Month: August 2018

Gun-Control Initiative Brings Protesters on Both Sides to Seattle

Posted on by SeeUS

Right-wing demonstrators gathered Saturday in Seattle for a “Liberty or Death” rally that drew counter-protesters from the left while dozens of police kept the two sides apart.

The right-wing groups Washington 3 Percenters and Patriot Prayer were holding the rally outside Seattle City Hall to protest an effort to launch a gun-control initiative that would raise the age in Washington state for people buying semi-automatic rifles.

The left-wing groups Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity, Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party were rallying at the same site.

​Protesters on each side

Hundreds of protesters on each side of the street were separated Saturday afternoon by metal barriers and police officers as the left-wing protesters yelled and used cow bells and sirens to try to drown out speeches from the right-wing side.

Three men were arrested, all for misdemeanor assault, Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, a Seattle police spokesman, told the Seattle Times.

One person on the right-wing group side was treated for an injury at the scene.

Additional police also arrived, including police in riot gear with batons who took up positions in the street. Bicycle officers lined up their bikes as a type of moving barrier to keep protesters from entering the street, which remained open to traffic.

Gun-control initiative

The gun-control initiative would boost the age for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 and would expand the background checks for those purchases. The measure would also require people to complete a firearm safety training course and create standards for safely storing firearms.

A judge on Friday, however, threw out 300,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the November ballot, saying the petition’s format did not follow election law. The Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the group behind the initiative, has filed a notice of appeal with the Washington Supreme Court.

The protest came two weeks after police in riot gear in Portland, Oregon, tried to keep right-wing and left-wing groups apart. The effort mostly succeeded, but police were accused of being heavy-handed, prompting the city’s new police chief to order a review of officers’ use of force
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Largest Collection of Tiffany Glass Housed in NY Warehouse

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About 250,000 pieces of multicolored and iridescent glass sit in a warehouse on an industrial block in Long Island City, Queens, which houses the largest collection of Tiffany glass. It’s a welcome tribute to Louis Tiffany, an American artist who many believe transformed the history of stained glass with his unique artistry — essentially creating paintings out of glass. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.
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Dragonfly, Privacy Issues Keep Google in the Headlines

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Google has been in the headlines recently, and the news was not good. The technology company left the Chinese market eight years ago to protest Beijing’s censorship, but now appears ready to return with a new search engine. But the project is shrouded in secrecy, even as Google’s employees demand transparency. Meanwhile, the company tries to defend itself against accusations it has been invading user’s privacy, despite claiming it doesn’t. Faiza Elmasry has the story. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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Scientists Extract Uranium Powder from Seawater with Yarn

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The world’s oceans are filled with trace amounts of uranium, the primary fuel for nuclear power reactors. The trick is extracting it from the seawater. Now, scientists in the U.S. say they have done that using yarn, and extracted 5 grams of the powdered form of uranium used to produce reactor fuel. Faith Lapidus reports.
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Turkey’s Economic Crisis Rattles Global Markets

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A budding trade war between the U.S. and Turkey over a detained American pastor is having global consequences. A sharp drop in Turkey’s lira, inflation and the threat of loan defaults, could drag down other economies, particularly in emerging markets. Turkey’s troubles are causing ripple effects in countries as far away as Argentina and Indonesia, while weighing on Asian currency rates and triggering currency fluctuations. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
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Annan’s Fight for Equality, Human Rights Lives On

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Kofi Annan left the United Nations far more committed than it had been to combating poverty, promoting equality and fighting for human rights — and until his death Saturday he was speaking out about the turbulent world he saw moving from nations working together to solve problems, to growing nationalism.

As secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, Annan saw as his greatest achievements the programs and policies he put in place to reduce inequality within and between countries, to combat infectious diseases and to promote human rights and protect civilians from war crimes including genocide.

​Millennium goals

He launched the U.N. Millennium Development Goals at a summit of world leaders in 2000 to cut extreme poverty by half, promote equality for women, ensure every child has a primary school education, reduce maternal and child mortality, and halt the spread of AIDS — all by 2015.

Those goals, only a few of which were fully achieved, were succeeded by an expanded list of U.N. Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 that adds issues such as climate action, affordable and clean energy, and promoting peace and justice. The updated list is a major focus of the U.N.’s current agenda.

As U.N. peacekeeping chief just before becoming secretary-general, Annan shared blame for the failure of U.N. troops he deployed to prevent the genocides in Rwanda in 1994 and in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995.

When he became U.N. chief, Annan launched a doctrine of “humanitarian intervention” to prevent governments and leaders from massacring their own people. At a summit in 2005, over objections from some countries, 191 nations endorsed what has become known as the “responsibility to protect” civilians and head off the world’s worst crimes, from ethnic cleansing to genocide. This doctrine is frequently cited, but to the dismay of U.N. officials, not often implemented.

​UN partnerships

Annan also saw as a major achievement the expansion of the U.N.’s work into partnerships with businesses, foundations, universities and civil society.

This led, for example, to the establishment of the Global Compact in 2001 where Annan asked corporate leaders to publicly commit to 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. More than 9,000 of the world’s leading CEOs have joined the compact, which continues to attract new members, and “corporate responsibility” has become a key feature of the business world.

When Annan handed the reins of the U.N. to Ban Ki-moon, he said he would keep working on African issues, human rights, global warming and governance issues, and speak out from time to time when necessary. He told one farewell party: “You can take the man out of the U.N., but you can’t take the U.N. out of the man.”

Leadership concerns

Through his foundation and as a member and head of The Elders, the group of prominent former leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, Annan kept working — and speaking out.

At an editorial board meeting with The Associated Press in May 2017, he worried aloud about lost jobs and said many people worldwide had lost trust in political and corporate leaders and feared being left behind.

He said it was time for mainstream leaders to explain that innovation and artificial intelligence are taking away jobs and tell those who have lost jobs they are going to be retrained for the new economy that’s coming.

“If we don’t encourage leaders, first of all fresh people, to go into politics and we don’t encourage the leaders to lead, we will create a situation which is normal,” he warned. “When leaders fail to lead, the people lead and make them follow. But you don’t know where they’re going to lead you to, and they might even pull you back.”

He also said U.S. President Donald Trump’s go-it-alone foreign policy is weakening America, and stressed the importance of multilateralism and the perils of growing nationalism.

Only last month, Annan was tweeting about his concerns with the current state of the world, including this July 3 tweet that appeared aimed at the United States.

And on July 30, he tweeted: “Whether our task is fighting #poverty, stemming the spread of #disease or saving innocent lives from mass murder, we have seen that we cannot succeed without the #leadership of the strong and the engagement of all.”

Mentor to others

Annan believed in quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy but wasn’t afraid to speak out when he thought necessary. He mentored a generation of U.N. officials including current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and outgoing U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein.

The Jordanian diplomat said in a statement he once told Annan how everyone was criticizing him, and the former U.N. chief responded: “You’re doing the right thing. Let them grumble.”

“In a world now filled with leaders who are anything but that, our loss, the world’s loss, becomes even more painful,” Zeid said.
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UK Hopes to Pick up Brexit Talks Pace With Raab-Barnier Meeting on Tuesday

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Britain’s Brexit minister Dominic Raab will travel to Brussels on Tuesday in a bid to pick up the pace of Brexit talks with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said on Saturday.

“On the agenda will be resolving the few remaining withdrawal issues related to the UK leaving the EU and pressing ahead with discussions on the future relationship,” May’s Downing Street office said.

On Thursday, Britain will also publish the first of a series of technical notices, designed to help people and businesses prepare for a no-deal scenario.

Raab will also give a speech outlining how the government plans to mitigate the potential risks of leaving the EU without a deal and ensure continuity and stability. 
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Suspect in UK Parliament Crash Charged With Attempted Murder

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A driver whose car collided with several people before crashing outside Britain’s Parliament has been charged with attempted murder.

Police say 29-year-old Salih Khater was charged Saturday with trying to kill police officers and members of the public.

Three people were injured when Khater — a British citizen originally from Sudan — hit a group of cyclists before colliding with a security barrier guarded by police outside Parliament on Tuesday.

The incident sparked a huge police response. Last year London was hit by several attacks in which vehicles were used as weapons.

Police say that because of the methodology and iconic location, the case is being treated as terrorism, although Khater has not been charged with a terrorist offense.

Khater is due to appear in a London court on Monday. 
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Putin Calls on Europe to Rebuild Syria so Refugees Can Return

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called on Europe to financially contribute to the reconstruction of Syria to allow millions of refugees to return home.

“We need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the Syrian conflict,” he said ahead of a meeting with his German counterpart Angela Merkel at the government retreat of Meseberg castle 70kms (45 miles) north of Berlin.

“By that, I mean above all humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, and help the regions where refugees living abroad can return to.”

There are currently one million refugees in Jordan, the same number in Lebanon, and three million in Turkey, Putin said.

Germany has accepted hundreds of thousands of migrants since 2015 — the height of the migration crisis — which has weakened Angela Merkel politically and split the European Union.

“This is potentially a huge burden for Europe,” Putin said.

“That’s why we have to do everything to get these people back home,” he added, emphasizing the need to properly restore basic services such as water supplies and healthcare.

Merkel said the priority in Syria was “to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe”, but did not give any further details.

Ukraine stalemate

Also on the agenda for the two leaders is the Ukraine crisis, which “unfortunately does not advance at all,” Putin said.

The Minsk agreements, a peace process sponsored by Germany and France aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, is at a standstill, Merkel said, pointing at the absence of a “stable ceasefire.”

A United Nations mission on the ground, which will be discussed during the talks, “could perhaps play a pacifying role” in the region, she said.

Earlier, Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas said he was “relatively optimistic about the chances of a United Nations mission,” telling the Die Welt newspaper: “We want to give a new dynamic to the Minsk process.”

Russia is accused by Kiev and Westerners of militarily supporting the separatists in eastern Ukraine, which it denies.

Economic cooperation, particularly over energy, was also billed as a central theme in the discussions.

Russia and Germany are partners in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a project criticized by US President Donald Trump due to Berlin’s reliance on Moscow.

Ukraine worries that the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline from Russia to Germany will transport gas now flowing through its territory and deprive it of crucial transit fees.

Russia has shut off gas supplies to Ukraine in the past, having knock-on effects in the European Union.

“Ukraine must, in my opinion, play a role in the transit of gas to Europe,” even after the start of Nord Stream 2 in 2019, the German Chancellor said.

Putin once again defended the project “which addresses the growing demand of the European economy for energy resources”.

“I want to stress here that Nord Stream 2 is only an economic project and it does not close the door to the continuation of gas transit through the territory of Ukraine,” he said.

In July, Putin assured that Russia was willing to keep Russian flowing through Ukraine after the pipeline was commissioned, but without going into details on volumes or tariffs. 
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Italy Holds National Day of Mourning for Bridge Collapse Victims

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It’s Italy’s national day of mourning Saturday after the collapse of the Morandi highway bridge Tuesday in the port city of Genoa killed 42 people.

Three more bodies were recovered by rescuers overnight and Italian state radio reported another was body found Saturday morning. Authorities said all those missing have now been accounted for.

But not all the families of the victims agreed to take part.

 

Applause broke out at the funerals as rescuers and members of the civil defense department arrived to take part in the service. Authorities used an exhibition center in the area of the Genoa fair grounds as a church.

The building was adorned with flowers and photographs for the occasion. In front of the altar and below a large crucifix, 18 coffins were covered with white roses, including those of two Albanian Moslems who died, and a small white casket for the youngest victim, an eight-year-old who died alongside his parents.

 

Large screens were set up outside the exhibition center for many others – Italians from all over the country and tourists – who turned out to follow the service. Many said they came out of solidarity with relatives of the victims because what happened could have happened to anyone.

The archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, celebrated the solemn service. Italy’s top officials and politicians, including head of state Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, attended the ceremony.

Family members of other victims decided to bury the dead in their towns of origin, some declining to participate in the state funerals in anger at having lost their loved ones in an accident that may have been caused by poor design or improper maintenance.

 

The president, who visited the site of the disaster and the injured in the hospital before attending the service, has defined the bridge collapse as “absurd and frightening,” saying the tragedy “struck not only Genoa but the whole nation.”

 

Cardinal Bagnasco, who presided at the service, said, “The collapse of the Morandi bridge over the Poncedera River caused a rift in the heart of Genoa. The wound is a deep one and consists above all of the endless pain for those who have lost their lives and the missing, for their relatives, for the inured, for the many displaced. Many have been the signs of shock and closeness that have come from not only from Italy but from all over the world.”

 

In his homily, the cardinal added that Genoa will not surrender and will continue to fight despite the huge loss of its most important artery. Applause broke out when the cardinal thanked firefighters for their tireless work. He spoke of the strength of the injured and expressed hope that the displaced may soon find another home.

 

The government has set up a commission to investigate the causes of the bridge collapse. The disaster sparked a huge debate in Italy about the state of the country’s infrastructures.

 

Autostrade per l’Italia, the company that manages Italy’s highway system, held a news conference Saturday in Genoa, promising it would provide details about measures it will be taking to support victims’ families and the hundreds of people that had to evacuate their homes following the deadly collapse.

 
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Taliban Chief: US Offers to End Afghan War ‘Neither Rational Nor Practical’

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The fugitive Taliban leader renewed his call Saturday for direct talks with the United States, dismissing as impractical and unacceptable “propositions” he asserted Washington has offered to promote a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan.

Malawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, in a message to his followers ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid, has for the first time offered some details of a recent “preliminary” meeting between Taliban and American officials.

Senior diplomat for the region, Alice Wells, led the U.S. delegation in the July 23 talks in Qatar, where the Taliban operates its so-called “Political Office.” But neither side shared any detail until now.

The Taliban confirmed and described the discussions as “useful,” saying they were aimed at paving ground for future contacts between the two sides. But the insurgents shared no other details until now. Afghan government officials did not participate in the talks reportedly due to opposition from the Taliban.

Akhundzada explained the demand for direct peace talks with the U.S., saying the “ongoing war is the birth-child of American occupation” and only Washington can determine a deadline for the withdrawal of all American and NATO forces from Afghanistan.

“But in order to avoid responsibility for this war, the Americans propose options other than constructive negotiations that are neither rational nor practical; rather it is these same propositions that prolong this war for America, make it costlier and nudge it towards failure.”

Akhundzad did not elaborate on exactly what options U.S. officials put on the table. But Washington maintains it is ready to support and facilitate an intra-Afghan peace process under the leadership of the government in Kabul, cautioning that no solutions imposed from outside could help end the conflict.

The Taliban dismisses Afghan rulers as “stooges of America” and refuses to engage in any intra-Afghan talks until all foreign forces leave the country.

The Taliban chief asserted that Washington’s readiness for a “sincere, transparent and results-oriented” direct dialogue will be viewed by his group as “a sound step by America” and accepting the Afghan ground realities.

“But negotiations must be sincere and productive, free from any fraud and deception and must revolve around the core issue and not be used for propaganda or misleading the common thinking,” said Akhundzada.

The Taliban controls or hotly contests nearly half of the 407 Afghan districts. The insurgents have in recent weeks captured new territory and inflicted massive battlefield casualties on embattled Afghan security forces.

The Taliban last week came close to capturing the strategically important southeastern city of Ghazni before they were forced to retreat by Afghan forces with support from U.S. airpower after several days of deadly fighting.

The clashes reportedly killed 500 people, including Afghan forces, insurgents and civilians, beside causing massive destruction in the historic city.

In June, the Islamist insurgency for the first time in the 17-year war had ceased hostilities for three days, allowing Afghans to peacefully celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The unprecedented temporary cease-fire coincided with the Afghan government’s unilateral cease-fire. The mutual gesture, though temporary, enabled Afghan soldiers and Taliban insurgents to interact, share Eid greetings and gifts, suggesting both sides were tired of the prolonged conflict.

But the Taliban swiftly dismissed those assertions and insisted its cease-fire was meant primarily to discredit “propaganda” the insurgency was not  a unified force and did not have control over its field commanders.

Afghanistan and the rest of the Islamic world are preparing to celebrate another annual festival next week, known as Eid-ul-Adha.

There are hopes the warring sides may again observe a cease-fire to ease sufferings of ordinary Afghans, although Taliban chief Akhandzada in his Saturday’s Eid message did not hint at any such undertaking.

Afghan officials said Saturday President Ashraf Ghani was consulting his aides, civil society representatives and government peace negotiators on whether or not the government should halt counter-insurgency operations during the upcoming Eid festivities.

According to findings of a European Union-funded survey released Saturday, more than 90 percent of Afghans want the government and the Taliban to observe a permanent cease-fire.

 

 
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Former UN Leader Kofi Annan Dead at 80

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Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations has died. He was 80 years old. 

Annan’s family and his foundation announced on Twitter that he “passed away peacefully,” Saturday after a short illness. 

The announcement on Twitter described Annan as a “global statesman and a deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world. During his distinguished career and leadership of the United Nations, he was an ardent champion of peace, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law.” 

Current U.N. head Antonio Guterres described Annan as a “guiding force for good and said, “In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations.”

Born in Ghana, Annan was the first black African to head up the U.N., serving as its leader from 1997 to 2006.

He was also the first secretary-general to emerge from the ranks of the U.N. staff. 

As secretary-general, Annan was instrumental in creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the adoption of the U.N.’s first -ever counter-terrorism strategy, and the acceptance by member states of the “responsibility to protect” people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. His “global compact” initiative, launched in 1999, has become the world’s largest effort to promote corporate social responsibility.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for “one of our greatest compatriots” and noted Annan “was an ardent believer in the capacity of the Ghanaian to chart his or her own course onto the path of progress and prosperity.”

Barack Obama said Annan “was a diplomat and humanitarian who embodied the mission of the United Nations like few others.” The former U.S. president added that “Long after he had broken barriers, Kofi never stopped his pursuit of a better world, and made time to motivate and inspire the next generation of leaders.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley observed that Annan “devoted his life to making the world a more peaceful place” and “worked tirelessly to unite us and never stopped fighting for the dignity of every person.”

European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker said the “greatest recognition we can give Kofi Annan is to keep his legacy and his spirit alive.” Juncker added Annan “fought to end suffering and injustices across the world and helped to rebuild bridges where they had been destroyed.”

In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with the U.N., for humanitarian work. 

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said “Kofi was humanity’s best example, the epitome of human decency and grace. In a world now filled with leaders who are anything but that, our loss, the world’s loss becomes even more painful.”

Annan joined the U.N. in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. 

He later served in various senior U.N. posts in New York.

Immediately before becoming secretary-general, he was under-secretary-general for peacekeeping. 

After leaving the U.N., he chaired The Kofi Annan Foundation and The Elders, the group founded by Nelson Mandela. 
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Tech Companies Struggle With How to Curtail Offensive Speech

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Twitter users are blocking companies like Pepsi, Nike and Uber on Twitter to pressure the social media firm to permanently ban American broadcaster Alex Jones for what they say are his abusive tweets.

Meanwhile, Twitter reportedly is facing a shutdown in Pakistan because of a government request to block what it deems objectionable content.

The moves come as U.S. internet companies take a harder look at their policies that have promoted free expression around the world. The companies have a mostly hands-off policy when it comes to curtailing speech, except when it comes to inciting violence and pornography. But that largely permissive approach is getting a new look.

​Twitter and Alex Jones

Twitter recently slapped a seven-day ban on conservative American radio host Jones for violating its policy on abusive speech, when he appeared to call for violence against the media, something he denies.

On his show this week, Jones noted that Twitter had removed his videos.

“They took me down,” he said. “Because they will not let me have a voice.”

Earlier this month, Apple, Spotify, Facebook, YouTube and other social media limited Jones and his InfoWars media company from their sites. But InfoWars’ live-streaming app can still be found at Google and Apple’s app stores. The on-air personality has put forth conspiracy theories calling some U.S. mass shootings hoaxes.

WATCH: Tech Companies Struggle With How to Curtail Offensive Speech

No more hands off

Internet firms are moving away from the long-held position that they didn’t want to monitor expression on their sites too closely, Irina Raicu, director of the Internet Ethics Program at Santa Clara University, said.

“The companies are stuck in the middle and no longer trying to avoid responsibility in a way that I think they were even a few years ago when they were saying we are just neutral platforms,” Raicu said. “They are increasingly taking a more open role in determining what content moderation looks like.”

It’s not just in the U.S. where the internet companies are having to make hard decisions about speech. The firms are also grappling with extreme speech in other languages.

Comments on Facebook have been linked to violence in places like Myanmar and India. A recent article by the Reuters news agency reports that negative messages about Myanmar’s Rohingya minority group were throughout its site.

Some call on social media companies to do more to target and take down hate messages before they lead to violence.

“If Facebook is bent on removing abusive words and nudity, they should be focused on removing these words as well,” said Abhinay Korukonda, a student from Mumbai, India, who is studying at the University of California, Berkeley. “This comes under special kinds of abusive terms. They should take an action. They should definitely remove these.”

Objective standards

Ming Hsu studies decision-making at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He is researching how to come up with objective standards for determining whether certain speech could lead to real-world dangers against people both in the U.S. and across the globe.

“We don’t have actionable standards for policymakers or for companies or even lay people to say, ‘This is crossing the boundaries, this is way past the boundaries and this is sort of OK,’” Hsu said.

Those calls are even harder when looking at speech in other languages and cultures, he added.

“We don’t really have any intuition for who’s right, who is wrong and who is being discriminated against,” Hsu said. “And that gets back to relying on common sense and how fragile that is.”

Tech companies are known for constantly tweaking their products and software. Now it seems they are taking the same approach with speech as they draw the line between free expression and reducing harm.

VOA’s Deana Mitchell contributed to this report.
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Economic Fears Grip Turkey

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Turkey’s currency this month has suffered heavy falls triggered by U.S.-Turkish tensions over the ongoing detention of an American pastor. Washington’s threat to impose new economic sanctions sparked another steep currency drop Friday. Dorian Jones reports on the economic fall out for people in Istanbul.
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Two US Catholic Bishops Apologize for Sex Abuse in Pennsylvania

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Two U.S. Catholic bishops named by grand jury in a Pennsylvania sex abuse report have apologized to victims but also defended their own actions.

Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer spoke at a Mass of forgiveness in Harrisburg Friday, saying, “In the name of our global church, I voice again my heartfelt sorrow and sincere apology to all survivors of clergy sexual abuse.”

Gainer said most of the abuse happened long ago and said the church has since then taken “significant and effective measures to protect our children and remove any person who intends to do harm to them.”

The grand jury report criticized Gainer for not removing an abusive priest. The 900-page report, released Tuesday, said more than 300 predator priests had abused more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses over the span of 70 years.

​Indiana bishop

In Indiana, Catholic Bishop Kevin Rhoades, who was a bishop in Harrisburg from 2004-2009, told a news conference that he offers his sympathies to the victims and their families. “The church failed you, and for this I apologize.”

He said he notified law enforcement when he heard about allegations of sex abuse in the Harrisburg diocese.

“The grand jury report mentions two cases of abuse that I was presented with during my time as bishop of Harrisburg. In each of these instances, upon learning of the allegations, I notified law enforcement and punished each individual,” Rhoades said.

Vatican statement

Late Thursday, the Vatican broke its silence about the Pennsylvania grand jury report, calling the sex abuse described in the report as “criminal and morally reprehensible.”

A statement by the director of the Vatican’s communications office, Greg Burke, said the Vatican expressed “shame and sorrow” at the revelations.

“The acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith. The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur,” Burke said.

The church has been facing accusations of sexual abuse by the clergy in many countries. Just recently five bishops resigned in Chile in a sexual abuse scandal there. And next weekend Pope Francis will be travelling to Ireland, which is also no stranger to sex abuse by priests.

“Victims should know that the pope is on their side. Those who have suffered are his priority, and the church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent,” Burke said.
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UN Chief: 1 Option to Protect Palestinians Is New Force

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Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that options to protect Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation range from establishing an armed military or police force to deploying civilian observers or beefing up the U.N. presence on the ground.

The U.N. chief stressed in the report circulated Friday evening that every option would require the cooperation of Israelis and Palestinians, “a sustained cessation of hostilities and additional resources.”

But the prospect of getting Israel’s consent, especially for a U.N. or non-U.N. armed force, remains highly unlikely.

Guterres was responding to a request in a Palestinian-backed resolution adopted by the General Assembly in June that blamed Israel for violence in Gaza and deplored its “excessive use of force.” It asked the secretary-general for proposals to protect Palestinian civilians and recommendations “regarding an international protection mechanism.”

In the 14-page report, the secretary-general said the combination of more than 50 years of Israeli military occupation, “constant security threats, weak political institutions and a deadlocked peace process, provides for a protection challenge that is highly complex politically, legally and practically.”

Guterres stressed that the solution to protecting Palestinian civilians is a political settlement to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Until that is achieved, he called on the 193 nations in the General Assembly to explore “all practical and feasible measures that will significantly improve the protection of the Palestinian population,” adding that the measures “would also improve the security of Israeli civilians.”

Guterres focused on four options:

A more robust U.N. presence on the ground: He said additional U.N. human rights, political and coordination experts could strengthen U.N. prevention capabilities, increase the organization’s visibility and “demonstrate the international community’s attention and commitment” to protecting Palestinian civilians.

Additional resources and better access to ensure the well-being of citizens: He said expanding current U.N. programs and humanitarian and development assistance could more effectively address Palestinian needs. But he said the U.N. appeal for about $540 million for basic services and support to 1.9 million vulnerable Palestinians is currently only 24.5 percent funded. And he said major cuts in funding to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, “have created an increasingly complicated and desperate socio-economic environment.” This was a reference to the U.S. cut of  around $300 million in funding for UNRWA earlier this year which has resulted in a $217 million budget shortfall. 

Dedicated civilian observers: He said establishing a U.N. or non-U.N. civilian observer mission with a mandate to report on the protection of Palestinian civilians and their well-being “would particularly be relevant in sensitive areas such as checkpoints, the Gaza fence, and areas near settlements.” He said the observers could provide local mediation.

Physical protection: He said the U.N. could provide armed military or police forces, if given a mandate by the Security Council, “to deter and, if necessary, ensure the safety of the civilian population.” As an alternative, he said a group of “like-minded” countries operating under a U.N. mandate to provide physical protection rather than a U.N. mission.

Guterres stressed that a U.N. civilian observer mission or a new military or police mission established by the U.N., or operating under a U.N. mandate, would require Security Council approval. He also noted that U.N. missions currently operating in the region don’t provide for the protection of civilians and it would be up to council members to expand mandates to include protection. 

The Trump administration has been a strong defender of its close ally Israel in the council, and vehemently opposed the resolution approved by the General Assembly in June that called for Guterres’ proposals. So the chances of a U.S. veto in the council on any armed force to protect Palestinian civilians or a civilian observer mission are high.

In the report, Guterres sharply criticized Israel’s expansion of settlements saying the building “continues unabated and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.” He said the high number of Palestinian casualties, including children, since protests began at the Gaza fence on March 30 “reflects an alarming trend of the use of lethal force by Israeli security forces against individuals who may not pose a threat of imminent death or serious injury.”

Guterres also criticized “the indiscriminate launching of rockets, mortars and incendiary devices from Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian militants towards Israel” and the building of tunnels into Israel, saying these acts threaten the lives of Israelis and Palestinians alike. He added that “incitement, provocative rhetoric and the glorification of terror attacks by Palestinian factions perpetuate the conflict, breed mistrust and diminish hope for constructive dialogue.”  
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US Cuts $230 Million to Syria, Ties Future Rebuilding Funds to Peace

Posted on by SeeEA

The United States on Friday announced it was cutting about $230 million in stabilization money to northeast Syria and said future global reconstruction funds for the country will depend on a U.N.-led peace process.

The U.S. State Department in a statement said the decision, which was authorized by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was made after other members of the global coalition against the Islamic State (IS) made contributions and pledges of about $300 million to Syria.

“This decision was made by the secretary, in consultation with the White House, and took into account the already significant military and financial contributions made by the United States to date, the president’s guidance on the need to increase burden-sharing with allies and partners, and significant new pledges made by coalition partners,” the statement read.

In the past, U.S. officials have repeatedly said their priority in Syria is the enduring defeat of the IS terror group, which according to the coalition has lost control over all but a few areas it previously held.

​Earlier funds frozen

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he wanted to withdraw from the war-ravaged country. It was reported in late March that he froze more than $200 million in recovery funds to Syria, questioning how the money was being used in the country.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference Friday at the State Department, Brett McGurk, U.S special presidential envoy for the anti-IS coalition, said the stabilization funding was used to help residents return to areas recaptured from IS.

“Since the start of this campaign against ISIS, our military campaign has been planned in close coordination with humanitarian and stabilization plans to follow on the military operations,” McGurk said, using an acronym for the militant group. “That is why all the territory that has been retaken from ISIS — it is about 99 percent of what used to be the physical caliphate — has all held. Our stabilization programs are targeted, they are prioritized, and they are focused on saving lives, demining, water, electricity and the basic necessities.”

​Diminishing US role?

McGurk added the decision to cancel the $230 million funds would not diminish the U.S. role as the top international player in northeast Syria. He said the move is to ensure other members of the anti-IS coalition equally share the burden of making recaptured areas livable for the Syrian people.

The State Department said Friday that Saudi Arabia announced new funding of $100 million to northeast Syria to help stabilization projects in cities like Raqqa, the former de facto capital of Islamic State.

The United Arab Emirates has also pledged $50 million in contributions, the State Department’s statement said.

UN peace process

McGurk said the funding was not targeted at reconstruction programs, adding that international assistance to rebuild areas destroyed by war will not come until a United Nations-backed political peace process is achieved.

Seven years of a brutal civil war in Syria has cost nearly a half-million lives and the displacement of 11 million other Syrians.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia said it estimated the cost of destruction in the country to be $330 billion, with approximately $120 billion in material damage.

​$300 billion damage

International efforts to achieve a political settlement to the conflict have so far failed to stop war. The U.S. and its European partners support a U.N.-led process known as the Geneva peace talks. Russia, Iran and Turkey have tried to find an alternate solution through tripartite meetings.

“We have been very clear, as clear as it’s possible to be, with the government of Russia that there will be no international reconstruction assistance for Syria without the irreversible political process validated by the U.N.,” David Satterfield, the acting assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East, said during the Friday conference call.

Satterfield did, however, say the U.S. would remain active in Syria until a lasting defeat of Islamic State is achieved.
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Reports: Uganda Lawmakers Tortured by Security Forces

Posted on by SeeAF

The Ugandan government is under pressure from human rights activists to explain pictures and reports of the brutal torture of legislators by security forces.

Five legislators — Kasiano Wadri who won the election, Robert Kyagulanyi commonly known as Bobi Wine, Francis Zaake, Paul Mwiru and Gerald Karuhanga — and former legislator Michael Mabike were campaigning for an opposition candidate in Monday’s by-elections in the Arua municipality when they were arrested.

Four of the legislators are among 33 people charged with treason for allegedly pelting President Yoweri Museveni’s armored vehicle with stones.

On Thursday, gruesome pictures shared on social media showed Zaake, his fingers and head swollen, at a hospital in Gulu district in Northern Uganda.

“You just see … the effect of torture on him,” said opposition leader Betty Aol Ochan. “The head is swollen. They have covered the mouth and it looks like even the feeding is done through the nose. He is on a life machine. I am sure he was brought here, probably just pushed, because they fear he was going to die.”

Prosecutors charged Kyagulanyi in a military court with possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, equipment the government claims is “ordinarily a monopoly of the Defense Forces.”

“He is just there in seclusion,” his lawyer, Erias Lukwago, said after seeing him. “He’s in the hands of those soldiers there. He has not been allowed access to his own medical doctor or physician. He has not been taken to a private hospital. So, he is just languishing there in pain, if you touched him. Everywhere — especially at the back here. He says he was hit here at the head. And it was at that moment that he blacked out.”

The Uganda Human Rights Commission and the U.S. Mission — among others — expressed concern about reports the legislators and journalists have endured brutal treatment at the hands of security forces. They called for humane treatment, due process and transparency.

Brigadier Richard Karemire, spokesperson for the Uganda People’s Defense Force, rejected claims of torture. He said Kyagulanyi and the others were injured during the Arua chaos.

“What I can tell you for sure is that it’s not a culture of the UPDF. UPDF is trained to handle suspects. So, definitely we cannot be held responsible for that. He is being taken good care of by the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, since he is now under the safe custody of our institution,” Karemire said.

President Museveni said he was not injured in the clashes. He warned that other political leaders have been acting with impunity and vowed they would be punished according to the law.
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US Navy Hospital Ship to Deploy to Colombia

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States is sending a U.S. Navy hospital ship to Colombia to help treat some of the hundreds of thousands of people who have poured over the border fleeing violence in Venezuela.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Washington from Bogata, Colombia, Friday that he would likely be sending the USNS Comfort based at Norfolk, Virginia. 

Mattis said those he spoke with in Bogata were “embracing” and “enthusiastic” about the upcoming ship deployment, which he stressed was “absolutely a humanitarian mission.”

“We’re not sending soldiers, we’re sending doctors,” Mattis said, without providing details on when the ship would set sail.

Hospital ships are typically deployed to provide life-saving treatment and medical care and to relieve the pressure on national health systems.

The U.S. defense secretary said he was given specific input, such as where best to deploy the ship, during talks Friday with his defense counterpart and newly inaugurated Colombian President Ivan Duque.

“They (Colombian leadership) not only agreed in principle, they gave details of how we might best craft the cruise through the region,” Mattis said.

Chile, Argentina and Brazil — the other stops on his South America tour — also provided input on the hospital ship deployment, according to Mattis.

Aware of Venezuelan sensitivities, Mattis stressed the U.S. hospital ship would not go into Venezuela’s territorial waters.

Jason Marczak, director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, told VOA the situation in Venezuela has led to a migration crisis of global proportions “that is on track to potentially parallel or surpass the numbers that (have been) coming out of the Middle East.”

“If those migration numbers are not managed in an orderly, effective way, that has the potential to create greater instability in the countries to which migrants are going,” Marczak said.

As of June, an estimated 2.3 million people had fled Venezuela, mainly to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, according to the United Nations. U.N. officials reported at that time that more than half of those who fled were “suffering from malnourishment.”

The U.S. Navy has one other hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, which is based at San Diego, California.

USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy usually deploy for humanitarian missions with a diverse group of doctors on board hailing from multiple countries.
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Kosovo, Serbia Mull Territorial Swap in Quest to End Dispute, Join EU

Posted on by SeeUS

A decade-long dispute between Kosovo and Serbia is compelling both countries to consider a territorial swap along ethnic lines — a move that has long been opposed by both Brussels and Washington. But the leaders of both Balkan countries say redrawing the borders could help them resolve their differences and advance in their quest for European integration.  

Experts have mixed opinions over whether such a deal is workable or even desirable. 

Ten years after Kosovo declared independence, there has been little to no progress between the two countries in settling their disputes. Kosovo considers itself a sovereign nation, though Serbia refuses to recognize it as such. Both countries want to join the European Union, but Brussels will not allow it until disagreements over Kosovo’s sovereignty are settled. 

WATCH: Trade of territory by Kosovo, Serbia brings concerns

Now, Kosovo’s President Hashi Thaci and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic have suggested a deal to trade territory or change borders that could spark a breakthrough. Some experts caution, however, such a move could create myriad problems. 

“It would create instability, it would be dangerous. It could spark violence in Kosovo as well as in Serbia,” said David L. Phillips, director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. 

The proposed exchange would involve Serbia getting part of northern Kosovo, an area with a mostly Serb population, and Kosovo getting Serbia’s Presevo Valley, inhabited by a majority of ethnic Albanians. It also would mean the change would be along ethnic lines — anathema in Western thinking. 

“The principle of pluralism and democracy is something that is a cornerstone of U.S. policy. It’s also a cornerstone of Europe’s approach to countries that aspire to membership,” Phillips said. 

But David Kanin, adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University and a former CIA senior analyst, notes that Europe has a history of changing borders and population movements. 

“That has not stopped. Every change in Yugoslavia since the old Yugoslavia collapsed has been about changing borders, moving people around, some supported by the West, some opposed,” he said.

Diplomatic gap?

In the past, both Brussels and Washington have shot down the idea of redrawing borders along ethnic lines, but this time it appears they are not in agreement. 

The European Union has not openly commented on this issue. The office of the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, has not responded to VOA questions about this issue. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected any changes to the borders, saying, “The territorial integrity of the states of the Western Balkans has been established and is inviolable.”

The U.S. position has been more ambiguous. In a statement to VOA’s Albanian Service, the State Department said the solution should come from the parties themselves. It also said the parties should show flexibility, but stopped short of rejecting the idea of a border change. 

“If Kosovo and Serbia were able to agree on a settlement that would allow for permanent peace that would allow for mutual recognition, I think that would help settle politics in Serbia in some ways. It would give Kosovo a way forward,” said Kurt Volker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO. 

Phillips, a former State Department senior adviser, suggested a lack of clarity does not signal a new policy.

“The U.S. government does not have a coherent policy toward Kosovo. It doesn’t pay any attention to the Western Balkans. I don’t think we should read too much into these vague and ambiguous statements. Right now U.S. policy remains as it always has been. It recognizes Kosovo within its current frontiers. That hasn’t changed.”

Benefits, ramifications

Even if the idea is officially included in the EU-mediated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, many questions remain, including whether Serbia should recognize Kosovo first and what that would portend.

“The discussion right now around partition, as noisy as it is, is dealing with the secondary issue of who gets what territory,” said Kanin. “The question of Kosovo’s sovereignty is the central issue and that will remain open as long as it is not recognized by Serbia and by the five outstanding EU members. And I see no sign that this is going to change.”   

EU members Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania and Greece still have not recognized Kosovo’s independence.

“Here it is a disservice to everybody in the Balkans, first of all the Kosovars, that their state is not recognized by Serbia, that they are not recognized by all members of the European Union and therefore they’re blocked in some of their relationships with the EU,” said Volker.

Experts and former diplomats warned that rethinking borders in the Balkans would pose a risk to stability in the region. 

“If the EU isn’t prepared to mediate a deal that allows Serbia to recognize Kosovo within its current frontiers, then Albanians will start thinking of unification of Albanian territories and creating an Albanian state that encompasses lands where all Albanians live,” Phillips predicted.

That concern is amplified, given the sizable Albanian minority in Macedonia, a country dealing with its own agreement about a name change with Greece. And Serbs in Bosnia already have said if Kosovo gets a U.N. seat, they will request the same.

The latest debate suggests there are no clear-cut prescriptions for a region attempting to shed the vexing legacy of the 1990s conflicts.
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Kosovo, Serbia Mull Territorial Swap to End Dispute

Posted on by SeeEU

A decade-long dispute between Kosovo and Serbia is compelling both countries to consider a territorial swap along ethnic lines — a move that has long been opposed by both Brussels and Washington. But the leaders of both Balkan countries say redrawing the borders could help them resolve their differences and advance in their quest for European integration.  

Experts have mixed opinions over whether such a deal is workable or even desirable. 

Ten years after Kosovo declared independence, there has been little to no progress between the two countries in settling their disputes. Kosovo considers itself a sovereign nation, though Serbia refuses to recognize it as such. Both countries want to join the European Union, but Brussels will not allow it until disagreements over Kosovo’s sovereignty are settled. 

WATCH: Trade of territory by Kosovo, Serbia brings concerns

Now, Kosovo’s President Hashi Thaci and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic have suggested a deal to trade territory or change borders that could spark a breakthrough. Some experts caution, however, such a move could create myriad problems. 

“It would create instability, it would be dangerous. It could spark violence in Kosovo as well as in Serbia,” said David L. Phillips, director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. 

The proposed exchange would involve Serbia getting part of northern Kosovo, an area with a mostly Serb population, and Kosovo getting Serbia’s Presevo Valley, inhabited by a majority of ethnic Albanians. It also would mean the change would be along ethnic lines — anathema in Western thinking. 

“The principle of pluralism and democracy is something that is a cornerstone of U.S. policy. It’s also a cornerstone of Europe’s approach to countries that aspire to membership,” Phillips said. 

But David Kanin, adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University and a former CIA senior analyst, notes that Europe has a history of changing borders and population movements. 

“That has not stopped. Every change in Yugoslavia since the old Yugoslavia collapsed has been about changing borders, moving people around, some supported by the West, some opposed,” he said.

Diplomatic gap?

In the past, both Brussels and Washington have shot down the idea of redrawing borders along ethnic lines, but this time it appears they are not in agreement. 

The European Union has not openly commented on this issue. The office of the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, has not responded to VOA questions about this issue. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected any changes to the borders, saying, “The territorial integrity of the states of the Western Balkans has been established and is inviolable.”

The U.S. position has been more ambiguous. In a statement to VOA’s Albanian Service, the State Department said the solution should come from the parties themselves. It also said the parties should show flexibility, but stopped short of rejecting the idea of a border change. 

“If Kosovo and Serbia were able to agree on a settlement that would allow for permanent peace that would allow for mutual recognition, I think that would help settle politics in Serbia in some ways. It would give Kosovo a way forward,” said Kurt Volker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO. 

Phillips, a former State Department senior adviser, suggested a lack of clarity does not signal a new policy.

“The U.S. government does not have a coherent policy toward Kosovo. It doesn’t pay any attention to the Western Balkans. I don’t think we should read too much into these vague and ambiguous statements. Right now U.S. policy remains as it always has been. It recognizes Kosovo within its current frontiers. That hasn’t changed.”

Benefits, ramifications

Even if the idea is officially included in the EU-mediated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, many questions remain, including whether Serbia should recognize Kosovo first and what that would portend.

“The discussion right now around partition, as noisy as it is, is dealing with the secondary issue of who gets what territory,” said Kanin. “The question of Kosovo’s sovereignty is the central issue and that will remain open as long as it is not recognized by Serbia and by the five outstanding EU members. And I see no sign that this is going to change.”   

EU members Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania and Greece still have not recognized Kosovo’s independence.

“Here it is a disservice to everybody in the Balkans, first of all the Kosovars, that their state is not recognized by Serbia, that they are not recognized by all members of the European Union and therefore they’re blocked in some of their relationships with the EU,” said Volker.

Experts and former diplomats warned that rethinking borders in the Balkans would pose a risk to stability in the region. 

“If the EU isn’t prepared to mediate a deal that allows Serbia to recognize Kosovo within its current frontiers, then Albanians will start thinking of unification of Albanian territories and creating an Albanian state that encompasses lands where all Albanians live,” Phillips predicted.

That concern is amplified, given the sizable Albanian minority in Macedonia, a country dealing with its own agreement about a name change with Greece. And Serbs in Bosnia already have said if Kosovo gets a U.N. seat, they will request the same.

The latest debate suggests there are no clear-cut prescriptions for a region attempting to shed the vexing legacy of the 1990s conflicts.
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Trump Attends Hamptons Fundraiser Hosted by Hot Dog Magnate

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump headlined a closed-door fundraiser Friday at the Hamptons, New York, home of one of his closest friends, the chairman of the iconic Nathan’s Famous hot dog business.

Trump participated in a roundtable with high-dollar donors before delivering remarks at a luncheon in Southampton hosted by Howard Lorber, a New York real estate executive who is Chairman of Douglas Elliman Realty and Nathan’s Famous, the hot dog chain familiar to many New Yorkers.

Reporters were not allowed inside to hear the president’s remarks, which benefited Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Trump’s visit made the notoriously bad weekend summertime traffic in the Hamptons even worse. As his motorcade sped back to the airport on a highway cleared of traffic, the cars headed in the opposite direction stood at a total standstill, with some motorists getting out of their cars to take pictures.

He later headed to New Jersey to spend another weekend at his private golf club. As he left the White House on Friday, Trump told reporters that his weekend in Bedminster was “going to be all work.”

Trump spent last week at the club, enjoying a working vacation that aides said was necessary because of renovations being done at the White House. 
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First a Wedding, Then Hard Work: Putin to Visit Germany’s Merkel

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday for talks about the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that has drawn U.S. ire.

Putin arrives in Germany after a stop at an Austrian vineyard to attend Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl’s wedding to entrepreneur Wolfgang Meilinger.

Merkel warned on Friday against expecting too much from her discussions with Putin at the government’s Meseberg palace, but said the two countries needed to remain in “permanent dialogue” on the long list of problems they face.

“It’s a working meeting from which no specific results are expected,” she told reporters. The two leaders last met in Sochi in May and struggled to overcome differences.

But both Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Merkel’s conservative bloc, and Achim Post, a senior member of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in the coalition government, were more upbeat.

“We can be cautiously optimistic,” Hardt told the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspapers in an interview published Saturday. “The Russian president has maneuvered himself into a dead end on Syria and eastern Ukraine, and needs international partners. For that he has to move.”

A senior German official told the papers: “There has been some movement,” but gave no details.

Post said in a statement that he expected both Merkel and Putin to look for pragmatic solutions based on common interests. “In a world that is increasingly uncertain, we must speak particularly with difficult partners like Russia,” he said.

Russia and the West remain at loggerheads over Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014 and the ensuing conflict between Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east and the Ukrainian army.

On Syria, Germany wants Putin to finalize a lasting cease-fire there in agreement with the United States. Merkel on Friday said a four-way meeting on Syria involving Germany, Russia, Turkey and France was possible.

Germany is also under strong pressure from the United States to halt work on the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will carry gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The United States says it will increase Germany’s dependence on Russia for energy. Ukraine fears the pipeline will allow Russia to cut it off from the gas transit business. Germany’s eastern European neighbors, nervous of Russian encroachment, have also raised concerns about the project.

Merkel and Putin will each make statements at 1600 GMT on Saturday before the start of the talks. They do not plan to take questions.
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Stormy Daniels Drops Out of UK Reality Show at Last Minute

Posted on by SeeUS

Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress and nemesis of U.S. President Donald Trump, has pulled out of a British reality-TV show at the last minute after a dispute with producers. 

Daniels was due to take part in “Celebrity Big Brother,” which locks contestants in a house under constant surveillance. But she failed to join housemates including actress Kirstie Alley and psychic Sally Morgan for Thursday’s first episode.

Lawyer Michael Avenatti said Friday that Daniels argued with producers who attempted to “control her and produce a certain result.”

Broadcaster Channel 5 said Daniels told producers hours before airtime that she no longer wanted to participate.

Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, and was later paid $130,000 to stay silent about it. The president denies the encounter.
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