Month: July 2018

GOP Senator Warns Against Trusting Putin ‘Mafia’

Posted on by SeeUS

A U.S. senator who just returned from a congressional trip to Russia warned against trusting President Vladimir Putin, saying that dealing with the Russian government is like “dealing with the mafia.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., recently went with other GOP senators to see first-hand the Russian economy and meet with government officials. But the meetings, ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned summit with Putin on July 16, turned “cantankerous” at times, he said. He described Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as a “bully.”

“There is no political philosophy in Russia. It’s sort of like saying, what’s the political philosophy of the mafia,” Kennedy told reporters Monday on Capitol Hill.

“Their philosophy is money and power. That’s the philosophy of Putin. He rules with an iron hand. He’s a dictator,” Kennedy said. He noted there’s “no free press” in Russia and said there’s a vast gap in wealth between the elites and ordinary Russians. He said the Russian people “deserve better.”

The senator said he had no problem with Trump meeting privately with Putin, but said he doesn’t expect a diplomatic breakthrough.

“You can’t trust Putin,” Kennedy said. “I think the best we can do is try to contain him.”

The senators were in Russia as part of a congressional visit headed by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. The trip came ahead of a summit between Trump and Putin in Helsinki.

The senators met with legislative leaders of Russia’s legislative body, but Kennedy said the most difficult session was with Lavrov. The meeting, Kennedy said, got off to a rocky start when the senator addressed him as ambassador rather than the expected title.

“We didn’t call each other an ‘ignorant slut’ or anything, but we exchanged words,” the senator said.

Kennedy said the senators confronted the Russians about election interference in 2016. Kennedy said the senators warned the Russians if they interfere in the November election, Congress “will hit you with sanctions even harder than what we have right now.”

He said the Russian response was to deny that they interfered in the election. “Deny, deny, deny,” he said.

“I thought it was important for us to look them in the eye and say, ‘Hey, we know what you’re doing,’” Kennedy said.

Kennedy’s takeaway from the meeting was that “what Russia wants is what Mr. Putin wants. And what Mr. Putin wants is status.”

“It’s really like dealing with the mafia.”
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Nigerian Opposition Says to Pick Joint Candidate for 2019 Election

Posted on by SeeAF

Nigeria’s main opposition parties have agreed to form an alliance to field  a  joint candidate to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s presidential election, they said in a memorandum on Monday 

Buhari’s ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) split last week when one faction declared it no longer supported his government, threatening the 75 year-old former military ruler’s hopes of securing a second term in the February 2019 elections.

The splinter group, known as the Reformed-All Progressives Congress (R-APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and 37 other political parties are in the new alliance hoping to defeat the APC.

“The parties agreed to ensure the emergence of a joint presidential candidate,” said the memorandum, which was read out by Tom Ikimi of the PDP.

“The leadership of the parties are hereby committed to work together in a Coalition of United Political Party (CUPP),” it said, adding that the modalities of the new alliance still had to be agreed.

The alliance could pose a major threat to Buhari’s re-election bid as the rifts within his APC threaten to split support for the president within Nigeria’s powerful patronage networks and among voters ahead of 2019 election.

Buhari announced in April that he would seek another term. 

His candidacy depends on party approval, though that is usually seen as a formality for the incumbent.

Political parties in Nigeria must select their candidates for the election between Aug. 18 and Oct. 7.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and richest economy. It plays a key role in the regional fight against Islamist militants.
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US Disputes Report That It Opposed Breastfeeding Resolution

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States is disputing a newspaper report that it bullied and threatened nations in an effort to water down a World Health Assembly resolution supporting breastfeeding.

A State Department official said, “Reports suggesting the United States threatened a partner nation related to a World Health Assembly resolution are false.”

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley also described as “patently false” attempts to portray the U.S. position as anti-breastfeeding.

A New York Times report Monday said the U.S. delegation at the assembly in Geneva this spring embraced “the interest of infant formula manufacturers” and “upended the deliberations.” 

The resolution had been expected to be approved “quickly and easily,” the newspaper said. Instead, the U.S. delegation “sought to wear down the other participants through procedural maneuvers in a series of meetings that stretched on for two days, an unexpectedly long period.”

A State Department official said the U.S. believed “the resolution as originally drafted called on states to erect hurdles for mothers seeking to provide nutrition to their children.”

The official said the United States “recognizes that breastfeeding and provision of breast milk is best for all babies,” but also recognizes that “not all women are able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons.”

The official said, “Women should have access to full and accurate information about breastfeeding,” as well as “full information about safe alternatives when breastfeeding is not possible.”

Oakley said, “The issues being debated were not about whether one supports breastfeeding.”

“Many women are not able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons, these women should not be stigmatized; they should be equally supported with information and access to alternatives for the health of themselves and their babies,” she said.

The Times said Ecuador was slated to introduce the World Health Assembly breastfeeding resolution, but after the U.S. threatened to “unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid,” it “quickly acquiesced.”

The newspaper said more than a dozen participants from different countries at the assembly confirmed the “showdown over the issue.” Many of them, however, asked to remain anonymous because they fear U.S. retaliation.

Health advocates had trouble finding another sponsor who did not fear U.S. “retaliation.”

The Times said that in the end, the Russian delegation stepped in as the resolution’s sponsor. It said, “The Americans did not threaten them.”

Patti Rundall, policy director of the British advocacy group Baby Milk Action, told the newspaper, “What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on the best way to protect infant and young child health.”

The State Department official said the United States works “to identify common cause when possible and does not shy away from expressing its disagreement when necessary.”  

Cindy Saine and Barry Newhouse contributed to this report.
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Congo’s Kabila Delays UN Chief’s Visit, Refuses to See US Envoy Haley

Posted on by SeeAF

Congolese President Joseph Kabila has put off a planned visit this week by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and refused to see U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who diplomats said had also separately planned to visit Kinshasa.

Kabila, who succeeded his assassinated father Laurent in 2001, was busy organizing Dec. 23 elections and had to postpone a visit by Guterres and African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, said Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende.

“As for Nikki Haley, I don’t see why and how the president’s refusal to see her has created so much controversy. Nikki Haley … was already in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and she met President Kabila,” Mende said.

Haley met privately with Kabila for 90 minutes in Kinshasa in October, warning him that “a relationship with the United States is dependent on how he acts going forward.” Diplomats said she had planned to visit again this week.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment on Haley’s trip.

“Is it the case that in all African countries in the middle of the electoral process these same visitors come to verify if the preparations are going in the right direction? If yes, they are also welcome in our country,” Mende said.

Kabila was required by the constitution to step down in December 2016 but the election to replace him has been repeatedly delayed.

Since then, security forces have killed dozens of anti-Kabila protesters while surging militia violence has raised the specter of a repeat of civil wars around the turn of the century that cost millions of lives.

Term limits prevent Kabila from running for office again, but he has refused to publicly commit to leaving office and some of his supporters have recently floated a legal rationale that would allow him to stand again.

Candidates are due to register for the presidential election between July 25 and Aug. 8.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said there had been not been any “firm plans” for Guterres to visit Kinshasa. “If and when he’s ready to go there, we’ll let you know,” Haq told reporters Monday.

Guterres is currently in Ethiopia at the African Union and diplomats said he had planned to visit Democratic Republic of Congo this week. The United Nation’s largest and most expensive peacekeeping mission, known as MONUSCO, is in the country, where some 18,000 U.N. troops and police are deployed.

The Congolese foreign ministry said in a statement that Guterres and Faki “remain welcome in Kinshasa at a date to be agreed on jointly.”
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US Says It Will Release, Reunite 50 Immigrant Children

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More than 50 immigrant children under age 5 will be reunited with their parents by Tuesday’s court-ordered deadline for action by Trump administration, and the families will then be released into the U.S., a government attorney said Monday.

 

That’s only about half of the 100 or so toddlers covered by the order.

 

At a court hearing, Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian acknowledged the government wouldn’t meet the deadline for all the children, citing a variety of reasons, including that the parents of some of the youngsters have already been deported.

 

Fabian said that 54 children will be joined with their parents by the end of Tuesday at locations across the country and that an additional five were undergoing final background checks.

 

It was the first time the government indicated whether the parents and children would be released or detained together. They will be set free in the U.S. pending the outcome of their immigration cases, which can take several years.

 

Fabian didn’t say why they were being released, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has little space to hold families.

 

ICE has three family detention centers with room for about 3,000 people in all, and the places are already at or near capacity. The Trump administration is trying to line up thousands more beds at military bases.

 

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt told reporters he was “both pleased and disappointed” with the government’s progress toward meeting the deadline.

 

“Tomorrow there will hopefully be more than 50 babies and toddlers reunited with their parents, and that is obviously an enormous victory,” he said. But he said those who remain split from their parents are “in for a long process.”

 

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered both sides back in court on Tuesday to give another update.

 

The ACLU was drawing up a proposal to shorten the wait for the remaining children. Gelernt said some procedures — such as DNA testing, fingerprinting and requests for other information — were designed for releasing children to distant relatives, not to parents.

 

More than 2,000 children in all were separated from their parents by U.S. immigration authorities at the border this spring before President Donald Trump reversed course on June 20 amid an international outcry and said families should remain together.

 

Late last month, Sabraw, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, set a 14-day deadline to reunite children under 5 with their parents, and a 30-day deadline for older children. The 30-day deadline is up July 26.

 

Monday’s hearing set the stage for a dramatic day of reunifications on Tuesday across the country, though they are likely to occur largely outside public view. Fabian did not disclose where the reunions would take place.

 

As for most of the rest of the under-5 children who have yet to reunited with their families, Fabian said that their parents have already been released into the U.S., have been deported, or are behind bars on criminal charges.

 

One child has not been matched with a parent, Fabian said. The ACLU identified him as a 3-year-old boy.

 

The hearing followed a feverish weekend of talks between the administration and the ACLU after the judge refused on Friday to grant a blanket extension to the deadline, saying instead that he would only consider certain exceptions.
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Turkish President Assumes News Sweeping Powers

Posted on by SeeEA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assumed sweeping new powers as the country transitions to an executive presidency.

“I promise to strengthen our nation’s unity and fraternity, to develop our country and to elevate our state,” Erdogan told parliament Monday after he was sworn in for a new presidential term. Deputies of his ruling AKP cheered, while the opposition sat in silence.

Opponents warn that Turkey is facing an elected dictatorship. Erdogan, however, maintains that his powers are vital to addressing the challenges facing the politically polarized nation.

“We are starting a new model of government,” Erdogan said during his inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace. “In the system of the past, there was social, political and economic chaos. From now on, we have a directly elected leader who can be held directly accountable.”

Erdogan’s new presidential powers are considerable. He can issue decrees with the enforcement of the law and appoint ministers who directly report to him. Erdogan also chooses nine of the 12 constitutional court charges. Under the new system, the post of prime minister is abolished.

“Erdogan is not a dictator but an autocrat, but he was elected,” said Huseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “He is a master of Turkish politics. The question is, what can Erdogan change, and what can’t Erdogan change?”

Questions over the viability of centralizing power in such a large country of 80 million people are already being raised.

“In general, neither in a nation of Turkey’s sophistication nor a big company is it a good idea to centralize power in the 21st century,” said political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. “We have dismantled what’s left of the civil service. The powers of municipal powers have been usurped. Devolution is the trend in the world, but we are doing the absolute opposite.”

In his inauguration speech, Erdogan reaffirmed his intention of making Turkey one of the world’s 10 largest economies.

Observers point out that with Erdogan already exercising power beyond the ceremonial role in his previous term in office through an emergency rule introduced after a failed coup in 2016, the new system could bring welcome clarity.

“It will aid to transparency and introduce some structure to the policy-making process. At this point, policy is made in the corridors of the palace by people we barely know,” Yesilada said.

Critics fear Erdogan will use his new powers to step up a crackdown on dissent. In recent days, 18,000 civil servants, along with nearly 200 academics, have been purged from their jobs in an emergency rule decree. Nearly 200,000 people have already lost their jobs since the attempted coup, along with tens of thousands of others jailed on accusations of threatening the state.

Six students were arrested at their graduation ceremony in Ankara on Friday for carrying a giant banner of cartoons caricaturing Erdogan. All face charges of insulting the president.

Some observers suggest Erdogan could use his new powers to heal the deep political divide. Outgoing Prime Minister Binali Yildirim signaled the state of emergency would end upon Erdogan’s resumption of power.

“There was the release of a prominent journalist, and there will be more releases in the future. The state of emergency was one of the most criticized issues,” Bagci said. He was referring to well-known journalist Mehmet Altan, who was freed from prison last week. Altan is a high-profile Erdogan critic.

Easing up on the crackdown on dissent could help Erdogan in the immediate twin challenges facing his presidency: fears of a looming economic crisis and strained diplomatic ties with his Western allies. Relations have soured in part over human rights concerns.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the only European Union leader in attendance at the ceremony, in a sign of coolness between Erdogan and the bloc. Turkey has been seeking to join the EU but cannot do so unless certain criteria required for membership have been met. Orban was one of 22 heads of state at the inauguration. Most came from Arab and African countries. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close Erdogan ally, was present.

Observers point out that improving ties with the West could be crucial if Ankara is forced to look to the West for help in the event of a financial crisis. Financial markets are increasingly alarmed over Turkey’s massive debt, fears that have already resulted in heavy falls in the value of the currency.
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Iraq Starts Manual Vote Recount for 6 Shi’ite Provinces

Posted on by SeeEA

Iraq’s election commission on Monday expanded its manual recount of ballots from May’s parliamentary elections, which were marred by allegations of fraud and irregularities.

 

Observers from the United Nations and Iraqi political parties watched as commission employees in Baghdad began recounting ballots from six Shi’ite-dominated provinces: Basra, Mayssan, Thi Qar, Muthana, Qadissiya and Wasit.

Last week, the elections commission started the recount for the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk, where Turkmen and Arab groups have accused the Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of fraud, allegations the party has denied. No results have been made public yet.

 

Iraq’s May 12 balloting was the country’s fourth national election since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. It was also the first vote since the government announced the defeat of the Islamic State group.

 

However, the elections saw the lowest turnout yet, mainly due to public anger at the political elite.

 

The partial recount, approved by Iraq’s Supreme Court last month, will further complicate the fragile postelections period and prolong the process of forming a new government. It will include the recounting of paper ballots from inside and outside the country.

 

Iraq’s populist Shi’ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, gained the largest share in the vote, garnering 54 seats in the 329-seat parliament. An Iran-backed bloc – made up of Shi’ite militias – came in second with 47 seats, followed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s alliance, with 42 seats.
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Zuma’s Son Appears in Court on Corruption Charges

Posted on by SeeAF

The son of former South African President Jacob Zuma is out on bail after a court appearance Monday to face charges of corruption.

Dudazane Zuma was led into a Johannesburg courtroom in leg shackles to hear the charges, just days after returning to South Africa. He was released on $7,500 bail, and his case postponed until January.

Zuma has been charged in connection to a case involving Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy prime minister, who has told prosecutors that he was offered the post of finance minister by the powerful Gupta family, who have been accused of influencing former President Zuma in his Cabinet appointments.

The elder Zuma was forced to resign in February by his African National Congress after being implicated in numerous corruption scandals, including using some $20 million in public funds for improvements at his private estate.

 
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Ethiopia, Eritrea Sign Joint Declaration of Peace

Posted on by SeeAF

The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea have signed an agreement that formally ends one of one of Africa’s longest, most intractable conflicts.

Photos of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signing the historic agreement in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, were posted on Twitter Monday by Yemane Meskel, Eritrea’s minister of information.

 

Meskel wrote that the “state of war that existed between the two countries has come to an end. A new era of peace & friendship has been ushered.”

 

He also said that trade, transport and telecommunication ties between the East African neighbors will be resumed.

Monday’s signing caps a new and sudden flurry of peace overtures between Prime Minister Ahmed and President Afwerki, who engaged in a historic embrace Sunday when Ahmed arrived Sunday at Asmara’s airport.

It began when Ahmed announced last month that Addis Ababa would finally honor a deal signed in 2000 to end a two-year border war. The war killed an estimated 70,000 people.

Ethiopia had long refused to accept the terms of the deal, which included withdrawing from the border town of Badme.

Eritrea, a former province of Ethiopia, broke away in 1993.

 

 
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Former Brexit Minister: PM’s Plan Falls Short of Clean EU Break

Posted on by SeeEU

Britain’s former Brexit minister says Prime Minister Theresa May’s approach to the nation’s exit from the European Union is “a dangerous strategy.”

David Davis stepped down from his post Sunday. In a resignation letter, Davis told May that her plan to create “a common rulebook” that would abide by the EU’s rules on free trade would leave Britain in — at best — “a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one.” He said the plan would make the idea of reestablishing British sovereignty from the EU “illusory rather than real.”

May’s Cabinet agreed to her plan on Friday after a contentious meeting at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country retreat. Davis and some Cabinet members have advocated for a clean break from the EU, while others support a so-called “soft Brexit” that would maintain economic ties with the bloc through its customs union and its single market.

In an interview Monday on BBC, Davis said that May had allowed her negotiators with the EU to give away “too much, too easily.” But he said his resignation does not mean he will mount a leadership challenge to May.

Hours after Davis’ interview, May announced that Dominic Raab, a former housing minister, would succeed Davis as Brexit minister.

 
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Romania Ousts Chief Anti-Graft Prosecutor

Posted on by SeeEU

President Klaus Iohannis has fired Romania’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor over misconduct and incompetence accusations by her own government ministry, but has urged the struggle against rampant graft in the country to continue.

In a Monday announcement, his office says that National Anti-Corruption Directorate Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi was dismissed to implement a ruling by Romania’s top court, which had ordered it over the accusations of incompetence.

In a February report, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had accused Kovesi of being authoritarian, and claimed that prosecutors under her command had falsified evidence and acquitted an inordinate number of defendants. He also accused Kovesi of harming Romania’s image in interviews with foreign journalists. 

Kovesi, who has been widely praised for prosecuting senior officials, refuted his accusations.
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Crews Make Progress Against California Wildfires

Posted on by SeeUS

Firefighters continued to build containment around several destructive wildfires burning in California on Sunday, though one stubborn blaze in the northern part of the state grew significantly and crossed the border into Oregon.

The blaze on the California-Oregon state line known as the Klamathon Fire grew to 48 square miles (124 square kilometers) and leapt into Oregon overnight. It was 25 percent contained.

The fire, one of many in the drought-ridden U.S. West, killed one person in their home and destroyed 72 structures, including houses.

It also injured three firefighters, including one who had severe burns to his face, according to a Gofundme page that raised more than $28,000 for him in less than 24 hours.

The Cal Fire firefighter, Brandon Feller, was injured Thursday battling the blaze the day it broke out but was making a strong recovery, according to the page.

More than 2,300 firefighters continued to fight the fire Sunday amid low humidity and strong winds. Crews were hoping to keep it from jumping a river and threatening additional communities.

“They made some really good headway on holding the fire, so we’re just hoping we can keep it there,” said Suzi Brady, a spokeswoman for the crews fighting the fire.

​Progress elsewhere in California

The state’s largest blaze, the 141-square-mile (365-square-kilometer) County Fire in Yolo and Napa counties near Sacramento in Northern California, was 65 percent contained. It has destroyed a dozen structures since it broke out June 30.

​Meanwhile in heat-stricken Southern California, crews have built at least 80 percent containment on two major wildfires, one that destroyed 20 homes in Santa Barbara County and a central San Diego County fire that burned 18 structures.

​Other major fires in the state were close to being fully contained.

Elsewhere around the West

In southern Colorado, firefighters were making progress Sunday on a wildfire that has burned more than 130 homes and blackened nearly 170 square miles (440 square kilometers).

Investigators say an illegal campfire sparked the blaze east of Fort Garland on June 27, and it has since become the third-largest in state history. It also forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes.

​The fire is 55 percent contained.

Meanwhile, firefighters were taking advantage of rain showers and increased humidity in their battle against a wildfire that has been burning for more than a month near Durango in southwestern Colorado. That fire has scorched about 85 square miles (220 square kilometers) and is 50 percent contained.

​Firefighters are dealing with several major wildfires across Colorado.

​In neighboring Utah, more residents were allowed back into their homes Sunday after being driven out by a wind-fueled fire. The blaze burning near a popular fishing lake 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City is now 35 percent contained, according to Duchesne County Sheriff’s officials. The wildfire has charred about 75 square miles (193 square kilometers) and destroyed 90 structures, including homes, since starting July 1.

 
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ACLU: Children, Parents Unlikely to be Reunited by Deadline

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It is unlikely that the U.S. government will be able to reunite all the immigrant children younger than 5 who were forcibly separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border by Tuesday’s court-ordered deadline, according to a statement issued by the American Civil Liberties Union late Sunday.

“It’s extremely disappointing that the Trump administration looks like it will fail to reunite even half the children under five with their parents,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “These kids have already suffered so much because of this policy and every extra day apart just adds to that pain.”

An ACLU lawsuit won a June 26 preliminary injunction that resulted in the court-ordered demand for the reunification of children younger than 5 by July 10 and all families by July 26.

The government asked a judge Friday for extension on the deadlines. The judge did not grant any extensions, and said he wanted a list of children Saturday whom the government believed could not be reunited with families in a timely manner and the reasons why. The list of 102 names was shared with the ACLU.

The ACLU said the government “initially provided incomplete information by the Saturday evening deadline” and issued revised details Sunday.

Court reconvenes Monday.

Health and Human Secretary Alex Azar said last week that of more than 11,800 children being held by HHS in children’s shelters, fewer than 3,000 were separated from parents. The rest are unaccompanied minors. He said about 100 of the separated children are 5 or younger.
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Students Learn About Science by Building Guitars

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Some students in Virginia who play the guitar are also learning how to build them. It’s part of an after-school program where middle and high school students learn about science and music through the design and function of an electric guitar. The workshops, sponsored by the nonprofit Music for Life, are free for those who cannot afford to participate. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us to a high school in Manassas, Virginia, where the students are learning the challenges of making an electric guitar.
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Albinos in Malawi Still Living in Fear of Attacks

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Fear among the albino population in Malawi is running high again after the killing of a young man in the Machinga district. A priest and a police officer were among those arrested in connection with the killing, raising fears that no one can be trusted to protect albinos, whose body parts are sought after by witch doctors. Lameck Masina talked to people with albinism in the capital, Lilongwe, and files this report.
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Pompeo Claims Progress in Talks With North Korea

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has described his latest talks with North Korean officials as productive. He met with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday before proceeding to Vietnam. Pyongyang was the first stop on Pompeo’s first around-the-world trip as America’s top diplomat. After Asia, he travels to the United Arab Emirates before heading to Belgium, where he will accompany U.S. President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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German Firms Promised African ‘Marshall Plan’ Tax Breaks

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Germany plans to use public money to support companies that invest in Africa, part of a new “Marshall Plan” with which it hopes to tackle the roots of the refugee crisis that has convulsed European politics since 2015.

The aim was to reintroduce a scheme from the 1980s that made it easier for companies to write off losses on investments in Africa in order to moderate initial investment risks, Development Minister Gerd Mueller told Handelsblatt newspaper.

“I am also going to push for provisions made for African investments to get more favorable tax treatment,” he said Sunday of the plan being developed by his department, along with the finance and economy ministries.

Few details so far

The “Marshall Plan for Africa,” named after the U.S. aid package that kick-started Western Europe’s recovery after World War II, is the centerpiece of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s scheme to reduce refugee flows by better sharing the costs of humanitarian issues between Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Few details have been made public concerning the program, which Merkel has argued is essential if Europe is to win African countries’ support for any policies aimed at stemming migration.

Since 2015, when Merkel, faced with unprecedented migrant flows, opened Germany’s borders to more than a million refugees from civil war and poverty, the migration question has dominated European politics, fueling the rise of far-right parties.

Under pressure from her own allies, Merkel conceded tighter border controls last week, but has continued to insist that Europe can only deal with refugee flows multilaterally, in cooperation with its African and Middle Eastern neighbors.

Deals with North Africa

The EU is currently trying to sign deals with North African countries mirroring one signed with Turkey in 2016, under which Ankara was paid to take back many refugees who failed to win asylum in Europe.
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One Storm May Gain Strength as Another Weakens in Atlantic

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The third named storm of the 2018 hurricane season formed in the Atlantic on Sunday off the coast of North Carolina.

The National Hurricane Center said Chris could gain strength and become a hurricane by Monday, but it is expected to stay offshore and eventually turn away from the U.S. coast.

“Swells generated by Chris are expected to increase and affect portions of the coasts of North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic states into early next week,” the NHC said.

Chris’ predecessor, Tropical Storm Beryl, continued to move toward the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters predicted that even though the storm is losing strength, it could bring significant rain to the islands still trying to recover from the devastating 2017 hurricane season.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello warned of more power outages as the storm passes over the island Monday. More than 1,500 homes are without power nine months after Hurricane Maria made landfall. He also urged the thousands without sturdy roofs to move in with relatives or into government shelters.

NHC said Beryl was packing winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour late Sunday.

Forecasters predict Puerto Rico could get 5 to 8 centimeters (2-3 inches) of rain and experience 15 to 25 kilometers (9-15 miles) an hour winds from Beryl.
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Another Power-Sharing Deal Reached in South Sudan Civil War 

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Leaders of South Sudan’s warring parties have reached a peace agreement that will see rebel leader Riek Machar reinstated to the vice presidency and a possible end to the 5-year-old civil war.

“It has been agreed that there will be four vice presidents: the current two vice presidents, plus Riek Machar, (who) will assume the position of first vice president, and then the fourth position will be allocated to a woman from the opposition,” South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed announced at the end of talks, which were held in Uganda and mediated by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.

The agreement is aimed at bringing an end to the civil war that erupted in 2013 after a falling out between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Machar.

A similar power-sharing deal that returned Machar to the vice presidency was signed in 2015. But it collapsed a year later.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 4 million people to flee their homes. About 2 million South Sudanese have sought refuge in the neighboring countries of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It has also created Africa’s largest refugee crisis since 1994, when the genocide in Rwanda left millions of people near famine.
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Israel Indicts Turkish Woman for Allegedly Smuggling Funds to Hamas

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An Israeli military court has indicted a Turkish national for allegedly smuggling funds to a terrorist group, reported to be Hamas.

Agents arrested Ebru Ozkan at the airport in Tel Aviv June 11 as she was getting ready to fly back to Turkey.

Her lawyer told Reuters that Ozkan was denied access to an attorney during much of her stay in jail and that police did not interrogate her in Turkish, leading to confusing answers to their questions.

Israeli agents say Ozkah is suspected of “posing a threat to national security and for having links to a terrorist organization.”

They did not specify which group, but Israeli newspapers say it is Hamas.

The case has cast an even darker pall over what had been longtime friendly ties between Turkey and Israel.

“For genuine normalization of our relations, Israel should end its wrong policies and its inhumane cruelty,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

He threatened retaliation against Israel, but did not say what Turkey plans to do.

Israel has arrested other Turkish citizens this year for what it says were security threats.

Turkey has strongly criticized Israeli wars against the Hamas-ruled Gaza. Both countries also recalled a number of diplomats from each other’s capitals in May. Turkey condemned Israel for the deaths of more than 60 Palestinians during protests along the Gaza border fence.

 
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Turkey Train Accident Kills 10, Injures 73

Posted on by SeeEU

At least 10 people were killed and more than 70 injured Sunday when most of a passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey, Turkish authorities said.

 

Health Ministry Undersecretary Eyup Gumus put the number of fatalities at 10 and the number of people injured at 73, based on initial reports from the scene, according to Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency.

 

The Ministry of Transport said five of the train’s six cars derailed in a village in Tekirdag province after “the ground between the culvert and the rail collapsed” due to heavy rain.

 

The train was heading to Istanbul from Edirne, on the border with Greece, bound for Istanbul with 362 passengers and six crew members, the transportation ministry said.

An unnamed survivor told the private DHA news agency she had been in one of the cars that went off the tracks.

 

“There were deaths immediately, people whose legs were crushed. It was a horrible accident,” she said.

 

A photograph of the site showed collapsed ground under the rails. Video footage captured overturned cars and several people being carried away on stretchers.

 

Tekirdag governor Mehmet Ceyhan said the area where the derailment happened was muddy from heavy rain and difficult to reach.

 

Emergency services, military and ambulance helicopters arrived at the scene. The local Corlu municipality tweeted hospitals needed blood donations for the injured.

 
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West African States in Joint Fight Against Root Crop ‘Ebola’

Posted on by SeeAF

Researchers from half a dozen states in West Africa have joined together in a battle against what one expert calls a root crop “Ebola” — a viral disease that could wreck the region’s staple food and condemn millions to hunger.

Their enemy: cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), a virus that strikes cassava, also called manioc, which in some of the region’s countries is consumed by as many as 80 percent of the population.

The root-rotting disease was first discovered in Tanzania eight decades ago and is steadily moving westward.

“In outbreaks in central Africa, it has wiped out between 90 and 100 percent of cassava production — it’s now heading towards West Africa,” Justin Pita, in charge of the research program, told AFP.

“It is a very big threat. It has to be taken very seriously.”

In Uganda, 3,000 people died of hunger in the 1990s after the dreaded disease showed up, striking small farmers in particular.

“You can call it the Ebola of cassava,” said Pita.

The West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) project, a multi-million-dollar scheme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to shield the region from the advancing peril.

Headquartered at Bingerville, on the edges of the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan, it gathers six countries from West Africa — Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Togo — as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Much is already known about CBSD — the virus is generally believed to be propagated by an insect called the silverleaf whitefly, and also through cuttings taken from infected plants.

But there remain gaps in knowledge about West Africa’s specific vulnerabilities to the disease.

They include understanding the susceptibility of local strains of cassava to the virus, and identifying points in the cassava trade that can help a localized outbreak of CBSD swell into an epidemic.

The scheme will also look at initiatives to help boost yield — a key challenge in a region with surging population growth.

“The current average yield from cassava [in West Africa] is 10 to 12 tonnes per hectare [four to 4.8 tonnes per acre], but it has the potential to reach 40 tonnes a hectare,” said Odile Attanasso, Benin’s minister of higher education and scientific research.

“In Asia, they have yields of 22 tonnes per hectare.”

‘Attieke is our husband’

The WAVE project hopes to go beyond the lab and test fields, though.

It also wants to harness the clout of community leaders and chiefs to spread CBSD awareness and promote better farming practices, such as confining and destroying crops in infested areas and banning transport of manioc cuttings.

“We kings and traditional chiefs are the interface between the population and the government,” said Amon Tanoe, the ceremonial monarch of the coastal Grand-Bassam region in Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast is a huge consumer of cassava — the starchy root is typically pulped and fermented and served in a side dish called attieke.

In Affery, a big cassava-growing region about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the economic capital Abidjan, makers of attieke said they were deeply worried about the threat of CBSD.

“Attieke is our husband,” said Nathalie Monet Apo, head of the association of attieke producers, emphasizing how the cassava dish is intertwined with Ivorian life.

“If the disease shows up, it would be dramatic for our families and our community.”

“They have to find a cure for this disease — it’s thanks to growing cassava that I am able to provide an education for my four children,” said Blandine Yapo Sopi, eying a mound of harvested manioc that she hoped would bring in 450,000 CFA francs (nearly 700 euros, around $800).
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Tunisia: At Least 6 Killed Near Algerian Border

Posted on by SeeAF

At least six members of Tunisia’s national guard were killed Sunday in an apparent attack by an armed group near the Algerian border.

The Interior Ministry said in a brief statement that six members of a national guard patrol died and another three were wounded following a mine explosion in the west of Tunisia.

 

The country’s official news agency, TAP, put the number of dead at nine. Citing a security official on the scene, TAP said the nine were on a patrol in two vehicles and a grenade was thrown at the first vehicle.

An exchange of gunfire followed, TAP said. It was not immediately clear how many attackers there might have been or whether there were any casualties among them.

 

The attack took place in a remote mountainous area. Jihadis are known to use the mountainous border region as a base.

 

Tunisia was the target of deadly attacks by Islamic radicals that killed dozens of people at a beach resort and the country’s leading museum in 2015.

 

 
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Former South Sudan VP to Be Re-Instated in His Position

Posted on by SeeAF

Riek Machar will be reinstated in his position as part of a peace deal to end a near five-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and devastated Africa’s youngest nation.

The agreement was reached in talks held in Entebbe in Uganda mediated by President Yoweri Miseveni and attended by South Sudan President Salva Kiir, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir and Machar, the country’s presidency said in a statement.

“After a 10-hour-long meeting, the parties agreed… there will be four vice presidents and Dr. Riek Machar will be reinstated as first vice president,” the statement said.

It added that although the government and the opposition had agreed to the proposal, “there will be more consultation to come up with the final decision.”

South Sudan has been gripped by civil war since 2013, when a political disagreement between Kiir and Machar exploded into a military confrontation.

Puok Both Baluang, the opposition SPLM-IO’s deputy spokesman, told Reuters they had no immediate comment on the statement from the presidency.

The war, which has mostly seen Kiir’s Dinka and Machar’s Nuer ethnic group pitted against each other, has killed tens of thousands, uprooted about a quarter of the country’s population of 12 million and slashed oil production, on which the economydepends almost entirely.

The agreement on Machar’s position marks a potential

breakthrough in new efforts mediated by regional leaders to find

a power-sharing and peace agreement to end the war.

A similar deal in 2015 failed the following year after Machar returned to the capital and disagreements quickly developed, reigniting fighting.

On Friday the government and opposition signed an agreement on security arrangements which follow on from a cease-fire deal last month, both crucial steps toward a final peace pact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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