Month: December 2017

Pope Ends Bangladesh Visit with Praise, Humor

Posted on by SeeEU

Pope Francis visited a home in Dhaka founded by Mother Teresa for orphans, unwed mothers and destitute elderly on Saturday as he wrapped up his trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The pope, who leaves for Rome later Saturday, was surrounded by children and nuns wearing the traditional blue-and-white habit of the woman who died in 1997 and became a saint in 2016.

Mother Teresa, who started the Missionaries of Charity to serve “the poorest of the poor,” opened the home in the early1970s to look after Bengali women who became pregnant as a result of rape by Pakistani soldiers during the war of independence.

Today the home, in one of the world’s poorest cities, looks after orphaned and abandoned children, unwed mothers and sick elderly people.

Francis, who has made outreach to the poor and other people on the margins of society a priority, visited some of the bed-ridden sick.

​Pontiff says Rohingya

Francis said he was very pleased by an inter-religious meeting Friday night, where he held an emotional encounter with Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on his current trip, saying they had God within them and should be respected.

Previously, in Myanmar, he followed the advice of Myanmar Church officials who said his use of the word could prompt a backlash against Christians and hurt Myanmar’s fragile path to democracy.

That had disappointed rights groups such as Amnesty International.

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognize the stateless Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity.

Best relations among religions

At the Saturday morning meeting at the home founded by Mother Teresa, the pope praised Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country where Catholics make up less than 1 percent of its around 169 million people, for having what he called some of the best inter-religious relations in the world.

As he has done in similar encounters, Francis told the priests and nuns gathered in Dhaka’s Holy Rosary Church that he was ditching the eight-page speech that he had prepared and would instead speak to them from his heart. 

 

“I don’t know if it will be better or worse, but I promise it will be less boring,’’ he quipped. 

 

And then for the next 15 minutes, Francis had the crowd in stitches, mixing paternal advice on how to tend to religious vocations (‘‘with tenderness’’) with gentle warnings about the havoc that gossip “bombs” can wreak when lobbed in closed religious life. 

 

History’s first Jesuit pope has frequently lamented the damage gossip can do within the church, where vows of obedience, strict hierarchies and closed communities can breed jealousies and resentment. 

 

The Bangladeshi edition was far more jovial in tone, and many in the pews nodded along as Francis delivered one zinger after another to make his point. It was a humor-filled end to a tense diplomatic trip.

His last event in Bangladesh will be a meeting with young people at a college founded by Catholic priests after the war of independence in the early 1970s left the new country with a dearth of places of higher education.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mattis Suggests Change in Posture Toward Kurdish YPG 

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis suggested the United States will move away from arming Syrian Kurdish fighters, as part of a wider shift from a military-led to a diplomatic-led approach in Syria.

Mattis’ comments help clarify the status of the U.S. relationship with Kurdish YPG fighters, who have been a crucial U.S. partner in the Syrian war.

Turkey last week said President Donald Trump vowed to stop arming the YPG, during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ankara, which sees the YPG as a terrorist group, has opposed the U.S. arming the Kurdish fighters.

However a White House statement issued after the call was more circumspect. It said Trump “also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqa is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return.”

But Mattis’ comments seem to confirm the U.S. intends to change its posture toward the YPG, as the U.S. makes that shift.

“That fighting is now dropping off in terms of the need for offensive capability. Consistent with that, we’re changing the composition of our forces to something that supports the diplomats and the Geneva Process,” Mattis said.

As Islamic State is defeated, the U.S. is shifting from a “military-led effort” to a “diplomatically led” effort, Mattis said. That approach will also affect U.S. allies in the region, he added.

“The YPG is armed. And as the coalition stops offensive ops then obviously you don’t need that. You need security — you need police forces. That’s local forces to make sure that ISIS doesn’t come back,” he said.

Asked whether this means the U.S. will stop arming the YPG, Mattis replied: “We are going to go exactly along the lines of what the president announced.”

Mattis’ comments came as he headed to the Middle East, where he will make stops in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Pakistan.

YPG
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Mattis Meets with Egyptian President to Discuss Terrorism, Middle East Challenges

Posted on by SeeAF

U.S. defense chief Jim Mattis has met with Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, ahead of a counter-extremism conference focused on West Africa on Sunday.

During the meeting, Secretary Mattis offered condolences for the recent terrorist attack on a mosque in Bir al-Abed, Egypt, and recognized Egypt as a strategic defense partner with the United States.

Mattis noted Egypt’s importance to the stability of the Middle East as well as Egypt’s ongoing fight against terrorism and efforts to protect Egypt’s borders.

A report on the meeting said the two leaders discussed a range of Middle East security issues and talked about a mutual desire to cooperate on terrorism and regional challenges.

Earlier, on the flight to Cairo, Mattis told reporters that counterterrorism cooperation with Egypt is growing. He said the U.S. remains committed to strong ties with Cairo, despite freezing some military aid to Egypt over rights concerns earlier this year.

Cairo was the first stop on a four-nation tour. Mattis is in Jordan and travels later to Kuwait, and Pakistan.

The trip comes as the U.S. military shifts its focus in the Middle East, after having driven out the Islamic State militant group from its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

A major focus of the trip will be pressuring Pakistan to end its alleged ties to militant groups that have attacked U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

“We have heard from Pakistan leaders that they do not support terrorism, so I expect to see that sort of action reflected in their policies,” Mattis told reporters.

In October, Mattis said the United States would try “one more time” to work with Islamabad before taking “whatever steps are necessary” to address its alleged support for the militants.

Egypt and terrorism

Egypt last week suffered what officials called the deadliest terror attack in the country’s modern history, when 25-30 militants carrying Islamic State flags killed over 300 worshippers at a mosque frequented by Sufi Muslim worshippers.

Mattis said he will deliver his condolences for the attack, which occurred in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

“We are working closely with Egypt on how they can best defeat this common threat,” Mattis said, adding that U.S.-Egypt counterterror cooperation has grown during his time as defense chief.

​Egypt aid cuts

But earlier this year, the Trump administration denied Egypt $96 million in aid and delayed a further $195 million over human rights concerns.

Egyptian officials called the move a “misjudgment.”

The United States gives Egypt approximately $1.3 billion in military aid every year.

Trump has since said he would consider reinstating the full aid. Mattis did not say whether he would discuss reinstating the assistance during his visit to Cairo.

 

The Sinai attack could help justify that decision, said Timothy Kaldas, who specializes in U.S.-Egypt relations at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

But, he warned, Egypt’s rights record has not progressed since the aid suspension was announced.

 

“Moreover, there are no indications from the government, nor legislation under consideration that suggests the rights situation will improve in the near future,” he added.

President Sissi has vowed to use “all brute force” necessary to respond to the Sinai attackers, and to secure the restive Sinai within the next three months.

Since 2011 the militant group Sinai Province has been active in North Sinai, a remote desert region that borders the Gaza Strip. It has carried out several deadly attacks against police, soldiers, and Coptic Christians.

 

Securing the area has proven problematic for Sissi. Egypt’s military launched a large-scale military campaign against militants in September 2015. But, as evidenced by last week’s attack, its effectiveness has been questionable.

Rights groups have also accused Egypt’s military of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture.

Pakistan

Perhaps the highest-profile portion of the trip will occur in Pakistan, where Mattis is expected to try to persuade Islamabad to destroy what the U.S. calls terrorist “safe havens.”

The U.S. has for a decade accused Pakistan of sheltering terrorists, including the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan denies sheltering the militants, and the issue has served as a major irritant to bilateral ties.

The dispute has a direct impact on Afghanistan, where U.S. generals acknowledge the NATO coalition remains in a stalemate with Taliban insurgents after 16 years of war.

 

Thousands more U.S. troops are headed to Afghanistan, along with an increase in U.S. airpower, as part of a new White House strategy announced in August.

 

U.S. officials have said Pakistan has not changed its behavior since President Donald Trump’s speech, in which he called out Pakistan for continuing to “harbor criminals and terrorists.”

“They have had many of their innocent people killed, they’ve had many of their soldiers killed and wounded,” Mattis says. ”The bottom line is Pakistan has to act in its own best interest. They know this.”

 

In response, the Trump administration is considering measures that include expanding U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan or downgrading the country’s status as a major non-NATO ally, according to media reports.

 

Other more severe options include declaring Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism or sanctioning individual Pakistani leaders suspected of having ties with the Taliban.

 

But the Trump administration is not likely to take any kind of punitive action for at least a few weeks, said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst with the Woodrow Wilson Center.

 

“I think it (the administration) wants to give the Pakistanis a bit more time to see if they’re responding to the various demands that the United States made of them when it comes to cracking down on terrorists,” said Kugelman.

 

One of the likelier U.S. responses, according to Kugelman, is expanding not only the geographic scope of the drone war, but also widening the type of targets the United States goes after.

 

“I think we could start seeing the U.S. trying to target more Haqqani Network and Afghan Taliban targets,” especially in the sparsely populated Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, he said.

 

The United States has much to lose if ties were to deteriorate. Pakistan controls U.S. military supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan, and could close them down, as they did in 2011. The U.S. would also like Pakistan to scale back its nuclear modernization, improve ties with India, and stay engaged in the broader fight against Islamic militants.

 

But despite the risks, Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, warns that Washington appears to be running out of patience.

 

“For many years we were trying to hold out hope that the Pakistanis would change their mind about Afghanistan and our role there,” he said. “But those kinds of hopes aren’t as prevalent anymore. And on balance, therefore, I think we are closer to using some of those tougher methods.”
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Mattis Praises Strong US-Egypt Ties, Despite Frozen Aid

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says counterterrorism cooperation with Egypt is growing, and the U.S. remains committed to strong ties with Cairo, despite freezing some military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns earlier this year.

Mattis made the comments as he traveled to the Egyptian capital, the first stop on a four-nation tour that will also take him to Jordan, Kuwait and Pakistan.

The trip comes as the U.S. military shifts its focus in the Middle East, after having driven out the Islamic State militant group from its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

A major focus of the trip will be pressuring Pakistan to end its alleged ties to militant groups that have attacked U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

“We have heard from Pakistan leaders that they do not support terrorism, so I expect to see that sort of action reflected in their policies,” Mattis told reporters.

In October, Mattis said the United States would try “one more time” to work with Islamabad before taking “whatever steps are necessary” to address its alleged support for the militants.

Egypt and terrorism

But first, Mattis will hold a morning of bilateral meetings in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi.

Egypt last week suffered what officials called the deadliest terror attack in the country’s modern history, when 25-30 militants carrying Islamic State flags killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque frequented by Sufi Muslim worshippers.

Mattis said he will deliver his condolences for the attack, which occurred in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

“We are working closely with Egypt on how they can best defeat this common threat,” Mattis said, adding that U.S.-Egypt counterterror cooperation has grown during his time as defense chief.

​Egypt aid cuts

But earlier this year, the Trump administration denied Egypt $96 million in aid and delayed a further $195 million because of human rights concerns.

Egyptian officials called the move a “misjudgment.”

The United States gives Egypt about $1.3 billion in military aid every year.

Trump has since said he would consider reinstating the full aid. Mattis did not say whether he would discuss reinstating the assistance during his visit to Cairo.

The Sinai attack could help justify that decision, said Timothy Kaldas, who specializes in U.S.-Egypt relations at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

But, he warned, Egypt’s human rights record has not progressed since the aid suspension was announced.

“Moreover, there are no indications from the government, nor legislation under consideration that suggests the rights situation will improve in the near future,” he added.

‘All brute force’

President Sissi has vowed to use “all brute force” necessary to respond to the Sinai attackers and to secure the restive Sinai within the next three months.

Since 2011, the militant group Sinai Province has been active in North Sinai, a remote desert region that borders the Gaza Strip. It has carried out several deadly attacks against police, soldiers and Coptic Christians.

Securing the area has proved problematic for Sissi. Egypt’s military launched a large-scale campaign against militants in September 2015. But, as evidenced by last week’s attack, its effectiveness has been questionable.

Rights groups have also accused Egypt’s military of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture.

​Pakistan

Perhaps the highest-profile portion of the trip will occur in Pakistan, where Mattis is expected to try to persuade Islamabad to destroy what the U.S. calls terrorist “safe havens.”

The U.S. has for a decade accused Pakistan of sheltering terrorists, including the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan denies sheltering the militants, and the issue has served as a major irritant to bilateral ties.

The dispute has a direct impact on Afghanistan, where U.S. generals acknowledge the NATO coalition remains in a stalemate with Taliban insurgents after 16 years of war.

Thousands more U.S. troops are headed to Afghanistan, along with an increase in U.S. airpower, as part of a new White House strategy announced in August.

U.S. officials have said Pakistan has not changed its behavior since President Donald Trump’s speech, in which he called out Pakistan for continuing to “harbor criminals and terrorists.”

“They have had many of their innocent people killed, they’ve had many of their soldiers killed and wounded,” Mattis said. “The bottom line is Pakistan has to act in its own best interest. They know this.”

US reaction?

In response, the Trump administration is considering measures that include expanding U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan or downgrading the country’s status as a major non-NATO ally, according to media reports.

Other more severe options include declaring Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism or sanctioning individual Pakistani leaders suspected of having ties with the Taliban.

But the Trump administration is not likely to take any kind of punitive action for at least a few weeks, said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst with the Woodrow Wilson Center.

“I think it (the administration) wants to give the Pakistanis a bit more time to see if they’re responding to the various demands that the United States made of them when it comes to cracking down on terrorists,” Kugelman said.

One of the likelier U.S. responses, according to Kugelman, is expanding not only the geographic scope of the drone war, but also widening the type of targets the United States goes after.

“I think we could start seeing the U.S. trying to target more Haqqani Network and Afghan Taliban targets,” especially in the sparsely populated Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, he said.

The United States has much to lose if ties were to deteriorate. Pakistan controls U.S. military supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan, and could close them down, as they did in 2011. The U.S. would also like Pakistan to scale back its nuclear modernization, improve ties with India, and stay engaged in the broader fight against Islamic militants.

But despite the risks, Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, warns that Washington appears to be running out of patience.

“For many years we were trying to hold out hope that the Pakistanis would change their mind about Afghanistan and our role there,” he said. “But those kinds of hopes aren’t as prevalent anymore. And on balance, therefore, I think we are closer to using some of those tougher methods.”
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Therapy Robot Suggests Personal Rehab Exercises

Posted on by SeeEU

Physical therapists can be a vital part of getting injured people back on their feet. But the therapy they recommend can sometimes be less than precise. Some new technology now being used in Italy could be a valuable tool for helping people recover from their injuries. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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Justice Minister: Kosovo PM Removed From International Arrest Warrant

Posted on by SeeEU

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj was removed from an international arrest warrant issued by Serbia, lifting an obstacle to him traveling outside the country, the justice minister said on Friday.

Early this year Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovar guerilla leader who in September took over as prime minister, was arrested in France on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia. He was released after a French court rejected Belgrade’s extradition request.

Despite many attempts by Pristina, Belgrade refused to remove his name from the Interpol red notice.

“Today I was informed that Interpol has removed 18 people from Kosovo that are wanted by Serbia and this list includes also the prime minister,” Abelard Tahiri, Kosovo’s Justice Minister told Reuters.

“After today’s decision all these individuals are free to travel outside the country without any problem.”

Haradinaj and others are wanted by Serbia for allegedly committing war crimes.

Serbia has charged Haradinaj with murdering Serbs in the late 1990s war.

The 1998-99 conflict ended after NATO bombed the now-defunct Yugoslavia, then comprising Serbia and Montenegro, for 78 days to force a withdrawal of its troops from Kosovo and end a counter-insurgency campaign against ethnic Albanians.

Haradinaj, who has twice been tried and acquitted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, denies any wrongdoing.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia refused to recognize its former breakaway province.
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Dutch Autopsy Shows Dead War Criminal Had Cyanide in System

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A former Croatian general who died after swallowing a liquid at a war crimes hearing in the Netherlands had cyanide in his system, Dutch prosecutors said after an autopsy was performed Friday.

Preliminary results from a toxicological test revealed “a concentration of potassium cyanide” in Slobodan Praljak’s blood, the Hague Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

The cyanide caused heart failure, which investigators “pointed out” as Praljak’s “suspected cause of death,” according to the prosecutor’s statement.

On Wednesday, Praljak, 72, drank from a small bottle that he said contained poison seconds after an appeals judge at the U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia confirmed his 20-year sentence for crimes during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital a little while later.

Meanwhile, the United Nations tribunal ordered an independent review of its “internal operations” following the dramatic event in its courtroom. The tribunal said its review was meant to complement Dutch prosecutors’ investigation of Praljak’s death.

The announcement came after Croatia’s justice minister raised doubts about whether security and medical staff at the tribunal responded quickly enough when Praljak raised the bottle to his lips with a trembling right hand and consumed its contents.

Before the toxicological test results came back, Dutch prosecutors had confirmed the bottle carried a toxic chemical. It remains unclear how Praljak, who was in custody before the hearing, obtained the substance and smuggled it into the courtroom.

The tribunal’s review will begin next week and will be led by Hassan Jallow, a former prosecutor with the U.N.’s Rwanda war crimes tribunal. It aims to file a report by December 31, when the tribunal formally closes its doors, having completed all its cases.

The court says Jallow “is mandated to undertake an assessment of relevant existing procedures as well as make any recommendations which may assist other courts in the future.”

Tribunal spokesman Nenad Golcevski said it was not the first time such a probe had been ordered by the court.

“Similar internal reviews have been initiated, for example, after the death of Slobodan Milosevic,” Golcevski said, referring to the former Yugoslav president who died in his tribunal cell in 2006 before judges could deliver verdicts in his trial.

Two Croatian experts observed the autopsy on Praljak’s body at the tribunal’s request.

Late Thursday, Croatian Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic said the country would ask Dutch authorities to be included in the investigation into Praljak’s death.

Bosnjakovic told Croatia’s state TV that “much remains unclear, including how the poison was taken in, why security didn’t react in time and why medical help arrived so late.” He added that Croatia wants “all facts cleared about this tragic event.”

Praljak’s attorney, Nika Pinter, told Croatia’s Nova TV she did not know how Praljak got the bottle past security.

“But that was his decision, his decision,” Pinter said. “He would not want to live for one day with handcuffs on his hands, and [the] stigma of war criminal on his back.”
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Thousands of African Migrants Detained in Libya to be Repatriated

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An airlift is under way to repatriate some 15,000 African migrants, who are being held in abusive detention conditions in Libya. The International Organization for Migration says it expects to complete the operation before the end of the year.

The repatriation operation was triggered by recent reports of rampant migrant abuse in Libya, including slave auctions by criminal gangs. The IOM has begun scaling up its voluntary humanitarian return program in the wake of an African Union-European Union initiative to tackle the problem.

This year, the IOM has brought more than 14,000 mainly sub-Saharan migrants back to their home countries. The current operation will more than double the number of migrants who will have been voluntarily repatriated by year’s end. Most come from Nigeria, Guinea, Gambia, Mali and Senegal.

Migrants signing up for the program are desperate to return home, according to IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle.

“A senior colleague of ours was in a detention center on Monday of this week with some senior EU delegations. There were about 1,000 people crammed into the space pleading, begging, shouting to be taken home,” he said.

Doyle tells VOA the migrants to be flown home are in government-administered detention centers in and around Tripoli. They account for only a small portion of the migrants being detained throughout Libya.

“There are many, many, many other detention centers run by criminal gangs — dreadful hovels, torture — which we do not have access to and that is what is leading to the reports and allegations of slave auctions. It is away from the government centers,” he said. 

The IOM has registered more than 400,000 migrants in Libya, though the actual number thought to be in the country is estimated at 700,000 to one million.
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Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Greet Fans in English City

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Chanting “Harry, Harry!” and “Meghan, Meghan!” hundreds of people lined the streets of a central English city Friday to welcome Britain’s Prince Harry and his American fiancee, actress Meghan Markle.

The couple’s visit to Nottingham was their first official commitment since they announced their engagement on Monday. They plan to tour Britain over the next six months to give Markle an opportunity to learn about the country before their May wedding in the chapel at Windsor Castle.

Markle smiled and looked confident as she basked in the adoration of a crowd that had waited for hours in the cold to catch a passing glimpse of the couple. Dozens waved British and American flags.

A few were lucky enough to see the engagement ring up close as Markle shook hands. But the ring was old news for British commentators, who instead focused on her handbag — a Strathberry tri-color leather tote designed in Scotland and handcrafted in Spain.

The couple traveled to the east Midlands in England to visit to a youth project and to raise AIDS awareness. Their fans followed, including Irene Hardman, 81, who brought a gift bag with fridge magnets and candy for Markle.

Hardman wept with joy after handing the bag to the bride-to-be.

“I cried — she’s wonderful, and it’s fantastic,” Hardman said. “They’re so genuine.”

The trip was Prince Harry’s third to Nottingham since October 2016. The prince has long championed AIDS charities, following in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana.

Holly Burdett, who is originally from West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, but now lives in Sydney, Australia, returned home on the “gamble” that the couple would announce their engagement while she was there.

“I always thought I’d marry Harry, but you can’t win them all,” Burdett joked. “As long as they’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
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Harry and Meghan’s First Royal Visit

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been greeted by hundreds of well-wishers on their first official royal visit since announcing their engagement.
Webvideo by Jon Spier.
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UN Launches Biggest-ever Humanitarian Appeal

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The United Nations is appealing for a record $22.5 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to 91 million victims of conflict and natural disasters in 2018.

The money is to be used to give tens of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people food, shelter, health care, emergency education, protection and other essential relief next year, according to Mark Lowcock, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

“The big drivers of humanitarian need for 2018 will continue to be conflict and violence, which forces people to flee from their homes, denies them access to adequate food and robs them of their livelihoods,” he said. 

The appeal also will be used to provide aid to victims of typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters, Lowcock added. But, he says, Yemen, Syria and Democratic Republic of Congo — homes of the world’s three biggest crises — will receive most of the aid.

Yemen, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, is in a particularly precarious state because of a blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia following a missile attack on the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 6 by Houthi rebels. 

“We have been calling for a full unwinding of the blockade, which has been preventing humanitarian assistance and commercial food and fuel [from getting] into Yemen,” Lowcock said. “It needs to be fully wound down if we are to avoid an atrocious humanitarian tragedy involving the loss of millions of lives, the like of which the world has not seen for many decades.” 

Needs next year will remain at exceptionally high levels in Nigeria and South Sudan, and humanitarian crises are expected to grow in Burundi and Cameroon, according to Lowcock.
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Under Pressure, Turkey’s President Slams Testimony at Sanctions Trial

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reacting angrily after testimony in a New York trial implicated him in an alleged multi-million-dollar scam to evade U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran. His reaction is adding to concerns Ankara is on a collision course with U.S. courts that could have financial and political repercussions.

“We have trade and energy ties with Iran. We did not breach the sanctions (on Iran). Whatever the verdict is, we did the right things,” Erdogan was reported to have said to his ruling party executives Thursday.

Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy head of the Turkish state-owned Halkbank, is on trial, accused of facilitating an elaborate scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran. Prosecutors allege the scheme involved billions of dollars and involved senior government members.

During testimony Thursday, Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, the prosecution’s star witness who has pleaded guilty in the case, accused Erdogan and his then-finance minister, Ali Babacan, of being aware of the sanctions evasion scheme. Zafer Caglayan, a former economy minister and Erdogan ally, is also indicted in the case but remains at large.

Turkish media, which are heavily influenced by the president, have criticized the trial as being politically motivated and aimed at undermining Erdogan. Government spokesman Bekir Bozdag joined in the condemnation. “The objective of this trial is to destroy their credibility and harm them in the eyes of the Turkish public and the world. That is clear,” Bozdag said, speaking to reporters Thursday.

Such conspiracy theories play well in a country that is traditionally suspicious of the United States. “Some people in Turkey do not think the American judiciary is as independent as it’s made out to be. We’ve seen cases before where this actually proved to be the case,” notes international relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University

With a combination of hostility toward the United States among the president’s supporters and a compliant media, Erdogan is widely predicted to be able to contain any political fallout from the trial.

Suspicions were heightened further by Turkish prosecutors Friday when they issued an arrest warrant for Graham Fuller, the former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, in connection with a failed coup last year.

Some analysts suggest the Turkish president might even turn the ongoing New York case to his advantage by playing the victim at the hands of a more powerful aggressor, a move that often plays well among the electorate. The financial markets, however, may not be so forgiving.

In the run-up to the trial, the Turkish lira suffered heavy declines, which could continue because of the prospect that some Turkey’s state banks could face massive fines, if convicted. Thursday’s testimony saw two other state banks implicated for sanctions evasion along with Halkbank. “If big bill penalties are prepared for several Turkish banks, that would obviously shake the Turkish financial industry,” warns Soli Ozel.

There is precedent for such fears. Several European banks have already been hit hard for Iranian sanctions violations by U.S. courts, most notably the Paris-based BNP Paribas Bank that was fined $9 billion.

Turkish state banks such as VakifBank have strongly rejected accusations of wrongdoing. “VakıfBank has always acted in compliance with laws and related legislation and shown utmost care and diligence to act in accordance with the laws and the related legislation,” read a statement released Friday.

Given the strong pushback by Erdogan and the Turkish banks, the question increasingly being asked is whether Ankara would pay any fines imposed on its banks by U.S. courts for sanctions violations. Failure to do so would raise not only political but financial consequences.

“The political risk scenario we are talking about could be something else,” warns economist Inan Demir of Nomura Bank. “It could inflict greater pain than the recent depreciation episodes that we’ve seen in Turkey. It could mean more significant tightening of the external funding conditions for Turkey. This could mean the external financing constraints turn binding on Turkey. That would have significant effects on the currency and growth,” said Demir. Underpinning Demir’s concerns is that Turkish banks and companies have to pay back around $170 billion in loans in the next 12 months.

Erdogan is also facing growing domestic pressure. The main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, on Friday produced what  it said was evidence to support their accusation the president’s close family, including one of his sons and brothers, along with members of his inner political circle, deposited more than $15 million into an offshore bank account. Erdogan has demanded that CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu produce evidence to back up the claim made Tuesday.

The government says the accusations are part of another conspiracy against the president. Erdogan Thursday repeated his charge that Kilicdarolgu and his party have committed treason and pose a threat to Turkey. The leader of the second largest parliamentary opposition pro-Kurdish HDP party, lawmaker Selahattin Demirtas, has already been in jail for more than a year on terrorism charges.

 
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Trump Slams Acquittal of Mexican Immigrant Charged with Murder

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The acquittal Thursday of a Mexican immigrant accused of murdering a woman in the western U.S. city of San Francisco has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who said the verdict was “disgraceful” and suggested it would cost Democrats in upcoming elections.

The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate became a rallying cry for Trump during his run for the presidency. Garcia Zarate, who immigrated illegally to the U.S. and was deported five times, was charged with fatally shooting Kathryn Steinle in July 2015. After several days of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of a less serious charge of felony possession of a weapon.

Trump frequently cited the case on the campaign trail as he called for an end to illegal immigration and for the penalization of sanctuary cities, which protect undocumented immigrants by limiting their cooperation with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.

Trump denounced the verdict by in a series of tweets Thursday night. He accused former President Barack Obama’s administration of weak border protection and suggested the verdict would cost Democratic lawmakers led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in the 2018 midterm elections and the general election in 2020.

The case has reignited debate over cooperation between federal immigration authorities and state and local law enforcers who focus on crime prevention, not deportation.

The case also has prompted many legislators to favor restrictions on the allocation of federal funds to sanctuary cities, which include San Francisco.

Garcia Zarate’s attorney Jeff Adachi, who argued the gun was fired by accident, said his client was “extremely relieved.”

Adachi added, “I think he feels tremendous sympathy for Kate Steinle and her family, we do as well, but unfortunately these types of horrible tragic accidents happen every day.”
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2 Somali Soldiers, 12 Militants Killed in Al-Shabab Ambush

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At least two Somali soldiers and 12 militants were killed Friday when al-Shabab militants attacked a convoy in central Somalia, according to a senior regional official.

Militants ambushed a convoy carrying the Hiran regional governor, Ali Jeyte Osman, and other top military officials, near Hees Village, about 80 kilometers northwest of the regional capital, Beledweyn.

“We have killed 12 of them and … we lost two soldiers,” General Ahmed Mohamed Tredishe, commander of the Somali National Army in the region, told VOA Somali.

He said the governor and others traveling with him survived the attack and continued their travels.

Militants flee

Meanwhile, militants loyal to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group are said to be fleeing northward toward Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.

“We have received reports of movements by armed al-Shabab militants fleeing from U.S. strikes in and around the region from southern Somalia,” said Tredishe.

Villagers and pastoralists have told Somali radio stations over the past two days that they spotted militants with haggard faces who appeared to have abandoned their bases in the south.

The U.S. has carried out at least 30 air, missile and drone strikes in Somalia this year. Seven of those strikes took place between November 9 and 14, with two aimed at Islamic State militants in Somalia.

Simultaneously, the Somali National Army and African Union troops have conducted smaller operations to flush out al-Shabab militants from their main supply routes close to Mogadishu, ahead of a larger-scale offensive promised by the Somali government.

Former al-Shabab leader returns

Meanwhile, in the southern Somali town of Baidoa, hundreds of residents have welcomed a longtime militant leader who defected from al-Shabab before surrendering to the government in August.

Mukhtar Robow Ali, also known as Abu Mansour, returned to his home region Friday, telling his supporters he has come back with something valuable. 

“You will hear from me about that valuable thing soon,” Robow said.

Robow did not elaborate, but sources say he has agreed with the Somali government to join the fight against extremism and the militants he once led. Robow was a cofounder of al-Shabab in 2006 and was the group’s deputy emir before breaking with the group’s late supreme leader, Ahmed Godane, in 2011.
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Russian Duma Considers Banning US Media Representatives

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Russian lawmakers are expected to discuss a bill that could ban all representatives of U.S. media from entering the lower house of parliament in Moscow.

Olga Savastyanova, a member of the lower house, the State Duma, told Russian media Friday that the action was retaliation after journalists for Russian state-funded TV channel RT were barred from reporting inside the U.S. Capitol building.

“It’s a ban on journalists who represent American media, all American media, visiting the State Duma,” the RIA news agency quoted Savastyanova as saying about the proposed ban in Moscow.

The move is the latest in a series of recent reciprocal regulations on Russian journalists in the United States and American journalists in Russia.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that empowers the government to designate media outlets receiving funding from abroad as “foreign agents” and impose sanctions against them.

Russian officials called the new legislation a “symmetrical response” to what they describe as U.S. pressure on Russian media. On November 13, RT registered in the United States under a decades-old law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

FARA is aimed at promoting transparency, but does not restrict the television network’s operation in the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said last week.
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Russian Cybercriminal Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

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Federal prosecutors in Atlanta say a Russian cybercriminal has been sentenced to serve 14 years in prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a news release Friday that 33-year-old Roman Seleznev was sentenced for his role in a $50 million cyber fraud ring and for defrauding banks of $9 million through a hacking scheme.

Prosecutors say U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced Seleznev on a racketeering charge out of Nevada and a conspiracy to commit bank fraud charge in Georgia. He pleaded guilty in September. Jones gave him 14 years on each count. The sentences are to be served at the same time.

They will also be served at the same time as a 27-year sentence that Seleznev received in Washington state after a conviction there last year.

 
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Country Star Shelton Comforts Mourning Massachusetts School

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Blake Shelton recorded a minute-long message that was included in a longer tribute video to the Quaboag Regional Middle/High School students who died in a November 6 car crash in West Brookfield.

Shelton’s brother died in a crash nearly three decades ago.

Shelton said in the message: “I can understand how you guys feel. It’s the worst possible feeling. It’s confusion. It’s anger. It’s just an overall brokenness that’s just gonna take a lot of time to heal.”

Shelton learned of the deaths through his mother, who grew up with the father of a member of Quaboag’s school committee.

The crash took the lives of 14-year-old Jaclyn Desrosiers, 15-year-old Christian Congelos and the driver, 16-year-old Lena Noonan.
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Ethiopia Plans to Close 27 Refugee Camps

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The government of Ethiopia says it will close all 27 refugee camps in its territory over the next 10 years and integrate residents into local communities.

“There will be a gradual transition from a camp-based protection model to supporting refugees directly within host communities,” Zeynu Jemal, deputy director of the Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA), told VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.

Ethiopia hosts more refugees than all but one other country in Africa, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). More than 850,000 refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Eritrea live in camps jointly run by the U.N. and the government.

In September 2016, European leaders pledged to support the creation of jobs for refugees in sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of curbing migration to Europe.

Ethiopia was assured of a $500 million aid and loan package from the European Investment Bank in exchange for providing work permits to refugees.

 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has told European officials that his country will create 30,000 jobs for refugees and allow them to work in newly established industrial parks.

 

“We are creating economic opportunities in Ethiopia,” Zeynu Jemal told VOA. “Agriculture creates jobs if they have the skillset, we provide access to micro-financing to boost entrepreneurship, and we are also building industrial parks that can create jobs.”

 

Ethiopia itself faces enormous unemployment rates with nearly a fourth of its predominantly young population out of work.  The Horn of Africa nation is hoping to capitalize on refugee job creation pacts where the international community helps build opportunities both for its citizens and refugee population.

In doing so Ethiopia has secured much-needed capital for its projects and hopes to create at least 60,000 jobs for its citizens, in addition to the jobs for refugees.  

 

The European Union is on board with the plan and has begun funneling funds to build infrastructure and economic activities in Ethiopia.

“The pledges Ethiopia made and the actions it is taking today are exemplary and inspire many African states,” said Daniel Endres, a UNHCR official.

 

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Rayon expressed his government’s willingness to support Ethiopia and the UNHCR in their efforts to implement the project.
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Zimbabwe’s New President Names All-loyalist Cabinet

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Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has announced a 22-member Cabinet made up entirely of ruling party members, including two senior army officials. Legal experts say the new president might have made his first misstep in office.

Despite a promise to reach out to the opposition, Mnangagwa only appointed “loyalists,”according to Lovemore Madhuku, a law professor at the University of Zimbabwe.

Madhuku said that was expected. Mnangagwa had to pay back those who stood up for him after he was fired as vice president by Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe.

But Madhuku worries the new president has appointed more than the limit of five non-parliamentarians allowed under the constitution.

“It’s unconstitutional,” he said. “The constitution is very clear: you have a maximum of five people that are not from parliament. As long as a person is a minister and they will draw salary from the public purse, that person must be from parliament. We have seen that there are eight or 10. What is more disturbing is: why that will be done; the provision is clear. It has never been breached before.”

Christopher Mutsvangwa, the newly-appointed minister of information, said he would not comment on the matter, as he has not been sworn into office.

Among the non-MPs Mnangagwa appointed is his foreign affairs minister, Major-General Sibusiso Moyo. It was Moyo who appeared on state TV November 15 to announce that the army had taken over state institutions.

Mugabe resigned six days later under intense pressure from the army and ruling ZANU-PF party.

In his inaugural speech, Mnangagwa promised to improve the country’s human rights record and economy ahead of the 2018 elections, expected by the middle of the year.

Mnangagwa has not said whether he will run for a full term as president. Until those polls, he and his Cabinet will run Zimbabwe’s affairs.
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Jury Finds Mexican Man Not Guilty in San Francisco Shooting

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The man, facing his sixth deportation, was found guilty of a gun charge in a case highlighted in the 2016 presidential campaign

A jury on Thursday found a Mexican man not guilty of murder in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier that touched off a national immigration debate two years ago.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier.

Garcia Zarate did not deny shooting Steinle but said it was an accident.

Presidential campaign

The shooting came in the middle of the presidential campaign in July 2015 and touched off a fierce debate over the country’s immigration policies. It spotlighted San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” policy, which limits local officials from cooperating with U.S. immigration authorities.

Politics, however, did not come up in the month-long trial that featured extensive testimony from ballistics experts. Defense attorneys argued that Garcia Zarate was a hapless homeless man who killed Steinle in a freak accident. Prosecutors said he meant to shoot and kill her.

Garcia Zarate was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Court arguments

San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia said during the trial that she didn’t know why Garcia Zarate fired the weapon, but he created a risk of death by bringing the firearm to the pier and twirling around on a chair for at least 20 minutes before he fired.

“He did kill someone. He took the life of a young, vibrant, beautiful, cherished woman by the name of Kate Steinle,” she said.

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez said in his closing argument that he knows it’s difficult to believe Garcia Zarate found an object that turned out to be a weapon, which fired when he picked it up.

But he told jurors that Garcia Zarate had no motivation to kill Steinle and that as awful as her death was, “nothing you do is going to fix that.”

​The shooting

The bullet ricocheted on the pier’s concrete walkway and fatally struck Steinle in the back.

The gun was stolen from the SUV of a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger that was parked in San Francisco. The city has been plagued by car burglaries in recent years.

Before the shooting, Garcia Zarate had finished a federal prison sentence for illegal re-entry into the United States and had been transferred to San Francisco’s jail in March 2015 to face a 20-year-old charge for selling marijuana.

The sheriff’s department released him a few days later after prosecutors dropped the marijuana charge, despite a request from federal immigration officials to detain him for deportation.

President Donald Trump said during the presidential campaign that Steinle’s death was another reason the United States needed to build a wall on its southern border and tighten its immigration policies.

Trump signed an executive order to withhold funding from sanctuary cities, but a federal judge recently blocked it in a lawsuit from two California counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara. The administration has appealed.
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National Christmas Tree Lit by Trump and Family

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U.S. President Donald Trump and his family have lit the National Christmas Tree at the White House.

The White House tree lighting took place on the White House Ellipse, where the national tree and smaller trees representing each of the 50 states are placed each year for visitors to Washington to enjoy.

This year’s event was hosted by talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford and actor Dean Cain. The event featured musical performances by the Beach Boys, the U.S. Navy Band, Mannheim Steamroller and other musicians, including Jack Wagner, Wynonna, Craig Campbell, the Texas Tenors, and the young-adult group Boys II Bow Ties.

This year’s ceremony was the 95th tree-lighting celebration, started in 1923 by President Calvin Coolidge. The tradition was even carried on in 1941, just two weeks after the United States entered World War Two.

In fact, at that event on Dec. 22, 1941, there were surprise appearances by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, whose country had been occupied by Germany one year earlier.

The tree was not lit during the later years of the war due to the need to conserve power, but local schoolchildren donated ornaments for the National Christmas trees of 1942, 1943 and 1944. With a patriotic theme and tags with the names of U.S. servicemen accompanying the ornaments, the national tree became a symbol of patriotism in troubled times.

Later in 1980, the national tree remained largely dark, except for 417 seconds, to remind people of the 417 days that a group of 52 American hostages had then been held by militants in Iran. The hostages were released in January 1981 after 444 days, and the tree was re-lit to welcome them back to the United States.

Today, the National Christmas Tree is lit early in the holiday season to kick off a month-long Pageant of Peace, meant to inspire goodwill and holiday spirit among all people and religions in the United States.

Tourists may walk among the trees, peek through the fence at the White House, take photographs, enjoy performances or recorded music, and view other displays such as an electric model train, a Jewish menorah, a yule log, and a Christian nativity scene.

Both the menorah and the nativity scene have withstood legal challenges centered on separation of church and state.
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EU, Africa Leaders to Speed Up Repatriation of Migrants From Libya

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African and European leaders agreed to speed up efforts to repatriate thousands of migrants stranded in Libya, some in unspeakably brutal conditions.

About 80 European Union and African Union heads of state ended two days of talks Thursday in Ivory Coast, promising to ramp up the fight against human traffickers.

They said they would repatriate about 3,800 migrants in one camp near Tripoli as soon as possible.

But African Union officials say there are as many as 42 camps across Libya, housing up to 700,000 people.

Television pictures broadcast on CNN of slave auctions in some of the camps shocked and sickened the world and showed the need for immediate action.

French President Emmanuel Macron called slave trading a crime against humanity and said human traffickers were “deeply linked” to terrorist networks throughout northern Africa.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said it was appalling that “some Nigerians were being sold like goats for a few dollars in Libya.” He said all Nigerians stranded in Libya and other parts of the world would be brought home and “rehabilitated.”

Libya is the main jumping-off point for Africans and others in the Middle East looking to reach the EU, hoping to escape terrorism and poverty for a better life in the West.

Thousands die every year trying to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

The EU and Libya are working to discourage such hazardous trips, including cracking down on human traffickers who often leave their cargo stranded at sea.
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Trump Administration Stops Short of Calling for Regime Change in North Korea

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The Trump administration, after calling for all countries to cut ties with North Korea following its latest ballistic missile test, stopped short Thursday of advocating regime change in Pyongyang.

“This administration is focused on one big thing when it comes to North Korea, and that’s denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That’s our number one priority,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in response to a VOA question at the daily White House briefing. “Anything beyond that is not the priority at this point.”

Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump, however, appeared to suggest it was time for Kim Jong Un, the third-generation leader of his impoverished country, to be replaced.

“The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man,” said Trump on Twitter. “Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions.”

More pressure at U.N.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that he was unwilling to conclude diplomacy has not worked with North Korea. He said the United States would be unrelenting in its activities at the United Nations to pressure North Korea.

America’s diplomats are operating from a position of strength, according to Mattis, “because we do have military options.”

The United States’ U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, said Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the Security Council that all nations should cut diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea as part of a campaign to put maximum pressure on Pyongyang.

“We have well north of 20 countries who have done different things to jump on board with that campaign,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday. “And I think the news that’s coming out of Germany today is altogether positive.”

Germany earlier in the day announced it was withdrawing a third diplomat from its embassy in Pyongyang, but not cutting diplomatic ties.

North Korea has released video showing leader Kim observing the launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile, which blasted off Wednesday from north of the capital. It reached an altitude of 4,500 kilometers — more than 10 times higher than the orbit of the International Space Station — and traveled about 1,000 kilometers before splashing down into Japan’s exclusive economic zone east of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim declared the launch a success, boasting the regime has “finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force.”

Haley warned Wednesday that the launch “brings the world closer to war, not further from it,” and said that “if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.”

Haley said Trump had told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a phone call that it was time for Beijing to cut off all oil exports to North Korea.

Economic sanctions

In September, the U.N. Security Council imposed tough economic sanctions aimed at cutting off financial and fuel lifelines to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Among the measures was a one-third cut in North Korea’s oil imports, as well as drastic reductions in the amount of gas, diesel and heavy fuel oil it could import.

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump pledged to impose new, unilateral sanctions against North Korea, saying they would be announced that day. As of Thursday, they still had not be unveiled.

While speaking about tax reform in Missouri, Trump on Wednesday also took another dig at the North Korean leader, again calling him “Little Rocket Man” and describing Kim as a “sick puppy” (someone who is mentally disturbed).

“The United States and China will definitely tighten economic sanctions on North Korea. It is unavoidable and North Korea deserves it, particularly given that its development of the Hwasong-15 [missile]  raises the threat level toward the international community and the United States,” said Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.

Zhao said there was little room left to impose new sanctions.

Cutting off oil “is something China will not take up lightly. Perhaps more restrictions can be placed on [North Korean] laborers [working in China], or they can be banned completely,” he said.

Focus on denuclearization

China has already ordered the closure of North Korean businesses in the country and has told Chinese companies they cannot hire new workers from the North or renew contracts.

China’s foreign ministry said it was still focused on denuclearization and getting all sides back to the negotiating table.

“China will completely and thoroughly carry out all resolutions regarding North Korea and its international responsibilities,” including sanctions approved by the U.N., foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday.

VOA’s Bill Ide in Beijing and Margaret Besheer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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Fired NBC Host Matt Lauer Apologizes for Sexual Misconduct

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NBC television’s Today show opened Thursday morning’s broadcast with a statement from fired host Matt Lauer apologizing for the sexual misconduct that cost him his job.

“Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort,” Lauer said in his statement that was read on the air by his former co-host Savannah Guthrie. “The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws.”

While he said he is “embarrassed and ashamed,” he said some of the allegations against him are “untrue or mischaracterized.”

NBC fired Lauer Wednesday, just hours before he was to have taken up his regular chore as host of Today — a job he had for 20 years.

“We received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards,” NBC News chairman Andy Lack said.

Since then, two more women have said they were on the receiving end of Lauer’s actions.

NBC did not give any details of Lauer’s alleged behavior.

But the show business newspaper Variety said Wednesday its two-month-long investigation uncovered accounts of Lauer giving a female co-worker a sex toy, dropping his pants in front of another woman, and quizzing female colleagues about their sex lives.

Variety said Lauer’s alleged shenanigans were no secret among many NBC news staffers and that management failed to act until now because of the high ratings and sponsor dollars generated by the Today show.

NBC denies this, saying it only found out about Lauer’s behavior Monday.

Lauer is the latest famous figure to lose his job or fight for his political and professional survival because of alleged inappropriate behavior toward women.

NBC dropped him the same day Minnesota Public Radio fired former Prairie Home Companion star Garrison Keillor because of what it calls improper behavior with a female colleague. Keillor touched the woman’s bare back while consoling her when she was upset over a problem.

“She recoiled, I apologized,” Keillor said. He said he and the woman remained friends up until her lawyer called him.

CBS and PBS fired longtime newsman Charlie Rose last week for alleged sexual advances toward coworkers.

U.S. Democratic Senator Al Franken says he is “embarrassed” by a picture showing him grinning and holding his hands over the breasts of a sleeping woman in 2006, when he was a television comic. Other women have also leveled accusations against him.

Congressman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, is under pressure to resign after allegations of sexual misconduct — a charge he denies. Conyers was admitted to a hospital in Detroit on Thursday. No details for his hospital stay were made available, although The Detroit News reported that a family friend said Conyers is under “tremendous stress due to media hounding, and political vultures and serial accusers.”

Others confronted with charges include actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis C.K., former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, and Republican Senate candidate from Alabama, Roy Moore.

About 16 women have accused President Donald Trump of sexual harassment and worse. He has labeled the accusations “fake news.”
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