Month: September 2018

US Marks Anniversary of 9/11 Terror Attacks

Posted on by SeeUS

Americans on Tuesday mark the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump is attending a ceremony at the 9/11 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, near where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers retook control from the al-Qaida-affiliated terrorists who had hijacked the plane. 

In the annual presidential proclamation declaring September 11 as Patriot Day, Trump said the “evil acts” did not crush the country’s spirit or its commitment to freedom.

“We come together, today, to recall this timeless truth: When America is united, no force on Earth can break us apart. Our values endure; our people thrive; our nation prevails, and the memory of our loved ones never fades,” he said.

Just outside Washington, Vice President Mike Pence is attending a ceremony at the Pentagon for families of those killed when a hijacked plane crashed into the building.

And in New York, hundreds of survivors and family members of those killed will gathered at Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center stood before two hijacked commercial flights brought them down. Twin beams of light will be projected into the sky to memorialize those lost in the attacks.

The hijackings were carried out by 19 men affiliated with al-Qaida. The deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor in 1944, the events of Sept. 11 permanently changed America’s perception of security and prompted then-President George W. Bush to declare war on terrorism and invade Afghanistan.

Almost two decades later, the anniversary remains a painful reminder for the families of those who died.

Mary Fetchet’s son Brad was working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit.

“My son called my husband to let him know he was okay, and just to remind him that he was in the second tower,” Fetchet told VOA.

After her husband called her at work to tell her Brad was alive, Fetchet walked into an adjoining building. As she entered the room, she saw the second plane hitting the other tower on television.

“Of course I was hoping, trying to calculate where he was in the building, and if he had in fact had time between the time he called my husband to be below the line where the plane entered the building,” Fetchet said.

Fetchet went home after that, hoping for a call from her son that never came. Near the end of September, she held a memorial for Brad.

In the wake of the attacks, Fetchet organized groups of survivors and the families who lost loved ones.

“I pretty immediately realized that the families who’d lived around the country and in 90 countries abroad had challenges in accessing information. And many decisions were being made that impacted them directly,” Fetchet said.

The realization led her to create the charity Voices of September 11th, which provides services to families affected by the tragedy, such as sponsoring support groups and helping identify the remains of loved ones. The organization has also expanded to provide services to communities impacted by violence around the world.

“We’ve learned so much over the last 17 years,” Fetchet said. “There seems to be no end to the acts of terrorism and mass violence both here in the United States and abroad.”
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Analysts: Russia’s Vostok ’18 Troop Numbers, ‘China Alliance’ Claims Questionable

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Chinese counterpart at an economic forum in the far eastern port city of Vladivostok today as armed forces from both countries descend on eastern Siberia to launch Moscow’s largest-ever military drills.

Russia’s week-long deployment alongside Chinese and Mongolian troops, known as “Vostok-2018” (East-2018), comes at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over accusations of Russian interference in Western affairs and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Comparing this week’s show of force to the Soviet Union’s 1981 war games during which between 100,000 and 150,000 Warsaw Pact soldiers took part in “Zapad-81” (West-81)—the largest military exercises of the Soviet era—Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said these exercises will be even larger, with 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 military vehicles, 1,000 planes and 80 warships taking part in the drills.

China’s participation in the quadrennial war games, while comparatively modest with only 3,200 men and 900 weapons units, is also unprecedented, leading some to view it as an unequivocal warning to the United States and Europe.

“It sends a signal to Washington that if the U.S. continues on its current course by pressuring Russia and imposing more sanctions, Russia will fall even more into the firm embrace of China, America’s only strategic competitor in the 21st century,” Alexander Gabuev of the Carnegie Institute in Moscow recently told The Associated Press, adding that Beijing’s participation indicates that Russia and China no longer view each other as military threats.

Other experts, however, disagree, questioning both the transparency of Vostok-2018 troop estimates and the political significance of China’s inaugural participation.

“Numbers and figures for these kinds of exercises are typically what we might call to be true lies, in that they’re statistical lies whereby the Russian army’s General Staff tallies every single unit-formation that either sends somebody to the exercise or has some tangential command component in it,” said Michael Kofman, Russia and Eurasia security and defense analyst at the Washington-based Kennan Institute.

“This basically means that if a brigade sends one battalion, then they count the whole brigade,” he told VOA. “So these numbers are not entirely fictional, but you have to divide them by a substantial amount to get any sense of how big the exercise actually is.”

“And they typically revise the numbers after the fact,” Kofman added. “For example, originally after Vostok 2014, they said that they had 100,000 participants, and then I guess they decided it wasn’t impressive enough, because they later posted an official figure of 155,000.”

Different methodologies for calculating troop numbers further complicate efforts to assess troop counts.

“It’s very hard to tell beforehand just how big these exercises are going to be,” said Jeffrey Edmonds of Arlington-based CNA Analysts. A former Russia director for the National Security Council and CIA military analyst, Edmonds told VOA that while some observers may tally only uniformed troops, others might include deployment of military-civilian reserves.

“It could also be, you know, ‘Is perhaps this other unit that’s operating along the Western front actually part of the operation in the East?’ Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. So, different people can come up with different figures.”

The purpose of the nearly week-long drills, however, is unambiguous. Like top NATO officials who have denounced Vostok-2018 as an “exercise in large-scale conflict,” multiple experts described the event as a first-of-its-kind rehearsal for a post-Cold War global confrontation.

“The point of the exercise is really to test Russia’s ability to conduct a large-scale conflict, and one that may involve a nuclear component,” Kofman told VOA. “It’s also designed to stress-test the entire Russian political-military network in terms of mobilization, dealing with reserves and assessing how civilian-military authorities would react and respond in the event of a large-scale conventional war.”

Despite the seemingly more imminent risk of conflict across eastern Europe—Baltic nations have been on high alert since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and some 2,200 Ukrainian, American and NATO soldiers recently conducted drills in western Ukraine—the Russian military’s Achilles Heel, geographically speaking, lies to the far east.

“The far east is unique compared to the other [Russian] military districts because it is so distant from Russian infrastructure and population centers,” said Kofman, who described the sparsely populated military jurisdiction as “designed and intended to fight as its own, almost separate military, which is why it has so many ground-force formations.”

“That’s another part of this exercise: to test how well that district can hold a potential fight and be reinforced from the central military district in the event of a large-scale conflict or horizontal escalation against Russia,” he said. “That even though much of the security conversation on Russia is focused in Europe, the majority of U.S. power projection and most of America’s strongest allies are in the Asia-Pacific region.”

And although Russia and China have increased military-to-military contact in recent years, annually engaging in smaller snap military drills, few analysts equate Chinese participation in Vostok-2018 with the emergence of a formal military alliance between the two countries.

“Russia has no chance of a formal military alliance with China, and not because Russia doesn’t want it,” said Moscow-based military analyst Aleksander Goltz. “This China very clearly and resolutely refuses any military alliances and commitments. And while Beijing may be ready to develop some military cooperation with Russia, as well as with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization”—an economic and security pact between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—”it is only in very limited ways defined by Beijing parameters.”

Edmonds described Vostok-2018 as part of Russia’s ongoing efforts to modernize its forces.

“Maybe the announcements of how big it’s going to be is a reaction to hostilities with the West, but the actual exercise itself is a pretty standard Russian military activity.”

Kofman, too, suggested China’s involvement has less to do with emerging geopolitical dynamics than with regional necessities.

“If you’re going to do large-scale military exercises like this today in the far east, especially when considering Russia’s set strategy of trying to form a balancing entente with China on the basis of mutual antagonism toward and shared security concerns about the United States, the only logical course of action is to invite the Chinese to participate in this exercise,” Kofman told VOA. “Otherwise, [China would] will inherently view this exercise as having to do with them, or at least they would be suspicious.”

“Another part of it, of course, is that both sides are signaling to the United States that their military cooperation is not only growing but that their individual bilateral problems in their respective relationships with the United States are driving them toward greater cooperation, which is definitely not in America’s interest,” he added. “So, the joint military exercises are not necessarily signs that some sort of formal alliance is forming, but these are incremental steps, so it’s important to view them in aggregate.”

Which is to say, he suggested, the longer term trend-line of Russian-Chinese cooperation may reveal more than the drills themselves.

“Over time, an entente between these two countries could be more likely to become a reality than not.”

Wire news outlets have reported that Vostok-2018 will see Russian forces field Su-34 and Su-35 fighter planes, T-80 and T-90 tanks, and nuclear-capable Iskander missiles. At sea, the Russian fleet is expected to deploy several frigates equipped with Kalibr missiles that have been used in Syria.

Last week, Russia held military exercises in the Mediterranean, where more than 25 warships and some 30 planes took part in the drills, as Russia increased its military presence in Syria where it intervened to help the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2015.

Upon publication, NATO officials were still considering Moscow’s invitation to send observers to the drills, which will wind down September 15.

The Russian president is scheduled to observe the drills after the Vladivostok forum, where Putin, President Xi Jinping and other regional leaders are expected to discuss trade and North Korea.

This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service. Yulia Savchenko contributed original reporting. Some information is from AP and Reuters.
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Canadian Man Imprisoned in Massive Telemarketing Scheme

Posted on by SeeUS

A Canadian man was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison Monday by a California judge for running a telemarketing operation that defrauded at least 60,000 people, most of them elderly, out of more than $18 million.

Mark Eldon Wilson, 57, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero following a five-day trial in March.

The jury found him guilty of mail and wire fraud for having masterminded a cross-border scheme that targeted American victims by selling them a bogus credit card protection service.

In sentencing Wilson to 135 months in prison, Otero noted the scope of the scheme and the fact that the victims targeted were mostly elderly people.

Prosecutors argued that between 1998 and 2001, Wilson and his telemarketers sold non-existent protection for about $300 each to more than 60,000 victims in 37 U.S. states, including California.

Wilson used part of the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included buying luxury boats, a fleet of cars and gambling trips to Las Vegas.

He also set up an offshore bank account in the South Pacific to hide a portion of the money, prosecutors said.

Wilson fought extradition from Canada to the United States for more than 10 years and was finally brought to the US in February of last year. 
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Study: US Teens Prefer Remote Chats to Face-to-Face Meetings

Posted on by SeeUS

American teenagers are starting to prefer communicating via text instead of meeting face-to-face, according to a study published Monday by the independent organization Common Sense Media.

Some 35 percent of kids aged 13 to 17 years old said they would rather send a text than meet up with people, which received 32 percent.

The last time the media and technology-focused nonprofit conducted such a survey in 2012, meeting face-to-face hit 49 percent, far ahead of texting’s 33 percent.

More than two-thirds of American teens choose remote communication — including texting, social media, video conversation and phone conversation — when they can, according to the study. 

In 2012 less than half of them marked a similar preference.

Notably, in the six-year span between the two studies the proportion of 13- to 17-year-olds with their own smartphone increased from 41 to 89 percent.

As for social networks, 81 percent of respondents said online exchange is part of their lives, with 32 percent calling it “extremely” or “very” important.

The most-used platform for this age group is Snapchat (63 percent), followed by Instagram (61 percent) and Facebook (43 percent).

Some 54 percent of the teens who use social networks said it steals attention away from those in their physical presence.

Two-fifths of them said time spent on social media prevents them from spending more time with friends in person.

The study was conducted online with a sample of 1,141 young people ages 13 to 17, from March 22 to April 10.
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Are Somali Troops Prepared to Lead the War Against al-Shabab?

Posted on by SeeAF

As the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) prepares to implement the planned phased withdrawal of more than 21,000 troops fighting militant groups, including al-Shabab and the Islamic State in Somalia, some experts are concerned that the country may not be prepared to take on the task in the face of growing political divisions and lack of military equipment and training. 

As part of the first phase, AMISOM plans to withdraw about 1,000 troops by February 2019. The process of handing over responsibility of some forward-operating bases to the Somali national army has already begun. 

The plan is to gradually withdraw all AMISOM troops from the country and hand over the lead security responsibility to local government forces.

The transition would occur based on the conditions on the ground and the preparedness of the Somali National Security Forces (SNFS), according to officials at AMISOM.

Assessment urged

At a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in late August, the military operations coordinating committee of the AMISOM urged its commanders to conduct an operational readiness assessment of the Somali national army. 

But some experts charge that the timelines are hard to follow and that it would take a longer process for AMISOM to withdraw from Somalia. 

“I will be surprised if these timelines are held,” Omar Mahmood, a Somali analyst with the South Africa-based Institute of Security Studies Africa, told VOA. 

“I think it’s going to be a much longer process than what people are really thinking about right now,” he added. 

Mahmood said there has been some progress with the training of the Somali security forces, but they are unable to take on a leading role without international support. 

“If you are talking about in terms of the whole security of Somalia, no, of course not. I don’t think the security forces are ready, but I think you need to start showing some signs of progress, especially because the issue is linked to AMISOM’s talk of withdrawal,” Mahmood added.

Paul Williams, an associate professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said he thinks the success of the process depends on accurate and calculative assessments on the ground.

“The effect is likely to vary depending on what type of forces AMISOM might withdraw, and where,” Williams told VOA. “If a relatively small number of troops were withdrawn on the basis of an accurate assessment of the al-Shabab threat, and the remaining forces are given better enablers (aviation, rapid reaction and ISR units), then the impact would likely be small or even net positive.” 

Somali stance

Somali officials maintain that the country has made progress and that it’s in a better position to take on more responsibility for the security of parts of the country. 

In May, Abdisaid Musse Ali, Somalia’s national security adviser, reportedly told a joint A.U.-U.N. delegation that he was assessing the situation in Somalia ahead of the planned transition of security responsibilities to the Somali security forces, and that his country should not be judged based on the past.

“The transition plan represents a significant change in the planning and delivery of security in Somalia. It is not business as usual,” Ali told the delegation, according to an AMISOM press release.

“We need to build a state, and building a state meant the Somalis needed to take responsibility not only of the military, but also of the administration of the country,”Ali added. 

Abdulhakim Haji Mohamud Faqi, the former two-time Somali defense minister, echoed Ali’s assessment and said Somalia must be supported in its quest for gradually talking the lead. 

“Somali government officials indicated that the Somali security forces are now capable and ready for the gradual handover of security responsibility from AMISOM,” Faqi told VOA. “We must trust and support the government in this aspect.” 

Training 

Somali security forces are currently being trained by AMISOM, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the EU. The U.S. military’s Africa Command is also helping with training. 

A U.S. military official told VOA that the U.S. trains Somali soldiers and targets terror groups. 

“AFRICOM provides training and security force assistance to the SNSF, including support for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to facilitate their efforts to target violent extremist organizations in their country,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesperson for AFRICOM, told VOA.

“Our military actions, to include precision strikes against the al-Qaida-aligned, al-Shabab terrorist groups, as well as ISIS-Somalia, are done in support and with the concurrence of the federal government [Somalia],” Wiest said, using an acronym for the militant group, Islamic State.

But experts point to lack of coordination among these trainer countries, which leads to poor results on the ground. 

Williams, the George Washington professor, believes that several international actors have spent a decade trying to build an effective national force in Somalia, but with little success. 

“This failure suggests serious changes are required to how Somalia receives security force assistance, probably involving fewer external providers,” he said.

Mahmood charges that because of the involvement of several external parties, individual units are often trained effectively. However, the macro-level training soldiers receive differs from unit to unit, depending on which country is involved, which undermines efforts of building a unified force. 

“The individual trainings themselves could be very adequate, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are building a really unified force that can act in a cohesive manner,” Mahmood said.

Both Mahmood and Williams call for better coordination among countries that help train Somali soldiers. 

Political differences 

Analysts such as Mahmood believe that the main obstacle to the creation of an effective national army in Somalia is the inability of the political class to reconcile with each other.

“There are just a high number of divisions — one at the clan level, and two at a sort of Mogadishu versus the federal member states, and so on,” Mahmood said. 

“Right now, I think, what you have in some of the federal member states are militias or units that are really responding not to Mogadishu, but to their respective member state capitals,” Mahmood added.
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Are Somali Troops Prepared to Lead the War Against al-Shabab?

Posted on by SeeAF

As the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) prepares to implement the planned phased withdrawal of more than 21,000 troops fighting militant groups, including al-Shabab and the Islamic State in Somalia, some experts are concerned that the country may not be prepared to take on the task in the face of growing political divisions and lack of military equipment and training. 

As part of the first phase, AMISOM plans to withdraw about 1,000 troops by February 2019. The process of handing over responsibility of some forward-operating bases to the Somali national army has already begun. 

The plan is to gradually withdraw all AMISOM troops from the country and hand over the lead security responsibility to local government forces.

The transition would occur based on the conditions on the ground and the preparedness of the Somali National Security Forces (SNFS), according to officials at AMISOM.

Assessment urged

At a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in late August, the military operations coordinating committee of the AMISOM urged its commanders to conduct an operational readiness assessment of the Somali national army. 

But some experts charge that the timelines are hard to follow and that it would take a longer process for AMISOM to withdraw from Somalia. 

“I will be surprised if these timelines are held,” Omar Mahmood, a Somali analyst with the South Africa-based Institute of Security Studies Africa, told VOA. 

“I think it’s going to be a much longer process than what people are really thinking about right now,” he added. 

Mahmood said there has been some progress with the training of the Somali security forces, but they are unable to take on a leading role without international support. 

“If you are talking about in terms of the whole security of Somalia, no, of course not. I don’t think the security forces are ready, but I think you need to start showing some signs of progress, especially because the issue is linked to AMISOM’s talk of withdrawal,” Mahmood added.

Paul Williams, an associate professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said he thinks the success of the process depends on accurate and calculative assessments on the ground.

“The effect is likely to vary depending on what type of forces AMISOM might withdraw, and where,” Williams told VOA. “If a relatively small number of troops were withdrawn on the basis of an accurate assessment of the al-Shabab threat, and the remaining forces are given better enablers (aviation, rapid reaction and ISR units), then the impact would likely be small or even net positive.” 

Somali stance

Somali officials maintain that the country has made progress and that it’s in a better position to take on more responsibility for the security of parts of the country. 

In May, Abdisaid Musse Ali, Somalia’s national security adviser, reportedly told a joint A.U.-U.N. delegation that he was assessing the situation in Somalia ahead of the planned transition of security responsibilities to the Somali security forces, and that his country should not be judged based on the past.

“The transition plan represents a significant change in the planning and delivery of security in Somalia. It is not business as usual,” Ali told the delegation, according to an AMISOM press release.

“We need to build a state, and building a state meant the Somalis needed to take responsibility not only of the military, but also of the administration of the country,”Ali added. 

Abdulhakim Haji Mohamud Faqi, the former two-time Somali defense minister, echoed Ali’s assessment and said Somalia must be supported in its quest for gradually talking the lead. 

“Somali government officials indicated that the Somali security forces are now capable and ready for the gradual handover of security responsibility from AMISOM,” Faqi told VOA. “We must trust and support the government in this aspect.” 

Training 

Somali security forces are currently being trained by AMISOM, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the EU. The U.S. military’s Africa Command is also helping with training. 

A U.S. military official told VOA that the U.S. trains Somali soldiers and targets terror groups. 

“AFRICOM provides training and security force assistance to the SNSF, including support for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to facilitate their efforts to target violent extremist organizations in their country,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesperson for AFRICOM, told VOA.

“Our military actions, to include precision strikes against the al-Qaida-aligned, al-Shabab terrorist groups, as well as ISIS-Somalia, are done in support and with the concurrence of the federal government [Somalia],” Wiest said, using an acronym for the militant group, Islamic State.

But experts point to lack of coordination among these trainer countries, which leads to poor results on the ground. 

Williams, the George Washington professor, believes that several international actors have spent a decade trying to build an effective national force in Somalia, but with little success. 

“This failure suggests serious changes are required to how Somalia receives security force assistance, probably involving fewer external providers,” he said.

Mahmood charges that because of the involvement of several external parties, individual units are often trained effectively. However, the macro-level training soldiers receive differs from unit to unit, depending on which country is involved, which undermines efforts of building a unified force. 

“The individual trainings themselves could be very adequate, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are building a really unified force that can act in a cohesive manner,” Mahmood said.

Both Mahmood and Williams call for better coordination among countries that help train Somali soldiers. 

Political differences 

Analysts such as Mahmood believe that the main obstacle to the creation of an effective national army in Somalia is the inability of the political class to reconcile with each other.

“There are just a high number of divisions — one at the clan level, and two at a sort of Mogadishu versus the federal member states, and so on,” Mahmood said. 

“Right now, I think, what you have in some of the federal member states are militias or units that are really responding not to Mogadishu, but to their respective member state capitals,” Mahmood added.
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Probst Leaves Complex Legacy After 10 Years as USOC Chairman

Posted on by SeeUS

Larry Probst will step down as chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, exiting with a complicated legacy that includes restoring the federation’s international reputation while leaving it saddled with as many problems on the home front as he faced when he arrived.

Probst, who announced his departure Monday, will step down at the end of the year, to be replaced by Susanne Lyons, a board member who recently finished serving as interim CEO following the resignation of Scott Blackmun in February.

Lyons and new CEO Sarah Hirshland are tasked with restoring credibility to a federation that has been widely criticized for its slow response to a mushrooming sex-abuse scandal in Olympic sports.

 

“I became chairman at a difficult time for the USOC and worked diligently with my colleagues here in the U.S., and around the world, to change the USOC for the better,” Probst said. “It’s now time for a new generation of leaders to confront the challenges facing the organization, and I have the utmost confidence in Susanne’s and Sarah’s ability to do just that.”

 

The 68-year-old Probst, a longtime executive at video-game behemoth Electronic Arts, spent hundreds of days overseas during his 10 years at the helm, helping repair badly fractured international relationships that stemmed from decades’ worth of financial disagreements with the IOC, to say nothing of the sometimes-curt style of his better-known predecessor, Peter Ueberroth.

 

Probst’s work helped bring the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles, giving America a win after a number of embarrassments, including Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Games, and the mistaken, and ultimately aborted, choice of Boston as a candidate for 2024; both debacles came on Probst’s watch.

 

Probst also earned a highly coveted spot on the International Olympic Committee — a position that gave him insider status in the decision-making process. But critics said he didn’t use the position to advocate for U.S. athletes, especially on matters concerning Russian doping, where he rarely broke ranks with IOC president Thomas Bach, who supported Russia’s return to the Olympic fold despite solid evidence of wrongdoing.

 

In the United States, doping has been overshadowed of late by the sex-abuse scandal.

 

The USOC has gotten some credit for creating the U.S. Center for SafeSport to serve as a clearinghouse for all Olympic-related sex-abuse cases. But it has been criticized — and sued — for not acting quickly enough, or taking its share of responsibility. That played a part in Blackmun’s departure, and it’s no surprise to see Probst, whose greatest successes came with Blackmun at his side, follow him out shortly after.

 

Blackmun helped stabilize the federation after Probst and his board surprisingly dismissed CEO Jim Scherr following a successful 2008 Olympics and replaced him with Stephanie Streeter, whose short tenure was a complete failure. Many viewed Scherr’s firing as a self-inflicted mistake, and Probst was forced to spend a large part of his tenure rebuilding trust on both the domestic and international levels.

 

Among his successes were establishing a charitable foundation that raises multiple millions for Olympic athletes, the settling of a controversial revenue-sharing agreement with the IOC, and improving an already healthy financial situation under the tenure of Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Baird. (Baird left the Olympic movement last month.)

 

The U.S. also stayed atop the medals table in the Summer Games, and had largely successful Winter Olympics under Probst’s watch, though the U.S. team’s total of 23 in Pyeongchang earlier this year — its lowest haul in 20 years — raised some eyebrows.

 

That disappointing showing came as the Larry Nassar scandal was turning into front-page news, and one of the most-repeated critiques of the USOC was that its leaders cared about medals more than the people who won them.

The delicate task for Lyons and Hirshland will be to make sure the USOC keeps winning, while also changing the culture in their own organization, as well as in the various sports that make up the Olympics.

 

“I wish Susanne and Sarah the best of luck in handling the very complex and difficult scenario they find themselves in,” Scherr said.
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Turkey Warns Attack on Syria’s Idlib Would Cause Humanitarian Disaster

Posted on by SeeEA

A Syrian government offensive in the country’s northern region of Idlib would cause humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, Europe and beyond, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Last week, Russian and Syrian warplanes resumed their bombing campaign in Idlib, the last rebel enclave in Syria, after weeks of quiet, in an apparent prelude to a full-scale offensive.

Erdogan failed to secure a pledge for a cease-fire from Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main backers, at a trilateral summit in Tehran.

In the newspaper article, Erdogan called on the international community to take action, and warned that “the entire world stands to pay the price” otherwise.

“All members of the international community must understand their responsibilities as the assault on Idlib looms. The consequences of inaction are immense,” Erdogan said.

“A regime assault would also create serious humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, the rest of Europe and beyond.”

Idlib is the insurgents’ only remaining major stronghold and a government offensive could be the war’s last decisive battle.

Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to Islamist militants. Turkey is a leading opposition supporter, which has troops in the country and has erected 12 observation posts around Idlib.

At the summit in Tehran, Erdogan, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani agreed in a statement that there could be no military solution to the conflict and it could only end through a negotiated political process.

Erdogan had also called for a truce, but Putin said this would be pointless as it would not involve the Islamist militant groups that Russia deems terrorists, and Rouhani said Syria must regain control over all its territory.

On Tuesday, Erdogan said Russia and Iran were also responsible for stopping a humanitarian disaster in Idlib, and said the international community had to “throw its weight behind a political solution.”

Earlier, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was reported as saying air and ground attacks on Idlib must stop immediately and a cease-fire must be established in the area.

Chemical weapons

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that they have evidence that Syrian government forces are preparing chemical weapons ahead of a planned assault on Idlib.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said the United States, Britain and France had agreed that another use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would result in a “much stronger response” compared to previous airstrikes.

Erdogan said that a focus on the potential use of chemical weapons alone was not enough.

“It is crucial for the U.S., which has concentrated on chemical attacks, to reject its arbitrary hierarchy of death. Conventional weapons are responsible for far more deaths,” he said.

Migration surge

Both Turkey and the United Nations have previously warned of a massacre and humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians in the event of a full-scale offensive.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday that more than 30,000 people had so far fled their homes in northwest Syria since the resumption of bombardments in the area, and warned that an operation into Idlib could set 800,000 people to flight.

Turkey, which currently hosts some 3.5 million refugees, has also said that it could not accommodate any more migrants if an attack on Idlib caused a new surge of refugees towards it border.
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Turkey Warns Attack on Syria’s Idlib Would Cause Humanitarian Disaster

Posted on by SeeEA

A Syrian government offensive in the country’s northern region of Idlib would cause humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, Europe and beyond, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Last week, Russian and Syrian warplanes resumed their bombing campaign in Idlib, the last rebel enclave in Syria, after weeks of quiet, in an apparent prelude to a full-scale offensive.

Erdogan failed to secure a pledge for a cease-fire from Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main backers, at a trilateral summit in Tehran.

In the newspaper article, Erdogan called on the international community to take action, and warned that “the entire world stands to pay the price” otherwise.

“All members of the international community must understand their responsibilities as the assault on Idlib looms. The consequences of inaction are immense,” Erdogan said.

“A regime assault would also create serious humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, the rest of Europe and beyond.”

Idlib is the insurgents’ only remaining major stronghold and a government offensive could be the war’s last decisive battle.

Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to Islamist militants. Turkey is a leading opposition supporter, which has troops in the country and has erected 12 observation posts around Idlib.

At the summit in Tehran, Erdogan, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani agreed in a statement that there could be no military solution to the conflict and it could only end through a negotiated political process.

Erdogan had also called for a truce, but Putin said this would be pointless as it would not involve the Islamist militant groups that Russia deems terrorists, and Rouhani said Syria must regain control over all its territory.

On Tuesday, Erdogan said Russia and Iran were also responsible for stopping a humanitarian disaster in Idlib, and said the international community had to “throw its weight behind a political solution.”

Earlier, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was reported as saying air and ground attacks on Idlib must stop immediately and a cease-fire must be established in the area.

Chemical weapons

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that they have evidence that Syrian government forces are preparing chemical weapons ahead of a planned assault on Idlib.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said the United States, Britain and France had agreed that another use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would result in a “much stronger response” compared to previous airstrikes.

Erdogan said that a focus on the potential use of chemical weapons alone was not enough.

“It is crucial for the U.S., which has concentrated on chemical attacks, to reject its arbitrary hierarchy of death. Conventional weapons are responsible for far more deaths,” he said.

Migration surge

Both Turkey and the United Nations have previously warned of a massacre and humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians in the event of a full-scale offensive.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday that more than 30,000 people had so far fled their homes in northwest Syria since the resumption of bombardments in the area, and warned that an operation into Idlib could set 800,000 people to flight.

Turkey, which currently hosts some 3.5 million refugees, has also said that it could not accommodate any more migrants if an attack on Idlib caused a new surge of refugees towards it border.
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House Republicans Seek Permanent Tax Cuts as Elections Loom

Posted on by SeeUS

House Republican leaders have unveiled their proposal to expand the massive tax law they hustled through Congress last year. They’re aiming to make permanent the individual tax cuts and small-business income deductions now set to expire in 2026.

 

With midterm elections barely two months away, the second crack at tax cuts outlined Monday is portrayed as championing the middle class and small businesses. Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, who heads the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, is looking toward a vote on the legislation by the House this month. The solid Republican majority in the House nearly ensures passage before the November elections.

 

But prospects for the legislation in the Senate are weak, given the slim Republican majority and concern over the potential for further blowing up the deficit with a new tax cut — without corresponding new revenue sources. And even some House Republicans oppose a new tax bill.

 

The proposal also calls for new tax incentives for savings by creating a “universal savings account” for families that could be used for a range of purposes and would allow the tax-free earnings to be more easily withdrawn than is the case with existing retirement accounts. In addition, the Republican plan would allow the popular, tax-free 529 college savings accounts to also be used to pay for apprenticeship fees and home schooling expenses, as well as paying off student debt. Also, workers would be able to tap their retirement savings accounts without tax penalty to cover expenses from the birth of a child or an adoption.

 

Startup businesses would be permitted to write off more of their initial costs.

 

“This legislation is our commitment to the American worker to ensure our tax code remains the most competitive in the world,” Brady said in a statement. Making the tax cuts permanent would build on the tax law’s economic boost by adding 1.5 million new jobs and increasing wages, he said.

 

As the elections loom, polls are showing only lukewarm support among voters for the $1.5 trillion package of individual and corporate tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed into law in December as his signature legislative achievement.

 

Several Republican House members, facing tough re-election fights in high-tax, Democratic-leaning states like New York and New Jersey, voted against the tax legislation last year and would prefer to do without this new version as well.

 

The tax law that took effect Jan. 1, the most sweeping rewrite of the U.S. tax code in three decades, is estimated to add around $1.5 trillion to the ballooning deficit over 10 years. Deficit hawks as well as Democratic lawmakers — who were unanimous in opposing the tax legislation last year — are asking how the Republicans intend to pay for the extended tax cuts.

 

“After handing massive unpaid-for tax breaks to Big Pharma, Wall Street and the wealthiest 1 percent with the first GOP tax scam for the rich, House Republicans are here with more of the same,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Monday. “Republicans want to add even more to the deficit, and even more to the bank accounts of the wealthiest 1 percent.”

 

The new tax law enacted in December provides steep tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families.

 

While the law slashed the corporate tax rate permanently from 35 percent to 21 percent, its tax cuts for individuals and the millions of U.S. “pass-through” businesses expire in eight years. The “pass-through” businesses funnel their income to owners and other individuals, who then pay personal income tax on those earnings, not the corporate rate. They are allowed under the new law to deduct 20 percent of the first $315,000 of their earnings.

 

Also until 2026, the tax law ended the $4,050 personal exemption for individuals and capped at $10,000 the amount of property taxes or state or local taxes that consumers can deduct on their federal returns.

 

Early this year, millions of working Americans got a boost from the tax law as they saw increases in their paychecks with less tax withheld by employers. But as Trump’s populist attacks against free trade have erupted into trade wars with China and U.S. allies, trade tensions have overshadowed the tax cuts in economically vulnerable areas of the country that depend on exports.
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DOE: US, Saudi Energy Ministers Meet in Washington 

Posted on by SeeEA

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry met with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih on Monday in Washington, the U.S. Energy Department said, as the Trump administration encourages big oil-producing countries to keep output high ahead of Washington’s renewed sanctions on Iran’s crude exports.

Perry and Falih discussed the state of world oil markets, the potential for U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation and efforts to share technologies to develop “clean fossil fuels,” the department said in a statement.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Perry will also meet with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, on Thursday in Moscow, a U.S. source and a diplomatic source said Sunday night.

High oil prices are a risk for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Nov. 6 congressional elections. Global oil prices have already risen sharply to more than $76 a barrel in recent weeks on concerns about sanctions on Iran’s oil exports that Washington will renew on Nov. 4. 

Trump withdrew the United States in May from the nuclear deal with Iran, and he is pushing consuming countries to cut their purchases of Iranian oil to zero.

It is unclear what the United States may offer big oil producers in return for higher oil production.

Saudi Arabia has been seeking a civilian nuclear agreement with the United States that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium.

Russia wants the United States to drop sanctions on Moscow. 

OPEC and non-OPEC officials will meet later this month to discuss proposals for sharing an oil output increase, after the groups decided in June to boost output moderately.
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Kofi Annan’s Body Returns Home to Ghana

Posted on by SeeAF

The body of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been flown back to his native Ghana for a state funeral. 

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo received Annan’s widow, Nane Annan, and family at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport Monday. 

Six Ghanaian soldiers carried the casket draped with the U.N. flag off the plane. The U.N. flag was then replaced with the red, yellow and green flag of Annan’s homeland in a solemn ceremony attended by Annan’s family and senior Ghanaian and U.N. officials. 

Annan’s body will lie in state at the Accra International Conference Center, where the public is invited to pay their respects before the state funeral on Thursday. 

The Nobel Laureate and first African to serve as U.N. secretary-general died Aug. 18 in Bern, Switzerland. He was 80. 
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Kofi Annan’s Body Returns Home to Ghana

Posted on by SeeAF

The body of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been flown back to his native Ghana for a state funeral. 

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo received Annan’s widow, Nane Annan, and family at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport Monday. 

Six Ghanaian soldiers carried the casket draped with the U.N. flag off the plane. The U.N. flag was then replaced with the red, yellow and green flag of Annan’s homeland in a solemn ceremony attended by Annan’s family and senior Ghanaian and U.N. officials. 

Annan’s body will lie in state at the Accra International Conference Center, where the public is invited to pay their respects before the state funeral on Thursday. 

The Nobel Laureate and first African to serve as U.N. secretary-general died Aug. 18 in Bern, Switzerland. He was 80. 
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Aid Agencies: Rich Nations Must Act to Avoid ‘Refugee Catastrophe’ in East Africa

Posted on by SeeAF

Drastic cuts in foreign aid are putting millions of refugees fleeing war and drought in East Africa at risk of malnutrition and diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and cholera, aid agencies warned on Monday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said donor funding to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – which host over 2 million refugees from neighboring nations – has dropped by over 60 percent compared to the previous year.

The lack of funds has meant that conditions in many refugee camps across the three nations are deteriorating – with less food, clean water and sanitation available for refugees.

“Fast and furious budget cuts are hitting the East Africa aid sector hard. If more funding isn’t found, malnutrition will rise, schools will close, and water-borne diseases will break out,” the NRC’s Regional Director Nigel Tricks said in a statement.

“Rich nations should step up to support countries that are still accepting refugees. We have a window to avoid a refugee catastrophe in East Africa if we act now.”

There are at least 22 million refugees around the world, says the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR), mostly fleeing conflict, persecution or rights abuses in their countries.

About 85 percent of refugees are hosted in developing countries in Africa and the Middle East – most of which do not have the resources to support the hundreds of thousands fleeing wars in nations such as South Sudan, Somalia and Syria.

But funding from western donors to support these refugees has dramatically decreased. In Kenya, for example, the U.N. has only raised $97 million to support about 500,000 refugees this year – down 70 percent from the $340 million received in 2017.

Dana Hughes, UNHCR’s East Africa spokesperson, said the “chronic levels of underfunding” were resulting in overcrowded classrooms, families going without food and risks of disease outbreaks due to a lack of water and poor sanitation.

Projects to help refugees become self-reliant and earn an income are either being cut or are in jeopardy, she added.

“Despite the outcry on refugee arrivals in Europe and other wealthier parts of the world, the reality is most live in developing countries,” Hughes told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are at the frontline of the global refugee crises and ensuring programs to help refugees and bolster services in the countries receiving them is a global responsibility.”
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Aid Agencies: Rich Nations Must Act to Avoid ‘Refugee Catastrophe’ in East Africa

Posted on by SeeAF

Drastic cuts in foreign aid are putting millions of refugees fleeing war and drought in East Africa at risk of malnutrition and diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and cholera, aid agencies warned on Monday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said donor funding to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – which host over 2 million refugees from neighboring nations – has dropped by over 60 percent compared to the previous year.

The lack of funds has meant that conditions in many refugee camps across the three nations are deteriorating – with less food, clean water and sanitation available for refugees.

“Fast and furious budget cuts are hitting the East Africa aid sector hard. If more funding isn’t found, malnutrition will rise, schools will close, and water-borne diseases will break out,” the NRC’s Regional Director Nigel Tricks said in a statement.

“Rich nations should step up to support countries that are still accepting refugees. We have a window to avoid a refugee catastrophe in East Africa if we act now.”

There are at least 22 million refugees around the world, says the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR), mostly fleeing conflict, persecution or rights abuses in their countries.

About 85 percent of refugees are hosted in developing countries in Africa and the Middle East – most of which do not have the resources to support the hundreds of thousands fleeing wars in nations such as South Sudan, Somalia and Syria.

But funding from western donors to support these refugees has dramatically decreased. In Kenya, for example, the U.N. has only raised $97 million to support about 500,000 refugees this year – down 70 percent from the $340 million received in 2017.

Dana Hughes, UNHCR’s East Africa spokesperson, said the “chronic levels of underfunding” were resulting in overcrowded classrooms, families going without food and risks of disease outbreaks due to a lack of water and poor sanitation.

Projects to help refugees become self-reliant and earn an income are either being cut or are in jeopardy, she added.

“Despite the outcry on refugee arrivals in Europe and other wealthier parts of the world, the reality is most live in developing countries,” Hughes told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are at the frontline of the global refugee crises and ensuring programs to help refugees and bolster services in the countries receiving them is a global responsibility.”
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Official: US ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Reports of Abuse by Ugandan Security Forces

Posted on by SeeAF

The United States is “gravely concerned” by reports of excessive force used by Uganda’s security forces against lawmakers and journalists in the northwestern town of Arua, a State Department official said on Monday after the country’s opposition called on Washington to suspend military support to Kampala.

Five lawmakers, including opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, who is also a musician known by his stage name Bobi Wine, were arrested in Arua last month. Kyagulanyi, who is currently in the United States for medical treatment, and fellow member of parliament Francis Zaake say they were tortured while in detention.

“We have received multiple credible reports of excessive use of force by the Special Forces Command (SFC), including abuse of members of parliament, journalists and others,” the State Department official said in a statement. “The United States has made clear to the Ugandan government that such human rights abuses are unacceptable.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, on Sunday warned against foreign interference in Uganda’s politics.

Washington is a major source of funding for Uganda’s military, supplying hardware, cash and training. It has given equipment, money and intelligence for the military’s hunt for Lord’s Resistance Army warlord Joseph Kony.

Museveni has also received diplomatic support from Washington for deploying troops in international peacekeeping missions, including the fight against militants in Somalia.

The State Department official said the U.S. embassy in Kampala had not worked with Uganda’s Special Forces Command (SFC) since early 2016 because of human rights concerns. The U.S. relationship with Uganda was aimed at promoting stability and security in the region, the official added.

“It is now up to the Ugandan government to demonstrate a respect for its constitution and its citizens and conduct a transparent, credible and timely investigation into these events,” the official said. “Any security personnel found to have used inappropriate force must be held accountable.”

Kyagulanyi has gained popularity for his attacks on Museveni. He was charged with treason last month over the suspected stoning of Museveni’s convoy in Arua. He denies the charge and says he was tortured in detention.

He arrived in the United States last week for treatment for his injuries. Representatives from the State Department met with Kyagulanyi on Thursday “as they have done in the past when he visited the United States,” according to an official.
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Official: US ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Reports of Abuse by Ugandan Security Forces

Posted on by SeeAF

The United States is “gravely concerned” by reports of excessive force used by Uganda’s security forces against lawmakers and journalists in the northwestern town of Arua, a State Department official said on Monday after the country’s opposition called on Washington to suspend military support to Kampala.

Five lawmakers, including opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, who is also a musician known by his stage name Bobi Wine, were arrested in Arua last month. Kyagulanyi, who is currently in the United States for medical treatment, and fellow member of parliament Francis Zaake say they were tortured while in detention.

“We have received multiple credible reports of excessive use of force by the Special Forces Command (SFC), including abuse of members of parliament, journalists and others,” the State Department official said in a statement. “The United States has made clear to the Ugandan government that such human rights abuses are unacceptable.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, on Sunday warned against foreign interference in Uganda’s politics.

Washington is a major source of funding for Uganda’s military, supplying hardware, cash and training. It has given equipment, money and intelligence for the military’s hunt for Lord’s Resistance Army warlord Joseph Kony.

Museveni has also received diplomatic support from Washington for deploying troops in international peacekeeping missions, including the fight against militants in Somalia.

The State Department official said the U.S. embassy in Kampala had not worked with Uganda’s Special Forces Command (SFC) since early 2016 because of human rights concerns. The U.S. relationship with Uganda was aimed at promoting stability and security in the region, the official added.

“It is now up to the Ugandan government to demonstrate a respect for its constitution and its citizens and conduct a transparent, credible and timely investigation into these events,” the official said. “Any security personnel found to have used inappropriate force must be held accountable.”

Kyagulanyi has gained popularity for his attacks on Museveni. He was charged with treason last month over the suspected stoning of Museveni’s convoy in Arua. He denies the charge and says he was tortured in detention.

He arrived in the United States last week for treatment for his injuries. Representatives from the State Department met with Kyagulanyi on Thursday “as they have done in the past when he visited the United States,” according to an official.
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Aid Group: More Than 100 Migrants Die Off Libya Coast

Posted on by SeeAF

More than 100 migrants in two rubber boats died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya in early September, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The international aid agency said in a report on its website Monday that most of the migrants were from Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.

Survivors being treated by the aid group said one of the boats had engine failure, while the other sprang a leak and began to sink.

“There were 165 adults and 20 children on board” the boat that deflated, an unidentified survivor told MSF.

The report said 55 people from that boat were still alive when rescue helicopters arrived and dropped life jackets into the water. It was hours before the Libyan coast guard picked up the survivors from both boats.

“More than 20 children have died, including two 17-month-old twins,” the report said, quoting survivors.

MSF said it is treating the migrants at Libyan detention centers, where they are being held. The organization said the staff reported 18 urgent cases, including nine “suffering from extensive chemical burns [on up to 75 percent of their bodies]” from engine fuel. Six people were transferred to hospitals.

“We are extremely worried for our patients. How can they recover when they are locked inside cells in very poor hygiene conditions?” Jai Defranciscis, an MSF nurse working in Misrata in northwest Libya, said in the report.

Instead of receiving the support they need, refugees and migrants are arrested and detained in deplorable living conditions, without basic safeguards or legal recourse, according to the report.

MSF once again called for an end to the “arbitrary detention of thousands of refugees and migrants across Libya.”
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Aid Group: More Than 100 Migrants Die Off Libya Coast

Posted on by SeeAF

More than 100 migrants in two rubber boats died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya in early September, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The international aid agency said in a report on its website Monday that most of the migrants were from Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.

Survivors being treated by the aid group said one of the boats had engine failure, while the other sprang a leak and began to sink.

“There were 165 adults and 20 children on board” the boat that deflated, an unidentified survivor told MSF.

The report said 55 people from that boat were still alive when rescue helicopters arrived and dropped life jackets into the water. It was hours before the Libyan coast guard picked up the survivors from both boats.

“More than 20 children have died, including two 17-month-old twins,” the report said, quoting survivors.

MSF said it is treating the migrants at Libyan detention centers, where they are being held. The organization said the staff reported 18 urgent cases, including nine “suffering from extensive chemical burns [on up to 75 percent of their bodies]” from engine fuel. Six people were transferred to hospitals.

“We are extremely worried for our patients. How can they recover when they are locked inside cells in very poor hygiene conditions?” Jai Defranciscis, an MSF nurse working in Misrata in northwest Libya, said in the report.

Instead of receiving the support they need, refugees and migrants are arrested and detained in deplorable living conditions, without basic safeguards or legal recourse, according to the report.

MSF once again called for an end to the “arbitrary detention of thousands of refugees and migrants across Libya.”
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UN: Afghans Need Asylum, All Should Not Bear Blame for Few Crimes in Europe

Posted on by SeeEU

European countries must not rush to repatriate Afghan refugees to their increasingly insecure homeland or blame their community for isolated crimes such as recent deadly attacks in Germany and in France, the top U.N. refugee official said on Monday.

Two Afghans have been detained in Germany on suspicion of killing a 22-year-old German man, the public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday.

French police detained a man who wounded several people in a knife attack in central Paris on Sunday, police and judicial sources said on Monday. The attacker, who a police source said was from Afghanistan, stabbed tourists and passersby.

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that sending Afghan refugees home was a “complex issue in Europe” — despite a spate of suicide bombs and attacks across Afghanistan, including by the Taliban and Islamic State.

“There is a lot of pressure for Afghans to return. Our advice is to carry out this process with great caution because conditions from the security point of view are deteriorating,” he told a news conference on return from Afghanistan.

Grandi, asked whether he feared any backlash against Afghan nationals in Europe, said: “If anybody who is either an asylum seeker or a refugee commits crimes, this person has to be excluded from the (asylum) process or from refugee status.”

UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming later clarified that such exclusion applies only when a serious crime has been committed before the asylum seeker enters a country, and is then taken into account during the asylum process, before the person is determined to be a refugee. Refugee status is retained when a refugee commits a crime in the asylum country, but that person is subject to prosecution.

Grandi said suspects must bear the full force of law, but voiced concern that an entire community could be blamed for the crimes of an individual, or the issue manipulated for political purposes.

“This is very dangerous, because asylum seekers and refugees in their overwhelming majority do not commit crimes, and are particularly vulnerable to discrimination.”

Pakistan and Iran together host some 2.5 million Afghan refugees, but only 12,000 returned home so far this year against 40,000-50,000 at this time in 2017, according to his agency.

Some 40,000 people were killed or maimed in the past 4 years of conflict in Afghanistan and 170,000 people newly-displaced this year alone, U.N. emergency humanitarian coordinator Mark Lowcock said.

He welcomed talks between the government of President Ashraf Ghani and Taliban insurgents, saying they needed to be supported.

“That probably is also the single biggest thing that will contribute to better economic prospects and people feeling more confident about the prospects and then that is what will be biggest driver in Afghans feeling they can go home,” he added.
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Catalan Separatists Plan Mass Rally for Independence From Spain

Posted on by SeeEU

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans are expected to fill the streets of Barcelona on Tuesday for the Spanish region’s first commemorative day since its leader declared independence last year and pitched the country into constitutional crisis.

Supporters of splitting the wealthy northeastern region from the rest of Spain have in recent years used the September 11 “Diada,” the anniversary of the fall of their coastal capital to Spanish forces in 1714, to promote the cause.

This year, Catalonia’s leader Quim Torra, who took over from his exiled predecessor after Madrid ended an unprecedented period of direct rule, has called for a mass rally in support of his bid for a binding referendum on independence.

“Our government has committed to making the republic a reality,” Torra said in a televised address to mark the occasion. “I wish you all a very good Diada. Long live free Catalonia.”

He wore a yellow ribbon signifying support for nine politicians whose jailing for their role in the independence bid is one of the Catalan government’s biggest grievances.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who took power in June, has taken a softer approach to one of the thorniest issues in national politics than that of his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, but he has stood firm against allowing a vote on secession, or any unilateral attempt by Catalonia to secede.

Last year’s Diada, in which marchers often climb on each other’s shoulders in shows of the traditional sport of forming human towers, fell as the regional government was preparing to hold a referendum in defiance of Madrid, which ultimately sent riot police to try to stop the vote.

Torra’s predecessor and ally Carles Puigdemont then declared independence, prompting Madrid to impose direct rule on the grounds that Barcelona had violated the 1978 constitution which states that the country is indivisible.

Extra police will be deployed during the anniversaries of events in the independence bid. The government’s regional delegate, asked last week about 600 agents being sent as reinforcements, said this was the normal approach to scheduled rallies.

Divisions over the question of secession are stark in Catalonia, which makes up around one fifth of Spain’s economic output and already has a high level of autonomy in areas including education and health, and its own police force.

A poll by the Centro d’Estudis d’Opinio in July showed 46.7 percent of Catalans surveyed saying they wanted an independent state, just ahead of 44.9 percent who did not.

Last year’s banned referendum delivered a majority vote for independence, but turnout was low.

A pro-secession coalition regained control of the regional parliament at a regional election in December that Rajoy had hoped would put paid to the independence bid, but a staunchly pro-union party emerged as the single biggest winner.
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Fury Over Pension Changes Hurts Putin Allies in Russian Regional Elections

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia’s ruling United Russia Party suffered a rare setback in regional elections despite winning most of the seats, a reversal its leaders and election chiefs blamed on unpopular plans to raise the pension age.

The results in weekend voting for heads of about one third of Russia’s regions were the worst for United Russia, which backs President Vladimir Putin, since elections for regional leaders were re-introduced in 2012.

Four Kremlin-backed candidates were forced into run-off votes. Two were beaten into second place — by a communist and a nationalist — and two finished first but failed to win the more than 50 percent of votes needed for outright victory.

Opponents of the pension reforms, which envisage raising the retirement age for men to 65 from 60 and to 60 from 55 for women, staged protests across Russia as voting took place.

Police detained just over 1,000 people, OVD-Info, a rights organization that monitors detentions, said. Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny had called for the protests.

Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission, said it was obvious the planned pension changes had prompted voters to register their discontent at the ballot box, something she said was a sign of genuine political competition.

“It’s a good lesson for everyone,” she told a news conference. “It’s very useful for the party of power to get a bit of a jolt.”

Speaking in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Putin told government officials he was unfazed by the fact that re-runs would be needed in four regions.

“It’s an absolutely normal phenomenon,” he said.

The region the includes Vladivistok is one of those where a second vote will be required. The man Putin appointed acting governor there last year failed to pass the 50-percent threshold on Sunday after a communist won almost a quarter of the votes.

“You don’t need to hunt for complex explanations as to why this happened,” said Ivan, a voter in Vladivostok who declined to give his surname. “Everything can be explained by the fall in the authorities’ popularity because of pension reform.”

United Russia also lost ground to the Communist Party and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) in some areas in weekend elections to regional parliaments.

The proposed pension changes, which are being considered by the national parliament, have shaved about 15 percentage points off Putin’s popularity rating, opinion polls show, although his ratings remain high.

They are the most unpopular government measure since a 2005 move to scrap Soviet-era benefits, though Putin amended the planned reforms after initial protests. Average life expectancy for men in Russia is 66 and for women 77.

“Difficult conditions”

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the leader of United Russia and a Putin ally, told party activists on Sunday night he deemed the results “worthy” given the election campaign had taken place in what he called difficult conditions.

“… There’s a heated public discussion in society right now about a whole raft of changes, including changes to pension law. That undoubtedly ratcheted up the intensity of the campaign and of the political battle,” Medvedev said.

In Moscow, Putin’s former chief-of-staff Sergei Sobyanin was re-elected mayor with about 70 percent of the votes. But despite a huge get-out-the-vote campaign, turnout was just 30 percent as many Muscovites stayed away. That was less than the turnout at the previous mayoral election in 2013.

Putin was in Vladivostok on Monday to meet Asian leaders at an economic forum.

Vladivostok resident Alexei, 41, who works in the local ship building industry, said he had voted for the communist candidate as a protest vote and planned to do the same in the run-off.

“We really don’t like United Russia here and Putin and his comrades at the moment,” he said.

United Russia remained the dominant force in the national parliament in the last election in 2016. The next is due in 2021.
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Libya Oil Company Offices Attacked, Causing Fire, Casualties

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Security forces of Libya’s U.N.-backed government on Monday stormed the headquarters of the country’s national oil company in the capital Tripoli shortly after gunmen had gone into the building, shooting randomly, setting off explosions and taking hostages, officials said.

The Health Ministry said two people were killed and 10 others were injured in the attack, according to initial information. Health official Malek Merset had earlier said that there were dozens of injuries caused by the gunfire, smoke inhalation or explosions.

At least one explosion rocked the building soon after the gunmen went in, starting a fire that swiftly spread through the lower floors, according to the officials.

Mustafa Sanallah, head of the Libyan National Oil Company, told a Libyan television channel that explosions and an exchange of gunfire between the attackers and the building’s security guards have caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

“The building was heavily damaged due to the fire. Smoke is everywhere,” Sanallah said. “The gunmen attacked the lower floors with random shooting and explosions. It’s a very violent attack.”

There was no word on the fate of the gunmen, described by Libyan officials as “terrorists,” or whether they were still holding hostages. It was not immediately clear either whether the security forces were in control of the building.

Earlier, the Interior Minister of the U.N.-backed government, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Salam Ashour, said the attack was carried out by six gunmen and that employees were inside the building when it took place.

The U.N. mission in Libya condemned the attack, describing it as “cowardly” and called on Libya to cease their “futile side conflicts” and unite to rid their nation of terrorism.

Monday’s attack followed recent fighting in Tripoli between rival armed groups, which left at least 61 people dead. A cease-fire has been in place since last week.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Moammar Gadhafi and led to his death. It is now governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country’s east.

 
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Libya Oil Company Offices Attacked, Causing Fire, Casualties

Posted on by SeeAF

Security forces of Libya’s U.N.-backed government on Monday stormed the headquarters of the country’s national oil company in the capital Tripoli shortly after gunmen had gone into the building, shooting randomly, setting off explosions and taking hostages, officials said.

The Health Ministry said two people were killed and 10 others were injured in the attack, according to initial information. Health official Malek Merset had earlier said that there were dozens of injuries caused by the gunfire, smoke inhalation or explosions.

At least one explosion rocked the building soon after the gunmen went in, starting a fire that swiftly spread through the lower floors, according to the officials.

Mustafa Sanallah, head of the Libyan National Oil Company, told a Libyan television channel that explosions and an exchange of gunfire between the attackers and the building’s security guards have caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

“The building was heavily damaged due to the fire. Smoke is everywhere,” Sanallah said. “The gunmen attacked the lower floors with random shooting and explosions. It’s a very violent attack.”

There was no word on the fate of the gunmen, described by Libyan officials as “terrorists,” or whether they were still holding hostages. It was not immediately clear either whether the security forces were in control of the building.

Earlier, the Interior Minister of the U.N.-backed government, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Salam Ashour, said the attack was carried out by six gunmen and that employees were inside the building when it took place.

The U.N. mission in Libya condemned the attack, describing it as “cowardly” and called on Libya to cease their “futile side conflicts” and unite to rid their nation of terrorism.

Monday’s attack followed recent fighting in Tripoli between rival armed groups, which left at least 61 people dead. A cease-fire has been in place since last week.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Moammar Gadhafi and led to his death. It is now governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country’s east.

 
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