The United Nations says at least 44 people were killed and more than 130 wounded in the airstrike late Tuesday that hit a migrant detention camp outside the Libyan capital.Dr. Hussein Yunis Hassan, a senior emergency coordinator with World Health Organization, tells VOA the victims came from several African nations, including Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Mauritania. “They don’t receive identifications when they are put in these detention centers,” he told VOA’s Somali service. Many of the dead bodies were mutilated by the strike, and it will take time to identify them, he said. Tripoli officials attribute the attack to the forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a strongman who leads the military in eastern Libya. For months, Libya’s internationally-recognized government has battled Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) for control of the capital. A U.N. official in Libya, Ghassan Saalme, said the airstrikes “clearly could constitute a war crime” as they “killed, by surprise, innocent people whose dire conditions forced them to be in that shelter.”The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and African Union have also condemned the airstrikes.U.N. High Commission for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in the aftermath of the attacks that civilians must not be targets, that migrants and refugees should not be detained, and that Libya is not a safe place to return migrants who are rescued trying to make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.Grandi called on those countries with influence on the parties involved in Libya’s conflict to work together to end the fighting.African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat called for all sides to ensure the safety of civilians, especially detained migrants, while demanding an independent investigation into Tuesday’s airstrikes.Libya has been a main point of departure for migrants who flee their homes in parts of Africa to get away from poverty and violence. But thousands of migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to detention centers where the United Nations says they face inhumane conditions.
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Month: July 2019
Russian Government Mum After Deadly Sub Fire
Russian officials have come under intense public scrutiny for their response to a submarine fire that left 14 dead. Some media figures have even alleged a cover-up, likening the government’s response to that of the Soviet Union’s after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. On Monday, a fire broke out on the vessel as it was collecting biometric data in Russian waters, according to the defense ministry. The seamen aboard died of smoke inhalation, though it is unclear whether or not the fire left any survivors and if the vessel was submerged at the time of the fire. While the fire occurred Monday, however, Russian officials did not release information about the incident until a full day later, on Tuesday. “Absolutely nothing is known at the moment — who, what — I don’t understand one thing: Why did a day go by and only then did they make the statement about the deceased?” said Yevgeny Buntman, a Russian radio anchor. ‘State secrets’Even after releasing information about the fire, officials have been markedly reserved about providing more details regarding the submarine and its mission. Putin’s spokesman Dimitry Peskov refused to answer questions about the name and mission of the submersible, instead redirecting them to the defense ministry. He also refused to answer when asked if the vessel was powered by a nuclear reactor. Regional news site The Bell likened the government response to the Soviet Union’s response to the Chernobyl disaster, writing, “Nearly a day without information about the accident in a nuclear facility and the need to look out for Norwegian statements about the level of radiation should have given a shudder to those who remember the Chernobyl nuclear power station.” Norwegian authorities said on Tuesday they had not detected any irregular radiation. Peskov also said details about the ship are “totally classified,” and they amount to state secrets. “There is nothing illegal about this. It fully corresponds to the Russian law on state secrets,” said Peskov. Mission speculationIndependent Russian media outlets have reported the sub was an AS-12, a deep-diving submersible that can maintain a higher level of secrecy compared to other submersibles.Some analysts and American officials have speculated that part of the vessel’s mission was to monitor and tamper with fiber-optic communication cables on the seabed, although this has not been confirmed. Putin has come under scrutiny for his response to submarine disasters in the past. In August 2000, a nuclear submarine sank, killing all 118 sailors onboard. Putin was sharply criticized for what many saw as inadequate rescue operations and a slow response.
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Security High in Rome for Putin Visit
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Rome on an official state visit Thursday. He will meet with the prime minister and the pope during his short time in the Italian capital.Security in Rome is very tight for Putin’s arrival Thursday morning. A green zone has been created in the city center, involving numerous street closures. Regular traffic will be banned.One thousand officers will guarantee the president’s safety. Snipers will be deployed on rooftops and terraces, and drones and helicopters will be used to control the airspace.It will be a lightning visit for Putin as he will spend just 10 hours in the Italian capital.His first stop will be the Vatican where he will meet with Pope Francis, whom he has met twice before.The pope Wednesday expressed his condolences and closeness to the families of the 14 Russian sailors who were killed on board a Russian navy research submarine.The Vatican and Russia re-established full diplomatic relations in 2009. There has been speculation that during his meeting at the Vatican, Putin may invite the pontiff to visit Russia. After the Vatican, Putin will meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and then with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.The Kremlin has said discussions are expected to focus on key issues for Russian-Italian cooperation in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields.More pressing issues may include the situations in Libya and Iran, and the U.S. threat to enact punitive measures on Moscow’s partners.
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Boeing to Give $100 mn to 737 MAX Crash Victims’ Families, Communities
Boeing announced Wednesday it would give $100 million to communities and families affected by two crashes on its 737 MAX planes that claimed 346 lives.Describing the sum as an “initial investment” over multiple years, Boeing said it would work with local governments and non-profit organizations to provide living expenses and boost economic development in regions affected by crashes of planes operated by Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air.Boeing faces numerous lawsuits filed by the victims’ families.
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US Media Sector Braces for Brutal Year for Jobs
The struggling U.S. media industry is facing its worst year for job layoffs in a decade as news organizations continue to cut staff and close shop, according to a new survey.The consultancy Challenger Gray & Christmas reported this week that media companies, which include movies, television, publishing, music, and broadcast and print news, announced plans to cut 15,474 jobs so far this year, of which 11,878 were from news organizations.That is nearly three times more than the 4,062 cuts announced in the media sector in 2017 and the highest total since the economic crisis in 2009.”Members of the media, especially journalists, have had a tough few years,” said Andrew Challenger, vice president of the Chicago-based firm.”Many jobs were already in jeopardy due to a business model that tried to meet consumer demand for free news with ad revenue. As media outlets attempted to put news behind pay walls, in many markets, consumers opted not to pay.”Some of the notable events this year included the closing of the Youngstown Vindicator, the only daily in the Ohio city, with 144 jobs lost, and the sale of the New Orleans Times-Picayune resulting in the loss of most of the 250 newsroom jobs.But the troubles have also impacted the digital sector with BuzzFeed cutting 200 employees in January and Verizon eliminating 800 jobs in its media division, which includes Yahoo, AOL, and HuffPost, the Challenger report noted.Online revenue challengesThe report noted that media companies have been unable to keep pace with Facebook and Google in tailoring ads for customers based on their interests, making it hard to generate online revenue.It also noted that a rise in browser ad blocking extensions has made it increasingly difficult to monetize online news.”Job cuts and consolidations are likely to continue until these companies are able to find ways to create growth in revenue streams,” Challenger said.He added that subscription-based models will only work if news organizations can convince consumers of the importance and value of their news.”Another possibility for media companies is to monetize users’ personal data, as Facebook and Google have,” he said.”There are obvious ethical implications and potential legal issues, however, especially as privacy laws begin to pass in various jurisdictions across the country. Ultimately, the quality of the country’s news will start to decline if we as users refuse to pay for it.”
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Sudan Protesters Agree to Direct Talks with Ruling Generals
Sudan’s protest leaders Wednesday agreed to hold direct talks with the country’s ruling generals after African Union and Ethiopian mediators called on the two sides to resume stalled negotiations to form a new governing body.Negotiations between the two sides collapsed in May over the make-up of the governing body and who should lead it — a civilian or a soldier.Tensions further soared after a brutal crackdown on a longstanding protest camp in Khartoum killed dozens of demonstrators exactly a month ago.The mediators have now come up with a compromise to resolve the overall crisis that has rocked Sudan for months, following the military ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in April amid widespread protests against his rule.On Tuesday the mediators called on the generals and protest leaders to resume talks on Wednesday.”The Alliance for Freedom and Change met and decided to accept the invitation for direct negotiations” with the generals, prominent protest leader Madani Abbas Madani told reporters on Wednesday, adding one of the conditions for the talks was to reach a decision “within 72 hours”.The ruling military council that seized power after the army’s ouster of Bashir has still not responded to the plea for talks by the mediators.But state television announced that General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chief of the military council, was expected to make an announcement soon.The blueprint drafted by the mediators calls for a civilian-majority governing body.Protest leaders have exerted pressure on the generals since the June 3 raid, by men in military fatigues, on the protest camp outside army headquarters in Khartoum.The ruling military council insists it did not order the violent dispersal of the sit-in.At least 136 people have been killed across the country since the raid, including more than 100 on June 3, according to doctors close to the umbrella protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change.The health ministry says 78 people have died nationwide during the same period.On Sunday, in what was the first mass protest against the generals since the raid, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets demanding civilian rule.The mass protest had been seen as a test for the protest leaders’ ability to mobilise the crowds after the generals imposed a widespread internet blackout and deployed security forces in the capital’s key squares and districts, its twin city Omdurman and other towns and villages.On Monday protest leaders upped the pressure on the generals by calling for a similar mass protest on July 13, to be followed by a nationwide civil disobedience campaign a day later.The civil disobedience campaign, if observed, would be the second such agitation since the June 3 raid.The first, held between June 9 and 11, paralysed the country, hitting an already dilapidated economy hard.Protest leaders have been supported by Western nations in their call for civilian rule, while the generals appear to have backing of Arab allies like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, experts say.
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Investigator: UN, International Community Fail to Hold Myanmar Accountable for Crimes Against Rohingya
A U.N. investigator says the United Nations and international community have failed to hold the government of Myanmar accountable for decades of persecution and repression against the minority Rohingya Muslims. The report from the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar is under discussion at the U.N. Human Rights Council.More than one million Rohingya refugees have fled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to escape violence, persecution and death in Myanmar. U.N. investigator Yanghee Lee says she is concerned the international community is beginning to overlook their situation.”They are subject to a human rights crisis, responsibility for which lies with Myanmar. It is entirely their responsibility to bring about all necessary conditions for all the people they forcibly drove out to return and they are entirely failing to do so. The remaining Rohingya in Myanmar continue to be denied their rights and are persecuted by authorities, making returns from Bangladesh impossible at this time.”Last year, Myanmar established an independent commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine state, where the military conducted a brutal crackdown against Rohingya Muslims about two years ago.FILE – Rohingya ethnic minority from Myanmar walks past rice fields after crossing the border into Bangladesh near Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf area, Sept. 1, 2017.Lee said the commission has not demonstrated its capacity to bring justice to victims. She said accountability for the Rohingya cannot be achieved in the domestic arena.”I reiterate what I have now said many times, that the international community must ensure justice is brought about. I am disappointed that nine months following the resolution establishing it, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar is still not functioning. There is a real risk that there will be a gap in investigations into the most serious international crimes and violations of international law in Myanmar,” said Lee.The Human Rights Council established the investigative body in September to collect and analyze evidence of serious crimes and violations committed in Myanmar since 2011.Myanmar’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Kyaw Moe Tun, said the special rapporteur’s accusations are discreditable and counterproductive. The ambassador is urging the council to remove Yanghee Lee as special rapporteur and replace her with someone he said is more fit to occupy that position.Instead of naming and shaming his country based on groundless allegations, he said the council should work with Myanmar in a constructive manner to find a durable solution.
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Eight Arrested in Hong Kong for Posting Personal Data on Police
Hong Kong police have arrested eight people for posting personal data about police officers on the internet as massive protests against the government and police were held in recent weeks.Officers and their family members have been threatened since their addresses and official ID card numbers were published, Superintendent Mohammed Swalikh of the Cyber Security bureau said in announcing the arrests Wednesday.He did not say whether police believe the disclosures were related to the protests. Six men and two women were arrested.Protests against a legislative proposal expanded to target the police as well after officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds blocking major city streets on June 12. Dozens were injured in the clashes, both protesters and police.Protesters are demanding an independent investigation into the crackdown, which was harsher than usual for Hong Kong. Police have said it was justified after some protesters turned violent.The legislative proposal would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face trial. Opponents saw it as an erosion of the rights guaranteed to Hong Kong for 50 years after the return of the former British colony to China in 1997, and part of a broader attempt by China to clamp down on dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.
Hundreds of thousands marched in the largest protests in recent memory. Smaller protests blocked the legislature and major streets. The government eventually gave in, suspending debate on the bill, but protesters still want the legislation formally withdrawn and the resignation of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.In Beijing, the Chinese government lashed back at remarks by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on the causes of the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Hunt appeared to be basking in the faded glory of British colonialism and obsessed with lecturing others.''Hunt had said that Hong Kong authorities should not use an outbreak of vandalism in the legislative chambers by protesters Monday night as apretext for repression.” He said the authorities need to understand the root causes of what happened, which is a deep-seated concern by people in Hong Kong that their basic freedoms are under attack.''Protesters broke into the legislature's building, spray-painting slogans on the walls, knocking over filing cabinets and strewing papers and smashing portraits of legislative leaders.Under a 1984 agreement between Britain and China, Hong Kong is to retain its Western-style economic, legal and political system for 50 years. But Geng said Britain has no authority to discuss matters in the territory. China considers such criticism to be interference in its internal affairs.Geng noted that Britain restricted Hong Kong's democracy during the colonial era. Hong Kong was under British rule for 155 years, during which it was run by a series of governors appointed by the British crown.The protesters in Hong Kong are demanding direct election of the city's leader.The U.K. considers itself as a guardian which is nothing but a delusion,” Geng said. “It is just shameless to say that Hong Kong’s freedoms are negotiated for them by the British side.”China’s central government has voiced strong support for Lam and the city’s police in dealing with the recent protests.
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In Mauritania, Freed Slaves Continue to Face Barriers
In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. But the problem is still prevalent and the government is doing little to combat it. Even though independent organizations are helping free slaves throughout the country, victims still face hurdles in their new lives. Esha Sarai reports from Nouakchott.
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Tensions Over Migrants Simmer In Sweden’s Rural Far Right Stronghold
Once renowned as a tolerant and open society, Sweden has seen a marked shift to the right. The Sweden Democrats – whose roots lie in the neo-Nazi movement – came in third in May’s EU parliamentary elections, on a platform of anti-immigrant policies. Like many far right parties in Europe, the Sweden Democrats once strongly campaigned to leave the European Union. Now it has abandoned that policy, citing the chaos over Britain’s EU exit. Henry Ridgwell reports from the Sweden Democrat stronghold of Hörby.
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Tensions Simmer in Sweden’s Rural Far-Right Stronghold
The town of Hörby seems a peaceful slice of the Swedish idyll: a market square, an ornate church, a few stores and restaurants, and beyond the suburbs, farms and fields stretching to the horizon. Below the surface, however, are simmering tensions. Hörby is the only Swedish town to have elected a mayor from the far-right Sweden Democrats party, which wants severe restrictions on immigration and dramatic cuts in government spending on migrant support programs – with the money redirected toward repatriating migrants.Niclas Nilsson is the Sweden Democrats’ group leader on the nearby Kristianstad city council. Both Kristianstad and Hörby are part of the local Skäne region and Nilsson says the area has taken in a large number of migrants due to its location in the south of Sweden.”People are concerned about the cost, the social stability, crime, and segregation,” he says.While the center-left Social Democrats retained the top spot in May’s EU parliamentary elections, the Sweden Democrats party came third, campaigning on a platform of harsh anti-immigrant policies. Such a result would have once been unthinkable for a party with its roots in the neo-Nazi movement.In Hörby’s newly renovated market square, Sweden Democrat supporter Tobias Lindblad says the party is simply telling the truth. “Today there are immigrants wherever you look. There are many of them who are great, but there are many who are doing stuff like drugs, assaults, vandalism,” Lindblad says.Enes Mehmedagic moved to Hörby as a young boy, his parents escaping the Balkan wars of the 1990s in his home country of Croatia. He has a very different perspective.”Immigration and immigrants are a scapegoat. Today in Sweden, there’s always been lots of immigration, but especially in a place like Hörby, it’s more visible than in a city. They don’t think of me as Swedish, despite the fact that I have lived in Sweden from many years ago, I pay taxes, and I didn’t commit any crime,” Mehmedagic says.From her newsstand overlooking the main route through the town, storekeeper Caroline Johansson has witnessed the changes in the town. She says the immigration debate is overplayed – and believes support for the far-right is rooted in local issues.”For example, we did not want a new town square. Now it is finished and looks good, but we would rather have other things.”The political divide goes far beyond Hörby. The Sweden Democrats once campaigned strongly to leave the European Union. The party reversed its policy in January this year – due to Brexit, says group leader Nilsson. “All the negative media about Brexit and the problems with Brexit, I think that has had a role. But also now the fact that parties like our own is growing in size in Europe and that means that we can change the EU from within.”The rolling hillsides outside town are dotted with silos and barns. Arable and cattle farming are big business in Skäne. The EU subsidizes agriculture across Europe and leaving the bloc would have big implications for farmers like Patrick Hanson, who runs a beef farm a few kilometers outside Hörby.”The profit is the funding from the EU for me. So I don’t want to lose that money. But it would be better to be outside the funding, it would be better that the consumers pay me for my work,” Hanson says.Tensions over migration, democracy and the role of the EU are being played out in Hörby and across Europe, as the continent wrestles with its identity and its future.
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Why Is Reading the US Constitution Important?
Written in 1787, the U.S. Constitution is the world’s oldest written charter of government in use today.Most Americans are familiar with its first three words – “We the People.” Yet they “don’t understand” the venerable document, says Kimberly Wehle, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore.To get readers interested in the charter, Wehle recently published “How to Read the Constitution — and Why,” a back-to-the-basics, accessible primer on the U.S. charter of government written for a time when many on the left and some on the right think the Constitution is under assault.The book’s launch coincides with the end of a consequential term for the Supreme Court, during which President Donald Trump’s second court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, joined the bench following a contentious confirmation hearing. It also coincides with the nation’s 243rd observance of Independence Day, July 4.VOA spoke with Wehle about the Supreme Court and how and why to read the Constitution. The following excerpts have been edited for clarity and length.
The U.S. Constitution is the oldest surviving written constitution in use today. What makes it so enduring?Law professor Kimberly Wehle (photo credit: Tim Coburn Photography)Kimberly Wehle: It’s enduring because of the structure of the first part of the Constitution. That is not the Bill of Rights. But the structure of the first part of the Constitution assumes that there is no person in elected office or appointed office that’s above the law. So each branch is checked by the other two branches and so far, that balance of power ensuring that the human desire to amass unlimited power is checked. I think that that is one of the most enduring elements.The late Justice Antonin Scalia once said that the “real key to the distinctiveness of America” in the world, what makes America a free country, is not the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but rather the structure of government enshrined in the Constitution. Do you agree?Wehle: The framers, as Justice Scalia indicated, didn’t include express rights in the original Constitution, because they believed that the three-part structure would preserve rights. So there’s a direct connection between the checks and balances and the separation of powers (on the one hand) and individual rights (on the other), meaning the three-part system ensures that the government doesn’t arbitrarily bully individual people. If there’s bullying going on, one of the other two branches is situated to check that. And yet every branch of government, it seems, over time has accumulated some degree of power at the expense of the other. For example, the Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, yet American presidents have waged war without clear congressional authorization. How did that happen?Wehle: There’s a chicken and egg issue with the power to declare war and the commander-in-chief power. And scholars generally believe that Congress has to declare war. The president can use the military to respond to threats and attacks, as we saw during the George W. Bush administration, (when) Congress authorized the president to preemptively start a war. But when people in office and in the judiciary don’t enforce parts of the Constitution, they cease to really have meaning.So how do you read the Constitution? Do you examine the text to decipher its original meaning, as the so-called “originalists” do, or do you approach it as a “living document” open to interpretation, as the so-called “judicial” activists do.Primer on the U.S. Constitution by law professor Kimberly WehleWehle: I disagree with that distinction. In the book, I compare the Constitution to reading a poem, for example, where, you know, there’s ambiguous language, and there are various ways of reading that ambiguity and deciding what it means. The Constitution is the same way. People bring different points of view to it. But the idea that it’s clear, most of the time is just not accurate.In your book, you make an urgent plea to Americans to read their own Constitution, a text many are taught in grade school. Why read it?Wehle: Because we’re overloaded in our society with information, online social media, 24-hour cable news and information, various political points of view, people feeding bottom lines to us. And of course, as we saw in the 2016 presidential elections, some of what we get is actually planted — and it’s deliberately false — by Russians, in this instance, that aren’t really interested in promoting American democracy. So in order to cut through this polarized conversation, my suggestion as an educator, which I tell my students, is start with the text. If you want to know what (special counsel) Robert Mueller indicted someone for, read the indictment. If you want to know what your Constitution says, start with the language itself. That’s what the Supreme Court does.What benefit would citizens of other countries derive from reading the American Constitution?Wehle: There are a lot of eyes on America for lots of reasons, including this reputation for having, freedoms, which, I think, (are) being challenged and tarnished internationally. So it benefits, given that the United States is a place that a lot of other countries watch. It is beneficial for everyone to understand how our Constitution works, and the dangers if it stops working.The Supreme Court is the nation’s top appellate court as well as its top constitutional court. What role does it play in American life?Wehle: It really functions like a mini legislature, and I say that with great care. Meaning when a case gets to the Supreme Court on an important issue, and the court issues a decision under the Constitution, that can’t even be amended by a statute. The Constitution is the boss of all bosses.So if the court decides that there’s a constitutional question lurking in a statute passed by Congress and then it rules one way or the other under the Constitution, the only way to change that outcome is to amend the Constitution, or amend the configuration of the court such that they will reverse precedent. Both of those are extremely, extremely hard to do. The Supreme Court is deeply ideologically divided. Many critics see the justices on the court as politicians in robes. Help our international audience understand how the judiciary in this country became so politicized?Wehle: I don’t think they’re politicians in robes, because politicians tend to make decisions in America based on getting more money to win elections. So they will set aside principle, they’ll set aside policy outcomes, just for that objective.That’s not the case at the Supreme Court. That being said, it’s unfortunate what happened with Justice Kavanaugh. It’s the most glaring example of how the Senate has allowed the confirmation process to become politicized.But once justices are on the court, their decision on how to construe vague language will depend on their judicial philosophy. Some justices might believe Congress should have a lot more power over executive branch agencies. Some justices might believe the president has unlimited power in certain circumstances, like when it comes to the use of the military.Other justices, the liberal wing, are more interested in making sure individual people retain as many rights versus the government. These are philosophical differences over how the government should work.
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Customs Agency Cash Seizures at Airports Cost Travelers Millions
A little-known U.S. anti-money laundering law is costing international travelers millions of dollars a year, raising concerns of civil liberties’ advocates that many innocent people are unwittingly being swept up by a statute designed to catch criminals. The law, known as the Bank Secrecy Act, requires travelers leaving and entering the U.S. with more than $10,000 in cash to report it to customs officials at ports of entry. A traveler’s failure to disclose the precise amount can result in the money being seized – even without any charges against the person. Customs and Border Patrol officials see the law as an important tool in combating money laundering and potential terrorist activities. But critics say CBP does little to warn travelers about the currency reporting requirement and that the agency’s seizure practice is sometimes unconstitutional. “The government just assumes that anyone traveling with a large amount of cash is a criminal, takes the money on the spot, and then lets the person go only to then violate federal laws and regulations that require the agency to return the money or go before a court to justify the seizure,“ said Darpana Sheth, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm in Washington.In recent years, the Institute for Justice has taken CBP to court to reclaim money taken from international travelers and to challenge the federal agency’s policies.In one case in 2017, CBP seized more than $58,000 from an Albanian immigrant at Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport and planned to keep it through civil asset forfeiture, a legal procedure that allows law enforcement to seize property without bringing criminal charges. The man and his wife had saved the money to fix up a house in their native country. In another case last year, a Nigerian-American nurse from Texas had $40,000 seized from her at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, money she was carrying to build a clinic for women and children in Nigeria. In both cases, CBP returned the money only after the Institute sued the agency.This 2017 U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo shows an agent searching luggage at Washington Dulles International Airport.The Institute for Justice’s lawsuit on behalf of Nigerian nurse Anthonia Nwaorie challenges CBP’s policy of demanding that travelers agree not to sue the agency before they can get their money back.“No one should have to waive their constitutional rights to get back property, which they are already legally entitled to,” the Institute for Justice’s Sheth said.In its class action lawsuit, the Institute says that while incoming international travelers are often handed a customs declaration form, there is no similar process for outbound travelers.“Most people have never heard of this requirement because the government does very little to notify people of this or publicize it,” Sheth said. CBP declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the pending litigation. International travelers carry large amounts of cash for a variety of reasons. “Some conduct real estate sales, some pay vendors in cash and get discounts or some try to avoid wire transfer fees,” said Jennifer Diaz, a customs and international trade attorney based in North Miami, Florida.One client, Diaz said, was carrying cash because of a religious prohibition against using financial institutions. To get the client’s money back from CBP, “we got a letter from their religious leader stating so,” she said.Jason Wapiennik, a Michigan-based lawyer who represents travelers before CBP, said currency seizures disproportionately affect immigrants and other foreign-born travelers from countries with a cash economy. “My clients are probably fairly representative of the whole class of people who are having money seized from them,” Wapiennik said.“Seizures are happening around the country and probably at every airport and every border crossing in the United States on a daily basis,” he added.The numbers are big. On a typical day, CBP seizes nearly $300,000 in undeclared or illicit currency. Last year, the agency seized close to $65 million in cash from international travelers, mostly at airports. While the gross figure has remained steady in recent years, CBP’s Detroit field office earlier this year reported a year-to-date increase of 62% in cash seizures.But it’s not just failure to report that can result in confiscation of cash. Misreporting the amount of cash can also lead to seizure. Wapiennik said that while in the vast majority of cases, the law is “fairly applied,” CBC officers sometimes appear bent on catching violators than helping travelers comply with the law. He said he once had a client whose report was “literally off by a dollar.”“I think oftentimes people aren’t given enough opportunity to report the money or to understand you know the importance of giving an accurate number,” Wapiennik said. Asked to respond to the criticism, CBP referred VOA to agency guidelines that allow violators to revise the initial reported amount of currency to the agency. In a statement, a spokesman said that “lack of comment should not be construed as agreement or stipulation with any of the allegations.”International travelers can try to reclaim their seized money by filing a petition with CBP. But they have to be able to prove that the money had a legitimate source and intended use, a process that can take about six months. Ill-gotten cash and property seized from criminals is forfeited and then put in a fund run by the Treasury Department. The proceeds are then shared with victims of crime as well as law enforcement agencies to conduct more seizures.
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UN Envoy: Airstrike on Libyan Detention Could be War Crime
The United Nations envoy to Libya says the airstrikes on a detention center for migrants outside of Libya’s capital that killed at least 40 people could be a war crime.Ghassan Salame said in a statement Wednesday the strikes “clearly could constitute a war crime” as they “killed, by surprise, innocent people whose dire conditions forced them to be in that shelter.”The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and African Union have also condemned airstrikes, which wounded more than 130 people.Libyan health officials said in addition to those killed in the strikes late Tuesday, another 80 people were wounded.U.N. High Commission for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in the aftermath of the attacks that civilians must not be targets, that migrants and refugees should not be detained, and that Libya is not a safe place to return migrants who are rescued trying to make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.Grandi called on those countries with influence on the parties involved in Libya’s conflict to work together to end the fighting.The battle for control of Libya’s internationally-recognized government and the Libyan National Army (LNA) of a rival government led by general Khalifa Haftar has been raging for months in the Tripoli suburbs with little progress made. The U.N.-backed government blamed the LNA for the strikes.African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat called for all sides to ensure the safety of civilians, especially detained migrants, while demanding an independent investigation into Tuesday’s airstrikes.Blood stains are seen on a police car at a detention center for mainly African migrants, hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Tripoli.Libya has been a main point of departure for migrants who flee their homes in parts of Africa to get away from poverty and violence. But thousands of migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to detention centers where the United Nations says they face inhumane conditions.The UNHCR had earlier warned that migrants should be moved out of the shelter that was struck Tuesday.”The detainees in Tajoura escaped a near miss just weeks ago. We had urged warring parties not to target them,” said UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley. “Callous disregard for human life. Those responsible should be held to account.”
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Trump-Kim Handshake May Be Meaningless Without Bridging Denuclearization Differences
Baik Sung-won of VOA’s Korean Service contributed to this report.President Donald Trump may have jumpstarted a new round of working-level talks with Pyongyang at his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but experts say their handshake is meaningless unless negotiators make a headway in bridging the countries’ divergent approaches toward denuclearization.“It was great being with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this weekend,” Trump tweeted on Monday, the day after the two leaders met. “We had a great meeting…I look forward to seeing him again soon…In the meantime, our team will be meeting to work on some solutions to very long-term and persistent problems. No rush, but I am sure we will ultimately get there.”It was great being with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea this weekend. We had a great meeting, he looked really well and very healthy – I look forward to seeing him again soon….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019.“The meeting itself is a massive breakthrough,” said Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest. “While a great deal of work remains, it is these small steps that will help create the trust needed to take giant leaps toward bigger diplomatic initiatives.”Gary Samore, former White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction during the Obama administration and current senior fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center’s Korea Project, said, “The resumption of U.S.-[North Korean] working level talks is a welcome development.” He continued, “But [there] is no reason to believe the talks will produce rapid progress because both sides appear to remain deeply divided on denuclearization.”Pyongyang favors taking a phased approach with each step taken toward denuclearization rewarded with some corresponding measure. Washington has been interested in drawing up a comprehensive denuclearization deal that includes the dismantlement of Pyongyang’s entire nuclear program. Scott Snyder, a senior fellow for Korea Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, cautioned that “a Trump-Kim handshake at the DMZ will only have significance if it succeeds in starting detailed negotiations that have eluded both sides following [their summits in] Singapore and Hanoi.”Trump and Kim first met last year at their summit in Singapore whereFILE – Visitors watch a photo showing North Korea’s missile launch at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, April 19, 2019.According to a confidential North Korean government document that the VOA Korean Service obtained last month, Kim told his military officials ahead of the Hanoi summit that the goal of meeting Trump a second time was to be accepted as a nuclear power. The official document suggests that Kim does not intend to give up his nuclear weapons. Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said, “Kim’s goal remains to be accepted as a de facto nuclear weapons state like Pakistan and Israel.” He continued, “Until that changes there is little cause for optimism.”A New York Times article published on Monday indicated that Washington is preparing to accept North Korea as a nuclear power in exchange for Pyongyang freezing its nuclear program. A State Department spokesperson denied the report and told VOA’s Korean Service on Monday the U.S. is “not preparing any new proposals currently.” The spokesperson added, “Our goal remains the final, fully, verified denuclearization of North Korea.”Narang said, “The first step is to get the meeting started because even that hasn’t happened yet.” He warned of the North Korean playbook which calls for sending a delegation to the talks with the intent to “burn the clock” without making any progress. North Korea has often brushed off working-level talks in favor of dealing with Trump directly.U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Steve Biegun met with his North Korean counterpart for a series of talks in February in Hanoi shortly before the summit as part of preparations for the summit. Even before the Singapore summit critics said there wasn’t enough time to prepare, something often undertaken in working-level talks.“Kim Jong Un cannot afford to stand up to Steve Biegun anymore because if there’s one thing, [Kim] probably knows that President Trump put himself on the line,” said Narang.Biegun will accompany Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the working-level talks. Biegun spoke about the need for both Washington and Pyongyang to take a flexible approach toward denuclearization in his speech given at the Atlantic Council last month. Pompeo, along with National Security Advisor John Bolton, had urged Trump against settling for nothing less than a grand deal.Pompeo said on Sunday the North Korean Foreign Ministry will be leading the talks but “don’t know exactly who from the Foreign Ministry” will be on the North Korean negotiating team. Previously, Kim pushed the Foreign Ministry aside in favor of putting his former spy chief, Kim Yong Chol, as Pompeo’s counterpart.
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Kamala Harris Surges in Polls After First Democratic Debate
New polls show California Senator and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris surging after her performance in last week’s first Democratic candidates’ debate.The surveys also show Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gaining ground while the current Democratic frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, is slipping. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has also lost ground, according to the new surveys.A new Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed Biden still leading the Democratic primary field at 22 percent, followed closely by Harris at 20 percent. Warren is in third place with 14 percent followed by Sanders at 13 percent.Harris also saw dramatic movement in a new CNN/SRSS poll that found her moving into second place among the Democratic contenders with 17 percent support, narrowly trailing Biden who leads with 22 percent.FILE – Democratic presidential hopeful Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren participates in the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 26, 2019.Warren placed third with 15 percent followed by Sanders at 14 percent. Trailing behind the top tier in the CNN poll were South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 4 percent, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke both with 3 percent, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar at 2 percent.Iowa shiftSimilar trends were evident in a national poll by Morning Consult/Politico and in a survey in the early voting state of Iowa by Suffolk University and USA Today.In the Iowa poll, Biden continues to lead the Democratic pack with 24 percent support, but Harris has hurtled into second place with 16 percent following the debate, ahead of Warren with 13 percent and Sanders at 9 percent.Iowa begins the caucus and primary season to choose a Democratic nominee with its caucus vote on Feb. 3, 2020.Debate impactThe new polling data confirms that Harris was able to capitalize on her direct challenge of Biden during last week’s debate in Miami.Harris told Biden in the debate that his defense of having worked with segregationist senators decades earlier was “hurtful.” She also took him to task for his opposition to government-mandated busing efforts to desegregate public schools in the 1970s.”You also worked with them to oppose busing,” Harris said in the debate televised by NBC. “And there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her schools and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”Biden appeared stung by the criticism and launched into a defense of his own civil rights record during his lengthy career as a senator and vice president.”I am the guy who extended the Voting Rights Act for 25 years! We got to a place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the United States Senate doing it. I have also argued very strongly that deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box,” Biden said in his response.Harris joltPrior to the debate, Harris had been stuck in the high single-digits in most polls, well behind the top-tier contenders of Biden, Sanders and Warren.But analysts say the first debate has clearly given the Harris campaign a jolt.”I think Kamala Harris really did come out of this debate pretty well,” said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. “Joe Biden is a frontrunner but holds a lot of support that is, perhaps, weak. The African American community is very with Joe Biden in the polls today. I think Kamala Harris really made a play for that in the debate and she would be a candidate who would speak to that group that is 25 percent of the electorate of the Democratic Party.”Biden impactBiden has been the Democratic frontrunner since he entered the race earlier this year. University of Virginia analyst Kyle Kondik told VOA that some of Biden’s vulnerabilities are beginning to show and he can expect more scrutiny in the debates to come.FILE – Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa, June 11, 2019.”And it will be a test for Biden as to whether he can maintain his level of support. Is his level of support just based on generic goodwill from the Obama years, his vice presidential tenure and his name identification? Or is there something deeper about Biden’s level of support that will help him withstand what is to come?” he said.There are some bits of good news for Biden in the CNN poll. He still leads the Democratic field, though with a sharply reduced margin. And Biden also retains strong support from African American voters, a key voting bloc within the Democratic Party. Biden still leads among black voters with 36 percent support, but Harris has closed the gap at 24 percent.The polls also show that many Democrats still see Biden as a moderate and regard him as perhaps the strongest candidate to take on President Donald Trump next year.The CNN poll found that 43 percent of Democrats see Biden as the strongest challenger to Trump, with Sanders a distant second.Quinnipiac found that 42 percent believe Biden has the best chance of beating Trump, while Harris was second at 14 percent.Beating TrumpPrevious polling has shown that defeating Trump in 2020 remains the top priority for most Democratic voters, according to Emory University expert Andra Gillespie.”What Biden is kind of banking on is the fact that there are lots of moderate primary voters in particular who may be liberal on some things but are not as liberal as, say, Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would be in the election. And so there might be a higher comfort level with him,” Gillespie told VOA via Skype.The next Democratic debate will be held over two nights later this month in Detroit, Michigan. The same qualifying standards apply as the first debate, which means that in order to appear on the debate stage, a candidate must register at least 1 percent in the polls and document campaign contributions from at least 65,000 individual donors.The qualifications get tougher for the third debate in September. Contenders will have to register 2 percent in the polls and demonstrate 130,000 individual donors in order to qualify, standards that likely will leave some of the candidates out of the debate and scrambling to save their campaigns.
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DHS Inspector General: Overcrowded Migrant Centers ‘A Ticking Time Bomb’
Figure 3 shows overcrowding of families observed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security OIG on June 11, 2019, at Border Patrol’s Weslaco, TX, Station.One photo shows 88 men packed inside a room designed to hold 40 with one pressing a cardboard sign reading “help” against the window.The report says some migrants deliberately clog the toilets with socks and blankets just to get the chance to get out of the cages while the toilets are fixed.The inspector general’s report says the opportunity for personal hygiene is scarce and that many migrants became ill and constipated from the diet of bologna sandwiches that they are given.The inspector general called on the DHS to “take immediate steps to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults in the Rio Grande Valley.”A group of Democratic lawmakers who visited one facility Monday called conditions there “horrifying.”Critics blame the overcrowding, in part, on the Trump administration for refusing to release migrants seeking asylum.
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Lagarde’s ECB Nomination Thrusts IMF into Early Succession Race
The nomination of Christine Lagarde as European Central Bank president on Tuesday has thrust the International Monetary Fund into an early, unanticipated search for a new leader amid a raging trade war that has darkened the outlook for global growth.Lagarde in a brief announcement said she was “honored” by the nomination and would temporarily relinquish her duties as IMF managing director during the nomination period.Her appointment is subject to approval by a fractious European Parliament. If approved, she would take over as ECB president from Mario Draghi on Oct. 31.Lagarde’s second five-year term as IMF managing director is not due to end until July 2021. Last September, when asked by the Financial Times whether she was interested in the ECB job, she replied, “No, no, no no, no no.”In a statement, the IMF board said it accepted her decision to temporarily step aside and named IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton as the fund’s acting chief, expressing its “full confidence” in the American economist.The board statement provided no details about the search for a successor to lead the IMF.Speculation StartsBut in Washington, speculation about possible candidates was already centering on Europeans that had been viewed as contenders for the ECB job, including Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Germany’s Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, and ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure.Some analysts also suggested that Draghi, who will turn 72 before he leaves the ECB, could be a potential IMF candidate in a sort of job-swap with Lagarde, who is 63.The IMF has traditionally been run by a European, while the World Bank, its sister institution also created at the end of World War II, has been run by an American. At times, larger emerging market countries have sought to disrupt the duopoly with their own candidates.But Mark Sobel, a former U.S. executive director at the IMF and long-time Treasury official, said he did not see a deviation this time around, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the World Bank, David Malpass, was approved without a challenge in April.”The duopoly is well in place,” Sobel said. “The Europeans didn’t want to object to Malpass because they wanted to hang onto the IMF seat. The U.S. is not going to object to someone that the Europeans put up.”With 16.5 percent of the voting power on the IMF board, the United States retains an effective veto over IMF decisions.Given Europe’s shrinking influence in the global economy, it may eventually have to relinquish IMF leadership, said Heather Conley, senior vice president for Europe and Eurasia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.”Precedent does carry weight of course, but the lack of IMF institutional reform and the reduction of European GDP to global GDP calls this precedent into question,” she said.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has blocked consideration of a reallocation of IMF shareholdings that would increase funding and give more influence to large emerging market countries such as China, Brazil and India.Lagarde’s departure would deprive the IMF of a tireless advocate for the benefits of trade, global growth that aids the poor and middle classes, and the empowerment of women.She has spent much of this year warning about slowing global growth caused by the U.S.-China tariff war, which the IMF estimates would cut global economic output by 0.5 percent.
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UN Investigator Reports Possible Fresh War Crimes in Myanmar
Myanmar security forces and insurgents are committing human rights violations against civilians in restive western states that may amount to fresh war crimes, a United Nations investigator said on Tuesday.A 2017 military crackdown drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. U.N. investigators have said that Myanmar’s operation included mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson and was executed with “genocidal intent.”The Yangon government denies committing those atrocities and says its military campaign across northern Rakhine was in response to attacks by Rohingya militants.Government troops are currently fighting ethnic rebels in conflict-torn Rakhine and Chin states. The Arakan Army is an insurgent group that is fighting for greater autonomy for the two states.On June 22, authorities ordered telecoms companies to shut down internet services in the two states. Telenor Group said the ministry of transport and communications had cited “disturbances of peace and use of internet activities to coordinate illegal activities.”FILE – Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, says freedoms of expression, assembly and association have been stifled in the country, May 6, 2019..Yanghee Lee, the U.N. independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, said last week the army may be committing gross human rights violations under cover of a mobile phone blackout in Rakhine and Chan, but on Tuesday she went further.”The conflict with the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine State and parts of southern Chin State has continued over the past few months and the impact on civilians is devastating. Many acts of the Tatmadaw (army) and the Arakan Army violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes, as well as violating human rights,” Lee said.The Arakan Army had reportedly abducted civilians, including 12 construction workers in Paletwa and 52 villagers near the Bangladesh border, she told the U.N. Human Rights Council.Lee cited reports of civilians, mostly ethnic Rakhine men, being detained and interrogated by the Tatmadaw for suspected links to the Arakan Army and said several had died in custody.In April, a military helicopter opened fire on Rohingya men and boys collecting bamboo, she said.Some 35,000 people have fled the violence this year, she said.Myanmar’s Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said that the government had declared a ceasefire through August and was trying to bring about national reconciliation.”The government of Myanmar is working tirelessly to end ethnic strife and end conflict and to achieve sustainable peace in Myanmar through a peace process,” Tun told the forum.”Freedom of expression and media is one of most visible areas of change in Myanmar,” he said. “No restriction is imposed on the use of internet and social media, but we need to strike a balance between security and freedom and rights and responsibility.”Lee said the blackout was endangering villagers, obstructing aid and shielding the military.
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Pentagon: China Missile Test in South China Sea ‘Disturbing’
The Pentagon said on Tuesday a recent Chinese missile launch in the disputed South China Sea was “disturbing” and contrary to Chinese pledges that it would not militarize the disputed waterway.The South China Sea is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and Taiwan.China and the United States have repeatedly traded barbs in the past over what Washington says is Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea by building military installations on artificial islands and reefs.A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said China tested multiple anti-ship ballistic missiles over the weekend.”Of course the Pentagon was aware of the Chinese missile launch from the man-made structures in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.”I’m not going to speak on behalf of all the sovereign nations in the region, but I’m sure they agree that the PRC’s behavior is contrary to its claim to want to bring peace to the region and obviously actions like this are coercive acts meant to intimidate other (South China Sea) claimants,” Eastburn added. PRC is an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.China has not confirmed the missile tests and on Tuesday the foreign ministry declined to comment, referring questions to the defense ministry, which did not respond to a request for
comment.The Chinese government has said that the military was carrying out drills between the Spratly and Paracel Islands starting last weekend and ending on Wednesday, warning other shipping not to enter a designated area.China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.News of the China missile test was first reported by NBC News.
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Ethiopian Mediator Urges Sudan Military, Opposition to Hold Direct Talks
Ethiopia’s mediator in the Sudan crisis urged the military rulers and the opposition coalition to hold direct talks on Wednesday to strike a deal on handing over power to civilians.The Transitional Military Council, which has ruled Sudan since President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April, and the Forces of Freedom and Change opposition coalition have agreed on proposals presented by the Ethiopian and African Union mediators to solve the crisis, said Mahmud Dirir, the Ethiopian mediator.But they still disagree over the structure of a sovereign council meant to lead the country during the transitional period, Dirir told reporters in Khartoum on Tuesday, urging the two sides to engage in face-to-face talks to clinch a deal.Meeting place a secretA time and a place for the meeting are set but will not be disclosed for security reasons, and both sides have already received invitations, he added.”The two sides are just around the corner to reach an agreement but one issue remains disagreeable,” Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, the African Union mediator to Sudan, told the press conference. “We call the two parties to reach a compromise on this remaining issue.”Sudan’s military overthrew Bashir on April 11 after months of demonstrations against his three decades in office.Opposition groups kept up protests as they pressed the military to relinquish power, but talks collapsed after members of the security services raided a sit-in protest camp outside the defense ministry on June 3.Raid left 100 deadA doctors’ group linked to the opposition said that more than 100 people were killed in the raid and ensuing crackdown.The opposition alliance organized a major show of force on Sunday when tens of thousands of people took to the streets.It said it was calling for another mass march on July 13 and a day of civil disobedience on July 14. Nine people were killed during Sunday’s protests and some 200 were injured, it said.The military council has accused the opposition groups of being responsible for the violence and said at least three members of the security forces were injured by live fire.Both the Ethiopian and African Union mediators urged both sides on Tuesday to avoid escalation to help reaching an agreement.UAE calls for dialogueEarlier on Tuesday, United Arab Emirates said it is important to continue dialogue in Sudan and avoid an escalation.”Dialogue should continue without antagonism and towards an agreement on transition … It is necessary to avoid conflict and escalation,” UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter.Sudan is strategically positioned between the Middle East and Africa and its stability is seen as crucial in a volatile region. Various powers including wealthy Gulf states are vying for influence in the nation of 40 million.Egypt, which deems security and stability in its southern neighbor as important for its own stability, said on Tuesday its ambassador to Khartoum met a leader in the opposition coalition on Monday. Cairo is seen as a supporter of the army rulers.”The ambassador stressed during the meeting that Egypt stands at the same distance from all the Sudanese parties,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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Official: Airstrike Hits Tripoli Migrant Detention Center, Kills 40
An airstrike late on Tuesday hit a detention center for mainly African migrants in the Tajoura suburb of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing at least 40 people and wounding 80, a health official said.Pictures published by Libyan officials showed African migrants undergoing surgery in a hospital after the strike.Libya is a main departure point for migrants from Africa and Arab countries trying to reach Italy by boat, but many get picked up by the Libyan coast guard supported by the European Union. Thousands are held in government-run detention centers in what human rights groups say are often inhuman conditions.Tajoura, east of Tripoli’s center, is home to several military camps of forces allied to Libya’s internationally recognised government, which for three months has been battling eastern forces trying to take Tripoli.On Monday, the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said it would start heavy airstrikes on targets in Tripoli after “traditional means” of war had been exhausted.The LNA denied it had hit the detention center, saying militias allied to Tripoli had shelled it after a precision airstrike by the LNA on a camp.The LNA has failed to take Tripoli in three months of fighting and last week lost its main forward base in Gharyan, which was taken back by Tripoli forces.
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Italy Court Lifts House Arrest on German Captain, Says She Was Protecting Life
An Italian judge ruled on Tuesday that the captain of a charity ship had not broken the law by crashing through a naval blockade, saying that by bringing rescued migrants to port she was carrying out her duty to protect life.Judge Alessandra Vella ordered the 31-year-old German captain, Carola Rackete, released from house arrest where she had been held since Saturday when she disobeyed Italian military orders and entered the port of Lampedusa.Rackete had faced up to 10 years in prison on possible charges of endangering the lives of four policemen for hitting a patrol boat at the quay as she brought some 41 African migrants to land in the Sea-Watch rescue vessel.She still could face separate charges of aiding illegal immigration, but the judge said she had no charges to face over the crash itself.The ruling was swiftly denounced by Italy’s hardline interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has campaigned to bar charities from bringing refugees to Italian ports.”I am indignant, I am disgusted, but I will not give up,” Salvini said in a statement saying he had expected much more robust action by the Italian justice system and promising to expel Rackete from the country as soon as possible.”We will restore honor, pride, well-being, hope and dignity to Italy, whatever it costs,” he said.The Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 ship docks at the Lampedusa harbor, Italy, early June 29, 2019.The controversy over Rackete’s actions has dented relations between Italy on the one side and Germany and France on the other, and highlighted Europe’s continued failure to adopt coherent immigration norms.She appeared before the Agrigento court on Monday and apologized for hitting the patrol boat, saying it had been an accident and explaining that her sole concern was the well-being of the migrants who had been at sea for more than two weeks.French CriticismA top Italian prosecutor had dismissed her defense, saying her boat had been safely moored off shore as Italy awaited a decision on where the migrants should go.An Italian government source said on Tuesday that Germany had agreed to take in about a dozen of them, with France, Portugal, Finland, and Luxemburg also pledging help.Germany has asked Rome to release Rackete, while France, which has fraught relations with Italy’s populist leaders, accused its neighbor of acting “hysterically” over immigration.”Mr. Matteo Salvini’s behavior has not been acceptable as far as I am concerned,” French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye told France’s BFM-TV on Tuesday.FILE – Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini attends a news conference following a cabinet meeting in Rome.Salvini heads the far-right League party and last month introduced new rules effectively closing the nation’s ports to rescue ships, threatening transgressors with fines of up to 50,000 euros ($56,500) and the impounding of their vessels.It was the latest in a line of tough measures imposed by Salvini since he took office a year ago, which have led to a decline in new arrivals. Just 2,784 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, according to official data, down 83% on the same period in 2018 and down 97% on 2017 levels.”The French government should stop these insults and open its own ports (to migrants),” he said in a statement on Tuesday.Rackete, who sports long, distinctive dreadlocks, has become a heroine in the eyes of human rights campaigners.An online campaign to help her launched by two German TV stars has so far raised almost 1 million euros, while a separate fundraiser launched on Facebook by an Italian group has raised 435,000 euros in seven days.Demonstrators hold a banner in support of Carola Rackete, the 31-year-old Sea-Watch 3 captain, outside the court in Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, July 1, 2019.Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer told a news conference in Berlin that the money would be used to fund future rescue missions.”This solidarity shows two things: that civil society is behind us and wants to defend us against the politics of letting people drown,” he said.($1 = 0.8853 euros)
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White House’s Navarro Says China Trade Deal Will Take Time
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Tuesday U.S. trade talks with China are heading in the right direction and any concessions to Beijing on Huawei Technologies were small in the context of a larger trade deal.”We’re headed in a very good direction,” Navarro said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s complicated, as the president said, correctly, this will take time and we want to get it right. So let’s get it right.”U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in a meeting Saturday at the Group of 20 summit in Japan to restart trade talks after the last major round of negotiations collapsed in May.FILE – President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.The partial lifting of restrictions on Huawei was a key element of the agreement, which allows expanded sales of U.S. technology supplies to the Chinese telecommunications giant.Washington put Huawei on an export blacklist in May, citing national security concerns over its 5G network technology.Navarro played down the concession on Huawei, saying U.S. policy with respect to the 5G component has not changed. “All we’ve done basically is to allow the sale of chips to Huawei, and these are lower-tech items which do not impact national security whatever,” Navarro said. “Selling chips to Huawei, a small amount of chips — less than $1 billion a year — in the short run is small in the scheme of things.”Huawei’s founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, told the Financial Times the company was willing to continue buying products from U.S. firms, but the relaxation of the ban would not have “much impact” on Huawei’s business as it adjusts to a new era of American hostility.Navarro said Washington would continue working closely with allies to ensure they did not adopt Huawei 5G technology, but had agreed to allow the sale of some low-level chips to bring China back to the negotiating table and secure an agreement by Beijing to buy significant amounts of agricultural products.FILE -People walk past a Huawei retail store in Beijing, June 30, 2019.”We’re not going to sacrifice anything in order to get a cheap political trick,” he said. “The whole China game plan … is to dominate not just 5G but artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and we can’t let that happen.”Some chips needed to build 5G telecoms equipment, such as field programmable gate arrays and various radio frequency chips and multiplexers, have uses outside of the 5G sector.William Reinsch, a senior adviser at Kelley, Drye & Warren and a former under secretary of commerce for export administration, said the Trump administration could amend the temporary general license granted shortly after Huawei was put on the blacklist to include more technologies that U.S. companies could sell without obtaining approval.Companies could also apply for individual licenses, he told Reuters, noting that the departments of Commerce, Defense, State and Energy would work together to define what technologies might be acceptable for resumed exports to Huawei.He said it remained unclear if the 5G ban would include 5G smartphones as well as telecommunications gear that Huawei sells to telecommunications customers.
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