Month: October 2017

12 Suspected Militants Killed in Egypt

Posted on by SeeEA

Egypt’s state news agency MENA says security forces have killed 12 armed militants in the country’s western desert.

No police were killed in the incident Friday.

MENA reported that an anonymous security source said, “Security forces dealt a severe blow to the terrorist elements in revenge for the blood of the men who were martyred last week…”

The shootout happened about 175 kilometers southwest of Cairo, near the location of last week’s deadly attack on police.   

Authorities say at least 30 Egyptian policemen were kill ed last week in a western desert shootout with militants, about 135 kilometers southwest of Cairo.

   

Security officials say the policemen came under fire as they were searching for suspected members of Hasm, a group that has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Egypt during the past year.

An Islamist insurgency has grown in Egypt since the military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

The insurgency, which includes the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State, has been concentrated in the northern Sinai Peninsula, but attacks have spread in the mainland, including in the capital where suicide bombers have struck churches and security headquarters.

Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April after suicide bombers struck two churches north of Cairo, killing scores of Christians.

 

 

 
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Spain’s Prime Minister Urges Senate to Allow Catalonia Takeover

Posted on by SeeEU

Spain’s prime minister urged the country’s Senate Friday to grant special constitutional measures to allow the central government to take control of Catalonia’s autonomous powers in an attempt to halt the region’s independence bid.

 

Mariano Rajoy told senators that Spain is facing a challenge not seen in its recent history, adding that what is happening in Catalonia is “a clear violation of the laws, of democracy, of the rights of all, and that has consequences.”

 

Rajoy said if the Senate approves, the government’s first step would be to take control of the region and dismiss it’s president and cabinet ministers.

If Senate, in which Rajoy’s party has an absolute majority, moves to approve the prime minister’s request, it will be the first time in four decades that the national government in Madrid would directly run the affairs of one of Spain’s 17 semi-autonomous regions.

There is speculation that Catalonia’s regional parliament may take the step of declaring independence during a special session later Friday.

Several thousand protesters gathered near parliament waving Catalan flags and chanting “independence” and “freedom,” hoping to see the proclamation of a new independent state.

Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont, however, has kept Spain in suspense by again failing to declare independence for his region, following an October 1 referendum in which 90 percent of Catalans who cast ballots voted for secession.

The Spanish government denounced the referendum as unconstitutional and used police to try to block the vote, limiting voter participation to about 50 percent.

The Catalan leader expressed wishes to reach a negotiated solution with the central government over the independence impasse, which has divided Catalans and caused a nationalist backlash in the rest of Spain.  However, the central government  has not responded to the request for dialogue.

 
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In Kenya, a Third of Voters Went to Polls in Second Presidential Election

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Kenya’s election commission says about 6.5 million people, or one-third of the country’s registered voters, went to the polls Thursday for the second presidential election in 2017.

There were opposition protests and violence at a number of polling stations. At least two people were shot dead during clashes between police and protesters.

The vote was incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second attempt at re-election. Kenya’s Supreme Court nullified his victory in an Aug. 8 poll, citing “irregularities and illegalities” in the transmission of results. The voter turnout for the August vote was nearly 80 percent of registered voters.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew his candidacy earlier this month, arguing the national electoral commission had not made improvements to the voting process. Odinga urged his supporters to boycott the vote, a measure they seemed to have upheld, insuring Kenyatta’s victory.

Odinga issued a statement on the eve of the election pledging that his National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition would transform itself into a “resistance movement.”

While most polling stations were peaceful, some were not.

Kenya’s electoral commission chairman, Wafula Chebukati, announced that polling stations unable to open for security concerns would have elections postponed to Saturday.

In the western city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold, many polling stations did not open for security concerns, with protesters setting up roadblocks and lighting fires. One man died from gunshot wounds and three others were wounded.

In the Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare, police fired tear gas and protesters threw rocks. One man was shot dead in Mathare.

Amnesty International said its researchers witnessed at least 12 young men in Kibera trying to block the entrance to a polling station, with police firing tear gas to disperse them.

And in the Mombasa slum of Bangladesh, youth smeared feces on the walls of a polling station and chased away election workers until order could be restored.
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Burundi Withdraws From International Criminal Court

Posted on by SeeEU

Burundi has become the first nation to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Burundi had announced its plan to withdraw a year ago, saying the court focused too much on Africa.

Amnesty International immediately reacted, saying Burundi’s withdrawal “does not in any way absolve Burundi of its obligations to end ongoing widespread human rights violations, or to address its abject failure to deliver justice for victims at the national level.”

The rights group said, “The ICC can continue its preliminary investigations regardless of Burundi’s efforts to stop its work by withdrawing from the Court. Even if President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government will not cooperate with the Court, the ICC has ways and means to investigate and persecute the crimes committed.”

Burundi erupted in protests and violence after Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term in 2015. Critics said he was violating a two-term limit in the constitution. The president won an election mostly boycotted by opposition parties, but violence prompted more than 420,000 Burundians to flee to Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

African nations have frequently accused the ICC of targeting Africans. The court disputes this charge and notes it is investigating situations in a number of countries. But, the ICC has yet to try a case from a non-African nation.

South Africa revoked its withdrawal from the court earlier this year. It had announced its intent to leave the court in 2015 amid disagreement with the court after South Africa declined to act on an ICC arrest warrant for Sudan’s president during an African Union summit he attended in Johannesburg.

Gambia’s new government reversed its withdrawal plans in February.
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US Calls for End of Violence in Myanmar

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States is calling on Myanmar to stop military reprisals against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

In a telephone conversation Thursday with Myanmar’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed concern about the continuing humanitarian crisis and reported atrocities in Rakhine State.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that Tillerson urged Myanmar’s security forces to support the government in ending the violence and allow the safe return home of those displaced during the crisis, in accordance with the 1992 Joint Statement with Bangladesh and without further conditions.

Tillerson also urged the military to facilitate humanitarian aid for people in affected areas, to allow media access, and cooperate with the U.N. “to ensure a thorough, independent investigation into all allegations of human rights abuses and violations and to ensure accountability,” Nauert said.

Tillerson also condemned the Aug. 25 deadly attacks by Rohingya militants on security forces in Rakhine State, which prompted the reprisals that continue unabated.

The government security forces campaign against the Rohingya Muslims, which the U.N. has called ethnic cleansing, has created a massive exodus of more than a half-million Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh and elsewhere. Most of the refugees are women and children.

Displaced Rohingya have told harrowing accounts of how the Burmese military has burned their villages, and of killings, rape and looting. The Rohingyas also say landmines have been laid to prevent them from returning.

The Rohingya Muslims say they are a long-persecuted minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and are often denied even the most basic human rights.
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Drug Court a Lifeline in Battle Against Opioid, Heroin Addiction

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Paul Coles’ journey to becoming one of the 2.5 million Americans addicted to prescription opioids began with painkillers prescribed for injuries suffered during an IED attack in Iraq. The physical scars healed, but emotionally Coles suffered. He had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and couldn’t stop using drugs. 

“It got to the point I would take three times the lethal dose of heroin and cocaine, load it into a syringe and shoot it up, trying to shut my body down,” Coles said. “I would sit there and say, ‘God if you are out there, just kill me.’”

Time after time, he cheated death. But he couldn’t escape the law. Coles found himself handcuffed, arrested and jailed on charges of felony drug possession. Yet what seemed to be a new low would turn into a lifeline.

From the moment Judge Jeri Beth Cohen looked at Coles, she knew he needed help. 

“My feeling is that opioid addiction is a terminal illness: You’re either going to end up in prison or you’re going to end up dead,” Cohen said.

“I’m seeing more and more cases,” she said. “These are young men and women between the age of, I guess, 21-30. It’s a largely Caucasian population,” she added.

​One judge, two courts, one team

Coles’ case is one of hundreds Cohen has seen during the unfolding prescription opioid and heroin epidemic in South Florida. Inside her courtroom, with graphic photos of what drugs can do to the body, she surrounds herself with professional caseworkers on the frontlines of how America’s criminal justice system handles the boom in opioid abuse.

Miami-Dade County launched the nation’s first drug court in 1989. Today there are 3,000 U.S. drug courts serving 136,000 people. But a report by Physicians for Human Rights claims few communities have adequate treatment facilities and the criminal justice objectives of drug courts often overrule the medical need of the patient.

Cohen’s drug court gives people the chance to beat their addictions, stay out of prison while eventually getting their felony drug charge expunged from the record if they complete the year-long program. 

Like Paul Coles 75 percent of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program. 

Miami-Dade County launched its first drug court when the community was facing a previous drug crisis. The approach then did not address people’s addictions, rather it was focused on jailing them for criminal conduct.

“There was a crack cocaine epidemic just like we’re looking at this opioid and heroin epidemic right now. People coming into criminal court in large numbers were taking a plea or going to jail, getting out and getting rearrested,” Cohen said.

Today there’s a stream of people in drug court struggling with addiction to a multitude of prescription pain pills and heroin. Cohen, regarded as one of the top drug court judges in the country, uses a holistic approach.

“What I find is if we can get them stabilized on a drug like Methadone or a Suboxone, which blocks a high, then they’re able to start engaging and they’re much more able to focus on getting well.” she said. The goal of the drug court is to get people treatment, steering them away from prison time and hopefully reducing recidivism rates.

“You have to take many variables into account: trauma, untreated mental illness, the chronicity or severity of the drug usage and also what’s going on in the family. If you’re not developing a treatment plan with your treatment team based on an individual’s particular risk and needs, you aren’t going to be successful with that individual,” Cohen said.

The judge bemoans the system’s lack of compassion.

“People are treated really, really poorly,” she said. “In the jails, in the courts, even in treatment they’re treated poorly. If you have money, it’s easier to access care [but] it’s still hard.”

​Zero tolerance

For all her understanding, Cohen shows little tolerance for those not following the rules. She sentences some to community service hours while others go back to jail.

There are frequent drug screenings to make sure people stick with their sobriety. Those who don’t meet the court’s year-long requirements may be returned to a traditional criminal court to face felony drug charges.

“I don’t think that sick people should be in jail. I do the best that I can to help people get well within our system, to divert them out of jail, but yet hold them accountable,” Cohen said “I feel like I do my job and I feel like I do it well.” 

“If you don’t go into the program, that’s fine with me,” Cohen tells a young, opioid-addicted mother, handcuffed and dressed in orange prison suit. “I am not going to keep you here and I am going to have the state dependency court file a termination of parental rights. I will order them to do it,” Cohen stressed.

Family reunions

“The children in my court have been removed from their parents because they have severe and chronic drug addiction and have failed to get into treatment,” the judge said. Her formula is to get parents who are struggling with opioid addiction intensive drug treatment so they can regain custody of their children.

She said 60 percent of the parents who go through the program get their children back.

“It’s getting into true recovery, improving your relationships with your family, your spouse, your children and starting that long life-long journey to recovery,” Cohen said.
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Migrants Stranded on Greek Isles Facing Mental Health Crisis

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More than 10,000 mainly Syrian refugees who escaped fighting in their country are living on five Greek islands. About 2,500 of them are crowded into camps on the island of Samos, even though there is only room for about 800. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports aid groups say there is a growing mental health crisis among those refugees.
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Houston-Bound World Series Lifts Spirits, If Momentarily

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As the best-of-seven 2017 World Series shifts from Los Angeles to Houston at one game apiece, diehard fans of the hurricane-devastated city can sense a first-ever baseball championship within their grasp. Houstonians admit that a series victory — if only a momentary distraction — would lift the city’s spirits. Ramon Taylor reports from Minute Maid Park, home of the Astros.
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Party’s Launch Could Upend Erdogan, Turkey’s Political Establishment

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused by critics of amassing power and creating the latest in a series of autocratic governments in the country, faces a new political threat after the launch Wednesday of the Iyi Party by Meral Aksener.

The former interior minister boosted her profile by campaigning against a referendum on extending the Turkish president’s powers, and now observers see her as potentially posing the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s re-election bid. Some polls show she could secure more than 20 percent of the vote and threaten the majority that Erdogan’s party now holds in parliament.

Aksener, a right-wing nationalist, is promising to shake up Turkish politics with the launch of her Iyi, or “Good,” Party.

“It is time to say new things,” she said Wednesday in a speech at the kickoff of her party, where she promised to take things in a new direction. “Yes, we have major problems. But Turkey has enough powers to resolve them. We have hopes and dreams. We want a prosperous and just Turkey. We want a free society. We want a happy Turkey.”

Criticism on human rights

The Good Party seeks to place itself in the center-right of Turkey’s political spectrum. In what appeared to be a jab at the Erdogan government and its post-coup-attempt crackdown on journalists, Aksener took aim at the country’s recent human rights record.

“Media should not be under pressure. Democratic participation, a strong parliament and the national will are irreplaceable,” she said.

Turkey has been under emergency rule since last year’s failed coup, with tens of thousands arrested or dismissed from their jobs.

Aksener, interior minister during the 1990s, gained prominence this year in a formidable campaign against a referendum to extend Erdogan’s powers. The ballot measure was approved, but by the narrowest of margins — something analysts attributed to the success of Aksener’s campaign.

Several recent opinion polls have suggested she enjoys strong support, with one poll giving any party she leads more than 20 percent in what political analysts say could be a rising tide of discontent about the crackdown.

“She clearly rides the wave of current political anxiety and dissatisfaction of voters with existing political parties,” said political consultant Atilla Yesilada of GlobalSource Partners, a political and economic analysis service. “The economy is slowing down and the currency is going down. People are accumulating foreign currency. There is anxiety about what the future will bring.”

Turkey is suffering both double-digit inflation and unemployment, while the currency is approaching record lows fueled by diplomatic tensions with many allies and concerns about the country’s large foreign debt. A driver of Erdogan’s success at the polls was a booming economy, characterized by massive infrastructure projects.

Appeal to AKP constituency

If Erdogan’s fortunes are in fact changing, and supporters insist they are not, Aksener could benefit.

“She is getting cross-party support,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar, highlighting that a parliamentary deputy of the center-left CHP Party had joined her ranks. “But the natural terrain of her party where she can really grow is the constituency of the [ruling] AKP Party.”

The timing of the founding of the Good Party is opportune for Erdogan opponents, coinciding with what observers say are signs that Erdogan’s AKP is in disarray. Erdogan is in the midst of purging dozens of the country’s mayors — including those of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul — in an effort to revitalize his party ahead of general and presidential elections in 2019.

“This whole process is demoralizing the [AKP] party. Their willingness and desire to fight the next election is diminishing as we speak,” said political consultant Yesilada. “It’s like the old joke in the office: ‘Whippings will continue until morale improves.’ It does not work that way,” the analyst said.

While opinion polls give AKP a commanding lead over its rivals, some polls record a softening in AKP support, with as much as 20 percent of its voters considering not supporting the party. But Aksener’s political past is seen as a potential handicap.

“Her party of origin is the extreme right MHP Party, which is far from being a center-right party,” said Aktar. “Her brain team [advisers], her very close team, are almost all [of] MHP origin. Among them are some very radical figures. She needs to broaden her political staff if she is to broaden her constituency. For the time being, in Turkish public opinion, she is considered an offspring [of] the MHP.”

Winning over Kurdish voters

In the eyes of skeptics, Aksener’s political baggage will be her biggest hurdle in seeking to win over AKP Kurdish voters, who account for about a fifth of its support. The MHP, her old party, is deeply hostile to the granting of greater rights to Turkey’s large Kurdish minority. But with Erdogan increasingly courting nationalist voters, he has enforced a major military crackdown in Kurdish regions. Ankara’s tough stance against the recent Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum, some analysts say, has further alienated traditional AKP Kurdish voters.

“The AKP Kurds have no alternative, even though Erdogan has been quite tough on the Kurds. The traditionalist Kurds know CHP or MHP is no alternative. They will evaluate now whether the Iyi Party is serious,” said Aktar.

Aksener reportedly is planning to spend time in the Kurdish region. Critics charge that the logo of her party, perhaps by coincidence, is an image of the sun, a traditional symbol of Kurdish nationalists.

“Aksener, during her time as interior minister, was considered a heavily anti-Kurdish politician, so she needs to change this image and it won’t be easy. There are no good memories about her among the Kurdish population,” said Aktar.

Aksener’s tenure as interior minister was at the height of fighting against the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK. She was then a member of the center-right DYP Party, which traditionally secured significant Kurdish votes despite the conflict, a legacy observers say she will seek to resurrect.

On Kurdish rights, as on most key policy issues, Aksener has not yet revealed her hand.

“She is going to get reaction votes, but whether she really can put together an agenda that will appeal to all those unsatisfied voters is an unanswered question,” said Yesilada.
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NATO Challenges Russia on Scope of War Games

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NATO has accused Russia of misleading the Western military alliance about the military exercises it held last month with Belarus.

“There is a discrepancy between what Russia briefed before the exercise … and the actual numbers and the scale and the scope of the exercise,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

Russian defense officials said the Zapad 2017 exercises involved 12,700 troops, but NATO contends there were nearly 100,000 troops from the Arctic to eastern Ukraine and that they simulated attacks on the West.

Alexander Grushko, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, disputed the claim. “NATO countries are counting all the military activities that took place in the Russian Federation and counting them as part of Zapad,” he said. “We don’t accept the propaganda about the Russian exercises.”

In the run-up to the exercises, there was concern in the West that Russia would use the war games to seize parts of the Baltics that have high numbers of Russian minorities, as it did with Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.

There was also concern that Moscow would leave troops at NATO’s borders, for possible future confrontation with the West. But Stoltenberg said there was no indication Russia had done so.

Grushko insisted there was “no proof” of the claims NATO was making. “All efforts have been to demonize Zapad,” he said.
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African Football Chief Backs Off on Cameroon Threat

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While visiting Burkina Faso in August, the head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said Cameroon still needed “to convince CAF of its ability to host” the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. For CAF president Ahmad, who uses only one name, it was his clearest indication that Cameroon could lose its right to host the tournament.

But in an interview with VOA’s French to Africa Service, Ahmad softened his position, now saying he never wanted to “strip” Cameroon of the Cup.

Here are highlights of the interview, translated from French:

VOA: On the 2019 AFCON, you recently supported Cameroon, the host country of the competition. Does this definitely end the controversy?

Ahmad: I have never said that 2019 AFCON was being withdrawn from Cameroon. I am a president who succeeds another administration. There are certain rules that must be respected, but CAF’s current managers and I are uncompromising with respect to the specifications. We have reviewed our specifications and if Cameroon meets all the requirements, there is no issue.

But I have said, and I repeat, that at the time I made that statement [in Ouagadougou last August], Cameroon was not ready. Proof is that 24 hours after those comments, the Cameroonian political authorities signed the contract with companies to build the infrastructures. A few weeks later, the government set up the organizing committee. As CAF president, had I not the right to be worried?”

VOA: Did your remarks spur progress in Cameroon?

Ahmad: … There has been progress and evolution since my intervention. Today, in Cote d’Ivoire, for example, the organizing committee for 2021 AFCON was set up. This is a country that is already ahead of us. But my remarks were necessary and many Cameroonians thanked me for this.

VOA: Did your meeting in Kinshasa with [Cameroonian football star] Samuel Eto’o help to calm matters on the case of 2019 AFCON vis-à-vis Cameroon?

Ahmad: I thank Samuel for his involvement. He may not come, nor ask for CAF, but his initiative is very commendable. He is probably someone with the same interests as us today. It is a cordial relationship, not only for the CAF, but also for reorganizing Cameroonian football.

VOA:2018 CHAN [African Nations Championship] has been given to Morocco to replace Kenya. Is this also a way to support a potential Moroccan bid for the 2026 World Cup?

Ahmad: Being president of the CAF means I have the responsibility to ensure that the AFCON and CHAN are in line with our current policy, and for 2026, one of my countries is a candidate. Africa is one of the four main continents of football and among the first two in terms of number of members. In a century of competition, only once has the World Cup been organized in Africa, so it is perfectly legitimate and logical that Africa is calling for the organization for 2026, 16 years after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

VOA: What do you think of Nigeria and Egypt being the first African countries to qualify for the 2018 World Cup?

Ahmad: Congratulations to these two great soccer nations. We will see what CAF can do in preparing and supporting these two countries with the three future qualifiers, the federations, and the authorities of these countries. I hope African countries can go as far as possible in this competition.
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Sources: Putin Ally Wins Right to Develop Prime Moscow Plot

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A company with ties to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has won the right to develop a prime piece of Moscow real estate near the Kremlin, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Moscow city government auctioned off the plot, which lies on the bank’s of the Moskva river and includes a number of historic buildings, and it was won by a construction company called Gorkapstroy-Garant, according to the city.

The two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that the firm represents the interests of businessman Gennady Timchenko.

Reuters was not able to independently verify that Timchenko, who has been described by the U.S. Treasury Department as a member of Putin’s inner circle, has a financial interest.

A spokesman for the Volga Group, which groups together Timchenko’s business interests, did not respond to telephone calls or to an emailed request for comment on Thursday.

The plot is a few hundred metres from the Kremlin, and some of the buildings on it date back to the 18th century.

Under a development plan presented by the Moscow city government in August, the winning bidder will preserve and restore historic buildings, turn one of the buildings into a hotel and convert some of the complex into apartments.

Timchenko has since 2014 been subject to U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

No contact details are listed for Gorkapstroy-Garant. Its parent company, Gorkapstroy, did not respond to a written request for comment. Staff were unable to connect a Reuters reporter by phone to Gorkapstroy’s boss.

The site had been used as a training facility for Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, the arm of the military which operates Russia’s nuclear arsenal. It became the property of Moscow city a few years ago.

Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Susan Fenton.
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US Sanctions N. Korean Officials for Human Rights Abuses

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The United States blacklisted seven North Korean officials and three government entities Thursday, saying they had engaged in human rights abuses that were “among the worst in the world.”

The State Department and Treasury imposed economic sanctions on officials in Pyongyang’s military security, labor and diplomatic outposts, as well as forced labor operations in foreign countries where North Korean soldiers are required to work for free while their wages are sent back to the financially beleaguered government.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the “sanctions target the North Korean military and regime officials engaged in flagrant abuses of human rights. We also are targeting North Korean financial facilitators who attempt to keep the regime afloat with foreign currency earned through forced labor operations.”

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the human rights abuses also included extrajudicial killings, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence inside the country.

“Many of the country’s human rights abuses underwrite the regime’s weapons program,” she said, “including forced labor in the form of mass mobilizations, re-education through labor camps, and overseas labor contracts. Thousands of North Koreans are sent abroad every year to work in slavelike conditions, earning revenue for the regime.”

Nauert also said “the regime’s efforts to restrict North Koreans’ freedom of movement, right to leave their country and access to information reach far beyond its sovereign boundaries. The government deploys security officials on assignments overseas to monitor the activities of North Koreans abroad and to forcibly repatriate individuals seeking asylum abroad.”

U.N. report

The U.S. report came as Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special human rights rapporteur for North Korea, released a similar report concluding that there were “patterns of grave violations” of human rights in the reclusive communist country. Pyongyang has kept him from personal observation of human rights in the country, but he said he had spoken with people who have witnessed abuses there.

However, the U.N. official cautioned that the world body’s repeated imposition of sanctions against North Korea aiming at blocking its nuclear weapons development “can have a devastating impact on the civilian population.”

He called for the world to have “constructive engagement” with North Korea, even while acknowledging such advice “may not be welcomed with open arms.”

The latest U.S. condemnation of the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came as President Donald Trump was nearing the start of a five-nation Asia trip in early November, including visits to South Korea, China and Japan. Trump is planning wide-ranging talks with leaders in the region about North Korea’s continued defiance of the U.N. dictates against further nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
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US State Department in Solidarity With Intersex Persons but Faces Lawsuit

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The State Department on Thursday recognized Intersex Awareness Day and said the United States stands in solidarity with intersex persons around the world. The statement comes as the department faces a discrimination lawsuit on the issue.

“We recognize that intersex persons face violence, discrimination, harassment, and persecution on account of their sex characteristics,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said. “At a young age, intersex persons routinely face forced medical surgeries without free or informed consent. These interventions jeopardize their physical integrity and ability to live freely.”

The State Department said it reaffirms its strong commitment to promoting a world where all persons can freely and equally express themselves with dignity, regardless of sex characteristics.

“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of male or female.  

The statement Thursday comes as the department faces a federal discrimination lawsuit from nonprofit Lambda Legal group on behalf of intersex American and U.S. navy veteran, Dana Zzyym.

Zzyym was denied a U.S. passport because only two choices were available for gender marker on the passport application form, either male or female.

“Dana has been fighting for almost three years for an essential identity document that accurately reflects who they are,” Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Paul Castillo said in an October 10 press release. “The U.S. District Court ordered the State Department to reconsider its binary-only gender policy barring use of a third gender marker on U.S. passports.”

Lambda Legal says many intersex people identify as male or female, but some, like Zzyym, do not.  Zzyym uses the gender-neutral pronouns “they,” “them” and “their” and was born with ambiguous sex characteristics.

Lambda Legal outlined Zzyym’s struggle.

“Shortly after Dana’s birth, their parents and doctor decided to raise them as a boy. As a result, Dana underwent several irreversible, painful and medically unnecessary surgeries that didn’t work, traumatized Dana and left them with severe scarring.”

Later in life, Zzymm began educating the public about issues facing intersex people and applied for a passport to travel to a forum in Mexico, but the application was denied.

In October 2015, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against the U.S. State Department for violating the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The court issued a ruling in favor of Zzyym in November of 2016. However, the case has been reopened because the State Department continues to refuse a gender marker that is neither male nor female on its passport applications.

Asked to comment on the lawsuit, the State Department told VOA: “As a matter of policy, we are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

In tweets Thursday, Lambda Legal called the State Department statement recognizing Intersex Awareness Day hypocritical and said the department should “take its own advice & help end violence, discrimination, harassment, persecution of intersex people.”
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Summer Internships Offer Real World Experiences

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When kids go back to school, they usually talk about what they did during their summer vacation. The 15 and 16-year-olds who joined Summer RISE in Montgomery County, Maryland, have some unique stories about work in fire departments, non-profits, private businesses and many other workplaces. Faiza Elmasry tells us about one of the high schoolers who spent 3 weeks in the biology lab at a local college. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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Tillerson: Assad Has ‘No Role’ in Syria’s Future

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America’s top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no role to play in the future of his country and he must go. 
 
In Geneva, the last Geneva, the last scheduled stop on the U.S. secretary of state’s week-long trip to the Middle East and South Asia, Tillerson called his discussions with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura fruitful. 

Syria’s civil war has gone on for more than six years.  Nearly one-half-million people have been killed and around 11 million have been displaced both inside and outside the country.

Despite the bleak picture, Tillerson sees positive signs toward a political resolution to this crisis.  He says the militant Islamic State group is on the brink of defeat and the United States is continuing to de-escalate violence in Syria.

He said the United States wants to see Syria emerge from this war as a whole and unified country — a country in which President Bashar al-Assad has no role to play.

“I have said this many times as well that we do not believe there is a future for the Assad regime, the Assad family,” Tillerson reiterated.  ” I think I have said it on a number of occasions.  The reign of the Assad family is coming to the end.  The only issue is how should that be brought about.  And we believe it can be brought about and will be brought about.”

Tillerson said he supports the so-called Geneva process, which seeks a peaceful, negotiated end to the Syrian war.  He noted the process sets out specific procedures for holding elections, but has no prerequisite that Assad goes before the process starts.

U.N. envoy de Mistura, who is mediating the negotiations, briefed the U.N. Security Council by video conference following his meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State.  De Mistura announced he plans to reconvene an eighth round of intra-Syrian talks on November 28.
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Twitter Drops Ads by Russia’s Sputnik, RT

Posted on by SeeUS

The social media company Twitter on Thursday announced it would block any advertising on its platform from Russia-sponsored news outlets Sputnik and RT.

The company, in a statement on its blog, said it took the step as part of its “ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience on Twitter.”

Twitter cited a report produced in January by U.S. intelligence agencies that concluded the Russian government attempted to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“Early this year, the U.S. intelligence community named RT and Sputnik as implementing state-sponsored Russian efforts to interfere with and disrupt the 2016 Presidential election, which is not something we want on Twitter,” the company statement read.

In its report, the intelligence community concluded “with high confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an influence campaign intended to “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.”

Further, the report claims “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect [Donald] Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him,” though it provides no direct evidence for either of these claims.

The Russian effort to influence the election is said to have consisted of several hundred fake Twitter accounts and about $100,000 worth of Facebook ads promoting “divisive” causes like Black Lives Matter. U.S. media reports also indicate Russians purchased similar ads on Google.

Lawyers for Twitter and Facebook will testify next month at hearings before congressional committees investigating what, if any, effect the Russian trolls may have had on the election.

Twitter said it will still allow RT, formerly called Russia Today, and Sputnik to remain as users on the platform, but they will not be eligible to buy ads. The company also said it will take the nearly $2 million it has earned on ads from the Russian news agencies since 2011 and donate it to support “external research into the use of Twitter in civic engagement and elections.”

 
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Violence Disrupts Kenyan Presidential Re-run

Posted on by SeeAF

Thursday’s repeat of Kenya’s presidential election has been marred by clashes between police and protesters, as well as unopened polling stations in opposition strongholds. VOA Nairobi correspondent Jill Craig recorded this video Oct. 26, 2017.
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Kenya Election: Boycott, Protests Derail Voting in Opposition Stronghold of Kisumu

Posted on by SeeAF

Kenya’s electoral commission has postponed voting in four counties to Saturday due to security issues. The postponement includes the western city of Kisumu, where polling stations failed to open today amid violent unrest and an opposition boycott of Thursday’s election. The city is a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who withdrew from the presidential re-run election two weeks ago, and is calling for a fresh poll in 90 days. Mohammed Yusuf reports for VOA from Kisumu.
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Lower Voter Turnout Marks Kenya’s Re-Run Presidential Poll

Posted on by SeeAF

Kenyans voted Thursday in the country’s second presidential election, although turnout appears lower than it was for the August 8th poll and violent protests have erupted in some opposition strongholds. Security issues have forced voting in several areas to be delayed until Saturday.
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US Defense Officials Brief Lawmakers on Niger Attack

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. defense officials briefed lawmakers Thursday about the Islamic State ambush attack in Niger earlier this month that killed four American soldiers.

The Pentagon’s assistant secretary for international security affairs, Robert Karem, and Air Force Major General Albert Elton, the deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism, discussed the October 4 firefight in a closed-door session of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.  The House Armed Services Committee held a separate hearing.

Defense Department officials are in the midst of an investigation of the attack that occurred near the Niger-Mali border and took the lives of the four servicemen, all U.S. Special Forces troops.  Even as details remain murky of how the attack unfolded, several key lawmakers have voiced surprise that the United States has had about 1,000 troops in the West African nation, and said they are uncertain what the troops’ mission is.

After the House hearing, Congressman Marc Veasey, a Texas Democrat, said, “I think that you’re going to see more and more troops in Africa because … as ISIS continues to get pushed out of the Middle East and their so-called caliphate … they’re going to be looking for places to regroup.”

He said the jihadists are “looking for people that may sympathize with them – may want to bolster their own reputation in these certain areas.  And you have a lot of ungoverned space in Africa, particularly along these borders.  When you look at what happened in Niger and how close it was to Mali it’s almost very similar to the Middle East and that those spaces are ungoverned – yeah, no man’s land.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he did not specifically authorize the Niger mission.

“But I have generals that are great generals.  These are great fighters, these are warriors,” he said.  “I gave them authority to do what’s right so that we win.  That’s the authority they have.  I want to win and we’re going to win.”

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, said Trump “is the commander in chief and it’s about time he stops trying to shift responsibility to others.  That’s what a commander in chief is all about.”

Trump has been embroiled in days of contentious public statements about his condolence call to the widow of one of the soldiers killed, Sergeant La David Johnson.

The widow, Myeshia Johnson, pregnant with her third child, told ABC News earlier this week that Trump’s call to her only made her cry more because she heard him stumbling trying to remember my husband’s name.

“That’s what hurt me the most because if my husband is out there fighting for our country, and if he risks his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?  And that one made me upset and cry even more because my husband was an awesome soldier.”

She said that Trump told her that her husband “knew what he signed up for [in joining the military], but it hurts anyway.  It made me cry.  I was angry at the tone of his voice.”

Trump has disputed her account, saying, “I certainly respect La David, who I, by the way, called La David right from the beginning.  Just so you understand, they put a chart in front, ‘La David,’ it says ‘La David Johnson.’  So I called right from the beginning.”

“I was extremely nice to her,” Trump said.  “She sounds like a lovely lady. I’ve never seen her, I’ve never met her, but she sounds like a lovely lady.  But I was extremely nice to her, I was extremely courteous, as I was to everyone else.”

 

 
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Iraqi Military Takes on IS in ‘Last Big Fight’

Posted on by SeeEA

The Iraqi military has launched an offensive to capture the last remaining bastions of Islamic State control in several small towns and villages along the border with Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the multi-flanked attack Thursday, saying the IS jihadists remaining in Al-Qaim and Raqa have just two choices — “death or surrender.”

“They will all return to the arms of the motherland thanks to the determination and endurance of our fighting heroes,” he said.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting in Iraq has dubbed the offensive “the last big fight,” as Iraqi forces have already recaptured more than 90 percent of the territory previously seized by IS in 2014.

There are about 1,500 IS fighters remaining in the area surrounding Al-Qaim, according to the U.S. military.

The U.S.-led coalition said it launched 15 strikes on IS targets in the Al-Qaim area and in the town of Albu Kamal on the Syrian side of the border.

Russian-backed fighters on the Syrian side of the border have also been pushing back on IS fighters, moving along the Euphrates valley, while separate U.S.-backed forces attack the jihadists from the North.

 

 
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Iraqi Prime Minister: Kurdish Referendum Must be Annulled

Posted on by SeeEA

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday rejected an offer by Kurdish leaders to freeze the results of their independence referendum in favor of dialogue in order to avoid conflict.

Abadi said in a statement his government will only accept the annulment of the referendum and respect for the constitution.

Those who voted in the September referendum overwhelmingly supported independence for the northern Kurdish region. Abadi called the vote illegal, and in response sent his forces to retake control of disputed areas that were in control of the Kurds, including the city of Kirkuk.

Kurdish authorities said Iraqi forces launched another attack on their fighters Thursday in the Zummar area.

On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government said confrontations have hurt both sides and could lead to ongoing bloodshed and social unrest in Iraq.

“Certainly, continued fighting does not lead any side to victory, but it will drive the country towards disarray and chaos, affecting all aspects of life,” the KRG said.

In addition to setting aside the referendum and proposing talks, the Kurds also called for an immediate halt to all military operations in their northern region of Iraq.
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Top US Security Official: Iran Threatens Regional Stability

Posted on by SeeEA

U.S. President Donald Trump says Islamic State in the Middle East is being defeated and the militants are moving to parts of Africa and other places. But a top U.S. security official says the departure of Islamic State does not spell the end of terrorism in the region. In an interview with Alhurra television this week, National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster warned of Iran’s dangerous influence in the Middle East. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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