Month: January 2019

UN Khashoggi Investigator Meets With Turkish Officials

Posted on by SeeEA

Turkey’s foreign minister met Monday with the U.N. judicial expert investigating the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Ankara calls for an international inquiry.

U.N. special investigator Agnes Callamard will be in Turkey until Saturday for a series of meetings with authorities, including Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.

Saudi officials have not confirmed whether they have responded to Callamard’s request to meet the Saudi Ambassador in Turkey and to visit the kingdom as part of her investigation.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu posted a tweet following the meeting.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2nd.

U.S. intelligence officials believe the killing was a direct order from Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman — a notion that Riyadh has denied. Khashoggi’s dismembered body remains unaccounted for.

Initially Saudi Arabia said he safely left the site on his own, but later admitted he was killed there in what Saudi officials called a rogue operation.

Turkey said the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government, but Saudi officials maintain it was not ordered by the Saudi crown prince.
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Malawi Looks to Cannabis to Supplement Lost Tobacco Earnings

Posted on by SeeAF

Malawi is the latest African country to look at legalizing cannabis – the plant that produces hemp and marijuana – after similar moves in Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. As Malawi’s tobacco industry – the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner – has dwindled due to anti-tobacco campaigns, farmers are now looking to grow cannabis. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe.
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Coffee in Seattle Does Not Always Mean Starbucks

Posted on by SeeUS

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 – and grew into what is perhaps the world’s best known American coffee company. But in Seattle, it is not the only brew in town, and as Natasha Mozgovaya discovered, locals never lost their love and appreciation for an individual approach and experimentation, and small coffee bars mushroomed in the city. Anna Rice has her report.
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Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee with Blockchain

Posted on by SeeUS

Blockchain technology – a high-tech way to securely manage and protect data – is best-known as the driver of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Now, a U.S. coffee importer is using it to improve the lives of coffee farmers and some of the poorest communities in Central America. Faith Lapidus reports.
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‘A Star Is Born’ Leads Pack for Screen Actors Guild Awards

Posted on by SeeUS

Popular musical romance “A Star Is Born” – featuring the powerhouse duo of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga – leads the field for Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are seen as a major predictor of Oscars success.

Hollywood’s A-listers including Gaga made their way up the silver carpet – in honor of the event’s 25th anniversary – before the gala at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

This year, the SAG Awards come at a key point in the race to next month’s Academy Awards — just after the Oscars nominations, and before voting for the winners begins.

The Screen Actors Guild accounts for a major percentage of the 8,000-odd Oscar voters, so the SAG winners will earn a lot of awards season momentum.

“A Star Is Born,” the latest iteration of the classic Tinseltown story of an aging star and the ingenue he discovers, earned four SAG nominations for Cooper, Gaga, Sam Elliott and best ensemble cast – the top prize.

“BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee’s latest film, is just behind with three and could spark a surprise, pundits say, due to the great respect for the veteran US director among Hollywood’s actors.

And superhero juggernaut “Black Panther” could pull a major upset in the best ensemble category – giving its star-studded cast the chance to give the signature “Wakanda Forever” salute from the stage.

One major absentee is Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” — the top Oscar nomination getter was left out of SAG contention.

Longtime Oscar watcher Sasha Stone sees the race as a major toss-up.

“‘A Star Is Born’ could win big, setting it up as once again the season’s frontrunner. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could win – yes, even still,” Stone wrote on her website, Awards Daily.

But she ultimately put her money on “BlacKkKlansman,” which is based on the true story of a black cop who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his white partner, who acts as his surrogate.

She notes it’s the only film to earn nominations at all the major awards shows and in the key categories, while acknowledging: “We all must agree that it’s a weird year and stats don’t matter.”

Sure bets and toss-ups

In the individual races, best actress is seen by industry experts as a near-lock for Glenn Close, who has taken home a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award so far for her work in “The Wife.”

Outside contenders are Gaga and Olivia Colman, who wowed critics with her portrayal of Queen Anne in the offbeat royal romp “The Favourite.”

For best actor, Christian Bale’s disappearance into the role of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney in “Vice” is seen as the one to beat.

But Rami Malek’s star-making turn as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody” earned him a Golden Globe, an Oscar nomination — and a chance to win on Sunday.

Colman’s co-stars Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are nominees, as are “BlacKkKlansman” co-stars John David Washington and Adam Driver.

“Hopefully this film is inspiring people to talk, to communicate,” Washington said on the silver carpet.

In the supporting acting categories, Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) is expected to continue his march to the Oscars, but the actress trophy is a toss-up, as early favorite Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) is not nominated.

Many have since put their money on Amy Adams, who plays Cheney’s wife Lynne in “Vice.”

While SAG-winning casts have only gone on to win a best picture Oscar about half the time, the awards are better at predicting best actor winners (79 percent) and best actress (75 percent).

In the television categories, shows will look to build up some momentum ahead of the Emmys later this year.

Those include new Netflix comedy “The Kominsky Method” starring Michael Douglas and the streaming giant’s returning dark drama “Ozark.”

Perennial favorites such as Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel,” powerhouse FX drama “The Americans” and NBC family drama “This Is Us” are also in the mix.

Tom Hanks will give a lifetime achievement award to veteran actor Alan Alda, the star of the long-running TV comedy “MAS*H” who revealed last year that he is battling Parkinson’s disease.

The lineup of presenters includes a who’s who of the nominees – from Cooper, Gaga and Elliott to Chadwick Boseman and Angela Bassett from the “Black Panther” cast.

 
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Nigeria Rejects Foreign Criticism Over Judge’s Suspension

Posted on by SeeAF

Nigeria’s government warned off international “meddling,” insisting the West African country will conduct “free, fair elections” for the presidency on February 16.

Reacting to concerns voiced by the United States, Britain and the European Union of President Muhammadu Buhari’s suspension Friday of Nigeria’s chief justice, the president’s spokesman defended the decision.

The Nigerian federal government is “determined to ensure free, fair elections. This government will not bend the rules and will not allow meddling in our affairs,” spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement issued late Saturday, Reuters news service reported.

In a follow-up statement issued late Sunday, the spokesman described the three foreign governments as “friends” but said their criticisms “seem more driven by unfounded assumptions and, to be honest, a certain condescension to this African democracy. … Not one of your nations would allow a person enmeshed in legal uncertainty to preside over your legal systems until the cloud has been cleared from him.”

The lengthy statement aimed to clarify Buhari’s decision to suspend Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen for allegedly making false claims about his assets. Buhari said the move came at the behest of a Code of Conduct Tribunal that began hearing Onnoghen’s case last week. An appeals court ordered the trial’s suspension Thursday. Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, the second-ranking judge, was sworn in as acting chief justice on Friday.

Buhari, a 76-year-old former military leader elected in 2015, is seeking a second four-year term as leader of Africa’s most populous country. Challenges to presidential and parliamentary election results would be decided by Nigeria’s judiciary, up to the high court.

Nigeria’s Senate has scheduled an emergency session Tuesday, with the chief justice’s suspension among its agenda items, the Lagos-based newspaper Punch reported Sunday. The news organization said lawmakers had been adjourned until Feb. 19, after the presidential and National Assembly elections.

Buhari leads the All Progressives Congress.

The main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PNP) said it would resume campaign activities Monday, after halting them for 72 hours to protest Onnoghen’s suspension. Its candidate is Atiku Abubakar, a 72-year-old former vice president. The PDP governed Nigeria from 1999, the year civilian rule was restored, until 2015.

In a statement issued this weekend, the PDP called Buhari’s suspension of the chief justice “a constitutional breach and a direct attack on our democracy.”

The Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, an umbrella for more than 70 groups working to support credible, transparent elections, released a statement urging Buhari “to reverse this unconstitutional and illegal action and refrain from interfering with the independence of the judiciary. …”

 
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US Lifts Sanctions on Rusal, Other Firms Linked to Russia’s Deripaska

Posted on by SeeEU

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions.

Earlier this month, 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in a failed effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, its parent, En+ Group Plc, and power firm JSC EuroSibEnergo. But that was not enough to overcome opposition from Trump and most of his fellow Republicans.

Advocates for keeping the sanctions had argued that Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, retained too much control over the companies to lift sanctions imposed in April to punish Russia for actions including its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and support for Syria’s government in its civil war.

Some lawmakers from both parties also said it was inappropriate to ease the sanctions while Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.

But in its statement on Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Department said the three companies had reduced Deripaska’s direct and indirect shareholding stake and severed his control.

That action, it said, ensured that most directors on the En+ and Rusal boards would be independent directors, including Americans and Europeans, who had no business, professional or family ties to Deripaska or any other person designated for sanctions by the Treasury Department.

“The companies have also agreed to unprecedented transparency for Treasury into their operations by undertaking extensive, ongoing auditing, certification, and reporting requirements,” the department’s statement said.

Deripaska himself remains subject to U.S. sanctions.

Trump administration officials, and many Republicans who opposed the effort to keep the sanctions in place, said they worried about the impact on the global aluminum industry. They also said Deripaska’s decision to lower his stakes in the companies so that he no longer controlled them showed that the sanctions had worked.

Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China. The sanctions on the company spurred demand for Chinese metal. China’s aluminum exports jumped to a record high in 2018.

Trump denies collusion, and Moscow has denied seeking to influence the U.S. election on Trump’s behalf, despite U.S. intelligence agencies’ finding that it did so.

Deripaska had ties with Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Manafort pleaded guilty in September 2018 to attempted witness tampering and conspiring against the United States.

 
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Some 70,000 March in Brussels, Demand Action on Climate

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At least 70,000 people braved cold and rain in Brussels to demand the Belgian government and the European Union increase their efforts to fight climate change Sunday, the Belgian capital’s fourth climate rally in two months to attract at least 10,000 participants.

The event was described as Belgium’s biggest climate march ever, with police estimating slightly bigger crowds than a similar demonstration last month. Trains from across the nation were so clogged thousands of people didn’t make the march in time.

Some 35,000 schoolchildren and students in Belgium skipped classes Thursday to take their demands for urgent action to prevent global warming to the streets.

“Young people have set a good example,” protester Henny Claassen said amid raised banners urging better renewable energy use and improved air quality. “This is for our children, for our grandchildren and to send a message to politicians.”

Even though the direct impact on Belgian politics was likely to be small since the country currently is led by a caretaker government, the demonstrations have pushed the issue of climate change up the agenda as parties prepare for national and European Union elections in May.

The march ended at the headquarters of the European Union. The 28-nation bloc has been at the vanguard of global efforts to counter climate change but still came in for the protesters’ criticism.

“Society as a whole could do a lot more because they’re saying `Yes, we’re doing a lot,’ but they’re doing not that much. They could do a lot more,” demonstrator Pieter Van Der Donckt said.

Citizen activism on climate change Sunday was not limited to Belgium.

In Paris, there was a debate inspired by a recent petition for legal action to force the government to set more ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions that create global warming.

President Emmanuel Macron sees himself as a climate crusader, but suffered a serious setback when fuel tax increases meant to wean France off fossil fuels backfired dramatically, unleashing the yellow vest protests now in their third month.

 
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Riyadh Releases Ethiopian-Born Billionaire It Held Since 2017

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The Saudi government has released Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, an Ethiopian-born billionaire who was arrested in November 2017, in an anti-corruption sweep.

Ethiopia’s Office of the Prime Minister confirmed the news.

The Reuters news agency, citing Ethiopian state television and two Saudi sources, also confirmed the release and reported that al-Amoudi was in transit to Jeddah, a Saudi city on the Red Sea.

The high-profile sweep in 2017 netted hundreds of top Saudi officials and influential business people and consolidated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power in the Kingdom, and beyond.

The Saudi government has remained tight-lipped about the charges brought against those arrested and the impact of the detentions on their vast wealth.

Months in the making

Reports of al-Amoudi’s possible release first emerged in May, when newly appointed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met with bin Salman in Riyadh to discuss mutual interests, including development partnerships and Ethiopian citizens detained in the Kingdom.

In March, The New York Times reported that Saudi officials had released many detainees in the months after the sweep, including al-Amoudi’s cousin, property developer Mohammed Aboud al-Amoudi.

At least one person died and more than a dozen others required medical attention during the round-up, The Times reported. Saudi officials have denied the allegations.

Al-Amoudi’s whereabouts were unknown after he was moved from The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, where many of the arrested officials were first detained in a round-up that drew international headlines, and false rumors of his death began to circulate.

In an email to VOA shortly after the arrest, Tim Pendry, al-Amoudi’s London-based spokesman, downplayed any impact on al-Amoudi’s business interests.

“This is an internal matter for the Kingdom,” Pendry wrote. “We have no further comment to make other than to say that the overseas businesses owned by the Sheikh remain unaffected by this development.”

Ethiopian roots

Born in 1946 to an Ethiopian mother in the north-central part of the country, al-Amoudi immigrated to Saudi Arabia, his father’s country of birth, in the mid-1960s, when he began building his international business empire.

By the 1980s, he had become a billionaire, and today his interests span from Europe and the Middle East back to Ethiopia, where his mining company, Derba MIDROC, has been accused of exploiting local communities in the Oromia region, the hotbed of protests that led to former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s sudden resignation in early 2018 and the ascension of Abiy.

Shortly after al-Amoudi’s arrest, Henok Gabisa, a professor of practice at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, told VOA that most of the billionaire’s wealth came from the Lega Dembi gold mine, in the heart of the Oromia region.

In May, Ethiopian authorities suspended Derba MIDROC’s license after intense protests. Months later, in September, the government revoked MIDROC’s land lease.

As a Saudi citizen, the legality of al-Amoudi’s ownership of extractive businesses in Ethiopia is murky. Ethiopian law restricts how foreign citizens can invest in the country. But with both roots, and decades of involvement, in the country, al-Amoudi may have operated within a loophole.

Now, despite his freedom, al-Amoudi’s future is unclear. The political landscape in Ethiopia has altered significantly since his arrest, and both the charges against him — and the impact his arrest had on his wealth and businesses — remain obscure.
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One-Time Trump Aide Might Cooperate in Russia Probe

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Roger Stone, a long-time friend and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, said Sunday he would consider cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and discuss his conversations with the U.S. leader.

Stone, charged last week with lying, obstruction and witness tampering in connection with Trump’s campaign, told ABC’s “This Week” show, the extent of his cooperation with Mueller’s 20-month probe would be something he would “have to determine after my attorneys have some discussions.”

He added, “If there’s wrongdoing by other people in the campaign that I know about, which I know of none, but if there is, I would certainly testify honestly.”

The 66-year-old Stone, arrested in a pre-dawn FBI raid Friday on his Florida home, has denied wrongdoing, saying hours after his apprehension, “I will plead not guilty to these charges, I will defeat them in court. I believe this is a politically motivated investigation.”

As he left court Friday after posting a $250,000 bond to secure his freedom pending trial, Stone said, “I have made it clear that I will not testify against the president, because I would have to bear false witness against him.”

Stone told ABC that if he cooperates with Mueller, “I’d also testify honestly about any other matter, including any communications with the president. It’s true that we spoke on the phone, but those communications are political in nature, they’re benign, and there is certainly no conspiracy with Russia.”

Stone said he never discussed cooperation with Russia with Trump.

“Everything that I did… is constitutionally protected free speech. That is what I engaged in – it is called politics,” Stone said.

Stone is the sixth key figure in Trump’s orbit to be accused of criminal offenses as a result of the Mueller investigation. Five men – former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, campaign aide Rick Gates, foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn and former personal attorney Michael Cohen — have pled guilty or been convicted of various offenses.

Papadopoulos served a short jail term, while Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to turn himself in in early March. Manafort, Gates and Flynn are awaiting sentencing.

After Stone’s arrest, Trump sought to distance himself from his one-time aide, saying on Twitter, “Roger Stone didn’t even work for me anywhere near the Election!”

 

 

 
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White House Challenges Democrats on Border Security

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The White House challenged opposition Democrats on Sunday to prove they want tough security on the southern border with Mexico now that the longest-ever partial government shutdown has ended and the clock is ticking on a three-week window for negotiations.

Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s acting White House chief of staff, told Fox News Sunday, “This is a chance for Democrats to see if they believe in border security” to thwart illegal immigration and stop the flow of illicit drugs. But Mulvaney said the U.S. leader would secure the border “with or without Congress,” including by declaring a national emergency, if he has to.

Mulvaney said the White House is “seeing Democrats starting to agree with the president” on the need for a wall along nearly 400 kilometers of the 3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexico border, a stretch where Trump has demanded $5.7 billion in taxpayer funding for some type of barrier.

The dispute shuttered about a quarter of U.S. government operations for 35 days, before Trump on Friday agreed with a Democratic demand to reopen the government until Feb. 15, without any wall funding, while the two sides negotiate over border security funding.

Trump’s chief congressional antagonists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, have staunchly refused his demand for wall construction money. But Mulvaney said the negotiation period will give Democrats a chance to answer the question, “Are you telling people the truth” about favoring border security, “or doing something that’s politically expedient?”

Democrats so far have suggested they are willing to give Trump the full $5.7 billion he wants for improved security, such as for tightened controls at ports of entry, more border agents and more use of technology to control the border, but none for a wall. The wall was a key campaign pledge of Trump’s during his successful 2016 run for the White House, when he repeatedly said Mexico would pay for it, a claim Mexico City has often rejected.

Mulvaney said Trump wants “a wall where we need it the most.”

Trump, in agreeing to the end of the government closures, threatened a new government shutdown in mid-February if he cannot reach a border security deal with Congress or to declare the national emergency and build the wall with unspent funds it has found throughout the government and without congressional authorization. But such a declaration would invite an immediate legal challenge, leaving wall construction in doubt.

Mulvaney said, “No one wants [another] government shutdown. It’s not a desired outcome. It’s still better to get [the barrier funding] through legislation.”

But he said that Trump would secure the border, “and he’ll do it either with or without Congress.”

On the same Fox News show, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the sole Democrat who voted last week for Trump’s wall proposal as part of a legislative effort to reopen the government, said Democrats would “look at a wholistic approach” to determine border security needs. “We’ll let the experts tell us what’s needed, help us find the right path.”

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said, “Compromise is the essence of what we do. This has gotten way too political.”

Blunt said, “We would all prefer to see this negotiated,” rather than Trump declaring a national emergency to provide funding for a wall. “I think it’s a bad precedent. I hope he doesn’t go there.”

After Trump and Congress agreed on the three-week hiatus to end the shutdown, some government operations started to open again Saturday, with museums and parks reopening and other government services resuming in the coming days. Shuttered agencies made plans to pay 800,000 federal workers who were furloughed or forced to work without pay for the month they went without the two paychecks they normally would have received.

But federal contract workers may not ever recoup the money for the time they were out of work unless Congress enacts legislation to pay them.

The shutdown, the longer it went on, was having a cascading effect on the U.S. economy, with Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings saying the government closures cost the economy about $6 billion, $300 million more than the wall funding Trump wanted.

On Sunday, Trump continued to assail the effects of illegal immigration, citing disputed statistics.

“We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168,” Trump said on Twitter. “Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous!”

 

 
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Egypt’s President Hosts Sudan’s Embattled Leader

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Egypt hosted embattled Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday, saying it supports stability in the country undergoing popular demonstrations against al-Bashir’s 29-year rule.

After meeting with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to discuss deepening relations and improving economic ties, the two leaders gave a joint televised address to underline their continuing cooperation.

 

El-Sissi said he was eager to maintain the close historical ties between the two countries, while al-Bashir said the protests against him were not as bad as they seemed, accusing outside groups of trying to undermine his rule in what he compared to Egypt’s own experience during its 2011 uprising.

 

“There are many negative organizations working on shaking the stability and security of the region,” al-Bashir said. “We acknowledge that there is a problem, we are not claiming there is nothing but it is not as big as described by some media platforms. It’s an attempt to copy the so-called Arab Spring for Sudan.”

 

Al-Bashir, who took power in a 1989 military coup, has said any change of leadership could only come through the ballot box. He is expected to run for another term in office next year.

 

Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising overthrew longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of instability that saw the country led first by the army and then by an elected but divisive Islamist, who el-Sissi ousted in 2013 when he was defense minister.

 

Al-Bashir was indicted in 2010 by the International Criminal Court for genocide in Darfur. He restricts his travel to friendly Arab and African countries.

 

 
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Israeli Holocaust Survivor Remembers Auschwitz on Birthday

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As the world commemorates the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day Sunday, death camp survivor Cipora Feivlovich marks her own personal milestone as she turns 92.

Feivlovich has spent her most recent birthdays recounting to audiences in Israel and Germany her harrowing experiences in the camp, where her parents, brother and best friends all perished.

 

Despite witnessing daily atrocities and fearing that the toxic food and injections she was given would make her infertile, she eventually married her husband Pinchas, a fellow orphaned survivor, and started a new family. Today she has dozens of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

 

“When we first met after the war he asked me if I thought I could have children after everything I went through in Auschwitz. And I said ‘I don’t promise anything. What the Lord gives is what will be,'” she recalled from her home in Jerusalem. “We understood each other. He always said he was lucky to marry me since I understood him.”

 

But for the following decades, as he obsessively wrote and lectured about his six-year Holocaust ordeal in multiple concentration camps and the trauma of losing eight siblings and his entire extended family, she kept quiet to try and raise their three children in Israel in relative normalcy. Only in the 1990s, long after the kids had moved out, did she finally start processing her own troubled history.

 

Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust, wiping out a third of world Jewry. Israel’s main Holocaust memorial day is in the spring — marking the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The United Nations designated Jan. 27 as the annual international commemoration, marking the date of Auschwitz’s liberation in 1945, the day Feivlovich turned 18.

 

She grew up in a Transylvanian village with a large Jewish population and lived a normal life until she was 14, when she and the other Jewish students were kicked out of school.

 

She said her family holed up in their home for the following years, fearful of their anti-Semitic neighbors, and naively waited for the storm to pass. But then the Nazis arrived in 1944, took them away in the middle of the night and crammed all Jewish residents into the local synagogue.

 

“Two days we sat on the floor, you couldn’t leave for the restrooms so people relieved themselves where they are sitting,” she recalled. “On both sides of the street the non-Jews were standing and clapping their hands saying: ‘Bravo, we are getting rid of the Jews.'”‘

 

After a brief stay in a Hungarian ghetto, they were deported on the three-day train ride to Auschwitz, with each cattle wagon packed shoulder to shoulder.

 

“My grandfather died there while standing. We couldn’t even lay him down. And in that miserable state we got to our final destination,” she said. There, they were greeted with barking dogs, screams and a warning: “Young mothers, hand your babies to grandmothers or aunts and maybe you will live.”

 

Feivlovich and her younger sister were thrown to one side, the boys to the other. They never saw their parents again.

 

The girls were ordered to strip. Their hair was cut and they were hosed with freezing water and marched outside naked, shivering with cold and shame.

 

“The Nazis are teasing us, spitting on us and watching us there miserable,” she said.

 

After finally getting dresses to wear, they were approached by a tall man in a polished uniform who introduced himself as Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor. He pointed to a huge chimney spewing thick black smoke and told them anyone not essential to the Third Reich would go straight to the crematorium.

 

“I’m holding my sister’s hand, and we are shaking and crying and I ask: ‘Is this possible?'”  she remembered.

 

Starved and exhausted, she and hundreds of other Jewish prisoners were presented with a large liquid-filled barrel.

 

“The moment we took that first sip in our mouth, everyone started screaming insanely. It was like a million pins in your throat. You couldn’t swallow the soup,” she remembered. “But we learned to drink that poisoned soup since there was nothing else to eat.”

 

She said they were told it was laced with toxin to help kill off the Jewish race and prevent it from reproducing. Feivlovich said she believed it since she stopped menstruating for a long time after.

 

Those already pregnant faced an even worse fate. In one case, a pregnant relative named Sarah was not allowed to go to the infirmary and forced to give birth on the floor. Usually, the Nazis took Jewish newborns away, never to be seen again. But in this case, they ordered the mother to drown her own baby in a pail of water.

 

By the time Auschwitz was liberated, she had already been transported to forced labor in a German armament factory. Even there she wasn’t safe. The camp commander ordered her to receive a mysterious injection for talking back and refusing to make the Christian sign of the cross on herself.

 

She awoke after two days. By then, the war was winding down. The Nazis disappeared and soon an American tank broke through. Yiddish-speaking soldiers comforted the emaciated inmates.

 

Some 150,000 elderly survivors remain in Israel today, with a similar number worldwide.

 

Feivlovich said in recent years her birthday has become “obligating,” particularly since her husband passed away in 2007.

 

“My husband demanded of me: Don’t stop talking about the Holocaust, because if we don’t speak about it there will be enough Holocaust deniers after us,” she said. “It is true that 74 years have passed but we are still living and we are here.”

 

 

 

 
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Prince Philip Tells Car Crash Victim He Is ‘Deeply Sorry’

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Britain’s Prince Philip has apologized to woman who was injured when the car she was riding in collided with a Land Rover that he was driving.

The 97-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II told the woman he was “deeply sorry” that she was injured in the Jan. 17 collision.

In the letter, published in the Sunday Mirror, Philip said he was dazzled by the sun when he entered a main road near the royal retreat in Sandringham in eastern England.

He wrote to Emma Fairweather, who suffered a broken wrist in the crash, that “I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences.”

Philip was unhurt although his car flipped over. He was not charged with any infraction and continues to drive.
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Violence at French Yellow Vest Protests Prompts New Rallies

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French police are investigating how a prominent yellow vest protester suffered a dramatic eye injury in Paris, as well as other protest-related injuries.

Violence by protesters and the sometimes-aggressive police response have prompted a national debate since the anti-government movement kicked off two months ago.

 

A counter-demonstration is planned Sunday in Paris by groups calling themselves the “red scarves” and “blue vests” to protest the violence.

 

Paris police said Sunday they are investigating the eye injury of protester Jerome Rodrigues, among other protest injuries. Video images show Rodriguez collapsed on the ground Saturday near the Bastille monument in Paris, where protesters throwing projectiles clashed with police seeking to disperse them.

 

The movement sees French President Emmanuel Macron’s government as favoring the wealthy. Most of its actions are peaceful.

 

 
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Cameroon Police Arrest More Than 100 in Anti-Biya Protests

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Cameroon says its police shot and wounded seven people and arrested 117 in several towns where protests of what organizers call an “electoral hold up” were organized on Saturday. The demonstrations were led by Maurice Kamto, the man who claims he won the October 7 presidential poll in Cameroon.

Sixty people, a majority of them youths, shout as they march through the streets of Cameroon political capital Yaounde, banging spoons and dishes and calling for the unconditional release of everyone arrested during Saturday’s demonstrations.

Cameroon’s minister of communication and government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi says the economic capital Douala, the capital Yaounde, and the western town of Mbounda were the scene of protests organized by Maurice Kamto and his Cameroon Renaissance Movement party.

“The CRM intended as usual to push our compatriots at home and abroad to defy the republican order with slogans of rebellion and insurgency against legal and legitimate institutions,” he said. “The government strongly condemns this unacceptable maneuver to destabilize Cameroon under the false pretext of an alleged electoral hold up.”

Incumbent President Paul Biya was declared the winner of the October 7 presidential election by Cameroon’s constitutional council after the results giving him a landslide victory were challenged by Kamto. Kamto then announced what he called a national resistance program until Biya steps down. The first protests organized by the CRM in late October were put down by police and the party said 42 people, including some of its officials, had been arrested and detained. They were later freed.

Michele Ndoki, a lawyer who defended Kamto at the constitutional council, where they alleged massive fraud and ballot-stuffing in favor of Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), was one of those arrested during the October 27 and 28 protests. In this Saturday’s demonstration Ndoki was shot in the leg, one of seven wounded, including Celestin Djamen another CRM official. Ndoki says police used live bullets against the protesters.

Cameroon minister of territorial administration Paul Atanga Nji says riot police did their jobs professionally after they were provoked by the demonstrators. He says Kamto defied a ban on the protest because he wants to destabilize Cameroon.

“The forces of law and order did not use any firearms to maintain peace and order. Any contrary information is fake news,” he said. “The CRM political party and their leaders should not take the leniency of the government as a sign of weakness. As from now henceforth, they will taste the bitterness of our laws which will be applied scrupulously.”

Atanga Nji said similar protests took place in Cameroon embassies abroad.

In a telephone interview with VOA, Sylvester Onana, spokesperson for the Cameroon Embassy in Paris, says they had to call in the police after the protest went violent.

He says they are still evaluating the damage, but everything in the embassy was completely ransacked by a group of about a hundred Cameroonians singing anti-Cameroon government slogans. He says the French police had to intervene to stop the youths from further destruction.

Maurice Kamto says he will continue with the demonstrations against what he says is election fraud, as well as against the government’s failure to resolve the separatist crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country until Biya leaves office and a solution is found.

Biya has been in power for 36 years and is now the second-oldest president in sub-Saharan Africa after his neighbor Theodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea. When his new term is finished, he will be 93 years old.

 

 

 
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Cameroon Struggles to Secure Neighbors, Its Own Territory

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While Sudan hosted a new round of Central African Republic (C.A.R.) peace talks this week (Thursday, Jan. 24), Cameroon’s military was announcing new troop deployments to contain spillover from fighting inside C.A.R.’s border.

In Bossangoa, the capital of Ouham, more than 200 people came to hear Gaston Guella, an official of the Bossangoa council in the Ouham prefecture in western C.A.R., assure them in the Sango language that forces of the Multi-Dimensional United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Central Africa (MINUSCA) would track down a group of armed men that attacked their city Friday night.

Bossangoa Mayor Pierre Denamge said Friday’s attack, which residents said left six people wounded and caused many to flee their homes for safety, indicates the population and peacekeeping forces should remain on high alert. The town has not had an attack in the past six weeks, and Denamge credited Cameroonian troops, who constitute the bulk of the U.N. peacekeeping force, saying they are doing a good job. 

He says the people of C.A.R. are satisfied with the work done by the Cameroon military, especially as villagers can continue farming, fishing and hunting without fear of harassment, and traders can go to their shops because they know they have protection from the troops under the U.N. peacekeeping mission. He said everyone is happy that peace is returning and chaos is being reduced. 

However, 40-year-old cattle rancher Ahmed Mahmoudou said the magnitude of the attack indicates the armed rebels are not ready to lay down their weapons. 

He says the population was helpless and running in all directions when indiscriminate and heavy shooting began at the village’s Catholic church. He says members of his self-defense group decided to withdraw and alert the military because they could tell the attackers were more heavily armed.

Many people have fled the area since 2013, and deserted streets and burned roofs are a stark reminder of the violence the Central African town had witnessed before the arrival of the U.N. troops. 

U.S. citizen Kenneth Gluck, the U.N.’s deputy special representative and deputy head of MINUSCA, says if the stability that has been established since last year continues, refugees and internally displaced persons can start to return to the western part of the country.

“This is exactly the part the country where we have seen the greatest progress toward peace and stability, and in great part because of the efforts of the Cameroonian soldiers and officers and policemen,” Gluck said. “We see in the west of the country a real progress toward stabilization, which should allow during 2019 the gradual return of refugees and displaced persons.”

Since 2013, thousands have been killed in C.A.R., and a quarter of the population of 4.5 million people has fled their homes. 

Peace talks in Khartoum

Last Thursday, peace talks to end chronic violence in the Central African Republic began in Khartoum, with representatives of the government and 14 armed groups in attendance, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the C.A.R.

The U.N. peace mission is made up of more than 13,000 troops and police, and Cameroon contributes more than 1,000 troops.

Other pockets around the country are held by militias who say they are defenders of a particular community or religious group, but they often fight over mineral wealth.

The conflict began in 2013 when a mainly Muslim rebel movement called the Seleka overthrew President Francois Bozize, a Christian. That move triggered the rise of a predominantly Christian militia called the anti-Balaka.

Border deployment

Cameroon’s military sings as it also deploys to Garoua Boulay, the border town with C.A.R. The soldiers say that besides fighting to bring peace to C.A.R., they also must fight to stop the spillover of the crisis from neighboring countries, including the robberies and kidnappings that are on the rise. Armed groups from the C.A.R. have been stealing supplies and taking dozens of people hostage for ransom.

Cameroon also is mobilizing troops along the country’s northern border with Nigeria to fight Boko Haram terrorists, and in the western English-speaking regions where separatists have been fighting to create an English-speaking state. The military has not given any official announcement, but it is believed both their resources and military are already stretched.
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Seattle’s Bullitt Center: A Green Building Inspiring Visitors

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Called the “greenest office building in the world,” the Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington, generates its own electricity and its own water, collected from rain falling on the roof. Opened on Earth Day in 2013, the Bullitt Center has been nicknamed a “Living Building.” Natasha Mozgovaya visited the green building to see for herself what makes it so unusual. Anna Rice narrates her report.
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European Parliament Scolds Nicaragua Over ‘Democratic Crisis’ 

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A European Parliament delegation on Saturday urged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to release political prisoners, permit the return of banned human rights groups and restart dialogue with the opposition to end a 

months-long political crisis. 

The delegation led by European Member of Parliament (MEP) Ramon Jauregui, a Socialist from Spain, told a news conference it would ask the European Parliament to issue a new resolution on the crisis. 

For months, Nicaragua has been convulsed by some of its worst political tension since a civil war in the 1980s. An initial standoff between protesters and the government in April over planned welfare cuts quickly descended into deadly clashes. 

By the time the Ortega administration had clamped down on the protesters, more than 300 people had been killed and over 500 incarcerated, according to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, a group the government has blacklisted. 

Ortega sees coup attempt

Rights groups say four radio stations and one TV station have closed, and dozens of journalists have been beaten. The Ortega government says there is freedom of expression and has accused the opposition of seeking to mount a coup to oust him. 

“We don’t believe the government’s story of a coup d’etat,” Javier Nart, a Spanish Liberal MEP who as a journalist covered the Nicaraguan revolution that led to the 1979 ouster of dictator Anastasio Somoza by Ortega’s Sandinistas, said at the news conference.

“The repression of protests was excessive. The population is demanding more freedom and democracy. Nicaragua is going through a major crisis of democracy and the rule of law,” he added. 

The Nicaraguan government did not respond to a request from Reuters on the allegations made by the delegation. 

The European Parliament members said the Ortega government allowed them to hold meetings with all sectors of society, including political prisoners. But they noted that several opposition leaders suffered persecution after they had taken part in the meetings. 
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Key British Lawmaker Thinks Brexit Delay Is Feasible

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The date Britain leaves the European Union could be pushed back by a couple of weeks to give time for legislation to be approved by lawmakers, the leader of Britain’s lower house of Parliament said Saturday, the most senior figure to make such a suggestion. 

Britain, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is due to leave the EU March 29 but Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated exit deal was rejected by lawmakers, leaving open the possibility of a disorderly Brexit. 

Parliament will now vote on a series of amendments on Tuesday with the United Kingdom facing its deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

“We can get the legislation through and I think we do, in spite of everything, have a very strong relationship with our EU friends and neighbors, and I am absolutely certain that if we needed a couple of extra weeks or something, then that would be feasible,” Andrea Leadsom told the BBC. 

Responding to the idea that this would mean extending the two-year Article 50 negotiation period, Leadsom, who is the organizer of government business in the lower house of Parliament, told the BBC: “It doesn’t necessarily mean that. I think we would want to think carefully about it. But as things stand I do feel that we can get, with the support of both Houses — the House of Commons and the House of Lords — with goodwill and a determination we can still get the legislation through in good time.” 

No change, PM’s office says

A spokeswoman at May’s No. 10 Downing Street office said the government’s position had not changed: “We are not considering an extension to Article 50 and are committed to doing whatever it takes to have the statute books ready for when we leave the EU on March 29th this year.” 

But Brexit continues to divide Britain’s ruling Conservatives. 

Leadsom told The Sunday Times that “taking no-deal off the table has been used as a thinly veiled attempt to stop Brexit.” 

However, junior Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood said a no-deal 

outcome must be ruled out. 

“It is wrong for government and business to invest any more time and money in a no-deal outcome which will make us poorer, weaker and smaller in the eyes of the world,” he was quoted as saying. 
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Syria Says Turkey Must Pull Troops to Revive Security Pact  

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Syria said Saturday that it was ready to revive a landmark security deal with Turkey that normalized ties for two decades before the 2011 conflict if Ankara pulled its troops out of the war-torn country and stopped backing rebels. 

 

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Syria said it was committed to the 1998 Adana accord, which forced Damascus to stop harboring the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades. 

 

“Syria remains committed to this accord and all the agreements relating to fighting terror in all its forms by the two countries,” said the Foreign Ministry statement, released on state media. 

 

Damascus, however, said reviving the Adana deal, which Russian President Vladimir Putin raised during his summit meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, depended on Ankara ending its backing of rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and pulling its troops out of northwestern Syria. 

 

Turkey has carved a sphere of influence in an opposition-held enclave in northwestern Syria around Idlib province with the help of mainstream Arab rebels whom it backs. 

 

Its troops monitor a buffer zone in the province under a deal with Russia and Iran. 

Countering U.S. move

 

Western diplomatic sources say the timing of Putin’s proposal to revive the Adana deal signaled a move to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent call to set up a safe zone along the border inside Syria to support the Kurds. 

 

Syria did not mention how it would deal with the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara says is an extension of the PKK. 

 

The YPG has during the conflict established a Kurdish-led authority that runs much of northern and eastern Syria and that governs millions of ethnic Arabs in former Islamic State territory where most of Syria’s oil wealth lies. 

 

The YPG have engaged in dialogue with government officials to safeguard their autonomous region when U.S. troops that back them pull out. 

 

In a speech on Friday, Erdogan, who has long called for the ousting of Assad and whose country hosts millions of Syrians who fled the war, did not disavow the Adana agreement, saying it gave Turkey the right to enter Syrian territory when it faces threats. 

 

Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population, sees Kurdish-controlled territory in Syria as a threat to its national security. It has repeatedly said it would not wait indefinitely to push out the YPG and that only it could establish the safe zone along its borders with Syria.  
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Germany to Phase Out Coal by 2038  

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A government-appointed commission laid out a plan Saturday for Germany to phase out coal use by 2038. 

 

The commission — made up of politicians, climate experts, union representatives and industry figures from coal regions — developed the plan under mounting pressure on Europe’s top economy to step up efforts to combat climate change.

“This is a historic day,” the commission’s head, Ronald Pofalla, said after 20 hours of negotiations.

The recommendations, which involve at least $45.6 billion in aid to coal-mining states affected by the move, must be reviewed by the German government and 16 regional states.

While some government officials lauded the report, energy provider RWE, which runs several coal-fired plants, said the 2038 cutoff date would be “way too early.”

Despite its reputation as a green country, Germany relies heavily on coal for its power needs, partly because of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to phase out nuclear power plants by 2022 in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Coal accounted for more than 30 percent of Germany’s energy mix in 2018 — significantly higher than the figures in most other European countries. 
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Pompeo Urges International Support for Venezuelan Opposition Leader

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the international community to support the Venezuelan people and recognize the interim government of opposition leader Juan Guaido as he stands up to disputed President Nicolas Maduro.

“Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side,” Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council during a rare Saturday morning session. “No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem.”

 

Several European governments, including Britain, Spain, Germany and France, said Saturday they would recognize the 35-year-old Guaido as president if no election is called within eight days.

The United States requested the Security Council meeting. Pompeo was accompanied by his newly appointed special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams.

 

Pompeo called the Maduro regime an “illegitimate mafia state” and criticized countries including Russia, China, Iran and Cuba for supporting him.

 

Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia shot back that regime change is “a favorite geopolitical game of the United States,” and he asked Secretary Pompeo directly whether the Trump administration plans to militarily intervene in Venezuela.

 

“Does that mean that the United States is ready to use military force against a sovereign state under a bogus pretext?” Nebenzia asked. “It is here in this room that we need to hear a clear answer: whether Washington intends once again to violate the U.N. Charter?”

 

Pompeo offered no response at the meeting and sidestepped a reporter’s question about it during a brief interaction with the press, saying he would not speculate on what the U.S. would do next.

 

Venezuela held presidential elections on May 20, 2018. Many voters boycotted, saying the polls were not free and fair. Several opposition members also were prevented from running. Incumbent president Maduro won with nearly 70 percent of the vote, but the results have been challenged both domestically and abroad. He was sworn in for a second six-year term on January 10.

On January 23, the democratically-elected National Assembly — which is controlled by the opposition — declared Maduro’s rule illegitimate. Invoking constitutional provisions, National Assembly leader Guaido declared himself interim president until there are new elections.

 

Maduro has accused Washington of instigating a coup d’état and told U.S. diplomats to leave the country. His foreign minister traveled to New York for the Security Council meeting.

 

Minister Jorge Arreaza told the council that despite Washington’s intervention and tweets from Secretary Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence that he said incited and support the opposition and urge security forces to defect from Maduro, his government is still willing to talk to Washington.

 

He also dismissed the eight-day deadline from the Europeans.

 

“Europe is giving us eight days?” Arreaza asked with incredulity. “Where do you get that you have the power to establish a deadline or ultimatum to a sovereign people?”

 

He also took a swipe at Washington for past interventions in Iraq and Libya and the Trump administration’s recent announcement that it will pull its small military force from Syria.

 

“You recall what happened with Saddam Hussein or [Moammar] Ghadafi. Despite all assurances, they were killed,” he noted. “The United States is withdrawing forces from Syria, are they going to try to start a new war in Latin America? In Venezuela? We are not going to give them that satisfaction.”

 

Several Latin American countries sent envoys to the meeting.

 

Peru, a Security Council member, said it has been directly affected by the exodus of some 3 million Venezuelans fleeing the violence and humanitarian crisis. It has received 700,000 refugees.

 

Colombia, which has taken in more than 1 million Venezuelans, sent its foreign minister.

 

Carlos Trujillo asked the council to help his country address the refugee crisis and support the delivery of humanitarian aid to Venezuela. He also appealed to the council to protect opposition leader Guiado and members of the national assembly. He urged new free and fair elections.

 

But other Latin American countries, including Bolivia and Cuba, came to express support for Maduro.

 

The United Nations political chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned council members that the situation is “cause for serious concern.”

 

“The protracted crisis in the country has had a grave impact on the population, with high levels of political polarization, growing humanitarian needs and serious human rights concerns,” DiCarlo said.

On Friday, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for talks to defuse the political tensions in Venezuela, saying that the situation “may rapidly spiral out of control with catastrophic consequences.”

Fern Robinson contributed to this report.

 
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US, EU Concerned About Suspension of Nigerian Judge Ahead of Elections

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The United States and European Union expressed concern Saturday about Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s suspension of the country’s top judge ahead of national elections.

The European Union’s Election Observation Mission in Nigeria said the decision to suspend the chief justice has lead Nigerians to question “whether due process was followed”.

“The timing, just before the swearing in of justices for electoral tribunals and the hearing of election-related cases, has also raised concerns about the opportunity for electoral justice,” the mission said in a statement.

Nigeria’s chief justice, Walter Onnoghen, could have ruled on any dispute of election results, which are widely expected in Nigeria’s 2019 elections, currently scheduled on February 16. The country’s judiciary has ruled on election disputes in the past – some of which were marred by violence and vote rigging.

President Buhari announced Friday that he would suspend Onnoghen, pending the resolution of a corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Buhari said he was acting in accordance with a ruling by the tribunal – a ruling which Onnoghen is challenging.

The U.S. and British embassies in Nigeria also released statements expressing concern over Buhari’s decision to suspend Justice Onnoghen, saying the decision was made “without the support of the legislative branch”.

“We urge that the issues raised by this decision be resolved swiftly and peacefully in accordance with due process, full respect for the rule of law, and the spirit of the Constitution of Nigeria. Such action is needed urgently now to ensure that this decision does not cast a pall over the electoral process,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the U.S. and British governments warned that they would deny visas to anyone who attempts to encourage or use violence to influence Nigeria’s elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari, elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption platform, is seeking a second term as the country’s leader. The opposition party said it would halt its election campaign for 72 hours to protest the decision to suspend the chief justice, Reuters reported.
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