Month: October 2018

West Africa’s Ebola Outbreak Cost $53 Billion: Study

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An Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in 2014 cost economies an estimated $53 billion, according to a study in this month’s Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The study aimed to combine the direct economic burden and the indirect social impact to generate a comprehensive cost of the outbreak, which was the worst in the world.

The outbreak ran from 2013 to 2016 and killed at least 11,300 people, more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. The vast majority of cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The report’s authors, Caroline Huber, Lyn Finelli and Warren Stevens, put the economic costs at $14 billion and said the human cost was even greater, based on the people affected and a dollar figure that reflects the value of each human life.

The total is far higher than previous estimates. In October 2014, the World Bank said the Ebola epidemic could cost $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 in a worst case scenario, but by November 2014 it dialled back that forecast to $3-4 billion. In 2016 the World Bank estimate of economic loss was $2.8 billion.

The 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cost an estimated $40 billion, while the 2015-2016 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas was estimated to have caused $20 billion in social costs, the new study said.

But a repeat of the 1918 influenza pandemic could cost an annual 700,000 lives and $490 billion, the authors said, citing research published in 2016.

The new Ebola study factored in the impact on healthworkers, long-term conditions suffered by 17,000 Ebola survivors, and costs of treatment, infection control, screening and deployment of personnel beyond West Africa.

The biggest cost not previously accounted for was deaths from other diseases, as Ebola tied up healthcare resources and hospital admissions fell dramatically, adding $18.8 billion to the total bill.

During the outbreak there were 10,623 additional deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with 3.5 million additional untreated malaria cases.

Measles caused 2,000-16,000 extra deaths as 1 million children missed being vaccinated for measles, and 600,000-700,000 missed other vaccines.

But the authors added that they had limited information on the cost of deploying international health staff and military personnel, and they were obliged to place a value on human life, a widely accepted economic measurement.

Although the “value of a statistical life” (VSL) in North America and Europe is estimated at $7 million-9 million, the authors said, they took a figure from the only study in a West African context, with a VSL of $577,000 in Sierra Leone.
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Africa 54

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In Africa, Praise for Saudi Arabia Reveals Diplomatic Dance

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As shocking details in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi approached a crescendo, the war-torn nation of South Sudan this week issued a rare Foreign Ministry statement. It praised the Saudi position to defuse the crisis as “honorable” and assured the kingdom of its commitment to strong relations.

Impoverished South Sudan isn’t the only African nation to support the Saudis at a time when much of the world is shying away. Whether pressured to speak up after receiving assistance or making a diplomatic play for more, a few countries have bucked the global trend while others appear to waver in the face of billions of dollars in Saudi funding.

 

Their statements reveal the balancing act many African countries, notably in the Horn of Africa, are making these days as more of the world’s powers see the continent as a strategic investment.

 

On Tuesday, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister sat next to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, exchanging a warm handshake, during the Saudi investment forum that many have shunned over the Khashoggi affair.

 

It was a highly visible moment for one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a close U.S. security partner. Some Ethiopians were furious. Others said their country needs a rich ally these days.

 

Somalia, which struggles to maintain a neutral stance amid regional powers including Turkey and Gulf nations, is another example. After its prime minister visited Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Ministry last week issued a statement expressing “full solidarity” with the kingdom against “all those who seek to undermine its role.” An uproar among Somalis at home and around the world followed. The government backed off, saying the statement was simply general support.

 

Tiny Djibouti, an increasingly popular location for global military bases and across a narrow strait from the Arabian Peninsula, issued a statement “firmly condemning the media campaign seeking to tarnish the image” of its brotherly nation. A later statement praised the kingdom’s attachment to “fraternity, justice and tolerance.”

Across the continent in Mauritania, the Islamic republic has twice issued statements in support of Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi’s disappearance, saying: “Mauritania is also confident in Saudi justice.” Another foreign ministry statement denounced the “campaign of false allegations.”

 

Even South Africa, often praised for its outspoken support for human rights after the long fight to defeat apartheid, almost saw its state security minister attend the Saudi forum before President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the trip to be cancelled, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

 

Facing questions about whether possible Saudi investment in a state-owned defense conglomerate was keeping South Africa from speaking out on Khashoggi’s disappearance, the government last week issued a brief statement expressing “concern.”

 

But troubled South Sudan’s support of the kingdom might be the biggest surprise.

 

“Nobody pressured us to put out that statement. Like any other government in the world we have the right to make statements,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Baak Wol told The Associated Press. “We wanted to express our opinion on something that is a concern for everyone in the world.”

 

Critics said otherwise, suggesting that the government is looking elsewhere for friends as ties with top humanitarian donor United States turn chilly over South Sudan’s failure to end a devastating civil war. The U.S. successfully led the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo earlier this year and has threatened to withdraw millions in aid.

 

“Why should the U.S. give development assistance to governments that will squander it or will put it in its pockets?” the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question about the country.

 

Political analyst and University of Juba professor Jacob Chol said South Sudan’s statement is likely “reactionary diplomacy, feelings that Saudi Arabia may support South Sudan financially. Opportunism.”

 

“The government of South Sudan is desperate for diplomatic relations and is clutching at anything to reconnect to the U.S.,” said Wol Deng Atak, a former member of South Sudan’s parliament who now lives in exile. “This letter suggests the extent to which the regime is willing to go.”

 

 

 

 
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UN Official Warns of Imminent Great Hunger in Yemen

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A United Nations official is warning that Yemen is in imminent danger of being engulfed by unprecedented famine. Mark Lowcock, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, advised the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that the war-torn Arab country is facing greater famine than any professional in the field has ever seen. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the U.N. official called for efforts to stop violence and increase humanitarian aid.
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US Identifies Some Saudis Responsible for Khashoggi’s Death, Revokes Visas

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States has already identified some of the Saudis suspected of involvement in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and is revoking their visas and exploring additional measures. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.
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Cameroon Residents React to 85-Year-Old Paul Biya Victory

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85-year-old Cameroon President Paul Biya, who won re-election to a seventh term in a landslide victory Monday, now faces expectations by Cameroonian residents for improved living conditions as a growing secessionist movement threatens security in the African nation. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
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Islamic Banking Grows in Africa Amid Booming Muslim Population

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Islamic-style banking is on the rise worldwide, showing especially strong growth in Africa recently, according to the rating agency Moody’s. This type of banking system doesn’t charge or pay interest, uses physical assets to underpin transactions, and does not invest in so-called “sin” industries like alcohol, pork and gambling. In South Africa, the continent’s financial hub, Islamic banking is gaining popularity among the minority Muslim community. VOA’s Anita Powell reports in Johannesburg.
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As Farmers Harvest, Tariff Concerns Loom

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It’s a good day for Illinois farmer Bob Gehrke, as the sun shines above the brown, dried and ready-for-harvest rows of soybeans in his fields outside Elgin. 

A good day because Gehrke isn’t fighting wet weather as he spends up to 16 hours a day racing the clock and the calendar to harvest corn and soybeans.

“My biggest concern right now as we’re harvesting is not getting stuck,” he told VOA, “and that we get the crops out before Mother Nature throws snow at us.”

The S-word isn’t his only concern this year. Farmers in the American Midwest are working the fields this fall amid a trade dispute between the United States and China, once one of the largest importers of U.S. corn and soybeans. 

“The marketers’ advice even this spring never was calling for soybeans to go down this extreme. Of course, they weren’t expecting a tariff,” Gehrke said.

Chinese tariffs on U.S. grain products, a retaliatory move for U.S. tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, have pushed soybean prices down as much as $2 this year.

“That’s a big deal for a farmer who is counting on that yield and that farm income,” said Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau. “This is the fifth straight year of lower farm income, I think, the lowest farm income year since 2012 right now.”

Nelsen said news of a pending new trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as NAFTA, so far isn’t doing much to put farmers at ease. 

“Whether or not that was achieved because of the tariff threats remains to be seen, because the steel and aluminum tariffs still remain on Mexico and Canada, and their retaliatory tariffs threatened against us still remain.”

Gehrke had hoped decades of negotiations and relationships in China would be paying off, reversing declining farm income by keeping one of the largest markets for U.S. soybeans open. So far this year, USDA tracking shows that China accounts for only 5 percent of U.S. soybean exports.

​“We built trade up to where it was working,” said Gehrke. “Now, in a matter of six months, a lot of that has been really knocked down, maybe even devastated, to where will it come back? How long will it take to come back?”

What was supposed to be a silver lining in an otherwise gloomy year for farmers was the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s estimated $12 billion aid package. While it helps offset his lower soybean prices — “they are saying we would get $1.60, $1.65 a bushel” — Gehrke said it doesn’t help his corn.

“It’s a penny,” he explained. “Why even bother if you are going to give us a penny? That’s more paperwork than it’s worth. And then in their package, what they present — $200 million is for market development. We had the market! That’s sort of a joke.”

Soybeans are still being sold around the world, even if they might not be going to China. Sales to Europe and Argentina are up this year. So, the question remains: Are the trade tactics adopted by President Donald Trump and his administration ultimately working? 

“I think if you ask most farmers right now, they would probably say no,” Gehrke told VOA during a rare working break. “But you ask them maybe a year from now, six months from now, they might change their mind.”

Six months from now, Gehrke himself will be in a very different mindset, shifting gears from harvesting his crops to planting seeds for a new growing season — a season he hopes is filled with more certainty.
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US Security Advisor Signals Washington will Abandon Key Nuclear Pact with Russia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a senior White House envoy on Tuesday as the U.S. and Russia sought to minimize the fallout over Donald Trump’s intention to exit a landmark nuclear treaty amid charges of violating the agreement. 

US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s meeting with the Russian leader capped two days of talks with senior Kremlin officials aimed at paving the way for the United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. 

The deal, brokered between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required the elimination of all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles in Europe — then divided by the world’s two great superpowers. 

For now, the U.S. has yet to formally exit the agreement. Yet Bolton left no illusions that the move was imminent. 

“The INF is ignored and outmoded,” said Bolton. “It’s a Cold War treaty for a multipolar world.” 

President Trump has justified the withdrawal by pointing to a recent history of Russian transgressions — a charge Moscow has repeatedly levied against Washington. 

“Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement,” said Mr. Trump, in comments at a political rally over the weekend. “So we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out.”

“Until people come to their senses – we have more money than anybody else, by far,” added the American leader. 

Bolton echoed that rationale before reporters again in Moscow. 

“This question of Russian violations is long and deep,” said Bolton, noting that Russian violations had dated back to the Obama administration. 

“The threat is not America’s INF withdrawal from the treaty. The threat is Russian missiles already deployed.”

Arms race 2.0?

From President Putin on down, Kremlin officials have repeatedly warned any new US arms deployments in lieu of the treaty’s collapse will be met in kind.

Such exchanges have unnerved key European allies — including Germany and France — who fear a return to the days of the Cold War when Europe served as a nuclear sparring ground between the world’s two superpowers.

Other American allies, such as Poland and England, have voiced support for the move. 

Yet behind the US decision: the growing military capabilities of nations not included in the INF — such as China and Iran. 

“One-third to one-half of Chinese missiles today would violate the INF,” argued Bolton. 

“Exactly one country is constrained by the INF treaty: the United States.”

Thou doth protest too much?

In Moscow, debate has centered on whether the Kremlin tacitly achieved its aim — or doom — by prompting the U.S. withdrawal of a treaty in lieu of NATO’s subsequent expansion into Eastern Europe.

“For Russia, it’s beneficial to have in its arsenal a class of nuclear and strategic weapons to combat regional threats without the distraction of the limitations of the strategic arsenal aimed at the USA,” argues independent analyst Vladimir Frolov in the online publication Republic. 

“It’s a big diplomatic accomplishment for Vladimir Putin,” he added. 

“It’s sad to watch,” countered opposition activist Vladimir Milov in a Facebook post. “Trillions and trillions will be thrown to the wind.”

“The decades-old system of global security is being destroyed before our eyes, and will not be easy to resuscitate.” 

Either way, the Kremlin seemed eager to embrace Bolton’s visit — the second in the past 4 months — as a willingness to engage despite ongoing allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. 

“We barely respond to any of your steps but they keep on coming,” said President Putin, joking to Bolton before cameras at the Kremlin in a reference to U.S.-Russian tit-for-tat sanctions over ongoing allegations of election meddling.

In turn, Bolton argued Russia’s actions had not changed the outcome of the 2016 race. Rather they’d made it all but impossible for progress in U.S.-Russian relations. 

The two sides, noted Bolton, did make progress on reinstating cooperative efforts relative to terrorism, Syria, and North Korea. And, President Trump had accepted Putin’s offer to meet on the sidelines of the upcoming celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the armistice marking the end of World War I in Paris in November. 

But much hinges on how the U.S. views Russian cyber activities ahead of an already charged political season when Americans head to the polls November 6th for midterm elections. 

Depending on how things go, warned Bolton, the U.S. position could change “with a keystroke.” 
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Lawmakers Postpone Interview with Deputy AG Rosenstein

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Two House committees are postponing a closed-door interview with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that was expected to delve into reports that he discussed secretly recording President Donald Trump.

Rosenstein was scheduled on Wednesday to meet with the top lawmakers on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform panels. The meeting had been scheduled after weeks of negotiations and after speculation last month that Rosenstein would be fired or would resign.

In September, The New York Times reported that Rosenstein had discussed secretly recording the president in 2017 to expose chaos at the White House. The report said he also discussed invoking constitutional provisions to remove Trump from office.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said in a statement released Tuesday evening that their committees “are unable to ask all questions of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein within the time allotted for tomorrow’s transcribed interview,” so it would be postponed. They did not say how much time was given or why they couldn’t fit all of their questions in. 

“Mr. Rosenstein has indicated his willingness to testify before the Judiciary and Oversight Committees in the coming weeks in either a transcribed interview or a public setting,” Goodlatte and Gowdy said. “We appreciate his willingness to appear and will announce further details once it has been rescheduled.”

Under terms laid out by the two committees last week, only the committee chairmen and the two top Democrats on the committees would be in the room, and the interview would be transcribed and eventually released. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus had originally pushed for Rosenstein to appear, but were not included in the interview. 

North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a member of the oversight panel, blamed his exclusion from the meeting on Rosenstein, tweeting on Friday that Rosenstein wanted a private, classified interview with “multiple members” excluded.

“There should be NO double standard. Show up and tell the truth under the same conditions as everyone else,” Meadows said on Twitter. Meadows, who is close to the president, has also called on Rosenstein to resign. 

Rosenstein went to the White House days after The New York Times report, expecting to be fired, but his job was spared. He later flew with Trump on Air Force One to an international police chiefs’ conference in Florida. The president declared his job safe, saying he was “not making any changes.”

“We just had a very nice talk,” Trump told reporters. “We actually get along.”

Trump and Rosenstein have had an up-and-down relationship, though the deputy has been spared the brunt of the anger directed at his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump’s relationship with Sessions deteriorated after the attorney general recused himself from the Russia investigation.

Goodlatte said last month that “there are many questions we have for Mr. Rosenstein, including questions about allegations made against him in a recent news article. We need to get to the bottom of these very serious claims.”

Democrats have called the meeting with Rosenstein part of a Republican effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Because of Sessions’ recusal, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel and oversees that investigation.
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Factbox: Who Are 15 Saudis Who Traveled to Turkey Ahead of Khashoggi’s Killing?

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Saudi Arabia has detained 18 people and dismissed five senior government officials as part of an investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi policies, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his marriage.

Saudi Arabia initially denied knowledge of his fate. Then, on Saturday, its public prosecutor said he had been killed in a fight in the consulate, an explanation that has drawn international scepticism.

Turkish security sources say that when Khashoggi entered the consulate, he was seized by 15 Saudi intelligence operatives who had flown in on two jets just hours before.

A senior Saudi official confirmed to Reuters they were among the 18 Saudis detained, along with three local suspects.

Most of the 15 worked in the Saudi military or security and intelligence services, including at the royal court, according to Saudi and Turkish officials and several sources with ties to the royal court.

Turkey’s pro-government Sabah newspaper published what it said were photographs of the men taken from surveillance footage at the airport, two hotels they briefly checked into, the consulate and the consul’s residence.

The following profiles of some of those detained or dismissed are based on those photographs, Saudi media reports and information from Saudi officials and sources.

Saud al-Qahtani

Saud al-Qahtani, 40, seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, was removed as a royal court adviser and is the highest-profile figure implicated in the incident.

Qahtani entered the royal court under the late King Abdullah. He rose to prominence as a confidante in Prince Mohammed’s secretive inner circle. He regularly spoke on behalf of the crown prince, known as MbS, and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus, the sources with ties to the royal court said.

Tasked with countering alleged Qatari influence on social media, Qahtani used Twitter to attack criticism of the kingdom in general and Prince Mohammed in particular. He also used Twitter to attack critics and ran a WhatsApp group with local newspaper editors, dictating the royal court line.

Qahtani had tried to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views, according to people close to the journalist and the government.

In an August 2017 Twitter thread asking his 1.35 million followers to flag accounts for a black list for monitoring, Qahtani wrote: “Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince.”

The senior Saudi official said Qahtani had authorized one of his subordinates, Maher Mutreb, to conduct what he said was meant to be a negotiation for Khashoggi’s return to the kingdom.

Qahtani also supplied Mutreb with unspecified information based on his earlier conversations with Khashoggi, the official said. Qahtani did not respond to questions from Reuters. Reuters was not able to reach Mutreb for comment.

Maher Mutreb

General Maher Mutreb, an aide to Qahtani for information security, was the lead negotiator inside the consulate, according to the senior Saudi official. He is a senior intelligence officer and part of Prince Mohammed’s security team. He appeared in photographs with the crown prince on official visits this year to the United States and Europe.

According to the Saudi official, Mutreb was selected for the Istanbul operation because he already knew Khashoggi from their time working together at the Saudi embassy in London.

“He knew Jamal very well and he was the best one to convince him to return,” the official said.

Mutreb received Khashoggi at the Saudi consul’s office around 1:25 pm. He began urging him to come home and claimed he was wanted by Interpol, the official said.

The official said Khashoggi told Mutreb he was violating diplomatic norms and asked whether Mutreb planned to kidnap him. Mutreb said yes, the official said, in an apparent attempt to intimidate Khashoggi.

Sabah newspaper published stills from surveillance cameras that appear to show Mutreb entering the consulate three hours before Khashoggi, and later outside the consul’s residence.

Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed that Mutreb served as a first secretary for a period including 2007.

Salah Tubaigy

Salah Tubaigy is a forensic expert at the Saudi Ministry of Interior’s criminal evidence department, according to a biography posted online by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

In the Istanbul operation, he was supposed to remove evidence such as fingerprints or proof of the use of force, according to the Saudi official.

Tubaigy spent three months in 2015 at Australia’s Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to observe death investigation procedures and learn about the use of CT scanning for mass fatality incidents, director Noel Woodford told Reuters.

Photographs from the institute’s 2015 annual report, which resemble the suspect named by Turkish media, show Tubaigy wearing medical scrubs, a smock and rubber gloves in a laboratory setting, and separately chatting with colleagues.

Tubaigy did not respond to an email sent by Reuters.

The Saudi Society of Forensic Medicine lists him as a board member. He earned a master’s degree in forensic medicine from the University of Glasgow in 2004, the biography shows. A university spokeswoman declined to comment.

Tubaigy is 47 years old, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials.

Ahmed al-Asiri

Ahmed al-Asiri, former deputy head of General Intelligence, was among those sacked by King Salman. He joined the military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, and was spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition which intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015.

Asiri was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence by royal decree in April 2017.

Reuters was unable to reach Asiri for comment.

Moustafa al-Madani 

Moustafa al-Madani led the intelligence efforts for the 15-man team in Istanbul, the senior Saudi official said.

According to that official, Madani donned Khashoggi’s clothes, eyeglasses and Apple watch and left through the back door of the consulate in an attempt to make it look like the journalist had walked out of the building.

Madani is a government employee who studied at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, according to a Facebook profile with photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.

Reuters was unable to reach Madani for comment. University officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meshal Saad Albostani 

Meshal Saad Albostani is lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force from the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, according to a Facebook profile with multiple photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.

The senior Saudi official said he was responsible for the Istanbul team’s logistics.

Albostani studied at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, according to Facebook. University officials contacted by Reuters said they could not confirm a graduate of that name.

A LinkedIn profile matching his name and photo says he has served in the air force since 2006.

He is 31 years old, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials.

Albostani could not immediately be reached for comment.

Other members of the team

Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi is a member of the security team that travels with the Saudi crown prince, according to a New York Times report that cited a French professional who has worked with the royal family. He is 31, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials. Reuters could not reach Hawsawi for comment.

General Rashad bin Hamed al-Hamadi was removed as director of the general directorate of security and protection in the General Intelligence Presidency.

General Abdullah bin Khaleef al-Shaya was removed as assistant head of General Intelligence for human resources. General Mohammed Saleh al-Ramih was removed as assistant head of General Intelligence for intelligence affairs.

The three generals could not be reached for comment. 
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Four US Soldiers Injured in Collision in Norway Ahead of NATO Exercise

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Four U.S. soldiers were injured in a major North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise in Norway in an accident involving four vehicles Tuesday, the U.S. military said.

One soldier was released shortly after being hospitalized, and the three others are under observation in stable condition, the U.S. Joint Information Center said in a statement.

The soldiers were in trucks delivering cargo to Kongens Gruve, Norway, in support of Trident Juncture 18, the biggest NATO exercise in recent years, two days ahead of the start date.

Trident Juncture 18 will involve around 50,000 personnel from NATO Allies and partner countries, about 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and up to 10,000 vehicles. It will take place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7 in central and eastern Norway, the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.

“The accident occurred when three vehicles collided and a fourth vehicle slid off the pavement and overturned while trying to avoid the three vehicles that had collided,” the information center said.

The vehicles and personnel in the accident were assigned to the U.S. Army’s 51st Composite Truck Company stationed in Baumholder, Germany.

The U.S. military is working with Norwegian authorities to investigate the accident.
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Trump Effort to End Missile Treaty Draws Mixed Reaction 

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A prominent nuclear weapons expert says White House threats to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty are diplomatically shortsighted, potentially dangerous and politically risky for President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections.

Calling the landmark 1987 missile treaty a key part of European and international security for over 30 years, Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said while there have been concerns about Russia’s compliance with the agreement, U.S. withdrawal would shift blame for the collapse of the treaty from Moscow, “where it belongs,” to Washington.

His comments came shortly after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Kremlin officials in Moscow.

“The other reason why this is problematic is that the United States and Russia have not exhausted the diplomatic options to resolve this conflict,” Kimball said, pointing out that Bolton’s Moscow visit is only the third U.S.-Russia meeting under the current administration.

“One of the available options that should be tried is mutual transparency visits by Russian experts to U.S. missile interceptor sites in Romania, and U.S. technical expert inspections of the 9M729 missiles that the U.S. is concerned about in Russia,” Kimball said.

U.S. officials, including Trump, accuse Russia of ground-launching an 9M729 cruise missile in violation of the treaty in 2014, a charge long denied by Russia, which says U.S. missile defense systems in Europe violate the agreement.

“Both sides are going to have to try harder to work out a diplomatic solution,” Kimball added. “I think if the two sides have the necessary political will, it’s possible, and the INF treaties can be preserved.”

Bolton, who said he was in Moscow as part of Trump’s commitment to improve security cooperation with Russia, had earlier hinted the arms control pact with Russia is outdated. 

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the INF accord in 1987, which bans the United States and Russia from building, testing and stockpiling ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range from 500 to 5,000 kilometers (310-3,100 miles).

“Because intermediate-range missiles have a very short flight time to their targets, they’re especially destabilizing,” Kimball told VOA’s Russian Service. “Because there’s very little warning time, it can lead to instability in a crisis, which is why Reagan and Gorbachev eliminated them in the 1980s.”

Addressing reporters in Moscow, Bolton said he believes Cold War-era bilateral treaties are no longer relevant because now other countries are also building missiles. 

At recent political campaign rally in Nevada, Trump said the United States would have to start developing new weapons if Russia and China, which is not part of the INF treaty, do. He then proposed having China join the treaty, an idea that Kimball calls highly unlikely.

The U.S. and Russia, said Kimball, “would love to have China in this INF agreement.”

“Why? Because about two-thirds of China’s nuclear arsenal is deployed on short, medium, or intermediate-range missiles,” Kimball said. “That’s because of geography, because of the way China deploys its relatively small nuclear arsenal. So, that would be a win for the U.S. and Russia, and a loss for China.”

Asked if he expects the administration to withdraw formally, Kimball was skeptical.

“The past few weeks, the United States government has been discussing what to do with respect to the treaty. I think that Bolton, if he’s smart, he would have gone to Moscow to say, ‘Look, we’re not going to let this problem linger for too much longer. We may withdraw from this treaty if you, Russia, don’t take the following steps,'” Kimball said. “But I think Donald Trump — with his penchant for tough rhetoric — may have jumped the gun a little bit when he said on Saturday that we will terminate the INF treaty.”

In Russia, state media such as RIA Novosti cited anonymous sources offering similar interpretations of Trump’s rhetoric, which they dismissed as midterm election rally grandstanding, where politicians can score political points for appearing tough on Russia.

Although European leaders have supported U.S. efforts to bring Russia into compliance with the treaty and called on the Russian government for greater technical transparency with its arsenal, they have largely resisted U.S. withdrawal.

“The INF contributed to the end of the Cold War and constitutes a pillar of European security architecture since it entered into force 30 years ago,” said a spokesperson for the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, in a prepared statement issued Monday.

“Thanks to the INF treaty, almost 3,000 missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads have been removed and verifiably destroyed,” the statement said. “The world doesn’t need a new arms race that would benefit no one and on the contrary would bring even more instability.”

French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue with Trump by phone the morning after the Nevada rally to “underline the importance of this treaty, especially with regards to European security,” according to a statement by the French ministry that called “on all the parties to avoid any hasty unilateral decisions, which would be regrettable.”

Matthew Kroenig, deputy director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, hailed Trump’s proposed withdrawal as “the right move.”

“Russia has been cheating on this treaty for years, and there was no hope of getting Moscow to return to compliance,” he said in an Atlantic Council blog post. “It doesn’t make sense for the United States to be unilaterally constrained by limits that don’t affect any other country.”

A Putin spokesman said a U.S. pullout from the INF treaty would make the world a more dangerous place, and that Russia would have to take security countermeasures to “restore balance.”

Addressing reporters in Moscow, Bolton said he discussed Russian meddling in U.S. elections with Putin, calling it counterproductive for Russia. He also said Trump looked forward to meeting Putin in Paris on Nov. 11.

This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service. 
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Plugged In With Greta Van Susteren: Tibor Nagy

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VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren engages Tibor Nagy, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, in a wide-ranging conversation about the opportunities and challenges facing the African continent. Nagy outlines the emerging U.S. strategy in Africa as one of partnerships, shared goals and jobs.
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US to Revoke Visas of Saudis Implicated in Khashoggi’s Death

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the United States had “identified at least some” of the Saudi officials involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and was revoking their visas.

“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States. We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those accountable,” Pompeo said. “We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence.”

The visa revocations were the first punitive actions the U.S. has taken against Saudi Arabia since news broke of Khashoggi’s disappearance on Oct. 2.

Pompeo, who made the announcement at the State Department, did not say who or how many Saudi officials would have their visas revoked. Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced it had already arrested 18 Saudis and fired several top intelligence officials in connection with Khashoggi’s death.

The secretary also said the U.S. was considering taking action, such as imposing financial sanctions, under the Magnitsky Act. That law was named for Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow prison after he reported tax fraud involving government officials; it was aimed at punishing officials responsible for his death.

Earlier Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke for the first time about the Khashoggi case, saying the journalist was “murdered in a ferocious manner,” and contending that Saudi Arabia carried out the killing in its Istanbul consulate in a premeditated plot. He dismissed Riyadh’s claim that “rogue agents” were responsible.

“All evidence gathered shows that Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of a savage murder,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament in Ankara. “To cover up such savagery would hurt the human conscience.”

The Turkish leader said “to blame such an incident on a handful of security and intelligence members would not satisfy us or the international community.”

Erdogan demanded that whoever ordered the killing of Khashoggi “be brought to account,” and that the 18 officials already arrested by Saudi Arabia in connection with the killing stand trial in Istanbul. 

In Washington, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Saudi authorities had staged “one of the worst cover-ups” in history with their response to the killing of Khashoggi, 59, a U.S.-based Saudi dissident.

“They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

When a reporter asked Trump if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, should be held accountable, Trump said, “I spoke with the crown prince yesterday, and he strongly said he had nothing to do with this — it was at a lower level.”

Vice President Mike Pence said Erdogan’s assessment of the killing “underscores the determination” of the Trump administration “to find out what happened. The word from President Erdogan this morning that this brutal murder was premeditated, preplanned days in advance, flies in the face of earlier assertions that had been made by the Saudi regime.”

“The world is watching,” Pence said at an event at The Washington Post, where Khashoggi wrote opinion columns that were critical of the Saudi crown prince. “The American people want answers, and we will demand that those answers are forthcoming.”

Erdogan told Turkish lawmakers that “Saudi Arabia has taken an important step by admitting the murder. As of now, we expect of them to openly bring to light those responsible, from the highest ranked to the lowest, and to bring them to justice.” The Turkish president described Khashoggi’s death as a “murder” 15 times in his speech.

Erdogan never mentioned Salman in his speech and did not play an audio recording of the killing that news accounts have cited.

Erdogan gave new details surrounding the killing — which involved 15 Saudi agents who started arriving in Turkey on Oct. 1, the day before Khashoggi was killed — while largely confirming earlier news accounts of Khashoggi’s disappearance, including that Saudi agents deployed a body double with Khashoggi’s clothes, glasses and beard to walk out of the consulate to make it appear as if he had left the diplomatic outpost alive.

The Turkish president said that on Oct. 1, a team of Saudi consular staff scouted out two separate locations in a forest outside Istanbul and at Yalova, 90 kilometers south of the city. Turkish authorities have searched the locations, theorizing that Khashoggi’s remains might have been disposed of there, but have not found his body. Erdogan said Saudi agents removed the hard drive from the consulate’s surveillance system.

Saudi officials at first said that Khashoggi had walked out of the consulate and that they did not know his whereabouts. Then they said he died in a fistfight in the consulate. Most recently, the Saudis said Khashoggi was killed in a chokehold when he tried to leave the consulate to call for help. 

“When the murder is so clear,” Erdogan said, “why were so many inconsistent statements made? Why is the body of a person who has officially been accepted as killed still not around?”

Khashoggi had gone to the consulate to get documents he needed to marry his fiancee, Turkish national Hatice Cengiz, who waited outside in vain for his return.

The Turkish leader stressed the need for his police and intelligence services to conduct a thorough probe, both to avoid falsely accusing anyone and to fulfill a responsibility to the international community.

Since Saudi accounts said a “local collaborator” had disposed of Khashoggi’s remains, Erdogan said, “I am now asking: Who is this local collaborator?”

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel was in Turkey to confer with Turkish officials about their investigation.

WATCH: US response to Khashoggi’s death

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UN: 14 Million Yemenis Could Soon Be at Risk of Starvation

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The U.N. aid chief warned Tuesday that humanitarians are losing the fight against famine in Yemen and that 14 million people could soon be at risk of starvation.

“There is now a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine engulfing Yemen,” Mark Lowcock told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. “Much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen in their working lives.”

Lowcock has warned before of the risk of famine — two separate times in 2017 — but a significant scaling up of the humanitarian response and the end of a Saudi-led coalition blockade on Yemen helped avoid a worst-case scenario.

“What I am telling you today is that the situation is now much graver than on either of those two occasions,” Lowcock said.

He said a U.N. assessment in September that about 11 million people could be at risk was wrong, and a revised review puts the number significantly higher.

“Our revised assessment, the results of new survey work and analysis, is that the total number of people facing pre-famine conditions — meaning they are entirely reliant on external aid for survival — could soon reach not 11 million but 14 million,” Lowcock told the council. “That is half the total population of the country.”

Currently, the U.N. and partner agencies reach 8 million people each month in every district of the country with critical assistance. The relief operation is the largest in the world and has earmarked $3 billion for this year, of which the U.N. has received $2 billion from donors. Lowcock expressed concern that the operation could be overwhelmed if the numbers continue to grow. 

The aid chief said that after nearly four years of conflict and struggling to survive, millions of Yemenis are physically more vulnerable, as they are less able to withstand hunger, cholera and other diseases. 

One of the main culprits driving the food crisis is the collapse of the national economy. The country imports 90 percent of its food, fuel and medicines, and the devaluation of the national currency has impeded imports. Civil servants have also not been paid in almost two years, adding to their inability to afford food, especially when the price of many staple items is skyrocketing. 

Clashes around the country’s most important sea port — Hodeida — is hindering food distribution. A main road from the city to the densely populated northern city of Sanaa remains blocked, affecting trade and aid convoys. 

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition began bombing Houthi rebels in support of the Yemeni government in March 2015. Since then, the U.N. estimates more than 10,000 people have been killed, mostly due to airstrikes.

Political efforts to end the crisis have mostly stalled since the Houthis skipped September U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva with the Yemeni government.
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Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Seeks Dialogue on Economic Crisis

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Zimbabwe’s opposition leader on Tuesday called for the creation of a “national transitional authority” to deal with a worsening economic crisis amid shortages of basic items such as drugs and fuel.

Nelson Chamisa, who narrowly lost July’s election, accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of excessive borrowing and lacking ideas to solve Zimbabwe’s biggest crisis in a decade.

Chamisa also plans to go ahead with a rally on Saturday that party officials have indicated could include a mock “inauguration” in protest of the disputed vote.

A ruling ZANU-PF party official, Paul Mangwana, said dialogue with the opposition can only commence if Chamisa accepts Mnangagwa’s victory. 

A fragile national unity government in 2009 helped pull the country out of economic crisis when hyperinflation reached 500 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

When asked what a “national transitional authority” would entail, Chamisa said it should be a “bottom-up” approach to involve citizens, churches and other stakeholders and that discussions would determine the nature of the government. 

He said the ruling party and opposition had discussed the arrangement after former leader Robert Mugabe was forced out in November but “they reneged on that promise and chose the path of elections instead of a transitional authority.”

After Mugabe’s departure many in Zimbabwe had hoped the country would emerge from turmoil and return to prosperity. But that has turned into despair as public hospitals run out of drugs and private pharmacies, like many other businesses, close down while supermarkets ration items such as bottled water and beer.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Tuesday said the government has suspended import controls on items ranging from cooking oil to bottled water to baked beans and shoe polish. Previously, only those with special licenses were allowed to import the items. 

The government in recent days has cracked down on street currency dealers, while some senior officials from the reserve bank were suspended Monday after a ruling party activist accused them of corruption.

The activist, appointed last week to head a special communications task force for the ministry, was fired on Tuesday after he promised more disclosures. 

The president in a weekly column in a state-run newspaper accused “an intricate network of currency speculators mostly in high places and in places of trust” of manipulating black-market foreign currency rates, resulting in a spike in prices of goods that are still available.

With industry in near collapse, Zimbabwe imports most items.
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Palestinians: Israelis Fatally Shot Teen at Gaza Protest

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Gaza’s Health Ministry says a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during a protest along the perimeter fence with Israel.

The ministry said Montaser al-Baz was shot in the head Tuesday and died hours later at a hospital. 

The Israeli military said 200 protesters burned tires and threw explosive devices toward the fence. It said Israeli troops opened fire at one protester who approached the fence and lobbed an explosive device.

Hamas has held weekly protests along the frontier for six months, aimed at easing a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Recently, Hamas has appeared to be scaling back the protests amid renewed Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire with Israel.

Israeli fire has killed 157 Palestinians during the protests. An Israeli soldier was shot dead in July.
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Saudis to Give Pakistan $6 Billion Worth Cash, Defer Oil Payments Relief

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Saudi Arabia has agreed to lend Pakistan $3 billion in cash and allow Islamabad to defer payments for oil imports worth $3 billion for a one-year period to help the country address its looming balance of payments crisis.

The Pakistani government announced the details Tuesday at the end of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official visit to Riyadh, where he met with the Saudi leadership and attended an investment conference boycotted by several other world leaders over the death of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.

“It was agreed Saudi Arabia will place a deposit of USD 3 billion for a period of one year as balance of payment support,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.

“It was also agreed that a one year deferred payment facility for import of oil, up to USD 3 billion, will be provided by Saudi Arabia. This arrangement will be in place for three years, which will be reviewed thereafter,” it added.

Prime Minister Khan’s detail discussions with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman led to the “far-reaching decisions on bilateral economic and financial cooperation,” the ministry noted.

Hours earlier on Tuesday, Khan said while speaking at the Future Investment Initiative Conference that his government was urgently seeking loans from “friendly governments” and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to shore up Pakistan’s rapidly depleting foreign currency reserves and pay for import bills.

“Yes, we are talking to the IM. What we are hoping is that we can do a bit of both, get some loans from friendly governments, at the same time get a loan from the IMF and so to go through this (tough) period,” Khan explained when asked how he would be managing the financial crisis facing his country.

Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar has estimated the country needs around $12 billions to meet its immediate liabilities.

Islamabad approached the IMF earlier this month for a bailout package.  A team from the international lender is due to arrive in the Pakistani capital on Nov. 7 for talks. Umar has not revealed the amount Pakistan is seeking from IMF.

Prime Minister Khan is also scheduled to undertake an official visit to China on Nov. 2, his first since taking office two months ago. His visit comes amid reports Beijing could also step in and provide foreign currency support to Islamabad like it has done in the past year and deposited more than $2 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan.

Pakistan said Tuesday that the Saudis have also shown interest in investing and building a major oil refinery in Gwadar, the Arabian Sea port built and operated by China. Officials estimate the proposed project may bring up to $8 billion in Saudi investment.

The port is regarded a gateway to the bilateral multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the flagship of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative. Both the countries strongly reject U.S. concerns as misplaced that Chinese loans under CPEC are also to be blamed for Pakistan’s current financial woes.

Khan blames bad governance and rampant corruption by his predecessors for the financial crisis facing the country. He has vowed to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for laundering billions of dollars out of Pakistan.

 
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Saudi, Bahrain Add Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to Terror Lists

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Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it and Bahrain had added Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and senior officers of its Quds Force to their lists of people and organizations suspected of involvement in terrorism.

The Saudi state news agency SPA quoted a statement from the security services saying Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, and the force’s Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai were named on the list.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2011 alleged that Soleimani, Abdollahi and Shahlai were linked to a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, and imposed sanctions on them.

Iran at the time dismissed the accusations as false and demanded an apology from the U.S. government.

The office of the Revolutionary Guards and Iran’s foreign ministry were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

The Quds Force is the extraterritorial branch of the Revolutionary Guards.

The SPA also said the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), a U.S.-Gulf initiative to stem finance to militant groups, had designated as terrorist-linked several people associated with the Afghan Taliban, some of whom were Iranians.

The center was established in May 2017 during U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and the United States co-chair the group and Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also members.

The Trump administration aims to create a security and political alliance with the Sunni Gulf Arab states to counter Shi’ite Iran’s influence in the region, especially in Syria and Iraq.
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Low-tech Tools Can Fight Land Corruption, Experts Say

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Technological solutions to prevent land corruption require resources, but they do not have to be expensive, land rights experts said Tuesday.

Satellite imagery, cloud computing and blockchain are among technologies with the potential to help many of the world’s more than 1 billion people estimated to lack secure property rights. But they can be expensive and require experts to be trained.

That’s where low-tech solutions such as Cadastre Registry Inventory Without Paper (CRISP) can be useful, said Ketakandriana Rafitoson, executive director of global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) in

Madagascar.

CRISP helps local activists in Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, document land ownership using tablets with fingerprint readers and built-in cameras, which cost $20 a day to rent.

Users can take pictures of ID cards, location agreements, photos of landowners, their neighbors and any witnesses who were present during land demarcation, Rafitoson told the International Anti-Corruption Conference.

Lack of trust

One challenge in Madagascar is a lack of trust in politicians, Rafitoson said, meaning it is better if local charities are involved, too.

“If we just leave the land authorities with the community, it doesn’t work because they don’t trust each other,” she said.

Corruption in land management ranges from local officials demanding bribes for basic administrative duties to high-level political decisions being unduly influenced, according to TI.

The Dashboard, a tool developed by the International Land Coalition (ILC), is also putting local people at the center of monitoring land deals, said Eva Hershaw, a data specialist at the ILC, a global alliance of nonprofit organizations working on improving land governance.

The Dashboard is being tested in Colombia, Nepal and Senegal, where it allows ILC’s local partners to collect data based on 30 core indicators, including monitoring legal frameworks and how laws are implemented.

Next week, TI Zambia will launch a new phone-based platform, which can advise Zambians on various aspects of land acquisition and guide them through processes around it.

Rueben Lifuka, president of TI Zambia, said users can also report corruption through the platform, including requests for bribes. 

Those affected by corruption can decide whether a copy will be sent to the local authorities, and TI can then track the response.

An improvement in internet coverage in Zambia means it is becoming easier to develop technologies such as the platform, which cost about $34,000 to develop, Lifuka said.
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Syria’s Food Production Hits 29-Year Low

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A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program finds extreme weather conditions in Syria have caused the lowest production of wheat and barley for nearly three decades in this war-torn country.

Still, the Syrian government has managed to pacify most of country after more than seven years of brutal, murderous conflict that has reportedly killed more than 350,000 people. Because of improved security, more people are returning to their places of origin.

But the report says despite improved access to agricultural land in some areas, erratic weather has caused a sharp decline in crop production this year, compared to last. It says large areas of rainfed cereals have failed because of a long dry period early in the season. This was followed by unseasonably late heavy rains and high temperatures, which seriously diminished irrigated cereal yields.

Spokesman for the World Food Program, Herve Verhoosel, told VOA this extremely bad harvest will impact badly upon a population that already is short of food.

“We are talking about a third of the production compared to three years ago, then probably everybody will be affected either by the higher price of cereals on the market or by lack of cereal. Then that will probably affect everybody because they will not have the cereal, or they will need to pay more to have them,” Verhoosel said.

The report finds market access and trade has improved considerably throughout the country. It says humanitarian access to people in hard to reach places is much better.  And, with the military gains made by Syrian forces, there no longer are any besieged areas.

Though access to food has generally improved, the report finds about one-quarter of households still suffer from chronic hunger. Data show about 44 percent of households have reduced the number of meals they eat each day and when food is scarce, 35 percent of adults will first feed their children.

 

 
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US, Gulf Countries Issue Joint Sanctions Against Taliban Figures

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A coalition of the United States and six Persian Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia announced sanctions Tuesday on nine individuals belonging to or supporting the Taliban.

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) said they included two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on the list to highlight the country’s “regionally destabilizing behavior,” furthering the “U.S. maximum pressure campaign against Iran.”

“Iran’s provision of military training, financing, and weapons to the Taliban is yet another example of Tehran’s blatant regional meddling and support for terrorism,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said.

The list also featured prominent Taliban actors, several of whom helped coordinate shipments of weapons from Iran to the terror organization.

Individuals sanctioned by the U.S. government typically have any bank accounts or assets in the U.S. frozen and are hit with travel restrictions. The Treasury Department, representing the U.S. in the coalition, did not say specifically what form the sanctions would take in this case.

The TFTC was created in 2017 to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks and is co-chaired by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

 
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Africa 54

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We are live. Join us and let us know from what part of the world you are watching us.
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