STOCKHOLM — Nordic countries are experiencing searing temperatures as Europe’s record-breaking heat wave moves north, with Norway on Saturday equaling its 1970 record and many areas recording “tropical nights.”
Laksfors in northern Norway on Saturday recorded a temperature of 35.6 degrees Celsius (96 degrees Fahrenheit), equaling the national record set in Nesbyen in 1970, the country’s meteorology service said on Twitter, adding, however, that the measuring station needed to be double-checked to ensure that it was operating properly.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute also said it had recorded “tropical nights” in 20 different locations in southern Norway, meaning that temperatures stayed above 20 C (68 F) throughout the night.
The heat was also felt around other parts of the Nordics. On Friday, the small town of Markusvinsa in Sweden’s far north recorded a temperature of 34.8 C (94.6 F).
“That’s the hottest temperature in the far north since 1945 and the third-highest temperature on record,” Jon Jorpeland, meteorologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), told AFP.
Earlier in the week, several places in Sweden also experienced “tropical nights.”
According to Jorpeland, temperatures in the south of Sweden haven’t been as extreme and it’s not unusual that the mercury reaches 30 C a few days a year in the country, even though current temperatures are above average. Water shortages
SMHI has also issued warnings of potential water shortages in August in 15 of the country’s 21 counties.
Heat warnings have been issued in Sweden, Norway and Finland, and earlier this week Finnish police even warned motorists to be mindful of moose, who were increasingly crossing roads in search of water.
The World Meteorological Organization on Thursday said forecasts indicated that atmospheric flows would transport the heat from Europe to Greenland, “resulting in high temperatures and consequently enhanced melting.”
Current predictions indicate the resulting melting of ice could approach the record losses recorded in 2012, the organization said, citing scientists from the Danish Meteorological Institute.
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Month: July 2019
Migration Deal With US Meets Mixed Reactions in Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY — A migration pact with the United States drew sharply mixed reactions in Guatemala on Saturday, as business groups welcomed it for helping avoid U.S. punitive measures while rights groups called it “cruel and illegal.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pushed hard to slow the flow of migrants, said Friday that the “safe third country asylum” agreement would require would-be asylum seekers traveling through Guatemala to seek refuge there, not in the United States. Anyone failing to do so would be sent back to Guatemala.
Most of those migrants would be coming from El Salvador or Honduras.
The pact was signed in Washington on Friday by Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, and Guatemala’s interior secretary, Enrique Degenhart.
Guatemalan human rights ombudsman Jordan Rodas has questioned its legality, saying his country’s constitution does not authorize a minister to sign such an agreement. He urged Congress to study it carefully.
Rights group Amnesty International called the agreement “outrageous,” saying that “there is no doubt that Guatemala should not be considered a safe place of refuge.”
A “safe third” agreement could be legal only if would-be asylum seekers were sent to a truly safe third country, rights groups said.
Guatemala has one of the world’s highest homicide rates.
‘Very alarming'”The Trump administration must abandon this cruel and illegal plan,” Amnesty’s director for the Americas, Charanya Krishnaswami, said in a statement.
Refugees International called the pact “very alarming.”
Business groups, however, applauded the deal for sparing Guatemalans potentially severe economic penalties threatened by Trump.
“The risks and consequences of not signing were very great,” said Juan Carlos Tefel, president of the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Associations.
The Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce also registered its approval.
The deal was originally to have been signed July 15 by Trump and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, but when Guatemala’s Constitutional Court temporarily blocked the pact, the signing was delayed.
The deal was finalized after Trump threatened to impose tough economic measures on Guatemala, including steep tariffs on imports.
The plan faces an uncertain future. The two candidates vying to succeed the term-limited Morales in an Aug. 11 election — Social Democrat Sandra Torres and right-wing candidate Alejandro Giammattei — have both rejected it.
The U.S. is Guatemala’s top trading partner. Remittances last year from Guatemalans in the U.S. amounted to 12 percent of the Central American country’s gross domestic product.
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Nigerian Court Grants Permission to Declare Shiite Group Terrorists
ABUJA, NIGERIA – A Nigerian court has granted the government permission to label a local Shiite Muslim group a terrorist organization, the solicitor general told Reuters on Saturday. Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) have been marching in Abuja, calling for the release of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been in detention since 2015 despite a court order to release him. The protests have often turned violent. An IMN spokesman said at least 20 of the group’s members were killed this week during demonstrations. Dayo Apata, Nigeria’s solicitor general, confirmed in a mobile text message that a federal court in Abuja had granted the government permission to proscribe the IMN, a move offering the authorities the chance to clamp down harder on the group. An IMN spokesman said that the group had not received any formal notice and that marches would continue. Zakzaky’s office said plans to ban the movement had been considered since 2015 and it was not surprised by the move. A court in Kaduna state is set to decide on Zakzaky’s bail application Monday. The Shiite group can appeal the order.
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Mueller’s Words Twisted by Trump and More
President Donald Trump listened to Robert Mueller testify to Congress this past week, then misrepresented what the former special counsel said. Some partisans on both sides did much the same, whether to defend or condemn the president.Trump seized on Mueller’s testimony to claim anew that he was exonerated by the Russia investigation, which the president wasn’t. He capped the week by wishing aloud that President Barack Obama had received some of the congressional scrutiny he’s endured, ignoring the boatload of investigations, subpoenas and insults visited on the Democrat and his team.Highlights from a week in review:THE GENTLEMENTRUMP on Democrats: “All they want to do is impede, they want to investigate. They want to go fishing. … We want to find out what happened with the last Democrat president. Let’s look into Obama the way they’ve looked at me. Let’s subpoena all of the records having to do with Hillary Clinton and all of the nonsense that went on with Clinton and her foundation and everything else. Could do that all day long. Frankly, the Republicans were gentlemen and women when we had the majority in the House. They didn’t do subpoenas all day long. They didn’t do what these people are doing. What they’ve done is a disgrace.” — Oval Office remarks Friday.THE FACTS: He’s distorting recent history. Republicans made aggressive use of their investigative powers when they controlled one chamber or the other during the Obama years. Moreover, matters involving Hillary Clinton, her use of email as secretary of state, her conduct of foreign policy and the Clinton Foundation were very much part of their scrutiny. And they weren’t notably polite about it.Over a few months in 2016, House Republicans unleashed a barrage of subpoenas in what minority Democrats called a “desperate onslaught of frivolous attacks” against Clinton. In addition, Clinton was investigated by the FBI.Earlier, a half-dozen GOP-led House committees conducted protracted investigations of the 2012 attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya. Republican-led investigations of the 2009-2011 Operation Fast and Furious episode — a botched initiative against drug cartels that ended up putting guns in the hands of violent criminals — lasted into the Trump administration.On the notion that Obama was treated with courtesy by GOP “gentlemen and women,” Trump ignored an episode at Obama’s 2013 speech to Congress that was shocking at the time.“You lie!” Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina hollered at Obama. His outburst came when Obama attempted to assure lawmakers that his health care initiative would not provide coverage to people in the U.S. illegally.Obama also faced persistent innuendo over the country of his birth. Trump himself was a leading voice raising baseless suspicions that Obama was born outside the U.S.NORTH KOREATRUMP: “We’re getting the remains back.” — Fox News interview Thursday.THE FACTS: No remains of U.S. service members have been returned since last summer and the U.S. suspended efforts in May to get negotiations on the remains back on track in time to have more repatriated this year. It hopes more remains may be brought home next year.The Pentagon’s Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for recovering U.S. war remains and returning them to families, “has not received any new information from (North Korean) officials regarding the turn over or recovery of remains,” spokesman Charles Prichard said this month.He said his agency is “still working to communicate” with the North Korean army “as it is our intent to find common ground on resuming recovery missions” in 2020.Last summer, in line with the first summit between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that June, the North turned over 55 boxes of what it said were the remains of an undetermined number of U.S. service members killed in the North during the 1950-53 war. So far, six Americans have been identified from the 55 boxes.U.S. officials have said the North has suggested in recent years that it holds perhaps 200 sets of American war remains. Thousands more are unrecovered from battlefields and former POW camps.The Pentagon estimates that 5,300 Americans were lost in North Korea.MUELLERTRUMP to his critics, in a fundraising letter from his 2020 campaign: “How many times do I have to be exonerated before they stop?” — during Mueller’s testimony Wednesday.THE FACTS: Trump has not been exonerated by Mueller at all. “No,” Mueller said when asked during his Capitol Hill questioning whether he had cleared the president of criminal wrongdoing in the investigation that looked into the 2016 Trump campaign’s relations with Russians and Russia’s interference in the U.S. election.In his report, Mueller said his team declined to make a prosecutorial judgment on whether to charge Trump, partly because of a Justice Department legal opinion that said sitting presidents shouldn’t be indicted.As a result, his detailed report factually laid out instances in which Trump might have obstructed justice, leaving it up to Congress to take up the matter.As well, Mueller looked into a potential criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign and said the investigation did not collect sufficient evidence to establish criminal charges on that front.Following Mueller’s testimony, Trump abruptly took a different stance on the special counsel’s report. After months of claiming exoneration, and only hours after stating as much in the fundraising letter while the hearing unfolded, Trump incongruously flipped, saying “He didn’t have the right to exonerate.”TRUMP, on why Mueller did not recommend charges: “He made his decision based on the facts, not based on some rule.” — remarks to reporters Wednesday after the hearings.THE FACTS: Mueller did not say that.The special counsel said his team never reached a determination on charging Trump. At no point has he suggested that he made that decision because the facts themselves did not support charges.The rule Trump refers to is the Justice Department legal opinion that says sitting presidents are immune from indictment — and that guidance did restrain the investigators, though it was not the only factor in play.JOE BIDEN, Democratic presidential contender: “Mueller said there was enough evidence to bring charges against the president after he is president of the United States, when he is a private citizen … that’s a pretty compelling thing.” — speaking to reporters in Dearborn, Michigan.THE FACTS: Mueller did not say that, either. He deliberately drew no conclusions about whether he collected sufficient evidence to charge Trump with a crime.Mueller said that if prosecutors want to charge Trump once he is out of office, they would have that ability because obstacles to indicting a sitting president would be gone.Even that came with a caveat, though. Mueller did not answer whether the statute of limitations might put Trump off limits to an indictment should he win re-election.Biden spoke after being briefed on the hearings and prefaced his remark with a request to “correct me if I’m wrong.”Rep. JOHN RATCLIFFE, R-Texas, to Mueller: “You didn’t follow the special counsel regulations. It clearly says, write a confidential report about decisions reached. Nowhere in here does it say write a report about decisions that weren’t reached. You wrote 180 pages — 180 pages — about decisions that weren’t reached, about potential crimes that weren’t charged or decided. …This report was not authorized under the law to be written.” — hearing Wednesday.THE FACTS: Mueller’s report is lawful. Nothing in Justice Department regulations governing special counsels prevents Mueller from saying what he did in the report.It is true that the regulations provide for the special counsel to submit a “confidential report” to the attorney general explaining his decisions to recommend for or against a prosecution. But it was Attorney General William Barr who made the decision to make the report public, which is his right.Special counsels have wide latitude, and are not directed to avoid writing about “potential crimes that weren’t charged or decided,” as Ratcliffe put it.Mueller felt constrained from bringing charges because of the apparent restriction on indicting sitting presidents. But his report left open the possibility that Congress could use the information in an impeachment proceeding or that Trump could be charged after he leaves office.The factual investigation was conducted “in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary materials were available,” the report said.In a tweet, Neal Katyal, who drafted the Justice Department regulations, wrote: “Ratcliffe dead wrong about the Special Counsel regs. I drafted them in 1999. They absolutely don’t forbid the Mueller Report. And they recognize the need for a Report ‘both for historical purposes and to enhance accountability.’”Rep. MIKE JOHNSON, R-La., addressing Mueller: “Millions of Americans today maintain genuine concerns about your work in large part because of the infamous and widely publicized bias of your investigating team members, which we now know included 14 Democrats and zero Republicans.” — hearing Wednesday.THE FACTS: Johnson echoes a widely repeated false claim by Trump that the Mueller probe was biased because the investigators were all a bunch of “angry Democrats.” In fact, Mueller himself is a Republican.Some have given money to Democratic candidates over the years. But Mueller could not have barred them from serving on that basis because regulations prohibit the consideration of political affiliation for personnel actions involving career attorneys. Mueller reported to Barr, and before him, then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who were both Trump appointees.THE SQUADTRUMP, on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York: “She called our country and our people garbage. She said garbage. That’s worse than deplorable. Remember deplorable?” — remarks Tuesday at gathering of conservative youth.THE FACTS: Ocasio-Cortez did not label people “garbage.” She did use that term, somewhat indirectly, to describe the state of the country.Arguing for a liberal agenda at a South by Southwest event in March, she said the U.S. shouldn’t settle for centrist policies because they would produce only marginal improvement — “10% better” than the “garbage” of where the country is now.Trump has been assailing Ocasio-Cortez and three other liberal Democratic women of color in the House for more than a week, ever since he posted tweets saying they should “go back” to their countries, though all are U.S. citizens and all but one was born in the U.S.VOTING FRAUDTRUMP: “And when they’re saying all of this stuff, and then those illegals get out and vote — because they vote anyway. Don’t kid yourself, those numbers in California and numerous other states, they’re rigged. You got people voting that shouldn’t be voting. They vote many times, not just twice, not just three times. They vote — it’s like a circle. They come back, they put a new hat on. They come back, they put a new shirt. And in many cases, they don’t even do that. You know what’s going on. It’s a rigged deal.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: Trump has produced no evidence of widespread voting fraud by people in the country illegally or by any group of people.He tried, but the commission he appointed on voting fraud collapsed from infighting and from the refusal of states to cooperate when tapped for reams of personal voter data, like names, partial Social Security numbers and voting histories. Studies have found only isolated cases of voter fraud in recent U.S. elections and no evidence that election results were affected. Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt found 31 cases of impersonation fraud, for example, in about 1 billion votes cast in elections from 2000 to 2014.Trump has falsely claimed that 1 million fraudulent votes were cast in California and cited a Texas state government report that suggested 58,000 people in the country illegally may have cast a ballot at least once since 1996. But state elections officials subsequently acknowledged serious problems with the report, as tens of thousands on the list were actually U.S. citizens.ECONOMYTRUMP: “We have the best stock market numbers we’ve ever had … Blue-collar workers went up proportionately more than anybody.” — Fox News interview Thursday.THE FACTS: Wealthier Americans have largely benefited from the stock market gains, not blue-collar workers.The problem with Trump claiming the stock market has helped working-class Americans is that the richest 10% of the country controls 84% of stock market value, according to a Federal Reserve survey. Because they hold more stocks, wealthier Americans have inherently benefited more from the 19% gain in the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks so far this year. Only about half of U.S. families hold stocks, so plenty of people are getting little to no benefit from the stock market gains.What Trump may be claiming with regard to the stock market is that working Americans are disproportionately benefiting in their 401(k) retirement savings.Trump has said that 401(k) plans are up more than 50%. His data source is vague. But 401(k) balances have increased in large part due to routine contributions by workers and employers, not just stock market gains.The Employee Benefit Research Institute shows that only one group of Americans has gotten an average annual 401(k) gain in excess of 50% during Trump’s presidency. These are workers age 25 to 34 who have fewer than five years at their current employer. At that age, the gains largely came from the regular contributions instead of the stock market. And the percentage gains look large because the account levels are relatively small.TRUMP: “We have the best economy we’ve ever had.” — Fox News interview Thursday.TRUMP: “We have the best economy in history.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: No matter how often he repeats this claim, which is a lot, the economy is nowhere near the best in the country’s history.In fact, in the late 1990s, growth topped 4% for four straight years, a level it has not reached on an annual basis under Trump. Growth reached 7.2% in 1984. The economy grew 2.9% in 2018 — the same pace it reached in 2015 under Obama — and simply hasn’t hit historically high growth rates.The economy is now in its 121st month of growth, making it the longest expansion in history. Most of that took place under Obama.TRUMP: “Most people working within U.S. ever!” — tweet Thursday.TRUMP: “The most people working, almost 160 million, in the history of our country.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: Yes, but that’s only because of population growth.A more relevant measure is the proportion of Americans with jobs, and that is still far below record highs.According to Labor Department data, 60.6% of people in the United States 16 years and older were working in June. That’s below the all-time high of 64.7% in April 2000, though higher than the 59.9% when Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.TRUMP: “The best employment numbers in history.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: They are not the best ever.The 3.7% unemployment rate in the latest report is not a record low. It’s the lowest in 50 years. The rate was 3.5% in 1969 and 3.4% in 1968.The U.S. also had lower rates than now in the early 1950s. And during three years of World War II, the annual rate was under 2%.VETERANSTRUMP, on his efforts to help veterans: “I got Choice.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: He is not the president who “got” the Veterans Choice program, which gives veterans the option to see private doctors outside the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system at government expense.Obama got it. Congress approved the program in 2014, and Obama signed it into law. Trump expanded it.NATOTRUMP: “We’re paying close to 100% on NATO.” — remarks Tuesday.THE FACTS: The U.S. isn’t “paying close to 100%” of the price of protecting Europe.NATO has a shared budget to which each member makes contributions based on the size of its economy. The United States, with the biggest economy, pays the biggest share, about 22%.Four European members — Germany, France, Britain and Italy — combined pay nearly 44% of the total. The money, about $3 billion, runs NATO’s headquarters and covers certain other civilian and military costs.Defending Europe involves far more than that fund. The primary cost of doing so would come from each member country’s military budget, as the alliance operates under a mutual defense treaty.The U.S. is the largest military spender, but others in the alliance have armed forces, too. The notion that almost all costs would fall to the U.S. is false. In fact, NATO’s Article 5, calling for allies to act if one is attacked, has only been invoked once, and it was on behalf of the U.S., after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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US Marshals to Sell Seized North Korean Cargo Ship
The U.S. Marshals Service, which has custody of the North Korean-owned ship Wise Honest, is reviewing how to sell the seized vessel as ordered by a federal court that has yet to decide officially if the Otto Warmbier family will receive the sale proceeds.“The Marshals are in the process of developing a disposal plan, taking into consideration things such as age, condition, and location of the vessel,” said a spokesperson for the The North Korean cargo ship, Wise Honest, middle, was towed into the Port of Pago Pago, May 11, 2019, in Pago Pago, American Samoa.Warmbiers file claim, lawsuitOn July 3, Frederick and Cynthia Warmbier filed a claim in the SDNY against the North Korean flagged vessel. The U.S. seized the ship in May for ship-to-ship transfers of banned North Korean coal, an apparent violation of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. The claim was their attempt to obtain the North Korean government asset as a way to pay part of the $500 million judgment the federal court in the District of Columbia ordered against North Korea in December.In April 2018, the Wise Honest left the North Korean port of Nampo, carrying 26,500 metric tons of North Korean coal and transferred the coal to another ship off the coast of Indonesia. Indonesian authorities detained the Wise Honest until the U.S. Justice Department authorized a seizure in May. The ship was then hauled to Pago Pago, America Samoa where it remains docked.Also in April 2018, the Warmbiers filed a lawsuit against North Korea, FILE – American student Otto Warmbier is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 16, 2016. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor.Wrongful deathOtto Warmbier, an Ohio native, was a student at the University of Virginia. He visited North Korea on a guided tour in January 2016. North Korea accused him of attempting to steal a propaganda poster, and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016. He died shortly after returning to the U.S. in a vegetative state in June 2017.In the wrongful death suit filed by the Warmbiers, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell of Washington, D.C., ordered in December that North Korea pay them more than $500 million in punitive and compensatory damages.Because North Korea never defended itself against the lawsuit or responded to compensatory negotiations, the Warmbiers themselves must track down North Korean assets to collect money to pay the half billion-dollar award.Sale of ship authorizedLast week, Judge Kevin Castel at the federal court in SDNY authorized an interlocutory sale order in agreement with the Warmbiers and permitted the USMS to sell the ship.Usually, a court needs to issue a final order of forfeiture before the USMS can sell properties seized by the U.S. that are in its custody. A forfeiture order permits the ownership exchange of a seized property to take place.The interlocutory sale order issued last week, however, allows the USMS to sell the Wise Honest before issuance of a final order of forfeiture to reduce the cost of maintaining the ship, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in SDNY.“The proceeds of the sales are then treated as a substitute for the boat,” said the spokesperson.Sorting out the money The USMS holds the money from the sale of any seized property in a Seized Asset Deposit Fund until the court orders a final forfeiture. Once that is issued, the money can be distributed to the claimants.However, because the interlocutory sale order does not specify the Warmbiers are automatically entitled to the proceeds, the court must make an official determination as to who gets the money from the sale of the Wise Honest.The spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in SDNY said, “No determination has been made regarding … who gets the sale proceeds.”According to Joshua Stanton, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who helped draft the North Korean Sanctions Act in 2016, several steps need to be taken before the court officially decides whether the Warmbiers will get the money.“The [Washington] D.C. district is the district that entered the judgment against the government of North Korea,” Stanton said. “And the court in [the Southern District of] New York is going to have to determine that the ship is the property of the government of North Korea” to satisfy the $500 million judgment the district court in Washington ordered against North Korea. “So, it’s not a done deal.” How to sell a shipThe USMS, in the meantime, must determine the best way to sell the Wise Honest, which may be selling at auction.“Sales methods are driven by the asset type, value, and the pool of knowledgeable, willing buyers available for the specific asset type,” the spokesperson said.The service sells small personal seized items through online auctions. It sells seized cars at live auctions. USMS usually sells seized real estate properties through real estate companies.That’s how the service dealt with the seized real estate properties of Bernie Madoff, the spokesperson said. Madoff stole billions of dollars from his clients by turning his wealth management company into the world’s largest Ponzi scheme and was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009.As for the Wise Honest, “We don’t have an estimate yet for when we will sell the ship,” said the USMS spokesperson, adding it remains uncertain how the vessel will be valued and sold.The 17,061-ton cargo ship is estimated to be worth between $1.5 million and $3 million.An American Society of Appraisers certified U.S. marine appraiser who asked not to be identified by name said a $3 million price tag “sounds about right.”The appraiser said, “If the vessel Wise Honest is going to be sold at an auction or a Marshal sale, it probably would not fetch fair market value.”North Korea notifiedAccording to the court order issued last week, North Korean shipping and trading companies that used the Wise Honest were offered a chance to claim the ownership of the Wise Honest.As required by the general rules of civil forfeiture proceedings, the U.S. sent written letters of notice on May 14 to Korea Songi Shipping Company and Korea Songi General Trading Corporation, the parties that could have potential interests in claiming the ownership of the ship.The Wise Honest was used by Korea Songi Shipping Company, an affiliate of Korean Songi General Trading Corporation, in exporting coal from North Korea. Songi Trading Corporation, sanctioned by the U.S. in 2017, is operated by the Korean People’s Army.Although North Korea had 60 days to reply, it failed to respond, missed the deadline, and by default, lost the chance to claim the ship.“North Korea not only lost the $500 million lawsuit, but now it has lost the chance to claim an interest in its second largest bulk cargo carrier,” Stanton said.
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15 Killed in Jihadist Attack in Burkina Faso
Armed men described as jihadists raided a village in Burkina Faso’s restive north, killing 15 people, plundering and burning shops and motorbikes, a regional governor said Saturday.The raid took place on the night of Thursday to Friday with “around 20 individuals attacking the village of Diblou,” said a security source who put the death toll at 14.But a statement by the governor of the Centre-Nord region, Casimir Segueda, said that 15 people were killed, and the village’s market torched.A local resident said that “the terrorists burnt shops and motorcycles”.”Almost the entire market was looted,” the resident added.The poor Sahel state has been battling a rising wave of jihadist attacks over the last four years which began in the north but have since spread to the east, near the border with Togo and Benin.Most attacks in the former French colony are attributed to the jihadist group Ansarul Islam, which emerged near the Mali border in December 2016, and to the JNIM (Group to Support Islam and Muslims), which has sworn allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.Those groups are believed to be responsible for around 500 deaths since 2015. The capital Ouagadougou has been attacked three times.
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2 US Teens Jailed in Italy in Policeman’s Killing
Two American teenagers were jailed in Rome on Saturday as authorities carry out a murder investigation in the killing of an Italian police officer.A detention order issued by prosecutors was shown on Italian state broadcaster RAI, naming the suspects as Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth and Finnegan Lee Elder. The detention order didn’t give their ages, but says they were both born in San Francisco in 2000. Police earlier said they were 19.Prosecutors said in the order that Elder is the main suspect, accusing him of repeatedly stabbing Carabinieri paramilitary policeman Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, who was investigating the theft of a bag after a drug deal gone wrong in Rome. Natale Hjorth is accused of using his bare hands to strike the officer’s partner, who wasn’t seriously injured in the attack.Both suspects were also being investigated for attempted extortion. Elder’s lawyer, Francesco Codini, said his client exercised his right not to respond to questions during a detention hearing held Saturday in the Rome jail where the two teens are being kept. Natale Hjorth’s lawyer wasn’t immediately available for comment.A judge at the detention hearing hasn’t ruled if the suspects will be kept in custody beyond an initial three-day period.An Italian investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity since the probe was ongoing said that the pair had snatched the bag of a drug dealer in Rome after the man apparently gave them “a different substance” instead of cocaine.The Carabinieri said the Americans demanded a 100-euro ($112) ransom and a gram of cocaine to return the bag. The alleged dealer called police, saying he had arranged a meeting with the thieves to get his bag and cellphone back. Police says there was a scuffle at the rendezvous site and the policeman was stabbed eight times, dying shortly afterward in the hospital.The Carabinieri said video surveillance cameras and witnesses allowed them to quickly identify the two Americans and find them in a hotel near the scene of the slaying. Police said the two Americans were “ready to leave” Italy when they were found.In a search of their hotel room, the Carabinieri said they found a long knife, possibly the one used to attack Cerciello Rega. Police said the knife had been hidden behind a panel in the room’s ceiling. Police also said they found clothes the two apparently were wearing during the attack.The Carabinieri statement said the two Americans admitted responsibility after being questioned by prosecutors and faced with “hard evidence.”
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Hundreds of Protesters Arrested in Moscow, Monitoring Group Says
Updated July 27, 2019, 1:50 p.m.Russian police arrested more than 600 people Saturday as they protested in Moscow against the exclusion of opposition candidates from a local election later this year.OVD-Info, an independent political monitoring group, said 638 people, including prominent activists, were detained as police and protestors clashed around the mayor’s office. Police said earlier 295 people were arrested but did not immediately disclose a final number.Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested earlier in the week for calling for Saturday’s protest to persuade authorities to allow opposition candidates to participate in a Moscow city council election on September 8.Several other opposition leaders were arrested before Saturday’s protest, including Ilya Yashin, Dmitry Gudkov and Ivan Zhdanov.Some 3,500 people took part in Saturday’s protest, which was declared illegal beforehand. Last week 22,000 demonstrated in a similar Moscow protest.Police stormed Navalny’s video studio as it was broadcasting the protest via YouTube and arrested program leader Vladimir Milonov.Police also searched the Dozhd internet television station, which was also covering the protest, and ordered editor-in-chief Alexandra Perepelova to be questioned by authorities.Election officials have barred some opposition candidates from seeking office, allegedly for not having enough signatures on their nominating petitions.The Moscow city council, which has 45 seats, is controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of the seats are up for grabs on September 8.The protests and arrests come amid declining living standards and President Vladimir Putin’s falling approval ratings.
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Hong Kong Police Use Tear Gas to Quell Pro-democracy
Updated 10:15 a.m., July 27, 2019HONG KONG — Many demonstrators on the streets of Hong Kong protesting suspected gangs, that beat up pro-democracy demonstrators there last weekend, have begun retreating after violent clashes with police.Police in riot gear fired tear gas Saturday at protesters as they marched through a Hong Kong town near the Chinese border.The protests began to wind down Saturday evening as demonstrators started to head home, with plans to return for more demonstrations on Sunday. Before they began dispersing, protestors at several sites tried to defend themselves against police by firing pepper spray and wielding sticks and umbrellas.Images broadcast on television stations showed repeated rounds of tear gas being fired at the crowds in Yuen Long after tense standoffs with protesters, some of whom were throwing projectiles at police.Protesters vowed to take to the streets in Yuen Long despite the threat of violence by gangs and a police ban on the demonstration. Police had warned that demonstrators would be breaking the law if they marched.Protesters line up inside an MTR station in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong, July 27, 2019, before an expected protest march in the afternoon.The gangs were accused of beating and bloodying customers, journalists and a lawmaker at the Yuen Long rail station on Sunday July 21, leaving 45 people with injuries, some severe.The march’s organizer, Yuen Long resident Max Chung, said it was important for Hong Kongers to stand against what he termed a terrorist attack and against a government that has seemed more concerned with silencing democracy protesters. Residents “think police aren’t protecting them anymore,” Chung said in an interview Friday. Before, “none of us had any plan to hold protest in Yuen Long, but they started to intimidate us.” His appeal to hold the march was denied.Many young protesters spent Friday night buying safety equipment such as helmets, thick gloves and protective padding; the better to withstand police who may use batons and rubber bullets.Protesters gather in Yuen Long district in Hong Kong, July 27, 2019. Crowds of Hong Kong protesters defied a police ban and gathered in a town near the Chinese border to rally against suspected gangs who beat up pro-democracy demonstrators there.Some said they would go to Yuen Long to protect the residents or each other. Most everyone anticipated clashes with police. But they didn’t know what the plan would entail beyond marching.”For me, going inside of Yuen Long is a way of telling them we are not afraid. Terror is an important method for gangsters, for controlling society,” says Brian, a 21-year-old undergraduate who lives in a nearby town. Most young people will not disclose their full name out of concerns of retribution. “We have to show the terrorists we aren’t afraid of them.”People demonstrate outside the police station during a protest against the Yuen Long attacks in Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong, July 27, 2019.Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis since its handover to China in 1997. After millions of people marched twice in June against an extradition bill, now suspended, that would have permitted criminal suspects to be sent to China, many residents turned their ire on the police. The force has used tear gas and rubber bullets twice against protesters who did little more than defy their orders with their bodies, umbrellas and plastic bottles. Clashes have left scores injured.The Reuters news agency reported on Friday that Li Jiyi, the director of the Central Government Liaison’s local district office in Yuen Long, urged guests at a July 11 community banquet for hundreds of villagers to thwart democracy protesters. According to a recording of the event, Li appealed to those who attended to protect their towns in the Yuen Long district and to rebuff anti-government activists, the news agency said.Local news reports said Yuen Long residents stockpiled food on Friday, while some residents left Hong Kong altogether, to brace for potential clashes at protests against mob violence at the district’s subway station a week earlier. Shops and public sports facilities were expected to close early and other services such as a clinic were expected to be shuttered.
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Sudan Says 87 Killed, 168 Wounded When June 3 Protest Broken up
The head of a Sudanese investigative committee said on Saturday that 87 people were killed and 168 wounded on June 3 when a sit-in protest was violently broken up by security forces.Fath al-Rahman Saeed, the head of the committee, said 17 of those killed were in the square occupied by protesters and 48 of the wounded were hit by bullets.Saeed said some security forces fired at protesters and that three officers violated orders by moving forces into the sit-in.He also said an order was issued to whip protesters.
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Hong Kong Protesters Brace For More Violence in Yuen Long Rally
Thousands of people were expected to join an unsanctioned march in a town along the mainland Chinese border Saturday to voice their anger with a government that they feel has ignored their political demands and at what they consider the government’s slowness in addressing the brutal attacks by thugs who beat railway customers last weekend.Though it is rare for police to fully reject a request for a march or protest, security officials refused this week to sanction a protest march through Yuen Long, a congested industrial suburb where some residents have been associated with organized crime. The gangs were accused of beating and bloodying customers, journalists and a lawmaker at the Yuen Long rail station July 21 leaving 45 people with injuries, some severe.The march’s organizer, Yuen Long resident Max Chung, said it was important for Hong Kongers to stand against what he termed a terrorist attack and against a government that has seemed more concerned with silencing democracy protesters. People step and spit at a portrait of former premier of China Li Peng during a protest against the Yuen Long attacks in Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong, July 27, 2019.Yuen Long attacksAn hour before the Yuen Long event, a group of young people defaced the national emblem of China on a government building Sunday and then blocked a major tram route for hours, even after police showered the crowd with tear gas and fired rubber bullets. The standoff ended hours later.Then, in Yuen Long, about 100 men dressed in white T-shirts used rattan sticks, pipes and other implements against people leaving and trying to board trains and fleeing through a shopping mall. The next day, Hong Kong residents were enraged by a press conference when police officials admitted it took them 39 minutes to adequately respond to pleas for help. Only a dozen people, associated with triad gangs, have been arrested. Comments from the city’s embattled chief executive, Carrie Lam, did not reassure the public that the thugs would be found and stopped.Residents “think police aren’t protecting them anymore,” Chung said in an interview Friday. Before, “none of us had any plan to hold protest in Yuen Long, but they started to intimidate us.” His appeal to hold the march was denied.Protesters gather in Yuen Long district in Hong Kong, July 27, 2019. Crowds of Hong Kong protesters defied a police ban and began gathering in a town close to the Chinese border to rally against suspected triad gangs who beat up pro-democracy demonstrators there last weekend.Safety gearMany young protesters spent Friday night buying safety equipment such as helmets, thick gloves and protective padding; the better to withstand police who may use batons and rubber bullets.Some said they would go to Yuen Long to protect the residents or each other. Most everyone anticipated clashes with police. But they didn’t know what the plan would entail beyond marching.“For me, going inside of Yuen Long is a way of telling them we are not afraid. Terror is an important method for gangsters, for controlling society,” says Brian, a 21-year-old undergraduate who lives in a nearby town. Most young people will not disclose their full name out of concerns of retribution. “We have to show the terrorists we aren’t afraid of them.”Protesters line up inside an MTR station in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong on July 27, 2019, before an expected protest march in the afternoon. Crowds of Hong Kong protesters defied a police ban and began gathering in a town close to the Chinese border to rally against suspected triad gangs who beat up pro-democracy demonstrators there last weekend.Political crisisHong Kong is facing its worst political crisis since its handover to China in 1997. After millions of people marched twice in June against an extradition bill, now suspended, that would have permitted criminal suspects to be sent to China, many residents turned their ire on the police.The force has used tear gas and rubber bullets twice against protesters who did little more than defy their orders with their bodies, umbrellas and plastic bottles. Clashes have left scores injured.The Reuters news agency reported on Friday that Li Jiyi, the director of the Central Government Liaison’s local district office in Yuen Long, urged guests at a July 11 community banquet for hundreds of villagers to thwart democracy protesters. According to a recording of the event, Li appealed to those who attended to protect their towns in the Yuen Long district and to rebuff anti-government activists, the news agency said.Local news reports said Yuen Long residents stockpiled food on Friday, while some residents left Hong Kong altogether, to brace for potential clashes at protests against mob violence at the district’s subway station a week earlier. Shops and public sports facilities were expected to close early and other services such as a clinic were expected to be shuttered.
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Nightclub Deck Collapses in S. Korea as Athletes Dance; 2 People Dead
The upper deck of a nightclub collapsed on top of revelers in South Korea on Saturday, killing two people and injuring several foreign athletes competing at the World Aquatics Championships, rescue officials and witnesses said.The floor gave way in the Coyote Ugly nightclub in the city of Gwangju about 2:30 a.m. (1730 GMT Friday), pinning people underneath and injuring at least 10, rescue officials said. The two people killed were South Korean.New Zealand men’s water polo team captain Matt Small said he was on the second-floor deck when it collapsed.“We were just dancing and then the next minute we dropped,” he told New Zealand’s Radio Sport. “We … fell on top of the heads of other people that were beneath us. … Some of them were pretty dire cases,” he said of the injured.Kim Young-don, chief of the Gwangju Seobu Fire Station, told a briefing there were about 370 people in the club at the time.“We deem that the second level … seems to have collapsed because there were too many people on it,” he said. “The second level is a small space, it’s not a space where a lot of people can be.”The collapsed structure of a nightclub where several athletes competing at the World Aquatics Championships were dancing is pictured in Gwangju, South Korea, July 27, 2019.World Aquatics ChampionshipsGwangju, about 330 km (205 miles) south of the capital Seoul, has been hosting the championships, which feature swimming, water polo and diving, over the past fortnight. The meet finishes Sunday.Organizers said eight foreign athletes were injured, with seven sustaining minor injuries and one remaining in hospital for treatment of a leg laceration.Three of the injured athletes were from the United States, two from New Zealand and one each from Italy, the Netherlands and Brazil, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.All but the Brazilian were water polo players, it said.A Gwangju police officer told Reuters two co-owners and two workers at the nightclub were being questioned about possible illegal expansion and renovation at the nightclub, and the legality of its licensing.The collapsed structure of a nightclub where several athletes competing at the World Aquatics Championships were dancing is pictured in Gwangju, South Korea, July 27, 2019.‘It was quite scary’Australian, New Zealand and U.S. water polo officials confirmed team members were present when the incident occurred.The women’s water polo tournament wrapped up Friday with the United States beating Spain in the final and Australia beating Hungary in the bronze medal match.Christopher Ramsey, CEO of USA Water Polo (USAWP), said it was an awful tragedy.“Players from our men’s and women’s teams were celebrating the women’s world championship victory when the collapse occurred,” Ramsey said. “Our hearts go out to the victims of the crash and their families.”USAWP said women’s team member Kaleigh Gilchrist suffered a leg laceration and underwent surgery at a Gwangju hospital, while Paige Hauschild and Johnny Hooper needed stitches. Ben Hallock suffered minor scrapes.Water Polo Australia said some of its players were in the club but were not hurt. Women’s team captain Rowie Webster said she was one of those who fell from the second floor.“It was quite scary,” she said.Public safetyPublic safety has been a hot button issue in South Korea after the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry, which killed 304 people, most of them school children.The administration of President Moon Jae-in has made the establishment of a national system for accident prevention and disaster management a priority. But there have been several major incidents since Moon came to power.In December 2017, 29 people were killed and 40 were injured in a fire at a fitness center in Jecheon city. A month later, 45 people died and 147 were injured in a fire in a hospital in Miryang.
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Modern Castle Built by Medieval Methods May Help Reconstruct Notre Dam
After a blaze engulfed Notre-Dame in April, it sparked a debate over how best to restore the Gothic cathedral to its former glory. Tucked away in the French countryside, a medieval castle may hold some of the answers. Faith Lapidus explains.
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Trump Stirs Death Penalty Debate in U.S
In response to President Donald Trump’s call for tougher penalties on violent crimes, the U.S. Justice Department this week lifted a federal moratorium on the death penalty. VOA’s Brian Padden reports this controversial decision has been denounced by opponents as immoral and inhumane, but advocates say imposing the ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime is the right thing to do, and is supported by a majority of Americans.
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Belarus Woman Dies in Alaska Trying to Reach Famed Bus
A newlywed woman from Belarus who was swept away by a river in Alaska was trying to reach an abandoned bus made famous by the book and film “Into the Wild.”Veramika Maikamava, 24, and her husband, Piotr Markielau, also 24, Thursday were heading for the bus where hiker Christopher McCandless met his death in 1992, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.The bus has been the source of multiple rescues since it was made famous, first by Jon Krakauer’s book published in 1996 and then by Sean Penn’s 2007 film. Both chronicled the life and death of McCandless, who hiked into the Alaska wilderness with little food and equipment and spent the summer living in the bus. McCandless was found dead in the bus almost four months later.Markielau called troopers in Fairbanks late Thursday to report his wife’s death during a hike, Alaska State Troopers said.The couple was trying to cross the Teklanika River along the Stampede Trail near Healy when the woman was swept under water, the troopers said. The river was flowing high and fast because of recent rains.Markielau reported he was able to pull his wife out of the water a short distance away downriver, but she had died by then, the troopers said.The body has been recovered.
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Trump Calls on WTO to Drop ‘Developing’ Nation Status for China
U.S. President Donald Trump is pressing the World Trade Organization to stop designating China and other countries as “developing” nations, a label that allows them to receive lenient treatment under global trade rules.
In a memo Friday, Trump directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to “use all available means” to get the WTO to stop describing countries as “developing” if their economies are strong.
He said the WTO uses “an outdated dichotomy between developed and developing countries that has allowed some WTO members to gain unfair advantages.”
Trump said that if the United States decides the WTO has not made “substantial progress” after 90 days, it will unilaterally stop treating those nations as developing countries.
The statement notes that seven of the 10 wealthiest economies in the world, including China, claim developing country status with the WTO. The status allows governments the ability to protect some domestic industries and maintain subsidies, as well as to receive longer time limits to implement trade commitments.
In a tweet Friday, Trump said the “WTO is BROKEN when the world’s RICHEST countries claim to be developing countries to avoid WTO rules and get special treatment. NO more!!! Today I directed the U.S. Trade Representative to take action so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!” Retaliation against France
In another trade development Friday, Trump vowed to retaliate against France for imposing a tax against U.S. tech giants, hinting that the United States could adopt tariffs on French wine.
“France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies,” Trump tweeted, referring to France’s announcement that it would tax tech giants, including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.
“If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly,” Trump tweeted, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron.
“I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!” he added.
The French tax targets companies that use consumer data to sell online advertising. Britain has announced plans for a similar tax.
Deputy White House spokesman Judd Deere said Friday that Washington was “extremely disappointed by France’s decision to adopt a digital services tax at the expense of U.S. companies and workers.”
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At Least 8 Dead, 60 Hurt as Quakes Shake Northern Philippine Isles
Updated at 11:23 p.m. July 26, 2019MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Three strong earthquakes hours apart struck a group of sparsely populated islands in the Luzon Strait in the northern Philippines early Saturday, killing at least eight people, injuring about 60 and causing substantial damage. The quakes collapsed houses built of stone and wood, arousing residents from sleep, said Roldan Esdicul, who heads the Batanes provincial disaster-response office. “Our bed and everything were swaying from side to side like a hammock,” Esdicul told The Associated Press by cellphone from Basco town, the provincial capital. “We all ran out to safety.”More than 1,000 residents of hard-hit Itbayat island — nearly half of the island’s population of mostly fishermen — were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, he said. “The wounded are still being brought in,” Itbayat Mayor Raul de Sagon told a local radio station. He said more doctors may be needed if the number of injured from interior villages rises.A resident looks at damages in Itbayat town, Batanes islands, northern Philippines, July 27, 2019. Three strong earthquakes hours apart struck a group of sparsely populated islands in the Luzon Strait in the northern Philippines early Saturday.The Philippine seismology agency said the quakes measured 5.4 and 5.9. A third quake magnitude 5.7 struck later Saturday. Esdicul said he was already in his office with the provincial governor when the second and more powerful quake struck about three hours after the first shock. “We have to hold on because you can’t stand or walk. It was that strong,” he said. The initial quake severely cracked the bell tower of the island’s old limestone church, the 19th-century Santa Maria de Mayan, a popular tourist attraction. The tower collapsed when the second temblor hit the island, he said.An Itbayat hospital was damaged but remained open. An air force helicopter and a plane were en route to Batanes to help ferry and provide aid to victims.Itbayat, part of the Batanes Islands, has a population of about 2,800 people and lies in the Luzon Strait that separates the Philippines and Taiwan. The islands are famous for their stone-built houses, coral walls and cogon grass roofs.
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Szijjártó: ‘We Hungarians Have Proven’ Migration Can Be Stopped
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó says his country has shown that migration can be stopped on the western Balkan route.
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Szijjártó Notes Hungary’s ‘Clear Policy’ on Nation’s Preservation
“We have a very clear policy,” says Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. “We want to preserve Hungary as a Hungarian country. … It’s a sovereign right of Hungary to decide whom we would like to allow to enter the territory of the country.”
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US, Guatemala Sign Deal to Restrict Central American Asylum-Seekers
President Donald Trump says Guatemala has signed a deal with the U.S. that would restrict Central Americans from seeking asylum in the United States.Trump said Friday the agreement requires migrants who cross into Guatemala on their way to the United States to apply for asylum protections in Guatemala instead of at the U.S. border.”This is a very big day,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday after the two countries spent months negotiating such an agreement. “This landmark agreement will put the coyotes and smugglers out of business,” Trump said. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office, July 26, 2019, after announcing that Guatemala is signing an agreement to restrict asylum applications to the United States.The president had threatened earlier this week to impose tariffs on Guatemala if it didn’t reach an immigration deal with the United States.Under the terms of the agreement, migrants fleeing persecution in El Salvador and Honduras would be required to seek asylum in Guatemala, a gateway to Mexico and the United States. Those who do not apply for asylum in Guatemala and instead continue north would be sent back to Guatemala by U.S. immigration authorities.U.S. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan told reporters Friday that allowing asylum-seekers to make an asylum claim “at the earliest possible point” would prevent people from making a journey to the U.S. border at the hands of smugglers. He noted that only 10%-15% of migrants who file an asylum claim at the U.S. border are found by a U.S. judge to have a credible claim. McAleenan said the agreement will increase the integrity of the U.S. asylum process, keep smugglers out of the process, and help those who have legitimate asylum claims to file them sooner.It is not clear how Guatemala’s courts will respond to the deal, which is known as a “safe third country” agreement. The country’s Constitutional Court has ruled that such a deal cannot be signed without approval of the country’s Congress, which is on a summer recess.Trump referred to the deal Friday as a “safe third country” agreement, but a statement by the Guatemalan government did not use that term, instead calling it a “Cooperation Agreement for the Assessment of Protection Requests.”Trump praised Guatemala’s government on Friday, saying it now has “a friend in the United States, instead of an enemy in the United States.”Friday’s deal was signed in the Oval Office by McAleenan and Guatemala’s interior minister, Enrique Degenhart.Migrants from Honduras wait outside the Migrant’s House shelter in Guatemala City, July 26, 2019.McAleenan said the new asylum process should “be up and running by August.”In a statement earlier this month, Attorney General William Barr noted “the large number of meritless asylum claims places an extraordinary strain on the nation’s immigration system, undermines many of the humanitarian purposes of asylum, has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis of human smuggling.”.Amnesty International, however, condemned Friday’s agreement, saying “any attempts to force families and individuals fleeing their home countries to seek safety in Guatemala are outrageous.”In a statement, the group said, “The United States government knows well that conditions there are dangerous,” adding that “there is no doubt that Guatemala should not be considered a safe place of refuge.”
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More US Marines in Custody in Human Smuggling Investigation
The number of U.S. military personnel taken into custody in connection with an alleged human smuggling operation in southern California is growing.A spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) said Friday investigators apprehended a total of 18 Marines and one sailor as a result of a mass arrest at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base located roughly 79 kilometers (49 miles) north of San Diego.Arrests made during formationNCIS and Marine officials initially announced the apprehension of 16 Marines with the Fifth Marine Regiment during Thursday’s mass arrest, which took place after the Marines were called to a battalion formation.The initial statement from the Marine Corps said another eight Marines had been taken in for questioning on unrelated drug allegations.”The 1st Marine Division is cooperating,” NCIS spokesman Jeffrey Houston said in a statement Friday, in which the additional apprehensions were announced.”Out of respect for the investigative and judicial process, and to protect witnesses, NCIS will not comment further until the investigative and judicial process has completed,” he added.No charges filedNone of the Marines apprehended in what was described by some officials as a sting operation have yet been charged, nor have officials indicated if or when charges might be filed.In a separate statement Friday, the Marine Corps’ 1st Division said it would not release additional information until charges are formally announced. It also said the Fifth Regiment’s commanding officer “will act within his authority to hold the Marines accountable at the appropriate level, should they be charged.”Thursday’s actions were the result of information uncovered by U.S. border patrol agents while trying to track illegal immigrants earlier this month.According to court documents, Marine Lance Corporal Byron Law II and Marine Lance Corporal David Salazar-Quintero were arrested on July 3 after agents found them picking up three illegal aliens along a stretch of Interstate 8, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) north of the U.S. border with Mexico. In contact with a recruiter The complaint said the two Marines admitted to having been in contact with a recruiter, who offered to pay them for transporting the illegal immigrants from the interstate to other locations.Law told authorities he and Salazar-Quintero were never paid for the interaction, according to the complaint.Marine and NCIS officials said Friday the investigation into the alleged human smuggling is ongoing.A spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency is also assisting with the investigation.According to the Marine Corps, none of the Marines detained as part of the investigation were assigned to the U.S. military operation to support efforts to secure the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
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Zimbabwe Tourism Minister Charged with Corruption Worth $95 Million
Zimbabwean Tourism Minister Prisca Mupfumira was charged in court on Friday with corruption involving $95 million from the state pension fund after questioning by the newly formed Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).Mupfumira is the first senior government official to be interrogated by the commission, which was appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week after he promised tough action against graft.The prosecution laid out charges ranging from alleged abuse of state pension fund money to finance Mupfumira’s political campaigning to directing investments of up to $62 million into a bank against the advice of the pension fund’s risk committee.Property deals?Mupfumira is also accused of leaning on the pension fund to enter into property deals with the same bank worth $15.7 million.The charges arose from Mupfumira’s tenure as labor minister between 2014 and 2018, when she oversaw the state pension fund.”While some amounts have been identified, where they went to, there are other amounts which the police and officers at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission have failed to find. She has managed to hide that money very well,” prosecutor Michael Reza said in court.Costly corruptionTransparency International says Zimbabwe loses $1 billion to corruption every year.Zimbabwe’s state pension fund, which has assets exceeding $1 billion, has often been targeted for looting by politicians and public officials, none of whom have been prosecuted until now.The auditor general completed a forensic audit into the state pension fund in March. Opposition parliamentarians, who believe the report details extensive fraud, have been pushing for it to be released, but Labor Minister Sekai Nzenza says she is under no obligation to do so.200 cases under reviewThe new anti-graft body has, however, said the audit report forms the basis of one of 200 corruption cases it is currently pursuing.Mupfumira will remain in custody, until a magistrate rules on Saturday on the prosecutors’ request to keep her in custody for 21 days while further investigations are carried out.Elton Mangoma, an opposition official who was energy minister in 2011 under a power-sharing government, was the last sitting minister to be arrested, on graft charges relating to a fuel supply contract. He was later acquitted.
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Critics in Nigeria Troubled by Low Number of Women in Buhari’s Cabinet List
Concerns have been raised about the number of women whom Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has recommended for Cabinet posts. Senators on Friday were continuing their review of Buhari’s selections for a second day. Forty-three people were under consideration, but just seven, or 16 percent, were women. That’s a concern for women’s advocates like Justina Toochukwu. “The problem is not really women not participating, it is the support,” she said. “When you indicate your interest in a particular office, how is it carried, how is it responded to? There’s no support for these offices, so it’s quite discouraging. It’s not like women don’t want to participate, but we’re continuously downplayed.” In the last decade, Nigeria has seen a greater involvement of women in education, business and the social sector. But women hold just 7 percent of elected positions, even though they make up nearly 50 percent of the electorate. The 7 percent figure is one of the lowest in the world. ‘Incremental’ progressGarba Abari, director general of Nigeria’s national orientation agency, said progress was being made. “It used to be 4, it was 6, now we have 7” percent, she said. “Perhaps the next Cabinet will be 10 or perhaps we may even get to the 30 percent affirmative action requirement, but we’re seeing some incremental progress.”
The percentage of women serving in government during Buhari’s first four-year term, which began in 2015, was higher, about 17 percent. The president was re-elected in February, and during his campaign he promised to improve the representation of women in his Cabinet. Political observers such as Rotimi Olawale, founder of Youth Hub Africa, say the president has yet to keep that promise.
“The president is coming more from a politics angle than a policy angle and it’s evident the way that this list has come up,” he said. “You have nine former governors, two former deputy governors, a whole lot of former ministers.” But he said there could be a solution. “I think that women need to also negotiate more and to find ways by which they can sit at decision-making tables,” Olawale said. “And if such tables don’t exist, they have to create their own tables and invite men to sit at them. I’m hoping that in the nearest future, we’ll have a woman president.”
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South Sudan Official Calls Tax Exemptions Too Costly
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN – South Sudan’s National Revenue Authority says the government is losing vast sums of money each month because of excessive tax exemptions.
Olympio Attipoe, commissioner-general of South Sudan’s National Revenue Authority, said unidentified individuals had threatened to have him fired after he revoked the tax exemptions of big companies — exemptions that had been pushed by high-ranking government officials.
“These are people who are trusted by his excellency, the president, to support his vision,” Attipoe told South Sudan in Focus. “They are not doing their work. They are busy running around. We have been here, the threat is going on. They don’t want the system to work because they are benefiting from the chaos.” Attipoe said the revenue authority was collecting far less revenue than it should. “At times we collect 1.5 billion [South Sudanese pounds] and we grant exemptions of 3 billion. At times what we are losing to tax exemption is more than 200% of what we are collecting,” he said. Attipoe said some exemptions are granted to allow nongovernmental organizations and U.N. agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to citizens, but many others are granted to companies and individuals hired by the government.
A June 14th letter seen by South Sudan in Focus — written by Mayiik Ayii Deng, a minister in the office of the president, and addressed to Finance Minister Salvatore Garang — requests that the National Revenue Authority exempt the RAK Resources Group from paying taxes. The company is described as an indigenous construction company.
The letter states the company planned to import factory service equipment, medical items, fuel, agricultural and petroleum products, construction materials and food worth more than $491 million U.S.
The letter states, “In reference to the government’s policy on promotion of local enterprise, and the president’s commitment to provide enablers to revive the economy, I am requesting your esteemed office to grant tax exemption on the above mentioned imports.”
Garang Majak Bok, first undersecretary in the Finance Ministry, wrote a letter approving that request. Doing ‘the right thing’
Attipoe revoked the exemption after learning from social media and other sources that the RAK tax exemption request had come from Deng.
“The letter was written by somebody in the office of the president to the minister [of finance]. The relevant issue for people to know is that as an institution we are autonomous and we are determined to do the right thing. It is not a matter of who is involved,” Attipoe told VOA.
The South Sudan tax commissioner declined to say how many exemptions he had revoked so far, but said he’d also revoked an exemption for the ABMC Thai Construction Co.Juba-based economist and University of Juba lecturer Ahmed Morgan said granting exemptions to big companies like RAK Resources Group negatively affects the country’s development.
“If every business begins to apply for exemptions — and I know some companies are worth millions of U.S. dollars — if custom duties are 25 percent of that value, you see how much money is lost,” Morgan told South Sudan in Focus.
Morgan also said granting tax exemptions to huge firms can create monopolies in the marketplace, making it impossible for other firms to compete.
He said all exemptions should be granted in a transparent manner.
“They are not done transparently. Items to be exempted should be known — which companies are to benefit from exemptions and why — but if things are done in the dark, it is very difficult. Government has to come with accountability measures,” Morgan said.
Several attempts to reach Deng for comment were unsuccessful. He was traveling in the United States.
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