As the impact of climate change becomes clearer, experts say the world needs to do more than just stop producing greenhouse gases. Aggressive steps also must be taken to pull them out of the atmosphere. While engineers puzzle over high-tech solutions, scientists say nature offers tools today. The world’s grasslands can soak up tons of carbon dioxide. VOA’s Steve Baragona visited a Texas cattle ranch working to restore overgrazed land so it can join the fight against climate change.
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Month: November 2018
California Fire Almost Completely Contained; Toll at 84
Authorities in Northern California say the “Camp Fire,” which has killed 84 people since it began two weeks ago, is almost completely contained.
Another three people died in a second major blaze that struck Malibu in southern California.
The number of people listed as unaccounted for in the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state’s history stands at more than 563.
Authorities have refrained from publicly estimating how many of the missing might have perished, but some who lived through the blaze have said the number will keep rising.
Rain that fell Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon helped the firefighters but complicated the search for human remains in the debris of about 13,000 homes left by the fire.
In the north, the Camp Fire has scorched nearly 62,000 hectares of land and destroyed more than 13,600 homes since it broke out on Nov. 8.
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WHO: Nigeria Malaria Prevention Campaign Working
The World Health Organization (WHO) says a campaign to distribute anti-malaria drugs to children in Nigeria’s Borno state seems to be making an impact, with fewer cases reported. Nigeria is still the world’s highest malaria-burdened country with 25 percent of all cases worldwide. As Timothy Obiezu reports from Maiduguri, there’s still far more that needs to be done to check the spread of the disease.
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Malawi, UN Pilot Drone Project to Fight Hunger
As many as 3 million Malawians are expected to face food shortages this year because of drought and pests. To address the problem, Malawi and the United Nations are piloting a joint project to assess the health of crops using drones. Lameck Masina reports from Kasungu, central Malawi.
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Suitcases of Yesterday’s Immigrants’ Tell the Story of Today’s
Looking into this three-dimensional miniature streetscape by artist Mohamed Hafez is a little like spying.
The building is completely exposed to the elements. The staircases are dangling. But clothes hanging on the line attest that people once lived here.
“I think the human eye is fascinated by the detail of destruction,” he explains. “There is something that lures us into that complexity of something falling apart. We are always curious to find out what happened.”
This streetscape, like most of Hafez’s work depicts the damage caused by the seven-year civil war in his native Syria.
“There’s nothing glamorous about destruction,” Hafez says, “but I use it as a therapeutic way for me to heal and creatively weep over the destruction.”
Hafez is an architect who designs towering skyscrapers, a fact that adds to the intrigue of his miniature artworks.
“Collateral Damage,” an ongoing exhibition of his work at the Fairfield University Museum in Fairfield, Connecticut has artwork representing Syria before the war, Syria during the war, the experience of refugees and his most recent project, examining the Syrian identity in the diaspora.
WATCH: Art in a Suitcase Depicts War-Torn Syria
Refugee baggage
Hafez has won recognition in the past few years for his miniatures that illustrate the refugee experience. One reason for that is that the tiny scenes showing the houses and places that refugees were forced to abandon are built inside suitcases and not just any suitcase, but ones carried by real refugees as they fled.
“A lot of people came to me with their parents’ and grandparents’ suitcases. I’m talking about Jewish communities, Irish communities, German communities, Indian communities that really felt and resonated with the push back against today’s immigrants and reminded them of what their ancestors and their grandparents have been through in this country.”
Some of the suitcases go back to the 1800’s and, as the “belongings of yesterday’s immigrants” they play a role in telling “the story of today’s immigrants to remind us collectively that history could repeat itself,” Hafez says.
As an immigrant, himself, Hafez brings a special understanding to the refugee experience. Born in Damascus, Syria, he grew up in Saudi Arabia and came to the U.S.15 years ago as an architecture student. He came on a single-entry only visa, which meant he could not go home for the first eight years.
“This has caused a lot of homesickness and longing to the beautiful country that I have left. I started using scrap materials and leftover materials from architectural model making. And I started remodeling old Damascus and old Aleppo in miniature form.”
All the while “contributing to the American skylines,” Hafez – a Syrian and a Muslim – is “proudly a member of (American) society and I call America my home.”
And like any proud American, Hafez is fighting for his America. “I am not building art to cater to my echo chambers but I’d like to cater to somebody that might have, what I call, spicy opinions against refugees, Muslim Americans, and immigrants.”
Restoring humanity
“…the vases…the little flower pots … the hanging laundry … the lights. And all the little chairs,” Melissa Demartin lists components of Hafez’s work that have resonated with her.
“The artist really captures that even in chaos and as bad as things can be, you can find some beauty,” she says.
Studying Hafez’ work at the Fairfield University Museum, Demartin came away with her own perspective.
So did Krissy Ponden.
“When we see pictures of destruction on the news, we’re really seeing just the aftermath,” she observed. “When the artist talked about how the faces of the buildings get sheared off by bombs and give a little glimpse of what their life was like. … When we see this destruction, this is actually the interruption of people’s lives.”
And Tre Kayumba, originally from the Congo by way of an orphanage in South Africa:
The artwork “speaks to the human condition,” he says, and how disagreements “can result in total destruction.”
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Art in a Suitcase Depicts War-Torn Syria
Mohamad Hafez, an architect who designs skyscrapers, is better known as the artist who builds replicas of war-torn homes and buildings inside suitcases. His work, which depicts the ongoing Syrian conflict and the experience of war refugees, has been recognized by museums and galleries across the nation. VOA’s June Soh caught up with the artist in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lives. Carol Pearson narrates the story.
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IAEA Urges North Korea to Allow Nuclear Inspectors Back In
The head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog has called on North Korea to allow inspectors back in to monitor its nuclear program.
Speaking at a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Thursday, Director General Yukiya Amano noted that Pyongyang had in September talked about denuclearization measures including the “permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon,” a reactor where it produces plutonium.
Amano said there has been activity observed at Yongbyon, but “without access the agency cannot confirm the nature and purpose of these activities.”
At a news conference later Thursday, he said he couldn’t elaborate on when exactly the activity was observed.
Inspectors expelled
IAEA inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009, but Amano said the agency continues to prepare for their possible re-admittance.
“The agency continues to enhance its readiness to play an essential role in verifying (North Korea’s) nuclear program if a political agreement is reached among countries concerned,” he said. “I again call upon (North Korea) to comply fully with its obligations under relevant resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and of the IAEA board, to cooperate promptly with the agency and to resolve all outstanding issues.”
Iran continues to comply
On the other hand, Amano told board members that Iran continues to abide by the deal reached in 2015 with major world powers aimed at preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives.
He reiterated the agency’s findings in a report distributed to member states earlier this month that “Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
The issue has grown more complicated since the U.S. withdrew unilaterally in May from the deal and then re-imposed sanctions. Iran’s economy has been struggling since and its currency has plummeted in value.
The other signatories to the deal — Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China — are continuing to try to make it work.
Amano stressed that “it is essential that Iran continues to fully implement” its commitments.
In its full report, the IAEA said its inspectors continue to have access to all sites in Iran that it needs to visit and that inspectors confirmed Iran has kept within limits of heavy water and low-enriched uranium stockpiles.
“The agency continues to verify the nondiversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its safeguards agreement,” Amano said. “Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran continue.”
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Migrants March to US-Mexico Border in Tijuana
A small group of Central American migrants marched peacefully to a border crossing in Tijuana Thursday to demand better conditions and push to enter the U.S.
Mexican police watched closely as authorities from the National Human Rights Commission and the Grupo Beta migrant support agency told the migrants their needs would be addressed.
They urged them to apply for humanitarian visas in Mexico and seek work in Tijuana, where they said thousands of jobs were available.
But Oscar Rodriguez, 22, of Colon, Honduras, said he was still set on convincing “the United States to open its doors to us.”
Several thousand Central American migrants arrived in Tijuana last week more than a month after leaving Honduras in a caravan.
The U.S. government only processes about 100 asylum applications per day at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego and there were already several thousand migrants on a waiting list. Some outspoken Tijuana residents have given the migrants a cold reception leaving them stuck between the city, whose mayor said they aren’t wanted, and a U.S. president who is trying to keep them out.
Rodriguez said U.S. meddling in Honduran politics had created conditions that made it impossible to him to live there.
“Thousands more people are going to continue coming because the United States is a government that sticks its hands into Central American governments,” Rodriguez said. He said Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was re-elected in a disputed result last year, is the United States-chosen president.
The U.S. government was quick to recognize Hernandez’s victory despite widespread allegations of irregularities. Rodriguez, who works in private security, blamed Hernandez for violently repressing demonstrations against his government.
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Turkey-EU Meeting Reveals Tensions
Acrimony dominated a high-level Turkish-European Union meeting as both sides exchanged barbs in Ankara at a meeting that was anticipated to be a sign of improving bilateral ties.
The “High-Level Political Dialogue Meeting” was reconvened for the first time in 18 months.
EU foreign affairs commissioner, Federica Mogherini, accompanied by Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, sat down for talks Thursday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
But simmering tensions between Ankara and Brussels came to the fore. “A strong Turkey means a democratic Turkey,” Mogherini said at the joint news conference with Hahn and Cavusoglu.
“We expressed our strong concerns about the detention of several prominent academics and civil society representatives, including those recently detained,” Mogherini added.
Last Friday 13 prominent academics and civil society figures were detained in connection with the 2016 nationwide anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement.
Mogherini caused further Turkish angst, calling for this month’s European Court ruling to release from jail Selahattin Demirtas to be respected. Demirtas is a former leader of the politically pro-Kurdish HDP and has been jailed for more than 18 months on terrorism charges.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the European court ruling saying Turkey is “not bound” by the decision, even though it is a member of the court.
Cavusoglu hit back against EU commissioners who condemned Turkey’s lack of progress to join the union.
“There’s no use in making statements that exclude Turkey from the EU accession process or denying its candidacy,” he said.
Ankara’s EU membership bid has been frozen for more than a decade by members who oppose it, saying it is not European or because of concern over the deterioration of human rights, and other reasons.
Analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners, suggests Thursday’s strong language by EU commissioners underlines Brussels’ approach to Turkey.
“I think unlike the United States, where there is a loud and inconclusive debate on what to do with Turkey, carrot or stick,” he said, “The Europeans have long decided to keep Erdogan at arm’s length, be nice to him, but don’t give him anything and I don’t think that is going to change.”
Areas of common ground were discussed, focusing on opposition to Washington’s new Iranian sanctions, the Syrian civil war, and the refugee situation in Turkey.
Turkey hosts more than three million Syrian refugees, and since a 2016 EU agreement, Ankara has been instrumental in ending an exodus of migrants into Europe.
Analysts say Erdogan reminds Brussels about Turkey’s importance in preventing Syrian regime forces from overrunning the last rebel stronghold in Idlib.
“A diplomatic victory that we should credit to Mr. Erdogan, he has successfully built a coalition to defend Idlib against Assad attack,” said Yesilada.
Ankara’s increasing regional importance has created the basis of a new relationship with Brussels. “This is actually defined as a transactional relationship, which enables keeping dialogue and cooperation going on issues of strategic importance to both,” wrote columnist Barcin Yinanc Thursday in the Hurriyet Daily News.
Cavusolgu also vented frustration with Brussels over the refugee deal. “We made an agreement for migration. In that agreement we agreed to open five chapters (EU membership chapters), then a decision comes out against opening new chapters. This is hypocrisy, there’s no explanation for this,” he said, referring to the 2016 migration agreement.
Ankara maintains part of the refugee deal included in a Brussel’s commitment to expedite Turkey’s membership application with the unblocking of some of 35 membership chapters needed to be completed.
Ankara routinely threatens to end the migration deal in disputes with Brussels, but analysts suggest Turkey is not the threat to Europe it once was.
“I don’t think Turkey can unleash the refugees. Those days are over, thanks to Hungary, Slovenia, closing their borders to refugees, they will not reach the core of Europe,” said Yesilada.
But he says Brussels has an interest in Turkey’s stability given the economic and financial challenges facing the country.
Continued dialogue between Brussels and Ankara is seen by some as necessary in mitigating the current human rights crackdown in Turkey.
“There are a handful of (Turkish) officials who believe there is still room, even if very small, to register some improvement (in human rights),” wrote columnist Yinanc. “Even changing one little sentence in a draft law can at least limit the damage on rights violations and even that is an important improvement in the current suffocating circumstances, they probably think,” she continued.
Analyst Yesilada claims last week’s arrest of academics and civil rights figures reveals the European Union still has a positive effect.
“You have to remember 12 of the 13 arrested have been released within 24 hours. Had it not been for the EU pressure, all those academics would have been kept in prison for a very long while.”
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Zimbabwe’s FM Aims to Turn Economy Around with New Budget
Zimbabwe’s finance minister has unveiled the country’s 2019 budget. Mthuli Ncube says the plan should help restore the economy of the southern African nation after years of recession.
“Madam Speaker, ma’am, in conclusion, this budget should mark a turning point towards realizing the country’s vision 2030, as austerity will lead us to prosperity,” Ncube said. “To quote the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, “We are rich not by what we possess, but by what we can do without.” I now commend the 2019 national budget to this august house. I thank you.”
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the budget marked a step toward Zimbabwe attaining its vision of an “upper middle income country by 2030.”
He said Zimbabwe was working toward retiring its ever ballooning debt, which now stands at about $10 billion.
Independent economic analyst Trust Chikohora commended Ncube for removing the tax on sanitary items, removing the duty on goods used by physically disabled people, and raising the tax threshold for workers; but, he said prices can’t be stabilized until Zimbabwe stops using bond notes.
“So in spite of all the positive things he might have done, the elephant in the room, which is going to destabilize the economy, is the mismatch between the bonneted and the foreign currency, which will continue to result in increased prices,” Ncube said.
Zimbabwe has been printing bond notes for the past two years, since abandoning its dollar in 2009, after years of hyperinflation. The country has been without an official currency and relied on U.S. dollars, the British pound and South African rand to conduct transactions.
In the past three years, however, all three currencies have been hard to find, paralyzing the economy and forcing the country to rely on the bond notes that were supposed to trade at par with the U.S. dollar.
On the black market, a dollar is now worth more than three bond notes.
Before becoming finance minister in September, Ncube had indicated he would prefer dropping the notes and adopting the South African rand, but he did not mention replacing them in his presentation.
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Trump Begins Thanksgiving by Renewing Spat with Chief Justice
U.S. President Donald Trump started his Thanksgiving holiday by renewed his public debate over the independence of the country’s judicial system.
In a teleconference Thursday with American troops overseas, Trump said a federal appeals court in California has become “a big thorn in our side.”
The president’s remarks came one day after he and U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts engaged in an extraordinary exchange over the independence of the federal judiciary, with Roberts berating Trump for criticizing a judge who ruled against his administration as an “Obama judge.”
Roberts responded with a rare public rebuke of the president, saying Trump’s comments reflect his misunderstanding of the judiciary’s role.
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts said in a bluntly worded statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Although it is very unusual for a president to personally criticize judges, Trump quickly responded by questioning the independence of federal judges appointed by his predecessor and confirmed by the Senate.
“Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an ‘independent judiciary,’ Trump said via Twitter from his Mar-a-lago resort in Florida.
While Trump cited the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the ruling that drew his ire came from a district judge in California.
Trump has been particularly critical of judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California and much of the U.S. west coast. Trump tweeted Wednesday the court, considered by many as the country’s most liberal, has become a “terrible, costly and dangerous disgrace.”
The president has maintained the Supreme Court has overruled the 9th Circuit more than other courts, but studies conducted during the past five years show three others have a higher percentage of their rulings overturned.
The controversy began Tuesday when Trump attacked U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco, who ruled against his migrant asylum order. The ruling prompted Trump to claim again Thursday, as he has in the past, that the 9th Circuit was biased against him.
“It’s a terrible thing when judges take over your protective services, when they tell you how to protect your border. It’s a disgrace” he said.
Roberts had refrained from commenting on Trump’s previous attacks on judges. But after a query Wednesday from Associated Press, Roberts defended the independence of the federal judiciary and dismissed the notion that judges are beholden to presidents who appoint them.
Roberts, who has often expressed concern about attacks on the judiciary’s impartiality, has previously been the target of criticism from Trump. Trump often belittled Roberts during the 2016 presidential campaign, at one point calling Roberts an “absolute disaster” after Roberts voted along with liberals in 2012 to uphold President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Roberts was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush and has compiled a firmly conservative voting record during his 13 years on the Supreme Court.
The chief justice’s statement came as he adjusts to changes on the Supreme Court. The arrival last month of Trump’s second appointee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, pushed Roberts to the court’s ideological center, a position that was held by Justice Anthony Kennedy until he retired in July.
Former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings, told CNN Thursday the ideological shift on the court may have compelled Roberts to defend the courts.
“I think what Chief Justice Roberts feels like his job is now is to look out for the integrity of and the reputation of the entire judiciary. I mean in a world where a lot of people view most of government as being polarized, as being partisan for you or partisan against you, I think he believes it’s his job to make sure that folks view the judiciary as independent.”
Inside Elections publisher Nathan Gonzales said on CNN that Trump’s criticism of Roberts could further endear him to his conservative base, “There are some Republicans and conservatives who have already turned their back on Chief Justice Roberts because of his involvement in the decision with the Affordable Care Act.”
Gonzales added, “We have to remember that the Republican Party has become all about President Trump and whatever he does or the enemies he chooses are going to be with him and I think that remains the case in this situation.”
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Border Town Invaded by Pancho Villa Rejecting Talk of Troops
A small New Mexico village once attacked by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa is rejecting talk of a wall and troops while embracing its legacy along the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week cited Villa’s 1916 raid of Columbus, New Mexico, as an example for why President Donald Trump was deploying active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
But village residents say those living on both sides of the border have co-existed peacefully since the Villa invasion.
Instead of soldiers, Columbus Mayor Esequiel Salas says residents would like to see better roads to bring tourists.
The village is about to launch a campaign called “Where Old Mexico Meets New Mexico” to memorialize Villa’s assault.
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In Photos: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
The iconic 92nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, beloved by Americans, features about 8,000 marchers, including high school bands from across the country, and two-dozen floats culminating with the arrival of Santa Claus. This year, millions braved the frigid temperatures in New York city to see the event.
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Scuffle as Opposition MPs Removed from Zimbabwe’s Parliament
Police in Zimbabwe have forcibly removed some opposition members of parliament after they refused to stand up for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Parliamentary speaker Jacob Mudenda on Thursday asked the opposition members to leave the chamber, accusing them of disrespect. When they refused, he called in the police and scuffles ensued.
Opposition MDC party spokesman Jacob Mafume says two female members of parliament were injured and taken to a hospital.
The opposition accuses Zimbabwe’s electoral commission of rigging the July 30 election that saw Mnangagwa winning by a narrow margin.
The election was Zimbabwe’s first without Robert Mugabe on the ballot. Mugabe resigned after a military takeover a year ago, ending decades in power.
your ad hereTunisian Civil Servants Strike, Protest for Pay Raises
Tunisian civil servants have gone on strike around the country to protest the failure of negotiations with the government for wage increases, amid plunging buying power and soaring inflation.
Thousands gathered Thursday in front of parliament with chants of “shame on the government” and calls to be given their “rights.”
Public institutions, including in far-flung regions, were paralyzed by the strike, although minimal services were provided in hospitals. Only the defense and interior ministries worked regularly.
Tunisia has some 670,000 civil servants, and more than 15 percent of the state budget goes to paying their salaries.
The head of the powerful UGTT union which called the strike, Noureddine Tabboubi, vowed that “we will resist until we get our rights.”
He told protesters, “We’ll get the raises.”
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Trump Delivers Thanksgiving Message to US Service Members
President Donald Trump has delivered a Thanksgiving message to American service members on duty around the world, telling them by telephone, “Your courage truly inspires us.”
Trump told members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard that he and first lady Melania Trump wanted to express their “profound gratitude.”
Trump is spending his holiday in Palm Beach, Florida, at his private Mar-a-Lago club again this year.
He started Thursday morning tweeting as part of his extraordinary public dispute with Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump is warning of “bedlam, chaos, injury and death” if the courts block his efforts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.
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Balloons, Blankets at Frigid Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Bystanders are refusing to let cold temperatures put a damper on watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, breaking out the blankets and sleeping bags to watch the giant balloons go by.
Tony Stout camped out with his extended family since 2 a.m. to make sure they got a good view of his son, who would be in the parade with The Ohio State University marching band. They traveled from Columbus, Ohio, for the parade.
“Ohhh, I’m freezing and numb, but excited,” he said.
Forecasters say it could be the coldest Thanksgiving in well over a century on Thursday, with the National Weather Service projecting temperatures in the low 20s (-4 to -7 Celsius) and sustained winds of up to 20 mph (32 kph) with gusts to 30 mph (48 kph), just inside the safe zone for the balloons to fly.
City officials said the 16 giant character balloons such as SpongeBob and Charlie Brown could fly safely, although their height would be adjusted if necessary.
Diana Ross, John Legend, Martina McBride and the Muppets from “Sesame Street” are slated to perform in the frigid cold.
Thursday has the potential to be New York City’s coldest Thanksgiving since 1901, when the temperature only got as high as 26 degrees (-3.3 Celsius). The coldest on record was in 1871, when the warmest it got was 22 degrees (-5.5 Celsius).
The Macy’s parade didn’t start until 1924.
New York City has issued an extreme cold weather alert and is urging anyone going outside to wear hats, scarves, gloves and layered clothing and to keep their fingertips, earlobes, and noses covered to prevent frostbite.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill said thousands of officers will be stationed along the parade route. They include counterterrorism teams with long guns, plainclothes officers mixed in with the crowd and a new squad of K-9 teams that can sniff out explosives from a few hundred feet away.
The parade runs 46 blocks from the west side of Central Park to Macy’s flagship store in midtown Manhattan.
The parade features about 8,000 marchers, including high school bands from across the country, and two-dozen floats culminating with the arrival of Santa Claus. The performances will be shown on the NBC telecast, which starts at 9 a.m. EST.
Ross, 74, will perform a song from her new Christmas album and will be joined on her float by her some of her family members, including daughter Tracee Ellis Ross, a star of ABC’s “Black-ish,” and actor son Evan Ross.
Others in the lineup include Bad Bunny, Kane Brown and Ella Mai, Pentatonix, Rita Ora, Sugarland, Anika Noni Rose, Barenaked Ladies, Leona Lewis, Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brooke, Bazzi, Ashley Tisdale and Carly Pearce.
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Britain’s May Announces Agreement With Europe on Brexit
Britain says it reached agreement during overnight talks with the European Commission on the draft text of a political declaration laying out the terms for Britain’s “smooth and orderly” exit from the European Union.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced the agreement, which must be approved by EU leaders Sunday, in front of her No. 10 Downing Street residence early Thursday.
She said the deal “delivers” on the will of the British people as expressed in a divisive Brexit referendum in June 2016. “It brings back control of our borders, our money and our laws, and it does so by protecting our jobs, protecting our security and protecting the integrity of the United Kingdom.”
Addressing Parliament later in the day, May said the British people “want Brexit to be settled. They want a good deal that sets us on a course for a brighter future. The deal that will enable us to do this is now within our grasp. In these crucial 72 hours ahead, I will do everything possible to deliver it for the British people.”
The overnight talks followed a meeting Tuesday between May and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. May said the two instructed their negotiating teams to work through the night if necessary to reach an agreement.
The deal must still be approved by the leaders of the individual EU states at a special EU Council meeting on Sunday. May also faces a challenge in getting the Brexit agreement through her own parliament, where many members feel it does not go far enough to break ties with the continent.
A last-minute complication arose this week when the Spanish government threatened to veto any agreement unless it received assurances on future negotiations over Gibraltar, a British outpost that Spain sees as rightfully part of its territory.
In her statement to reporters, May said she had spoken Wednesday evening to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and is “confident that on Sunday we will be able to agree a deal that delivers for the whole United Kingdom family, including Gibraltar.”
Several other EU governments objected to earlier outlines of the deal because they believe it gives Britain a competitive advantage by not tying it closely enough to EU regulations, workers’ rights, and environmental standards, potentially lowering the production costs of British goods.
The results of May’s Brussels trip didn’t appear to sway a skeptical parliament, where she received as many hostile questions from her own lawmakers as she did from opposition MPs. There are no signs the deal will win the approval of the House of Commons, where opposition parties oppose it, as well up to 100 Conservative Brexit hardliners and and a Northern Ireland party May relies on to govern.
British critics of the deal believe it binds Britain too closely to Europe-wide regulations while leaving it with no say in formulating those directives. They also have objected to proposed language that would bar Britain from negotiating trade pacts with other countries.
A major concern throughout the negotiations has been how to maintain a free flow of goods between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and the Republic of Ireland which is an EU member. The opening of that border helped to end decades of conflict between partisans of the two populations.
VOA’s Jamie Dettmer contributed to this report.
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Gunmen Abduct Italian Volunteer on Kenya Coast
Gunmen kidnapped an Italian volunteer and wounded several people, including children in a town along the Kenyan coast, about 100 kilometers north of Mombasa on Tuesday. This is the first abduction of a non-local in six years after a series of abductions carried out by al-Shabab militants in 2011 and 2012.
Eyewitnesses say the men, armed with rifles, seized 23-year-old Silvia Costanza Romano, an Italian volunteer, from a room in the town of Chakama along the Kenya coast.
Then, witnesses say, the attackers shot and wounded a local woman and four children.
Churchill Otieno Onyango, who works with a local non-profit group, says he happened to be in Chakama Tuesday evening and witnessed the abduction.
“The guys who approached the area were three Somalis, two were having guns, one was not having a gun,” he said. “The one who grabbed the lady came and slapped the lady and disappeared with the lady. Me and the son of the owner of the house were told to lie down. They managed to shoot one boy inside there, other three outside.”
So far no group has claimed responsibility.
Kenya police said they had not identified the attackers.
Kilifi County deputy governor Gideon Saburi — who arrived at the scene Wednesday afternoon — said the government had launched a manhunt for the assailants.
“There is already a team on the ground, so there is team that is following up on the leads that we have. We have also been told that our neighboring counties have been informed up to the borders, so we have an alert that is on,” he said.
The abducted volunteer was working for Africa Milele, which helped orphans and vulnerable children in the area. The non-profit group posted a message on its website saying, “There are no words to comment on what is happening.”
The Italian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was aware of the abduction and was looking into the situation.
In 2011, there were several abductions along the Kenyan coast. A British man was shot dead and his wife kidnapped. A couple of weeks later, a French woman was also abducted from Lamu, an island on the Kenyan coast.
The spate of abductions led the country to declare a state of emergency and eventually send troops to fight al-Shabab militants in Somalia.
Despite the presence of Kenya forces in Somalia, the country, particularly towns along the border with Somalia, has continued to experience attacks by the al-Qaida-linked terror group.
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Britain Threatens UAE Over Jailing of British Student Accused of Spying
British authorities reacted with anger and threatened the United Arab Emirates with serious diplomatic repercussions after a court in the Gulf state sentenced a British student to life in prison for spying. The jailing of 31-year-old Matthew Hedges visibly shocked British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who believed he’d been given assurances 10 days ago on a visit to the UAE the student would be freed.
“We are in a state of shock about it. We see absolutely no evidence for the charges laid against him. We are very concerned for his welfare. If they can’t resolve this, there will be serious diplomatic consequences,” says Jeremy Hunt about the ruling, which has plunged Britain’s relations with the Gulf state into crisis.
Hedges, a student at Britain’s Durham University, was sentenced Wednesday after a five-minute court appearance. He was detained at Dubai Airport on May 5 and accused of spying in the UAE. Authorities said the PhD student’s research in the country for his thesis on the Gulf state’s security and internal policies following the Arab Spring was a pretext for carrying out surveillance for a “foreign agency.”
Durham University has dismissed the allegation vigorously. As has his wife, Daniela Tejada, who was in court for the sentencing and has branded the handling of his case by British diplomats as “appalling.”
“Matthew is innocent. The Foreign Office knows this and they have made it clear to the UAE authorities that Matthew is not a spy for them. The British government must take a stand now for Matthew, one of their citizens. They say the UAE is an ally, but the overwhelmingly arbitrary handling of Matthew’s case indicates a scarily different reality, for which Matt and I are being made to pay a devastatingly high price,” she said.
She says she was told not to speak out publicly about the case for months by British diplomats, who argued it would make it hard to persuade UAE authorities to free him. But Hedges’ wife and friends became increasingly alarmed. Hedges was kept in solitary confinement for five months, fed a cocktail of drugs and had very restricted access to British consular officials, they say.
In a statement following the ruling, the UAE attorney general said Hedges “pleaded guilty before the court … to all charges, after the court faced him with compelling legal evidence concluded after thorough judicial investigations.” Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the Briton was “accorded his full rights and assurances as per the UAE constitution and state laws to fair and transparent trial.”
But Hedges had no legal representation at the hearing, and his family say he was forced to sign a confession written in Arabic, even though he doesn’t speak the language.
In a statement Durham University said, “We are devastated to learn that Matt Hedges has been sentenced to life in prison … This judgement has been delivered in the absence of anything resembling due process or a fair trial.”
Wednesday in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Theresa May told lawmakers, “We are of course deeply disappointed and concerned at today’s verdict. We are raising it with the Emirati authorities at the highest level.”
Hedges, who was born and grew up in the UAE, was detained after interviewing local officials for his theses. According to local media, one of them became suspicious and reported him. Britain has clashed with UAE rulers in recent weeks over its human rights record and its role in the war in Yemen, where its forces have been part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
On his trip to the Gulf earlier this month Hunt clashed reportedly with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, when he urged them to end their blockade of Yemen.
A former British foreign minister Crispin Blunt told the BBC the UAE is an important and long-standing ally, but it shouldn’t overestimate the friendship, saying the case has put Britain in an “outrageous position.” He added, “It is important the Emirati authorities get this sorted as soon as possible.”
He laced his comments, though, with astonishment that given the close relations between the two countries, including between the British and Emirati royal families, that Britain finds itself “in this position.”
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Dutch King Visits Renewed Anne Frank House Museum
Dutch King Willem-Alexander visited the Anne Frank House museum Thursday after a two-year reboot to give the building a new entrance hall, redesigned exhibition spaces and a new way of telling the story of the teenage Jewish diarist.
The aim of renewing the landmark museum was to “provide more information about the historical context and background of the story we represent, which is the story of Anne Frank,” executive director Ronald Leopold said Wednesday night at a press preview of the renewed museum.
What hasn’t changed is the museum’s moving centerpiece: the Spartan secret annex, reached via a door concealed behind a bookcase, where Anne wrote her world-famous diary as she, her family and four other Jews hid for two years from Nazis during World War II until they were arrested and deported to concentration camps.
“Of course we did not change the hiding place itself — the annex — which is the most authentic place where Anne Frank was in hiding and where she wrote the diary,” Leopold said.
The museum believes that telling Anne’s story remains relevant more than 60 years after she and her sister both perished in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after contracting typhus.
On Wednesday, the head of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor, warned at a conference in Vienna that “Jewish communities in Europe are increasingly concerned about their security and pessimistic about their future.”
Leopold said the museum, which receives 1.2 million visitors annually, has an important role to play in combatting anti-Semitism.
“We run a museum and we know how powerful the influence of this museum is,” he said. “A visit … really has a huge impact on young people and encourages them to fight discrimination, anti-Semitism, racism in their own communities.”
The museum got a new entrance and changes to rooms including the darkened space that displays the iconic books that made up Anne’s diary, which was published by her father after the war and went on to become a symbol of hope and resilience. The diary has been translated into more than 70 languages.
The building housing the secret annex was turned into a museum in 1960. The museum, which remained open throughout the renovations, also has revamped the way it tells the story of the Frank family, and by extension the Nazi persecution of Jews.
“What we tried to do is… use the family history as kind of a window onto a larger history,” said Tom Brink, the museum’s head of publications and presentations.
He said the larger history includes the Nazi-occupied Dutch capital during the war “and, of course, European history because all Europe was affected by the Nazi rule.”
As well as the physical changes, the museum now has an audio tour which pieces together narrated fragments from the diary, family stories and historical perspective. That allowed curators to keep physical exhibits sparse while still explaining the Franks’ story and putting it in historical context.
A room that served as the office for Anne’s father’s company has just a few photos on the wall. One shows a group of Jewish men in Amsterdam kneeling, their hands on their heads, watched over by a Nazi soldier carrying a rifle.
On another wall is a map drawn up by Amsterdam civil servants for the city’s Nazi occupiers with black dots representing the places where Jews lived.
“We wanted to preserve the character of the house, which is very much its emptiness,” said Leopold. “I think its emptiness is probably the most powerful feature of the Anne Frank House.”
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Poland Moves to Reinstate Retired Judges to Supreme Court
Poland’s parliament passed legislation Wednesday to reinstate Supreme Court judges who were recently forced to retire, a step that could significantly ease a standoff with the European Union.
For the EU, which is facing a string of crises, including Brexit and Italy’s debt, it was a rare victory in its struggle to preserve democracy in a region where illiberal populism has been on the rise, a trend led by Hungary.
Wednesday’s development comes a month after the EU’s court ordered Poland to immediately suspend the lowering of the retirement age for Supreme Court judges, which had forced about two dozen of them off the bench.
The forced retirement of the judges was widely seen as an attempt by the ruling populist party, Law and Justice, to stack the court with loyalists, and it was condemned internationally as a blow to democratic standards.
Poland has been in a standoff with the EU for three years over attempts by Law and Justice, under the leadership of powerful party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, to impose control over the court system.
Many legal experts said that the forced retirement of the Supreme Court judges, including the chief justice, violated Poland’s constitution. That, along with the broader overhaul of the justice system, has raised serious concerns over rule of law in the young democracy, with the EU saying the changes erode the independence of the judicial branch of government.
Wednesday’s legislative initiative — which noted that it was introduced to comply with the EU court ruling — marks one of the first significant steps by Poland to meet EU demands.
“We know very well that in politics effectiveness matters and that sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward,” said Stanislaw Piotrowicz, a ruling party lawmaker and one of the key architects of the judicial overhaul, in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal.
Zselyke Csaky, an expert on Central Europe with Freedom House, called it a “significant” step and a sign by the ruling party of “common sense,” though she also said on Twitter that “the full damage to rule of law and legal certainty will be much harder to remedy.”
The Polish government, in power since 2015, has been forced to climb down before. Earlier this year it softened a Holocaust speech law that made it a crime to attribute co-responsibility in the Holocaust to the Polish nation and which sparked a major diplomatic dispute with Israel. It also dropped draft legislation in 2016 that would have tightened the already restrictive abortion law after massive street protests by women wearing black.
But it is an almost unheard-of concession to the EU, which the government often says has no right to meddle in its internal affairs.
Under the amendment passed Wednesday to the new law on the Supreme Court, the judges who were forced to retire early will have the choice of returning to their duties. The law had lowered the retirement age from 70 to 65, and any judge who wished to remain had to request the consent of the president.
The party introduced the amended legislation to the parliament Wednesday and it was passed quickly by the lower house. It goes next to the Senate and also needs the president’s signature, but since both are aligned with the party, these steps are all but certain to happen.
The party’s reversal comes after local elections last month that showed Law and Justice winning the most seats in regional assemblies but losing badly in mayoral races in the cities and even mid-size towns. The results suggested the party’s conflicts with the EU — which is extremely popular among voters — have cost it votes among urban, middle-class voters.
It also comes as the party, which has a strong anti-corruption profile, finds itself mired in corruption allegations. Last week the head of the state financial authorities resigned over allegations he had solicited a bribe of millions of dollars from a billionaire who heads two troubled banks.
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After Synagogue Shooting, Fresh Thoughts on Giving Thanks
David Feldstein knew seven of the 11 people killed in the synagogue. For Augie Siriano, they all were friends. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers was leading Shabbat services when the gunshots rang out.
Barely three weeks after the Tree of Life massacre — believed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history — they and their fellow Pittsburghers are preparing to mark a holiday built around gratitude. But in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, they aren’t shying away from celebrating Thanksgiving. They’re welcoming it.
“It’s really a perfect time that Thanksgiving is falling right now,” Myers says. The holiday, he says, is about family — and spending time with loved ones is needed at a time like this.
And in the concentric circles of grief and healing around him — Tree of Life, Squirrel Hill and the city of Pittsburgh itself — the sentiment is similar.
“[With] Thanksgiving coming so closely on the heels of the shooting, people feel the need to be around family more,” says Dan Iddings, owner of Classic Lines, a bookstore about a half-mile from the synagogue. He will celebrate Thanksgiving with about 20 family and friends, and he expects it to be “a very family- and community-centered Thanksgiving, more so than in the past few years.”
How do you summon thankfulness in a family, in a community, when the wounds are so fresh and the grief so hard to bear? When what you’ve lost is so profound, how do you sit down around a holiday spread and enjoy what you have? To talk to people in Squirrel Hill this week — those directly affiliated with Tree of Life and those who compose the community around it — is to begin to understand the different forms that gratitude can take.
Siriano, Tree of Life’s custodian since 1993, was in the synagogue restroom when he heard gunshots Oct. 27. He rushed out to see one of the worshippers, someone he had shared tea with 10 minutes earlier, lying dead. On Thursday, he will be with family. He says he has much to be thankful for, including a grandson born Saturday.
“There has to be a place in your heart for the sadness and the joy,” says Rabbi Chuck Diamond, Tree of Life’s former rabbi who led a “healing” service outside the synagogue a week after the shooting.
“We recognize and acknowledge what we have lost, but, at the same time, looking around the table, we recognize what we have,” Diamond says. “People should observe Thanksgiving and appreciate the comfort and joy of the family around them.”
Feldstein understands the difficulty in celebrating the holiday less than a month after tragedy visited the neighborhood where he has owned a bagel shop for the past 28 years. Seven of the slain worshippers were Bagel Factory regulars, as were two of the Pittsburgh police officers injured in the shooting.
“You feel a bit guilty,” Feldstein says. “It’s a difficult feeling. But you still have to make your kids appreciate what they have, so when they have children, you want them to feel that appreciation. I love my family. To me, that’s the best time.”
The shooting took place in Squirrel Hill, the center of Jewish life in the city as well as home to churches, ethnic eateries, grocery stores, delis, pizzerias and a movie theater. The violence shook the neighborhood, and much of the city around it, to its foundations.
A makeshift memorial bearing the 11 victims’ names stood outside the synagogue until recently and drew thousands of visitors. Steel barricades now line the entrance to the synagogue, and the memorial sits inside, where two other congregations — New Light and Dor Hadash — also had gathered when the shooting occurred.
The crowds have thinned, but people still stop to pay respects. Bouquets of flowers and cards lean on hedges outside the synagogue. Someone left a pair of gold-painted Converse tennis shoes; written in English was the Hebrew and Arabic phrase, “Peace be unto you.”
Margaret Porter of Heath, Ohio, was in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with her son, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, they felt compelled to bring flowers to the synagogue. “I would say we’re more thankful this Thanksgiving,” Porter said.
What makes Pittsburgh’s Jewish community special is how different denominations interact with such ease, say Daniel and Baila Cohen, who recently took over ownership of of Pinskers Books and Judaica, as well as the adjoining cafe, in Squirrel Hill.
“Here, people know each other. They’ll be part of different synagogues,” Baila Cohen says. “We are comfortable in all of them.”
Adds her husband: “There’s a lot of crossover.”
Another reason that so many here are grateful on this holiday: the support the Jewish community received from the city, nation and throughout the world.
At Bagel Factory, people have shelled out hundreds of dollars in advance to pay for food for complete strangers. A store refused to charge for a Thanksgiving turkey when the owner learned the customer worked for Diamond. New Light, which lost three of its members in the shooting, has received thousands of letters from all over the world — all of them personal.
“People, not just Jews, were touched by this. The outreach from other religious communities has been overwhelming,” says New Light co-president Stephen Cohen. He has been welcome, he notes, at services at a black church, a mosque and a Hindu temple.
Every business in Squirrel Hill has some sign of support in its window, be it murals of love, kindness and hope, or placards reading, “Stronger than hate,” “Our hearts cry for Shalom,” or “Love our neighborhood. No place for hate.”
Crocheted or knitted Stars of David hang from bare branches, sign posts and doorways throughout the business district. A sixth-grader from Arkansas scribbled, “God loves you. You are in our prayers,” on the back of a leather heart, on which a Star of David made from ice pop sticks was pasted. A sign thanks people for participating in an act of Tikum Olam, the Jewish concept of repairing the world.
“So many people have walked up to me and said, ‘What can I do for you? What do you need?’ ” New Light’s Stephen Cohen says.
His congregation, like Dor Hadash and Tree of Life, found new locations for their services. And in those new places, during these very jumbled days, they are finding new ways of giving thanks.
They are the same community, marking the same American holiday as they did last November, but they find themselves with a new landscape to navigate — a landscape of grief, hope and, to hear many of them tell it, gratitude.
“The first thing you do is change the venue,” Stephen Cohen says. “Then, you come together. We spend a lot of time together. … That’s how you get past things like this. Maybe.”
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Iran Says US Bases, Aircraft Carriers Within Missile Range
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the UAE and Qatar, and U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf were within range of Iranian missiles, as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington.
“They are within our reach and we can hit them if they (Americans) make a move,” Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ airspace division, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Hajizadeh said the Guards had improved the precision of their missiles, and specifically said they could hit the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates and Kandahar base in Afghanistan that host U.S. forces.
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. He said the deal was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran’s development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
The Islamic Republic’s government has ruled out negotiations with Washington over its military capabilities, particularly its missile program run by the Guards.
Iran, which says its missile program is purely defensive, has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if the United States tries to strangle Iranian oil exports.
In October, the Revolutionary Guards fired missiles at Islamic State militants in Syria after the Islamist group took responsibility for an attack at a military parade in Iran that killed 25 people, nearly half of them members of the Guards.
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