Month: August 2018

Zimbabwe Protesters, Security Forces Clash as Election Results Delayed

Posted on by SeeAF

Zimbabwe waited Thursday for the results of its presidential election, a day after security forces clashed with protesters who were demanding to know who will be the country’s next leader.

The voting took place Monday and election officials were expected to have results by Wednesday, but they delayed the release at least one more day.

In the capital, Harare, the clashes between protesters and police left three people dead and afterward authorities invoked a law formally calling on the army to help maintain order.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa called Thursday for an independent investigation of the violence while stressing the need for the nation to move forward together.

“We believe in transparency and accountability, and those responsible should be identified and brought to justice,” he wrote on Twitter. “It is also more important than ever that we are united and commit to settling our differences peacefully and respectfully, and within the confines of the law.”

Mnangagwa said his government has been in communication with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa to discuss ways to “immediately diffuse the situation.”​

WATCH: Protesters, Security Forces Clash as Zimbabwe Election Results Delayed

Chamisa and his opposition Movement for Democratic Change party have alleged cheating in the election and say Chamisa won the vote.

Results from parliamentary races have been announced, with the ruling ZANU-PF party winning a majority in that body.ZANU-PF is the party of longtime ruler Robert Mugabe who stepped down under pressure from the military in November, and the parliamentary result could signal a strong showing for Mnangagwa.

​Election office protests

Wednesday’s violence happened after about 150 demonstrators gathered outside the offices of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Police tried to disperse the protesters using water cannon and tear gas. Protesters threw rocks in their direction and started fires in the street.

Then the army appeared, in armored personnel carriers on Harare’s main boulevard, and overhead in a helicopter. VOA saw five armored vehicles with mounted high-caliber weapons, navigating around large rocks that littered the road. Gunfire echoed in the distance.

VOA saw three soldiers beating a young man with batons; other witnesses reported seeing one man shot dead and a woman face-down on the pavement, a bullet hole in the middle of her back. 

Protesters did not give their names, but had plenty to say.

“You see, they are using military! How can a general be a president? That government is full of military personnel!” shouted one young man.

Chamisa’s spokesman, Nkululeko Sibanda, rejected an accusation from Mnangagwa that the opposition was responsible for the violence.

“President Nelson Chamisa has not ordered any guns on the street. So he cannot be accused of being violent, because he has put no guns on the street,” Sibanda said.

He said the opposition has serious doubts about official results that show the ruling ZANU-PF party is winning control of parliament and has suspicions about the delay in the presidential results.

“How do we have results from a place that has no telephone line first before we have results from Harare central?” he said. Harare is an opposition stronghold.

Inside the headquarters of ZEC, international observers aired their concerns, with the EU and American observer missions voicing worry over “subtle intimidation” ahead of the vote and noting that the longer the results take, the more tense this wounded nation will be.

Former Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn urged ZEC to conclude the electoral process “in a speedy manner in accordance with the law.

“We also urge other stakeholders, particularly political party leaders and their supporters, to continue to maintain peace and refrain from acts that might undermine the integrity of the process or threaten the peace and stability of the country.”

Mnangagwa has promised to restore the nation’s fractured international relations.

Difference for Zimbabwe

U.S. Democratic Rep. Karen Bass, who is in Harare, says this election could make a difference in Zimbabwe.

“Shortly before coming here, we passed out of the House of Representatives a resolution really calling on the Zimbabwean people to have a peaceful, transparent and fair election, and raising the possibility of evaluating U.S. policy. So that hangs in the air,” she said.
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AP Fact Check: Trump’s Grocery ID Statement Unfounded

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump is justifying his call for voter ID cards by saying photo identification is a universal requirement in the marketplace. As anyone who frequents a grocery store knows, it’s not.

A look at his comments on the subject Tuesday and his press secretary’s attempt to explain them Wednesday:

TRUMP: “We believe that only American citizens should vote in American elections, which is why the time has come for voter ID like everything else. If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out, you want to buy anything, you need ID, you need your picture.” — remarks Tuesday at Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

THE FACTS: No photo is required to purchase items at retail stores with cash or to make routine purchases with credit or debit cards.

Identifications are required to purchase limited items such as alcohol, cigarettes or cold medicine and in rapidly declining situations in which a customer opts to pay with a personal check.

According to the National Grocers Association’s most recent data, the use of checks as a percentage of total transactions dropped from 33 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2015, because in part to the popularity of debit cards, which use PIN codes. The group’s members are independent food retailers, family-owned or privately held, both large and small.

​WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY SARAH SANDERS: “He’s not saying every time he went in; he said when you go to the grocery store.” — press briefing Wednesday.

THE FACTS: Actually, Trump did claim, erroneously, that photo IDs are required whenever “you want to buy anything,” not only in limited cases.

Asked when Trump last bought groceries, Sanders responded: “I’m not sure. I’m not sure why that matters, either.”

SANDERS: “The president wants to see the integrity of our election systems upheld, and that’s the purpose of his comments. He wants to make sure that anybody that’s voting is somebody that should be voting.”

THE FACTS: This concern, often voiced by Trump as well, stems from an unsupported theory that voter fraud has shaped election outcomes.

The actual number of fraud cases is very small, and the type that voter IDs are designed to prevent — voter impersonation at the ballot box — is virtually nonexistent.

In court cases that have invalidated some ID laws as having discriminatory effects, election officials could barely cite a case in which a person was charged with in-person voting fraud.

Democrats have opposed voter-ID laws as unnecessarily restricting access for nonwhites and young people, who tend to vote Democratic. Republicans accuse Democrats of wanting noncitizens to be able to vote in U.S. elections.

Neither Sanders nor Trump has offered evidence of consequential fraud. Sanders said Wednesday that “even if there are 10 people that are voting illegally, it shouldn’t happen.”
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State Lawmakers Surviving Allegations in #MeToo Age

Posted on by SeeUS

When the #MeToo movement swept across the country, triggering a national reckoning about sexual misconduct, some politicians lost their positions and power amid such allegations. Many others did not. As voters return to the polls this year, The Associated Press has found that scores of politicians accused of sexual misconduct are running again and poised to win — particularly in state races. That includes the deposed speaker of the House in Kentucky, who despite an ethics commission reprimand is running unopposed.

What’s happening?

Of the 25 state lawmakers who are running for re-election despite allegations of sexual misconduct, 15 have advanced to the Nov. 6 general election. Seven did not face a challenger in their primary.

One example is Jeff Hoover. A sexual harassment scandal cost the Kentucky House speaker his leadership position in January. An ethics commission fined him $1,000 and publicly reprimanded him. Gov. Matt Bevin, a fellow Republican, called on him to resign his House seat.

But after all that pressure, Hoover is running for re-election, and no one filed to run against him.

Accused and on the ballot

Kentucky has seen seven lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct since 2013. Hoover was one of four Republican lawmakers who signed a secret sexual harassment settlement outside of court. Of the other three, two opted not to run for re-election. One, Michael Meredith, easily won the GOP nomination in May with 65 percent of the vote. He will face a Democrat in November.

Kentucky Democratic Party spokesman Brad Bowman said party leaders tried to recruit someone to challenge Hoover, but the candidate got cold feet just before the deadline. Hoover’s district has been a Republican stronghold for decades.

Allegations against other Republican lawmakers have surfaced since the filing deadline. In March, a 2015 memo from the former chief of staff of the House Republican Caucus said a female state employee filed a complaint against Rep. Jim Stewart for “unwanted verbal advances.” Stewart denies the complaint exists, and state officials have refused to release any documents.

Stewart faces Democrat Debra Ferguson Payne in November. Payne, a retired teacher, said she does not plan to use the accusations in her campaign. She said she despises negative campaigning and wants people to elect her for her own ideas. Plus, she said criticizing Stewart over the allegations would likely backfire.

“We have 2 to 1 Republicans here,” she said. “And I don’t think they want to hear it.”

Why it matters

The extraordinary growth of the #MeToo movement led many to believe that accused office holders would be political pariahs, but that has not been borne out on the state level. By comparison, virtually every member of Congress accused of sexual harassment has resigned or opted against running for re-election.

Kelly Dittmar, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University, said the relative political success of accused state lawmakers suggests that voters are unsure how to respond. Does a private failing disqualify someone from serving in public office?

“We don’t have an answer for that,” Dittmar said.

​What to watch

In California, of the six state lawmakers who faced misconduct allegations and ran for re-election or another office, four advanced to the general election. That includes two women.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, an early advocate for legislative changes in support of the #MeToo movement, was the top vote-getter in a crowded June primary for her Los Angeles-area district. She took a three-month leave of absence earlier this year after a former legislative staffer accused her of groping him in 2014.

Investigators initially cleared Garcia of the charge, but her accuser appealed the findings and the investigation has since been reopened. Garcia has denied any wrongdoing.

In Arizona, former state Rep. Don Shooter was expelled from office after he was criticized for a pattern of sexually harassing women. He apologized, but now he’s back, running in the Republican primary for a seat in the state Senate.

His opponent in the August Republican primary, Sen. Sine Kerr, said she has no plans to highlight the allegations against Shooter.

“I trust the voters of our district,” Kerr said. “They’re informed, and they’ll make a good decision.”

Don’t miss

Advocates say lawmakers’ success in these races is a reminder of a long history of legislators tolerating bad behavior among their colleagues and highlights the need for more accountability and equal representation in statehouses around the country, where women are just 1 of every 4 lawmakers.

“Even if this year you are able to skate by,” says Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, “the spotlight will continue to be on this issue whether there are electoral consequences in 2018 or the next election cycle or beyond.”
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Ohio State’s Meyer Put on Leave, Inquiry Opened

Posted on by SeeUS

Urban Meyer’s job appears to be in jeopardy.

Ohio State placed Meyer, one of the most successful coaches in college football history, on paid administrative leave Wednesday while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of domestic violence against an assistant coach years before the staff member was fired last week.

Courtney Smith, the ex-wife of fired Buckeyes assistant Zach Smith, gave an interview to Stadium and provided text messages to former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy between her and Shelley Meyer in 2015 about Zach Smith’s behavior. Courtney Smith also provided threatening texts she said came from her ex-husband, and text messages between her and other wives of Buckeyes assistant coaches, discussing Zach Smith.

“Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban,” Courtney Smith told Stadium. “I said: ‘That’s fine, you should tell Urban.’”

Zach Smith, who has never been convicted of any crimes, was fired last week after an Ohio court granted a domestic violence protective order to Courtney Smith. A message left by the AP for Zach Smith’s attorney, Brad Koffel, requesting comment was not immediately returned.

Ohio State Title IX

Meyer is heading into his seventh season at Ohio State, where he is 73-8 with a national title in 2014 and two Big Ten Conference championships. Shelley Meyer is a registered nurse and is employed as an instructor at Ohio State. Both Meyer and his wife could be in violation of Ohio State’s Title IX sexual misconduct policy on reporting allegations of domestic violence against university employees.

Violation of university’s policy could result in Meyer being fired with cause by the university, according to provisions placed in his contract when it was extended by two years in April. The new deal runs through 2022 and increases Meyer’s salary to $7.6 million in 2018, with annual six percent raises for the bulk of his compensation.

Hours after Courtney Smith’s interview was posted online Wednesday, Ohio State announced in a short news release it was conducting an investigation into the allegations and Meyer was being placed on leave.

Best for the investigation

Offensive coordinator Ryan Day will serve as acting head coach for the Buckeyes, expected to be one of the top teams in the nation again this season. Ohio State’s first preseason practice is scheduled for Friday. The season starts Sept. 1 with a game against Oregon State in Columbus, Ohio.

Meyer said in a statement he and athletic director Gene Smith agreed that his being on leave was best for the investigation.

“This allows the team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction. I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter.” Meyer said.

Zach Smith was charged in May with misdemeanor criminal trespass. At the time of the charge, Koffel said Courtney Smith had accused Zach Smith of driving to her apartment after she told him they would meet elsewhere so he could drop off their son. Zach Smith pleaded not guilty last month. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday.

Zach Smith was also accused of aggravated battery on his then-pregnant wife in 2009 while he was a graduate assistant on Meyer’s staff at Florida. The charge was dropped because of insufficient evidence. Meyer brought Smith, the grandson of late Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce, to Ohio State in 2012. Meyer worked for Bruce and considers him a mentor. Smith was a walk-on player when Meyer coached at Bowling Green in 2001-02.

Two police reports filed in fall 2015 in Ohio, after the Smiths separated in June of that year, accused Zach Smith of abuse. Charges were never filed.

What the Meyers knew

At Big Ten media days, Meyer said he knew of the incident in 2009 and that he and Shelley Meyer addressed it with the Smiths. He was also asked about the 2015 incident alleged by Courtney Smith.

“I can’t say it didn’t happen because I wasn’t there,” he replied. “I was never told about anything and nothing ever came to light. I’ve never had a conversation about it. I know nothing about it. First I heard about that was last night. No, and I asked some people back at the office to call and say what happened and they came back and said they know nothing about it.”

The Smiths divorced in 2016.

Accomplished coach; brushes with law

Meyer is on the short list of most accomplished coaches in college football history, with three national championships and an .851 winning percentage in 16 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and now Ohio State, the team he grew up rooting for in Northeast Ohio.

Meyer won national championships with Florida in 2006 and ’08, but his teams also had more than two dozen players get into trouble with the law. He resigned twice at Florida, citing health reasons. First in 2009 season after the Gators lost the Southeastern Conference championship game while trying to repeat as national champs. He changed his mind soon after and coached another season. The Gators went 8-5 in 2010, and after Meyer stepped down for good.

Meyer was out of coaching for a season, but was hired by Ohio State in November 2011 to replace Jim Tressel, who was fired before that season for lying to the NCAA and university of about rules violation committed by some of his players.

Since returning to coaching, Meyer’s program has been one of the most dominant in college football and his players and coaches have mostly stayed out of major trouble. 

Meyer did face some criticism in 2013 for allowing running back Carlos Hyde to return to the team after he was charged with striking a woman in a bar. The case was dropped by police when the woman chose not to pursue charges, but Hyde was suspended three games by Meyer.
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Print Yourself a Mobile House

Posted on by SeeEU

Imagine this – a fully autonomous 3D-printed mobile house that can survive any weather and is completely self-powered. This is not a technological dream – it’s the ambitious project of a Ukrainian company called PassivDom. It’s working on the prototype of a printed home in Reno, Nevada. VOA’s Iuliia Iarmolenko gives us a look inside the 3D-printed walls of the futuristic house.
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Conservation Detection Dogs Sniff out Threatened Species

Posted on by SeeUS

Canines have served as working dogs for thousands of years. They guard our homes, help in search and rescue missions and assist people with disabilities. But now scientists are training a special group of Australian dogs to use their sensitive noses — and ears — to help find one of Australia’s most endangered creatures. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.
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US-Turkey Relations Further Sour Over Detention of American Pastor

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump has authorized sanctions for two top Turkish officials in connection with Ankara’s refusal to release an American pastor detained in Turkey. Turkish authorities have arrested the evangelical pastor on allegations of espionage and connections to a terrorist group. The U.S. move Wednesday threatens to imperil already tense relations between the two NATO allies. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Africa Asks UN for Court Opinion on Immunity for Leaders

Posted on by SeeAF

Kenya is asking the United Nations on behalf of African states to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on immunity for heads of state and government and other senior officials.

The request by Kenyan Ambassador Lazarus Ombai Amayo follows a decision by the African Union in January to seek an opinion from the court, the U.N.’s highest judicial body.

Some African countries have been highly critical of the International Criminal Court for pursuing the continent’s leaders, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya.

In a letter circulated Wednesday, Amayo asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to request the General Assembly to put the African request for an advisory opinion on immunity on the agenda of its upcoming session starting in September.
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Fields Medal Stolen from Kurdish Mathematician in Rio

Posted on by SeeEA

A winner of the Fields Medal, often called the “Nobel Prize of mathematics,” had his prize stolen shortly after receiving it during a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.

Caucher Birkar, a Kurdish refugee from Iran teaching at Cambridge University, put the gold medal, worth around $4,000, in a briefcase and soon afterward realized that it had been stolen, according to event organizers. Four mathematicians shared this year’s honor.

Security officials at the Riocentro venue, Riocentro, found the empty briefcase in a nearby pavillion. Police reviewed security tapes and identified two potential suspects.

“The International Congress of Mathematicians is profoundly sorry about the disappearance of the briefcase belonging to mathematician Caucher Birkar, which contained his Fields Medal from the ceremony this morning,” organizers said in a note.

It was the first time that the awards, held every four years, were hosted in the southern hemisphere.
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Reports: Iran Preparing for Major Military Exercise

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran is preparing to soon begin a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf that could demonstrate Tehran’s ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran recently threatened to block the strait, which is a key passageway for Middle East oil tankers going from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. 

“We are aware of the increase in Iranian naval operations within the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman,” said Navy Captain Bill Urban, the chief spokesman at Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East.

“We are monitoring it closely, and will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could begin the drill within the next 48 hours, CNN reported. 

Unidentified U.S. officials told the Reuters news agency that Iran has so far assembled a fleet of more than 100 vessels for the exercises. CNN reported that it is expected that Iranian air and ground forces, including defensive missile batteries, could be involved in the drill.

Tensions between Iran and the United States have been rising since May when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing from the nuclear deal signed by Tehran and major world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. 

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Iran against shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, saying that would amount to an attack on international shipping, which he said would provoke “an international response to reopen the shipping lanes with whatever it took.”
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Anti-Government Protests Persist in Iranian City

Posted on by SeeEA

Several hundred Iranians have staged a second day of anti-government street protests in Iran’s third-largest city, Isfahan, in a sign of persistent public anger about the country’s economic woes. 

Video clips verified by VOA Persian and sent by residents showed the protesters marching and chanting opposition slogans on Wednesday in Isfahan’s northern district of New Shapur, the same area where hundreds of anti-government demonstrators had marched the day before. 

Residents said they were protesting sharply higher prices for imported products due to the dollar’s recent surge to record highs against the rial in unofficial trading. Other grievances include poverty and unemployment. 

In one video clip, tires can be seen burning on a street after having been set alight by protesters, who chanted: “[Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, have some shame. Free the country.”

In a second clip, marchers can be heard chanting: “The silence of any Iranian [in response to Iran’s current problems] is a betrayal against the country.”

In a third clip showing a large number of the protesters, a male security officer can be heard using a megaphone to order people not to move any further, but the crowd appeared to ignore him. 

In calls from Iran to the Wednesday edition of VOA Persian’s Straight Talk call-in show, a woman who identified herself as Sheyda from the southern part of Isfahan said she heard that security forces have been reluctant to confront the protesters in the New Shapur district to the north. She said she believes some of the security personnel are worried that a violent crackdown on protests will hurt their careers if Iran’s Islamist government falls. 

In another call, a man who gave his name as Shahab from the northern city of Rasht said he was in Isfahan and saw many protesters on the streets. “We can solve our problems through the protests,” he said. “It might take some time, but eventually the protesters can get what they want, and they should not be disappointed [with the reaction of the authorities].”

Elsewhere, at least a thousand Iranians joined an anti-government protest in the city of Karaj, adjacent to the capital, Tehran, on Tuesday night, according to images received and verified by VOA Persian. 

One video clip showed security officers on the other side of a street walking among and apparently assaulting some of the protesters. The assaults also could be seen in other online images of the protest. 

The demonstrators who marched in Karaj’s Gohardasht district also expressed frustration about the government’s handling of Iran’s economic problems. Some chanted a slogan with a message to their Islamist rulers: Military force cannot stop us, mullahs get out. 

Iran has seen frequent nationwide street protests this year involving dozens to hundreds and occasionally thousands of people. Protesters have been venting anger toward local and national officials and business leaders they accuse of mismanagement, corruption and oppression. Iranian leaders often have deflected the domestic criticism by blaming the unrest on foreign “enemies.”

Behrooz Samadbeygi and Afshar Sigarchi of VOA’s Persian service contributed to this report.
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Djibouti Slams Call for End to Eritrea Sanctions

Posted on by SeeAF

Djibouti, an increasingly strategic nation in the Horn of Africa, has condemned last week’s call by Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed for the lifting of U.N. sanctions against Eritrea.

During his three-day visit to Eritrea’s capital last week, the Somali president urged an end to the economic sanctions and arms embargo that the U.N. Security Council imposed on Eritrea in 2009 for its alleged support of Islamist militant forces in Somalia.

Mohamed said lifting the sanctions would promote the “economic integration of the Horn of Africa region.”

Mohamed’s statement angered Djibouti, which says Eritrea is occupying the disputed Doumeira islands and is holding more than 10 Djiboutian prisoners.

In an interview with VOA’s Somali service, Djibouti’s ambassador to Somalia, Aden Hassan Aden, described the Somali president’s statement as “deeply shocking.”

“As a sovereign state, there is no doubt that Somalia has the right to establish diplomatic relations with the countries in the region. However, it is unacceptable to see our brotherly Somalia supporting Eritrea, which is occupying part of our territory and still denying having Djiboutian prisoners,” Aden said.

Djibouti hosts military bases for five countries: the United States, France, China, Japan and Italy.

The tiny nation is also one of five African countries with troops in AMISOM, the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The mission has protected Somali governments from attempted takeovers by Islamist militant forces for more than a decade.

“Our boys in uniform who sacrifice their blood and life for peace in Somalia, whose brothers are held prisoners in Asmara, would not be happy to hear such a miscalculated statement from a Somali president,” Aden said.

As part of a flurry of reforms and peacemaking efforts, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Eritrea last month to end a 20-year state of war between the countries.

Last week, Somalia’s president became the second head of state in the region to visit Eritrea.

Aden, the Djiboutian ambassador, said his country welcomed the diplomatic movements and talks in the Horn of Africa. But he emphasized that Djibouti’s conflict with Eritrea was unresolved.

“Our president has no plans to visit Asmara unless Eritrea releases the Djiboutians it detains and withdraws from the territory it occupied,” Aden said.
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Protesters, Security Forces Clash as Zimbabwe Election Results Delayed

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In Zimbabwe, soldiers and police fired live rounds at opposition protesters in the capital, Harare, Wednesday, as the African nation awaited the results of Monday’s pivotal general election, the first in 38 years without former leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot. At least two people were shot dead in the capital in protests that were met with swift action from security forces. Tension is building, and observers say this could be another turning point for Zimbabwe.
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South African White Lobby Group Calls ANC Land Plan ‘Catastrophic’

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South Africa’s white farmers on Wednesday criticized the ruling African National Congress’ (ANC) decision to endorse constitutional changes to allow the state to seize land without compensation, saying the move would be “catastrophic”.

On Tuesday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the decision by the ANC’s top decision-making organ to push ahead with plans to amend the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. 

More than two decades after the end of apartheid, whites still own most of South Africa’s land and ownership remains a highly emotive subject.

Investors said Ramaphosa’s speech was aimed at winning political points ahead of an election in mid-2019.

AfriForum, an organization that mostly represents white South Africans on issues like affirmative action, said in a statement land expropriation without compensation would have “catastrophic results … like in Venezuela and Zimbabwe”.

“History teaches us that international investors, regardless of what AfriForum or anyone else says, are unwilling to invest in a country where property rights are not protected,” AfriForum’s Chief Executive Kallie Kriel said.

Analysts at investment giant Old Mutual said the president was aiming to control the narrative around land reform, which has so far been dominated by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, before the election.

“It could be a very clever chess move,” Old Mutual Investment Group’s managing director Khaya Gobodo said at a media briefing, adding that Ramaphosa was trying to reduce the possibility of negative outcome from the land expropriation exercise by clearly staking out ANC’s plan on the matter.

Markets fret

Market reaction to the speech was initially negative, with rand falling as much as 2 percent, but recovered almost half of those losses on Wednesday.  

The 2044 bond chalked up the steepest losses, falling nearly 1.4 cents to its lowest level in nearly four weeks, according to Tradeweb data. The cost of insuring exposure to South Africa’s sovereign debt also rose with five year credit default swaps climbing as high as 188 basis points, an 8 bps jump from Tuesday’s close and a near-three week high, according to data provider IHS Markit.

South Africa’s parliament in February passed a motion brought by the radical left party, the EFF, to carry out land expropriation without compensation.

A team of lawmakers was then given the task of canvassing public opinion on whether section 25 of the Constitution needs amending to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. The process is still ongoing, and analysts said Ramaphosa’s speech had pre-empted the lawmakers’ work.

Some analysts said it was not all doom and gloom and that eventually Ramaphosa will propose relatively limited amendments.

“Land will not be nationalized, there will be no Zimbabwe-style land seizures and the constitution will only allow expropriation without compensation in a narrow set of circumstances,” Ben Payton, Head of Africa at Verisk Maplecroft, said.

 
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Dead Russian Reporters Researched Mercenaries, Mining in CAR

Posted on by SeeEU

Three Russian journalists were investigating Russian military contractors and mining industries in Central African Republic when they were killed there, their editor said Wednesday.

The reporters were ambushed and killed outside the town of Sibut late Monday, according to local and Russian officials. CAR officials said the three were kidnapped by about 10 men wearing turbans and speaking Arabic, but have yet to give further details.

Exiled Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Facebook Wednesday that the journalists were collaborating with his investigative media project on a story entitled “Russian Mercenaries.”

Andrei Konyakhin, the chief editor of Khodorkovsky’s Investigations Management Center, said the reporters were trying to shed light on a private Russian security company operating in CAR as well as on Russia’s interests in diamond, gold and uranium mining there.

He said the men — Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev and Orkhan Dzhemal — arrived in CAR on tourist visas to work undercover and were planning to stay there for two weeks.

Ruslan Leviev, who leads a group of investigative journalists in Russia called the Conflict Intelligence Team, said the security firm the dead journalists were investigating, known as Wagner, also has been active in Syria, eastern Ukraine and Sudan.

The company is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg entrepreneur dubbed “Putin’s chef” for his close ties to the Kremlin.

Konyakhin said the journalists were traveling to northern CAR to speak with a United Nations representative and carrying several thousand dollars in cash and valuable equipment such as cameras when they were attacked.

The trio had been advised not to travel at night, but did so Monday, Konyakhin said. He also said the reporters were about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from their planned route when they were killed.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said CAR is a very dangerous place and the government has advised Russians not to travel there. But Konyakhin was skeptical the slayings were the result of a mere robbery. He said he thinks the attack could be linked to their investigation.

“This was done in a very demonstrative fashion,” he said, wondering why the attackers didn’t bother to cover their tracks and left the journalists’ driver alive. “If they could have just taken everything from them, why kill them?”

Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon and once Russia’s richest man, lives in London after spending 10 years in a Russian prison in a case widely seen as politically motivated. From exile, Khodorkovsky supports a number of civil society groups and media projects in Russia, where authorities continue to investigate him on a variety of charges.

Deeply impoverished Central African Republic has faced deadly interreligious and intercommunal fighting since 2013, with thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. The nation saw a period of relative peace in late 2015 and 2016, but the violence intensified and spread in the past year.
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EU Imports of US Soybeans Were Rising Before Deal With Trump

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European Union imports of U.S. soybeans were already rising substantially before a top EU official told President Donald Trump last week that the bloc would buy more.

EU Commission figures released Wednesday show that 37 percent of the bloc’s soybean imports last month were coming from the U.S., compared with 9 percent in July 2017.

Amid a looming trade war over tariffs, Trump and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed on July 25 to start talks intended to achieve “zero tariffs” and “zero subsidies” on non-automotive industrial goods.

The EU also agreed to buy more U.S. soybeans and build more terminals to import liquefied natural gas from the United States.

“The European Union can import more soybeans from the U.S. and this is happening as we speak,” Juncker said.

But a high level EU official said the increase in soybean purchases from the U.S. is due only to economics, as they are cheaper than imports from Brazil and Argentina. The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said there was no political reason for the increase.

 
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Legalized Marijuana Use a Dramatic Shift for Georgian Drug Policy

Posted on by SeeEU

It is now legal to smoke marijuana in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, but there’s a caveat.

At 4:20 p.m. local time on Monday, July 30, the Georgian Constitutional Court legalized marijuana consumption while retaining laws against growing, storing and selling the drug.

In the historic ruling that subverted decades of harshly restrictive drug policies, Georgia’s increasingly liberal constitutional court declared smoking cannabis an act “guaranteed by the right of free self-development,” making it the first former Soviet republic to legalize recreational usage.

For years, the southern Caucasus nation of roughly 3.7 million was home to what many civil activists called a repressive regime of narco-politics, where even casual users faced up to 14 years in prison.

Longtime critics of Georgia’s hardline drug policies said that the laws were being exploited to justify heavy-handed policing tactics within the country’s thriving nightlife scene.

The court said punishing an individual for consuming cannabis would comply with the constitution only if consumption put a third party at risk. The decision was prompted by a lawsuit filed by activists of the libertarian Girchi party.

In a nation with proclaimed Euro-Atlantic aspirations but historically torn between Russia and the West, Girchi supporters called it a victory for liberal values.

“This wasn’t a fight for cannabis. This was a fight for freedom,” former lawmaker Zurab Japaridze said of the case, which was titled Zurab Japaridze and Vakhtang Megrelishvili VS. the Parliament of Georgia.

Japaridze is the 42-year-old Girchi party founder who once planted marijuana seeds in a televised New Year’s Eve event in 2016. Japaridze described the ruling as a “big victory” that was years in the making.

“It is a liberal understanding of the idea of freedom, when a person is free in his/her actions, given it does not pose a risk to others,” Japaridze told Voice of America’s Georgian service. “Nobody can send you to prison or fine you for smoking cannabis.”

Other advocates for liberalized drug policies, such as Akaki Zoidze, chair of Georgia’s parliamentary health care committee, said the ruling goes a step too far.

“Marijuana consumption should be allowed only for medical purposes,” he said at a press conference that followed the ruling. “Our aim was not to make marijuana accessible for everyone, but to reduce the number of drug addicts.”

Leaders of Georgia’s Orthodox Church roundly condemned the ruling as a “traitorous decision.”

“The four judges are making disastrous decisions ignoring the will of 4 million people,” said Archbishop Andria. “That court needs to be abolished.”

The Orthodox Church, which has favored far-right causes and marched against LGBTQ activists in the past, enjoys the highest favorability rating among public institutions, boasting a trustworthiness rating of 76 percent – roughly twice the approval rating of the president’s office and the police – according to a May 2018 poll commissioned by Transparency International Georgia.

That same survey, conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center, surveyed the attitudes on drug-related issues, finding that 72 percent of respondents said there should be no sentence for using light drugs. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they felt the same way about club drugs such as ecstasy, while 43 percent thought intravenous drug users should not be imprisoned for shooting up.

Forty-five percent of respondents agreed that law enforcement agencies employed the method of planting drugs for detaining targeted individuals.

A lengthy civic discourse

Georgia’s discussion on drug policy liberalization has spanned years, with a draft law including development of rehabilitation programs for drug abusers introduced in parliament just last year.

According to the analysis of drug-related criminal statistics conducted by the Tbilisi-based Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the “Practice and declared goals do not match.”

Although principal goals of the national strategy for battling drug abuse do not envisage punishing drug users, the report said statistical data indicates drug users were being harshly punished anyway.

“While tens of thousands of people were fined for drug use, according to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2016 only 10 people were arrested for distributing drugs, and only 36 people – in 2017,” says the IDFI report. “Such a vast difference in numbers of people arrested for drug use and drug distribution raises questions regarding the priorities of the drug policy of the country.”

Japaridze, who has campaigned for the easing of drug laws, says the court decision is a turning point, not the final destination.

“From the libertarian standpoint, we think the same rule shall apply to other drugs, we believe it shall be up to an individual to decide what to consume,” he said. “Even if that action is harmful for his own health, the decision is a person’s and shall not belong to a policeman.”

Some say Japaridze’s efforts mask other political intentions, pointing out that he was among the first to announce his run for Georgia’s last directly-elected presidential office.

However, his advocacy for broader drug liberalization and anti-mandatory military service campaigns tend to elicit him more “cursing than popularity,” he said.

His constituency of predominantly 18-29-year-old citizens, who comprise about 20 percent of Georgia’s electorate, are typically inactive voters.

Given Georgia’s geographic location, where even recreational drug users are socially stigmatized, Japaridze says marijuana legalization can be a game-changer.

“We did an analysis comparing [the U.S. state of] Colorado and Georgia. Having calculated the economic impact of legalization, we anticipate it can create approximately a $4 billion economy, with 7-8 percent of annual growth,” Japaridze told VOA in 2017.

In May, thousands rallied for several days in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to protest allegedly heavy-handed police raids in two popular nightclubs where eight suspected drug dealers were arrested.

(This story originated in VOA’s Georgian Service)

 
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Africa’s Great Lakes Region Leaders Bid for Peace at Conference

Posted on by SeeAF

As the Global Peace Conference opens in Uganda, heads of state, especially in the East African region, are trying to focus more on unity instead of fragmentation that has plunged the area into conflict.

East African leaders say they need to find new models for sustainable peace and development in a bid to effectively deal with crime, conflict and poverty.

With instability taking root, leaders in the Great Lakes region are being urged to promote value-driven and innovative leadership that will provide meaning to citizens. This includes security, job growth, running water, electricity, and good roads. They agree this must be accompanied by more investment and trade, rather than aid and political federation.

Ambassador Fred Ngoga Gateretse, who leads the Conflict Prevention and Early Warning division of the African Union Commission, notes that terrorist organizations, such as Somali militant group al-Shabab, are more organized than some governments.

“African countries simply do not make sense in fragmentation. We make sense in unity. Did you know how long it takes to recruit a suicide bomber, on average? It takes about five to six or seven months. And did you know how long it takes to recruit a civil servant from the U.N. or AU? About 19 months at best. So, what does that tell us? It tells us that our criminals are more efficient than we are,” said Gateretse.

Delegates at the conference also are calling on leaders to improve their respective education systems to create a common goal and interest in the community. Uganda, in particular, has been working with neighbors, such as South Sudan and Somalia, to end conflict.

Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda notes that the conference is an occasion for leaders not only to celebrate achievements, but to find ways to overcome conflict and its daunting challenges.

“As you are aware, amidst great development potential, the Great Lakes region has for many decades been characterized by identity-based conflicts, violent extremism and refugee crises,” said Rugunda.

The conference has bought together stakeholders from all walks of life, including business entrepreneurs. Julian Omalla is a Ugandan businesswoman who ventured into northern Uganda. The area faced the brunt of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion, a conflict that left thousands dead and more than 2 million in internally displaced camps.

“When there is no money in somebody’s pocket, peace cannot be there. And when there is no economic activity in the area, the peace and the unity cannot be there,” she said.

According to the African Union, the continent currently faces 20 crisis situations that need to be resolved.

It is now up to the heads of states to show if their interests are aligned with those of their countrymen and women in the region.
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Deadly Ebola Outbreak Confirmed in Eastern DRC

Posted on by SeeAF

Four cases of the Ebola virus have been confirmed in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, announced the outbreak on Twitter, just a week after Congolese and U.N. health officials announced the end of a separate outbreak that killed 33 people in the country’s northwest. There is no evidence yet suggesting the two outbreaks in the Congo are linked.

“Although we did not expect to face a tenth epidemic so early, the detection of the virus is an indicator of the proper functioning of the surveillance system,” said the country’s health minister, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, in a statement.

Ebola was first identified in the Congo in 1976. A highly infective virus, it can be spread via contact with animals or the bodily fluids of the infected — including the dead.  

The health ministry said there were 26 cases of hemorrhagic fever in the North Kivu province, including 20 deaths. Six samples from these patients were tested, and four tested positive for Ebola, the ministry said.

Officials have said they now feel better prepared for Ebola outbreaks, in sharp contrast to the 2014 epidemic of the virus, which killed more than 11,000 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  

To contain the most recent outbreak, health workers distributed an experimental but effective vaccine to anyone who had come into contact with those infected.

“We had a vaccine — and that I think is going to be extremely important for the future of Ebola control,” Peter Salama, deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response at the World Health Organization, told CNN of the July outbreak.

Experts from the health ministry will arrive in the region on Thursday to coordinate a response to the virus, the ministry said.
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Georgia Raps Russia at Start of US-Led War Games

Posted on by SeeEU

Georgia’s president denounced Russia on Wednesday for illegally occupying part of the country as it began two weeks of military exercises with the United States and several other NATO members.

About 1,300 soldiers from Georgia, 1,170 from the United States and several hundred from eight other NATO member states joined in maneuvers falling just a few days before the 10th anniversary of Georgia’s war with Russia.

Washington dispatched a mechanized company, including 12 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, five M1A2 Abrams tanks and nine Blackhawk and Apache helicopters. Non-NATO Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan also sent soldiers.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili, at an opening ceremony, said: “Today you are standing on the territory of a country, 20 percent of which is absolutely illegally occupied by our neighbor Russia.”

Russia and Georgia fought a war in August 2008 over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. Moscow continues to garrison troops there and to support another breakaway region, Abkhazia, after recognizing both regions as independent states.

The “Noble Partner 2018” exercises are being held in Georgia for the fourth time. Russian officials have not commented on the event yet, but in previous years Moscow warned that drills could destabilize the region, a charge denied by Georgian officials.

The exercises were being run from the Vaziani military base near Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.

Russian forces used to be based there until they withdrew at the start of the last decade under the terms of a European arms reduction agreement.

Russia is also conducting its own military exercises in the North Caucasus region, which borders Georgia. The Russian drills, which started Wednesday, are set to continue until Aug. 15.
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Brexit or Armageddon? Depends Who You Ask

Posted on by SeeEU

Brexit is looming and so is Armageddon, if you believe the headlines in Britain.

Newspapers have been flooded with stories about food shortages, stockpiled medicines, grounded flights and troops on the streets of Britain if the country leaves the European Union early next year without an agreement on the future relationship between the two sides.

 

Those forecasts came as the positions of both sides appeared to harden and British officials made statements about preparations for a no-deal Brexit that could disrupt trade. Prime Minister Theresa May said the government was preparing for every eventuality.

 

All the talk of dire consequences just underscores the difficulty of finding a way to sever ties developed over decades, said Ben Fletcher, director of external affairs for EEF, the manufacturer’s association.
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UN Calls on Saudi Arabia to Release Human Rights Activists

Posted on by SeeEA

The U.N. is calling for the immediate release of human rights activists arrested in Saudi Arabia.

The crackdown against human rights defenders and activists, including women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, began in mid-May and shows no signs of letting up. The U.N. human rights office says at least 15 government critics have been arbitrarily detained. 

Agency spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani says eight have been temporarily released pending a review of their cases. 

“In some cases, their whereabouts are unknown and there is a serious lack of transparency in the processing of their cases,” Shamdasani said. “While the authorities have made statements about possible serious charges against these people that could lead to prison terms of up to 20 years, it is unclear whether charges have been laid in any of these cases.” 

Among those reportedly detained is Hatoon al-Fassi, who actively fought for greater women’s rights and the recent lifting of the country’s ban on women driving. Shamdasani tells VOA that while genuine reforms appear to be taking place in Saudi Arabia, those reforms are not being extended to the civil and political rights sphere.

“Dissent, criticism of the government is still not accepted in the country. That can explain why many of these human rights defenders and activists have been jailed. All of them have criticized government policies in one way or another,” she said. 

Government officials have refused to comment on the arrests.

The U.N. Human Rights office is calling for the unconditional release of all human rights defenders and activists, saying they should be able to carry out their crucial human rights work without fear of reprisals.
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Russia: Iran-backed Forces Withdraw From Golan Frontier

Posted on by SeeEA

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Syria said Wednesday that an agreement with Israel that includes Russian guarantees ensures that Iran-backed fighters will remain more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) away from Syria’s frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

 

Alexander Lavrentyev told the Russian Interfax news agency the agreement was reached in order not to “irritate” Israel. He didn’t elaborate on when the agreement was forged or for how long.

 

Russian-backed Syrian forces regained full control of the frontier on Monday after a six-week offensive in the area that expelled Syrian armed opposition and an affiliate of the Islamic State group that had been deployed along the frontier with the Golan.

 

“The agreement is still in effect. Iranian forces have actually been withdrawn from (the southern de-escalation zone in Syria) in order not to irritate the Israeli administration, which has increased the number of attacks on Iranian sites in this territory,” Lavrentyev said.

 

He said the pro-Iranian forces have withdrawn to 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the area with “our assistance,” he said.

 

Israel has escalated its attacks against targets inside Syria suspected of being linked to Iran, insisting that it won’t allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence near the frontier.

 

Iran has military advisers in Syria and backs Shiite militias fighting alongside Syrian troops, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

 

Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war. The frontier was quiet for decades following a 1974 disengagement agreement.

 

With the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, fighting erupted along the frontier, bringing rebels to the area. In 2014, a U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the disengagement lines withdrew when rebels took control of the frontier.  

 
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How the US Military Will Identify Remains From North Korea

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is flying to Hawaii on Wednesday to receive 55 boxes of bones recently handed over by North Korea. The remains are believed to belong to servicemen from the U.S. and other United Nations member countries who fought alongside the U.S. during the Korean War.

Here’s a look at what will happen next:

Where will the remains be taken?

The remains will go to a lab in Hawaii run by the military agency that identifies missing servicemen and women from past conflicts. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identifies remains from battlefields around the world. The agency also has a lab at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, though the remains arriving this week will be analyzed at Hawaii’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The agency also sends DNA samples for analysis to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Many families who are awaiting the return of their loved ones from the Korean War have already submitted DNA samples to the agency to help in the identification process.

How will the remains be identified?

Typically, the agency’s forensic anthropologists study any evidence found with the remains for clues, such as military uniforms, identification tags and personal items like wedding rings. But North Korea provided only a single military dog tag with the 55 boxes.

The anthropologists also study remains to determine their sex, race, size and age. Scientists search bones for evidence of trauma caused at the time of death and for previous injuries or conditions like arthritis.

Dental experts will compare dental records, including any X-rays, with the remains.

Three-quarters of the remains the agency identifies are determined with the help of mitochondrial DNA, which is a type of DNA that’s passed from mother to child.

The lab does this by taking DNA samples from bones and teeth. The DNA lab in Delaware extracts the mitochondrial DNA from the sample to determine its genetic sequence and compares this with samples provided by relatives.

The agency uses mitochondrial DNA so often because it’s durable and each sample has a large number of copies, making it an effective way to identify bones. Though recent advances in DNA technology have made other types of DNA analysis possible as well.

How many U.S. servicemen are missing from the Korean war?

About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and 5,300 of the remains are believed to still be in North Korea. The war killed millions, including 36,000 American soldiers.

Sixteen other United Nations member countries fought alongside U.S. service members on behalf of South Korea. Some of them, including Australia, Belgium, France and the Philippines, have yet to recover some of their war dead from North Korea.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said some remains could turn out to be those of missing from other nations. He said this was an international effort to bring closure for families.

How long will it take to identify the remains?

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency spokesman Chuck Pritchard says each case will be different. Some could take several months while others could take years.

 
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