January 2019 - BOORSEE

Uganda Seizes Ivory Smuggled in Timbers

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeAF

Ugandan authorities have confiscated roughly 750 pieces of ivory and thousands of pangolin scales trucked into the East African country from northern neighbor South Sudan.

Authorities announced the seizure Thursday, saying that two Vietnamese nationals had been taken into custody. They allegedly attempted to smuggle the contraband, worth millions of dollars, through Uganda’s border post at Elegu.

Smugglers reportedly had hidden ivory pieces and pangolin scales in melted wax that had been poured into hollowed logs. A scanner revealed the illegal cargo, transported in trucking containers.

“We got intelligence that these people were concealing these items, and we controlled the trucks’ arrival in Kampala,” said Dickson C. Kateshumbwa, customs commissioner for the Uganda Revenue Authority.

The ivory’s origins and destination are still unknown, he said. Investigators were looking into who was behind the contraband operation.

“Obviously, we are investigating the whole racket because trade in these items can aid conflict in the region,” he said, noting “we are talking of millions of dollars involved. That’s why we are trying to investigate the entire chain, so that we have the whole network taken to court.”

Kateshumbwa said the interception should send a warning to prospective smugglers that Uganda’s borders are becoming increasingly impenetrable.

International trade in ivory is banned. Eight species of pangolin are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

Authorities estimate 20 metric tons of ivory were trafficked through Uganda, mainly to Asia, from 2009 to 2014.

Kateshumbwa estimated that, given the amount of ivory taken in the latest seizure, 300 of the creatures were killed.

Poaching and conflict have reduced the number of African elephants to just over 415,000 as of last year, the World Wildlife Fund reports.

This report originated in VOA’s English to Africa service.
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Sudan’s President Says Elections Only Means of Political Change

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeAF

As protesters demonstrated in parts of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Thursday, President Omar al-Bashir visited the northeastern state of Kassala, announcing that the border between neighboring Eritrea and Sudan would be reopened, after a year of closure.

Al-Bashir said that he greets the people of Eritrea and its president and he proclaims that the border between the two countries is now open because they are our dear brethren, despite the fact that politics has caused division among us.

Al-Bashir went on to tell supporters that it was the “duty of the government to have a dialogue with young people” and that the government must “educate them and provide for their needs.”

He said that there will be no change of government or of the president via Facebook or WhatsApp, and vows that change will only take place at the ballot box.

Call for more protests

Sudan’s Association of Trade Unions called for another day of protest against the government Thursday, prompting a number of demonstrations in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The group’s spokesman, Mohammed Asbat, told Alhurra TV that the government’s appeal for dialogue with young people and the release of prisoners is not sincere.

Asbat said that the government’s message that it is releasing prisoners and undertaking dialogue is intended for the consumption of outside countries who have been warning it not to arrest peaceful protesters and to release them.

Opposition leader Miriam Sadeq al-Mahdi, who was briefly detained by Sudanese security forces Wednesday, told Alhurra TV that the government’s efforts at dialogue “have failed,” and that in the face of a “growing revolution,” it has resorted to “arresting young people.”

Al-Mahdi said that President Bashir’s round of visits to far-flung provinces does not reflect any desire on the part of the Sudanese people that he remain in power and that it is normal for dictators to draw their supporters around them to make it look like they are popular.

Official meets with young protesters

Sudan’s intelligence chief, General Salah Gosh, has met with a number of young protesters who have been jailed for taking part in demonstrations, but opposition leaders said that he and the government have released “very few prisoners,” out of the several thousand they said are being detained.

Gosh insisted in a speech to military cadets that outside forces are trying to create chaos inside the country.

He said that there are forces trying to create chaos in the country and cause economic hardship for its people, but that (the security forces) will combat them with force and determination and restore order.

Al-Arabiya TV reports that Gosh asserted that “leftist parties are trying to overthrow the government,” and state that a number of armies or militia groups are “waiting for Khartoum to be engulfed in chaos, in order to march on the capital and seize power.”

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King Tut Tomb Restored to Prevent Damage From Visitors

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeEA

The tomb of Egypt’s famed boy pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, has undergone restoration to help minimize damage by tourists.

The work, done by the Getty Conservation Institute after years of research and officially presented Thursday, aims to minimize scratches, dust damage and microbiological growth from breath and humidity brought in by tourists.

The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled from 1569 to 1315 B.C.

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Iran: US-Sanctions Workaround by EU Soon to Be Announced

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeEA

Three European nations appeared poised Thursday to announce they have created a way for Iran to continue trade with them and avoid re-imposed U.S. sanctions, two Iranian officials said, setting up a potential collision with President Donald Trump’s maximalist approach against Tehran.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom created a state company, known as a “special purpose vehicle,” to allow Iran to continue to trade vital goods like medicine and food, according to German media reports. That allows companies to be insulated, in theory, from American sanctions by dealing with a third party.

EU foreign ministers were set to meet Thursday in Bucharest, Romania. There was no immediate announcement acknowledging the creation of the trade vehicle, though Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the EU wanted to continue to support the nuclear deal.

“The most important thing is to show our American colleagues that we are moving in the same direction on a whole series of issues such as ballistic missiles or Iran’s regional influence, but that we do have a difference of opinion on the nuclear agreement,” he said. “I hope we can also find a solution for this vehicle.”

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told Iranian state television by telephone on Thursday that he expected the “special purpose vehicle” to be ready for business in one or two months.

“The next issue is how European companies are willing to join SPV with this mechanism,” he said.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, similarly tweeted he believed the start of the program was imminent.

Trump’s decision to pull America out of the Iran nuclear deal in May pushed the three European nations to create the method. The 2015 atomic accord lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its enrichment of uranium.

In recent months, Iranian officials have increasingly threatened to resume higher enrichment, putting more pressure on Europeans to come up with a way to get around the sanctions.

How America will respond remains in question.
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Diverse, International Flock Awaits Pope Francis’ UAE Trip

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeEA

At St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai, an effort to transcribe the Bible in the native tongue of its flock saw the holy book presented in 52 languages — a sign of the cosmopolitan welcome awaiting Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The diversity among its parishioners can be seen in its pews and heard in the sermons of St. Mary’s priests, who celebrate Mass and offer prayers in Arabic, English, French, Tagalog, Tamil, Urdu and other languages.

The church, they say, offers an anchor for the Roman Catholics among the UAE’s vast foreign labor force, many of whom live in this federation of seven sheikhdoms alone while their families stay home.

“The whole world meets here in a way,” said the Rev. Lennie Connully, the parish priest of St. Mary’s. “We have people from all over.”

Pope Francis’ visit from Feb. 3 through Feb. 5 marks the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. The pontiff will visit Abu Dhabi, the headquarters of the Catholic Church’s Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, which covers the UAE, Oman and Yemen.

There are nine Catholic churches in this federation of seven sheikhdoms governed by hereditary rulers; four other Catholic churches are in Oman. The Catholic flock’s rapid growth followed the discovery of oil in what was previously known as the Trucial States. Officials consecrated the first Catholic church in Abu Dhabi in 1965.

As Abu Dhabi became a major oil exporter and Dubai grew into the skyscraper-studded city it is today, the Emirates’ rapid economic expansion drew millions of foreigners to everything from white-collar office jobs to hard-hat construction work. Of the over 9 million people now living in the UAE, around 1 million are Emirati while the rest are foreign-born.

In 2010, there were an estimated 940,000 Christians living in the UAE, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center report, including 750,000 Catholics. The report suggests the number of Christians in the UAE would rise to about 1.1 million by 2020, with Catholics making up the lion’s share. The Catholic Church itself believes there are some 1 million Catholics in the UAE today.

The backbone of that population is Filipino and Indian. Life for them and others can be incredibly difficult as many move to the UAE often leaving their families and loved ones back home.

“The church is a base for them. They are far away from their homes,” Connully said. “They don’t have an extended family to support them. That family atmosphere is created here.”

Rulers in the UAE, which has described 2019 as the nation’s “Year of Tolerance,” have supported the Catholic community in the past by donating land for their churches. However, there are limits in this Muslim nation.

Proselytizing by non-Muslims remains illegal. Islam is enshrined as the UAE’s official religion in the country’s constitution, with government websites even offering online applications to convert. Conversion from Islam to another religion, however, is illegal, the U.S. State Department has warned. Blasphemy and apostasy laws also carry a possible death sentence.

At St. Mary’s and other churches, crosses are for the most part carefully concealed behind compound fences. There are no bells that toll to mark the start of services, though loudspeakers on minarets proclaim the call to prayers, like at the mosque across the street from St. Mary’s.

Despite facing restrictions, Christians in the UAE have never faced the violence that has targeted those in Syria and Iraq during the rise of the Islamic State group and other militants. Coptic Christians, a minority in Egypt that has faced extremist attacks in their homeland, also can safely worship.

In recent years, militant attacks have only exacerbated a “long, slow decline” of Christianity in the wider Middle East that began with mass migrations of the 19th Century, said Robin Darling Young, a professor studying church history at the Washington-based Catholic University of America.

The growth of ultraconservative Islamic beliefs, like Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, coupled with the creation of independent states, further fueled that, she said. America’s 2003 war in Iraq and the chaos that followed made it even worse, she said.

“Particularly in areas where Wahhabi Islam is strong, like the Arabian Peninsula, Christians have been subject to more restrictions,” Young said. “The UAE is trying to make itself look better to the West by permitting, under certain restrictions, public Christian worship.”

Catholics in the UAE, however, make a point to thank the UAE’s ruling sheikhs for being able to worship freely. During a recent Mass at St. Mary’s, the Father Andre Francisco Fernandes led worshippers in a prayer asking for God’s blessings upon “the rulers of the UAE,” specifically naming UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Fernandes’ sermon that day focused on the parable of the loaves and the fishes, the story of Jesus Christ feeding a crowd of 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish. The priest urged those listening to keep their faith and view the world with an open heart.

“Every day, miracles are happening,” he told parishioners. “We need to believe.”
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Shutdown Continues to Cast Shadow Over US Politics

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeUS

High-stakes political negotiations began Wednesday in Washington that could determine whether the U.S. government will be plunged into another partial shutdown come the middle of February.

A bipartisan group of Senate and House members will try to craft a compromise on funding border security, the issue at the heart of the 35 day government shutdown that ended last week — the longest in U.S. history.

Negotiators have until Feb. 15 to find a solution or risk the prospect of the government being shut down again.

The government reopened after President Donald Trump and opposition Democrats agreed to work toward a compromise on border security. But as the congressional conference committee began its work Wednesday, Trump sent out a tweet warning the group they were “wasting their time” unless there was discussion of a “wall or physical barrier.”

Another shutdown?

In announcing the end to the shutdown Friday, Trump warned of more trouble ahead unless he got funding for a border wall.

“We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “The government will either shut down on February 15, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.”

But is another government shutdown really politically viable? It seems a lot of Republicans don’t think so, including Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell.

“I don’t like shutdowns. I don’t think they work for anybody, and I think they ought to be avoided,” he said.

Political fallout

Opinion polls found that the public largely blamed Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, and a new survey from Morning Consult and POLITICO found that they would be held responsible for a second shutdown as well.

According to the poll, 54 percent of voters would blame Trump and congressional Republicans for another shutdown, compared to 33 percent who would point the finger at Democrats.

“I hope this serves as a lesson to President Trump and all of my Republican colleagues — no more shutdowns,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said to a gaggle of reporters Tuesday. “President Trump touched a hot, hot stove, and hopefully he won’t do it again.”

Several recent public opinion polls also showed the president’s approval rating dipping below 40 percent in the wake of the shutdown. One survey by the Associated Press found Trump’s approval number had fallen to 34 percent, a big drop from the 42 percent approval it was just the month before.

Turning point?

Several analysts have noted the poll numbers and the fact that Republicans appear to be backing away from the idea of yet another shutdown.

“It looks like we have hit a turning point of sorts. The president severely misjudged the effects of the shutdown on ordinary people,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “Nobody in that White House really and truly understood how important federal government functioning was to the whole American economy.”

Some Trump supporters hope the president learned a lesson from the shutdown impasse and they expect him to rebound, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

“I mean, he is fearless in a way that I have seen few people in politics be fearless, and so those are all good points,” Christie said in an interview with ABC’s This Week. “But when you act on impulse and you do not have a plan sometimes, as I think what happened with the shutdown, it does not end well.”

Given the unpopularity of the shutdown reflected in the polls, many Trump supporters now expect the president to declare a border emergency to build the wall if Congress fails to find a compromise by next month. That could lead to court challenges that might tie up the funding issue indefinitely.

“To build the wall was core to his worries about immigration. It was a slogan on the campaign trail,” said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. “This is something that he does not want to be seen as completely capitulating on and that makes it very tough to compromise.”

Positioning for 2020

On the other hand, Kamarck predicted that Trump could weaken his own re-election hopes by continuing his singular focus on pleasing his core supporters.

“This president only speaks to his base. He has not tried in his two years in office to expand his base. That is a disaster for a president because inevitably some of your base is going to peel away,” she said.

The president’s next best opportunity to make his case on a border wall is Tuesday’s State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress and a national television audience.

Republicans and Democrats alike will be listening to see if the president once again invokes the prospect of a government shutdown if he is denied money for his border wall, or whether he indicates that declaring a national emergency would be his preferred course of action.
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Venezuela’s Guaido Calls for International Community Support

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeUS

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is calling on the international community to back his efforts to force embattled President Nicolas Maduro from power and restore democracy to the South American nation.

Guaido, the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim president last week after the Assembly declared that Maduro’s re-election last May was illegitimate, as most either boycotted the race or were prevented from running. The United States has recognized Guaido as the country’s interim leader.

In an opinion piece for The New York Times Thursday, Guaido said over 50 countries have either recognized him as interim president or the National Assembly as the legitimate authority in Venezuela, and has appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for humanitarian assistance. He says he has begun the process of appointing ambassadors and “locating and recovering national assets tied up abroad.”

Guaido claims he has held “clandestine meetings” with members of the military to convince them to withdraw their support for Maduro, which he says is “crucial to enabling a change in government.”

Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas Wednesday in response to Guaido’s call for a peaceful, two-hour, midday protest “to demand that the armed forces side with the people.” He is offering amnesty to soldiers who back his movement and reject Maduro’s socialist government.

“Mr. Maduro no longer has the support of the people,” Guaido writes.

During an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency Wednesday, President Maduro says he is ready to hold talks with the country’s opposition forces and hold early legislative elections. But he rejected Guaido’s demands to also hold a new presidential election before 2025.

The White House says President Donald Trump expressed his “strong support” for efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela during a conversation Wednesday with Guaido.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump and Guaido also committed to maintaining “regular communication to support Venezuela’s path back to stability, and to rebuild the bilateral relationship” between the two countries.

Trump issued a tweet earlier Wednesday acknowledging Maduro’s offer to negotiate with Guaido, but warned Americans not to travel to Venezuela “until further notice.”

Five foreign journalists have been detained by Venezuelan authorities covering the deteriorating political situation.

A Spanish reporter and a Colombian television producer working for the Spanish news agency EFE were detained Wednesday, a day after the arrest of two French television journalists were arrested in Caracas. Two Chilean television journalists were detained for several hours Tuesday before they were expelled from the country.

The collapse of world energy prices, corruption and failed socialist policies have created an economic and humanitarian crisis in oil-rich Venezuela.

Food, fuel and medicine are in extremely short supply. Inflation is out of control. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, and Maduro has shown little tolerance for opposition-led protests.

Maduro has blamed his country’s woes on the United States, which he accuses of working with the opposition to topple the government. He has called world leaders who want him gone “Trump sycophants.”

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on PDVSA, Venezuela’s government-owned oil company. The sanctions announced Monday will freeze any assets the state-owned PDVSA has in the United States, and bars U.S. firms and citizens from doing business with it.

PDVSA’s U.S.-based subsidiary, Citgo, which refines Venezuelan oil and sells Citgo brand gasoline in the U.S., will continue to operate as usual. But any money Citgo earns will be placed in a blocked account.

Maduro said the United States is trying to “steal” Citgo from Venezuela.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Venezuela can get relief from the sanctions when control of the oil company is turned over to Guaido.

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Zimbabwe’s Public Sector Union Backs Down on Strike

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeAF

Zimbabwe’s umbrella public sector union has backed down from plans for a national strike, an official said on Thursday, citing the volatile situation in the country after violent protests this month were met by a security crackdown.

Wage negotiations between the government and the Apex Council, which represents 17 public sector unions, broke down on Wednesday. The unions then met to decide a date for a strike and announce it this week but the talks ended in disarray.

Government workers are demanding wage rises and payments in dollars to help them stave off spiraling inflation and an economic crisis that has sapped supplies of cash, fuel and medicines in state hospitals.

“Apex feels that its not conducive to take action,” Cecilia Alexander, Apex Council’s chairwoman told Reuters.

“The situation is volatile and polarized and the action we take may be hijacked for issues which have nothing to do with labour.”

Unions have traded accusations of being paid by the opposition and donors to go on strike and cause violence.

A three-day strike called by another union from Jan. 14 over a sharp fuel price hike by President Emmerson Mnangagwa turned into violence and looting. Rights groups say at least 12 people were killed but police say only three died.

The events of the past two weeks exposed the instinctive heavy-handedness of security forces, leading many to say that Mnangagwa is reverting to the strongarm tactics used by his predecessor Robert Mugabe, who was removed in a coup in 2017.

Teachers, who make the biggest bloc in the 305,000 civil service, will walk out from their jobs on Feb. 5, the biggest teachers union has said.
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Report: Germany, France, Britain to Create Way to Trade with Iran

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeEU

Germany, France and Britain have officially set up a European mechanism to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent U.S. sanctions, two diplomats said Thursday.

The EU has been preparing the system, in effect a clearinghouse that avoids monetary transfers in dollars between the EU and Iran for months although it is unlikely to become operational for several months because of technical details.

German broadcaster NDR reported that the European Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be named INSTEX-Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges.

The idea is for the SPV to help preserve the economic nuclear program under a 2015 deal with world powers.

Small transactions

Europe has been keen to show good faith toward Iran since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal last year.

The entity is not likely to revive trade with Iran because its focus will primarily be food, medicine and humanitarian, with small transactions. It will not be used for oil-related transactions that have been hit hard by U.S. sanctions.

“It won’t change things dramatically, but it’s an important political message to Iran to show that we are determined to save the JCPOA,and also the United States to show we defend our interests despite their extraterritorial sanctions,” one European diplomat said.

Worsening relations

However, relations between Tehran and the EU have worsened, and the EU this month imposed its first sanctions on Iran since the 2015 deal in reaction to Iran’s ballistic missile tests and assassination plots on European soil.

In a symbolic move, the EU added two Iranian individuals and an Iranian intelligence unit to the bloc’s terrorist list.

EU member states are also finalizing a joint statement on Iran to outline concerns about Tehran’s regional policies and ballistic missile program, but also to show their desire to maintain the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

France and Germany had taken joint responsibility for the SPV. A German banker would head up the vehicle, which would be based in France. France, Britain and Germany will be shareholders and they hope other states will join.
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US, Russia Nuclear Treaty Talks Fail

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeUS

Russia and the United States failed to bridge their differences over a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty at last-ditch talks in Beijing, Russia’s deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies Thursday.

The impasse sets the stage for the United States to begin pulling out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) as early as Saturday unless Moscow moves to destroy a missile Washington says is violating the accord.

Moscow has refused to destroy the Novator 9M729 missile, insisting it is fully compliant with the treaty.

“Unfortunately, there is no progress,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.

“As far as we understand, the next step is coming, the next phase begins, namely the phase of the United States stopping its obligations under the INF, which will evidently happen this coming weekend,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.

Ryabkov met U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson in Beijing on the sidelines of a meeting of the P5 nuclear powers.

Thompson confirmed to Reuters that the U.S. government will likely announce the suspension of its obligations under the INF with Russia soon.

“The Russians still aren’t in acknowledgment that they are in violation of the treaty,” she said in an interview.

Thompson added, however, that “diplomacy is never done” and she anticipated more discussions.
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Protecting Pollinators is Crucial to Food Production

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeAF

Scientists in Kenya are warning that poor agricultural practices and climate change are decimating bees and other vital pollinators. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), says about $575 billion worth of annual global food production relies directly on pollinators. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
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Nigerian Opposition Candidate to Consider Amnesty for Corruption Suspects

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeAF

Nigerian opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar said on Wednesday he would consider an amnesty for corruption suspects in order to help recover billions of dollars stashed abroad by the country’s politicians and government officials.

Abubakar is the main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in the Feb. 16 election, where corruption, security and the economy have been key issues. Buhari is hoping his anti-corruption agenda can win him a second term.

Nigerian state coffers have in past years been ransacked by government officials and their associates, and corruption is prevalent throughout society. Buhari was elected in 2015 in part on a promise to rid the country of graft.

The West African nation launched a whistleblower scheme two years ago entitling those who help find stolen assets to up to 5 percent of the recovered sums, part of a drive by Buhari to root out endemic corruption.

Abubakar said the amnesty program would encourage looters to voluntarily return some of the stolen funds badly needed to fund infrastructure investment and recommended sanctions for election rigging.

“Why can we not have an election fraud commission?” Abubakar said during a televised town hall meeting to woo voters. “So that we bring to book any individual, whether a member of a political party, INEC (electoral commission), or security services who infringes.”

Abubakar and his vice presidential candidate Peter Obi were repeatedly challenged on their track records regarding corruption, and about investing government funds in private businesses, some of which they owned shares in, while in public office. Both candidates denied any allegations of graft.

He also said he would be more than willing to investigate allegations of corruption in senior ranks of the military, as the military faces shortages of weapons and other resources in its war against Islamist insurgencies.

Critics have often accused the Nigerian military’s senior officers of corruption, alleging that the graft drains resources and weapons from the northeast, where they are needed to fight advancing Islamist insurgencies.

Earlier on Wednesday Abubakar said in a speech he would create a $25 billion fund to support private sector investment in infrastructure if elected next month, as part of plans to revive the economy.

Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy, which vies with South Africa’s to be the largest in Africa, has performed below par since 2016, when it suffered its first recession in 25 years.

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Saudi Coalition Threatens Force to Prod Yemen Rebels to Abide by Cease-Fire

Posted on 01/31/2019 by SeeEA

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says it is ready to use “calibrated force” to prod Houthi rebels into abiding by the cease-fire in the port city of Hodeida.

“To preserve the cease-fire and any hope for the political process, the U.N. and the international community must press Houthis to stop violations … and move forward on withdrawal from Hodeida as agreed,” UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said Wednesday.

The UAE is a key member of the coalition supporting the Yemeni government in trying to force the Iranian-backed Houthis out of the country.

The rebels and Yemeni officials reached a cease-fire deal for Hodeida in December. The rebel-controlled port is the major entry point for food and other humanitarian relief for suffering Yemeni civilians.

All sides promised to withdraw their forces from the city but have been slow to implement the deal. There have been occasional flare-ups of gunfire.

But the rebels and coalition have started carrying out the prisoner exchange that was part of the cease-fire deal.

U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who has been working to keep the cease-fire from falling apart, said he welcomes the unconditional release of prisoners and said he hopes to see more humanitarian gestures.

The Houthis seized the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in 2014, sending the government into temporary exile in Saudi Arabia. It has since returned to set up shop in the southern city of Aden.

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes made the fighting worse and deepened what U.N. officials call the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with nearly 80 percent of Yemeni civilians lacking enough food, fuel and medicine.
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UN Humanitarian Chief Urges Aid Delivery to Syrians

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEA

The U.N. humanitarian chief urged Syria’s warring parties on Wednesday to ensure the delivery of desperately needed aid to Syrians stranded near the border with Jordan and warned again that a major military operation in extremist-controlled Idlib would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

Mark Lowcock said the U.N. wants an aid convoy, with more than 100 trucks accompanied by some 250 U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent personnel, to leave for the isolated Rukban camp on the Syria-Jordan border by Feb. 5. Its 42,000 people “remain stranded in deteriorating conditions since the last convoy to the area in early November,” which was the first since January 2018, he said.

Lowcock also appealed for money to buy basics from blankets to baby milk and bandages for millions of Syrians living under tents or tarpaulins or in unheated buildings in severe winter conditions that have seen freezing temperatures, snowfalls and flooding that has forced tens of thousands of people to move.

His address to the U.N. Security Council came amid rising concern over the plight of some three million people in Idlib, which was the last major stronghold of the Syrian opposition. Earlier this month, al-Qaida-linked militants seized more than two dozen towns and villages in northern Syria from rival insurgents in the most serious blow to a September cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey that averted a major government offensive in Idlib province.

Lowcock said that January saw an increase in fighting between armed groups in Idlib, “placing civilians at risk and resulting in injury and death.”

“Today I reiterate the importance of sustaining the Russia-Turkey agreement and remind you that a large-scale military operation in Idlib would have catastrophic humanitarian implications,” he told council members.

The envoys from the United States, Britain, France and other council nations echoed Lowcock and stressed that all efforts must be made to sustain the Idlib cease-fire.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council that Moscow shares concerns about the situation in Idlib and the increase in cease-fire violations, saying about a thousand cases have been reported “as a result of which 65 people have died and more than 200 have been injured.”

He said the Idlib de-escalation zone has come under the control of al-Qaida-linked militants allied with the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. And he recalled Russia’s warning “right from the start … that freezing the situation where there are terrorists is something that is not sustainable in the long-term.”

Nebenzia said after talks Sunday in Moscow between the Russian and Turkish leaders, “work was stepped up to develop effective, feasible and agreed upon measures regarding the Idlib de-escalation zone.”

He gave no details but reiterated that Russia continues to believe that the “the best solution for stabilizing the situation in the northwest or the northeast of Syria” is to transfer the areas’ control to the Syrian government.

As for the aid convoy to the Rukban camp, Jordan closed the border over security concerns and the Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed U.S. troops stationed nearby for failing to provide security for aid shipments — allegations denied by the Americans.

Lowcock, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said the U.N. received verbal approval on Jan. 27 for the convoy to proceed as well as security guarantees from Russia and international coalition forces.

“Planning is now under way for loading of the trucks to begin before the end of this week, and for them to set off by Feb. 5,” Lowcock said. “We call on all parties to ensure that this goes ahead without any further delay.”

Acting U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said the convoy “is vital,” but “sustained humanitarian access is crucial.”

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Polls: Israeli Ex-General Gains Ground After Campaign Launch

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEA

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s toughest rival in Israel’s April election, a popular former general, made strong gains on Wednesday in the first opinion polls released after his inaugural campaign speech.

But in a multi-party contest whose ultimate winner has always been determined in Israel by post-election wheeling and dealing, Netanyahu is still on course to build a right-wing coalition in parliament similar to the one he now heads, according to commentary accompanying the surveys.

In a long-awaited speech on Tuesday that broke his silence since joining the campaign, former military chief Benny Gantz criticized what he termed a leadership detached from the people and too concerned with hanging onto power.

Four opinion polls on Israeli TV and news websites on Wednesday showed popularity spike for Gantz’s new middle-of-the-road Resilience party at the expense of center-left rivals. But it was still running second to Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud.

The surveys gave Gantz’s party between 19 and 24 seats in the 120-member parliament – up from around 12 to 15 in previous polls – compared with 29 to 31 for Likud, about the same number as in earlier forecasts.

Political commentators have described Gantz as the first candidate in years that voters could regard as a match for Netanyahu, now in his fourth term as prime minister, in terms of security expertise.

In his speech on Tuesday, Gantz highlighted his military record and spoke mainly in generalities about policies he intends to pursue, pledging to be tough on security while striving to pursue peace.

Yaron Dekel, a political analyst, said on Israel’s Channel 13 that if Gantz maintains his momentum and Likud’s polling numbers drop to around 28 seats, Israelis will be able to say, “Hang on, here’s a fight we’ve never seen before.'” Much could depend, commentators said, on whether Gantz and center-left parties can agree on an alliance and subsequently attract enough voter support to form a parliamentary bloc larger than a Likud-led coalition.

Netanyahu’s legal troubles are also a wildcard: Israel’s attorney general is presently weighing whether to charge him in three corruption cases, pending pre-trial hearings. His decision is widely seen as likely to be announced before balloting on April 9.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

Even if Likud comes out on top in the voting, some political commentators said, potential coalition members might balk at partnering with a prime minister facing a criminal trial.

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Attorneys Seek Time, Reject Dismissal of Puerto Rico Debt

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeUS

Attorneys representing bondholders hit by a recent request to dismiss more than $6 billion of Puerto Rico’s debt have demanded more time to fight the proposal during a federal debt restructuring hearing.

The attorneys said Wednesday that all bondholders need to be alerted and had worries that some would be treated more favorably than others. They stressed the need to reach a consensus on how to proceed.

The hearing comes more than two weeks after a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances asked Judge Laura Taylor-Swain to invalidate part of the more than $70 billion public debt, including all general obligation bonds issued in 2012 and 2014. The board alleges the issuance violated debt limits established by the island’s constitution.

Swain has not ruled on the issue.
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Ethiopian Israelis Rally in Tel Aviv Against Police Violence

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeAF

Thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis are protesting in Tel Aviv against alleged police brutality after an officer killed an Ethiopian man two weeks ago.

Demonstrators blocked a major highway in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and paraded through major avenues of the city protesting what they consider to be systemic police mistreatment of the minority group. They carried signs saying “police are killing Beita Yisrael,” a Hebrew term for the Ethiopian Jewish community.

Earlier this month, a policeman shot dead 24-year-old Yehuda Biadga, a mentally distressed man wielding a knife, in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam. Israel’s Justice Ministry is investigating the incident.

Biadga’s family accused police of excessive force, and protest organizers called the incident “the straw that broke the camel’s back” after years of perceived discrimination by Israeli authorities.

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7 European Nations End Latest Mediterranean Standoff Over Migrants

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEU

After spending close to two weeks at sea because no country would allow them to disembark, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said 47 migrants on the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 finally would come off that vessel. Europe had been arguing over the fate of the migrants and Italy agreed to let them disembark only after a half-dozen countries came forward to take them in.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ended the latest migrant standoff on Wednesday, announcing the 47 migrants would soon disembark. The migrants had been stuck on the vessel since their rescue off the coast of Libya January 19.

The Sea-Watch 3 rescue vessel has been moored off southern Sicily since Friday.

Europe has been struggling with how to deal with the migrants’ respective arrivals since Italy’s populist government, which came to power last March, announced it would close its ports to humanitarian vessels.

It was the second time in a month the Sea-Watch 3 had been stranded at sea with rescued migrants and no safe port that would allow it to dock.

Speaking in Milan on Wednesday, Prime Minister Conte said Luxembourg came forward as the latest country to answer Italy’s request for assistance.

The prime minister added that Luxembourg joined Germany, France, Portugal, Romania and Malta in agreeing to take some of the migrants from the Sea-Watch 3 ship operated by a German aid group. The migrants are expected to disembark in the coming hours.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, “Mission accomplished! Once again thanks to the commitment of the Italian government and the determination of our Interior Ministry, Europe has been forced to intervene and take on its responsibilities.” Salvini added, “On the basis of the documentation gathered, an investigation should be opened to shed light on the conduct of the NGO.”

Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Germany has agreed to accept some of the migrants, declaring it is clear “a common and lasting solution is needed in Europe” to the issue.

The U.N. refugee agency says on average, six people a day lost their lives attempting to reach Europe by way of the Mediterranean last year.

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Trump, Guaido to Collaborate on Efforts to Restore Democracy to Venezuela

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeUS

The White House says President Donald Trump reinforced his “strong support” for efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela during a conversation Wednesday with oppositon leader Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself as the country’s president.

Trump said earlier Wednesday that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is willing to negotiate with representatives of Guaido’s opposition movement to solve the political crisis in the South American nation, but warned Americans not to travel to Venezuela “until further notice.”

Trump’s early morning tweet referred to Maduro’s offer to hold talks with the country’s opposition forces and hold early legislative elections.

He added the threat of U.S. sanctions, including cutting off Venezuelan oil revenues, contributed to the apparent softening of Maduro’s stance.

Maduro made the offer earlier Wednesday during an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency, saying he is willing to sit down at the negotiating table “for the good of Venezuela.” But he said there will not be a new presidential election until 2025, rejecting a demand by Guaido, president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Guaido declared himself the nation’s interim president last week after the Assembly declared Maduro’s presidency illegitimate, arguing that his re-election in May 2018 was not fair, with most opposition candidates either prevented from running or boycotting the race. The United States has recognized Guaido as the country’s interim leader.

In a CNN interview Tuesday, Guaido said it is possible to have a peaceful transition from Maduro and eventually hold free elections.

President Trump also noted in his tweet that Guaido “is being targeted by Venezuelan Supreme Court,” a reference to a request by the country’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, for the high court to prevent Guaido from leaving the country and block his financial accounts. Saab announced Tuesday that he was launching a criminal investigation into Guaido’s activities against Maduro’s socialist government, because of the unrest that followed Guaido’s declaring himself the country’s legitimate president.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned Saab in a Twitter post Tuesday that his request to keep Guaido from leaving Venezuela could lead to “serious consequences.”

Bolton advised the global business community on Twitter Wednesday not to “deal in” Venezuelan oil or other commodities “being stolen from the Venezuelan people by the Maduro mafia,” and added, “We stand ready to continue to take action.”

To the surprise of many, a large Russian passenger plane arrived Monday night Maiquetia Airport outside Caracas, fueling speculation Maduro’s administration plans to use the plane to transport the remainder of the country’s depleted gold reserves. There has been no response from Maduro’s government, but a representative of Russia’s Norwind Airlines confirmed the plane’s arrival.

Russia is leading a group of U.S. adversaries that are supporting Maduro’s regime. Citing sources, Reuters reported Wednesday that private military contractors who conduct secret mission for Russia were in Venezuela.

Maduro said the United States is trying to “steal” Citgo from Venezuela.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Venezuela can get relief from the sanctions when control of the oil company is turned over to Guaido.

The collapse of world energy prices, corruption and failed socialist policies have created an economic and humanitarian crisis in oil-rich Venezuela.

Food, fuel and medicine are in extremely short supply. Inflation is out of control. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, and Maduro has shown little tolerance for opposition-led protests.

Maduro has blamed his country’s woes on the United States, which he accuses of working with the opposition to topple the government. During Wednesday’s interview with RIA, Maduro accused Trump of ordering his assassination, saying, “Donald Trump has without doubt given an order to kill me and has told the government of Colombia and the Colombian mafia to kill me.”

He has called world leaders who want him gone “Trump sycophants.”
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EU Leaders Say No, Non and Nein to Brexit Deal Changes

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEU

Leaders across the European Union offered a united chorus of “No” on Wednesday to Britain’s belated bid to negotiate changes to the Brexit divorce deal so Prime Minister Theresa May can win the backing of her Parliament. In London, May acknowledged that her government hasn’t decided exactly how it will try to change the deal to address British lawmakers’ concerns about the Irish border.

All this while Britain is headed for the EU exit in less than two months, on March 29.

“We are, quite simply, running out of road,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, with a note of exasperation echoed across the continent.

Buoyed by winning a vote in Parliament, May has vowed to secure “legally binding changes” to the withdrawal agreement. British lawmakers voted Tuesday to send May back to Brussels seeking to replace an Irish border provision in the deal with “alternative arrangements,” ignoring EU warnings that the agreement cannot be altered.

“We’ve been down that track before and I don’t believe that such alternative arrangements exist,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters at the European Parliament that “the EU institutions remain united, and we stand by the agreement that we have negotiated with the U.K.” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said “opening up the withdrawal agreement is not on the agenda.”

Britain and the EU struck a divorce deal in November after a year and a half of tense negotiations. But the agreement has run aground in Britain’s Parliament, which overwhelmingly rejected it on Jan. 15.

Much of the opposition centers on a border measure known as the “backstop,” a safeguard mechanism would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.

The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible border underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland’s peace process.

Many pro-Brexit British lawmakers fear the backstop will trap Britain in regulatory lockstep with the EU, and say they won’t vote for May’s deal unless it is removed.

May was due to speak to Varadkar and European Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday, and was meeting with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find elusive cross-party unity on Brexit.

May conceded that her government hadn’t settled on a way to replace the backstop, telling lawmakers that “there are a number of proposals for how that could be done.” May said measures under consideration included a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop for Britain, a time limit to the backstop and “mutual recognition and trusted trader schemes.”

The EU says the backstop is an insurance policy and as such can’t have a time limit or a get-out clause.

The EU parliament point-man on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, underlined that nobody in Europe wants to use the backstop, but that it’s “needed to be 100 percent sure that there is no border between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic.”

Verhofstadt said the only way for May to win concessions would be to back away from her long-held stance that Britain would not remain part of the EU’s customs union after Brexit.

“If the future relationship is, for example, a customs union that makes it completely different,” Verhofstadt told reporters.

He insisted that Britain needed to quickly move from its internal bickering and disputes in the House of Commons.

“What needs to stop is this: an amendment with 10 votes for, then an amendment with 10 votes against, an amendment that barely pulls through, one that fails,” he said of Tuesday’s session, which saw seven Brexit amendments, of which two were passed.

“That is no way to build a future relationship with the EU,” Verhofstadt said.
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Trump Warns Congressional Negotiators to Consider Border Wall Funding

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump cautioned congressional negotiators Wednesday they would be “wasting their time” if they don’t consider funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, an issue that triggered a five-week partial government shutdown.

Trump’s warning came via Twitter as a bipartisan panel of House and Senate lawmakers prepared to meet for the first time since the shutdown ended in an effort to reach a compromise over border security and avoid a second partial government closure.

The White House said Tuesday Trump wants to avert another shutdown but remains committed to erecting new barriers along the border, something most Democratic lawmakers still reject.

Federal agencies reopened this week after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, after Trump signed a stopgap three-week funding bill designed to give congressional negotiators a window to craft a package enhancing border security.

As the committee begins consultations Wednesday, the partisan fault line over border wall funding that sparked the shutdown persists.

“Democrats sharply disagree with the president on the need for an expensive and ineffective border wall,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Tuesday.

“What I believe is, at any given place along the border, we’ve got to have some combination of three elements: physical barriers, technology, and personnel,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said. “So, we need a complement of each of those things in this border security bill that hopefully we’ll be voting on in the coming weeks.”

Earlier, Trump said he sees less than a 50 percent chance congressional negotiators will put together a deal acceptable to him.

The president told The Wall Street Journal Sunday he doubts he would accept less than the $5.7 billion in wall funding he has been demanding. He also cast doubt on granting permanent legal status to immigrants brought illegally to America as children, calling it a “separate subject to be taken up at a separate time.”

Meanwhile, conference committee members declined to speculate on what negotiations might produce.

“We’re going to try to get something that works,” Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt told VOA. “It’s going to have to be done somewhere other than in public. I’m of the view that we should make it as all-encompassing as we can.”

At the White House Tuesday, Sanders echoed Trump’s threats to declare a national emergency and order wall construction if Congress fails to provide funding.

“If they don’t come back with a deal, it means Democrats get virtually nothing,” the press secretary said. “That will make the president — force him — to take executive action that does not give Democrats the things that they want.”

Such talk is counterproductive, according to Democrats.

“When the president injects maximalist partisan demands into the process, negotiations tend to fall apart,” Schumer said. “The president should allow the conference committee to proceed with good-faith negotiations. I genuinely hope it will produce something that is good for the country and acceptable to both sides.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the five-week partial shutdown caused a $3 billion loss to the U.S. economy. The funding lapse caused federal services to be curtailed or paused and created a financial hardship for 800,000 federal workers who were either furloughed or worked without pay.
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Germany Slashes Growth Outlook on Brexit, Trade Fears

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEU

The clouds darkened over Europe’s slowing economy on Wednesday as the German government slashed its growth forecast and said concerns about a chaotic Brexit and trade tensions were holding back the continent’s powerhouse.

Germany’s Economy Ministry said Wednesday it was cutting its 2018 forecast to 1.0 percent from 1.8 percent in its previous outlook issued last fall.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that while the German economy would grow for a 10th year in a row, “the headwinds, primarily from the external environment, are increasing.” He cited Brexit and trade conflicts as key issues.

German businesses are unsettled about the possibility that Britain will leave the EU without agreeing on trade rules for a transition period. New import taxes imposed by the U.S. and China are also weighing on prospects for global trade. That hurts the outlook for Germany because the country is a major exporter.

Germany’s economy grew 1.5 percent last year and 2.2 percent in 2017. Growth was also held back by automakers’ troubles getting vehicles certified under new, tougher emissions tests.

Unemployment is low and wages are rising, thus far helping to keep the economic upswing going. But measures of industrial activity have sagged in recent weeks. Growth has been disappointing in Italy, where the central bank has indicated the country likely slipped into a recession, defined as two straight quarters of declining output, at the end of last year.

European Central Bank head Mario Draghi said this month that risks for the 19 countries that use the euro currency have “moved to the downside,” leading to speculation the bank could postpone raising interest rates from current record lows. The bank has said rates will stay at current lows at least “through the summer.”
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US Lawmakers Again Seek to End US Support for Saudis in Yemen

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeEA

Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers will try again to pass a resolution ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, with a greater chance of success than when a similar measure passed the Senate last month.

Republican Senator Mike Lee, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, as well as Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan, planned a news conference for Wednesday to introduce the legislation.

The Senate passed a Yemen-related war powers resolution by a 56-41 vote in December, as seven Republicans joined Democrats to vote for what was considered a rebuke of Republican President Donald Trump amid anger with Saudi Arabia not just over civilian deaths in Yemen, but also the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Trump had promised a veto.

It was the first time either chamber of Congress had backed a resolution to withdraw U.S. forces from a military engagement under the War Powers Act. That law, passed in 1973, limits the president’s ability to commit U.S. forces to potential hostilities without congressional approval.

However, that measure never went further because the Republicans who then controlled the House of Representatives did not allow a vote in that chamber before the end of the year.

Democrats now have a House majority, but Trump’s fellow Republicans have increased their edge in the Senate by two seats to hold a 53-47 margin. It would take a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress to overcome a Trump veto.

Opponents of the resolution are reluctant to take any action to disrupt the strategic U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, seen as an essential counterweight in the Middle East to Iran, arch-enemy of close U.S. ally Israel.
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As Cold Stalks Midwest, Focus Is on Protecting Vulnerable

Posted on 01/30/2019 by SeeUS

Winter’s sharpest bite in years moved past painful into life-threatening territory Tuesday, prompting officials throughout the Midwest to take extraordinary measures to protect the homeless and other vulnerable people from the bitter cold, including turning some city buses into mobile warming shelters in Chicago.

Temperatures plunged as low as minus 26 (negative 32 degrees Celsius) in North Dakota with wind chills as low as minus 62 (negative 52 degrees Celsius) in Minnesota. It was nearly that cold in Wisconsin and Illinois. Governors in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan declared emergencies as the worst of the cold threatened on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service forecast for Wednesday night called for temperatures in Chicago as low as minus 28 (negative 33 degrees Celsius), with wind chills to minus 50 (negative 46 degrees Celsius). Detroit’s outlook was for Wednesday overnight lows around minus 15 (negative 26 degrees Celsius), with wind chills dropping to minus 40 (negative 40 degrees Celsius).

“These are actually a public health risk and you need to treat it appropriately and with that effort,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday. “They are life-threatening conditions and temperatures.”

A wind chill of minus 25 (negative 32 degrees Celsius) can freeze skin within 15 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.

At least four deaths were linked to the weather system, including a man struck and killed by a snow plow in the Chicago area, a young couple whose SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man found frozen to death in a garage.

Officials in large Midwestern cities including Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit were desperately trying to get the homeless off the streets.

Minneapolis charitable groups that operate warming places and shelters expanded hours and capacity, and ambulance crews handled all outside calls as being potentially life-threatening, according to Hennepin County Emergency Management Director Eric Waage. MetroTransit said it wouldn’t remove people from buses if they were riding them simply to stay warm, and weren’t being disruptive.

Emanuel said Chicago was turning five buses into makeshift warming centers moving around the city, some with nurses aboard, to encourage the homeless to come in from the cold.

“We’re bringing the warming shelters to them, so they can stay near all of their stuff and still warm up,” said Cristina Villarreal, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Family and Support Services.

Shelters, churches and city departments in Detroit worked together to help get vulnerable people out of the cold, offering the message to those who refused help that “you’re going to freeze or lose a limb,” said Terra DeFoe, a senior adviser to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Nineteen-year-old Deontai Jordan and dozens of others found refuge from the cold in the basement of a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“You come here, you can take a nap, you can snack, you can use the bathroom, you might even be able to shower,” he said. “And then they’re feeding you well. Not to mention they give out clothes, they give out shoes, they give out socks.”

Hundreds of public schools from North Dakota to Missouri to Michigan canceled classes Tuesday, and some on Wednesday as well. So did several large universities.

Closing schools for an extended stretch isn’t an easy decision, even though most school districts build potential makeup days into their schedules, said Josh Collins, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Many students, they might have two working parents, so staying home might mean they’re not supervised,” he said. “For some low-income students, the lunch they receive at school might be their most nutritious meal of the day.”

American Indian tribes in the Upper Midwest were doing what they could to help members in need with heating supplies.

Many people on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in the Dakotas live in housing that’s decades old and in disrepair, or in emergency government housing left over from southern disasters such as hurricanes.

“They aren’t made for this (northern) country. The cold just goes right through them,” said Elliott Ward, the tribe’s emergency response manager.

The extreme cold was “a scary situation” for the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, said Chris Fairbanks, manager of the northern Minnesota tribe’s energy assistance program.

“We have many, many calls coming in. We’re just swamped trying to get everybody what they need,” she said.

The cold was even shutting down typical outdoor activities. A ski hill in the Minneapolis area said it would close through Wednesday. So did an ice castle attraction.

The cold weather was even affecting beer deliveries, with a pair of western Wisconsin distributors saying they would delay or suspend shipments for fear that beer would freeze in their trucks.

The unusually frigid weather is attributed to a sudden warming far above the North Pole. A blast of warm air from misplaced Moroccan heat last month made the normally super chilly air temperatures above the North Pole rapidly increase. That split the polar vortex into pieces, which then started to wander, said Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research.

One of those polar vortex pieces is responsible for the subzero temperatures across the Midwest this week.
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