April 2019 - Page 10 of 25

Explosions Rock Tripoli as Airstrike Escalates Fighting

Posted on 04/21/2019 by SeeAF

Explosions shook the Libyan capital Tripoli late Saturday after an airstrike, residents said, in an escalation of a two-week offensive by eastern forces on the city held by the internationally recognized government.

A Reuters reporter and several interviewed residents said they saw an aircraft circling for more than 10 minutes over the capital with a humming sound before opening fire on a southern suburb, scene of the heaviest fighting between the rival forces.

Reuters was unable to confirm whether an aircraft or unmanned drone was behind the strike, which triggered heavy anti-aircraft fire. Residents had reported drone strikes in the past days, but there has been no confirmation and explosions heard in the city center this time were louder than in previous days.

Residents counted several missile strikes, which apparently hit a military camp of forces loyal to Tripoli in the Sabaa district. Authorities closed Tripoli’s only functioning airport.

Haftar stymied

The Libyan National Army (LNA) force loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar started an offensive two weeks ago but has been unable to breach the government’s southern defenses.

If a drone strike was confirmed, this would point to more sophisticated warfare. The LNA has so far mainly used aging Soviet-made jets from the air force of Moammar Gadhafi, toppled in 2011, lacking precision firepower and helicopters, according to residents and military sources.

In the past the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have supported Haftar with airstrikes during campaigns to take eastern Libya. Both countries flew airstrikes on Tripoli in 2014 during a different conflict to help a Haftar-allied force, U.S. officials said at the time.

Since 2014 the UAE and Egypt have provided the LNA with military equipment such as aircraft and helicopters, helping Haftar to gain the upper hand in Libya’s eight-year conflict, past U.N. reports have established.

The UAE even built an air base in Al Khadim in eastern Libya, one such report said in 2017.

The air strikes, which were also filmed by residents in video posted online, came after a day of heavy clashes in southern districts, with shelling audible in the city center.

Trump’s call to Haftar

The violence spiked after the White House said on Friday that President Donald Trump spoke by with Haftar earlier in the week.

The disclosure of the call and a U.S. statement that it “recognized Field Marshal Haftar’s significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources” has boosted the commander’s supporters and enraged his opponents.

Western powers and the Gulf have been divided over a push by Haftar’s forces to seize Tripoli, undermining calls by the United Nations for a ceasefire.

Both sides claimed progress in southern Tripoli Saturday, but no more details were immediately available.

A Reuters TV cameraman visiting the southern Khalat Furgan suburb heard heavy shelling but saw no apparent change in the frontline.

On Friday, two children were killed in shelling in southern Tripoli, residents said. The fighting has killed 220 people and wounded 1,066, the World Heath organization (WHO) said.

It was unclear why the White House waited several days to announce Monday’s phone call.

UN cease-fire

On Thursday, both the United States and Russia said they could not support a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Libya at this time.

Russia objects to the British-drafted resolution blaming Haftar for the latest flare-up in violence when his LNA advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli earlier this month, diplomats said.

The United States did not give a reason for its decision not to support the draft resolution, which would also call on countries with influence over the warring parties to ensure compliance and for unconditional humanitarian aid access in Libya.
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Volunteers Bring Easter Hope to the Homeless

Posted on 04/21/2019 by SeeUS

Easter, which most Christians observe Sunday, is a time of celebration for many American families. Life remains hard for the homeless on the streets of big American cities. But as Mike O’Sullivan reports, an Easter meal brightens the lives of thousands on the streets of Los Angeles.
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FBI Arrests Member of Armed Group Stopping Migrants at Border

Posted on 04/21/2019 by SeeUS

The FBI on Saturday said it had arrested Larry Hopkins, a member of an armed group of U.S. citizens who have been stopping migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico.

Hopkins, 69, also known as Johnny Horton, was arrested in Sunland Park, N.M., on a federal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Hopkins had represented himself as the commander of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), a volunteer group camped out near Sunland Park since late February. The UCP has posted videos showing its members holding migrants, many of them Central American families with children seeking asylum, until U.S. Border Patrol arrives to arrest them.

Migrants’ surrender on video

The group drew a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union, and widespread media attention, after an April 16 video showed a group of around 300 migrants surrendering to the UCP at its camp.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday said citizens had no authority to arrest or detain anyone and police and justice officials were looking into the UCP’s activities.

Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general, described Hopkins as “a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families.”

“Today’s arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes,” Balderas said in a statement.

Hopkins, of Flora Vista, N.M., is expected to have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, N.M., on Monday, the FBI said.

Earlier Saturday, Mexican officials said they had “deep concern” about armed groups that intimidate and extort migrants on the border, shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union and Democratic U.S. senators called for a probe into such citizen efforts to block migrants from crossing.

“These types of practices can drive human rights abuses of people who migrate or request asylum or refuge in the United States,” Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement, referring to “militia groups” in New Mexico.

It added that patrols “on the margins” of the law create risks for the safety of migrants.

On Thursday, the ACLU of New Mexico condemned the United Constitutional Patriots as a “fascist militia organization” operating outside the law.

Dressed in camouflage

The group has posted videos showing members dressed in camouflage and armed with semiautomatic rifles holding groups of migrants for pickup by Border Patrol agents.

Along with the ACLU, New Mexico Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall called for an investigation into the border group.

“Threatening innocent children and families fleeing violence and seeking asylum is unacceptable and flies in the face of our values as a state and a nation,” they said in a joint statement on Twitter on Friday.
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USAID Launches Latest Cleanup of Agent Orange Site

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeUS

The U.S. launched on Saturday a $183 million cleanup at a former Vietnam storage site for Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in the nations’ bitter war, which years later is still blamed for severe birth defects, cancers and disabilities.

Located outside Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa air base — the latest site scheduled for rehabilitation after Danang air base’s cleanup last year — was one of the main storage grounds for Agent Orange and was only hastily cleared by soldiers near the war’s end more than four decades ago.

U.S. forces sprayed 80 million liters (21 million gallons) of Agent Orange over South Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 in a desperate bid to flush out Viet Cong communist guerrillas by depriving them of tree cover and food.

The spillover from the clearing operation is believed to have seeped beyond the base and into groundwater and rivers, and is linked to severe mental and physical disabilities across generations of Vietnamese — from enlarged heads to deformed limbs.

Largest ‘hot spot’ left

At Bien Hoa, more than 500,000 cubic meters of dioxin had contaminated the soil and sediment, making it the “largest remaining hot spot” in Vietnam, said a statement from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which kicked off a 10-year remediation effort Saturday.

The dioxin amounts in Bien Hoa are four times more than the volume cleaned up at Danang airport, a six-year, $110 million effort that was completed in November.

“The fact that two former foes are now partnering on such a complex task is nothing short of historic,” said the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel Kritenbrink, at Saturday morning’s launch, which was attended by Vietnamese military officials and U.S. senators.

Hanoi says up to 3 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, and that 1 million suffer grave health repercussions today — including at least 150,000 children with birth defects.

An attempt by Vietnamese victims to obtain compensation from the United States has met with little success. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2009 declined to take up the case, while neither the U.S. government nor the manufacturers of the chemical have ever admitted liability.

While U.S. officials have never admitted direct links between Agent Orange and birth defects, USAID on Saturday also issued a “memorandum of intent” to work with government agencies to improve the lives of people with disabilities in seven Vietnamese provinces.
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Sudan Arrests Top Members of Former Ruling Party

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeAF

Sudanese authorities arrested several top members of the former ruling party late Saturday, a senior party official told Reuters.

Those arrested included the acting head of the National Congress Party, Ahmed Haroun; ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s former first deputy, Ali Osman Taha; his former aide, Awad al-Jaz; the secretary-general of the Islamic movement, Al-Zubair Ahmed Hassan; and former parliament Chairman Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taher, the source said.

Former presidential aide Nafie Ali Nafie and parliament Chairman Ibrahim Ahmed Omar have been placed under house arrest, he added.

Sixteen weeks of protests triggered by a worsening economic crisis in Sudan led recently to the ouster and arrest of Bashir, who had been in power for three decades. A transitional military council assumed power last week.
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Christians Await Joy of Easter Morning

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

Many Christians observed one of the most important times of their religious year with a vigil Saturday night before Sunday’s celebration of Easter, when the faithful believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

On the night of Holy Saturday, Pope Francis celebrates an Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, ahead of Easter Sunday Mass in the square. At the end of Mass, the pope will give his traditional blessing to the city and to the world.

Elsewhere, many worshippers participate in sunrise services to greet the first light of Easter Sunday. The day is marked by religious services, family dinners, treats for children and, in some cases, new clothes to celebrate the coming of spring.

On Friday, many Christian pilgrims participated in a ritual known as the Stations of the Cross. In Jerusalem, thousands of worshippers marched through the ancient, narrow cobblestone alleyways of the Old City, retracing what they believe is the route Jesus Christ took to his crucifixion.

Carrying crosses

Some of the faithful observed Good Friday by carrying large, wooden crosses on their shoulders. Others sang hymns and read Scriptures during the traditional procession, retracing the purported path of Jesus to the 14 Stations of the Cross. The route leads to Calvary, or Golgotha, also referred to as the Place of the Skull, where the Bible says Jesus died.

Pilgrims came to Israel from all over the world to celebrate one of Christianity’s most sacred days, including Frank Caldwell from the U.S. state of Minnesota. “I think it’s always a feeling of walking in the footsteps of Jesus, and it’s a very religious feeling and very good feeling to be here,” he said.

The procession culminated at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus was buried before his resurrection, which is observed Easter Sunday.

Israeli police and soldiers armed with assault rifles guarded the route, but the atmosphere was calm.

Good Friday coincided with the biblical Jewish holiday of Passover this year, and Israelis also flocked to Jerusalem to celebrate. Among them was Eddie Stern, who said “Passover is … an understanding of perhaps why Israel exists and the history of the Jewish people coming to Israel.”

Adding to the religious and cultural mix were Palestinian Muslims who attended Friday prayers at the Mosque of al-Aqsa, the third-holiest place in Islam.

Nun’s meditations

Pope Francis marked Good Friday with the same ritual in Rome, leading thousands of Christians in the Stations of the Cross. This year, the pope asked an 80-year-old nun, Sister Eugenia Bonetti, who has devoted her life to rescuing victims of sex trafficking, to write the meditations for the 14 stops along the way.

Francis has called forcing women into prostitution “a crime against humanity” and has urged Catholics “to open their eyes” to victims. The aim of Sister Bonetti’s meditations was to show the way in which Christ still suffers today.

Sister Bonetti’s meditations also included reminders of other sufferers, whom she dubbed “today’s newly crucified” — the homeless, the jobless, the hopeless, and the immigrants who are forced to live in poverty or danger on the margins of society.

She said the faithful should remember “all those who even now are enduring crucifixion as victims of our narrowmindedness, our institutions and our laws, our blindness and selfishness, but especially our indifference and hardness of heart.”
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Frenchman Nears End of Trip Across Atlantic in Barrel

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

A Frenchman who has spent 113 days floating across the Atlantic in a custom-made barrel says he is in high spirits as he approaches the end of his journey.

Earlier this week, Jean-Jacques Savin, 72, posted on his Facebook page that he was just 750 kilometers from the island of St. Martin. But he has traveled only 250 kilometers in the past week because of the lack of wind.

But he does not seem to mind. “There is no hurry, let’s leave time to time and now there are a series of favorable days coming to push me towards the South-West,” he wrote.

With no engine, sails or paddles, the unusual craft has relied on trade winds and currents to push Savin 4,800 kilometers from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean.

Savin spent months building his bright orange, barrel-shaped capsule of resin-coated plywood that is strong enough to withstand battering waves and other stresses.

The barrel is 3 meters long and 2.10 meters across, has a small galley area, and a mattress with straps to keep him from being tossed out of his bunk by rough seas.

Portholes on either side of the barrel and another looking into the water provide sunlight and a bit of entertainment. The unique craft also has a solar panel that generates energy for communications and GPS positioning.

As he drifts along, Savin is dropping markers in the ocean to help oceanographers study ocean currents. At the end of the journey, Savin himself will be studied by doctors for effects of solitude in close confinement.

He also posts regular updates, including GPS coordinates that track his journey, on a Facebook page.

He described his journey as a “crossing during which man isn’t captain of his ship, but a passenger of the ocean.”

Savin’s adventure, which will cost a little more than $65,000, was funded by French barrel makers and crowdfunding.

Savin hopes to end his journey on a French island, like Martinique or Guadeloupe. “That would be easier for the paperwork and for bringing the barrel back,” he told AFP.
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Police Arrest ‘Yellow Vest’ Demonstrators as Protests Resume

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

French police said they arrested more than 100 “yellow vest” demonstrators on Saturday in Paris as thousands of protestors took to the streets for a 23rd week of anti-government marches.

AFP journalists reported scuffles between police and protesters in the afternoon, after hours of calm, as police used anti-riot grenades and tear gas to disperse marchers in the center of the French capital.

Police headquarters reported 126 arrests and 11,000 checks on individual protesters.

Paris seemed to bear the brunt of Saturday’s protests, but other French cities were also expecting demonstrations.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron signed into law legislation that gave security forces greater powers at demonstrations but which opponents claimed violated civil liberties.

One measure banned protestors from covering their faces, but France’s Constitutional Council, its highest constitutional authority, refused to give its green light to one of the most contentious parts of the legislation.

It would also have given the authorities the power to ban from demonstrations any individual “posing a particularly serious threat to public order.”

The “yellow vest” movement is demanding changes to the government’s social and fiscal policies.

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Pakistan: Iran-Based Militants Behind Slaying of Security Personnel

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEA

Pakistan alleged Saturday that anti-state militants operating out of “terrorist camps” inside Iran are behind this week’s slaying of 14 security personnel in a remote southwestern Pakistani region, and Islamabad has formally shared “credible” evidence with Tehran so action can be taken against the perpetrators.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi revealed the details at news conference in the Pakistani capital, saying Prime Minister Imran Khan will further discuss the issue with Iranian leaders during his first official visit to the neighboring country that begins Sunday.

The deadly attack happened Thursday in the Gwadar border district, where officials say a group of up to 20 assailants disguised as Pakistani paramilitary forces stopped several passenger buses on the coastal highway, and then went through identification cards of all the passengers before abducting and spraying 14 of them with bullets.

Qureshi said the slain men included 10 navy personnel, three air force officers and a coast guard official. He noted that assailants linked to a newly-formed alliance of three ethnic Baluch “terrorist organizations” carried out the “dastardly act” before returning to their “training and logistical camps” on the Iranian side of the border.

“After collecting and verifying actionable evidence through our internal investigations, we have shared it with authorities in Iran. We have also identified location of these camps and expect that our brotherly neighbor Iran will take action against these organizations,” the Pakistani foreign minister said.

The militant coalition Bras (meaning brothers in local language) took responsibility for the highway violence. It also has plotted attacks against Pakistani security forces, as well as government installations in violence-hit Baluchistan province, where Gwadar is located. The natural-resource rich Pakistani region also borders Afghanistan.

Qureshi said he telephoned Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif earlier in the day and received solid assurances from Zarif that Tehran is ready to fully cooperate with Islamabad to bring the militants to justice.

The Pakistani foreign minister said the two sides agreed to bolster security along their common border of more than 900-kilometers to stop terrorist infiltration in either direction. He explained that in addition to deploying additional forces and helicopter surveillance, Pakistan already has begun fencing the “most vulnerable” portions of the border with Iran.

For its part, Tehran routinely alleges that Jaish-e-Adl, a dissident Sunni militant organization of Iranian Baluch, uses hideouts on Pakistani soil to orchestrate “terrorist” violence in its border region known as Sistan-Baluchistan.

Qureshi said Saturday that Pakistani security forces, acting on Iranian request, recently rescued and sent back home nine of the 12 Iranian border guards who had been abducted and brought to the Pakistani side of the border.

Jaish-e-Adl took responsibly for the hostage taking. Iran alleges the terrorist organization receives support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, charges both countries reject.

Foreign minister Qureshi also called on Afghan authorities to act against Baluch fugitives, saying Pakistan has “concrete” evidence the militants also are using the neighboring country’s soil to plot cross-border terrorism. Kabul did not offer any immediate reaction to the charges but it previously has denied such allegations made by Islamabad.

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Long Road to Recovery for Children After Cyclone Idai

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeAF

The U.N. children’s fund says at least 1.6 million children in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe need help right away to recover from the affects of Cyclone Idai, which battered their countries more than one month ago.

Cyclone Idai, the deadliest storm to hit southern Africa in more than two decades, killed at least 1,000 people, and destroyed crops, livelihoods and hundreds of thousands of homes.

The U.N. children’s fund says the emergency phase of its response in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe is winding down. But the road to recovery will remain very long, especially for children, who are the most vulnerable.

It says children lack essential services, including healthcare, nutrition, water and sanitation, protection and education. It says the situation is particularly dire for some one million children in Mozambique where the storm hit with particular ferocity.

UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac says conditions in that country are ripe for an explosion of disease, noting more than 5,000 cases of cholera have already been reported.

“We also have a concern with malaria, with more than 7,500 cases confirmed. And UNICEF is distributing 500,000 mosquito nets. I also understand that in the coming weeks, campaigns are planned around measles vaccination, deworming and vitamin A boosters,” he said.

Boulierac says UNICEF also is supporting the establishment of several health clinics in resettlement areas.

The agency reports nearly one-half-million children in Malawi need humanitarian assistance to recover from the impact of Cyclone Idai. It says many children are living in crowded evacuation centers.

It adds it is providing water trucks, toilets, medicine and mobile clinics in those centers; creating child-friendly spaces and providing children with education and recreation kits.

In Zimbabwe, 130,000 children are at risk. UNICEF says it is furnishing vital health and nutrition supplies, other essential relief and psycho-social support to vulnerable children in child-friendly spaces.

UNICEF is appealing for $122 million to support its humanitarian operations in the three storm-affected countries.

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Islamic State Militants Kill 35 Soldiers in Syria

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEA

Islamic State attacks on the Syrian army and allied militias in central Syria have killed 35 soldiers over two days, a war monitor said early Saturday.

Although Islamic State lost its last territorial enclave in Syria at Baghuz near the Iraqi border last month to U.S.-backed forces, it still has fighters holding out in the remote central desert.

The monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the attacks constituted Islamic State’s biggest military operation since losing Baghuz and involved assaults in several parts of central Syria.

The most intense attack was in the al-Koum area north of the ancient desert city of Palmyra, the Observatory said, where Islamic State militants killed 15 Syrian army and allied soldiers.

Islamic State said in a message on its Amaq news outlet Friday that it had killed 20 Syrian soldiers and injured others in the al-Sukhna region between Palmyra and Deir al-Zor in an ambush and clashes.

Syrian state news outlets did not carry any reports of Islamic State attacks or of deaths among pro-government forces in clashes with the militant group.
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Storms in South Kill Girl in Florida, Bring Twisters to Virginia

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeUS

A strong storm system barreling through the South killed an 8-year-old girl in Florida and threatened to bring tornadoes to large parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia.

A tree fell onto a house Friday in Woodville, Florida, south of Tallahassee, killing the girl and injuring a 12-year-old boy, according to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. The office said in a statement that the girl died at a hospital while the boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Their names weren’t immediately released.

The same storm system was blamed for the deaths a day earlier of three people in Mississippi and a woman in Alabama.

Suspected tornadoes

The threat Friday shifted farther east. Tornado warnings covered parts of northeast Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, where four suspected tornado touchdowns were reported Friday night. Twisters touched down in Reston, Fredericks Hall, Barham and Forksville. Homes and small structures were damaged, but no injuries were immediately reported.

The national Storm Prediction Center said 9.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia were at a moderate risk of severe weather. The region includes the Charlotte, North Carolina, metro area.

Torrential downpours, large hail and a few tornadoes were among the hazards, the National Weather Service in Raleigh, North Carolina, warned.

Radar readings appeared to show a tornado formed in western Virginia’s Franklin County, south of Roanoke, though damage on the ground still must be assessed, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Phil Hysell. In South Carolina, authorities urged motorists to avoid part of Interstate 26, the main artery from Upstate through Columbia and all the way to Charleston, because downed trees had left the roadway scattered with debris.

Flooding, downed trees

In Georgia, the storm system knocked down trees, caused flooding and cut off power to tens of thousands of people.

A tree came down on an apartment complex in an Atlanta suburb, but only one person reported a minor injury and was treated at the scene, Gwinnett County fire spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In Forsyth County northeast of Atlanta, three firefighters suffered minor injuries when their firetruck overturned during heavy rain and wind, Fire Department Division Chief Jason Shivers told the newspaper.

Cleanup in Mississippi

Meanwhile, hundreds of people cleaned up part of a central Mississippi town hit hard by a tornado Thursday.

Volunteers and family members were swarming the north side of Morton, where the National Weather Service says a twister with winds as high as 132 mph (212 kph) hit a neighborhood. More than 20 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. The town of 3,500 is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Jackson.

“When it stopped, there was nothing left,” Morton resident Sharon Currie told WAPT-TV. “I was going, ‘Oh my God. My house is gone.’”

Forecasters confirmed that 14 tornadoes had touched down in Mississippi and damage from the storm system was reported in at least 24 of the state’s 82 counties. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency, the second one he has declared in less than a week because of tornadoes.

Authorities Friday reported a third storm-related death in the state. Freddie Mobley, 63, died while helping cut a tree that had fallen on a house, Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris told the Daily Leader of Brookhaven. Mobley had made a few cuts on the tree and backed away when the trunk shifted before he could move, Deputy Coroner Ricky Alford said.

Two other people who were driving are being counted as storm-related deaths in Mississippi. A woman also died in Alabama when a tree fell on her mobile home Thursday.
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Storms in South Kill Girl in Florida, Bring Twisters to Virginia

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeUS

A strong storm system barreling through the South killed an 8-year-old girl in Florida and threatened to bring tornadoes to large parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia.

The same storm system was blamed for the deaths a day earlier of three people in Mississippi and a woman in Alabama.

Suspected tornadoes

The national Storm Prediction Center said 9.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia were at a moderate risk of severe weather. The region includes the Charlotte, North Carolina, metro area.

Torrential downpours, large hail and a few tornadoes were among the hazards, the National Weather Service in Raleigh, North Carolina, warned.

Flooding, downed trees

In Georgia, the storm system knocked down trees, caused flooding and cut off power to tens of thousands of people.

Cleanup in Mississippi

Meanwhile, hundreds of people cleaned up part of a central Mississippi town hit hard by a tornado Thursday.

“When it stopped, there was nothing left,” Morton resident Sharon Currie told WAPT-TV. “I was going, ‘Oh my God. My house is gone.’”

Two other people who were driving are being counted as storm-related deaths in Mississippi. A woman also died in Alabama when a tree fell on her mobile home Thursday.
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The Future of Farming: Robots Tend Crops and Bovines Go 5G

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

British agriculture is going high-tech. Farmers recently tested cutting-edge technology like robots that autonomously tend fields and wireless cattle that may connect faster to the farm than you to your favorite app. Incoming message from Arash Arabasadi.
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The Future of Farming: Robots Tend Crops and Bovines Go 5G

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

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Wild Burros Overtake Arizona Town

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeUS

Small donkeys, often called burros in Arizona, may look cute, but they are a big problem for locals — both people and animals. Not native to Arizona, feral burros are causing real damage to the habitat, trampling vegetation, fouling water sources and competing with native wildlife for limited forage. Daria Dieguts traveled to the small town of Oatman to learn more.
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Democrats Weigh Next Move in Wake of Mueller Report

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeUS

Democrats in the U.S. Congress have demanded a full, un-redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The report has split much of the country into two camps — Republican supporters of President Donald Trump who say he was cleared of wrongdoing, and Democrats alarmed by the instances of possible obstruction of justice involving the president. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more on the political fallout from Washington.
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Feds Seek 18-Month Sentence in Russian Agent Case

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

U.S. prosecutors say a Russian gun-rights activist who admitted being a secret agent for the Kremlin should serve an 18-month prison sentence.

The request came in a sentencing memo filed late Friday in Maria Butina’s case.

Prosecutors say Butina was “not a spy in the traditional sense” and wasn’t formally trained as an intelligence officer. Instead, they say she tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump rose to power.

She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with prosecutors. Butina is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Butina admitted she was gathering intelligence at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker.

Her lawyers are asking for a sentence of time served. Butina has been jailed since her arrest in July 2018.

“Although Maria has committed a serious offense, just punishment does not require additional incarceration,” her attorneys said in a sentencing memo filed Friday.

Butina, a Russian citizen, expects to be sent back to her native country after being released from jail, her attorney said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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Feds Seek 18-Month Sentence in Russian Agent Case

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

U.S. prosecutors say a Russian gun-rights activist who admitted being a secret agent for the Kremlin should serve an 18-month prison sentence.

The request came in a sentencing memo filed late Friday in Maria Butina’s case.

She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with prosecutors. Butina is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Butina admitted she was gathering intelligence at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker.

Her lawyers are asking for a sentence of time served. Butina has been jailed since her arrest in July 2018.

“Although Maria has committed a serious offense, just punishment does not require additional incarceration,” her attorneys said in a sentencing memo filed Friday.

Butina, a Russian citizen, expects to be sent back to her native country after being released from jail, her attorney said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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EU’s Juncker: Risk of No-deal Brexit Remains

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

There is a still a concern that Britain may leave the European Union without a deal to smooth the way, the bloc’s chief executive said Saturday, urging Britain to take advantage of a six-month delay to work out the details of its departure.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made the comments in an interview with German newspaper FUNKE Mediengruppe, a week after EU leaders gave Britain six months more to exit the EU.

“Nobody knows how Brexit will end. This is creating great uncertainty. There is still a fear that there will be a hard Brexit without any withdrawal treaty arrangements,” Juncker said, citing the long-term negative impact on Europe’s economy.

‘Best solution’

Even though the extension to Oct. 31 offers little clarity on when, how or even whether Brexit will happen, Britain should use the time wisely, he said.

“I hope that the British will make use of this time and not waste it again. We cannot keep on putting off the withdrawal date indefinitely. The best solution would be for the British to adopt the Withdrawal Agreement during the extra time that has been agreed,” Juncker said.

The withdrawal deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU has been rejected three times by the British Parliament.

Juncker, who is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the G-20 meeting in Osaka in June, predicted a “lively discussion” ahead.

“The last discussion lasted six hours and it is good that you were not there,” Juncker said, referring to raised voices at his last talks with Trump.

Trade relations between the United States and the EU have soured in recent months after Washington hit the bloc with tariffs and threatened more. Asked about possible new tariffs ahead of the G-20 meeting, Juncker counseled patience.

Call for more spending

He called on Germany and other countries to spend more to boost growth in the bloc, which is expected to see a slowing economy, a day after German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz ruled out taking on new debt to stimulate his country’s anemic growth.

“However, Germany should use its financial leeway to further reduce public debt and boost investment. This also includes eliminating bureaucratic hurdles,” Juncker said.

He also cautioned there was a risk of foreign manipulation around next month’s European Parliament elections, where euroskeptic groups are expected to gain ground.

With Britain expected to take part, the proportion of the assembly’s seats held by euroskeptics is seen rising to 14.3 percent from around 10 percent currently, according to the compilation of national polls commissioned by the European Parliament.

“I can see an attempt to rig the European Parliament elections. This comes from several quarters, and not only from outside the EU. States within the EU are also seeking to direct the will of voters in a particular direction with fake news,” Juncker said, adding that the commission was ready to deal with

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EU’s Juncker: Risk of No-deal Brexit Remains

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeEU

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made the comments in an interview with German newspaper FUNKE Mediengruppe, a week after EU leaders gave Britain six months more to exit the EU.

‘Best solution’

Even though the extension to Oct. 31 offers little clarity on when, how or even whether Brexit will happen, Britain should use the time wisely, he said.

The withdrawal deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU has been rejected three times by the British Parliament.

Juncker, who is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the G-20 meeting in Osaka in June, predicted a “lively discussion” ahead.

“The last discussion lasted six hours and it is good that you were not there,” Juncker said, referring to raised voices at his last talks with Trump.

Call for more spending

“However, Germany should use its financial leeway to further reduce public debt and boost investment. This also includes eliminating bureaucratic hurdles,” Juncker said.

He also cautioned there was a risk of foreign manipulation around next month’s European Parliament elections, where euroskeptic groups are expected to gain ground.

the issue.
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Doctor Fighting Ebola Outbreak in Congo Killed in Attack

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeAF

A doctor fighting an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was killed in an attack on an eastern hospital, according to the World Health Organization.

Several gunmen from a local militia attacked the hospital in the city of Butembo, one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak, killing Richard Mouzoko, an epidemiologist from Cameroon.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, “We are outraged by the attack. Health workers are #NotATarget.”

A Congolese health ministry staffer and a driver were injured in the attack, according to a separate statement by the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Congo.

Butembo’s deputy mayor, Patrick Kambale Tsiko, said the attackers were targeting foreigners because they incorrectly believed the foreigners had brought the Ebola virus to Congo. He said police were searching for the attackers.

The violence is the latest in a series of attacks on Ebola treatment centers by militiamen and those distrustful of the international response to the outbreak.

Dozens of rebel groups are active in eastern Congo.

Earlier this week, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi pledged more military and police protection for health workers fighting Ebola and asked residents for their cooperation.

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces began in August. Congo’s health ministry says the outbreak has killed 843 people and infected hundreds more.

The epidemic is the second deadliest on record, after the Ebola outbreak that struck West Africa in 2014-16, which killed more than 11,000 people.

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Doctor Fighting Ebola Outbreak in Congo Killed in Attack

Posted on 04/20/2019 by SeeAF

A doctor fighting an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was killed in an attack on an eastern hospital, according to the World Health Organization.

Several gunmen from a local militia attacked the hospital in the city of Butembo, one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak, killing Richard Mouzoko, an epidemiologist from Cameroon.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, “We are outraged by the attack. Health workers are #NotATarget.”

A Congolese health ministry staffer and a driver were injured in the attack, according to a separate statement by the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Congo.

The violence is the latest in a series of attacks on Ebola treatment centers by militiamen and those distrustful of the international response to the outbreak.

Dozens of rebel groups are active in eastern Congo.

Earlier this week, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi pledged more military and police protection for health workers fighting Ebola and asked residents for their cooperation.

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces began in August. Congo’s health ministry says the outbreak has killed 843 people and infected hundreds more.

The epidemic is the second deadliest on record, after the Ebola outbreak that struck West Africa in 2014-16, which killed more than 11,000 people.

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Voting Begins on Egyptian Constitutional Amendments

Posted on 04/19/2019 by SeeEA

Egyptians are voting Saturday on constitutional amendments that allow Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to stay in office until 2030. The voting comes less that a week after parliament approved the changes.

Expatriate Egyptians began voting Friday.

If passed, the amendments also would deepen presidential powers and military presence within communities. The presidential term would be increased from four to six years and Sissi would be allowed to run for a third term in 2024.

Supporters of the referendum have hailed the vote as a national duty, but critics charge that the vote is simply a power-grab in a country where political diversity has dissolved almost completely.

Organized opposition is almost nonexistent, with many leading public figures, businesses and media houses firmly in league with the current government.

Officials promised to announce the results by April 27 and say if the measure passes, they will implement the constitutional reforms swiftly.

Many of the amendments pertain to the government’s structure, creating new positions and increasing the number of presidential appointees. The Egyptian military, which already wields tremendous economic and political power in Egypt, also will increase its role in criminal justice, if the referendum passes.
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