Month: January 2019

Russian Lawyer: Suspected US Spy Had Classified Material on Him

Posted on by SeeEU

The lawyer for an American man being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying said on Tuesday that his client was given a flash drive containing Russian “state secrets” before he was arrested, but did not know he had them and had not looked at them.

His family insisted that he was entrapped and denied that he is guilty of espionage.

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was detained in Moscow at the end of December. The arrest raised speculation that he could be swapped for one of the Russians held in the U.S., such as gun rights activist Maria Butina, who has pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent in the U.S.

Whelan made his first public appearance in court on Tuesday to hear the appeal of his arrest. The judge upheld the previous ruling that ordered him to be kept behind bars at least until the end of February.

Whelan was kept in a glass cage and did not speak to reporters.

Spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Russia.

Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said Tuesday that when his client was detained at a Moscow hotel at the end of December he had something with him that contained “state secrets.”

The lawyer said that Whelan was a frequent visitor to Russia and that he asked an unnamed person to email him something about travel around the country. Whelan reportedly was not able to download it and then asked that person to put it on a flash-drive.

“He was expecting to see on the flash drive some personal information like pictures or videos, something like that, about that person’s previous trips around Russia,” Zherebenkov told reporters. “We don’t know how the materials that contain state secrets ended up there.”

The lawyer said the American was detained before he could open the files. He added that it was not clear what has happened to the person who reportedly gave the flash drive to Whelan.

Zherebenkov said the investigators have not yet disclosed which country he is accused of spying for.

Family disappointed

Paul Whelan’s twin brother, David, said in a statement that the family was disappointed but hardly surprised by the denial of bail.

“While we still lack any details from the Russian government about why Paul is thought to be a spy, and who provided him with the alleged state secrets, we are certain that he was entrapped and is not guilty of espionage,” he said in a statement. “We have not had any information about a USB drive, what was on it, or how it might have materialized in Paul’s possession.”

“Unfortunately, today’s ruling merely confirms that Paul will remain wrongfully detained for many more months,” Whelan’s brother said, adding that “Paul was able to let us know that he is worried about some health conditions and his ability to communicate with prison medical staff.”

He added that his brother is “also concerned about translator support and his ability to present his defense in English.”

Additional concerns

David Whelan noted that the Russian authorities’ refusal to allow British diplomats to visit his brother in prison and the cancellation of a U.S. consular visit last week raised additional concerns, but said that Canadian diplomats were scheduled to visit Thursday.

Whelan holds U.S., Canadian, British and Irish citizenships.

Whelan, 48, was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct. He works as the global security director for a U.S. automobile parts manufacturer and lives in Michigan. His family has said he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.
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US: Upcoming Mideast Conference Not Aimed at Demonizing Iran

Posted on by SeeEA

The United States said Tuesday an international conference next month to promote peace and stability in the Middle East is not aimed at demonizing Iran.

U.S. deputy ambassador Jonathan Cohen told the Security Council that the conference in Warsaw on Feb. 13-14 sponsored by the United States and Poland is also not aimed at discussing the merits of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.

Cohen’s comments followed a tweet by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who denounced the upcoming conference as America’s anti-Iran “circus.” Poland’s foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz said in remarks published Monday that Iran wasn’t invited and Russia would not attend.

Cohen called the ministerial meeting a brainstorming session to “develop the outline of a stronger security architecture” in the Mideast with sessions on the humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen, missile development, extremism and cybersecurity.

“It’s also important to state clearly what this ministerial is not: It is not a forum to re-litigate the merits of the JCPOA. While we’ve made our concerns with the JCPOA clear, we respect other states’ decisions to support it,” he said. “It is also not a venue to demonize or attack Iran.”

Cohen said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “has outlined a clear strategy to reach a new comprehensive deal with Iran built on the shared global understanding that Iran must cease its destabilizing activities.”

But the U.S. envoy said the conference will acknowledge the need for action against Iran’s missile program, Iranian proxy Hezbollah’s tunnels from Lebanon into Israel, and the “unacceptably provocative act by the Iranian and Syrian regimes” in launching a rocket from Syria at Israel over the weekend.

Cohen said these activities, among others, are “drivers of instability in the Middle East, but the scope of the discussion will be much broader than any one country or set of issues.”

“As a testament to this, countries from around the world have been invited to participate,” he said.

Cohen said there will be “a dynamic discussion and collaborative thinking with the goal of contributing to a more peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East,” adding that this would be “a more productive approach” than the Security Council’s monthly Mideast meetings focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Iran Summons Swiss Envoy Over Detention of US-Born TV Anchor

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss envoy in Tehran over the “illegal” detention of an American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television.

The Tuesday report by the official IRNA news agency quotes Bahram Ghasemi, ministry spokesman, as saying Tehran lodged a “strong protest” over the detention of Marzieh Hashemi in a meeting with the Swiss ambassador. The Embassy of Switzerland looks after Washington’s interests in Tehran.

Ghasemi said Iran also demanded Hashemi’s “unconditional” release.

Hashemi has been detained as a material witness, though it’s unclear for which case, and has appeared twice before a U.S. District Court judge.

Hashemi has been in custody since last week. Officials said she was expected to be released immediately after her testimony is completed, but it’s not clear when that would be.
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Erdogan Visits Moscow with Looming Turkish Military Op in Syria

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. The visit comes as Turkish forces are poised to launch a major military operation against the Syrian YPG Kurdish militia.

“We will not seek advice on how to deal with a terrorist group from anyone whose activities have been directed against our citizens for more than 30 years, or ask for permission to fight terrorism,” Erdogan wrote last week in the Russian daily Kommersant.

Ankara deems the YPG and its political affiliate the PYD terrorist organizations linked to an insurgency inside Turkey.

Ankara and Moscow back rival sides in the Syrian civil war, differences that resulted in Turkish jets downing a Russian bomber in 2015. Since then, the two presidents are increasingly cooperating in efforts to end the conflict.

Erdogan and Putin held seven one-on-one meetings in 2018 and 18 phone calls to discuss bilateral ties, especially Syria.

Putin gave the green light to two previous Turkish military operations against the YPG, resulting in a wide area of Syria coming under Ankara’s control.

However, a senior Turkish delegation visiting Moscow in December reportedly failed to get backing for the latest planned operation targeting the YPG in northeast Syria.

International relations professor Mevlut Cavusoglu of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University Analysts suggested Erdogan will be seeking to change Putin’s mind.

“Russia is the key player in Syria,” he said. “Turkey, together with Russia, is trying to be present in Syria.”

Cavusoglu added, “the problem for Ankara is the Kurds will also be supported by the Russians. The Russians will ultimately put their money on the Kurds and the Syrians, not on Turkey, because Turkey once betrayed the Russians by shooting down their fighter, and the Russians have not forgotten this.”

Former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen suggested Putin is also using Turkish military threats against the YPG as a means of forcing the militia into making a deal with Damascus.

“Mr. Putin will wait, as opposed to what happened in previous Turkish military operations in Syria,” Selcen said. “If PYD reaches a deal with Damascus on the grounds of the Russian offer, and in return, Moscow can guarantee that deal, then Russia will have an interest to discourage Ankara from moving on with a unilateral [military] action.”

Moscow’s leverage over the YPG and PYD is enhanced with U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last month to withdraw from Syria and end American military support of the militia in the war against Islamic State.

Washington had repeatedly called on the Syrian Kurdish forces to resist calls to make a deal with Damascus and Moscow. Observers point out that with the United States pulling out of Syria, the YPG and PYD have few options other than Damascus, with Turkish forces massed across the border.

Putin is also aware that Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria denies him a key card in his efforts to drag Erdogan away from his traditional NATO ally. Washington’s support of the YPG, considered terrorists by Ankara, had poisoned bilateral relations.

On Sunday, Trump and Erdogan spoke for the second time this month.

“The two leaders agreed to continue to pursue a negotiated solution for northeast Syria that achieves our respective security concerns,” the White House said.

Selcen claims a reset in relations is in the offing.

“We’ve had this schizophrenic Turkish foreign policy — being in NATO, working with NATO against Russia in the near abroad. But in the Middle East, we are working with Russia against the U.S. Now, we are getting over this schizophrenic policy, and we are going back to the EU and the United States, NATO and de facto away from Russia.”

But Erdogan still needs to work closely with Putin in Syria. The future of the Syrian Idlib province is also expected to be discussed by the two presidents on Wednesday.

 In September, a deal struck by Ankara and Moscow thwarted a Syrian regime offensive to retake the province, which is the rebels’ last main holdout. The agreement saw the creation of a demilitarized zone policed by Turkish forces.

With about 3 million people trapped in Idlib, the deal averted a major humanitarian disaster and refugee exodus into neighboring Turkey.

Moscow is now warning that the agreement is in jeopardy, with radical groups seeking control of Idlib.

“Jabhat al-Nusra dominates and violates the demilitarized zone,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “About 70 percent of this territory is already occupied by terrorists. They are trying to attack the Syrian army’s positions, settlements, and they are trying to threaten our military air base in Hmeymim.”

 
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A New Generation Takes up the Hunt for Dead Sea Scrolls

Posted on by SeeEA

In the cliffs high above the Dead Sea archaeologists chip away with pick axes, hoping to repeat one of the most sensational discoveries of the last hundred years – the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The scrolls, a collection of manuscripts, some more than 2,000 years old, were first found in 1947 by local Bedouin in the area of Qumran, about 20 km east of Jerusalem.

They gave insight into Jewish society and religion before and after the time of Jesus, and spurred a decade of exploration, before the search fizzled.

Recent finds have stirred fresh excitement however, and archaeologists are probing higher and deeper than before. Hundreds of caves remain unexcavated and the experts are racing against antiquities robbers.

“In the last few years we noticed new pieces of scrolls and parchments arrive on the black market,” said Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“It drove us to return to the caves,” he said, sitting at the entrance of a cliffside grotto known to his team as “52B”.

In 2017 his team discovered remains of storage jugs in a previously-unexcavated cave at Qumran, though any scrolls they may have held were missing.

At about 200 meters (656 ft) above the level of the Dead Sea, 52B is higher than where the scrolls were found in the 1950s, which may or may not have made it an ideal hiding place.

Towards the back of the cave is a narrow burrow, packed with debris from centuries of wind and flash floods, that when cleared could extend about 10 meters. Volunteers sift through buckets of dirt.

“People thought there was nothing left to find … there just wasn’t incentive to do this,” said Randall Price, a professor at Liberty University, a Christian campus in the United States, who helped fund the dig.

But 52B did not appear on previous surveys and could yield precious secrets, Price said.

LOST TREASURES

In the narrow streets of the open-air shuk (market) of Jerusalem’s Old City, Eitan Klein of the Israel Antiquities Authority stops by dealers to make sure their goods appear in an official registry and are not being traded on the black market.

Klein is deputy director of the authority’s robbery prevention unit, which in late 2016 recovered a fragment of text on a piece of papyrus mentioning the word ‘Jerusalem’ from the 7th century B.C. that had been plundered from a cave by antiquities robbers.

Following the papyrus’ discovery and other intelligence operations, Klein said “the assumption is that there are still artifacts inside the caves waiting to be found. The question is, who will discover them?”

New discoveries could also help solve the debate over who authored the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Expanding the search to further possibilities is the Copper Scroll, found in Qumran in 1952. Unlike its companions that were written on parchment or papyrus, this was a list of 64 hiding places for gold and valuables, etched on copper.

Hebrew University’s Gutfeld said the treasure referred to may be from the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In 2006 he finished excavating two manmade tunnels not far from Qumran that he believes matched a description in the Copper Scroll of the so-called Valley of Shadow.

One of the tunnels, a two-meter high, shoulder-width corridor, extended 125 meters underground. No treasure was found, but Gutfeld promised to continue searching in new spots.

“I’m not a treasure hunter. I’m an archaeologist,” Gutfeld said. But he added: “We hope to find any hint or relationship to what we know from the text of the Copper Scroll.”

 
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Tensions Between Israel and Iran Rise Over Syria

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Twenty-one people were killed by Israeli airstrikes Monday in Syria. The dead reportedly including 12 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The latest round of attacks between Israel and Iran began with a series of Israeli airstrikes Sunday on Iranian targets in Syria, attacks that have become almost routine. But this time the missile strikes took place during the day and Israeli officials openly took responsibility for them. Israel usually neither confirms nor denies these strikes.

Iran’s retaliation came a few hours later with a surface to surface missile fired at the Golan Heights, which includes Israel’s only ski resort.

That missile was intercepted and shot down by the Iron Dome system. There were no casualties but Israeli army officials said if it had landed it could have killed dozens of people.

Israel responded to the Iranian missile launch with a widespread attack in Syria that killed 21 people.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not allow Iran to establish a foothold in Syria.

“Israel will continue to block Iran’s efforts to use Syria Lebanon and Gaza as forward bases for attacking Israel for the express purpose which they openly declare — destroying Israel,” Netanyahu said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 12 of the dead in Israel’s retaliatory strike were members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which could increase tensions between Israel and Iran even further.

In the past Russia and the United States have acted to calm tensions between Israel and Iran. But now neither side appears willing to intervene, especially after President Donald Trump announced he is pulling all American troops out of Syria.

A senior Iranian official said his country will continue to be involved in Syria as long as the Syrian government asks for its help.

Meanwhile, Israel says it has carried out a successful test of its Arrow 3 Missile Defense System, developed in cooperation with the United States.

A pioneer of the Arrow system, Uzi Rubin, says the Arrow 3 will increase Israel’s defense significantly.

“This is meant to work against Iranian missiles than can fly for thousands of miles,” said Rubin. “It is the first defense these missiles will meet.”

Despite the current tensions, Israeli analysts say they do not believe Israel or Iran wants a war.

 

 
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Jon Bon Jovi’s Restaurant Feeds Furloughed Workers

Posted on by SeeUS

A restaurant owned by musician and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi served 71 free meals to furloughed federal employees and their families.

JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank served up soups and entrees Monday.

 

The meals are a result of a partnership with Gov. Phil Murphy’s organization the Phil and Tammy Murphy Family Foundation. The governor and his wife visited the workers.

 

Bon Jovi’s wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, told The Star-Ledger of Newark she hopes the families will use the restaurant as a resource. Her Toms River restaurant will provide lunch to federal employees Wednesday.

 

Kristy Benson, whose husband is in the Coast Guard, said the food was amazing.

 

JBJ Soul Kitchen opened in 2011, and the restaurant allows customers to pay a donation or volunteer to pay for their meals.

 

 
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Facebook Live Video Appears to Show Dance Floor Sex Assault

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Atlanta police are investigating the apparent sexual assault of woman that was livestreamed on Facebook.

It happened on the crowded dance floor of the Opera Atlanta nightclub, where the woman livestreamed herself dancing Saturday night. Later, she can be seen shouting for help in a slurred voice, repeatedly screaming “somebody help me” and “stop” with tears rolling down her face as she continued to record and post the video in real time.

 

A police statement says the Special Victims Unit is investigating. The woman posted Monday that the suspect has been identified.

 

An Opera Atlanta statement says it has provided police with “everything requested” and will support the investigation any way it can.

 

Some entertainers, including EDM star Zedd, announced they’re canceling or moving their upcoming shows.

 

 
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Al Jazeera: Sudan Withdraws Journalists’ Work Permits

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Qatari satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera says that its correspondents in Sudan have had their work permits withdrawn by security officials.

In a statement late Monday on the Arabic language Facebook page of its Sudanese channel, the channel said its Khartoum office was told the decision was made after a review of the work of Osama Said Ahmed and Ahmad al-Ruheid, as well as cameraman Badawi Bashir.

 

The channel says that the men had previously had their permits approved for 2019 by the government Press Council.

 

A month of protests in Sudan, which began over the failing economy but led to calls for President Omar al-Bashir’s removal, has faced a media blackout by authorities, who control the press. Al Jazeera has been reporting on the unrest and sometimes broadcasts protests live.

 

 
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Belarusian Model Proclaims Innocence, Apologizes in Moscow Court

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A Belarusian model who claimed to have evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has apologized to a Russian tycoon as she also proclaimed her innocence of prostitution-related charges against her.

Anastasia Vashukevich, who is also known as Nastya Rybka, told reporters in the Nagatinsky district court in Moscow on January 19 that she was “not guilty of what I am accused of” and pledged not to “compromise” Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Deripaska.

She previously said she had audio of the tycoon talking about Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election.

The Moscow court ruled that her detention would be extended by three days, until January 22, as the charges of involvement in prostitution against her and her mentor, Aleksandr Kirillov, are investigated.

“Guys, please pass my apologies to Oleg Deripaska and [Russian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister] Sergei Prikhodko,” she told reporters in the courtroom. “I am very sorry that everything happened that way. I am sincerely ashamed of what happened. I do not want to aggravate [the situation] so I personally apologize to Oleg [Deripaska]. All this was in order to attract his personal attention, nobody else’s, only his.”

Vashukevich was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17 after being deported from Thailand, where she had spent about nine months in prison on prostitution charges.

Also detained in Moscow was Kirillov, a self-styled Russian sex guru also known as Alex Lesley, and two others, named by Interfax as Andrei Zhezhka and Maria Zharkova.

Vashukevich gained worldwide attention in February 2018, when Russian anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny published an expose appearing to show then-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Prikhodko off the coast of Norway on a yacht belonging to Deripaska.

Navalny’s report, which drew on photographs and video that Vashukevich published on Instagram in 2016, appeared to show Prikhodko being offered lavish treatment on Deripaska’s yacht. The two also appear to discuss U.S. politics.

Vashukevich, who was pictured on the yacht with the two men, says she had an affair with Deripaska.

Vashukevich and Kirillov made international headlines again when they asked for asylum in the United States while detained in Thailand.

Vashukevich claimed that she could reveal details about Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. election with hours of audiotapes as evidence.

Deripaska, one of several Russian tycoons hit by U.S. sanctions, was once an associate of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was convicted last year in the United States of tax and bank fraud.

Vashukevich has more than 120,000 followers on Instagram and has authored a book about seducing oligarchs.

But she and Kirillov face other legal problems in Russia as Deripaska won an invasion of privacy lawsuit against the two in July over the video that showed Deripaska vacationing with Prikhodko.

Deripaska is among the Russian tycoons and officials who have been sanctioned in recent years by the United States in connection with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. His business empire includes aluminum, energy, and construction assets.

With reporting by AP, Interfax, and TASS
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Democrats Lurch Left on Top Policies as 2020 Primary Begins

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Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro launched his campaign by pledging support for “Medicare for All,” free universal preschool, a large public investment in renewable energy and two years of free college for all Americans.

That wasn’t enough for some of his party’s most liberal members.

 

Critics on social media quickly knocked Castro’s plan to provide only two years of free higher education — instead of four — as “half measures,” “scraps” and “corporate Dem doublespeak.” Aware of the backlash, the former Obama administration Cabinet member clarified his position in an interview days later.

 

“At least the first two years of college or university or apprenticeship program should be tuition free — and preferably four years,” Castro told The Associated Press. “We’re going to work toward that.”

 

Welcome to the 2020 presidential primary. Almost no policy is too liberal for Democrats fighting to win over their party’s base, which is demanding a presidential nominee dedicated to pursuing bold action on America’s most pressing challenges.

 

Among two dozen possible candidates, virtually all have embraced universal health care in one form or another. Some have rallied behind free college, job guarantee programs, a $15 minimum hourly wage and abolishing — or at least reconstituting — the federal agency that enforces immigration laws. While few have outlined detailed proposals to fund their priorities, most would generate new revenue by taxing the rich.

 

The leftward lurch on top policies carries risks.

 

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are betting that voters will ultimately reject the Democratic proposals as extreme. Some GOP leaders cast lesser plans as socialism during the Obama era.

 

Republican critics are joined by a handful of moderate Democrats, who fear that promises by well-intentioned presidential prospects may create unrealistic expectations with their party’s most passionate voters.

 

Billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican mayor of New York now considering a Democratic presidential bid, recently opined that primary voters might be receptive to a more moderate approach.

 

“Most Democrats want a middle-of-the-road strategy,” Bloomberg said on ABC’s “The View.” He added: “If you go off on trying to push for something that has no chance of getting done, that we couldn’t possibly pay for, that just takes away from where you can really make progress in helping people that need help today.”

 

So far, at least, very few presidential prospects are heeding such warnings.

 

In the 2016 campaign, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was the only presidential contender to support “Medicare for All,” a proposal that would essentially provide free health care coverage to all Americans. This year, it’s hard to find anyone in opposition.

 

That’s even after one recent study predicted the plan would cost taxpayers more than $32 trillion. Proponents argue that those same taxpayers would save the trillions they currently spend out-of-pocket for their health care.

 

Lesser-known policies have emerged heading into 2020 as well.

 

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who is expected to launch his presidential campaign soon, has sponsored legislation to create a federal jobs guarantee program in several communities across America. The pilot program, which is co-sponsored by fellow 2020ers like New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, could ultimately transform the U.S. labor market by providing well-paid government employment with benefits for anyone who wants it.

 

Critics decry the plan as a step toward socialism.

 

“Big challenges demand big solutions,” Booker told the AP. “Both Martin Luther King Jr. and President Franklin Roosevelt believed that every American had the right to a job, and that right has only become more important in this age of increasing income inequality, labor market concentration and continued employment discrimination.”

 

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer supports much of the liberal movement’s new priorities — including Trump’s impeachment — but says the federal jobs guarantee “doesn’t make sense” given the nation’s low employment rate.

 

“I want the private sector to produce jobs people can live on,” he said in an interview. “A guarantee of government jobs doesn’t make sense.”

Yet Steyer insists that most of his party’s policy priorities  universal health care and free college, among them — are anything but radical.

 

“The Republicans are an extremist far-right, radical party. When you say we need to moderate to their position, there’s nothing moderate or pragmatic about their position,” said Steyer, who recently backed away from a presidential run, although he’s expected to spend tens of millions of dollars to shape the 2020 debate.

 

Free college is quickly emerging as a litmus test for Democratic contenders.

 

Those already on the record backing free tuition at public colleges and universities include former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders, Gillibrand, Harris and Warren. Estimates vary for the cost to state and local taxpayers, although Sanders acknowledged it could be $70 billion annually.

 

Warren seemed to back away from her support for free college during an appearance in Iowa earlier in the month, however. In 2017, she co-sponsored the “College For All Act,” which would have made tuition free at public universities.

 

Asked in a radio interview whether she supports reducing the cost of college or offering it free, Warren responded: “No, I think this is about reducing the cost.”

 

It’s unlikely the Democratic Party’s energized base would tolerate any significant shifts to the center on free college — or any of the party’s top issues.

 

Such populist appeals helped fuel sweeping Democratic victories in last fall’s midterm elections, while producing a new generation of unapologetic Democratic leaders such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is aligned with the democratic socialist movement. And polls repeatedly suggest that voters support proposals for universal health care, free college and free preschool.

 

“We have seen a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party’s political center,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Those who deny that are hurting their chances in 2020.”

Meanwhile, Castro, like others in the early 2020 field, says he’s fully committed to a “bold vision” to address the nation’s top policy challenges.

 

“All Democrats recognize that this is not going to be easy, that to get Medicare for all, for instance, it’s not guaranteed, it’s not going to be easy, it may require along the way there are some compromises,” he said. “But I’m convinced that it’s worth it to go forward.”

 

 
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Russian Court Denies Bail to Former US Marine Accused of Spying

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A court in Russia has denied bail to an American man being held on spying charges.

Paul Whelan, a dual U.S.-British citizen and former U.S. Marine, was arrested December 28 for what the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said was “carrying out an act of espionage,” without specifying exactly what he was accused of doing.

His family has said he is innocent.

The 48-year-old appeared in the Moscow court Tuesday seeking to be released from custody while his case goes forward, but the judge did not approve the request.

There is speculation the Russians might try to use Whelan as leverage for the release of Russia’s Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to infiltrating America’s conservative political movement as a Kremlin-directed agent. Butina was convicted of acting as a foreign agent in the United States.

The Kremlin has dismissed the idea of Whelan being held for a possible prisoner swap.
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French-German Pact Aims to Shore up a Fraying Europe

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On a wintry day more than half a century ago, France and West Germany signed a treaty aimed at turning the page on centuries of conflict that included two devastating world wars. 

With a deepening Cold War as a backdrop, European unity was limited to a six-member common market, one that initially rejected Britain’s application. Few would have predicted the treaty in January 1963 would help cement a French-German powerhouse driving what eventually became the 28-member European Union.

Exactly 56 years later, a new pact French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to sign Tuesday carries its own set of challenges. Both leaders are weakened at home, and the EU is struggling with Brexit turmoil, rising nationalism, and divisions over basic issues like migration, the economy and defense.

Some analysts have dismissed the new “Aachen treaty” as lacking substance, while far-right French nationalists have floated false warnings that Paris plans to cede part of its territory and U.N. seat to Berlin. More broadly, the pact raises a broader question: How much does French-German cooperation count in today’s fissured Europe?

“It used to be the case that when France and Germany agreed on something, it more or less eventually became an EU decision,” said Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, “Now, that is not enough anymore.”

The new agreement aims to deepen French-German cooperation in education, the environment, security and economic policy, among other areas.

The German town of Aachen, known in French as Aix-la-Chapelle, is highly symbolic. It was once the capital of medieval Frankish emperor Charlemagne. A year before World War II’s end, it became the first German town captured by allies following a devastating battle.

Treaty falls short

But critics say the new treaty falls far short of lofty ambitions for a more powerful and unified Europe, goals Macron outlined in a 2017 speech, months after taking office. “A new pact, little ambition,” France’s Le Monde newspaper wrote, previewing the deal.

“It’s a basis on which we can work from, but it reflects the limits of both governments,” Joachim Bitterlich, former adviser to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, in remarks carried by France’s Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, in which he outlined shortcomings in areas like migration and energy cooperation.

Russian journalist Leonid Bershidsky outlined several obstacles he believes hamper the agreement, such as divergent German-French interests in areas like defense and economic cooperation.

“Symbolic expressions of solidarity are important in these times of disunity and fracturing,” he wrote in a Bloomberg column. “But in real life, working together is tough, even for partners with the best of intentions.”

​Low point for Europe

Macron and Merkel meet at a low point in their tenures as leaders. The German chancellor is eyeing the exit, having ceded control of her Christian Democratic Union party to an ally, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Macron has seen his popularity sink to record lows, amid ongoing “yellow vest” protests against his reforms and the rising cost of living.

While the European Union has displayed unity in Brexit negotiations with Britain, the bloc is divided in many others ways, even as nationalist parties are expected to solidify their growing clout in European Parliament elections this May.

“Britain is leaving. Italy is run by populists. Spain has a minority government. Poland and Hungary are run by illiberal parties,” The Economist magazine wrote, summing up some of the roadblocks, “and no government wants to give institutions in Brussels more power to take the lead.”

In France, the yellow vest protesters have spread rumors originating from the hard-right that Macron aims to cede the Alsace-Lorraine region to Germany, while far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested the Aachen pact envisions sharing France’s permanent U.N. Security Council seat with Berlin — claims the French presidency dismisses as “obviously false.” The treaty stipulates, in fact, that both countries will prioritize seeking a permanent Security Council seat for Germany.

No alternatives

Yet few EU analysts see an alternative to France and Germany as the ultimate glue binding the bloc, and some believe even symbolic affirmations of unity matter.

“After Brexit, after the migration crisis, after everything we’ve had, let’s simply make the political statement that we 27 EU member states would like to continue and improve European Union cooperation,” said Frantisek Ruzicka, Slovakia’s state secretary for European Affairs, during a recent visit to Paris. Without strong French-German cooperation, he added, “European cooperation will not exist.”

The Aachen treaty “is there to remind both countries and the rest of Europe that even when they don’t see eye to eye, even when it’s difficult, this relationship is important,” said Lafont Rapnouil of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Both countries believe it’s important, and that’s where everything starts.”
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Zimbabwe President Returns Home After Violent Protests

Posted on by SeeAF

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa cut short his international trip and returned home Monday, after days of protests left at least 12 people dead in a government crackdown.

Protests broke out last week after Mnangagwa announced a 150 percent hike in fuel prices just before leaving on an overseas fund-raising trip.

As the protests grew, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a former army commander, launched a widespread crackdown that saw security officials shoot demonstrators and drag people from their homes and beat them, human rights activists said.

Last Wednesday, security forces shot and killed five people and wounded 25 others in the capital city, Harare, activists said. A local doctors rights group said it had treated 68 gunshots and scores of cases of assault after Zimbabwe’s security forces broke up protests in Harare and Bulawayo.

Also Monday, police arrested Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions President Japhet Moyo as he tried to leave the country. He and another leader of the protests, the Rev. Evan Mawarire, are now facing subversion charges. Another 600 protesters are facing charges of violence.

Morgen Komichi, the vice chairman of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), accused the president of directing his security forces to beat and harass activists and labor leaders involved with the protests.

The government also imposed a total internet blackout to keep protesters from coordinating their rallies. On Monday, Zimbabwe’s High Court ordered officials to restore full internet access, ruling that the Minister of State for Security, who ordered the internet shutdown, does not have power to do so.

The United Nations has called on the government to halt the “excessive use of force” by security forces. But Mnangagwa’s spokesman, George Charamba, told state-controlled media that the government would “not stand by while such narrow interests play out so violently.”

“The response so far is just a foretaste of things to come,” Charamba said.

VOA’s Columbus Mavhunga contributed to this report.
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Bashir Heads to Qatar as Protests Rock Sudan

Posted on by SeeAF

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is set to arrive in Qatar, his first overseas trip since widespread anti-government protests rocked the nation.

Bashir is to meet Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Wednesday to discuss ways of boosting relations, Qatar state news agency QNA reported Monday.

Bashir has tried to downplay the protests, insisting that foreign “agents” and “infiltrators” are responsible for the dissent as well as the violence that has followed. 

“There are some people among the protesters who are killing the demonstrators,” Bashir said in a speech Sunday. 

The country has seen large-scale demonstrations since Dec. 19, when the government raised bread prices. The protests have grown in scope, and many are calling for an end to Bashir’s three-decade-long rule.

The government has confirmed that 24 people have died during the protests, but the U.N. says credible reports suggest the death toll may be nearly double that. There also have been numerous injuries and reports that security forces fired tear gas and bullets inside a hospital as they pursued injured protesters.

More than 800 people have been arrested, including journalists, opposition leaders, protesters and civil society members.

“People are hungry, and they see the looting of the country’s resources by the ruling clique,” Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British billionaire and founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, told VOA by phone Friday. “Just, people had enough.”

“If 70 percent of the budget is allocated to the president, at his whims, to spend on the militias, the armies, the security forces — what is left? Thirty percent to support education, health, agriculture, road infrastructure, clean water?” Ibrahim said. “This is not a way to run a country.”

Ibrahim called on the international community to help stop the brutal crackdown in Sudan. “It just cannot go on unpunished, and we look for the international community to really stand up and say enough is enough,” Ibrahim said.

Salem Solomon of VOA’s Africa Division contributed to this report.
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Slain Journalist Captured Libya’s Turmoil

Posted on by SeeEA

Mohamed Ben Khalifa’s work as a photographer and video journalist captured the tragedy of refugee corpses washing ashore on Libya’s coastline. In urban centers, he documented ferocious militia warfare.

In one photo, a wave rolls gently over the arm of a dead refugee.

In another, a love letter written on pink paper is seen next to the body of a Syrian refugee found on the beach of Ben Khalifa’s hometown of Zuwara, west of the Libyan capital. In others, gunfire rages, lighting up the night sky.

The work of Ben Khalifa, who was killed in Libya on Saturday, reflected Libya’s post-2011 chaos of rival militias fighting for control as well as the humanitarian tragedy of waves of people fleeing North Africa, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

He was killed on Saturday while accompanying a militia on patrol in southern Tripoli. The group came under fire and attack by a missile, according to a fellow freelance journalist. Ben Khalifa was killed by shrapnel.

His body of work since 2014 for the AP included more than 260 photos and scores of videos. A freelancer, he also contributed to other news organizations.

“The Associated Press is distraught by the death of freelance photographer Mohamed Ben Khalifa, who had contributed important, impactful photos from Libya to AP since 2014. Our thoughts are with his family, especially his wife and young daughter, and we offer our deepest condolences,” said AP’s Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Sally Buzbee and Ian Phillips, the news agency’s vice president for international news.

“It is heartbreaking any time a journalist is killed on the job. AP works closely with its freelance and staff journalists to try to ensure their safety. The safety of journalists everywhere is paramount, especially those who are working in the most dangerous of places,” they said in a statement.

Ben Khalifa, 35, also covered routine stories, such as visits by diplomats trying to negotiate a peace deal for Libya. The country splintered in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and civil war that led to the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

With his sharp eye for detail, Ben Khalifa captured the attempts by ordinary Libyans to carve out normal lives amid the turmoil of the past decade. In one photo, a little boy in a traditional embroidered jacket looks at Ben Khalifa’s camera, facing away from rows of male worshippers sitting in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square for Muslim holiday prayers. Another shows a wedding ceremony.

But violence was a constant theme in Ben Khalifa’s work, A 2018 photo showed the damage caused by a suicide bombing at Libya’s election commission. A photo taken in late December showed the aftermath of a suicide attack on Libya’s Foreign Ministry.

Ben Khalifa is survived by his wife, Lamya, and their 7-month-old daughter, Rayan.
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Egypt TV Host Gets Year in Prison for Interviewing Gay Man

Posted on by SeeEA

An Egyptian court has sentenced a TV presenter to a year in prison for interviewing a gay sex worker on his show.

Mohammed el-Gheiti was found guilty of encouraging immorality over an August 2018 segment in which the guest described his profession. El-Gheiti, who can appeal the ruling, was fined around $170 and is free pending a final verdict. The charges stem from a complaint filed by a private lawyer.

Egypt has waged a crackdown on perceived homosexuality in recent years, imprisoning people on vague charges of “debauchery.” Homosexuality is not a crime in Egypt, but is widely seen as taboo in the conservative, Muslim-majority country. Prostitution is illegal.

In September 2017, authorities arrested dozens of people after several waved an LGBT rainbow flag at a Cairo concert.
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WHO: Migrants Do Not Bring Diseases Into Europe

Posted on by SeeAF

A new report by the World Health Organization disputes a belief that refugees and migrants bring exotic communicable diseases into the European region.

The report is based on evidence from more than 13,000 documents. It provides a snapshot of the health of refugees and migrants who comprise about 10 percent of the nearly 1 billion population in 53 European countries.

The survey finds migrants and refugees are generally in good health, but, due to poor living conditions, they risk falling ill while in transit or while staying in receiving countries. The report says contrary to common perception, the risk of refugees and migrants transmitting communicable diseases to their host population is very low.

The WHO regional director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, tells VOA displacement itself makes refugees and migrants more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

“The refugees and migrants who come to Europe, they do not bring any exotic diseases with them, any exotic communicable diseases,” said Jakab. “The diseases that they might have, they are all well-established diseases in Europe. And also, we have very good prevention and control programs for these diseases. This applies both for tuberculosis, but also HIV-AIDS.”

Europe is the only one among WHO’s six regions where HIV is prevalent and increasing, especially in the east. Jakab says a significant proportion of migrants and refugees who are HIV-positive acquire the infection after they arrive in Europe.

The report finds refugees and migrants seem to have fewer noncommunicable diseases on arrival than their host populations; but, it notes the longer they stay in the countries in conditions of poverty, their risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke and cancer increases.

The report says refugees and migrants are more affected by depression and anxiety than host populations. It says unaccompanied minors are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and suffer from higher rates of depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

WHO considers it critically important that European countries provide quality and affordable health care for all refugees and migrants, regardless of their legal status. Providing universal health coverage, it says, would significantly improve the well-being of both the displaced and host populations.

 

 

 
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DR Congo President Has Officially Won, But Can he Govern?

Posted on by SeeAF

By all official measures, Felix Tshisekedi has won the presidency of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The nation’s highest court certified his win over the weekend, invalidating the claim by challenger Martin Fayulu. The African Union, which last week surprised observers by raising doubts over the messy, chaotic poll, also stood down from its challenge and postponed its Monday visit to Kinshasa.

Fayulu, whose claim to victory was backed by the influential Catholic Church’s observer mission, has called on his followers to protest.

But analyst Liesl Louw-Vaudran of the Institute for Security Studies says Fayulu should not expect support from other African countries, even when the African Union holds a summit next month.

“If we look at all the years and all the drama in countries like Zimbabwe, in Chad, in Burundi, in the Republic of the Congo — governments who changed their constitutions, leaders staying in power for a third, fourth, fifth mandate — and the AU just couldn’t do anything because of a lack of political will by other leaders, because they don’t want that kind of interference in their own situation, but also because of the institutional weaknesses,” she told VOA.

Tshisekedi, who was declared to have won with 38 percent of the vote, has said his camp negotiated before the vote with outgoing President Joseph Kabila.

Critics of the longtime president and his party accused Tshisekedi of forging a deal with Kabila, whose official choice, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, was so unpopular that the electoral commission, said to be loyal to Kabila, could not have plausibly declared him the winner.

 

Analyst Elissa Jobson of the International Crisis Group, speaking from Addis Ababa where the AU is headquartered, told VOA that the continental body may be instrumental in helping the new president ease into something that does not come naturally in the winner-takes-all world of Congolese politics: compromise. Tshisekedi won the top seat, but Kabila’s party took the majority of parliament.

 

“To govern, he’s going to have to engage and work with the majority, but he’d also be wise to reach out Fayulu’s camp, and I suspect the AU will be encouraging him to do that, and hopefully the regional organizations will do that too,” she said.

Louw-Vaudran notes that the new president could also face pushback from some of Congo’s key allies. On Sunday, leaders of South Africa, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania officially congratulated Tshisekedi. However, there were some notable holdouts.

 

“I think [what’s] interesting is the ones that have been silent, the heads of state that have not congratulated Tshisekedi, like, for example, Angola, which is a major player in the DRC,” he said. “We haven’t heard any statements from Angola up to now. And of course, Uganda and Rwanda. In Uganda, we are told, [President] Yoweri Museveni was very critical of this whole election process. He was one of the leaders behind the AU statement last week. So, slowly a picture is starting to emerge of who were playing this game for and against the Kabila government and Felix Tshisekedi.”

Tshisekedi, the son of the former opposition leader who himself ran for the presidency, campaigned on a platform of change and renewal for a nation that has been ruled by the Kabila family — father and son — since 1997.

His election may turn out to be the first peaceful transfer of power the DRC has seen in its 60-year independent history. By winning, he’s proved that an opposition leader can win in Congo. Now, as he prepares for his inauguration, he faces a more daunting question: Can he govern?
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Taliban: Afghan Peace Talks With US Underway in Qatar

Posted on by SeeUS

Afghanistan’s Taliban opened a new round of peace talks Monday in Qatar with the United States, the insurgent group said.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the two-day meeting in Doha will continue Tuesday. The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan political reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, is leading the U.S. delegation.

“Following American acceptance of the agenda of ending the invasion of Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from being used against other countries in the future, talks with American representatives took place today in Doha, the capital of Qatar,” Mujahid said. The session will continue Tuesday.

Khalilzad has held several rounds of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar in recent months, and the last interaction between the two sides had taken place in the United Arab Emirates in December.

Diplomatic sources privy to the previous meetings say Taliban and U.S. delegations in their current dialogue are expected to finalize proposals they had exchanged in Abu Dhabi regarding a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. An immediate anticipated outcome could be a temporary cease-fire announced by the Taliban to build mutual confidence to keep the dialogue process moving forward.

Monday’s meeting was originally set to take place in Pakistan, where Khalilzad stayed for several days before traveling to Qatar. Sources said Taliban officials refused to come to Islamabad unless the U.S. agreed to discuss a withdrawal plan for U.S.-led foreign troops from Afghanistan.

The uncertainty following the Taliban’s backing away from the proposed meeting in Pakistan led to speculation about a breakdown in the peace dialogue.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who undertook a daylong visit to Islamabad on Sunday, dismissed suggestions the dialogue with the Taliban was faltering and also praised Pakistan’s effort to help the Afghan peace process.

The South Carolina Republican senator, who is considered close to President Donald Trump, spoke after a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I can tell you, the fact that the effort that was made is good. It is going to take a while. I talked with Prime Minister Khan and I think he is going to deliver a message that would be very helpful,” Graham said. He did not elaborate.

Monday’s U.S.-Taliban talks came as Prime Minister Khan also arrived in Doha for official meetings with the Qatari leadership. Diplomatic sources say Khan is likely to make contact with Taliban officials during the visit to encourage them to help in negotiating a political resolution to the Afghan war.

After ending his visit to Pakistan on Sunday, Khalilzad sounded upbeat about the future of Afghan peace talks, saying he had “good meetings” in Islamabad.

“I appreciate their [Pakistan’s] hospitality and resolve to push for Afghan peace. We’re heading in the right direction with more steps by Pakistan coming that will lead to concrete results,” the Afghan-born chief U.S. negotiator said.

Graham, in his press conference Sunday, noted Pakistan was taking significant steps under Khan’s leadership to promote Afghan peace and regional security. He also praised Pakistan’s effort to fence the 2,600-kilometer largely porous border the country shares with Afghanistan to deter cross-border terrorism.

“I am going to go back and talk to President Trump about my meeting with Prime Minister Khan and I am going to urge him to meet with the prime minister as soon as practical,” said Graham. “Prime Minister Khan was criticized over the past 10 or 20 years about talking about reconciliation with the Taliban. He was right.”

Before coming to power last July, Khan consistently called for the U.S. to engage the Taliban in peace talks rather than using military power to end the Afghan war. His critics would call him “Taliban Khan” for demanding and supporting reconciliation with the Islamist Afghan Taliban.
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France Fines Google $57M for Data Privacy Violation

Posted on by SeeEU

France’s data watchdog fined Google nearly $57 million on Monday, saying the tech giant failed to provide users with transparent information on its data consumer policies and how their personal information was used to display advertising targeting them.

The French agency CNIL said U.S.-based Google made it too difficult for internet users to understand and manage their personal preferences online.

“The information provided is not sufficiently clear,” the regulatory agency said, “for the user to understand the legal basis for targeted advertising is consent, and not Google’s legitimate business interests.”

It was the first ruling using the European Union’s strict new General Data Protection Regulation since it was implemented last year, a sweeping set of rules that has set a global standard forcing large American technology firms to examine their practices or risk huge fines.

Google said it was studying the ruling to determine its next steps.

“People expect high standards of transparency and control from us,” Google said. “We’re deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements” of the new regulations.

 
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Muslim-American Congresswomen Prompt Saudi Alarm

Posted on by SeeUS

Saudi Arabia may learn to regret the political attacks launched from the kingdom on two American Muslim women who won seats for the Democrats in Congress in the U.S. midterm elections.  One of them Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, has secured a seat on a House panel that has the power to disrupt U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  

Somali-American Ilhan Omar, who won a seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, and her fellow congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, have attracted disapproving Saudi attention with the oil-rich kingdom’s government-controlled media outlets, as well as academics and commentators known to reflect the views of the ruling royal family, dubbing them secret Islamists who are in league with the Muslim Brotherhood.

On securing a seat on the House foreign affairs panel Omar said she is determined to “rein in arms sales to human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia.”

The attacks on the two lawmakers, who dub themselves democratic socialists, have not diminished since their mid-term wins when they became the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress.  Both are among several politically progressive congressional newcomers who have pledged to shake up the U.S. Congress and their own Democratic party.

A Saudi diplomat kicked off the rhetoric against the lawmakers with a tweet on election night targeting Omar, saying “she will be hostile to the Gulf” and accusing her of being an adherent of the kind of political Islam represented by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Arabiya, a news network set up by relatives of the Saudi royal family, ran an op-ed last month saying the two newly-elected congresswomen are part of an anti-Saudi infiltration of American politics, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which aims to undermine U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia.  The criticism has been echoed in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi’s Gulf neighbor and ally.  The Muslim Brotherhood, a political movement, is banned in both Gulf countries.

“The Democrats’ battle against Republican control of the U.S. Congress, led to an alliance with political Islamist movements in order to restore their control on government, pushing Muslim candidates and women activists of immigrant minorities, onto the electoral scene,” the writer of the Al Arabiya article claimed.

Irony in rhetorical attacks

Supporters of the two congresswomen describe the Saudi media campaign against the pair as a vilification, saying there’s an irony in the rhetorical attacks as both lawmakers share socially progressive views, including strong advocacy of LGBTQ and women’s rights, which are diametrically at odds with political Islam.  The Saudi targeting of the two is in response, they say, to the women’s advocacy of human rights and their criticism of the Saudi royals, and especially of the kingdom’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Both women have criticized Trump over his handling of Saudi Arabia in response to the October killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  Omar tweeted after the killing of the journalist, “The Saudi government might have been strategic at covering up the daily atrocities carried out against minorities, women, activists and even the #YemenGenocide, but the murder of #JamalKhashoggi should be the last evil act they are allowed to commit.”

Trump has refrained from severely punishing Saudi Arabia for the killing of Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.  The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 17 Saudis accused of organizing the murder, but says the strategic relationship with Riyadh is too important to do more.

Their ire is not only focused on Saudi Arabia, though.  Both lawmakers, ironically considering the Saudi criticism, are firm opponents of Israeli policy and are supporters of a boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.

In an interview Thursday with The Intercept, a left-leaning online investigative news site, Rashida Tlaib, the first ever Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, says she won’t support U.S. military aid to Israel or “any country that is not for equality or justice.”

On Palestine, she said, “I have to tell you my grandmother lives there.  By me supporting any aid to a country that denies her human dignity, denies her equality, the fact that she has to go and, you know, through checkpoints to get to the hospital for health care, the fact that she is felt as if she’s less than in her own country, that is something I will not be supporting.”

She said military aid should be used as leverage to persuade countries to observe civil rights.

“If we’re not doing that to Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries, then we’re not doing our job as a country,” she added.

 
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Trump Visits Martin Luther King Memorial

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump has visited the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington to honor the slain civil rights leader on the national holiday.

 

Trump was joined by Vice President Mike Pence as they laid a wreath at the foot of the memorial statue.

 

Trump told reporters it was a “great day.” He did not respond to questions about the government shutdown during the brief appearance.

The shutdown almost led to the cancellation of a commemorative service for King at an Atlanta church called King’s “spiritual home.”

 

The Ebenezer Baptist Church is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and has been closed because of the government shutdown. The annual service was in doubt until Delta Air Lines, which is headquartered in Atlanta, gave the National Park Service a grant to reopen the site.

King’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, said in the service Monday honoring King that Washington is in a state of crisis.

 

“Our humanity is literally on the verge of digressing to two Americas and becoming the dis-United States of America,” she said.

 

Also Monday, several Democratic presidential hopefuls attended events to honor the civil rights leader. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has said he is considering a presidential run but has not officially announced a candidacy, attended a breakfast celebrating King’s life that was held by the Rev. Al Sharpton in Washington.

 

Sen. Kamala Harris from California used the holiday to launch her presidential campaign in an attempt to become the first black female president.

Every year on the third Monday in January, Americans honor the slain civil rights leader who in the 1950s and 1960s organized nonviolent protests against southern segregation, the struggle for black equality and voting rights.

 

Many around the country spend the holiday commemorating King’s tireless work to end racism by participating in community service projects. In 1994, the U.S. Congress honored that community spirit by designating the King holiday a national day of service.

 
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Sweden: Envoys’ Talks ‘Good Preparation’ for Trump and Kim

Posted on by SeeEU

Sweden’s foreign minister said Monday she hopes talks between American, South Korean and North Korean diplomats her country is hosting “will serve as a good preparation for an upcoming summit” between U.S President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish news agency TT that experts in nuclear disarmament, economic development and regional security attended the diplomats’ meeting in Sweden.

 

The first meeting ever to bring the leaders of North Korea and the United States face-to-face took place in June when Kim and Trump met in Singapore.

 

Trump said Saturday he is aiming to have a second summit in late February with the goal of producing a deal attractive enough to persuade Kim to give up North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

 

Lee Do-hoon of South Korea and Steve Biegun, U.S. special envoy for North Korea negotiations, planned to attend “small format” talks with North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said Sunday

 

The Swedish government and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent think-thank focused on research on conflicts, armaments and arms control, were co-hosting the talks.

 

Wallstrom didn’t disclose the venue or schedule for the talks. Swedish media said they were thought to be underway at Hackholmssund, a conference center northwest of Stockholm on Lake Malaren.

 

Sweden has had diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1973 and is one of only a few Western countries with an embassy there. It provides consular services for the United States.
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