Month: May 2017

To Trump Supporters, Real Story Is About Leaks and Sabotage

Posted on by SeeUS

To the White House and its supporters, the big story in Washington isn’t the investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. It’s about leakers working to undermine the president.

“SABOTAGE,” read the subject line of emails sent out by President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican Party, which pointed to “people within our own unelected bureaucracy that want to sabotage President Trump and our entire America First movement.” Trump tweeted Thursday that he’s facing “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”

The language reveals much about how Trump and his backers are explaining the seemingly never-ending blitz of bad news rocking the White House. As Democrats talk about possible obstruction of justice and dream of removing Trump from office, the president and his allies reject that he bears responsibility for his woes. They see a plot to undermine him at every turn, as evidenced by the anonymous sources disclosing the embarrassing and damaging information — some of it classified.

All administrations must deal with leaks, from the release of the Pentagon Papers on Vietnam policy to Edward Snowden’s dump of national security files. But the scope and frequency experienced by the Trump White House is remarkable.

In addition to an endless stream of gossip and internal squabbling, news outlets have been privy to everything from details of draft documents to the president’s private phone conversations with foreign leaders. This week came reports that the president had shared highly classified information with Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting, revealed by those with knowledge of the conversation.

“This has all the markings of a coordinated, silent coup,” said Michael Caputo, who worked on Trump’s campaign and keeps in touch with administration officials.

Leaks are hardly the only cause of Trump’s problems — the uproar over FBI Director James Comey’s dismissal wasn’t the result of a leak. But Trump-friendly talking heads see something that stretches the realms of believability. Radio host Alex Jones warns of a plot by “deep-state” globalists to impeach Trump. On Fox News, Sean Hannity warned Wednesday of a “destroy Trump alliance” that is now “aligning to take down President Trump.”

Internal opposition

But even if some claims seem to go too far, Trump clearly does face opposition from within his own government. Running on a pledge to tear apart Washington, Trump still depends to some extent on Obama administration holdovers and career government employees, many of whom oppose him.

Clashes among Trump aides also create an environment in which staff leak information to undercut rivals.

Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to President George W. Bush, blamed Trump for creating an environment that promotes leaks, saying that starts at the top.

“I do think there is a serious problem with leakers inside the administration and holdovers who can’t stand the president and will do anything they can to hurt him. Leaks are a real problem,” he said. “But Donald Trump created many of these problems for himself.”

A sense of fatigue and despondence has set in as White House officials wait for new balls to drop. Again and again, they have tried to push forward with their agenda, only to see news reports dominated by near-daily leaks.

“Somebody is selectively leaking information and facts.  And there’s a reason it’s selective,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who once demanded that staffers turn over their cellphones so he could inspect them for unauthorized communication. “It’s because they’re trying to create … at least it appears as though somebody is trying to create a narrative or a problem.”

“It’s extremely troubling,” he said.

The focus on leaks has also been embraced by Republicans in Congress, who have urged reporters to pay more attention to the source of their stories — a familiar strategy to deflect the conversation away from bad news.

Aides have been source

In many cases, Trump aides have leaked gossip to cement their public standings or tried to communicate with the president through news stories, which he devours.

Erick Erickson, a conservative activist who has been critical of the president, recently wrote that because the notoriously thin-skinned president doesn’t like internal criticism, some aides “are left with no other option but to go to the media, leak the story, and hope that the intense blowback gives the president a swift kick in the butt.”

White House officials have not said whether there is a leak investigation going on. But they’re not the first to rail against leaks and leakers — or try to root them out.

In 2013, for instance, the Obama Justice Department secretly obtained two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press, which appeared to be linked to a criminal investigation into leaks about a foiled terrorist plot to bomb an airliner.
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Media: French Officials Had Secret Plan in Event of Le Pen Win

Posted on by SeeEU

A group of top French officials and ministers from President Francois Hollande’s outgoing government drafted an emergency plan to manage the consequences of a win by Marine Le Pen in the recent presidential election and to weaken her, if she were elected, according to French media.

The secret plan, which was seen as a bid to protect France’s Fifth Republic and to keep public order by the officials who drew it up, included delaying the handover of power from Hollande to Le Pen and keeping the outgoing president as head of state until after next month’s parliamentary elections.

That way, Le Pen would not have been in a position to appoint her own prime minister. The officials were calculating her National Front party wouldn’t secure a parliamentary majority, forcing Le Pen to accept a prime minister and Cabinet selected by opposition parties.

“It was like a multistage rocket,” a senior official told L’Obs, a weekly news magazine. “The philosophy, and the absolute imperative, was to keep the peace, while also respecting our constitutional rules,” he added.

The plan, which at the very least would have skirted convention, did not have to be put into operation because centrist Emmanuel Macron pulled off a crushing victory, defeating Le Pen by a two-to-one margin.

The first goal in the mind of the plan’s participants was freezing the political situation, according to officials who spoke with French newspapers, and preventing violent civil unrest. The second was to restrain Le Pen.

In the run-up to the elections, French media reported police and intelligence chiefs were alarmed at the prospect of the anti-immigrant and anti-EU Le Pen winning, and they worried France would be drawn into chaos with left-wing protesters refusing to accept the result. In April, Le Parisien, a daily newspaper, reported on a confidential memo drafted by intelligence chiefs saying every local public safety directorate was expressing concern about the consequences of Le Pen being elected.

Officials told L’Obs that under the overall plan to manage a Le Pen victory, parliament would have been recalled in emergency session. “The country would have come to a halt and the government would have just one priority, assuring the security of the state,” an official told the weekly magazine.

Future for party, Le Pen

Meanwhile, Macron’s decisive win over Le Pen has shattered National Front unity, with recriminations flying over the heavy defeat.

“Rarely in French political history had there been such a confluence of favorable conditions for the election of an extremist and populist candidate in a presidential race: a lingering EU migrant crisis, the soaring recurrence of actual and prevented terror attacks throughout the country, increasing segments of French society feeling disenfranchised, a growing voters’ fatigue with worn-out manifestos by self-seeking traditional parties, and a stagnating national economy; all seemed essential ingredients for a majority vote in favor of Marine Le Pen,” notes analyst Solon Ardittis of the Germany-based Institute of Labor Economics, an independent research institute.

 

 

Party critics of Le Pen agree with that assessment — and it is driving rifts within the National Front. Le Pen, who will contest a seat in next month’s parliamentary elections in a mining town in northern France, insists her party still has an essential role to play in French politics and that she will remain at the head of it.

“We are, in reality, the only opposition movement. We will have an essential role to play [and] a role in the recomposing of political life,” she told a French television channel on Thursday.

One of her nieces, 27-year-old Marion Marechal-Le Pen, a rising political star, and one of only two National Front lawmakers in the outgoing parliament, announced this week she’s quitting politics. And Le Pen’s deputy, Florian Philippot, is now forming his own “patriotic” movement.

Opinion polls are now suggesting that the one-year-old party of France’s newly elected Macron, the youngest leader of the country since Napoleon Bonaparte, is surging ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections. A survey puts his La Republique en Marche party at 32 percent of the vote, 13 percent ahead of its nearest rival, Les Republicains.

Macron’s choice of Cabinet members — some prominent figures, others unknown but all drawn equally from the right and left of French politics — has also gone down well with the public, with a 61 percent approval rating.

Le Pen’s defeat has been greeted by many European liberals as a sign that the populist wave that’s been washing across Europe has now run its course. Some analysts, however, say that the populists shouldn’t be counted out yet. Macron’s victory, argues Robert Skidelsky, a political economist at Britain’s Warwick University, amounts to a win in one battle and not the end of the war. “The idea that one in three French citizens would vote for the National Front’s Le Pen was inconceivable only a few years ago,” he said.
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Sweden Drops Rape Investigation Against Wikileaks’ Assange

Posted on by SeeEU

Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange, almost seven years after it began and five years after the WikiLeaks founder sought refuge inside Ecuador’s London embassy.

 

Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per E. Samuelson declared Friday that “this is a total victory for Julian Assange. He is now free to leave the embassy when he wants.”

 

But the picture is more complicated than that.

 

Has Assange been exonerated?      

 

No. The investigation began after two women accused Assange of sexual offenses during a 2010 visit to Stockholm. Sweden asked Britain to extradite Assange for questioning, and in June 2012 he sought refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid arrest.

 

After that, the investigation stalled. Swedish prosecutors dropped cases of alleged sexual misconduct when the statute of limitations ran out in 2015, leaving only the rape allegation.

 

Marianne Ny, the Swedish director of public prosecutions announced Friday that she was dropping the rape case because there is no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden “in the foreseeable future” and it is “no longer proportionate” to maintain the European arrest warrant.

 

She told a news conference in Stockholm that the investigation could be reopened if Assange returns to Sweden before the statute of limitations lapses in 2020.

 

Ny said the case was not being dropped because Assange has been found innocent.

 

“We don’t make any statement of guilty or not,” she said.

 ___

Is Assange free to leave the Ecuadorean embassy?

 

Sweden has revoked a European Arrest Warrant for Assange, so British police are no longer seeking him for extradition. But there is also a warrant issued by a British court after he skipped bail in June 2012.

 

London’s Metropolitan Police force says that it “is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the embassy.” The maximum sentence for that offense is a year in prison.

 

Police indicated they will significantly scale back the resources dedicated to making sure Assange does not escape now that he is wanted for a much less serious crime.

 

___

 

 Are there other charges against Assange?     

 

That’s unclear. Assange suspects there is a secret U.S. indictment against him for WikiLeaks’ publication of leaked classified American documents, which has infuriated U.S. officials. CIA Director Mike Pompeo has branded WikiLeaks a “hostile intelligence service,” and Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last month that Assange’s arrest is a priority.

 

Both U.S. and British officials have declined to comment on whether there is a warrant for Assange’s arrest.

 

___

 

Does Sweden’s action make Assange Safer?     

Some legal experts say it makes his position less secure. Until Friday, Britain was bound to honor Sweden’s extradition request before any warrant from the United States. That is no longer the case.

 

Lawyer David Allen Green, who has followed the case, tweeted: “Once outside embassy, Assange more at risk from any U.S. extradition attempt than if he had gone to Sweden.”

 

Assange could fight any U.S. extradition request in the British courts, a process that could take years.

 

___

 

Whither WikiLeaks?    

 

WikiLeaks’ release of classified material has continued unabated during Assange’s five years in the Ecuadorean embassy. On Friday, the group released what it said were new details of CIA cyberespionage tools.

 
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Trump Takes First International Trip as President

Posted on by SeeEU

Donald Trump begins his maiden international trip as U.S. president Friday, leaving the White House awash in a slew of controversies that has some politicians invoking comparisons to the Watergate scandal that brought down the presidency of Richard Nixon.

“We look forward to getting this whole situation behind us,” Donald Trump told reporters Thursday.

The controversies include the firing of former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey amid allegations Trump wanted Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The president is also facing questions about his ties with Russia during the presidential election and allegations he revealed classified material to Russia’s foreign minister during a meeting in the Oval Office.

The stops include

Stops on the upcoming trip include Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican; places sacred to three of the world’s major religions.

In Saudi Arabia, Trump, who has been outspoken about his mistrust of Muslims and has tried to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., is set to deliver a speech on Islam before a group of Muslim leaders. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, said the president is hopeful for the emergence of a peaceful vision of Islam.

Controversy precedes the U.S. president on his stop in Israel as well, following Trump’s alleged disclosure of Israeli intelligence to Russian officials.

Meeting with Pope Francis

The U.S. president will also go to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis who has said he will not make any judgments about Trump before meeting him.

Trump will then go to Belgium, where he will meet with NATO members in Brussels before ending his trip in the Sicilian town of Taormina for a G-7 summit.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir will not attend the Islamic summit with Trump in Saudi Arabia, according to Sudan’s state news agency SUNA.  The agency said “personal reasons” were preventing him from attending, but did not list the reasons.  

Bashir has for years faced charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court for crimes committed against civilians in Darfur. He has yet to be arrested.
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France’s Le Pen to Run for Parliament With Party in Disarray

Posted on by SeeEU

Emerging from her crushing defeat in France’s presidential contest, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Thursday she will run for a parliamentary seat in June elections and that her National Front party has “an essential role” in a new political landscape.

Le Pen will run for a seat in a district in her northern stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, a hardscrabble former mining region where she lost a similar bid in 2012. A new failure could jinx her bid to unite the National Front and to make it France’s leading opposition party.

“I cannot imagine not being at the head of my troops in a battle I consider fundamental,” Le Pen said in an interview on the TF1 television station, her first public appearance since her May 7 loss to centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen announced her candidacy while facing forces of division that could frustrate her new goals. Her popular niece is leaving politics, her disruptive father is back in the ring and her party is in disarray.

At the same time, Macron has upset the political equation, drawing from the left and right to win the presidency and to create his government. The new president now is looking across the political spectrum to obtain a parliamentary majority to support his agenda. 

“We are in reality the only opposition movement,” Le Pen said.

“We will have an essential role to play (and) a role in the recomposing of political life,” she said, reiterating her contention that the left-right divide has been replaced by “globalists, Europeanists and nationalists” like herself.

Le Pen is counting on the 10.6 million votes she received as a presidential candidate to propel her anti-immigration party into parliament in the June 11 and June 18 elections.

The party also hopes to pick up votes from “electoral orphans” unsatisfied with Macron and feeling betrayed by the mainstream right, National Front Secretary-General Nicolas Bay said this week.

The National Front plans to field candidates for each of France’s 577 electoral districts, hoping to block Macron’s movement from obtaining a majority of seats and to secure a strong bloc of its own to counter his new government.

Le Pen dismissed the notion that there were links between her loss and a series of events widely seen as potentially weakening the National Front.

The party recently lost a rising star who served as a unifier on its conservative southern flank. One of the National Front’s two current lawmakers – Le Pen’s niece, Marion Marechal-Le Pen –  announced last week that she was leaving politics, at least temporarily.

Enter Jean-Marie Le Pen, who likened his granddaughter’s exit from politics to a “desertion.”

The elder Le Pen, who was expelled from the party he co-founded because of his penchant for making anti-Semitic comments, is backing up to 200 parliamentary candidates through an ultra-conservative alliance, the Union of Patriots.

Some of the five parties represented in the alliance are headed by former National Front militants who, like Jean-Marie Le Pen, were expelled by his daughter in her bid to scrub up the party’s image for the presidential contest.

His own Jeanne Committees will present some 35 of the 200 candidates. The decision smacks of revenge, but the elder Le Pen’s aide denied that was the case.

“This is not meant to cause trouble for the National Front. It is to defend the values that the National Front no longer defends,” the aide, Lorrain de Saint Affrique, said.

The risk that other far-right parties would challenge the National Front “has existed since the National Front decided to exclude Jean-Marie Le Pen,” De Saint Affrique said. “They should have thought of that then.”

The competition from all but obscure parties is not a substantial threat to Le Pen, but mirrors frustrations roiling the National Front, some of which became public following Le Pen’s defeat.

More menacing, her top lieutenant, Florian Philippot suggested after Le Pen’s loss to Macron that he would leave the party if it decided to do away with the goal of leaving the euro currency – a divisive proposal but at the top of Le Pen’s presidential platform.

“I’m not there to keep a post at any price and defend the reverse of my deep convictions,” he said last week on RMC radio.

Le Pen conceded Thursday that the subject of the euro “considerably worried the French” and would be discussed after the parliamentary elections. “We will have to take this into account, reflect,” she said.

She welcomed Philippot’s launching this week of an association, called The Patriots, which could be seen as the budding of a potential rival, like the movement Macron started 13 months ago, En Marche (On the Move).

“The more ideas the better,” she said.
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Eurozone Bounces Back as Growth Beats US, Britain – But Is It Sustainable?

Posted on by SeeEU

After years of stagnation and high unemployment, the eurozone countries appear to be bouncing back with growth in the shared currency bloc, soaring higher than in the United States and Britain.

The eurozone grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent during the first three months of 2017, while the bloc’s trade surplus doubled in March from the previous month. Unemployment is falling, albeit still stubbornly high at 9.6 percent.

“For a change, Europe is leading this upswing. It’s partly because of the connection between Europe and China, demand from China. But at the same time, we have also some domestic factors which are positive: there is a genuine improvement in domestic demand, particularly consumption. So the recovery is broad-based, and is more sustainable than in the past,” said analyst Lorenzo Codogno of LC Macro Advisors, also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.

Some of the economies that suffered most in the 2008 debt crisis are bouncing back strongest — the so-called PIGS. Portugal hit a 10-year high with 2.8 percent year-on-year growth. Spain’s economy is forecast to grow 2.7 percent in 2017, and passed a crucial milestone last month as its GDP exceeded pre-2008 crisis levels.

“We’re seeing a cyclical recovery because we finally had the European Central Bank operating like a normal central bank and doing quantitative easing,” says analyst John Springford of the Center for European Reform.

With inflation in the eurozone hitting the central bank’s target of 1.9 percent, many economists expect the quantitative easing program to keep interest rates low to be wound down later this year. There are fears, however, that turning off the money could hurt the eurozone’s poorest performers.

Italy’s economy is still in the slow lane with annualized growth of just .8 percent.

“It’s growing very slowly, its banks still haven’t been sorted out and there’s a lot of political instability,” says Springford.

Meanwhile, Greece is back in recession and the familiar public sector strikes have paralyzed transport systems this week. Police joined the protesters over proposed cuts to in-work benefits and pensions. The government plans further cuts in return for the next tranche of EU bailout money. A decision by EU finance ministers is due Monday.

Economist Codogno says the structural problems underpinning the eurozone have not gone away.

“The eurozone cannot survive without additional major reforms, which means more integration, in terms of fiscal and eventually even political.”

Overshadowing the bounce-back is Brexit. Britain’s decision to leave the EU is weighing on its economy as growth slows and wages fall, says Springford.

“The pain is going to be largely borne on the UK side because it’s a smaller economy. The big question is whether the EU and the UK can negotiate a deal which minimizes the economic costs. And we’ve had a very bad start to negotiations with a lot of bad blood.”

Europe’s politicians hope economic growth can help stop the march of anti-EU populism that saw Britain vote to leave the bloc.

The election of pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron as French president has reinvigorated the French-German axis that has long been the eurozone’s driving force. Macron’s political honeymoon could be short, with French unions already voicing objections to his proposed reforms.
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Usmanov, Navalny Take Bitter Legal Battle Online With Dueling Videos

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov and opposition leader Aleksei Navalny have exchanged bitter, strongly worded video attacks as they rejected a Moscow court’s proposed settlement in a defamation case. 

Usmanov, an Uzbek-born billionaire with ties to the Kremlin, filed the lawsuit in April against Navalny and his Anticorruption Foundation.

The defamation claim stems from a March 2 report by Navalny’s foundation that focused on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and included allegations that Usmanov gave expensive property to a foundation linked to Medvedev at no cost.

Hours before a scheduled preliminary hearing in the case on May 17, Usmanov released a video on YouTube calling Navalny a “loser” and a “failed businessman.”

Manner evoked crime boss

Speaking in a manner that for some viewers evoked the jargon of Russian crime bosses, he addressed Navalny by the familiar form of “you” and by the nickname Lyosha — short for Aleksei.

“Your attempts to slander me are like a puppy’s barking at an elephant,” said Usmanov, who pointed to Navalny’s two politically charged financial-crimes convictions and called him a criminal. 

He urged Navalny to apologize and made a sound suggesting he was spitting on Navalny.

After the parties rejected the Lyublino District Court’s proposed settlement, Navalny fired back with a video, in which he called Usmanov “a beginning blogger,” and “a bribe-taker, a bribe-giver, a crook, and a fraudulent man.”

One of country’s richest men

Usmanov — now one of Russia’s richest men, with assets in mining, media, and other industries — spent six years in a Soviet prison in the 1980s but his conviction was later overturned. He was exonerated in 2000 by Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court, which ruled that the case against him had been fabricated and no crime was ever committed.

Usmanov’s bearing and body language in the video drew mockery on social media, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova came to his defense on Facebook, praising him for what she called a “man’s” response and saying his video will be studied “at universities by rhetoric and PR specialists.” 

Navalny’s allegations against Medvedev helped galvanize nationwide anticorruption protests on March 26. 

Navalny, who was jailed for 15 days over the protests, is calling for a fresh anticorruption demonstration on June 12.

He wants to run in a March 2018 election in which President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to seek and secure a new six-year term.

He announced in December that he would run for president in a March 2018 election in which President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to seek and secure a new six-year term.

Presidential ballot

Russian authorities have suggested that Navalny would be barred from the presidential ballot due to his financial-crimes convictions. 

However, Navalny’s backers say the rules are unclear and the anticorruption activist has pushed ahead with his campaign. 

Election officials have still not stated clearly whether Navalny will be allowed to run for election.
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Erdogan Watched Guards Beat Protesters

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. officials and lawmakers may have been outraged when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards attacked and beat peaceful protesters in Washington as their leader watched. Back in Turkey, however, that hard-line approach is welcomed by many of the president’s nationalist supporters.

The clash Tuesday began when Erdogan’s motorcade pulled up in front of the Turkish ambassador’s residence, returning from a visit to the White House and a meeting with President Donald Trump. 

Erdogan, emerging from his limousine, stood and watched as his guards and supporters began punching and kicking their way through a group of mostly Kurdish protesters across the street. Eleven people were injured.

Two senators protest

Two U.S. senators protested to Erdogan Thursday about his guards’ behavior.

“The violent response of your security detail to peaceful protesters is wholly unacceptable,” Senators Dianne Feinstein and John McCain said in a letter to Erdogan. They added that the incident was “unfortunately reflective of your government’s treatment of the press, ethnic minority groups and political opponents.”

While some Turks also decried the use of force to quash a peaceful protest, calling it a blemish on the country’s international reputation and a violation of free speech, those who support Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule felt it was justified.

Protesters ‘deserved to be beaten’

“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten,” Atakan, a taxi driver from the city of Erzurum, told a VOA reporter. “They should not be protesting our president. They got what they asked for.”

Yusuf Kanli, a newspaper columnist and political analyst, said no matter how bad it may have looked, the scene played right into Erdogan’s image.

Watch: Anti-Erdogan Protesters Say They Were Attacked by President’s Bodyguards

“I believe Erdogan makes use of this type of brawl for internal politics, to solidify his electorate and to get more nationalists to move to his party,” Kanli said. “If you are an anti-Erdogan citizen in Turkey, you think like the civilized world and do not approve of beating people who think different from you. But if you are a pro-Erdogan citizen, you applaud when people who don’t think like you do get beaten up.”

Erdogan has bolstered his power base, particularly since a coup attempt last year. He has cracked down hard on dissent, jailing journalists and the leaders and other legislators of the PKK, a Kurdish party that was the second-largest opposition group in Parliament, on allegations of terrorism.

Growing political divide

The result has been a growing political divide in the country, as shown by results of a referendum last month in which voters narrowly approved even more sweeping powers for Erdogan.

“People who support Erdogan approve a show of force,” Orkan, an engineer from Istanbul, told VOA. “So at the end, the sharp polarization within the country deepens more.”

A similar clash between Erdogan’s men and protesters broke out a year ago when he visited Washington for a nuclear conference.

“Turkish people who support Erdogan’s AK Party see this sort of incident as legitimate,” said Ilhan Tanir, a freelance Turkish journalist and analyst. “Pro-government newspapers and columnists are proof of that. They say they had to teach the PKK terrorists a necessary lesson.

“Erdogan’s bodyguards remind me of Moammar Gadhafi’s bodyguards,” Tanir said. “They liked to get into fights, too. But with Erdogan’s guards, violence has almost become a habit.”
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US Set to Impose New Sanctions On Venezuela

Posted on by SeeUS

The Trump administration is set to impose new sanctions on members of the Venezuelan Supreme Court for stripping the opposition-led congress of all power earlier this year.

Among those targeted is Maikel Moreno, the president of the pro-government Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in late March. The ruling was later partially reversed amid international criticism, but it sparked a protest movement that has continued for nearly two months and left more than 40 people dead.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump called the situation in Venezuela a “disgrace to humanity,” and said the deadly political crisis is possibly the worst of its kind in “decades.”

‘There’s great violence’

“We haven’t really seen a problem like that … in decades, in terms of the kind of violence that we’re witnessing,” Trump told a joint news conference with visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

“People don’t have enough to eat. People have no food. There’s great violence. And we will do whatever is necessary, and we will work together to do whatever is necessary, to help with fixing that. … what is happening is really a disgrace to humanity.”

 

 

 

Pressure increases on Maduro

The threat of new sanctions comes as Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, is facing increasing international pressure to hold elections. On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council discussed the crisis in Venezuela for the first time at the request of the United States. The Washington-based Organization of American States is holding a rare foreign ministers council session on the troubled South American nation later this month.

Maduro’s political foes have taken to the streets to demand that he schedule long-delayed elections, release political prisoners and permit the delivery of humanitarian aid. The demonstrations and counterdemonstrations have escalated since the socialist leader’s call earlier this month for a new constitution.

But Maduro repeatedly has accused the United States of leading an attempt to overthrow his government.
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Chaffetz Says He’ll Leave US House at End of June

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced Thursday he will resign from Congress next month, saying a “midlife crisis” compelled him to step away from his chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee as it is poised to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s firing of the FBI director.

The announcement by Chaffetz, 50, was the latest upending of the Republican-controlled congressional investigations into Trump.

Chaffetz’s announcement came a day after he tweeted that he had invited ex-FBI Director James Comey to testify next week at a hearing of the oversight committee he leads.

Comey was fired last week amid an FBI investigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election outcome to benefit him.

Oversight committee

Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who had just started his fifth term in Congress, used his post as chair of the oversight committee to doggedly investigate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 presidential election and raise his political profile.

But Trump complicated Chaffetz’s life. He rescinded his endorsement of Trump last year after recordings surfaced of the reality show star bragging about groping women, only to hastily re-endorse Trump shortly before the FBI announced it was reviving its investigation into Clinton’s emails.

After Trump won the election, Chaffetz became a lightning rod for criticism that Republicans weren’t aggressively policing Trump.

Liberals said that he did not go after the incoming administration with nearly the vigor used against the prior Democratic administration. Constituents booed him at a raucous February town hall, and a novice Democratic candidate raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in online donations when she announced her longshot challenge to him weeks later.

Last month, Chaffetz stunned the political world by saying he would leave Congress before his current term ends in 2018. But he did not provide a date for his departure until Thursday.

Comey memos

On Tuesday, Chaffetz took his first aggressive steps against the Trump administration. He vowed to get the memos Comey reportedly wrote about his meeting with Trump in which the president allegedly asked him to shut down the FBI investigation into ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

He told reporters Thursday from his home in a Salt Lake City suburb that he still has not seen the Comey memo or spoken with the former FBI director.

He said he believed other members of his committee would keep the investigation going.

“There are lots of good people who care about these issues and are well-suited to carry out these investigations,” Chaffetz said.

Chaffetz is the second House Republican who is stepping away from a Trump investigation. Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, had to recuse himself from that investigation after a bizarre incident where he emerged from the White House and seemed to suggest he had evidence backing up Trump’s groundless contention that he had been surveilled by the Obama administration. Republican Rep. K. Michael Conaway is now overseeing that probe.

Replacement

One possible replacement for Chaffetz on the committee is Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican and former South Carolina prosecutor who chaired the special Benghazi investigative committee and a close Chaffetz friend. On Thursday, Gowdy released a statement saying he was talking to other members about the chairmanship.

Chaffetz said his last day will be June 30. He said he hoped to preside over one final hearing on a botched Obama administration “gun-walking” program, in which federal authorities let gun-runners purchase firearms in hopes of disrupting gun smuggling rings.

Chaffetz, a former kicker for the Mormon-owned Brigham Young University football team, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. He strolled to four-easy re-elections in his heavily Republican district that stretches from towns in the Wasatch Mountains to the Salt Lake suburbs and Provo, home of Brigham Young University. Chaffetz became chairman of the House Oversight Committee in 2015.

He has not ruled out running for another office, such as Utah governor.

Previous experience

Prior to his time in office, he worked in communications for more than a decade and served as campaign manager for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Sitting on his couch with his wife Julie and petting their dog, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Ruby, Chaffetz said he had been stunned by two of his children’s upcoming moves from Utah and the realization he and his wife would be empty-nesters soon.

“I kind of had a little bit of a midlife crisis. I turned 50, I’m sleeping on a cot,” Chaffetz said of his life as a congressman in Washington. “The overwhelming driving force is the idea that I just love my family. And a lot of people will never ever believe that, but that is the truth.”
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Northeast US Cities Suffer Record-breaking Heat Wave

Posted on by SeeUS

Heat records were burning up Thursday in cities in the Northeast as the region gets a summer preview.

The mercury reached 92 degrees in Boston shortly after noon Thursday, breaking the old record of 91 degrees for May 18 set in 1936, according to the National Weather Service.

The 81-year-old record for the day of 90 degrees also fell in New York City, where it was still 91 degrees in Central Park shortly before 4 p.m.

It was the second straight day of midsummer-like conditions in the Northeast, though forecasters said a cooling trend would move in Friday and return the region to more seasonable conditions.

The warmth came just days after much of the region endured a cold, rainy Mother’s Day Weekend.

Outdoor activities

Heat-starved locals in Jamestown, Rhode Island, took advantage of the warm weather Thursday to eat lunch at restaurants with outdoor patios.

Mary Ann Williamson and Peggy Schreiner went out to eat to celebrate Williamson’s recent retirement. Schreiner said the weather was “spectacular.” Not minding the heat, they chatted to extend their time outside.

“As long as it’s not a rainy summer, I’ll be happy. I was worried about that,” Williamson said.

Other places where records fell included Hartford, Connecticut, where temperatures reached 94 degrees, and in Providence, Rhode Island, where it hit 93.

In Maine, where records also fell throughout the state, the Department of Environmental Protection issued an air-quality alert through 11 p.m. Thursday.

In Boston, the National Park Service said on Twitter that the Bunker Hill Monument, a major Revolutionary War tourist attraction, was closed to visitors for a time because of the heat.

Far from unheard of

Alan Dunham, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts office of the weather service, said 90-plus degree heat in mid-May was unusual in the Northeast, but far from unheard of.

And because dew points were low, Dunham said the heat did not feel nearly as oppressive as it might when humidity levels are much higher in July or August.

“As they say out west, it’s a dry heat,” he said.

Matt McKenna, from Holliston, Massachusetts, was taking a break from work at the Boston Harbor Hotel. As he sat on a bench at Rowe’s Wharf, he wondered what happened to spring.

“It seems like we just skipped over it, went straight into summer,” said McKenna, who admitted to not being a huge fan of hot weather.

“I like the cold, I’m a snow guy,” he said.

Sipping on an ice coffee near the city’s financial district, Jenna Gagne, of Hull, Massachusetts, wondered if the weather swings were related to climate change.

“I feel like its jut so inconsistent, that it has to be something related to (global warming),” Gagne said. “I just feel like it’s changing a lot.”

Her friend, Lisa Hart, was more skeptical.

“I think it’s just New England,’ she said, referring to the region’s notoriously fickle weather.

Seeking out snow

Indeed, some die-hard skiers were still trying to traverse New England’s northernmost peaks as late as this week.

As they relaxed in their boat in Westmore, Vermont, Kurt and Alison Harrison recalled that about a year ago when they vacationed in the same spot, it was snowing. On Thursday, temperatures hovered near 90.

“There’s no humidity up here … it’s so nice,” Alison Harrison said.

Despite temperatures in the 90s in Concord, New Hampshire, thousands of people took to the streets Thursday evening for the Merrimack County Savings Bank Rock `N Race. Organizers doubled up on the water along the 3.1 mile course and had an extra ambulance on hand as well additional medical staff.

“You could feel your face flushing,” said Michael Bacotti, 38, of Londonderry, who completed the race with his 5-year-old and 6-year-old sons. “It was hot like an oven.”
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Comey Testimony Before Lawmakers in Doubt After Special Counsel Named

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U.S. senators of both political parties said Thursday that the public’s window into federal probes involving Russia and related matters could be constrained now that a special counsel has been appointed to lead the probe.

Senators spoke after meeting Thursday behind closed doors with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to head the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election and any collusion by the Trump campaign.

WATCH: Graham: Rosenstein to Proceed as Criminal Investigation

“Congress’ ability to conduct investigations of all things Russia has been severely limited,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. “If I were Mr. Mueller, I would jealously guard the witness pool. So, one of the biggest losers in this decision is the public.”

Rosenstein’s appearance in the Senate was originally meant to allow him to explain why Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey last week, but the focus changed when Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel Wednesday night.

But Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Rosenstein told the senators that he knew Trump was going to fire Comey even before he, Rosenstein, wrote the memo that Trump used as justification for the dismissal.

WATCH: Durbin: Rosenstein Knew Comey Would Be Fired Before Writing Memo

Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, told reporters Rosenstein was “very careful about not going into any details surrounding the removal of Comey because he wants to give Robert Mueller the opportunity to make an independent decision” about how to move forward on the case.

And Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, who had been considered a contender for FBI director but removed himself from the running, said he thought senators were taking the investigation “enormously seriously.” He said he doubted any of his colleagues would try to “delay or impede or impair this investigation in any way.”

WATCH: Cornyn: In No One’s Interest to ‘Delay or Impede’ Investigation

Perhaps the most eagerly awaited witness is Comey, who reportedly wrote memos alleging the president pressured him to halt a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Committees in both houses of Congress have invited Comey to testify publicly.

Need as ‘great as ever’

“The need for former Director Comey to come testify in public soon is as great as ever,” said the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York.

But Mueller could nix such an appearance, wanting to keep Comey’s testimony out of the public eye until the special counsel’s work is done.

“I think that’s an open question,” said Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware when asked whether Comey would appear before Congress, adding that it remained to be seen “how ongoing congressional investigations will be coordinated with the special counsel.”

“Mueller’s in charge, completely in charge of this investigation,” said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. “But beyond that, we’re going to have to work this thing out.

“I don’t know where this will go. But I trust Mueller.”
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IS Kills Scores in Central Syria Surprise Attack

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Under siege in other parts of Syria, Islamic State forces staged a surprise attack Thursday on two government-held villages in central Syria’s Hama province that killed more than 50 people, according to media reports and sources in the region.

Fierce clashes between IS fighters and pro-Syrian government forces in the villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh left at least 15 civilians and 27 pro-regime troops dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitors in the area. IS suffered 15 casualties, the observatory said.

Syria’s state news agency put the death toll at 52, including 15 children. There were reports of IS militants torturing villagers and looting homes.

“My friend lost four of his children after IS slaughtered them all,” Maher Esber, a political activist from the area, told VOA. “We do not know if my friend is alive, but I saw the bodies of his children.”

Esber said IS was out for revenge after government forces last week inflicted heavy casualties in another village in the region controlled by IS.

“The regime bombarded that village,” he said. “Many civilians were killed.”

The pre-dawn attack Thursday by IS came with IS first shelling a regime checkpoint. Syrian troops had pulled back in recent days, assuming IS was weakened in the region, Esber said.

“The Syrian army moved its tanks from the area,” Esber said. “IS used this to sneak into our areas.”

IS previously attacked Al-Mabujeh in March 2015, killing more than 37 residents. The villages are largely populated by Sunni Muslims and members of the Alawite clan tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Central Hama province is regarded as a no man’s land where parts are under IS, rebel or government control.

IS is facing a major assault from U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces in northern Syria in an offensive toward Raqqa, IS’s de facto capital in Syria.
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UN Says 200,000 More People Could Flee Mosul as Fighting Intensifies

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The United Nations said Thursday that up to 200,000 more people might flee Mosul as Iraqi forces push into the last districts held by Islamic State militants.

Iraqi authorities and aid agencies are already struggling to cope with a surge in displacement since security forces opened a new front against the militants in Mosul this month.

Backed by a U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces have dislodged IS from all but about 12 square kilometers (five square miles) of the city and are seeking to claim victory before the holy month of Ramadan in less than two weeks.

The militants, however, still control the Old City, where they are expected to make their last stand in the densely populated, narrow streets that are impassible for armored vehicles.

Military commanders say the aim is to raise the Iraqi flag over the Old City’s Nuri mosque, from which IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate, so the battle can be declared won even if pockets of resistance remain.

“As military operations intensify and move closer to Mosul’s Old City area, we expect that up to 200,000 more people will flee,” Lise Grande, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement, describing the figures as “alarming.”

“The numbers of people who are moving are now so large, it’s becoming more and more difficult to ensure civilians receive the assistance and protection they need,” she added.

Complications for Iraqi advance

The displacement is also complicating the advance of Iraqi forces, according to Brigadier General Ali al-Sharifi of the Federal Police, which are fighting in the 17 Tammouz district.

“We didn’t expect such a flux of thousands of families fleeing toward our forces,” al-Sharifi said. “We slowed clashes to give them safe routes, and we had to prepare hundreds of trucks to evacuate them. It’s not an easy situation.”

Among those freed from IS Thursday were two girls from the Yazidi minority who had been held captive since the militants overran their villages nearly three years ago, Federal Police chief Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said in a statement.

Seven months since the start of the Mosul campaign, nearly 700,000 people have fled Mosul, seeking refuge either with friends and relatives or in camps.

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that the Iraqi army and other local security forces had forced over 300 displaced families to return to western districts of Mosul that are still at risk of IS attack.

“These families should not be forcibly returned to unsafe areas and areas that lack adequate water, food, electricity or health facilities,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
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Calls Grow for Upcoming Syria Talks to Focus on Detainee Conditions

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With the United States accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government of mass killings of prisoners and use of a crematorium to burn the bodies, human rights advocates said the negotiations in Geneva this week on the Syria crisis should make detainee conditions a priority.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has been meeting separately with Syrian government and opposition delegations this week during the latest round of talks, hoping to bridge gaps between the rival sides, while ensuring any outcome is consistent with previously adopted U.N. Security Council resolutions.  

Dubbed as “proximity talks” in which government and opposition delegations are not expected to speak face to face, the latest gathering marks the third round in 2017.  

Allegations denied

The U.S. State Department said on Monday that as many as 50 prisoners a day are being killed at the Saydnaya prison, one of Syria’s largest and most secure prison complexes. It alleged that the government of President Bashar al-Assad then uses a crematorium installed inside the Saydnaya facility to hide evidence of the mass killings.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry denied the U.S. allegation, calling it a “Hollywood story detached from reality.”

Syria’s opposition has been pressing the detainee issue for some time but met with limited progress. Advocacy group Human Rights Watch said its research found the systematic and widespread treatment of detained civilians in prisons across Syria, including Saydnaya prison, amounts to crimes against humanity.

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“The parties should agree on ensuring access by independent monitors to Syrian government detention centers and prisons,” said Sarah Margon, Human Rights Watch’s Washington director.

“Ultimately, accountability for the treatment of detainees will need to be part of a comprehensive U.S. policy for Syria,” Margon added.

Important step for US

The rights group also said Washington’s recent push on Moscow over the Syrian government’s treatment of prisoners is an important step to bring more pressure to bear on Bashar al-Assad’s daily atrocities.

“The detainee file must be at the forefront of talks in Geneva,” according to “Save Our Syria,” a coalition of Syrian civil society and humanitarian groups, adding, “In order for the Syrian political process to be credible, it must deliver concrete progress on the detainee file — a chief concern for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian families that have been affected by Assad’s mass detention.”

Past Geneva talks have produced the agreement that the warring sides will discuss agendas including a new constitution, reformed governance, new elections and the fight against terrorism, but progress has not yet been made.  

’Slim at best’

Some analysts said the chances of progress at the new talks at Geneva are “slim at best.”

“Detainee issues will be a priority for the U.S. and for the U.N., but the Syrian government will simply deny everything. Progress on the issue is unlikely,” Daniel Serwer, professor of conflict management at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told VOA.

This week’s talks follow a deal by Russia, Turkey and Iran to arrange and monitor the so-called “de-escalation zones” in Syria to reduce the violent conflicts.

“These new accusations from the State Department appear to be an attempt to pressure Russia even more strongly into exerting influence on Assad to play by the rules of law,” Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Charles Lister told VOA.

“For now, the international community’s energy would be better focused on talks aimed at de-escalating the conflict on the ground in order to generate conditions more amenable to a meaningful political process,” he added.

Competing agendas

In Geneva, a spokesperson from the High Negotiations Committee, the main Syrian opposition group, said on Wednesday, “We’re here to try to save lives; but, the other party does not care about the lives of Syrians.”

Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State militant group as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support Assad.

The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Acting Assistant Secretary Stuart Jones, urged Russia to “exercise its influence over the Syrian regime to guarantee that horrific violations stop now” with great urgency.  
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Uganda Police Under Fire for Allegedly Torturing Suspects

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Police in Uganda have come under fire for allegedly torturing suspects, with both the president and interior minister publicly recognizing the problem this week and calling for it to end.

On March 17, Uganda’s assistant inspector general of police was gunned down in Kampala. Five days later, police said they were holding 17 suspects; however, it was a month before those individuals appeared in court. While media was blocked from the proceedings, leaked photos of the inmates appeared to show clear signs of abuse.

When the suspects were brought to court for a second time on May 5, the detainees told the magistrate they were being beaten. They raised their hands several times, showing the magistrate wounds and bruises on their wrists. They said they were being kept handcuffed for long periods of time and were not being fed.

The proceedings were broadcast on national television, sparking outrage.

Ugandan police spokesperson Asan Kasingye says two police officers have been arrested. 

“[In] the techniques of investigations, torture is not cited anywhere,” Kasingye said. “So if you step out of procedure, definitely we shall question you, not only why you did it but you must also tell us, who told you to do it, if you were under command.”

The 17 suspects looked to be in better shape Thursday at their third court appearance. Witnesses say a few of the suspects appeared to be limping, and several had what looked to be healing wounds on their arms. 

President on torture

Earlier this week, President Yoweri Museveni released a public letter to security chiefs. The president said torture is “unnecessary and wrong” and does not produce reliable evidence. He said torture is not to be used.

The Minister of Interior Affairs then appeared before parliament and apologized to the country in response to the media reports of police torture. He admitted that laws have been broken and said investigations are ongoing.

However, Uganda Law Society President Francis Gimara says it will take more than words to create lasting change. He says the law society is engaging with the Director of Public Prosecution.

“We want him to enter into an MOU [memorandum of understanding],” Gimara said. “We say for torture cases, give them to us, Uganda Law Society. We will prosecute the commanding officers because we think they are the ones responsible for these increased acts of torture and torture is unacceptable because it is degrading, it is traumatizing, and in this time and age, barbaric.”

New police procedures

Police spokesperson Kasingye says police are implementing new procedures to document a detainee’s condition at the time of arrest.

“Before you sign [a] detention order form, [you] ascertain the condition under which that suspect has been brought,” Kasingye said. “And if you are not sure about the medical condition of that suspect, you are not obliged to detain that person. And number two, to make sure that somebody is treated.”

Uganda’s anti-torture act of 2012 prohibits intentionally causing pain to anyone to obtain information or a confession. Conviction of violating that law could result in imprisonment for 15 years. 

Proof of torture has undermined prosecutions in Uganda. At least two cases have been dropped in recent years after defense lawyers presented evidence that their clients had been tortured while in custody.

The 17 suspects detained in connection with the murder of the police commander are expected back in court on June 1.
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US Official Tells VOA: Pro-Syrian Government Forces Remain in Established Deconfliction Zone

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The U.S.-led coalition aircraft have struck pro-Syrian government forces that continue to violate a deconfliction zone set up around an army base where special forces are training Syrian militias.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Major Josh Jacques told VOA that pro-Syrian government forces set up a convoy northwest of the al-Tanf base, with Syrian tanks, bulldozers, armored vehicles, artillery vehicles and technical vehicles, and began creating fighting positions for their tanks.

Over the course of several hours, the coalition flew aircraft through the airspace and even fired missiles into the ground as “warning shots” near the pro-Syrian forces, but they continued building their positions, Jacques said.

The coalition also used a deconfliction hotline established between the U.S. and Russia to see if the Russians could get them to leave the area, but several apparent Russian attempts led to no change from the forces, he added.

“After that, we couldn’t do much else,” Jacques told VOA. “They had every opportunity to leave the area.”

According to Jacques, the U.S. hit one of the pro-Syrian government tanks and two of the bulldozers. However, some of the Syrian forces remain in the deconfliction zone, which for months has been established as the area within a 55-kilometer radius from the al-Tanf base.

“We’re calling on them to withdraw from the deconfliction zone,” Jacques told VOA.

The rebels hailed the coalition raids and encouraged further actions against the pro-Syrian government forces and Shiite militias who also are trying to gain control of the strategic border point.

“What happened today demonstrates that they cannot reach our territories,” Al-Baraa Fares, a spokesman for the rebel group Maghaweer Al Thawra, told VOA. “When they tried, we informed the collation airplanes, which destroyed their convoys.”

Force protection

A U.S. official estimated that “possibly dozens of fighters” convoyed into the restricted area ahead of the air strike.

“The strike was not a change in policy,” but rather an instance of the commander on the ground calling for force protection, according to another official.

Tensions in the area have escalated as Syrian government forces and U.S.-backed Syrian forces fight closer to each other. Both forces have said they are trying to push Islamic State fighters out of the area.

A statement from the coalition Thursday confirmed the deconfliction zone agreement remains in effect.

Maj. Jacques told VOA that Russia had agreed to call the U.S. to deconflict whenever they planned to operate in the area within 55 kilometers from the base. The Russians had used the line less than 24-hours before the Syrians violated the space.

“The line’s been up and running,” he noted.

The U.S. military says it does not communicate with pro-Syrian government forces and only speaks with Russian forces when needed to prevent miscalculations as U.S. and Russian aircraft both conduct bombing missions in Syrian skies.

Anti-Islamic State initiative

The Anti-IS coalition forces have been operating in the al-Tanf area for many months. Their focus has been to train and advise Syrian rebel groups about how best to control key territories on the Syrian southern border with Jordan and Iraq.

The pro-Syrian government forces were 25 kilometers away from al-Tanf base when they were targeted by coalition planes, according to Fares.

Fares said the pro-Syrian government forces tried to receive reinforcement from nearby Shiite militias, but the coalition action was swift.

(Ahed Al Hendi from the VOA Extremism Watch Desk contributed to this report.)
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Iranians Divided Ahead of Friday Election, Economy Main Concern

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Kaveh Rastegari’s desire for more freedoms and Ghorban Norouzi’s worries about money illustrate the fault lines in Iranian society expected to sway a tightly fought presidential election on Friday.

After an unexpectedly close race between President Hassan Rouhani, the pragmatic incumbent, and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi, ordinary Iranians on the eve of the vote appeared united only in their weariness with a cheerless status quo.

Many voters preoccupied by bread-and-butter issues said they would probably vote for Shi’ite cleric Raisi, who has promised handouts for the poor though without saying how this would be funded.

For younger, particularly urban Iranians, many of whom want more democracy and social freedoms almost 40 years after the Islamic Revolution, Rouhani is the sole choice, even if it is one they’re likely to make without real enthusiasm.

“I was 18 years old when I voted for Rouhani four years ago. I was young and inexperienced then. He promised freedom and I voted for him,” Rastegari said in the southern coastal city of Bandar Abbas. “Now, we (still) don’t have freedom and don’t have jobs. But I will still vote for him. We have no other choice.”

Norouzi’s priorities could not be more different. “My kids cannot eat freedom,” the municipality employee said in the northern city of Rasht. “I need to pay the rent. I have to put bread on my family’s table. I will vote for Raisi.”

Stubborn economic doldrums

Taxi driver Ali Mousavi, too, is one of millions of Iranians fretting about the economy’s continued torpor despite the lifting of sanctions under Rouhani’s deal with world powers to curb Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Inflation has dropped to single digits but unemployment is still rising.

“I am not interested in politics. I will vote for the candidate who has promised to triple cash handouts,” the father of three in Tehran said, referring to Raisi.

The withdrawal of other conservative candidates turned Friday’s election into an unexpectedly tight, two-horse race between Rouhani, 68, and Raisi, a 56-year-old protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate authority.

Rouhani, a longtime establishment insider and former nuclear negotiator, won the presidency in 2013, bolstered by the support of many Iranians yearning for less repression.

But rights groups say there has been little, if any, move to bring about greater political and cultural freedoms since Rouhani was elected. Hardliners dominating the judiciary and security services have stood in the way, his defenders say.

For the election, Rouhani has pinned his hopes on people who are undecided or do not usually vote. His campaign was boosted by endorsements from influential political and cultural figures to mobilize young people and women to go to the polls.

“Rouhani has skillfully…permitted Iranian youth to repeat what happened in 2013 on a larger scale – namely projecting their wishes onto a candidate who is not a reformist but (still) embraces reformist rhetoric,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington.

More than 30 percent of Iran’s 80 million population are under age 30 and women comprise more than half the population.

But apathetic Iranians, many disillusioned by Rouhani’s inability to usher in social change, make up a third category of voter.

An example is Kourosh Sedgi, a 25-year-old student in the central city of Isfahan. “I will not vote. Not anymore,” he said. “We always have to choose between bad and worse in Iran’s elections. Rouhani has failed to bring changes.”

A Tehran psychologist, Maryam Mirzaie, said that even without much evidence of social change and progress on women’s rights, she would respect calls by the opposition leaders and reformist former president Mohammad Khatami to vote for Rouhani.

“I am disappointed with Rouhani. Although not much has been done to improve women’s rights in the past four years, I will vote for him as I respect Khatami, ” said 35-year-old Mirzayi.

Under the Islamic Republic’s law, men can divorce their spouses far more easily than women, while custody of children over the age of seven automatically goes to the father.

High turnout?

Analyst Saeed Leylaz said Rouhani’s main obstacle to re-election would be poor turnout on account of jaded voters.

“But he is way ahead of Raisi. Fearing pressure by hardliners if they win office, voters have mobilized to vote tomorrow,” said Leylaz. “I predict a record participation rate.”

Rouhani remains faithful to Iran’s theocratic system, in which the president’s constitutional powers are limited, with overriding authority in the hands of the unelected Khamenei.

But the emergence of Raisi, backed by the elite, hardline Revolutionary Guards, has raised concern for the future of the nuclear deal and its potential to deliver economic recovery.

A hardline win, analysts say, will entail support from voters beyond the clerical elite’s traditional constituency among religiously devout, mainly less well-off Iranians.

“The Guards want a comeback, that is why they will do everything to help Raisi win, including (exerting) their influence in rural areas, ” said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

Sidelined by the nuclear deal, the Guards hope that a Raisi victory would let them claw back economic and political clout lost in the complex theocratic and republican power structure.

While the lifting of global sanctions in 2016 reconnected Iran with the international financial system crucial to trade, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions tied to human rights and terrorism issues have spooked many potential foreign investors.

Still, many Iranians see little choice but to stick with Rouhani’s plan for progress, hoping it will eventually pay off.

“I will vote for Rouhani because I want Iran to continue its interaction with the international community,” said Reza Amin Sharafi, 47, a businessman in the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Raisi says Iran does not need foreign investment to prosper and touts a “resistance economy”. Some critics say this is designed to protect politically connected domestic businesses.

Critics also question his record in the judiciary when he was one of four sharia (Islamic law) judges who ordered the execution of thousands of jailed dissidents in the late 1980s.

“I will vote because I don’t want Raisi to be elected. I don’t want more social pressure and more isolation,” Samira Vaseghi, a 23-year-old university student, said in Tabriz.

 
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Somali Community in Minnesota Fights Measles, Misinformation

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An ongoing measles outbreak in Minnesota has shined a light on the fact that many Somali immigrants choose not to vaccinate their children.   

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 63 measles cases have been reported statewide as of May 16, and 53 of those cases were Minnesotans of Somali origin. Sixty of the reported cases involve individuals confirmed to not be vaccinated.

Public health officials blame false rumors that vaccines are linked to autism and other health problems for the high rate of unvaccinated children in Minnesota’s Somali-American community.  

The department’s disease director, Kris Ehresmann, said anti-vaccination groups have targeted the community with events and have even translated the anti-vaccine documentary “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” into Somali.

“They have been very aggressive and are continuing in their efforts to reach out to the community with misinformation throughout the duration of this outbreak,” Ehresmann said.

Anti-vaccine views

In interviews with Somali mothers, VOA’s Somali Service found that anti-vaccine views are widespread.

“I have a baby boy who was well before the vaccine, but eventually he became autistic because of the vaccine. After him, I have never vaccinated my children,” said Safia Sheikh Mohamed, a mother of four children.

Mohamed listed a number of problems she believes are associated with vaccines, including food allergies, ear infections and eczema, a treatable condition in which the skin becomes inflamed or irritated.

Another mother said she vaccinated her child, but did so later in life. “I never gave vaccines to my last born child before he turned 6, during his first year of school.”  

Community leaders reach out

Multiple large-scale studies have found there is no connection between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, despite rumors to the contrary.

The Minnesota Department of Health is working hard to dispel such beliefs through outreach campaigns.  The department has a Somali staff member and a group of Somali health advisers who meet one-on-one with people and attend various community meetings.

“Our challenge at this point is really scalability,” Ehresmann said. “If we could multiply our efforts by 10-fold or more, that would be great, but obviously there are resource challenges.”

Ahmed Roble, a Somali-American physician who owns a clinic in Minnesota, said he and his colleagues try to dispel misinformation.

“As health professionals, our aim is not only to cure the patient but also to give them counseling,” he said. “That is what we do for the worrying mothers and fathers who are skeptical about MMR vaccination.”

Perhaps the best argument for vaccinating children is the current outbreak, which may be frightening parents into action. Prior to the outbreak, about 30 Somali children per week received the MMR vaccine in Minnesota, but, since the outbreak, that number has grown to 500 children per week.

“We know that as a result of the outbreak and perhaps as a result of seeing measles in real life there, that combined with other messaging has made an impact on a number of the parents,” Ehresmann said.

Additionally, parents are beginning to see the consequences of not vaccinating children. Children who are not vaccinated are forced to stay out of daycare for 21 days if a measles case is reported and could be forced to stay out indefinitely if multiple cases occur.

State Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to serve in a state legislature, invited parents, doctors, owners of clinics and community leaders to share their thoughts at a meeting on Wednesday. She called for parents who do not vaccinate their children to take responsibility.

“It will be the parents’ responsibility if they don’t want to vaccinate. They should go and discuss with doctors, and then, if they insist, it’s their responsibility.  It will be documented,” she said.

The state is bracing for an uptick in cases as the month of Ramadan approaches in late May and June and families gather for the celebration. The final celebration of Eid al-Fitr has the greatest potential for spreading the disease.

“It would represent the biggest risk for potential transmission,” said Ehresmann, because “it’s bringing together kids and adults and everybody, and it’s not just the population of a single mosque, it’s multiple mosques coming together.  That factor means that could have the potential for transmission.”

Reporter Steve Baragona contributed to this report.
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Congo Authorities Recapture 179 Prisoners After Mass Escape, Mayor Says

Posted on by SeeAF

Congolese authorities said on Thursday they had recaptured 179 fugitives who broke out of the capital’s main prison, in a mass escape that underscored growing security concerns since President Joseph Kabila refused to step down from power.

Police in Kinshasa urged residents in a statement to turn in other fugitives and collaborate with authorities “to avoid the resurgence of criminality in the coming days.”

Democratic Republic of Congo’s government initially said about 50 prisoners escaped from Makala prison when it was attacked on Wednesday by supporters of a jailed separatist cult leader.

The justice minister later declined to provide a figure, saying that would interfere with the investigation. But current and former prisoners at Makala told Reuters that about 4,000 prisoners had escaped.

“We recovered 179 of the fugitives,” Fidele Mpayi, the mayor of Kinshasa’s Selembao district, where the prison is situated, told Reuters. He said he did not know how many prisoners had escaped.

Kabila’s decision to remain in power after his mandate expired in December has fueled deadly street protests and a surge in militia violence.

Ne Muanda Nsemi, the self-styled Congolese prophet and leader of the Bundu dia Kongo movement whose supporters led the attack, remains at large, Mpayi said.

Bundu dia Kongo representatives have denied responsibility for the attack.

Nsemi was arrested in March after a series of deadly clashes between police and his supporters, who want to revive the Kongo kingdom, which flourished for centuries around the mouth of the Congo River.

Mpayi added that at least two police officers had been killed in Wednesday’s attack. The government spokesman previously said that one police officer and five assailants had died.

Conflicts in Congo between 1996-2003, mostly in the east, caused the deaths of millions of people, mainly from hunger and disease. Dozens of armed groups continue to fight over natural resources and prey on the civilian population.

 
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US Health Secretary Visits Liberia, Where Ebola Killed 4,800

Posted on by SeeAF

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is making his first trip overseas to Liberia, the West African country where Ebola killed more than 4,800 people.

 

Price on Thursday praised Liberia for its “remarkable cooperation” on health care issues. He toured a community that was hit hard by the Ebola virus in 2014.

 

Ebola survivor Mohammed Kromah told Price how he spent almost two months at a treatment center. He showed the U.S. health secretary his Ebola-free certificate, which was greeted with wide applause.

 

Price later met with health workers at Redemption Hospital, where the first Ebola death was recorded in 2014. His spoke with members of the hospital’s mental health mobile teams, which go out into communities to provide services.

 
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In Post-IS Iraq, Sunnis Seek Greater Say

Posted on by SeeEA

Iraq’s Sunni minority is pushing for a greater say in power once the Islamic State group is defeated, reflecting growing sentiment that the country’s government must be more inclusive to prevent extremism from gaining ground once again.

 

But so far, there’s little momentum. Many Shiite politicians are wary, and the Sunni leadership is divided and disorganized. On the ground, tensions are further stoked because Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters control some mainly Sunni areas recaptured from IS militants and are resistant to withdrawing.

 

Sunni resentment over disenfranchisement and the rise of Shiite power after the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein fueled an insurgency and gave a foothold to al-Qaida. The U.S. military, backed by Sunni tribal fighters, largely crushed al-Qaida. But Sunni bitterness over continued discrimination by Shiites helped in the subsequent rise of the Islamic State group. Each time, the rise of militants only deepened Shiite suspicions that the Sunnis cannot be trusted.

 

U.S. officials backing Baghdad in the fight against IS have warned repeatedly that the same could happen again now unless the government is made more inclusive. 

A historic compromise “is a must, otherwise Iraq will be gone,” Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the former parliament speaker said. 

He and some Sunni factions put together a working paper outlining their stance for talks on a new system, calling for negotiations over dramatic changes to the constitution.

Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called repeatedly for unity after the defeat of IS, and Shiite politicians say they recognize the need for more inclusiveness. 

 

“We have big concerns for the post-Daesh period,” said Shiite lawmaker Ali al-Alaq, using an Arabic acronym for IS. He says proper distribution of resources and rebuilding of state institutions are key to keeping the country together.

But any real talks are on hold while fighting rages over the Islamic State group’s last main urban bastion, Mosul. 

 

And already there are fault lines over numerous issues.

 

Security

 

The Sunni working paper calls for steps to address their complaints that crackdowns on militants have unfairly hurt their community. It demands a halt to “random arrests,” the freeing of detainees not convicted of crimes and eventually a review of anti-terrorism laws. 

 

Shiite politicians have long resisted those demands, pushing for a tougher fight against terrorism. Shiites, estimated at up to 60 percent of the population of more than 36 million, often suspect the Sunni minority of secret sympathies with militants and of aiming to regain power.

 

Long term, many Sunnis want provincial governors to have greater control over security forces on their soil, ensuring that Sunnis are patrolling Sunni regions.

 

But Shiite-led governments have long distrusted local Sunni security forces, at times refusing to arm or pay them. The collapse of mainly Sunni police forces in the face of the IS blitz of 2014 only reinforced Shiite fears that Sunnis would not act against militants.

Militias

 

Intertwined with Sunni security demands is their deep opposition to Shiite militias, which have a major role in the fight against IS but are also accused of abuses against Sunnis. The working paper calls for the disbanding of the government-backed umbrella group of militias, most of them Shiite. 

 

Far from agreeing to disband, however, the militias are pushing for greater official recognition of their power.

 

Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters hold significant parts of Nineveh province and other mainly Sunni areas. The Federal Police, an overwhelmingly Shiite force, is also fighting in Mosul alongside the military. Sunnis want those forces to leave quickly. 

 

Decentralization

 

A main Sunni call is for greater authority and resources to be handed down to the provinces, giving Sunnis more say in areas they dominate. 

 

A major issue would be how to distribute government funds. Sunnis have long complained that Shiite-majority areas get favored in budget spending, infrastructure development and directing of investments. That question will become particularly acute after IS’s fall because billions of dollars are needed to rebuild Sunni cities destroyed in the fight against the militants, and there is grumbling that no plan has been put together for reconstruction.

 

The working paper also calls for significant reforms to ensure Sunnis have a voice in the central government. It demands an end to the system of divvying up government posts that effectively turns ministries into fiefdoms of political factions, particularly Shiite ones. 

 

But that could meet resistance from Shiite parties with entrenched interests. In the eyes of some Shiites, Sunni complaints over Shiite domination only fuel sectarianism.

 

The Kurds

 

Iraq faces another possible conflict over the Kurds. The Kurdish autonomous region in the north has repeatedly called for a referendum on full independence from Iraq. Now, Kurdish leadership says such a vote could happen as early as September. 

 

That is potentially more explosive because the Kurds seized extensive areas outside their self-rule zone during fighting with IS. Most notably, they hold the oil-rich central province of Kirkuk, which they have long claimed as their own but has significant Sunni Arab and ethnic Turkmen communities.

 

Sunni divisions

 

Not all Sunni factions have signed onto the working paper. Since Saddam’s fall in 2003, Iraq’s Sunni Arabs have been wracked by divisions and lack a strong political party to press their case in Baghdad. 

 

If a compromise is not reached with Baghdad, it could strengthen calls for Sunnis to demand outright autonomy like the Kurds. So far, that holds limited appeal among Sunnis because their provinces lack resources and would likely be squeezed out of oil wealth. 

 

Still, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former Nineveh governor, is one of a few calling for a self-rule region. He says the priority is the liberate Mosul, then try talks with Baghdad. But failing that, Mosul residents have the right to create their own region.

 

“We will still need Baghdad only to protect the borders,” he said.
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Report: Flynn Delayed Move Against IS That Turkey Opposed

Posted on by SeeUS

Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy News Service reported.

According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasn’t reported, but Turkey has long opposed U.S. military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces.

At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department.

News about Flynn’s activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates’ potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. 

House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating.

Trump fired Flynn in February on other grounds — that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.

McClatchy’s reporting reflects previous reports in The New Yorker and other media outlets about Flynn’s work on behalf of Turkey.

The military plan against the Islamic State stronghold was eventually approved, but not until after Flynn had been fired.
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‘Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Co-Pilot (and King)’

Posted on by SeeEU

Some Dutch passengers on KLM flights might have recognized the co-pilot’s voice when he introduced himself on the airline’s Cityhopper services.

 

It was not just their co-pilot telling them weather conditions and estimated time of arrival. It was their king.

Regular guest pilot 

King Willem-Alexander told national newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview published Wednesday that he has ended his role as a regular guest pilot after 21 years on KLM’s fleet of Fokker 70 planes and before that on Dutch carrier Martinair. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service.

 

While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not clear how frequently it happened. De Telegraaf said he does it twice a month. As a guest flier, the king is always co-pilot.

Flying relaxing

The 50-year-old father of three and monarch to 17 million Dutch citizens calls flying a hobby that lets him leave his royal duties on the ground and fully focus on something else.

 

“You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them,” the king told De Telegraaf. “You can’t take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying.”

 

Willem-Alexander said he is rarely recognized by passengers, especially since security was tightened on board planes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

 

“Before Sept. 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there,” he said, adding that very few people recognize him as he walks through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in KLM uniform and cap.

 

And even when he makes announcements to passengers, Willem-Alexander says that as a co-pilot he doesn’t have to give his name. So while some people recognize his voice, it is far from all passengers.

 

“But most people don’t listen anyway,” he added.
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