinson, made a two-hour hike up the Ok volcano for the ceremony. Children installed a memorial plaque to the glacier, now called just “Ok,” its name missing “jokull”, the Icelandic word for glacier. People climb to the top of what once was the Okjokull glacier, in Iceland, Aug. 18, 2019. The plaque bears the inscription “A letter to the future”, and is intended to raise awareness about the decline of glaciers and the effects of climate change. “In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,” it reads. The dedication, written by Icelandic author Andri Snaer Magnason, ends with the date of the ceremony and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air globally – 415 parts per million (ppm). “We see the consequences of the climate crisis,”Jakobsdottir said. …

Almost a year and a half ago, President Donald Trump famously tweeted that ‘trade wars are good and easy to win.’  But shortly after he announced another ten-percent increase in tariffs on 300-billion-dollars’ worth of Chinese goods, global stock markets dropped and economists warned of a looming recession.  Trump’s top trade official and a Democratic presidential hopeful shared their views Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week.’  Arash Arabasadi has more. …

Thousands of people were left homeless when a fire raged through a slum in Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. “According to our investigation committee 1,200 shanties were damaged and out of this 750 shanties burnt totally,” said Enamur Rahman, junior minister for Disaster Management and Relief on Sunday. The official count put the number rendered homeless at 3,000, but most media reports said at least 10,000 were left without shelter and some even put the count as high as 50,000. Officials said four people were injured in the fire but luckily there were no fatalities since most people were away celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. As the government tries to find a more sustainable solution for those who lost their homes, it is also trying to address immediate needs. “We are providing them with food, water, mobile toilets and electricity supply,” municipal official Shafiul Azam told The Guardian. Fires at factories, slums and markets are common in Bangladesh. At least 25 people were killed in March this year when fire broke out in a 22-story commercial building in Dhaka’s upscale area of Banani.   …

Secret British government documents have warned of serious disruptions across the country in the event that the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal on Oct. 31, according to a report. The Sunday Times newspaper published what it said was what the British government expects in the case of a sudden, “no-deal” Brexit. Among the most serious: “significant” disruptions to the supply of drugs and medicine, a decrease in the availability of fresh food and even potential fresh water shortages due to possible interruptions of imported water treatment chemicals. Although the grim scenarios reportedly outlined in the government documents have long been floated by academics and economists, they’ve been repeatedly dismissed as scaremongering by Brexit proponents. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is ready to leave the EU regardless of whether he is able to renegotiate the Brexit deal struck with Brussels by his predecessor, Theresa May. His own officials, however, have warned that with a no-deal Brexit, the sharing of law enforcement data and the health of Britain’s crucial financial services industry could be in jeopardy after Oct. 31. The documents published by the Times also quote officials as warning that up to 85% of …

Last week, militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terror group stormed into a Christian village in northern Mozambique, burning houses and forcing residents to flee their homes, local reports said. A few days before that, militants entered another village in the same province, torching houses throughout the region. IS has claimed responsibility for both attacks via its social media outlets. The recent attacks in the southeast African country signals a growing presence of IS militants who have carried out similar attacks against the military and local residents in the Muslim-majority northern part of Mozambique. “We were no longer safe in the village,” said Mariamo Assy, a resident of Ntuleni village in Cabo Delgado, who was displaced due to last week’s violence. She told VOA that they sought refuge in a nearby village to avoid getting caught up in the militants’ onslaught. North Mozambique Since 2017, such attacks in northern Mozambique have increased, killing more than 200 people and wounding hundreds more, local sources said. Militants also have burned or destroyed over 1,000 homes over the past two years. Experts say that economic grievances, which have particularly increased in recent months following tropical cyclones that have struck Mozambique, have made …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that she would meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday evening to discuss Britain’s planned departure from the European Union, adding that Berlin was also prepared for a disorderly Brexit. Johnson is seeking to persuade European Union leaders to reopen Brexit talks or face the prospect of its second-largest member leaving abruptly on Oct. 31 with no deal in place to mitigate the economic shock — a move that businesses expect would cause major disruption. “We are glad of every visit, and you have to talk, and you have to find good solutions,” Merkel said during a panel discussion at the Chancellery. “We are prepared for any outcome, we can say that, even if we do not get an agreement. But at all events I will make an effort to find solutions — up until the last day of negotiations,” she added. “I think it’s always better to leave with an agreement than without one. But if that’s not possible, we’ll be prepared for the alternative as well.” The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Johnson would tell Merkel that the British parliament could not stop Brexit.   …

Protesters rallied in Hong Kong again on Sunday, as anti-government demonstrations, now in their 11th week, continue.  Mike O’Sullivan reports that the protests were first sparked by an extradition bill, but are now broadly aimed at maintaining Hong’s Kong’s special status within China.     …

Last update: 1:45 p. m. Iran said its seized oil tanker was expected to leave Gibraltar on Sunday after authorities there rejected a U.S. bid to detain it, but it was unclear where the ship might be headed next. “The vessel is expected to leave tonight,” envoy Hamid Baeidinejad said on Twitter, adding that two engineering teams had been flown to Gibraltar to assist in its departure. Tehran said it was ready to dispatch its naval fleet to escort the ship, loaded with 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil worth $130 million, but Iran gave no indication where it would set sail for. The ship, called the Grace 1 but now renamed by Iran as Adrian Darya 1, was seized July 4 by Gibraltar, an overseas British territory, because authorities there believed the crude oil was headed to Syria, an Iran ally, in violation of European Union sanctions. Originally, the ship was flying under a Panamanian flag but after it was renamed, a red, white and green Iranian flag was hoisted over the ship. In this July 21, 2019 photo, an aerial view shows a speedboat of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard moving around the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero which …

Restrictions continued in much of Indian-administered Kashmir on Sunday, despite India’s government saying it was gradually restoring phone lines and easing a security lockdown that’s been in place for nearly two weeks. Soldiers manned nearly deserted streets and limited the movement of the few pedestrians who came out of their homes in Srinagar, the region’s main city. The security crackdown and a news blackout were installed following an Aug. 5 decision by India’s Hindu nationalist government to downgrade the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy. Authorities started easing restrictions on Saturday. But the Press Trust of India news agency said authorities re-imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar after violence was reported on Saturday. About 300 Kashmiris returned to Srinagar on Sunday from a Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Many of them became emotional while reuniting with their family members who met them at the city’s airport. Due to the security and communications lockdown, many travelers were unable to contact anybody in the Kashmir region. “Neither us nor our relatives here knew if we were dead or alive,” Muhammad Ali said after returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Public transport buses started operating in some rural areas in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday. …

 Jaffar Mjasiri contributed to this article. A Tanzanian regional governor is calling for a nationwide public database listing married men as a means of protecting prospective brides from humiliation and heartbreak, he says. Paul Makonda, the top official in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, announced his plan earlier this week. He proposed the database after saying women had complained to him of lovers who had pretended they were single and promised marriage but then deserted them, along with children they’d fathered. The women were left without financial or other support. “We can see from our women, they are suffering a lot,” Makonda told VOA in a phone call Wednesday. He said that at least one despondent woman had become suicidal “because somebody has been cheating [on] her. … We have to find a way to protect these women.” The official offered this rationale for the campaign: “If the family is not going well, don’t expect the country to be in a good position. Everything starts from the family. … So it is our responsibility as a government to make sure that people are living in harmony.” Anna Henga, executive director of the independent Legal and Human Rights Center  …

The World Food Program warns that millions of people in Burkina Faso are facing what it calls an unprecedented humanitarian emergency because of growing hunger, instability and displacement. Fighting in Burkina Faso has intensified over the past six months, raising intercommunal tensions. Attacks, killings and targeted kidnappings by different armed groups have increased. The United Nations reports escalating fighting, some fueled by ethnic and religious beliefs, has forced more than 237,000 people to flee their homes. The insecurity and large-scale displacement, it says, has led to the closure of dozens of health centers and thousands of schools, depriving nearly 330,000 children of an education. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people are facing severe food shortages. World Food Program spokesman, Herve Verhoosel, told VOA that hunger is particularly high during the so-called lean season. This, he explains, is the period between June and September when food stocks are particularly low before the next harvest. “People have the problem to find food. Sometimes a problem of access. Then because of the security issues they cannot always access to markets or to go to work in the farms for example. That is why the combination of those two problems are giving the …

Frustrated by Italy’s interior minister in their quest to set foot in Europe, several migrants jumped into the sea from a Spanish rescue boat that has been blocked for days from docking at an Italian island in a thwarted bid Sunday to reach land on their own.    “We have been warning for days, desperation has its limits,” said Open Arms founder Oscar Camps, who released a video showing four migrants, in orange life vests, swimming toward Lampedusa island, while several crew members from the humanitarian group’s ship swam quickly to catch up with them and bring them back aboard.   FILE – Migrants are evacuated by Italian Coast guards from the Open Arms Spanish humanitarian boat at the coasts of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Aug. 17, 2019. For days, Open Arms, which on Sunday had 107 migrants aboard, has been anchored off Lampedusa, a fishing and vacation island between Sicily and northern Africa. The boat initially had 147 migrants aboard when it reached Italian waters. In the last few days, 40 migrants have transferred by Italian coast guard vessels to Lampedusa, including a few who were ailing and 27 who said they were minors.   Right-wing …

A study by the FILE – A Rohingya refugee girl sells vegetables in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Aug. 28, 2018. Ingram told VOA that UNICEF is appealing to Myanmar authorities to provide education to the children in the refugee camps.  Until now, he said, the children have been taught in the Burmese language by volunteer teachers from the refugee population. “And, with the best will in the world, that is not the same as having a properly trained teacher, someone who has experience of delivering the Myanmar government’s own curriculum.  So, that is really what we are looking for and those are the conversations that are now ongoing with the government in Myanmar and we hope that we will receive a positive response to that,” said Ingram. Ingram said it is critical for refugee children to be taught in Burmese as that is the language they will need if and when they return back to Myanmar.  Unfortunately, he notes Rohingya adolescents will continue to live in limbo until it is safe for them to go home.  He acknowledged that going home does not appear to be a realistic possibility for the foreseeable future.   …

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets Sunday in rain-drenched Hong Kong for another anti-government rally. This is the eleventh weekend in a row that protesters have turned out to voice their dismay. The demonstrations began as peaceful protests to stop an extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China’s opaque legal system.  Since then the protests have evolved into a movement for democratic reforms. The protests are generally peaceful, but activists have sometimes clashed with police. “We hope that there will not  be any chaotic situations today,” organizer Bonnie Leung told the Associated Press. The extradition bill has been suspended, but the protests continue as Hong Kong residents worry about the erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” mandate that has been in place since the territory’s return from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China’s paramilitary troops have been training in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, causing concern that China is ready to send in the troops to suppress the protests.  Hong Kong’s police have insisted they are able to handle the demonstrators. Demonstrations last weekend at Hong Kong Airport spilled over into the work week, crippling one …

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren framed their Democratic presidential bids in personal, faith-based terms Saturday before black millennial Christians who could help determine which candidate becomes the leading progressive alternative to former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders, the Vermont senator whose struggles with black voters helped cost him the 2016 nomination, told the Young Leaders Conference that his family history shapes his approach to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and the rise of white nationalism in the United States. “I’m Jewish. My family came from Poland. My father’s whole family was wiped out by Hitler and his white nationalism,” Sanders said at the forum led by the Black Church PAC, a political action committee formed by prominent black pastors. “We will go to war against white nationalism and racism in every aspect of our lives,” Sanders said, promising to use the “bully pulpit” to unite instead of divide.  Warren, a Massachusetts senator and United Methodist, quoted her favorite biblical passage, which features Jesus instructing his followers to provide for others, including the “least of these my brethren.” “That’s about two things,” Warren said. “Every single one of us has the Lord within us. …. Secondly, the Lord does not call on …

Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested at least 13 people Saturday, established concrete barriers, closed streets and bridges, and seized a multitude of weapons in an attempt to preempt violence between right-wing groups and anti-fascist counter-protesters. Metal poles, bear spray, shields and other weapons were taken from protesters by the authorities Saturday as hundreds of far-right protesters and counter-demonstrators crowded the downtown area, but there were no major incidents between the two factions.  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said at an evening news conference, however, that the event was connected with “a rising white nationalist movement” and a growing sense of fear in the U.S.   Police officers detain a protester against right-wing demonstrators following an “End Domestic Terrorism” rally in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. The mayor said Joe Biggs, the organizer of the far-right demonstration, was not welcome in Portland. “We do not want him here in my city. Period.”  Biggs said Saturday was a success. “Go look at President Trump’s Twitter,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “He talked about Portland, said he’s watching antifa. That’s all we wanted.”  U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Saturday morning that he could take action on Antifa. The president said in a tweet, …