August 2018 - Page 8 of 25

Juror: One Holdout Kept Manafort From Conviction on All Counts

Posted on 08/23/2018 by SeeUS

The jury in the trial of Paul Manafort would have convicted the former Trump campaign chairman on all 18 criminal charges if not for one juror who had questions about the reasonable doubt standard of criminality, a juror told Fox News on Wednesday.

“There was one holdout,” Paula Duncan, a juror in the trial, said in an interview. “We all tried to convince her to look at the paper trail. We laid it out in front of her again and again and she still said that she had a reasonable doubt.”

After almost four days of deliberations, a 12-member jury Tuesday found Manafort guilty on two counts of bank fraud, five counts of tax fraud and one charge of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.

But the jury of six men and six women could not reach a consensus on 10 other counts. Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversaw the trial in a U.S. federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, declared a mistrial on those 10 counts.

In the first public comments by a juror about the verdict, Duncan said the other 11 members were in agreement that Manafort was guilty on all 18 felony charges but that they could not get the one holdout to change her mind.

“We didn’t want it to be hung so we tried for an extended period of time to convince her. But in the end she held out and that’s why we have 10 counts that did not get a verdict,” Duncan said.

Duncan said she was speaking out to inform the public and that she was not concerned about her safety, even after the judge ruled that juror names would not be released in order to keep them safe.

“I thought that the public, America, needed to know how close this was and the evidence was overwhelming,” she said. “I did not want Paul Manafort to be guilty. But he was and no one is above the law.”
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Indicted California Congressman Still Likely to Win Re-Election

Posted on 08/23/2018 by SeeUS

The indictment of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife that alleges they illegally converted his campaign account into a household checkbook reorders his re-election contest, giving Democrats a suddenly stronger hand in a district that for decades has embraced Republican candidates.

But even with charges shadowing him, it will be an upset if Hunter loses.

Two months ago Hunter coasted through the June primary despite the ongoing FBI investigation that produced the 60-count indictment. His 30-point, first-place finish made him a strong favorite to win a sixth term in November.

The 50th Congressional District east of San Diego is the most Republican in Southern California. The party holds a nearly 15-point registration edge over Democrats, and President Donald Trump won the district by the same margin while losing statewide by more than 4 million votes in 2016.

Political dynasty

The Hunter name is something of a political dynasty in the area, his father was elected to the seat in 1980 and held it until his son won in 2008. Hunter’s Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, 29, has never held elective office. He won just more than 17 percent of the votes in June but that was good enough for second place in the state’s primary where the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party.

A day after Hunter and his wife were charged with looting his campaign funds to finance family vacations, boozy restaurant binges and shopping sprees, voters in Hunter’s rural hometown of Alpine were sharply divided on what it all means. Some are shocked, some outraged, and some are rising to defend Hunter and his claim of being pursued by politically motivated prosecutors eager to see one of Trump’s early supporters in Congress fall.

Sandy Hintz, 75, said she has supported Hunter in the past but needs more information before making up her mind about him in November.

“I was really shocked, wow. How could that happen?” she asked. “He had seemed like a good guy.”

Chris Wilmot, 47, a Republican and longtime Hunter supporter, said he was rethinking the race. To Wilmot, Hunter “has talked like a politician,” and the certified public accountant has been put off by “the way he dresses, and his ego.”

“I wonder what else they will get on him,” Wilmot said outside a coffee shop near the town’s business strip, where pickups rolled by feed stores, diners and gun shops.

Austin Bodger, 21, who works in a feed store, said he intends to vote for Campa-Najjar but acknowledged the candidate faces an uphill fight.

In the rural district with a large military presence “there are a lot of conservative Republicans who vote only Republican,” Bodger said. “A lot of people don’t think the charges are real. They think they are trumped up to take him down.”

Conservative district

The district is near Camp Pendleton, the largest Marine base in the West, and has many active duty and retired military who feel a kinship with Hunter, a Marine who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his father, an Army Ranger who won the Bronze star during the Vietnam War.

In an interview with The Associated Press in San Diego, Campa-Najjar said he was hopeful of breaking the Hunter family’s nearly 40-year hold on the district. He said his message of affordable health care and college would cut across party lines.

“If we are a nation of laws, then you cannot in good conscience vote for Duncan Hunter,” he said.

Hunter’s district has been changing demographically, but it remains something of a holdout, where Republicans remain politically powerful.

Indictment ‘changed everything’

The indictment “has changed everything,” said Republican John Dadian, a lobbyist and consultant long involved in area politics, though he still gives Hunter an edge based on the district’s generous GOP registration numbers.

The charges have brought new attention to Campa-Najjar, a former Obama administration Labor Department official whose father is a Palestinian Muslim and mother a Mexican Catholic. He was born in San Diego County but spent part of his childhood in Gaza.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and potential 2020 presidential contender, used Twitter on Tuesday to urge her supporters to donate to his campaign. Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist working for Campa-Najjar, said the campaign has seen a spike in fundraising and volunteers.

Hunter and his wife were charged by a federal grand jury with using more than $250,000 in campaign funds to finance family trips to Italy and Hawaii, golf outings, school tuition, theater tickets — even fast food purchases — and attempting to conceal the illegal spending in federal records.

The indictment depicts a couple freely dipping into campaign cash for years to bankroll their personal lifestyle, while their household budget was awash in red ink. The spending ranged from the banal to the lavish, from movie tickets to a $6,288.74 family vacation at a resort in Lahaina, Hawaii.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called the charges “deeply serious” and said Hunter will be removed from his committee assignments.
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UN Urges Israel Not to Hold Gaza Aid ‘Hostage’ to Politics

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

The U.N. political chief called on Israel Wednesday to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian supplies for the Gaza Strip are not “held hostage to political and security developments.”

Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council its meeting was taking place “in the wake of yet another series of violent escalations that threatened to plunge Gaza into war.”

She said the recurring violence “highlights the urgency” of U.N. and Egyptian-led efforts, along with regional and international partners, “to prevent another devastating outbreak of hostilities, respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs, and support intra-Palestinian reconciliation.”

DiCarlo said funding for U.N. emergency fuel to keep about 250 hospitals, water and sanitation facilities in Gaza operating at a minimum level “has now run out.”

She appealed for $4.5 million to keep these critical facilities operating through the end of the year.

DiCarlo also expressed concern at “the dangerously short supply of essential medicines, with 40 percent of essential drugs completely depleted.”

Israel and Egypt have imposed an economically crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized control of the coastal territory from the internationally backed Palestinian Authority in 2007.

Israel says the blockade is needed to contain Hamas, a militant group that seeks its destruction.

While the closure has devastated Gaza’s economy, it has failed to oust Hamas or loosen its grip on power.

Since July, Israel and Hamas have engaged in three rounds of heavy fighting, with Hamas firing dozens of rockets into Israel and the Israeli military carrying out dozens of airstrikes in Gaza.

DiCarlo said that in recent weeks the humanitarian situation in Gaza had “deteriorated further, due in part to additional restrictions that Israel imposed on the movement of goods through the Kerem Shalom crossing” — the primary avenue for food, fuel, construction materials and aid to enter the beleaguered territory.

Israel closed the crossing in response to the violence and Hamas’ launching of incendiary kites and balloons that have burned thousands of acres of Israeli fields, forests and agricultural land. The crossing was reopened by Israel on Aug. 15 when it also expanded the fishing zone off Gaza to nine nautical miles.

“As we work towards a full lifting of the closures on Gaza …,” DiCarlo said, “I call on all parties to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian supplies reach the Strip.”

She said violent incidents have also continued elsewhere in the Palestinian territories and in Israel.

But at the same time DiCarlo cited tangible steps by ordinary Israelis and Palestinians “to promote tolerance and forge a shared future.”

As the international community focuses on resolving the crisis in Gaza and returning the legitimate Palestinian government to the strip, she said, the perseverance of this individuals is a reminder of the broader goal of achieving a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in peace and security.
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IS Issues New Message From Group’s Reclusive Leader

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

The secretive leader of the Islamic State terror group is speaking out after nearly a year of silence, urging his supporters to persevere while warning of “dark days” for his enemies.

The terror group’s al-Furqan media division issued the 54-minute speech purportedly from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, titled “Give Glad Tidings to the Patient,” Wednesday.

In it, he shares wishes for a blessed Eid al-Adha, a feast celebrated this week, and urges IS supporters not to relent.

“For the mujahedeen, the scale of victory or defeat is not dependent on a city or town being stolen or subject to that who has aerial superiority, intercontinental missiles or smart bombs,” Baghdadi said on the recording.

He also tells supporters it is the United States, and not IS, that is crumbling.

“Here it is now, by the grace of Allah, living the worst period in its contemporary history,” Baghdadi said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.

“The sanctions it imposes on its allies … are a sign that it is lower than it used to be, and held in intentional contempt,” he added, referring to U.S. sanctions on Turkey.

Message to followers

The IS leader also urges supporters in the West to carry out so-called lone wolf attacks “so that Crusaders will feel its flames.”

“Carry out an attack that breaks their heart, and rip them apart, either with gunfire, or a stab to their bodies, or a bombing in their countries, for this is equal to a thousand operations here,” he said. “Do not forget about running people over on the roads.”

U.S. military and intelligence officials are aware of the new audio recording but have yet to verify that the voice on the tape is, in fact, Baghdadi.

But analysts contacted by VOA believe the audio is likely both authentic and also recent, pointing to the Eid al-Adha greetings, and references to U.S. tensions with Turkey over the detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, and fighting between IS and Syrian forces.

“This material is intended to convey Baghdadi is alive,” said Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst who specializes in Islamic State’s online influence operations.

Unlike with previous messages from Baghdadi, however, there was little in the way of advance notice to promote the speech on social media, Smith said.

“This suggests Baghdadi’s security protocols now entail virtually no interactions with Islamic State members who are tasked with promoting this material online,” Smith said.

The last time IS supporters heard from Baghdadi was September 2017 when he called on followers to “fan the flames of war on your enemies, take it to them and besiege them in every corner.”

Since then, Baghdadi’s silence has fed constant questions about whether he is still alive, still in charge and about where he might be hiding.

“We continue to assess that he’s probably alive until he’s proven to be dead,” Chris Maier, the director of the Pentagon’s Defeat ISIS Core Task Force, told VOA as recently as May, adding officials suspected he likely was hiding in Syria. ISIS is an acronym for the militant group.

When asked about the new recording, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said Baghdadi’s exact whereabouts are not known, but “he continues to be someone that we are interested in removing from the battlefield.”

Anti-ISIS campaign

Overall, U.S. and coalition officials have said IS has lost 98 percent of the territory it once controlled and the survivors of the anti-ISIS campaign are cornered in a small pocket along the border with Iraq, near the town of Hajin.

Yet other reports suggest that while Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate is no more, the terror group maintains a capable fighting force and financial resources.

Earlier this month the U.S. Defense Department said IS may have up to 14,500 fighters in Syria alone.

And a United Nations report, based on intelligence from member states, warned, “Despite the damage to bureaucratic structures of the so-called ‘caliphate,’ the collective discipline of [IS] is intact.”

The U.N. report also said reports of Baghdadi’s demise were premature.

“Although he is reported to have been injured, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi remains in authority,” it concluded.

Despite questions about Baghdadi’s fate, some of his family members do appear to have been killed. The terror group’s Nashir news channel reported in July the IS leader’s son died carrying out a suicide bombing against Russian forces in the western Syrian city of Homs.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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Bouquinistes of Paris Turn to UNESCO to Save Ancient Trade

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

David Nosek is buried in a novel, glancing only occasionally at the scrum of tourists strolling by. A few of them pause to examine the old editions, engravings and brightly colored paintings arranged on his green, metal stand. A riverboat cuts lazily across the Seine River below.

Sporting a graying ponytail and tan vest, Nosek looks like a throwback to the bouquinistes of old — the booksellers of Paris who have plied their wares along the banks of the Seine for more than four centuries.

“I like to read, I like old things, and there’s an independence to the business,” he said. “We certainly don’t get into it to get rich.”

Nosek’s business is increasingly facing 21st century threats. Kindles and online dealers are eating into his profits. At other riverside stands, Eiffel Towers and other souvenirs are edging out dusty editions of Honore de Balzac and Victor Hugo — which is why a group of bouquinistes is now on a mission to save the trade’s very identity by getting it added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

“We thought it would be good to have a label which maintains the quality of our products, without sticking to the 400 years of our past,” said Sophie Leleu, one of the bouquinistes involved in the effort. “If we’re on the UNESCO list, we become like the Egyptian pyramids, or the Venetian gondoliers — nobody can remove us.”

But the bid is controversial — even among some bouquinistes. Some fear they will no longer be able to sell the souvenirs that help them survive.

Bigger challenges

In some ways, the bouquinistes’ sliding fortunes mirror broader challenges facing the traditional book industry in capitals like New York and London — although business for some independent sellers is rebounding. In France, where legislation has curbed the onslaught of chain book stores and online retailers, a number of small dealers are also thriving — but not all. Last year, the French publishing industry saw its figures plunge, compared to the previous year.

“There’s an urgency to defend the bouquinistes’ trade,” said Florence Berthout, mayor of Paris’ 5th Arrondissement, and a leading champion of the UNESCO drive. “Every year, every month, counts.”

Berthout’s district is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, home to the Sorbonne, one of the world’s first universities. The town hall faces the Pantheon, where some of France’s greatest authors and academics are buried. The neighborhood is also home to the majority of Parisian book stores and publishing houses — and most of the city’s bouquinistes.

“There’s nothing more democratic than books,” said Berthout, the daughter of farmers from central France who discovered Shakespeare and Emile Zola, thanks to inexpensive paperbacks her parents bought. “They’re cheap, they’re easy to carry, and unlike computers, they don’t break down.”

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Status would raise the profile of bouquinistes, Berthout says, adding, “We hope there’ll be an uptick in their sales — which will allow them to stick to the heart of their trade, not the cheap souvenirs.”

Making ‘Parisians laugh’

Few believe the bouquinistes will disappear from the city’s landscape altogether. There are more than 200 today, compared to under two dozen in the 17th century. Unlike traditional bookstores, the riverside sellers don’t pay overhead. They ply their wares rain or shine, summer or winter.

“We’ve never sold new books, but we’ve never sold really old books,” said Leleu, who comes from a family of booksellers. “We’ve always sold cartoons, to make Parisians laugh. Stamps, coins, paper … this and that.”

A few bookstands away, Philadelphia native Meghan Patton wrapped up the purchase of a colorful print.

“You get the feel of Paris,” she said of the bouquiniste stalls. “They’re part of what makes the city so special.

Other tourists are underwhelmed.

Colorado author Mike McPhee, who has visited Paris for years, said he was shocked at how touristy the stands had become. Even when it came to traditional wares, “I wouldn’t trust the authenticity,” he said. “I would buy from a reputable dealer.”

Competition and politics

The bouquinistes first need to make France’s intangible heritage list before any upgrades to UNESCO status. Even this step is challenging.

“If they manage to get their application finished this year, it would be really fast,” said Isabelle Chave, who oversees the French Culture Ministry’s intangible heritage division. “Most candidates take three or four years, if not longer.”

And of the 400 so-called elements that have made the French list, only 15 have been accepted by UNESCO — including French cuisine and a type of Corsican polyphonic music. France’s culture ministry can only support one candidacy every two years for the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage bid; bouquinistes may end up competing against zinc rooftops and Parisian cafes, among other rivals.

Ahead of 2020 municipal elections in Paris, the bouquinistes’ campaign is also taking on a partisan edge. Some bouquinistes, including Nosek, say the city’s leftist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has not done enough to spearhead their drive — a sentiment shared by the 5th arrondissement mayor Berthout, a member of the center-right.

“The day she sees their dossier is likely to win, she’ll be only too happy to support it,” Berthout said of Mayor Hidalgo. “But it’s today that we need to fight.”

In an email, Paris City Hall noted it had voted to back the bouquinistes’ bid for UNESCO status, and petitioned Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen to do the same.

“The city of Paris has supported the profession for a long time,” the city’s communications office wrote. “It does not charge them any fee for occupying public space.”

Divided over souvenirs

For his part, Nosek is going a step beyond the UNESCO drive. Last year, he launched an online petition against selling kitch that he claims is distorting the trade. So far, it’s gathered more than 21,000 signatures.

“You hardly find any books anymore, only trinkets made in China,” he said. “It’s sad when the trade and the clients aren’t respected.”

Still, not all bouquinistes agree — or back the UNESCO bid. Tacky Eiffel Towers rule at Francis Robert’s stand across the river. So do keychains, plates and backpacks with Paris logos. Squeezed in between are the old comic books Robert has been selling for 40 years.

“There are days when I can’t sell a single comic book, even with an old and loyal clientele,” Robert said. “Today, it’s souvenirs that help us live — and allow us to continue selling books.”

Intangible cultural heritage status may look good on paper, he added, “But if we’re not careful, we’ll become so intangible, we’ll disappear altogether.”
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Israel Advances Plans for 1,000 West Bank Settlement Homes

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

The Israeli government on Wednesday announced that it was advancing plans to build over 1,000 new homes in West Bank settlements, pressing ahead with construction as the Trump administration prepares to unveil a long-awaited peace plan.

The Civil Administration, the defense body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, said its planning committee had approved a total of 1,015 housing units.

Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the decision included final approval for immediate construction of nearly 400 homes, with the rest requiring further bureaucratic approvals. It said most of the units were in isolated communities that would likely have to be removed as part of any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Some 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

Most of the international community, along with the Palestinians, considers the settlements illegal and an impediment to peace. Israel says the fate of the settlements must be resolved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

In a break from his predecessors, President Donald Trump has avoided condemning settlement construction, though he has urged Israel to show restraint.

Trump’s Mideast team, headed by his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been working on a peace proposal for months but has not said when it will be released.Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that a “lot of progress” has been made, but would not say when it will be publicized.

The Palestinians have already said they consider the plan a non-starter, accusing Trump of being unfairly biased toward Israel after his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in December.

There was no immediate Palestinian reaction to the latest settlement announcement, which came in the middle of a Muslim holiday, but it was expected to draw further condemnation.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement that the administration was “firmly committed to pursuing a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

“The President has made his position on the settlements clear, and we encourage all parties to continue to work towards peace,” the State Department said.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in May that he aimed to fast-track plans for thousands of West Bank settlement homes in 2018.

Among the housing plans advanced Wednesday were hundreds of units in the West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem, where an Israeli man was killed by a Palestinian last month. Lieberman had vowed to build there in response to the killing.
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Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Activists Hail Manafort’s Conviction as ‘Victory of Sorts’

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

Anti-corruption activists in Ukraine welcomed the conviction of Paul Manafort on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud, saying they hope his trial will give fresh impetus to Ukrainian probes into politicians and oligarchs in Kyiv who paid millions of dollars to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager.

Ukrainian prosecutors should ask for the evidence used by U.S. prosecutors in the trial in the state of Virginia for their stalled probes into political corruption in Ukraine, they say.

Most of the 18 fraud charges Manafort faced — he was found guilty on eight of them — stemmed from his work as a political consultant for ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions. Manafort masterminded the political comeback in Kyiv of Yanukovych in 2010, six years after Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution blocked him from taking office after a disputed election.

“Manafort’s case is [an] important message for Ukrainian society to continue to fight for fair politics,” tweeted Serhiy Leshchenko, a lawmaker and former journalist, who helped expose secret cash payments channeled to Manafort from the Party of Regions between 2007 and 2012. According to U.S. prosecutors, Manafort received from his Ukrainian paymasters more than $60 million — money Leshchenko and anti-corruption campaigners say was stolen from public funds. The payments were recorded in handwriting in a so-called “black ledger” maintained by the Party of Regions.

Like other anti-corruption activists, though, Leshchenko’s satisfaction with Tuesday’s verdict is mixed with frustration — he laments that no high-ranking official from the Yanukovych era has yet been prosecuted in Ukraine for graft. Manafort’s conviction is a victory of sorts for Ukraine, they argue, but will be more complete when officials and oligarchs linked to Yanukovych face jail time.

“We still have no result of prosecution of high rank corrupted individuals,” Leshchenko tweeted.

Some hope is being drawn from an announcement made Tuesday by Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, who told reporters in Kyiv that he is opening a criminal investigation into former Yanukovych officials and ministers incriminated in the Manafort trial. Lutsenko said that in February he sent an official request to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller offering his readiness to provide any assistance needed in the prosecution of Manafort. He said his office had cooperated with the FBI before Mueller’s appointment and that important information had been exchanged.

Lutsenko told reporters that Manafort broke no tax evasion laws in Ukraine and is not under investigation but that former state officials who paid him may be guilty of various offenses. He cited the hundreds of documents presented by U.S. prosecutors in the Manafort trial, as well as the testimony of Manafort’s former deputy, Rick Gates, as the reason for the opening of the new investigation.

“There has been testimony that Manafort received funds for his consulting services for disgraced ex-president Yanukovych and the Party of Regions from specific politicians of Ukraine,” Lutsenko said, according to local news reports.

The prosecutor general didn’t name the politicians, but in court testimony Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, named politicians Serhiy Lyovochkin, Serhiy Tihipko, Andriy Klyuyev, Borys Kolesnikov and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. He said they had funneled money into accounts in Cyprus, which was then laundered through offshore companies, and used the money to buy real estate and luxury cars and to support Manafort’s extravagant lifestyle.

But activists fear that for all the talk of new probes, words won’t translate into action and that political obstacles will be thrown up to block investigations, something they say has happened frequently with probes into high-level corruption.

Part of the problem lies with inter-agency rivalry.

After the ouster of Yanukovych in the 2013/2014 Maidan uprising, three anti-corruption agencies were established with the encouragement of Western powers — the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which monitors the process of asset declaration by civil servants, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which investigates high-level corruption, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which oversees NABU investigations and mounts state prosecutions in court. All three have been at each others’ throats and NABU officials say they have been purposely impeded, for political reasons, in their probes.

The NABU’s head, Artem Sytnyk, has claimed there have been illegal dismissals of criminal cases against officials, and has accused the SAPO of corruption. Lutsenko has also clashed with the NABU and last year sought to persuade Ukraine’s parliament to dismiss the heads of the anti-corruption agencies. Western powers, including U.S. officials, lobbied against the move.

Some analysts worry the Ukrainian government of President Petro Poroshenko is unlikely to want to prosecute Manafort’s political allies for fear of angering the Trump administration, whose support it needs to counter Russia.

Lutsenko insisted Tuesday no political obstacles will be thrown in the way of the Manafort-related probes, saying no one had tried to give him an order to stop. He said if it is confirmed that anyone paid money illegally to Manafort, “then he will be held liable in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation.”

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After Summer’s Growth Revisions, Macron Has Budget Work Cut Out

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

French President Emmanuel Macron will make the tough political choices needed to meet his deficit commitments, his government spokesman said, as he looked to put a bodyguard scandal behind him at his first Cabinet meeting after the summer break.

Macron and his ministers in all likelihood need to find savings in next year’s budget, to be presented to parliament next month, if they are to prevent the deficit from ballooning once again.

The president faced his first crisis in the summer when video surfaced of bodyguard Alexandre Benalla beating a protester. Macron’s own aloof response fanned public discontent.

Now the 40-year-old leader returns to work facing difficult political choices as he embarks on a new wave of reforms to reform the pensions system, overhaul public healthcare and shake-up the highly unionized public sector — tasks complicated by forecasts that economic growth is slower than expected.

“A budget is not only figures, but a strategy, and strong political choices,” Griveaux said, without giving details on the budget negotiations. “There will be [spending] increases and then we will require efforts from other sectors.”

The French economy eked out less growth than expected in the second quarter as strikes and higher taxes hit consumer spending, official data showed in July.

Macron has linked fiscal discipline to restoring France’s credibility in Europe, and while the budget deficit — forecast at 2.3 percent of GDP this year and next — should not surpass the EU-mandated 3 percent limit, it is still expected to be one of the highest in the euro zone.

“The budget equation is becoming more complicated,” Denis Ferrand, economist at COE-Rexecode told Reuters.

The Bank of France has revised 2018 growth down to 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent. Budget rapporteur Joel Giraud in July said that a revision down to 1.7 percent could see the public deficit slip by 0.2 percentage points.

Beyond raising eyebrows in Brussels and Berlin, it would also complicate Macron’s efforts to make transfers towards social policies that might help him dispel the impression among leftist critics that he is a “president of the rich.”

“It would be more difficult to find resources for social spending,” Ferrand said.

Elysee officials acknowledge growth was lower than expected in the first half, and say the housing and subsidized jobs portfolios will see sharp cuts to help finance Macron’s priorities in education, security and the environment.

Some 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) is expected to be saved by changing rules for widely-enjoyed housing benefits, junior minister Julien Denormandie told BFM TV earlier on Wednesday.

Last year, a cut of five euros ($6) per month to the same allowance contributed to a sharp slump in the president’s popularity, which opinion polls show plumbing lows.
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EXCLUSIVE – Sources: Aramco Listing Plan Halted, Oil Giant Disbands Advisors

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

Saudi Arabia has called off both the domestic and international stock listing of state oil giant Aramco, billed as the biggest such deal in history, four senior industry sources said on Wednesday.

The financial advisors working on the proposed listing have been disbanded, as Saudi Arabia shifts its attention to a proposed acquisition of a “strategic stake” in local petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp., two of the sources said.

“The decision to call off the IPO was taken some time ago, but no-one can disclose this, so statements are gradually going that way — first delay then calling off,” a Saudi source familiar with IPO plans.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Saudi Royal Court had no immediate comment.

The proposed listing of the national champion was a central part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform drive aimed at restructuring the kingdom’s economy and reducing its dependence on oil revenue.

The prince announced the plan to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in 2016 via a local and an international listing, predicting the sale would value the whole company at $2 trillion or more. Several industry experts however questioned whether a valuation that high was realistic, which hindered the process of preparing the IPO for the advisors.

Stock exchanges in financial centers including London, New York and Hong Kong had been vying to host the international tranche of the share sale.

An army of bankers and lawyers started to fiercely compete to win advisory roles in the IPO, seen as a gateway to a host of other deals they expected to flow from the kingdom’s wide privatization program.

International banks JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC, were working as global coordinators, boutique investment banks Moelis & Co and Evercore were chosen as independent advisors and law firm White & Case as legal adviser, sources had previously told Reuters.

More banks were expected to be named but no bookrunners were formally appointed despite banks pitching for the deal.

Lawyers, bankers and auditors are all essential in the drafting the prospectus, a formal document that provides essential details on the company.

“The message we have been given is that the IPO has been called off for the foreseeable future,” said one of the sources, a senior financial advisor.

“Even the local float on the Tadawul Stock Exchange has been shelved,” the source added.

Saudi energy minister and Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih said in the company’s 2017 annual report, released in August, that Aramco “continued to prepare itself for the listing of its shares, a landmark event the company and its board anticipate with excitement.”

Aramco had a budget which it used to pay advisors until the end of June. This has not been renewed, one of sources said.

“The advisors have been put on standby,” a third source, a senior oil industry official said.

“The IPO has not been officially called off, but the likelihood of it not happening at all is greater than it being on.”

Sources have previously told Reuters that in addition to the valuations, disagreements among Saudi officials and their advisers over which international listing venue to be chosen had slowed down the IPO preparations.
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Panama-Registered Tanker Missing in Piracy-Plagued West African Waters

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeAF

A tanker vessel has gone missing off the coast of Gabon in West Africa — an area notorious for piracy — and no word has been heard from its crew for a week, the ship’s managers said on Tuesday.

The Georgian government said 17 of its citizens were on board the Pantelena serving as crew.

Communication was lost with the Panama-registered tanker at about 2 a.m. local time on Aug. 14, at which time it was about 17 miles from the port of Libreville, in Gabon, Athens-based Lotus Shipping said in a statement.

It gave no further details on the cargo and crew, and did not say if it believed the Pantelena had been hijacked by pirates. The vessel is a dual purpose oil or chemicals tanker.

“We at Lotus Shipping, acting on behalf of the vessel’s owners…have set as our first and foremost priority to safeguard the safety of the crew and with their interest in mind we cannot provide any additional media comments at this point in time,” it said.

The Pantelena was on route from Lome to Libreville and was last seen nearing the Gabon coast at 9 p.m. on August 13, according to ship tracking data on Reuters, which lists the ship as a double-hulled oil tanker managed by Lotus.

While piracy has decreased worldwide, the Gulf of Guinea has become an increasing target for pirates who steal cargo and demand ransoms. Piracy-related issues were a decade ago focused off the East African coast, particularly Somalia’s unpoliced waters.

Ships in the Gulf of Guinea were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, according to a report in January by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which highlighted the waters off West Africa as an area of growing concern.

Ten incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew members took place in or around Nigerian waters, the IMB said. Globally 16 vessels reported being fired upon, seven of which were in the Gulf of Guinea.
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After IS Killed Her Sons, Iraqi Grandmother Fends for 22 Children

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

Iraqi grandmother Sana Ibrahim al-Taee has a full-time job feeding and clothing her 22 grandchildren after Islamic State killed their fathers — her sons — a struggle in a cramped flat with little help from the state.

Al-Taee and her husband, who has Alzheimer’s, share their four-room apartment in eastern Mosul with the children, aged between two and 16, their daughter and two of their sons’ widows. Rent, food, clothes and schooling depend on donations and charity handouts.

Al-Taee is waiting to hear if the government will provide pensions of 500,000 dinars ($420) a month for her sons, who worked in the military and police.

“I hope that the authorities will give pensions and housing for those orphans, because I am not going to live for 100 years,” the 64-year-old told Reuters.

Al-Taee, who is in poor health with vocal cord paralysis, has provided death certificates for three sons but said the other two were buried in mass, unmarked graves and she has not been able to find their bodies.

That means they are classed as missing rather than dead so she has no death certificates for them and cannot apply for their pensions — a common problem for families in the north and west of the country where Islamic State controlled vast swaths of territory in 2014.

The militants were driven out by U.S.-backed Iraqi troops in December, but the government has said it will need up to $100 billion to rebuild the cities with Mosul’s mosques, churches, markets and other landmarks left in ruin.

“When Daesh [Islamic State] militants seized our areas, they destroyed us. By God, the militants humiliated us. They killed our sons and nothing has remained,” al-Taee said.

The two widows living in the cramped home had been working for local civil organizations, but left after not being paid.

They are now looking for work as servants.
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Russian Telecoms Press for Foreign Internet Companies to Pay for Data Storage

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

Russian telecom operators have proposed legislation that would require foreign Internet companies to share the financial burden of a new law on storing data in the country, a draft bill seen by Reuters shows.

If adopted, the legislation would allow Russian telecom companies to claim compensation from foreign Internet companies, including social media and messenger services such as Google and Facebook, for compliance with the data storage rules that come into effect from October.

If foreign Internet companies refuse to comply, Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor could be allowed to reduce the speed of access to their websites for Russian users.

Google declined to comment and Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The bill will be sent to the government as soon as all operators reach a harmonized position,” a senior manager at one of Russia’s telecom companies told Reuters.

A representative of Rostelecom, a leading Russian telecom operator, said the company supported the notion of spreading the data storage costs with foreign Internet companies.

Russian telecom operators MTS, VimpelCom and Tele2 declined to comment.

Megafon, which would not comment on the draft legislation, told Reuters that all interested parties – not only telecom operators – should take part in the development of Internet resources.

The cost for Russia’s three largest telecom operators – MTS, Megafon and VimpelCom – of creating and sustaining a system to store data to comply with the law will reach 145 billion rubles ($2.17 billion) over the next five years, the companies have said.

Russian telecom operators still do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to store users’ data, industry sources have said.

They will also have to use foreign technology to comply with the data storage law, even though President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to ensure that local companies produce the equipment.

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South Africans Outraged Over Video with Racist Rant

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeAF

South Africans are expressing outrage over a video showing a local man filming himself on a beach during a racist rant.

Local media identify the man as Adam Catzavelos, who says it is “heaven on earth” with no black people around. He uses a deeply offensive racist slur.

It is not clear where the video was first posted.

Local media say Catzavelos has been fired from his family’s business. Eyewitness News cites a family statement as calling his remarks “abhorrent.”

At least three food industry groups that did business with the company say they have ended the relationship.

South Africa continues to face racist incidents nearly a quarter-century after the end of white minority rule.

The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party has reportedly opened a criminal case against Catzavelos.
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Kabul Rejects Moscow-Hosted Afghan Peace Talks, Taliban to Attend

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

The U.S.-backed Afghan government announced Wednesday it does not plan to attend next month’s multi-nation conference in Russia on the future of Afghanistan, while the Taliban insurgency confirmed to VOA it has accepted the invitation and will send a delegation to event.

Moscow has invited, beside Kabul and the Taliban, 11 key regional countries, including China, Pakistan and Iran, to take part in the September 4 meeting in the Russian capital.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sibghatullah Ahmadi, confirmed to VOA on Wednesday the government has decided against sending its delegation to the talks in Russia, but he did not cite any reasons.

Afghan officials reportedly are upset because Moscow did not consult them before extending an invitation to the Taliban.

Ahmadi stopped short of confirming those reports, saying the “Islamic government of Afghanistan should be a focal point of any developments that are happening around the world about Afghanistan.”

He insisted Kabul has “very good cordial” relations with Moscow and both the countries always consult each other on all issues, “particularly those related to the Afghan government-led peace ad reconciliation process.”

Spokesman Ahmadi asserted that “any discussions that are organized outside the government-led peace process will not yield results.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday an invitation has been extended to the Taliban and the insurgent group plans to attend.

“Representatives of the Afghan leadership and the Taliban were invited to the meeting. Their first reaction was positive and they plan to participate. I hope it will be a productive meeting,” said the top Russian diplomat.

The Taliban confirmed Wednesday insurgent political negotiators will travel to Moscow to participate in the daylong conference.

“The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] has accepted the invitation and it will send delegation led by the head of our Political Office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and will present the Islamic Emirate’s stance regarding the Afghanistan problem and its solution,” said Taliban Zabihullah Mujahid.

It will be the first time in several years the Taliban would officially participate in such an event and will be a major breakthrough for Russian diplomacy.

Russia defends its contacts with the Taliban, saying it is trying to encourage the insurgents to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government to bring an end to an increasingly deadly war in the country.

“We maintain these contacts primarily for the sake of the security of Russian nationals in Afghanistan, Russian agencies there, and also to convince the Taliban to renounce armed conflict and join the national dialogue with the government,” Lavrov said.

But he rejected Afghan assertions that Moscow’s ties with the Taliban are meant to use the insurgency to fight Islamist State militants who are trying to expand their influence in Afghan areas beyond the control of the Kabul government.

“I cannot imagine how Russia even hypothetically could use the Taliban against ISIS,” he said. “We are fighting ISIS with every tool we have. We support Syria in this fight and provide assistance in equipping the Iraqi army for the same purpose. Of course, we want the Afghan people to get rid of ISIS.”

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Rebel Faction Rejoins South Sudan Army

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeAF

A group of rebel soldiers is rejoining the South Sudanese army in the wake of last month’s peace deal between rebel factions and the government.

Brigadier General Chan Garang told reporters in Juba Tuesday that he and more than 300 officers and soldiers are coming back to the government. Army spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang confirmed the development.

Meanwhile, government and rebel faction representatives are expected to sign a follow-up agreement this weekend in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. Last month’s agreement, which revitalized a 2015 peace deal, has led to a reduction in fighting across South Sudan.

However, the sides have yet to agree on several contentious issues, such as the number of states, their boundaries, and the roles of the five vice presidents in a new transitional government to be formed.

Army sees end to insecurity

Koang said that Garang’s group made a number of “daring raids” on the army’s defensive positions and ambushes on a road between Juba and the town of Luri.

“So we are talking of a very able field commander who defected, gave us hard time and with his return, I strongly believe insecurity around Juba is going to be a thing of the past,” said Koang.

According to Koang, Chan Garang defected in 2017 and joined the SPLA-In Opposition led by Riek Machar. He later defected and joined the South Sudan United Front Army led by former army chief of staff General Paul Malong.

Garang said he defected from the government because he opposed the killings of youth in his home area of Aweil. He said the killings were carried out by government security operatives.

“The president of the republic [Salva Kiir] announced an amnesty offer. We heard it and we accepted and that is why we have decided to return. This is our home… So I have come and I believe many will follow me,” Garang said.

Ajang Ajang Lino, who calls himself commander-in-chief of the returning forces, said his group negotiated with national security director Akol Khor and agreed to terms before his group returned to Juba.

“Because General Malong was not in consensus with us, we left him but he will still come back at his own time,” said Ajang.

Ajang said the returning rebel soldiers will be reintegrated into their former units in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Ajang also said that the decision by his group to return to the government marks an end of military activities by the South Sudan United Front Army.

But in a statement issued Wednesday, Sunday de John, the spokesperson for Malong’s group, disputed Ajang’s claims. He said Garang’s group had no connection to Malong’s South Sudan United Front Army.

‘Rebellion no longer attractive’

James Okuk, a political analyst and a political science professor at the University of Juba, said Garang’s group was indeed part the South Sudan United Front, and says Malong’s rebel group has been weakened by the loss of Garang’s faction.

“Rebellion is no longer attractive and Sudan has taken the lead with Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia all together and they are saying it is time for peace in South Sudan and whoever wants to continue with rebellion will face consequences,” Okuk told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.

Okuk said given the progress of the peace talks in Khartoum, the most viable thing now for all rebel groups, including General Malong’s is to “join the train of peace.”

South Sudan’s civil war has raged since December 2013 and displaced more than four million South Sudanese from their homes.
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Russia Braces for Impact from US Sanctions

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

New U.S. sanctions on Russia expected to be announced Wednesday, imposed under a chemical and biological warfare law following the poisoning of a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain earlier this year, have taken effect – the latest chapter in what some are describing as a protracted war of attrition.

But Kremlin officials are less concerned about this week’s penalties and more agitated about a possible future slew of sanctions called for by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.

This week’s round of sanctions, which includes a broad ban on technology exports to Russia, has been condemned by Russian officials.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday sanctions on several Russian firms and individuals it accuses of violating bans on energy trade with North Korea and breaking U.S. laws against cooperation with Russia’s intelligence arm, the Federal Security Service.

Sigal Mandelker, a U.S. Treasury official, told the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday that the administration was prepared to ratchet up sanctions.

“Though Russia’s malign activities continue, we believe its adventurism undoubtedly has been checked by the knowledge that we can bring much more economic pain to bear,” said Mandelker. “We will not hesitate to do so if its conduct does not demonstrably and significantly change.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call this week that the sanctions were unfriendly, illegal and warned they would harm world trade. But he stopped short of threatening retaliation, saying, “Let’s wait and see what will happen, if anything.”

According to Emily Ferris, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank, the new sanctions will exacerbate “already difficult relationship between the U.S. and Russia. “ But she says the effect of them “is likely to be quite small” as America is not a main trading partner with Russia, whose business ties are much greater with the European Union, which is not joining in with these latest sanctions.

“Russia is likely to react by waiting to see whether America makes good on its promise to expand the sanctions, she said. “Russia usually responds with reciprocal measures. It is not willing to escalate into a trade war.”

Separate U.S. sanctions imposed in early April, punishment for what U.S. officials said was “worldwide malign activity” by the Russian government, lowered the value of the ruble, reducing the buying power of ordinary Russians traveling abroad or buying foreign goods.

The U.S. Department of State announced this week’s sanctions on Russia earlier in August, accusing the Kremlin of violating international law. Officials said they had established to their satisfaction that the Russian government was behind the poisoning in Britain of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia. Both were hospitalized and treated for a nerve-agent attack.

The White House is mandated to impose sanctions under a 1991 U.S. law on any country deemed to be responsible for a chemical or biological weapons attack. A second set of penalties — harsher than those in first round — will follow, according to the law, if Russia fails to agree within 90 days to cease all use of chemical weapons and allows inspectors to confirm their elimination.

The Kremlin has denied vehemently any involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals, and, analysts say, Russian President Vladimir Putin is highly unlikely to grant international inspectors any access to suspected chemical weapons sites.

The additional penalties the Trump administration could impose later in the year include the possible withdrawal of U.S. underwriting for international and U.S. bank loans to Russia, prohibition of landing rights in the U.S. for Russian airlines and even the suspension of diplomatic relations.

It is the possible second slew of sanctions — along with curbs envisaged in bipartisan legislation that, if enacted would target Russia’s energy and financial sectors and place sanctions on Russian sovereign debt — that are highly alarming to Moscow as they would have far greater impact on Russia’s economy.

Of the greatest concern, say Russian analysts, is a proposed ban on U.S. dollar operations for Russian state-owned banks included in a draft version of legislation sponsored by U.S. senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez, which would force Russian banks to resort to intermediaries for foreign currency settlements. The proposals being pushed in the U.S. Senate would make it hard for Western investors to buy Russian government bonds and would reduce Russia’s ability to borrow abroad.

Russian officials appear focused on doing their best to inoculate the country — and government — as best they can from more stringent sanctions, or at least to lessen their impact. Putin’s economic advisor, Andrey Belousov, has called for the requisitioning of the profits of Russia’s metals and chemicals companies to help fund the government, prompting a clamor of disapproval from some government officials.

In July the Russian Duma approved a package of laws designed to help minimize the possible consequences of sanctions.

They included the establishment of two Russian tax havens in Kaliningrad Region and Primorsky Territory. Russian offshore companies can re-register in the Kremlin-controlled tax havens but keep their status as international companies, enjoy tax benefits and are exempt from currency controls. Corporate information about the ownership of these businesses is available only to Russia’s regulatory agencies and courts, making it harder for the U.S., or any other sanctioning foreign power, from being able to target Russia’s oligarchs and their companies.

Aside from taking defensive measures, Russia has a series of retaliatory actions it could take. But doing so would risk escalation and the retaliation wouldn’t impact the U.S. economy as a whole.

Among the measures Russian officials and lawmakers have suggested: placing restrictions on exports to the U.S. of titanium, which is used by Boeing for aircraft manufacture; imposing higher tariffs on U.S. cargo and passenger planes for transiting Russian airspace or banning U.S. carriers altogether; and stopping the supply of Russia’s RD-180 rocket engines used by NASA and the Pentagon to launch American satellites.
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New Technology Aims to Prevent Newborn Deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeAF

An internship at a hospital in Malawi was an eye-opening experience for Sonia Sosa.

“Sometimes, there are tons of babies, and there are not that many nurses, so they’re understaffed. It was really hard to work there, but then it also challenged me to really go back and work really hard to be able to provide this care that is accessible to them,” said Sosa, who studied biomedical engineering and is a global health fellow at Rice 360° Institute for Global Health in Houston.

The purpose of the institute, through various programs, is to design and implement new technologies to combat global health problems.

One of the institute’s efforts is the Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies project also known as NEST360°. The collaborative, multinational effort aims to reduce the number of newborn deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with one of the highest neonatal mortality rates in the world. NEST aims to develop a collection of medical technologies that would be appropriate for a harsh and challenging environment and make them sustainable through educating clinicians and developing distribution systems for this technology.

The devices are being developed or being tested, such as a light weight incubator, a diagnostic device for jaundice and respiratory rate monitor.

Made for the environment

In total, 17 technologies have been identified, and together, engineers say they can help prevent the top causes of newborn deaths such as pneumonia and preterm birth in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our students developed a solution that would cost on the order of hundreds of dollars and not only address the fact that it needed to be robust and cost-effective, but also easy to maintain and repair should something happen,” said Yvette Mirabal, executive director of Rice 360° Institute For Global Health.

Countries such as Malawi have received donations of medical equipment in the past, but they were not always helpful.

“I saw that all the devices come in as donations from First World countries, they didn’t fit in there. People used it differently, put them in weird places, and when they broke, there were no spare parts,” said global health fellow and engineer Jack Wang.

The devices ended up collecting dust and becoming useless because they were not right for the environment. There is also the issue of a lack of knowledge about the first world equipment.

“The engineers, doctors, nurses, aren’t necessarily familiar and or trained with them, unless they had gone to a Western school where they’ve been exposed to some of these technologies, but maybe even in more complex forms. So, there was a systemic change that needed to be addressed,” said Mirabal.

Understanding the harsh dusty environment in Malawi and inconsistent electricity will help engineers build better devices, suitable for that part of the world.

“We’re, in some cases, incorporating battery power where it’s appropriate. And then in other cases, we’re testing out backup power or including sort of with the NEST bundle of technologies, a package of solar power so that when there are those blackouts, there’s a backup system,” Mirabal said.

Of the 17 technologies, some are commercially available. Others are either in clinical trials or in early prototypes. A $15 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation is a start at achieving the goal of developing the technologies, scale them and roll them out first in Malawi, and eventually to other countries that need them.
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Video of Unwanted Advance Divides Egyptians

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEA

It might have been another #MeToo moment: An Egyptian woman says a man stalked her at a bus stop, made inappropriate advances, and only backed off when she began filming him with her cellphone.

But when she posted the video on Facebook, it ignited an online debate in which many Egyptians, including women, took the man’s side. Some say he was politely flirting and the woman overreacted, while others have speculated about what she was wearing, suggesting she was the one at fault.

Sexual harassment, mostly ranging from catcalls to occasional pinching or grabbing, is rampant in Egypt. Polls have found that a majority of both men and women in the conservative Muslim country believe it is justified if women dress “provocatively” in public.

That may explain the response to the brief video Menna Gubran posted on Aug. 15. In it, a man later identified as Mahmoud Soliman can be seen approaching her on a suburban Cairo street and inviting her to coffee at On the Run, a nearby convenience store. She politely declines, and he apologizes and walks away.

In a subsequent video and in TV interviews, Gubran said Soliman had circled in his car three times as she waited for a bus and made comments that made her feel uncomfortable. At one point, she went into a nearby supermarket, hoping he would leave. When she returned, he came by again and got out of his car, at which point she says she began filming.

Soliman, who has also given TV interviews, denies doing anything wrong and disputed her account of circling in his car. “I just invited her to drink coffee, and I never bothered her. When she said I was bothering her, I apologized and left,” he said.

The video provoked a torrent of angry responses, but while many praised Gubran for outing an alleged harasser, just as many accused her of overreacting or questioned her motives.

“The man was speaking in a very polite and respectful way and she as any Egyptian woman called him a harasser,” a man who identified himself as Mustafa el-Sokarri wrote on Twitter.

Others asked what Gubran, who does not appear in the video, was wearing, with some fishing personal photos out of her social media accounts. Many treated the incident as a joke. The Arabic phrase for “Let’s drink coffee” trended on social media, and “On the Run Guy” even enjoyed a moment of local fame.

Long-running debate

The diverging responses reflect a long-running debate in Egypt over what constitutes sexual harassment and who is at fault.

“The incident was indeed harassment and a violation of the girl’s privacy,” said Maha Ahmed, a human rights lawyer at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. “Unfortunately, there is misunderstanding of harassment in Egypt and this caused the controversy.”

The problem of sexual harassment in Egypt gained worldwide attention during and after the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, when women were harassed, groped — and in some cases, beaten and sexually assaulted — during mass protests.

In 2014, the government passed a law making sexual harassment punishable by up to five years in prison, but it is not widely enforced, particularly when it comes to milder forms of street harassment.

Mozn Hassan, a women’s rights activist, said that although the law was a positive step, it does not define different kinds of sexual harassment. “The state should lay down a clear definition,” she told the daily al-Shorouk on Sunday.

Dangerous megacity

A study released last year by Reuters ranked Cairo as the most dangerous megacity in the world for women. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi questioned its findings, but acknowledged in TV comments last November that “there is sexual harassment in Egypt. There is a big percentage, but not to say it is the worst.”

Another poll carried out last year by U.N. Women and Promundo, a nongovernmental organization, found that nearly 60 percent of Egyptian women say they have been sexually harassed, and nearly 65 percent of men acknowledge harassing women, though they mainly admitted to ogling.

The poll, which surveyed 1,380 men and 1,402 women in five governorates, found that 74 percent of men — and 84 percent of women — agreed that “women who dress provocatively deserve to be harassed.” Forty-three percent of men said women “like the attention” when men harass them.

Only 20 percent of women said they did.
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Paris’ Riverside Booksellers Seek UNESCO Status

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeEU

It’s high tourist season in Paris, where the banks of the Seine River are a top attraction — and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Now, the city’s riverside booksellers are campaigning for special recognition by the United Nation’s cultural agency. At stake, some say, is sheer survival. Lisa Bryant reports for VOA from the French capital.
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Bolton: US Wants Stronger Iran Sanctions Than Pre-Nuclear Deal

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser says the reimposition of economic sanctions against Iran has had a “profound effect,” and the administration wants to go further than the measures in place before the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

That agreement, struck between Iran and the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions that had hurt Iran’s economy.

John Bolton said Wednesday during a visit to Israel that U.S. officials have spoken with allies about what else could be done to achieve “maximum pressure” on Iran, including further sanctions and other unspecified measures.

Critics of the nuclear agreement, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say Iran got too much while giving up too little and retained an ability to pursue nuclear weapons.

“The Iran nuclear deal mitigated the effects of its mismanagement of the economy and gave the regime new life,” Bolton said. “Gave this regime that’s been the central banker of international terrorism since 1979 new assets that it could use for its nuclear weapons program, for its ballistic missile program, for its terrorist support activities, for its conventional military activities.”

Iran insists its nuclear program has been for peaceful purposes. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which was tasked by the U.N. Security Council with monitoring Iran’s compliance, has reported Iran is living up to its part of the agreement.

Bolton said the United States is not advocating “regime change” in Iran, but wants the Iranian government to change its behavior. If it does, he said, “there’s a possibility of a settlement.”

He continued to focus on Iran as he discussed the situation in Syria, saying the U.S. does not want to see Iran achieve what he said was an obvious Iranian plan to “create an arc of control” stretching across Iraq and Syria and linking with its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Bolton said he would be discussing Iran’s presence in Syria with his Russian counterpart during a meeting Thursday in Geneva, following up on similar talks between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.

He also warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to carry out further chemical weapons attacks.

“We had hoped that our strikes had created structures of deterrence to convince the Assad regime not to do that. We hope that’s right. But just so that there’s no confusion here, if they Syrian regime uses chemical weapons, we will respond very strongly,” Bolton said.

The Trump administration has been working on its plan for bringing long-sought peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, but has yet to publicly disclose its approach.

Bolton said Wednesday that “work continues” but no decision has been made on the timing of announcing those details.

“I think there’s been a lot of progress in relations in the region as a result of the process of going through the possible outlines of what the plan would look like,” he said. Bolton added that any agreement would be ultimately up to the parties themselves and not something forced by the United States.

He also praised Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and declare the city the capital of Israel, saying those steps brought “reality” to the peace negotiations.

“I think in that sense it was a very positive step forward, not just for Israel, but for the Palestinians as well.”

Palestinian leaders strongly rejected both moves and said the United States could no longer play a role in the peace process.

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Taiwan Leader’s US Visit Gives Boost at Home, Enrages China

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeUS

The Taiwanese president’s unusually high-profile trip to the United States this month boosted her image at home but enraged Beijing, sparking China’s boycott of a Taiwanese-owned coffee shop chain and possibly the latest loss of a diplomatic ally.

Tsai Ing-wen gave a speech August 13 in Los Angeles and on Sunday became the first Taiwanese president since the 1970s to visit a federal facility when she toured the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Tsai’s stops on the way to see its allies in Latin America were higher profile than trips by previous presidents. That, analysts say, angered China.

Beijing had asked the United States to cancel Tsai’s stopovers and accused Tsai of trying to split Taiwan from China.

Chinese netizens called for a boycott against the Taiwanese-owned 85C coffeehouse chain, and on Tuesday Taiwan broke ties with El Salvador, which became the fifth nation in two years to recognize China instead.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, saying the self-ruled island has no right to maintain its own relations with foreign countries.

“Given the timing, China’s move on El Salvador clearly correlates with Tsai’s visit,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center research organization in Washington. “The punitive, retaliatory nature of the move is more than clear. Tsai’s visit to the U.S. is also unprecedented in terms of the positive and high-profile welcome she has received.”

Boost at home, outrage in China

Tsai’s appearances in the United States will help her image at home, analysts say.

Weary of pressure from China, Taiwanese citizens look to their leaders for foreign policy achievements with informal allies Japan and the United States. Her visits reflected improvement in Taiwan-U.S. ties that include a bill in Washington calling for more high-level visits and a first step in selling American submarine technology.

Sentiment at home matters because Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party is preparing for mid-term local elections in November, said Wu Chung-li, a political science research fellow at Academia Sinica, an academic research institution in Taipei. Her party vies with one that backs stronger ties with the mainland.

Tsai’s party, Wu said, is trying to “make some successful foreign connections.”

China fumes whenever Taiwanese leaders stop in the United States, usually en route to see allies in Latin America. The Communist government had little clout with Washington this time as it spars with the United States over trade, some scholars say.

Taiwan’s government hit back against China’s comment that Tsai traveled to divide her island from Chinese rule. The two sides have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s but Taiwan has never formally declared independence.

“For the president to travel abroad, visit diplomatic allies and stop off in the United States, accepting the invitations of relevant institutions, is a natural, normal and deeply meaningful matter,” said Chiu Chui-cheng, spokesman for the Taiwan government’s Mainland Affairs Council.

More than angry words

During the Los Angeles stopover, Tsai visited a store under the Taiwanese-owned 85C Bakery Café chain. The news prompted Chinese netizens to call for a boycott against the chain’s China outlets.

The bakery-cafe chain this month posted a statement saying it backed the 1992 Consensus, Beijing’s condition for Taiwan-China dialogue that could eventually cover the issue of political unification. The condition requires that both sides talk as part of a single China. Tsai rejects the policy, which critics say Beijing uses to assert its claim over Taiwan.

Chinese netizens have boycotted other offshore-based businesses over politics, damaging South Korea’s tourism sector in 2017 over Seoul’s plans for a missile shield system that could also see into China.

“It is a kind of reality that Taiwan companies have to face so far,” Wu said. “On one hand they have to face the domestic issue, but on the other hand they have to (be) also considering the great market of China, so that is why it’s no wonder the 85C coffee shop the next day they declared their support to the 92 Consensus.”

On Monday, Taiwan announced it would sever ties with El Salvador over financial requests that it couldn’t match. Countries that cut relations with Taiwan normally establish them with China, which offers economic support that Taiwan cannot easily afford. Only 17 countries have formal relations with Taiwan now, compared to more than 175 that recognize Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is going all out to limit Taiwan’s international exposure, said Liu Yi-jiun, professor of public affairs at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. “I think the current relations between Taiwan and China are under great, great stress and it doesn’t matter what kind of things would happen,” Liu said.
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Analysts: Mueller’s Probe Reveals Corruption in Trump’s Circle

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeUS

Two former close associates of U.S. President Donald Trump have turned out to be guilty of serious crimes. On Tuesday, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud, while Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight crimes. Analysts say the two cases reveal corruption at the core of Trump’s circle although the legal actions may not have an immediate effect on his loyal base. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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USFK Commander Calls Joint Korea Military Exercises a Political Tool

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeUS

The commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK) minimized the impact of suspended U.S.-South Korea military exercises on troop readiness on Wednesday, and said the joint drills in recent years were used to pressure North Korea to engage in diplomatic talks.

“Our military actions can be used to increase pressure or decrease pressure. We are an agile instrument in the hands of our political leaders,” said General Vincent Brooks, the Commander of the USFK, the United Nations Command and the Combined Forces Command; the integrated military structure in South Korea that has been in place since the Korean War.

In the past, U.S. military officials insisted that these joint drills were intended to maintain force readiness, and were defensive in nature to deter a possible North Korean attack.

War games

After meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore Summit in June, U.S. President Donald Trump had characterized the exercises as “war games” and called them “provocative.” Some analysts said Trump’s comments echoed North Korean criticism of the joint exercises as political provocations and rehearsals for war.

At the Singapore Summit, the president also surprised allies in the region when he suspended further joint drills after Kim agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

General Brooks would not comment on President Trump’s past criticism of the drills, but said the combined exercises in recent years, that had increased in scale to include over 23,000 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korea forces, and that often brought in nuclear capable aircraft in a show of military force, were intended to send a political message.

“I would characterize this as a period of time, where we have successfully used the military instrument to help set up conditions for diplomatic engagement to take root and take effect,” said General Brooks during a press briefing in Seoul.

The joint exercises in the last few years were held at times of heightened tensions as North Korea conducted increasingly threatening ballistic missile and nuclear tests.

Troop readiness

General Brooks said the suspension of the drills would require some “adjustment” and “creativity,” but that military commanders will be able to maintain troop readiness “in perpetuity” without conducting the massive combined military maneuvers.

But some security analysts have voiced concern that suspending the exercise would have a long-term detrimental impact on the combined forces’ ability to work in unison as new troops are constantly rotating in.

“As the term of (South) Korea military service was shortened to 18 months, if joint military training does not take place during the term, Korean soldiers could face problems,” said Shin Beom-chul, the director of Center for Security and Unification at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

There are currently over 28,000 American military forces stationed in Korea and 620,000 active duty South Koreans serving in the military.

North Korea is estimated to have nearly one million military personnel on active duty and over five million in reserve duty. Despite the disadvantage in numbers of active military, the U.S. allied forces posses more advanced and superior conventional weapons, while analysts say much of the North’s conventional weapons and equipment is old or obsolete.

Peace declaration

General Brooks also expressed both optimism and caution about the progress being made to reduce military tensions with North Korea, and about the difficult nuclear negotiations underway between Washington and Pyongyang.

The USFK commander has been encouraged by some measures taken to reduce to potential for conflict, such as the recent agreement by South and North Korea to pull back their soldiers from guard posts in the demilitarized zone, but he is also worried as to how it might affect the ability to defend the border.

Brooks also voiced concern about increased calls from both Pyongyang and Seoul for a joint peace declaration to replace the 1953 armistice that has been in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Critics say a peace declaration could be used to undermine the justification for the U.S. military presence in South Korea

Such a peace statement, he said, should be carefully negotiated to link any change in the current defense posture to overcoming the key obstacle to peace in the region.

“I would be skeptical about any solution that does not have denuclearization in it, and how that can become an enduring peace,’ said Brooks.

The U.S. and North Korea are currently in the initial stage of a long nuclear negotiation process, according to the U.S. General.

Denuclearization talks have stalled over U.S. insistence that sanctions remain in place until North Korea fully dismantles its nuclear arsenal, while North Korea wants a step for step process that would ease economic and trade restrictions in return for incremental progress.

Lee Yoon-jee contributed to this report.
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US Commander in S. Korea Says He Supports Plan to Reduce DMZ Outposts

Posted on 08/22/2018 by SeeUS

The top commander of U.S. troops in South Korea said on Wednesday he supports moves to withdraw some outposts along the fortified border with North Korea, despite the risks.

South Korea’s defense ministry has said it plans to reduce guard posts and equipment along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on its border with North Korea as part of efforts to reduce tension and build trust with its northern neighbor.

“I have some concerns about what that means militarily for the ability to defend along the Military Demarcation Line,” U.S. General Vincent Brooks told reporters on Wednesday.

But he said that the risk is “a reasonable degree” and the move represents a good opportunity to reduce tensions.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in 1953 in an armistice that left the North Korea technically still at war with South Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations command.

Besides serving as the commander of those troops, Brooks also commands U.N. forces, and in the case of war, would take command of South Korean troops as well.

Brooks said that his troops are finding “other ways” to maintain readiness in the absence of major military drills, which were cancelled or delayed by U.S. President Donald Trump as part of a deal with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

“I received no order to become unready,” he said. “Nobody told me to stand down.”

When Trump announced the plan after his summit with Kim in Singapore in June, a spokeswoman for U.S. military forces in Korea said at the time they had not received any direction to cease joint military drills.

When asked on Wednesday if he had advance warning of Trump’s June announcement, Brooks said as a commander in the field he had no expectation that he would be briefed on the president’s plans.

“Orders come in many different ways,” he said. “So for a military commander it’s not a matter of debate, it’s a matter of implementation.”

Brooks did not elaborate on how his command had adjusted to the changes in military exercises.

He credited the military presence in South Korea with “successfully” setting the stage for this year’s diplomatic talks with North Korea, and said he supports maintaining pressure on North Korea to prevent it from “backing up” on diplomatic steps.
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