Police accused of assaulting female activists
the semiconductor industry.
The US charges that the Chinese companies’ technology could be used to spy on Washington and its allies, and has been pushing its key partners around the world to shun Huawei 5G infrastructure, with mixed results.
In a separate statement, Department of Commerce said it was making a “final” 90-day extension of a temporary measure that allows US users of Huawei technology “to continue to temporarily operate such devices and existing networks while hastening the transition to alternative suppliers”.
Huawei has been at the centre of the power struggle between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, amid rising rhetoric towards Beijing from the US administration heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, during a television interview, US President Donald Trump said he had a “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but “right now, I don’t want to speak to him.” He openly mused about ending the trading relationship with China.
The Trump administration has been mulling ways to punish or seek compensation from Beijing for the damage caused by the pandemic, as Washington tries to pin the blame on China for the death toll and economic downturn. Beijing has insisted the virus is a natural occurrence and that it has been transparent. | dpa
HARARE: Three young Zimbabwean opposition activists who were reported missing after a protest against that country’s Covid-19 lockdown measures this week were being treated at a hospital yesterday after asserting they were abducted and sexually abused by state security agents.
The women, including the youngest parliament member, Joana Mamombe, were allegedly arrested at a roadblock after Wednesday’s protest in Harare. Police denied they had held the women, saying they were unaware of their whereabouts. The women had been protesting what they called “deepening poverty and lack of social protection measures” during the weeks-long lockdown.
Yesterday, government spokesman Nick Mangwana said investigations into the alleged abductions “are underway”. He said the police were keen to interview the women “on suspicion of committing crimes related to the lockdown laws and the holding of illegal demonstrations” but “social media chatter indicating that the three had disappeared was observed” before that could happen.
The activists were found by a “sympathetic villager” who heard their cries for help after they were dumped about 90km from Harare, Richard Chimbiri, the father of one of the women, said.
Meanwhile, a Zimbabwean man was charged for disclosing another person’s Covid-19 positive status on social media. State-owned newspaper The Herald said in the first case of its kind, Jimmy Mhlanga, 40, was charged after revealing someone’s status in a Whatsapp group in contravention of the Public Health Act which provides for patient confidentiality. | AP and ANA