France will host a conference with Sudan’s international creditors to help Khartoum address debt issues as soon as the United States removes the country from its state-sponsored terrorism list, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.In efforts to stabilize the country and to repair an economy battered by years of U.S. sanctions and government mismanagement during Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule, Sudanese transition government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is holding talks with Washington to see Sudan withdrawn from the list.”As soon as the Americans make their decision, we will be able to restructure the debt together,” Macron said at a joint press conference with Hamdok in Paris.”I have decided that France will host an international conference with private and public international creditors,” he added.Macron provided no timeframe.”The precise timing of the conference will depend on the timing upon which sanctions are to be lifted,” Macron said.On the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly last week, Hamdok expressed hope Sudan would reach an agreement with the United States “very soon.”Sudan has been unable to tap the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for support because the United States still lists the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.A senior U.S. official said in August that Washington would test the commitment of Sudan’s new transitional government to human rights, freedom of speech and humanitarian access before it agrees to remove the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.Macron said France had also planned for Hamdok to have a meeting in Paris on Sunday with one of Darfur’s rebel leaders, Abdel Wahid el-Nur.
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Month: September 2019
Are Missing and Murdered Indigenous Men in US Being Ignored?
Hub Binion Williamson, 34, was last seen in April near Hardin, Montana, about 12 miles away from his home on the Crow Indian Reservation. It was a trip he made almost daily, said his cousin Rachel Reddog. Along the way, she said he stopped at his aunt’s house for a drink of water. After that, he vanished without a trace, leaving his family devastated.“It’s like having a huge splinter in your foot,” Reddog said. “Things just aren’t the same.”Crow Citizen Hub Binion was last seen walking home to the Crow Reservation from Hardin, Montana, April 9, 2019.Williamson is one of thousands of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) men and boys who are missing or murdered in the U.S. but capture little media attention in the shadow of the greater campaign seeking justice for missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW).Faulty reportingLissa Yellowbird-Chase, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, steps in where tribal police have failed to locate the missing.“I can tell you from what I’ve witnessed personally, that men are murdered and missing more than the women,” she said. “But not all their deaths are reported.”Medical examiners, she explained, trying to avoid the burdensome paperwork required in homicide cases, may note the cause of death as “overdose” or “alcohol-related” for both men and women.Williamson’s cousin Frankie Backbone, a member of the Crow Nation, cites the example of a another missing relative, his 14-year-old niece, Henny Scott, who disappeared in December 2018 and was later found dead.“She had a broken nose and bruises all over her body, but the county coroner said she died from ‘exposure,’” he said.Robert Garrett Steward, Jr., nicknamed “Baby Garrett,” a member of the Crow Nation in Montana, has been missing since October 4, 2013According to a 2008 Department of Health and Human Services Volunteer citizens planning a search and rescue operation after a 94-year-old elder went missing, Sept. 17, 2019.“Everybody is talking about MMIW, and that’s good. But our men and boys are missing and murdered in way higher in numbers,” Yatsayte said. “In the Navajo Nation alone, 57 persons are currently missing. Thirty-seven of them are men.”‘They’ll be back’So, why aren’t indigenous men getting more attention?Yellowbird-Chase and Yatsayte both point to gender stereotypes. Women are perceived as more vulnerable; men as more able to take care of themselves. And because men commit most of the violence against women, families and law enforcement fail to recognize that men, too, are vulnerable.“I also think they focus more on the women because when that monthly check comes and she is not there to sign it — and the kids are having to be tended for by another family caregiver — well, then, they’re looking for the mother right away,” said Yellowbird-Chase.Yatsayte believes police ignore cases in which men go missing.“A lot of our indigenous brothers in the Navajo Nation have alcohol and drug problems,” she said. “You know, it’s kind of routine for them to take off for a couple days, go party with their friends in the border towns.”Knowing this, families may not report the missing for days, even weeks.“And when they finally do, the police say, ‘Oh, they’ll be back,’” Yatsayte said.Mona Sespe, a member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians in California, knows this firsthand. Ten years ago, her 60-year-old cousin Joseph Scott went missing.“I thought he was down in his trailer,” Sespe said. “He’d come up to eat, and I’d do his wash and stuff. “He hadn’t come up for like a couple days, so I walked down there and called to him, knocked on the trailer door, and no answer.”Joseph Lawrence Scott disappeared from his home in Temecula, Cal., in 2009; he may have been spotted in Mexico in 2015.She called tribal police, who refused to break open the trailer door. Only after she complained to the tribal chairman did lawmakers act. The trailer was empty. Williamson has not been heard from since. Reddog cites police apathy, not only in the case of her cousin Hub, but another cousin, Robert “Baby” Garrett, who went missing nearly six years ago.“Tribal police didn’t know my cousins personally, and it feels like we were almost laughed at for trying so hard to find them,” she said. This indifference has forced her family to organize their own search parties.“Law enforcement, they showed up once for the first search and rescue,” Reddog said. “They gave us some maps, and that was it.” Police stretched thinMore than 200 police departments operate in Indian Country, ranging in size from a single officer to more than 200. Complex jurisdictional rules mean that some crimes fall under state, local or federal jurisdiction, and some fall through the cracks.Most tribal police forces are limited in resources and manpower, and some are responsible for reservations the size of small U.S. states.This means police must pick and choose which cases deserve their attention: When a 94-year-old citizen of the Navajo Nation disappeared from his front yard in Fort Defiance, Arizona, tribal police searched the desert with helicopters.Navajo Nation police used helicopters to search for a missing 94-year-old man, Sept. 17, 2019.“But if there’s no reason to believe that the person is in danger, if they don’t have a disability, they’re not a child, they’re not elderly, helicopters and search parties usually don’t happen,” said Yatsayte.Legislative remediesA number of bills have been introduced that would address these issues:Savanna’s Act would improve tribal access to national databases and require DOJ to develop national guidelines for handling missing and murdered Native Americans and report statistics annually to Congress. The Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act would improve sharing of law enforcement agency data and boost officer recruitment and retention.The Not Invisible Act of 2019 would require the DOJ to allocate more resources toward missing and murdered Native Americans based on input from local, tribal and federal leaders.Congresswoman Deb Haaland, a Democrat from the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, has introduced amendments to the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA), which expired in February and is pending reauthorization, that would provide victim advocate services to urban Indians.In the interim, advocates are calling on the MMIW movement to change their acronym to MMIR — “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.”
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North Korea Blames US for Stalled Denuclearization Talks
North Korea said Monday that tensions remain high with the United States and little has been achieved diplomatically, a year after the historic summit between the adversaries.“Relations between the DPRK and the U.S. have made little progress so far and the situation of the Korean Peninsula has not come out of the vicious cycle of increased tension,” North Korean U.N. Ambassador Kim Song told the final day of the U.N. General Assembly annual debate.“We expressed our willingness to sit with the U.S. for [a] comprehensive discussion of the issues we have deliberated so far,” Kim said of resuming bilateral talks.Kim blamed American “political and military provocations” for the stalled talks and urged Washington to find a new approach.Despite what U.S. President Donald Trump says is a positive personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, his administration has maintained a policy of “maximum pressure” on North Korea, supporting tough international economic sanctions until Pyongyang makes progress toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.Talks between the U.S. and North Korea broke down after a second summit in February between Kim and Trump ended without a deal. Kim demanded a relaxation of sanctions in exchange for partial steps to dismantle his nuclear program. Trump wanted a more far-reaching deal.North Korea has conducted 10 rounds of short-range missile tests since early May. Trump has shrugged off the tests, saying he has no problem with short-range launches. Many within range of the short-range missiles do not share that assessment.During his speech last week to the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump only briefly touched on North Korea, saying it is a country “full of tremendous untapped potential, but that to realize that promise, North Korea must denuclearize.”His former national security advisor, John Bolton, said Monday that North Korea “has not made a strategic decision to give up its nuclear weapons,” and that “the strategic decision Kim Jong Un is operating through is that he will do whatever he can to keep a deliverable nuclear weapons capability and to develop and enhance it further.”Bolton, who was fired by Trump earlier in September due to policy differences, was speaking to an audience at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.On Monday, North Korea’s envoy put the weight of diplomacy on the United States.“It depends on the U.S., whether the DPRK-U.S. negotiation will become a window of opportunity or an occasion that will hasten the crisis,” the envoy said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name.He also criticized South Korea for what he said was “double-dealing behavior,” shaking hands in public but behind the scenes introducing new sophisticated weapons and holding joint military exercises with the United States.The envoy said intra-Korean relations would only improve when Seoul ends its “big power worship” and policy of dependence on foreign forces.The United States has maintained some 28,000 troops in South Korea since the end of the Korean War.
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Another US Airstrike in Libya Targets IS Fighters
A U.S. airstrike in Libya has killed seven Islamic State fighters, according to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).It is the fourth U.S. strike this month against the terror group in the southwestern Libyan town of Murzuq.One airstrike last week killed 17 IS militants, and another killed 11, according to AFRICOM. A strike on Sept. 19 killed eight IS militants.The strikes were carried out in coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord to degrade IS’s “ability to effectively conduct operations against the Libyan people,” said Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, AFRICOM director of operations.U.S. officials say the deteriorating security situation in Libya has allowed militants affiliated with IS to expand their presence in ungoverned spaces of the desert in the country’s south.Troops affiliated with the Government of National Accord have been fighting forces led by strongman Khalifa Haftar, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army. The fighting has left hundreds of people dead in Tripoli and in nearby cities and towns.In recent months, IS has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks against Libyan civilians and military personnel. But as IS has become more emboldened by the current political chaos in Libya, U.S. officials tell VOA they have also made themselves an easier target.Some reports say that between 500 and 750 IS fighters are currently active in Libya, but experts think the number is higher than what has been reported as foreign fighters continue to flee there from Syria.
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Treasury Targets Russians Suspected of Meddling in Midterms
The Treasury Department is targeting Russians suspected of trying to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.
Treasury says, however, there is no indication that they were able to compromise election infrastructure in ways that would have blocked voters, changed vote counts or disrupted vote counting.
Monday’s action targets for sanctions four entities, seven individuals, three aircraft and a yacht that are all associated with the Internet Research Agency and its Russian financier, Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
Treasury says the IRA used fictitious personas on social media and disseminated false information to attempt to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections and try to undermine faith in U.S. democratic institutions.
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Trump Applauds Gen. Milley on Becoming Joint Chiefs Chairman
President Donald Trump has congratulated Gen. Mark Milley on becoming chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.Trump is attending a rainy welcome ceremony for Milley at a military base in Arlington, Virginia. Trump says he’s always heard that rain on a big event brings luck and tells Milley, “Mark, I think you’re going to be the luckiest general in history.”
The role of the Joint Chiefs chairman is to advise the president, defense secretary and the National Security Council on military issues.
Trump also calls Milley his friend and adviser and says he “never had a doubt” about nominating Milley for the position.
Milley, formerly the Army chief of staff, succeeds Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford.
Trump chose Milley over a candidate favored by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
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US Rep. Chris Collins Expected to Plead Guilty in Insider Trading Case
U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, a Republican congressman from western New York, is expected to plead guilty in an insider trading case accusing him of leaking confidential information in an urgent phone call made from a White House picnic, according to court records filed Monday.A federal judge in Manhattan has scheduled a hearing for Collins to enter a guilty plea to unspecified charges in the case Tuesday afternoon. A similar hearing has been scheduled Thursday for the congressman’s son, Cameron Collins.Collins’ congressional office declined to comment on Monday. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan also declined to comment.Collins, who was among the first members of Congress to support President Donald Trump’s run for the White House, had been scheduled to go to trial next year on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors accused him of sharing non-public information from a biopharmaceutical company with his son, allowing Cameron Collins and another man to avoid nearly $800,000 in stock losses.The case, filed in August of 2018, initially caused the 69-year-old Collins to drop a reelection bid, but he restarted his campaign a month later as Republican leaders were deliberating who would replace him on the ballot.At the time he said the “stakes are too high to allow the radical left to take control of this seat in Congress.”The charges turned Collins’ expected easy reelection in a strongly Republican district into a close race, but he managed to fend off Democratic challenger Nate McMurray by a thin margin.A conviction would likely lead to Collins’ resignation from Congress. The most serious charge carries a potential prison term of up to 20 years.The charges stem from Collins’ business ties with Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., a biotechnology company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. He was the company’s largest shareholder, with nearly 17% of its shares, and sat on its board.According to the indictment, Collins was attending the Congressional Picnic at the White House on June 22, 2017, when he received an email from the company’s chief executive saying that a trial of a drug the company developed to treat multiple sclerosis was a clinical failure.Collins responded to the email saying: “Wow. Makes no sense. How are these results even possible???” the indictment said.It said he then called his son, Cameron Collins, and, after several missed calls, they spoke for more than six minutes.The next morning, according to the indictment, Cameron Collins began selling his shares, unloading enough over a two-day period to avoid $570,900 in losses before a public announcement of the drug trial results. After the announcement, the company’s stock price plunged 92%.Cameron Collins is accused of passing along the information to his fiancée’s father, so he could also dump his stock.
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After Deadly Fire, Greece to Move Migrants From Packed Camps
Signaling a shift in policy, Greece’s government said Monday it would accelerate efforts to move thousands of refugees and migrants from Aegean Sea islands to the mainland following a deadly fire at the country’s largest camp on the island of Lesbos.The decision was announced after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a four-hour cabinet meeting, a day after a fire at the Moria camp left one asylum-seeker dead and 17 injured.More than 12,000 people — more than four times the site’s capacity — are currently housed in the camp and just outside its perimeter following a spike in migrant arrivals over the summer.Police said the fire gutted eight container homes in the camp and triggered rioting by camp residents who were dispersed by riot police using stun grenades. No sign of arson was found at the site — contradicting earlier statements by authorities on the island who said the fires may have been started deliberately by camp dwellers.Government officials unveiled plans Monday to evenly distribute camps nationally in all 13 regional authorities, mostly on the mainland, replacing a three-year-old practice of containing new arrivals on Lesbos and four other eastern islands facing the Turkish coast.“This is a national crisis and it must be addressed with a spirit of responsibility,” said Eleftherios Oikonomou, a deputy public order minister. “The number of people on the islands will be reduced in an orderly way that is proportionate and involves the 13 regional authorities.”Other decisions include the creation of detention centers for migrants who do not have the right to apply for asylum, high-level contacts between the Greek and Turkish governments to restart deportations to Turkey, and continued military support for coast guard patrols in the eastern Aegean.The containment policy on the Greek islands was part of measures under a 2016 agreement between the European Union and Turkey to fight illegal immigration into Europe.But Mina Andreeva, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the EU executive supported the latest Greek measure and was ready to provide additional support. She described the fire on Lesbos as a “truly tragic event.”The interior ministers of France and Germany are due to visit Greece and Turkey this week with outgoing EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, a Greek.In Berlin, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government backed Greek efforts to increase the number of migrant deportations to Turkey.
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North Korea Complains at UN About US ‘Provocations’
North Korea decried the stalled state of its nuclear standoff with the United States and told the international community Monday that the fault lies with Washington’s “political and military provocations.” “It depends on the U.S.,” North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said, whether the negotiations “will become a window of opportunity or an occasion that will hasten the crisis.”
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly’s major annual gathering, he complained that the U.S. and South Korea are failing to follow through on separate summit pledges.
“The situation on the Korean peninsula has not come out of the vicious cycle of increased tension, which is entirely attributable to the political and military provocations perpetrated by the U.S.,” the ambassador said.
Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have apparently been frozen since a summit between Trump and leader Kim Jong Un broke down in February, though Trump and Kim met in June at the Korean border in an effort to push things forward. Trump became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.
Trump said last week that another summit meeting with Kim “could happen soon” but didn’t elaborate.
Pyongyang wants relief from crushing sanctions imposed over its push for nuclear-armed missiles that can viably target the U.S. mainland, but Washington wants stronger nuclear disarmament steps first.
Perhaps hoping for a thaw, both nations have struck more harmonious tones on the world stage than at the General Assembly two years ago, when Trump belittled Kim as “Rocket Man” and threatened to “totally destroy” his country. In response, North Korea issued a rare direct statement from Kim, vowing to “tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire.”
In advance of Monday’s speech, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that the U.S. had failed to follow through on summit agreements but that the North was placing hope in the U.S. president’s “wise option and bold decision.”
North Korea complains that the U.S. has boosted sanctions and resumed U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang has long decried. The North’s U.N. ambassador called on Seoul on Monday to “put an end to the big-power worship and the policy of dependence on foreign forces.”
At the same time, the North has continued conducting banned weapons tests. Trump has downplayed their significance, however.
In his General Assembly speech last week, Trump credited his administration with pursuing “bold diplomacy” with North Korea and called it “full of tremendous untapped potential” but said that “to realize that promise, North Korea must denuclearize.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has held a series of summits with North Korea’s leader, told the General Assembly last week that mutual security assurances would allow faster nuclear disarmament and peace on the peninsula.
He said his nation “will guarantee the security of North Korea. I hope North Korea will do the same for South Korea.”
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Thai Pime Minister Advises Masks Against Bangkok Smog
Thailand’s prime minister urged residents of Bangkok to wear face masks on Monday after smog covered parts of the capital in what some fear is a harbinger of more pollution to come.Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned in a statement on his Facebook page that the concentration of tiny dust particles called PM2.5 in the air had reached unsafe levels and said he has ordered government agencies to expedite anti-pollution measures. He also asked the construction and manufacturing sectors to reduce activities that release pollutants.Smog levels are expected to stay high for the next two or three days.The head of the country’s Pollution Control Department, Pralong Damrongthai, said the visibly dirty air was not caused by smoke originating from forest fires in Indonesia. Since last month, haze blown by monsoon winds from fires in Indonesia has affected nearby countries including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and parts of southern Thailand, raising concerns about aviation safety and health.Indonesian officials say they have made progress in containing the fires, including successful efforts at rainmaking, which they say reduced the number of fire “hotspots” from more than 5,000 about two weeks ago to 491 on Sunday.Thailand’s Pralong told Thai PBS television that the problem in Bangkok is due to still air and high humidity becoming loaded with ultrafine dust from vehicle emissions, construction sites and other pollutants. He said it was then trapped close to the ground by a blanket of warm air in what meteorologists call an inversion.Thailand’s government has set a safe level of 50 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter of air, although other countries have lower limits. The Pollution Control Department’s website put Monday’s level as high as 79 micrograms.PM2.5 particulates are small enough to be sucked deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, and can cause respiratory problems and may raise risks of cardiovascular disease and cancers.It’s the second time this year Bangkok has been blanketed with a cocktail of pollutants. Smog levels also spiked back in January.Pralong acknowledged the pollution levels might shoot up again in January and February, during the dry season, when farmers burn fields to make way for new planting, another factor that contributes to the problem. He said his department and other units are preparing more stringent measures to better handle the problem than earlier this year.As the noxious smog settled over Bangkok, many residents fished out masks from drawers and went about their business.“A lot of my friends are saying they come to the office, their noses are running. Their eyes really hurt. All of them are really coughing today. It’s not normal anymore,” said Piyavathara Natthadana, an office worker who was wearing a mask.“There’s not much we can do. We have to monitor the news and protect ourselves,” said Chakrapong Sanguanjit, another Bangkok resident walking downtown with a mask on.Some environmentalists blamed the government for failing to act fast enough, despite being well aware of the issues.“The cause of the problem is the same. The sources of the pollution are the same. But measures to control the sources of pollution are not implemented yet because they said that takes time,” said Tara Buakamsri of the environmental group Greenpeace.
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Turkey Vows to Keep Investigating Jamal Khashoggi’s Killing
Days ahead of the anniversary of the grisly slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that his country will press ahead with efforts to shed light on the killing.In a Washington Post op-ed, Erdogan described the journalist’s killing by a Saudi hit squad as “arguably the most influential and controversial incident of the 21st century” and blamed the murder on a “shadow state within the kingdom’s government — not the Saudi state or people.”The Turkish leader wrote: “We will keep asking the same questions… Where are Khashoggi’s remains? Who signed the Saudi journalist’s death warrant? Who dispatched the 15 killers, including a forensic expert, aboard the two planes to Istanbul?”Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, to collect a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found.Saudi Arabia initially offered multiple, shifting accounts about Khashoggi’s disappearance. As international pressure mounted, the kingdom eventually settled on the explanation that he was killed by rogue officials in a brawl inside their consulate.The kingdom has put 11 people on trial in non-public proceedings. No one has been convicted so far.Erdogan criticized the court proceedings in Saudi Arabia, which he said lacked transparency and maintained that some of Khashoggi’s murderers “enjoy de facto freedom.” The court proceedings “tarnish the image of Saudi Arabia,” Erdogan added.Interview: UN Special Rapporteur Callamard on Khashoggi ReportTeaser DescriptionVOA’s Geneva Stringer Lisa Schlein interviews Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, regarding her report on the killing of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal KhashoggiA U.N. report released earlier this year asserted that Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for the killing and that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s possible role should be investigated.On Sunday, Prince Mohammed said in a television interview that he takes “full responsibility” for Khashoggi’s death but denied allegations that he ordered it.“This was a heinous crime,” Prince Mohammed, 34, told “60 Minutes.” ″But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government.”
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No More Jail Time For Russian Actor Ustinov as Sentence Changed
The Moscow City Court has changed actor Pavel Ustinov’s 3 1/2-year prison sentence into a one-year suspended sentence amid an outcry over punishments being handed out after a series of pro-democracy rallies over the summer.The court also ruled on Monday that Ustinov will be put on a two-year probation period.Ustinov and his lawyer had asked the court to fully acquit the actor, saying his previous conviction for assaulting a law enforcement officer during a rally in August was unjust.The 23-year-old, who once worked as a National Guard officer, pleaded not guilty, saying he was standing nearby and was not participating in the rally at which activists challenged the refusal by officials to register opposition and independent candidates for Moscow city-council elections that took place on September 8.Video of Ustinov’s arrest appears to back up his claims, and his imprisonment and harsh sentence sparked an outcry among the entertainment community, as well as from teachers, priests, and even some members of the Moscow city council.After the September 30 ruling, Ustinov’s legal team said they would continue to fight for their client’s full exoneration.Police and legal officials have been sharply criticized for their heavy-handed tactics during and after the protests, which drew some of the biggest crowds since the breakup of the Soviet Union.Critics say the convictions have been overly harsh and are an overt attempt to scare off others from joining the protests.Prosecutors appeared to acknowledge the unjust situation, noting at the start of the appeal hearing on September 26 that Ustinov’s sentence was “too severe” and “the convict’s reformation is possible without his isolation from society.”On September 20, amid protests challenging his conviction, Ustinov was released from custody by a court and ordered not to leave Moscow before his appeal was ruled upon.
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Experts: Another Trump-Kim Summit Hinges on Denuclearization Agreement
Another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would hinge on Washington and Pyongyang agreeing on a denuclearization process through working-level talks, experts say.
“A summit appears likely,” said Douglas Paal, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “I hope staff-level talks resume and make progress toward any summit, not the other way around.”
This week, Washington and Pyongyang seemed unopposed to having another summit, but suggested intermediary steps and agreements made on a denuclearization process might be necessary beforehand.
Speaking Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump said a third summit with Kim “could happen soon,” and added, “I want to know what’s going to be coming out of it.”
‘Bold decision’
North Korea, in an apparent response to Trump, said Friday that it was expecting Trump to make a “bold decision” toward a breakthrough in currently stalled diplomacy. FILE – Men read public newspapers with headlines featuring the news on the country’s rocket launcher test at a subway station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 11, 2019.Foreign Minister adviser Kim Kye Gwan said through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that another summit would not happen unless the U.S. changed its position of demanding denuclearization before granting major concessions. Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said, “Given the failure of previous summits [and] based on [Trump’s] recent remarks, I think [Trump] wants to see some serious steps toward dismantling nuclear weapons resulting from senior working-level talks before giving away another summit.”
Talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since the failed summit at Hanoi in February, when Trump rejected Kim’s offer to dismantle a part of North Korea’s nuclear facilities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump instead asked Kim to take steps toward complete denuclearization.
Kim promised Trump that Pyongyang would return to working-level talks with Washington when the two leaders met at an impromptu summit at the inter-Korean border in June. But they have yet to settle their differences over denuclearization and sanctions relief.
South Korean intelligence officials said Tuesday that working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang would resume in a few weeks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, said Tuesday that the U.S. was unable to arrange working-level meetings with North Korea in September.
Paal said, “The most important factor is for the U.S. to lower its immediate requirements for progress toward denuclearization.”
He added that the U.S. should lower its initial demand for North Korea’s denuclearization, such as the “closure of test sites, complete closure of Yongbyon [nuclear facility], [and] closure of suspected uranium enrichment sites” and “seek to demonstrate a long-term commitment to de-nuking.”
Bolton blamed
Trump indicated last week that he was open to pursuing a “new method” in nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, as he attributed the failed talks with North Korea to former national security adviser John Bolton.
“I think John really should take a look at how badly they’ve done in the past and maybe a new method would be good,” Trump said.
Manning, of the Atlantic Council, said, “The U.S. side has clearly indicated flexibility and a willingness to move forward based on reciprocal steps.” FILE – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un focuses on the underwater test-fire of a strategic submarine ballistic missile in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, April 24, 2016.”So what is needed is the political will on the part of North Korea to pursue a reasonable deal that begins to dismantle their nuclear weapons program,” he added.
North Korea welcomed Trump’s reference to a “new method,” which appeared to suggest Washington was open to taking a more flexible position and making smaller deals on denuclearization, in contrast to its demand in Hanoi for a big deal that required complete denuclearization upfront.
‘Practical point of view’
North Korean diplomat Kim Myong Gil, who is expected to lead Pyongyang’s working-level talks with Washington, on Friday praised “the wise political decision of President Trump to approach the DPRK-U.S. relations from a more practical point of view” in a statement released on KCNA. DPRK is an initialism for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
Ken Gause, director of the analytics program at the CNA research group, pointed out that Trump’s mention of “new method” did not mean he would grant sanctions relief that North Korea wants.
“President Trump gave no indication at the U.N. that he is willing to entertain sanctions relief, which is what North Korea wants,” Gause said. “Absent U.S. concessions, I can’t see Kim Jong Un agreeing to a third summit anytime soon. That is why Pompeo is not successful in getting working-level meetings started.”
Gause said that unless the U.S. grants sanctions relief, Special Representative for North Korea Steve Beigun will have nothing to offer at the working-level talks.
“Only sanctions relief will move the denuclearization process forward,” he said. “Otherwise, North Korea will begin to disengage from the U.S. and move quickly to secure a fully mature nuclear program.”
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Al-Shabab Attacks Airbase Used by US Military
Al-Shabab militants launched an attack on an airbase used by the U.S. military supporting Somali forces, security sources said.The militants detonated explosions from two car bombs at Ballidogle airport in Lower Shabelle region, about 90 kilometers west of Mogadishu. A local source reported hearing two explosions in the vicinity of the airport.Al-Shabab issued a statement claiming responsibility for “storming” the base.“After breaching the perimeters of the heavily fortified base, the Mujahideen stormed the military complex, engaging the crusaders in an intense firefight,” the statement said. “The battle is still ongoing”.Somali national army radio, in a twitter post, said the militants detonated car bombs at the outer perimeter of the base. It said the Somali soldiers and their U.S. partners “repelled” the attack.The U.S. ambassador to Somalia condemned the attack and praised Somali security forces for their actions. “We commend the Somali security forces who repelled the attack against the Somali National Army [SNA] Base in Baledogle, Lower Shabelle region,” a statement said.The Associated Press reports the U.S. uses the base to launch drone attacks on al-Shabab targets.Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded in Mogadishu, the capital, targeting a military convoy near the Jaalle Siyad military academy. Witnesses said the suicide car bomb detonated near the academy, which is used for training Somali security forces by the international forces, including the European Union.Reuters reports the explosion missed European Union peacekeepers, but injured Somali civilians.
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History Shows Impeachment Battles Risky and Unpredictable
President Donald Trump made history this past week, but not the kind he had hoped for. Trump is now the fourth U.S. president to become the subject of an impeachment inquiry, the U.S. constitutional process whereby Congress may remove a president from office. History shows that the politics of impeachment are complicated and risky, and the eventual outcome and fallout are often hard to predict. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
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Historic Payment to Gabon Seeks to Preserve ‘Earth’s Lungs’
Gabon is one of the greenest countries in the world, with 88 percent of its land covered by forest. A historic agreement between Gabon and Norway is seeking to ensure it stays that way. Through the U.N.-backed Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), Norway will pay Gabon up to $150 million over 10 years in exchange for Gabon reducing its carbon emissions and to give value to the forests’ role in absorbing carbon dioxide. In an interview with Voice of America, Lee White, Gabon’s Minister of Forests, said the agreement is groundbreaking because it is making it nearly as valuable for countries to preserve forests as to chop them down. “In all of the deals we’ve seen over the years, forest carbon has been worth $5 a ton. And in this one, subject to meeting best practice, they’ve gone to $10. So overnight we doubled the price of forest carbon. It gives a lot of hope to all the other forest nations,” he said. In a statement, CAFI said the deal will allow Gabon to achieve its goal of preserving 98 percent of its existing rainforest for the future. Across Central Africa, forests store as much as 70 billion tons of carbon which is equal to 5 to 10 years of global greenhouse gas emissions, CAFI said. The African forest is the second-largest rainforest in the world, sometimes called “Earth’s second lung”White said the agreement is part of a larger effort by Gabon to preserve its forests. Ten years ago, the country made headlines by announcing an end to raw timber exports. Although logging continues for processed wood products and domestic use, it is done in a sustainable way, White said.“We’ve doubled the number of forestry jobs and we’re opening new processing plants pretty much every month. And so that measure is starting to pay off. And what we’re finding is that we can make more money and create more jobs by exploiting less,” he said.He added that this is a strong reversal of centuries of exploitation of natural resources on the African continent by Europeans.“If you look at the history of the continent it’s been about ripping out cheap natural resources and sending it to other parts of the world to develop,” White said. “So Africa fueled the Industrial Revolution. Africa has fueled part of China’s rise and in economic terms. And so the first component of it is to make the use of our natural resources indigenous to transform things locally.”
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China Spurns US Criticism of Economic Cooperation With Afghanistan
A regional Chinese diplomat has rebuked the United States for being “ignorant” about his country’s ongoing key economic contributions and cooperation with Afghanistan.Arrangements are being worked out to enhance the cooperation with Kabul even under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Yao Jing, the Chinese ambassador to neighboring Pakistan told VOA.He hailed Saturday’s successful Afghan presidential election, saying China hopes they will boost peace-building efforts in a country wrecked by years of conflicts.“We hope that with the election in Afghanistan, with the peace development moving forward in Afghanistan, Afghans will finally achieve a peaceful period, achieve the stability,” said the Chinese diplomat, who served in Kabul prior to his posting in Islamabad.Earlier this month, U.S. officials and lawmakers during a congressional hearing in Washington sharply criticized China for its lack of economic assistance to Afghan rebuilding efforts.“I think it’s fair to say that China has not contributed to the economic development of Afghanistan. We have not seen any substantial assistance from China,” Alice Wells, U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, told lawmakers.Wells, however, acknowledged that Beijing has worked with Washington on a way forward on peace as have other countries, including Russia and immediate neighbors of Afghanistan.“She is a little ignorant about what China’s cooperation with Afghanistan is,” ambassador Yao said when asked to comment on the remarks made by Wells.He recounted that Beijing late last year established a trade corridor with Kabul, which Afghan officials say have enabled local traders to directly export thousands of tons of pine nuts to the Chinese market annually, bringing much-needed dollars. Yao said a cargo train was also started in 2016 from eastern China to Afghanistan’s landlocked northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.China is also working on infrastructure projects, including the road linking Kabul to the eastern city of Jalalabad and the road between the central Afghan city of Bamiyan and Mazar-e-Sharif. Chinese companies, Yao, said are also helping in establishing transmission lines and other infrastructure being developed under the CASA-1000 electricity transmission project linking Central Asia to energy-starved South Asia nations through Afghanistan.Ambassador Yao noted that China and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding on BRI cooperation, identifying several major projects of connectivity.“But the only problem is that the security situation pose a little challenge. So, that is why China and Pakistan and all the regional countries, we are working so hard trying to support or facilitate peace in Afghanistan,” he said. For her part, Ambassador Wells told U.S. lawmakers that China’s BRI is a “slogan” and “not any reality” in Afghanistan. “They have just tried to lockdown lucrative mining contracts but not following through with investment or real resources,” she noted.Wells said that Washington continues to warn its partners, including the Afghan government about “falling prey to predatory loans or loans that are designed to benefit only the Chinese State.”U.S. officials are generally critical of BRI for “known problems with corruption, debt distress, environmental damage, and a lack of transparency.” The projects aims to link China by sea and land through an infrastructure network with southeast and central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.But Yao rejected those concerns and cited the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a pilot project of BRI, which has brought around $20 billion in Chinese investment to Pakistan within the past six years. It has helped Islamabad build roads and power plants, helping the country overcome its crippling electricity shortages, improve its transportation network and operationalize the strategic deep-sea Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
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Luxury Cars Seized from African Leader Auctioned
A fleet of luxury, high-performance cars seized from the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president have been auctioned off for more than $23 million.The 25 cars were seized by Swiss authorities after an investigation into money laundering. They once belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also vice president to Equatorial Guniea’s 40-year ruler President Theodora Obiang.Among the cars sold Sunday were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and a McLaren.A rare white Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, one of only nine built, sold for $8.3million to an anonymous buyer.Proceeds from the auction will go to a charity to fund social programs in the tiny oil-rich Central African country.Obiang’s luxury lifestyle has draw foreign ire before. Last year, Brazilian officials seized $16 million in cash and high-end watches from a delegation traveling with Obiang.He was given a three-year suspended sentence by a French court for spending millions of dollars of public funds on a Paris apartment, a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.Earlier, he entered into a $30 million settlement with U.S. authorities who accused him of using looted public funds to buy a California mansion and a vast collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the crystal-encrusted white glove from Jackson’s “Bad” world tour.
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Thousands of Anti-Kremlin Protesters Turn Out, Demanding End of Political Repression
The drizzle had stopped by the time anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny bounded to the stage to cheers in a packed downtown Moscow square, where at least 20,000 anti-government protesters assembled to demand an end to prosecutions tied to earlier mass protests.The overcast sky and unseasonably cold September weather didn’t deter the tens of thousands of protesters to assemble to voice their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to call for the release of 13 anti-government activists still being held in jail in Moscow. Four others have been freed but remain under investigation.It was the first mass event Navalny has appeared since he was released last month from jail where he had been held for 30 days for organizing unauthorized public gatherings.Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny just before bounded to protest stage to tell protesters they should have confidence in their power, Moscow, Sept. 29, 2019. (J. Dettmer/VOA)The chants of “Let Them Go” and “Putin is a Thief” were heard throughout an afternoon during which the police maintained a low presence for a protest that had had been granted a rare legal permit by Moscow city authorities. More than 1,000 people were detained in July and August during the largest demonstrations since Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidency in 2012. Those protests had not been sanctioned and at their height they saw as many as 60,000 turn out to brave harsh police crackdowns.In 2012, the anti-Putin protests, sparked by allegations of electoral fraud and frustration over Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a third presidential term, eventually fizzled out, with anti-government activists worn down by an uncompromising Kremlin. Protesters Sunday expressed some worry the same fate will befall the new wave of demonstrations.But 36-year-old Lisa, a freelancer working in the education sector, said she isn’t allowing that to deter her from joining the protests now.“There is no way of staying at home, no way of observing and not taking any action,” she told VOA. “It is too much. I have not been to any gatherings for years. But now I can’t stand just staying at home. I prefer not to think about 2102 but live in the here and now,” she added.Police estimated the crowd at 20,000 — organizers put the figure higher at 25,000.Anti-Kremlin protesters demand release of more than a dozen arrested for taking part in demonstrations in July and August against rigged Moscow city council elections, Sept. 29, 2019. (J. Dettmer/VOA)Political activist Navalny, widely seen as the key opposition figure in a protest movement that has brought together groups spread across the spectrum, from Communists and liberals to Russian nationalists and others of no fixed ideology, says now is not like 2012, when a Kremlin crackdown exhausted anti-government protesters.Speaking to VOA and other reporters, he said: “The most important thing we saw today is that protests supporting political prisoners are not niche anymore. You remember such meetings in 2012-2014. They were small. And there were just a few of them. Now we see the defense of political prisoners is the main political subject. More and more people are getting involved, many of whom were never interested in politics before. It is very important and we’re at the beginning. What we see now is totally different, in terms of the size and duration. Previous protests rapidly faded. Now new people are getting involved.”To the crowd, who chanted along with him, Navalny said: “We should be confident of our power.” He asked the crowd why they thought the Kremlin had released some activists. “Because they have a conscience? Because they are ashamed? Because they have children? No, because they’re afraid that their popularity ratings were dropping,” he answered.Earlier, Ilya Azar, a journalist and activist, told the flag and placard-waving crowd: “Looking back to the protest in 2011-2012 there was no such solidarity of civil society as we can see now. This is fantastic.” She said the strength of the movement had intimidated the authorities into releasing jailed activists.Alexey Minyaylo was freed last week from jail after rioting charges against him were dropped, Moscow, Sept. 29, 2019. (J. Dettmer/VOA)One of those freed, Alexey Minyaylo, who released from custody after prosecutors dropped rioting charges against him, told VOA he believed civil society has matured since 2012-2014. “In 2012 there were very high expectations but we were not ready for a real fight and when we were hit, we just stood back and did nothing. Now we can take hits and still act.”Tatiana Lazareva, an activist and onetime TV host who lost her job after participating in anti-Putin protests, says the issues now and in 2012 are the same — honest elections and honest trials. But “people are starting to realize that they’re living worse. The important thing is that people are starting to understand there’s no sense just to blame Putin, they have to do something themselves.”Lazareva acknowledges there’s a disconnect between Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the protest movements are stronger, and the countryside. She argues the protest movement has to do more to reach out. “Big cities attract brave people who come to achieve something. People here are different. People who afraid of something or afraid to overcome something stay in their hometowns,’ she says.
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Washington Prepares for Trump Impeachment Inquiry
Following Tuesday’s announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump, politicians in Washington are trading allegations over Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and the business activities of Hunter Biden, the son of leading Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. Mike O’Sullivan reports, the rhetoric is heated as the Democratic-led investigation of the Republican president gets under way
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September Storm Blankets Montana with Heavy Snow
Less than a week after the autumnal equinox brought fall to the United States, the northwestern parts of the country got hammered by an early winter storm.Parts of Montana received more than 60 centimeters of snow.The National Weather Service also forecasts snow for parts of Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Nevada and California.Montana Governor Steve Bullock declared an emergency Sunday, allowing the state to free up resources to help the worst-affected areas.”Montanans should heed all warnings from state and local officials, travel safely, and be cautious during this time,” Bullock said in a statement.”Very heavy wet snow and strong winds will lead to downed trees, power outages, and treacherous travel conditions,” the weather service warned.It also warned Montanans to take extra care of their pets and livestock.The storm was expected to let up sometime Monday.
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Weakened, But Powerful Hurricane Lorenzo Heads for Azores
Hurricane Lorenzo lost some force Sunday, weakening to a Category 4 storm after briefly escalating to Category 5 late Saturday.The National Hurricane Center said the powerful storm is expected to pass over or near the Azores, the group of Portuguese islands about 900 miles west of Portugal on Tuesday.”Steady weakening is expected over the next few days, but Lorenzo is still expected to be a potent hurricane in a couple of days,” the center said.The forecasters warned of heavy rains and life-threatening flash flooding on the islands.”Lorenzo is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 3 to 6 inches over much of the western Azores and 1 to 2 inches over the central Azores on Tuesday and Wednesday. This rainfall could cause life-threatening flash flooding in the western Azores,” the center said.The NHC said Lorenzo has a wide wind field that could bring strong surf conditions to the beaches of the eastern United States and Canada, Western Europe and many Caribbean islands over the next few days.Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Narda began pounding Mexico’s Pacific Coast Sunday.Narda was expected to dump up to 25 centimeters of rainfall along the Mexican coast from Oaxaca to Nayarit, including resort towns of Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta.
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More Violence Grips Hong Kong ahead of China’s National Day
Protesters and police clashed in Hong Kong for a second straight day on Sunday, throwing the semiautonomous Chinese territory’s business and shopping belt into chaos and sparking fears of more ugly scenes leading up to China’s National Day holiday this week.Riot police repeatedly fired blue liquid – used to identify protesters – from a water cannon truck and multiple volleys of tear gas after demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and targeted the city’s government office complex.It was a repeat of Saturday’s clashes and part of a familiar cycle since pro-democracy protests began in early June. The protests were sparked by a now-shelved extradition bill and have since snowballed into an anti-China movement.”We know that in the face of the world’s largest totalitarian regime – to quote Captain America, ‘Whatever it takes,'” Justin Leung, a 21-year-old demonstrator who covered his mouth with a black scarf, said of the violent methods deployed by hard-line protesters. “The consensus right now is that everyone’s methods are valid and we all do our part.”Protesters are planning to march again Tuesday despite a police ban, raising fears of more violent confrontations that would embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping as his ruling Communist Party marks 70 years since taking power. Posters are calling for Oct. 1 to be marked as “A Day of Grief.””So many youngsters feel that they’re going to have no future because of the power of China,” Andy Yeung, 40, said as he pushed his toddler in a stroller. “It’s hopeless for Hong Kong. If we don’t stand up, there will be no hope.”Hong Kong’s government has already scaled down the city’s National Day celebrations, canceling an annual fireworks display and moving a reception indoors.Despite security concerns, the government said Sunday that Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader, will lead a delegation of over 240 people to Beijing on Monday to participate in National Day festivities.Sunday’s turmoil started in the early afternoon when police fired tear gas to disperse a large crowd that had amassed in the popular Causeway Bay shopping district. But thousands of people regrouped and defiantly marched along a main thoroughfare toward government offices, crippling traffic.Protesters, many clad in black with umbrellas and carrying pro-democracy posters and foreign flags, sang songs and chanted “Stand with Hong Kong, fight for freedom.” Some defaced, tore down and burned National Day congratulatory signs, setting off a huge blaze on the street. Others smashed windows and lobbed gasoline bombs into subway exits that had been shuttered.Police then fired a water cannon and tear gas as the crowd approached the government office complex. Most fled but hundreds returned, hurling objects into the complex.Members of an elite police squad, commonly known as raptors, then charged out suddenly from behind barricades, taking many protesters by surprise. Several who failed to flee in time were subdued and detained in a scene of chaos.The raptors, backed by scores of riot police, pursued protesters down roads to nearby areas. Officers continued to fire a water cannon and more tear gas, and the cat-and-mouse clashes lasted late into the night. Streets were left littered with graffiti on walls and debris.The demonstration was part of global “anti-totalitarianism” rallies to denounce “Chinese tyranny.” Thousands rallied in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, while more than 1,000 took part in a rally in Sydney.The protracted unrest, approaching four months long, has battered Hong Kong’s economy, with businesses and tourism plunging.Chief Executive Lam held her first community dialogue with the public on Thursday in a bid to defuse tensions but failed to persuade protesters, who vowed to press on until their demands are met, including direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.Earlier Sunday, hundreds of pro-Beijing Hong Kong residents sang the Chinese national anthem and waved red flags at the Victoria Peak hilltop and a waterfront cultural center in a show of support for Chinese rule.”We want to take this time for the people to express our love for our country, China. We want to show the international community that there is another voice to Hong Kong” apart from the protests, said organizer Innes Tang.Mobs of Beijing supporters have appeared in malls and on the streets in recent weeks to counter pro-democracy protesters, leading to brawls between the rival camps.Many people view the extradition bill, which would have sent criminal suspects to mainlandChina for trial, as a glaring example of the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.China has denied chipping away at Hong Kong’s freedoms and accused the U.S. and other foreign powers of fomenting the unrest to weaken its dominance.
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Hope Endures for Nigerian Cardiac Patients
Health experts say Nigeria is seeing increasing cases of heart disease. Low awareness, lack of adequate medical facilities and expertise are major factors worsening the situation in the country. But a non profit is collaborating with the World Heart Federation to provide proper education and treatment for underprivileged patients.Participants chat at an awareness and fundraising event to mark World Heart Day in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.The program is organized by the non-profit, Global Development and Charity Support Foundation in collaboration with the World Heart Federation.Head of the non profit, Samuel Asomugha says apart from educating locals on the early signs of heart disease, his organization is making funds available to treat patients.”When you have a healthy heart, then you can lead a healthy life, then a lot of these health and heart related mortalities can be avoided,” he said.The non-profit targets about 1,000 patients for treatment.A 2018 WHO country profile reveals cardiovascular diseases is the leading cause of deaths among non-communicable diseases in Nigeria with over 11 percent prevalence.”Whichever heart disease you want to look at, whether it’s heart failure, whether it’s coronary artery disease, the incidence of patients who are coming forward to hospital is on the rise,” says cardiologist Dauda Balami.Congenital heart deformities in children are also on the rise.Nnamdi Azubuike’s one-year-old child was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2015.”We found out that he was not breathing very well, so we went to the hospital and after the analysis, then a doctor now told us that he’s having a hole in his heart,” said Azubuike.Heart related conditions often require tertiary level care and sophisticated surgeries but Nigeria lacks medical facilities and the expertise needed.Paediatrician and cardiologist Tolu Utele, admits the situation is serious.”It is almost like a death sentence for children that are born with these heart defects, all we do in most places is to manage them until they die and many of them actually end up dying,” said Utele.As talks around heart issues continue in Nigeria, citizens, nonprofits and many with conditions hope things get better.
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