Month: February 2018

Two Journalists Beaten in South Sudan Protest

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Pro-government protesters beat at least two journalists Tuesday in South Sudan’s capital. One of the journalists, a female Westerner, was repeatedly struck in the face. 

Hundreds of people — including youths, women and tribal chiefs —denounced the U.S. decision last week to restrict arms transfers to South Sudan. The South Sudan Council of Chiefs organized the demonstrations, and some of its members rode on trucks through Juba’s streets, urging residents to protest.

Eyewitnesses said the violence, which happened outside the UNMISS (U.N. Mission in South Sudan) compound near Juba International Airport, mostly involved youths who seemed to vent their anger at foreign nationals.

The female journalist who was assaulted declined to disclose her identity but told South Sudan In Focus that angry youths had hit her repeatedly in the face, tried to strangle her and wrestled her to the ground. Her arms, neck and face were bruised.

Gale Julius, a South Sudanese journalist for Bakhita Radio, was also assaulted. He said the protests started out peacefully but soon turned violent.

“The youths started throwing stones at the roof at the gate of UNMISS,” he said. “Then we heard shouting. And when I turned, I saw that they were beating someone.

“I was standing far [away], but I could see the beating, which went on at least for three to five minutes. That’s my own assessment before the police could reach and rescue the lady. I really got scared because the youths were many — more than 20 people in a circle shouting and hitting the lady, who was lying down,” he said.

Julius told VOA he thought Tuesday’s violence was not aimed at journalists, but at a white person perceived to be American.

Ambassador recalled

The Trump administration announced unilateral arms restrictions on South Sudan last week to try to pressure the Juba government to end a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and has displaced more than 4 million people.

Juba immediately recalled its ambassador to the U.S. after the arms restrictions were announced.

“We are demanding the government of the United States of America review this decision because as people of South Sudan, we are ready to tell America that what you did cannot help in achieving peace in South Sudan,” Chief Taban Luka, one of the protest organizers, told South Sudan in Focus.

Tuesday’s protest was unusual in South Sudan, where the administration of President Salva Kiir does not allow street protests. In December, national security agents questioned some female leaders for organizing a march for peace.
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Somaliland Fatwa Forbids FGM

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Authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have issued a religious fatwa banning the practice of female genital mutilation and vowed to punish violators.

The fatwa by the Ministry of Religious Affairs allows FGM victims to receive compensation. It does not say whether the compensation will be paid the government or by violators of the ban.

“It’s forbidden to perform any circumcision that is contrary to the religion which involves cutting and sewing up, like the pharaoh circumcision, the ministry’s fatwa reads. “Any girl who suffers from pharaoh circumcision will be eligible for compensation depending the extent of the wound and the violation caused. Any one proven to be performing the practice will receive punishment depending on the extent of the violation.”

The fatwa – issued Tuesday, coinciding with the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation – did not elaborate on the type or severity of punishment. 

FGM involves removing part or all of the clitoris and labia for non-medical reasons, usually as a rite of passage. On its website, the World Health Organization (WHO) says cutting – often performed on girls 15 and younger – can result in bleeding, infection, problems with urination and complications with childbearing.

Somalia is among the countries in which FGM is most prevalent. The international organization reports that an estimated 98 percent of Somali females ages 15 to 49 have undergone the procedure.

The fatwa comes less than a month after Somaliland’s parliament for the first time approved a bill criminalizing rape and requiring prison terms for those who are convicted.

Praise for fatwa

Religious affairs minister Sheikh Khalil Abdullahi Ahmed hailed the fatwa, which effectively criminalizes FGM. He said the practice led Somali women and girls to suffer “during marriage, during childbirth and at young age” as it interferes with urination and menstruation.

Ahmed said society has “ignored” the problem for a long time.

“It was a problem that was ignored – whether they are religious scholars as well as the society. Its victim was a young child who did not have the power to protect itself. Today we stood up for our girls. This cruel act of circumcision is crime from today.”

Somaliland’s minister of social affairs and labor, Hinda Jama, welcomed the fatwa.

“Today we reached the pinnacle. We thank the religious scholars. I say, let us implement it and let us legislate a bill,” she said. “We will be watchful for anyone who performs cutting of a young girl. We will set up neighborhood watches to implement it.”

Prominent women’s rights activist Maryan Qasim, a former Somali minister of health, education and social services, also hailed the fatwa.

“A good step forward towards eradicating this harmful cultural practice that has harmed generations of Somali women,” she said in a Twitter post. “Time for FGM to end.”

Action plan and legislation anticipated

Ifrah Ahmed – founder of the Mogadishu-based Ifrah Foundation, which combats FGM – predicted that Somalia’s government would publish a national action plan this spring to fight the practice.

A bill forbidding FGM is very close to completion and will come before the Somali parliament soon, and this will help towards stopping this practice,” she told VOA Somali.

Ahmed said the Ifrah Foundation held a national conference in December and has conducted awareness training to over 6,000 youth members.

“I hope [in] the next 10 years Somalia will eradicate FGM; not to reduce it, but stop the practice as a whole,” she said.
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Democrats Hoping to Release Rebuttal to Republicans’ Russia Memo

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the White House has received a Democratic rebuttal to a Republican memo alleging FBI abuses of power during a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and will follow the same process that led to the public release of the Republican document.

President Donald Trump will have to decide within days whether to declassify the Democratic memo.

In a unanimous bi-partisan vote Monday, members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence agreed to release the report showing a dissenting view of the approach used to obtain a government surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign advisor accused of contacts with Russia.

The Republican memo cleared the same approval process last Friday, sparking a furious debate across Washington over the role of partisan politics in the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

“We think this will help inform the public of the many distortions and inaccuracies in the majority memo,” ranking House Intelligence Committee Democrat Adam Schiff told reporters shortly after the vote. “We want to make sure the White House does not redact our memo for political purposes and obviously that’s a huge concern.”

 

Trump claims the Republican memo crafted by House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes and others “totally vindicates” him of wrongdoing in the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the election and whether he obstructed justice in trying to limit the probe.

In a White House press gaggle Monday, Raj Shah said the president’s personal attorneys have called for a second special counsel to provide further review of the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election.

 

Democrats said the contents of the four-page so-called “Nunes memo,” are nothing but partisan politics.

 

“It’s the latest distraction concocted by Republicans to protect a president of their party from the conclusions from an independent – a truly independent investigation,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday. “At least the American people can now see the Nunes memo for what it truly is – an impotent document of GOP talking points.”

 

Twitter back-and-forth

In a Twitter remark Monday, Trump assailed the top Democrat on the panel, saying Schiff “is desperate to run for higher office.”

Trump claimed Schiff “is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there” with former FBI director James Comey, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper —all of whom Trump has feuded with over national security issues.

Schiff responded on Twitter, saying, “Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of ‘Executive Time.’ Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or … really anything else.”

Meanwhile, Trump praised Nunes, saying, “Representative Devin Nunes, a man of tremendous courage and grit, may someday be recognized as a Great American Hero for what he has exposed and what he has had to endure!”

The Nunes memo concluded the FBI relied excessively on opposition research funded by Democrats in a dossier compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, as it sought approval from a U.S. surveillance court in October 2016 to monitor Page and his links to Russia.

But the memo also noted that the FBI investigation that eventually led to Mueller’s probe started months earlier — in July 2016 — when agents began looking into contacts between another Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, and Russian operatives. Papadopoulos, as part of Mueller’s probe, has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his Russian contacts and, pending his sentencing, is cooperating with Mueller’s investigation.

Democratic lawmakers opposed to Friday’s release of the memo contend that the Republican-approved statement “cherry-picks” information and overstates the importance of the Steele dossier in the FBI’s effort to win approval from the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court for the monitoring of Page’s activities.

The FBI also opposed release of the memo, saying it had “grave concerns” about its accuracy because of omissions concerning its request to the surveillance court to monitor Page. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Mueller investigation, also opposed its release.

Michael Bowman contributed to this report
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Kenya Charges Opposition Figure Present at Odinga "Swearing in" with Treason

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A Kenyan opposition politician was charged on Tuesday with treason and unlawful assembly for his involvement in the symbolic presidential “swearing in” of opposition leader Raila Odinga in a challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The charge sheet presented by police to the court in Kajiado south of Nairobi said Miguna Miguna was being charged with “being present and consenting to the administration of an oath to commit a capital offense, namely treason”.

Miguna was also charged with “taking part in an unlawful assembly” and “engaging in organized criminal activity”.
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Tillerson Addresses Legal and Illegal Trade Between Americas

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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is visiting Colombia Tuesday to push for the implementation of the peace agreement and measures to curb illegal drug production. In Peru Tuesday, Tillerson acknowledged that the U.S. is part of the problem, because its huge demand for opioids make it an attractive market for smugglers. Tillerson defended the U.S. trade policy, saying  bilateral trade agreements work to the U.S. advantage better than some regional agreements. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Malawi Farmers Fight Armyworms with Home-Made Repellents

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Malawi farmers are under attack by armyworms, and government-provided pesticides are not effective. So farmers are fighting back with home-made concoctions. Faith Lapidus reports.
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US Expands Anti-Taliban Airstrikes to Northern Afghanistan

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The U.S. military says a new anti-Taliban air campaign has been expanded to northern Afghanistan near the border with China and Tajikistan to destroy insurgent revenue sources, training facilities and support networks.

The airstrikes began in November under President Donald Trump’s new Afghan war strategy and initially focused on Taliban-linked narcotics producing labs in the largest southern province of Helmand with a mission to cut insurgent main revenue streams.

“Over the past 96 hours, U.S. forces conducted air operations to strike Taliban training facilities in Badakhshan province, preventing the planning and rehearsal of terrorist acts near the border with China and Tajikistan,” the military announced Tuesday.

It added the strikes also destroyed stolen Afghan National Army vehicles that were in the process of being converted to vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.

Afghan security forces, backed by U.S. and NATO partners, have maintained battlefield pressure on the Taliban throughout the winter in their bid to prevent insurgent regrouping and recuperating before fighting picks up in coming weeks.

This week’s U.S. airstrikes followed a series of pictures Taliban propagandists recently released via social media, showing insurgents winter training camps in snowy scenes. The group did not name the places but northern Afghan provinces, including Badakshan, are mostly covered with snow in winter months.

During these strikes, a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress dropped 24 precision guided weapons on Taliban fighting positions, setting a record of the most guided weapons ever released from the aircraft , the military said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said airstrikes in partnership with Afghan special forces have resulted in the removal of more than $30 million of Taliban revenue since the campaign began, according to Tuesday’s statement.

Most of the 14 districts in Helmand, one of the world’s major poppy producing region, are controlled or contested by the Taliban.

Afghan security forces, backed by U.S. and NATO partners, have maintained battlefield pressure on the Taliban throughout the winter in their bid to prevent insurgent regrouping and recuperating before fighting picks up in the coming weeks.

“The Taliban have nowhere to hide,” said General John Nicholson, who commands U.S. and NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. “There will be no safe haven for any terrorist group bent on bringing harm and destruction to this country.”

Recent redeployment of a squadron of American A-10 ground attack planes in Afghanistan after a gap of three years, has also bolstered the air campaign.

On Monday, the U.S. military announced a batch of about 4,000 newly trained or under training Afghan commandos will be ready to join their national special forces by spring.

The boasting of military preparedness follows President Trump’s remarks last week in which he ruled out peace talks with the Taliban citing recent deadly attacks in Kabul and vowed to defeat the insurgents on the battlefield.

Over the weekend, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also vowed not to engage in talks with Taliban groups who plotted the violence and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.  

The Taliban when asked for its reaction has refused to directly comment on Ghani’s remarks, mocking him as “merely an American puppet.”

The spokesman for the insurgency, Zabihullah Mujahid, however, reiterated while speaking to VOA the Taliban believes authority to decide on the fate of Afghan war rested with the U.S.

“President Trump has chosen the path of war and Mujahideen [Taliban fighters] are ready to deal with the challenge like they have successfully done in the past,” he asserted. Mujahid added the Taliban will not stop fighting until all foreign forces withdraw from the country.

Analysts say peace in Afghanistan has never been more elusive and the stepped up U.S. military operations coupled with an “emboldened and defiant Taliban” suggest the strong likely-hood of increased casualties in terms of Afghan civilians, security forces and foreign troops.

“I fear that this coming summer fighting season could be one of the bloodiest that Afghanistan has seen for quite some time,” cautioned Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at Washington’s Wilson Center.

He noted that U.S. policymakers hope the intensified military campaign will turn the tide of the war and weaken the Taliban significantly.

“Unfortunately, I think that the U.S. is banking on a misguided hope. If the U.S. couldn’t turn the tide of the war back in 2010 and 2011, when it had more than 100,000 troops in place, I can’t imagine it doing so now with less than 15,000 troops on the ground,” said Kugelman.

The Taliban controls or contests about 44 percent of Afghan territory, according to latest U.S. military assessments. The insurgent group inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan forces in 2017.

As many as 10,000 Afghan forces were killed last year, according to a recent New York Times article.  The Afghan Defense Ministry has recently bared U.S. partners from making public details on casualties, attrition rate and other internal challenges facing Afghan security forces.

The United Nations also documented record levels of civilian casualties in 2017.

Conflict-related violence across Afghanistan last month reportedly caused more than 2,000 casualties, including nearly 1,200 fatalities. The Afghan news agency, Pajhwok, documented the casualties in an article published Monday, saying they included militant losses as well.

 

 
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Study Finds Minimal Short-Term Threat from US Foreign Fighters

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U.S. citizens and residents who left their homes to join extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq appear to pose little immediate threat to the homeland, with only a handful even returning from the battlefront, according to a new study.

The multi-year effort by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism identified 64 so-called travelers who fought or otherwise supported Islamic State, al-Qaida and other groups in Syria and Iraq.

Of those, only 12 travelers are known to have returned, the study said. Nine of them have been arrested and charged with terror-related crimes.

And none have successfully carried out an attack in the United States, the study said.

“The risk of returned travelers being engaged in terrorist attacks has, to date, been limited,” according to the study’s authors. 

“There is currently no publicly available evidence to suggest that American travelers have slipped into the country without the knowledge of authorities,” they wrote. “’Homegrown’ extremists currently appear to be more likely to commit domestic jihadist attacks than returning travelers.”

Compared to European countries, the risk such travelers pose to the United States, has always been smaller, partly due to the greater distance and difficulty in reaching the fight.

U.S. intelligence officials have estimated of the more than 40,000 foreign fighters who traveled to Syria and Iraq, only 5,000 to 6,000 came from Western countries.

The exact number who successfully left from the United States is unclear. Officials have said only that about 250 to 300 U.S.-based people left or tried to leave to join groups fighting in Syria. And not all of them made it.

The study found at least 50 – nearly one-third of all U.S. residents charged with Islamic State-related crimes – were arrested before leaving the United States.

Of the 64 travelers identified in the study who did manage to leave the U.S., 22 are thought to have died in Syria or Iraq. The whereabouts of another 28 are unconfirmed.

Attempted terror attacks

But in only one case did the study identify a returning traveler who sought to carry out an attack in the United States

That was 23-year-old Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a naturalized citizen from Somalia, who left his home in Ohio to join al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra in April 2014.

While in Syria, Mohamud was trained in explosives and hand-to-hand combat, and was then sent back to the United States in June to carry out an attack.

But in February 2015, while still in the early stages of planning, Mohamud was arrested. He eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Aside from Mohamud, only one other so-called traveler sought to carry out a terror attack, a suicide bombing, but it was only upon returning to Syria after evading prosecution in the United States.

In any case, the study authors say the data suggests fears once voiced by U.S. officials of a “terrorist diaspora” seem to be overblown.

Counterterror officials have admitted as much over the past several months, though they say even a trickle is reason to worry.

“The quality of the fighters after the experience on the ground in Iraq and Syria is something we’re paying very close attention to,” one U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA this past December.

Others have described them as force-multipliers, capable of having a disproportionate effect. And they worry, in particular, about the Islamic State terror group, which has proven especially adept at maintaining lines of communication even as its self-declared caliphate has collapsed.

So too, the George Washington University study finds there are reasons for concern. 

While Mohamud was sentenced to more than two decades behind bars, study co-author Seamus Hughes says the average prison sentence for those who traveled to take part in the fight in Syria and Iraq is only 10 years, shorter than the average prison terms handed out to would-be U.S.-based jihadists who were arrested at the airport.

Part of that may be due to the difficulty in making a criminal case based on terrorist activity that took place overseas.

Hughes said another factor could be that the returnees may have been able to share intelligence or other information with investigators and counter-terror officials in exchange for lighter sentences.

But just like with the would-be jihadists, these travelers will eventually get out of prison. And Hughes and others worry the lack of deradicalization or disengagement programs could allow for problems in the future.

“If left unaddressed, returnees can augment jihadist networks in the U.S., provide others with knowledge about how to travel and conduct attacks, and serve as nodes in future jihadist recruitment,” the study warns.
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Report: Trump’s Lawyers Advise Against Special Counsel Meeting

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Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump are advising him not to agree to appear for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Times reported Monday.

Mueller’s team has already talked to multiple White House officials and others involved with Trump’s campaign for president, as part of an investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey.

The Times said that according to four people briefed on the issue, Trump’s lawyers have concerns about whether the president would make false or contradictory statements and thus open himself up to possible charges of lying to federal investigators. The report says further the lawyers believe Mueller should not be legally allowed to question the president about some aspects of the investigation.

Trump has indicated he is willing to participate in an interview with the special counsel, while also questioning why such a step would be necessary as he rejected that there was any collusion between his campaign and Russia and said he did not obstruct justice by firing Comey.

Mueller could subpoena Trump if he does not agree to a request to speak with the investigators. The Times said the president’s lawyers believe Mueller might not be willing to take that step and enter a legal battle with the White House.
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German Spy Chief: N. Korea Has Gotten Nuclear Equipment Through Its Berlin Embassy

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North Korea has been getting equipment and technology for its nuclear weapons program through its embassy in Berlin, Germany’s intelligence chief says.

“When we detect something of this sort, we prevent it,” BfV head Han-Georg Maassen told German public television NDR Monday. “But we can’t guarantee that we will be able to detect and thwart all cases.”

Maassen says German authorities suspect underground markets and shadow buyers got their hands on the parts and the North Koreans procured them in Germany. 

He did not say exactly what equipment the North Koreans bought, but said it is likely duel-use technology, meaning it has civilian and military purposes.

The German TV report says the North carried out its activities in Germany in 2016 and 2017, but that a North Korean diplomat tried to buy a monitor used in chemical weapons production as early as 2014.

A North Korean embassy spokesman denies the report, telling CNN it is “simply not true.”

The United Nations has imposed a series of increasingly stronger sanctions on North Korea because of its refusal to stop developing nuclear weapons and testing ballistic missiles that could carry such bombs.

But a recent U.N. report says the North earned nearly $200 million last year ignoring sanctions and exporting such goods as coal, iron, and steel.
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Draghi: Too Early to Call Time on Money-Printing Stimulus

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European Central Bank head Mario Draghi said Monday that it’s too soon to declare victory over weak inflation – indicating it would be premature to set a definite end date for the bank’s money-printing stimulus despite a strengthening economy.

Draghi’s statement to a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, said that continuing economic growth means inflation would eventually tick up toward the bank’s goal of just under 2 percent, from an annual 1.3 percent in January. 

“While our confidence that inflation will converge towards our aim of below, but close to, 2 percent has strengthened,” Draghi said, “we cannot yet declare victory on this front.”

He said that “new headwinds” had arisen from a recently stronger euro. The stronger currency can hurt exporters _ and therefore growth _ and makes it harder to raise inflation, since it reduces the costs of imports. The euro was little changed after Draghi spoke, trading around $1.242, down 0.3 percent on the day. 

Draghi offered no indication of any looming change in the bank’s statement that it would continue purchasing 30 billion euros ($37 billion) per month in bonds at least through September, and longer if necessary. The purchases pump newly created money into the economy, driving down longer-term interest rates in an effort to raise inflation and growth.

The ECB head said that “overall, while we can be more confident about the path of inflation, patience and persistence with regard to monetary policy is still warranted for underlying inflation pressures to build up and inflation to converge durably towards our objective.”

An end to the purchases would eventually mean higher long-term borrowing costs for governments and companies. The ECB’s stance is being closely watched in currency markets, which tend to send the euro higher against the dollar on any indication that the stimulus might come to an end. Monetary stimulus tends to lower a currency’s exchange rate, while interest rate increases tend to raise the exchange rate against other currencies. 

The ECB has made clear that interest rate increases will only occur well after the end of the purchases. That means the next rate increase likely won’t happen until sometime in 2019. Currently, the bank’s main benchmark interest rate is at a record low of zero.
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Despite Tensions, US and Russia Complying With Key Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty

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The United States says it is confident that both the U.S. and Russia will have honored their commitments under the bilateral Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) by the Monday deadline. 

U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said there is good news to report on deadline day, which is also the eighth anniversary of the new Start treaty taking effect.

“The United States has met the central limits of the New Start treaty in August 2017. We assess at this time that Russia has also progressed toward meeting those limits. We have no reason to believe that the Russian government will not meet those limits as well.” 

The State Department said in a release late Sunday that both countries will exchange data on their respective nuclear arsenals “within the next month, as we have done twice per year over the last seven years in accordance with the Treaty.”

Treaty signed in 2010

The New START Treaty was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010 by then U.S. President Barack Obama and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and came into force on Feb. 5, 2011. 

It limits the U.S. and Russia to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads and also limits deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, heavy bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. 

Under the treaty, both sides are to exchange information twice a year on the number of warheads and delivery vehicles, and are allowed to conduct on-site inspections to verify each other’s compliance.

Olga Oliker is the Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.  She told VOA the ability to deploy “boots on the ground” for inspections helps build trust.

“It limits your incentives to try to cheat, and it gives everyone also the opportunity to meet one another and to actually build relationships that are based on verifying compliance with the treaty that everyone agreed to.”

Trump calls for upgrade

At his State of the Union speech last week, President Donald Trump outlined his approach to nuclear weapons.

“We must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression. Perhaps someday in the future there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.”

Experts say despite a widening rift between Moscow and Washington on Russia’s election interference, Syria, Crimea, Ukraine and other issues, the fact that both sides are still cooperating and complying with nuclear monitoring and verification is crucial to global security and stability.

Treaty is crucial

Olga Oliker says the disagreements between Washington and Moscow make the treaty even more crucial.

“I think the United States and Russia disagree on a great many things and have some interests that are very misaligned. This means all the more that we need to work to make sure that our disagreements don’t escalate and that if they do get worse, we don’t run the risk of blowing up the world many times over.”

Oliker says the New START treaty is key to global security and stability because the U.S. and Russia have about 95 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.
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Nigeria’s President Signs Order to Boost Local Production, Employment

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Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the local production of goods and create jobs in the west African country.

Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler, has frequently spoken about ending the OPEC member’s dependence on oil exports while also creating jobs by boosting local food production.

And in 2015, months after Buhari came to power in May of that year, the central bank restricted access to foreign currency to import certain goods in a bid to stimulate local manufacturing.

The president “ordered that all ‘procuring authorities shall give preference to Nigerian companies and firms in the award of contracts, in line with the Public Procurement Act 2007,'” said the presidency in a statement circulated on Monday.

“The executive order also prohibits the ministry of interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria,” added the statement.

Around four out of every 10 people in the country’s workforce were unemployed or underemployed by the end of September, according to data released by the statistics office in December.

The order states that consideration will only be given to a foreign professional, “where it is certified by the appropriate authority that such expertise is not available in Nigeria.”

The country, which has Africa’s largest population and biggest economy, in 2016 fell into its a recession largely caused by low oil prices and militant attacks on energy facilities in the Niger Delta region.

It emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2017, largely on higher on oil prices.
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Eruption of Ethnic Violence in DRC Kills 24

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An eruption of ethnic violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 24 people and left hundreds of homes burned to the ground.

Congolese officials say the fighting exploded late last week in the Ituri province between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups.

It is unclear what set off the fighting, but the two groups have been bitter enemies for decades.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC says it will assess the situation.

Meanwhile, the United States has slapped sanctions on a Congolese military commander and three rebel leaders for “contributing to widespread poverty, chronic food insecurity, and population displacement.”

The U.N. Security Council sanctioned the same four men last week for human rights violations.

Monday’s action freezes all assets the four have in the United States and bars Americans from doing business with them.

“They are responsible for horrendous acts, including sexual abuse and forced military recruitment of children into positions requiring them to commit acts of violence, among other atrocities,” said the head of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, John Smith.

The four are Congolese General Muhindo Akili Mundos, and rebel leaders Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, Guidon Shimiray Mwissa, and Lucien Nzabamwita.
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Lithuania: Russia Deploying More Missiles into Kaliningrad

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Lithuania’s president said Monday Russia has deployed additional nuclear-capable missiles in its Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad on a permanent basis, calling it a threat to Europe.

 

President Dalia Grybauskaite told reporters after visiting NATO troops in the central Lithuanian town of Rukla that “Iskander missiles are being stationed in Kaliningrad for permanent presence as we speak.” She called it a threat not only to Lithuania but to “half of all European countries.”

 

NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, who also visited the Rukla base where the military alliance’s multinational battalion is stationed, said Grybauskaite’s assertion, if true, was “a very serious matter,” according to the Baltic news agency BNS.

 

From Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, Iskander missiles can reach targets in both countries as well as Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, all of them NATO members.

 

The head of the Russian parliament’s defense committee, Vladimir Shamanov, confirmed the missiles’ deployment in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. He added that the move was a response to a NATO buildup near Russia’s borders, with the number of U.S. weapons in Poland a particular irritation to Moscow.

 

The high-precision Iskander missiles deployed in Kaliningrad can be fitted with a conventional or a nuclear warhead and have a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles.) In the past, Moscow deployed them to Kaliningrad temporarily for military drills.
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Opponents Say Berlusconi to Blame for Italy’s Migrant Crisis

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Opponents of Silvio Berlusconi accused the former prime minister on Monday of being to blame for a surge in migrants to Italy in recent years as campaigning for a national election turned increasingly ugly.

The build up to the March 4 vote was shaken at the weekend when a neo-Nazi shot and injured six African migrants in central Italy, in a racially motivated attack after a Nigerian man was arrested on suspicion of murdering a local teenager.

While denouncing the gunman as “insane,” Berlusconi, whose center-right coalition is leading in the opinion polls, on Sunday adopted a new, hardline on immigration, saying hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants in Italy were “a social time bomb ready to explode.”

The 81-year-old billionaire accused them of living off “their wits and crime” and said he would initiate mass deportations if he and his rightist allies win power next month. 

The ruling center-left Democratic Party (PD) has been lambasted by opponents for not doing more over the past four years to stem the flow of some 625,000 migrants into Italy — most of whom set sail from Libya, which was plunged into chaos after NATO ousted former strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

“If migrants come to Italy it’s because someone went to war with Libya, and the prime minister was Berlusconi,” said the PD leader Matteo Renzi, adding that migrants got stuck in Italy because of an EU refugee pact that Berlusconi signed in 2003.

The leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement also said Berlusconi was heavily responsible for the migrant crisis.

“When you start losing your memory aged 81, it’s worrying for the whole country,” said Luigi Di Maio. “Berlusconi is responsible for the social bomb that is immigration. It is out of control because of him and because of the center-left.”

Opinion polls say Berlusconi and his far-right partners — the League and the Brothers of Italy — will win the most votes at the March election, but will probably fall short of an absolute majority.

Saturday’s gunman, Luca Traini, stood for the League in a local election last year, but did not receive any votes. Police found a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf at his house and he has a neo-Nazi symbol tattooed above his eyebrow.

Leftist politicians accuse League leader Matteo Salvini of whipping up hostility to migrants with his often fierce rhetoric against the newcomers — a charge he denies.

Berlusconi has sought to allay fears over the sometimes extremist tones of his allies by promising to be a moderating force should they govern together. However, his comments on Sunday showed he had bought into their tough line on migration.

He doubled down on his message on Monday, urging Italians to signal to the police the whereabouts of illegal migrants and promising mass repatriations by boat and plane.

“In order to find them, everyone can point out their presence and these people will be picked up,” he told Rai state television.
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South Africa’s ANC Calls Top-Level Meeting on Zuma’s Future

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South Africa’s ruling African National Congress on Monday called a special meeting of its decision-making executives for later in the week as pressure grew on veteran President Jacob Zuma to step down after years of scandal.

Senior officials of the ANC met to discuss the 75-year-old leader’s future, which is in the balance over long-running corruption allegations and a weakened economy even as prominent allies desert him.

They include Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president, who replaced him as ANC leader in December and who is now lobbying behind the scenes for him to step down as head of state too.

When the meeting of senior party officials broke up Monday, ANC spokeswoman Khusela Diko dodged a question on what discussion there had been of Zuma, in power since 2009, being removed from office.

“There is no item on an ANC agenda which says the recall [removal] of President Zuma,” she said.

But the ANC said the National Executive Committee (NEC), which handles key party decisions, would meet Wednesday to discuss preparations for the State of the Nation address Thursday, among other issues.

Zuma is scheduled to deliver the speech to parliament Thursday, though opposition parties and some in the ANC want Zuma to go before that.

The NEC, which has run South Africa since the end of white minority rule in 1994, has the power to force Zuma to quit.

The ANC’s top six most powerful officials met Zuma late Sunday at his official residence in Pretoria, but there was no announcement of the outcome.

Analysts said then that senior party officials had failed to persuade Zuma to quit.

A group of Zuma loyalists marched Monday on the party’s headquarters in downtown Johannesburg, Luthuli House, in support of the president and two senior ANC sources said it was not certain the NEC would vote Wednesday to remove him as president.

“It will depend on the balance of arguments in the room. The meeting today was called to arrange the NEC. We will discuss Zuma’s recall [removal], but it’s not clear whether we will arrive at a decision,” one of the sources said.

The rand, which has tended to strengthen on signs that Zuma could step down before his second term as president ends next year, was slightly firmer Monday.

Zuma’s tumultuous time in power has been marked by a string of corruption allegations and street protests against his rule, though he has managed to survive several no-confidence votes.

Scandals include 783 counts of corruption which he is still fighting over a 30 billion rand (now $2.5 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s when he was deputy president.

Zuma weathered a no-confidence vote in parliament after an anti-corruption watchdog investigation found he had “unduly” benefited from renovations at his home and paid back more than $500,000 after unsuccessfully trying to argue his case in the Constitutional Court.

Zuma meets Zulu king

Zuma met Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on Monday at the king’s residence in Ulundi in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province, said Prince Thulani Zulu, a spokesman for the Zulu royal household.

The spokesman declined to speculate on whether the king, a key ally of Zuma, who is also a Zulu, would add his voice to those urging the president to step down. It was not clear when the meeting would end.

Zuma’s spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said the meeting with Zwelithini was “a longstanding courtesy meeting between the President and His Majesty which was initially meant to take place in January but was postponed due to diary challenges on both sides.”

Zwelithini is the influential traditional head of South Africa’s biggest ethnic group, with around 10 million first-language Zulu speakers out of a total population of around 55 million, but he holds no role in government.

“Zuma would listen to the Zulu king. Zuma is a traditionalist and has a power base in KwaZulu-Natal province,” said political analyst Ralph Mathekga. “The king is a bargainer, he could help Cyril [Ramaphosa] heal KwaZulu-Natal after Zuma goes.”

Zuma has not said in public whether he will step down voluntarily. However, he faces a new no-confidence vote in parliament against his leadership on Feb. 22, filed by the opposition far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF).
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Lebanon Tells Israel Its Border Wall Violates Sovereignty

Posted on by SeeEA

A wall Israel intends to build at the border marks a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, Lebanon said during a meeting of Lebanese and Israeli military officers chaired by U.N. peacekeepers Monday.

Disagreement over the wall and Lebanon’s plans to explore for offshore oil and gas in disputed maritime waters have elevated tensions between Israel and Lebanon, which is home to the powerful Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah.

The Israeli army has previously said the construction work is being done on sovereign Israeli territory.

The Lebanese government says the wall passes through territory that belongs to Lebanon but which is located on the Israeli side of the U.N.-designated Blue Line, which demarcated Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

The Israeli defense minister, addressing the dispute last week, accused Hezbollah of provocations, saying Israel had withdrawn to the recognized international border with Lebanon and was being challenged over a barrier in Israeli territory.

The sides met under the supervision of the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL in their regular tripartite meeting at U.N. positions in the Ras al-Naqoura border area.

“The Lebanese side reviewed the matter of the wall which the Israeli enemy intends to build … confirming the position of the Lebanese government rejecting the construction of this wall as it violates Lebanese sovereignty,” the Lebanese army said in a statement after Monday’s meeting.

Hezbollah and Israel last fought a major conflict in 2006.

In a statement, UNIFIL said the meeting had received great attention “due to engineering works south of the Blue Line previously announced by the Israeli side.”

UNIFIL force commander Major General Beary noted there had been a “period of relative calm” since the last tripartite meeting.

“However, there has been a great deal of activity along the Blue Line. I would like to acknowledge the restraint exercised by both parties in decreasing tension and maintaining stability. No one wants to return to a period of escalating tensions and a breach of the cessation of hostilities,” he said.

Offshore energy dispute

In the meeting, the Lebanese side also rejected recent Israeli comments about Lebanon’s offshore energy exploration, the army statement said.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described as “very provocative” Lebanon’s first offshore oil and gas exploration tender and said it would be a mistake for international firms to participate.

Lebanon has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel over a triangular area of sea of around 860 sq km (330 square miles) that extends along the edge of three of five blocks Lebanon put to tender early last year.

Lebanon in December approved a bid by a consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek for two blocks. One of the awarded blocks, Block 9, borders Israeli waters.

“The block lies entirely within Lebanon’s territorial and economic waters,” the army statement said.
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Haley: Evidence Shows Syrian Military Used Chlorine in Idlib

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The U.N. Security Council met to discuss Syria Monday, amid new reports of possible chemical weapons use in that country.

“We have reports that the (Bashar al) Assad regime has used chlorine gas against its people multiple times in recent weeks, including just yesterday,” U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told council members. “There is obvious evidence from dozens of victims.”

Medical groups and first responders in Syria reported several civilians had signs consistent with chlorine gas, including breathing problems and the smell of chlorine on their clothes, after a reported chemical attack on the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province late Sunday. No fatalities were reported.

Radi Saad of the civilian defense group, the White Helmets, told Reuters news agency that the chemicals were dropped in two barrels from helicopters. Rebel-controlled Idlib is one of four so-called de-escalation zones.  But fighting has been fierce there since December,  as the Syrian army, backed by Russian jets and Iranian-supported militias, have conducted a military offensive to take back a major rebel stronghold.

On Saturday, rebels there shot down a Russian fighter jet, killing the pilot. 

Accountability

In 2015, the U.N. Security Council established an independent joint investigative mechanism (JIM) to examine who is responsible for previous chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The JIM found the Assad government responsible for using chlorine at least three times in 2014 and 2015, as well as for a sarin attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017.

The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons. Russia rejected the team’s findings, and in November vetoed an extension of its mandate, effectively shutting it down.

“It’s a true tragedy that Russia has sent us back to square one in the effort to end chemical weapons use in Syria,” Ambassador Haley said Monday. “But we will not cease in our efforts to know the truth of the Assad regime and ensure that that truth is known and acted on by the international community.”

Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States and its allies, France and Britain, of using the meeting to “slander” Moscow and cast doubt on its role in trying to broker a political settlement in Syria. 

“These statements of these representatives, as always, contain very little truth mixed with mountains of lies,” Nebenzia said.

He dismissed the recent allegations of chlorine, and possibly even sarin use, as propaganda spread on social media and taken up by Western media outlets.

“Where is the presumption of innocence?” Nebenzia demanded, saying an investigation under the auspices of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) should carry out a fact-finding mission before council members point fingers of blame.

Last April, the Trump administration launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Al Shayrat air field, the base the Syrian air force used to carry out the Khan Sheikhoun attack.  
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Turkey Frees Members of Medical Association Who Criticized Syrian Military Offensive

Posted on by SeeEA

Turkey has freed eight top members of the country’s main medical association, who were detained for denouncing Ankara’s military offensive in northern Syria.

The Turkish Medical Association said Monday the eight members, including the head of the organization, were released under observation after giving statements to an Ankara prosecutor. It said three other members were released Friday.

Turkish prosecutors ordered the members detained last week after the group criticized Turkey’s incursion into Syria to fight a Kurdish militia, saying “war is a man-made public health problem” and ending the statement, “No to war, peace immediately.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Turkish Medical Association of being “terrorist lovers.” Turkish authorities have repeatedly warned people that criticizing the offensive would be seen as supporting terrorism and could lead to prosecution.

An Interior Ministry statement said Monday that 573 people have been detained for criticizing the operation. It said 449 people were detained for allegedly engaging in “terror propaganda” on social media, while another 124 were detained for participating in protests against the military incursion.

Turkey launched its offensive, called operation “Olive Branch” on January 20 against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region. Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group and an extension of outlawed Kurdish militants in Turkey.

Most of Turkey’s political parties have supported the incursion, with the exception of the pro-Kurdish opposition. The European Union has criticized the latest arrests.

Netherlands, Turkey

In another development Monday, the Netherlands announced it is withdrawing its ambassador from Turkey over a dispute that began in 2017. Dutch officials said they will also not accept a new Turkish ambassador in The Hague.

The dispute began when the Dutch barred Turkish ministers from campaigning among the Turkish diaspora in 2017.

Turkish officials said the latest development does not mean that diplomatic ties between the countries are severed and said talks to resolve the issue are ongoing.
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UN Chief: Consensus for 2-State Israel-Palestinian Solution ‘Could Be Eroding’

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday the global consensus for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel “could be eroding,” even as the humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza worsens and might make the Palestinian enclave “unlivable by 2020.”

Guterres criticized Israel for its construction of settlements and expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, saying they are illegal under U.N. resolutions and international law.

“It is a major obstacle to peace and it must be halted and reversed,” he told the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, adding that “violence and incitement continue to fuel a climate of fear and mistrust.”

The secretary-general reiterated his stance that both Israel and an eventual Palestinian state could claim Jerusalem as their capital, but did not comment on U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced intention to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

Meantime, Guterres said life in Gaza is becoming intolerable.

“Gaza remains squeezed by crippling closures and a state of constant humanitarian emergency,” he said. “Two million Palestinians are struggling everyday with crumbling infrastructure, an electricity crisis, a lack of basic services, chronic unemployment and a paralyzed economy.  All of this is taking place amid an unfolding environmental disaster.”

Guterres said he is “extremely concerned” about funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, an agency that is chiefly funded by voluntary contributions from U.N. member states.

In 2016, the United States contributed $355 million to the UNRWA. But this year, the U.S. has significantly cut its assistance, announcing a $60 million contribution. Trump announced the cuts to UNRWA’s budget after the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Monday, the U.N. chief said he fears the latest shortfall in funding the agency’s annual budget of more than $645 million will “gravely impair the agency’s ability to deliver on its mandate and preserve critical services, such as education and health care for Palestine refugees.”

Guterres said “the stability of the entire region” could be affected if more funding is not found for the relief agency, which works in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

“I appeal to the generosity of the international community not to let that happen,” he said.

The secretary-general also appealed for unity among the fractious Palestinian community.

“Reconciliation is a key step in reaching the larger objective of a Palestinian state and lasting peace.”
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ECB Experts: US Tax Law Could Erode Europe’s Tax Base

Posted on by SeeEU

Economists at the European Central Bank say that the U.S. corporate tax cut should lift the world’s largest economy in the short term but warn it could erode the tax base in European countries by intensifying global competition for lower rates.

In a short article released Monday, the ECB’s economists say that the cut in business taxes will provide a “significant fiscal stimulus” to growth in the U.S. in the short term. It warned that long-term effects were less clear, especially if the cut leads to larger U.S. budget deficits.

Effects on the 19-country eurozone were “highly uncertain and complex” but could include an erosion of the tax base if countries around the world compete by lowering their tax rates to attract businesses.

“Lower U.S. corporate tax rates raise the tax attractiveness of the United States relative to other countries,” the report said. “Prior to the reform, the U.S. corporate tax rate stood above the rates of all large euro area countries, while, after the reform, it is close to the lower end of rates in those countries.”

The legislation, which was pushed by President Donald Trump and signed into law in December, lowers the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, among other changes. The changes took effect January 1.

Meanwhile, the U.N.’s trade and development agency said that as multinational companies return an estimated $2 trillion to the United States because of the tax law, there could be “sharp reductions” in foreign direct investment worldwide.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development noted in their own preliminary report that the tax law includes a one-time tax on accumulated foreign earnings that could free up funds overseas to be repatriated.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said the impact on investment in the developing world remains unclear.

The agency says nearly half of all global investment is in the United States or owned by U.S. multinationals, which have kept about $3.2 trillion in earnings overseas.

Agency officials said the main impact could come over the longer-term, as multinationals reassess their foreign investment portfolios and the effects of the tax reform play out.

UNCTAD says much will depend on how big multinationals respond. It said five technology companies — Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Alphabet and Oracle — together hold over $530 billion in cash overseas, or about one-fourth of the total “liquid assets” believed to be available for repatriation.
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Israeli Minister Heads to Poland Amid Holocaust Bill Uproar

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Israel’s education minister is set to visit Warsaw amid uproar over proposed legislation that would outlaw blaming Poland for crimes committed during the Holocaust.

Naftali Bennett said Monday he would “make it clear: the past can’t be rewritten, the future should be written together.”

The bill sparked outrage in Israel, raising tensions with a close ally.

It calls for up to three years in prison for any intentional attempt to falsely attribute crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish state or people.

Israel sees it as an attempt to whitewash the role some Poles played in the killing of Jews during World War II.

Bennett noted ahead of his trip Wednesday that while thousands of Poles helped Jews during the war many others participated in their persecution.
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Tensions Flare in Cameroon’s Anglophone Regions

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Tensions continue to climb in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon as separatist groups demand the release of their leader and 46 other prisoners extradited last month from Nigeria. The government has sought to reassure the population.

A woman and her husband cry at the Baptist Hospital mortuary in the English-speaking town of Mbingo, in northwestern Cameroon. The woman has just discovered the lifeless bodies of her younger brother and three others. She said they were arrested last Wednesday and accused of killing two gendarmes. She refused to grant an interview, but workers of the hospital told VOA the bodies were brought there by unidentified men.

The so-called Anglophone crisis began in Cameroon over a year ago, sparking bouts of deadly unrest and more recently, clashes between alleged separatist militants and security forces. The Anglophone community in Cameroon is protesting political and economic discrimination in the majority French-speaking country.

Joseph Banadzem, lawmaker from the northwest region, said the military is responding by violently cracking down on the population.

“The army who are supposed to maintain law and order, to protect property, to protect lives, [they] go on the rampage in villages, burning houses, burning food stuff, people’s stores and so. All ransacked. It is unbelievable. It is inacceptable. It is inhuman,” he said.

Colonel Didier Badjeck is a spokesperson for Cameroon’s military. He said the military is committed to preserving Cameroon’s territorial integrity.

He said the armed separatists are using mercenaries and carrying out abuses on the population, whom he said will very soon understand that they have to trust only the country’s military.

Violence has escalated since January when Nigeria detained and then extradited separatist leader Ayuk Tabe Julius and the 46 other alleged separatists to Cameroon.

The separatist groups are demanding their leaders be released. At least four schools have been burned as of last Friday and at least 12 people have been killed, according to local media, which report unconfirmed casualties among both armed separatists and soldiers.

Many businesses remain closed in the two English-speaking regions amid fears of more violence.

The 47 detainees extradited from Nigeria have not been seen in public. International human rights groups warned against the extradition, saying the detainees could face torture or worse.

Nigeria is now also facing criticism from the U.N refugee agency, which said that most of those handed over to Cameroon had applied for asylum in Nigeria and their “forcible return” violated Nigeria’s international obligations.

On Friday, Cameroon government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma issued a press release saying the detainees are safe and would be appearing in front of the law courts soon. He did not comment on the charges they would answer.
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