Month: June 2017

Iran, China Conduct Naval Drill in Gulf

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran and China began a joint naval exercise in the Gulf on Sunday, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The military drill comes at a time of heightened tension between the Iranian and U.S. military in the Gulf and is likely to be a cause of concern for Washington.

In recent months, the U.S. navy has accused the Iranian navy of sending fast-attack boats to harass warships as they pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

An Iranian destroyer and two Chinese destroyers are among the vessels that will participate in the exercise, which will take place in the eastern portion of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman, according to IRNA. Some 700 Iranian navy personnel will be participating in the drill.

Two Chinese warships docked at Iran’s Bandar Abbas port to take part in a joint naval exercise in the Gulf for the first time in 2014.
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Aid Convoy to Besieged Area Comes Under Fire in Syria

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A convoy delivering aid to a besieged opposition area outside Syria’s capital has come under attack, seriously wounding a driver of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and thwarting the first such mission to the area in eight months, aid groups said Sunday.

 

The 37-truck convoy, jointly organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations, was to deliver food and medicine to 11,000 people in the town of East Harasta.

 

An aid worker and a local council in east Harasta said the delivery had already been aborted before the convoy came under attack. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because of regulations against speaking publicly to the media.

 

In a posting on its Facebook page, the Local Council of Harasta said that after the convoy arrived at the town’s entrance, government officials said the necessary tools to remove sand berms were not available. The local council said the convoy was forced to turn back before coming under fire from a sniper.

 

The opposition-run council blamed the shooting on government forces. There was no immediate word from the government.

 

The ICRC said the convoy came under fire shortly before dark Saturday outside Damascus. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent said one of the truck drivers was severely wounded and is undergoing surgery.

 

The ICRC said it needs renewed security guarantees before it can send another convoy to the area.

 

Some 600,000 Syrians live under siege in different areas, mostly trapped by government forces, according to the U.N.

 

To the west of Harasta, activists reported at least 12 airstrikes on the Jobar neighborhood in Damascus, with no immediate word on casualties. The government has intensified its strikes on Jobar, the last rebel-held neighborhood in the capital. The opposition-run Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported 45 airstrikes there since Thursday.
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Brexit Minister: No Doubt Britain Leaving EU

Posted on by SeeEU

British Brexit minister David Davis heads to Brussels Monday to open divorce talks with the EU with a message that there should be “no doubt we are leaving the European Union.”

Days after a suggestion from French President Emmanuel Macron that Britain could still choose to remain, Davis said there would be no backtracking from Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to deliver on Brexit, for which Britons voted in a referendum almost a year ago.

“As I head to Brussels to open official talks to leave the EU, there should be no doubt we are leaving the European Union, and delivering on that historic referendum result,” Davis said in a statement.

“Leaving gives us the opportunity to forge a bright new future for the UK one where we are free to control our borders, pass our own laws and do what independent sovereign countries do.”

May, under pressure after losing her ruling Conservatives’ majority in a botched snap election and over her response to a devastating fire that killed at least 58 in a London apartment block, says she wants a clean break with the EU, a strategy some in her party have challenged as risking economic growth.

Davis, a prominent “Leave” campaigner in the referendum, said he was approaching the talks in a “constructive way,” knowing they will be “difficult at points.”

“We are not turning our backs on Europe,” he said in the statement. “It’s vital that the deal we strike allows both the UK and the EU to thrive, as part of the new deep and special partnership we want with our closest allies and friends.”
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Macron’s Party Heading for Absolute Majority in French Parliament

Posted on by SeeEU

Despite record low turnout, French President Emmanuel Macron’s party won an absolute majority of seats in parliament Sunday, according to early polls.

France’s new centrist president and his La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move) party are seeing a resounding victory, winning somewhere between 355 and 425 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, and enabling the president to push through his promised reforms of France’s strict labor laws and its ailing social security system.

Macron’s new centrist party easily beat the traditional left and right parties that have led the National Assembly for decades.

​Far-right trailing badly

The far-right National Front party of Macron’s rival in the elections, Marine Le Pen, has likely won fewer than 10 seats in parliament.

Macron, who has been in office a little more than a month, has made his mark on the international stage, playing President Donald Trump at his own handshake game and winning, criticizing Russia’s Vladimir Putin while standing beside him, and jumping in with new proposals after the U.S. announced a U-turn on climate change.

That has had an effect at home. After five years of Socialist Party rule, in which former president Francois Hollande failed to meet his objectives of reducing unemployment and giving a boost to the flagging economy, the French were depressed and downbeat.

Seeing the new president widely acclaimed and admired on the international stage has made voters at home sit up and take note – and decide to give him a chance.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said Macron “has embodied trust, willingness and audacity.”

Maria Gallivan contributed to this report from Paris.
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Yellowstone Takes Steps to Halt Spread of Invasive Mussels

Posted on by SeeUS

Yellowstone National Park officials are installing barriers in front of boat launches in an attempt to prevent invasive mussels recently discovered in Montana from spreading to the park and into the Columbia River Basin.

Invasive mussel larvae have been found in Montana’s Tiber Reservoir and are suspected in Canyon Ferry Reservoir. They can spread quickly, clogging pipes, displacing native species and causing other environmental problems.

The moveable barriers will be installed at launches at Yellowstone and Lewis lakes to keep uninspected boats from entering the lakes when check stations and entry points aren’t staffed in the early mornings and at night, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported. They will keep uninspected boats from entering the lakes when check stations and entry points are not staffed.

“We don’t want to be known as the park that allowed zebra mussels to enter the Columbia Basin,” Yellowstone fisheries supervisor Todd Koel said.

The Columbia River Basin is the network of waterways from Canada to Wyoming and across the Pacific Northwest that drains into the river that flows into the ocean.

Yellowstone rules require that all watercraft be inspected. Park officials use high-temperature pressure washers to make sure that vegetation, animals and debris are removed from boats before they arrive at boat launches.

Most vessels used in the park’s waters come from Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, according to boater registration data.
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US Navy Still Searching for Sailors Missing After Collision at Sea

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. Navy continued its search early Sunday for seven sailors who were missing after the destroyer on which they were deployed was struck by a container ship off the coast of Japan.

The USS Dewey and other American and Japanese vessels and aircraft were involved in the search for the missing sailors, the Navy said.

The USS Fitzgerald collided early Saturday with the merchant vessel ACX Crystal — a ship about four times the size of the destroyer. The 29,000-ton Philippine ship is 222 meters long, while the 8,315-ton Navy destroyer is 154 meters long.

The Navy said the collision occurred about midship on the starboard side, damaging two sailor berthing stations, a machinery room and a radio room. The Fitzgerald returned to port at Yokosuka, Japan.

The destroyer sustained damage above and below the water line and had “experienced flooding in some spaces,” the Navy said.

The missing sailors’ names were being withheld, pending notification of their families.

Injured sailors

In addition to the missing sailors, three other sailors, including ship Commander Bryce Benson, were injured.

Benson was airlifted to the U.S. naval hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury. The two other sailors suffered cuts and bruises and were taken off the ship.

It was unclear how many others may have been injured in the crash, which occurred about 100 kilometers southwest of Yokosuka at 2:30 a.m. Saturday local time, according to the Navy’s 7th Fleet, which operates in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

At that time, many of the 200 sailors aboard the Fitzgerald would have been sleeping in their berths.

“It’s been a tough day for our Navy family,” Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the 7th Fleet, said Saturday. “I am humbled by the bravery and tenacity of the Fitzgerald crew. Now that the ship is in Yokosuka, I ask that you help the families by maintaining their privacy as we continue the search for our shipmates.”

On Saturday, President Donald Trump said on Twitter: “Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families. Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance.”

Container ship

The ACX Crystal sailed into Tokyo on Saturday afternoon with minor damage to its bow. None of the 20-member crew on the Philippine-flagged container ship was reported injured.

According to the Jiji Press news agency, the ACX Crystal captain said his ship was “sailing in the same direction as the U.S. destroyer and then collided.”

Such collisions between two ships are rare. It was not immediately clear what caused the vessels to collide.

Yukata Saito of the Japanese coast guard said conditions were clear at the time of the collision.

“The volume of ships is heavy in this area and there have been accidents before,” Saito told Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.
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Pope to Merkel: Fight for Paris Climate Accord

Posted on by SeeEU

Pope Francis has asked Germany to keep fighting for the Paris climate change deal and to “tear down walls” that inhibit international cooperation, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday, offering a stark contrast between her agenda and U.S. policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced this month that he would withdraw from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger from world leaders.

“The Pope encouraged me to continue and fight for international agreements, including the Paris agreement,” Merkel told reporters after an unusually long, 40-minute private audience with him.

Merkel, who faces elections in September, said the Pope expressed his support for the agenda of the G20 major economies, who hold a summit in Hamburg next month.

“This (G20) agenda assumes that we are a part of a world in which we work together through multilateral cooperation,” Merkel said of her discussion with the Pope. “It is a world in which we want to tear down walls and not build them, and in which we all seek prosperity, wealth, honor and dignity for mankind.”

Trump, who has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border, has shunned some multilateral cooperation.

The Vatican said that issues of common interest were discussed, including the need for the international community to focus on combating poverty, hunger, the global threat of terrorism, and climate change.

 
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Tax Overhaul in Trouble as Opposition to Import Tax Grows

Posted on by SeeUS

A key part of House Republicans’ plan to overhaul the way corporations pay taxes is on life support, leaving lawmakers scrambling to save one of President Donald Trump’s biggest priorities and increasing the chances the GOP will simply pass a tax cut instead of overhauling the tax code.

A proposed tax on imports is central to the GOP plan to lower the overall corporate tax rate. It would generate about $1 trillion over the next decade to finance the lower rates without adding to the deficit. It would also provide strong incentives for U.S.-based companies to keep their operations in the United States and perhaps persuade companies to move overseas operations to the U.S.

But the tax faces strong opposition from retailers, automakers and the oil industry, and a growing number of congressional Republicans have come out against it. They worry that it will increase the cost of imports, raising consumer prices.

Import tax

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says there probably aren’t enough votes to pass the import tax in the Senate — not a single Republican senator has publicly endorsed it. And a powerful group of House conservatives says it’s time to dump the idea.

“The sooner we acknowledge that and get on with a plan that actually works and actually can build consensus, the better off we will be,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus.

Even one of the biggest backers of the new tax says he is open to other ideas.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, has pushed the tax as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He still says it’s the best way to promote economic growth and domestic jobs, but he has softened his stance on alternatives.

“I’m still confident that we’re going to stay at the table until we solve that problem, which is how do we stop U.S. jobs from continuing to leave the United States,” Brady said. “We’re going to remain open to the best ideas on how we do that.”

On Tuesday, Brady proposed gradually phasing in the tax over five years to give corporations time to adjust.

It wasn’t received well by opponents.

“Forcing consumers to pay more so that some profitable companies can operate tax-free is no better of an idea in five years than it is today,” said Brian Dodge of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

What next?

But if the import tax is dead, then what?

“I would never declare anything dead until there was a fully formed alternative,” said Rohit Kumar, a former tax counsel to McConnell who now heads PwC’s Washington tax office. “I think that’s one of the big challenges that Republicans are struggling with right now.”

Thirty-one years after the last tax overhaul, there is widespread agreement that the current system is too complicated and picks winners and losers, compelling companies to make decisions based on tax implications instead of sound business reasons.

The goal — for now — is to simplify the tax code and make it more efficient in a way that does not add to the federal government’s mounting debt. That means some would pay more and some would pay less, a heavy political lift among politicians who have deep political and practical disagreements.

Lawmakers also are trying to overhaul taxes on individuals, which raises another set of big challenges.

“It’s easier to get a coalition to cut taxes,” said Mark Mazur, a former Treasury official under President Barack Obama. “And if the conversation is, `how long do they last and how deep are the tax cuts,’ each party knows how to do that conversation. It’s not like you’re asking for a huge lift.”

The new import tax, which is called a border adjustment tax, would radically change the way corporations are taxed. Under current law, corporations pay a top tax rate of 35 percent on their profits. But the tax code is filled with so many exemptions, deductions and credits that most corporations pay a much lower rate.

Proposal

Under the proposed system, American companies that produce and sell their products in the U.S. would pay a new 20 percent tax on the profits from these sales. However, if a company exports a product, the profits from that sale would not be taxed by the U.S.

Foreign companies that import goods to the U.S. would also have to pay the tax, and they would not be able to deduct the cost of the imported good as a business expense.

Republicans in Congress and at the White House have been meeting behind closed doors for weeks to come up with viable alternatives. Democrats have been largely excluded from the talks, leaving Republicans with little room for error.

“I still think that Republicans, out of pure political necessity, if nothing else, are likely to find a way to get some sort of tax bill to the president’s desk for his signature,” Kumar said.

Whether it’s genuine tax reform or simply a tax cut “is still very much in question right now,” he added.
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Thousands March in Madrid, Calling on Spain to OK More Refugees

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Several thousand protesters marched Saturday in Madrid, urging the Spanish government to keep its commitment to accept refugees.

Spain has pledged to allow 17,300 refugees from such war-torn countries as Syria, Iraq and Libya to settle in the country, as its part of a Europewide commitment to do more to help alleviate the continent’s migration crisis.

Amnesty International reports that Madrid has relocated or resettled only 1,304 people, less than 10 percent of its pledge. Throughout Europe, most countries have similarly small accomplishments, based on the pledges to take in refugees they made to the European Commission in 2015.

The protest in Spain by dozens of nongovernmental organizations, including Amnesty International, was called just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday.

In 2015, the European Commission set a deadline of September 2017 to resettle or relocate 160,000 refugees throughout Europe. That number was later amended to 98,000 refugees after finding fewer people than expected were eligible for the program. As of early June, however, only about 21,000 asylum-seekers have been relocated.

Promises kept

Of the many European states that committed themselves to accepting refugees, only Finland and Malta have met their obligations.

Hungary, Austria and Poland refused to make a commitment to accept refugees, and Britain chose not to participate in the joint action, The Guardian newspaper reported three months ago. In addition, four European Commission members — the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovakia — accepted only “very limited” commitments.

In Madrid, protesters marched in 40-degree Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) temperatures Saturday, chanting, “No human being is illegal,” and holding banners that read “Bridges not walls” and “Enough is enough.”

“Spain is doing absolutely nothing of what it should be doing. It’s a disgrace — Spain and Europe,” Carlos Diez, 55, a secondary school teacher at the protest, told the French news agency AFP.

Christian Lele, 27, from Cameroon, climbed a border fence between Morocco and the Spanish territory of Melilla in 2014. Taken to several refugee centers, he ended up in Madrid, where he now works as a gardener.

Lele told AFP he was at the march as a sign of solidarity with others who are hoping to relocate in Europe.

“I wanted to study, change my life, help my family,” he said. “You can’t live well [in Cameroon] with the little they pay you.”

Migrants reach Sicily

Also Saturday, a vessel operated by the Spanish aid group Proactive Open Arms arrived in the port of Pozzallo, in southern Sicily,with more than 600 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea.

The migrants had set out from Libya, the most common departure point for those trying to reach Europe by sea.

By mid-June, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than 77,000 migrants had crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year. The overwhelming majority — nearly 85 percent — arrived in Italy, with smaller numbers of migrants landing in Greece, Spain and Cyprus.

During the same period, IOM said, 1,828 migrants died or disappeared at sea. During all of 2016, nearly 215,000 migrants arrived in Europe by sea; more than 2,900 died.

The smugglers enlisted by migrants trying to reach Europe often place their human cargo in unseaworthy vessels. Most of the people who arrive in Europe are rescued by European ships once they reach international waters.
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Rwanda’s Ruling Party Picks Kagame as August Candidate

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Rwanda’s ruling party on Saturday chose longtime President Paul Kagame as its candidate for the August election, where he is expected to face a handful of challengers who either represent small parties or are independent.

Kagame, 59, who has ruled this East African nation since 2000, was elected unopposed by Rwandan Patriotic Front members.

Out of 11 registered political parties, nine have said they would back Kagame instead of fielding their own candidates, drawing criticism from the opposition. In the 2010 election, the president won with 93 percent of the vote.

Kagame’s decision to pursue a third term comes after the country’s constitution was amended in a 2015 referendum, allowing him to run for an additional seven-year term and then two five-year terms.

That means he could remain in power until 2034.

Moves by some African leaders to stay in power have caused instability and violence, as in neighboring Burundi.

Referendum criticized

Rwanda’s opposition called the referendum undemocratic, and the United States, a key ally, opposed Kagame’s decision to stay on. But the president has insisted the referendum occurred after parliament was petitioned with 4 million signatures. The country’s population is estimated at 12 million.

In a speech Saturday, Kagame urged ruling party members to start thinking about the transition beyond him. “There is no deadline, but I want you to address the reasons that have compelled you to bring me back here,” he said.

Supporters credit Kagame with bringing stability and economic transformation to Rwanda after its devastating 1994 genocide. Rights groups, however, accuse him of being an authoritarian and stifling free speech.

Rwanda’s government-backed electoral commission recently announced it must vet all social media messages by candidates in the presidential election or candidates risk having their social media accounts blocked.
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5 Killed, 12 Hurt in al-Shabab Attack on Somali Military Base

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At least five people were killed and 12 others wounded Saturday in heavy fighting between Somali National Army soldiers and al-Shabab militants in the Bakol region of southwestern Somalia, officials said.

Somali army officials told VOA that the militants had attacked a government military base in el-Lahelay village, about 20 kilometers west of Hudur, the provincial capital of the region.

The militants used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to assault the base from different directions at midday Saturday, engaging in a fierce gunbattle with Somali troops for about an hour, officials said.

On the condition of anonymity, witnesses told a VOA reporter in the region that they saw the bodies of at least five combatants, some from each side. No civilian casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, a cease-fire was brokered between two rival clan militias near the central Somali city of Beledweyne, about 325 kilometers north of Mogadishu — a move intended to end several days of fighting that killed at least 25 people.

The Somali National Army and forces loyal to Ahlu-Sunna Wal Jama (AWJ),a central Somalia-based paramilitary group consisting of moderate Sufis opposed to radical Islamists, have been deployed between the warring clan militias belonging to the Habar Gidir and Hawadle of Hawiye subclans. They have been fighting over pastures and land.

“Now we have succeeded in moving the rival militias away from the front line where they have been fighting. We sent troops to go between them, and I hope the fighting will be over,” said Mohamed Ali Adle, a senior government official involved in the peace effort.
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Yemen Government Agrees to UN Hodeidah Plan, Houthis Skeptical

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Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said on Saturday it agreed to a two-point plan advanced by the United Nations to ease suffering in the country’s civil war, but the Iran-aligned Houthi movement remained sceptical.

On Thursday the U.N. Security Council urged the warring parties to agree on a U.N.-brokered plan to keep the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah out of the fighting and to resume government salary payments.

The U.N. has proposed that Hodeidah, a vital aid delivery point on the Red Sea where some 80 percent of Yemen’s food imports arrive, should be turned over to a neutral party. The U.N. Security Council warned the Saudi-led Arab coalition, that is fighting the Houthis, against any attempt to extend the war to the port.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said in a tweet his government renewed its acceptance of the proposals first made by U.N. Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in May.

But a spokesperson for the Houthis said the Security Council through its statements was encouraging the Saudi-led alliance to resume its strikes and that they reserved the right to respond to any aggression.

“We reaffirm that the army and local committees have all the right and legality to respond to the alliance,” a statement by spokesperson Mohammed Abdelsalam said.

Yemen has been torn apart by more than two years of civil war that pits the Houthi group against the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the Saudi-led alliance. More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict and hunger is widespread.

The Saudi-led coalition has accused the Houthis of using Hodeidah to smuggle in weapons and ammunition and has called for U.N. monitors to be posted there. The Houthi movement denies the allegations.

Many thousands of Yemeni state workers are also facing destitution as their salaries have gone largely unpaid for several months after the internationally recognized government shifted Yemen’s central bank to Aden from the capital Sana’a, which is controlled by the Houthis.

U.N. Yemen envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed had told the Security Council on May 30 that he had proposed a deal to avoid military clashes in Hodeidah to be negotiated in parallel with an agreement to resume civil service salary payments nationally.

However, he noted the Houthis and the allied General People’s Congress, the party of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, would not meet with him.
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UN Chief Set to Name New Libya Envoy After Rare Contentious Search

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was set to name a former Lebanese culture minister as new U.N. envoy to Libya, ending an unusually contentious four-month search that followed U.S. rejection of his first suggestion.

Guterres on Friday officially put forward Ghassan Salame, a professor of International Relations and Conflict Resolution at Sciences-Po in Paris, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday. Diplomats said objections were unlikely and the U.N. Security Council will greenlight the appointment on Tuesday.

The council must agree by consensus on the appointment of special envoys. Traditionally, the U.N. chief informally discusses candidates with the 15-member body to ensure agreement before officially proposing a name.

The search for a successor to Martin Kobler, a German diplomat who has served as the U.N. representative in Libya since November 2015, began in February when Guterres proposed former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for the job.

The United States rejected Fayyad because of his nationality. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United Nations had been “unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel.”

“In practice … if (countries) have a significant objection then they usually make it clear before the secretary-general has made the proposal,” said a senior council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. “So it was very unusual that the United States blocked the Palestinian candidate very late in the day.”

Guterres described the U.S. rejection as “a loss for the Libyan peace process and for the Libyan people.”

Following that objection, Russia and other council members then rejected a British candidate and an American candidate, said diplomats. Kobler’s posting was briefly extended until the end of June.

“Over 20 people were approached and either ruled themselves out ‘i.e. they weren’t available’ or they were ruled out … by one of the Security Council members,” the senior council diplomat said.

Libya slid into turmoil after Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, with rival governments and armed alliances competing for power. A U.N.-backed government in Tripoli has struggled to impose its authority and has been rejected by factions in the east. The U.N. envoy to Libya has been trying to broker peace.

The political chaos and security vacuum has allowed Islamist militant groups to gain a foothold and human traffickers to thrive. Libya is the most common departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe by sea.
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US Indicts Owner of Afghan Mining Company for Defrauding Government

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The owner of a now-defunct mining company in Afghanistan has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government and defaulting on a loan of nearly $16 million.

U.S. prosecutors said on June 16 that Azam Doost, 39, was arrested on June 13 at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. 

An indictment charges Doost, who is also known as Adam Doost, Muhammad Azam Doost and Muhammad Azim, with wire fraud, false statements on loan applications and money laundering.

Doost owned Equity Capital Mining LLC, a marble mining company in Afghanistan. He and others got a $15.8 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, according to the indictment.

The loan was for the development, maintenance and operation of a marble mine in western Afghanistan.

Doost and others transferred money from the loan to personal accounts, then claimed not to have enough money to make payments, prosecutors said. Eventually, Doost and others defaulted on the loan.

The criminal case against Doost was announced by the U.S. Justice Department in conjunction with the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which has documented billions of dollars of fraud and waste in U.S. contracts in Afghanistan.

This report includes information from AP.
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Minnesota Protesters Arrested for Blocking Freeway in Wake of Fatal Police Shooting Acquittal

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Eighteen demonstrators were arrested Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota, after they blocked one of the city’s freeways to protest the police shooting death of a black man.

The arrests came after a jury acquitted a police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year — a verdict that brought cries of dismay from the dead man’s family and supporters in the courtroom.

The protesters had been engaged in a peaceful demonstration Friday outside the Minnesota State Capitol, before a group of about 1,500 of them decided to stand in the middle of Interstate 94, blocking traffic on the freeway, police said.

In a statement, a Minnesota State Patrol spokeswoman said the protesters were charged with unlawful assembly, among other things, after they declined repeated demands from police to vacate the roadway.

Yanez dismissed after trial

The small city (Saint Anthony Village, Minnesota) that employed Yanez as a policeman dismissed him immediately after he was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter. The 29-year-old officer has not been on active duty since the shooting last July.

“The public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city,” a statement on the city’s website said.

Thousands of chanting demonstrators marched through the streets of St. Paul, the capital, Friday evening, to protest the officer’s acquittal. Many held signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “Blue Lies Matter” as they headed for the St. Paul Cathedral. Some chanted “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.”   

 

Mayor appeals for calm

The city’s mayor, Chris Coleman, ordered community centers to remain open for public discussions, and appealed for calm. “As people across our city, county and country react to the jury’s verdict, I urge each of us to move forward in a way that is peaceful and respectful of everyone — residents, demonstrators and police officers alike,” he said.

Much of the incident, in which Castile, 32, was shot in his car, was streamed live on social media. Castile’s girlfriend, sitting beside him as Yanez fired seven shots, said she recorded video of the scene because she feared that she and her 4-year-old daughter, in the car’s rear seat, were in danger.

The girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, said on the video and testified in court that Castile had been reaching for his driver’s license to comply with the policeman’s order.

Yanez said he acted because he feared for his life and believed Castile was reaching for a gun. The dead man had told the policeman he had a gun elsewhere in the car. The last words he spoke before expiring were, “I wasn’t reaching for it.”

Questioned by his defense attorney during the trial, Yanez said: “I was scared to death. I thought I was going to die. I had no other choice.”

Dashboard camera

Prosecutors in St. Paul, Minnesota, said recordings from the car — both from Reynolds’ phone and from a dashboard camera — showed that Castile was courteous and non-threatening, and they told the court there was no justification for Yanez’ action.

Moans of dismay and weeping swept through the courtroom after the verdict was announced. Court officers hustled Yanez and the jurors out of the room.

The dead man’s mother, Valerie Castile, speaking to reporters outside the court afterwards, said: “I’m mad as hell right now. Yes, I am. My first-born son died. … Just because he (Yanez) was a police officer that makes it OK.”

Weeks of protests

Yanez, who is Latino, testified he stopped Castile in a suburb of St. Paul, Falcon Heights, because he thought Castile resembled someone who robbed a nearby store several days earlier. Castile’s family said he was profiled because of his race, African-American.

Circumstances of the shooting led to weeks of protests last year in St. Paul and the adjoining city of Minneapolis, and fueled a national debate about the appropriate use of force by police against racial minorities.

 
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Britain’s May Meets with Victims of Deadly High-rise Blaze

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British Prime Minister Theresa May met at her Downing Street office Saturday with survivors of this week’s deadly high-rise fire, a day after being chastised by protesters and as the death toll continued to rise.

May, who is facing mounting criticism for her response to Wednesday’s west London fire that killed at least 58 people, left hundreds of others homeless and dozens missing, met for 2½ hours with a delegation of family members.

WATCH: Death toll increases to 58

Details were not disclosed, but an unidentified group spokesman said members had given May their “demands and expectations” and that a full statement would be made only “in the community, with the community.”

The death toll that London police gave Saturday includes the 30 who had already been confirmed dead.

“There are 58 people who we have been told were in Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing and, therefore, sadly, I have to assume that they are dead,” Commander Stuart Cundy told reporters at a news conference. He said the number, based on reports from the public, could rise.

First victim identified

Sixteen bodies have been removed from the blackened, 24-story public housing unit, and the first victim was formally identified as Mohammed Alhajali, 23, a Syrian refugee.

If at least 58 deaths are confirmed, the blaze would be London’s deadliest since World War II.

Before meeting with the survivors, May chaired a “cross-government” meeting at her office “to ensure everything possible is being done to support those affected” by the tragedy, a spokesman said.

The meeting came one day after May was chastised by protesters as she visited near the scene of the blaze. She faced cries of “coward” and “shame on you” as police restrained angry crowds, following accusations of avoiding local residents during a visit to the area Thursday.

Maintenance issue cited

Survivors of the building claimed the fatal fire resulted from a lack of maintenance to the tower. They also complained that May’s visit to the neighborhood was too slow and that support was lacking for those who lost relatives and homes.

Cundy said the police investigation would look into the building’s 2016 refurbishment and promised to prosecute “if there is evidence.”

Criticism of May intensified Friday after she sidestepped questions in a televised interview about whether she had underestimated the public’s anger and frustration.

In addition to fire and police investigations into the inferno, May has promised to hold public hearings. She has also pledged $6.4 million in support to the residents and promised that those who lost their homes would be relocated within three weeks.

The prime minister is still reeling from a botched snap election that resulted in her Conservative Party’s loss of its majority in Parliament.
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Stay Put? Deadly London Fire Places Scrutiny on High-Rise Rule

Posted on by SeeEU

A catastrophic blaze at a London apartment tower has brought new scrutiny to a long-accepted, counterintuitive rule for people in tall buildings: If the blaze breaks out elsewhere in the structure, don’t automatically run for the stairs. Stay put and wait for instructions.

That’s what residents of London’s 24-story Grenfell Tower had been told to do, but the strategy failed early Wednesday when flames that began on a lower floor spread shockingly fast and quickly engulfed the entire building. Many residents were trapped, forcing some on higher floors to jump to their deaths rather than face the flames or throw their children to bystanders below. So far, at least 30 people have been reported dead and about 70 people were missing.

Despite that outcome, fire experts say “stay put” is still the best advice — as long as the building has proper fire-suppression protections, such as multiple stairwells, sprinkler systems, fireproof doors and flame-resistant construction materials, some of which were lacking in the London blaze.

 

“It is human nature for most of us — if we know there’s a fire, start moving and get out,” said Robert Solomon of the National Fire Protection Association, a U.S.-based organization that studies fire safety globally. “But we try to make sure people know there are features and redundancies in buildings that you can count on, and you can stay put.”

Fire safety rules vary

 

Most major cities with many high-rise buildings have detailed building codes and fire safety rules requiring several layers of protections in tall buildings. The rules vary from place to place, as does advice about when to evacuate, but fire experts say the “shelter-in-place” directive is usually applied to buildings of 15 stories or more.

 

Floors directly above and below the reported fire are usually evacuated, but others are to stay and use damp towels to block cracks beneath the door unless told otherwise, and call 911 if they have questions.

 

That’s partly to avoid repeated, unnecessary evacuations that cause people eventually to ignore such orders when they really matter. And it also avoids panicked and unsafe evacuations down a long stairwell choked with smoke, which can be just as deadly as the licking flames.

 

Several such high-rise evacuations over the years have resulted in needless deaths. In 2014, a man who fled his apartment on the 38th floor of a New York City apartment building died when he encountered a plume of suffocating smoke in a stairwell as he tried to descend to the street. His apartment remained entirely untouched by the flames.

Safety redundancies missing?

 

What makes the London fire maddening for fire experts who believe in the “stay put” rule is that the Grenfell may have lacked many of the safety redundancies necessary to make it work.

 

For example, the Grenfell building had only one stairwell. A lawmaker says it didn’t have working sprinklers. And Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that cladding used on the high-rise structure was made of the cheaper, more flammable material of two types offered by the manufacturer.

 

“The bottom line: Sprinklers, fire doors and multiple stairwells work,” said Chicago Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Conroy. “It becomes difficult to shelter-in-place when you have no engineered fire protection systems within a building.”

NYC fire boss supports stay-put

New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro, whose department is among the most practiced in the world at fighting fires in tall buildings, says he believes in the stay-put policy but “what happened in London, in which a fire went from the fourth floor to the 21st floor in what we understand was in 17 minutes, is unprecedented.”

 

The sister of a man still missing in the London blaze told reporters that when she phoned him on the 21st floor as the fire spread, he said he hadn’t evacuated with his wife and three children because fire officials told him to “stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door.” Hana Wahabi said she begged her brother, Abdulaziz Wahabi, to leave but he told her “there was too much smoke.”

 

One question now is whether people will heed that guidance with the Grenfell disaster fresh in their minds.

 

“There is no way I am waiting to die in a building. I am getting out to safety,” said Jennifer Lopez, who works in a high-rise building a short walk from the World Trade Center in New York City.

Statistics support defend-in-place policy

Any move away from the shelter in place tactic would put lives at risk, said Simon Lay, a fire safety expert and fellow at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

 

“Statistics tell us that defend in place remains the best policy and is based on sound principles as it enables firefighters to work unhindered and protects against the apathy that can develop from exposure to false alarms,” he said.

 

Jonathan Lum, an advertising executive who lives on the 57th floor of a glittering Manhattan tower designed by Frank Gehry, said if a fire breaks out there, he will heed the wisdom of the fire department and stay in his apartment, but partly because he lives in a building constructed in the past decade.

 

“If I were in a different, less modern building with less obvious fire safety, I’m not sure how I would feel, honestly,” he said.
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Djibouti Says Eritrea Seized Disputed Territory

Posted on by SeeAF

Djibouti has accused Eritrea of occupying disputed territory along their border after Qatar withdrew a peacekeeping force earlier this week.

Djiboutian officials say Eritrean troops took control of Dumeira Mountain and Dumeira Island on Wednesday, a day after Qatar removed 450 soldiers who had controlled the territories for the past seven years.

Qatar did not give a reason for the move, which came after Eritrea and Djibouti sided with Saudi Arabia in an ongoing diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its larger neighbor.

​Complaint with UN

Djibouti’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mohamed Siad Doualeh, told VOA that his country has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council.

“I made sure that the president of the security council has all the facts, as well as the secretary-general,” he said.

In a follow-up email, Doualeh wrote, “We expect the secretary-general and the security council to pay maximum attention to the situation, and urge the parties to ensure that there is no military presence and activity in the area.”

The African Union has appealed for calm, and in a statement said it is “in the process of deploying a fact-finding mission to the Djibouti-Eritrea border.”

VOA reached out to Eritrean officials for comment but has not received any response.

Battle in 2008

Eritrean and Djiboutian forces clashed for four days in June 2008, after Djibouti said Eritrea deployed troops across the border.

Qatar offered to help mediate the dispute in 2010, and the two African nations agreed to let Qatari troops deploy in the contested area. Plans to take the dispute to arbitration, however, never materialized.

Doualeh said Eritrea still holds 13 prisoners from the 2008 fighting and has not let them communicate with their families.

He called on Eritrea to release the prisoners and end its occupation of Dumeira.

“We are very much willing to peacefully resolve the dispute with Eritrea in a manner that is consistent with international law,” he said.
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Estonia Upstart Taxify Wants to Take on Uber

Posted on by SeeAF

The key to success for ride-hailing providers like Uber is keeping drivers happy so they run their app, ensuring that enough cars respond to passenger demand.

Estonia upstart Taxify is hoping to win over drivers and take on Uber Technologies Inc., the industry leader, by offering a larger share of the profit.

Upstarts across the world, such as Lyft Inc. and Ola, are trying to catch Uber in the on-demand car-ride market by securing brand loyalty.

But Uber has gathered critical mass and reached a valuation of more than $60 billion in eight years, despite a lack of profits. It has kept rivals at bay, partly by offering incentives to drivers to stay online.

Taxify hopes to lure drivers

Taxify, a minnow compared with Uber, cannot afford these perks but believes that by taking a smaller share of fares, 15-20 percent compared with Uber’s 20-25 percent, it can steal market share from its San Francisco-based rival.

It also hopes that allowing drivers to take cash as well as credit card fares will also help it attract more passengers.

“Taxify’s biggest advantage is the focus on good service by treating the drivers and riders better than other platforms. This means having higher pay for drivers, thanks to lower fees,” Chief Executive Markus Villig told Reuters at Taxify’s headquarters in Estonia.

An Uber spokeswoman declined to comment but the company has said it had fare revenue of around $20 billion last year. Villig said Taxify generated fares worth “tens of millions of euros” each month. Taxify runs in just 25 cities in Europe and Africa, while Uber operates in nearly 600 cities worldwide.

Its basic business model is identical — both connect passengers with self-employed drivers. Many incumbent cab companies in Europe have developed apps to operate in a similar manner but most have focused on their domestic markets.

Markets not Uber dominated

But Taxify is unusual in launching in about 18 countries, mainly smaller markets in Eastern Europe and Africa, where Uber is absent or not yet dominant.

Uber usually takes market share by giving drivers money to sign on to its app, paying them even if they are not driving passengers. Then, as it becomes more popular with passengers, it withdraws the inducements. Analysts say Uber aims to build a customer franchise and stable of drivers to dominate the market.

“The way I see it, Taxify is cheaper than Uber,” said Tumelo Malatjie, 33, a former truck driver for a logistics firm turned full-time Taxify driver in Johannesburg. “Taxify takes 15 percent and Uber about 25 percent or 30 percent,” said Malatjie, who nonetheless is on a waiting list to become an Uber driver.

Taxify has avoided expensive head-to-head battles with its much larger rival but its model will soon be tested as Villig plans to launch in London, Uber’s biggest European market in the coming months.

“We are coming in as a second wave,” Villig said.

Small but growing

Founded 3½ years ago, Taxify has 140 staff worldwide, a third of whom are based in Estonia. It says it has 2.5 million active passengers in 18 countries. Uber says it has more than 12,000 people across the world and millions of passengers in 70 countries.

In Africa, Villig said Taxify has hired away 20 former Uber executives, helping its expansion in cities like Lagos, Cairo and Johannesburg.

The start-up has raised 2 million euros in outside financing from local venture capitalists. Like Uber, it is losing money, although it was “close to profitability for the past six months,” Villig said.

Uber reported in late May that its net loss, excluding employee stock options and other items, narrowed in the first quarter to $708 million, from $991 million in the fourth quarter.

Same challenges

Taxify and Uber face many of the same regulatory and commercial challenges.

Uber was dealt a major setback to its European ambitions in May when the lead advocate for Europe’s highest court said it should be regulated like a transport company rather than an online electronic intermediary.

Taxify could face the same legal treatment, which would make it more susceptible to new regulations being introduced by a growing number of European cities.

Similarly, bans on ride-sharing in cities such as Brno in the Czech Republic, apply to Taxify as much as Uber.

Uber has faced complaints from its drivers in London, France and the United States who were unhappy about compensation.

But Taxify has also had protests from drivers in Estonia unhappy at how the company had slashed fare rates. Villig declined to comment.

While analysts do not expect Uber to be dethroned by Taxify anytime soon, the Estonian company’s lower commission model may put pressure on Uber’s margins in countries where it is seeking to cut fares or increase its share of fares.
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Trump Recasts Cuba Policy, Slams Castro

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a partial rollback of his predecessor’s actions that were meant to normalize relations with Cuba, following more than a half-century of isolation by the United States. But as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, the move was less drastic than many expected.
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Protesters Take to Minnesota Streets, Freeway After Officer Acquittal

Posted on by SeeUS

A Minnesota police officer was cleared Friday in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a black motorist whose death captured national attention when his girlfriend streamed the grim aftermath on Facebook. 

 

Castile’s family stormed out of the courtroom after the verdict was read, and the city of St. Anthony swiftly announced plans to dismiss Officer Jeronimo Yanez, despite his acquittal. Yanez was charged with manslaughter in the death of Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria worker, during a July 6 traffic stop that turned deadly seconds after Castile alerted the officer that he was carrying a gun. Castile had a permit for the weapon. 

 

“The fact in this matter is that my son was murdered, and I’ll continue to say murdered, because where in this planet (can you) tell the truth, and you be honest, and you still be murdered by the police of Minnesota,” his mother, Valerie Castile, said, referring to the fact that her son was shot after he volunteered to Yanez, “Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me.” 

 

“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did,” Philando Castile’s sister, Allysza, said, through tears. “I will never have faith in the system.”

Thousands gather, march

 

Thousands of people gathered Friday evening at the nearby state Capitol to protest the verdict, and began a march that organizers said was headed for the St. Paul Cathedral. The mixed-race crowd, including many people with children, carried signs that read “Unite for Philando” and “Corrupt systems only corrupt.” The protest was peaceful as darkness fell, but a smaller group splintered off and walked down an entrance ramp to block Interstate 94, quickly snarling traffic and leading to the freeway’s shutdown in both directions.

City officials in St. Anthony said they would offer Yanez a “voluntary separation” because they had concluded “the public will be best served” if he is no longer an officer there. 

 

Jurors deliberated for about 29 hours over five days before reaching the verdict. Prosecutors argued that Yanez had overreacted and that Castile, a school cafeteria worker, was not a threat. Yanez, who is Latino, testified that Castile was pulling his gun out of his pocket despite his commands not to do so. The defense also argued Castile was high on marijuana and said that affected his actions.

 

Yanez stared ahead with no reaction as the verdict was read. Afterward, one of his attorneys, Tom Kelly, said the defense was satisfied.

 

“We were confident in our client. We felt all along his conduct was justified. However that doesn’t take away from the tragedy of the event,” Kelly said.

Prosecutor: verdict painful, must be respected

 

Prosecutor John Choi, who made the decision to charge Yanez, said he knows the acquittal is painful for many people, but that the verdict “must be respected.”

 

“I don’t doubt that Officer Yanez is a decent person, but he made a horrible mistake from our perspective, and that’s what this case was about. I know that if he could, he would take back what he did, and we all wish, and he would too, that this never happened,” Choi said.

 

Castile’s shooting was among a string of killings of blacks by police around the U.S. The livestreaming of its aftermath by Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was in the car with her then-4-year-old daughter, attracted even more attention. The public outcry included protests in Minnesota that shut down highways and surrounded the governor’s mansion. Castile’s family claimed he was profiled because of his race, and the shooting renewed concerns about how police officers interact with minorities. 

 

In reaction to the verdict, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton offered his condolences to the Castile family, calling his death “a terrible tragedy” in a statement that made no mention of Yanez. Dayton drew criticism in the days after the shooting for suggesting that Castile might not have been shot if he was white. 

 

The evidence included squad car video, but its wide view didn’t capture exactly what happened inside the car, leaving jurors to essentially decide whether they believed Yanez when he said Castile had his hand on the gun. Prosecutors questioned whether Yanez had even seen it, and witnesses testified that it was in a pocket of Castile’s shorts when paramedics pulled him from the car.

Jury struggled with case

 

Juror Dennis Ploussard said the jury was split 10-2 early this week in favor of acquittal. They spent a lot of time dissecting the “culpable negligence” requirement for conviction, and the last two holdouts eventually agreed Friday on acquittal. 

 

“We struggled with it. I struggled with it. It was very, very hard,” Ploussard said, adding that he thought the jury delivered the right verdict. 

Prosecutors argued that Yanez could have taken lesser steps, such as asking to see Castile’s hands or asking where the gun was. 

 

Reynolds testified that she began recording the shooting’s aftermath because she feared for her life and wanted to make sure the truth was known. Defense attorneys pointed to inconsistencies in several of her statements. 
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Midwestern Muslims Fearful After Anti-Sharia Rallies

Posted on by SeeUS

Muslims in the Midwest state of Minnesota say they are worried about their security after recent anti-Sharia rallies held by right-wing extremists.

Muslim leaders and members of Somali communities in Minnesota say they need help and protection as anti-Muslim sentiment and hate crimes targeting Muslim-Americans surge.

Community members are critical of Act for America, a right-wing group that has staged anti-Sharia marches in more than 20 cities. The group says Sharia law poses a threat to the United States and claims to be acting to protect free speech and traditional American values.

Afraid for their lives

Meyran Omar, a Somali-American woman in Minnesota said the anti-Muslim sentiments make her fear for her life.

“When I am on my way home, while I am driving or walking or even going into my apartment, I look around and I never had that fear before,” she said.

Omar says the spreading anti-Islam attitudes have led some Muslim women to change their dress, as wearing hajib makes them visible representations of the religion.

“Islamophobia and hate are increasing more; some of us stopped wearing the headscarves. It does not mean that they are bad Muslims, but they are scared for their lives. We need help,” she said.

​Anti-Muslim sentiment

Imam Abdisalam Adam of Darul-Hjirah mosque in Minneapolis, says the claim by Act for America that Islam is dangerous to the United States has no evidence to back it up.

“We notice an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment and people who claim to be anti-Sharia law, but the reality is when you look at the issue and the way they are presenting, there is no evidence what they are calling for,” he said.

Adam, who is also a board member of ICSA (Islamic Civic Society in America), says Muslims living in the U.S. believe in the U.S. Constitution.

“Muslim communities are law-abiding and follow the Constitution of United State, so it seems it’s a politically motivated,” he said.

Adam called on the U.S. government to send a very clear message that this country’s laws have to be respected and that Muslims are as much a part of the country as members of any other religious group.

Meet, talk to Muslims

The imam says they are ready to welcome members of Act for America to come and see how Muslims are living and raising their families as regular Americans.

“What we are telling these hate-mongers, the people who are spreading this bigotry, is to get to know us, and we welcome them to our mosques and our institutions.”

On its website, Act for America says it “has never, and will never, tolerate any bias, discrimination, or violence against anyone, based on their religion, gender, race, or political persuasion. Freedom to practice one’s religion in peace is afforded to each of us by the U.S. Constitution and we will continue to defend it vigorously.”

VOA’s Abdi Mahamud in Minneapolis contributed to this story. 
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DC Roundup: Revised Cuba Policy, Russia Investigation Tweets, Scalise Recovery

Posted on by SeeUS

Developments in Washington, D.C., on Friday include President Donald Trump announcing his revision of Obama administration policies on Cuba, Trump tweeting anger again at the Russia probe investigators, news of the team being built by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, an update on wounded Congressman Steve Scalise, and policy changes involving illegal immigrants and their children.

Trump Revises Obama’s Opening to Cuba but Leaves Much Untouched — Saying he was “canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,” President Donald Trump on Friday began undoing some parts of his predecessor’s historic opening to the island nation. The new measures included tighter restrictions on tourism travel and a prohibition of financial dealings with entities tied to Cuban military and intelligence services. Cuba’s military conglomerate GAESA is estimated to control more than half the country’s economy.

Trump Keeps Railing at Russia Probe; Kushner Deals Reportedly Draw Scrutiny — Trump continued a campaign on Twitter on Friday against the investigations into possible links between his campaign and Russia. Trump said he was “being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt.” It was unclear whether the president was referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Reporters who shouted questions for clarification after Trump stepped off Marine One on his return to the White House on Friday from a Miami trip got no answers.

As Russia Probe Widens, Special Counsel Builds Up Team — One hunted terrorists in the 1990s for the FBI and later helped build a criminal case against 9/11 suspect Zacarias Moussaoui. Another headed the federal task force investigating the Enron corporate scandal of the 2000s.

A third has argued more than 100 criminal cases before the Supreme Court as the Department of Justice’s deputy solicitor general. They are among the team of high-powered lawyers Special Counsel Robert Mueller hired recently to examine Russian interference in last year’s U.S. presidential election, and to determine whether there was collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign staff before he was elected president in November.

WATCH: Doctor on Congressman Scalise’s health

Wounded US Congressman Better, Still ‘Critical’ — A physician treating U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, who was seriously wounded in an attack on Republican lawmakers at a baseball field near Washington, said Friday that his vital signs were stable but that he was still in critical condition. Dr. Jack Sava, director of trauma at Medstar Washington Hospital, told reporters that multiple surgeries appeared to have brought multiple internal hemorrhages under control. The doctor said Scalise was in shock and near death because of extensive blood loss when he arrived at the hospital by helicopter Wednesday.

WATCH: Doctor on Congressman Scalise’s health

Trump Finances: Mar-a-Lago, DC Hotel Revenue Up — Trump’s Washington hotel saw almost $20 million in revenue during its first few months of operation, a period that coincided with his election and inauguration as the 45th president. His Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which he’s visited seven times as president, pulled in millions of dollars more than it had previously. The new details are included in a financial disclosure that Trump voluntarily submitted Friday to the Office of Government Ethics, the first snapshot of the Trump Organization’s finances after its longtime leader became president.

Hopes of Protection Quashed for Some Undocumented US Immigrants — The Trump administration has officially ended an Obama-era effort to give the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents temporary reprieve from deportation and allow them to work legally. A Texas court blocked the 2014 program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) before it went into effect, so the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s announcement late Thursday does not end any protections in place. The agency said Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly signed a memorandum rescinding DAPA “because there is no credible path forward to litigate” the policy.

Pentagon: No Decision on US Troop Numbers in Afghanistan — The Pentagon said Friday that the defense secretary has not yet decided how many U.S. troops to commit to the fight in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary James Mattis “has made no decisions on a troop increase for Afghanistan,” wrote Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White. “As he said throughout the week in testimony, the revised Afghanistan strategy will be presented to the president for his approval in the coming weeks.”

US Congressional Leaders Look for Answers to Africa’s Food Insecurity — In 2003, Roger Thurow was a journalist assigned to cover the looming famine in Ethiopia. Upon arriving in the country, he was given a warning by a World Food Program worker who told him that “looking into the eyes of someone dying of hunger becomes a disease of the soul.” Ten years later, Thurow returned to see what had happened to Hagirso. He found the boy was physically stunted, only coming up slightly above an adult’s waist and was cognitively stunted, learning at a first-grade level.

US Skeptical of Russian Claim it Killed IS Leader — U.S. officials are highly skeptical about reports that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been killed in an airstrike last month. Russia’s army said Friday that one of its airstrikes in Syria in late May targeting IS commanders might have killed the terror group’s leader, but a senior Trump administration official said the U.S. wasn’t convinced al-Baghdadi was dead. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the official said there were “a number of infirmities” in the story that left them nervous.

Detention of Chinese Insurance Company Chief Not Without Risks — China’s recent detention of Wu Xiaohui, head of the massive insurance conglomerate Anbang Insurance company, is seen by some as a crucial turning point in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on wealthy corrupt business people, or “big crocodiles” as they are called here. But that turning point is not without its risks, analysts note, given that Wu is said to have powerful political backers and millions of policy holders.

Trump Seen Hindering Europe’s Populist Right as Centrists Gain Ground — 2017 was described as the year that right-wing populists would take charge in Europe, echoing the election of Trump in the United States. But it has not played out like that at the polls. Centrist Emmanuel Macron scored a crushing victory in France, and the far-right U.K. Independence Party was all but wiped out in Britain as the ruling Conservatives lost their majority. Analysts think Trump may in fact be hindering Europe’s populist right.

Trump’s Cuba Shift Leaves Some Obama Policies in Place — Trump on Friday ordered tighter restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and a clampdown on U.S. business dealings with the Caribbean island’s military, saying he was canceling former President Barack Obama’s “terrible and misguided deal” with Havana.
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UN: As US-backed Force Leaves, Kony Army Steps Up Attacks

Posted on by SeeAF

The outlawed Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has stepped up attacks in Democratic Republic of Congo close to the South Sudanese border as a U.S.-supported regional task force pulls out, the U.N. humanitarian office said in a report Friday.

Forty rebels from the group, which is led by Joseph Kony, kidnapped 61 civilians in a June 7 raid in the Tanganyika mining area near the Garamba National Park in Haut-Uele province, the report said, citing local civil society and aid workers.

The civilians were released after being forced to move goods and food looted by the LRA, and an unknown number of villagers subsequently fled to the nearby town of Gangala Nabodio.

Safety concerns

There had been no LRA-related displacement for more than five years in the province, the U.N. said. But aid workers were now worried about the safety of people across a vast area.

“Since the end of the mission of the Regional Task Force (RTF), which was mandated to eliminate the LRA, the security situation has seriously deteriorated in the Garamba National Park,” the U.N. report said.

One international non-governmental organization involved in protecting civilians canceled its missions this week because of insecurity, it said.

The U.N. has reported a surge this year in LRA abductions of girls and boys around the ages of 12 or 13, as well as elephant poaching in Garamba National Park. A clash with Congolese armed forces in March killed one army officer and three LRA fighters.

Kony rebels notorious

Kony’s rebels battled Ugandan forces for about two decades, becoming notorious for their brutality and for kidnapping children for use as fighters and sex slaves.

In about 2005, they were ejected from bases in northern Uganda and what is now South Sudan, and retreated to an area of jungle straddling the borders of South Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic, where the task force continued to track them.

The United States said in March it was switching to a broader African security mission and removing U.S. special forces specifically focused on fighting the LRA, declaring success in reducing the group to under 100 active members.

The African Union asked the United Nations to take on the hunt for the LRA and the U.N. Special Representative for Central Africa, Francois Lounceny Fall, has said the LRA may thrive after the U.S.-backed force leaves.

“I am concerned about the impact of this withdrawal as it will create a security vacuum that may be exploited by the LRA and other armed groups operating in the region,” he told the U.N. Security Council this week.

Uganda’s military began withdrawing from Central African Republic in April, saying it had accomplished its mission, although Kony, who has been indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court, remained at large.
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