Month: January 2019

Netflix Criticized for Using South Sudan Flag

Posted on by SeeAF

The very first image in Netflix’s new film Close is South Sudan’s flag billowing in the wind.

Shot in Morocco, the opening scene introduces the main character, a professional bodyguard named Sam, played by actress Noomi Rapce, who accompanies two journalists across war-torn terrain in a vehicle that is ambushed by armed men.

The scene is action-packed and lasts only 4½ minutes, but it has dominated heated discussion and sparked questions about why South Sudan’s flag was used. The country has been locked in a civil war since 2013.

“If you use people’s flag, you need to talk to them to see whether you are offending them, because it is not just about leadership, it’s not just about governments, it’s about people,” said Kuir Garang, a South Sudanese-Canadian novelist living in Alberta, Canada. 

Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

Garang said he feels the internet giant owes South Sudan an explanation.

“There are many people here in Canada, in Australia, in the U.S. who use that flag. And if that flag represents terrorism, or you know, mindless violence, and is seen on the cause of people, those people can easily be associated with terrorism,” he said.

Many people also expressed their concerns on Twitter.

South Sudanese native Malith Dak Gerich, who lives and works in South Korea, said moviemakers did not consider the fact that the South Sudanese flag was a lot more than a plot object to many observers around the world.

“Looking at the movie, I cannot even go through New York City wearing anything to do with the South Sudanese flag without [fear of being] attacked or something like that,” Dak said.

Garang said the larger issue is that the scene pushed a negative narrative about his country, and that Westerners should work harder to understand the context and the sensitivities of each country.

“I think people at Netflix should see that they have resources, moviemakers have resources, so what they should do is to put in resources into making research as to what is appropriate talk to the people,” he said.
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US Syrian Pullout Pushes Syrian Kurds Toward Damascus

Posted on by SeeEA

Talks between Syrian Kurdish forces and Damascus are seen as the latest repercussion from Washington’s decision to pull troops out of Syria. The talks could force Ankara to end its freeze in diplomatic relations with Damascus. Both developments are key objectives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin on Wednesday praised the Syrian Kurdish group, the PYD, for “establishing a dialogue between Damascus and representatives of the Kurds.”

Moscow has been lobbying the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, to sit down with Damascus in a bid to pry away the Kurdish groups from Washington’s influence.

Earlier this month, White House national security adviser John Bolton appealed to the YPG to refrain from dialogue with Damascus. “I think they know who their friends are,” Bolton said, referring to the Kurds.

The YPG’s allies in the U.S.-led war against Islamic State had largely resisted Moscow’s overtures. With American military backing, the Kurdish militia had taken control of a broad swath of Syria. However, U.S. President Donald Trump’s December decision to withdraw troops from Syria is seen as forcing the Kurdish militia to turn to Damascus.

“It’s the main driver, Washington’s decision to withdraw its military presence. It pushed the YPG or PYD to direct talks with Damascus,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen.

“We also see press reports one of the top YPG commanders flew to Moscow for talks,” he added. “The decision by the U.S. to withdraw has changed the whole ball game. All [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad has to do is to wait for the U.S. to leave for the YPG to fall into his lap.”

With as much as one-fifth of Syrian territory under Syrian militia control, Damascus will be accommodating to Syrian Kurdish groups, according to international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“At the moment the Syrians have learned lessons from the past, of how counterproductive it is to crack down on the Kurds,” said Bagci. “They will negotiate with the Kurds. The Russians are also there, putting the Syrian regime and the Kurds together. I think Turkey will be excluded.”

Ankara considers the YPG and PYD terrorist organizations as linked to an insurgency inside Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to launch a military strike against YPG-controlled Syrian territory bordering Turkey. Turkish forces remain massed along the frontier.

Analysts say a deal between the YPG and Damascus could thwart a military strike. Putin appeared to make a gesture to Erdogan, though, at a joint press conference Wednesday after talks in Moscow. The Russian president claimed a 1998 Syrian-Turkish counterterrorism agreement was still active.

Adana agreement

The so-called Adana agreement allows Turkish counterterrorism operations in Syria against the Kurdish rebel group PKK, which has been waging a decades-long war against Turkey. Ankara claims the YPG and PYD are affiliated with the PKK.

“It’s definitely a gesture by Putin. Many people will be surprised he [Putin] mentioned this,” said Selcen. The catch for Ankara is that for the Adana agreement to work, it requires Turkey to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus.

“Putin is playing chess with Turkey, trying to get Ankara to start talking with Assad,” said Bagci. Moscow is working to end Damascus’ diplomatic isolation.

Erdogan severed ties with Syria at the start of the Syrian civil war and vowed diplomatic relations would not be restored while Assad remained in power. With Putin resurrecting the Adana agreement, however, that could facilitate a softening in Ankara’s stance.

“Definitely for Adana to work, you need diplomatic ties,” said Aydin. “Turkish Foreign Minister [Mevlut] Cavusoglu indicated there is indirect contact with Damascus and Ankara, and it may now realize it’s high time to get in touch with Damascus directly. However, the problem is [that] in diplomacy, one should not paint oneself into a corner, and I am afraid Ankara did this with Syria.”

Erdogan has heavily played the anti-Assad card in domestic politics to whip up his conservative Islamic base, which strongly backs the Syrian rebel opposition.

“Sooner or later, Turkey will have to have talks with Bashar al-Assad, but the problem is how to convince the Turkish public,” said Bagci. “But Erdogan is a very pragmatic man. He can do this. He can say, ‘Yesterday it was like this, but today we have changed our minds. Let us look to the future, and we can have economic and security gains,’ and no one will oppose.”

Complicating matters for Erdogan: In March there are key local elections across Turkey. In addition, restoring relations with Damascus could put Ankara on a collision course with Washington, which continues to lobby for Syria’s isolation.

“To restart negotiations with Damascus is a difficult political step [for Turkey],” said Selcen.

 

“But the clock is ticking for Turkey, because the UAE, Saudi Arabia, are going back to Damascus, along with the Arab League, so that Turkey could find itself out of step. But Mr. Erdogan is a popular leader. Perhaps Erdogan might wait and see how his party does in March’s local elections, and perhaps we could see a thaw in relations with Syria.”
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Venezuela Crisis: Familiar Geopolitical Sides Take Shape

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Russia, China, Iran, Syria and Cuba have come down on one side. The United States, Canada, and countries in Western Europe are on the other.

As the crisis in Venezuela reaches a new boiling point — with embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro facing a challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido — the geopolitical fault lines look familiar.

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued statements Wednesday proclaiming U.S. recognition of Guaido, saying the U.S. would take all diplomatic and economic measures necessary to support a transition to a new government. Canada said it was recognizing Guaido as the interim president, and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called him “the right person” to take Venezuela forward.

But Washington’s adversaries are issuing warnings against U.S. intervention. Russian officials have called the move a “coup” orchestrated by the U.S.

The U.S. and Russia already are at odds over Syria’s civil war, and the Venezuelan crisis has the potential to add further strain. Russian-U.S. ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over Moscow’s support of separatists in Ukraine and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

“We view the attempt to usurp power in Venezuela as something that contradicts and violates the foundations and principles of international law,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin calls Maduro

In a phone call with Maduro, President Vladimir Putin expressed support, noting that “destructive foreign interference tramples on basic norms of the international law,” and called for a peaceful dialogue, according to the Kremlin.

Venezuela’s status as a major oil producer — it has the world’s largest underground oil reserves, but crude production continues to crash — means its political instability has deep implications globally.

And Russia has taken a special interest. Last month, Russia sent two Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela for several days in what was seen as a precursor for a possible long-term military presence.

Pompeo criticized the move at the time as “two corrupt governments squandering public funds and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer. Peskov dismissed the comment as “undiplomatic” and “inappropriate,” saying that half of the U.S. military budget “would be enough to feed the whole of Africa.”

Crisis at a ‘dangerous point’

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday the crisis now “has reached a dangerous point” and urged the international community to mediate between the government and the opposition.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev even injected some domestic U.S. politics into the equation, citing the partial government shutdown and the differences between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Let’s imagine, just for an instant, how the American people would respond, for example, to the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives declaring herself the new president against the backdrop of the budget crisis and government shutdown,” Medvedev said on Facebook. “What would be the reaction from the current U.S. president, especially if this move was supported by the leadership of another country, for example, Russia?”

Russia frequently decries popular uprisings like the “color revolutions” that have taken place in Ukraine, Georgia and other countries in its former sphere of influence.

Warning from China

China’s Foreign Ministry also sternly urged against interference by Washington in Venezuela. Beijing’s allies, including Iran and Syria, followed suit.

China “opposes external intervention in Venezuela,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.  “We hope that Venezuela and the United States can respect and treat each other on an equal footing, and deal with their relations based on non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”

In the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment. Venezuela owes it more than $20 billion.  China’s only hope of being repaid appears to lie in Venezuela ramping up oil production, although low oil prices and the country’s crashing economy appear to bode poorly for such an outcome.

 

Russia’s Rosneft heavily invested  

 

The Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft has invested heavily in Venezuela, and its chief executive, Igor Sechin, visited Caracas in November, pressuring the Maduro government to make good on its commitments to his company. Russia, a major oil producer itself, has been buying oil from the state-run Venezuelan company PDVSA, and Sechin reportedly went to Caracas to raise concerns about Venezuela halting oil supplies.

Russia is estimated to have poured in at least $17 billion in Venezuela in loans and investment since Maduro’s populist predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power in 1999. The Economic Development Ministry said Russia has invested around $4 billion in Venezuela, mostly in joint oil projects.

Asked if Russia would be willing to grant asylum to Maduro, the Kremlin spokesman Peskov refused to speculate and insisted that Moscow views Maduro as the only legitimate leader. Maduro visited Moscow in early December, seeking political and economic assistance as Venezuela has faced sky-high inflation and food shortages.

Shared dislike of U.S.

For Iran, its relationship with Venezuela hinges on their mutual enmity toward the U.S. 

Chavez traveled to Iran in 2006 and received the country’s Islamic Republic Medal, its highest award, from hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called Chavez a “brother and a trench mate.” Chavez vowed Venezuela would “stay by Iran at any time and under any condition.” Both leaders faced criticism from then-U.S. President George W. Bush and offered their own withering criticism of him.

After Maduro took power upon Chavez’s death in 2013, Iran has maintained its support of Venezuela. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi criticized the U.S. and other countries over meddling in Venezuela.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the government and people of Venezuela against any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela or any other illegitimate and illegal measure such as a coup d’etat,” Ghasemi said.

Turkey offers support

Strong endorsement for the current Venezuelan government also came from Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message of support: “My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side.”

Turkey also has cultivated close economic and political ties with Maduro. During a visit to Venezuela in December, Erdogan blamed U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic hardships.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey, under Erdogan, would “maintain its principled stance against coup attempts.” Erdogan himself faced a military coup attempt in 2016.

‘Full solidarity’ from Syria

Syria also came to the defense of Maduro’s government.

Damascus reaffirmed its “full solidarity with the leadership and people of the Venezuelan Republic in preserving the country’s sovereignty and foiling the American administration’s hostile plans,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said Havana “expresses its unwavering solidarity” with the Maduro government. Cuba has sent its closest ally tens of thousands of workers, from doctors to intelligence officials, and in return has received tens of thousands of barrels a day in heavily subsidized oil.

 

                  
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Report: Many Killed as US-backed Syrian Fighters, IS Clash

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Members of the Islamic State group failed Thursday to break a siege imposed by U.S.-backed fighters in the last area they control in Syria, leading to fierce fighting that inflicted casualties on both sides, Syrian opposition activists said. 

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Deir el-Zour 24, an activist collective, said the fighting was concentrated west of the eastern village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border that the extremists lost earlier this week. 

 

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured most of the area that was once controlled by IS on the east banks of the Euphrates River and the extremists now control only two villages. More than 20,000 civilians have fled the IS-held area and hundreds of militants have surrendered since SDF began its offensive on Sept. 10.   

The extremists are likely to lose the areas they control in Deir el-Zour in the coming few weeks as SDF fighters press their offensive under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. 

 

Rami Abdurrahman, the observatory’s chief, said Thursday’s fighting left 34 militants and 16 SDF fighters dead. He added that 21 IS gunmen had been taken prisoners. 

 

Deir el-Zour 24 confirmed fighters from both sides had been killed, without giving numbers.  

  

Earlier Thursday, a bomb exploded in the capital, Damascus, causing property damage but no casualties, Syrian state media reported. 

 

Syrian TV said the explosive had been placed inside a car in the Adawi neighborhood. The Russian Embassy is located several hundred meters away.  

  

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. 

Latakia blast

 

The bombing came two days after an explosion at a busy intersection in the coastal city of Latakia killed a civilian and wounded 14 others. 

 

Last week, a bomb also exploded in Damascus without inflicting casualties. 

 

The Syrian capital has been relatively safe since government forces last year captured all rebel-held neighborhoods and suburbs of Damascus.   

  

Also on Thursday, in the northern town of al-Bab, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, a motorcycle rigged with explosives blew up in the town’s center. At least one person was killed and 11 wounded, according to the observatory. 

 

The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, said the blast killed three and wounded 12. 
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South Sudan Resumes Oil Production in Former Unity State

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Oil is again being pumped from fields in South Sudan’s former Unity state, five years after production was halted because of fighting between government soldiers and rebels.

Awow Daniel Chuang, director general of the Petroleum Authority, which is part of the South Sudan Petroleum Ministry, said production resumed in parts of the state at the end of 2018, after workers repaired several oilfields that were damaged during clashes.

“We are also working to resume the rest of the fields, because we have five fields in that area. So now we have two fields that are already on and the rest of the field which are Amanga, Naar, and then Alhar will be coming on board very soon,” Chuang told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.

He says production is still limited to around 20,000 barrels of oil per day in the state.

Oil exports were expected to make up most of South Sudan’s foreign revenue when the country won independence from Sudan in 2011. But the civil war that broke out at the end of 2013 brought oil production to a near-complete halt.

Chuang said once a new power plant opens in Juba, it will enable the government to increase oil production to 60,000 barrels per day by year’s end.

“If we have enough power, then we can open more, and when we open more, we should be expecting more oil from Unity,” Chuang added.

Energy shortages along with a limited capacity at Khartoum’s oil refinery affects the amount of crude oil being extracted in former Unity state according to Chuang.

“The crude oil quality being produced in block 5A is quite limited, not because it is technically limited, but it is being limited by Khartoum refinery, because Khartoum refinery does not accommodate a quality of crude oil that is very heavy,” said Chuang.

South Sudan loses a significant amount of crude during the extraction process, but Chuang said the government plans to utilize “enhanced oil recovery technology” that should increase the oil recovery rate and production.

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Malaysia’s Petronas and China National Petroleum Corporation or CNPC all have stakes in South Sudanese oil fields.

 
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DR Congo Celebrates New President, Keeps Sharp Eye on Ex

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All eyes were on Felix Tshisekedi as he was sworn in as new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.  And he knew it, taking an unscheduled break to leave the stage because he felt, as he said, exhausted by the long election campaign and the emotion of this occasion.

For the more than 80 million people of this vast, mineral rich nation, this was more than just pomp and ceremony. His swearing in on Thursday represents the first peaceful transition of power in six decades — a historic occasion for a nation long beset by conflict, instability and rough-and-tumble, winner-takes-all politics.

But does it represent a real change? That depends who you ask.

Kabila’s endorsement

On Wednesday, outgoing President Joseph Kabila, who has held power for 18 years, urged the nation to accept their new leader.  “It is also symbolic of the growing crystallization of democratic culture in our country that the lucky elected official, the beneficiary of this historic alternation as the head of the state, came from the opposition party,” he said on national television.

But Tshisekedi’s election comes with great controversy — he was declared the winner over objections by opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, who says he actually won the December poll. The influential Catholic Church backed that claim. Fayulu supporters protested earlier this week after his bid for a recount was rejected by the nation’s highest court.

Now, as Tshisekedi takes the helm, his critics say they are want to see the new president step up. Pro-democracy activist Sylvain Saluseke, a member of the Lucha youth organization, watched the proceedings from the sidelines, in Johannesburg, as his activism has put him in self-imposed exile for nearly four years.

He said that while he’s not entirely satisfied with how the poll played out, he has high hopes for Tshisekedi.

“I think he has an opportunity to express himself, at least to show — he has shown in the past that he tends to be consensual, or listen to his base,’ as he calls it,” he told VOA. “If that is how he is going to run the country, he will not only have to listen to as many people as possible, because people will try to control him, but I think he needs to be able to show us that he’s a president that is able to take decisions and stand by them.”

But Kabila, who will continue in politics as president of the Senate, may not be far behind. He will be Tshisekedi’s biggest challenge, says analyst Stephanie Wolters of the Institute for Security Studies.

“He doesn’t have to cede a whole lot of power,” she told VOA. “He will become a senator, so he will be influential in the senate. He will still be the president of the largest coalition, political coalition, in the country, with a parliamentary majority, and a grip on the provincial assembly, the 26 provincial assemblies, and on those governors.”

Saluseke agreed.

“We know that the elephant in the room is Kabila,” he said. “Kabila was, Kabila hasn’t left. And as long as Kabila is still in the country and still in the deal, he will still be controlling everything and that’s how we are optimistic about the country, but about Felix Tshisekedi’s presidency, he has work to do.”
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DRC Celebrates New President, Keeps Sharp Eye on Old One

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After a contentious, chaotic election, the Democratic Republic of Congo inaugurated a new president on Thursday. Felix Tshisekedi’s inauguration, while disputed and controversial, is the first peaceful transfer of power that independent Congo has ever seen. But is it really a new start? Analysts say no. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg.
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US Urges OAS to Recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s Legitimate Ruler

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The United States is rallying nations in the Western Hemisphere to continue the push to isolate Venezuela’s disputed president Nicolas Maduro, as an increasing number of countries declared their support for National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the country’s leader.

But the international dispute over the country’s leadership appeared to deepen Thursday, with China and Russia voicing support for Maduro’s embattled government. Russia’s deputy foreign minister warned the United States that the Kremlin continues to back Maduro and the principle of non-interference in Venezuela’s domestic affairs.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his remarks to the Organization of American States (OAS) on Thursday, urged all members to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s leader and pledge support for Venezuela’s democratic transition.

 

“All OAS member states must align themselves with democracy and respect for the rule of law,” said the top U.S. diplomat.

 

“All member states who have committed to uphold the Inter-American Democratic Charter must now recognize the interim president. The time for debate is done. The regime of former President Nicolas Maduro is illegitimate. His regime is morally bankrupt, economically incompetent and it is profoundly corrupt. It is undemocratic to the core,” added Pompeo.

 

Guaido, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself interim president during a day of mass demonstrations a day earlier.

 

The crisis in the South American country escalated Wednesday after President Maduro announced he was ending diplomatic relations with the United States, in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was officially recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader.

US diplomats expulsed

Maduro has ordered all personnel at the U.S. Embassy to leave the country within 72 hours. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, says Maduro no longer has the authority to do so.

On Thursday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino allied with Maduro, calling him the country’s “legitimate president” and disavowing Guaido’s declaration as the leader. Padrino said the opposition was carrying out a coup.

 

At the OAS, Pompeo warned of any violence against Venezuelan people by security forces, calling the military to support democracy and protect the citizens.

 

The chief American diplomat announced the U.S. would provide more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela, funding food supplies and relieving the dire impact caused by the economic crisis.

 

Trump bluntly warned Maduro that “all options are on the table” if there is not a peaceful transition to democracy in the South American country.

More sanctions possible

 

White House officials emphasized that Trump is not ruling out any response, such as a naval blockade or other military action, if Maduro unleashes violence against protesters or takes action against Guaido.

 

The most immediate action by Washington likely would be enhanced sanctions against members of Maduro’s government.

 

“In our sanctions, we’ve barely scratched the surface on what actions the United States can take,” said a senior administration official.

 

Several nations have joined the U.S. in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, including Canada and 11 of the 14 members of the newly formed Lima Group of Latin nations, among them Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Peru.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron called Venezuela’s elections “illegitimate” in a Tweet on Thursday, and saluted the bravery of Venezuelans demanding freedom.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday the situation in Venezuela could descend into “disaster” if the country’s main political rivals fail to reach an agreement.

 

Speaking Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Guterres said the U.N. hopes “dialogue can be possible, and that we avoid an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster” for the people of Venezuela and the region.

 

Warnings from Russia, China

 

But officials in Russia, one of Venezuela’s biggest allies, reacted with anger Thursday at the United States and other Western nations for backing Guaido, accusing them of interfering in its internal affairs. Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned the United States against any military intervention, saying such a move would have “catastrophic” consequences.

 

China urged the United States to stay out of the crisis. Beijing and Moscow have extensive economic interests, having loaned Caracas billions of dollars.

 

Bolivia, Cuba, Iran and Syria also have issued statements throwing their support behind Maduro.

 

The three member nations of the Lima Group that have not supported Guaido are Guyana, Saint Lucia and Mexico.

“From a constitutional, humanitarian, and democratic perspective — and according to international law — there was no option left for the United States and the international community but to recognize Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela,” Moises Rendon, associate director and associate fellow of the CSIS Americas Program, told VOA.

 

Venezuela and its state-owned oil company, PDVSA, are estimated to owe $7 billion on a combined trade debt of about $60 billion. The country’s oil-based economy, which is wracked by hyperinflation, has collapsed.
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Chefs, Truck Drivers Beware: AI Is Coming for Your Jobs

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Robots aren’t replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of existing work, according to a new Brookings Institution report.

The report, published Thursday, says roughly 36 million Americans hold jobs with “high exposure” to automation — meaning at least 70 percent of their tasks could soon be performed by machines using current technology. Among those most likely to be affected are cooks, waiters and others in food services; short-haul truck drivers; and clerical office workers.

“That population is going to need to upskill, reskill or change jobs fast,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings and lead author of the report.

Muro said the timeline for the changes could be “a few years or it could be two decades.” But it’s likely that automation will happen more swiftly during the next economic downturn. Businesses are typically eager to implement cost-cutting technology as they lay off workers.

Some economic studies have found similar shifts toward automating production happened in the early part of previous recessions — and may have contributed to the “jobless recovery” that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

But with new advances in artificial intelligence, it’s not just industrial and warehouse robots that will alter the American workforce. Self-checkout kiosks and computerized hotel concierges will do their part.

Most jobs will change somewhat as machines take over routine tasks, but a majority of U.S. workers will be able to adapt to that shift without being displaced.

The changes will hit hardest in smaller cities, especially those in the heartland and Rust Belt and in states like Indiana and Kentucky, according to the report by the Washington think tank. They will also disproportionately affect the younger workers who dominate food services and other industries at highest risk for automation.

Some chain restaurants have already shifted to self-ordering machines; a handful have experimented with robot-assisted kitchens.

Google this year is piloting the use of its digital voice assistant at hotel lobbies to instantly interpret conversations across a few dozen languages. Autonomous vehicles could replace short-haul delivery drivers. Walmart and other retailers are preparing to open cashier-less stores powered by in-store sensors or cameras with facial recognition technology.

“Restaurants will be able to get along with significantly reduced workforces,” Muro said. “In the hotel industry, instead of five people manning a desk to greet people, there’s one and people basically serve themselves.”

Many economists find that automation has an overall positive effect on the labor market, said Matias Cortes, an assistant professor at York University in Toronto who was not involved with the Brookings report. It can create economic growth, reduce prices and increase demand while also creating new jobs that make up for those that disappear.

But Cortes said there’s no doubt there are “clear winners and losers.” In the recent past, those hardest hit were men with low levels of education who dominated manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs, and women with intermediate levels of education who dominated clerical and administrative positions.

In the future, the class of workers affected by automation could grow as machines become more intelligent. The Brookings report analyzed each occupation’s automation potential based on research by the McKinsey management consulting firm. Those jobs that remain largely unscathed will be those requiring not just advanced education, but also interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.

“These high-paying jobs require a lot of creativity and problem-solving,” Cortes said. “That’s going to be difficult for new technologies to replace.”

 
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Digital Media Firm BuzzFeed Cutting 15 Percent of Jobs

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Digital media company BuzzFeed is cutting 15 percent of its jobs, or about 200 people, to trim costs and become profitable.

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote employees Wednesday that the layoffs will help BuzzFeed avoid having to raise money from investors again.

The privately held company has not been profitable for several years. It has raised hundreds of millions from such investors as Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

The New York company is best known for its viral posts and quizzes and has a well-regarded news division.

Many digital media companies have cut jobs or sold off in recent years as Facebook and Google gobble up the bulk of digital advertising dollars. Verizon also said Wednesday it is cutting about 800 jobs in its media division, which includes Yahoo and HuffPost.
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Greece Postpones Vote on Macedonia Deal

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A vote in Greece’s parliament to end a name dispute with neighboring Macedonia, set to take place late Thursday, has been pushed back to Friday.

A deal reached between the two countries last year would have Macedonia change its name to North Macedonia in exchange for Greece allowing Macedonia’s bid to join NATO.

Macedonia’s parliament backed the constitutional amendment to change its name, but for the deal to be complete, the changes must also be passed by Greece’s parliament.

The vote, initially scheduled to be held after midnight Thursday, was pushed back several hours to Friday to accommodate the large number of Greek lawmakers who wished to speak on the issue before the balloting.

The announcement on the delay came as protesters from the Greek Communist Party draped giant banners outside the Acropolis which read “No to the Tsipras-Zaev agreement.”

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, have reportedly been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for their agreement last year to move to end one of the world’s longest diplomatic disputes – which began in 1991 when Macedonia split from Yugoslavia.

But Greeks have been divided over the accord, in which Macedonia will change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Some Greeks say the new name still represents an attempt to appropriate Greek identity and cultural heritage, because Macedonia is also the name of Greece’s northern province made famous by Alexander the Great’s conquests.

The agreement has led Tsipras to lose his four-year coalition in parliament after his nationalist allies defected to protest the deal. Following the upheaval, Tsipras narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament Wednesday.

The agreement has also caused protests in Macedonia, with critics there saying the government gave up too much in the deal.
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Cameroon Struggles to Aid IDPs in Anglophone Separatist Areas

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Cameroon is struggling to get humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of people who fled areas of separatist unrest, some of them trapped by the fighting. Meanwhile, authorities’ calls for separatists to disarm and be pardoned are failing as rehabilitation centers remain empty.

A group of twelve kids gather water in the early morning hours in Cameroon’s capital.

Forty-five-year old Gwendoline Ndum took in the children a few weeks ago after they fled her home town of Mbengwi.

Many of the kids had walked for days in the bush to escape fighting between Cameroon security and anglophone separatists.

Ndum says some of the children can’t find their parents, and she couldn’t let them live on the streets, but the burden is becoming too much.

She says she can no longer afford to pay the water and electricity bills or buy chicken, meat or fish.  A 50-kilogram bag of rice hardly lasts for two weeks, says Ndum, because they eat only rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Cameroon’s government this week said it was assisting more than 60,000 internally displaced people in the separatist areas – the English-speaking northwest and southwest.

But the United Nations estimates that over 430,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.

Cameroon authorities say they are unable to reach most of the displaced in need because many have fled to remote areas and are trapped by ongoing fighting.

Most independent help is limited to government-controlled areas.

A woman prays for peace as about a hundred displaced people help the aid group Voice of the Voiceless collect donations of food, clothing, and bedding.

The group’s Christian Chindo Ngong says the displaced are helping each other because they know what it’s like to have nothing.  He says Cameroon’s government must also do more to help – it should end the conflict.

“The government should listen to the people, organize a dialogue, I mean an inclusive dialogue, so that we can see the end of this thing.  Because no matter what we give the people, it can never make them happy. The only happiness that these people can achieve is to see their homes again.”

Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji says rehabilitation centers set up for separatists who agree to disarm and be pardoned had opened their doors and were waiting.

“We have to respect the instructions from President Paul Biya that when you lay down your weapons, you are taken to the centers, you are provided health facilities, you have psychologists who are there to start educating the population, and we have training facilities in those centers.”

But so far, not a single rebel has taken up the offer.  The rehabilitation centers in the English-speaking southwestern town of Buea and in the capital Yaounde are empty.

In a WhatsApp interview with VOA, separatist fighter Edward Ngafin – who refused to say where he was – described the rehab centers as a trap.

He says he will not go to a government rehabilitation center and can never advise any separatist fighter to listen to any promise made by the government of Cameroon.  Ngafin says he does not understand how a government that he describes as always tormenting English-speakers will suddenly claim that it cares and that it will recruit everyone.

Cameroon’s separatist conflict broke out in 2017 amid protests against Francophone domination in English-speaking regions.  Some took up arms and declared they would become an independent nation called Ambazonia.

President Biya sent in the military and vowed to crush all those who refuse to disarm, saying the country’s unity cannot be negotiated.
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Chris Brown Accuser Alleges Multiple Rapes, Lawyer Says

Posted on by SeeEU

The lawyer for a woman who filed a rape complaint in Paris against American singer Chris Brown and two other men says she was raped four times during a drug-fueled party.

Police questioned Brown and the others before releasing them from custody without charges Tuesday. The Paris prosecutor’s office says the investigation hasn’t been closed.

 

Lawyer Franck Serfati told The Associated Press on Thursday the woman alleges she was forced to take cocaine and raped by the three men at a Paris hotel.

 

Brown’s legal representative in France, Raphael Chiche, didn’t immediately respond to several calls and messages seeking comment.

 

Chiche tweeted Wednesday he was preparing a defamation complaint that “(hash)ChrisBrown will file against his accuser.”

 

The Associated Press identifies people making sexual assault allegations who agree to be named. Serfati’s client requested anonymity.

 

 
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Europe Court Orders Italy to Pay Damages to Amanda Knox

Posted on by SeeEU

Europe’s human rights court on Thursday ordered Italy to pay Amanda Knox financial damages for police failure to provide legal assistance and a translator during a long night of questioning following the Nov. 1, 2007 murder of her British roommate. But the court said there was insufficient evidence to support claims of psychological and physical mistreatment at the hands of police.

The European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, France, said in its ruling that Italy hadn’t succeeded in proving that “the restriction of Ms. Knox’s access to a lawyer… had not irreparably undermined the fairness of the proceedings as a whole.” It ordered damages that Italy must pay Knox 18,400 euros ($20,000) in damages, costs and expenses.

 

“Ms. Knox had been particularly vulnerable, being a foreign young woman, 20 at the time, not having been in Italy for very long and not being fluent in Italian,” the court noted.

 

After more than seven years of legal battles and flip-flop decisions, Knox, now 31, was definitively acquitted of Meredith Kercher’s murder by Italy’s highest court in March 2015,  but a damaging conviction for falsely accusing a Congolese bar owner of the murder was confirmed, leaving a cloud over her acquittal.

 

It was during questioning in the wee hours of Nov. 6, 2007 that Knox accused Patrick Lumumba, the owner of a bar where she sometimes worked, of the murder. Knox’s defense had long claimed that the accusation was coerced.  The court noted she had quickly and repeatedly retracted the statement, citing a hand-written statement on the afternoon of Nov. 6, 2007, another for her lawyers three days later and in a wiretapped call to her mother on Nov. 10, 2007.

 

Knox’s defense attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said the decision “is not a big surprise for me because the supreme court already said there were many mistakes. That is one of the reasons that invited us to tell Amanda to go to Strasbourg.”

 

“For me this is a certification of a mistake, probably the biggest legal mistake in the last years in Italy, also because the attention that this case has had,” Dalla Vedova said. He said he was considering whether to challenge the standing conviction for malicious false accusations.

 

“It is impossible to compensate Amanda for four years in prison for a mistake. There will be no amount. We are not looking for compensation of damages. We are doing this on principal,” he said.

 

The sensational murder of 21-year-old Kercher attracted global attention, especially after suspicion fell on Knox, and Knox’s then-Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Kercher was found nude under a blanket, with her throat slit. While Knox and her former boyfriend were initially convicted in Kercher’s slaying and handed hefty sentences, both were eventually acquitted.

 

An Ivorian immigrant is serving a 16-year sentence for the murder.

 

 
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Iranian TV Anchor Held as Witness Released from US Jail

Posted on by SeeEA

A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television who was held in the U.S. as a material witness was released from jail Wednesday evening. 

Marzieh Hashemi, 59, was released from jail in Washington after being detained for 10 days, according to Abed Ayoub, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Hashemi, who works for the Press TV network’s English-language service, was detained by federal agents Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son said. She was then transported to Washington and had remained behind bars since then.

No details on role as witness

Hashemi appeared at least twice before a U.S. District judge in Washington, and court papers said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury. Court documents did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness.

Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be detained if the government can prove that their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed.

Obligation fulfilled

A person familiar with the matter said Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Hashemi is a U.S. citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the U.S., her son said.

Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, “We don’t have any information along those lines.”

He didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday. 

Heightened tensions

Marzieh Hashemi’s detention comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal. Iran also faces increasing criticism of its own arrests of dual citizens and other people with Western ties.

Earlier Wednesday, dozens of activists protested outside the federal courthouse in Washington, where Hashemi was scheduled to appear before the grand jury. They held signs and chanted, “Free, free, Marzieh!” and “Shame, shame, USA!”
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Fight for Gender Equality at U.N. Faces Resistance, Report Says

Posted on by SeeUS

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has inched up slightly in the eyes of women’s groups who said on Wednesday he has delivered on some promises to make the global organization a feminist institution but faces a major backlash and resistance.

The Feminist U.N. Campaign, a coalition of women’s rights groups, advocates and U.N. staff, gave him a grade of B-, up from the C+ it gave him a year ago.

The coalition launched its report card after the secretary-general said he would be a feminist leader when he took office two years ago.

Global movement

In that time, the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and assault has become a global movement.

Guterres has promoted women’s rights and equality publicly, sought gender parity in leadership and rolled out efforts against sexual harassment and gender-based violence, the report said.

But an internal backlash and bureaucracy threaten his progress. His efforts to make structural changes have met “considerable resistance” from staff and member states that resist women’s rights, it said.

Lyric Thompson, an author of the report and a director at the Washington-based International Center for Research on Women, said she thinks Guterres has “a genuine intent and interest in being a champion” of women’s rights.

“The question is can he do everything in his power to be a feminist leader who enables that transformation and who makes it the new normal?” she said to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The U.N. is “years away” from being a feminist institution, and attitudes of immunity and privilege operate to scuttle equality efforts, she said.

Just last week, a U.N. survey showed one third of its staff and contractors experienced sexual harassment in the past two years.

More than 30,000 people answered the survey, complaining of offensive jokes, remarks and sexual stories and of being touched in ways that made them uncomfortable.

The U.N. has tried to increase transparency and strengthen how it deals with such accusations over the past few years after a string of sexual exploitation and abuse accusations against U.N. peacekeepers in Africa.

The head of the U.N. agency for HIV and AIDS is stepping down in June, six months before his term ends, after an independent panel said his “defective leadership” tolerated “a culture of harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying, and abuse of power.”

‘Considerable progress’

The secretary-general’s office said it was pleased that the women’s groups saw improvement in Guterres’ handling of gender issues and agreed that more needs to be dome.

“At the same time, we believe the secretary-general has achieved considerable progress within the complex U.N. system at achieving real reforms to make the U.N. a better workplace for women and men alike,” his office said.

Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, was sworn in December 2016 after a campaign in which many countries urged selection of a woman. The U.N. has not been headed by a woman since its creation in 1945.
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N. Korea’s Kim Expresses ‘Satisfaction’ With Trump Letter 

Posted on by SeeUS

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has expressed “great satisfaction” after receiving a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang’s state media reported Thursday. 

 

Kim is making “good technical preparations” for the meeting, the official KCNA news agency said, in the isolated nation’s first comments on the talks scheduled for next month. 

 

The letter was handed to Kim by one of his right-hand men, Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last week as the two countries seek a denuclearization accord that could ease decades of hostility. 

‘Great interest’ in second meeting

 

“[Kim] spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-U.S. summit,” KCNA said, referring to the North by its official initialism. 

 

The strongman said North Korea will “believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump” as the countries advance “step by step” toward their goals, the agency added.  

 

On Saturday, Trump said a location for the summit has been decided, without giving more details. 

 

However, a Vietnamese government source told AFP “logistical preparations” were under way to host the encounter, most likely in the capital, Hanoi, or coastal city of Danang. 

 

The White House has confirmed the summit will go ahead in February.  

The pair first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” 

 

But progress stalled soon afterward as Pyongyang and Washington — which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea — disagree over what that means. 

 

The United States expects Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal, doggedly built by the Kim dynasty despite sanctions and nationwide famines. 

 

Regime survival

Kim, whose family has brutally ruled North Korea for three generations, is seeking guarantees of the regime’s survival as well as relief from biting U.N. sanctions. 

 

Analysts say that a second summit has to make tangible progress on the issue of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons if it is to avoid being dismissed as “reality TV.”
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Police: 5 Fatally Shot Inside Florida Bank, Suspect Arrested

Posted on by SeeUS

A gunman opened fire inside a Florida bank Wednesday afternoon, killing five people before surrendering to negotiators, police said.

Zephen Xaver, 21, was arrested after the shooting at a Sebring SunTrust Bank branch, Sebring police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a news conference.

“Today’s been a tragic day in our community,” Hogland said. “We’ve suffered significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.”

The victims were not immediately identified.

A man called police dispatch Wednesday afternoon to report that he had fired shots inside the bank, Hoglund said. Initial negotiations to get the barricaded man to leave the bank were unsuccessful, so the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team entered the bank to continue negotiations, and the man eventually surrendered. 

Police didn’t say what charges Xaver would face or indicate a motive.

Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the region for an infrastructure tour and traveled to Sebring after news of the shooting broke. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would assist Sebring police and the Highlands sheriff in any way possible.

“Obviously, this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice,” DeSantis said of the gunman.

SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers released a statement saying the bank is deeply saddened by the tragic shooting.

“We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved,” Rogers said. “Our entire team mourns this terrible loss.”
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Far-right Lawmakers Walk out of Holocaust Tribute in Bavaria

Posted on by SeeEA

More than a dozen lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany have walked out of the Bavarian state parliament during a tribute to Holocaust victims after a prominent Jewish leader accused their party of playing down the crimes of the Nazis.

The state lawmakers stood up and walked out Wednesday after Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and former head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, called them out by name, saying “this so-called Alternative for Germany bases its politics on hate and marginalization.”

Knobloch called them a party that “has downplayed the crimes of the Nazis and has close connections to the extreme right.”

Lawmakers from other parties rose and gave her a standing ovation.

The AfD, which first entered the Bavarian parliament last year, had no immediate comment.
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Italy Accuses France of ‘Impoverishing Africa’ As Migration Tensions Erupt

Posted on by SeeEU

A diplomatic spat between Italy and France over migration to Europe is a likely forerunner of coming political battles in the run-up to European Parliament elections, according to analysts.

Paris summoned the Italian ambassador this week after Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio accused France of “impoverishing African countries.”

“If today we still have people leaving Africa, it is due to several European countries, first of all France, that didn’t finish colonizing Africa,” Di Maio told reporters Sunday.

“The European Union should sanction all those countries, like France, that are impoverishing African countries and obliging those people to leave. The place for African people is Africa and not at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea,” he added. “If we want to stem the departures (of migrants), let’s start addressing this issue, let’s start coping with it also within the United Nations, not only at the European Union level. Italy has to make itself heard.” 

Di Maio said France was manipulating the economies of 14 African countries that use the CFA franc, a currency underwritten by the French Treasury and pegged to the Euro.

​Analyst Luigi Scazzieri of the Center For European Reform says while there is opposition to the CFA franc in some African countries, Di Maio’s accusations are misleading.

“Now there’s two reasons for that. One of them being that at the moment the latest data suggests they (migrants) are not from countries using the CFA franc. And the second point is that in any case, if countries remain poor, migration is actually lower,” Scazzieri told VOA.

The latest EU figures show that many African migrants to Europe come from former Italian colonies, such as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The Franco-Italian dispute follows the drowning of hundreds of migrants off Libya in recent days. The deaths have renewed the focus on Italy’s decision to end search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean – and on the European Union’s failure to agree a system to share quotas of refugees, analyst Scazzieri said.

“Italy (is) wanting France to take migrants who arrive on its shores, or at least part of them. And also disagreements over how to handle Libya, with Italy and France backing different sides in the Libyan civil war,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has not responded directly to the Italian accusations. He has sought to renew EU political momentum with a new Franco-German treaty, signed Tuesday in the border town of Aachen.

“The eurosceptics, nationalists, benefit from the fear in Europe’s people, and they say: ‘The answer on your fears is nationalism,’ and we don’t believe this,” Macron said in a speech to mark the signing of the treaty.

The dispute is a taste of what’s to come as populist forces like Italy’s 5-Star Movement and the League join battle with pro-Europeans.

“This contraposition has been created whereby Italy is the populists and Macron is the Europeanists. And it suits both sides in a sense to have each other as the bogeyman. Of course this is especially important in light of the upcoming European Parliament elections,” Scazzieri said.

The battle lines are being drawn for what is set to be a bitter election campaign – with migration at the heart of the debate over Europe’s future.
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Supervisor of Navy SEAL Charged in War Crime Case

Posted on by SeeUS

The Navy officer who supervised a SEAL accused of fatally stabbing an Islamic State prisoner in Iraq in 2017 was charged Tuesday with various offenses tied to the case, including allegations he conducted the SEAL’s re-enlistment ceremony next to the corpse and encouraged enlisted personnel to pose for photos with the body. 

The court martial for Lt. Jacob Portier began with the arraignment Tuesday at the Navy base in San Diego. Portier also is accused of failing to report a war crime, destroying evidence and impeding the investigation of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher.

Portier’s attorney, Jay Sullivan, said Portier will plead not guilty to all the charges at a later date, which is allowed under military court rules. Both sides agreed to meet again next week to discuss restrictions on information, photos and video from the investigation and whether anything should be classified or kept from the public during the rare trial of an elite special warfare operator. 

Sullivan said he plans to object to a protective order in place because it has limited his ability to review the investigation’s documents and interview witnesses about statements that have been made, though he believes there may be things that should be kept from the public and discussed in closed session during the trial.

Sullivan said Portier — who was the officer in charge of Gallagher’s platoon during the deployment — is innocent. Sullivan believes it will come out that the Islamic State fighter was killed in combat operations and Portier was not there. 

He also said the re-enlistment ceremony was done legally in a war zone where there may have been other casualties nearby.

“I can tell you he certainly never ordered anybody to appear in any photos with a dead ISIS fighter,” Sullivan said after the arraignment. “I can tell you that a re-enlistment ceremony was done on the battlefield and for a Navy SEAL nothing could be more proud and honorable than re-enlisting to serve your country on the battlefield.”

Gallagher pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges of premeditated murder and other offenses, including opening fire on crowds of Iraqi civilians, and shooting a female and a male in separate incidents. 

Navy prosecutors have painted a picture of a decorated SEAL going off the rails on his eighth deployment, indiscriminately shooting at Iraqi civilians and stabbing to death a captured Islamic State fighter estimated to be 15 years old. They say he also posed with the corpse, including at his re-enlistment ceremony.

His lawyers have said the allegations were made by disgruntled SEALs out to get Gallagher because he was a demanding platoon leader.

Portier’s lawyer said the Naval SEALs have had “extraordinary success” in Iraq. He is concerned the Navy’s prosecution of the case in a public court martial could undermine that, hurt morale and reveal information about the secretive force. He wants the State Department to intervene on behalf of national security. He believes it’s important to determine whether parts of the case, such as operations’ details, tactics, etc., should be only discussed in closed sessions.

“I believe the investigation should be classified,” Sullivan said after the arraignment. “The operations that we do over there is protecting our national security, and parading these warfighters on the stage, I think it puts them at risk and our mission over there at risk.”

Gallagher, who has been jailed since his arrest Sept. 11, will stand trial Feb. 19.
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3 From Michigan Charged with Planning to Aid Islamic State

Posted on by SeeUS

Federal prosecutors say three Michigan residents have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

They say FBI agents arrested Muse Abdikadir Muse, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Mohamed Salat Haji on Monday, and prosecutors charged the Lansing residents in a complaint filed Tuesday.

Prosecutors say all three defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Kenya. It wasn’t immediately clear if Muse Abdikadir Muse and Mohamud Abdikadir Muse are related.

An affidavit says Muse Muse purchased airline tickets earlier this month to travel from Grand Rapids to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and that Haji and Mohamud Muse aided in the purchase of the tickets and drove Muse Muse to Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

Online court records do not list attorneys for the defendants.
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Elizabeth Warren Pledges Help During Visit to Puerto Rico

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Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren promised to help rebuild Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and support laws to give the U.S. territory equal treatment and debt relief as she condemned President Donald Trump during a visit Tuesday to the island, which has become an obligatory stop for potential and presidential candidates.

Warren demanded the resignation of Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And she criticized Trump for denying the hurricane’s death toll and for considering the use of disaster recovery funds to build what she called a “dumb” border wall, provoking laughter and applause from a crowd of a couple hundred people gathered in a small theater.

“Puerto Rico has not been treated with respect,” she said. “It is insulting. It is disrespectful. This ugliness has gone far enough. Puerto Rico has suffered enough. We will not allow anyone to sabotage your recovery, not even the president of the United States.”

Democrats are using official trips to Puerto Rico as an opportunity to criticize the Trump administration for how it responded to the hurricane and its aftermath. Last week, former housing secretary Julian Castro, who has declared himself a candidate, visited the island and toured communities still struggling more than a year after the storm.

The visits have perplexed some and annoyed others in Puerto Rico, whose people are U.S. citizens who can vote in primaries but are barred from voting in presidential elections.

Janina Cabret, a 28-year-old San Juan resident who attended Warren’s event, said she hopes whoever wins isn’t delivering empty promises about helping the island.

“Even though they use it for marketing, at least it puts Puerto Rico on the map,” she said.

Warren’s comments

Warren said too many homes still lack a proper roof and too many insurance claims have gone unpaid, among other problems that persist more than a year after Hurricane Maria. She also said many people who fled Puerto Rico after the storm have not been able to find a job, housing or health care.

Warren reminded the crowd that she voted against a 2016 financial aid package that created a federal control board to oversee the debt-burdened island government’s finances, a body that some complain has imposed an excessive amount of austerity. She also referred to White House comments on Puerto Rico, including a recent one opposing $600 million in nutritional assistance as “excessive and unnecessary,” which angered Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s administration.

The senator also talked about the island’s political status, long a key issue for many Puerto Ricans, though five referendums over the years have shown no clear consensus for statehood, the current territorial status or independence.

“Puerto Rico deserves self-determination on this question, and I will support the decision of the people of Puerto Rico,” she said.

Warren also called for auditing Puerto Rico’s huge public debt, strengthening unions, protecting the island from climate change, and supporting full child tax credits, Medicaid funding and nutritional assistance for islanders, all things that many Puerto Ricans have long demanded.

“Puerto Rico’s experience in recent years reflects the worst of what Washington has become, a government that works great for the rich and powerful, and not for anyone else,” she said as she mentioned drug companies, student loan outfits, fossil fuel companies and Wall Street bankers. “We need to take back our federal government from the wealthy and well-connected and return it to the people.”

Crowd’s reaction

Warren said she would demand that anyone running for federal office post their tax returns online as she has and touted her anti-corruption legislation, which in part calls for ending lobbying and stopping federal lobbyists from giving money to elected officials.

She also charged that Trump’s administration has used its power to inflict cruelty on immigrants and people of color. “With Trump, cruelty is not an accident, it is part of the plan,” she said.

The audience gave Warren a standing ovation at the end of her speech, many of them tourists thrilled that their visit coincided with hers.

Vandy Young, a tourist from Maryland, said she is hopeful about a presidential bid by Warren.

“I’ve been waiting for her to run,” she said. “She’s one of the few candidates who can stand up to Trump. She’s not afraid of him.”
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Talk About Highway Speed Limit Divides Germans

Posted on by SeeEU

A leaked proposal to impose universal speed limits on the Autobahn is causing outrage among car-loving Germans.

The country’s transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, has said the idea “goes against all common sense.” But prominent Green Party lawmaker Cem Ozdemir defended the proposal Tuesday, calling it an “act of reason.”

Germany is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t impose speed limits on its beloved Autobahn highways.

The idea — still very much just a notion — would limit speeds on the country’s highways to 130 kph (80 mph). Proponents say this would reduce air pollution, help fight climate change and reduce the number of car accidents.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert sought to smooth the waves created by the leaked report, saying Monday that a government-appointed committee examining various proposal isn’t finished yet. 
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