The human rights situation in China has seen no improvement in recent years, according to a new report presented on Wednesday. The U.S. Department of State also condemns Saudi Arabia in its annual report on human rights abuses around the world. The U.S. ally is cited for last year’s killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Venezuela is also noted for its abysmal human rights record.
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Month: March 2019
Senate Demands Trump End US Support for War in Yemen
The U.S. Senate defied President Donald Trump Wednesday and voted to cut off support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen.
Seven of Trump’s fellow Republicans sided with Democrats in passing the measure 54-46.
It now goes to the House, which approved its own similar measure this year, only to have the process stall over a procedural issue. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk, saying it would undermine the counterterrorism fight.
The measure demands Trump “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen within 30 days.”
A first for the War Powers Resolution
If it passes in the House, it would be the first time in history Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says Congress determines when the U.S. goes to war, not the president.
“Today, we begin the process of reclaiming our constitutional power by ending U.S. involvement in a war that has not been authorized by Congress and is clearly unconstitutional,” said independent Senator Bernie Sanders, sponsor of the measure.
Opponents argued that the War Powers Resolution does not apply because the U.S. is not directly involved in combat in Yemen.
Civilians killed, millions face famine
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition helping Yemen fight Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Trump administration has been providing Yemen with intelligence and other support.
Saudi airstrikes aimed at the rebels have also struck civilian areas, killing thousands of people, and devastating entire neighborhoods and hospitals.
The war has also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where millions face famine.
Saudi Arabia “is not an ally that deserves our support of our military intervention,” Republican Senator Mike Lee said, adding that the Saudis “are likely using our own weapons … to commit these atrocities of war. That’s not OK.”
Khashoggi killing
Lawmakers from both parties are not only opposed to the bloodshed in Yemen, but also upset over what they see as Trump’s tepid response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
His body has not been found.
Trump has called Saudi Arabia — an arch foe of Iran — an essential Mideast ally whose weapons purchases from the U.S. create thousands of American jobs.
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Senate Demands Trump End US Support for War in Yemen
The U.S. Senate defied President Donald Trump Wednesday and voted to cut off support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen.
Seven of Trump’s fellow Republicans sided with Democrats in passing the measure 54-46.
It now goes to the House, which approved its own similar measure this year, only to have the process stall over a procedural issue. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk, saying it would undermine the counterterrorism fight.
The measure demands Trump “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen within 30 days.”
A first for the War Powers Resolution
If it passes in the House, it would be the first time in history Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says Congress determines when the U.S. goes to war, not the president.
“Today, we begin the process of reclaiming our constitutional power by ending U.S. involvement in a war that has not been authorized by Congress and is clearly unconstitutional,” said independent Senator Bernie Sanders, sponsor of the measure.
Opponents argued that the War Powers Resolution does not apply because the U.S. is not directly involved in combat in Yemen.
Civilians killed, millions face famine
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition helping Yemen fight Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Trump administration has been providing Yemen with intelligence and other support.
Saudi airstrikes aimed at the rebels have also struck civilian areas, killing thousands of people, and devastating entire neighborhoods and hospitals.
The war has also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where millions face famine.
Saudi Arabia “is not an ally that deserves our support of our military intervention,” Republican Senator Mike Lee said, adding that the Saudis “are likely using our own weapons … to commit these atrocities of war. That’s not OK.”
Khashoggi killing
Lawmakers from both parties are not only opposed to the bloodshed in Yemen, but also upset over what they see as Trump’s tepid response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
His body has not been found.
Trump has called Saudi Arabia — an arch foe of Iran — an essential Mideast ally whose weapons purchases from the U.S. create thousands of American jobs.
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Estonian President Urges Unity Among Allies Against Russia
Estonia’s president called for continued unity among democratic allies in the face of Russian aggression on Wednesday and expressed a wish for even greater U.S. involvement in the Baltics.
Kersti Kaljulaid, on her second visit to the United States in less than a year, told an audience at the Brookings Institution that membership in the European Union and NATO have served to defend and enhance her country’s sovereignty.
With only 1.2 million people and located on the Baltic Sea near Russia, the former Soviet republic has been especially concerned about growing Russian assertiveness, particularly since its annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its military support for two breakaway regions in Georgia.
‘Direct involvement in Baltics’
The United States has responded with military exercises along NATO’s borders with Russia and a troop presence in Poland, actions acknowledged by Kaljulaid. While “America’s contribution to enhanced forward presence in Poland is appreciated, we would love to see more U.S. direct involvement in the Baltics as well,” she said.
Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director and senior fellow with the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Estonia and its Baltic neighbors have served as model members of NATO since being admitted to the defense alliance in 2004, but cannot defend themselves without help.
“Due to their small size, they need our and NATO’s help in procuring big-ticket capabilities,” Ellehuus said in an interview.
Quick US response appreciated
The former Pentagon official noted that the United States was the first country to send forces to the Baltics following Russia’s takeover of Crimea.
She said she would like to see “a persistent rotational presence of U.S. forces in the Baltics and possibly funding in the appropriations bill to support regional capability development in areas such as air and maritime surveillance.”
In an age of increasing attention devoted to big-power politics and competition, it is understood that small states like the Baltic countries cannot win a war against a power like Russia, but they can raise the cost of war for their potential adversaries.
“Their strategy is to increase resilience and hold the line until reinforcements, i.e., NATO, regional partners, can come to their aid,” said Ellehuus. She quoted her former boss at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, saying that “even the bear knows to avoid the porcupine.”
In Ellehuus’s words: The Baltics can take steps “to make themselves as indigestible as possible,” even though they don’t have the capacity to win an all-out war against their giant neighbor to the east.
‘Follow-up plan’
In her speech on Wednesday, Kaljulaid said her country was prepared to “hold the line” against an initial assault but that the “follow-on plan” involving sufficient allied forces was not yet in place.
Her visit to Washington comes at a time when the Pentagon made it clear in the latest national defense budget proposal that it is focused on countering rising capacities from both Russia and China and ensuring that potential adversaries know there is “no path to victory” if they choose to fight the United States.
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Estonian President Urges Unity Among Allies Against Russia
Estonia’s president called for continued unity among democratic allies in the face of Russian aggression on Wednesday and expressed a wish for even greater U.S. involvement in the Baltics.
Kersti Kaljulaid, on her second visit to the United States in less than a year, told an audience at the Brookings Institution that membership in the European Union and NATO have served to defend and enhance her country’s sovereignty.
With only 1.2 million people and located on the Baltic Sea near Russia, the former Soviet republic has been especially concerned about growing Russian assertiveness, particularly since its annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its military support for two breakaway regions in Georgia.
‘Direct involvement in Baltics’
The United States has responded with military exercises along NATO’s borders with Russia and a troop presence in Poland, actions acknowledged by Kaljulaid. While “America’s contribution to enhanced forward presence in Poland is appreciated, we would love to see more U.S. direct involvement in the Baltics as well,” she said.
Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director and senior fellow with the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Estonia and its Baltic neighbors have served as model members of NATO since being admitted to the defense alliance in 2004, but cannot defend themselves without help.
“Due to their small size, they need our and NATO’s help in procuring big-ticket capabilities,” Ellehuus said in an interview.
Quick US response appreciated
The former Pentagon official noted that the United States was the first country to send forces to the Baltics following Russia’s takeover of Crimea.
She said she would like to see “a persistent rotational presence of U.S. forces in the Baltics and possibly funding in the appropriations bill to support regional capability development in areas such as air and maritime surveillance.”
In an age of increasing attention devoted to big-power politics and competition, it is understood that small states like the Baltic countries cannot win a war against a power like Russia, but they can raise the cost of war for their potential adversaries.
“Their strategy is to increase resilience and hold the line until reinforcements, i.e., NATO, regional partners, can come to their aid,” said Ellehuus. She quoted her former boss at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, saying that “even the bear knows to avoid the porcupine.”
In Ellehuus’s words: The Baltics can take steps “to make themselves as indigestible as possible,” even though they don’t have the capacity to win an all-out war against their giant neighbor to the east.
‘Follow-up plan’
In her speech on Wednesday, Kaljulaid said her country was prepared to “hold the line” against an initial assault but that the “follow-on plan” involving sufficient allied forces was not yet in place.
Her visit to Washington comes at a time when the Pentagon made it clear in the latest national defense budget proposal that it is focused on countering rising capacities from both Russia and China and ensuring that potential adversaries know there is “no path to victory” if they choose to fight the United States.
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SDF: Fight Against IS in Baghuz More Effective at Night
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces continue their push to remove the last remnants of Islamic State militants from eastern Syria, intensifying their attacks at night against what is considered the last piece of territory under the terror group’s control.
Coupled with U.S.-led airstrikes, SDF fighters have increasingly been attacking several IS positions inside Baghuz, Syria, late at night, SDF officials told VOA.
On Wednesday, the Kurdish-led SDF waged a major assault in the center of Baghuz, local military officials said.
“Now, we are carrying out strikes against IS. Hopefully, we will clear them from this last speck of territory soon,” an SDF fighter who did not want to be identified told VOA.
Located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, Baghuz has been under attack for more than a month, with several hundred IS fighters still resisting SDF advances.
“Geography is a major factor in prolonging this fight and delaying our ultimate victory” in Baghuz, said Mustafa Bali, a spokesperson for SDF.
“This is a flat region where they have firmly entrenched. Basically, Daesh militants can see us, but we can’t see them or their movements during the daylight,” he said in a phone interview, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Bali added that another reason SDF has been focusing on night raids is that many IS “terrorists choose to surrender themselves during daytime.”
Amid a fierce night of fighting, a VOA cameraman embedded with SDF forces spotted dozens of IS fighters captured by the SDF as they tried to carry out a counterattack against an SDF position.
SDF Intensifies Nighttime Offensives Against IS
Ivan Hasib, a Syrian reporter embedded with the SDF, said SDF fighters have not been able to confront IS directly.
IS “is sending suicide bombers toward SDF fighters all the time, so that’s why the SDF has been attacking at night, which is the only time they are in full control of the battle,” he said.
During the Wednesday night clashes, the SDF paused for several hours to allow more families of IS fighters evacuate from Baghuz.
About 60 people, including women and children, were evacuated, SDF sources said. They were from Turkmenistan and the Netherlands, as well as some local Syrians, the same sources told VOA.
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SDF: Fight Against IS in Baghuz More Effective at Night
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces continue their push to remove the last remnants of Islamic State militants from eastern Syria, intensifying their attacks at night against what is considered the last piece of territory under the terror group’s control.
Coupled with U.S.-led airstrikes, SDF fighters have increasingly been attacking several IS positions inside Baghuz, Syria, late at night, SDF officials told VOA.
On Wednesday, the Kurdish-led SDF waged a major assault in the center of Baghuz, local military officials said.
“Now, we are carrying out strikes against IS. Hopefully, we will clear them from this last speck of territory soon,” an SDF fighter who did not want to be identified told VOA.
Located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, Baghuz has been under attack for more than a month, with several hundred IS fighters still resisting SDF advances.
“Geography is a major factor in prolonging this fight and delaying our ultimate victory” in Baghuz, said Mustafa Bali, a spokesperson for SDF.
“This is a flat region where they have firmly entrenched. Basically, Daesh militants can see us, but we can’t see them or their movements during the daylight,” he said in a phone interview, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Bali added that another reason SDF has been focusing on night raids is that many IS “terrorists choose to surrender themselves during daytime.”
Amid a fierce night of fighting, a VOA cameraman embedded with SDF forces spotted dozens of IS fighters captured by the SDF as they tried to carry out a counterattack against an SDF position.
SDF Intensifies Nighttime Offensives Against IS
Ivan Hasib, a Syrian reporter embedded with the SDF, said SDF fighters have not been able to confront IS directly.
IS “is sending suicide bombers toward SDF fighters all the time, so that’s why the SDF has been attacking at night, which is the only time they are in full control of the battle,” he said.
During the Wednesday night clashes, the SDF paused for several hours to allow more families of IS fighters evacuate from Baghuz.
About 60 people, including women and children, were evacuated, SDF sources said. They were from Turkmenistan and the Netherlands, as well as some local Syrians, the same sources told VOA.
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Israeli Group Honors Nikki Haley With Coin
An Israeli organization has minted a coin emblazoned with the face of Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, to commemorate her defense of Israel in the world body.
The Sanhedrin, a Jewish organization that dreams of restoring the Jewish Temple, where ancient temples once stood in Jerusalem’s Old City, is one of three religious groups behind the Haley coin.
“She supported Israel and she told the truth … that all the United Nations, all its agenda, is to destroy Israel,” Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the group, said Wednesday. “She acted in a manner that represented biblical tenets,” he added.
Weiss said that Haley’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Human Rights Council and her criticism of what Israel and the U.S. say is an anti-Israel bias at the U.N. earned her the recognition.
His group’s coin features Haley’s face set against the United Nations building with a Jewish menorah on the front, and a stylized rendition of the Jewish Temple on the back. The collector’s item costs $65 for silver and $90 for gold, plus shipping, according to its website .
Haley, a devout Christian who helped strengthen ties between Israel and the American evangelical community, has attracted the adoration of Israel’s religious and nationalist right wing.
Haley became known at the U.N. for her hard line against Iran and her derision of the Human Rights Council. She often chided the council for focusing singularly on Israeli abuses and neglecting poor records of other states — a stance lauded and echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In her last pro-Israel gesture after announcing her surprise resignation last fall, she proposed a resolution condemning the Hamas militant group for violence against Israel.
Haley also championed President Trump’s decision to cut all U.S. funding to Palestinian refugees and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Trump, a hero to the Sanhedrin group for that very reason, is the face of the group’s other coin, first minted last year. The token depicts Trump alongside the Persian King Cyrus. Weiss said he has sold 20,000 of the Trump coins so far.
The Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, celebrated by Israel, prompted the Palestinians to sever ties with Washington. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of their future state.
Proceeds from the biblical coins, the website says, will go toward preparations for establishing the third Jewish Temple — an aspiration with explosive political implications.
The hilltop spot that housed the biblical Temples is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest spot in Judaism. Today it is considered the third-holiest site in Islam, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The competing claims to the compound serve as a frequent flashpoint of violence.
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Spotify Files EU Antitrust Complaint Against Apple
Spotify has filed a complaint with European Union antitrust regulators against Apple, saying the iPhone maker unfairly limits rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.
Spotify, which launched a year after the 2007 launch of the iPhone, said on Wednesday that Apple’s control of its App Store deprived consumers of choice and rival providers of audio streaming services to the benefit of Apple Music, which began in 2015.
Central to Spotify’s complaint, filed with the European Commission on Monday, is what it says is a 30 percent fee Apple charges content-based service providers to use Apple’s in-app purchase system (IAP).
Forced to raise price
Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s general counsel, said the company was pressured into using the billing system in 2014, but then was forced to raise the monthly fee of its premium service from 9.99 to 12.99 euros, just as Apple Music launched at Spotify’s initial 9.99 price.
Spotify then ceased use of Apple’s IAP system, meaning Spotify customers could only upgrade to the fee-based package indirectly, such as on a laptop.
Under App Store rules, Spotify said, content-based apps could not include buttons or external links to pages with production information, discounts or promotions and faced difficulties fixing bugs. Such restrictions do not apply to Android phones, it said.
“Promotions are essential to our business. This is how we convert our free customers to premium,” Gutierrez said.
Voice recognition system Siri would not hook iPhone users up to Spotify, and Apple declined to let Spotify launch an app on its Apple Watch, Spotify said.
Spotify declined to say what economic damage it believed it had suffered.
“We feel confident in the economic analysis we have submitted to the commission that we could have done better than we have done so far,” Gutierrez said.
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Spotify Files EU Antitrust Complaint Against Apple
Spotify has filed a complaint with European Union antitrust regulators against Apple, saying the iPhone maker unfairly limits rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.
Spotify, which launched a year after the 2007 launch of the iPhone, said on Wednesday that Apple’s control of its App Store deprived consumers of choice and rival providers of audio streaming services to the benefit of Apple Music, which began in 2015.
Central to Spotify’s complaint, filed with the European Commission on Monday, is what it says is a 30 percent fee Apple charges content-based service providers to use Apple’s in-app purchase system (IAP).
Forced to raise price
Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s general counsel, said the company was pressured into using the billing system in 2014, but then was forced to raise the monthly fee of its premium service from 9.99 to 12.99 euros, just as Apple Music launched at Spotify’s initial 9.99 price.
Spotify then ceased use of Apple’s IAP system, meaning Spotify customers could only upgrade to the fee-based package indirectly, such as on a laptop.
Under App Store rules, Spotify said, content-based apps could not include buttons or external links to pages with production information, discounts or promotions and faced difficulties fixing bugs. Such restrictions do not apply to Android phones, it said.
“Promotions are essential to our business. This is how we convert our free customers to premium,” Gutierrez said.
Voice recognition system Siri would not hook iPhone users up to Spotify, and Apple declined to let Spotify launch an app on its Apple Watch, Spotify said.
Spotify declined to say what economic damage it believed it had suffered.
“We feel confident in the economic analysis we have submitted to the commission that we could have done better than we have done so far,” Gutierrez said.
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US Drops Reference to ‘Israeli-Occupied’ Golan Heights in Annual Rights Report
The U.S. State Department changed its usual description of the Golan Heights from “Israeli-occupied” to “Israeli-controlled” in an annual global human rights report released Wednesday.
Israel has been lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which it effectively annexed in 1981. Israel says the area, captured from Syria in a 1967 war, is a critical buffer zone to defend its territory.
A separate section in the report, on the West Bank and Gaza Strip — areas that Israel also seized in 1967 — also did not refer to those territories as being “occupied” or under “occupation.”
Any change in U.S. terminology on the West Bank and Gaza Strip is certain to raise Palestinian concern over the strength of Washington’s commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state envisaged by interim peace agreements in the 1990s.
A State Department official, commenting on the language used in the report, said: “The policy on the status of the territories has not changed.”
The United States uses the term “territories” when it refers to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The official, Michael Kozak, head of the State Department’s human rights and democracy bureau, said Washington was seeking “a negotiated settlement” there.
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US Grounds Boeing 737 Max Planes
President Donald Trump says the U.S. is grounding the model of an American-made jetliner that crashed and killed 157 people Sunday, making it last high-profile country to pull the aircraft out of service.
Trump said “Boeing is an incredible company,” but added “the safety of all people is our paramount concern.”
Earlier Tuesday, Canada banned the new Boeing 737-Max 8 aircraft, which has crashed twice in fewer than five months, killing nearly 350 people.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday’s decision was made after receiving new satellite data that showed a possible similarity to a previous crash.
Canada’s action followed confirmation that the pilot of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 reported internal control problems, while pilots in the U.S. filed at least five complaints in recent months about the aircraft model. Some of the complaints appear to involve the same anti-stall system, according to a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration database. Complaints are filed anonymously to improve the reporting of safety problems.
Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw said the pilot asked to return to Addis Ababa, where the flight had departed. “In fact, he was allowed to turn back,” Begashaw told the Reuters news agency. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg confirmed the pilot’s problems in interviews with The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
The Trump administration had continued to resist growing domestic and international calls to ground the 737 Max 8, even as Trump discussed the issue Tuesday in a phone call with Muilenburg. The Boeing executive reassured Trump the aircraft is safe, company and White House officials confirmed.
Muilenburg called Trump after the president complained Tuesday on Twitter that planes “are becoming far too complex to fly.” The call was in the process of being scheduled prior to Tuesday. The two men have developed a relationship since Trump was elected.
Boeing donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and the two men met later at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss the new Air Force One presidential aircraft that Boeing is constructing. Trump applauded Muilenburg last June at a National Space Council meeting, calling the CEO a “friend of mine. A great guy.”
Military contractor, lobbying force
As a key military contractor, Boeing is a major lobbying force in Washington. Boeing spent $15 million on lobbying last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Boeing also has close ties with the U.S. government, particularly with the Federal Aviation Administration.
After decades of using outside experts to certify the safety of aircraft, the FAA changed its approach in 2005 with the creation of a new program through which Boeing and other U.S. aircraft manufacturers could select their own employees to help certify their planes.
About two-thirds of the Boeing 737-Max 8, the company’s newest plane, were pulled from service within two days of Sunday’s crash.
U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio has suggested the FAA could be conflicted by its roles as an aviation industry advocate and regulator. The Senate plans to conduct a hearing on airline safety.
Trump had resisted calls for the jet to be grounded until the cause of the crashes is found and planned modifications of software are installed for the aircraft’s automatic anti-stall system, which may have played a role in both accidents.
Boeing also said in a statement Tuesday it had no plans to ground the Max 8, while the FAA said its own review of available data shows no basis for doing so.
Boeing announced on Monday that it is developing a “flight control software enhancement for the 737 Max, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”
The initial crash of the Max 8 involved a Lion Air domestic flight in Indonesia on Oct. 29, 2018. The plane plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board.
During Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines flight, the plane nosedived minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on an international flight to Nairobi, Kenya, witnesses said.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Flight 302 have been recovered, the airline announced on Monday. Begashaw confirmed Wednesday the black box that contains the records will be sent to Europe for analysis. Begashaw did not indicate which country would conduct it.
your ad hereArrests in Cameroon for Corruption, or Challenges to Biya?
The recent arrest of a former official in Cameroon for alleged corruption has sparked a debate over whether the government is actually trying to stamp out corruption, or is cracking down on anyone it sees as a challenger to longtime President Paul Biya.
Former defense minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o was arrested along with his wife and three of his close collaborators.
Political analyst Eugene Mbida says Mebe Ngo’o had occupied several strategic positions, including the director of Biya’s cabinet, police chief, minister of transport and defense minister — who was instrumental in arresting people considered as opponents of Biya. Mebe Ngo’o was widely viewed by Cameroonians as the emblematic future president, according to Mbida.
At least two dozen former government officials have been arrested and imprisoned in Cameroon over the past 10 years, including a former prime minister, several ex-ministers, and heads of state-owned corporations.
The charges against Mebe Ngo’o have not been made public, though corruption is said to be the cause of his arrest. The other officials were arrested on embezzlement charges, but they say they are political prisoners who are suffering for raising their voices against Biya’s 37-year stay in power.
‘Prisoners of conscience’
Former Health Minister Urbain Olanguena Awono, in his book titled Mensonges d’Etat (Lies of the State), says he and other detainees are “prisoners of conscience.”
Jacques Mfeugue of the Yaounde-based Center for the Promotion of Good Governance says the only way for citizens to know if officials are stealing from the public purse is if officials are forced to declare their assets before taking office.
In addition, he says, Cameroon should upgrade the audit bench of the Supreme Court to an autonomous court that investigates financial crimes.
The government denies that Biya persecutes those who oppose him and insists that it fights only corruption. It says the country has lost about $1.5 billion in stolen funds over the past decade, and that the anti-corruption body recovered about $260 million last year.
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Arrests in Cameroon for Corruption, or Challenges to Biya?
The recent arrest of a former official in Cameroon for alleged corruption has sparked a debate over whether the government is actually trying to stamp out corruption, or is cracking down on anyone it sees as a challenger to longtime President Paul Biya.
Former defense minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o was arrested along with his wife and three of his close collaborators.
Political analyst Eugene Mbida says Mebe Ngo’o had occupied several strategic positions, including the director of Biya’s cabinet, police chief, minister of transport and defense minister — who was instrumental in arresting people considered as opponents of Biya. Mebe Ngo’o was widely viewed by Cameroonians as the emblematic future president, according to Mbida.
At least two dozen former government officials have been arrested and imprisoned in Cameroon over the past 10 years, including a former prime minister, several ex-ministers, and heads of state-owned corporations.
The charges against Mebe Ngo’o have not been made public, though corruption is said to be the cause of his arrest. The other officials were arrested on embezzlement charges, but they say they are political prisoners who are suffering for raising their voices against Biya’s 37-year stay in power.
‘Prisoners of conscience’
Former Health Minister Urbain Olanguena Awono, in his book titled Mensonges d’Etat (Lies of the State), says he and other detainees are “prisoners of conscience.”
Jacques Mfeugue of the Yaounde-based Center for the Promotion of Good Governance says the only way for citizens to know if officials are stealing from the public purse is if officials are forced to declare their assets before taking office.
In addition, he says, Cameroon should upgrade the audit bench of the Supreme Court to an autonomous court that investigates financial crimes.
The government denies that Biya persecutes those who oppose him and insists that it fights only corruption. It says the country has lost about $1.5 billion in stolen funds over the past decade, and that the anti-corruption body recovered about $260 million last year.
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Nigerian Schoolchildren Trapped in Collapsed Building
Dozens of children are believed trapped inside a collapsed building in Lagos, Nigeria, where hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch a massive rescue attempt.
It is unclear how many people are inside the ruins of the three-story building that collapsed about 10 a.m. local time Wednesday. Onlookers said a school with about 100 students was located on the building’s top floor.
Several children are believed to have been rescued from the debris. Ambulances, fire trucks, and heavy building equipment were standing by to help with the search-and-rescue effort.
There was no word on how many adults were in the building when it fell.
The building is on the Ita-faji area of Lagos island, the oldest part of the city.
Building collapses are not uncommon in Nigeria. In 2016, more than 100 people died when a church collapsed in southeastern Nigeria. A five-story building in Lagos collapsed that year as well, killing at least 30 people.
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Nigerian Schoolchildren Trapped in Collapsed Building
Dozens of children are believed trapped inside a collapsed building in Lagos, Nigeria, where hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch a massive rescue attempt.
It is unclear how many people are inside the ruins of the three-story building that collapsed about 10 a.m. local time Wednesday. Onlookers said a school with about 100 students was located on the building’s top floor.
Several children are believed to have been rescued from the debris. Ambulances, fire trucks, and heavy building equipment were standing by to help with the search-and-rescue effort.
There was no word on how many adults were in the building when it fell.
The building is on the Ita-faji area of Lagos island, the oldest part of the city.
Building collapses are not uncommon in Nigeria. In 2016, more than 100 people died when a church collapsed in southeastern Nigeria. A five-story building in Lagos collapsed that year as well, killing at least 30 people.
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Canada Bans US Jet Model Involved in Ethiopian Crash
Canada has banned from its airspace the model of an American-made jetliner that crashed and killed 157 people Sunday, leaving the United States as the world’s most high-profile country to continue to allow the aircraft to remain in service.
The new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has crashed twice in less than five months, killing nearly 350 people.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Ottawa that Wednesday’s decision was made after receiving new satellite data that showed a possible similarity to a previous crash.
Canada’s action followed confirmation that the pilot of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 reported internal control problems, while pilots in the U.S. filed at least five complaints in recent months about the aircraft model. Some of the complaints appear to involve the same anti-stall system, according to a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration database. Complaints are filed anonymously to improve the reporting of safety problems.
Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw said the pilot asked to return to Addis Ababa, from which the flight had departed. “In fact, he was allowed to turn back,” Begashaw told the Reuters news agency. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg confirmed the pilot’s problems in interviews with The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration continues to resist growing domestic and international calls to ground the 737 Max 8, even as Trump discussed the issue Tuesday in a phone call with Muilenburg. The Boeing executive reassured Trump the aircraft is safe, company and White House officials confirmed.
Muilenburg called Trump after the president complained Tuesday on Twitter that planes “are becoming far too complex to fly.” The call was in the process of being scheduled prior to Tuesday. The two men have developed a relationship since Trump was elected.
Boeing donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and the two men met later at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss the new Air Force One presidential aircraft that Boeing is constructing. Trump applauded Muilenburg last June at a National Space Council meeting, calling the CEO a “friend of mine. A great guy.”
As a key military contractor, Boeing is a major lobbying force in Washington. Boeing spent $15 million on lobbying last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Boeing also has close ties with the U.S. government, particularly with the Federal Aviation Administration.
After decades of using outside experts to certify the safety of aircraft, the FAA changed its approach in 2005 with the creation of a new program through which Boeing and other U.S. aircraft manufacturers could select their own employees to help certify their planes.
About two-thirds of the Boeing 737 Max 8, the company’s newest plane, were pulled from service within two days of Sunday’s crash.
U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has suggested the FAA could be conflicted by its roles as an aviation industry advocate and regulator. The Senate plans to conduct a hearing on airline safety.
Trump has resisted calls for the jet to be grounded until the cause of the crashes is found and planned modifications of software are installed for the aircraft’s automatic anti-stall system.
Boeing also said in a statement Tuesday that it had no plans to ground the Max 8, while the FAA said its own review of available data showed no basis for doing so.
Boeing announced on Monday that it was developing a “flight control software enhancement for the 737 Max, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”
The initial crash of the Max 8 involved a Lion Air domestic flight in Indonesia on Oct. 29, 2018. The plane plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board.
During Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines flight, the plane nosedived minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, witnesses said.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Flight 302 have been recovered, the airline announced Monday. Begashaw confirmed Wednesday that the black box that contains the records would be sent to Europe for analysis. Begashaw did not indicate which country would conduct it.
VOA’s Steve Herman contributed to this report.
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Canada Bans US Jet Model Involved in Ethiopian Crash
Canada has banned from its airspace the model of an American-made jetliner that crashed and killed 157 people Sunday, leaving the United States as the world’s most high-profile country to continue to allow the aircraft to remain in service.
The new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has crashed twice in less than five months, killing nearly 350 people.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Ottawa that Wednesday’s decision was made after receiving new satellite data that showed a possible similarity to a previous crash.
Canada’s action followed confirmation that the pilot of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 reported internal control problems, while pilots in the U.S. filed at least five complaints in recent months about the aircraft model. Some of the complaints appear to involve the same anti-stall system, according to a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration database. Complaints are filed anonymously to improve the reporting of safety problems.
Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw said the pilot asked to return to Addis Ababa, from which the flight had departed. “In fact, he was allowed to turn back,” Begashaw told the Reuters news agency. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg confirmed the pilot’s problems in interviews with The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration continues to resist growing domestic and international calls to ground the 737 Max 8, even as Trump discussed the issue Tuesday in a phone call with Muilenburg. The Boeing executive reassured Trump the aircraft is safe, company and White House officials confirmed.
Muilenburg called Trump after the president complained Tuesday on Twitter that planes “are becoming far too complex to fly.” The call was in the process of being scheduled prior to Tuesday. The two men have developed a relationship since Trump was elected.
Boeing donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and the two men met later at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss the new Air Force One presidential aircraft that Boeing is constructing. Trump applauded Muilenburg last June at a National Space Council meeting, calling the CEO a “friend of mine. A great guy.”
As a key military contractor, Boeing is a major lobbying force in Washington. Boeing spent $15 million on lobbying last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Boeing also has close ties with the U.S. government, particularly with the Federal Aviation Administration.
After decades of using outside experts to certify the safety of aircraft, the FAA changed its approach in 2005 with the creation of a new program through which Boeing and other U.S. aircraft manufacturers could select their own employees to help certify their planes.
About two-thirds of the Boeing 737 Max 8, the company’s newest plane, were pulled from service within two days of Sunday’s crash.
U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has suggested the FAA could be conflicted by its roles as an aviation industry advocate and regulator. The Senate plans to conduct a hearing on airline safety.
Trump has resisted calls for the jet to be grounded until the cause of the crashes is found and planned modifications of software are installed for the aircraft’s automatic anti-stall system.
Boeing also said in a statement Tuesday that it had no plans to ground the Max 8, while the FAA said its own review of available data showed no basis for doing so.
Boeing announced on Monday that it was developing a “flight control software enhancement for the 737 Max, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”
The initial crash of the Max 8 involved a Lion Air domestic flight in Indonesia on Oct. 29, 2018. The plane plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board.
During Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines flight, the plane nosedived minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, witnesses said.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Flight 302 have been recovered, the airline announced Monday. Begashaw confirmed Wednesday that the black box that contains the records would be sent to Europe for analysis. Begashaw did not indicate which country would conduct it.
VOA’s Steve Herman contributed to this report.
…
British Leadership Change Possible in the Wake of Brexit Chaos
Britain’s politics are once again in chaos after parliament Tuesday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan for a second time. The British leader might try to bring her deal back next week for another vote, but observers say that attempt will fail, raising a real possibility of a change of leadership. More from Jamie Dettmer in London.
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British Leadership Change Possible in the Wake of Brexit Chaos
Britain’s politics are once again in chaos after parliament Tuesday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan for a second time. The British leader might try to bring her deal back next week for another vote, but observers say that attempt will fail, raising a real possibility of a change of leadership. More from Jamie Dettmer in London.
…
Australian Cardinal’s Future Likely to be Decided by Vatican After June Appeal
The Vatican’s former treasurer, Australian Cardinal George Pell, has been sentenced to prison for sexually abusing choir boys. Handing down the sentence Wednesday, the judge said Pell would be listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Pope Francis will now have to decide what will happen to his former close advisor.
The 77-year-old cardinal was sentenced in Australia to six years by Victoria County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd. The judge read the sentence, making it clear Pell would immediately start serving time in prison, although he has lodged an appeal that will be heard in June.
“I set a non-parole period of three years and eight months,” said Kidd. “That means you will become eligible to apply for parole after serving this non-parole period. Your release on parole will be a matter entirely for the parole board.”
No reaction was immediately forthcoming from the Vatican. The sentence came down on the very same day Pope Francis marked six years as head of the Catholic Church. He is on a weeklong spiritual retreat outside the Vatican, as is customary for him at the start of the Christian season of Lent.
Pope Francis could decide to defrock Cardinal Pell, as the pontiff did in February with the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, for similar issues. No decision is likely to be made until Pell’s appeal is heard. And Pell is not expected to return to Rome unless he is successful in overturning his conviction.
In the event he is successful, it is unlikely Pell will be welcomed back in Rome. The more likely scenario is that he will no longer serve in any Church role but given his age and failing health, he likely will be granted a pension. Under Vatican rules, Church officials normally resign at the age of 75 although the pope can choose to extend their service.
If the conviction is upheld on appeal and Pope Francis decides to defrock him, Pell stands to lose not only his freedom for some time but also the perks he enjoyed as a senior official of the Vatican, namely a home close to Saint Peter’s Square and a car and driver. Whether he would be able to maintain any financial support and health care would have to be discussed. He would no longer be allowed to celebrate Church sacraments.
your ad hereAustralian Cardinal’s Future Likely to be Decided by Vatican After June Appeal
The Vatican’s former treasurer, Australian Cardinal George Pell, has been sentenced to prison for sexually abusing choir boys. Handing down the sentence Wednesday, the judge said Pell would be listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Pope Francis will now have to decide what will happen to his former close advisor.
The 77-year-old cardinal was sentenced in Australia to six years by Victoria County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd. The judge read the sentence, making it clear Pell would immediately start serving time in prison, although he has lodged an appeal that will be heard in June.
“I set a non-parole period of three years and eight months,” said Kidd. “That means you will become eligible to apply for parole after serving this non-parole period. Your release on parole will be a matter entirely for the parole board.”
No reaction was immediately forthcoming from the Vatican. The sentence came down on the very same day Pope Francis marked six years as head of the Catholic Church. He is on a weeklong spiritual retreat outside the Vatican, as is customary for him at the start of the Christian season of Lent.
Pope Francis could decide to defrock Cardinal Pell, as the pontiff did in February with the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, for similar issues. No decision is likely to be made until Pell’s appeal is heard. And Pell is not expected to return to Rome unless he is successful in overturning his conviction.
In the event he is successful, it is unlikely Pell will be welcomed back in Rome. The more likely scenario is that he will no longer serve in any Church role but given his age and failing health, he likely will be granted a pension. Under Vatican rules, Church officials normally resign at the age of 75 although the pope can choose to extend their service.
If the conviction is upheld on appeal and Pope Francis decides to defrock him, Pell stands to lose not only his freedom for some time but also the perks he enjoyed as a senior official of the Vatican, namely a home close to Saint Peter’s Square and a car and driver. Whether he would be able to maintain any financial support and health care would have to be discussed. He would no longer be allowed to celebrate Church sacraments.
your ad hereWith Brexit Deal Down, UK Lawmakers Have 2 More Choices
Now that British lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal for a second time, the country’s planned March 29 departure from the bloc is an open question.
Lawmakers now have two starkly different choices: no deal or delay.
A look at what might happen in the days ahead:
Destination no-deal
The House of Commons voted 391-242 against May’s EU withdrawal agreement Tuesday, snubbing changes she secured from the bloc the night before to allay concerns about the deal’s Irish border provisions. Lawmakers voted down the deal in January by an even bigger margin.
After the tally, May said Parliament would vote Wednesday on whether to abandon efforts to secure an agreement and to leave the EU as planned in a little more than two weeks without a deal.
A phalanx of pro-Brexit politicians supports that idea. They argue it would free the U.K. from EU rules and red tape, allowing the country to forge an independent global trade policy.
But economists and businesses fear a so-called “no-deal Brexit” would hammer the economy as tariffs and other trade barriers go up between Britain and the EU, its biggest trading partner.
In the short term, there could be gridlock at British ports and shortages of fresh produce. In the long run, the government says a no-deal scenario would leave the economy 6 percent to 9 percent smaller over 15 years than remaining in the EU.
Last month, Parliament passed a non-binding amendment ruling out a “no-deal” Brexit, and it is unlikely they will support it now. May said lawmakers would be free to follow their consciences rather than party lines when they consider the question Wednesday.
Delay, delay, delay
If lawmakers give leaving the EU without an agreement a thumbs down, they have one choice left: seeking more time. A third vote scheduled for Thursday is on asking the EU to delay Brexit day by up to three months.
This option is likely to prove popular, since politicians on both sides of the Brexit debate fear time is running out to secure an orderly withdrawal by March 29.
Extending the timeframe for Brexit would require approval from all 27 remaining EU member countries. They have an opportunity to grand such a request at a March 21-22 summit in Brussels. But the rest of the EU is reluctant to postpone Brexit beyond the late May elections for the EU’s legislature, the European Parliament.
The EU said Tuesday that Britain needs to provide “a credible justification” for any delay.
Crisis deferred
Whatever Parliament decides, it will not end Britain’s Brexit crisis. Both lawmakers and the public remain split between backers of a clean break from the EU and those who favor continuing a close relationship through a post-Brexit trade deal or by reversing the June 2016 decision to leave.
May is unwilling to abandon her hard-won Brexit agreement and might try to put it to Parliament a third time, although the latest margin of defeat makes that tricky.
Some lawmakers want her to have Parliament consider different forms of Brexit to see if there is a majority for any course of action.
Some think the only way forward is a snap election that could rearrange the forces in Parliament and break the political deadlock. May has ruled that out, but could come to see it as her only option.
And anti-Brexit campaigners haven’t abandoned efforts to secure a new referendum on whether to remain in the EU. The government opposes the idea, which at the moment also lacks majority support in Parliament.
However, the political calculus could change if the paralysis drags on. The opposition Labour Party has said it would support a second referendum if other options were exhausted.
It all means more twists are coming in the Brexit drama.
“No one really believes this is the last chance saloon,” said Oliver Patel, a research associate at the European Institute at University College London.
your ad here
With Brexit Deal Down, UK Lawmakers Have 2 More Choices
Now that British lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal for a second time, the country’s planned March 29 departure from the bloc is an open question.
Lawmakers now have two starkly different choices: no deal or delay.
A look at what might happen in the days ahead:
Destination no-deal
The House of Commons voted 391-242 against May’s EU withdrawal agreement Tuesday, snubbing changes she secured from the bloc the night before to allay concerns about the deal’s Irish border provisions. Lawmakers voted down the deal in January by an even bigger margin.
After the tally, May said Parliament would vote Wednesday on whether to abandon efforts to secure an agreement and to leave the EU as planned in a little more than two weeks without a deal.
A phalanx of pro-Brexit politicians supports that idea. They argue it would free the U.K. from EU rules and red tape, allowing the country to forge an independent global trade policy.
But economists and businesses fear a so-called “no-deal Brexit” would hammer the economy as tariffs and other trade barriers go up between Britain and the EU, its biggest trading partner.
In the short term, there could be gridlock at British ports and shortages of fresh produce. In the long run, the government says a no-deal scenario would leave the economy 6 percent to 9 percent smaller over 15 years than remaining in the EU.
Last month, Parliament passed a non-binding amendment ruling out a “no-deal” Brexit, and it is unlikely they will support it now. May said lawmakers would be free to follow their consciences rather than party lines when they consider the question Wednesday.
Delay, delay, delay
If lawmakers give leaving the EU without an agreement a thumbs down, they have one choice left: seeking more time. A third vote scheduled for Thursday is on asking the EU to delay Brexit day by up to three months.
This option is likely to prove popular, since politicians on both sides of the Brexit debate fear time is running out to secure an orderly withdrawal by March 29.
Extending the timeframe for Brexit would require approval from all 27 remaining EU member countries. They have an opportunity to grand such a request at a March 21-22 summit in Brussels. But the rest of the EU is reluctant to postpone Brexit beyond the late May elections for the EU’s legislature, the European Parliament.
The EU said Tuesday that Britain needs to provide “a credible justification” for any delay.
Crisis deferred
Whatever Parliament decides, it will not end Britain’s Brexit crisis. Both lawmakers and the public remain split between backers of a clean break from the EU and those who favor continuing a close relationship through a post-Brexit trade deal or by reversing the June 2016 decision to leave.
May is unwilling to abandon her hard-won Brexit agreement and might try to put it to Parliament a third time, although the latest margin of defeat makes that tricky.
Some lawmakers want her to have Parliament consider different forms of Brexit to see if there is a majority for any course of action.
Some think the only way forward is a snap election that could rearrange the forces in Parliament and break the political deadlock. May has ruled that out, but could come to see it as her only option.
And anti-Brexit campaigners haven’t abandoned efforts to secure a new referendum on whether to remain in the EU. The government opposes the idea, which at the moment also lacks majority support in Parliament.
However, the political calculus could change if the paralysis drags on. The opposition Labour Party has said it would support a second referendum if other options were exhausted.
It all means more twists are coming in the Brexit drama.
“No one really believes this is the last chance saloon,” said Oliver Patel, a research associate at the European Institute at University College London.
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