TEJEDA, SPAIN – A wildfire in the Canary Islands led to the evacuation of a small town in Gran Canaria island on Saturday, and officials said the blaze had a “great potential” to spread. The wildfire started in the town of Valleseco, and an emergency area was also declared for the municipalities of Moya and Tejeda. In the latter, most parts of the town of 1,900 inhabitants were evacuated for precautionary reasons and roads were closed, the regional government said. Seven helicopters, as well as firefighters on the ground, were battling the blaze. Tejeda had been evacuated last week when another wildfire affected the area.
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Month: August 2019
UN Condemns Government Crackdown on Peaceful Protests in Zimbabwe
The U.N. human rights office is condemning a crackdown Friday in Zimbabwe by riot police on peaceful protesters in the capital, Harare. The agency is calling for an investigation into excessive use of force by security forces.U.N. Human Rights spokesman Rupert Colville says there are better ways to deal with the population’s legitimate grievances on the economic situation in the country than by cracking down on peaceful protestors.“We are deeply concerned by the socio-economic crisis that continues to unfold in Zimbabwe. While acknowledging efforts made by the government, the international community and the U.N. in Zimbabwe to mitigate the effects of the crisis and reform process, the dire economic situation is now impacting negatively on the realization of economic and social rights of millions of Zimbabweans,” Colville said.Zimbabwe’s citizens are struggling with hyperinflation, which has sent prices soaring for essential commodities such as fuel, food, transportation and health care. Compounding the problems is the ongoing impact of cyclone Idai that hit Zimbabwe in March and a severe drought.The United Nations says one third of Zimbabwe’s population of 16 million people is in need of humanitarian aid. The fallout in terms of casualties and possible arrests from Friday’s protests is not yet clear. But Colville tells VOA his office has received disturbing reports of human rights violations over the past few months.“There are, as I said, reports coming through right now of very recent abductions, beatings and so on of activists or human rights defenders. We have not had a chance to verify those and look in detail apart from the two that occurred a few days ago,” Colville said. “So, it is clearly a very tense situation.”Colville says state authorities have a duty to ensure people’s rights to freedom of expression and to protect the right to peaceful assembly. The U.N. human rights office is urging the government to engage in a national dialogue to ensure that civil society in all its guises can carry out its activities without fear of intimidation or reprisals for its work.
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Iranian Tanker to Leave Gibraltar Soon Despite US Pressure
The shipping agent for an Iranian supertanker caught in a diplomatic standoff says the vessel is ready to depart Gibraltar on Sunday or Monday, as the U.S. made a last-minute effort to seize it again.The head of the company sorting paperwork and procuring for the Grace 1 oil tanker in the British overseas territory said the vessel could be sailing away in the next “24 to 48 hours,” once new crews dispatched to the territory take over command of the ship.“The vessel is ongoing some logistical changes and requirements that have delayed the departure,” Astralship managing director Richard De la Rosa told The Associated Press.De la Rosa’s comments came a day after the U.S. obtained a warrant to seize the vessel over violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. It was unclear if that could happen within a 24-hour time frame as Gibraltar officials have said any request to seize the vessel would have to make its way through the territory’s courts.He said the new crews were Indian and Ukrainian nationals hired by the Indian managers of the ship and that his company had not been informed about the supertanker’s next destination.The tanker, which carries 2.1 million barrels of Iranian light crude oil, had been detained for over a month in Gibraltar for allegedly attempting to breach European Union sanctions on Syria. The arrest fueled tension between London and Tehran, which seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in apparent retaliation.Analysts had said the release of the Grace 1 by Gibraltar could see Britain’s Stena Impero go free.But late on Friday, a day after the tanker was released from detention, the U.S. obtained a warrant to seize the vessel over violations of U.S. sanctions, money laundering and terrorism statutes. Washington is seeking to take control of the oil tanker, all of the petroleum aboard and $995,000, unsealed court documents showed.The latest turn of events come as tensions continue to rise in the Persian Gulf since President Donald Trump last year unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal signed by Iran and other world powers. In recent weeks, oil tankers in the region have been the subject of attacks and seizures, dragging among others London and Tehran into a bitter diplomatic row.The Gibraltar Supreme Court didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the U.S. request had been filed there. Britain’s Foreign Office deferred questions to the government of Gibraltar, but calls and emails to its offices on how authorities planned to respond to Washington’s move went unanswered.Messages left with the U.S. Embassy in London were not immediately returned.The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, had warned the U.S. that a new legal case would need to be examined by the territory’s courts following the end of the tanker’s detention this week. Picardo said he had been assured in writing by the Iranian government that the tanker wouldn’t unload its cargo in Syria.Richard Wilkinson, a lawyer representing three crew members of the Grace 1 oil tanker, including its Indian captain, said he was “not aware of any reason why the ship won’t sail on Sunday, as it is to be planned.”“As far as Europe is concerned, and it’s common ground, there’s been no criticism or complaints that this vessel is carrying oil from Iran, the only problem from the European point of view was the destination of the vessel and that has been sorted,” Wilkinson said.He also said that he doubted that the U.S. had any jurisdiction to enforce its own sanctions in Gibraltar, where he saw “little political will” to re-seize the tanker.The time window for a new seizure was also rapidly closing, as workers were seen by an AP crew hanging on a ladder to repaint the vessel’s bow with the name “Adrian Darya 1” over the place where “Grace 1″ had already been blackened out.The ship was reportedly no longer sailing under a Panamanian flag, but no signs of a new one could be seen on Saturday.The shipping agent, De la Rosa, said that “if the Americans came forth with some kind of request or specific order, it would have to be looked into by the judges, but I don’t think that’s materialized.”Sanam Vakil, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, said the Iran policies of the U.K. and the U.S. governments overlapped in some aspects but differed on the 2015 nuclear deal, which London wants to maintain despite the Trump administration’s efforts to scrap it.The British, Vakil said, “think it’s de-escalation that’s going to result in the release of the Stena Impero and preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” as the nuclear deal is officially known.“The Americans are trying to provoke Iran,” she added. “If they do manage to seize the ship, it’s all about provoking the Islamic Republic. They’re trying to create a new cycle of tensions.”
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Sanders, Warren Among 2020 Candidates to Address Native Americans
For the first time in more than a decade, Native Americans have the opportunity to question presidential candidates on issues of importance to Indian Country.“This is our chance to tell candidates that they can earn our votes,” said organizer O.J. Semans, co-executive director of the national Native American voting rights organization FILE – O.J. Semans, of Rosebud, S.D., executive director of the voting advocacy group Four Directions, At a South Dakota Election Board hearing, July 31, 2013.Nine presidential hopefuls, Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development Julian Castro, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Montana Gov., Democrat Steve Bullock, Navajo pastor Mark Charles and author Marianne Williamson say they will participate in the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum.The two-day event opens Monday in Sioux City, Iowa. Organizers say invitations were extended to candidates from all major political parties, although so far only these nine candidates hoping to unseat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election have confirmed their attendance. The organizers also say talks are continuing with several other campaigns.Mark Trahant, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and editor of Four Directions co-founder O.J. Semans, right, and Marcella LeBeau, whose ancestor died at Wounded Knee, June 25, 2019,Of the hundreds of issues of importance to Native American voters, panelists will focus on two in particular, said Semans:The Earth Feather Sovereign, left, of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, playing drums and signing in the Capitol Rotunda after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law, Wednesday, April 24, 2019, in Olympia, Wash.“Actually, underfunding is the fundamental to all these issues,” said Semans. “We wouldn’t have to be discussing funding for our transportation or infrastructure, we wouldn’t have to have discussions on housing and health care and law enforcement if the federal government fully honored the treaties.”In a related development, Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Friday she will work with New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna) on legislative proposals addressing chronic federal underfunding of tribes, as well as barriers to tribal sovereignty.The federal government has a responsibility to write a new chapter in the story of its government-to-government relationship with tribal nations. Read my and @SenWarren’s OP-ED in @IndianCountry: https://t.co/6dmxGrzswm— Rep. Deb Haaland (@RepDebHaaland) August 16, 2019The last time Native Americans had a chance to speak directly to presidential candidates was in August 2007 at the “Prez on the Rez” forum on the Morongo Reservation in California. Only three candidates, all Democrats for the 2008 race, participated. Then-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel took part.This week’s forum is named for civil rights leader Frank LaMere, a citizen of the Winnebago tribe in Nebraska. He died in June.Co-sponsors include the Native Organizers Alliance, the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund.
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Italy’s Salvini Agrees to Disembark Minors on Migrant Ship
Italy’s hard-line interior minister appeared to buckle under pressure Saturday to ease the political standoff over a migrant rescue ship with 134 people aboard, saying he would allow minors to disembark after being at sea for two weeks.Premier Giuseppe Conte had written a second letter to Interior Minister Matteo Salvini demanding that minors be allowed off the boat. Salvini wrote back Saturday with a three-page missive of his own saying he would do so but made clear it was Conte’s choice and that it didn’t set a precedent.It wasn’t clear how many youngsters were aboard, or when the disembarkation might begin.The standoff laid bare the split between Salvini’s anti-migrant League and the 5-Star Movement, which together govern Italy. Salvini is seeking to end Conte’s populist coalition with a no-confidence vote and early election that Salvini hopes will give him the premiership.Spanish aid group Open Arms had rescued the migrants in the Mediterranean near Libya two weeks ago, and won a legal battle to enter Italy’s territorial waters despite a ban by Salvini preventing humanitarian aid groups from docking.The ship has been off Italy’s coast waiting to disembark after Spain and five other European Union nations agreed to take them in.Open Arms chief Oscar Camps warned Saturday that the group couldn’t guarantee the safety of the migrants anymore, as tensions were rising and fights breaking out.He warned European leaders that as of Saturday “we cannot be responsible nor guarantee the security of the people on board Open Arms.”Amid the standoff, the aid group filed a formal complaint with prosecutors in Sicily alleging that both the migrants and the crew were being held hostage. Salvini and other ministers have been investigated in the past for alleged kidnapping stemming from previous standoffs, but no charges have ever been brought.
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US City Braces for Conflicting Demonstrations
Updated Aug. 17, 2019, 12:40p.m.Conflicting demonstrations were expected to draw hundreds of protesters Saturday to the city of Portland, Oregon, where police were positioning in the downtown area to keep the peace.Far-right protesters are expected to march in the same part of town where local anti-fascist groups intend to conduct a counter-demonstration.Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined leaders of the city’s religious, and business to warn those “who plan on using Portland on August 17th as a platform to spread your hate. Those groups are not welcome here.” communityFILE – Joey Gibson, left, founder of the Patriot Prayer group, argues with a bystander at right as Gibson’s group marched following a rally supporting gun rights, Aug. 18, 2018, at City Hall in Seattle.Friday police arrested Joey Gibson, the leader of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer’s, prompting him to urge his followers on social media to “show up ten-fold, one hundred-fold” for Saturday’s protests.Gibson, who was not involved in organizing this weekend’s event but has planned similar rallies in the past, surrendered Friday on an outstanding warrant for a fight that broke out in May between his right-wing supporters and left-wing adversaries.Mayor Wheeler said all of Portland’s nearly 1,000 police officers will be on duty Saturday and will be helped by the Oregon State Police, other local police forces and the FBI.The rally was organized by a member of the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Expected to join them are the American Guard, Three Percenters, Oathkeepers and Daily Stormers.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Guard is a “white nationalist group,” Three Percenters and Oathkeepers are “extremist,” anti-government militias and the Daily Stormers are “neo-Nazis.”Countering the right-wingers is Portland’s Rose City Antifa, a local anti-fascist group that has called on its members to take to the streets in an opposing rally.U.S. President Donald Trump indicated before events in Portland he could take action on antifa. In a tweet Saturday the president said, “Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.” Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!”Antifa has grown more visible recently and experts say the groups are not centrally organized, and their members may espouse a number of different causes, from politics to race relations to gay rights. But the principle that binds them — along with an unofficial uniform of black clothing and face masks — is the willingness to use violence to fight white supremacists, which has opened them to criticism from both left and right.At a June rally in Portland, masked antifa members beat up a conservative blogger named Andy Ngo. Video of the 30-second attack grabbed national attention.
The city’s leadership and residents are on edge ahead of the rallies. Many summer staples like music festivals and recreational events have been cancelled. A 5K race has changed its course to avoid possible violence and most businesses in the area plan to close.
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Rally, Pickets Call for Fair Moscow Elections
About 4,000 people have held a rally in Moscow to demand fairness in upcoming city council elections, and solo pickets protesting the exclusion of some opposition and independent candidates are taking place at prominent monuments.The actions Saturday have been much smaller and less heated than recent weekend protests over the issue. Two unauthorized demonstrations were previously harshly broken up by police, with more than 2,000 people detained altogether; a sanctioned demonstration last week attracted as many as 60,000 people, the largest protest in several years.
The authorized rally on Saturday was organized by the Communist Party. The solo pickets are following a law that demonstrations by a single person do not require official permission.
No detentions have been reported.
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Sudanese Military, Protest Leader Sign Transition Deal
Updated Aug. 17, 2019, 8:14a.m.Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and protest leaders have signed a historic power-sharing agreement in the capital, Khartoum.The pact opens the way for the two factions to form a joint military and civilian council that will lead Sudan for three years until elections are held for a civilian-led government.The transition deal follows months of demonstrations that erupted in December over the high price of fuel, and eventually evolved into demands for authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir to step down.The military forcibly removed Bashir from power in April, but the demonstrators continued with protests, calling for democracy after 30 years of Bashir’s rule.The transitional council and the opposition leaders agreed to form the transitional government in July after three months of violent protests that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators.Under the agreement that was formalized Saturday a prime minister is to be named Tuesday (Aug. 20) and eight days later, the cabinet ministers are to be revealed. The military will remain in charge of the country for more than a year before the civilians take over.”I am 72 and for 30 years under Bashir, I had nothing to feel good about,” Ali Issa Abdel Momen told the French news agency AFP. “Now, thanks to God, I am starting to breathe.”Bashir has been on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court since 2009, on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
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Hong Kong’s Divide: Protests for Democracy, Rally for China
Updated Aug. 17, 2019, 10:50a.m.HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters marched on one side of Hong Kong’s famous harbor on Saturday to demand the government heed their demands. Across the water, a pro-government rally called for an end to the often violent protests.The dueling demonstrations highlighted the political divide in the semiautonomous Chinese territory, which for 10 weeks has been rocked by protests that show no signs of relenting.“The government right now doesn’t listen to the people, and the police are too violent,” said Bobby Tse, a 76-year-old retiree who watched the pro-democracy march from a bridge. “It didn’t used to be like this. We didn’t have to protest every week. But now even though we have protests every week, the government still gives no response.”At the pro-government rally, speakers on a stage said they love both Hong Kong and China and asked the protesters why they are afraid of China. Supporters gave a thumbs-up to police officers and posed for photos with them. Leo Chen, a 47-year-old driver, said he came out because he wants peace in his city of 7.4 million people.“Before, everyone in Hong Kong helped each other, it was very harmonious,” he said. “Now to see it become like this, I’m not happy, so I’ve come out to show a little strength.”People take part in the “Reclaim Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan, Restore Tranquility to Our Homeland” demonstration against the extradition bill in To Kwa Wan neighborhood, Hong Kong, Aug. 17, 2019.Earlier Saturday, thousands of schoolteachers marched to the official residence of Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, to show support for the protesters, who have taken to the streets since early June and include many students.Carrying signs that read “Protect the next generation” and umbrellas to ward off intermittent downpours, the teachers tied white ribbons to a metal fence near Government House. They said the government should answer the protesters’ demands and stop using what they called police violence to disperse demonstrators who have taken over streets and besieged and defaced government buildings.“We want to protect our students, our youngsters, so teachers are willing to come out and speak for the youngsters, and also, to stand by them so they are not alone,” said Fung Wai-wah, president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, which organized the march.The movement’s demands include Lam’s resignation, democratic elections and an independent investigation into police use of force. A rally in Victoria Park has been called for Sunday by a pro-democracy group that has organized three massive marches through central Hong Kong since June.“Even though we’re all scared of getting arrested, we have to keep going,” said Minnie Lee, a 31-year-old logistics worker who joined the pro-democracy march. “What we are fighting for is democracy and our rights. We’re not doing anything wrong. If we stop now, things will only get worse.”Tensions rose briefly after the march, with riot police deployed to chase down a group of pro-democracy protesters they said were assembling illegally outside their station, shining laser pointers and throwing eggs.Chinese paramilitary vehicles are parked at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen near the border with Hong Kong, Aug. 17, 2019.Officers formed a line on a nearby street, thumping their batons on their shields before charging.But by that time, most protesters had already melted away into the city’s densely populated Mong Kok district, leaving officers to face angry local residents, who told them to leave and accused them of being members of crime gangs. The police eventually left without firing tear gas.Members of China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police force have been training this week across the border in Shenzhen, fueling speculation that they could be sent in to suppress the protests. Officers didn’t appear to hold major drills on Saturday, but could be seen doing jumping jacks and stretching inside a sports stadium. Dozens of army-green armored carriers and trucks were parked inside and outside the facility.The Hong Kong police, however, have said they are capable of handling the protests.“I can tell you we’re confident the police have the capability to maintain law and order,” Yeung Man-pun, commander of the Kowloon City district, said Friday when asked about the possibility of a deployment of mainland security forces.Outside of Hong Kong, demonstrations were held in support of both the pro-democracy movement and China.Australia, Taiwan protestsIn Australia, at least 200 protesters descended on Sydney Town Hall, chanting “Long live China” and singing the Chinese national anthem, while a protest in support of the pro-democracy movement continued in Melbourne.The Melbourne rally had turned ugly on Friday night, with police moving in to separate some 100 pro-China protesters from those sympathetic to Hong Kong. Saturday’s protest in the southern city was peaceful.In Taiwan, people held a flash mob demonstration in Taipei, the island’s capital, in support of the Hong Kong protests.
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Stranded Tourists Free as Crews Reopen Denali Park Road
DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska – Road crews have cleared one lane in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve, and buses are beginning to return about 300 stranded tourists back to the park entrance.The tourists became stranded Friday after heavy rains triggered mudslides and caused excess water from a culvert to damage a road.A shuttle bus carrying tourists makes its way along the park road with North America’s tallest peak, Denali, in the background, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, Aug. 26, 2016.Park spokesman Paul Ollig told The Associated Press that all the stranded passengers are expected back at the park entrance Friday night, but he didn’t have an exact time of when they would arrive.“Our team did an outstanding job responding to multiple debris slides along a pretty remote section of road,’’ said Erika Jostad, Denali’s chief ranger. “The geohazard team monitored conditions while the road crew was clearing debris. It was a great example of teamwork.’’Earlier Friday, Denali’s superintendent closed Denali Park Road to all traffic at mile 30. The road is the only one inside the vast park.Similar debris flows led to daylong traffic restrictions last week. Continued heavy rains since kept the road and surrounding tundra saturated with water.Also Friday, the Alaska Railroad said it has halted service north of the park because of the failure of a retaining wall caused by high water in the Nenana River.Passenger and freight service will be suspended through the area until late Monday at the earliest, the railroad said in a statement.The railroad added that passengers traveling north to or south from Denali Park on the Alaska Railroad or on an Alaska Railroad provided service through Holland America/Princess or Premier Alaska Tours should expect delays.
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Security Laws Making Australia a Secretive State, Media Leaders Say
Media organizations say Australia has become a secretive state that is actively restricting the press. The leaders of the country’s major newspapers and broadcasters have made the claims at the first public hearing of a parliamentary inquiry investigating Australia’s security laws and their impact on journalism.Australia’s media bosses say journalists must be able to do their jobs without fear. The inquiry in Sydney was told that reporters who published stories based on leaked government documents were being treated as though they had received “stolen goods.”The Australian parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee is investigating the impact national security laws have on press freedom.FILE – Craig McMurtie, editorial director of the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC), speaks to members of the media outside the ABC building in Sydney, June 5, 2019.The probe was launched after the Australian Federal Police raided a newspaper journalist’s home in Canberra and the headquarters of the national broadcaster, the ABC, in June, over stories based on leaked confidential documents. The raids were widely condemned as heavy-handed and an “utter violation” of a free media.The ABC was targeted for publishing allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. They were based on hundreds of pages of classified military papers.Media chiefs are calling for so-called “public interest protections” for reporters to be able to tell sensitive stories without fear of prosecution.Michael Miller, the executive chairman of News Corp Australasia says national security concerns are unfairly outweighing the public’s right to know.“We may not be living in police state, but we are living in a state of secrecy,” he said. “We have many laws that criminalize journalism. They are creating a secret society that most Australians would not recognize as our own.”Police defend raidsSenior Australian Federal Police officers have insisted the raids on the media in June were in defense of national security and that the compromise of sensitive material “could cause exceptionally grave damage or serious damage” to Australia’s interests.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has stressed the importance of a free and open press in Australian democracy.The parliamentary inquiry into press freedom is expected to report its findings by October.
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US Says It Has Warrant to Seize Iranian Oil Tanker
Updated at 9:36 p.m. Aug. 16.VOA Persian’s Katherine Ahn contributed to this report.The U.S. government said Friday that it had a warrant to seize an Iranian supertanker caught in a diplomatic standoff off the coast of the British overseas territory Gibraltar.
A court document released Friday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington showed the court had issued the warrant to seize the vessel.
The United States is seeking to take control of the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, along with the oil it carries and $995,000, on the ground on that the ship has links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.
The Supreme Court in Gibraltar ruled Thursday that the tanker could be released from detention, shortly after the United States launched a last-minute legal bid to hold it.
However, despite the ruling, the tanker remained off the coast of Gibraltar on Friday. And a lawyer for the ship’s Indian captain told the Associated Press that the captain no longer wanted to maintain command of the vessel.A view of the Grace 1 supertanker is seen backdropped by Gibraltar’s Rock, as it stands at anchor in the British territory of Gibraltar, Aug. 15, 2019.The Grace 1 was carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian oil when Gibraltar police and British Special Forces seized it on July 4. It was believed to be transporting the oil to Syria in violation of both European Union and U.S. sanctions.
On Thursday, Gibraltar’s government said it had received assurances from Tehran that it would not send the crude oil cargo to Syria. An Iranian official, however, later disputed that any assurances had been given. Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency as saying that “Iran has given no assurances over the Grace 1 not going to Syria to secure its release,” and that Gibraltar was only seeking to “save face.” FILE – The Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel owned by Stena Bulk, is seen at Bandar Abbas port, July 21, 2019.After the Iranian tanker was seized, Tehran retaliated by taking control of a British tanker, the Stena Impero, on July 19 in the strategic Strait of Hormuz — the shipping lane for about a fifth of the world’s crude — for breaking “international maritime rules.” Iran still holds the Stena Impero.
Iran had repeatedly called for the release of the Grace 1, saying it had been in international waters and was not headed to Syria.
Tehran condemned Thursday’s U.S. bid to block the release of the ship.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter, “Having failed to accomplish its objectives through its #EconomicTerrorism — including depriving cancer patients of medicine — the U.S. attempted to abuse the legal system to steal our property on the high seas. This piracy attempt is indicative of Trump admin’s contempt for the law.”
In a Thursday interview with VOA Persian, Brookings Institution foreign policy research director Michael O’Hanlon said he did not see Gibraltar’s decision on the tanker as a significant failure for U.S. policy.
“I think this is in the category of ‘win a few, lose a few.’ We decided to make a run at [the tanker]. Apparently, we have been unsuccessful,” O’Hanlon said. “It doesn’t change the overall situation, which is that we are squeezing Iran harder and harder economically. They are getting less and less oil out, even as they get some sanctions evasion and avoidance. You don’t have to necessarily win every single engagement of this type for the overall strategy to succeed.”U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he boards Air Force One for travel to New Hampshire from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, Aug. 15, 2019.The dispute over the tanker is part of the ongoing confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Iranian government over its nuclear program, ballistic missile development and involvement in regional conflicts. The confrontation escalated last year when Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 international agreement in which Iran agreed to curb activities that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions.
Trump said the 2015 deal did not do enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or engaging in other perceived malign behaviors. By withdrawing from it, he unilaterally reimposed U.S. sanctions against Iran, hobbling its economy in a so far unsuccessful effort to force Iran to negotiate a new deal.
Trump has said such a deal should cover not just Iran’s nuclear program but also its activities related to ballistic missiles and support for Islamist militant groups hostile toward the U.S. and U.S. allies.
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Sources: US to Give Huawei More Time to Buy American-Made Parts
SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to extend a reprieve given to Huawei Technologies that permits the Chinese firm to buy supplies from U.S. companies so that it can service existing customers, two sources familiar with the situation said.The “temporary general license” will be extended for Huawei for 90 days, the sources said.Commerce initially allowed Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in May shortly after blacklisting the company in a move aimed at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America.An extension will renew an agreement set to lapse Aug. 19, continuing the Chinese company’s ability to maintain existing telecommunications networks and provide software updates to Huawei handsets.The situation surrounding the license, which has become a key bargaining chip for the United States in its trade negotiations with China, remains fluid and the decision to continue the Huawei reprieve could change ahead of the Monday deadline, the sources said.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.U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss Huawei in a call this weekend, one of the sources said.Huawei did not have an immediate comment. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.When the Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods earlier this year, it was seen as a major escalation in the trade war between the world’s two top economies.The U.S. government blacklisted Huawei alleging the Chinese company is involved in activities contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.As an example, the blacklisting order cited a criminal case pending against the company in federal court, over allegations Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Huawei has pleaded not guilty in the case.The order noted that the indictment also accused Huawei of “deceptive and obstructive acts.”At the same time the United States says Huawei’s smartphones and network equipment could be used by China to spy on Americans, allegations the company has repeatedly denied.The world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker is still prohibited from buying American parts and components to manufacture new products without additional special licenses.FILE – U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross listens during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, July 16, 2019, in Washington.Many Huawei suppliers have requested the special licenses to sell to the firm. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters late last month he had received more than 50 applications, and that he expected to receive more.Out of $70 billion that Huawei spent buying components in 2018, about $11 billion went to U.S. firms including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology.The Commerce Department late Friday declined to comment, referring to Ross’ comments to CNBC television earlier this week in which he said the existing licenses were in effect until Monday.Asked if they would be extended he said: “On Monday I’ll be happy to update you.”
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Experts Worry US Sending Mixed Messages to China on Hong Kong
As Hong Kong braces for more mass protests, Trump administration officials are watching events carefully, but also sending mixed messages to China about fears of a potential violent crackdown by Beijing. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.
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In Uganda’s Capital, Huawei Adds Cameras Capable of Facial Recognition
Lawmakers in the United States have long been wary of Chinese telecom giant Huawei. They say the corporation is unlike most tech companies because it effectively acts as a spying tool for Beijing. Recently, Huawei installed security cameras around Uganda’s capital, Kampala. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more in this report narrated by Jeff Custer.
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Trump Discusses Status of Taliban Talks With National Security Team
U.S. President Donald Trump met Friday with his national security team to discuss the U.S. negotiations with the Afghan Taliban, the White House said.The meeting came amid media reports that both sides were close to striking a deal that would decide the fate of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after almost 19 years of conflict in the country. “The meeting went very well, and negotiations are proceeding,” the White House said in a statement following the meeting, which was led by the president, who is on a working vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.Following the meeting, Trump said the U.S. was looking for a deal with the Taliban “if possible.” Just completed a very good meeting on Afghanistan. Many on the opposite side of this 19 year war, and us, are looking to make a deal – if possible!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
A statement issued Friday evening by the U.S. State Department said the president discussed the “status of negotiations for peace” and “the path forward in Afghanistan.”Those who met with the president included Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, national security adviser John Bolton, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and CIA Director Gina Haspel.”In continued close cooperation with the government of Afghanistan, we remain committed to achieving a comprehensive peace agreement, including a reduction in violence and a cease-fire, ensuring that Afghan soil is never again used to threaten the United States or her allies, and bringing Afghans together to work towards peace,” the statement said.A senior administration official told Reuters that no big decision was expected to come out of the president’s meeting with his national security team, but that the “president wanted to bring U.S. troops home.”FILE – Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a consultative grand assembly, known as Loya Jirga, in Kabul, April 29, 2019.Taliban refusalThere seems to have been no change in the Taliban’s staunch position against holding direct talks with the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani, which the Taliban calls a U.S. puppet government.U.S. officials have been insisting, though, that any agreement with the insurgent group would be tied to the start of intra-Afghan talks.Despite assurances by the U.S., the Afghan government has expressed deep concern about being left out of the direct talks between the U.S. and Taliban. The latest round of talks concluded Monday in Qatar’s capital, Doha, where the U.S. delegation and members of the Taliban negotiating team held discussions for nine days to try to iron out differences.Ghani said Sunday, during a speech on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, that a decision this monumental couldn’t be left to an outsider.”Our fate cannot be decided outside of Afghanistan, not in the countries of our allies, nor in the capitals of our neighbors,” Ghani said in an apparent reference to the direct U.S. talks with the Taliban.”Our fate would be decided inside this land. We do not want anyone to interfere in our internal affairs,” the Afghan president added.September electionsGhani and his government are adamant about holding the country’s presidential elections, which are due in late September, and in which Ghani seeks another five-year term in office.Amrullah Saleh, Ghani’s running mate and former head of the country’s spy agency, said on Twitter earlier this month that only a legitimate government elected by the people could negotiate with the Taliban, and that therefore elections must be held.”Elections will take place. Allow no poisonous propaganda to disturb your patriotism. The link between elections and the peace process is very direct and crucial. No one without a mandate from the people can negotiate settlement,” Saleh said.
The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the election by attacking polling centers and campaign rallies. The insurgent group last week warned people not to participate in the elections.FILE – A man receives treatment at a hospital after an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2019. A suicide car bomber targeted the police headquarters in a minority Shiite neighborhood in western Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility.A day after the warning, a Taliban car bomb targeting Afghan security forces killed 14 people and wounded more than 140, mostly children, women and other civilians.Significant differencesAlthough both the Taliban and the U.S. are citing progress in their direct talks, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that “significant differences remained” between the two sides following the end of the eighth round of talks in Doha this week.The officials said the differences center on U.S. demands that the insurgents publicly denounce ties to al-Qaida and other terror groups and agree to a nationwide cease-fire.Some in the U.S. Congress are concerned that terror groups including al-Qaida and the Islamic State may find fertile ground inside Afghanistan and pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies if the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan.Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and an ally of Trump, tweeted Friday following the president’s meeting with the national security team. Must have robust counterterrorism force with intel capability no matter what Taliban demands in order to protect the USA.— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 16, 2019
“Share President Trump’s ‘hope’ that we can honorably end the war in Afghanistan with the Taliban. Certain that al-Qaida, ISIS, and other radical Islamic groups are not interested in the war ending,” Graham added.Graham insists the U.S. should maintain a counterterrorism force inside Afghanistan, even if a deal is reached with the Taliban.The U.S. has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan engaged in both train-and-advise missions, as part of the U.S.-led NATO Resolute Support Mission, and in counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State and al-Qaida terror groups.About 8,000 troops from NATO allies and partners also are stationed in the country, training and supporting the Afghan security forces.Some of information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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China Displays Police Muscle Near Hong Kong Before Weekend Rallies
Members of China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police marched and practiced crowd control tactics at a sports complex in Shenzhen across from Hong Kong in what some interpreted as a threat against pro-democracy protesters in the semi-autonomous territory.The sound of marching boots and synchronized shouts echoed from the grounds Friday. Officers in green camouflage stood guard at closed entrances. A stadium security guard said “it wasn’t clear” when the paramilitary police would leave the grounds.Chinese state media have said only that the Shenzhen exercises were planned earlier and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong, though they came shortly after the central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show the “sprouts of terrorism.”Protesters attend a “Stand With Hong Kong, Power to the People Rally” at the Chater Garden, in Hong Kong, Aug. 16, 2019.From a distance, police could be seen conducting drills in military fatigues, using shields, poles and other riot-control gear. In one exercise, two groups marched in formation with those in front raising shields as if to protect themselves from projectiles. Others behind held red flags and banners. The words “the law” and “prosecuted” could be seen on one.Outside, dozens of armored carriers and trucks sat in the parking lot of the Shenzhen Bay Stadium, close to a bridge linking mainland China to Hong Kong.Asked if Hong Kong police could maintain order or if mainland Chinese intervention is becoming inevitable, Hong Kong police commander Yeung Man-pun said that while they face tremendous pressure, “I can tell you we’re confident the police have the capability to maintain law and order.”Anti-extradition bill protesters hold an American flag at a gathering at Chater House Garden in Hong Kong, Aug. 16, 2019.Weeks of protestGermany, meanwhile, said it considers China to be a responsible actor that will respect Hong Kong laws guaranteeing freedom of speech and rule of law.Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that Hong Kong’s 1997 Basic Law, under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when the former British colony returned to China, “is a Chinese law, and as such we naturally expect that the People’s Republic of China, too, won’t call into question the peaceful exercise of these rights.”Weeks of protests in Hong Kong have been marked by increasing violence and a shutdown of the Hong Kong airport earlier this week. The demonstrators are demanding expanded political rights and the scrapping of legislation that could have seen criminal suspects sent to mainland China.A weekend of protests began Friday night with a university student-led “power to the people” rally in Chater Garden, a public square in the financial district.A pro-democracy march is planned for Saturday along with a separate pro-government “Save Hong Kong” rally, ahead of a major pro-democracy rally called for Sunday. Police have denied permission for the march Sunday, but protesters have ignored such denials in the past.A pro-democracy protester holds a sign while attending a rally in Hong Kong Aug. 16, 2019.Airline CEO resignsChina has pressured foreign and Hong Kong companies to support the ruling Communist Party’s position against the protesters.The CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent companies, resigned Friday following pressure by Beijing on the carrier over participation by some of its employees in the anti-government protests.Cathay Pacific said Rupert Hogg resigned “to take responsibility” following “recent events.”The company chairman, John Slosar, said in a statement the airline needed new management because events had “called into question” its commitment to safety and security.On Monday, Hogg threatened employees with “disciplinary consequences” if they took part in “illegal protests.”Last week, China’s aviation regulator said Cathay Pacific employees who “support or take part in illegal protests, violent actions, or overly radical behavior” are banned from staffing flights to mainland China.Message of ‘joy and smile’On Friday morning, Frenchman Alain Robert, who has been dubbed “spiderman” for his unauthorized climbs of skyscrapers, hung a banner appealing for peace as he scaled the 62-story Cheung Kong Center, a landmark Hong Kong building that is the base for property tycoon Li Ka-shing’s business empire.The banner showed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags over a handshake and a small yellow sun with a smiley face.“The banner is to give joy and smile to the people of Hong Kong,” he told the AP as he sat in a taxi about to leave for his climb. He added that he didn’t want to get “mixed up in the political situation.”Robert, 57, was taken to a police station afterward. It wasn’t immediately clear if he would be charged. He was banned in 2017 from returning to Hong Kong for one year after climbing another building.
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US North Korea Envoy to Visit Japan, South Korea Next Week
The U.S. special envoy for North Korea will travel to Japan and South Korea next week to coordinate efforts to secure the denuclearization of North Korea, the State Department said Friday.Stephen Biegun will be in Japan from Monday to Tuesday and in Seoul from Tuesday to Thursday, a State Department statement said.FILE – U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, center, is questioned by reporters upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2019.News of Biegun’s trip came after U.S. President Donald Trump said last Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had told him he was ready to resume stalled denuclearization talks with the United States and would stop recent missile testing as soon as U.S.-South Korea military exercises that have been held this month end.The State Department statement made no mention of any talks with North Korea. When asked if any were planned during Biegun’s trip, a spokeswoman said the department had no additional meetings to announce.The statement said the purpose of the trip was “to further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization” of North Korea.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Aug. 7 he was hopeful that working-level talks, which Biegun has led, would resume with North Korea in coming weeks and that the U.S. side was planning for negotiations in a couple of weeks.Trump and Kim have met three times since last year to discuss ways to resolve a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but progress has been scant on Washington’s aim of getting the North Korea leader to give up the weapons.The two last met June 30 in the demilitarized zone between the Koreas and agreed to revive working-level talks stalled since their failed second summit in February in Vietnam. But the talks have yet to resume and North Korea has since staged repeated short-range missile tests that raised doubts about whether they would.Trump, who has been eager to show success on the North Korean issue ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, has played down the launches and noted that Kim has stuck to his pledge not to resume tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs suspended since 2017.On Aug. 9, Trump said he had received a “very beautiful letter” from Kim and he said the following day he looked forward to seeing him again “in the not too distant future.”North Korea has decried the U.S.-South Korean military exercises as rehearsals for war aimed at toppling Kim’s leadership and has said they go against a pledge by Trump to end them.U.S. officials say the drills are largely computer-simulated as an alternative to previous large-scale annual exercises halted to expedite denuclearization talks.Previous rounds of talks have failed to narrow differences over U.S. demands for North Korea to give up all its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang’s demands for relief from punishing economic sanctions.
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Trump Administration Tells of Plans to Sell F-16s to Taiwan
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has informed Congress it plans to sell F-16 fighters worth $8 billion to Taiwan in a move that will increase already high tensions with China.
Two U.S. officials and a congressional aide said the administration informally notified lawmakers of the proposed sale late Thursday. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The F-16 deal is highly controversial because China fiercely opposes all arms sales to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, but has specifically objected to advanced fighter jets. The notification also came as U.S. trade talks with China are stalled and amid unrest in Hong Kong that many fear could prompt Beijing to move militarily against the former British colony.
The State Department, which would ultimately authorize the sale, declined to comment, but members of Congress from both parties welcomed the proposal.
FILE – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., left, speaks with ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, during a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019.The chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a joint statement that it sends a strong message about the U.S. commitment to security and democracy in the Indo-Pacific'' andwill help deter China as they threaten our strategic partner Taiwan and its democratic system of government.” ‘Critical’ support
With China building up its military to threaten us and our allies, and the People's Liberation Army aiming thousands of missiles at Taiwan and deploying fighter aircrafts along the Taiwan Strait, now more than ever it is critical that Taiwan has the support needed to defend itself,'' said Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. not only observed Taiwan’s enthusiasm to pursue necessary platforms to ensure its self-defense, but also its evolving tenacity to develop its own indigenous defense industry.”
The informal notification starts a period of consultations with Congress, and a formal announcement of the sale could be made as early as next month unless lawmakers object.
Just this week, America's top representative in Taiwan said Washington expects the island to continue increasing its defense spending as Chinese security threats to the U.S. ally continue to grow. W. Brent Christensen said the U.S. had
That was a nod to President Tsai Ing-wen’s drive to develop domestic training jets, submarines and other weapons technology, supplementing arms bought from the U.S.
Christensen is the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which has served as the de facto U.S. Embassy in Taiwan since formal diplomatic relations were cut in 1979.
While China and Taiwan split during a civil war in 1949, Beijing still considers Taiwan Chinese territory and has increased its threats to annex the self-governing democracy by force if necessary. Legal requirement
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, U.S. law requires Washington to ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself.
Since 2008, U.S. administrations have notified Congress of more than $24 billion in foreign military sales to Taiwan, including in the past two months the sale of 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger missiles, valued at $2.2 billion, Christensen said. The Trump administration alone has notified Congress of $4.4 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
China has responded furiously to all such sales and recently announced it would impose sanctions on any U.S. enterprises involved in such deals, saying they undermine China’s sovereignty and national security. FILE – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is pictured in Taipei, March 21, 2019.Tsai has adamantly rejected Chinese pressure to reunite Taiwan and China under the “one-country, two-systems” framework that governs Hong Kong. She and many Taiwanese have said that the people of the island stand with the young people of Hong Kong who are fighting for democratic freedoms in ongoing protests.
Beijing has cut contacts with Tsai’s government over Tsai’s refusal to endorse its claim that Taiwan is a part of China, and it sought to increase Taiwan’s international isolation by reducing its number of diplomatic allies to just 17. China has also stepped up efforts at military intimidation, holding military exercises across the Taiwan Strait and circling the island with bombers and fighters in what are officially termed training missions.
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Iranian Oil Tanker Remains Off Gibraltar Despite Court Ruling
VOA Persian’s Katherine Ahn contributed to this report.An Iranian supertanker caught in a diplomatic standoff off the coast of the British overseas territory Gibraltar remained in port Friday despite a court ruling that it can be released. It is not clear when the Iranian supertanker Grace 1, which is at the center of the standoff between Iran and the West, will be able to set sail. A lawyer for the ship’s captain told the Associated Press on Friday that the ship’s Indian captain no longer wanted to maintain command of the vessel.The Supreme Court in Gibraltar ruled Thursday that the tanker could be released from detention, shortly after the United States had launched a new, last-minute legal bid to hold it.A delay of the vessel’s departure could give the United States another opportunity to mount further legal action to again try to prevent the tanker from leaving Gibraltar.A view of the Grace 1 supertanker is seen backdropped by Gibraltar’s Rock, as it stands at anchor in the British territory of Gibraltar, Aug. 15, 2019.The Grace 1 had been carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian oil when Gibraltar police and British Special Forces seized it on July 4. It was believed to be transporting oil to Syria in violation of both European Union and U.S. sanctions.On Thursday, Gibraltar’s government said it had received assurances from Tehran that it would not send the crude oil cargo to Syria. Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo said in a statement: “We have deprived the Assad regime in Syria of more than $140 million worth of crude oil.”However, an Iranian official later disputed that any assurances had been given.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency Friday as saying, “Iran has given no assurances over the Grace 1 not going to Syria to secure its release,” and that Gibraltar was only seeking to “save face.”FILE – The Stena Impero, a British-flagged vessel owned by Stena Bulk, is seen at Bandar Abbas port, July 21, 2019.After the Iranian tanker was seized, Tehran retaliated by taking control of a British tanker, the Stena Impero, on July 19 in the strategic Strait of Hormuz — the shipping lane for about a fifth of the world’s crude — for breaking “international maritime rules.” Iran still holds the Stena Impero.Iran had repeatedly called for the release of the Grace 1, saying it had been in international waters and was not headed to Syria.Tehran condemned Thursday’s U.S. bid to block the release of the ship.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter, “Having failed to accomplish its objectives through its #EconomicTerrorism — including depriving cancer patients of medicine — the U.S. attempted to abuse the legal system to steal our property on the high seas. This piracy attempt is indicative of Trump admin’s contempt for the law.”In a Thursday interview with VOA Persian, Brookings Institution foreign policy research director Michael O’Hanlon said he did not see Gibraltar’s decision on the tanker as a significant failure for U.S. policy. “I think this is in the category of ‘win a few, lose a few.’ We decided to make a run at [the tanker]. Apparently, we have been unsuccessful,” O’Hanlon said. “It doesn’t change the overall situation, which is that we are squeezing Iran harder and harder economically. They are getting less and less oil out, even as they get some sanctions evasion and avoidance. You don’t have to necessarily win every single engagement of this type for the overall strategy to succeed.” U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he boards Air Force One for travel to New Hampshire from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, Aug. 15, 2019.The dispute over the tanker is part of the ongoing confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Iranian government over its nuclear program, ballistic missile development and involvement in regional conflicts. The confrontation escalated last year when Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 international agreement in which Iran agreed to curb activities that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. Trump said the 2015 deal did not do enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or engaging in other perceived malign behaviors. By withdrawing from it, he unilaterally reimposed U.S. sanctions against Iran, hobbling its economy in a so-far unsuccessful effort to force Iran to negotiate a new deal. Trump has said such a deal should cover not just Iran’s nuclear program but also its activities related to ballistic missiles and support for Islamist militant groups hostile toward the U.S. and U.S. allies.
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Nigerian Sheikh Abruptly Returns Home from Medical Trip to India
James Butty contributed to this report.WASHINGTON – Controversial cleric Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky returned home to Nigeria after a brief trip to India, where he had sought medical treatment after four years in detention.The news came as a surprise to supporters who had celebrated his departure earlier in the week. Nigerian authorities had granted Zakzaky medical leave while he awaits trial. He was charged with inciting violence and other offenses but denies guilt. While in detention, he has had two strokes and is losing his sight, the FILE – Iranian and Nigerian students hold posters of Nigerian Shiite cleric Ibrahim El-Zakzaky during a demonstration outside the Nigerian Embassy in Tehran, July 17, 2019.The group had been holding daily protests in the streets of Abuja, but in an interview with VOA’s Daybreak Africa on Monday, Ibrahim Gamawa, a spokesperson for the IMN, said those protests would stop while Zakzaky receives treatment. He said the group is happy, but added that the medical leave should have been granted long ago.”We will disappear from the streets of Abuja for the time being. We pray that our sheikh will come back healthier than when he left the country,” Gamawa said. Gamawa denied that the group has ever used violence, saying they are victims of violence by Nigerian authorities. “We want to unite Nigerians. We want Nigerians to understand each other. We want Nigerians to tolerate each other. We want Nigerians to be each other’s people. So, extremism is for the extremists,” he told VOA.”There is no civil court that convicted any of our members of killing any other person,” Gamawa added. “We are victims of all these things that come from disgruntled people, so we are victims of extremism. We are victims of political struggle. We are an endangered species in Nigeria.”
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Sudan’s Opposition Alliance Chooses Prime Minister
Carol Van Dam contributed to this report.KHARTOUM, SUDAN – Sudan’s Forces of Freedom and Change, the country’s main opposition alliance, has nominated economist Mohammed Abdalla Hamdok to serve as prime minister in the country’s transitional government. Hamdok, whose nomination was announced Thursday night, is expected to be appointed prime minister by Sudan’s sovereign council, which is expected to be sworn in Monday.
Hamdok has served as deputy executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa since 2011. For decades, he worked as a senior policy analyst and economist on governance issues, public sector reforms and regional integration.
From 2003 to 2008, Hamdok worked at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance as regional director for Africa and the Middle East. Hurdles ahead
Some Sudanese said that while they thought Hamdok was the right person for the job, he faces many challenges.
Khartoum-based economist Abdallah Ramadi said given his credentials, Hamdok was the right choice to lead Sudan for a transitional period that is to last a little more than three years.
“He has in his hands now the responsibility of a collapsing economy. Shortages [are] everywhere. You find queues in bakeries, you find queues in gas stations, you find queues at transport stations and in banks, which is a shame,” Ramadi told South Sudan in Focus.
Ramadi said bad decisions by government leaders caused the economic collapse, not a shortage of natural resources.
“Prices shot up in Sudan not for economic reasons but because of mismanagement of the economy, because of exaggerated government spending on politics and politicians, which led to high inflation,” Ramadi told VOA.
Sudanese journalist Shuhdi Nadir called the choice of Hamdok a blessing for Sudan but warned that efforts to lift Sudan out of its economic crisis wouldn’t be easy. “For the past 30 years Sudan has been spending much of its budget on war. Corruption has been spreading within government institutions. There is a lot that needs to be done to reform the civil service,” Nadir told South Sudan in Focus. Peace first
If Hamdok can restore peace in the conflict-affected regions of Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile area, Nadir said, he will have a good chance at achieving significant economic change in Sudan.
Hamdok holds master of arts and doctoral degrees from the School of Economic Studies-University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and a bachelor of science degree from the University of Khartoum.
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30th Anniversary of Berlin Wall’s Tumble Prompts Democracy Debate
Thirty years ago, the Iron Curtain dividing Europe lifted. Next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Hungary to commemorate the anniversary of a peace protest on the border with Austria that helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens to the West. The Berlin Wall was torn down three months later, and 1989 went down as an era-changing year that ended the three-decade-long Soviet occupation of the countries of Central Europe.The commemoration on Aug. 19 will include an ecumenical service in the Lutheran church of Sopron, and is to be held near where 600 East Germans plowed through the border gates to enter the West. Hungarian authorities had announced the border would be opened symbolically later for three hours, but the crowd was too impatient to wait for freedom — and in no mood to receive it as a gift from increasingly superannuated Communist bosses. FILE – An East German refugee shows off a newly acquired West German passport just before crossing the Hungarian border into Austria, Sept. 10, 1989.Three years later, political scientist Francis Fukuyama published his triumphalist book The End of History and the Last Man, celebrating the ascendency of Western-style liberal democracy. Humanity, he argued, was reaching “not just … the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”But history did not end in 1989. Hungary only ‘partly free’For some, the awkward pairing next week of Germany’s Merkel and Hungary’s authoritarian-inclined prime minister, Viktor Orban, will be symbolic of the return of history, of a new, unfolding east-west cleavage. The pair will be celebrating the rebirth of democracy, but Orban has been accused of backsliding on democracy by systematically dismantling the Western-style institutions his country has struggled to establish since the crumbling of Communism. This year, Freedom House, a U.S.-based research group, described Hungary as only “partly free,” the first time it has withheld from a European Union member state the designation “free.” It has accused Orban’s government of having “moved to institute policies that hamper the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) whose perspectives it finds unfavorable.”FILE – German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a news conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, Feb. 7, 2019.Hungary’s firebrand populist, an anti-Communist liberal-turned-conservative who’s enjoying a burgeoning friendship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, has remained undeterred in shaping what he likes to call an “illiberal democracy.”His warming relationship with Putin is seen by some as an alliance between two emblematic nationalistic strongmen.Other populist leaders in the Central European states of Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have also been accused of seeking to erode democratic checks and balances, of curbing judicial independence, politicizing the civil service and seeking to expand state control over the media and civil society, prompting protests and liberal outrage at their linking of Christianity with patriotism.Their current populist governments have been the strongest critics of the migrant policies coming out of Brussels, refusing to accept migrants under an EU burden-sharing refugee resettlement plan. They have strained and bellyached at the restrictions and strictures placed on them by EU membership and what they see as an overbearing Brussels.Growing EU divisionsAll four members of the so-called Visegrad group of nations have been labeled in some ways as “flawed” democracies by rights monitors as their governments surf a powerful wave of Central European populism that they hope will reshape the regional bloc by reducing the power of EU institutions and returning it to national governments. The drumbeat of populism has been heard in the neighboring former Communist states in the Balkans and the Baltics.Their clashes are seen by some liberal critics as tempting geopolitical fate. “It’s hard to deny that divisions between so-called old and new [EU] member states are growing,” according to Jakub Wisniewski, a Polish political analyst and director of the Slovakia-based GlobSec Policy Institute, a research organization. He places the political differences now between east and west as having their origins in the past. “Central Europe is still markedly different from the rest of the EU — politically, economically and, most of all, culturally,” he argues.National electorates in Central Europe are “more conservative, and more preoccupied with health care and local corruption than melting ice-caps or #MeToo. They are also less self-assured, hence their anxieties about Muslim immigration or leftist internationalism,” he adds.The populists of Central Europe say their critics make the mistake of equating “liberal democracy” only with versions espoused by the political left or center and that there are quite legitimate conservative and nationalist varieties, too. Liberal pessimists lament the rise of the nationalist populism, but optimists highlight the rambunctious politics of the region, which, this year, has seen liberal gains in electoral politics. FILE – Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova reviews the guard of honor at the Presidential Palace after her swearing-in ceremony in Bratislava, Slovakia, June 15, 2019.In March, an environmental activist, Zuzana Caputova, became the first woman to be elected president of Slovakia. Her election followed massive anti-government street protests last year triggered by the slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee that led to the fall of Robert Fico’s conservative coalition government. Farther south, April saw nationalists defeated in the presidential election in North Macedonia and pro-European moderates winning elections in Latvia and Lithuania. Street protests have been mounted in the Czech Republic against Andrej Babis, the prime minister, who’s been charged with fraud. They have been the largest seen since 1989.For all of the rise of nationalist populism, pollsters and analysts say the voters of Central Europe remain firm adherents to the EU.Populists have to be careful not to push too far on the anti-EU front. Julius Horvath, an economic professor at the Central European University told VOA earlier this year, “Populations would not like a rupture with Europe.”
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Hong Kong Protesters Seek International Support
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong are calling for support from Western nations. As Mike O’Sullivan reports from Hong Kong, demonstrators took to the streets again on Friday, as several student leaders described what they called anonymous attempts at intimidation.
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