Hurricane Florence came ashore early Friday on North Carolina’s coast, triggering a life-threatening storm surge far inland and damaging property with strong winds and heavy downpours. VOA’s Jeff Custer reports from Washington.
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Month: September 2018
WFP Food Stocks Under Attack in Yemen’s Port City of Hodeidah
The World Food Program (WFP) said humanitarian workers, warehouses and food stocks in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah have come under attack in recent days, jeopardizing vital assistance programs.
The WFP warns the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Hodeidah is threatening its life-saving operations for hundreds of thousands of people.
Last month, the WFP provided emergency food rations to around 700,000 out of 900,000 people at extreme risk.
The WFP reports several serious security incidents have occurred since Wednesday. It said the Red Sea Mill Silos, which mill a quarter of the WFP’s monthly wheat requirements, came under attack.
A mortar shell launched by an unidentified armed group also hit a WFP warehouse holding enough food for 19,200 people. The agency said a guard was injured.
WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel told VOA none of the food was stolen, but, for security reasons, he said WFP has not been able to use its trucks to transport and deliver the food to the hungry.
“It is very important that … every party respect the work of the humanitarian — that WFP or other agencies are not used politically or militarily for any reason,” he said. “We are there as a neutral party to help the population in need in the country. And, hunger is, of course, one of the most important problems for the moment. We need to find a way to deliver the food to the people in need.”
Verhoosel said 46,000 tons of wheat are expected to arrive in Hodeidah within the next week-and-a-half. But he fears ongoing clashes could jeopardize the shipment.
WFP reports more than 8 million people in Yemen are facing starvation and warns any disruption to the food supply could push many over the brink.
U.S.-backed Yemeni government forces have been fighting al-Qaida-linked militants in the country for years. The port of Hodeida is held by Houthi rebels. Crucial humanitarian aid goes through the port, although the Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons.
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WFP Food Stocks Under Attack in Yemen’s Port City of Hodeidah
The World Food Program (WFP) said humanitarian workers, warehouses and food stocks in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah have come under attack in recent days, jeopardizing vital assistance programs.
The WFP warns the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Hodeidah is threatening its life-saving operations for hundreds of thousands of people.
Last month, the WFP provided emergency food rations to around 700,000 out of 900,000 people at extreme risk.
The WFP reports several serious security incidents have occurred since Wednesday. It said the Red Sea Mill Silos, which mill a quarter of the WFP’s monthly wheat requirements, came under attack.
A mortar shell launched by an unidentified armed group also hit a WFP warehouse holding enough food for 19,200 people. The agency said a guard was injured.
WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel told VOA none of the food was stolen, but, for security reasons, he said WFP has not been able to use its trucks to transport and deliver the food to the hungry.
“It is very important that … every party respect the work of the humanitarian — that WFP or other agencies are not used politically or militarily for any reason,” he said. “We are there as a neutral party to help the population in need in the country. And, hunger is, of course, one of the most important problems for the moment. We need to find a way to deliver the food to the people in need.”
Verhoosel said 46,000 tons of wheat are expected to arrive in Hodeidah within the next week-and-a-half. But he fears ongoing clashes could jeopardize the shipment.
WFP reports more than 8 million people in Yemen are facing starvation and warns any disruption to the food supply could push many over the brink.
U.S.-backed Yemeni government forces have been fighting al-Qaida-linked militants in the country for years. The port of Hodeida is held by Houthi rebels. Crucial humanitarian aid goes through the port, although the Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons.
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For African Migrants in Israel, a Life of Hardship in the Promised Land
Sitting on a ledge in front of Ayelew Desale’s grocery store behind Tel Aviv’s central bus station, Selemon Tesfy inhaled the last bits of his cigarette and recalled his flight from Eritrea to avoid a lifetime of servitude. He was kidnapped in Sudan, sold to Sinai Bedouins, and freed only after his family gathered its savings, borrowed money, went begging and paid $30,000 to secure his release.
Tesfy reached Israel in 2011 and repaid his debt, but last year Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that slashed his take-home pay. Now employers who hire illegal migrants like Tesfy must deposit 20 percent of their pay in a fund where it will stay until they leave the country, providing they leave when ordered to go. Tesfy, who cleans knives in the meat section of a supermarket, said he can no longer send remittances home.
Several human rights and aid organizations have appealed the law to Israel’s High Court of Justice. “Deteriorating poor people to even more bitter poverty is extremely brutal,” they argued in their complaint.
One aid organization, Kav La’Oved, said that since that law passed, about 300 people reported moving to jobs where they were paid in cash, cut expenses on food and medicine, or were working longer hours. Assaf, another aid organization, said that more than 1,300 people have requested food or live in fear of losing their jobs. Many experience health and mental problems.
Bisrat Gebryesus, director of the Eritrean Women’s Center in Israel, says prostitution is on the rise. Most mothers are single parents who need money for food and kindergarten expenses. Gebryesus said a woman in this situation sometimes has “no choice but to sell her body.”
None of the people interviewed for this report said they cut down on the amount of food they buy. Desale, the grocer, noticed no change in his clients’ purchasing habits.
But what is obvious is that people are moving to more crowded homes. Beni Shasha, a real estate agent, said he has noted suffocating, dirty apartments with four, five or six people sleeping in a room.
Solomon Gebreyohna left a small apartment to share another with three other men.
Gebreyohna cleans offices and translates at Assaf, the aid organization. He used to film community events and edit them, but not anymore. In his current apartment, there is no room for his computer. “I can’t make any noise,” he said.
Targeting ‘infiltrators’
The law passed last year aims to push illegal migrants to leave.
Israeli officialdom calls them “infiltrators.” Most are from Eritrea and Sudan, so sending them home would violate international norms that prohibit repatriation to countries where they might be exposed to torture or cruel, degrading punishment. Except for rare exceptions, there is no other country willing to host them.
In recent years, Israel locked thousands of migrants in the desert, outlawed hiring them, then paid them to go to Rwanda and Uganda. The courts outlawed the detentions and the options for sending migrants to Rwanda and Uganda fizzled out.
Israel then signed an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whereby the U.N. would relocate half the migrants and Israel would issue visas to the other half. The migrants are prominent in some low-income Tel Aviv neighborhoods and their Israeli neighbors, who claim to be living in fear, protested vehemently. Right-wing politicians joined the critics and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the agreement.
The 35,000 so-called infiltrators hardly scratch the overall demography of Israel and its population of almost 9 million. But the government is concerned that infiltrators would flood Israel if it hints at readiness to accept them, said Dr. Amnon Kartin of Tel Aviv University who specializes in geography and state policies. Israel would then cease having a Jewish character, he added.
Enforcing new law
The government has, nevertheless, been lax in enforcing the new take-home pay law. The manager of a branch of the Israeli Aroma Cafe chain in the central Israeli city of Modiin was surprised to hear such a law existed. A pay slip he had for an African employee showed the only deductions were for income tax and payments to the Israeli national insurance system.
In Tel Aviv, Mula Avraham, an Eritrean who handles stock in a grocery store, said uneducated migrants succumbed to the law but others who can read and follow developments persuaded employers not to cut their pay. “The [deducted] money would be lost. Really lost,” he said, adding that many workers switch jobs and “where will you find that money? What lawyer will search for it?”
Gebreyohna fears asking his employers for proof that they have properly deposited his money. “They can fire me,” he explained.
At the court hearing, the state attorney’s representative, Shosh Shmueli, confirmed that “no deposits were made for most of the infiltrators.”
The President of the Supreme Court, Justice Esther Hayut, ordered the government to report by October 7 what it is doing to enforce compliance. One of the justices, Isaac Amit, put it bluntly. The government’s action, Amit said, “is [designed] to make the workers’ lives miserable.”
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For African Migrants in Israel, a Life of Hardship in the Promised Land
Sitting on a ledge in front of Ayelew Desale’s grocery store behind Tel Aviv’s central bus station, Selemon Tesfy inhaled the last bits of his cigarette and recalled his flight from Eritrea to avoid a lifetime of servitude. He was kidnapped in Sudan, sold to Sinai Bedouins, and freed only after his family gathered its savings, borrowed money, went begging and paid $30,000 to secure his release.
Tesfy reached Israel in 2011 and repaid his debt, but last year Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that slashed his take-home pay. Now employers who hire illegal migrants like Tesfy must deposit 20 percent of their pay in a fund where it will stay until they leave the country, providing they leave when ordered to go. Tesfy, who cleans knives in the meat section of a supermarket, said he can no longer send remittances home.
Several human rights and aid organizations have appealed the law to Israel’s High Court of Justice. “Deteriorating poor people to even more bitter poverty is extremely brutal,” they argued in their complaint.
One aid organization, Kav La’Oved, said that since that law passed, about 300 people reported moving to jobs where they were paid in cash, cut expenses on food and medicine, or were working longer hours. Assaf, another aid organization, said that more than 1,300 people have requested food or live in fear of losing their jobs. Many experience health and mental problems.
Bisrat Gebryesus, director of the Eritrean Women’s Center in Israel, says prostitution is on the rise. Most mothers are single parents who need money for food and kindergarten expenses. Gebryesus said a woman in this situation sometimes has “no choice but to sell her body.”
None of the people interviewed for this report said they cut down on the amount of food they buy. Desale, the grocer, noticed no change in his clients’ purchasing habits.
But what is obvious is that people are moving to more crowded homes. Beni Shasha, a real estate agent, said he has noted suffocating, dirty apartments with four, five or six people sleeping in a room.
Solomon Gebreyohna left a small apartment to share another with three other men.
Gebreyohna cleans offices and translates at Assaf, the aid organization. He used to film community events and edit them, but not anymore. In his current apartment, there is no room for his computer. “I can’t make any noise,” he said.
Targeting ‘infiltrators’
The law passed last year aims to push illegal migrants to leave.
Israeli officialdom calls them “infiltrators.” Most are from Eritrea and Sudan, so sending them home would violate international norms that prohibit repatriation to countries where they might be exposed to torture or cruel, degrading punishment. Except for rare exceptions, there is no other country willing to host them.
In recent years, Israel locked thousands of migrants in the desert, outlawed hiring them, then paid them to go to Rwanda and Uganda. The courts outlawed the detentions and the options for sending migrants to Rwanda and Uganda fizzled out.
Israel then signed an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whereby the U.N. would relocate half the migrants and Israel would issue visas to the other half. The migrants are prominent in some low-income Tel Aviv neighborhoods and their Israeli neighbors, who claim to be living in fear, protested vehemently. Right-wing politicians joined the critics and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the agreement.
The 35,000 so-called infiltrators hardly scratch the overall demography of Israel and its population of almost 9 million. But the government is concerned that infiltrators would flood Israel if it hints at readiness to accept them, said Dr. Amnon Kartin of Tel Aviv University who specializes in geography and state policies. Israel would then cease having a Jewish character, he added.
Enforcing new law
The government has, nevertheless, been lax in enforcing the new take-home pay law. The manager of a branch of the Israeli Aroma Cafe chain in the central Israeli city of Modiin was surprised to hear such a law existed. A pay slip he had for an African employee showed the only deductions were for income tax and payments to the Israeli national insurance system.
In Tel Aviv, Mula Avraham, an Eritrean who handles stock in a grocery store, said uneducated migrants succumbed to the law but others who can read and follow developments persuaded employers not to cut their pay. “The [deducted] money would be lost. Really lost,” he said, adding that many workers switch jobs and “where will you find that money? What lawyer will search for it?”
Gebreyohna fears asking his employers for proof that they have properly deposited his money. “They can fire me,” he explained.
At the court hearing, the state attorney’s representative, Shosh Shmueli, confirmed that “no deposits were made for most of the infiltrators.”
The President of the Supreme Court, Justice Esther Hayut, ordered the government to report by October 7 what it is doing to enforce compliance. One of the justices, Isaac Amit, put it bluntly. The government’s action, Amit said, “is [designed] to make the workers’ lives miserable.”
…
Turkish, Russian Presidents to Meet in Sochi, Discuss Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday in the Russian resort city of Sochi, senior Turkish officials said.
The meeting comes as the international community has raised concerns over a potential Syrian government offensive in Idlib province, bordering Turkey, the last stronghold of the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Speaking at a televised news conference Friday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country is ready to cooperate with anyone in fighting terrorist organizations in Idlib, but added that the killing of civilians, women and children under the pretext of fighting terrorism is not human.
Turkey fears that a large-scale offensive against Idlib will cause a new influx of refugees into its territory, where more than 3 million Syrians have already taken refuge.
Erdogan and Putin met last week at a summit on Syria organized by their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Tehran.
Erdogan pushed unsuccessfully for declaring a cease-fire in Idlib province, where Damascus regime forces were stationed for several days, ready to launch an offensive.
Russia and Iran are key allies of al-Assad’s regime. Turkey, however, backs opposition fighters seeking the ouster of the Syrian leader.
your ad hereTurkish, Russian Presidents to Meet in Sochi, Discuss Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday in the Russian resort city of Sochi, senior Turkish officials said.
The meeting comes as the international community has raised concerns over a potential Syrian government offensive in Idlib province, bordering Turkey, the last stronghold of the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Speaking at a televised news conference Friday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country is ready to cooperate with anyone in fighting terrorist organizations in Idlib, but added that the killing of civilians, women and children under the pretext of fighting terrorism is not human.
Turkey fears that a large-scale offensive against Idlib will cause a new influx of refugees into its territory, where more than 3 million Syrians have already taken refuge.
Erdogan and Putin met last week at a summit on Syria organized by their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Tehran.
Erdogan pushed unsuccessfully for declaring a cease-fire in Idlib province, where Damascus regime forces were stationed for several days, ready to launch an offensive.
Russia and Iran are key allies of al-Assad’s regime. Turkey, however, backs opposition fighters seeking the ouster of the Syrian leader.
your ad hereUN Envoy: Somali Leaders’ Lack of Trust Stymies Progress
United Nations Envoy to Somalia Michael Keating says lack of trust among Somali leaders is complicating progress on the political and security fronts, and says the country’s federal and regional leaders need to compromise.
Keating, who is leaving the office October 1, says there has been progress on the technical level in terms of agreeing on national security structure, transition plan and approach to security but says there is a “political problem” that is not allowing things to move forward.
“Where I think there remains a problem is building political trust in the country’s leadership at a time when elections are approaching,” he told VOA Somali.
He called for compromise and warns that lack of it will worry the international community and Somali partners.
“If they can reach compromises on certain things then that will bring benefits for all Somalis and the investment that the international community is prepared to make in Somalia,” he said. “But the best way to worry international actors who want to invest in Somalia’s future is to show that politicians cannot reach basic agreements and therefore make them worry about whether this technical agenda, which is a good one, can actually be implemented.”
Suspended ties unfortunate
Keating says last week’s decision by five Somali regional leaders to suspend ties with the federal government is “unfortunate.”
He says the decision “reflects some of the structural problems that underpin Somali politics.” He says power-sharing and the relations between the federal member states and the federal government and allocation of resources is the key sticking point at a time when the provisional federal constitutional that could have separated powers and responsibilities for the stakeholders is under review process.
The five regional leaders of Puntland, Jubbaland, Southwest, Galmudug and Hirshabelle cited “interference” by the federal government and lack of sharing of foreign aid for their decision to suspend cooperation.
Somalia’s president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, has invited the five leaders for a meeting September 17 and 18, but there is a doubt whether some or all the regional leaders will attend.
“I think it’s unfortunate, I hope it will quickly result in a course-correction where by the federal member states will agree to meet with the president,” Keating said. “He issued an invitation. … The main thing is that the leaders of the country get together very quickly to discuss issues of common concern, and the most important ones right now include security, the constitutional review, the electoral process, and of course revenue and resources.”
Elections approach
He warned that the lack of trust among the leaders could get more complicated as regional and national elections approach.
Elections for the five regional leaders are expected to take place within the next 18 months, starting with Southwest, which elects its leader in November, followed by Puntland and Jubbaland in January and August next year, respectively. But as leaders prepare for elections, federal leaders also are concerned about possible parliamentary motions at federal level against their seats. Keating says money changes hands during these process and further exacerbates political frictions.
“Unfortunately too much money changes hand in order to win votes, in order to either support or stop motion of no-confidence or impeachment, and this is a complicated game but one that is not allowing the country to move forward,” he said.
He said he has urged Somali leaders to come up with a reform around rules of no-confidence and impeachment motions, as well as finance reform.
“There also needs to be rules about the use of money in politics,” he said. “We need to have more safeguards against just politics being reduced to exchanging money to achieve political outcomes.”
Asked where the money is coming from, Keating says it’s “untraceable.”
“Even though Somalia remains one of the poorest countries in the world there is still a lot of money floating around and it comes from multiple sources,” he said.
Economic gains
Keating praised the efforts by the prime minister to reform Somalia’s economic and financial systems under the monitoring of the International Monetary Fund that he says is bringing “real and positive change” in terms of increasing domestic revenues and taxation.
Keating strongly urged Somali leaders to take the lead in solving problems in their own country.
“Ultimately it’s up to the Somalis, the Somali leadership to stop this, not outsiders,” he said. “It’s time for the Somali leader take full responsibility for the stability of the country and not expect outsiders to do it for them.”
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Weakened Florence Still Packs Deadly Punch
It has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm, but forecasters say Hurricane Florence is still capable of delivering a lethal punch.
“This storm will bring destruction,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. “Catastrophic effects will be felt.”
The outer bands of Hurricane Florence began battering the coast of North and South Carolina Thursday with strong winds and rain. It is forecast to make landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina, at midday Friday.
The National Hurricane Center said late Thursday that Florence has brought a life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds to the North Carolina Coast.
The center said the threat of freshwater flooding will increase over the next several days. North Carolina will likely see eight months’ worth of rain in two to three days, said National Weather Service forecaster Brandon Locklear in a video briefing.
As of late Thursday, the hurricane center said Florence was 95 kilometers southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, with top sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (90 mph).
Slow-moving storm
It is the storm’s movement and not its strength that has forecasters and officials worried.
Florence is moving toward land at 9 kilometers per hour (6 mph), giving it more time to churn, suck up water, batter the coast, and bring massive amounts of rain inland.
Forecasters predict as much as 101 centimeters (40 inches) of rain for some parts of North Carolina and storm surges as high as 4 meters — taller than many houses.
“This rainfall will produce catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding,” the hurricane center said.
Tornadoes are also possible.
At least 150,000 people were without power in North Carolina early Friday with the brunt of the storm yet to come, according to utility companies. Millions were expected to lose power from the storm and restoration could take weeks.
At least 12,000 people had taken refuge in 126 emergency shelters, Governor Cooper said, with more facilities being opened.
Ken Graham, director of the hurricane center, said on Facebook the storm surges could push in as far as 3 kilometers (2 miles). Heavy rains were forecast to extend into the Appalachian Mountains, affecting parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Some refuse to evacuate
The Pentagon has dispatched two ships and a Marine unit offshore to provide help if needed. It has also moved most ships, submarines and planes out their base at Hampton Roads, Virginia, to safety far at sea or in distant airbases.
Rescue helicopters and trucks that can navigate floodwaters are also standing by.
Officials say anyone who has not heeded mandatory evacuation orders is on his own.
“The idea of having to leave with my two cats and go somewhere for a week or more … once you leave, you don’t know how many days it will be before you can return,” a Wilmington resident named Kate tells VOA.
Another Wilmington resident said she does not want to leave because she is afraid to see what she would be coming back to.
The police chief of Wrightsville Beach suggested that those who decided to stay give him their next-of-kin contact information.
President Donald Trump has said protecting lives is his “absolute highest priority” and that the White House is standing by to offer affected states whatever help they ask for.
“We’ll handle it. We’re ready. We’re able,” he said. “We’re fully prepared. Food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready.”
Florence is forecast to significantly weaken as it crawls across central South Carolina Saturday. But residents inland are warned to expect life-threatening floods and should plan to be without power for days.
Parts of the Mid-Atlantic states can also expect heavy rains from what is left of Florence well into next week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
your ad hereAmazon’s Bezos Commits $2 Billion to Help Homeless, Preschools
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Inc’s founder and the world’s richest person, said Thursday he will commit $2 billion to helping homeless families and starting preschools for low-income communities.
The announcement marks a deeper foray into philanthropy for Bezos, whose fortune has soared to more than $160 billion thanks to his stake in Amazon. Dominance in e-commerce and the nascent field of cloud computing has made Amazon the world’s second-most valuable public company.
Bezos solicited ideas on Twitter last year for ways to donate some of his wealth. While he has financially supported cancer research and scholarships for immigrants, among other causes, Bezos has primarily devoted his fortune to his Blue Origin rocket company, which he described on Thursday as an “investment in the future of our planet through the development of foundational space infrastructure.”
His private ownership of The Washington Post, which has published articles critical of the White House, has also put him at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bezos Day One Fund
The new philanthropic effort is called the Bezos Day One Fund, a nod to the executive’s management philosophy that organizations must view every day with the fervor of a new start, or face stagnation and decline.
Within this, the “Day 1 Families Fund” will support existing nonprofit organizations that offer shelter and food to young homeless families.
The “Day 1 Academies Fund” will start an organization to operate a new network of full-scholarship preschools for low-income communities. Citing the Amazon mantra of customer obsession, Bezos said in a tweet, “The child will be the customer.”
Bezos said in remarks to the Economic Club of Washington that it is “really really hard” for a child to catch up if they fall behind in their early years. The money will pay “gigantic dividends for decades.”
He said he did not know how much money he would eventually give away.
No giving pledge yet
Bezos has yet to join “The Giving Pledge” created by fellow billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, whose more than 180 signatories have promised to give more than half of their fortunes to philanthropy.
The Amazon chief’s wealth has become problematic for some.
Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, proposed a bill in Congress called the “Stop BEZOS” Act, which would make large corporations pay workers more or pay for public assistance programs like Medicaid. Amazon has said Sanders’ statements about the company were “inaccurate and misleading.”
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Cuomo Defeats Nixon in NY Gubernatorial Primary
Gov. Andrew Cuomo overcame a primary challenge from activist and actress Cynthia Nixon on Thursday, thwarting her attempt to become the latest insurgent liberal to knock off an establishment Democrat.
Cuomo, who always led in the polls and outspent his rival more than 8 to 1, seldom mentioned Nixon by name during an often-nasty campaign, instead touting his experience, achievements in two terms as governor and his work to push back against President Donald Trump.
“You cannot be a progressive if you cannot deliver progress. And a New York progressive is not just a dreamer, but we are doers,” Cuomo said at a campaign rally the night before the vote. “We make things happen.”
With registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans more than 2 to 1 in New York, Cuomo becomes the automatic front-runner in November’s matchup against Republican Marc Molinaro and independent Mayor Stephanie Miner.
Nixon thanks supporters
Nixon, a longtime education activist and actress best known for her Emmy-winning role as lawyer Miranda Hobbes on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” was counting on a boost from liberals looking to oust establishment politicians. She called herself a democratic socialist and pointed to recent congressional primary victories by New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts’ Ayanna Pressley as evidence that underdog challengers can defy the odds.
Nixon thanked supporters Thursday in Brooklyn, saying that together they helped push Cuomo to the left and show that liberals have a shot at making big changes.
“Before we take our country back we have to take our party back,” she said. “This is an incredible moment for progressives but it’s not just a moment. It’s a movement.”
Attorney general
Elsewhere on the ballot, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James won a four-way Democratic primary for attorney general in a race that was a competition over who could best use the office to antagonize President Donald Trump.
James, 59, would become the first black woman to hold a statewide elected office in New York if she prevails in the general election, where she will be heavily favored. She defeated a deep field of fellow Democrats: U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout and former Hillary Clinton adviser Leecia Eve.
The winner in November will inherit several pending lawsuits filed by the state that challenge Trump’s policies and accuse his charitable foundation of breaking the law.
James faces little-known Republican attorney Keith Wofford in the general election in November.
If she wins in November, James would also become the first woman elected attorney general, though not the first to hold the job. New York’s current attorney general, Democrat Barbara Underwood, was appointed to replace Schneiderman. She declined to run for election.
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As Senate Panel Sets Vote on Trump Court Pick, New Controversy Arises
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday set a vote for next week on President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick while a Democratic senator sent unspecified new information about nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the FBI.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, said she received the information about Kavanaugh from a person she declined to identify. In a statement, Feinstein did not specify the nature of the information.
The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that the information related to “possible sexual misconduct” involving Kavanaugh and a woman when they both were in high school.
Feinstein said the person who provided the information “strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities.”
White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Kavanaugh has repeatedly been vetted by the FBI. “Not until the eve of his confirmation has Senator Feinstein or anyone raised the specter of new ‘information’ about him,” Kupec added.
An FBI spokesman confirmed the agency has received the information. “Upon receipt of the information on the night of Sept.12, we included it as part of Judge Kavanaugh’s background file, as per the standard process,” the spokesman said.
In a statement, the FBI confirmed receipt of the information. A person familiar with the vetting process, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no new FBI criminal investigation had been opened.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Kavanaugh on the allegation.
“This has all the indicators of an 11th hour character assassination and a desperate attempt to delay and defeat the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative activist group that supports Trump’s judicial picks.
Democrats have fought Kavanaugh’s nomination and sought to delay his confirmation. In party-line votes, the Republican-led committee on Thursday rejected motions by Democratic senators seeking access to more documents relating to Kavanaugh’s service in the White House under Republican President George W. Bush more than a decade ago.
The committee agreed to vote on the nomination on Sept. 20, with a final Senate confirmation vote likely by the end of the month.
“I don’t understand the rush to judgment. I really do not,” Feinstein said.
Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge nominated by Trump to the lifetime position on the high court, made no major missteps in two days of questioning by senators during his confirmation hearing last week.
Democrats have said they want to learn more about whether Kavanaugh played a significant role in controversial policy debates in the Bush White House, including those relating to the treatment of detainees held after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Kavanaugh worked in the White House from 2001 to 2006. Trump’s fellow Republicans control the Senate by a narrow margin. With no sign yet of any Republicans planning to vote against Kavanaugh, he seems poised to win confirmation despite Democratic opposition.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, targeted by Democrats as a possible swing vote, came under new pressure from a group in her home state of Alaska to oppose Kavanaugh. The Alaska Federation of Natives, the state’s largest indigenous organization, issued a statement condemning Kavanaugh’s positions on indigenous rights.
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Former US Officials Challenge Report Linking Terrorism, Immigration
A group of former national security officials is urging the Trump administration to reconsider a controversial report on the connection between terrorism and immigration, saying the report falsely gives the impression that immigrants are responsible for the majority of terrorist attacks in the United States.
The officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former White House terrorism czar Richard A. Clarke made the call in a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
“Overall, the report appears designed to give the misleading impression that immigrants — and even their citizen family members — are responsible for the vast majority of terrorist attacks that have occurred in the United States, whereas statistical studies and our experience have shown no identifiable correlation between ‘foreignness’ and terrorist activity in the past 15 years,” the 18 former officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote.
Report linked to travel ban
At issue is a report released in January by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that said three in four individuals convicted of international terrorism-related charges since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were foreign born.
President Donald Trump ordered the report when he issued an executive order in March 2017 imposing a travel ban on citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries. Trump asked for the compilation of data on “foreign nationals” in the United States who have been charged with terror-related offenses in the United States.
The Jan. 16 report instead focused on “foreign born” terrorism defendants, a broader category that included naturalized U.S. citizens as well as foreign terror suspects extradited to the United States for prosecution on crimes committed overseas. It showed that 402 of 549 individuals convicted of terrorism charges in the United States between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2016, were foreign born.
Critics: Threat exaggerated
Critics blasted the report for exaggerating the threat of terrorism posed by foreigners, saying had the report followed the president’s order, it would have shown that fewer than half of individuals convicted of terrorism were foreign nationals. They also criticized the report for leaving out domestic terrorism cases, which are responsible for the vast majority of acts of terror committed in the United States.
“What we’ve seen come out of the Department of Homeland Security has been patently false and misleading,” Matt Olsen, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told VOA.
“Not only is that wrong on its terms but it also undermines our counterterrorism and national security efforts because it provides a misleading picture of the people who are really responsible for terror,” said Olsen, who was among the officials who signed the letter. “The focus needs to be on people who are here who are being radicalized, not the country that they were born in.”
Information Quality Act
The report triggered formal complaints by three rights organizations. Muslim Advocates, Protect Democracy and the Brennan Center for Justice first petitioned the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to correct or retract the report and later sued the agencies for violating the Information Quality Act, a little-tested law that requires government reports to meet standards of “utility, objectivity, and integrity.”
“Responding to a request for information that purports to be about the terrorist threat that foreign national immigrants pose to the United States by disseminating information that includes naturalized citizens perpetuates the administration’s discriminatory view that only native-born individuals are actually American, and results in numbers that are artificially inflated,” Muslim Advocates said in its lawsuit. “As such, in substituting foreign-born for foreign national, Defendants disseminated information that does not have utility and is not objective.”
In letters sent to the two groups in July and August, Justice and Homeland Security officials stood by the report, denying the request for a correction or retraction and saying it had concluded that the report did not violate the Information Quality Act.
The rights’ groups appealed the agency decisions Thursday, drawing support from the former security officials. Calling the report “misleading,” the former officials urged DHS and DOJ “to reconsider their responses to the concerns” about the report.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the letter.
Homeland security spokeswoman Katie Waldman said via email: “We cannot view counterterrorism through a pre-9/11 lens. The Department of Homeland Security uses historical data to inform its approach, but if we only look at what terrorists have done in the past, we will never be able to prevent future attacks. That is why, in addition to analyzing past terrorism activity, DHS is focused on anticipating terrorist trends and movements and, more importantly, blocking all terrorist pathways into the United States — whether it’s online or on an airplane.”
Another rejection expected
Sirine Shebaya, a senior staff attorney for Muslim Advocates, said the agencies will likely reject their requests again.
“We hope that the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice will take another look at these reports and will correct or retract them,” Shebaya said. “What’s more likely to happen is that we’re going to wait for their response, their response is going to be unsatisfactory, and we’re going to go back to court to fight this out.”
VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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Anti-Kremlin Activist Seriously Ill in Hospital, Colleagues Say
Prominent anti-Kremlin activist Pyotr Verzilov is seriously ill and in hospital, members of the Pussy Riot protest band with whom he collaborated said late on Wednesday, suggesting he may have been poisoned.
Verzilov, 30, staged a brief pitch invasion during the soccer World Cup final in Moscow in July along with three women affiliated to the anti-Kremlin punk band and is the publisher of Mediazona, a Russian online news outlet which focuses on human rights violations inside Russia’s penal system.
“Our friend, brother, comrade Petr Verzilov is in reanimation. His life is in danger. We think that he was poisoned,” Pussy Riot said on its official Twitter feed.
Sergei Smirnov, editor-in-chief of Mediazona, struck a more cautious note however, confirming on social media that Verzilov was in hospital but saying nobody knew his diagnosis, making it difficult to understand what was going on.
Online news portal Meduza cited Veronika Nikulshina, who it said was Verzilov’s girlfriend, describing how he had been rushed to hospital on Tuesday night after he started to lose his eyesight and ability to talk and walk.
Verzilov is also a citizen of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was worried by what happened, adding that Canadian consular officials had reached out to the hospital.
“It is of concern, obviously, particularly given actions of recent months by the Russians in the United Kingdom … but it is too early to draw any conclusions about what has happened,” he told reporters in the western city of Saskatoon.
Earlier this month Canada said it backed Britain’s assessment that Russian officers were behind an attack in March on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury.
Verzilov and the others served a 15-day sentence for running onto the pitch in front of President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials wearing police uniforms during the final of the World Cup on July 15, a stunt they said was meant to promote free speech.
Pussy Riot came to prominence in 2012 when its members were jailed for staging a protest against Putin in a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow. The group has since become a symbol of anti-Kremlin protest action.
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Kenyan President Rejects Bill Delaying Unpopular Fuel Tax
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday defied parliament by rejecting a finance bill that sought to postpone a widely unpopular tax on fuel that
has triggered strikes and public anger.
Parliament will hold a special sitting on the bill on Sept. 18 to reconsider the finance bill “together with the reservations of the president,” said the gazette notice signed by Justin Muturi, the speaker of the national assembly.
It did not say why the president rejected the bill as passed by parliament in late August. Kenyatta’s acting spokesperson, Kanze Dena, told Reuters the president would address the country on the matter on Friday.
His government faced a strike by some fuel dealers, anger among commuters and a lawsuit after it triggered a hike in transport and fuel prices by imposing the 16 percent value added tax on all petroleum products on Sept. 1.
The finance bill that was returned to parliament had also retained a cap on commercial lending rates, after lawmakers amended a move by the finance minister to repeal it.
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South Sudanese Cautiously Optimistic over Signed Peace Deal
South Sudan’s warring parties signed what they call a final peace agreement to end a civil war that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
The deal, signed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday, was witnessed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other regional heads of state. Juba town residents say they are cautiously optimistic peace will return to their country.
Emmanuel Agele, who resides in Juba’s Gudele suburb, believes peace will prevail.
“Surely it’s going to hold because everybody is tired of war, the war has changed the situation of the country completely, and I’m sure that everyone doesn’t want that kind of situation to go on whether on the side of the opposition or the government; all the people are now desperate,” Agele told South Sudan in Focus.
Juba lawyer Buot Manyel Buot said he hopes the signing means the country’s leaders have learned from their mistakes.
“We have seen previous peace agreements signed, we have seen citizens’ jubilation but eventually we didn’t see results so hopefully this time around our leaders have learned the hard way and by saying this, we mean guns have to be silenced, [and] IDPs have to be repatriated back to their homes,” Buot told South Sudan in Focus.
Atem Jong Ahai, a University of Juba student, said he is skeptical there will be lasting peace. Ahai said he still has vivid memories of what happened in July 2016 at the presidential palace in Juba.
Matur Dhor Kachuol, another University of Juba student, said the country’s leaders should sympathize with citizens.
“We feel very sad, we feel discouraged. We feel the reason why we fought for independence is not what has been actually realized in the country,” Kachuol told South Sudan in Focus.
Peace activist Joseph Oliver told VOA young South Sudanese should monitor the deal’s implementation.
“Over all these years implementation has been a challenge, so my call to the youth is to start looking up and coming up with strategies how to follow this that we can participate actively,” said Oliver.
Tut Kew, President Kiir’s adviser on security, told reporters at Juba International Airport awaiting Kiir’s return Thursday that the agreement marks an end to violence in South Sudan.
“The President has signed the peace in Addis. There will be no more conflict in South Sudan. All opposition parties have also signed the peace agreement,” Kew told VOA.
The deal reinstates Riek Machar as vice president during a 36-month transitional period.
Information Minister Michael Makuei has said several times that IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) mediators should not allow Machar to work with Kiir again, and that Machar should only reside in South Sudan as a citizen.
Tut Keu said those differences have been put aside.
“All the outstanding issues, we have resolved them and everybody signed. Actually the unresolved issues were simple ones that cannot bar the signing of the peace agreement, those were just political issues,” said Tut Keu.
But the agreement still leaves many contentious issues unresolved, including the number of states and their boundaries. Kiir years ago unilaterally increased the number of states from 10 to 32. Unresolved issues are to be settled by heads of state at IGAD.
Juba resident Paul Malual AJak wants to see the deal implemented immediately.
“I want our leaders on the top [like] our dear President Salva Kiir to encourage our politicians from different opposition so that they come together as one family so that we carry out development because development cannot come unless our politicians have a political will,” Ajak told South Sudan in Focus.
The National Salvation Front and the People’s Democratic Movement refused to sign the deal. National Salvation Front leader General Thomas Cirillo has said he refused to sign because the agreement does not address the root cause of the conflict in South Sudan.
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Volkswagen to Stop Production of Iconic Beetle in 2019
Volkswagen said on Thursday it would stop producing its Beetle compact car globally in 2019, ending a model that looked backward to the 1960s counter-culture as the automaker prepares for a leap toward a future of mass-market electric cars.
The VW Beetle and the VW minibus became symbols of the small-is-beautiful esthetic of many in the post-war Baby Boom and the crescent shaped car was revived with the “New Beetle” of the late 1990s, which offered a built-in flower vase.
The New Beetle was a hit during its early years, with sales of more than 80,000 cars in the United States in 1999. More recently the car’s U.S. sales have suffered along with most other small cars.
Volkswagen sold 11,151 total Beetles through the first eight months of 2018, down 2.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. U.S. consumers looking for a small Volkswagen vehicle overwhelmingly prefer the Jetta sedan, or a Tiguan compact sport utility vehicle.
The company said two special models will join the final lineup — Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL — in the United States and would offer driver-assistance technology.
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US Must Support Ethiopia’s ‘Fragile’ Reforms, Diplomat Says
The United States should strengthen its ties to Ethiopia following unprecedented reforms in the East African nation, a top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday.
Tibor Nagy, the newly appointed assistant secretary of the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs, told members of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee in Washington that Ethiopia has earned praise for its historic changes.
“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has initiated groundbreaking reforms across most every area of Ethiopian society,” Nagy said. “He deserves tremendous credit for his boldness in tackling issues previous governments have not addressed.”
But Nagy also outlined a number of unresolved concerns and urged the United States to continue to engage with Ethiopia, mobilize resources to provide aid and assistance, and maintain dialog with the country’s leadership in the wake of momentous reforms that, nonetheless, remain “quite fragile.”
Eritrea’s ‘re-emergence’
Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is chairman of the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee, outlined Abiy’s accomplishments: releasing thousands of political prisoners, lifting a state of emergency and securing peace with neighbor Eritrea.
Officials at Wednesday’s hearing celebrated the July peace deal that ended nearly 20 years of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, but they expressed concerns about the internal dynamics in Eritrea, a country that has faced U.N. sanctions since 2009 for allegedly supporting the extremist group al-Shabab and a border dispute with Djibouti.
Smith said Eritrea could become a “critical U.S. strategic partner,” and Nagy welcomed “Eritrea’s re-emergence on the regional and global stage.”
But Nagy also expressed “significant concerns” about the countries’ bilateral relationship, citing the Eritrean detention of American citizens, possible arms deals with North Korea and human rights concerns.
“The United States has deliberately engaged with Eritrea in recent months with both these opportunities and concerns in full view,” Nagy said.
Peace with Ethiopia eliminates Eritrea’s reasons to militarize its population, particularly through the use of indefinite forced conscription, Nagy added. And, although the “atmosphere” between the United States and Eritrea has improved, he said, concrete actions will need to be taken to introduce internal reforms before sanctions can be lifted.
As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the United States has the power to veto any vote to remove sanctions.
Youth factor
In his remarks, Nagy underscored the importance of Ethiopia’s youth. Some 70 million people — about 70 percent of the population — are under age 30, Nagy said, and they have high expectations of their government.
As the country’s demographics shift, many additional people will enter the workforce, emphasizing the need for new jobs.
So far, Ethiopia has turned to China as a stalwart economic partner, Nagy said, but that may soon be changing, especially as the country’s economic concerns shift from building an infrastructure to supporting a workforce.
“Ethiopians understand that China isn’t the long-term solution to their problems,” Nagy said, adding that the U.S. government should reach out to American companies to forge new relationships with Ethiopia and engage in more trade.
Unresolved threats
Smith; California Democrat Karen Bass, the subcommittee’s ranking member; and Nagy outlined unaddressed concerns with Ethiopian governance and civil society, including ongoing reports of torture, a high incidence of human trafficking, and what Bass described as “hardliners within the EPRDF [Ethiopia’s ruling political coalition] that hope to stall his [Abiy’s] reform agenda.”
Smith emphasized the need to redress victims of torture, repeal laws that encourage gross human rights abuses and resolve a mass displacement that has resulted in 2.5 million people fleeing their homes.
Experts on the region identified other fault lines.
Yoseph Badwaza, a senior program officer at Freedom House, a nongovernmental research and advocacy group in Washington that focuses on democracy and human rights, said Ethiopia faces enormous challenges and is still grappling with much-needed reforms to its judicial system, electoral system and other democratic institutions.
Emily Estelle, a senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research group in Washington, highlighted the volatile nature of fast-changing regional dynamics.
“The potential for Ethiopia to destabilize persists. It faces a rapid political transition and ethnic conflict across multiple regions,” Estelle said in prepared remarks. The United States must prepare for “worst-case scenarios,” Estelle added, by recognizing “the dangers of rapidly changing domestic and regional dynamics in the Horn of Africa.”
But changes this year indicate just how much can happen when leaders commit to peace, and both committee members and invited experts emphasized the region’s accomplishments in recent months.
Citing a series of rapprochements between Eritrea and its neighbors, Nagy said, “In my 40 years of following Africa, I’ve never seen this type of transition happen.”
Camera: VOA Africa Division’s Betty Ayoub
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Turkey’s Central Bank Defies Erdogan, Hikes Rates
The Turkish central bank caught international markets by surprise Thursday as it aggressively hiked interest rates in an effort to strengthen consumer confidence, stem inflation and rein in the currency crisis.
Interest rates were increased to 24 percent from 17.75 percent, which is more than double the median of investor predictions of a 3 percent hike. The Turkish lira surged above 5 percent in response, although the gains subsequently were pared back.
International investors broadly welcomed the move. “TCMB [Turkish Republic Central Bank] did show resolve in hiking the one-week repo rate substantially and going back to orthodoxy,” chief economist Inan Demir of Nomura International said.
The central bank had drawn sharp criticism for failing to substantially raise interest rates to rein in double-digit inflation and an ailing currency. The lira had fallen by more than 40 percent this year.
The rate hike is an apparent rebuke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been opposed to such a move.
Only hours before the central bank decision, Erdogan again voiced his opposition to increasing interest rates. The Turkish president reiterated his stance of challenging orthodox economic thinking, arguing that inflation is caused by high rates, although that runs contrary to conventional economic theory. Erdogan also issued a presidential decree banning all businesses and leasing and rental agreements from using foreign currency denominations.
The central bank indicated further rate hikes could be in the offing. “Tight stance monetary policy will be maintained decisively until inflation outlook displays a significant improvement,” the central bank statement reads.
The strong commitment to challenge inflation was welcomed by investors. “Most importantly, the CBT seemed to be vocal about price stability risks,” wrote chief economist Muhammet Mercan of Ing bank.
‘Crazy’ spending
Fueled by August’s sharp fall in the lira, which drove up import costs, inflation is on a rapid upward trajectory. Some predictions warn inflation could approach 30 percent in the coming months.
While international markets are broadly welcoming the central bank’s interest rate hike, economist Demir warns more action is needed.
“This rate hike does not undo the damage inflicted on corporate balance sheet, and market concerns about geopolitics will remain in place. So this is not the hike to end all problems,” said Demir.
The World Bank and IMF repeatedly have called on Ankara to rein in spending, which they say is fueling inflation. Perhaps in response, Erdogan has announced a freeze on new state construction projects.
In the past few years, he has embarked on an unprecedented construction boom, including building one of the world’s largest airports and a multibillion-dollar canal project in Istanbul, which the president himself described as “crazy.”
Trade tariffs
Investors also remain concerned about ongoing diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Washington. The two NATO allies remain at loggerheads over the detention on terrorism charges of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
Brunson’s detention saw U.S. President Donald Trump impose trade tariffs on Turkey, which triggered August’s collapse in the lira. Trump has warned of further sanctions.
“If we somehow sort out our problems with the United States and adopt an orthodox austerity program, we may find a way out of this mess,” said political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. “Turkey is a country that has a net foreign debt of over $400 billion, and where 40 percent of [Turkish] deposits are in foreign currency, so the game could be over in a day.”
Turkey has a long tradition of carrying out business in foreign currencies to mitigate the threat of inflation and a falling lira. The growing danger of the so-called “dollarization” of the economy and the public abandonment of the lira are significant risks to the currency.
Turkish companies are paying the cost for the depreciation of the lira. Analysts estimate about $100 billion in foreign currency loans have to be repaid by the private sector in the coming year. Companies and individuals borrowing in local currency, however, will be facing higher repayments. And most analysts predict the Turkish economy is heading into a recession.
Economist Demir says, though, that the situation could have been far worse.
“In the absence of an [interest rate] hike, the rollover pressures on banks would get even worse, damage on corporate balance sheets would intensify, and local deposit holders’ confidence would have weakened further. So this hike, although it doesn’t eliminate other risks, eliminates some of the worst outcomes for the Turkish economy,” he said.
Thursday’s rate hike appears to have bought time for the Turkish economy and the nation’s besieged currency. Analysts say investors are watching to see if Turkey’s decision-makers use that time wisely.
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Arab Media: Saudi, Coalition Cut Off Main Road From Port of Hodeida
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen appears to be making gains around the port of Hodeida, which is held by Houthi rebels. Media reports say forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government have captured “Kilometer 16,” a strategic corridor linking Hodeida to the capital, Sana’a, cutting off a key supply route used by the rebels. The development comes days after the Houthis missed U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.
The Houthis’ al-Masira TV broadcast video of a coalition airstrike on a bus terminal in Hodeida and a number of vehicles that had caught fire. It was not clear when the attack took place. The government and rebel forces are battling for control of the port, which serves as a vital lifeline for people throughout Yemen.
The military advances come a day after both U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certified to Congress that the coalition was making progress in avoiding civilian casualties. The military operation had been paused to allow peace talks to take place.
Washington-based Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik says VOA that the Houthis’ failure to send a delegation to the Geneva talks prompted the coalition to step up its operation to recapture Hodeida. Crucial humanitarian aid goes through the port, although the Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons.
“The UAE and Saudi Arabia are very clear about the failure of the Geneva talks and both Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are pursuing the Hodeida operation and are beginning to expand their capture of Houthi (held) lands…,” he said.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates say they are providing funds and supplies to support aid efforts in Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis blame the coalition for choking off imports into the country.
Hilal Khashan teaches political science at the American University of Beirut. He thinks that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are anxious to end the war in Yemen and of bolstering cooperation in the Gulf in the face of Iran. The Saudi Riyadh Daily newspaper, he says, even broached the subject of eventually ending a dispute with neighboring Qatar.
“It referred (in its Thursday edition) for the first time since the beginning of the (Yemen) war in 2015 to U.S. efforts to bring the countries of the GCC together in order to confront Iran,” said Khashan.
Khashan says, “U.S. efforts to create an Arab NATO require ending the blockade of Qatar (by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt).” Riyadh and its allies imposed an embargo on Doha in June 2017 after maintaining that Doha was supporting terrorist activities in a number of Middle East states. Qatar has denied the accusations.
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Afghans Leave Iran as Economy Worsens
The Iranian economy has plunged even further since the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions – and the fallout is affecting Iran’s war-torn neighbor, Afghanistan. This is because up to three million Afghan refugees live in Iran, most without legal documents, and many of them are now being forced to return to their strife-ridden country. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports.
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Israeli Backpack Deploys Bulletproof Vest
An Israeli company says it has come up with a unique item to protect against the threat of school shootings — a bulletproof backpack that transforms into a bulletproof vest.
Masada-Armour says its backpack also deploys a protective vest in less than two seconds by flipping out an armored plate from a concealed compartment. The standard protection claims to stop handgun bullets while upgraded versions can block rifle fire.
Co-owner Yair Rosenberg says the product, with its front and back protection, was designed to provide schoolchildren defenses against mass-shooting attacks. He says “people are looking for solutions and this is very beneficial.”
He says in an era when schools have become war zones, his company has seen increased interest in the product.
The basic version weighs three kilograms (6.6 pounds) and sells for $500. The upgraded version, weighing 4.2 kilograms (nine pounds) costs $750.
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Merkel Partners Call for Removal of German Spy Chief
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partners demanded the removal of Germany’s domestic intelligence chief on Thursday following much-criticized comments about recent far-right protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz.
Hans-Georg Maassen’s future as the head of the BfV intelligence agency has created new strains in Merkel’s six-month-old coalition. The center-left Social Democrats, the junior governing party, called for him to go after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told parliament Maassen still has his confidence.
Merkel, Seehofer and Social Democrat leader Andrea Nahles met at the chancellery Thursday afternoon to discuss the spat, which comes only 2½ months after a crisis over migration policy that briefly threatened the coalition. News agency dpa, citing unidentified government sources, said they agreed to talk about the issue again on Tuesday.
The killing late last month of a German man, for which an Iraqi and a Syrian have been arrested, prompted days of anti-migrant protests in Chemnitz that at times turned violent.
In comments to the mass-circulation Bild daily last week, Maassen questioned the authenticity of a video showing protesters chasing down and attacking a foreigner. He also said his agency had no reliable evidence that foreigners were “hunted” in the streets — a term Merkel had used.
Maassen told Seehofer, his immediate boss, about his doubts before going public but didn’t inform the chancellery. Although they are conservative allies, Seehofer and Merkel have sparred on and off about migrant policy for three years. A dispute between the pair in June briefly threatened to bring down the government.
On Wednesday evening, Maassen was grilled by two parliamentary committees.
“He explained comprehensively, and from my point of view convincingly, the way he acted,” Seehofer told lawmakers. Maassen debunked “conspiracy theories” and “convincingly took a stance against right-wing radicalism,” he added.
Merkel doesn’t appear keen to make an issue of Maassen’s remarks, telling parliament Wednesday that a discussion about semantics isn’t helpful. But the Social Democrats, who are struggling in polls, said Seehofer’s decision to keep Maassen in place couldn’t be the last word.
Senior lawmaker Eva Hoegl told lawmakers that the security services must enjoy “our unrestricted confidence, and if there is even the slightest doubt about that, there is a problem — so we should act differently here.” She and others said Maassen had failed to restore confidence in his leadership.
The party’s general secretary, Lars Klingbeil, later increased the pressure, writing on Twitter that “for the Social Democrats’ leadership, it is completely clear that Maassen must go. Merkel must act now.”
The head of the Social Democrats’ youth wing, who fought unsuccessfully earlier this year to keep the party out of Merkel’s government, suggested that it should quit the coalition if Maassen is kept on.
But Hoegl told Deutschlandfunk radio that “the Social Democrats are, of course, not going to leave the coalition over Mr. Maassen.”
The coalition, which took office in March, so far has been remarkable mostly for squabbling.
The three parties in it all performed badly in last year’s election, which also saw the far-right Alternative for Germany enter parliament. And Seehofer’s Christian Social Union party faces a tough test in a Bavarian state election in mid-October.
your ad hereRussians Accused in UK Poisoning: ‘Coincidence’ They Were in Salisbury
Two Russian men accused by Britain of carrying out the March poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, said Thursday it was just an “incredible, fatal coincidence” they were in the city at the time of the attack.
Britain quickly rejected the claims made by the two men, Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, in an interview on the Kremlin-funded RT channel.
London renewed its assertions that the men were officers of the Russian military intelligence service GRU and lied about their involvement in the poisoning of one-time Russian agent Sergei Skripal.
“The government is clear,” Britain said, that the men “used a devastating toxic, illegal chemical weapon on the streets of our country.” British authorities say the GRU dispatched the agents to Salisbury to poison Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with the nerve agent Novichok.
“We have repeatedly asked Russia to account for what happened in Salisbury in March,” Britain said. “Today, just as we have seen throughout, they have responded with obfuscation and lies.”
Boshirov and Petrov have been charged in absentia with carrying out the attack. In the television interview, they denied they were GRU agents and claimed to work instead in the nutrient supplements business. The suspects said they visited Salisbury to see its famous cathedral and did not know Skripal or where he lived.
“The whole situation is an incredible, fatal coincidence, and that’s that,” Petrov said. “What is our fault?”
Both Skripal and his daughter recovered from the attack, but a woman who came into contact with a discarded perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent died.
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