Egypt and its North African neighbors are facing significant terror threats, economic pressures and political uncertainty as a year of regional turmoil draws to a close and a rocky future looms on the horizon. EdwardYeranianin Cairo reviews the year just ending and takes a look at what may lie ahead.
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Month: December 2017
China Gets Its Wine On
By 2020, China could become the world’s second-largest wine consumer, behind the United States, according to a report by Vinexpo, a leading wine exhibition.
“Nowadays, many people in China have given up Baijiu, no more Baijiu,” says Jiawei Wang, a Napa Valley visitor from China, referring to his native country’s traditional grain-based spirits. “Because wine has enough alcohol, but it’s also good for health. It can soften humans’ blood vessels. People are changing.”
Wang is not alone. Chinese are visiting Northern California’s Napa Valley wine region in numbers never seen before.
“It’s interesting because the Chinese market in Napa is the fastest growing international market that we have, according to the statistics from Visit Napa Valley, our visitor bureau here in Napa Valley,” says John Taylor of Yao Family Wines. “China was the number one international market in the Napa Valley last year, composing, I think, about 5.5 percent of total visitation to the valley.”
A must-see stop for Chinese tourists is the Yao Family Wines vineyard, which is owned by retired basketball star Yao Ming. Yao’s celebrity aside, his wines have won praise from wine critics.
“The Cabernet Sauvignon is very nice,” says Wang. “It tastes great.”
About an hour’s drive to the east, the University of California-Davis has one of the country’s top programs for the science of growing grapes and wine making.
“From what I can see, there were not many Chinese students previously,” says Shizhang Han, a Chinese student in the UC-Davis program, “but now in my class and also among those who came after me, there are many more Chinese.”
The Chinese students believe that the wine industry has a promising future in their homeland.
“In Asia, especially in China, people are getting richer,” says student Heigi Wan. “This is one factor.”
“Wine in China is just starting,” says Han. “Before, we imported a lot of wine. And now we start to build new vineyards. The grape vines are still growing. It’s like a newborn baby. Chinese wine carries a lot of hope.”
Hope that has some of the UC-Davis students thinking that their first jobs might not be here in California’s wine country after all, but rather in an emerging wine industry back home in China.
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Somalia Takes Control of Its Own Skies
The Somali government has retaken control of its air space after more than two decades. Air traffic over the Horn of Africa nation had been controlled by the United Nations from neighboring Kenya since 1992, a year after the Somali civil war broke out.
Inaugurating the aviation control center in the capital, Mogadishu, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said this is a sign the country is moving forward.
“We are here today because we’ve worked together, stopped fighting among ourselves, we fought division,” said Farmajo. “As you know, nothing will work if there is division and people are fighting among themselves. Today we have continuity. We are building on other things and strengthening and making an effort achieving things for the country.”
The president and government officials toured the newly equipped center Thursday, the day Somalia formally retook control of its airspace from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The U.N.’s aviation agency began controlling air traffic over Somalia after the county descended into civil war. Because of security concerns, the organization worked from Kenya.
Somalia’s aviation and air transport minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Salad, told reporters the entire process of controlling the country’s skies will be complete in early 2018.
“From today, the airspace of Somalia will be controlled from here. In the next two months, we will be working with others in Nairobi,” said Omar. “This is not an easy process like moving from one house to another. It will require some time.”
Some critics say Somalia is still not safe, as al-Shabab militants continue to carry out attacks against the internationally recognized government and civilians.
Airplanes have been avoiding the southern part of the country, instead flying into the north and northeast, where there is relative peace and stability.
President Farmajo urged al-Shabab to let the whole country have peace.
“To those who are against peace, Somalia is moving forward, and it’s not going to stop for anyone,” said Farmajo. “We are building the army and day after day they are getting better. We are telling you to stop what you are doing, killing your people. Come back to your people so that you can take part in rebuilding the country.”
Government officials say they will provide training to air traffic controllers and improve security at the Mogadishu airport, where the African Union mission in Somalia, which is fighting al-Shabab, still has a heavy presence.
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Tillerson: Americans Should Be ‘Encouraged’ by US Diplomatic Efforts
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has touted the diplomatic accomplishments of President Donald Trump’s administration this year, saying “Americans should be encouraged” by its dealings with the U.S.’ “greatest security threat,” North Korea, along with China and Russia.
In an opinion piece published Thursday in The New York Times, Tillerson wrote that Trump “abandoned the failed policy of strategic patience” and adopted a “policy of pressure” toward North Korea “through diplomatic and economic sanctions.”
The United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea last Friday, slashing fuel supplies, tightening shipping restrictions and appealing for the expulsion of North Koreans working abroad — a significant source of revenue for Pyongyang.
Tillerson also said pressure from the U.S. and its allies “has cut off roughly 90 percent of North Korea’s export revenue,” much of which he said Pyongyang used to fund the development of illegal weapons.
“We hope that this international isolation will pressure the regime into serious negotiations on the abandonment of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Tillerson wrote.
After overcoming technological obstacles this year to develop a modern nuclear weapons program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un denounced the new sanctions on Christmas Day, saying that they represent “an act of war” and that relinquishing his country’s nuclear weapons was a “pipe dream.”
Tillerson said China has imposed some import bans and sanctions against North Korea, “but it could and should do more.” He said the U.S. would pursue talks with China on issues such as trade imbalances and China’s “troubling” military activities in the South China Sea. The U.S. will also “carefully consider” how to manage its long-term relationship with China, which Tillerson described as a rising “economic and military power.”
Tillerson praised the U.S. role in the recapture of Islamic State territory in Iraq and Syria and the administration’s new Afghanistan-focused South Asia strategy. Tilllerson said Afghanistan “cannot become a safe haven for terrorists” and called on Pakistan to fight terrorists “on its own soil.”
“We are prepared to partner with Pakistan to defeat terrorists organizations seeking safe havens, but Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to partner with us,” he wrote.
The top American diplomat acknowledged the U.S. has a poor relationship with a “resurgent Russia” that has invaded neighboring countries Georgia and Ukraine and “undermined the sovereignty of Western nations by meddling in our election and others.”
Shortly after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the probe into Russia, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel of an investigation into whether any members of Trump’s campaign conspired with Russian agents during the campaign.
Earlier this year, the U.S. intelligence community released a report concluding Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election, showing a preference for Trump over Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. There are also several congressional probes into the matter. Russia denies meddling in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion with the Russians.
“While we are on guard against Russian aggression, we recognize the need to work with Russia where mutual interests intersect,” Tillerson wrote, citing the Syrian civil war where the two countries have supported opposing sides but pushed for peace negotiations.
Tillerson’s remarks about Iran were less conciliatory. He said the U.S. has abandoned the “flawed Iran nuclear deal” as the focus of its policy toward the Persian Gulf country, adding, “We are now confronting the totality of Iranian threats.”
The assessment of the administration’s diplomatic successes this year belies the tension that has existed between Tillerson and Trump. Senior administration officials said last month the White House has developed a plan to push Tillerson out of office. The two men have disagreed on a number of significant issues, including the confrontation with North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal.
Tilllerson reportedly called the president a “moron” and Trump publicly disparaged Tillerson for “wasting his time” by reaching out diplomatically to North Korea.
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Beijing: US Should Curb Demand for Opioids, Not Blame China
The United States should look within to cut down demand for opioids which are fueling its deadly drug crisis rather than stressing unsubstantiated claims that China is the major source of these chemicals, a top Chinese drug enforcement official said Thursday.
China and the U.S. have worked to build a close working relationship to fight global flows of illicit synthetic drugs, but their collaboration remains fraught.
Yu Haibin of the China National Narcotics Control Commission told reporters there was little evidence showing China was the source of much of the chemicals used in the production of the powerful opioid fentanyl. President Donald Trump in November blamed a “flood of cheap and deadly” fentanyl made in China for the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history.
“China doesn’t deny that shipments to the U.S. happen, but there isn’t the proof to show how much — whether it’s 20 percent or 80 percent,” said Yu, adding that U.S. authorities have only sent him information about six shipments from China in the past year.
In October 2016, the AP identified 12 Chinese companies willing to export carfentanil around the world for a few thousand dollars a kilogram (2.2. pounds), no questions asked. Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl and is legally used as an anesthetic for elephants and other large animals.
Yu urged the U.S. to share more data and police intelligence with Chinese authorities and said rampant over-prescription of pain medication and lax cultural attitudes toward drugs had fueled massive demand for opioids in the U.S.
Insufficient drug education and the trend in some states of legalizing marijuana have hurt drug enforcement efforts, he said.
“As many states decriminalize marijuana, the public’s attitudes and trends of thinking toward drugs will also have a bad effect” on the fight against hard drugs, Yu said.
Chinese officials have been eager to tout their collaboration with American counterparts on drug enforcement as a bright spot in the occasionally rocky relationship.
Though Beijing has said U.S. assertions that China is the top source of fentanyls lack evidence, the two countries have deepened cooperation as the U.S. opioid epidemic intensifies. Beijing already regulates fentanyl and a number of related compounds, even though they are not widely abused domestically.
Since 2016, China has arrested dozens of synthetic drug exporters, destroyed several illegal labs and seized tons of new psychoactive substances, according to the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee.
Officials in Beijing said Thursday they busted a fentanyl factory in November and seized 4.7 kilograms (10.36 pounds) of the substance thanks to a tip-off from U.S. Immigration and Customs about a major online purveyor named “Diana” that turned out to be a front for a 19-person drug ring scattered across China.
China wanted to work more closely with U.S. law enforcement, as well as authorities in Mexico, a transshipment point, Yu said.
China has backed a successful U.S. proposal this year to add several fentanyl precursors to a U.N. list of controlled substances. China has listed the two chemicals, NPP and 44-ANPP, under domestic drug laws, officials said.
More than 66,000 people in America died of drug overdoses in the year ending May 2017, a jump of 17.4 percent from the year before, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports most cases of fentanyl overdose are linked to illicitly produced batches of the substance.
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Egypt, Sudan Relations at a new Low Over Erdogan’s Visit
Egypt’s pro-government media on Thursday vilified neighboring Sudan over its expanding ties with Turkey and Qatar, saying the three are conspiring against Egypt.
While the government has publicly remained silent, Egyptian media seized on a visit to Sudan earlier this week by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a meeting in Khartoum between the chiefs of staff of Sudan, Turkey and Qatar, and renewed efforts by Khartoum to revive a longtime border dispute with Egypt.
Most views expressed in Egypt’s media reflect the thinking of the government or at least one of its key institutions. The criticism of Sudan and its longtime ruler Omar Bashir included personal insults and questioning the country’s statehood.
Tensions between Egypt and Sudan, which are bound by the Nile River and historic ties, often play out in the media, with the two governments keeping their distance.
The latest row could deepen a rift between Egypt and Sudan over a massive dam being built by Ethiopia that Cairo views as a threat to its share of the Nile, which provides nearly all of Egypt’s water. Negotiations over the dam are at an impasse, with Sudan appearing to tilt toward Ethiopia in the dispute.
The spat could also add to regional tensions. Egypt joined Saudi Arabia in its blockade of Qatar earlier this year, and has long been at odds with both Turkey and Qatar over their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a regional Islamist movement that is now outlawed in Egypt.
“Sudanese President Omar Bashir is playing with fire in exchange for dollars,” wrote columnist Emad Adeeb in the Cairo daily Al-Watan, alluding to what he said was Bashir’s attempt to gain from regional rivalries.
“Sudan is violating the rules of history and geography and is conspiring against Egypt under the shadow of Turkish madness, Iranian conspiracy, an Ethiopian scheme to starve Egypt of water and Qatar’s financing of efforts to undermine Egypt,” wrote Adeeb, whose column was headlined: “Omar Bashir’s political suicide.”
Of particular concern to Egypt, according to commentaries and news reports, is Sudan’s burgeoning military ties with Turkey, including a joint naval facility on the Red Sea to repair civilian and military vessels that was announced by Bashir and the Turkish leader this week in Khartoum.
Sudan, which is in the grips of an economic crisis, complained this month to the United Nations that a maritime demarcation agreement reached in 2016 by Egypt and Saudi Arabia infringed on what it claimed to be Sudanese waters off an Egyptian-held border region it claims as its own. Egypt denies the Sudanese claim.
Egyptian media, meanwhile, insist that Bashir has ceded to Turkey sovereignty over Suakin, a small but strategic island off Sudan’s Red Sea coast. Erdogan has denied his country is constructing a naval base there, saying Turkey only plans to restore Ottoman-era ruins in the area.
Emad Hussein, editor of Cairo’s Al-Shorouk daily, wrote Thursday that Erdogan’s visit to Sudan, the first by a Turkish head of state, “cannot be viewed … except as harassment of Egypt and an attempt to annoy it by any means possible.”
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US to Resume Full Visa Services in Turkey
The United States announced Thursday that full visa services for Turkish citizens wishing to travel to the U.S. will resume and said it received assurances Ankara would inform Washington before moving to detain or arrest any embassy employees.
Turkey welcomed the decision on visas, but said that it had not provided the U.S. any such assurances.
The U.S. suspended all non-immigrant visa services in Turkey earlier this year, in response to the arrest of Metin Topuz, a consulate employee in Istanbul, on terrorism charges. Turkey shut down visa services in the U.S. in retaliation.
In a statement released Thursday, the State Department said that since October, Turkey had adhered to promises that no local employees of the embassy were being investigated, that no employees would be detained for “performing their official duties”, and that the government of Turkey would consult with the U.S. before detaining or arresting local staff in the future.
“Based on adherence to these assurances, the Department of State is confident that the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the full resumption of visa services in Turkey,” the statement read.
Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. Serdar Kilic said his country plans to do the same for U.S. citizens seeking visas to Turkey. The Turkish statement, however, denied that Ankara gave any assurances to the U.S. regarding potential detentions and arrests of embassy employees.
“In terms of assurances mentioned in U.S. statement, we would like to reiterate that there is rule of law in Turkey and our government did not give any assurances related to ongoing cases, and no local mission employee is under legal investigation regarding to their official duties,” his statement read. “Even though we have drawn attention to the matter, we do not approve United States informing Turkish and American public falsely by alleging that Turkey have given them assurances”
The two nations resumed limited visa services in early November, around the time of a visit to Washington by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, but the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced last week that the earliest appointments for applications are in January 2019, more than a year from now.
Nike Ching contributed to this report from the State Department, and VOA Turkish.
your ad hereMoscow Holds Christmas Festival
Moscow is having a “Journey to Christmas” festival from December 22 to January 14 with decorations, including over 1,000 New Year’s trees, and holiday festivities throughout the Russian capital. VOA Moscow attended the opening of the festival in central Moscow and spoke to locals about their holiday hopes and wishes for 2018.
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Failed Space Launches Haunt Russia; Kremlin Eyes Probe
Russia’s latest space launch failures have prompted authorities to take a closer look into the nation’s struggling space industry, the Kremlin said Thursday.
A Russian weather satellite and nearly 20 micro-satellites from other nations were lost following a failed launch from Russia’s new cosmodrome in the Far East on November 28. And in another blow to the Russian space industry, communications with a Russian-built communications satellite for Angola, the African nation’s first space vehicle, were lost following its launch on Tuesday.
Asked about the failures, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Thursday that authorities warrant a thorough analysis of the situation in the space industry.
Amid the failures, Russian officials have engaged in a round of finger-pointing.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s military industrial complex and space industries, said in a television interview Wednesday that the November 28 launch from the new Vostochny launch pad in Russia’s Far East failed because the rocket had been programmed to blastoff from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan instead of Vostochny. He accused the Russian space agency Roscosmos of “systemic management mistakes.”
Roscosmos fired back Thursday, dismissing Rogozin’s claim of the flawed programming. It did acknowledge some shortcomings that led to the launch failure and said a number of officials were reprimanded.
Rogozin quickly riposted on Facebook, charging that Roscosmos was “trying to prove that failures occur not because of mistakes in management but just due to some `circumstances.”‘
The cause of the failure of the Angolan satellite hasn’t been determined yet. Communications with the satellite, which was built by the Russian RKK Energia company, a leading spacecraft manufacturer, were lost after it entered a designated orbit.
Russia has continued to rely on Soviet-designed booster rockets to launching commercial satellites, as well as crews and cargo to the International Space Station. A trio of astronauts from Russia, Japan and the United States arrived at the space outpost last week following their launch from Baikonur.
While Russian rockets have established a stellar reputation for their reliability, a string of failed launches in recent years has called into question Russia’s ability to maintain the same high standards for manufacturing space equipment.
Glitches found in Russia’s Proton and Soyuz rockets in 2016 were traced to manufacturing flaws at the plant in Voronezh.Roscosmos sent more than 70 rocket engines back to production lines to replace faulty components, a move that resulted in a yearlong break in Proton launches.
The suspension badly dented the nation’s niche in the global market for commercial satellite launches. Last year, Russia for the first time fell behind both the U.S. and China in the number of launches.
While Russia plans to continue to use Baikonur for most of its space launches, it has poured billions of dollars in to build the new Vostochny launch pad. A launch pad for Soyuz finally opened in 2016, but another one for the heavier Angara rockets is only set to be completed in late 2021 and its future remains unclear, drawing questions about the feasibility of the expensive project.
Work at Vostochny also has been dogged by scandals involving protests by unpaid workers and the arrests of construction officials accused of embezzlement.
Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
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4th Defendant Charged in Brutal Ohio Child Labor Scheme
A U.S. federal court Wednesday charged a fourth suspect in a human trafficking scheme that promised teenage workers an education and easy jobs on an egg farm.
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Pablo Duran Ramirez Saturday as he tried to cross onto the United States from Mexico.
Three others have already been sentenced from four to 15 years in prison for their part in the scheme
Ramirez allegedly joined the three others in recruiting minors in Guatemala to come to the United States, promising them a chance to go to school and earn money working for Trillium Farms, an egg farm in Marion, Ohio.
The teenagers were smuggled into the U.S. and soon found themselves living in shabby trailers and working up to 12 hours a day at difficult tasks. They were forced to clean chicken coops, carry heavy crates, and cut the beaks off live birds.
The bosses refused to pay the teens and threatened to beat them to force them to work.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are also investigating.
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Trump’s Clinton Tweets Cut Against Comey Firing Explanation
When President Donald Trump fired James Comey in May, he said he was acting on the recommendation of Justice Department leaders who had faulted the FBI director for publicly releasing “derogatory information” about Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of the email server investigation one year earlier.
Yet with each tweet about the Clinton probe, Trump seems to be further undermining his administration’s stated rationale for a termination that’s now central to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The disconnect between Trump’s attacks on Comey’s handling of the email investigation and the criticism of Comey by his own Justice Department could muddy the narrative about exactly why Comey was fired. This may complicate efforts by the president’s legal team to present a coherent narrative as Mueller and his prosecutors examine whether the dismissal could support obstruction of justice allegations.
Email issue
Trump has complained for months about the FBI’s decision not to pursue criminal charges against Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election, for her use of a personal email server. He has suggested the criminal investigation was rigged in her favor, claiming in one October tweet that Comey “totally protected” her.
In the last few weeks alone, he seized on the revelation of politically charged text messages from an FBI agent who worked on that probe to again deride the investigation and, in a Saturday tweet that appeared to suggest Clinton should have been prosecuted, he referred to “33,000 illegally deleted emails.”
Yet those attacks are increasingly hard to square with a Justice Department memo that the White House in May held up as justification for firing Comey. That memo, authored by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, cites an unusual July 2016 news conference in which Comey described Clinton and her aides as “extremely careless,” as well as notification to Congress, days before the election, that the investigation was being revisited because of the sudden discovery of additional emails.
“From the beginning there’s always been serious doubt that the memo from the deputy attorney general was the actual reason the president fired the FBI director,” said Scott Fredericksen, a Washington criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor. “These tweets,” he added, “probably don’t help the president in that regard.”
A lawyer for Trump did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Mueller’s team has been keenly interested for months in the circumstances of Comey’s firing, with prosecutors obtaining an initial White House memo, drafted but never released, that purported to lay out a basis for Comey’s removal.
Comey criticized
The final memo that the White House released on May 9, signed by Rosenstein, castigated Comey for announcing that criminal charges were not warranted against Clinton even though such determinations are generally left to Justice Department prosecutors. He also faulted Comey for comments made during that news conference, which he said broke with Justice Department protocol by issuing “derogatory information” about someone who was not charged.
Though he did not explicitly say it, Rosenstein’s assessment seemed in line with that of Clinton and her supporters — that Comey’s statements and actions during the investigation had harmed her election prospects.
“The director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial,” Rosenstein wrote. “It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.”
In a single-page letter to Comey released alongside Rosenstein’s memo, Trump said he was accepting the Justice Department’s recommendation to fire him.
From the start, though, that explanation has been tough to reconcile with Trump’s blistering attacks on Clinton, and his constant assertions on the campaign trail and as president that she should have been prosecuted. He returned to that theme days after Mueller revealed a plea deal with Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, when he tweeted: “Many people in our Country are asking what the ‘Justice’ Department is going to do about the fact that totally Crooked Hillary, AFTER receiving a subpoena from the United States Congress, deleted and ‘acid washed’ 33,000 Emails? No justice!”
On Saturday, amid reports that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe — a frequent Trump target — was retiring soon, the president tweeted, “How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?”
Value in silence
“The irony is most politicians would recognize that perpetuating silence post-firing would have been the most effective course,” said Jacob Frenkel, a Washington defense lawyer and former prosecutor.
In the event charges are brought or impeachment proceedings are begun, that kind of inconsistent messaging would present “not just entertaining fodder for cross-examination” but also material that could be used to challenge a witness’s credibility, Frenkel said.
But by the same token, the evolving messaging could oddly benefit Trump by making it difficult to attach any one motive or reason — such as a desire to shut down the Russia investigation — for Comey’s firing.
“Once you start picking on one tweet or one message, then it becomes, `What about this tweet or that message?’ You’re constantly having competing messages,” Frenkel said.
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IS Fighters Fleeing to Assad-controlled Parts of Syria
Islamic State fighters are trying to make their way to parts of Syria controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, where they are apparently able to operate freely.
“We are seeing the movement of limited numbers of ISIS militants westwards,” said British Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney, deputy commander of Strategy and Support for the U.S.-backed coalition to defeat the Islamic State terror group.
“They seem to be moving with impunity through regime-held territory,” Gedney said of the Islamic State fighters, during a briefing from Baghdad Wednesday.
“The regime is either unwilling or unable to defeat Daesh within their borders,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.
Estimates
The coalition estimates there are now fewer than 1,000 IS fighters left in parts of Iraq and Syria in which the coalition and its partners operate, down from estimates of fewer than 3,000 just three weeks ago.
According to coalition officials, just how many IS fighters have managed to escape to regime-held parts of Syria is “impossible to say,” though coalition partners are encountering small numbers of fleeing fighters on a routine basis.
“I can’t tell you that none have managed to get through our grip, but I would tell you not many,” Gedney said.
Still, U.S. and coalition officials remain adamant that IS remains a threat and will try to mount insurgencies in both Iraq and Syria, as well as continue to plot attacks against Western countries.
They also caution that IS has repeatedly shown the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, saying there are numerous indications the terror group has successfully modified its operating model even in the past year.
And they say declarations of victory over IS, by Syria and Russia in particular, have been premature.
“The Syrian regime has failed to demonstrate to prevent the resurgence of ISIS on their own soil,” Maj. Gen. Gedney said Wednesday.
Progress against IS
And even in areas where Syrian forces have intensified their efforts against IS, the coalition says progress has been, at best, fleeting.
“We’ve clearly seen a lot of operations by pro-regime forces, Russian-backed Syrian forces over to the east of the [Euphrates] river,” Gedney said. “We’ve questioned the effectiveness of some of those operations.”
For their part, Russian officials have been trying to put the blame on Washington, accusing U.S. forces of training Islamic State militants at a military base at Tanf, near a strategic border crossing with Iraq, in a bid to further destabilize Syria.
“They are in reality being trained there,” General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper Wednesday.
“They are practically Islamic State,” Gerasimov said. “But after they are worked with, they change their spots and take on another name. Their task is to destabilize the situation.”
U.S. officials have rejected such allegations, and say Syria and Russia must do more to wipe out IS in areas still controlled by the regime.
“We’ve got no intention to operate in areas that are currently held by the [Assad] regime,” Gedney said.
Some material in this report is from Reuters news agency.
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Puerto Rico Police, Owed Overtime, Call in Sick
More than 2,000 Puerto Rican police officers called in sick on Christmas Day as controversy continues over overtime pay they say they have been owed since Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the island in September.
Reports this week from the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, said some precincts had as few as three officers to cover four towns on the holiday, while security concerns in towns without power were still high.
As the island struggles to recover from the two Category 5 hurricanes that knocked out many basic services, authorities said police officers had been working 12- to 16-hour days to fill the need and guard against crimes, especially thefts of power generators.
Ramos Rosario Cortes, the island’s public affairs and public policy secretary, announced Tuesday that the government would issue $6.4 million in overtime pay to police officers for the second half of December, to add to the $15 million it had made in overtime payments since Hurricane Maria hit.
But lawmaker Felix Lassalle Toro, Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives Public Safety Committee chairman, said that amount was only a partial payment.
“We will not rest until they are paid what they are owed,” Lassalle Toro told the San Juan Star on Wednesday. “Puerto Rico has a debt to them and we will honor it.”
But he also pleaded with police officers to return to work.
“At this moment, we need them in the street, patrolling, helping the people,” he said. “That is my request today.”
Called in sick
The Star said 2,216 police officers had called in sick over Christmas weekend. That figure did not include officers who had scheduled time off ahead of the holiday.
Puerto Rico police are not allowed to unionize, but the head of an association that represents more than 8,000 police officers, Carlos Morales, told The Associated Press: “The question is quite clear: Do they have the money to pay police officers? That’s the biggest battle we face to help solve the problem.”
AP reported that the overtime funds were slow in coming because Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, must wait for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency before it can pay the money that many of Puerto Rico’s 13,000 police officers say they are due.
Immediately following the hurricanes, which hit in rapid succession in September, police officers worked as long as 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico Police Chief Michelle Hernandez recommended to Governor Ricardo Rossello that the U.S. National Guard be used to help fill temporary vacancies on the police force. AP said Rossello’s administration rejected that idea.
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As Online Shopping Grows, UPS Sees Record Holiday Package Returns
United Parcel Service Inc is on track to return a record number of packages this holiday shipping season, a sign that e-commerce purchases surged to new heights over the past month.
The world’s largest package delivery company and rival FedEx Corp get paid by retailers like Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc for handling e-commerce deliveries.
Both have benefited from booming delivery volumes over the past few years, but also have had to invest billions of dollars to upgrade and expand their networks to cope.
An 8 percent increase in returns
UPS said on Wednesday it handled more than 1 million returns to retailers daily in December, a pace expected to last into early January. It said returns would likely peak at 1.4 million on Jan. 3, which would be a fifth consecutive annual record, up 8 percent from this year.
The returns follow what could be the strongest holiday shopping season on record for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers, once stores publish sales data. Mastercard Inc said on Tuesday U.S. shoppers spent over $800 billion during the season, more than ever before.
FedEx said on Wednesday it experienced another record-breaking peak shipping season, but declined to provide specifics. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer Rajesh Subramaniam told analysts last week about 15 percent of all goods purchased online are returned, with apparel running at about 30 percent.
UPS said record-breaking e-commerce sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday in late November jolted the returns season, with a larger flood of packages going back to retailers even as many gifts sat under Christmas trees.
Rates raised
UPS has worked for years to increase its ability to forecast customer shipping demands to handle major package volume spikes ahead of the holidays. It has also raised shipping rates and added 2018 peak-season surcharges.
The returns delivered in 2017 are part of the 750 million packages UPS said it expects to deliver globally during the peak shipping season from the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday through New Year’s Eve. That is an increase of nearly 40 million over the previous year.
UPS and FedEx shares were both up slightly on Wednesday.
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With Crises Set to Worsen, What Are Aid Groups’ Priorities for 2018?
Violence, displacement and hunger will drive record humanitarian needs in 2018, with nearly 136 million people worldwide in need of aid, according to the United Nations.
The U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has appealed for a record $22.5 billion for humanitarian responses across the globe.
Protracted conflicts in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen, the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change are among many crises.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation asked aid agencies to name their top priorities for 2018:
OCHA
Mark Lowcock, Head of OCHA and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
1) The 91 million extremely vulnerable people in 26 countries that we aim to reach in 2018 through U.N.-coordinated humanitarian response plans.
2) Internally displaced people — chiefly because of conflict, there are 40 million people displaced within their own countries.
3) Reform — to make the humanitarian system as effective and responsible as possible.
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
Bryce Perry, deputy director of emergencies
In 2018, the IRC will continue to focus on the Central African Republic (CAR) and other countries experiencing severe humanitarian crisis including:
1) Yemen — with a civil war raging, Yemen continues to be at the top of the list as humanitarians struggle to deliver aid in response to extreme food insecurity, disease outbreak and a collapsed economy.
2) The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — we remain concerned about the DRC given the persistent political instability, a highly vulnerable population and continued unrest in multiple parts of the country.
3) Rohingya crisis — the last few months have seen hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee extreme violence in Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh. Humanitarian needs have quickly outstripped available aid resources and this crisis will remain a priority for the year to come.
OXFAM
Nigel Timmins, humanitarian director
1) Yemen — without a political settlement in sight, the conflict looks set to continue. Meanwhile, the conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the world’s largest cholera outbreak and is on course to create the world’s worst famine.
2) Northern Nigeria — Over eight million people are dependent on life saving aid as the conflict in northern Nigeria reaches its eighth year, with no sign of abating. Unable to grow or buy food, millions are going hungry. Close to 1.7 million people have fled their homes, and with the security situation remaining fragile, many more will continue to do so.
3) Syria — the devastation and suffering delivered by six years of war in Syria is staggering and relentless. Three quarters of Syrians have been affected, 13.5 million people are in need of assistance and five million have fled the country.
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
Jean-Michel Grand, executive director
1) The Rohingya crisis — Action Against Hunger has some of its largest relief operation in Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugees, but in 2018 we may see the first movement of population going back to Myanmar. As one of the few NGOs allowed to work in Rakhine state, Action Against Hunger will focus on helping people to return safely and restart their lives.
2) Yemen — this will remain a top priority.
3) Syria — With the recent territorial gains on ISIS and the partial withdrawal of Russia, there are uncertainties about the future of the Syrian refugees and internally displaced people.
CHRISTIAN AID
Nick Guttman, Head of Humanitarian
1) Our Democratic Republic of Congo Kasai response is not yet adequately funded. But in 2018 we will be looking to raise funds in order to increase our response.
2) Ongoing emergency responses in conflict environments — northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and the Rohingya crisis both in Bangladesh and where possible in Myanmar.
3) Humanitarian advocacy — we will continue to prioritize “localization” (in which local organizations are given a central role in a humanitarian response).
NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL
Jan Egeland, secretary general
1) Strengthen our efforts to protect and assist more needy people in hard-to-reach war zones where too few organizations can operate today.
2) Continue to work for a way out for people in protracted displacement. We will work for durable solutions, whether through return, resettlement or local integration.
3) Focus on using data and technology to better let displaced people help themselves. Education and livelihoods as well as cash grants enables people to make their own choices.
ACTIONAID
Mike Noyes, head of humanitarian response
1) East Africa food crisis — it would be foolish to think the food crisis across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan has gone away… Another period of poor rains and failed harvests – mean the region’s vulnerability continues, and the risk of further deterioration in 2018 is very real.
2) Rohingya — repatriation of the 622,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, to Myanmar is meant to begin in early 2018. But the Rohingya are more likely to keep arriving into Bangladesh. Existing humanitarian support in the camps will not be enough.
3) Syria — a new phase to this crisis is likely in 2018, following the governments of Syria and Iraq declaring victory over ISIS. As the conflict in the region enters a fresh, potentially decisive phase, this could lead to yet more movement of people – or even create the conditions where return becomes a viable option for some displaced people.
U.N. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)
Dominique Burgeon, director of emergencies
1) Reduce the number of people on the brink of famine or severe food insecurity in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
2) Support local food production even in conflict situations support countries to address the impact of climate change
3) Make sure pastoralists and their children receive more attention and support.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS and RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES (IFRC)
Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General
1) Early action — early warning technology alerts us to seasonal or anticipated weather-related events that have the potential to devastate communities. The IFRC’s focus is to ensure early warning is met with early action through making funding available before disaster hits, and putting in place operations that mitigate suffering and loss of livelihoods.
2) Health security — situations of conflict and disaster can quickly turn into health emergencies. The IFRC prioritizes emergency health care, water and sanitation services for timely lifesaving and recovery assistance.
3) Localization — The IFRC is committed to ensuring principled humanitarian action is as local as possible through increased support and investment in our Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to strengthen their capacities.
U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP)
David Beasley, executive director
1) Making food a weapon of peace … making food and cash-based assistance central to economic development and regional stability. We will put more focus on school meals programs, on connecting people we help with projects that benefit their communities, and on creating more resilient food systems to support people and their livelihoods.
2) Unleashing wealth — technology is creating immense global private sector wealth. The resources and knowledge base created by the technology revolution could be used to transform humanitarian assistance into an effective force for stability and peace.
3) Be there quickly and efficiently — Millions of lives depend on the WFP to get help to them quickly. And it must be done efficiently to save money.
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Russia: Shipments of S-400 Missiles to Turkey Likely to Begin in 2020
Russia is planning to begin shipments of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey in March 2020, a senior official says of a deal that has raised eyebrows because Turkey is a NATO member.
Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the newspaper Kommersant in an interview published on Wednesday that the $2.5 billion deal will consist of four batteries of S-400 missiles.
“They are paying 45 percent of the total contract amount as an advance. Fifty-five percent is Russian credit,” Chemezov told Kommersant.
Turkey’s move to acquire the S-400s has been regarded in some Western capitals as a snub to the NATO alliance amid tensions with Russia over its role in the wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine.
The S-400 deal, first announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September, has also caused concern because the Russian-made weapons cannot be integrated into the alliance’s defenses.
Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Wednesday that the deal for the missiles had been finalized.
Russia and Turkey support opposing sides in the Syrian war, but Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin patched up their relationship after it was badly damaged when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015.
The missiles have a maximum range of 400 kilometers and are capable of reaching targets at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow also expected to sign a deal with India soon on the delivery of S-400s.
Russian officials have also said that Russia and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia are close to signing a deal on supplying the S-400 systems to Riyadh.
This article contains some material from Kommersant, Reuters, dpa, TASS and Yenisafak.
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Days of Shoveling Snow, Bitter Cold Ahead for Northern US
Freezing temperatures and below-zero wind chills socked much of the northern United States on Wednesday, and the snow-hardened city of Erie, Pennsylvania, dug out from a record snowfall.
A storm brought 34 inches of snow on Christmas Day to Erie, an all-time daily snowfall record for the Great Lakes city, and 26.5 more inches on Tuesday. More than 62 inches have fallen on the city since Dec. 23, with an additional 2 to 4 inches predicted Wednesday as residents dug out in frigid temperatures.
Meanwhile, forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from widespread bitter cold. Wind chill advisories or warnings were in effect for much of northern New England, the northern plains and Great Lakes states, including all of North Dakota and Iowa.
The National Weather Service warned of wind chills between minus 15 and 30 degrees below zero in parts of northern and central Illinois and said the temperature in Maine will remain below freezing for more than 10 days.
In Millcreek, outside Erie, it took Kathleen Palkovic and her 23-year-old son two hours to shovel out so Palkovic could make it to her waitressing job. The 5-mile drive to Dave’s Diner in downtown Erie took an hour. The 62-year-old Palkovic and the cook opened the restaurant at a little after 6 a.m. in single digit temperatures.
“We’re dedicated people, I guess,” Palkovic said. Something else helped: “It took 800 milligrams of ibruprofen after all that to get me to work.”
Snow plows descended on the Erie area and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf sent 21 National Guard troops driving Humvees and other high-clearance vehicles to help with emergency response and transport essential emergency services and hospital employees.
Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper said things were under control as well as could be expected, considering the heavy snowfall.
“We’re used to a lot of snow here in Erie, but this is unprecedented, the amount we got,” Dahlkemper said.
The timing was good, since people were off the streets and staying home for Christmas, giving plows more space to clear streets, Dahlkemper said.
Emergency calls have been relatively slow and, with streets in relatively good condition, the big task now is digging out cars and driveways, Dahlkemper said.
Weather also was being blamed for a Kansas accident that killed four people after the pickup truck they were in fell off a bridge on Interstate 70 on Tuesday.
In New York communities near Lake Ontario’s eastern end, including Redfield and Boylston, road crews were trying to plow 5 feet of snow that has fallen since Christmas Day. Other towns in western New York east of Lake Erie also received heavy snow.
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1 Killed, 12 Injured in Iceland Tour Bus Crash
A bus carrying Chinese tourists has skidded off the road in Iceland, killing one and injuring 12 others.
Iceland police said the crash occurred after the bus rear-ended a car near the Eldhraun lava field, about 250 kilometers east of Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. The driver and a passenger in the car were not hurt.
Many of the injured were transported to a Reykjavik hospital by helicopters and a relief station was set up for the other passengers in nearby Kirkjubaejarklaustur village.
The owner of the tour company, Fjalar Ulfarsson, said the group was on the fourth day of a weeklong visit to Iceland when the accident happened.
“The road there is narrow and had some icing, from what I gather,” Ulfarsson told The Associated Press.
Iceland is a popular tourist destination that attracted a record number of 1.8 million visitors in 2016.
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Airbus Reportedly Ready to Ax A380 If It Fails to Win Emirates Deal
Airbus is drawing up contingency plans to phase out production of the world’s largest jetliner, the A380 superjumbo, if it fails to win a key order from Dubai’s Emirates, three people familiar with the matter said.
The moment of truth for the slow-selling airliner looms after just 10 years in service and leaves one of Europe’s most visible international symbols hanging by a thread, despite a major airline investment in new cabins unveiled this month.
“If there is no Emirates deal, Airbus will start the process of ending A380 production,” a person briefed on the plans said.
A supplier added such a move was logical due to weak demand. Airbus and Emirates declined to comment. Airbus also declined to say how many people work on the project.
Gradual shutdown?
Any shutdown is expected to be gradual, allowing Airbus to produce orders it has in hand, mainly from Emirates. It has enough orders to last until early next decade at current production rates, according to a Reuters analysis.
The A380 was developed at a cost of 11 billion euros to carry some 500 people and challenge the reign of the Boeing 747. But demand for these four-engined goliaths has fallen as airlines choose smaller twin-engined models, which are easier to fill and cheaper to maintain.
Emirates, however, has been a strong believer in the A380 and is easily the largest customer with total orders of 142 aircraft, of which it has taken just over 100.
Talks between Airbus and Emirates over a new order for 36 superjumbos worth $16 billion broke down at the Dubai Airshow last month. Negotiations are said to have resumed, but there are no visible signs that a deal is imminent.
British Airways interested
Although airlines such as British Airways have expressed interest in the A380, Airbus is reluctant to keep factories open without the certainty that a bulk Emirates order would provide.
Emirates, for its part, wants a guarantee that Airbus will keep production going for a decade to protect its investment.
A decision to cancel would mark a rupture between Airbus and one of its largest customers and tie Emirates’ future growth to recent Boeing orders.
European sources say that reflects growing American influence in the Gulf under President Donald Trump, but U.S. and UAE industry sources deny politics are involved. There are also potential hurdles to a deal over engine choices and after-sales support.
Safety net
Yet if talks succeed, European sources say there is a glimmer of hope for the double-deck jet, which Airbus says will become more popular with airlines due to congestion.
Singapore Airlines, which first introduced the A380 to passengers in 2007, showcased an $850 million cabin re-design this month and expressed confidence in the model’s future.
Airbus hopes to use an Emirates order to stabilize output and establish a safety net from which to attract A380 sales to other carriers, but has ruled out trying to do this the other way round, industry sources said.
As of the end of November, Airbus had won orders for 317 A380s and delivered 221, leaving 96 unfilled orders. But based on airlines’ intentions or finances, 47 of those are unlikely to be delivered, according to industry sources, which halves the number of jets in play.
30 orders needed
Airbus needs to sell at least another 30 to keep lines open for 10 years and possibly more to justify the price concessions likely to be demanded by any new buyers.
To bridge the gap, Airbus plans to cut output to six a year beyond 2019, from 12 in 2018 and 8 in 2019, even if it means producing at a loss, Reuters recently reported.
Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier confirmed this month Airbus was looking at cutting output to 6-7 a year.
If Airbus does decide to wind down production, some believe Emirates will ask Airbus to deliver the remaining 41 it has on order and then keep most A380s in service as long as possible. Even so, some A380s are likely to be heading for scrap.
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Russia Says Programming Error Caused Failure of Satellite Launch
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday that the failed launch of a 2.6 billion-ruble ($44.95 million) satellite last month was due to an embarrassing programming error.
Russian space agency Roscosmos said last month that it had lost contact with the newly launched weather satellite — the Meteor-M — after it blasted off from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East.
Eighteen smaller satellites belonging to scientific, research and commercial companies from Russia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Japan, Canada and Germany were on board the same rocket.
Speaking to Rossiya 24 state TV channel, Rogozin said the failure had been caused by human error.
The rocket carrying the satellites had been programmed with the wrong coordinates, he said, saying it had been given bearings for takeoff from a different cosmodrome — Baikonur — which Moscow leases from Kazakhstan.
“The rocket was really programmed as if it was taking off from Baikonur,” said Rogozin. “They didn’t get the coordinates right.”
The Vostochny spaceport, laid out in the thick taiga forest of the Amur region, is the first civilian rocket launch site in Russia.
In April last year, after delays and massive costs overruns, Russia launched its first rocket from Vostochny, a day after a technical glitch forced an embarrassing postponement of the event in the presence of President Vladimir Putin.
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South Sudan Information Minister Defiant About US Sanctions
South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei has said he will continue to speak publicly on behalf of President Salva Kiir’s government despite being the target of U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement on September 6, implicating Makuei for his role in threatening the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan.
South Sudan’s government has been battling rebel groups in a war that has displaced some 4 million people.
Makuei, speaking to VOA’s South Sudan in Focus for the first time about the sanctions, said he is not frightened by the actions of the Trump administration.
“The fact that I am sanctioned does not stop me from continuing to perform my duties as the minister of information and the spokesman of the government. I will continue to talk for the government (of South Sudan) and say whatever the government wants to be said. The fact that I am sanctioned — I do not have much interest in going to America,” Makuei said.
Makuei said he is just doing his job as the minister of information, adding that all his pronouncements are official government positions.
“Whatever I was doing and whatever I am doing up to this moment, I am doing it in my official capacity as the spokesman of the government. Whatever I say is not my personal opinion; it is not my personal position, but this is the position of the government,” he said.
Makuei’s wife and children resettled in the United States during the 21 years of conflict before South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011. He acknowledged that the sanctions prevent him from traveling to see them.
“I am in contact with them. If they want to see me, it is open for them to come and see me. There is no way I would insist on going to America,” he said.
The sanctions notice, U.S. Executive Order 13664, authorized a travel ban and an asset freeze of “persons who threatened the peace, security or stability of South Sudan.” American citizens are prohibited from conducting any business with the sanctioned individuals.
In addition to Makuei, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Malek Reuben Riak Rengu and Paul Malong Awan, and three companies owned or controlled by Rengu.
Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced more targeted sanctions against South Sudanese citizen Benjamin Bol Mel and three of his companies.
The U.S. embassy in Juba said Bol Mel is a close associate of President Kiir and used connections to win government contracts worth millions of dollars for construction work that was not completed.
Information Minister Makuei said additional sanctions or threats from the “troika” countries of the United States, Britain and Norway will not intimidate South Sudan into bending to international demands.
“Yes, these people [Troika], they have the rights to say whatever they want; but, this does not mean we must agree because of threats. We will agree because we need peace,” Makuei said.
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US Airstrike Kills 13 al-Shabab Militants in Somalia
The Pentagon said Wednesday a December 24 airstrike in southern Somalia killed 13 al-Shabab militants.
The U.S. Africa Command said the Somali government helped coordinate the operation northwest of Kismayo.
“The strike targeted the militants as they mobilized to launch an attack against our base. Fortunately, the military from a friendly nation disabled them with a drone strike and killed 13 of them,” a Somali military commander in the area told VOA.
The United States carried out about 30 airstrikes against al-Shabab this year, including a drone targeting a militant training camp last month, which killed 100.
A senior Somali army officer said Wednesday said more than 20 al-Shabab militants, including two mid-level commanders, have surrendered to Somali security forces over the past two weeks.
Militants agree to lay down arms
Abdullahi Isaq Ibrahim, the chief military commander of South West state in Somalia, told VOA the militants agreed to lay down arms and surrender to the Somali National Army in separate groups.
“One of the [commanders] was in charge of finance and alms collection for al-Shabab in the region and the other was in charge of transportation,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim said former al-Shabab leader Mukhtar Robow persuaded the militants to give up. Robow defected from the group and surrendered to the Somali government in August after negotiations with Somali officials.
“The same guy, Robow, who told them to go against us, is now with people he once recognized as infidels. He told them they should leave the group and it seems they heard it,” Irbahim said. “We are expecting more in the coming hours and days, including senior commanders, to defect.”
Some of the defectors were welcomed Wednesday in Baidoa, the provincial capital of the Bay region.
Robow was once al-Shabab’s No. 1 leader, and the U.S. offered $5 million for information leading to his capture, but he had a falling out with al-Shabab leaders in 2012 and has since kept a low profile in the jungles of Bakool region, protected by members of his clan.
Multiple attempts by al-Shabab to kill or capture him failed.
your ad here10 Injured in St. Petersburg Supermarket Blast
Ten people were injured and sent to hospitals when a homemade bomb detonated in a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russia, officials said Wednesday.
“According to preliminary information, an explosion of an unidentified object occurred in a store,” Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.
The blast was caused by a “homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT filled with lethal fragments,” she said.
Investigators said they have opened a criminal case on the grounds of attempted murder.
Health officials said none of the 10 victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known.
your ad hereThe End of an Era – Straight Talk Africa
Zambia’s founding father Kenneth Kaunda talks about how some of the key leaders of his generation looked at Africa through a lens that had neither borders, nor boundaries. Host Shaka Ssali is joined by Ambassador Kintu Nyago, Ugandan Representative to the U.N., Kenneth Mwenda, Professor of Law at the University of Pretoria, Nii Akuetteh, Ghanaian policy analyst and Sishuwa Sishuwa , Zambian political analyst, to talk about the political realities that are unraveling in the continent.
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