Month: February 2019

Madrid Taxi Drivers Call Off Anti-Uber Strike, Vow to Fight On

Posted on by SeeEU

Taxi-drivers in the Spanish capital seeking tighter regulation of Uber and other ride-hailing services called off their indefinite strike on Tuesday after 16 days during which they obtained no concessions from the Madrid regional government.

Madrid’s refusal to accept drivers’ demands came after ride-hailing companies Uber and Cabify said last week they were suspending their services in Barcelona in response to the regional government’s imposition of limits on how they operate in the city.

Union representatives in Madrid said the strike had demonstrated the unity and power of the drivers, which would help them continue the fight for their demands.

“It is a long war, in which you can lose battles, but in the end I’m sure we can win,” Julio Sanz, head of the Taxi Federation union, told reporters.

The city’s taxi drivers started the protests on Jan. 20 against the private services, which offer rides that often undercut taxi prices and can be hailed via the internet rather than in the street.

Last week, riot police backed by a fleet of tow trucks had to clear hundreds of vehicles blocking the capital’s Paseo de la Castellana thoroughfare.

In September, Spain’s government gave ride-hailing companies four years to comply with regulation granting them just one new licence for every 30 taxi licences. The cab drivers are demanding stricter regulations now.

Following protests by Barcelona taxi-drivers, the Catalan government had ruled that ride-hailing services could only pick up passengers after a 15-minute delay from the time they were booked.
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Top US General ‘Not Consulted’ About Syria Troop Withdrawal

Posted on by SeeEA

The commanding general of U.S. forces in the Middle East was not told before President Donald Trump initially declared victory over the Islamic State terror group and announced his decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

“I was not aware of the specific announcement,” Gen. Joseph Votel told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday of the president’s announcement this past December.

“I was not consulted,” he added.

Since the announcement, Pentagon officials have confirmed some equipment has been moved out of Syria. Other preparations to pull some 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria also have been ongoing.

But there has been little clarity as to how and when U.S. forces will ultimately leave, while questions abound about whether the pullout would give Islamic State militants an opportunity to regain strength and retake territory.

“We are going to do that in a very deliberate manner,” Votel said. “I am not under pressure to be out by a specific date and I’ve not had any specific conditions put upon me.”

He said that means finding ways to withdraw without giving the terror group any openings.

“We do have to keep pressure on this network,” Votel said. “They have the capability of coming back together if we don’t.”

The warning follows others by top defense and intelligence officials in recent days, including a report released Monday by the Pentagon’s internal watchdog.

​”Absent sustained [counterterrorism] pressure, ISIS could likely resurge in Syria within six to 12 months and regain limited territory,” the report said, using an acronym for the group.

It further warned IS still commands “a battle-hardened and well-disciplined force … able to coordinate offensives and counter-offensives.”

Slow, steady progress

Votel told lawmakers Tuesday that, for now, U.S. partner forces are making slow but steady progress against the last sliver of the terror group’s self-declared caliphate, roughly 50 square kilometers in Syria’s Middle Euphrates River Valley.

“That fight is progressing as we envisioned it,” he said of the final push against an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 fighters.

“It’s very dense, urban terrain,” Votel said “The area is laden with extreme explosive hazards.”

Still, Votel said he expects the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces will liberate the remaining territory before the last U.S. troops leave the country.

Unanswered questions

The head of U.S. Central Command also said the United States is working with partners and allies to make sure that even then, IS will not able to stage a comeback.

But officials continue to warn that may prove difficult.

U.S. defense and intelligence agencies estimate the terror group still has anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 fighters and supporters dispersed across Syria and Iraq, some of them already carrying out attacks as part of a growing insurgency.

U.S. officials also believe morale among IS fighters remains high despite losing more than 99 percent of the territory it once controlled.

And there are questions as to whether the U.S.-backed Syrian fighters will be capable of maintaining pressure on IS without the presence of U.S. forces and with the possible loss of support from Kurdish fighters.

Kurdish commanders have warned they may have to abandon the fight against IS in order to defend against Turkish forces which might attack once U.S. troops leave.

Turkey considers many of the Kurdish fighters to be linked to the PKK, a terrorist group which has been waging a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

“We are going to consider things like protection of our partners, the Kurds,” Votel told lawmakers of the U.S. withdrawal. “We are going to consider the concerns that Turkey has.”
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Iran Criticizes Greece, Italy for Not Buying Its Oil Despite US Waivers

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Iran’s oil minister on Tuesday criticized Greece and Italy for not buying its oil despite U.S. waivers and said they had not offered Tehran any explanation for their decision.

The United States granted the two countries exemptions along with six others — Turkey, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil as Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors.

“No European country is buying oil from Iran except Turkey,” Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

“Greece and Italy have been granted exemptions by America, but they don’t buy Iranian oil and they don’t answer our questions,” he said.

Zanganeh said the U.S. sanctions on Iran were more difficult than the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, but said Tehran will not allow the United States to reduce its oil exports to zero.

 

 
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Tehran Bats Away EU Criticism of Iranian Missile Tests

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Iran dismissed European Union criticism of its missile program, regional policies and rights record on Tuesday, highlighting their increasingly testy relationship as both sides seek to salvage a troubled nuclear deal.

Iran’s comments came a day after the bloc criticized the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile tests and expressed concern at Iran’s role in growing Middle East tensions.

The EU has promised to abide by a 2015 nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to limit its atomic work in exchange for sanctions relief, even after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the accord because it did not cover Iranian military activities.

The EU has stepped up criticism of Iran’s ballistic missiles program and its regional policies in a dual-track approach analysts say is designed to show Washington it is possible to contain Tehran while remaining inside the nuclear pact.

The Iranian foreign ministry said on Tuesday Iran would never negotiate over its missile program, which it said was defensive and designed as a deterrent.

“Clear threats against the Islamic Republic are not constructive, efficient or helpful, and they are not in line with regional security and the real interests of Europe,” the foreign ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Iran has expanded its missile program in the last two decades, particularly its ballistic missiles, in defiance of the United States and despite concerns in Europe, especially France.

As part of EU efforts to sustain the nuclear pact, Britain, France and Germany last week launched the Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and avoid U.S. sanctions.

Mistrust

Iran’s foreign ministry welcomed the new channel, but said it was “late and inadequate.” Iran would revise relations with Europe if it did not benefit economically from INSTEX, it said.

The EU also urged Tehran to stop activities that deepened mistrust, including what it called Iranian assassination plots.

France, Denmark and Netherlands have accused Iran of attacks against Iranian opposition figures and arrested suspects with links to Iranian embassies and intelligence ministry.

Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the EU warning: “Raising such baseless and hollow accusations while known terrorist and criminal groups are free in Europe, is not constructive at this stage and is in line with the goals of enemies who seek to undermine Iran’s relations with Europe.”

40th anniversary

Iran is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a secular monarch allied to the West.

Striking a defiant tone in a speech broadcast live on state television on Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: “The enemies should know that the great Iranian nation has stood by its goals and will not go back to 40 years ago.”

“Iran will not return to the era when it was under U.S. influence,” Rouhani said.
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Russia to Design New Intermediate Range Missiles in 2 Years

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia will develop land-based intermediate range missiles within two years, the nation’s defense minister said Tuesday, a statement that comes in response to the U.S. decision to abandon a key nuclear arms pact.

The U.S. has formally notified Russia over the weekend of its decision to suspend its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty over alleged Russian violations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying Moscow would also abandon the pact.

Russia has rejected the U.S. claim that it has built and deployed a cruise missile that violated the treaty’s ban on land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). But Shoigu said Tuesday such weapons need to be designed now, charging that the U.S. has already started developing such weapons.

He said at a meeting with senior officers a land-based version of the navy’s Kalibr cruise missile and a new land-based hypersonic missile must be built in 2019-2020.

Shoigu added that adapting the Kalibr for use with ground forces will allow to “significantly reduce the time required for building new missiles and the amount of funds.”

He noted that the Kalibr has proven itself during the Syrian campaign, when it was launched at targets in Syria from Russian navy ships in the Caspian and the Mediterranean Seas.

Shoigu made the statement following a meeting with Putin over the weekend, at which the Russian leader instructed the military to work on developing new land-based weapons that were previously forbidden by the INF treaty.

Putin emphasized that such new weapons won’t be deployed unless the U.S. does so.

“Russia will not station intermediate-range weapons in Europe or other regions until similar U.S. weapons appear in those regions,” he said.
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Ivanka Trump Responds to Exhibit With a Look-alike Vacuuming

Posted on by SeeUS

Ivanka Trump and her brothers are responding to a new art exhibit that portrays the presidential daughter vacuuming crumbs.

Ivanka Trump says in a tweet about the “Ivanka Vacuuming” installation: “Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up. I choose the latter.”

Her brother Donald Trump Jr. tweeted it’s “Sad, but not surprising to watch self professed `feminists’ launching sexist attacks against @IvankaTrump. In their crazed world, sexism is OK if hurts their political enemies.”

 

Eric Trump claimed on Fox his sister is a “powerful woman who has done more for women than probably anybody in Washington D.C.”

 

The art piece by Jennifer Rubell invites the public to “throw crumbs onto the carpet, watching as Ivanka elegantly vacuums up the mess, her smile never wavering.”

 
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British Royal Kate Shares Family Photo on School Visit

Posted on by SeeEU

Prince William’s wife Kate, Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge, went back to the classroom on Tuesday, chatting with pupils and sharing a family photograph on a school visit as part of her work in promoting children’s mental wellbeing.

In a classroom at London’s Lavender Primary School, Kate took part in a “show and tell” session with young students, taking out a picture of her with her husband and their three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.

“These are my children and this is my husband,” Kate, who married William in 2011, told the pupils as she showed them the photo, which the couple used as the image for their Christmas card.

“We like playing outside together and spending lots of time together as a family and that makes me feel happy.”

The duchess, who is patron of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, has been long been vocal about children’s mental wellbeing. In 2016, together with William and his brother Prince Harry, she kickstarted a campaign aimed at tackling the stigma surrounding mental illness.

On the visit where she was greeted by singing pupils on arrival, Kate met teachers and students participating in Children’s Mental Health Week activities and also watched the school’s Daily Mile challenge, which aims to promote being active.
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Report: Foreign Meddling Had No ‘Material Impact’ on Midterm Election

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A classified U.S. government report on foreign interference in the 2018 Congressional elections has concluded that outside meddling had no “material impact” on the integrity and security of the vote, leaving open the question as to whether there will be any sanctions for foreign influence campaigns.

While the specific conclusions of the report by the Justice and Homeland Security Departments remain classified, the two agencies said in a statement on Tuesday they found “no evidence to date that any identified activities of a foreign government or foreign agent had a material impact on the integrity or security of election infrastructure or political/campaign infrastructure” used in the midterms.

The two agencies did not say whether foreign influence campaigns targeting American voters were successful in affecting the outcome of the election, a question which U.S. intelligence officials have said they have not attempted to answer.  

The report was prepared under an executive order President Donald Trump signed in September, authorizing sanctions on foreign actors in the event of interference in a U.S. election.  Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen delivered the report to Trump on Monday.

The report’s “findings will help drive future efforts to protect election and political/campaign infrastructure from foreign interference,” the statement said.

The report comes 45 days after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that Russia, China and Iran sought to meddle in the election, but their actions did not compromise the “nation’s election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the ability to tally votes.”

Director Dan Coats said at the time that U.S. intelligence did find “Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests.”

But Coats said the intelligence community “did not make an assessment of the impact that these activities had on the outcome of the 2018 election.”

Under Trump’s executive order, Homeland Security and Justice had 45 days to review ODNI’s findings and recommend “remedial actions” by the U.S. government.

It remains unclear whether the report will trigger any elections-related sanctions against any country.

Spokespersons for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

 

 
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Pope Francis Says Vatican May Help Mediate Venezuelan Crisis

Posted on by SeeEU

Pope Francis says the Vatican would help resume negotiations to end the crisis in Venezuela if certain conditions are met.

Francis says the Vatican would help mediate talks if both sides submitted requests and if preliminary steps to end the crisis are taken first.

The pope acknowledged receiving a letter from President Nicolas Maduro, who said he sent the letter seeking “help in the process of facilitating and reinforcing dialogue.”

Francis, who spoke to reporters aboard his plane following his visit to Abu-Dhabi, said he had not yet read the letter, but would do so “and see what can be done” if both sides ask for help.  “We are willing,” he added.

The Vatican led one of several rounds of failed negotiations between Maduro and opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido.  Given the lack of success, the opposition is skeptical about future talks, believing Maduro has used them to buy time and suppress protests.

The pope’s comments came as key European countries joined the United States in recognizing Guaido as the country’s rightful interim president.

Canada and the Lima Group of Latin American nations, meanwhile, are ruling out the use of force in Venezuela.

The representatives meeting in Ottawa issued a joint statement Monday to “reiterate their support for a process of a peaceful transition through political and diplomatic means without the use of force.”

Before the Lima Group met, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $40 million in humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan people and condemned the Maduro government as a “dictatorship willing to use force and fear.”

Also Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. welcomes the decision by 16 European countries to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s leader.

They include Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. The U.S. was among the first major powers to recognize Guaido last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said all options are on the table regarding Venezuela.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Monday’s European declarations as “attempts to legitimize usurped power” and “interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.”

The United Nations has declined to take sides in the crisis in Venezuela.

“The U.N. secretariat has decided not to be part of any of these groups in order to give credibility to our continued offer of good offices to the parties to be able at their request to help find a political solution,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Monday.

The collapse in world energy prices, corruption and failed socialist policies have wrecked the Venezuelan economy.  Food, fuel, and many basic goods are in severely short supply and inflation is out of control.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country and millions more can be expected to go.

Maduro has shown little tolerance for anti-government protests and blames the United States for backing the opposition and plotting a coup.

Maduro was inaugurated for a second term last month after winning an election described as a sham.

As head of the opposition-led National Assembly, Guaido invoked what he says is his constitutional right to declare himself president until new elections are held.

VOA’s Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from the United Nations.

 
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Sudanese Security Forces Use Tear Gas to Disperse Protesters

Posted on by SeeAF

Sudanese security forces used tear gas on Tuesday to disperse hundreds of lawyers pushing for the release of activists detained during recent anti-government protests, witnesses said.

The demonstration outside the supreme court building in Khartoum was one of several staged by members of various professions, including teachers, doctors and pharmacists, following a call by the Sudanese Professionals Association to join the protests that began in December.

The demonstrations, often involving hundreds of people, have shaken the country of some 40 million people. They were sparked by rising food prices and cash shortages and have since turned against President Omar al-Bashir who has been in office for nearly 30 years.

Witnesses said more than 200 lawyers tried to deliver a petition to the head of the judiciary demanding the release of activists detained during the protests.

Security forces attacked the lawyers with tear gas, forcing them to disperse. There were no reports of casualties.

The incident happened a week after Sudan’s information ministry said the country’s security chief had ordered the release of detained demonstrators.

There were no reports of any mass release of detainees.

In central Khartoum, security forces used tear gas against hundreds of alumni students gathered at the main headquarters of Khartoum University, and at a separate gathering of school teachers who had staged a vigil outside the Education Ministry in Khartoum’s northern section.

There were no reports of casualties.

Witnesses also said that doctors at several government hospitals organized protest vigils, but there were no reports of any force being used against them.

Bashir has shown no sign of being prepared to concede any authority and has blamed the protests on foreign agents, challenging his rivals to seek power through the ballot box.

Prime Minister Moataz Moussa struck a conciliatory tone last week, however, when he said that demonstrators’ calls for better living conditions were “legitimate.”

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court over charges, which he denies, of masterminding genocide in the Darfur region. He has been lobbying to have Sudan removed from a list of countries, along with Syria, Iran and North Korea, that Washington considers state sponsors of terrorism.

That listing has deterred the influx of investment and financial aid Sudan was hoping for when the United States lifted sanctions in 2017, economists say.

 

 

 

 
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Zambia Mine Marginalization Case Highlights Africa-Wide Issue

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Zambia’s profitable copper mining industry is making its citizens poor, an explosive new report by a southern African research organization says.  The report by Southern Africa Resource Watch examined conditions in the community around one mine in northwestern Zambia, where they say they found the vast wealth is not being spread to the surrounding community.  And this situation, they say, is a tale told across mineral-rich communities in Africa.

Report author Edward Lange said the organization chose to investigate that mine because the Canadian owner, which is Zambia’s highest corporate taxpayer, has a good reputation.

 

“But then, what we discovered, was that the wealth that Kansanshi Mine extracts does not match the poverty, the disorder, the poor social conditions which is prevailing in the shantytown of Solwezi,” he said.  “It is a provincial capital of the northwestern province of Zambia, but it could be termed to be a shantytown.  …They’ve polluted, they’ve displaced people in the community, facilities they’ve provided cannot quench the amount of pollution they’ve caused on the community.”

 

VOA sought comment from First Quantum Minerals, but it did not reply.  On its website, the company said it had found that the operations “contribute almost 4 percent of the total economic value added to the countries in which we operate.”

Measured purely by its underground wealth, copper- and gold-rich Zambia should be one of the world’s richest nations.  In 2018 it exported more than $700 million worth of copper, which accounted for most of Africa’s copper exports.

But above ground is a different story.  The average citizen brings in just $1,500 a year, according to the World Bank.

Lange spoke to VOA from the sidelines of Africa’s main mining conference, held this week in Cape Town.  But Lange was not attending the Mining Indaba, the high-powered annual gathering of Africa’s industry chiefs and investors.  He spoke from the Alternative Mining Indaba, a grass roots meeting of mining-affected communities, faith-based organizations and rights groups.

 

“This is a sad African story of a big investment where the communities are not benefiting,” he said.  “It’s a failure, you know, the failure to use the abundant mineral resources to transform the lives of the people is what is worrying us.  And this is at the center of discussions across the continent.”

But the nation’s mining minister, Richard Musukwa, painted a rosier picture. He spoke from the sidelines of the Mining Indaba.

 

“The effect of the mining industry on Zambia and its communities has been overwhelmingly positive,” he told VOA.  “It has brought jobs, growth, education and infrastructure development.  Where there is wrongdoings, breaches of regulation or abuse of the Zambian people and unsafe mining methods, this government will actively and immediately intervene to ensure that the lives of our people are guaranteed.”

 

So where does that wide disconnect come from? Lange blames the gap between the government’s strong words and its ability to enforce them, and added that mining companies often implement changes in the surrounding areas without consulting the community.  He said one of the main messages from activists at this year’s mining gathering is that mining giants need to collaborate more with communities.

 
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US Commander: IS Hold in Syria, Iraq on Verge of Collapse

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President Donald Trump is expected to declare near-total triumph over the Islamic State group in Syria in his State of the Union address Tuesday, but U.S. defense officials are increasingly fearful that the militants are simply biding their time until the Americans leave the battlefield as planned.

IS militants have lost territory since Trump’s surprise announcement in December that he was pulling U.S. forces out, but military officials warn the fighters could regroup within six months to a year after the Americans leave.

 

A Defense Department watchdog report released Monday warned of just such a possibility.

 

The Islamic State group “remains a potent force of battle-hardened and well-disciplined fighters that ‘could likely resurge in Syria’ absent continued counterterrorism pressure,” the report from the inspector general said.

 

The top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen. Joseph Votel, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that of the 34,000 square miles of territory that IS once held, it now controls less than 20 square miles.

 

“It is important to understand that even though this territory has been reclaimed, the fight against ISIS and violent extremists is not over and our mission has not changed,” Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

 

“The coalition’s hard-won battlefield gains can only be secured by maintaining a vigilant offensive against the now largely dispersed and disaggregated ISIS that retains leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and the profane ideology that fuels their efforts.”

 

Votel said there are now between 1,000 and 1,500 IS fighters in the small area they still control in the southern part of the Euphrates River Valley near the Iraqi border. The remainder, he said, have “dispersed” and “gone to ground,” suggesting they retain the potential to return.

 

Trump’s decision to leave Syria, which he initially said would be rapid but later slowed down, shocked U.S. allies led to the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the top envoy to the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk.

 

Votel was asked at Tuesday’s hearing whether he was asked for his advice about a Syria withdrawal before Trump announced his decision.

 

“I was not consulted,” the general said.

 

The withdrawal will fulfill Trump’s goal of bringing troops home from Syria, but military leaders have pushed back for months, arguing that IS remains a threat and could regroup. U.S. policy has been to keep troops in place until the extremists are eradicated.

 

Fears that IS fighters are making strategic maneuvers ahead of a U.S. pullout could also fuel criticism that Trump is telegraphing his military plans — the same thing he accused President Barack Obama of doing in Afghanistan.

 

U.S. officials in recent weeks say IS has lost 99.5 percent of its territory and is holding on to fewer than 10 square kilometers of turf in Syria — an area smaller than New York’s Central Park. In late November and December that figure had been estimated at between 400 and 600 square kilometers, according to officials briefed on the matter.

 

But several defense officials said Monday that many fighters fled to ungoverned spaces and other pockets in the north and in the west and are likely hiding out until they can regroup.

 

Trump said in a weekend interview that the caliphate is “almost knocked out.”

 

“We’re at 99 percent right now, we’ll be at 100,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

 

U.S. officials say that IS fighters hold only several villages in the Middle Euphrates River Valley that amount to significantly less than 10 square kilometers. But, they say they don’t expect that area to be cleared of militants for another several weeks, at best.

 

Officials say that overall, there are about 2,000 IS militants in Syria.

 

The Defense Department watchdog report warned that even with the IS forces on the run, the group “is still able to coordinate offensives and counter-offensives, as well as operate as a decentralized insurgency.”

 

The report, which covers October through December 2018, also includes a classified section that was provided to Congress and includes a more detailed Pentagon assessment on the impact of the troops withdrawal and the status of IS militants and other foreign fighters in Syria.

 

According to the report, U.S. Central Command believes that IS fighters will continue to conduct “opportunistic attacks” on U.S. troops as they withdraw. And it says, “If Sunni socio-economic, political, and sectarian grievances are not adequately addressed by the national and local governments of Iraq and Syria it is very likely that ISIS will have the opportunity to set conditions for future resurgence and territorial control.”

 

Central Command said that the Islamic State group is “regenerating key functions and capabilities more quickly in Iraq than in Syria,” but unless there is sustained counterterrorism pressure, IS militants “could likely resurge in Syria within six to twelve months and regain limited territory” in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.

 

Despite Trump’s order to withdraw, American officials maintain that the goal remains the “enduring defeat” of the Islamic State group and are moving ahead with a long-planned meeting of top diplomats from the 79-member U.S.-led anti-IS coalition this week. The aim of the conference is to recommit the coalition to that aim and ensure that the departure of U.S. troops does not overly complicate that mission.

 

Trump himself is expected to speak to the gathered foreign ministers at the State Department-hosted conference on Wednesday is widely expected to reiterate and expand on his anti-IS message from the State of the Union, officials said.

 

 

 

 
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Shaka: Extra Time

Posted on by SeeAF

We are live. In Extra Time Shaka answers your questions about politics in Africa.
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Pope Francis Celebrates Mass in Abu Dhabi

Posted on by SeeEA

Pope Francis is set to celebrate Mass in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as he closes a brief, but historic visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The Mass is expected to draw some 135,000 people in what some people say will be the largest show of public Christian worship on the Arabian Peninsula.

Afterward he will return to Rome.

On Monday, Pope Francis called for an end to wars in the Middle East, particularly conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya, as he spoke at an interfaith meeting.

“Human fraternity requires of us, as representatives of the world’s religions, the duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word ‘war’. Let us return it to its miserable crudeness,” the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics said.

The UAE is a key part of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting in Yemen in support of the country’s president since 2015, but which has been criticized by rights groups for killing civilians with airstrikes.

​Pope Francis spoke alongside Sheik Ashamed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the 1,000 year old seat of Sunni Islam. Also attending the “Human Fraternity Meeting” are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu faith leaders from around the world. 

It is the first-ever trip by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula.

The conference and the pope’s appearance are all part of the Emirates’ Year of Tolerance and its effort to show its openness to other faiths. 

“It’s something new for the Muslim world, that within the discussion of dialogue, they’re talking about interreligious dialogue across the board, beyond basic Christian-Muslim relations,” Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant’Egidio Community, a Rome-based Catholic organization told the Associated Press. 

Abu Dhabi’s crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was among those who welcomed the pope to the presidential palace during a ceremony earlier Monday.

The Catholic Church believes there are as many as one million Catholics in the UAE. Most of them are from the Philippines and India and have left family behind to come for jobs in the Emirates where they can face precarious work conditions.
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Iran Detains Conservationist as 8 Others Tried in Court

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Iran has detained another environmentalist who worked for the same Iranian conservation organization as eight activists who went on trial in Tehran last week after spending a year in detention. 

A reliable source in Iran told VOA Persian that Iranian authorities detained Pouria Sepahvand of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation on Saturday. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) confirmed Sepahvand’s arrest in a Monday tweet  and said he had been taken to an unknown location.

Sepahvand’s arrest came on the same day that eight of his colleagues appeared in a Tehran court for a second closed-door session of their trial, whose first session was held on January 30. Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency has referred to the defendants, who include six men and two women, as “individuals accused of spying on the country’s military installations.” 

Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, told VOA Persian that prosecutors in Saturday’s court session continued with a lengthy indictment reading they had begun last Wednesday. 

Sepehri Far also cited a CHRI source as saying the charges read out in court so far have been based solely on forced confessions of one of the female defendants, Niloufar Bayani. CHRI previously had quoted a source as saying the female defendant, now identified as Bayani, interrupted Wednesday’s proceedings several times to assert that investigators extracted her confessions under mental and physical duress and she had since retracted them. 

The other conservationists on trial include Taher Ghadirian, Houman Jowkar, Sepideh Kashani, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Sam Rajabi and Morad Tahbaz. State news agency IRNA has said four of the conservationists have been charged with “sowing corruption on Earth,” a crime punishable by death, while three other activists are charged with “espionage,” and the last one with “conspiracy against national security.” 

The eight defendants were detained in January 2018 along with a ninth member of the conservation group, Iranian-Canadian dual national Kavous Seyed Emami, who died in custody the following month in what authorities termed a suicide. Family members disputed that assertion and called for further investigation. 

Iranian state media said several lawmakers met with President Hassan Rouhani as he visited parliament on Monday and urged him to ensure the eight conservationists on trial are granted legal protections, including a right to choose their own lawyers. 

State news agency IRNA previously had reported that the defense lawyers present in court include several approved by the judiciary to handle national security cases. Mohamad Hossein Aghasi, a human rights lawyer representing defendant Rajabi, has said authorities have barred him from participating in the trial without explanation. 

One of the lawmakers who met with Rouhani on Monday, Mohammad Reza Tabish, told state-controlled news agency ISNA that they asked the president to be mindful of the concerns of human rights activists and other Iranians about the case against the conservationists.

Tabish said Rouhani responded by expressing hope that the defendants would get a fair trial. The lawmaker also said parliamentary speaker Ali Lairjani agreed to meet the families of the defendants a future date. 

In an interview with VOA Persian last week, former Iranian deputy Iranian environment chief Kaveh Madani said he was not surprised to hear reports about one defendant’s purported forced confessions and another defendant’s lawyer not being allowed to participate in the trial.

“As in many national security cases in Iran, I assume this one would not necessarily involve a due process,” said Madani, an environmental scientists now based at Yale University in the United States. “I don’t know how real justice would be applied in their case, that is what I’m worried about.”

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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US-led Coalition Denies Confrontation with Iran-Backed Militia in Iraq    

Posted on by SeeEA

The U.S.-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq Monday denied it faced a head-to-head encounter with the Iran-backed militia known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the Nineveh province of Iraq. 

The Shiite militia in Iraq alleged its fighters Friday prevented the American troops within the anti-IS coalition from conducting a field operation inside the city of Mosul. 

“The patrol referenced was routine and there was no confrontation,” Col. Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition, told VOA in an email. 

“The coalition is here at the invitation of the Iraqi government and this was coordinated with the Iraqi Security Forces,” he said.

The coalition spokesperson did not disclose more information about the operation.

Abu Jaffar al-Shabaki, the head of PMF’s 30th Brigade, in a press conference Saturday said the U.S. troops were surveying Mosul city and filming neighborhoods with video recorders. He alleged PMF fighters stopped the survey operation after U.S. troops reached the Presidential Palace area near the Mosul Hotel where a PMF headquarter is based. 

“These patrols reveal the presence of U.S. ground troops in Iraq, contrary to what is claimed as otherwise by some,” said al-Shabaki, warning that “any future move of the U.S. forces will have serious repercussions, and cannot be accepted at all” 

Ridwan al-Anzi, the deputy head of PMF’s Nineveh Operations, claimed the U.S. troops ended their survey operation after the PMF warned them and blocked the road leading into the Presidential Palace area. 

“Our response created a state of observable panic and extreme fear among them, which led them to request air cover in anticipation of any action against them,” al-Anzi said in the press conference Saturday.

PMF video

The PMF media accounts and Iran’s state-backed news channel Press TV released a video allegedly showing the PMF militia stopping the U.S. patrol. The footage showed armored vehicles with PMF green flags blocking a road as armed men in military uniform, claimed to be U.S. troops, passed by. 

VOA could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video. 

This is not the first time the Iran-backed militants in Iraq claim to have challenged the U.S. troops in Iraq. The PMF last month claimed it prevented another U.S. survey in Anbar province. The U.S.-led coalition told VOA then that the operation, which was coordinated with the Iraqi security forces occurred without incident.

PMF

The PMF is an umbrella organization of several Shiite militias formed in 2014 after the Iraqi army fled the area following IS attacks. The group includes U.S. terror-designated militias, such as Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr organization, and Iran-friendly parties such as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

U.S. officials consider the group a regional proxy of Iran that is increasingly threatening and provoking American troops in Iraq and Syria.

An assessment of the U.S. anti-IS operations by the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) last November reported that Iran-backed militias were likely behind two attacks targeting U.S. facilities in Iraq last September, including mortar attacks that targeted Baghdad’s Green Zone and landed near the U.S. embassy, and rocket attacks that targeted the Basra Airport, near the U.S. consulate.

The PMF says the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and has constantly threatened action against them if they refuse to withdraw. Qais al-Khazali, a powerful PMF leader known for his anti-American sentiment, told Associated Press last week that he expects the Iraqi parliament to vote in favor of U.S. troops withdrawal in coming months. 

US-Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump has, however, stated his country’s troops will remain in Iraq to counter Iran’s threats. 

He said the troops would soon be moving to the huge Al Asad Airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province and that their new tasks would include protecting Israel and keeping an eye on Iran, which his administration has accused of being the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.

In a CBS interview broadcast Sunday, Trump said U.S. troops withdrawing from neighboring Syria would soon be moved to the huge al-Asad Airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province with a new mission of protecting Israel and countering Iran. 

“We spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it,” he said. “And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem.”

The comment by the U.S. president caused uproar among Iraqi officials, with the Iraqi President Barham Saleh Monday asking the U.S. “don’t overburden us with your Iran issues.”
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US Lawmakers Address Global Concerns Ahead of Trump Speech

Posted on by SeeUS

From Russia to Venezuela, U.S. lawmakers highlighted weighty global concerns and American foreign-policy challenges on the eve of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress.

A top Democrat on Monday savaged Trump’s handing of matters on the world stage.

“Tomorrow, the president will say, predictably, that the state of our union is strong,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “But the truth is … the state of the president’s foreign policy is incoherent, inconsistent, cynical in the extreme, and has undermined American power and our national interest.”

Schumer added, “Russia, China, North Korea — three of the worst and least democratic countries on Earth, the countries that pose the greatest threat to America — they are treated with kid gloves, while our allies, like those in NATO, get harsh words from this president. It’s inside-out, it’s topsy-turvy.”

Not so, according to Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, who pointed to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the United States from the 1980s-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the former Soviet Union, calling it a “tough but correct” decision.

“The administration is right to leave the agreement, and responsibility for the failure of the INF Treaty lies squarely with Russia,” Fischer said. “The United States must now take additional steps to ensure that Russia derives no military advantage from its blatant violation of this accord. We must impose costs on Russia. Again, they are building banned weapons systems. We are not.”

Trump’s decision, which he is likely to highlight in the foreign policy portion of Tuesday’s address, has sparked grave concerns from Democrats.

“I have no doubt that Russia is in violation of the INF Treaty,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said in a statement. “I am concerned, though, that the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the treaty without a clear plan for bringing Russia back into compliance will lead to a new arms race and endanger the people of the United States and Europe.”

Troops in Syria

Trump is preparing his speech weeks after announcing a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria, hailing progress in the fight against Islamic State.

On Monday, the Senate continued to debate a Middle East policy bill, including a Republican amendment expressing concern over precipitous military withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan.

“We simply cannot afford to leave a vacuum in places where terrorists … can lodge, grow, train, and then export their terrorist attacks,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, urging the administration “not to take our foot off the gas pedal” in the fight against violent extremists.

But another Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, applauded Trump’s announcement.

“We stand with you @realDonaldTrump! Time to declare victory, end these wars and focus on rebuilding our own homeland. Don’t listen to the naysayers in the swamp, you are making the right decision!” Paul tweeted.

Democrat Chris Murphy also opposes the amendment, but for very different reasons. On Twitter, the Connecticut senator urged his colleagues to “read every word of the amendment,” adding that he fears open-ended troop commitments in the Islamic world will lay the groundwork “for an unauthorized war with Iran.”

Venezuela crisis

Turmoil in Venezuela is also on lawmakers’ minds, with members of both parties broadly standing behind the Trump administration’s embrace of opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio wants the administration to go further.

“(Thirteen) European nations now recognize Interim President @jguaido as legitimate leader of #Venezuela. Next logical steps: – seize #MaduroRegime assets in their respective countries & place at the disposal of the legitimate govt; and – contribute to intl humanitarian relief efforts,” Rubio tweeted.

Many Democrats are satisfied with Trump’s steps regarding Venezuela, but add a note of caution.

“The United States must use all of its economic and political tools to continue supporting the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in an opinion piece for the Miami Herald newspaper. “However, it would be a huge mistake for the Trump administration to miscalculate in any way, leading to a military intervention involving U.S. troops.”

Menendez added, “Such a move, while Trumpesque in its fire and fury, would be a death blow to the very credibility of Venezuela’s burgeoning democratic movement. The freedom of the Venezuelan people can only come from their own hands.”
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Choir from Fire-Ravaged California Community Sings of Hope

Posted on by SeeUS

The town of Paradise, California was ravaged by a fire in November that killed more than 80 people and drove thousands from their homes. Now music is helping survivors with their recovery, as we hear from Mike O’Sullivan.
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EU Concerned by Iran Missile Work, Regional Security Role

Posted on by SeeEU

The European Union said on Monday it was gravely concerned by Iran’s ballistic missile launches and tests and called on Tehran to stop activity that deepened mistrust and destabilized the region.

Iran has expanded its missile program, particularly its ballistic missiles, in defiance of opposition from the United States and expressions of concern by European countries. Tehran says the program is purely defensive.

“The Council is … gravely concerned by Iran’s ballistic missile activity and calls upon Iran to refrain from these activities,” the EU said in a rare joint statement on Iran.

“Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. … These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability.”

Tehran should refrain in particular from any work on missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, the EU said.

A U.N. Security Council resolution that enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers called upon Tehran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.

Iran says its missile tests are not in violation of the resolution and denies its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

In the 12-point statement, the European Union said it was committed to the landmark 2015 accord and welcomed Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments.

Other criticism

However, the bloc also expressed concern at Iran’s role in growing Middle East tensions, including support for groups in Lebanon and Syria and Iran’s own forces in Syria. In addition, it called on all parties involved in Yemen, including Iran, to work toward ending the conflict there.

The bloc was also critical of Iran’s human rights record, highlighting its use of the death penalty and urging it to respect equal rights for women and girls and minorities.

The European Union has adopted a so-called two track approach aims to Iran. It aims to uphold the nuclear accord with Iran that U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of last May, while warning the Islamic Republic that the EU can no longer tolerate what it says are Iranian assassination plots on its soil and missile tests.

Britain, France and Germany last week launched a system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and avoid U.S. sanctions, although Iran’s top judge said the system’s conditions were unacceptable.
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EU Concerned by Iran Missile Work, Regional Security Role

Posted on by SeeEU

The European Union said on Monday it was gravely concerned by Iran’s ballistic missile launches and tests and called on Tehran to stop activity that deepened mistrust and destabilized the region.

Iran has expanded its missile program, particularly its ballistic missiles, in defiance of opposition from the United States and expressions of concern by European countries. Tehran says the program is purely defensive.

“The Council is … gravely concerned by Iran’s ballistic missile activity and calls upon Iran to refrain from these activities,” the EU said in a rare joint statement on Iran.

“Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. … These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability.”

Tehran should refrain in particular from any work on missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, the EU said.

A U.N. Security Council resolution that enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers called upon Tehran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.

Iran says its missile tests are not in violation of the resolution and denies its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

In the 12-point statement, the European Union said it was committed to the landmark 2015 accord and welcomed Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments.

Other criticism

However, the bloc also expressed concern at Iran’s role in growing Middle East tensions, including support for groups in Lebanon and Syria and Iran’s own forces in Syria. In addition, it called on all parties involved in Yemen, including Iran, to work toward ending the conflict there.

The bloc was also critical of Iran’s human rights record, highlighting its use of the death penalty and urging it to respect equal rights for women and girls and minorities.

The European Union has adopted a so-called two track approach aims to Iran. It aims to uphold the nuclear accord with Iran that U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of last May, while warning the Islamic Republic that the EU can no longer tolerate what it says are Iranian assassination plots on its soil and missile tests.

Britain, France and Germany last week launched a system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and avoid U.S. sanctions, although Iran’s top judge said the system’s conditions were unacceptable.
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Judge Approves Massive Puerto Rico Debt Restructuring Deal

Posted on by SeeUS

A federal bankruptcy judge approved a major debt restructuring plan for Puerto Rico on Monday in the first deal of its kind for the U.S. territory since the island’s government declared nearly four years ago that it was unable to repay its public debt.

The agreement involves more than $17 billion worth of government bonds backed by a sales-and-use tax, with officials saying it will help the government save an average of $456 million a year in debt service. The deal allows Puerto Rico to cut its sales-tax-backed debt by 32 percent but requires the government to pay $32 billion in the next 40 years as part of the restructuring. 

Senior bondholders, who hold nearly $8 billion, will be first to collect, receiving 93 percent of the value of the original bonds. Junior bondholders, many of whom are individual Puerto Rican investors and overall hold nearly $10 billion, will collect last and recover only 54 percent.

‘An important step’

“Puerto Rico has taken an important step toward its total financial recovery,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a statement. “This represents more than $400 million annually that will be available for services in critical areas such as health, education, pension payments, and public safety, in compliance with other obligations.”

The deal was previously approved by bondholders but prompted hundreds of people to write and email Judge Laura Taylor-Swain, who held a hearing on the issue nearly three weeks ago, to express concerns about the government’s ability to make those payments and the effect it will have on public services. In her ruling, she wrote that she reviewed and carefully considered all those messages before making a decision. 

“Many of the formal and informal objections raised serious and considered concerns about the Commonwealth’s future ability to provide properly for the citizens of Puerto Rico who depend upon it,” she wrote. “They are not, however, concerns upon which the Court can properly act in making its decision … the Court is not free to impose its own view of what the optimal resolution of the dispute could have been.”

Reasonable compromise

The judge said that the deal represents a reasonable compromise and that further litigation would present a “significant gamble” for Puerto Rico. The island is mired in a 12-year-old recession and struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria as the government tries to restructure a portion of its more than $70 billion public debt load. 

A U.S. government report issued last year said Puerto Rico’s public finance problems are partly a result of government officials who overestimated revenue, overspent, did not fully address public pension funding shortfalls and borrowed money to balance budgets. The Government Accountability Office also reviewed 20 of Puerto Rico’s largest bond issuances over nearly two decades and found that 16 were issued solely to repay or refinance debt and fund operations, something many states prohibit.

Taylor-Swain’s ruling said the compromise is “admittedly, deeply disappointing to countless citizens of Puerto Rico and investors in Commonwealth bonds.”

A federal control board that oversees the island’s finances praised the ruling, saying in a statement that the bond restructuring will help revive Puerto Rico’s economy. 

“The deal demonstrates … our determination to resolve Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and establish sustainable foundations for (the) island’s economic road to recovery,” said Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive director.

Settlement called a good deal

Antonio Fernos, a Puerto Rico economist, said in a phone interview that the agreement is a good deal.

“It’s positive because it brings some clarity to bondholders and what the board and government are willing to accept in negotiations,” he said.

More challenges remain, with Puerto Rico’s government still negotiating with those who hold general obligation bonds. 

Last month, the control board asked the judge to invalidate $6 billion worth of that debt, including all general obligation bonds issued in 2012 and 2014, alleging that issuance violated debt limits established by the island’s constitution. Taylor-Swain has held hearings on the issue, but has not ruled yet.

In November, Puerto Rico’s government reached a debt-restructuring deal with creditors holding more than $4 billion in debt issued by the now-defunct Government Development Bank.

 
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Macedonian PM Says Joining NATO Will Assure Peace in Balkans   

Posted on by SeeEU

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev says the entire Balkans will have prosperity and lasting peace when Macedonia joins NATO.

Zaev spoke in Sofia, Bulgaria Monday — two days before Macedonia signs the accession protocol at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“Macedonia has been waiting for 27 years to become a member of NATO.  Zaev said. “Today, Macedonia has the hope of having open doors.”

Greece had blocked Macedonia’s efforts to join NATO and the EU because of a long-running dispute over the use of the name Macedonia — shared both by a historic region of northern Greece and the former Yugoslav republic.

Both countries agreed that the country will change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. It plans to start promoting itself by that name when Greece approves its membership in NATO. 

All 29 NATO members must ratify Macedonian membership before it can join.

Membership talks with the EU are expected to begin later this year.
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Macedonian PM Says Joining NATO Will Assure Peace in Balkans   

Posted on by SeeEU

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev says the entire Balkans will have prosperity and lasting peace when Macedonia joins NATO.

Zaev spoke in Sofia, Bulgaria Monday — two days before Macedonia signs the accession protocol at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“Macedonia has been waiting for 27 years to become a member of NATO.  Zaev said. “Today, Macedonia has the hope of having open doors.”

Greece had blocked Macedonia’s efforts to join NATO and the EU because of a long-running dispute over the use of the name Macedonia — shared both by a historic region of northern Greece and the former Yugoslav republic.

Both countries agreed that the country will change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. It plans to start promoting itself by that name when Greece approves its membership in NATO. 

All 29 NATO members must ratify Macedonian membership before it can join.

Membership talks with the EU are expected to begin later this year.
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Zimbabwe Teachers to Strike, Ignoring Government Appeal

Posted on by SeeAF

Zimbabwean teachers will go ahead with a national strike from Tuesday after last-ditch negotiations with the government failed, unions said, risking more unrest after violent protests last month.

The main public sector union backed down last week on its plan to strike for better pay, citing a volatile situation after security forces cracked down on protesters in January, but teachers said they would go ahead with a work stoppage.

Government officials met teachers’ unions on Monday in Harare to try to dissuade them from walking out, and to continue negotiations, but without success.

The country’s 305,000 government workers are demanding wage rises and payments in dollars to help them to deal with spiraling inflation and an economic crisis that has sapped supplies of cash, fuel and medicines in state hospitals.

The Zimbabwe Teachers Union and Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the two biggest teachers’ unions, said their demands had not been met and the strike was on from Tuesday.

“There is no going back, the strike is indefinite. But if government concedes to our demands tomorrow, we will call it off,” said PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe.

Education Minister Paul Mavhima said he had pleaded with unions to give talks a chance as the government seeks ways to address some of their grievances.

“They should be guided by considerations of the bigger national interests and in this case it is the welfare of learners,” Mavhima told reporters.

Zimbabwe was thrown into turmoil last month when a three-day stay-at-home strike against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to raise the price of fuel by 150 percent turned into violent anti-government protests.

The government introduced a subsidized bus service in major cities, forcing public taxis, which had hiked prices threefold, to cut fares.

But on Monday bakers hiked the price of bread by 60 percent, according to new prices displayed in shops. The increase follows that of other basic goods like cooking oil, rice, maize meal and beef last month.

Last week private doctors set new charges in U.S. dollars.

Zimbabweans say Mnangagwa, in office since 2017, is failing to deliver on pre-election promises to provide accessible healthcare and education and to boost employment, leading to growing frustration that analysts say could trigger further unrest.

Mnangagwa and government officials, without giving evidence, accuse Western governments of funding the opposition to cause violence and unrest, an echo of the era of former President Robert Mugabe, when authorities blamed the West for most of its troubles.
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