September 2018 - Page 10 of 24

Amnesty: Crackdown Turns Egypt into ‘Open-Air Prison’ for Critics

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEA

Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Egypt’s government of mounting a crackdown on freedom of expression that had turned the country into an “open-air prison” for critics.

The international human rights group said authorities had arrested at least 111 people since December for criticizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Egypt’s human rights situation in a campaign that surpassed any under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

“It is currently more dangerous to criticize the government in Egypt than at any time in the country’s recent history,” Amnesty’s North Africa Campaigns Director Najia Bounaim said in a statement.

“Egyptians living under President al-Sisi are treated as criminals simply for peacefully expressing their opinions.”

A government spokesman had no immediate comment on the Amnesty report when contacted by Reuters.

The security services had ruthlessly clamped down on independent political, social and cultural spaces, Amnesty said.

“These measures, more extreme than anything seen in former President Hosni Mubarak’s repressive 30-year rule, have turned Egypt into an open-air prison for critics,” it said.

Sisi’s supporters maintain the president, who was re-elected in March, has been trying to combat an Islamist insurgency and restore order to the country following years of chaos after Arab Spring demonstrations forced Mubarak to step down in 2011.

They say that Sisi has improved security since 2013, when as army chief he ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests against his rule.

Among those arrested were at least 35 people held on charges of “unauthorized protest” and “joining a terrorist group” after a peaceful protest against metro fare increases, and comics and satirists who posted commentary online, Amnesty said.

They also include prominent figures and possible presidential contenders, such as former military chief of staff Sami Anan and former presidential contender Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, as well as former state auditor Hesham Genena.

Amnesty said at least 28 journalists were among those detained since December 2017.

“President al-Sisi’s administration is punishing peaceful opposition and political activists with spurious counterterrorism legislation and other vague laws that define any dissent as a criminal act,” Bounaim said.
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Macedonian Court Rejects Bids to Scrap Name Referendum

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEU

Macedonia’s constitutional court has rejected two bids to declare illegal and unconstitutional the upcoming referendum on renaming the country “North Macedonia.”

The vote on Sept. 30 has been hailed by western officials as a major chance for the small Balkan country to launch the process of joining NATO and the European Union.

Judges voted 7-2 on Wednesday to reject the two bids, filed by the World Macedonian Congress, a Skopje-based diaspora group, and the small, left-wing Levitsa party.

Renaming Macedonia is a key element of a deal with neighboring Greece to end a decades-old dispute. Greece says Macedonia’s current name implies claims on its own northern province of Macedonia, and on its ancient heritage.

If the deal goes ahead, Greece will lift objections to Macedonia joining NATO and the EU.

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EU’s Tusk Says Will Call Special Brexit Summit Mid-November

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEU

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday he would call an extra Brexit summit of European Union leaders around mid-November to finalize a deal with Britain.

Tusk told a news conference before chairing a summit of all 28 EU leaders in the Austrian city of Salzburg later on Wednesday: “The Brexit negotiations are entering their decisive phase. Various scenarios are still possible today but I’d like to stress that some of Prime Minister May’s proposals from Chequers indicated positive evolution in the UK’s approach.”

Tusk said that went for the UK’s readiness to work closely with the EU on security and foreign policy after Brexit but stressed that Chequers proposals from premier Theresa May for the future Irish border and economic cooperation between the EU and Britain “will need to reworked and further negotiated”.

“Today there is perhaps more hope but there is surely less and less time,” Tusk added. “Every day that is left we must use for talks. I’d like to finalize them still this autumn,” he said. He would propose that the EU leaders hold another extra summit on Brexit around mid-November.
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Community Comes Together in Wake of Hurricane Florence

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeUS

The worst of Hurricane Florence’s sweep through the American south is only now becoming clear as coastal rivers and lakes reach historic levels. But even with the lack of electricity and flooded roads, neighbors are working together in small towns across the hard-hit coastline. VOA’s Katherine Gypson has more from North Carolina.
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Dissonant Notes as EU Leaders Try to Harmonize in Mozart’s Hometown

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEU

Another European Union leaders’ summit and more big decisions to make — on Brexit, migration and the future direction of the bloc. Or more likely there will be a postponement in making them.

This time the gathering is in the hometown of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austria’s Salzburg, overlooked by the Alps.

Mozart’s music was classical in style but full of contrapuntal complexities and at the Salzburg summit the EU leaders will once again grapple with “melodic” lines pulling against each other but without the skill of the composer to gather them into overall harmony.

Competing views

Two opposing camps will lock horns in Salzburg: one headed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who will lobby for ambitious reforms to boost integration between member states and to centralize economic governance, and the other headed by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and like-minded nativists from Austria, Italy and Poland, championing an end to immigration from outside Europe’s borders and insisting on greater flexibility for national governments on how they govern and with less meddling from Brussels.

Clouding the meeting will be embarrassing revelations that former European politicians, including a former Austrian chancellor and a former Italian prime minister, were recruited after they left office by President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief, Paul Manafort, to lobby covertly in the U.S. on behalf of Ukraine’s Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych before a popular uprising ousted him.

Manafort, who pled guilty last week to two criminal charges filed against him by special counsel Robert Mueller, pulled together European politicians secretly in what has become known as the Hapsburg Group.

The lobbying effort has become part of Mueller’s legal case against President Trump’s former campaign chief, but it also raises questions in Europe about the integrity of what some analysts describe as the EU’s “establishment class” characterized by the readiness of some its members to cash in on their careers and to line their pockets by lobbying on behalf of interests they opposed when in office, adding to populist disdain of the EU.

Brexit deadlock

The British are holding out hopes that the Salzburg summit will break the Brexit deadlock and mark a way station in their efforts to secure a departure deal from the EU that Prime Minister Theresa May can sell to her divided Conservative Party and fractious House of Commons.

Discord has been the major theme of the long-running and often stalled Brexit negotiations, but in recent days EU negotiators have appeared to soften their tone in an apparent bid to give May a helping hand just days away from a likely feisty British Conservative conference, where the seeds of a challenge to her leadership could be sown by among others her former foreign minister Boris Johnson.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has suggested a deal might be “possible” within two months and has recently talked uncharacteristically in jaunty terms about how opposing negotiators are eighty percent in agreement.

And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker avoided inflammatory taunts about Brexit in his annual state-of-the-union address to the European Parliament this month.

Angela Merkel reportedly is keen to get a Brexit deal in order for the EU to focus on the even more potentially dangerous issues to the bloc’s cohesion, such as disputes over migration policy and rule-of-law challenges being mounted by populist nationalist leaders in Italy, Hungary and Poland.

Poland was banned Monday from an EU body representing member states’ judicial institutions for the perceived erosion of the independence of country’s judiciary following changes introduced by the right wing Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Brussels has threatened further sanctions over what it terms “systemic threats” to the rule of law in Poland after a purge of the Supreme Court through the forced retirements of one-third of the justices.

Polish President Andrzej Duda rebuffed EU threats telling supporters this week at a rally in the south of Poland, “they should leave us in peace and let us fix Poland.”

According to a readout from German and Austrian officials, Merkel and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is hosting the summit, discussed Monday ahead of the EU leaders’ gathering the importance of avoiding Britain crashing out of the EU without a trade deal, which would hurt Britain more but would have an adverse impact on some EU states. “We have the same view that we must do all we can to avoid a hard Brexit,” the Austrian Chancellor said.

Brexit plan

The British hope the EU leaders will soften their instructions to Barnier and his team of negotiators, allowing him to make concessions on May’s so-called Chequers Plan. Her plan would see British firms being allowed frictionless access to the EU market in goods, but not in services and in return it would accept some rulings from the European Court of Justice and tie Britain to common standards and manufacturing regulations.

But there’s still considerable resistance from Brussels to May’s plan, which was agreed by her cabinet at the Prime Minister’s country residence known as Chequers. EU officials and member states see her proposal as amounting to cherry-picking, which could serve as an example to other member states to follow suit. They worry also that Britain could end up as a floating assembly plant for non-European manufacturers mainly from Asia, who could locate there enticed by low-tax deals and enjoy privileged access to the bloc.

Officially the Salzburg summit is an informal meeting of EU national leaders without the legal power to make binding decisions. By holding a talking-shop EU leaders hope that non-agreement on migration and the EU’s future shape — as well as on Brexit — will not be seen as a setback, EU officials concede.

“This allows them the opportunity to clear the air and talk more frankly without there being any expectations,” an official told VOA. Any decisions that are ‘informally taken could be rubber-stamped at a scheduled formal summit next month, he added.

Beefed-up border force

On migration, no one expects any breakthroughs. Every time EU leaders discuss migration policy they seem to worsen disputes.

The latest proposals, which include plans for “controlled centers” inside the EU to process migrants as well as the establishment of “regional disembarkation platforms” for migrants in North Africa have earned the scorn of both populists and liberals. Populists argue the centers should be closed camps arguing if they are open, migrants will just wander off. Liberals fear the closed camps will be squalid camps with migrants open to abuse. They point to the centers in operation in the Greek islands, where the poor conditions have been condemned by rights groups and the UN.

The EU Commission is also pushing for the establishment “genuine border police” and a beefing up the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCG), which was created in 2016. But critics say the EU’s border is too large for it to be effectively secured.

Some member states dislike the idea of EU police taking control of the border, preferring national border guards do that without meddling from Brussels. In June this year, the commission proposed strengthening the EBCG with around 10,000 border guards.

Mozart’s most famous piece for string quartet, No. 19, was nicknamed “Dissonance,” because of its unusually slow introduction. It is not listed as one of the pieces to be played at any of the formal events during the Salzburg summit.

WATCH: Henry Ridgwell’s Preview of Summit
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US Military Critical to Disaster Response in Carolinas

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeUS

While the effects of Tropical storm Florence continue to linger in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. military has been mobilized to provide critical disaster relief support in the Carolinas. As VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports, troops will be needed to continue that support long after the storm has subsided.
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Proposed Inter-Korean Projects Could Violate UN, US Sanctions

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeUS

As South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their third summit, there is increasing concern that the inter-Korean economic projects Seoul envisions could violate sanctions and fracture the U.S.-South Korean alliance.

“The South Korean government appears to be headed in the direction of, or inclined to violate bans on joint ventures with North Korea, support for trade with North Korea, and infrastructure projects with North Korea, all of which require the permission of the U.N. committee,” said Joshua Stanton, a Washington-based attorney who helped draft the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act that former President Barack Obama signed in February 2016.

For South Korea to carry out joint economic projects with North Korea, it would need to seek exemptions on sanctions from the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea.

However, “the mandate of the committee does not include the authority to modify existing terms specified in various resolutions,” said William Newcomb, a former U.S. Treasury official who is on the U.N. Security Council’s Panel of Experts on North Korea.

Disruption of relationship

If South Korea does not ask for exemptions from sanctions, Seoul will face a risk of rupturing its relationship with the U.S., Stanton said.

“It would be an extinction-level event for the U.S.-South Korean alliance,” he said. “This is an absolutely incomprehensible betrayal by a nation that calls itself our ally that Americans have defended with [their] blood and with their money.”

And if sanctions are willfully violated, Stanton said South Korea would be, “in its own way, a rogue nation.” The roster of rogue nations includes North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Syria and others.

South Korea has been planning several joint economic projects with North Korea since April’s inter-Korean summit. As the U.S. and North Korean relationship has thawed in the aftermath of the Singapore summit held in June between President Donald Trump and Kim, Seoul stepped up its plans, and a third inter-Korean summit began Tuesday in Pyongyang.

Days before Moon and Kim met, however, the U.S. announced new unilateral sanctions against North Korea. On Thursday, Washington targeted North Korea’s China-based company, Yanbian Silver Star Network Technology, its North Korean CEO, Jong Song Hwa, and its Russia-based subsidiary, Volasys Silver Star, which sells IT services and products.

There is also talk of the U.S. using military force to curb North Korea from evading sanctions at sea by monitoring ship-to-ship transfers by coordinating its efforts with countries like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, France, and the U.K. as well as South Korea.

The projects South Korea has been planning with the North include constructing an inter-Korean railway, which Moon has publicly backed, reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and resuming the tours to Mount Kumgang, a landmark of great natural beauty with a special hold on the Korean soul. The tours and the complex appeal to South Korean companies.

Possible sanction violations

Each could violate sanctions that were imposed on North Korea in 2016 in response to its fourth nuclear weapons test and a long-range missile launch.

“In the absence of waivers and exemptions from the United Nations, which the U.S. as one of the Security Council members would have to support, Mount Kumgang and Kaesong would violate sanctions,” said Troy Stangarone, senior director of the Korea Economic Institute, who is a specialist on South Korea trade and North Korea.

Under U.N. Resolution 2375 issued in September 2017, “forming joint ventures or cooperative entities, new and existing, with DPRK (North Korean) entities or individuals” is prohibited.

Additionally, any products manufactured using North Korean labor, potentially including items fabricated in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, will be banned from U.S. commerce. The Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) adopted in August 2017 stipulates that manufacturers purge any parts made with North Korean labor from their supply chains.

While Moon is expected to attempt to broker a denuclearization deal between the U.S. and North Korea at the summit and continue Seoul’s rapprochement with Pyongyang aimed toward eventual unification, South Korea must make sure that it does not violate sanctions as it pursues inter-Korean projects, Stanton said.

“I don’t think they actually did read the sanctions,” he said. “When you look at Moon Jae-in, he will go out and make all of these promises” and when it’s pointed out that “that there’s a provision that you’re violating here … they will respond by saying it’s not sanctions violation because it’s good for everyone to have peace.”

One of the projects is the construction of a railroad to connect Seoul and Sinuju, the North’s northeastern border near the Chinese city of Dandong, via Pyongyang, eventually linking to Beijing and then venturing toward Europe via the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian railways.

Railway project concerns

William Brown, a former U.S. intelligence official who is currently a professor of North Korean economy at Georgetown University, said for the railroad project to move forward, South Korea would have to finance the construction, which could end up funding the North Korean government.

“A big railway project wouldn’t work without severe pullback of U.N. sanctions and probably U.S. sanctions as well,” said Brown.

According to Stanton, providing both public and private financial support to North Korea is banned under U.N. Resolution 2321 adopted in November 2016.

However, plans for the railroad and the other projects are being formulated. Although South Korean officials said they do not expect to make any agreements on joint economic projects, top business leaders from Samsung, LG Group and Hyundai accompanied Moon to the summit.

Since Moon’s first summit with Kim, Hyundai has been developing a task force to prepare for restarting the Mount Kumgang tours and Kaesong factories.

When Mount Kumgang initially opened in 1998, Hyundai Asan had the exclusive right to operate tours. The company agreed to pay Pyongyang a fixed monthly sum, which was subsequently changed to a percentage of monthly profit when the attraction proved less profitable than anticipated, said Bradley Babson, an advisory council member of the Korea Economic Institute of America.

The tours ended in 2008 after a North Korean guard shot and killed a South Korean tourist.

Resuming the tours under an arrangement similar to the original deal would violate current sanctions.

Initially, the Kaesong Industrial Complex was mostly financed by the South Korean government and major South Korean companies. The complex that opened in 2004 included factories where South Korean manufacturers could employ inexpensive North Korean workers.

Each North Korean worker was supposed to be paid $70 a month, but they received a fraction of that from their government, Brown said.

Wages likely diverted

In February 2016 during the administration of Park Geun-hye, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said wages were paid in U.S. dollars to the North Korean government and not directly to the laborers, and most of the money is believed to have been diverted to the North’s Office 39, which is thought to finance Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

The Treasury Department sanctioned Office 39, describing it as “a secretive branch” of the North Korean government that provides critical support to the regime’s leadership “in part through engaging in illicit economic activities and managing slush funds and generating revenues for the leadership.”

Moon, who was elected in May 2017 after Park’s impeachment, revived the “sunshine policy” of building ties with North Korea through aid and exchanges.

In July 2017, Moon’s office said that there was no proof that money from Kaesong funded North Korea’s weapons program. But Stangarone said the money would have indirectly supported the North’s weapons program even if it did not directly finance it.

“The primary issue,” he said, “is even if North Korea were … to only spend that money on other things rather than nuclear program or its military in general, that funding then frees up other funding they would have had to use and allow them to spend it on those weapons program.”

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Woman Accusing Judge Kavanaugh of Sexual Assault Wants FBI Probe

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeUS

Lawyers for the woman who is accusing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault more than 30 years ago says she wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies publicly.

Kavanaugh denies the charge and will apparently tell his side of the story before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday.

His accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, has also been invited to testify.

But Ford’s lawyers said in a letter Tuesday to Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that some of the senators on the committee “appear to have made up their minds” and believe Kavanaugh.

The lawyers also said Ford has become the subject of death threats and harassment, and expressed fears that the committee planned to have her “relive this traumatic and harrowing incident” while testifying at the same table as Kavanaugh and in front of national television cameras.

“Nobody should be subject to threats and intimidation, and Dr. Ford is no exception,” Grassley said in a statement later Tuesday.

The Republican senator said there were no plans to have Ford and Kavanaugh appear at the same time, and that the committee had offered her the opportunity to appear before a private hearing.

He further rejected calls for an FBI investigation, saying the Senate has the information it needs to handle the matter on its own.

“Dr. Ford’s testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay,” Grassley said.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Republicans are not taking Ford’s allegations seriously and are rushing into a “completely unfair” hearing.

“We should honor Dr. Blasey Ford’s wishes and delay this hearing. A proper investigation must be completed, witnesses interviewed, evidence reviewed and all sides spoken to. Only then should the chairman set a hearing date,” Feinstein said.

President Donald Trump gave Kavanaugh a ringing new endorsement Tuesday, saying he felt “so badly” that Kavanaugh is facing scrutiny over the allegations.

“This is not a man that deserves this,” Trump said. “I feel terrible for his family.”

The president renewed his criticism of Feinstein for not disclosing the allegations when she first learned of them in July. He accused Democrats of being “lousy politicians, but good obstructionists” in their efforts to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation to a lifetime appointment on the country’s highest court.

Feinstein reiterated Tuesday that making the allegations public was not her decision to make, but rather up to Ford to decide if and when we wanted to do so.

Ford, a California psychology professor, told The Washington Post Kavanaugh groped her at a suburban Washington house party when she was 15 and he was 17.

She said Kavanaugh, “stumbling drunk,” threw her down on a bed, grinding his body against hers and trying to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she was wearing over it. Ford said when she tried to scream, he put his hand over her mouth.

She said she feared Kavanaugh might inadvertently kill her before she managed to flee.

Some Democratic lawmakers have also called for an FBI investigation. The agency conducted background checks six times over the years on Kavanaugh.

But Trump said ahead of his news conference, “I don’t think the FBI should be involved because they don’t want to be involved.” He said senators hearing Ford’s accusations, if she testifies, “will open it up and they will do a very good job” considering Ford’s allegations and Kavanaugh’s denial.

Grassley said the panel plans to call only two witnesses, Ford and Kavanaugh, and not another man, Mark Judge, whom Ford says was in the same bedroom during the alleged attack.

Grassley’s omission of Judge, who has said he has no memory of the alleged attack, and other possible witnesses, drew the ire of Feinstein.

“It’s impossible to take this process seriously,” Feinstein said.

“What about other witnesses like Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge?” Feinstein said. “What about individuals who were previously told about this incident? What about experts who can speak to the effects of this kind of trauma on a victim? This is another attempt by Republicans to rush this nomination and not fully vet Judge Kavanaugh.”

Republicans, some of whom see the allegations as a stalling tactic by Democrats to thwart Kavanaugh’s confirmation, have been pushing to confirm him before November’s midterm elections, when they could lose their 51-49 majority control of the Senate.
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Ohio Exhibit Showcases Images of Mexico Border Walls, Fences

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeUS

The U.S. border wall with Mexico is frequently in the news, but few people have a chance to visit it up close, or to see details of the various sections.

Kenneth Madsen, an Ohio State University geography professor and border wall expert, hopes his new photo exhibit will help bring the border closer to people at a time of heated discussion about the role of the wall, and of barriers in society overall.

“Up Close with U.S.-Mexico Border Barriers” opens Wednesday at the LeFevre Art Gallery on the Ohio State campus in Newark, 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Columbus. The free exhibit of 33 poster-sized pictures features border wall photos and maps.

One of the exhibit’s goals is creating awareness about the wall, which can include low-grade sections in rural areas meant to stop vehicles and much stronger barriers in cities meant to stop people, Madsen said.

“People don’t generally have a chance to see something up close, at that level of detail, to know what’s going on out there,” he said.

President Donald Trump has held out the possibility of a government shutdown before the November elections over his effort to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as Republican congressional leaders publicly urged him away from that path and predicted it wouldn’t occur. “Build the wall!” was a frequent rallying cry during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Madsen has studied the border wall since his graduate school days 20 years ago. His photo exhibit consists of pictures taken with his iPhone mostly in 2017, when he was on sabbatical.

In one image, children play at a Mexican playground beside a barrier in Tijuana near the Pacific Ocean while a U.S. border agent watches from his SUV on the American side just a couple of hundred feet away.

In another, stadium lights atop tall poles oversee a pedestrian barrier stretching for miles along a section of the wall between Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta in the Mexican state of Sonora.

In a third, a post-on-rail type wall snakes through a Colorado River flood plain between Arizona and Baja California in Mexico, a design meant to minimize soil disturbance in fragile landscapes, as well as to prevent it being washed away in a flood.

U.S. communities tend to grow away from the border wall, while Mexican communities tend to hug them up close, Madsen said. That helps account for large murals or brightly painted panels along several sections on the Mexican side.

Madsen is also an expert on waivers along the wall, whereby the government can exempt fence construction from a variety of federal requirements, including archaeological and environmental surveys.

Madsen plans to attend an international conference on border walls next week in Montreal.

Another border expert attending that conference says it’s important to share the experience of the border with people through such exhibits because so many stereotypes about the wall are wrong.

“The social construction of the border is negative and it’s perpetuated by people that have never even seen it, been here, touched it, felt it, crossed it,” said Irasema Coronado, a political science professor at the University of Texas-El Paso and a past president of the Association for Borderland Studies.

Madsen’s exhibit isn’t overtly political, and provides useful information for people on both sides of the border debate. But he notes the irony that wall building has increased with the rise of globalization.

Though the free-flow of capital means more freedom for more people, “there also are these border walls and fences to restrict movement of people of lesser economic means with fewer opportunities available, who are maybe stuck in bad situations,” he said.
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Fort Trump? Poland Invites Permanent US Base

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEU

President Donald Trump said the United States is considering establishing a permanent military base in Poland. At a joint news conference with President Andrzej Duda at the White House Tuesday, the Polish leader said his country would not only help pay for the military facility, it would also name it “Fort Trump.” White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has more.
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Russia-Turkey Deal Averts Catastrophe in Syria, But for How Long?

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEU

The United States says it is close to defeating Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but officials have no plans to withdraw U.S. troops in either country in the near future. A military spokesman said Tuesday the U.S. mission is to maintain peace in some of the areas that have been ravaged by terrorism and conflict. The announcement comes after Russia and Turkey agreed to create a buffer zone between the government forces and rebels in Syria’s Idlib province. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Putin: Syrian Downing of Russian Jet Was ‘Tragic, Accidental’

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeEA

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the downing of a Russian military plane by Syria “a chain of tragic, accidental circumstances,” tamping down what could have turned into a tense situation with Israel.

Fifteen people aboard the Russian reconnaissance jet died when the Syrians shot it down, responding to an Israeli missile strike.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, that Israel “bears full responsibility” and that Russia had the right to retaliate.

But Putin stepped in, calling it “a chain of tragic, accidental circumstances.” He said Russia would respond by “taking additional steps to protect our servicemen and assets in Syria.” He said “everyone will notice” those steps.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his sorrow at the loss of Russian lives and blamed Syria for the incident.

The Israeli military said its jets were targeting a Syrian military facility supplying arms to the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah.

Israeli warning

Israel said it had warned Russia of the airstrike in advance, and its jets were already back in Israeli airspace when Syria fired its missile.

The Russian defense ministry said Israel’s warning came less than a minute before the airstrike. It accused the Israelis of using the Russian plane as a cover to avoid Syrian air defense systems.

While Putin did not appear to blame Israel outright for causing the Russian plane to be shot down, the Kremlin said it told Netanyahu that Israel had violated Syrian sovereignty and urged it “not to let such situations happen again.”

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that, based on what he had been told, Syria shot down the Russian plane. He called the deaths of those aboard “a very sad thing.”

Trump took a moment to say the United States has done a “tremendous job” in helping eradicate Islamic State from Syria and said “we are very close to finishing that job.”

Putin is striving to maintain his good relationship with Israel, while continuing to back the Syrian government in its fight against the rebels.

Russia also has healthy relations with Iran, Israel’s archenemy.

Israel has said it will not allow any permanent Iranian military presence inside Syria and has looked to the Russians to help keep Iranian-backed forces away from the Israeli-Syrian frontier.
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Congo’s Music Artists Get Political

Posted on 09/19/2018 by SeeAF

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, rappers are getting involved in politics — including one well-known rap artist who hopes to fix the country’s problems by running for a seat in parliament.

Lexxus Legal leads a group that gathers once a month in Kinshasa, calling for rap artists to get involved in helping fix the country’s problems.

He encourages the musicians to run for office, either on the national level or in their local communities.

For 20 years, Lexxus Legal has built a career with his socially-conscious music, commenting on youth unemployment, corruption and other social ills. Now, he is running for a seat in the national parliament.

He says he wants his fans to know that he is not starting a new career, he is simply doing what comes naturally to him. He has always been political, he says, as his music shows.

Politics and music are intertwined in the DRC, with local musicians often making a living by supporting politicians. Jidogo Ekopo is one of the lead singers for the ruling party’s music troupe.

“We are not musicians. We are not artists. We are politicians,” Ekopo tells a group at the ruling party’s office grounds. Ekopo says he supports the vision of President Joseph Kabila, who announced last month that he will step down after 17 years and has appointed Emmanuel Shadary as his successor.

“Clap for Shadary, clap for Shadary!” Ekopo rallies the group.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ruling party is seen as stifling criticism. Six opposition candidates eyeing the presidency have been banned from running in the December polls. Bob Elvis, another popular rap artist, released a song lambasting such corruption of the political class.

The rapper’s family told VOA that two weeks ago, Bob Elvis was picked up by state security forces and detained for days. VOA reached to him upon his release, but he is currently in hiding, though he reaches out to his fans on Facebook.

Such examples are why some musicians decide to play it safe.

Rihanna Prescott and her musical friends recently formed a band called Star Music. She says politics is too dirty, and avoids talking about it in her music.

Music should be fun, she says, and that is why they do it.

But for Lexxus Legal and other rappers in DRC, music and politics cannot be separated.
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Somali Girls’ Deaths Spur More Calls to End FGM

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeAF

A spate of deaths of young girls from female genital mutilation (FGM) has renewed calls for Somalia to outlaw the tradition.

Four girls, ages 10 and 11, from central and northern Somalia have died in the last three months after having been cut, and seven others are in hospitals, activists said.

“More and more cases of girls who have died or end up seriously injured after FGM are coming out,” said Hawa Aden Mohamed, director of the Galkayo Education Center for Peace and Development, a local women’s group in the east African country.

“These cases confirm what we have been saying all along — that FGM kills and that we need a law to stop it,” Mohamed said. “The harm it causes is blatantly clear.”

An estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia, the United Nations says.

One of 28 African countries where the tradition is endemic, Somalia has the world’s highest rates of FGM — 98 percent of women between 15 and 49 have undergone the ritual.

Somalia’s constitution prohibits FGM, but efforts to pass legislation to punish offenders have been stalled by parliamentarians afraid of losing voters who view FGM as a part of their tradition.

Government and hospital officials were not immediately available to comment on the deaths or hospital admissions.

The charity Save the Children said it rescued seven girls — aged between 5 and 8 years old — on Sunday from Somalia’s northern Puntland state. The girls had undergone FGM and were bleeding excessively; they are now receiving hospital treatment.

“I’m afraid that this is just the tip of the iceberg as many more cases go unreported,” said Timothy Bishop, country director of Save the Children in Somalia.

Campaigners said Suheyra Qorane Farah, 10, from Puntland died Sunday after contracting tetanus, having undergone FGM on Aug. 29.

Two sisters, Aasiyo and Khadijo Farah Abdi Warsame, age 10 and 11, from the same region bled to death Sept. 11 after visiting a cutter across the border in neighboring Ethiopia.

The death of Deeqa Nuur, 10, in July from severe bleeding following FGM prompted the attorney general to initiate Somalia’s first prosecution against FGM — using existing laws — but the investigation has faced challenges.

Flavia Mwangovya, End Harmful Practices program manager at Equality Now, said an anti-FGM law would curb the practice.

“A specific law can express punishments and specify stiffer penalties, ensure that all accomplices are held accountable, and gives guidance on the kind of evidence needed to prove the crime,” she said.
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UN Chief Welcomes De-escalation in Syria’s Idlib

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEA

The U.N. secretary-general has welcomed an agreement reached Monday between the presidents of Russia and Turkey to create a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria’s Idlib region, saying it should “avert” a full-scale military operation and provide a reprieve for some three-million civilians.”The secretary-general calls on all the parties in Syria to cooperate in the implementation of the agreement and ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in all areas through the most direct routes,” António Guterres’ spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Monday to create a 15- to 20-kilometer (9- to 12-mile) demilitarized zone inside what is already a de-escalation zone.

Putin said Russian and Turkish forces would enforce the demilitarized zone, which would see the removal of the rebels’ heavy weapons and the “withdrawal of all radical fighters” from Idlib, including the terrorist al-Nusra Front, by mid-October.

The United Nations has been sounding the alarm bell on Idlib for weeks, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe if the Syrian government followed through on its plans to clear the last rebel stronghold. The U.N. estimates some 15,000 fighters are mixed in among the civilian population.

More than a million of Idlib’s residents are displaced from other parts of Syria and have sought safety in the de-escalation zone. Turkey, which already shelters more than 3 million Syrian refugees, feared a massive exodus into its territory if nearby Idlib was attacked.

“Of course, everybody, especially the 3 million civilians in Idlib, want to know how long this agreement is going to last,” U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters. “Is it simply a temporary arrangement or can it provide the basis through which the threat of a massive military onslaught on Idlib can be removed on a more permanent basis?”

“Russia alongside other Astana guarantors has and continues to undertake tremendous efforts to see that situation around Idlib resolved through negotiations and that civilians will not suffer,” Russia’s U.N. envoy, Vassily Nebenzia said. Russia, Iran and Turkey make up the group referred to as the Astana guarantors. They oversee what were originally four de-escalation zones in Syria, but of which Idlib is the last remaining.

Nebenzia, who spoke during a regular meeting of the Security Council on Syria, added that a key part of the deal is a reaffirmation “to combat terrorism in Syria in all of its forms and manifestations.”

The newly appointed U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement, Ambassador James Jeffrey, called on all parties to commit to a lasting cease-fire and to take immediate steps to advance the peace process. “The only way forward is a genuine and inclusive political solution,” Jeffrey told the council.

Russian fighter jet downed

“We hope that this agreement is expeditiously implemented,” U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said in his briefing to the council. He said international humanitarian law must be respected and sustained humanitarian access allowed. But he warned that as the crisis in Idlib has been averted, there have been worrying escalations elsewhere.

“This week fresh airstrikes were reported in Damascus that the Syrian government attributes to Israel; Israel has not commented,” de Mistura noted. “And overnight, a Russian military aircraft was downed, killing 15 servicemen.” The Russian jet was hit by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.

Israel has expressed “sorrow” for the downing of the Russian jet, but added that it holds the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah responsible for the incident.

“Overnight, Israel Defense Forces fighter jets targeted a facility from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement.
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Israeli Troops Kill Two Gaza Protesters, Palestinians Say

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEA

Israeli forces opened fire during a demonstration in the northern Gaza Strip near a border crossing Tuesday, killing two Palestinian protesters and

injuring 46 others, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli military had no initial knowledge of any casualties or that live fire had been used, a spokeswoman said.

Israel was marking the Yom Kippur fast day from dusk on Tuesday, when very few officials are available for comment.

Many youths burned tires and hurled stones at Israeli security forces, local residents said. A doctor at Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital said both men were hit by live ammunition, one in the chest and the other in the back. Three of the wounded were hit by bullets.

Earlier, two other men found dead near the site of an Israeli missile strike at the coastal strip’s border with Israel on Monday were identified as Palestinian cousins, family members said.

The Israeli military said it had attacked a group suspected of tampering with the border fence.

Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains tight control of its land and sea borders and has fought three wars there in the past decade against Hamas Islamist militants that control the territory.

With Egypt, Israel has imposed a blockade that the World Bank says has left Gaza’s economy in crisis, leaving its 2 million people with limited access to health care, clean water and electricity.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled for several years and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state, have expanded.

The border between Gaza and Israel has been the scene of weekly Palestinian demonstrations since March 30. At least 181 Palestinians have been killed in the protests, according to Palestinian health officials.

The Israeli army says it is defending its border against rioting protesters who have sought to breach the fence and enter Israel.
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Ukrainians Relive Bloodshed of Kyiv’s Maidan in Virtual Reality

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEU

A volunteer medic and the man whose life he saved. A lawmaker whose Facebook post calling for protests in Kyiv’s Maidan square helped bring down a president.

These are some of the characters featured in a virtual reality reconstruction of the bloodiest day in the 2013-14 street demonstrations in Ukraine, when dozens of protesters were killed in the final moments of Viktor Yanukovich’s rule.

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the protests, a group of 14 journalists, designers and information technology engineers developed a program that lets a user to walk through the area around Maidan square.

Videos of people who were there on Feb. 20 — the bloodiest day of violence — pop up to relate their experiences and explain the significance of particular spots. A transparent blue wall marks where Yanukovich’s forces lined up to repel the protesters.

For Alexey Furman, co-founder of New Cave Media, who covered the protests as a photojournalist, the experience of re-creating the event was cathartic.

“It was a very traumatic morning [for me], as it was for hundreds of other people,” he said. “I saw people getting killed.”

“I think the project actually helped fight the PTSD that I had because I’d been on Maidan dozens of times in 2013 and 2014,” he said in an interview, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Painful memories

He used to avoid Instytutska Street, which runs on a hill down to Maidan and was the scene of much of the bloodshed, because of the painful memories.

“But now to be honest, I come to Instytutska and go like, ‘Oh, we still don’t have that 3-D-model. We have to work on it.’ ”

The team said it took around 200,000 images to build the virtual reality model, a project funded in part with a $20,000 grant from Google Labs.

More than 100 people were killed during the protests, and they came to be known locally as the ‘Heavenly Hundred.” A small strip of Instytutska was subsequently renamed after them.

From exile in Russia, Yanukovich has denied Ukrainians’ widespread belief that he ordered his special forces to open fire.

At the end of the experience, the user meets two people whom fate threw together on Feb. 20 — a wounded protester and a medical volunteer who held his hand over the wound “for a good 20 minutes maybe even more,” New Cave Media co-founder Sergiy Polezhaka said in an interview.

“Hiding in a tiny place under the tree … waiting for danger to calm down a little bit, to save this protester’s life — this is the iconic image from that morning for me,” Polezhaka said.

The user will also meet the journalist-turned-lawmaker Mustafa Nayyem, whose Facebook post in November 2013, calling for demonstrations against Yanukovich’s decision to pull out of a deal with the European Union, triggered the Maidan revolt.

The protests in turn lit the fuse Russia’s seizing and annexing of Crimea in March 2014 and the outbreak of Russian-backed separatist fighting in the Donbass region that has killed more than 10,000 despite a notional cease-fire.
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Italy: 2026 Winter Olympic Games Bid ‘Dead’

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEU

The Italian government said on Tuesday it will no longer back a bid to stage the 2026 Winter Olympics jointly in Milan, Turin and Cortina after the mayors of the three cities failed to unite behind the project.

“The proposal does not have the support of the government so it dies here,” Sports Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told parliament. “Doubt and suspicion prevailed.”

The government decision will make it almost impossible for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) to press ahead with the plan, although local media said it might try to recast the proposal in the coming hours to salvage its bid.

There was no immediate comment from CONI.

Three cities have already pulled out of the 2026 race, with Japan’s Sapporo, Switzerland’s Sion, and Austria’s Graz all previously announcing their decision to withdraw.

Calgary, Stockholm and Turkey’s Erzurum are the only three definitely left in the running, with the International Olympic Committee next month due to name the city or cities which will enter the one-year candidature phase.

Tuesday’s announcement was particularly embarrassing to CONI because it was the third time in six years that an Italian drive to host the Olympics has ended in failure.

Rome withdrew from the race to stage first the 2020 and then the 2024 Summer Games because of financial concerns and political opposition respectively.

CONI announced its 2026 Winter Olympics bid in August, pulling together separate proposals from three cities into a joint effort.

However, the idea ran into immediate trouble thanks to strong political differences between the mayor of Milan, who is from the center-left, and the mayor of Turin, who is from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

With the official bid apparently now dead, the northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto suggested pooling their resources to put forward a new, revised offer and Italian media said CONI was working on the idea.

Giorgetti said such a project would not have government backing.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is head of the 5-Star Movement, blamed CONI for the impasse.

“The truth is that we have unfortunately paid the price of CONI’s decision. In an attempt to make everyone happy, it did not have the courage to make a clear decision from the start, creating an unsustainable situation in which, as usual, they wasted state money,” he said.
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Women Detail Alleged Assaults by Ugandan Security Personnel

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeAF

One month after election-related violence in northern Uganda, two women who say they were brutally assaulted by security officers are still recovering from their injuries. The government has questioned the women’s claims while stopping short of an explicit denial.

Jane Abola and Asara Night were part of the campaign team for Kasiano Wadri, an opposition candidate in a by-election for a parliament seat. During a final planning meeting at a hotel in the Arua municipality on the evening of August 13, opposition legislators reportedly were forced to run and hide at the sound of gunshots.

Abola says she ran into a bathroom, but was pulled out roughly and attacked by security officers on the order of a regional police commander. The officers demanded she tell them the whereabouts of legislator Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine.

“He started kicking me, beating me with those sticks of theirs, their batons, the gun, pricking me with the barrel of the gun, using the butt of the gun,” Abola said of the officers. “At one point he jumped on my back, said ‘[I] am going to kill you if you don’t tell me where Bobi Wine is.'”

An X-ray shows Abola now has damaged vertebrae in her lower back and needs immediate surgery. However, she does not have the $5,000 required to pay for the operation.

Asara Night says soldiers cornered her in the same hotel that evening and beat her.

“It was like, for those soldiers, today is our day,” she said. “It reached a point I could not now realize the pain on my body, because it was too much. I could not now shout, I could not talk. They were just beating. Now when they realized I was not shouting, the only thing, they just had to carry me like a sack from the hotel. They threw me through the window outside. That’s where I was carried to be thrown in the vehicle of the police.”

Night now wears braces on her back, hand and knee, and has constant headaches.

The alleged beatings took place after an incident in which protesters threw stones at the convoy of President Yoweri Museveni, who was in the area campaigning for the ruling party candidate.

Museveni has come under increasing criticism, both at home and abroad, for his government’s heavy-handed response to any dissent. Bobi Wine, the president’s most prominent critic, was arrested last month and charged with treason before leaving for the United States to receive medical treatment.

Abola and Night maintain that their group did not cross paths with the president’s on August 13, because Wadri’s rally that night was in a different location in Arua. Both remain in Kampala hospitals, recovering from their injuries.

No Ugandan official has specifically denied the women’s allegations. Last week, however, Museveni said that anyone who alleged torture by security personnel would need to prove it in court.

Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo says the Arua incidents are regrettable and that action is being taken.

“When those soldiers, when those policemen eventually appear before the respective disciplinary committees, those committees, those disciplinary procedures will be transparent, will be public,” Opondo said.

The Uganda Law Society, in its quarterly report released Tuesday, condemned what it called the inhuman and cruel actions by security personnel in the Arua incident.
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Senate Hearing on Accusations Against Kavanaugh in Doubt

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeUS

A Senate panel’s scheduled public hearing next week into allegations U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted a teenage girl when they were both in high school was thrown into doubt Tuesday.

Senator Charles Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering Kavanaugh’s appointment to a lifetime seat on the country’s highest court, said his staff had reached out several times to Kavanaugh’s accuser, California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, but had yet to hear back that she would appear at Monday’s hearing.

Republican lawmakers later said Ford could testify either in public or in private.

“We’re going to give her that opportunity on Monday,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Ford’s attorney has said that her client would be open to “a fair proceeding” and testify.

Grassley, however, told a radio interviewer Tuesday that Ford’s lack of response so far “kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not.”

President Donald Trump, who picked Kavanaugh, an appellate court judge in Washington, to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, voiced his continuing support.

“I’m very supportive,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Trump said he did not think that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has conducted background checks over the years on Kavanaugh, needs to investigate Ford’s allegations.

“I don’t think the FBI should be involved because they don’t want to be involved,” Trump said. The president said that senators hearing Ford’s accusations, if she testifies, “will open it up and they will do a very good job” considering Ford’s allegations and Kavanaugh’s adamant denial that he has ever been involved in any attack on a woman.

Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said the panel plans to call only two witnesses, Ford and Kavanaugh, and not another man, Mark Judge, whom Ford has alleged was in the same bedroom in a house in suburban Washington in 1982. Ford has alleged that Kavanaugh, “stumbling drunk,” groped her, leaving her fearful for her life.

Grassley’s omission of Judge, who has denied that an attack occurred, and other possible witnesses drew the ire of the Senate panel’s top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. “It’s impossible to take this process seriously,” Feinstein said.

One key undecided lawmaker on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Republican Susan Collins of Maine, said she was “very puzzled” by the uncertainty of Ford’s testimony.

“I’ve said from the beginning that these are very serious allegations and she deserves to be heard,” Collins said. “She is now being given an opportunity to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions and I really hope that she doesn’t pass up that opportunity.”

Another undecided senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said, “We have a woman who has come forward, she deserves to be heard, it’s important that her voice and her story is shared.”

But the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, raised doubts about Ford’s account of the three-decade-old incident, saying, “The problem is, Dr. Ford can’t can’t remember when it was, where it was, or how it came to be.”

Republicans on the committee had hoped to hold a vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward to a full Senate vote as early as Thursday of this week.

In an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday, Ford alleged that when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17, he cornered her in the bedroom at a house and groped her as Judge watched.

Ford, now 51, told the newspaper that Kavanaugh threw her down on a bed, grinding his body against hers and trying to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she was wearing over it. Ford said when she tried to scream, he put his hand over her mouth.

Republicans, some of whom see the allegations as a stalling tactic by Democrats to thwart the 53-year-old Kavanaugh’s confirmation, have been pushing to confirm him before November’s midterm elections, when they could lose their 51-49 majority control of the Senate.
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EU Enlargement Chief Urges Macedonians to Back Name Deal

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEU

Macedonia will take a big step to joining the European Union if the country supports a name change to “North Macedonia,” the official in charge of the bloc’s enlargement negotiations said Tuesday.

Following talks with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in the capital Skopje, Johannes Hahn said the September 30 vote is a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for Macedonians to improve their daily lives.

A vote to authorize the name change would be an important step towards resolving a long-standing dispute with neighbor Greece, which has raised objections to Macedonia’s EU accession as well as blocking its NATO membership.

Greece has long sought a name change because it says the current one implies claims on its own northern province of Macedonia, and on its ancient heritage.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also voiced hope that the country will be able to start EU accession talks next June.

But he also called on the Macedonian leadership to continue with reforms that the EU has been requesting for years to bring the country in line with `EU criteria.

“More reforms are needed on all topics — rule of law, fighting organized crime and corruption,” Maas said after talks with his Macedonian counterpart, Nikola Dimitrov in Skopje.

Dozens of western officials including German chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, have visited Skopje in recent weeks to encourage turnout in the vote — which will only be valid if just over fifty percent of registered voters participate.

Commissioner Hahn said the deal is “appreciated” by the international community, because it would solve a long-running dispute.

“It is a proof for everybody that so-called frozen conflicts can be resolved if [leaders] have a determination to solve the issue,” Hahn said.

“This agreement has an impact [that] goes far beyond the EU.”

If Macedonians vote for the deal in the referendum, the country’s parliament must then amend the constitution to adopt the new name. For the deal to come into effect, Greece’s parliament would then have to ratify it.
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Syria’s Idlib Spared Attack, Turkey to Send in More Troops

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEA

Turkey will send more troops into Syria’s Idlib province after striking a deal with Russia that has averted a government offensive and delighted rebels who say it keeps the area out of President Bashar al-Assad’s hands.

The deal unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s most powerful ally, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday will create a new demilitarized zone from which “radical” rebels must withdraw by the middle of next month.

Damascus also welcomed the agreement but vowed to continue its efforts to recover “every inch” of Syria. Iran, Assad’s other main ally, said “responsible diplomacy” had averted a war in Idlib “with a firm commitment to fight extremist terror”.

The agreement has put a halt to a threatened Syrian government offensive. The United Nations had warned such an attack would create a humanitarian catastrophe in the Idlib region, home to about 3 million people.

The Idlib region and adjoining territory north of Aleppo represents the opposition’s last big foothold in Syria. Assad has recovered most of the areas once held by the rebels, with decisive military support from Iran and Russia.

But his plans to recover the northwest have been complicated by Turkey’s role on the ground: it has soldiers at 12 locations in Idlib and supplies weapons to some of the rebels.

Erdogan had feared another exodus of refugees to join the 3.5 million already in Turkey, and warned against any attack.

In striking the deal, Russia appears – at least for now – to have put its ties with Turkey ahead of advancing the goal of bringing all Syria back under Assad’s rule.

That goal is also obstructed by the presence of U.S. forces in the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates which is held by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, and at a base near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Analysts cautioned that implementation of the deal faced big challenges, notably how to separate jihadists from other rebels – a goal Ankara has been struggling to achieve for some time.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the “moderate opposition” would keep its weapons and the “region will be cleared of radicals”. Turkey would “make additional troop deployments” and its 12 observation posts would remain.

The deal was “very important for the political resolution in Syria”. “If this (Idlib) had been lost too, there would be no opposition anymore,” he said.

Mustafa Sejari, a Free Syria Army (FSA) official, said the deal “buries Assad’s dreams of imposing his full control over Syria”.

Yahya al-Aridi, spokesman for the opposition Syrian Negotiations Commission expressed hope that a government offensive was now off the table for good.

The Syrian government, in a statement published by state media, said it welcomed any agreement that spared blood. It also said the deal had a specific timeframe which it did not detail.

“I see it as a test of the extent of Turkey’s ability to implement this decision,” Ali Abdul Karim, Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon, said in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Jadeed TV. “We do not trust Turkey … but it’s useful for Turkey to be able to carry out this fight to rid these groups from their weapons.”

“CATASTROPHE” AVERTED

Moscow said the deal “confirmed the ability of both Moscow and Ankara to compromise … in the interests of the ultimate goal of a Syrian settlement by political and diplomatic means”.

“Is this merely a stay of execution? Or is it the beginning of a reprieve?” U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock asked during a monthly meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Syria.

The demilitarized zone will be monitored by Russian and Turkish forces, the countries’ leaders said.

But neither Russia nor Turkey have explained how they plan to differentiate “radically-minded” rebels from other anti-Assad groups. It was also not immediately clear how much of the city of Idlib fell within the zone.

Putin said the decision was to establish by Oct. 15 a demilitarized area 15–20 km (10-12 miles) deep along the contact line between rebel and government fighters.

Naji Abu Hufaiza, spokesman for the National Front for Liberation said he did not have details of the agreement, but said that while he saw it as a success for Turkish diplomacy, his group did not trust Russia to uphold it.

Idlib is held by an array of rebels. The most powerful is Tahrir al-Sham, an amalgamation of Islamist groups dominated by the former Nusra Front – an al Qaeda affiliate until 2016.

Other Islamists, and groups fighting as the Free Syrian Army banner, are now gathered with Turkish backing under the banner of the “National Front for Liberation”.

The area is also the last major haven for foreign jihadists who came to Syria to fight the Alawite-led Assad government.

Putin said that, at Erdogan’s suggestion, by Oct. 10, all opposition heavy weapons, mortars, tanks, rocket systems would also be removed from the demilitarized zone.

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and analyst at Carnegie Europe, said it was unclear how Turkey and Russia would be able to separate radical fighters from other rebels.

The hope is that Syrians “will be more inclined to be part of a demilitarization effort” while foreign fighters “have nowhere to go”, he said.

Earlier this month, Putin publicly rebuffed a proposal from Erdogan for a truce when the two met along with Iran’s president at a summit in Tehran. Iran also welcomed the agreement.
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Pope Gives Bishops More Decision-Making Options

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEU

Pope Francis decreed on Tuesday that ordinary Catholics should be consulted about issues facing the Catholic Church and that bishops gathering for periodic meetings can make binding decisions on church teaching.

Francis issued new rules reforming the Synod of Bishops, the consultative body established 50 years ago to give popes an organized way of bringing bishops together to debate problems facing the church.

In the past, synods have been talkfests by churchmen who made nonbinding proposals to the pope to consider in a future document. The new rules say the bishops’ final document becomes part of his official church teaching, or magisterium — but only if the pope approves it.

The pope can help guarantee the outcome another way, by appointing members of the synod secretariat, drafting committee as well as the synod itself, whose members are only required to come to a “moral unanimity” in voting for their final document, but no numerical threshold.

Francis has sought to encourage greater debate at synods, and his 2014 and 2015 editions on family issues became controversial over the issue of whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion.

Many conservatives accused Francis of going beyond even what the synod participants had agreed to in his subsequent document opening the door to letting these Catholics receive the sacraments.

In the reform, Francis also codified a process of consulting the faithful before a synod, as he did informally for the family meeting and the upcoming synod on youth.

Not only were questionnaires sent out asking ordinary faithful to chime in on a host of issues, including sexuality and homosexuality, the Vatican organized a pre-synod conference for young people in Rome so the Vatican could have in-person input before the October 3-28 meeting.

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, who heads the synod office, said the changes were consistent with Francis’ efforts to make the church more “synodal” and in decentralized unity with bishops around the world. At the same time, the changes reflect the fundamental role of the “people of God” in the church, he said.

However, Vatican officials confirmed that while women can attend synods as nominated experts and take the floor to speak, they can’t vote. And the “people of God” can’t watch the proceedings, which are held behind closed doors.
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EU Investigates German Carmakers for Possible Collusion

Posted on 09/18/2018 by SeeEU

European Union regulators have opened an in-depth investigation into whether automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded to limit the development and roll-out of car emission control systems.

The EU Commission said Tuesday that it had received information that BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, and VW units Audi and Porsche held meetings to discuss clean technologies aimed at limiting car exhaust emissions.

The probe focuses on whether the automakers agreed not to compete against each other in developing and introducing technology to restrict pollution from gasoline and diesel passenger cars.

“If proven, this collusion may have denied consumers the opportunity to buy less polluting cars, despite the technology being available to the manufacturers,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

The Commission said its probe was focused on diesel emission control systems involving the injection of urea solution into exhaust to remove harmful nitrogen oxides. The probe follows a report in Der Spiegel magazine last year that the automakers had agreed to limit the size of the tanks holding the urea solution.

The case is another source of diesel trouble for German automakers in the wake of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal.

The Commission said, however, there was no evidence the companies had colluded to develop so-called defeat devices _ computer software that illegally turns off emissions controls. Volkswagen in 2015 admitted using such devices and has set aside 27.4 billion euros ($32 billion) for fines, settlements, recalls and buybacks. Former CEO Martin Winterkorn was criminally charged by U.S. authorities but cannot be extradited; Audi division head Rupert Stadler has been jailed while prosecutors investigate possible wrongdoing.

The automakers said they were not able to comment on details of the case but pointed out in statements that opening a probe does not necessarily mean a violation will be found. Daimler and Volkswagen said they were cooperating with the probe; BMW said that it “has supported the EU commission in its work and will continue to do so.”

Daimler noted that the probe only applied to Europe and did not involve allegations of price-fixing. BMW said it supported the Commission in its work from the start of the investigation and would continue to do so. “The presumption of innocence continues to apply until the investigations have been fully completed,” Volkswagen said in a statement.

After the Volkswagen scandal broke, renewed scrutiny of diesel emissions showed that cars from other automakers also showed higher diesel emissions in everyday driving than during testing, thanks in part to regulatory loopholes that let automakers turn down the emissions controls to avoid engine damage under certain conditions. The EU subsequently tightened its testing procedures to reflect real-world driving conditions for cars being approved for sale now. Environmental groups are pushing in court actions to ban older diesel cars in German cities with high pollution levels.

The Commission probe also is looking at possible collusion over particulate filters for cars with gasoline engines.

The Commission said that it did not see a need to look into other areas of cooperation among the so-called “Circle of Five” automakers such as quality and safety testing, the speed at which convertible roofs could open and at which cruise control would work. It said anti-trust rules leave room for technical cooperation aimed at improving product quality.

Anti-trust fines can be steep. In 2016 and 2017 the Commission imposed a fine of 3.8 billion euros after it found that six truck makers had colluded on pricing, the timing of introduction of emissions technologies and the passing on of costs for emissions compliance to customers. Truck maker MAN, part of Volkswagen, was not fined because it blew the whistle on the cartel. The others were Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, DAF and Scania, also owned by Volkswagen.
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