Month: July 2017

Chicago Youth Hope to ‘Increase the Peace’ to Combat Violence

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When he woke July 5 to news that more than 100 people had been shot in the city of Chicago over the long Independence Day holiday weekend — 15 of them fatally — 16-year-old Carlos Yanez shrugged it off.

“After a while, you just get used to it,” Carlos said. “I mean, what can you do? We don’t have no one helping us. What can we do?”

Gun violence plagues Chicago, a city of more than 2.7 million, where nearly 2,000 people have been shot so far this year.

Though the number of shootings is slightly down from last year, the problem has caught the attention of the Trump administration, which has ordered more federal agents to assist state and local law enforcement in the Midwestern city. But Carlos said an increased police presence and a national spotlight on the violence have not helped those living in these South Chicago neighborhoods.

​‘Gets worse and worse’

“It’s been going on and it just gets worse and worse,” he said, the resignation clear in his voice. “Chicago’s broke, CPS (Chicago Public Schools) is broke and yet they are funding all these cameras on every street corner, all these speed bumps, all these turnabouts. All these new cop cars, all this new equipment, but yet they still can’t fix the violence.”

It is violence Carlos himself has narrowly avoided. He said even though he’s not affiliated with a gang, he’s dodged bullets five times. Many of those around him have been injured, or died.

“Just a couple of months ago, a 28-year-old man was killed right on this block,” said Berto Aguayo, standing outside a church in the predominantly Hispanic Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.

Aguayo is a community organizer with The Resurrection Project, a nonprofit organization that, among other things, is trying to work at the grassroots level to combat the violence.

“I lived two blocks away from here. I was a gang member in this community back in my younger days. I’ve lost friends to gang violence. I lost my first friend when I was 13 years old. And that’s a typical story of people here on the South Side of Chicago. Death is a constant fear.”

But on a balmy Friday evening, fear seems far away from these streets in the neighborhood Aguayo grew up in.

​‘Increase the peace’

Instead of gunshots, drumbeats and chants fill the air as he leads a group, mostly of young people, on a protest march to “increase the peace.”

“This idea originated back in October 2016, when a 16-year-old girl was killed in front of our office,” Aguayo explained. “It became a point of the community being fed up. Young people were fed up with the violence they were witnessing.”

He said that became a catalyst for the Increase the Peace campaign.

“Youth decided, hey, why don’t we camp out on a street corner on a Friday night that is usually plagued by violence on a Friday night. What we try to do here is really stay on a block, and have a positive presence, and promote peace through our young people,” Aguayo said.

“It’s bringing people together, not ostracizing anyone,” Deztinee Geiger said. “The ostracization is what causes people to pick up a gun a lot of the time.”

Geiger is one of the youth leaders of this event at St. Joseph’s church, the first of several planned for Fridays this summer throughout different neighborhoods.

‘Respond with positive energy’

Carlos, the 16-year-old who also is one of the youth organizers of the Increase the Peace campaign, said the message is simple: “You don’t always have to respond with violence. You can respond with positive energy.”

But Carlos and Geiger both realize that marches and backyard cookouts can only go so far.

“The root of the problem is lack of resources, which results in violence,” Geiger said. “So therefore to fix the fact that violence exists, you have to fix the fact that there are a lack of resources.”

One resource Geiger thinks would help is a youth or community center, so those most at risk have a permanent place to go for positive activities. But with or without those resources, Geiger said the primary goal is to “change the narrative” of the violence shaping the city.

“I don’t think the violence will shape us. I think the leadership by young people is going to shape us. I think that what’s beautiful about this is that it’s not focused on violence,” Geiger said.

But it is violence that continues. On the weekend Geiger spoke to VOA, 41 people were shot in the city, three fatally, underscoring the need to “increase the peace.”
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Watchdogs Push for Beefing Up Ethics Office 

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The resignation last week of the U.S. government’s top ethics official after he clashed with the Trump administration has renewed debate over whether to strengthen the little-known agency.

Walter Shaub called for tougher rules at the Office of Government Ethics as he announced his resignation after almost five years as its head.

“In working with the current administration, it has become clear that we need to strengthen the ethics program,” Shaub said.

​Watchdog needs teeth

Many ethics experts agree. Although he pressured the White House to release ethics waivers it had issued to several political appointees, Shaub was repeatedly rebuffed in other efforts to ensure compliance with ethics rules, including a much-publicized campaign to get President Donald Trump to divest his assets.

His campaign drew praise from Democrats and ethics watchdogs, but some White House officials and their political allies warned him to be careful when criticizing the president. His departure is not likely to end the debate over the office’s future role.

“I think it’s a watchdog that has a lot of missing teeth,” said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan group in Washington. “We need to figure out how to make it stronger.”

A product of the Watergate era

The Office of Government Ethics was one of several entities created in the aftermath of the 1970s Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and spurred efforts for clean government. The small agency was given a big mission: prevent corruption and conflicts of interest in the executive branch.

But its power was limited. While it was authorized to issue regulations on financial disclosure, conflicts of interest and other conduct, it couldn’t investigate and prosecute ethics violations. The power to investigate misconduct rests with the FBI and agency inspectors general; the Department of Justice prosecutes offenders.

Stuart Gilman, a former OGE official, said Congress discussed giving the agency investigative powers but decided against it in order to encourage government employees to be forthcoming.

“The question is, when you want people to come to the Office of Government Ethics and ask questions about ethics, will they be more or less likely to ask those question of a body that will also in turn investigate them,” Gilman said.

But the lack of investigative and enforcement powers had a downside.

“The OGE had such a reputation of being more concerned with whether or not the papers were filled out as opposed to whether or not the information was actually accurate,” said Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs and strategy at Issue One, a Washington advocacy group. “There were many instances you’d have liked the Office of Government Ethics to speak out more lively.”

Accusations of partisanship

Shaub did use his platform at times.

In late November, the OGE took to Twitter to encourage the president-elect to put his assets in a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest.

“Bravo! Only way to resolve these conflicts is to divest. Good call!” read one of several tweets Shaub ordered.

The tweets were widely criticized. Even supporters found it off-putting.

But Shaub did not relent. After Trump announced that he was handing over his real estate business to his sons instead of putting it in a blind trust as the OGE had recommended, Shaub denounced the move as “not even half-way blind.”

The Office of Government Ethics has long had a reputation for low-key bipartisanship. It provides advice; it rarely takes a public position. Republicans felt Shaub had crossed a line and accused the Obama holdover of partisanship.

Ken Boehm, chairman of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center, said Shaub’s statements reinforced the perception that the OGE has it in for the Trump administration.

“The proper thing for him to do is to do nothing,” Boehm said.

Working for change

Shaub is leaving the agency to join the Campaign Legal Center, one of several ethics watchdogs pressing Congress to give the OGE greater powers.

“It’s imperative that we sustain a culture of high ethical standards in our government,” Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center, said last week.

While a Campaign Legal Center spokesman says the group has not “come out with a definitive stance” on reforming the OGE, Issue One has produced a reform package.

Among the recommendations is a proposal to restrict the president’s ability to fire the OGE director without cause. Although no OGE director has been fired without cause, the proposal would “very much strengthen the director’s hand,” said McGehee at Issue One.

Another would give the agency the power to investigate allegations of ethics violations, while a third would empower the OGE director to subpoena witnesses, compel production of documents and issue civil penalties for violations by high-ranking officials.

“These are some of the standard enforcement powers you’d expect any office overlooking ethics to have,” McGehee said.

Liberals and conservatives

McGehee said the proposals grew out of discussions among liberal and conservative government watchdog groups such as Project on Government Oversight and Judicial Watch.

Amey, of the Project on Government Oversight, said his organization has pushed for some of the recommendations.

“OGE lacks authority to investigate complaints of ethics noncompliance and we believe that this authority should be granted to the agency,” Amey said.

Some of the reform initiatives date back to the early days of the agency. The proposal that the director of the agency can be terminated only for cause was first introduced by a Republican congressman in 1983, McGehee said.

“These problems should not be seen in any way, shape or form as anti-Trump or anti this administration,” McGehee said.

Boehm agreed.

“The central problem is if you have something that’s perceived to be partisan, then you always have a credibility problem because then the folks in the majority call the shots,” Boehm said.

To avoid the problem, the agency needs leadership shared between a Democrat and a Republican, Boehm said.

Former OGE staffer Gilman said while he doesn’t object to any of the proposed reforms, he doesn’t see a pressing need for them. The agency enjoys some of the powers, such as the ability to order “corrective actions,” he said.

Instead, he said, the agency should be given the power to overturn recusals and waivers issued by the administration and to force high ranking government officials to take ethics training within 90 days of joining the government.
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Chicago Youths Hope to ‘Increase the Peace’ to Combat Violence

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Gun violence continues to plague Chicago, Illinois, where nearly 2,000 people have been shot this year. Though the overall number is slightly down from last year, the Trump administration has ordered more federal agents to assist state and local law enforcement. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports from the largely Hispanic Back of the Yards neighborhood, that the beefed up police presence has not calmed the nerves of those most vulnerable to the continuing violence.
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8 Soccer Fans Killed in Stampede in Dakar

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At least eight people were killed Saturday in a stampede in a soccer stadium in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, during a match between two local teams, the sports minister said.

A fight broke out between fans of rivals Ouakam and Stade de Mbour, and police fired tear gas to break it up. The resulting confusion triggered the stampede, Sports Minister Matar Ba told Reuters by telephone.

Deadly stampedes at soccer matches have been common in Africa, where safety standards are low.

At least 17 people died and scores were injured in a stampede in a match in Angola in February, when hundreds of supporters stormed the stadium.
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6 Congo Rangers Safe After Militia Attack; US Journalist, 3 Others Still Missing

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Six Congolese rangers were found Saturday in a large forest reserve in Congo’s northeast a day after a security station was attacked by militia, but an American journalist and at least three security guards remained missing, a local official said Saturday.

At least 10 people had gone missing after an attack Friday by the Mai Mai militia outside the town of Mambasa in Congo’s Okapi Wildlife Reserve, said Mambasa territory administrator Alfred Bongwalanga Efoloko. He confirmed that the six had been found but had no information on their conditions. The park rangers are part of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation.

No details about the missing journalist were immediately available, and authorities had no proof the attack was an abduction, he said. Army reinforcements have been searching since Friday night for those still missing, he said.

“I am optimistic they will all be found,” Efoloko told The Associated Press by telephone. “The forest is very big. Maybe they fled in another direction. According to testimony of their colleagues, the attack came as the team wanted to go have a meal” and there was a lot of crossfire.

In Washington, the State Department said it was “aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was kidnapped” in Congo.

“The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas,” a State Department official said on background. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

Two British journalists and five other park rangers, part of the same team, escaped after the attack, making their way to another Okapi reserve base, Efoloko said.

The Center for Studies of Peace and Defense of Human Rights said earlier Saturday that a journalist had disappeared with 11 park security guards. It also identified Friday’s attackers as the Mai Mai SIMBA, saying they had attacked at a site called Bapela. The group’s executive director, Omar Kavota, expressed concern for the missing.

A Congolese civilian was also kidnapped Friday near Mambasa by armed men, he said in a statement.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in eastern Congo.

A separate attack Saturday by the Mai Mai in the country’s North Kivu province killed two soldiers.
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US Supreme Court Seeks Hawaii Response on Trump Travel Ban Motion

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The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the State of Hawaii to respond by Tuesday at noon to President Donald Trump’s motion to block a judge’s ruling that prevented his travel ban from being applied to grandparents of U.S. citizens and refugees already being processed by resettlement agencies, a lawyer representing  Hawaii said on Twitter.

In a court filing on Friday, the administration asked the justices to overturn Thursday’s decision by a U.S. district judge in Hawaii, which limited the scope of the administration’s temporary ban on refugees and travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.

This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.
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Women in Silicon Valley Take on Harassment

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Sweat rolled down the faces of women dressed in super hero costumes at the recent noon SoulCycle class in San Mateo, California.

 

Despite the thumping beat of the music, this was no routine workout. These Silicon Valley women were cycling as a protest, part of a response to an array of claims of gender inequity brought to light in recent months.

 

Travis Kalanick, the former chief executive of Uber, resigned from the company he co-created after women complained about the ride-hailing firm’s culture.

 

More recently, two prominent male venture capitalists left their roles after women complained about sexual harassment they experienced. Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal and Dave McClure of 500 Startups also stepped down after a New York Times article earlier this month described incidents of his sexual misconduct.

 

The controversies threaten to cast a shadow over a unique part of the U.S. tech industry – the startup ecosystem.

 

“There’s no glass ceiling when you start your own business,” shouted Tim Draper, a prominent venture capitalist and organizer of the event, before the cycling began. He wore a red cape and a Spider Man shirt. “You can paint it any color you want.”

 

The room cheered.

 

The venture capital industry, which finances startups, is predominantly run by men. Some Silicon Valley women say they have faced harassment when they sought financing.

   

“You pitch your idea and they go, ‘Oh that’s really interesting,’ and more like they were setting up dates,” said Wendy Dent, founder and chief executive of Cinemmerse, which makes an app for smartwatches.

 

Dent, a former model-turned tech entrepreneur, says she faced harassment during conversations with a would-be advisor. She struggled over how to respond.

 

“What was I going to do, go the police and say he sent me this email?” she said.

 

The willingness of more women to publicly come forward, including posting their experiences on social media, is making an impact, say some industry veterans. In the case of Uber, a female engineer went online to detail her experience, which included being propositioned by someone on her team. It was the financial backers of the firm who ultimately pressed for the ousting of the CEO.  

 

“We can use things like social media now, not just the courts, to communicate what we’re all seeing within the industry,” said Kate Mitchell, a venture capitalist.  

 

At the SoulCycle rally, Miranda Wang, chief executive of BioCellection, said attitudes about women in the industry are slowly changing.

 

“What we are doing now,” she said, “is making it something people have more awareness of.”

 
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Chess Legend Kasparov Picks St. Louis Competition for Return

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Chess legend Garry Kasparov didn’t need any arm-twisting to be persuaded to return to competition next month in St. Louis. In fact, it was Kasparov’s idea.

The man who dominated chess for two decades has been retired from competitive play since 2005. But Kasparov will compete against many of the world’s best players at the inaugural St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament August 14-19.

 

“I think it’s quite a compliment to the city of St. Louis that he would choose this venue to come back,” said billionaire Rex Sinquefield, who founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis in 2008. “It’s really an exciting and happy day in the chess world.”

 

Kasparov, who is from Russia but became a Croatian citizen in 2014, has worked with the St. Louis club for the past eight years, helping the city earn a distinction as the U.S. chess capital. Several top tournaments are held at the club, including the U.S. Chess Championships, two of the five tournaments on the Grand Chess Tour, and several top-level junior tournaments.

 

“It’s a thrill to officially be returning to the game, and certainly not something I would have anticipated more than a decade after my retirement,” Kasparov, 54, said in a statement. “Coming back to the board in St. Louis is truly an honor – I wouldn’t want to commemorate this moment anywhere else.”

Both of the tour events in St. Louis are back-to-back next month. The Sinquefield Cup August 2-12 features 10 top players competing for $300,000 in prizes. The St. Louis Rapid and Blitz event offers $150,000 in prizes. It will feature six Grand Chess Tour competitors and four “wild cards” invited to participate.

 

       Sinquefield said Kasparov was among several people discussing how to organize the new tournament when he shocked the room.

 

“We were sitting around at a meeting and he said, ‘I think I’ll be the wild card,’” Sinquefield said. “I said, ‘It sounds good to me.’ I loved it, of course. We all loved it. The chess world is going nuts about it.”

 

Kasparov became world champion at age 22 in 1985 and held that position until 2000. Since he retired from competition he has been politically active in his native Russia. He has been arrested several times for activism against President Vladimir Putin and has written a book raising concerns about Putin.

 

Though the St. Louis event will mark his return to competitive chess, he has remained an advocate for the sport and has played in exhibition matches, including at the St. Louis club last year.

 

The club has become so central to the sport that some top players have moved to St. Louis, including top-10 players Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson. The chess club has hosted the past nine U.S. Chess Championships, several top-level junior events, and is home to the World Chess Hall of Fame.

 

St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament matches will be streamed live daily on grandchesstour.org. Sinquefield expects a big audience to watch Kasparov’s return.

 

“It will be fun to measure the online audience,” Sinquefield said. “My guess is it will be in the many millions.”

 
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Spain’s Muguruza Defeats Venus Williams to Win Wimbledon

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Spain’s Garbine Muguruza has won her first Wimbledon title, defeating American Venus Williams in straight sets Saturday, 7-5, 6-0.

The 10th seeded Williams, 37, had been seeking to become the oldest women’s Grand Slam champion but couldn’t overcome the 14th seeded Muguruza.

Muguruza, who lost in the Wimbledon finals in 2015 to Venus’ sister, Serena, saved two set points in the 10th game of the first set and then won nine straight games to clinch the championship. It is her second Grand Slam title.

Venus Williams was seeking her first Wimbledon title since 2008.  She has won a total of five.
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At First Denied Visas, Afghan Girls Robotics Team Arrives in US

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Afghanistan’s all-girl robotics team has arrived in the U.S. for a competition after President Donald Trump personally intervened to allow them into the country.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul had denied visas for the girls earlier this month for unknown reasons.

However, VOA’s White House bureau chief, Steve Herman, reported Wednesday that Trump granted the girls what is known as a parole — reversing the earlier decision to bar them from the U.S. — that will allow them to come to Washington for 20 days.

A student team from Gambia also was granted visas last week after initially being rejected.

The president of FIRST Global, which organized the robotics competition, is former Democratic congressman and retired U.S. Navy Admiral Joe Sestak.  He thanked the White House and the State Department for clearing obstacles to the Afghan and Gambian students’ travel to the United States. Teams from all 157 countries that have entered the competition now will be taking part, he added.

The three-day robotics competition begins Sunday in Washington.

FIRST Global Challenge holds the yearly contest to build up interest in science, technology, engineering and math across the world.

The group says the focus of the competition is finding solutions to problems in such fields as water, energy, medicine and food production.
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France Urges Qatar, Arab Neighbors to Resolve Diplomatic Standoff

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France’s foreign minister has expressed concern about the deterioration of relations between Qatar and its Arab neighbors and urged all sides to find a way to end the diplomatic standoff.

Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke to reporters after talks with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in Doha on Saturday.

A group of nations that includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accuses Qatar of supporting terrorism and has given Doha a 13-point list of demands after severing diplomatic ties in early June.

Qatar has said it is willing to negotiate but will not give up its sovereignty.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited the region earlier this week but left with little apparent progress in resolving the standoff.
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Germany Confirms 2 of Its Nationals Stabbed to Death in Egypt

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Germany has confirmed that two of its nationals were stabbed to death in an attack at an Egyptian resort hotel.

A German Foreign Ministry statement said “We can now sadly confirm that two German tourists died in the attack at Hurghada.”

Officials say the female tourists were killed Friday when the assailant swam ashore from another Red Sea beach.

Egyptian authorities say the man has been arrested.

A German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, “According to what we know, the act was a deliberate attack on foreign tourists – a particularly devious and criminal act that leaves us sad, dismayed and furious.”

Four other people were wounded in the incident.

Hurghada is one of Egypt’s most popular beach resorts, especially with Europeans.

 
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Latest Round of Syrian Peace Talks End With ‘Incremental Progress’

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The United Nation’s envoy to Syria has ended the latest round of peace talks, saying there have been no major breakthroughs but that “incremental progress” was made.

“We have made, as we were expecting and hoping, incremental progress. No breakthrough, no breakdown, no one walking out,” United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva.

He said he planned to convene an eighth round of indirect peace talks in early September between President Bashar Assad’s government and opposition leaders and said he has asked Assad’s envoys “to be ready to address the political process’’ in the next session.

​International involvement

De Mistura said that by the next round of talks he hopes the international community will be able to push all sides to “finally sit in the same room and start talking about substance.” So far, the sides have been meeting separately with de Mistura.

When asked if he has seen any sign that the government of Assad has given any ground on a possible political transition, he said, “no, I don’t have any indication.”

He noted, however, that there was an increase in “mutual trust” between different Syrian opposition groups. De Mistura wants to merge the three opposition groups participating in the talks before holding direct talks between the government and a unified opposition delegation.

De Mistura also said he warmly welcomes a call by French President Emmanuel Macron for the creation of a “contact group’’ made up of U.N. Security Council members and regional powers that would support a political road map for Syria.

“I don’t see any problem in having any maximum help in making sure that we get into serious negotiation,” he said.​

​Repeated positions

Assad’s government and the opposition repeated long-held positions before leaving Geneva on Friday.

Assad’s delegation, led by Syria’s U.N. ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, said his side focused on counterterrorism issues.

The chief delegate for the main opposition High Negotiations Committee, Nasr al-Hariri, told reporters that the talks need to focus on the future of Assad, and he accused the government delegation of stalling the process.

“Let’s speak frankly, the Syrian regime, until this moment, is refusing any engagements and discussion or negotiation,” he said.

Assad’s delegation has declared the president’s fate off-limits, while the opposition wants the matter to be part of the negotiations.

Cease-fire holding

The Syrian peace talks, meditated by the United Nations, began two years ago and have focused on finding a political solution to the six-year civil war.

This past round of talks opened with increased optimism as a cease-fire was recently put in place in southwest Syria, worked out by the United States, Russia, and Jordan.

Only sporadic violence has occurred since the truce went into force this past Sunday.

The United Nations reports the Syrian war, which has entered its seventh year, has killed about 400,000 people, displaced more than 6 million within the country and prompted nearly 5 million to flee as refugees to neighboring countries.
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Analysts: Tehran Sees Liberation of Mosul as Victory for Iraq and Iran

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A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has described Iraq’s liberation of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) as a victory for Tehran.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told reporters, “Liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul from the hands of IS marks a triumph for Iran as well as for Iraq.”

Majid Rafizadeh, a political scientist at Harvard University, said the victory by Iraqi forces “helped Tehran tip the regional balance of power against its Sunni-dominated rivals such as Saudi Arabia.”

“The emergence of IS characteristically paved the road for Tehran to pursue its geopolitical, financial and strategic ambitions beyond its borders and helped Iranians to establish their manifestation through networks of affiliated proxy groups,” Rafizadeh added.

Tensions between Iran and longtime rival Saudi Arabia have escalated in recent weeks, since the Saudis and their Persian Gulf partners cut ties to Qatar, citing, in part, Qatar’s association with Iran and Tehran’s alleged link to terrorism.

​Iran’s role

Two days after Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed victory in Mosul over Islamic State, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, detailed the role IRGC played in leading Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in their fight against Islamic State.

“We didn’t limit ourselves to sharing advice to our Iraqi brothers, but we extended our support by giving them the key to our ammunition depot and backed their operations with IRGC Sukhoi squadron,” Soleimani said.

The exact number of PMF troops is unclear, but it’s estimated to be between 100,000 and 120,000.

Iraq’s parliament approved the integration of PMF as an official wing of Iraqi’s security forces in November 2016, a move that has increased Tehran’s role in Iraq’s security and military sectors.

Iranian officials have rejected the notion that Tehran’s support of the PMF and other Iraqi military sectors is aimed at increasing its regional clout. But a recent speech by Soleimani appeared to contradict those statements.

“Iraq’s national army is on its way to internalize [Shi’ite] ideology,” Soleimani said. “We have also helped in the procedure of purifying the Iraqi army from Baathi elements and it is moving toward becoming a Hezbollah-like army.”

​Iranian influence

Some analysts believe Soleimani’s comment reveals some aspects of Tehran’s outreach to boost its influence in Iraq institutionally.

“Tehran has deeply penetrated into security and military sectors of Iraq,” Rasool Nafisi, a Virginia-based Middle East expert, said. “Many of the Iraqi officials have pledged allegiance to Iran’s leader and see themselves committed to Tehran.”

Iran may use its influence in Iraqi institutions not only to promote its regional ambition of confronting the Sunni powers, but in possibly challenging Washington, some analysts believe.

US in the region

U.S. President Donald Trump has portrayed Iranian influence as a global threat on par with IS and al-Qaida. In reaction to IS’s twin attacks in Tehran last month, Trump implied that the Iranian government was ultimately to blame.

“We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote,” he said in a White House statement.

In recent comments, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said regime change will be necessary before the U.S. and Iran can have substantially positive relations.

In response, the deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri, said Friday that Iran is determined to drive all foreign troops out of the region. “Americans are not welcome here and must leave immediately.”

Analysts warn some PMF groups may turn against the U.S. forces if tensions arise between Washington and Tehran.

“If there is a perception that the U.S. will keep its military presence in Iraq and will have a mission more than just training the Iraqi security forces, then that will increase the incentive for the Shi’ite militias to more directly apply pressure on the United States to leave,” said Sarhang Hamasaeed, director of Middle East Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington.

U.S. officials said there won’t be a hasty withdrawal of more than 9,000 U.S. and coalition forces after Mosul’s liberation. And one aim is to stabilize the region outside Mosul, where more than 25,000 Iraqi troops, including paramilitary forces made up of Sunni tribal fighters and Shi’ite militiamen, have been clearing IS from villages.

“Washington and Tehran look at the regional stabilization through different lenses,” Harvard political scientist Rafizadeh said.
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Zimbabwe Bans Plastic Foam Containers to Protect Environment

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Zimbabwe’s Environment Management Agency has ordered the food industry to stop using containers made of expanded polystyrene and replace them with recyclable or biodegradable ones.

The agency recommends restaurants use paper packaging or encourage patrons to partake of their food on site.

The ban on expanded polystyrene (EPS) went into effect immediately, upsetting business owners left with unused stocks.

“I think this is quite unfair,” said Denford Mutashu, the president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers.

“We are going to comply,” he said, “but we would prefer that it becomes gradual because we need a period where it has to be phased out.”

However, Steady Kangata, the spokesman of the Environmental Management Agency, says this regulation dates back to 2012 and businesses were made aware.

“We have made wide consultations already,” he said. “The instrument that we have activated is an instrument of 2012, so the time lag between activation and promulgation, or gazetting of the regulation, they [the businesses] had promised us that they would come up with something tangible, but up to now nothing has come to fruition. So there is no going back. What they should be doing is looking at alternatives, because alternatives are there and are so many and diverse.”

EPS is a plastic foam, also known as a kaylite. The government says EPS is dangerous because it emits toxic chemicals when the containers are burned, and garbage is routinely burned in Zimbabwe.

Another issue is litter. The containers are among the garbage clogging drainage in Harare and contributing to flooding.

Environmentalists in Zimbabwe are applauding the ban but say the government hasn’t gone nearly far enough. Other African countries, including most recently Kenya, have banned the use of plastic bags.

“Plastics, when they get into the environment, especially in the food chain, are dangerous to animals,” said Christopher Magadza, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Zimbabwe. “And the thing is, people say some plastics are biodegradable. There is no biodegradable plastic. It just breaks up into smaller and smaller bits. … And when plastic catches fire, we breathe it and [it] spoils the air.”

The government says anyone found flouting the EPS ban will be fined between $30 and $5,000.
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Two New Names Emerge in Details of Trump Tower Meeting

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Two more participants have been reported in a notorious Trump Tower meeting that took place in June 2016 between members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign team and a Russian lawyer, as discussion rages over whether the Trump campaign cooperated with any Russian efforts to influence last year’s U.S. presidential election.

Two Russian Americans — Anatoly Samochornov and Rinat Akhmetshin — were identified by news outlets Friday as having accompanied Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya to the meeting, which Donald Trump Jr. originally said was just to talk about a Russian ban on Americans adopting Russian children.

This week Trump Jr. revealed that he attended the meeting because he had been promised some incriminating information about Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Akhmetshin told The Washington Post Friday that he participated in the meeting, after his role was first reported by other news sources. MSNBC reported later Friday that Samochornov, a translator, also was present. He is believed to have worked as a project manager for the U.S. State Department.

Named in complaint

Both Akhmetshin and Samochornov are named in an April 2017 complaint by the Senate Judiciary Committee examining the question of possible collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.

Akhmetshin, who became a U.S. citizen in 2009 and retains his Russian citizenship, has lobbied against U.S. sanctions on Russia for human rights violations, the result of a U.S. law known as the Magnitsky Act.

Akhmetshin told the Post that his attendance at the meeting was a last-minute decision. He said he had been having lunch with Veselnitskaya a few blocks north of Trump Tower when Veselnitskaya invited him to attend the meeting later that day.

Akhmetshin has told media outlets that he once worked in Soviet counterintelligence, but only during his two years in the Russian military in the mid-1980s. He says he was drafted into the military, like most young Soviet citizens, at age 18.

“Just because I was born in Russia doesn’t mean I am an agent of [the] Kremlin,” he told Politico recently.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley in March questioned whether Akhmetshin might be downplaying the strength of his Russian ties. In March, Grassley, an Iowa Republican, filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians involved with the fight against the human rights sanctions on Russia.

Grassley’s complaint questions whether the Russians, including Akhmetshin, should have registered as foreign agents “for their efforts to bring down a U.S. law on behalf of the Kremlin.”

Supportive of son

On Thursday, President Trump defended his eldest son’s attendance at the Trump Tower meeting.

“I think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting,” Trump said of his son’s decision to talk with the lawyer after being told by an intermediary that she was a Russian government attorney and would offer him material as part of Moscow’s election support of Trump.

“It’s called opposition research, or even research into your opponent. That’s very standard in politics; politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard where they have information and you take the information,” Trump said as he stood alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a Paris news conference.

Trump, who has endured months of investigations in the U.S. about his aides’ contacts with Russians during his run to the White House, said, “Nothing happened from the meeting, zero happened from the meeting, and, honestly, I think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people will do.

“As far as my son is concerned, my son is a wonderful young man,” Trump said. “He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer, not a government lawyer, but a Russian lawyer. It was a short meeting, it was a meeting that went very, very quickly; very fast.”

Trump was asked whether he agreed with Christopher Wray, his nominee to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that his son should have called FBI investigators when offered the meeting because it was supposedly coming from a foreign adversary, Russia. But Trump deflected the question and simply praised his appointment of Wray.

Seeking Trump Jr.’s testimony

In Washington, Grassley, a key lawmaker investigating Russia’s meddling in the election, sent a letter to the younger Trump asking him to testify about his June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. Trump Jr. has said he is willing to testify voluntarily, but Grassley said he would be subpoenaed if need be.

Grassley said no questions would be off limits as the panel investigates what the U.S. intelligence community has concluded was Moscow’s election interference, personally directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, into the 2016 U.S. election.

Grassley’s committee is one of several congressional panels investigating the Trump campaign’s links with Russia, while Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, is heading a criminal probe into the election interference and whether the president obstructed justice by firing another FBI director, James Comey, while he was heading the Russia probe before Mueller took over.

The leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, urged Trump Jr. to honor Grassley’s request that he testify.

“I think any witness who’s been asked to testify in Congress should do that,” Ryan said.
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Ick-free and Ready for Dip: Portland Touts Revived River

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Portland is well-known as a tree-hugging, outdoorsy city, but the river that powers through its downtown has never been part of that green reputation.  

 

For decades, residents have been repulsed by the idea of swimming in the Willamette River because of weekly sewage overflows that created a bacterial stew.

 

Now, the recent completion of a $1.4 billion sewage pipe has flushed those worries — and the river once shunned by swimmers is enjoying a rapid renaissance.

The city has partnered with a civic group called the Human Access Project to entice residents into the Willamette this summer with a roster of public swimming events and a flood of announcements that the river, finally, is safe for human use. The campaign is aimed at reversing the impact of decades of public health warnings in an eco-savvy city with a hard-earned green reputation.

The push mirrors efforts to revive ailing rivers in other U.S. cities, from the Charles River in Boston — where occasional city-sanctioned swimming started in 2013 — to the concrete-lined Los Angeles River, where efforts have been underway in recent years to reverse decades of environmental damage along an 11-mile (18-kilometer) stretch.

City’s largest public space

 

In Portland, the movement has clearly found its moment.

 

The river is the city’s largest public space, but less than 5 percent of the city’s footprint has access to the waterfront, said Willie Levenson, who heads the Human Access Project and is working closely with Portland to expand swimming options.

 

Beaches in other communities along the river attract crowds, but swimmers in downtown Portland have nowhere to dive in despite increasing demand. Since the completion of the sewage control project in 2011, swimmers have been congregating on a floating esplanade for bikers and runners and sneaking onto city docks reserved for fire boats.

 

“We cannot pretend that swimming isn’t happening in downtown Portland anymore. It’s a livability issue, and Portland cares about livability,” Levenson said. “It’s time for our community to stop making jokes about our river and start digging in and looking to make a difference.”

Mayor a willing partner

The Human Access Project has been working for several years to generate interest in the Willamette and has found a willing partner in new Mayor Ted Wheeler.

This week, a new beach with lifeguards and safety ropes opened on the city’s south waterfront, within walking distance of hipster-friendly cafes and shops.

An inner tube river parade planned by the Human Access Project for this weekend is expected to attract several thousand participants, and members of a river swim group cross the Willamette several times a week in fluorescent green swim caps bearing the name River Huggers.

 

 Wheeler, himself a swimmer, laid out a multipoint plan for increasing access to the river earlier this year and plans to swim the river later this month with 500 residents in the inaugural “mayoral swim.” The city hopes to open two more beaches in coming years, install floating docks along the riverbank and place public restrooms, picnic benches, umbrellas and showers on site.

In a recent state-of-the-city address, Wheeler even spoke of one day eliminating Interstate 5 where it snakes along the Willamette’s east bank to improve river access.

 

“We have a chance to reshape the face of our city,” he said. “I also believe we have a chance to reshape our spirit.”

Warnings are now few, fair between

 Portland’s relationship with the Willamette River hasn’t always been easy to navigate.

 

For decades, the river was considered a watery highway, and industrial pollution severely contaminated its waters. This winter, after a 16-year wait, federal environmental officials released a plan to clean a 10-mile (16-kilometer) stretch near its confluence with the Columbia River in a project that will take decades of work and billions of dollars.

But in the heart of Portland, the primary problem has been human excrement. Residents grew accustomed to seeing near-weekly warnings about water quality during the winter rainy season, where even one-tenth of an inch (2.5 millimeters) of rain could trigger overflows.

Now, the city issues just a handful of warnings in winter and none during the peak swimming months of July and August, said Diane Dulken, spokeswoman for Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. Testing at sites where people are already using the river show the water is safe, she added.

“We are really making a push to publicize our weekly testing because there is absolutely still a public perception out there, ‘I will not go in the river.’”

Swimmer takes a chance

On a recent blazing afternoon, Portland resident Alex Johnson was ready to take the city at its word.

 

The 24-year-old swim teacher and lifeguard began diving into the Willamette with the River Huggers swim group this month.

 

On this day, he joined 30 others as they swam from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Morrison Bridge — through Portland’s bustling business district — and back in the 70-degree (21 Celsius) water. Teenagers lounged like harbor seals on a nearby dock and jet skis zipped by as the swimmers completed the more than half-mile (0.8-kilometer) journey.

“I’ve heard stories that it’s pretty polluted. It tastes a little funny, but it is river water,” Johnson said. “It’s a huge resource, and we don’t take advantage of it — and it feels great.”

 
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Trump Arrives at His Golf Course During US Women’s Open 

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U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived at one of his golf courses in New Jersey, which is hosting the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship.

Trump’s motorcade drove into the 500-acre Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster on Friday as the women were playing their second round of the tournament. A crowd gathered and waved as Trump drove by on the rainy day.

Trump traveled to New Jersey from Paris, where he had met with French President Emmanuel Macron and celebrated Bastille Day.

He tweeted Friday morning that he would be heading toward the tournament, “Left Paris for U.S.A. Will be heading to New Jersey and attending the #USWomensOpen, their most important tournament, this afternoon.”

The U.S. Golf Association issued a statement earlier Friday welcoming President Trump. 

“If the president of the United States decides to attend the U.S. Women’s Open championship, we welcome him,” the USGA said. It noted that this is the first time a sitting president has attended a U.S. Women’s Open.

Trump National Golf Club, located on rolling hills in New Jersey’s horse country, was chosen as the site of this year’s event in 2012, long before Trump officially entered politics.

The event was expected to draw protesters who have criticized the U.S. Golf Association for not moving the tournament to a different venue after comments about women made by Trump surfaced during his 2016 presidential campaign.
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‘Live Aid’ Concert for Ethiopia Marked Use of Celebrity in Responding to World Crisis

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“Don’t go to the pub tonight,” Irish pop musician Bob Geldof pleaded in the months leading up to Live Aid, the world’s biggest concert that took place on two continents, included 72 rock bands, and raised an estimated $125 million to feed starving Ethiopians caught in a historically severe famine.

“Please, stay in and give us the money,” Geldof said 32 years ago. “There are people dying now, so give me the money.”

The pictures of skeletal and dazed, malnourished children gathering in Ethiopian camps set up by aid agencies were alarming. In a 1984 report, BBC broadcaster Michael Buerk described the scene as “the closest thing to hell on Earth.”

​Geldof went to see for himself. In 1984, he organized “Band Aid,” writing and recording the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” and ended up raising about $10 million in famine relief.

The song also became a hit in the United States, prompting “We Are the World,” a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.

Inspired by the success of Band Aid and with no end in sight to the famine, Geldof decided to expand the project, coming up with a total rethink on charitable giving.

Why not, he asked himself, turn to his circle of wealthy rock ‘n’ roll pop stars to perform in a worldwide fundraising concert?

​It was the 1980s; it was the era of cable music channel MTV; digital entertainment didn’t exist. Given all that, Geldof’s vision was astoundingly ambitious — in fact, seemingly impossible.

The event was held on July 13, 1985, simultaneously in London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium, raising more than $104 million that day. According to Billboard, an unprecedented 1.9 billion people watched the event live on television. Among the acts: Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, David Bowie, Madonna, Phil Collins, Sting, U2, Dire Straits, The Cars. The list goes on and on.

​Aftermath

The emotional high of Live Aid — its newness, its success in raising so much money to help the starving in Ethiopia — did not come without criticism.

Several reports, including an investigation by Spin magazine and The Daily Mail newspaper, claimed some of the money intended to feed the hungry ended up in the hands of Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Geldof denied all the accounts.

“Produce one shred of evidence, one iota of evidence, and I promise you I will professionally investigate it,” Geldof is quoted in the Mail report. “I will sue the Ethiopian government, who were the rebels at the time, if there is any money missing, for that money back now.”

 
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US Governors Discuss Health Care, NAFTA

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U.S. governors met for their annual meeting in Rhode Island on Friday for talks that centered mostly on health care and the North American Free Trade agreement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended as a guest speaker, along with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.

Trudeau told the governors not to take “politically tempting shortcuts” when the two countries renegotiate NAFTA and emphasized the importance of the trading relationship between the United States and Canada.

NAFTA

Trudeau warned that protectionist measures could lead to “a race to the bottom, where all sides lose.”

The Canadian prime minister met individually with several U.S. governors, including those from Kentucky, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Iowa, to highlight the importance of U.S.-Canadian trade.

Trudeau said Canada is America’s “biggest, best customer,” pointing out that Canada buys more from the United States than it does from China, Japan and Britain combined. He also noted that more than 75 percent of Canada’s exports and 98 percent of its oil exports go to the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico, calling it a bad deal for U.S. companies and workers.

In addressing the group of governors, Pence also spoke about NAFTA and said the Trump administration was looking forward to renegotiating the deal in a way that will equally benefit the United States and Canada.

Health care

Pence focused much of his speech on health care reform, as the Senate considers a bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, passed during the administration of former President Barack Obama. He said Trump believes the latest health care reform bill is the “right bill at the right time to begin the end of Obamacare.”

Pence urged governors to support the bill before the Senate and said he and Trump hope lawmakers can take it up as soon as next week. “We believe the Senate health care bill begins to make the president’s vision a reality,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has planned for a vote next week on the revised legislation but could have a difficult time getting the 50 “yes” votes needed for passage.

At least two Republicans have said they will vote against the bill, and several others are noncommittal. Republicans control the Senate by a 52-48 margin and cannot afford to lose more than two of their own votes as Democrats are expected to remain united against the bill.

Trump tweeted on Friday from Paris, where he attended Bastille Day celebrations, “After all of these years of suffering thru Obamacare, Republican Senators must come through as they have promised.”

Several Republican governors told Pence on Friday that they have concerns about the health care bill, including Ohio’s John Kasich and Nevada’s Brian Sandoval.
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Iraqi Military Ponders Multipronged Offensive to Wipe Out Islamic State

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Iraq’s military may try to eradicate the Islamic State’s remaining forces by simultaneously attacking the terror group on multiple fronts in the hopes of taking advantage of infighting and a weakened leadership.

The strategy would be a bold one given the casualties Iraqi forces suffered while trying to retake Mosul.

The U.S. Defense Department estimated IS forces inflicted a 40 percent casualty rate on Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) in the nine months it took for them to reclaim the city. And the U.S. commander of the global coalition against IS described the fighting in Mosul as the “most extended and brutal combat I have ever witnessed.”

Iraqis visit Pentagon

But Iraqi military officials visiting the Pentagon this week, following the declarations of victory over IS in Mosul, appeared undaunted.

“Very soon, we’ll start military operations to liberate the remaining Iraqi areas under occupation,” Joint Operations Command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool said through a translator.

“We could start military operations toward different areas at the same time,” Rasool added. “We’re confident that we are capable of having a number of operations simultaneously.”

Rasool and the other government officials indicated Iraqi leaders have yet to make a firm decision on exactly how the campaign should play out, though potential targets include Tal Afar, about 60 kilometers to the west of Mosul, and the town of Hawija in Iraq’s Kirkuk province.

U.S. officials have said efforts to clear Mosul of pockets of Islamic State fighters could last for weeks.

Iraqi soldiers told VOA that the remaining IS fighters, as well as women and children — all wearing suicide vests — are now launching attacks from basements and tunnels under the city.

Striking at IS

Still, Iraqi and U.S. officials see an opportunity to strike at IS while it is weak and still reeling from the loss.

“They’re fighting among themselves in Hawija and Tal Afar, currently,” Rasool said Thursday, when asked about what is left of IS leadership following the battle for Mosul.

“We killed a large number of the leadership, and they collapsed within their structure,” he said.

U.S. officials estimate there are still a couple of thousand IS fighters spread throughout Iraq. Some analysts suggest the numbers could be even higher, and both officials and experts worry about the presence of so-called sleeper cells in all the territories that have been reclaimed from IS forces.

Aside from strongholds in Tal Afar and Hawija, IS still controls swaths of lands in Iraq’s Anbar province, where they continue to enjoy some freedom of movement despite pressure from the coalition’s ongoing air campaign.

Iraqi officials say continued coalition air support will be crucial for their continued success, and admit additional help will be needed.

“What we would like from the international or global coalition is the continuous support to Iraqi forces,” said Brig. Gen Saad Maan, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command and the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. “This also requires additional training, and providing the basic services, and cameras, and surveillance equipment so that we’ll be able to stabilize the area.”

Tough fight ahead

As far as how long it will take to subdue what remains of IS, neither Iraqi nor coalition officials have been willing to say.

“It’s been a tough fight. There’s a lot of tough fighting ahead,” U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday.

“We’re there to help them fight and defeat and destroy that physical caliphate and I’m sure we’ll continue to bring in air support,” Mattis said.

The U.S. and other coalition partners, including Australia, Finland and Britain, have also continued to train Iraqi forces for the battles ahead.

“The Iraqi Security Forces and the coalition have a plan to get after them. And we will move with all due speed to do that,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, Operation Inherent Resolve Commander, told Pentagon reporters on July 11. “We’ll be at it until it’s done.”

For their part, despite a looming referendum on Kurdish independence, peshmerga officials say their forces are ready and willing to support Iraqi military efforts to wipe out IS.

“We can launch a number of operations,” said Brig. Gen. Halgwrd Hikman Ali, who was visiting the Pentagon with his Iraqi counterparts.

“We can launch a military operation toward Tal Afar and another one toward Al-Qa’im, and another one toward — maybe another one toward Hawija,” he said. “We have enough forces to liberate what is remaining.”

VOA Middle East Correspondent Heather Murdock contributed to this story from Mosul.
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WHO Warns of Cholera Risk at Haj, Praises Saudi Preparedness

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A cholera epidemic in Yemen, which has infected more than 332,000 people, could spread during the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in September, although Saudi authorities are well prepared, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The pilgrimage draws 2-4 million Muslims every year, including 1.5-2 million foreigners, raising the risk from diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, Zika virus and meningococcal disease as well as cholera, the WHO said.

“The current highly spreading outbreak of cholera in Yemen, as well as in some African countries, may represent a serious risk to all pilgrims during the (haj) days and even after returning to their countries,” a WHO bulletin said.

Dominique Legros, a WHO cholera expert, said Saudi Arabia had not had a cholera outbreak in many years thanks to reinforced surveillance and rapid tests to detect cases early.

“Don’t forget that today we are speaking of Yemen but they are receiving pilgrims from a lot of endemic countries, and they managed not to have an outbreak, essentially by making sure that living conditions, access to water in particular, hygienic conditions, are in place,” he told a regular U.N. briefing.

“They are well-prepared in my view.”

The incubation period of the disease, which spreads through ingestion of fecal matter and causes acute watery diarrhea, is a matter of hours. Once symptoms start, cholera can kill within hours if the patient does not get treatment.

But people with symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg because 80 percent of patients show no symptoms, Legros said.

“That’s why we advise countries against airport screening for patients. The Saudis don’t do that. It’s useless, technically speaking.”

The United Nations has blamed the warring sides in Yemen and their international allies, including Saudi Arabia, for fueling the 11-week cholera outbreak, driving millions of people closer to famine, and for hindering aid access.

The WHO has rolled out an emergency treatment program, based on the vestiges of Yemen’s shattered health system, to try and catch new cases early and stop the explosive spread of the disease.

The number of new cases has continued to grow by about 6,000 per day, but the number of deaths appears to have slowed dramatically, according to Reuters analysis of WHO data.

Death rates have slumped from 20-40 in recent weeks to an average of nine per day over the past six days.
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Knife Attacker Kills 2 Tourists in Egyptian Resort

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Two tourists were killed and four other foreigners wounded by an attacker armed with a knife at an Egyptian Red Sea holiday resort, Egypt’s Interior Ministry and security sources said on Friday.

The attacker swam from a nearby public beach to access the Sunny Days El Palacio resort in Hurghada, the ministry and sources said. He was arrested. The motive for the attack is under investigation Egypt is fighting an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula and militants have previously attacked tourism targets.

The slain tourists were Germans, not Ukrainians as originally identified, Major Gen. Mohamed El-Hamzawi, security manager of Red Sea region, told Reuters.

He said two Czech nationals were also among the four people wounded.

El Palacio is a large seafront property with a private beach in Hurghada, one of Egypt’s most popular holiday resorts, some 400 km (250 miles) south of the capital Cairo.

In January 2016, two assailants armed with a gun, a knife and a suicide belt landed on the beach of a hotel in Hurghada, wounding two foreign tourists, security sources said.

Friday’s attack came on a day that five policemen were killed by gunmen on a motorbike who ambushed their car just south of Cairo.
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Rescue Group: 2 Killed in Airstrikes on Damascus Outskirts

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Airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus killed at least two people on Friday, a Syrian first responders’ group reported as pro-government forces intensified efforts to push rebels away from the country’s capital.

The Syrian Civil Defense group, more popularly known as the White Helmets, posted a video of rescue workers retrieving one of the victims from the rubble of a building.

It said at least one other person was killed and several people were wounded in the strikes on Ein Terma, a contested suburb on the northeast edge of Damascus. The Syrian and Russian air forces are the only ones known to fly raids in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported ten airstrikes on Ein Terma by midday Friday. It said 3 civilians had been killed.

Ein Terma lies at the edge of the opposition’s Eastern Ghouta enclave outside Damascus. It is among the rebels’ last footholds around the Syrian capital.

Local rebel commander Abdelnasser Shamir wrote on Thursday on Twitter that the last four weeks of fighting have been the “most vicious” in recent memory.

Also Thursday, footage emerging from the government’s side of the battle showed soldiers struggling to pull their wounded from under a hail of sniper and machine-gun fire. In the video from the Russian internet portal Federal News Agency, rebels and pro-government forces are seen fighting building to building.

The video, which was posted on Youtube, could not be independently verified though it conformed with other accounts collected by The Associated Press from the area.
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