Month: June 2018

Greece, Macedonia Sign Deal Ending Name Dispute

Posted on by SeeEU

The foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia signed an accord Sunday to rename the former Yugoslav republic the “Republic of North Macedonia.”

The landmark accord follows decades of inconclusive talks that soured relations between the two countries and held up the admission of the Balkan state into the EU and NATO, of which Greece is a member.

The agreement still requires the approval of both parliaments and a referendum in Macedonia.

“We have a historic responsibility that this deal is not held in abeyance, and I am confident that we will manage it,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said as he and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev received a standing ovation from guests at a lakeside ceremony.

Tsipras survived a no-confidence vote mounted by Greece’s opposition in parliament Saturday, but the depth of public emotion against the deal is strong.

Up to 70 percent of Greeks object to the compromise, an opinion poll by the Proto Thema newspaper showed Saturday. 

Under the deal, Greece will lift its objections to the renamed nation joining the EU and NATO. 

“Our two countries have to turn from the past and look to the future,” Zaev said. “We were bold enough to take a step forward.”

Greece has been in dispute with Macedonia since 1991 over the former Yugoslav republic’s name, arguing it could imply territorial claims over the Greek province of Macedonia and an appropriation of ancient Greek culture and civilization.

The subject is an emotional one for many Greeks. On Saturday, thousands of protesters outside the parliament building shouted “traitor, traitor!” as lawmakers debated inside.
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Jewish Artifacts Disappear From Damascus

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Jewish artifacts, including ancient parchment torahs from one of the world’s oldest synagogues, have gone missing from the Syrian capital amid the tumult of ongoing civil war, with some precious items reportedly surfacing abroad.

Activists say the artifacts, moved from the now-destroyed Jobar Synagogue in Damascus’ eastern Ghouta suburb when it was taken by rebels, were allegedly put into safekeeping to avoid theft and damage in 2013, but twice since then local officials have discovered some are missing.

The main missing cache, they say, contained torahs written on gazelle leather as well as tapestries and chandeliers, and was given to a militia by a local council for safekeeping when rebels surrendered the neighborhood to government forces earlier this year. That group, the Islamist-inspired Failaq al-Rahman brigade, later said that it was not in possession of the items after the council arrived at a new rebel base in Syria’s north after evacuating earlier this year.

Another set of objects appears to have been stolen by a Syrian guardian entrusted by the local council to hide the items in his home. The man, who officials declined to name, disappeared with the artifacts in 2014 before some allegedly resurfaced in Turkey.

​Antiquities theft

Activists say antiquities theft is rife in Syria, and some even cast doubt over whether the missing items, including the valuable torahs, were even original works.

“Some of the items that went missing in 2014 and this year have started surfacing now in Turkey,” said an activist who lived his entire life near the synagogue until fleeing the area in March after a crushing government offensive. The man, who goes by the name of Hassan al-Dimashqi, said the ensuing government airstrikes and bombardment destroyed most of the synagogue and the surrounding neighborhood, although some of the building’s pillars remain standing.

The synagogue, also known as Eliyahu Hanavi, is one of the few Jewish places of worship in Syria that was functioning until shortly before conflict began in March 2011. Residents of the neighborhood remember how fewer than a dozen Jews, most of them older than 50, came quietly once a week to pray.

Videos and photographs from the synagogue taken before the war show a main hall of arches lined with seats and tapestries. Chandeliers and lanterns hang from the ceiling as well as a marble stone with writing in Arabic, Hebrew and Latin.

During a visit by an Associated Press photographer to the synagogue in January 2000, Youssef Jajati, a Jewish community leader in Syria at the time, showed the torahs stored in a silver container inside a cupboard.

Entrusted to militia, man

Al-Dimashqi said that for months after rebels seized the neighborhood in 2013, the synagogue was protected by the main local force in Jobar, known at the time as the Haroun al-Rashid Brigade. Later that year local officials formed a committee that decided to empty the building and hide its contents, he added.

Some local officials say the man who disappeared in 2014 reached Europe and the artifacts he took ended up in Israel, according to al-Dimashqi, although his ultimate fate and that of the antiquities remain unknown.

The whereabouts of the items entrusted with Failaq al-Rahman have not been verified, although al-Dimashqi and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, say some of the pieces, including carpets, chandeliers and historical scripts, have surfaced in Turkey.

Turkish state media reported in May that authorities had detained five people in the country’s northwest who were trying to sell two old Torahs for 8 million Turkish lira ($1.7 million). It said the manuscripts were written on gazelle leather.

Maamoun Abdul-Karim, who until recently was Syria’s director-general of antiquities and museums, has publicly urged the Turks to verify the manuscripts’ authenticity. In the 1990s, rumors circulated in Damascus that the originals had been stolen, switched with copies, and smuggled to Israel, he added.

Failaq al-Rahman has denied having any role in the artifacts’ disappearance, challenging accusers to present proof that would show otherwise. Meanwhile two officials from Jobar’s Local Council, which had initially organized the hiding away of the artifacts, refused to speak to the AP, fearing for their safety.

Syria and Jews

In the Middle Ages, Syria was home to one of the largest Jewish settlements in the world, with most living in the Damascus area. The community dates back to Elijah’s Damascus sojourn nearly 3,000 ago, but Jewish life really blossomed in the city after 1099, when Christian armies conquered Jerusalem in the First Crusade and massacred the city’s inhabitants. Historians say 50,000 Jews fled to Damascus, making almost 1in 3 Damascenes Jewish almost overnight. Some became government ministers and advisers, and the community grew to around 100,000 by the turn of the 20th century.

Tens of thousands of Jews fled following Israel’s creation in 1948, while others held in Syria against their will finally emigrated once they were allowed to when Middle East peace talks began in the 1990s.

Syria has accused Israel, with whom it has been in a state of war for 70 years, of stealing the artifacts with the help of Turkey, a more recent enemy. Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Ja’afari, publicized the accusation with a letter in March, saying the two countries’ intelligence services worked with the rebels to smuggle them to Istanbul, where experts confirmed them as “extremely valuable,” then New York.

Israel denies involvement and accuses Syria of trying to distract world attention away from the civil war, where the Jewish state has intervened with several strikes that have killed Syrian troops.
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How a Puerto Rican From the Bronx Became the King of Ukrainian Dance

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A Puerto Rican from the Bronx, Orlando Pagan fell in love with Ukrainian folklore when he was a teenager. He used to dance in the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, and now he leads it. Pagan believes Ukrainian dances are truly special and hopes to make them as popular as the Argentine tango or the Austrian waltz. Carolyn Presutti narrates this report by Tatiana Vorozhko.
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‘Muslim Oscars’ Honor Projects, Filmmakers Who are Changing the Narrative

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Many Muslims around the world are not happy with Hollywood’s stereotypes of Muslims and Islam. But instead of protesting, nonprofit group Muslim Public Affairs Council created a Hollywood bureau to engage with filmmakers. It also honors those making a difference with the so-called “Muslim Oscars.” VOA’s Vina Mubtadi reports from Los Angeles.
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Guggenheim Museum Opens Giacometti Exhibition

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A Swiss born artist who got his first big break in 1955 in the United States, is back in the city of his first museum exhibit, New York. Sculptor, painter, draftsman Alberto Giacometti created most of his masterpieces in a tiny studio in Montparnasse in Paris, but his work has been closely connected with New York. The maestro’s work returns to the U.S. this summer, as the Guggenheim Museum welcomes art lovers to an exhibition dedicated to Giacometti. Anna Rice narrates this report by Elena Wolf.
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Report: Merkel Seeks EU Migrant Deal as German Crisis Looms

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, struggling to avert a crisis within her coalition on migrant policy, is trying to set up a meeting of some EU states to discuss the issue before a leaders summit June 28-29, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.

Citing government sources from representatives of several EU states, Bild reported on its website that Merkel wanted to discuss possible solutions with Greece, Italy and Austria.

“It is not yet agreed, we are in the planning phase. It is also unclear exactly when this special summit would take place,” a member of the Italian government told Bild. 

A German government spokesperson was not immediately available to comment.

Divided EU

EU states are deeply divided on how to deal with large numbers of people fleeing conflict, especially from the Middle East. The issue has come to a head in the last week with a new Italian government refusing to let a ship carrying hundreds of migrants dock at its ports.

Merkel is adamant that migrant policy can only be effectively agreed and implemented at the European level and is at loggerheads with her own conservative Bavarian allies and her Interior Minister who want unilateral action.

Bavaria’s threat

The Bavarians have threatened to defy Merkel and proceed Monday with plans which she has sought to block. Under the minister’s proposal, Germany would send back migrants who have registered in other EU countries.

This would undermine Merkel’s authority as it represents a reversal of her 2015 open-door approach and would also be a blow to the EU’s Schengen open-border system.

Merkel has asked the Bavarian conservatives to give her two weeks to come up with bilateral deals with some countries, like Italy and Greece, similar to one agreed between Turkey and the EU in 2016.

Bild said it was unclear whether Spain and countries from the Balkans would take part in Merkel’s meeting.
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Reports: Britain’s May Plans Health Service Boost

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British Prime Minister Theresa May will pledge a cash boost to the National Health Service, to be funded partly from tax hikes and partly from money that will no longer be going to the European Union after Brexit, newspapers reported Saturday.

May will pledge to increase the NHS budget by 20 billion pounds ($26.6 billion) a year, or 384 million pounds a week, after Brexit, according to front-page reports in the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and Observer, which were published late Saturday.

The announcement, timed to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, which delivers care for free to everyone living in Britain, aims to foster unity in the government and the country after two years of bitter divisions over Brexit, the reports said.

An official spokeswoman from May’s No. 10 Downing Street said she did not have the details available. She said the reports were the result of unofficial briefings by special advisers.

Downing Street had earlier said May would deliver a speech about the NHS on Monday, giving no further details. Special advisers are known to sometimes brief the content of speeches to newspapers ahead of time for their own purposes. 

The NHS budget increase was expected to take place over five years, reaching the full amount in 2023-24, the newspapers said.

Britain’s official exit date from the European Union is March 29, 2019.

Pro-Brexit claim

During the 2016 referendum campaign on EU membership, the pro-Brexit camp claimed that Britain was sending 350 million pounds a week to the EU and should spend that money on the NHS instead.

The claim was controversial because the figure of 350 million pounds did not take into account Britain’s sizable rebate or the payments that were flowing back from the EU to Britain, so it was widely seen as overstating Britain’s

contribution to the bloc.

The newspapers said the 384 million-a-week pledge was politically significant from May — who campaigned against Brexit in 2016 and has been under pressure from hard-line Brexiters ever since to prove her conversion to the cause — because it went above and beyond 350 million.

Jeremy Hunt, the health minister who also campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, was quoted by the Sunday Telegraph as saying that the new pledge “can now unite us all.”

The newspaper said the precise details of how the spending increase would be funded would be disclosed in a future government budget.
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Pope: Abortion Is ‘White Glove’ Equivalent to Nazi Crimes

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Pope Francis denounced abortion on Saturday as the “white glove” equivalent of the Nazi-era eugenics program and urged families to accept the children that God gives them.

Francis spoke off the cuff to a meeting of an Italian family association, ditching his prepared remarks to speak from the heart about families and the trials they undergo. He lamented how some couples choose not to have any children, while others resort to prenatal testing to see whether their baby has any malformations or genetic problems.

“The first proposal in such a case is, ‘Do we get rid of it?’ ” Francis said. “The murder of children. To have an easy life, they get rid of an innocent.”

Francis recalled that as a child he was horrified to hear stories from his teacher about children “thrown from the mountain” if they were born with malformations.

“Today we do the same thing,” he said.

“Last century, the whole world was scandalized by what the Nazis did to purify the race. Today, we do the same thing but with white gloves,” Francis said.

The pope urged families to accept children “as God gives them to us.”

Francis has repeated the strict anti-abortion stance of his predecessors and integrated it into his broader condemnation of what he calls today’s “throwaway culture.” He has frequently lamented how the sick, the poor, the elderly and the unborn are considered by some to be unworthy of protection and dignity.

He has also decried how women are often considered part of this “throwaway culture,” sometimes forced to prostitute themselves.

“How many of you pray for these women who are thrown away, for these women who are used, for these girls who have to sell their own dignity to have a job?” Francis asked during his morning homily Friday.

Francis has dedicated much of his pontificate to preaching about families, marriage and the problems that families today encounter. He is expected to highlight these issues during his August trip to Ireland, where he’ll close out the Catholic Church’s big family rally.
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New Orleans Entertains Spanish Royalty

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Following a red carpet arrival Saturday at the New Orleans Museum of Art, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain enjoyed music by a jazz group and a cultural performance by Mardi Gras Indians as they ended a visit to the city celebrating its tricentennial.

After a private lunch with New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and other dignitaries and officials, the royals departed New Orleans for San Antonio, Texas, which is also celebrating 300 years of existence.

“It was a great and amazing weekend for the city, our residents and the king and queen for them to come back to a former Spanish colony,” said Trey Caruso, a spokesman for Cantrell’s office.

Musical connections

Clarinetist, music historian and Xavier University Spanish professor Michael White said he and his Original Liberty Brass Band played two pieces with a connection to Europe and New Orleans at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

The first piece was Panama, a march in the traditional European style.

“It was published in 1911, and all over the country it was played by and read by brass bands,” White said prior to the performance. “But in New Orleans they kind of threw away the sheet music and improvised, and therefore made it personal. I think it’s a good way to show the interaction between European culture and New Orleans culture.”

The second piece, Andalusian Strut, was one of White’s compositions. It combines a common flamenco structure and flamenco-type rhythms and melodies with classic New Orleans jazz style and improvisation, he said.

“That one went over really, really well,” White said after the event. “The king and all of the people there really loved it.”

White said their third song was When the Saints Go Marching In, which White described as “probably the most famous song in New Orleans history.”

“We surprised them by singing the chorus in Spanish,” he said.

The Mardi Gras Indians, groups of African-Americans who create elaborate feathered and beaded costumes in which they strut and dance through the streets on Mardi Gras, performed as well.

“Though the program was relatively short, I think overall it gave a good idea of New Orleans’ culture,” White said.

Arrived Thursday

Felipe and Letizia flew in Thursday evening to Louisiana, which was a Spanish colony from 1763 to 1802. They arrived at New Orleans’ airport at sunset and were greeted by several officials, including Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Cantrell.

They saluted New Orleans’ centuries-old Spanish heritage at an event Friday at Gallier Hall, a former City Hall opened in 1853 and renovated for the city’s 300th anniversary. That evening, they visited two buildings erected under Spanish rule: St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, the Spanish government seat in Louisiana.

On Monday they’ll go to Washington for a White House visit Tuesday with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
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Greek Government Survives No-Confidence Vote

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Greece’s left-led coalition government survived a no-confidence vote in parliament Saturday, brought over a deal to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Macedonia concerning the latter’s name.

But the government suffered a loss in its parliamentary majority when lawmaker Dimitris Kammenos of the nationalist Independent Greeks, the government’s junior coalition partner, voted in favor. He was kicked out of the party immediately after the vote, leaving the governing coalition with a three-member majority.

Lawmakers voted 153-127 in the 300-member parliament against the motion brought by the conservative main opposition party over the deal to rename the former Yugoslav republic North Macedonia. In the agreement, Athens would drop its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union.

Thousands of protesters rallied outside parliament during the debate, waving Greek flags and chanting anti-government slogans. Scuffles broke out, with riot police firing tear gas to stop protesters from breaching police lines.

Lengthy, bitter dispute

The deal reached by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, on Tuesday aims to end a bitter dispute that has roiled the two countries’ relations since shortly after Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece argued the term “Macedonia” implied territorial claims on its province of the same name, which is the birthplace of the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great, and usurped its ancient Greek heritage and history.

The deal was met with fury by critics in both countries, who accuse their respective prime ministers of conceding too much.

“Hatred toward the country of another is not patriotism,” Tsipras said during his speech in parliament.

The agreement will be signed Sunday morning by the two nations’ foreign ministers at Lake Prespa near their common border. Both prime ministers will attend the ceremony, as will European officials. Protests have been called in both countries.

Speaking during the debate, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, head of the Independent Greeks, stressed that voting against the no-confidence motion was not a vote in favor of the Macedonia name deal, which he vowed to reject when it is eventually brought to parliament.

Tsipras stressed the deal met all of Greece’s demands and would close “the open wound that has been troubling our country for more than 26 years.”

Conservative New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had brought the no-confidence motion, argued that a vote in favor of the government was a vote in favor of the name deal.

“Today you are all mortgaging the future of the country,” he told lawmakers.

‘Everyone will benefit’

Across the border, Zaev has also met with opposition, with President Gjorge Ivanov saying he will not sign off on the agreement. Zaev has said he will put it to a referendum in the fall.

“With the signing of the agreement between Macedonia and Greece, everyone will benefit,” Zaev said Saturday.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov stressed the deal would pave the way for NATO and EU accession.

“We have forces that are fighting for the future, we have forces that are fighting for the past,” Dimitrov said in Skopje. “We cannot change the past. We could the future.”

The ratification process will take months. 

In Macedonia, the agreement must clear the hurdles of parliamentary ratification, a referendum and a constitutional amendment. If Ivanov refuses to sign off on the deal, it will be sent back to parliament for a second vote. If it passes again, the president must sign it.

In Greece, the deal faces ratification in parliament only after Macedonia has completed its part of the process.
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Kenya’s President Mandates Lifestyle Audit for Public Servants

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Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has intensified his war on graft by announcing that all public servants will undergo a compulsory lifestyle audit to account for their sources of wealth.

This latest announcement follows financial scandals that have rocked the country with revelations that millions of dollars were lost in various government agencies through corrupt deals that involved government officials.

Kenyatta offered himself to be the first leader to undergo the audit that seeks to identify corrupt public officials, saying the lifestyle audits would control the misuse of public funds. He said public servants would be required to explain their sources of wealth with an aim of weeding out those found to have plundered government funds.

“You have to tell us, this is the house you have, this is your salary, how were you able to afford it? This car that you bought, (don’t try to put it under your wife’s name or son’s name, we will still know it is yours), where did you get it? You must explain and I will be the first person to undergo the lifestyle audit,” he said.

Scandals uncovered

In the past month, various corruption scandals involving tenders and suppliers in government agencies have been unearthed. The corruption scandals as revealed have exposed the theft of hundreds of millions of shillings by state officials from several government bodies.

So far, more than 40 government officials, including businesspeople, have been arrested over the recent  scandals.

Kenyatta has continued to express his frustration about the graft, which seems to have spiraled out of control since he came into office in 2013.

“This issue of people stealing what belongs to Kenyans, I swear to God it has to come to an end in Kenya,” Kenyatta said.

Establishing accountability

The president said the lifestyle audit will be key among other measures also put in place by the government to curb the vice.

Earlier in the week, Kenyatta issued an executive order requiring all government entities and publicly owned institutions to publish full details of tenders and awards beginning July 1, 2018.

“For example, if this road is being built, we want to know: Who won the tender for the construction? How much was the tender? Who came in second and third? Why was the first person awarded instead of these two? All these reasons, we need to know. Kenyans need to know so that it is out there, that this company was awarded this tender, belongs to a certain person, these are the directors, these are the shareholders. There will be no more hiding,” he said.

On June 1, Kenyatta ordered that all heads of procurement and accounting units be vetted again. He said the vetting would include subjecting the officers to polygraph tests to determine integrity.

Kenya scored 28 points out of 100 on the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. The Corruption Index in Kenya averaged 22.62 points from 1996 until 2017.
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Spain Rescues More Than 900 Migrants in Mediterranean

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Spain’s coast guard said it rescued more than 930 migrants and recovered four dead bodies Friday and Saturday in the Mediterranean Sea, as the country prepares for the arrival of the Aquarius rescue ship, which has become the heart of a major dispute within the European Union over how to handle the migration crisis.

The coast guard said hundreds of the migrants were rescued from small inflatable boats in the Gibraltar strait, where it also found the four bodies.

France, meanwhile, has accepted an offer from Spain to take in some of the hundreds of migrants aboard the Aquarius, which is headed to Spain after Italy’s new populist government and Malta refused to let the ship dock in their ports.

After Malta refused, Spain offered to accept the migrants.

The Spanish government said in a statement Saturday that France accepted an offer from Madrid to accommodate migrants who wished to go to France and who met the country’s criteria for asylum.

‘Framework of cooperation’

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he appreciated French President Emmanuel Macron’s assistance, which he believes should be the model of “the framework of cooperation” that European nations must embrace to address the immigration issue.

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders, which operates the Aquarius along with the SOS Mediterranee, said earlier in the week the migrants were “exhausted and stressed,” and it warned of severe health risks to some passengers, including pregnant women and a group of passengers who suffered burns.

Doctors Without Borders President David Noguera called on European countries Saturday to adopt a new migration policy to prevent another crisis like the one in the Mediterranean Sea.

“This obliges us all and mainly the European authorities and the countries of the European Union to rethink this model at once,” Noguera said at a news conference in the Spanish port city of Valencia. “It is unacceptable that after three or four years we continue with these levels of suffering and mortality in this Mediterranean Sea, which has become the deadliest migratory corridor in the world.”

The Aquarius rescued the migrants off Libya’s coast last weekend. In addition to the Aquarius, two Italian boats are transporting some of the 630 migrants. The ships are expected to arrive Sunday in Valencia.

Salvini’s warning

Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who also leads the far-right League, said earlier this week his actions are designed to force other European countries to share the burdens presented by the ongoing influx of migrants.

But Salvini warned on Saturday that another migrant rescue mission off the Libyan coast involving two Dutch-flagged ships would not be allowed to dock in Italy. Salvini said in a Facebook posting the NGO ships, the Lifeline and the Seefuchs, were off the Libyan coast waiting to pick up migrants who had been abandoned by human traffickers.

“They should know that Italy no longer wants to be an accomplice in the business of illegal immigration and therefore they will have to aim for other

non-Italian ports,” he said.

Salvini told the Senate on Wednesday he was receptive to forming an alliance with Germany and Austria on immigration before a key EU summit later this month. Summit leaders will consider changes to EU asylum law to more effectively share the burden of incoming migrants.

Demonstrators in Rome took to the streets Saturday to protest the country’s new flat tax policy and Salvini’s anti-immigrant policies. Many protesters held up placards, with one calling on the government to “Open the ports and the wallets.”
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Aid Group: Yemenis Who Left Hodeida Might Not Return

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Aid officials in Yemen say residents who have left the key port city of Hodeida to spend the Eid al-Fitr holiday with relatives elsewhere might not return, since Saudi-led forces have entered the city.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said Saturday that Muslim residents who did not leave the city had been frightened to follow holiday customs of attending mosques or visiting friends and family. In a statement, the NRC said many were afraid to move too far from their homes because of the fighting.

The group’s coordinator for Hodeida, Saleem Al-Shamiri, said in a statement: “People feel more tension with each day that passes. … Eid should be a peaceful and happy time for us to spend with our families, not a period of waiting to know whether your house will be hit when fighting reaches the city.”

Hodeida is an important and strategic location since it is the entry point for humanitarian aid, including food.

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council called on the warring factions in Yemen to keep Hodeida open, as humanitarians tried to deliver critical assistance to about 600,000 civilians in the city.

The NRC said humanitarian supplies were positioned at nine service points across the city, but unpredictable areas of fighting and lack of safe passage were keeping the supplies from being delivered. In the south of the city, where fighting has taken place, medical care and supplies are most likely needed, but the group said it could not access the area because of the violence.

The media office of the Yemeni military said the allied Arab forces gained access to the airport Saturday, the fourth day of the coalition’s campaign to retake Hodeida from the Houthi rebels.

The Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes on Hodeida early Wednesday, after what the United Arab Emirates, a coalition partner, said was the passage of a deadline for Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to surrender the critical Red Sea port.

Hodeida is a lifeline for the poverty-stricken country, which imports 90 percent of its food, fuel and medicine, 70 percent of which come through the city’s port. The Houthis have controlled Hodeida for two years.

Saudi Arabia began bombing Houthi rebels in support of the Yemeni government in March 2015. Since then, the U.N. estimates more than 10,000 people have been killed, mostly in airstrikes.
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Ethiopia, Somalia Agree to Strengthen ‘Brotherly’ Relations

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New Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” Mohamed agreed Saturday to “strengthen their brotherly bilateral relations” and to collaborate with the African Union in seeking solutions to problems on the continent. 

After bilateral talks Saturday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the leaders said in a statement the two countries would enhance diplomatic and trade activities, including opening diplomatic and consular offices and removing of “all trade and economic barriers.”

The leaders paid “singular focus” to economic growth and bilateral investment to “secure a prosperous future for their people, the countries of the Horn of Africa and ultimately the African continent.”

Ahmed and Farmajo “condemned terrorism in all its forms” and emphasized the need to cooperate to “effectively counter terrorism and deal with cross-border security challenges.”

Ahmed is the second Ethiopian leader to visit Somalia. In June 2007, former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited Mogadishu after his soldiers helped the Somali government topple the Islamic Courts Union that briefly ruled the capital.

Ahmed arrived in Mogadishu on Saturday amid tight security and was received at the airport by the Somali president.

After receiving guard of honor at the airport, Ahmed was driven to the presidential palace in Mogadishu, where the two leaders held talks.

Security was tightened with the deployment of Somali troops along major roads in Mogadishu. All major roads leading to the airport and the palace were closed to the public.

Ethiopia has more than 4,200 troops who are officially serving as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia. In addition, several thousand Ethiopian troops operate in various parts of Somalia outside the AMISOM mandate but under a bilateral agreement with Somalia.
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Egypt Fuel Prices Jump Under Austerity Measures

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Egypt announced Saturday steep increases in fuel and cooking gas prices as part of the country’s economic reforms and austerity measures designed to overhaul the country’s ailing economy.

The new prices went into effect Saturday morning, the Ministry of Oil said in a statement.

Prices for cooking gas increased from 60 to 100 pounds (from $3.3 to $5.6) per cylinder, a more than 60 percent increase. 

Ninety-two octane gasoline increased from 5 pounds to 6.75 pounds per liter, or about a 34 percent increase. Eighty octane gas increased from 3.65 to 5.5 pounds, nearly a 50 percent increase per liter.

This is the third time the government has increased fuel prices since austerity measures were announced late 2015. The move is likely to send prices soaring further.

The authorities made the increases as Egyptians have been celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. They fear the hikes could cause protests such as when dozens of people demonstrated against an increase in fares for the Cairo metro in May.

In recent weeks, authorities raised metro fares by up to 250 percent, drinking water by up to 45 percent and electricity by 26 percent.

The hikes come as Egypt presses ahead with a broader economic reform program that has included slashing subsidies, imposing a value-added tax and a currency flotation. The measures were aimed at qualifying for a three-year $12 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund, which Egypt secured in 2016.

The tough austerity measures have won praise from economists and business leaders but have come as a heavy blow to poor and middle-class Egyptians.

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the architect of the economic reforms, which none of his predecessors dared implement, defended his government’s decisions to slash subsidies.

 

He said that the government spends some $18.6 billion a year on subsidies to cover fuel, food and electricity. Each family receives an average of about $60, he said.

Egypt’s economy is still recovering from unrest following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
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Fire Again Devastates Scotland’s Mackintosh Building

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A major fire has torn through one of Scotland’s architectural gems, the Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art, for the second time in four years.

More than 120 firefighters fought the blaze during the night as it gutted the 1909 building and spread to a theater and a nearby nightclub. No casualties were reported.

“The extent of the damage is very severe,” Peter Heath, deputy assistant chief officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told reporters at the scene in Glasgow city center Saturday morning.

The fire “has reached from the ground floor right through to the roof,” he said.

By morning the fire was under control, but smoke was still rising from the building as firefighters sprayed it from tall ladders. Heath said the theater was still on fire and its roof had partly collapsed, but the blaze was no longer spreading.

The Mackintosh building had been scheduled to reopen next year after millions of pounds in restoration works following a fire in May 2014.

“My first thoughts tonight are for the safety of people, but my heart also breaks for Glasgow’s beloved School of Art,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter.

The Mackintosh building is named after its architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland’s most influential designer.

The School of Art’s website says the building “heralded the birth of a new style in 20th century European architecture.”

Heath said fire crews were called about 20 minutes before midnight Friday, and by the time they arrived fire had spread to the whole building.

The area was quickly evacuated and cordoned off. It remained inaccessible to the public Saturday morning.

“This is a devastating loss for Glasgow, absolutely devastating,” Heath said.
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Report: Saudi-Led Troops Seize Hodeida Airport

Posted on by SeeEA

Yemeni officials say Saudi-led forces have seized the airport in Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida. 

The military loyal to Yemen’s exiled government issued a statement Saturday morning saying that engineers now were trying to remove mines left by the Shiite rebels known as Houthis. 

 

The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge losing the airport.

 

Hodeida International Airport is on the south side of the city home to some 600,000. So far, fighting has yet to enter Hodeida’s downtown or its crucial port. 

​Death toll climbs 

The death toll climbed to at least 280 on the third day of the campaign aimed at driving out the Iranian-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, from the Red Sea port of Hodeida that is the main entry point for food and aid supplies in a country teetering on the brink of famine.

The Saudi-Emirati coalition bombed Houthi positions while rebels said in a statement that they fired a ballistic missile at pro-government forces, but gave no report of causalities.

The fighting comes at a time when Muslims around the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But in Hodeida, people were stockpiling what little food they could for fear of an imminent siege and streets were empty except for beggars and fighters.

Yemeni officials said dozens of pro-government fighters have been killed since the assault began Wednesday, mainly from land mines and roadside bombs disguised as rocks or sacks of wheat. On the rebel side, bodies of Houthi fighters were strewn across the front lines.

Aid workers worry

Aid workers have warned the assault on Hodieda’s port, known as the “mouth of Yemen,” could shut down the vital route for some 70 percent of Yemen’s food and humanitarian aid. Two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are at risk of starving.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons and missiles from Iran. The rebels have been raining ballistic missiles down on Saudi cities from across the border. The port is also a lucrative source of revenue for the Houthis, who have controlled most of northern Yemen since 2014.

The United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said that the battle over Hodeida is essential to break a stalemate in the civil war, which otherwise could drag on for years.

Seizing the port “means that the Houthis will no longer be able to impose their will at the barrel of a gun,” he said in a post on Twitter. “If they keep Hodeida and its revenues and its strategic location, the war will last a long time and (add to) the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

US support

The U.S., which has backed the Saudi-led coalition with intelligence, logistical support and aerial refueling of fighter jets, has not publicly opposed the assault but has urged the coalition to ensure that humanitarian aid deliveries to the port continue.

Washington however rejected three requests by the UAE to increase its support to the coalition with logistics, intelligence, and mine-sweeping operations.

Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. has continued to provide aerial refueling for coalition aircraft and intelligence assistance. That aid includes information on key civilian sites that should not be targeted in order to avoid civilian casualties.

“We are not directly supporting the coalition offensive on the port of Hodeida,” Rankine Galloway said. “The United States does not command, accompany or participate in counter-Houthi operations or any hostilities other than those authorized” against al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in Yemen.
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California Moves to Clear Coffee of Cancer-Risk Stigma

Posted on by SeeUS

California officials, having concluded coffee drinking is not a risky pastime, are proposing a regulation that will essentially tell consumers of America’s favorite beverage they can drink up without fear.

The unprecedented action Friday by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to propose a regulation to clear coffee of the stigma that it could pose a toxic risk followed a review of more than 1,000 studies published this week by the World Health Organization that found inadequate evidence that coffee causes cancer.

The state agency implements a law passed by voters in 1986 that requires warnings of chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects. One of those chemicals is acrylamide, which is found in many things and is a byproduct of coffee roasting and brewing present in every cup of joe.

Win for coffee industry 

If the regulation is adopted, it would be a huge win for the coffee industry, which faces potentially massive civil penalties after recently losing an 8-year-old lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that could require scary warnings on all coffee packaging sold in California.

Judge Elihu Berle found that Starbucks and other coffee roasters and retailers had failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed any cancer risks. He had previously ruled the companies hadn’t shown the threat from the chemical was insignificant.

The state’s action rejects that ruling.

“The proposed regulation would state that drinking coffee does not pose a significant cancer risk, despite the presence of chemicals created during the roasting and brewing process that are listed under Proposition 65 as known carcinogens,” the agency said in a statement. “The proposed regulation is based on extensive scientific evidence that drinking coffee has not been shown to increase the risk of cancer and may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.”

​Unprecedented move

Attorney Raphael Metzger, who won the court case on behalf of The Council for Education and Research on Toxics, said he was shocked the agency would move to nullify the court decision and undermine its own report more than a decade ago that drinking even small amounts of coffee resulted in a significant cancer risk.

“The takeaway is that the state is proposing a rule contrary to its own scientific conclusion. That’s unprecedented and bad,” Metzger said. “The whole thing stinks to high hell.”

The National Coffee Association had no comment on the proposed change. In the past, the organization has said coffee has health benefits and that the lawsuit made a mockery of the state law intended to protect people from toxics.

Scientific evidence on coffee has gone back and forth over many years, but concerns have eased recently about possible dangers, with some studies finding health benefits.

Big Coffee didn’t deny that acrylamide was found in the coffee, but argued it was only found at low levels and was outweighed by other benefits such as antioxidants that reduce cancer risk.

Congress

The state agency’s action comes about a week after bipartisan bills were introduced in both houses of Congress to require science-based criteria for labels on food and other products. One of the sponsors, Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, alluded to the California coffee lawsuit as an example of misleading warnings.

“When we have mandatory cancer warnings on a cup of coffee, something has gone seriously wrong with the process,” Schrader said in a news release. “We now have so many warnings unrelated to the actual health risk posed to consumers, that most people just ignore them.”

The lawsuit against Starbucks and 90 companies was brought by the tiny nonprofit under a law that allows private citizens, advocacy groups and attorneys to sue on behalf of the state and collect a portion of civil penalties for failure to provide warnings.

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known as Proposition 65, requires warning labels for about 900 chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.

The law has been credited with reducing cancer-causing chemicals, but it has been criticized for leading to quick settlement shakedowns and vague warnings that are often ignored.
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Russia Hopes to Present ‘Fresh Face’ for World Cup Amid Global Isolation

Posted on by SeeEU

The phrase ‘don’t mix politics and sport’ is often heard in Moscow these days. But it’s difficult to escape the unique circumstances of this year’s World Cup. As the tournament gets underway in Russia, the country remains subject to a range of international sanctions over its annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the World Cup as an opportunity to break that isolation and present a different image of Russia.
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World Bank: Remittance Flows Rising After Years of Decline

Posted on by SeeUS

After two consecutive years of decline, remittances, the money migrant workers send home, increased in 2017 according to figures released by the World Bank. Remittances are a significant financial contribution to the well-being of families of migrant workers and to the sustainable development of their countries of origin. The U.N. recognizes their importance every year on June 16, designated International Day of Family Remittances. VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit reports on this vital lifeline.
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Smithsonian Opens Exhibit Dedicated to Oprah Winfrey’s Legacy

Posted on by SeeUS

The Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture has surprised visitors with a new exhibit dedicated to the legendary Oprah Winfrey. It focuses on the early life of the iconic TV star who has become a role model for many Americans. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.
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Trump Mounts Fresh Attack on Mueller Probe

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump mounted a fresh attack Friday on the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump took the unusual step of taking several questions from reporters outside the White House, and defended his actions on North Korea and immigration. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
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Rains Welcome for Teams Battling US Southwest Wildfires

Posted on by SeeUS

Firefighters battling several unrelenting wildfires in the U.S. Southwest will likely get a reprieve thanks to heavy thunderstorms and widespread rains this weekend after facing yet another day of windy and dry weather on Friday.

But red flag warnings remained in effect overnight for southern Nevada, southern Utah and western Colorado, where wind gusts could reach 45 miles (72 km) an hour, the National Weather Service said.

Although the wet weather could help efforts to battle two dozen wildfires burning in the region, it could also cause flash floods, the National Weather Service added.

The largest and most threatening blaze is the 416 Fire, which has scorched nearly 33,000 acres (13,000 hectares) of drought-parched grass, brush and timber at the edge of the San Juan National Forest near the southwestern Colorado town of Durango.

Drones hamper firefighting

Fire officials said Friday that crews had contained 18 percent of that blaze.

Efforts have at times been stalled or shut down entirely as people persist in sending aerial drones toward the flames, presumably in the hope of capturing spectacular pictures and videos of the inferno, according to the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado.

The drones endanger the safety of pilots flying tankers and helicopters to battle the fire, officials said.

Officials lifted evacuation orders for 375 residences and 19 businesses in the area. Nearly 1,000 residences and businesses remained under evacuation orders, La Plata County officials said.

Evacuations

The 416 Fire and a separate, smaller blaze burning nearby, the Burro Fire, prompted state parks officials to close several wildlife areas to the public. The U.S. Forest Service has closed all 1.8 million acres of the San Juan National Forest to visitors.

About 60 miles west of Denver, evacuations from 1,400 homes were lifted Thursday near the 81-acre Buffalo Fire as crews gained 45 percent containment around the blaze, fire officials said.

No one has been injured and no structures have been lost in the Colorado fires, but nine homes were destroyed in a small wildfire in Utah.

Wyoming fire

In southern Wyoming near the Colorado border, the Badger Creek Fire in the Medicine Bow National Forest has ballooned to nearly 15,000 acres, according to the Inciweb online U.S. fire information service.

The Wyoming fire containment was listed as zero percent by fire officials. About 400 homes in Albany County have been ordered to evacuate, and one home and two outbuildings have been destroyed by the flames, fire incident spokesman Chris Barth said by telephone.

The fire also has prompted the closure of about 50,000 acres of the 2.9 million-acre national forest, and 16,000 acres of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grasslands in neighboring Colorado, he said.
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South African Power Outages Enter 2nd Day

Posted on by SeeAF

South Africa suffered power outages for a second day Friday as workers protested over wages at national electricity provider Eskom, in a test of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s resolve to cut costs at struggling state companies.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said late Friday that Eskom and the unions had agreed to resume talks immediately on conditions that include Eskom makes a pay increase offer and operations return to normal.

“The parties have agreed that the current disruptions at Eskom that resulted in load-shedding since yesterday are not beneficial to either party nor the country and the economy,” Gordhan said in a statement.

​Dangerous debt

Eskom, which produces more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power, said it would implement outages throughout the day because of an “illegal protest action” by some of its employees.

The rand currency weakened after Eskom announced the outages and said there was a high risk of further disruptions over the weekend.

Cutting costs at troubled state entities such as Eskom is a top priority for Ramaphosa, and the unrest will test his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at putting a struggling economy on sustained growth path.

In 2015, severe power constraints caused a prolonged period of outages, hitting growth.

Eskom is regularly cited as a threat to South Africa’s credit rating because it has more than 220 billion rand ($16.4 billion) of government-guaranteed debt.

Eskom started controlled outages, known locally as “load-shedding,” Thursday after it said protesters had blocked trucks carrying coal and buses ferrying staff to power stations.

‘Intimidation and sabotage’

Two large labor unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), have threatened a total shutdown of Eskom’s operations unless it meets their demands for a 15 percent pay rise.

Eskom, which has obtained a court order declaring the labor protests unlawful, has offered no pay increases.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe blamed the power cuts on acts of “intimidation and sabotage” by union members, but NUM and NUMSA said their members were respecting the court order and had done nothing illegal.

Ramaphosa oversaw the appointment of a new board and chief executive at Eskom in an effort to stabilize its finances after it became embroiled in corruption scandals under former president Jacob Zuma.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said: “This is about more than salaries. The government has lost the moral authority because of the looting that went on at state firms like Eskom.

“If Ramaphosa doesn’t intervene the lights will stay off and people will start asking: where is our president?”
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