Month: July 2017

US Senators Visit Pakistan, Discuss Afghan Peace, Counterterrorism

Posted on by SeeUS

A group of key American lawmakers led by Senator John McCain visited Pakistan Sunday where they met top government and military officials to discuss bilateral ties, counterterrorism cooperation, and efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan.

The visit came as President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to unveil its new Afghan war strategy later this month amid allegations sanctuaries on Pakistani soil are helping the Taliban sustain and intensify the insurgency.

The U.S. senators held extensive talks at the foreign ministry where Pakistani side was led by foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz, said an official statement after the meeting.

It said Aziz briefed the delegation on Pakistani security forces’ success against terrorism and informed them “that the terrorist networks have been dismantled and their sanctuaries eliminated.”

The adviser told the visitors Pakistan looked forward to a “constructive” engagement with the United States on efforts aimed at promoting a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

He noted that Islamabad was also ready to strengthen and deepen its partnership with Washington to counter “the expanding footprint in the region” of Islamic State terrorists.

The Pakistani statement quoted McCain, who heads Senate Armed Services Committee, as appreciating contributions and sacrifices by Islamabad in the fight against terrorism, and underscored the importance of continued engagement between the two countries.

The U.S. delegation later held a meeting with the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered.

The two sides agreed on the importance of security cooperation and coordination between Pakistan and Afghanistan, said a military statement late Sunday.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator David Perdue and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse were among other members of the U.S. delegation.

Pakistan’s alleged links to the Afghan Taliban and their dreaded Haqqani network ally have long been at the center of tensions with the United States.

The accusations have also strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul, even as Pakistani officials reject the charges.

 
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At Least 14 Killed by Suicide Blast at Camp for Displaced Iraqis

Posted on by SeeEA

A suicide bomber killed at least 14 people in Iraq Sunday at a camp for families internally displaced by fighting.

Thirteen people also were wounded in the attack on the camp (in the 60 Kilo area) west of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from Islamic State forces, but the jihadist group retains control of western parts of the province.

 

 

 
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Abu Dhabi Airport Now Exempt From US Laptop Ban

Posted on by SeeEA

The capital of the United Arab Emirates became the first city to be exempt from a U.S. ban on laptop computers being in the cabins of airplanes coming from the Mideast, the country’s flag carrier said Sunday.

 

Long-haul airline Etihad said it welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which comes “subject to enhanced security measures” at Abu Dhabi International Airport. That airport already has a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that allows passengers to clear screening they’d otherwise have to go through when landing in America.

 

Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said U.S. officials already had seen that “the measures have been implemented correctly and to the full extent required” in Abu Dhabi. He said American monitors would make further visits to ensure the checks were being done properly.

 

“The enhanced security measures, both seen and unseen, include enhanced screening of passengers and electronic devices,” Lapan said, declining to elaborate. “We commend Etihad for working swiftly to implement these additional measures. Their efforts are a model for both foreign and domestic airlines.”

 

Abu Dhabi International Airport did not respond to a request for comment. The airport is home to Etihad, which has over 120 planes in its fleet and 204 aircraft on order. It operates 45 flights a week between Abu Dhabi and six cities in the U.S.

 

The U.S. ban, first announced in March as a security measure, now applies to nonstop U.S.-bound flights from nine international airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai in the UAE.

 

In late May, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said he was considering banning laptops from the passenger cabins of all international flights to and from the United States. Kelly’s comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump shared highly classified intelligence about the Islamic State group wanting to use laptops to target aircraft with senior Russian officials visiting the White House.

 

The laptop ban, as well as a Trump administration travel ban on six predominantly Muslim nations, has hurt Gulf carriers. Dubai-based Emirates has slashed 20 percent of its flights to America in the wake of those decisions. The airline also has been trying to get the laptop ban lifted for its direct flights to the U.S. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Dubai International Airport, Emirates’ home, is the world’s busiest international air travel hub. Meanwhile, long-haul carrier Qatar Airways has been hurt amid a diplomatic dispute with Arab nations that has seen its own routes in the region cut off.

 

All this also comes amid a wider dispute between Gulf airlines and American carriers, which accuse the Middle East airlines of flooding the market with capacity while receiving billions of dollars of unfair government subsidies. The Gulf carriers all vigorously deny that.
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Egyptian Court Upholds Death Sentence for 20 in 2013 Police Station Attack

Posted on by SeeEA

An Egyptian court has upheld death sentences against 20 people in the brutal 2013 attack on a police station in the Giza suburb of Kardasa.  The attack, which came during a frenzy of violence following the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, killed close to a dozen police officers and cited in the government’s case for the use of force to quell a budding popular insurrection. 

An Egyptian court has issued a final ruling, upholding death sentences against 20 participants in a brutal 2013 attack on a police checkpoint in the Cairo suburb of Kardasa in which 15 people, including 11 officers, were killed.  The sentence was read out by the court at a Cairo police academy following approval by the country’s highest religious authority.

The attack on the police facility in Kardasa, not far from Egypt’s grand pyramids, caught media attention in the immediate aftermath of the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, bolstering the government’s argument in putting down scattered violence, which appeared to be turning into an armed uprising.

Hundreds of police recruits and military officers were killed in the violence that followed Morsi’s ouster.  Hundreds of Morsi supporters were also killed in the bloody dispersals of two sit-in camps and other scattered violence that followed.

A video broadcast by Egyptian media shows prominent Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi issuing a fatwah or religious edict in 2013 calling for the killing of Egyptian police officers and military forces.  Qaradawi has denied issuing such a fatwah.

Qatar is currently locked in a feud with its Gulf neighbors and Egypt over Qatar’s alleged support of the Muslim Brotherhood and an assortment of regional terrorist groups, including Hamas, Libya’s Ansar al-Shariah, Syria’s Jabhat al-Nusra and the Janjaweed militia in Sudan, among others.

Veteran Egyptian editor and publisher Hisham Kassem tells VOA that most ordinary Egyptians are more concerned with their immediate day-to-day struggle to put food on the table and clothe themselves than with court cases, such as the one Sunday in which death sentences were upheld in the Kardasa attack.  But he notes, Egypt has seen an unusually large number of death sentences.

“When it comes to the number of death sentences that have been handed out in the past three years, they are very high, unprecedented in the history of Egypt,” said Kassem.

Kassem points out that many death sentences have not yet been carried out, and opponents of the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, including the Muslim Brotherhood, “are looking for means to resort to international legal bodies or rights organizations to use such sentences against [Sissi].”  

 
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Fire Turns Syrian Refugee Camp in Lebanon to ‘Ashes’

Posted on by SeeEA

A fire has killed at least one person at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Flames and thick clouds of black smoke were seen rising from the settlement Sunday near the town of Qab Elias, about an hour from the capital Beirut.

Around 100 tents were burned, leaving the camp in “ashes”, with only a few bathrooms at the edge of the settlement left in tact, a member of emergency services told the Associated Press.

More than one million registered Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, largely in settlements in Bekaa, near the countries’ border.
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Sudanese Doctors Urge Measures Against Cholera Outbreak

Posted on by SeeAF

Sudanese doctors and aid workers are urging the government to declare a state of emergency over a cholera outbreak and delay the start of the school year, which began Sunday.

 

The disease, which is passed through contaminated water, has surfaced in five states, including the capital, Khartoum. The U.S. Embassy said last month that fatalities had been confirmed, and Egypt has begun screening passengers from Sudan at Cairo’s international airport.

Some 22,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea have led to at least 700 fatalities since May 20, said Hossam al-Amin al-Badawi, of the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, adding that it is most likely cholera, but the government refuses to test for it.

 

Doctors say cholera, a bacterial infection linked to contaminated food or water, has surfaced in the states of Khartoum, Al-Jazeera, Sennar, White Nile and North Kordofan, and are urging the government to seek international aid.

The fast-developing, highly contagious infection can spread in areas without clean drinking water or with poor sanitation. If left untreated, it can cause death from dehydration.

 

Sudan’s official news agency SUNA meanwhile announced the opening of the school year, saying that authorities had the outbreak of “acute watery diarrhea” under control.

 

Activists and the opposition say President Omar al-Bashir’s government refuses to acknowledge the cholera outbreak because it would reveal failures in the country’s crumbling health system, where corruption is rife.

 

Neighboring South Sudan is grappling with the “the longest, most widespread and most deadly cholera outbreak” since the it won independence in 2011, according to the U.N. Since the outbreak began a year ago, over 11,000 cases have been reported, including at least 190 deaths, according to the World Health Organization and South Sudan’s government.

 

 

 

 

 
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Anti-G-20 Protests Begin, Merkel Says Growth Must be Inclusive

Posted on by SeeEU

With an eye on anti-globalization protests brewing in Hamburg before this week’s G20 summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday leaders will have to focus on sustainable and inclusive economic growth rather than their own prosperity.

In her weekly podcast, the German chancellor said this year’s G-20 summit will delve into issues championed by protesters such as distribution of wealth and consumption of resources — alongside related issues like climate change, free markets, consumer protection and upholding social standards.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched against the meeting in the rain in Hamburg on Sunday in a prelude to the July 7-8 gathering, where 21,000 police from across Germany will protect the meetings of the world’s 20 largest economies.

 

“It’s not only going to be about [economic] growth but rather sustainable growth,” Merkel said. “We’ve got to have a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone. The issues obviously revolve around: how do we achieve inclusive or sustainable growth?”

Merkel, seeking a fourth term in a Sept. 24 election, outlined the issues as: “What are we doing with our resources? What are the rules for distribution of wealth? How many people are taking part? And how many countries are able to profit from that?”

Without mentioning the protests that have German security officials worried about possible acts of sabotage this week in the country’s second-largest city, Merkel noted that these non-traditional issues were forced onto the G-20 agenda.

“If we simply try to carry on as we have in the past, the worldwide developments will definitely not be sustainable and inclusive,” she said. “We need the climate protection agreement, open markets and improved trade agreements in which consumer protection, social and environmental standards are upheld.”

In a speech to parliament last week, Merkel promised to fight for free trade and press on with multilateral efforts to combat climate change at the summit, challenging the “America First” policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The G-20 meeting follows a G-7 summit in Sicily a month ago that exposed deep divisions between other Western countries and Trump on climate change, trade and migration. Trump later announced he was pulling the United States out of a landmark agreement to combat climate change reached in 2015 in Paris.

German authorities are bracing for trouble in Hamburg, worried that the protests could turn violent as they did outside a G8 summit in Genoa, Italy in 2001 when one person was shot dead and hundreds injured.

The German Federal Crime Office warned that violent G-20 opponents could carry out arson and sabotage at infrastructure targets such as the Hamburg harbor and airport, newspaper Welt am Sonntag said on Sunday.

“New and creative forms of attack have to be watched out for,” the report said. It added Hamburg police are bracing for attempts by activists to disrupt electrical power in Hamburg.

Sunday’s demonstration was organized by a group called “Protest Wave G20”, with 50,000 to 100,000 protesters expected on an afternoon march through the city center. Other

demonstrations this week are called “Welcome to Hell” and “G-20 Not Welcome”.

 
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Russian Anti-Virus CEO Offers up Code for US Government Scrutiny

Posted on by SeeEU

The chief executive of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab says he’s ready to have his company’s source code examined by U.S. government officials to help dispel long-lingering suspicions about his company’s ties to the Kremlin.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his Moscow headquarters, Eugene Kaspersky said Saturday there’s never been any truth to rumors of his work with Russian intelligence. But he acknowledges it’s unusual for a successful company to operate independently of the government in Russia, saying, “I do understand why we look strange.”

 

But he says the firm never cooperates with cyberespionage, saying he shuts down the conversation when he occasionally sensed that unidentified governments were pushing him to.

 

He says “we stay on the bright side and never, never go to the dark side.”
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Pope Urges End to Venezuela Violence, Prays for Victims

Posted on by SeeEU

Pope Francis is calling for an end to the violent anti-government protests in Venezuela and expressing solidarity with families of those killed.

Francis led thousands of people in prayer for Venezuela on Sunday as he noted the country is to mark its independence on Wednesday.

 

He said, “I assure this dear nation of my prayers and express my closeness to the families who have lost their children in the protests. I appeal for an end to the violence and for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis.”

 

At least 80 people have been killed since anti-government protests erupted three months ago.

 

The Vatican sponsored a dialogue last year that failed. Recently, Venezuelan bishops have travelled to the Vatican and briefed Francis on their criticism of President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian bent.
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South African Parliamentary Vote on Zuma Planned for Aug. 8

Posted on by SeeAF

South Africa’s parliamentary speaker says lawmakers will vote on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Aug. 8.

The vote on Zuma, who has faced calls for his resignation because of scandals and corruption concerns, previously had been scheduled for Aug. 3.

 

But the parliament said Sunday that speaker Baleka Mbete changed the date because a Cabinet meeting is occurring around the time of the previous date.

 

Mbete has yet to decide whether the vote will be held by secret ballot.

 

The opposition had gone to court to try to get the motion conducted by secret ballot, which it believes could tip the balance against Zuma. The Constitutional Court said it was up to Mbete, a Zuma ally, to decide how the vote should be implemented.
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Al-Qaida-linked Mali Extremists Release Hostage Video

Posted on by SeeEU

An al-Qaida-linked group in Mali has released a proof-of-life video showing six foreign hostages, a group that monitors jihadist communications says, shortly before the French president’s arrival in the West African country for an anti-terror summit.

 

The recently formed Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen issued the video Saturday on Telegram, the SITE Intelligence Group said. The video shows Stephen McGowan of South Africa, Elliot Kenneth Arthur of Australia, Iulian Ghergut of Romania, Beatrice Stockly of Switzerland, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez of Colombia and Sophie Petronin of France.

 

“No genuine negotiations have begun to rescue your children,” a narrator says.

 

The narrator also mentions the recently elected French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that Petronin “is hoping that the new French president will come to her rescue.”

 

Macron meets Sunday in Mali with heads of state from five nations across Africa’s Sahel region to build support for a new 5,000-strong multinational force meant to counter extremists there. Deadly attacks in recent years in countries once considered relatively safe have alarmed the international community.

 

In March, a video announced the creation of Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen from a merger of three extremist groups: the al-Qaida-linked al-Mourabitoun, Ansar Dine and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

 

Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen claimed responsibility for last month’s attack on a resort area popular with foreigners outside Mali’s capital that killed at least five people.

 

A number of the hostages in Mali have been held for years. The video comes after Sweden’s government on Monday announced the release of Johan Gustafsson, who was held by Islamic extremists in Mali for six years.

 

 
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Released From Prison

Posted on by SeeEA

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was released from prison early Sunday, days after a parole board granted him early release from his 27-month corruption sentence.

 

Prison Service spokesman Assaf Librati said Olmert, 71, was whisked away by Israel’s security service after his release and driven home after serving 16 months.

 

He said the terms of Olmert’s early release stipulate that for the next few months the former prime minister has to do volunteer work, must appear before police twice a month and cannot give interviews to the media or leave the country.

 

He added that President Reuven Rivlin could relieve him of the parole restrictions.

Convicted of taking bribes

 

Olmert was convicted in 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a real-estate project in Jerusalem and obstructing justice. The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister before he became premier in 2006. 

 

His departure from office in 2009 ended the last major Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and ushered in the era of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Conciliatory toward Palestinians

 

Olmert was a longtime fixture in Israel’s hawkish right wing when he began taking a dramatically more conciliatory line toward the Palestinians more than a decade ago. He played a leading role in Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and became prime minister in January 2006 after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke. He resigned amid a corruption scandal that clouded his administration.

 

Olmert has said he made unprecedented concessions to the Palestinians — including a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank and an offer to place Jerusalem’s Old City under international control — and was close to reaching an agreement at the time of his resignation.
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Syrian TV: Car Bombs Strike Damascus; Casualties Reported

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A series of car bomb explosions hit the Syrian capital Sunday, including a suicide attacker who blew himself up after being surrounded by security forces, Syrian TV reported. 

The first casualty reports say at least 8 killed, 12 wounded.

It showed footage from the scene of one explosion in southeast Damascus, along the road to the airport. At least two scorched vehicles appeared on one side of the road, and some nearby buildings appeared damaged. The closed-off street was littered with debris, while security men roamed the area.

State TV said security forces detected two car bombs at an entrance to the city. It was not immediately clear if the two explosions were caused by suicide bombers or detonated by security forces. State TV said security forces foiled the plot to target crowded areas on first day of work after the long Muslim holiday that follows Ramadan. 

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-run monitoring group, also reported the three explosions. 

 

Such attacks have been rare in Damascus, the seat of power for President Bashar Assad. Pro-government forces have been fighting to drive rebels from Ain Terma, one of their last strongholds in the Damascus suburbs.
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Trump to Telephone Leaders of Japan and China 

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump will hold separate telephone conversations Sunday with the leaders of Japan and China.

A White House announcement did not say what Trump would discuss with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The talks, however, are likely to be about Trump’s growing frustration with North Korea and its series of recent missile tests.

“The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed, many years it has failed,” Trump said recently. “Frankly, that patience is over.”

The telephone conversations come ahead of a meeting of G20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany, later in the week, where Trump is slated to hold bilateral meetings with Abe, Xi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The U.S. president met with Moon Friday at the White House.
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Putin Signs Bill Authorizing Demolition of 4,500 Moscow Apartment Buildings

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a controversial law authorizing the demolition of thousands of Soviet-era Moscow apartment buildings, forcing the relocation of hundreds of thousands of residents.

The legislation was approved by lawmakers June 14 in the 450-seat lower house of parliament by vote of 399-2. The upper chamber Federation Council adopted the legislation Thursday and the text was published Saturday.

Plans to implement the law brought thousands of protesters to the streets in central Moscow in May and again in June after the Duma approved the bill.

Moscow authorities say the buildings are dilapidated and outdated, but many residents and activists see the plans as an excuse for the lucrative construction of high-rises in an already congested city whose green spaces are shrinking.

The bill calls for about 4,500 buildings erected in the 1950s and 1960s — many of them five-story blocks known as “Khrushchyovki” after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev — to be demolished and replaced with high-rises.

An original plan had called for the demolition of 8,000 buildings but was scaled back after the protests.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said the plan is to raze the buildings starting in September in a project the authorities say will eventually set out $61 billion to develop more housing for the crowded capital of some 12 million people.

Authorities say residents relocated will be housed in apartments of an “equivalent” size — but not of equal value — in the same neighborhood.

Moscow authorities have said the apartment blocks listed for “renovation” will only be demolished if two-thirds of the apartments vote in favor.

But activists have protested that dwellings that do not vote will be considered to have voted “yes” and worry about the likelihood of falsification of results.

RFE/RL’s Tom Balmforth contributed to this report; some material for this report came from AFP.
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In US Court, Yukos Shareholders Try New Tactic: Go After Lawyers

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Shareholders of defunct Russian oil giant Yukos, which was dismantled and absorbed by a state-owned rival in contentious legal actions, are taking a new tack in their multibillion-dollar fight with the Russian government.

The former owners have alleged that lawyers at a powerful U.S. law firm helped Russia’s Rosneft manipulate an Armenian court ruling in a parallel case that they say bears on a $50 billion judgment handed down in 2014.

The action, now unfolding in U.S. federal court, is the latest front in a convoluted battle that erupted early in Vladimir Putin’s presidency and helped entrench the state’s dominance in Russia’s economy.

The law firm, Baker Botts, has denied wrongdoing, calling the allegations false.

Once Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos was systematically pared in the early 2000s through a series of bankruptcy proceedings that legal experts have said were rife with inconsistencies.

Assets, including huge Siberian oil fields, were acquired mainly by Rosneft, the government-owned company run by Igor Sechin, a former intelligence officer and close ally of Putin.

Yukos was built up by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was later prosecuted for financial crimes after purportedly crossing Putin in the early 2000s. After a decade in prison, Khodorkovsky fled Russia and he now funds opposition political groups from abroad.

In July 2014, an arbitration court in The Hague ordered Russia to pay $50 billion to compensate Yukos shareholders, one of the largest such awards in history.

Moscow, however, persuaded a Dutch district court nearly two years later to set aside that judgment.

The former stakeholders — banded together in a Brussels-based organization called GML — have asked a Dutch appeals court to overturn the lower court’s ruling as they try to seize assets in multiple countries.

Last week, lawyers for GML alleged in a motion filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington that Rosneft tampered with Armenian court rulings that might have affected the Dutch decision.

“The Petitioners believe the evidence sought in this application will show efforts by the Russian Federation to manipulate Armenian courts, so as to influence proceedings before the Dutch courts,” the motion states.

According to court filings, Rosneft filed suit in Armenia in the late 2000s seeking possession of one of Yukos’s far-flung subsidiaries, Yukos CIS, which was located there. In 2011, Rosneft won possession of the subsidiary.

‘Ordered’ to issue judgment

About a year later, one of the key Armenian judges involved in the rulings gave sworn written testimony in a related Yukos case in a U.S. federal court in California. Surik Ghazaryan alleged that his superiors had ordered him to issue a judgment favorable to Rosneft, and even provided a flash drive with what he claimed was a pre-written copy of the judgment.

Ghazaryan said he fled Armenia fearing reprisal for his refusal to comply with other related instructions from his superiors.

“Every Armenian judge in charge of proceedings having to do with ‘Yukos’ has received a clear and unambiguous signal: either you follow directions from above and hand down judgments in favor of ‘Rosneft’ and against ‘Yukos,’ or you face serious consequences,” he said in his written testimony. 

There was no way to independently corroborate Ghazaryan’s claims; his lawyer did not respond to an e-mail and phone message seeking comment. 

‘Every court, judge is fair game’

As Rosneft took control of Yukos’s assets, shareholders sought compensation for Yukos’s dismantling. Khodorkovsky is not party to the legal fight, though his former partners are.

In the filing in U.S. district court, the Yukos shareholders assert that two lawyers from Baker Botts, working out of the firm’s Moscow office, were involved in drafting the suspect Armenian court judgments.

The shareholders submitted copies of purported Baker Botts e-mails as part of the filings. They also asked the Washington court to order that the lawyers be questioned under oath, with an eye to introducing the statements once the Dutch appeals court takes up the question of the $50 billion judgment as early as December.

Baker Botts, the shareholders said, may have “possession, custody or control [of] evidence that relates to efforts by the Russian Federation, both directly and through its agents, to interfere with and manipulate foreign judicial proceedings for the benefit of the Russian Federation.”

As of June 29, Baker Botts, whose global headquarters are in Houston, Texas, had not responded to the U.S. court filings.

“The events that took place in Armenia reveal just how far Russia goes to undermine the rule of law: every court or judge is fair game,” GML chief executive Tim Osborne said in a statement to RFE/RL. “The evidence we hope to obtain will make that even clearer.”

The issue of Rosneft’s alleged court tampering surfaced in 2015 when another Dutch court hearing a parallel case about Yukos CIS accepted shareholders’ arguments. That case was ultimately settled, with the shareholders receiving about $400 million in compensation.

In November, after a Dutch newspaper published some of those e-mails, Baker Botts denied the allegations, which it repeated in a statement to RFE/RL on June 30.

“Any suggestion that Baker Botts lawyers perverted justice in Armenia is false. At all times Baker Botts lawyers acted lawfully and ethically,” the firm said.

For its part, Rosneft said: “The Armenian issues with allegations of impropriety made by both parties against each other were fully briefed in court and settled…as part of an overall settlement. Discussions of separate episodes are futile.”

Small victory

The allegations of court tampering raise the stakes significantly in the $50 billion arbitration fight. If the shareholders succeed in deposing Baker Botts lawyers and the Dutch appeal court hearing the arbitration case agrees to consider that evidence, it could deal a substantial blow to Rosneft and the Russian government.

The shareholders won a small victory on June 22 when a U.S. judge in California authorized subpoenas of Edward Mouradian, another lawyer who allegedly was involved in the Armenian court cases on behalf of Rosneft.

Under Dutch law, new evidence can be introduced in the appeals court hearings.

“It’s clearly become an issue of whatever you can to undermine the credibility of the other party, and this only confirms that this is a highly political case and the Yukos claimants hopes that the appeals court will see it in those terms,” said Gus Van Harten, who studies international arbitration law at the Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

He said the Yukos case has taken on overt political tones, both internationally and domestically, far beyond how arbitration disputes typically are sorted out.

“What classically might have been a legal or political dispute, within a country, is morphing into a larger international dispute,” he told RFE/RL.
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Dogs Help Sniff Out Poachers in South Africa

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In South Africa, man’s best friend is turning out to be nature’s best friend as well. A group of highly trained dogs has joined the hunt to find and prosecute big game poachers. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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No Decline in Number of Police Shootings in US

Posted on by SeeUS

An ongoing tracking project by The Washington Post finds that the number of people fatally shot by police in the United States in the first half of 2017 is nearly identical to figures for the previous two years.

The newspaper says 492 people were shot and killed by police during the first six months of the year. Most frequently killed were white males armed with guns or other weapons. Twenty-five percent of those killed were mentally ill. Black males also made up about 25 percent of those killed, although they represent only 6 percent of the U.S. population.

The Post began tracking shootings by police after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Despite protests and calls for reform of police department policies since, then there has been no reduction in the overall number of deaths.

The newspaper reports that the number of police officers killed in the line of duty also has held steady for the past two years.
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Nevada Becomes 5th State to Sell Recreational Marijuana

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More than 100 people were in line at one Las Vegas-area dispensary Saturday morning as Nevada became the latest state in the U.S. with stores selling marijuana for recreational purposes.

Kristin Deneal got in line outside the pot shop at 5:45 a.m., after another store that opened at midnight closed before she could make a purchase. She brought a folding chair and sat by the door, striking up conversations with the security guard and others as the line continued to grow before doors opened at 9 a.m.

Deneal, a Las Vegas resident, said she is elated at being able to legally buy the drug that for decades she has had to buy through acquaintances. She said smoking marijuana helps her cope with health conditions while also working a stressful job at a bank.

“It looks like they have enough stuff for everyone, it’s just a question of getting through the door,” she said.

State senator makes first purchase

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, one of the main proponents of marijuana legalization in Nevada, made the first purchase at The Source dispensary at a strip mall. Deneal and others followed.

Recreational marijuana sales began shortly after midnight, just months after voters approved legalization in November, marking the fastest turnaround from the ballot box to retail sales in the country.

Hundreds of people lined up at Essence Cannabis Dispensary on the Las Vegas Strip. People were excited and well-behaved as a lone security guard looked on. A valet was available to park cars for customers.

A cheer erupted when the doors opened.

Those 21 and older with a valid ID can buy up to an ounce of pot. Tourists are expected to make nearly two of every three recreational pot purchases in Nevada, but people can only use the drug in a private home.

What is still illegal

It remains illegal to light up in public areas, including the Las Vegas Strip, casinos, bars, restaurants, parks, convention centers and concert halls — places frequently visited by tourists. Violators face a $600 fine.

And driving under the influence of marijuana is still illegal.

Despite the limits on where people can get high and restrictions on where the industry can advertise, dispensaries worked furiously to prepare for the launch. They stamped labels on pot products, stocked their shelves, added security and checkout stations, and announced specials.

Marijuana jobs

Desert Grown Farms hired about 60 additional employees. Workers in scrubs, hair nets and surgical masks put stickers on sealed jars this week as others checked on marijuana plants or carefully weighed buds.

“It would be a good problem to have if I couldn’t meet my demand,” said CEO Armen Yemenidjian, whose Desert Grown Farms owns the only dispensary that is selling recreational pot on the Las Vegas Strip, across the street from the Stratosphere hotel.

Nevada joins Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska in allowing adults to buy the drug that’s still banned by the federal government. 
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Arkansas Police: Club Shooting Likely Gang-related

Posted on by SeeUS

Clubgoers screamed and scrambled for cover as dozens of gunshots rang out during a rap concert in downtown Little Rock early Saturday, leaving 28 people injured from an 11-second melee that police said may be gang-related.

 

The volley of gunfire inside the Power Ultra Lounge came so fast that investigators believe multiple people had to have been involved. Police Chief Kenton Buckner credited quick work by first responders for the lack of fatalities.

 

Twenty-five people between the ages of 16 and 35 suffered gunshot wounds, and three others were hurt, perhaps while fleeing, Buckner said. Two people were in critical condition Saturday afternoon. Police said officers did not have any suspects in custody.

 

Courtney Swanigan, 23, told The Associated Press that when the gunfire rang out, “I just closed my eyes, got down on the ground and put my hands on my head.” 

Shutting down the club

 

City officials said they would move Monday to shut down the club under a “criminal abatement” program. State regulators suspended the club’s liquor license earlier Saturday.

 

The shooting capped a violent week in Arkansas’ largest city. Police had responded to a dozen drive-by shootings over the previous nine days.

 

“This does appear to be a continuation of disputes from some of our local groups,’’ Buckner said. “You’ve seen some of the things playing out in our streets that has resulted in drive-by shootings.’’

Vigil for the injured

 

About 100 people gathered at Second Baptist Church Saturday night for a candlelight vigil, seeking healing for those injured, and the community. 

Arkansas lawmakers this year passed a law allowing concealed handguns in bars, with permission of the businesses’ owners and if the gun permit holder completes additional training. The law takes effect Sept. 1, but the training likely won’t be available until next year.
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Homegrown US Terrorists Have Received Lighter Sentences in Recent Years

Posted on by SeeEA

For a would-be fighter of the Islamic State, Mohammed Hamzah Khan has had it relatively easy with the American criminal justice system.

On October 4, 2014, authorities arrested Khan, then 19, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as he and two younger siblings prepared to board a flight to Vienna en route to Turkey.

The nascent Islamic State’s promise of life under the caliphate was luring thousands of aspiring young fighters into Syria and Iraq. Khan, the U.S.-born son of Indian immigrants, had planned to join their ranks and never return.

His sister and 16-year-old brother were let go without any charges, but not Khan. Federal prosecutors charged him with attempting to provide “material support” to a foreign terrorist organization. He faced up to 20 years behind bars.

Except, that’s not how it turned out for Khan, whose case reflects leniency in the sentencing of some homegrown U.S. terrorists in recent years.

While sentences have averaged more than 13 years over the past three years, court records show a quarter of suspects have received four years or less. Khan was given one of the shortest sentences: He was released from prison last month after serving less than three years.

Making a distinction

Khan’s light sentence shows how U.S. prosecutors and judges have been willing to differentiate between the most dangerous defendants and those who are merely hangers-on, even as the Trump administration and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions are promising a hard line on homegrown terrorism.

“They still want to pursue these terrorism cases, but there is a sense that these younger individuals may not rise to the danger level of some of those who fit a criminalized pattern,” said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University School of Law in New York.

The trend, seen in 2015-16 but not so far this year, followed years of criticism by human rights advocates and others who claimed the Justice Department and FBI were using informants and undercover agents to entrap naive terrorist sympathizers who otherwise posed no real risk.

Thomas Durkin, Khan’s attorney, said once his client agreed to cooperate, prosecutors “essentially accepted our arguments that Hamzah Khan was someone that had made a mistake, was young, that he was not dangerous, that he should be given a second chance.”

Two weeks ago, Khan was released into a halfway house. Durkin said his client would start classes at the College of DuPage, a community college west of Chicago, in August.

“He’s doing very well,” Durkin added.

Falling numbers

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. authorities have charged nearly 500 individuals in terror cases — 132 of them in connection with supporting Islamic State (IS) over the past three years, according to the Center on National Security.

At the height of the arrests, in May 2015, more than 15 people were charged a month. With fear of prosecution deterring travel to Syria and IS losing its allure, however, the number has dropped over the past year, with just six new indictments announced since January 20.

The Justice Department says stopping terrorist attacks remains its highest priority.

“[We] will continue to work to stem the flow of foreign fighters abroad and bring to justice those who attempt to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations,” acting Attorney General Dana Boente said last week in announcing the latest IS case.

Sentences handed down in IS cases over the past three years have varied widely, from probation to life in prison.

More recently, in cases carried over from the Obama administration, judges have imposed steep sentences, with all but one sentence for more than 10 years. And where judges have shown leniency, they have set strict conditions, as was the case with Khan: up to 20 years of “supervised release.”

Justice Department officials were not available to discuss the recent Islamic State prosecution cases.

Confidential informants

According to the Center on National Security, 49 percent of the cases have involved foreign fighters, while 61 percent of the cases have stemmed from the FBI’s controversial use of informants and undercover agents.

While some informant-based cases have resulted in relatively short sentences, others have ended with lengthier terms. Last year, Mahin Khan, an 18-year-old described by his family as mentally ill, received eight years on charges of planning terrorist attacks in Arizona. The charges stemmed in part from his contacts with an FBI agent he thought was an Islamic State operative.

Michael German, a former FBI special agent now with New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, said authorities turn to confidential informants because “they seem to think it’s something that works to get convictions.”

The FBI has defended its use of informants, rejecting claims that the practice amounts to entrapment.

And even critics agree that not all terror prosecutions grow out of what they decry as ”manufactured cases.”

Case in point: Saddam Mohamed Raishani, 30, was arrested at New York’s JFK Airport last week as he tried to board a flight to Turkey. He had told an FBI informant how he had earlier helped an acquaintance travel overseas to join IS and regretted not having gone along with him.

Raishani “may really have wanted to go” without any enticement by the informant, said Greenberg of the Center for National Security.

As in criminal cases, cooperation with prosecutors can mean leniency for some terror suspects.

In sentencing a group of nine Somali-Americans charged with plotting to join IS, a federal judge in Minneapolis last November handed down the shortest terms to those who had pleaded guilty and cooperated, and the longest terms to those who had not.

Unlike members of terrorist groups who can use information on their associates as a bargaining chip, though, many aspiring foreign fighters caught through sting operations don’t have much to bargain with.

Calculated judgment

In agreeing to a shorter term for Khan, prosecutors cited his cooperation. But his attorney said Khan and his siblings didn’t have much to offer prosecutors beyond discussing “the people they met online, which the government was fully aware of.”

“It’s not like a drug dealer who somehow might know 50 other drug dealers,” Durkin said.

In cutting suspects some slack, he said, prosecutors and judges “want to be assured that they’re not going to be embarrassed.”

“They don’t want to be the guy that permits somebody to get out early and go blow up the subway,” Durkin said. “It’s a delicate balance.”

In agreeing to a sentence that ensured Khan would be free in time for college this fall, Judge John Tharp last November argued that a lengthier term would make Khan more dangerous and reminded Khan how the American criminal justice has treated him.

“The enemy government has not tried to kill you,” Tharp said. “It has tried to help you.”

As Khan prepares for college, Durkin wants him to use the freedom given by the criminal justice system to chart a new life.

“I’m trying to talk him into studying liberal arts, because I’m a big fan of liberal arts,” he said. “He wants something a little more practical, but let’s see who wins.”
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Syrian Government Rejects Report Saying Sarin Was Used in Attack

Posted on by SeeEA

The Syrian government on Saturday dismissed a report by the international chemical weapons watchdog that said the banned nerve agent sarin was used in an April attack in northern Syria, saying it lacked “any credibility.”

Western governments including the United States have said the Syrian government carried out the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, which killed dozens of people. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons.

The attack prompted a U.S. missile strike against a Syrian air base that Washington said was used to launch the strike. The report into the attack was circulated to members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, but was not made public.

In a statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the fact-finding team had based its report on “the testimonies offered by terrorists in Turkey.” Turkey is a major backer of the Syrian opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

After interviewing witnesses and examining samples, the fact-finding mission of the OPCW concluded that “a large number of people, some of whom died, were exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance.”

Russia, Assad’s most powerful ally, has described the report as biased.

The April 4 attack on in northern Idlib province was the most deadly in Syria’s civil war in more than three years. Western intelligence agencies had also blamed the Assad government. Syrian officials have repeatedly denied using banned toxins in the conflict.

Chlorine gas

A joint U.N. and OPCW investigation has found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas.

Syria joined the chemical weapons convention in 2013 under a Russian-U.S. agreement, averting military intervention under then U.S. President Barack Obama.

The United States said Wednesday that the Syrian government appeared to have heeded a warning this week from Washington not to carry out a chemical weapons attack.

Russia warned it would respond proportionately if the United States took pre-emptive measures against Syrian forces after Washington said on Monday that it appeared the Syrian military was preparing to conduct a chemical weapons attack.
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Qatar Stands Firm, Rejecting Arab Demands as Deadline Looms

Posted on by SeeEA

Qatar says it doesn’t fear any military retaliation for refusing to meet a Monday deadline to comply with a list of demands from four Arab states that have imposed a de-facto blockade on the Gulf nation.

During a visit Saturday to Rome, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani again rejected the demands as an infringement on Qatar’s sovereignty. He allowed that any country is free to raise grievances with Qatar, provided they have proof, but said any such conflicts should be worked out through negotiation, not by imposing ultimatums.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this month and shut down land, sea and air links. They accuse Qatar of supporting regional terror groups, a charge Qatar denies.
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Interior Ministers of France, Germany and Italy to Discuss Italian Migrant Crisis

Posted on by SeeAF

The interior ministers of France, Germany and Italy will meet in Paris Sunday to help Italy deal with masses of migrants arriving on its shores.

Italy is struggling to respond to the influx of tens of thousands of migrants and threatened earlier this week to close its ports to migrant rescue boats in order to force the vessels to go to other Mediterranean countries.

Officials say French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere and Italy’s Marco Minniti will meet European Union Commissioner for Refugees Dimitris Avramopoulos in Paris Sunday to discuss the situation.

Watch: EU Pledges Support as Italy Threatens to Close Ports Following Migrant Surge

Upsurge in migrants

So far this year, Italy has taken in 82,000 migrants as the country has become the main point of arrival to Europe for the mostly African migrants. In that same period, more than 2,000 migrants have died attempting to make the trip from North Africa.

A stretch of good weather and calm seas has led to more than 10,000 migrants being rescued off Italy’s coast since Sunday. At the current rate, and with months of good sailing weather ahead, the number of migrants heading toward Europe is on track to exceed the 200,000 who landed in Italy in 2016.

​‘Unsustainable’ situation

In a letter to the European Commission, Italy’s ambassador to the EU, Maurizio Massari, said the situation has become “unsustainable.”

The EU Commission has backed Italy’s pleas for greater European solidarity and has urged other EU states to allow rescue boats to dock in their ports.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday the group will discuss further measures with Italy and Greece in the next week to help them tackle the influx.

Avramopoulos, the EU migration commissioner, also offered Italy his support this week. 

“Italy is under huge pressure and we are not going to leave this country alone,” he said.

Other options

Legal experts say Italy is likely obligated to take the migrants under international refugee laws. However, they say Italy may be trying to force the European Union to implement a 2015 agreement for countries to share refugees across the bloc, a deal that has so far made little progress in being implemented.

Other EU nations have closed their borders to migrants, hoping to block them from moving north. Poland and Hungary have refused to host some asylum-seekers to help ease the burden on Italy and Greece, another front-line country.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has accused fellow EU nations of “looking the other way” and not doing enough to assist Italy with the surge in migrants.

Political ramifications

The influx in migrants this week prompted Minniti, the Italian interior minister, to cancel a trip to Washington in order to address the growing crisis, which is turning into a political issue for the country’s left-leaning coalition government. In municipal elections earlier this month, the coalition lost ground to center-right parties such as Matteo Salvini’s Northern League, which has called for a “stop to the invasion.”

An intense debate is also centered around the role of international NGOs who fund boats to pick up the refugees. Some argue the groups are effectively aiding the human smugglers and allowing the trade to continue.

Migrant origins

The migrants are coming from the shores of Libya, which has become the main gateway to Europe for people from across sub-Saharan Africa, and also from the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Syria and Bangladesh.

Around 15 percent of the migrants arriving this year in Europe are Nigerian. Twelve percent are Bangladeshi; Guineans account for 10 percent, and 9 percent are Ivorians.
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