Month: September 2018

US Pulls Diplomats From Iraqi City, Citing Threats From Iran

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The United States announced Friday that it would effectively close its consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra and relocate diplomatic personnel assigned there following increasing threats from Iran and Iran-backed militia, including rocket fire.

The decision added to mounting tension between the United States and Iran, which is the target of increasing U.S. economic sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as he explained the move, renewed a warning that the United States would hold Iran directly responsible for any attacks on Americans and U.S. diplomatic facilities.

It followed recent rocket attacks that Pompeo said were directed at the consulate in Basra. U.S. officials said the rockets, however, had not impacted the consulate, which is located on the Basra airport compound.

“I have made clear that Iran should understand that the United States will respond promptly and appropriately to any such attacks,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo did not explicitly say whether a U.S. response was imminent, however, and other U.S. officials did not disclose potential response options.

Still, Pompeo said the threats against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq were “increasing and specific” and added that Washington was working with Iraqi forces and U.S. allies to address them.

“We look to all international parties interested in peace and stability in Iraq and the region to reinforce our message to Iran regarding the unacceptability of their behavior,” he said.

‘Chaos, death and destruction’

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said the consulate was placed on “ordered departure,” which technically involves a drawdown in staff. Although some personnel could remain on the diplomatic compound, the move was believed to effectively close the consulate, at least temporarily.

The decision came days after U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani exchanged taunts at the U.N. General Assembly, with Trump vowing more sanctions and accusing Iran’s leaders of sowing “chaos, death and destruction.”

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, speaking at a nearby event in New York on Tuesday, warned “there will indeed be hell to pay” if Iran crosses the United States, its allies or harms U.S. citizens.

In May, Trump withdrew the United States from an international deal to put curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia have stayed in the pact, vowing to save it despite the restoration of U.S. sanctions. The rial has lost 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar since April.

Iran has blamed U.S. sanctions for the currency’s fall, saying the measures amount to a “political, psychological and economic” war on Tehran, and accused the United States and Israel of involvement in a deadly attack at a military parade in southwestern Iran this month.

Basra has already been rocked by violent protests seen by experts as a rejection of the Iraqi political establishment that has held on to power despite failing to improve people’s lives there.

Protesters in Basra ransacked and torched Iraqi government buildings this month and the Iranian consulate was set alight by demonstrators shouting condemnation of what many see as Iran’s sway over Iraq’s affairs.

For the first time in several years, mortar shells also landed this month inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies.
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Russia Begins Missile System Delivery to Syria, Warns West on Peace Talks

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Moscow had started delivering the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria and warned Western powers of trying to undermine U.N.-led efforts to end the seven-year conflict.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had said on Monday the system would be delivered to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in two weeks despite strong Israeli and United States objections. A week previously, Moscow had accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria.

“The delivery started already and as President (Vladimir) Putin said, after that incident … the measures that we will take will be devoted to ensuring 100 percent safety and security of our men,” Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

Russia, along with Iran, has helped Assad recover huge amounts of lost territory in Syria without persuading him to agree to any political reforms. It has also pushed its own talks with Iran and Turkey, known as the Astana process, as U.N-led peace negotiations have stalled.

Some diplomats have said the Israeli incident and a Turkish Russian deal to suspend an offensive on the last rebel-held stronghold of Idlib could provide a window to push for the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 2254 that covers ending conflict in Syria.

The U.N. Security Council, which includes Russia and the United States, has mandated U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura to get a deal on a new constitution, new elections and a reform of Syria’s governance.

De Mistura’s first task is the formation of a constitutional committee to decide whom to pick. He has said he will select about 50 people, including supporters of the government, the opposition and independents to participate, but so far the Syrian government has rejected the idea.

Meeting in New York on Thursday, foreign ministers from the United States, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Britain and Saudi Arabia called on de Mistura to convene the constitutional committee and report back on progress by the end of October.

Lavrov accused the group of trying to undermine the Astana efforts and putting pressure on de Mistura so that they could impose their own resolution of the conflict, describing it as “a grave mistake.”

“This is aimed at undermining all that was done at Astana process and not the fact the Syrians decide what country they are going to live in but the architecture agreed on by foreign powers,” Lavrov said.
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Palestinians Say 7 Killed as Israeli Troops Fire on Gaza Protest

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Israeli soldiers shot dead seven Palestinians, including two boys, who were among thousands of people who thronged to the fortified Gaza Strip border on Friday as part of weekly protests launched half a year ago, Gaza health

officials said.

Israel’s military said its troops resorted to live fire, and an airstrike, after explosive devices and rocks were thrown at them and to prevent breaches of the border fence from the Islamist Hamas-controlled enclave.

Gaza health officials said 505 people had been wounded, 89 of them by gunshots. They identified the dead as males, two of them aged 12 and 14.

The boys’ families could not immediately be reached for comment.

At least 191 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza protests began on March 30 to demand the right of return to lands that Palestinian families fled or were driven from upon Israel’s founding in 1948, and the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade.

Anniversary of revolt

Hamas said Friday’s protest also marked the 18th anniversary of the launch of the last Palestinian revolt against Israel.

A Gaza sniper has killed one Israeli soldier, and incendiary devices flown over by Palestinians using kites and helium balloons have set off fires that destroyed tracts of forest and farmland in Israel.

Israel accuses Hamas, against which it has fought three wars in the last decade, of having deliberately provoked violence in the protests, a charge Hamas denies.

More than 2 million people are packed into Gaza, whose economic plight is a focus of so-far fruitless U.S.-led efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, stalled since 2014.
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Journalists Jailed in Record Numbers Worldwide

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Journalists are being jailed in unprecedented numbers across the globe, with 262 detained for their work at the end of 2017, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“The jailing of journalists is a brutal form of censorship that is having a profound impact on the flow of information around the world,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon told a press freedom event Friday at the United Nations.

At the end of 2017, the worst offenders were Turkey, with 73 journalists jailed; China with 41; and Egypt with 20.

CPJ says that slightly more than half of all imprisoned journalists were jailed for reporting on human rights violations.

Simon said the United Nations has not been a strong enough voice on the issue because it has a culture of rarely naming and shaming its member states.

The event, organized on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly annual meeting, highlighted the cases of five reporters CPJ says have been unjustly detained. They are nationals of Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and Myanmar.

The two most high-profile cases are of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo in Myanmar. The two men were detained in December 2017 while they were investigating the mass killing of Rohingya Muslim men and boys by Buddhist villagers in the Rakhine state village of Inn Din.

Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown on the minority Rohingya in August 2017 after Rohingya militants attacked several police checkpoints and killed a dozen Myanmar police officers. In a matter of a few months, 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Survivors gave accounts of horrific abuses, including widespread rapes, torture, and the looting and burning of their homes. The United Nations has deemed the atrocities a “textbook case” of ethnic cleansing. 

British barrister Amal Clooney is representing the two Reuters reporters. She says the Myanmar authorities did not want their story about the massacre at Inn Din to come out.

“So police planted government documents on the journalists while other officers lay in wait outside to arrest them,” Clooney said of how the two men were set up. “The journalists were arrested and were then prosecuted and subjected to a show trial in which their conviction was guaranteed.”

Earlier this month, the two were sentenced to seven years in prison for violating a law on state secrets. Clooney said they are seeking a presidential pardon in Myanmar for them, as it is the only avenue currently available to win their freedom.

“The attack on them is a chilling warning to other journalists worldwide,” said Reuters President Stephen Adler. “Myanmar is not the only country where attempts are made to deter investigative news gathering, scare sources and whistle-blowers, dim the spotlight of reporting, and thereby allow officials to act in darkness with impunity.”

Other arrests

Azimjon Askarov, a Kyrgyz journalist, has been serving a life sentence since July 2010. CPJ’s Simon says he was covering deadly ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in the summer of 2010. During the trial, he and his lawyer were both assaulted.

“CPJ conducted its own investigation into the case in 2012 and found that charges against Askarov were in retaliation for his reporting on corrupt and abusive practices by regional police and prosecutors,” Simon said.

Bangladeshi photojournalist and commentator Shahidul Alam was arrested last month while covering student protests in Bangladesh. A Dhaka court ordered that he be held for seven days to determine if he violated an information law by spreading propaganda and false information.

“When Shahidul was brought into court, he screamed that had been tortured. He was unable to walk without assistance,” Simon told the panel. He remains in detention.

Since 2013, CPJ says, Egypt has been among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, often detaining reporters on politically motivated anti-state charges.

Alaa Abdelfattah, a well-known Egyptian blogger and activist who has written about politics and human rights, is one of them. He is serving a five-year sentence on charges that he organized a protest and assaulted a police officer.

“We believe the charges are trumped up and in retaliation for Alaa’s coverage of alleged human rights abuses by the police and security forces,” Simon said.

“We are witnessing a growing hatred of journalists worldwide, which unfortunately is not limited to authoritarian regimes,” said Margaux Ewen, North America director of Reporters Without Borders. “We are seeing democratically elected regimes also attack the press more and more frequently, which is why we need to continue to address wrongs as they occur.”

U.S. President Donald Trump refers to negative news coverage of him and his administration as “fake news,” and reporters at his rallies and during his campaign reported encountering hostility from his supporters.

Reporters in the United States are facing a more dangerous work environment. CPJ says at least three journalists have been arrested this year and 34 last year. In June, five people were killed in the newsroom of an Annapolis, Maryland, newspaper.

Journalists covering white nationalism and the far-right political movement have reported receiving threats, and at least 24 journalists have been assaulted, shoved or had their equipment damaged while working.

“A free press is not an adversary, but an essential component of democracy,” Ewen said.
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Qatar: Regional Security Alliance with US at Risk with Gulf Dispute

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A proposed regional security alliance bringing together the United States, Gulf allies, Egypt and Jordan, is at risk if a Gulf dispute is not resolved, Qatar’s foreign minister said Friday.

Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of backing their archrival, Iran, and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott impinges on its sovereignty.

The United States has tried, without success, to mediate in the dispute. It is an ally of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, and Qatar is home to a major U.S. air base.

The Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) is meant to serve as a bulwark against Iran and extremism, Washington says. But it is unclear how it can get off the ground given the dispute.

“Regarding the alliance and the creation of the alliance, by ignoring the GCC rift, we don’t think that, even if it’s initiated, that it will be initiated effectively,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in New York.

“There is a serious challenge among the states and we need to address this challenge, in order also to prove the credibility of this alliance. And we believe there’s an opportunity over here,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Gulf allies, Egypt and Jordan earlier on Friday where they discussed MESA, in which a “united GCC” was emphasized.

“The secretary and the foreign ministers had productive discussions on establishing a Middle East Strategic Alliance, anchored by a united GCC, to advance prosperity, security, and stability in the region,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The United States was planning to host a summit in October to discuss the plan, but that has been pushed back several months. A senior administration official has said Washington was still planning to hold the summit at a later date.

Speaking to Reuters earlier this week, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, called the MESA proposal “very encouraging” and one that “indicates American commitment to the region, its allies and it’s extremely important in a very unstable international system.”

But he added that the Gulf dispute was on the “back burner,” suggesting there were not active diplomatic efforts to resolve the rift and that it would not affect MESA.

“Qatar crisis is on the back burner. It has nothing to do with our ability to present a united front and be a pro-active part of a bigger alliance led by the United States,” Gargash told Reuters.
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Ethiopia Revokes Land Leases for Saudi Billionaire, Other Investors

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Ethiopian officials have revoked land leases in Addis Ababa that were held by dozens of investors, including Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi.

A total of 412.6 hectares of land have been returned to the Addis Ababa Land Bank and Transfer Office, office head Tesfaye Tilahun told the VOA Horn of Africa service this week.

The investors had not acted on their promise to create jobs for youth and help grow the city of more than 4 million, he said.

“All they did was make a fence around thousands square feet of land and left it for years. That is all they did,” he said.

Ninety-five individuals and businesses lost their licenses, Tesfaye said.

The reclaimed land includes 55 hectares that were associated with MIDROC Ethiopia, a private company that belongs to al-Amoudi.

MIDROC Ethiopia leased about 33,000 square feet of land in the heart of the capital in 2005, agreeing to build a city center there.

“The company just put a fence around that massive [tract], evicting out locals. Instead of building the city, they gave the city a bad image, making it a place of waste collections,” Tesfaye said.

VOA’s efforts to reach MIDROC Ethiopia representatives for a response to the government’s actions were unsuccessful.

MIDROC often has had a coarse relationship with Addis Ababa residents, who have accused the company of polluting the environment and refusing job opportunities to locals.

The public frustration grew a few years ago, especially in the Oromia region, where locals protested against the company.

Land issues also drove the Oromia protests. Many residents opposed an expansion of the Addis Ababa city limits, citing fears the government would push farmers off their land.

“Addis Ababa needs to grow first from inside before illegally evicting neighboring farmers from their belongings,” Tesfaye said.

In Ethiopia, the federal government has the ultimate say over who owns land and how it is used.

Nineteen Ethiopian government agencies and 18 companies related to African diplomats or governments also had licenses revoked this week.

Tesfaye said the entities had promised to build industry, hotels, a media center and other complexes in various parts of the city’s busiest area.

Addis Ababa city officials are planning to audit other land holdings in the city. “This is the beginning,” he said.
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Former Vatican Diplomat: Pope’s Failure to Respond Indicates Guilt

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The fact that Pope Francis has not responded to accusations of having covered up for former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is evidence the pope is guilty, according to a letter written by former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

Vigano renewed his charge that Francis knew five years ago that McCarrick had sexually harassed young men and did nothing.

The letter, written in English and dated Sept. 29, was published Thursday night on American Conservative as soon as it was received by U.S. blogger Rod Dreher.

The content of the letter echoes Vigano’s first letter, published a month ago, in which he accused three popes and other leading members of the Vatican hierarchy of covering up the serious sexual sins of McCarrick. Vigano called on Pope Francis to set the right example and resign.

In the new letter, Vigano explains why he revealed facts that were covered by the pontifical secret.

“Well aware of the enormous consequences that my testimony could have, because what I was about to reveal involved the successor of Peter himself, I nonetheless chose to speak in order to protect the Church, and I declare with a clear conscience before God that my testimony is true,” he wrote.

The archbishop added that the “decision to reveal those grave facts” was for him “the most painful and serious decision” that he’d ever made in his life. He said he took the decision “after long reflection and prayer, during months of profound suffering and anguish.”

Vigano continued in his letter saying, “Neither the pope nor any of the cardinals in Rome have denied the facts I asserted in my testimony.” He added that Pope Francis’ response so far has been to say, “I will not say a word about this.”

The former Vatican diplomat said Francis’ failure to respond to the accusations is a clear indication he is guilty. “The pope’s unwillingness to respond to my charges and his deafness to the appeals by the faithful for accountability are hardly consistent with his calls for transparency and bridge building,” he wrote.

The Vatican reportedly is expected to provide some clarification, but the pope has refused to answer the accusations directly. Francis has referred to the matter only indirectly in his morning homilies inside Vatican walls and when no one is able to question him.

Vigano said Francis compared his own silence to that of Jesus before Pilate, with the pope comparing Vigano to “the great accuser, Satan, who sows scandal and division in the Church,” though without naming Vigano. What the pope chose to do, according to Vigano, was to “put in place a subtle slander” against him.
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Professional Queuers Left Out in the Cold at Moscow iPhone Launch

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Hundreds of Russians braved the cold and rain to queue for days outside a Moscow phone store ahead of the release of the new Apple iPhones on Friday, but when the doors opened none stepped in to buy.

Instead, they tried in vain to sell their queue places to genuine Apple enthusiasts outside the first Russian store to sell the new iPhones XS and XS Max in central Moscow.

Banking on strong enthusiasm for the phones, which have drawn days-long queues outside stores in Singapore, Sydney and elsewhere, the queue sellers set the price of the first place at 450,000 rubles ($7,000).

Reductions were offered for places further down the line, but in the end all went unsold as shoppers were happy to wait for the chance to buy the 87,000 ruble ($1,300) iPhone XS or 96,000 ruble ($1,500) XS Max.

The store manager called out ticket numbers to invite in the first buyers, but his calls went unanswered.

Eventually, ticket holder number 247 came to the door and Russian photographer Anatoly Doroshchenko, who had arrived that morning and didn’t pay for the right to queue-jump, became the first purchaser in Russia of one of the new phones.

For the group of queue jump sellers, some of whom ripped up their tickets and adverts selling their places, the exercise wasn’t a complete waste of time.

 
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UN: South Sudan Faces Catastrophic Food Shortages

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More than 6 million people in South Sudan — or nearly 60 percent of the population — face desperate food shortages, with many on the brink of famine, warns a joint report by three leading United Nations agencies. 

Particular emphasis was placed on seven counties in South Sudan, where food shortages have reached catastrophic levels. Under the U.N. classification system, these counties have reached a Level 5, which is an early warning of famine. 

The report by the World Food Program, U.N. Children’s Fund, and Food and Agriculture Organization blames the hardship on widespread conflict and lack of humanitarian access in the former states of Unity, Lakes, Jonglei, Upper Nile, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Leer and Mayendit.

“Although famine was averted by June 2017, lack of access areas prevent humanitarian organizations from having a clear understanding of needs today,” said Herve Verhoosel, a World Food Program spokesman. “Action and political leadership are needed.” 

The WFP has reached more than 3 million people with 30,000 tons of food this year, Verhoosel says. The agency is preparing to respond to growing needs in 2019.

The Food and Agriculture Organization reports it has provided 1.4 million farmers with agricultural seeds and tools during the main planting season, so they can increase cereal production.

The U.N. Children’s Fund and partners reportedly have provided therapeutic treatment for more than 147,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition since January. 

Ultimately, the three agencies agree that only a sustainable peace across South Sudan will allow people in this beleaguered country to live safe, fulfilling lives.

South Sudan has been plagued by civil war since 2013 as a result of a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar. Kiir and Machar recently signed a renewed peace accord.
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Rebel Attacks Rise in Ebola-Infected Areas in Eastern DRC

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A rise in violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is displacing more people and hampering humanitarian efforts, including operations to stop the spread of Ebola, the United Nations refugee agency warns.

More than 20 people have been killed in recent attacks in the Beni area of Congo’s North Kivu province and farther north in Ituri province, both near the border with Uganda. 

The UNHCR estimates more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu. And, it notes, more people are fleeing their homes in the face of increasing attacks. 

The main rebel groups — the Allied Democratic Forces and National Army for the Liberation of Uganda — have been active in the Beni area for some time. However, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch tells VOA fighting has reached the city itself for the first time, making it risky for staff to move around.

“Many humanitarians have had to stop their activities. But, UNHCR, we are trying to send colleagues into Beni town as soon as we can to provide humanitarian assistance to those who have been affected by the recent rounds of violence,” Baloch said.

Beni is the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, and is the base for anti-Ebola operations by the World Health Organization. These operations were shut down temporarily following recent rebel attacks. 

WHO reports 154 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola in the area, including 101 deaths. The agency resumed its activities in Beni on Wednesday, despite security concerns. 

WHO officials say they cannot afford to halt operations and allow the deadly Ebola virus to spread. 
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Pope Defrocks Chile Priest at Center of Global Abuse Scandal

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Pope Francis has defrocked the Chilean priest at the center of the global sex abuse scandal rocking his papacy, invoking his “supreme” authority to stiffen a sentence originally handed down by the Vatican in 2011.

In a statement Friday, the Vatican said Francis had laicized the 88-year-old Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was originally sanctioned to a lifetime of “penance and prayer” for having sexually abused minors.

 

The “penance and prayer” sanction has been the Vatican’s punishment of choice for elderly priests convicted of raping and molesting children. It has long been criticized by victims as too soft and essentially an all-expenses-paid retirement.

 

The Vatican didn’t say what new evidence, if any, prompted Francis to re-evaluate Karadima’s original sanction and impose what clergy consider the equivalent of a death sentence.

 
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Third Russian Possibly Involved in Salisbury Poisoning

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British investigators now say a third Russian military intelligence officer was involved in the poisoning in March this year of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southern English cathedral town of Salisbury.

Officials say the officer, who they suspect of carrying out reconnaissance for the nerve agent attack, has been identified by the British security services. At this stage, they say, they are not releasing his name – neither the alias he might have used nor his real identity.

The disclosure comes as Kremlin officials downplayed the unmasking earlier this week of one of the suspects in the attack as a decorated colonel in the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service.

Col. Anatoliy Chepiga, a GRU veteran who is believed to have served in an elite special forces unit in Afghanistan as well as in Chechnya and Ukraine, received Russia’s top military honor, Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2014. It may have been bestowed on him personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin, say security analysts.

Chepiga was seen laughing on CCTV footage released earlier this year by the British authorities as he and a colleague, who used the alias Alexander Petrov, sauntered along a Salisbury street March 4 soon after the poisoning of Skripal, a former Russian agent who defected to Britain.

The two men have claimed they are sport nutritionists and in an interview, ridiculed by the British media and government, with the Kremlin-directed RT network, insisted they had gone to Salisbury, twice, to see the cathedral’s spire and ancient clock. Their first day trip was a failure because of slush and snow, they said, although according to weather data there was no snow in the cathedral town on March 3.

The investigative journalism consortium Bellingcat, along with the news-site The Insider, say they have identified the decorated veteran, who used the alias Ruslan Boshirov, by trawling through open-source records of the graduates of Russian military academies and then matching his photograph. Leaked data of Chepiga’s real passport provided final proof.

‘Fake news’

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the Bellingcat identification is “fake news.”

And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday: “Like you, we are just learning of this investigation in the media released that talks about certain people resembling certain other people.” Other Kremlin officials say many people resemble each other.

Chepiga’s apparent identification as one of the likely culprits of the assassination attempt using the rare toxin Novichok leaves in tatters the Kremlin claim that it had no involvement in the attack, say British officials. His seniority in the GRU, they argue, suggests the attack was sanctioned from the top of the Kremlin.

Bellingcat says aside from its own open-source probe, “multiple sources familiar with the person and/or the investigation have confirmed the suspect’s identity.” British officials say they have no dispute with the identification. But they are not officially confirming it and have not said in detail why, arguing they are unable to for security reasons.

Locals in Chepiga’s home village, Berezovka, 640 kilometers east of Moscow in the Amur region, interviewed by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, confirm the identification and say they knew it was him even before the Bellingcat investigation. They say they recognized him from the CCTV footage British authorities released. Kommersant says the locals spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing retribution.

“Yeah, that’s Tolya,” one woman told the newspaper, using Chepiga’s nickname. She says he was a disciplined youth. “He didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and never got involved with any bad crowd,” she said.

Security analysts say it is possible that Chepiga and Skripal, a former GRU officer, knew each other. If so, it would add a personal element to the nerve agent attack. Skripal also served in Afghanistan, although not in a special forces unit but with Soviet Airborne Troops and many years earlier.

Skripal and his daughter survived the March nerve-agent attack, but a local woman not connected to the original attack died in July after being exposed to the same toxin, which was contained in a discarded perfume bottle dumped in a trash bin.  

Skripal was a double agent for British intelligence in the 1990s. In December 2004, he was arrested by Russian authorities, tried, convicted of high treason and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was included in a 2010 spy swap and settled in Salisbury.

Britain, the United States and most European Union countries responded to the Salisbury attack with expulsions of Russian diplomats and financial sanctions on Russia. The Kremlin denies any involvement in the attack and has maintained variously that the poisoning never happened, that it was carried out by Britain in order to blame Russia or that unknown third parties were responsible.

 
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Ethiopia Charges 5 With Terrorism Over Assassination Attempt

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Ethiopia’s attorney general on Friday filed terrorism charges against five people accused of trying to “kill the prime minister” at a huge rally in the capital in June, barely two months after the reformist leader took office.

 

The charges say the five acted on the premise that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not popular among Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, and wanted to pave the way for the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front.

 

That group’s leaders recently returned after Abiy’s government in July removed it from a terror list and invited all exiled groups to participate in politics.

 

Abiy, Ethiopia’s first prime minister from the Oromo ethnic group, has announced sweeping and largely popular reforms since taking office in April, but ethnic tensions in Africa’s second most populous country pose his biggest challenge.

 

A bomb thrown at the stage while Abiy waved to the crowd of tens of thousands in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square on June 23 killed two people and wounded more than 150.

 

Some of the attack’s collaborators remain at large, including a woman who lives in neighboring Kenya and allegedly masterminded it, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported Friday.

 

 It said the suspects wore T-shirts bearing the prime minister’s image to disguise themselves as supporters.

 

At the time of the bombing, Abiy called it a “well-orchestrated attack” but one that failed.

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, which came to power in 1991, holds its congress next week and is expected to take the next steps in implementing the political and economic reforms that include opening up state-run enterprises to investment and preparing for elections in 2020.

 
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DC Fashion Week Features International Hybrid Designs

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Fashion designer Ellen London uses textiles from all over the world in her designs, sometimes mixing them — combining a Thai fabric, for example — with one from the U.S. Appalachian region.

“I believe that textiles and fashion have an idea to teach people about understanding and connection of different cultures through fabric,” London told VOA during a recent showing during (Washington) DC Fashion Week.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer, London discovered what she calls her “gypsy” spirit. It has taken her all over the world in search of native textiles that she converts into “wearable” art with the help of her Thai design partner and a group of female tailors.

According to her website, her collection includes “East and West African wax and printed fabrics, washed silks and cotton wovens from Thailand, and designer-created Japanese Shibori and Nigerian Adire batik techniques on some of our new designs. Indigo and batik have found their place on virtually every continent.”

Color and texture aside, London said her work is about “respect and including people, rather than excluding them.”

London is a natural for DC Fashion Week because she fits the vision of event founder Ean Williams, who sees Washington, D.C., “as the center of international fashion.”

DC? Fashion?

Ride the subway in Washington, and it will quickly become apparent that the nation’s capital is not a couture town. Residents dress conservatively, if not in clothes that are often stodgy.

To Williams, this is a waste of considerable opportunity.

“D.C., of course, is known for politics,” he mused. “But there are so many things to do in Washington, from opera to museums to concerts to theater to great poolside parties to mainstream society events to after-parties. There are so many great opportunities for people to dress to impress.”

Williams combines politics with Hollywood glamour to label his vision of Washington “Pollywood.”

For the past 14 years, he has staged fashion week twice a year. DC Fashion Week started with local designers showcasing their collections and has evolved into an international event, attracting designers from all over the world.

The DC Fashion Week organization is a nonprofit, so most of the costs are donated by vendors and sponsors. As a result, designers can show their collections at minimal cost, making the event affordable to young designers and international ones.

“Trying to participate in other shows can become very expensive for a designer. So, participating in DC is just a great opportunity,” said swimsuit designer Camile Case, who is from Jamaica.

As always, the 29th fashion week took place in a variety of venues — this fall at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and the French embassy. Each sold-out event featured a different category of designer, including emerging talent and international couturiers.

“The hope and goal of fashion week … is that every country send their best designer and talent to showcase, like the Olympics,” said Williams, who is a self-taught designer himself. “We want to show what the fashion community of the world has to offer to the consumer.”

Models & guests

DC Fashion Week, unlike fashion weeks in other cities, provides an opportunity for models with many backgrounds and different shapes.

From Nigeria, Bukola Aeosun was participating in her second fashion week. “I like the diversity in races and colors and textures and sizes. I think that is very empowering and it’s exciting.”

“Fashion is for everyone,” Williams said. “We started with inclusivity. We started with having diverse models, models of different sizes, models of different ages.”

The audience is diverse, too. From Pakistan, Maliha Cheema attended fashion week for the first time.

“I really enjoyed the show,” she said. “I love how inclusive it was. There are models of every size, and there is a hijabi and everything.”
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DC Fashion Week Showcases International Hybrid Designs

Posted on by SeeUS

Washington, D.C., is not a fashion town. Residents are known for dressing conservatively, if not for wearing clothes that are downright stodgy. But a computer engineer-turned fashion designer believes the nation’s capital is one of the best locations for fashion. VOA’s June Soh met DC Fashion Week founder Ean Williams to learn what the event is all about. Her report is narrated by Faith Lapidus.
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Ford, Kavanaugh Testify; Senators Vote Today

Posted on by SeeUS

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Friday morning on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, following a day of dramatic testimony by the appellate judge and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexual assault.

The 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the committee will decide whether to recommend Kavanaugh for approval by the entire Senate, which is expected to begin procedural votes Saturday.

WATCH: Kavanaugh and Accuser Face Off in Dramatic Hearing

Bar requests investigation

The American Bar Association late Thursday urged the Judiciary committee and the full Senate to delay the vote until the FBI has time to do a full background check on the claims made by Ford and other women.

“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law,’’ the ABA letter to committee leadership said. “Each appointment to our nation’s highest court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote.’’

​Republicans count votes

It is not clear if the Republicans will have enough votes for their nominee after the impassioned testimony Thursday when Kavanaugh angrily denied a charge of sexually assaulting Ford at a party in 1982 when they were teenagers. Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a nearly nine-hour-long hearing.

Late Thursday, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee announced he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. While, he said, it took courage for Ford to testify, there was no evidence to corroborate her allegations.

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said he is still weighing his vote after hearing Ford and Kavanaugh testify.

Asked how he will vote, Flake said, “Let me process it.”

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, also said she needs time to decide how she will vote. She is running for re-election in a state that voted heavily for President Donald Trump.

Sen. Doug Jones, a first-term Democrat from Alabama, said he would vote no on Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court. “The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning,” he said, adding that Ford was credible and courageous.

​Kavanaugh’s testimony

“I have never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever,” Kavanaugh told the senators. “I have never done this to her or to anyone.”

He cried as he spoke of how the ordeal has wrecked his family. He presented the senators with what he said were handwritten calendars from 1982 showing his activities and whereabouts. He says they did not include the party. He said he welcomes whatever investigation the committee wants into the incident but would not directly answer whether he would seek an FBI inquiry.

Kavanaugh admitted a love for drinking beer, but he also pointed to what he says were his outstanding academic record and dedication to high school sports and church.

​Ford’s testimony

Hours earlier, Ford told the panel she was “100 percent certain” it was a drunken Kavanaugh who pinned her down on a bed, groped her, tried to take off her clothes, and put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams for help.

Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor chosen by Republican members of the committee to question Ford on their behalf, asked her about timelines and peripheral issues and did not challenge her basic account of sexual assault. But Ford’s account lacked firm corroboration of her claims by others at the party.

Later Thursday, Mark Judge, a Kavanaugh friend whom Ford identified as being present during the assault, issued a statement saying, “Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school, but we have not spoken directly in several years. I do not recall the events described by Dr. Ford in her testimony. … I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.”

WATCH: Kavanaugh Has Supporters, Opponents Among Women

Partisan divide

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley defended Kavanaugh and blamed Democrats for not disclosing the accusations earlier.

“As part of Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the FBI conducted its sixth full field background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh since 1993, 25 years ago. Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports … was there a whiff of any issue, any issue at all related to anyway inappropriate sexual behavior.”

But Democrats did not buy Kavanaugh’s self-portrayal of an angelic choir boy. Senator Patrick Leahy pointed to Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook page and its jokes about heavy drinking and sex.

Republican Senator Lindsay Graham lost his temper during his time to question Kavanaugh. He accused Democrats of an “unethical sham” and warning Republicans that if they vote not to confirm Kavanaugh, they would legitimize “the most despicable thing I’ve ever seen in my time in politics.”

Trump stands by his man

President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. He tweeted that the judge showed Americans exactly why he was chosen.

Trump’s tweet did not mention Ford.

Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, Ilya Shapiro, says it is unclear if anyone came out ahead after Thursday’s testimony.

“We’re at a dangerous point because if we have no more evidence and Kavanaugh’s rejected, that sets the precedent that accusations are enough to derail … and if he’s approved, then still there will be people who think that he’s a sexual assaulter or rapist and there he is sitting at the Supreme Court.”

Jesuit magazine withdraws Kavanaugh support

In another development Thursday, America Magazine, an influential Jesuit publication, withdrew its support for Kavanaugh’s nomination. Georgetown Prep, Kavanaugh’s high school, is a Jesuit institution.

In an editorial America Magazine said, “… we recognize that this nomination is no longer in the best interests of the country.” It added that, “Somewhere in the distant past, … Senate confirmation hearings might have focused on evaluating a nominee’s judicial character or qualifications as a legal thinker. But that time is long past. … It now involves the symbolic meaning of his nomination and confirmation in the #MeToo era. The hearings and the committee’s deliberations are now also a bellwether of the way the country treats women when their reports of harassment, assault and abuse threaten to derail the careers of powerful men.”

If Kavanaugh is confirmed, the court will have a clear 5-4 conservative majority, which could be solidified for a generation or longer.
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World Digests UN General Assembly, Trump’s Tough Talk on Iran, China

Posted on by SeeEU

As global leaders digest the fallout from a stormy United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, China has strongly denied accusations from President Donald Trump that it is trying to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections next month.

Meanwhile the diplomatic tussle has intensified between the United States and other signatories over the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as the U.S. prepares to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions.

Trump’s accusations against China took many at the U.N. by surprise. In a news conference Wednesday evening, the president was asked by reporters what evidence he had to support his claim.

“It will come out. I can’t tell you now. But it came, it didn’t come out of nowhere,” he said.

 

WATCH: World Digests Stormy UN General Assembly, Trump’s Tough Talk on Iran, China

China, not Russia?

Beijing strongly denies trying to influence U.S. politics, and many in China question why President Trump did not mention the investigation into Russian meddling, says analyst and professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

“It would appear that the allegation that Donald Trump made against China, when he deliberately not mentioned about Russia, really was to distract attention domestically in the United States. So the Chinese are rather upset about it. And I would expect that Putin in Russia is rather pleased about it,” Tsang told VOA.

Trump’s accusation, taken alongside the ramping up of trade tariffs, marks a significant escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“The real issue for China is the status and the standing of President Xi and therefore the Communist Party in the country as a whole. President Xi cannot afford and therefore will not agree to appearing to be weak in front of an American onslaught like that,” Tsang said.

​Iran sanctions

Meanwhile the diplomatic tussle intensified at the United Nations between the United States and other signatories over the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as the U.S. prepares to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions. Chairing a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday, President Trump set his sights firmly on Iran, accusing it of spreading “chaos, death and destruction.” Middle East analyst Aziz Alghashian of the University of Essex says Trump’s words are aimed at others in the region.

“I think he is trying to appease the allies that he has in the region, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Saudi Arabia and Israel. And I think that is very important for him because he tried to repatch the bad relations, or the tense relations that the allies had with Obama.”

The United States pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May. The five remaining signatories, the U.K., France, Germany, China and Russia, want to create an alternative payment system to bypass U.S. sanctions. At a press conference Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted with anger to those plans.

“By sustaining revenues to the regime you are solidifying Iran’s ranking as the No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” he said.

At the U.N. Wednesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani praised efforts to keep the nuclear deal alive.

“Until such time when we keep reaping the benefits promised within that agreement for our nation and our people, we will remain in the agreement. Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions,” President Rouhani told reporters in New York.

Analyst Aziz Alghashian believes Europe has little room for maneuver.

“There’s a lot of European companies that rely on the American economy, so they must take that into account as well when the sanctions hit,” Alghashian said.

Those new sanctions are set to hit in November. President Trump has pledged that they will be “tougher than ever before.”
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Kavanaugh Has Supporters, Opponents Among Women

Posted on by SeeUS

Women demonstrated on Capitol Hill Thursday while the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to testimonies by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of a sexual assault 36 years ago. Many women came out in support of professor Christine Blasey Ford. But Kavanaugh has supporters among women, as well. The case reminds many of one in 1991, when attorney Anita Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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World Digests Stormy UN General Assembly, Trump’s Tough Talk on Iran, China

Posted on by SeeUS

As global leaders digest the fallout from a stormy United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, China has strongly denied accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump that Beijing is trying to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, the diplomatic tussle has intensified between the United States and other signatories over the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as the U.S. prepares to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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US Keeps Training Cameroon Troops but Urges Accountability in Criminal Probe

Posted on by SeeAF

As Cameroonian authorities investigate horrific crimes that appear to be have been committed by government soldiers in the Far North Region, the U.S. military is calling for accountability while it continues to provide training to its Cameroonian counterparts.

“The Cameroonian government has taken recent steps to increase transparency and address allegations of gross violations of human rights seriously, but the government has not yet released information specific to its investigations,” Pentagon spokeswoman Air Force Maj. Sheryll Klinkel said Thursday in an email to VOA.

The Pentagon is continuing to work with the State Department to “ensure the government of Cameroon holds accountable any individuals found to be responsible,” Klinkel added.

Cameroonian authorities arrested seven Cameroonian soldiers after two videos circulated on social media. One video showed what were alleged to be Cameroonian forces shooting two women and two small children, while another showed what appeared to be Cameroonian security forces shooting at least a dozen unarmed civilians during a counterterror operation in the Far North Region. 

An investigation by the BBC used satellite imagery, Channel 4 News footage and clues from the video to assert the killings of two women and two children were committed in the Far North by Cameroonian soldiers between March 20 and April 5, 2015.

U.S. personnel sent

Former President Barack Obama deployed U.S. military personnel to the country about six months after that incident, in October 2015, to help in the fight against Boko Haram.

The Department of Defense still has about 300 military personnel in Cameroon as part of an international effort to stop the spread of violent extremism in West Africa.

In addition to what the Pentagon calls “building partner capacity” through basic military training and equipping, the Defense Department trains foreign troops on the law of armed conflict and human rights. 

The Cameroonian Ministry of Defense also takes part in a U.S. government-funded program to train and establish 40 military legal advisers to advance human rights principles and promote security force accountability in the field commands across Cameroon.

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, cautioned before the Cameroonian government arrests that partnership with the U.S. comes with responsibility.

“We want to have a strong military relationship with Cameroon, but their actions will go a long way toward how that will play out in the future, with regards to the transparency on some of these latest allegations,” Waldhauser said on July 31.
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Macedonia’s President Calls Name Change ‘Historical Suicide’ 

Posted on by SeeEU

President Gjorge Ivanov on Thursday urged Macedonians to boycott a referendum on changing the country’s name, saying making such a change would amount to “historical suicide.”

“On September 30, I will not go out and vote, and I know that you, my fellow citizens, will make a similarly wise decision,” Ivanov said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Macedonians are being asked to change the name of their country to North Macedonia to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and pave the way for the country’s admission into NATO and the European Union.

Athens has argued that the name belongs exclusively to its northern province of Macedonia and that using the name implies Skopje’s intention to claim the Greek province.

Greece has for years pressured Skopje into renouncing the country’s name, forcing it to use the more formal moniker Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the United Nations.

It has also consistently blocked its smaller neighbor from gaining membership in NATO and the EU as long as it retains its name. 

Ivanov said giving into Athens’ demand would be a “flagrant violation of sovereignty.” He has steadfastly refused to back a deal reached between Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, that put the name change to a vote.

“This referendum could lead us to become a subordinate state, dependent on another country,” Ivanov said. “We will become a state in name only, not in substance.”
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Boris Johnson Demands May Scrap Her Brexit Proposals

Posted on by SeeEU

Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Prime Minister Theresa May to rip up her Brexit proposals, ratcheting up the pressure on May as she prepares to face her divided party at its annual conference in two days time.

“This is the moment to change the course of the negotiations and do justice to the ambitions and potential of Brexit,” Johnson wrote in Friday’s Daily Telegraph, adding a six-point alternative plan for Brexit.

“There has been a collective failure of government, and a collapse of will by the British establishment, to deliver on the mandate of the people,” he wrote.

Just six months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, little is clear: PM May has yet to clinch a Brexit divorce deal with the EU and rebels in her party have threatened to vote down any deal she makes.

Johnson, one the most prominent campaigners for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, resigned in July as foreign secretary over May’s Brexit proposals which he cast in his 4,600-word Daily Telegraph article as “enforced vassalage.”

May has repeatedly said her Brexit proposals are the only viable ones.
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UN Report: Peace Impossible in CAR Without Justice for Victims 

Posted on by SeeAF

A United Nations human rights expert warns true peace in Central African Republic will not be possible without justice for the hundreds of thousands of victims who have suffered violence and human rights abuse during more than five years of civil war. 

War between the Muslim Seleka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka groups in Central African Republic (CAR) has taken a heavy toll. The U.N. refugee agency reports nearly 582,000 people have fled as refugees to neighboring countries and more than 687,000 are internally displaced.

The Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in CAR says some crucial steps have been taken in establishing a system of transitional justice and peace in the country.  

Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum welcomes these moves but said the success of ongoing reforms can only be assured if they are based on justice for the victims. She said people in the country are still suffering from lack of consultation at all levels. 

“Their participation in peace cannot be optional,” Bochum said. “Their voice has to be heard alongside that of the government and the armed groups as well as part of the African Facilitators’ Panel. An inclusive panel needs to build in consultation with all swathes of the population reaching out to all the different tribes and the hundreds of thousands of CAR refugees.”  

Bocoum warns the situation of human rights is threatened by public incitement to violence and media sponsored hate speech by various factions. She says discrimination and marginalization based on religion and ethnicity also are of great concern.

The Central African Republic’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Leopold Ismael Samba, says his country is committed to finding solutions to the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. He says his government wants to restore true rule of law, ensuring peace and security throughout the territory.

But, he notes, these challenges can only be met with the support of the international community.
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UN Palestinian Refugee Agency Narrows Shortfall after US Cuts

Posted on by SeeEA

 A United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees received contributions of $118 million on Thursday, narrowing a budget gap for this year to $68 million as it aims to fill a shortfall left by a cut in U.S. funding.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the pledges were made at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York.

He said the largest funding pledges on Thursday were made by Germany, the European Union, Kuwait, Ireland and Norway.

“Five million Palestinian refugees were following these events very, very closely indeed. It was year of tremendous existential concerns, of great anxiety … I think it is a very big step that has been achieved today,” Krahenbuhl said.

The United States last month announced a halt in its aid to UNRWA, calling it an “irredeemably flawed operation,” a decision that further heightened tensions between the Palestinian leadership and the Trump administration.

UNRWA provides services to about 5 million Palestinian refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza. Most are descendants of some 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled fighting in the 1948 war that led to Israel’s creation.

The growing refugee count was cited by Washington, UNRWA’s biggest donor, in its decision to withhold funding.

“We’re sending a message that the world does still care about the plight of Palestinian refugees,” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters.

“The challenge is to sustain this effort and part of what we discussed today is a way in which we could have a long term financial planning so not every year in August, Palestinian kids will be wondering if they have a school to go to,” he said.
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