American rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault as his trial in Sweden opened Tuesday, a month after a street fight that landed him in jail and became a topic of U.S.-Swedish diplomacy. Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused with two others of beating a 19-year-old man in Stockholm on June 30. Prosecutors played video footage in court that showed Mayers throwing a young man to the ground. Wearing sweatpants and a green T-shirt in court, Mayers, 30, pleaded not guilty to an assault charge that carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison. He says he acted in self-defense. The Grammy-nominated artist’s ongoing detention in Sweden this month prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to personally intervene on his behalf. Mayers nevertheless remained behind bars, angering Trump. FILE – A$AP Rocky arrives at an event in Beverly Hills, Calif., Feb. 9, 2019.Swedish news agency TT said Trump sent the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs to Stockholm to monitor the court proceedings and to show support for Mayers. Special envoy Robert O’Brien was seen at Stockholm District Court on Tuesday. Ruth Newman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, told TT that O’Brien was in Sweden “to look after the well-being of American citizens, which is always our top priority.” A$AP Rocky’s mother, Renee Black, also attended the proceedings. She has said she was convinced her son was not guilty.”This is a nightmare,” Black was quoted by Swedish media as saying.Competing narratives Prosecutors and defense lawyers presented competing narratives on the trial’s opening day of what happened the night of the fight. Prosecutors said 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari and a friend got into an argument with Mayers and one of his bodyguards near a fast-food restaurant where the rapper’s entourage had eaten. Mayers has published videos on his Instagram account that showed him repeatedly pleading with Jafari and his friend to stop following him and his associates.Defense lawyer Slobodan Jovicic stressed Tuesday that the rapper and his entourage “didn’t want any trouble” and alleged that Jafari and his friend had exhibited “aggressive and deeply provocative behavior.” A$AP Rocky previously encountered violent situations on streets because of his fame and “there are some people who don’t always wish him well,” Jovicic said.”He’s has been harassed in the past. In this case, the bodyguard made the assessment that these people [Jafari and his friend] should move on … and not to come close,” the lawyer said.Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Mayers and the two other men facing charges beat and kicked Jafari while he was on the ground. Jafari also was hit with parts of or a whole bottle, they alleged. The court file includes photos of Jafari’s cuts, bruises and blood-stained clothes.Another lawyer representing A$AP Rocky in Sweden, Martin Persson, told public broadcaster SVT that he would present new evidence, including facts that would show “no bottle has been used to hit or injure anyone.” Any physical aggression by Mayers and his co-defendants was “within the limits of the law,” Persson said. Celebrity followingThe rapper was jailed on July 3 and remains in custody. The case drew the attention of American celebrities like Kim Kardashian West and Mayers’ fellow recording artists, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Justin Bieber. A social media campaign for his release, called #JusticeForRocky, was created soon after his arrest.Trump also weighed in, asking for a phone call with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and offering to personally guarantee the rapper’s bail. The two leaders spoke, but Lofven stressed he couldn’t interfere in a legal case.Sweden doesn’t let people facing criminal charges out on bail, and A$AP Rocky stayed behind bars. Once Mayers was charged, Trump criticized the prime minister on Twitter “for being unable to act.””We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky,” Trump tweeted. The trial was held in a secure courtroom “because of strong interest from the media and the public,” the Stockholm District Court said. Taking photographs and video was prohibited. The court set aside two more days for the trial. Witnesses are expected to testify Thursday.
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Month: July 2019
Taiwan Raises Suspicion Rival China Is Influencing Elections
China is using media, money and more to influence the January 2020 presidential election in Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that Beijing calls its own, officials and experts on the island assert.Authorities in Beijing have influenced Taiwan’s “grassroots” by enticing tourists, buying advertisements and using the “mafia,” the island government’s Mainland Affairs Council told VOA in a statement Monday. Some scholars also say the Chinese government pays some Taiwanese media outlets a fee for posting pro-Beijing reports.”The Chinese Communists are actively intervening in the 2020 elections and that’s to violate Taiwan’s sovereignty, as well as destroy our democratic system,” the statement reads. Council spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng told VOA he wants China to stop.China has seen Taiwan as part of its territory since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s and has threatened to take it by force if needed. The Chinese government resents incumbent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen for rejecting its goal of reunification, as well as its dialogue precondition — that each side see itself as part of one China. Tsai took office in 2016, and she’s seeking reelection.Most Taiwanese oppose unification with China, a government opinion survey showed in January. Many also hope for stronger business relations with China, however, given its economic clout. Tsai’s election opponent, Han Kuo-yu, supports opening talks with China to bolster economic and investment ties. Beijing’s influence could bolster support for Han before the vote in January, analysts in Taiwan say.Polls in Taiwan were giving Han, now mayor of the major port city Kaohsiung, support rates of 36% to 48% in July.”The outcome is clear, the outcome is impact on the January presidential and legislative elections, so I think if there was no Chinese influence, Han Kuo-yu wouldn’t be polling so high in surveys,” said Michael Tsai, chairman of the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies in Taiwan.Kaohsiung city mayor and presidential candidate of Taiwan”s Nationalist Party in the 2020 elections, Han Kuo-yu, gestures during a party congress in New Taipei City, Taiwan, July 28, 2019.List of suspicionsIn May, the president told national security agencies to step up resistance against China because of signs China was trying to gain influence over Taiwan. Tsai told reporters then China was trying to sway elections and wage “fake news” campaigns. China even creates “fake polls” to influence voter sentiment, the Mainland Affairs Council statement says.Chinese government agencies channel some funding through China-based Taiwanese business people to exert influence, Michael Tsai said.Last year, the Taiwan government said China was funding “fake news” and opposition-party candidates in local elections throughout Taiwan. The China-friendly Nationalists swept mayoral and county magistrate seats on November 24, ousting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party from many of them.Suspected media influenceSome Taiwanese media outlets have credited Han for unlikely acts, such as cleaning a whole river, said George Hou, mass communications lecturer at Taiwan-based I-Shou University. Han took office as mayor less than a year ago. “On the quality side, it’s not just all about giving him publicity, but to make him look like a God who can do the impossible,” Hou said.The Chinese government offers “subsidies” to some media outlets for this kind of report and pays some Taiwanese restaurants for showing only pro-China channels to customers, he added.In Beijing, a spokesman for the government’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on July 17 his office was not manipulating Taiwanese media to support an election candidate. Search for evidenceAny effort to influence the election is likely to be arranged behind closed doors, scholars say, making it hard to link China conclusively with any specific action.China probably does not directly buy votes or destroy data to sway elections, said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. “I think it’s too raw and too primitive, and that the Chinese approach is more sophisticated,” Sun said. Officials in Beijing may instead use their own media to send messages to Taiwanese and Chinese citizens, including tourists bound for Taiwan, Sun added. “So, what the Chinese do is they use PR,” Sun said.It will be difficult to find a “direct link” implicating China in any election influence, she said.
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Pink Seesaws Bridge US-Mexico Border Divide
Children on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border had a chance to play together, despite the physical barriers that divide them. Two California professors installed three pink seesaws through the steel border fence on the outskirts of El Paso in Texas and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.Ronald Rael, an architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Virginia San Fratello, an associate design professor at San Jose State University, first came up with the concept of Teetertotter Wall for the border more than 10 years ago. This week, they saw it become a reality.”The wall became a literal fulcrum for U.S.-Mexico relations, and children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side,” Rael said on Instagram.In a video posted on social media, children and adults on both sides of the fence could be seen playing and interacting. Rael said the event was about bringing “joy, excitement and togetherness at the border wall.””The symbolism of the seesaw is just magical,” said Claudia Tristan, director of Latinx messaging for 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.”A border fence will not keep us from our neighbors,” she wrote on Twitter.The symbolism of the seesaw is just magical. A #Border fence will not keep us from our neighbors. Que bella idea usar un subibajas para unir las comunidades de ambas naciones. https://t.co/iJTAj08vZB— Claudia Tristán (@tristan_claudia) July 29, 2019U.S. President Donald Trump has long promised to build a physical barrier along the country’s southern border to keep out people trying to cross into the U.S. illegally. Late last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the administration could use some $2.5 billion of Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.
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Fugitive Salvadoran Former President Given Nicaragua Citizenship
Nicaragua granted citizenship Tuesday to Salvadoran ex-President Mauricio Funes, who has been in the country under political asylum since 2016 and is wanted back home on allegations of illicit enrichment and embezzlement.The decision by President Daniel Ortega’s government, which took legal effect with its publication in the official Gazette, also made Funes’ wife and two sons citizens.The move would block current Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele from bringing Funes and his family before that country’s justice system, as Nicaragua’s constitution prohibits extradition of Nicaraguan nationals.Funes tweeted an image of that constitutional article, saying: “Not today, nor in the first 100 days of [Bukele’s] government, nor in years will extradition be possible.”Bukele’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Funes, El Salvador’s president from 2009 to 2014, faces four arrest warrants for alleged corruption and the purported diversion of $351 million in state money. He denies the allegations.The certification of Nicaraguan citizenship was signed by immigration director-general Juan Emilio Rivas Benitez, who said Funes “has fulfilled the requirements and formalities established by Law to acquire Nicaraguan nationality,” taking into account his continued presence in national territory and being a permanent resident of the country.Rivas added that Funes immediately enjoys all rights, prerogatives and responsibilities established by Nicaragua’s constitution.
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Chinese Officials Defend Treatment of Muslim Minority Amid International Scrutiny
Government officials in China’s Xinjiang region Tuesday defended the country’s self-described “reeducation camps” for Muslim minorities, saying the centers serve as a deterrent against religious extremism and terrorism.Human rights groups have alleged the camps routinely engage in widespread violations. According to estimates by the United Nations, China has detained 1 million people at the camps. Rights groups say a number of them are Uighurs. China has come under international scrutiny over its treatment of Uighurs and other members of largely Muslim minority groups.China describes the camps as vocational education centers that provide job skills and decrease extremism. Beijing also announced Tuesday that most of those in the re-education centers were no longer in the facilities.”Most of the graduates from the vocational training centers have been reintegrated into society,” Xinjiang Governor Shohrat Zakir said. “More than 90% of the graduates have found satisfactory jobs with good incomes,” he added, having called those detained inside “students.”Another regional official also rejected the characterization of the centers by outsiders.”Individual countries and news media have ulterior motives, have inverted right and wrong, and slandered and smeared [China],” said Xinjiang vice chairman Alken Tuniaz. He also said a number of people at the camps were being released. “Currently, most people who have received training have already returned to society, returned home.” However, Dilxat Raxit, World Uyghur Congress spokesman, called Zakir a “political microphone” used by China to spread its “deception.””Shohrat Zakir’s remarks completely distort the reality of the systematic persecution that Uighurs are suffering in China,” Raxit said.Copies of the book on the governance of Chinese President Xi Jinping are displayed with booklets promoting Xinjiang during a press conference by Shohrat Zakir, chairman of China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, July 30, 2019.In early June, 22 U.N. ambassadors signed a letter condemning the camps, urging China to release the Uighurs from detention.In a related development, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday a delegation will visit Xinjiang to observe the Uighur situation. Earlier in July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the internment of China’s Muslim minority the “stain of the century,” describing their treatment as “one of the worst human rights crises of our time.”
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South Africa Says Unemployment At Highest Level in A Decade
South Africa says unemployment has reached its highest level in a decade at 29%.Second-quarter figures released Tuesday show the number of unemployed rose by 573,000 over the past year, with only 21,000 jobs created.It is the latest grim report for Africa’s most developed economy, which in May announced that growth had dropped by the most in a decade during the first quarter.President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration is under public pressure to turn around the economy and clean up corruption. That dissatisfaction led to the worst election showing in 25 years for Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress in May.The unemployment numbers were released on the same day that South Africa’s struggling state-owned power utility Eskom announced losses of more than 20 billion rand ($1.4 billion) last fiscal year. Eskom supplies about 95% of the country’s electricity and is at the center of Ramaphosa’s efforts to rid state-owned enterprises of corruption and mismanagement.When Ramaphosa won election in May “we expected a solid emergency plan to address the economic challenges and these unemployment challenges,” Lumkile Mondi, an economics lecturer at Witwatersrand University, told The Associated Press.“But that has not been forthcoming and all we have had so far has been political bickering. The ruling party is more concerned about the politics of power than the health of the economy. That is why these figures were not necessarily unexpected,” Mondi said.The ruling ANC faces an internal struggle between allies of Ramaphosa and former president Jacob Zuma, who led South Africa from 2009 to 2018 when he resigned under party pressure amid corruption allegations and was replaced by his former deputy Ramaphosa.
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UN Criticizes US Resumption of Federal Executions
The U.N. human rights office criticized the Trump administration’s decision to reinstate federal executions after a 16-year hiatus, saying it bucks the national and international trend to abolish the death penalty. The U.N. human rights office says Washington’s decision to resume executions of federal inmates on death row flies in the face of the most basic human right, that of the right to life. It says it also is a blow to progress toward universal abolition of capital punishment.The United Nations reports around 170 of 194 U.N. member sates either have abolished the death penalty altogether in law or in practice.Human rights spokesman Rupert Colville says executing people is wrong on many levels. He says a major concern is the risk of putting to death people who are innocent of the crime for which they are charged. He says reports in the United States based on DNA evidence have shown that some states have put innocent people to death.“There is also really an absence of any proof that the death penalty actually serves as a deterrent, which is often given as a reason for using it,” Colville said. “And, there also, of course, are considerable concerns, especially in the United States that it is being applied arbitrarily and often in a discriminatory fashion, particularly… affects people from poor backgrounds and from minorities.” Last week, U.S. Attorney General, William Barr reinstated federal executions. He says the first executions of five inmates on death row are to begin in December with additional executions to be scheduled at a later date.Sixty inmates are currently on the federal death row in the U.S. A recent poll finds 56 percent of Americans support the death penalty, a considerable drop from 80 percent in the mid-1990s.Colville says Attorney General Barr’s decision is counter to U.S. and international trends. He notes 21 states have completely abolished the death penalty and four others have issued moratoriums, creating a 50-50 split in the country between states that favor capital punishment and those that do not.
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Russian Court Rejects Kremlin Critic Navalny’s Early Release Appeal
A court in Moscow rejected jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal for early
release on health grounds on Tuesday, after he was suddenly taken ill in custody at the weekend and rushed to hospital to be treated.Navalny was jailed for 30 days last week for urging people to take part in an unauthorized opposition protest. He was hospitalized on Sunday and discharged on Monday. He has said he may have been poisoned, a suspicion shared by his lawyer and personal doctor.Navalny’s lawyer had asked the court to free him early on health grounds, saying the cell where he is being kept looked like it had been the source of his mysterious illness.
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Report of Riot Charges Prompts Sudden Protest in Hong Kong
Protesters clashed with police again in Hong Kong on Tuesday night after reports that some of their detained colleagues would be charged with the relatively serious charge of rioting.Several hundred protesters mobilized in the streets outside a police station after Hong Kong media said that 44 people had been arrested on riot charges stemming from a Sunday night demonstration.They and one other person charged with possession of a weapon were to appear in court on Wednesday, public broadcaster RTHK reported.Live video streamed by Hong Kong media showed protesters chanting slogans and throwing eggs at the Kwai Chung police station. Police used pepper spray to try to disperse them.The unannounced protest capped another day of unrest. During the morning rush hour, commuters argued with demonstrators who blocked subway train doors in their continuing movement to demand greater accountability from the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s government.Service was delayed and partially suspended on the Island and Kwun Tong lines, subway operator MTR said. It cited “a number of train door obstructions” as well as someone activating a safety device at a platform on the Kwun Tong line.The action targeted rush hour traffic at several stations. MTR responded by providing minibuses to replace delayed trains and normal service was restored by around noon.Protester Ken Chan said he wanted MTR officials to explain why they allegedly failed to take action on July 21 when a large gang of men in white shirts brutally beat dozens of people inside a train station as a massive protest was winding down. Hong Kong’s government and the central authorities in Beijing have blamed protesters for sparking the confrontation.“How could they let the triads in white attack people on the platform randomly, including the elderly and children in the train?” said Chan, 32, using the common term for members of organized crime groups. “Some of the elderly got smacked on their heads, but (MTR staff) turned a blind eye to it.”Lorraine Lee, 26, said the subway disruption was an attempt to remind people of the government’s alleged failure to deal with social, economic and political injustices.“The government has not been addressing the problems in our society,” Lee said. ”That is why now Hong Kongers have no choice but to use different `creative’ approaches to remind people what is happening in Hong Kong.”AP video showed heated exchanges at Tiu Keng Leng station, where a crowd of protesters and commuters filled the platform and a stopped train.The disruption is part of a pro-democracy movement that has seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets this summer for marches and rallies. The protests have shaken the government in Hong Kong and raised concerns in Beijing. Hong Kong is part of China but has a fair degree of autonomy in local affairs.Posts on Twitter showed long lines of commuters waiting for free shuttle buses provided by MTR to other subway stops. Protesters conducted a similar action to block trains last week.Activists began protesting in early June for the government to withdraw an extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. The government suspended the bill, but the protests have expanded to calls for democracy and government accountability.On Sunday, police repeatedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets to drive back protesters blocking Hong Kong streets with road signs and umbrellas.The protesters have demanded an independent inquiry into police conduct at the demonstrations, which they say has been abusive.China on Monday accused unidentified foreign actors of encouraging the protests. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday that the central government “resolutely opposes any foreign forces’ attempts to intervene in Hong Kong affairs.”“We have the determination and ability to safeguard peace and stability in Hong Kong,” Hua said at a daily briefing.On Saturday, Hong Kong police fired tear gas, swung batons and forcefully cleared out protesters who defied warnings not to march.
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Talks in Sudan Stop After 6 People Were Killed in Protests
Talks on power sharing between Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and the opposition have been postponed after six people were killed in protests. The deaths occurred in the city of Obbayed.Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and opposition groups suspended talks on a draft constitution Monday, after violence in North Kordofan state killed six protesters, including school students.Talks were stopped at the request of the opposition, which condemned the violence against protesters, who were demonstrating against Sudan’s military council.Opposition leader Kamal Karrar said it’s an expected action that the opposition suspended the talks after the Obbayed violence, where school students were killed. He said protesters want the talks to remain on hold indefinitely.Sudan’s ruling military council said no military troops are responsible for killing protesters and blamed the deaths on shadow militias that were part of the former regime that are trying to create chaos and instability.Tires are set ablaze by Sudanese protesters during a rally in the capital Khartoum, July 29, 2019. to condemn the “massacre” of five demonstrators including four high school students at a rally in Al-Obeida.Political analyst Khalid Alfaki thinks any delay in reaching an agreement on creating a transitional government might affect the security situation in Sudan.He thinks suspending direct talks between the opposition and Sudan’s Transitional Military Council will have a negative impact on the whole political and security situation in Sudan, and it’ll give the opposition a reason to delay forming a civilian government.Demonstrations first erupted in December over the high price of fuel. Protesters continued to call for political change even after former president Omar al-Bashir was ousted by the military.Bashir ruled Sudan for 30 years before the military toppled him on April 11.The Transitional Military Council and opposition leaders agreed earlier this month to form a transitional government after three months of violent protests that killed hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators.The streets of Khartoum and other cities were flooded with angry protesters and school students Monday and Tuesday, calling for justice and demanding the opposition stop the talks with the Transitional Military Council.Protesters like Fadia Khalaf think the TMC will not share power.Khalaf said that people are angry and protesting in the streets because the TMC is not committed to the signed political agreement and it is so obvious that the TMC doesn’t want to agree because it is still violating citizens’ rights and killing protesters.Sudan’s military council and opposition agreed on forming a transitional government to run Sudan until elections, a final agreement had been scheduled to be reached this week before talks on the constitutional draft were suspended on Monday.
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Trump Doubles Down on Attacks on Baltimore, Congressman Cummings
Steve Herman contributed to this report.President Donald Trump defended again Tuesday what critics are characterizing as racist rhetoric, focused on the majority African American city of Baltimore and one of its prominent representatives in Congress, Elijah Cummings, whose powerful committee is trying to obtain communications of White House officials, including the president’s family members.Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump defended his recent inflammatory remarks, saying “I think I’m helping myself because I’m pointing out the tremendous corruption that’s taken place in Baltimore and other Democratic-run cities.”Trump said “Those people are living in hell in Baltimore” and that “largely African American” city residents have let him know “they really appreciated what I’m doing.” He also said he is the “least racist person in the world”Trump doubled down on his criticism of Cummings, claiming “all that money that’s been spent (in Baltimore) over 20 years has been stolen and wasted by people like Elijah Cummings.”On Monday, Trump falsely stated Baltimore has nation’s worst crime statistics under Cummings’ leadership.Cummings Releases Letters About Flynn, Foreign PaymentsWhile Baltimore has a high crime rate, several other cities — including St. Louis, Detroit and Memphis — are ranked more dangerous, according to recent crime statisticsA critical series of tweets targeting Cummings began Saturday and has continued, with Trump referring to the congressman’s district as “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”Government statistics show, however, that Cummings’s district, which includes impoverished parts of Baltimore and well-off suburban enclaves adjoining the city, has higher per capita income and higher median home values than the national average.The focus on the Baltimore area and its congressman comes amid Trump battling over the past week on social media with others he has singled out for criticism, including two friendly nations: France and Sweden.
Trump also recently has been assailing four first-term Democratic lawmakers, all women of color, saying they should “go back” to their home countries, even though all four are American citizens, three of them by birth and the fourth, a Somali refugee, through naturalization.
US President Donald Trump waves after signing HR 1327, an act to permanently authorize the September 11th victim compensation fund, during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, July 29, 2019.As Trump unleashed his attacks, Cummings has defended himself.”Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.”
In recent congressional hearings, Cummings, as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, berated Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland Security chief, for the condition of the country’s detention facilities at the border and the government’s lax records on tracking the whereabouts of migrant parents it had separated from children at the border.
Cummings’s committee is also investigating Trump’s presidency, but he is not among the more than 100 Democrats calling for impeachment proceedings.
The committee, voting along party lines last Thursday, authorized subpoenas for personal emails and texts used for official business by top White House aides, including Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner.
Cummings said lawmakers had obtained “direct evidence” that the president’s daughter, Kushner and others were using personal accounts for government business in violation of federal law and White House policy.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney rejects the notion that Trump’s attacks on Cummings are racially motivated.
“The president is attacking Cummings for saying things that are not true,” Mulvaney told the Fox News Sunday interview show. “It has absolutely zero to do with race.”
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Minister: Trump Argument for French Wine Tariffs ‘Absurd’
France’s agriculture minister on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump’s argument behind threatened tariffs on French wines as “absurd” and “stupid,” as a row between Paris and Washington over taxing tech giants intensified.France drew an angry response from Trump when it became the first major economy to impose a tax on digital giants earlier this month.The GAFA tax — an acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — aims to plug a fiscal loophole that has seen some internet heavyweights pay next to nothing in countries where they make huge profits.The US president blasted the reform and pledged to retaliate with “substantial reciprocal action on (French President Emmanuel) Macron’s foolishness” in a tweet last week.When asked if French wine could be a target, Trump replied: “Might be on wine or something else.””I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!” added the US president, who insists he is a teetotaller, in a none too subtle threat of tariffs.”It’s absurd, as a political and economic debate, to say ‘you’re taxing the GAFAs, so we’re going to tax your wine’. It’s completely stupid,” French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume told French TV channel BFM.He also argued that “American wine is not better than French wine.””We’re taxing the GAFAs simply because they make huge profits of millions or billions of euros or dollars, while employing French workers. There’s no reason they shouldn’t pay their taxes.””This is the third time the US president has threatened a tax, the third time in a year. We’ll see if he goes through with it,” added Guillaume.The minister’s comments came after French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tried to defuse tensions with the US, pledging to reach a deal on taxing tech firms by the end of the G7 summit in late August.”There is no desire to specifically target American companies,” Le Maire said Saturday, as the three-percent tax would hit all of the world’s largest tech firms who generate revenues from French consumers, including Chinese and European ones.France has said it would withdraw the tax if an international agreement was reached, and Paris hopes to include all OECD countries by the end of 2020.Le Maire had earlier this month hosted G7 finance ministers, including US counterpart Steven Mnuchin, for talks outside Paris. Le Maire said at the time a major agreement was reached in the tax conflict but Mnuchin cautioned there was more work to be done.
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Trump Warns China to Negotiate Trade Deal Now Rather Than Later
As U.S.-China trade talks are set to begin, U.S. President Donald Trump is warning China against negotiating a deal after the 2020 U.S. presidential election — declaring a delayed agreement would be less attractive than a deal reached in the near term.”The problem with them waiting … is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now … or no deal at all,” Trump said in a post Tuesday on Twitter….to ripoff the USA, even bigger and better than ever before. The problem with them waiting, however, is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now…or no deal at all. We have all the cards, our past leaders never got it!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019The tweet came as U.S. and Chinese officials gathered in Shanghai to revive talks, with both sides trying to temper expectations for a breakthrough.The world’s two largest economies are engaged in an intense trade war, having imposed punitive tariffs on each other totaling more than $360 billion in two-way trade.The negotiations come after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at June’s G-20 summit to resurrect efforts to end the costly trade war over China’s technology ambitions and trade surplus.China is resisting U.S. demands to abolish government-led plans for industrial leaders to enhance robotics, artificial intelligence and other technologies.The U.S. has complained China’s plans depend on the acquisition of foreign technology through theft or coercion.Days prior to the Shanghai meeting, Trump threatened to withdraw recognition of China’s developing nation’s status at the World Trade Organization. China responded by saying the threat is indicative of the “arrogance and selfishness” of the U.S.The U.S. delegation in Shanghai will be represented by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. They are due to meet with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, who serves as the country’s economic czar.
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Moroccan King Seeks Government Shake-Up to Calm Frustrations
Morocco’s king is calling for a government reshuffle, seeking “new blood” and saying the country’s development policy isn’t doing enough to meet citizens’ needs.
In a speech Monday night marking his 20 years on the throne, King Mohammed VI reproached the Islamist-led government and tasked Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani with proposing new government candidates in the fall.The king said he wants “people with a different mentality and officials who are capable of raising performance levels.”Morocco recently launched one of the world’s biggest solar plants and one of the fastest trains in Africa, but poverty rates remain high and social frustration has led to two major protest movements in the past three years.The 55-year-old ruler wants a committee to oversee the government’s reforms in such sectors as investment, education and health, judging the current development model “inadequate.”Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told The Associated Press “the committee would make sure that all Moroccans can benefit from development projects.” He said the next step for Morocco “requires freshness of skills.”The king also pardoned 4,764 prisoners, according to Justice Ministry statement. Such pardons are a tradition around the annual Throne Day marking the anniversary of the king’s accession to power.In foreign affairs, the king said Morocco is reaching out toward neighboring Algeria. Their shared border has been closed since 1994 over Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975 and claimed by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front after a long conflict.He reiterated Morocco’s commitment to the U.N. political process for finding solutions to Western Sahara conflict.
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Mauritania Releases Jailed ‘Blasphemy’ Blogger
Mauritania has released a blogger who drew international attention after being accused of blasphemy, his lawyer and the campaign group RSF said Tuesday.Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir, who was initially sentenced to death but then given a jail term and afterwards held under house arrest, “was released yesterday… [but] is not completely free in his movements,” his attorney Fatimata Mbaye told AFP.
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Navalny, Awaiting Appeal, Shares Suspicions He May Have Been Poisoned
Russian opposition activist Aleksei Navalny says he shares the suspicions of his lawyer and doctor that he may have been poisoned in prison.Commenting as he awaits a July 30 appeal hearing over his 30-day jail sentence for violating protest laws, Navalny, who had just returned to detention after being treated in hospital for severe swelling of the face and skin rashes, raised questions over his sudden illness.”Are they really such absolute idiots to poison you in a place where suspicions point only at them?” Navalny wrote in a post on his website.”Good question… For now, I can say one thing with certainty: the people in power in Russia are really rather stupid. It seems to you that in their actions you need to look for secret meaning or a rational purpose. But in reality, they are just stupid, malicious and obsessed with money.”The Kremlin critic also posted a picture of himself in social media with a bloated face and one eye shut that he couldn’t open.Очень странные дела https://t.co/rAhclAYeoq— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 29, 2019Navalny was sentenced after calling for an unauthorized protest on July 27 during which nearly 1,400 demonstrators were detained in a crackdown by police that has been internationally condemned as violent and “disproportionate.”The police crackdown was one of the biggest in recent years against an opposition that has grown more defiant while denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power.Navalny was taken to the hospital on July 28 and released a day later after being treated for what hospital said was a non-life threatening condition that they could not prove was poisoning.Anastasia Vasilyeva, his personal doctor, has said she suspects poisoning and has taken hair and clothing samples for independent testing. She has also called for any video from internal cameras in the jail.Navalny’s lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, said on July 29 that she was asking in the appeal for the court to terminate the case “due to the lack of evidence or to terminate his administrative arrest due to his poor health condition.”“He was really poisoned by some unknown chemical substance,” she told reporters.”But what the substance was has not been established.”The rally took place in protest at Moscow election officials who have refused to register several independent and opposition candidates to run in the September 8 vote to the 45-seat Moscow City Duma legislature.The municipal legislature has oversight over Moscow’s $43 billion budget, the largest of any city in the country.The United States, the European Union, Canada, and human rights groups denounced what they called the “disproportionate” and “indiscriminate” use of force against the demonstrators.
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US Rapper A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty in Swedish Assault Case
U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a charge of assault on the first day of a trial in Sweden that has drawn international attention and prompted President Donald Trump to intervene on the artist’s behalf.The 30-year-old performer, producer and model, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained on July 3 in connection with a street brawl in Stockholm in the early hours of June 30, and later charged with assault causing actual bodily harm.
Mayers’ lawyer said his client, sitting next to him in prison clothes of a green t-shirt and trousers, pleaded not guilty to the charge of assault and had acted in self defence.
Both Mayers and the plaintiff, a 19-year-old man, will face cross-examination later on Tuesday.
Mayers has said the plaintiff provoked him and two companions who have also been charged with assault. If convicted at Stockholm district court, they could face up to two years in jail.FILE – A$AP Rocky poses for a portrait to promote the film “Monster” at the Music Lodge during the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22, 2018, in Park City, Utah.His detention before his trial has prompted angry responses from fans as well as from several artists and other celebrities ranging from Kim Kardashian to rocker Rod Stewart.
Trump had asked Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to help free Mayers, and later tweeted messages saying he was “very disappointed” in Lofven and demanding: “Treat Americans fairly!” Trump had said he would personally vouch for Mayers’ bail.
Sweden does not have a bail system.
Lofven has said he will not influence the rapper’s case.
Sweden’s judiciary is independent of the political system.
Mayers, best known for his song “Praise the Lord”, was in Stockholm for a concert. He has had to cancel several scheduled shows across Europe due to his detention.
Before his arrest, Mayers uploaded videos on Instagram of the moments before the alleged assault, saying two men were following his team and that he did not want any trouble.
Mayers shot to fame with his 2011 debut “Live.Love.A$AP”.
His latest album, “Testing”, reached the No. 4 spot on the Billboard 200 charts on its release last year.
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UN: Afghan, NATO Forces Killed More Civilians this Year than Insurgent Groups
The United Nations says more Afghan civilians were killed by government and NATO-led troops than by the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the first half of 2019.The U.N.’s mission in Afghanistan released a report Monday that showed a combined 717 civilians were killed by government and international forces — an increase of 31% from the same period in 2018 — compared to 531 killed by the Taliban and other hardline Islamist groups. Most of the deaths occurred during Afghan and NATO air and ground attacks against insurgents. The report said a total of 2,446 Afghan civilians were injured at that hands of pro-government and insurgent troops. “Parties to the conflict may give differing explanations for recent trends, each designed to justify their own military tactics,” said Richard Bennett, the human rights chief of the U.N.’s Afghanistan Mission. He said both sides could improve the situation “not just by abiding by international humanitarian law but also by reducing the intensity of the fighting.”The United States is negotiating with Taliban on a peace deal to end the 18-year-long war, launched by the U.S. against Afghanistan’s then-ruling Taliban in response to the September 11, 2001, al-Qaida terror attacks on Washington and New York. The Taliban wants the full withdrawal of all U.S. and foreign forces from Afghanistan, while the U.S. is seeking a number of security guarantees from hardline group, including a pledge that Afghanistan will never again be used as a base to launch terror attacks against the U.S.
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Top Diplomats Gather In Bangkok for Key Asia-Pacific Talks
Top diplomats from the Asia-Pacific region started gathering Tuesday in the Thai capital to discuss issues of concern to the area, including security on the Korean peninsula and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.The meetings in Bangkok are hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, chaired this year by Thailand. Thai officials say there will be 27 meetings in all through Saturday, and 31 countries and alliances will participate.The core ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting brings together the group’s top diplomats, but they are likely to be overshadowed by the big power players attending the adjunct meetings, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.The heavy-hitters in Bangkok this week include U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.Other ASEAN dialogue partners include Australia, India, the European Union, Japan and South Korea.Most attention will be on these side meetings, in which ASEAN will play a supporting role, if any.A representative of North Korea will be present in Bangkok, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said last week, though it is not clear if Pyongyang is sending its foreign minister. Washington has downplayed Pyongyang’s recent launch of medium-range missiles and expressed interest in reviving talks on North Korean denuclearization, so sideline talks are a possibility.Reports say that the United States is also willing to hold a sidelines meeting with Japan and South Korea to discuss the bitter trade dispute between the two East Asian nations that threatens to disrupt Seoul’s electronics industry by hindering its purchase of semiconductor components.Police officers assigned to control traffic take a break at a street-shop outside the venue scheduled to hold of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, (ASEAN) annual leaders’ summit in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, July 30, 2019.The dispute also draws on long-standing bitterness over Japan’s actions toward Korea during World War II and threatens to poison relations at a time when Washington would prefer to see a united front in dealing with North Korea.ASEAN’s own most pressing concern arguably involves Beijing’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, which pits it against the claims of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.The dispute is long-running, but flared up again earlier this month when Vietnam accused China of violating its sovereignty by interfering with offshore oil and gas activities in disputed waters.Vietnam can count on having some allies at this week’s meetings but may have to operate outside the conventional ASEAN framework by forming a de facto maritime bloc with Indonesia, which has aggressively dealt with Chinese poachers in its waters, and the Philippines, still smarting over a June incident in which a Chinese fishing vessel hit a Philippine fishing boat and fled the scene as 22 Filipinos escaped their sinking vessel.It’s unlikely ASEAN will agree on any major statement against China since it operates by consensus, which in practice means a single member can exercise veto over the group’s decisions and declarations. Beijing can count on the support of allies such as Cambodia and Laos, and reluctance by others to defy Asia’s superpower.Beijing also is disinclined to flout legal norms that might restrain its actions, say critics, citing as an example the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling on the South China Sea case brought by the Philippines.The struggle for influence between the U.S. and China looms larger than ever over this year’s meetings, with their trade disputes fueling the rivalry.Beijing’s attempts to project its influence even further afield through its Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious global development program of major infrastructure projects, has sharpened the sense of unease among some parties.The U.S. has countered with its own vision strategy for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, which Beijing regards as directed against it.ASEAN leaders at their summit meeting in June adopted a five-page “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific” statement that sought to find a middle ground. But some analysts suggest it is less an assertion that the regional grouping is a player in its own right than a weak effort to keep on the good side of both Washington and Beijing.”Its significance is in the monumental opportunity squandered,” said Benjamin Zawacki, author of “Thailand: Shifting Ground between the U.S. and a Rising China.” “The increasing tension between Washington and Beijing does afford ASEAN more, rather than less, influence and room to maneuver, but it is influence and room that ASEAN would rather not have and will choose not to use,” he said. “ASEAN is most comfortable when it has the least influence and room to maneuver, for such provides a ready justification for its indecisiveness, inertia, and utter obsession with neutrality.”
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Hong Kong Protesters Disrupt Commuter Rail Service
Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong descended into the city’s subway system Tuesday, blocking commuters from exiting their trains. Service was delayed and partially suspended at some stations along the route, forcing commuters to wait in long lines for free shuttle bus service to other subway stops. Clashes broke out between demonstrators and angry, frustrated commuters eager and anxious to get to work. The protests have morphed from a call to end the now-suspended bill to extradite Hong Kong residents charged with criminal offenses in China, into demonstrations for democratic reforms and an end to Beijing’s tightening grip on the territory. It is the worst social turmoil to rock the former British colony since it returned to Chinese rule 22 years ago.A Chinese government official on Monday called on the people of Hong Kong to oppose violence and accused some Western politicians of stirring unrest. Yang Guang, a spokesman for China’s cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, also reiterated the government’s support for Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive Carrie Lam.
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Vigil Honors California Food Festival Shooting Victims as Police Search for Motive
Hundreds of people gathered Monday outside City Hall in the California city of Gilroy for a vigil honoring the victims killed and injured by a teenager who attacked a popular food festival.Those in attendance lit candles, listened to speeches from local leaders and joined in chants of “Gilroy strong.””We cannot let the bastard that did this tear us down,” Mayor Roland Velasco said. “Now the person that did this took something from us. They took a small town festival that has generated millions of dollars over the last 41 years. They took that from us. He took that from us.”Authorities are still trying to figure out the motive behind Sunday’s attack in this city about 170 kilometers southeast of San Francisco.The shooter, identified as 19-year-old Santino William Legan, appeared to randomly target people with an “assault-type rifle” on the last day of the Gilroy Garlic festival, according to Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee.The dead included a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. Twelve other festival-goers were wounded in the attack, which ended with police killing the shooter.Smithee told reporters Monday that police responded in less than a minute after the shooter opening fire.”It could have gone so much worse so fast,” he said.Authorities said they were searching Monday for a possible second suspect, following unconfirmed reports by eyewitnesses that Legan may have had an accomplice.Police officers carry evidence bags from the family home of Gilroy Garlic Festival gunman Santino William Legan, July, 29, 2019, in Gilroy, Calif.The festival had security that required people to go through screening with metal detectors and bag checks. Police say the shooter cut through a fence to avoid the security checks.Police believe Legan legally purchased his weapon in Nevada this month.President Donald Trump on Monday expressed deep “sadness and sorrow” over the incident. “While families were spending time together at a local festival, a wicked murderer opened fire and killed three innocent citizens, including a young child. We grieve for their families,” he said.California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a tweet that he was grateful for the police response to the shooting and called the attack “nothing short of horrific.”The three-day garlic festival attracts around 100,000 people each year and features food and drink, cooking competitions and live music.Smithee said the festival relies on thousands of volunteers each year and raises money for various organizations in the community.”I think that the number of people that are willing to give their time for the betterment of other people is a wonderful thing. It is just incredibly sad and disheartening that an event that does so much good for our community has to suffer from a tragedy like this,” he said.
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2 Refugees in Arizona Charged with Supporting Islamic State
Two Somalia refugees living in Arizona were charged with providing support to a terror group after federal agents say they were planning to travel from Tucson to Egypt to join the Islamic State.A criminal charge unsealed Monday alleged 21-year-old Ahmed Mahad Mohamed and 20-year-old Abdi Yemani Hussein had told an undercover FBI employee that they wanted to travel to the Middle East to carry out violence and “achieve martyrdom.”Both Tucson residents, who had received government documents to travel to Egypt, were arrested Friday after they checked in for their flights and made their way through security at Tucson International Airport.Mohamed is accused of expressing an interest in beheading people, while authorities say Hussein expressed a desire to kill people in the Middle East. Tom Hartzell, an attorney for Mohamed, didn’t return a call seeking comment on his client’s behalf.Brad Roach, attorney for Hussein, said his client is asserting his innocence and looking forward to the legal process going forward.''Authorities say Mohamed told an undercover FBI employee during social-media exchanges that he was "thirsty'' for the blood of disbelievers and that "the best wake up call is (for the) Islamic State to get victory or another 911.'' During an April meeting with the undercover FBI employee, Mohamed said "jihad is the only thing on his mind and that he wants to make the kuffar (disbelievers) in Egypt cry,'' according to the criminal complaint. During a meeting a month ago between Mohamed, Hussein and the undercover FBI employee, Hussein said he wanted to blow up the White House and that when he arrived in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt,he needs blood on his hands,” according to the complaint.
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UN Report: Conflicts Kill and Hurt a Record 12,000 Children
More than 12,000 children were killed and injured in armed conflicts last year – a record number – with Afghanistan, the Palestinians, Syria and Yemen topping the casualty list, according to a new U.N. report.The deaths and injuries were among more than 24,000 “grave violations” against children verified by the United Nations including the recruitment and use of youngsters by combatants, sexual violence, abductions, and attacks on schools and hospitals, it said.According to Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres’ annual report to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict obtained Monday by The Associated Press, violations by armed groups remained steady but there was “an alarming increase” in the number of violations by government and international forces compared to 2017.The secretary-general’s eagerly awaited blacklist of countries that committed grave violations against children during conflicts remained virtually unchanged from last year, angering several human rights groups.Human Rights Watch and the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, an international advocacy group, pointed to the Saudi-led coalition remaining on the list of parties that have put in place measures to protect children, citing a rise in child casualties by government and coalition forces in Yemen.”The Saudi-led coalition since 2015 has committed appalling violations against children in Yemen without any evidence that it’s trying to improve its record,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. “By including them once again in the ‘not so bad’ category of serious reformers, the secretary-general makes a mockery of the whole exercise.”Watchlist program director Adrianne Lapar said that praising “empty promises” by the coalition, also led by the United Arab Emirates, “undermines the deadly repercussions of war on children and ignores the facts on the ground.”She also asked why conflicts in Cameroon and Ukraine are “conspicuously missing from the report.”Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the scale and severity of the grave violations committed against children in 2018, notably the record high number of casualties as a result of killing and maiming and the increase in the number of violations attributed to international forces.”According to the report, verified cases of deaths and injuries were the highest since the Security Council authorized monitoring and reporting in 2005. Afghanistan topped the list with 3,062 child casualties in 2018, “and children accounted for 28 percent of all civilian casualties,” the report said, while in Syria, air strikes, barrel bombs and cluster munitions killed and injured 1,854 youngsters “and in Yemen, 1,689 children bore the brunt of ground fighting and other offensives.”Afghan child war victims receive treatment at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 25, 2016.In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.N. said that in 2018 it verified the highest number of Palestinian children killed – 59 – and injured – 2,756 – since 2014. During the same period, six Israeli children were injured.Guterres said he is “extremely concerned by the significant rise” in injuries, including by inhaling tear gas. He asked U.N. envoy Nikolay Mladenov to examine cases caused by Israeli forces “and urge Israel to immediately put in place preventive and protective measures to end the excessive use of force.”Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, expressed concern that Israeli forces, U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan, and the Afghan National Army were left off Guterres’ “list of shame,” and that the Somali National Army got “credit” for protecting children even though its violations increased. According to the report, parties to the conflict in Somalia recruited and used 2,300 children, some as young as 8-years-old, with al-Shabab extremists significantly increasing their recruitment to 1,865 youngsters. Nigeria was in second place, with 1,947 children recruited, including some used as suicide bombersSomalia also had the highest verified figure for sexual violence against children, with 331 cases in 2018, followed by Congo with 277 cases though the secretary-general said cases remain significantly underreported, particularly against boys because of stigma. And Somalia had the highest number of child abductions last year – 1,609.Guterres said thousands of children were also affected by 1,023 verified attacks on schools and hospitals last year.In Syria, 2018 saw 225 attacks on schools and medical facilities, the highest number since the conflict began in 2011, he said, and Afghanistan also saw an increase with 254 schools and hospitals targeted.”Increased numbers of attacks were also verified in the Central African Republic, Colombia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen,” Guterres said.The secretary-general also expressed increasing concern at the increasing detention of children, reiterating that “this measure should only be used as a last resort, for the shortest period of time, and that alternatives to detention should be prioritized whenever possible.”In December 2018, Guterres said, 1,248 children, mainly under the age of 5, of 46 nationalities from areas formerly controlled by Islamic State extremists, were “deprived of their liberty” in camps in northeast Syria. In Iraq, 902 children remained in detention on national security charges, including for associating with IS, he said. And as of December, Guterres said, Israel was holding 203 Palestinian children over security offenses, including 114 awaiting trial or being tried, and 87 serving a sentence. He said the U.N. received affidavits from 127 Palestinian boys “who during interviews with the United Nations reported ill-treatment and breaches of due process during their arrest, transfer and detention.”
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UN Calls for Eid Truce in Libya
The top U.N. official for Libya has called for a truce during the upcoming Eid al-Adha religious holiday, saying the fighting in that country needs to end before it “grows into a full-blown civil war.”In a grim briefing to the U.N. Security Council on Monday, U.N. envoy Ghassan Salamé warned that the power grab for the capital, Tripoli, which began four months ago, could plunge the entire country into conflict and open the door to terrorist groups who are already a threat inside Libya.“The recent uptick in violence may worryingly presage a new phase in the military campaign but I do not judge that this will fundamentally alter the strategic stalemate,” Salamé told the council via video link from Tripoli. “The parties still believe they can achieve their objectives through military means.”The latest cycle of fighting began in April, after General Khalifa Haftar, who holds sway over the eastern part of Libya, advanced his forces on Tripoli in a bid to capture the capital from internationally-recognized Prime Minister Fayez al Sarraj and the Presidential Council. Since then, fighting in and around the city has killed more than 1,100 people, including more than 100 civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more.World powers say there is no military solution to the Libya crisis, urging all parties to return to negotiations, but the fighting continues in Tripoli, July 7, 2019. (H.Murdock/VOA)Salamé said that the parties have ignored calls for de-escalation and instead ramped up the violence, intensifying their air campaigns, using precision air strikes, armed drones and heavy weapons, as well as employing foreign mercenaries. The fighting is also reaching beyond Tripoli to areas south and east of the capital.He also warned that the security vacuum created by the fight for the capital is being exploited by the so-called Islamic State group, which has had a presence in southern Libya for several years, as well as by other extremist groups.“Even more worrisome are the indications that the arsenal of weapons being delivered by foreign supporters to one side or the other is either falling into the hands of terrorist groups or being sold to them,” he said. “It is high time the warring parties cease all hostilities, redeploy their forces, and focus on the common threat before Libya becomes more of a safe haven for terrorist organizations.”Attacks on Mitiga airportIn another troubling turn, the envoy said there have been a growing number of attacks on Mitiga airport, the only functioning airport in the Tripoli area.“Several of these attacks have come perilously close to hitting civilian aircraft with passengers on board,” Salamé said. “I am afraid that with the almost daily bombardment, luck will run out.”Passengers are seen after being evacuated at Mitiga airport in Tripoli, Libya, April 8, 2019.He urged the authorities in Tripoli to stop using the airport for military purposes and for Haftar’s forces to stop targeting it.Thousands of migrants have also been caught in the fighting.Salamé said this year, nearly 4,500 refugees and migrants have arrived in Libya and are at risk. More than 5,000 are currently detained, many in horrible conditions. Earlier this month at least 53 were killed and dozens injured, including children, in an airstrike on the Tajoura detention center, 16 kilometers east of Tripoli. On Friday, 150 migrants died in a shipwreck off Libya’s coast.The U.N. has moved hundreds of migrants out of detention centers to safer locations, but Salamé reported that in recent days the authorities have moved more than 200 migrants back into the Tajoura facility. Salamé urged the closing of all migrant detention facilities.“I urge the [Security] Council now to call upon the authorities in Tripoli to take the long-delayed but much needed strategic decision to free those who are detained in these centers,” he said.A three-step planSalamé offered the council a three-step plan to move away from hostilities back to the political track, starting with a cease-fire for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha which will be around August 10. That would be followed by confidence-building measures and a high-level meeting of concerned countries.Libya’s chargé d’affaires at the United Nations, Elmadhi Elmajerbi, told VOA after the meeting that his government is open to a cease-fire, but on the condition that Haftar withdraws his troops from Tripoli.“There was a broad support to these proposals of the Special Envoy, particularly on the first one, on a truce as a first step for this plan, that was widely accepted by the majority of the members,” said Peruvian U.N. Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra who is Security Council president this month. “On the specifics, some of the members will consult their capitals,” he added. He said he expects a formal statement from the security council in the coming days.
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