The sister of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been found guilty in France of having a plumber beaten and held captive in her Paris apartment.Princess Hassa bint Salman, who was tried in absentia, was given a 10-month suspended sentence Thursday and fined $11,000 on charges of armed violence and complicity to hold someone against their will.The only daughter of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman reportedly became angry when she thought the plumber, Egyptian-born French national Ashraf Eid, had photographed her inside her home.Eid said he was summoned to fix a sink in the princess’ bathroom in September 2016. He claimed she saw him take photos of the bathroom, which he needed for his work, and accused him of taking the photos in order to sell them.The indictment said she ordered her bodyguard Rani Saidi to beat and humiliate Eid.The plumber also said the guard beat him, tied him up, put a gun to his head and ordered him to kiss the princess’ feet.Eid filed a complaint with the police after he was released from the apartment several hours later.Princess Hassa left France three days after the incident and has not returned.Her bodyguard, who was in the court Thursday, was given an eight-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a $5,600 fine.The princess’ French lawyer called the allegations “fanciful,” and said his team would appeal the ruling.
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Month: September 2019
US Budget Deficit for 11 Months Up $169 Billion Over 2018
The U.S. government’s budget deficit increased by $169 billion to $1.07 trillion in the first 11 months of this budget year as spending grew faster than tax collections.The Treasury Department reported Thursday that the deficit with just one month left in the budget year is up 18.8% over the same period a year ago.Budget experts project a surplus for September, which would push the total 2019 deficit down slightly below the $1 trillion mark. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting a deficit this year of $960 billion, compared to a 2018 deficit of $779 billion.Going forward, the CBO sees the annual deficit topping $1 trillion in 2020 and never falling below $1 trillion over the next decade.The government has only recorded trillion-dollar-plus deficits in one other period, during the four years 2009 through 2012 when spending went up to deal with a deep recession and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.Increased spending The higher deficits currently reflect higher government spending, reflecting two budget agreements in 2018 and this year between the Trump administration and Congress that added billions of dollars in extra spending for the military and domestic programs.In addition, Social Security and Medicare payments are surging as millions of baby boomers retire. Added to the increased spending is the impact of the $1.5 trillion tax cut President Donald Trump pushed through Congress in 2017, reducing individual and corporate tax rates. For this year, revenues are up 3.4%, but spending is up by 7 percent, nearly double the increase in revenues.Individual tax revenues have risen by 2% in the first 11 months of this year compared to the same period in 2018, while corporate tax revenues are down 2%.TariffsBucking this slow growth are tariffs which are up $28 billion or 73% over last year, reflecting the higher tariffs Trump has imposed on China and other nations as part of his get-tough trade battles.On the spending side, the government this year has spent $379.1 billion on interest payments on the debt, up $47 billion from a year ago, reflecting the growing size of the national debt.Commenting on the new report, Michael Peterson, head of the Peterson Foundation, said, “Absent more responsible budgets, the deficit and interest costs will continue to grow rapidly, diminishing America’s future.”
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US House Panel Subpoenas Top US-Afghan Negotiator
The Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Representative Eliot Engel, has subpoenaed the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, to testify at an open hearing of the committee Sept. 19.The Democratic committee chair released a statement Thursday criticizing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying he “flatly refused” to make Khalilzad available to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, ignoring multiple requests for briefings and testimony on the Afghanistan peace plan.”More than 2,000 American troops have died in Afghanistan, and I’m fed up with this administration keeping Congress and the American people in the dark on the peace process and how we’re going to bring this long war to a close,” Engel wrote.FILE – U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 27, 2019.Earlier this week, President Donald Trump called off peace negotiations with the Taliban that his special envoy Khalilzad had been involved with for almost a year. Trump tweeted that he had planned to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Taliban leaders at the presidential retreat at Camp David, in Maryland, but called it off after last week’s deadly bombing in Kabul.This was the first subpoena issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee this Congress, which began Tuesday. Engel said his committee has been trying for months to get answers about the administration’s Afghanistan peace efforts.”We need to hear directly from the Administration’s point person on Afghanistan to understand how this process went off the rails,” he wrote.FILE – State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, June 17, 2019.Before the subpoena was issued Thursday, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus was asked at a briefing about Khalilzad’s whereabouts. She said he is in Washington, D.C., likely at the State Department, and that he is still in his job as Special Representative for Afghanistan.Asked about the status of U.S. talks with the Afghan government and the Taliban, Ortagus said, “I mean, I think the president has made clear that for now they’re dead. That’s the president’s directive and I don’t think that there’s any reason for me to go beyond that.”Ortagus said Khalilzad had been working on negotiating a way forward in Afghanistan under the president’s goal of achieving peace in Afghanistan, withdrawing U.S. troops, and protecting the U.S. homeland from any future terrorist attacks.Khalilzad’s yearlong peace mission has been Washington’s most dedicated push for peace, focusing not just on the Taliban, Afghanistan’s government and prominent Afghan power brokers, but also on its neighbors, who are often blamed for outright interference in Afghanistan.
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Health Status Unclear for Tanzania Journalist Arrested for Sedition
A Tanzanian journalist arrested in July after criticizing the president in print appeared in court Thursday, looking weak and having trouble walking. Prospects for Erick Kabendera’s release were dashed Thursday when the government prosecutor said the investigation against him is still in progress.FILE – Erick KabenderaKabendera had trouble walking when he entered the court chamber. His lawyer, Jebra Kambole, says the plan for his medical treatment is unclear, though the magistrate issued instructions that included meeting with a prison doctor for a checkup.Kambole said a Sept. 18 hearing is set to look at Kabendera’s health status, and the court may issue more instructions at that time.Kabendera, 39, was arrested at the end of July at his home amid questions about his citizenship. Later the charges were changed and he was accused of sedition, money laundering, and organized crime.Kabendera’s work has been published in national and international newspapers. He regularly covers Africa’s politics, trade and extractive industries for leading publications, including The Guardian and The Times, both based in Britain.After Kabendera was arrested, Kambole said his client was facing sedition charges in connection with an article in The Economist, in which Kabendera said President John Magufuli is “bulldozing” Tanzania’s freedom.Earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists included Kabendera on its 10 most urgent cases that require global attention.
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Endangered Vultures Killed for Rituals in Nigeria
Across Nigeria, there’s a rising demand for vultures, and poachers are driving the local population of four large vulture species to near extinction.
The Nigerian Conservation Foundation is now placing vulture preservation high on its agenda, hoping to revive the threatened population. Abidemi Balogun, a senior special conservation officer with the foundation’s educational unit, is engaging with local communities where superstitions and folklore about the birds persist.
“Someone actually asked me how do they identity the evil ones because there’s been a belief that vultures are evil birds,” Balogun told VOA with a laugh.
She’s been with the foundation for eight years and said vulture poaching was not taken seriously in the past. Spiritual practicesShe said that the birds aren’t being hunted for consumption as much as they’re being killed for spiritual practices. In 2017, the foundation conducted a market survey to see how the birds were traded.
“Some of the findings that we made is that the head is used for ritual purposes and the head is the most expensive part of it,” she said.
In local markets, vulture feathers are sold for about 100 naira, or less than 50 cents. But the head can fetch up to 25,000 naira, or about $70.
In Nigeria’s diverse cultural landscape, the beliefs around vultures vary widely. In the southwest, where they’re called igún, vultures are seen as sacred in traditional spirituality. According to folklore, they can be used to communicate with the dead or to appease the gods in elaborate sacrificial ceremonies.
In northern Nigeria, they are consumed. But they’re also sold by traders known as yan shinfida to be used in traditional medicine and spiritual healing. TreatmentsA 2013 report cited traders in the north marketing vulture parts to treat epilepsy, mental instability and stroke, as well as to offer supernatural protection, good luck, pain relief and relief for women in labor. Some say the head possesses clairvoyant powers.
In southeastern Nigeria, the bird is not eaten and has no place in traditional spirituality, Ike Nwakamma of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Traditional Worshippers told VOA. He said it is viewed as unclean, and therefore unacceptable to traditional gods. People don’t want them around, whether alive or dead.
That’s why an incident that happened in July caused panic at a local market.
Amateur videos captured shocked and fearful reactions at the sight of 50 dead vultures on the ground at Eke-Ihe market in the Awgu community, in the southeastern state of Enugu.
Igwe Godwin Ekoh, the traditional ruler of Ihe and the chairman of the Agwu Traditional Rulers Council, told VOA that a poacher had killed the vultures en masse, using poisoned meat, to sell the corpses.
Vulture trafficking has become a lucrative trade. The NIgerian Conservation foundation said 500 tons of vultures are trafficked every month.
BirdLife International, a global partnership organization, said that across Africa, vulture populations have virtually collapsed in the last 30 years, with poisoning as the major threat.
In June, 537 vultures were found dead in Botswana’s northeast, after ingesting poison left by elephant poachers.
BirdLife International describes vultures as nature’s sanitary workers, worthy of being celebrated. Vulture workshops
In Enugu last week, Igwe Ekoh attended a forum that was organized by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation for International Vulture Awareness Day, held on the first Saturday every September. The foundation held workshops in Jalingo, Ibadan and Sokoto as well as Enugu.
Attendants at the Enugu edition went to a popular market to talk to meat butchers and asked them to inform authorities if they ever saw vulture parts being sold.
Igwe Ekoh said he left the forum with a newfound appreciation for vultures, saying he learned about how they are vital to reducing the spread of bacteria of dead animals.
A local NGO, the South Saharan Development Organization (SSDO), has agreed to partner with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation. SSDO will set up conservation clubs for high school students to learn about the environment and the role of animals, including vultures, in sustaining nature.
“It’s holistic,” SSDO’s executive director, Dr. Stanley Ilechukwu, told VOA.
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House Democrats Struggle to Define Impeachment Investigation
House Judiciary Democrats laid out new procedures for an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Trump Thursday, closing a week of confusion on Capitol Hill. With fewer than 40 legislative days remaining this year, House Democrats are at odds over whether multiple investigations into the president already constitute an impeachment inquiry.Democrats have tried to frame the debate as a matter of word choice but the answer could have serious political consequences for the way the party is perceived by voters headed into the 2020 presidential election year.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back against accusations of confusion Thursday, saying her party has held firm to the same three principles of legislating, investigating and litigating the matter in the courts.“People are impatient about it moving more quickly – we can’t go any faster than the facts,” Pelosi saidU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks with reporters following her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 12, 2019.Pelosi has emphasized the need for a methodical investigation, an approach that has sometimes seemed at odds with House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, who has previously said the committee is already engaged in an impeachment inquiry. Nadler said Thursday the wording was of secondary importance to the committee’s goals. “Some call this process an impeachment inquiry, some call it an impeachment investigation. There’s no legal difference between these terms,” Nadler said. “Let me clear up any remaining doubt, this conduct poses a threat to our democracy, we have an obligation to respond to this threat.”The procedural vote Thursday allows the committee’s chairman to designate certain meetings for examining information to determine whether it should recommend articles of impeachment. It would also allow witnesses at such meetings to testify for longer than under usual committee hearing rules.The resolution would also call for Trump’s legal team to respond in writing to any information presented.Various legislative committees are looking into a number of matters concerning the president, including his failure to release his tax returns, his payment of hush money to stop publication of embarrassing stories, and the spending of taxpayer money at the president’s hotels and properties.Impeachment already?At issue is the question of whether impeachment constitutes a vote on the House floor or, as Nadler has defined it, the investigation undertaken by his committee as it gathers evidence on impeachment offenses.Democrats are torn between an investigation that could alienate some voters and fulfilling their Constitutional responsibility of oversight of the Executive Branch, a move many in the Democratic base wants to see happen.Articles of impeachment would have to be voted on by the full House and it is doubtful the Republican Senate would vote to remove the president from office. In the US House of Representatives, the majority of Democrats support a formal inquiry to determine if impeachable offenses have been committed.But many Democrats have refrained from saying if they would vote for impeachment, a key political consideration ahead of the 2020 election.FILE – Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 28, 2018.During the weekly House Democratic caucus press conference Wednesday, chairman Hakeem Jeffries, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, declined to use Chairman Nadler’s phrase “impeachment investigation.”Earlier in the week, Jeffries told reporters, “I support the chairman’s effort to hold this administration accountable. I support the investigation and all of its parameters. I support the fact that he’s taking a close look at the obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and culture of corruption coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”Pelosi has repeatedly said the party must follow the lead of public opinion on the divisive issue of a presidential impeachment. In a July 30 Quinnipiac University poll, only 32% of Americans said they supported such an investigation.“I think it’s important to understand that there is no daylight between the Judiciary Committee and the Speaker,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who is also a member of Judiciary. “We can lead these platforms, and we can really help influence public opinion. It doesn’t just happen and people look to the folks who represent them to make sense of what is happening. And I think that’s what we have to remember is we shouldn’t just follow the polling on something of constitutional importance like this, we should actually lead on it.”Republicans argue Democrats are tiptoeing around impeachment while attempting to shield themselves from the full political risks of a formal inquiry. Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member on House Judiciary, compared Democrats’ attempts to social media posturing.“The Judiciary Committee has become a giant Instagram filter to make you appear that’s something’s happening this not,” said Collins. “The difference between formal impeachment proceedings and what we’re doing today is a world apart no matter what the chairman just said.”The lack of consensus could prove to be its own political risk, weakening Democrats’ case against Trump.Rep. Mark Meadows, who is stepping down from chairmanship of the House Freedom Caucus, Tweeted Wednesday “Ask a House Democrat whether or not they’re impeaching the President and you’ll get a different answer from all of them. It’s not just that they don’t have a case. They can’t even get their story straight.”
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US Still Mulling Sanctions Against Turkey
Turkey could still get hit with U.S. sanctions, part of the continuing fallout over its decision to accept delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in July.
“They are not out of the woods on imposition of sanctions,” State Department Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper told reporters in Washington Thursday.
“All the options are on the table,” he said, adding Washington has no timeline for making a decision.R. Clarke Cooper, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, is seen in an official State Department photo. Tensions between Turkey, a key U.S. and NATO ally, and Washington have been growing over the past year, sparked in part by U.S support for some Kurdish forces in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. But Ankara’s decision to go ahead with purchase of the advanced, Russian-made air defense system has been equally thorny.
For months, the U.S. had warned Ankara that by accepting the S-400, it was jeopardizing its relationship and risked losing its role as a key partner in the production of the F-35 joint strike fighter, the most advanced in the U.S. fleet.
Following Russia’s July delivery of the S-400, the White House announced the F-35 partnership with Turkey was over, costing Turkish companies an estimated $9 billion.
“Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible,” the White House said in a statement at the time, describing the S-400 as a “Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.”
“Accepting the S-400 undermines the commitments all NATO Allies made to each other to move away from Russian systems,” the White House added.
On Thursday, Cooper said some of the penalties Turkey faces are mandated by law, including some that could be levied under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
But he said other factors were also at play.
“Turkey’s an Interesting case because we have a number of partners where we have growing relationships with who are closely watching how Turkey is managed,” Cooper said.
But he also expressed some hope that relations between the U.S. and Turkey could be repaired.
“Depending on who one talks to in the Turkish government, there are those who are acutely aware and sensitive and appreciative that this is not over and are wanting to get back to how things may have been” Cooper added. “Decisions coming out of Ankara are not necessarily reflective of the military institution or the foreign ministry.”
Separately, Cooper said the recent approved sale of 32 F-35 fighters to Poland for $6.5 billion was unrelated to the decision to oust Turkey from the program.
“The Poland purchase was well within the works way before we had to impose a break with Turkey,” he said.
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Northern Ireland Court Throws Out Brexit Challenge
A Belfast court on Thursday rejected claims that the British government’s Brexit strategy will harm Northern Ireland’s peace process, the latest in a series of legal challenges to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans.Three linked cases had argued that a no-deal U.K. exit from the European Union on Oct. 31 would undermine agreements between the British and Irish governments that were struck during the peace process.At the High Court in Belfast, judge Bernard McCloskey said the argument belonged in the world of politics, not law.
“Virtually all of the assembled evidence belongs to the world of politics, both national and supra-national,” he said.If the claimants appeal the ruling, the case could join two other legal challenges to Johnson’s plan to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a divorce deal heard at the U.K. Supreme Court next week.The ruling was good news for the government, which is facing attacks to its plans on several fronts. It was forced to defend itself after publication on an official assessment that there could be food and medicine shortages, gridlock at ports and riots in the streets if there is a no-deal Brexit.The stark picture of disruption represents the government’s “reasonable worst case scenario” for leaving the European Union on Oct. 31 without a divorce agreement The government was forced to publish the document late Wednesday after lawmakers demanded it.Johnson said the bleak scenario was “not where we intend to end up.”“This is a worst-case scenario which civil servants obviously have to prepare for, but in the last few months, and particularly in the 50 days since I’ve been prime minister, we’ve been massively accelerating our preparations,” he said.Opposition politicians said the “Operation Yellowhammer” document _ the government’s code name for its Brexit preparations _ proved that Johnson is reckless to consider leaving the EU without a deal.Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve said it was extraordinary that a British government “is content on inflicting on the British public the level of disruption which is set out in the Yellowhammer papers.”Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the scenario was a “planning assumption” and would only come true if the government did nothing to offset it.“We are spending the money on doing lots of things to mitigate those assumptions,” he told the BBC.The six-page classified document, dated Aug. 2, said the number of trucks crossing the main freight route between Calais and Dover would drop by between 40% and 60% within a day of a no-deal Brexit, with disruptions possibly lasting up to three months. The supply of certain types of fresh foods and essential medicines would decrease, prices would go up and poor people would be hit hardest, it said.The paper also describes major disruption for travelers between Britain and the EU, uncertainty for U.K. citizens living in Europe, and says attempts to maintain an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland would probably fail. It also says a no-deal exit could trigger major protests and even riots.The government refused to comply with another part of Parliament’s demand that it hand over emails and texts among officials and aides discussing the government’s decision to suspend Parliament for more than a month before the Brexit deadline. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of Brexit planning, said the request was inappropriate and disproportionate.Johnson insists the country must leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal to smooth the way. But many lawmakers fear a no-deal Brexit would be economically devastating, and are determined to stop him.Opposition lawmakers and rebel Conservatives have dealt the government’s Brexit plans a series of blows. They passed a law that orders the government to seek a three-month delay to Brexit if no agreement has been reached by late October, rejected Johnson’s call for a snap general election and ordered the release of the Yellowhammer document.Then on Tuesday, Johnson suspended Parliament for five weeks until Oct. 14, sparking outrage among legislators and several legal challenges.The U.K. Supreme Court is set to consider next week whether the shutdown should be reversed, after conflicting rulings in lower courts.Last week, the High Court in London said the decision was inherently political and “not a matter for the courts.” But Scotland’s highest civil court ruled Wednesday that the shutdown was illegal ‘because it had the purpose of stymieing Parliament.”The Supreme Court is set to make the final decision after a hearing next week.Johnson says he suspended Parliament so that he can launch a fresh domestic agenda at a new session next month. He said he had “absolutely not” misled Queen Elizabeth II _ whose formal approval was needed to suspend Parliament about his motives.Johnson said he was “working very hard” to strike a new deal with the bloc after the agreement made by his predecessor Theresa May was rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament.Johnson’s envoy David Frost has been holding talks in Brussels this week but no breakthrough has been made, and the EU says it is still waiting for firm proposals from the U.K.The bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, told reporters that “we are still ready to examine objectively any concrete and legally operational proposals from the U.K.”
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Belting Out Protest Song is Latest Act of Hong Kong Movement
Thousands of people belted out a new protest song at Hong Kong’s shopping malls in an act of resistance that highlighted the creativity of demonstrators in their months-long fight for democratic freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.Activists and ordinary citizens sang “Glory to Hong Kong” at several malls for a third straight night Wednesday in a respite from recent violence clashes. More protests are expected this weekend, though on Thursday police banned one planned rally, citing safety concerns.The protesters have adopted the song, penned anonymously, as their anthem. The lyrics reflect protesters’ vow not to surrender despite a government concession to axe a proposed extradition law that sparked the summer of unrest.The law, which would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to the mainland for trial, heightened fears about Beijing’s growing influence over the former British colony. Protesters have widened their demands to include calls for direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.At the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin district, some 2,000 people spread across several floors chanted slogans before breaking out into song, with some crying with their hands to their hearts while others lifted their hands in the air. Many referred to lyrics on their phone as they sang.The crowd included families with young children, students and senior citizens, many of them not wearing masks, the usual attire of protesters. The busy mall is linked to a subway station where police fired tear gas on Sunday after protesters vandalized the station.Local media showed singing taking place in at least seven other malls, as well as in some spots including outside a subway station. The South China Morning Post said participants responded to online calls to gather and sing. Police were absent and the gatherings dispersed peacefully.The song has been sung at almost every protest since it emerged Aug. 31, including during Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier match with Iran where Hong Kong soccer fans booed at the Chinese national anthem before kick-off.Protesters over the more than three months of demonstrations have also sung the Christian hymn “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” and the “Les Miserables” tune “Do You Hear the People Sing?”The sing-alongs have boosted protesters’ morale and highlighted their creativity in inventing new ways to get their message heard by the authorities.On Thursday, scores of pro-Beijing supporters staged a counter protest during lunchtime at a swank mall downtown, singing the Chinese national anthem and waving red five-star national flags. Local media reported that a flash mob of pro-democracy supporters swiftly responded with their protest anthem, leading to minor scuffles.The Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized several massive rallies, said Thursday it is appealing a police ban on its planned march Sunday.Police also banned the group’s Aug. 31 march but protesters turned up anyway. Violent clashes erupted that night, with police storming a subway car and hitting passengers with batons and pepper spray.Police official Kwok Chun-kit said police have reason to believe that radical protesters would break away from the march and carry out destructive acts. He noted that some activists have made online vows to escalate violence if the government failed to meet their demands by Friday.Kwok told a news conference that the proposed route would pass close to high-risk building,s including the police headquarters, government offices and subway stations that have been a focus of protests in recent weeks.Front coordinator Bonnie Leung said violent clashes were unrelated to the group.“We create a safe zone for people to protest. Our marches are like Hong Kong people giving a chance to the government to end the crisis peacefully but now, they have closed the valve to release public anger. It’s like declaring war to peaceful protesters,” she told The Associated Press.Leung accused authorities of trying to provoke protesters to carry out illegal gatherings to find an excuse to crack down. She urged activists “not to fall into the trap,” saying protests can be in many forms and that they should keep safe to sustain the protest movement.
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Uncertainty in Zimbabwe on Mugabe’s Burial Eclipses Mourning
Controversy over where and when Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe will be buried has overshadowed arrangements for Zimbabweans to pay their respects to the deceased leader.
Mugabe will not be given a state burial on Sunday at the national Heroes’ Acre site, family spokesman Leo Mugabe announced Thursday. The burial will be a private, family affair, he said to press outside Mugabe’s Blue Roof house.Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa stands next to Grace Mugabe, after receiving the body of her husband, former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept. 11, 2019.”There have just been discussions between President Mnangagwa and Mai [Mrs.] Mugabe and it would look like nothing has changed,” said the ex-president’s nephew. “The family … said they are going to have a private burial. We don’t want the public to come. They don’t want you to know where he is going to be buried. We are not witnessing burial on Sunday, no date has been set for the burial.”
The announcement came after President Emmerson Mnangagwa met with Mugabe’s widow, Grace, and other family members to try to resolve the burial dispute.Instead of an interment on Sunday, Mugabe’s body will be on view to the public at a place near Mugabe’s birthplace in Zvimba district, said Leo Mugabe, who added that the family had not decided if he would be buried in Zvimba.
Speaking at the Mugabe house, Mnangagwa said his government would respect the family’s wishes over the burial, saying they have “the full support of the government. Nothing will change.”
The coffin of Mugabe is seen at his residence in Harare, Sept. 12, 2019.The ongoing uncertainty of the burial of Mugabe, who died last week in Singapore at the age of 95, has eclipsed the elaborate plans for Zimbabweans to pay their respects to the former guerrilla leader at several historic sites.
The burial dispute has also highlighted the lasting acrimony between Mnangagwa and Mugabe’s wife and other family members. Mugabe was deposed in November 2017 by Zimbabwe’s military and his former ally Mnangagwa. Grace and other family members still resent his ouster, apparently resulting in their refusal to go along with state burial plans.
FILE – Then-president Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace wave to supporters and guests during celebrations to mark his 90th birthday in Marondera about 80km (50 miles) east of the capital Harare, Feb. 23, 2014.Shortly after Mugabe’s death, Leo Mugabe said the former strongman died “a very bitter man” because he felt betrayed by Mnangagwa and the army generals who were his allies for close to four decades before they put him under house arrest and forced him to resign.
The government had earlier announced that Mugabe would be buried at the Heroes’ Acre monument, a burial place reserved for top officials of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party who contributed to ending white colonial rule.
It has long been taken for granted that Mugabe would be buried at Heroes’ Acre. Mugabe had overseen the construction by North Korea of the monument atop a prominent hill and featuring a grandiose towering sculpture of guerrilla fighters. Mugabe gave many speeches at the site and his first wife, Sally, is buried there next to a gravesite long reserved for the ex-leader.
Mourners arrive at Rufaro stadium, in Mbare township where the body of Zimbabwe’s founder Robert Mugabe will lie in state, Harare, Sept. 12, 2019.Mugabe’s casket will be displayed to the public at several sites. It will be shown Thursday and Friday at Rufaro Stadium in Harare’s poor Mbare neighborhood.
On Saturday a ceremony will be held at the National Sports Stadium, which several African heads of state and other prominent officials are expected to attend. Supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party are being bused from all over the country to go to the stadium ceremonies.
Grace Mugabe is expected to stay beside the casket the entire time.
Earlier Thursday at Blue Roof, Mugabe’s 25-bedroom mansion in Harare’s posh Borrowdale suburb, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader paid his respects to the man who had been his bitter political foe.
“I am here to do the African thing that is expected … to pay honor,” said Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party.
“In politics we have had many differences but we are here to reflect on his contribution. … We are here to pay condolences to the Mugabe family, all Zimbabweans and indeed the whole of Africa. It is only fair and necessary to see that we unite to see that he is given a decent burial and a peaceful send off. Today is a day of mourning.”
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State Funeral Held for Ex-Indonesian President Habibie
Thousands of Indonesians gathered in Jakarta Thursday to bid their final goodbyes to former President B.J. Habibie.President Joko Widodo led the mourners at the state funeral at Kalibata Heroes Memorial Park for Habibie, who died at an army hospital Wednesday of heart failure at the age of 83.Habibie was a trained aerospace engineer who had been working in Germany for nearly two decades when then-President Suharto convinced him to come back home in 1974 and lead an effort to industrialize Indonesia’s economy. In announcing his death Wednesday, President Widodo praised Habibie as the “father of Indonesian technology.”He rose through the ranks to become Suharto’s vice president in 1998, and was sworn in as Indonesia’s third president in May of that year after the Asian financial crisis sparked massive protests that forced the autocratic Suharto to step down after three decades in power. Habibie ushered in a number of democratic reforms, including greater press freedoms and the release of political prisoners. He also allowed East Timor, the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia had ruled since 1975, to hold a referendum on their future. The East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence, which sparked a wave of deadly violence carried out by pro-Indonesian militias.Habibie served just 17 months in office, withdrawing from the October 1999 presidential election amid the continuing protests.
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China Considering US Agricultural Purchases as Trade Rivals Exchange Good Will
China on Thursday extended the latest gesture of good will in the ongoing trade dispute with the United States, as the world’s two largest economies prepare for high-level trade talks.Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said China was looking into purchasing U.S. agricultural goods such as pork and soybeans.Gao said China welcomes good will actions from the Trump administration, and that China hopes the two sides will continue to create favorable conditions for the trade negotiations.On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was postponing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15.FILE – China’s Vice Premier Liu He speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a trade meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 4, 2019.He said on Twitter that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had asked for the delay because of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1.Trump’s announcement came after China said earlier Wednesday it is exempting a handful of U.S. products from the next round of its sanctions set to begin Sept. 17. They include shrimp, a cancer-fighting machine, industrial grease and assorted chemicals.Midlevel negotiators plan to meet later this month to prepare for the first high-level trade talks between the United States and China since July.The talks are set to open next month in Washington.The series of tariffs on a large number of products the United States and China buy from each other has rattled investors and made consumers uneasy with the outlook of higher prices.Trump has long accused China of intellectual property theft and manipulating its currency to make its goods cheaper than American products on the world market.China says U.S. trade policies are aimed at trying to stifle its ability to compete.
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US Farmers Put Off Equipment Purchases Amid Trade War
Increased costs for aluminum and steel, and lower prices for crops, mostly attributable to tariffs, are forcing many American farmers to hold off purchasing large, expensive equipment. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports from this year’s Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois, farmers want new equipment that uses the latest technology but are struggling to afford it and encounter obstacles getting loans from banks.
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Lawmaker: Congress Would Restore Ukraine Military Aid
This story originated in FILE – Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 21, 2015.Senator Mike Lee, a Republican of Utah, however, received his visa for the Russian leg of the trip in what some are calling a Kremlin decision to curry favor with FILE – Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J., Nov. 20, 2016.Last week, The Washington Post published an editorial slamming the Trump White House for FILE – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a meeting with law enforcement officers in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 23, 2019.Taylor also discussed an impending meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy.“They are in the process of scheduling it now,” he said. “They will both be in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and that will take place in two weeks. President Trump has meetings that he’s scheduling and President Zelenskiy has meetings he’s scheduling, so it’s a matter of making those schedules fit.”The last meeting between sitting U.S. and Ukrainian presidents was in April 2016, when former president Barack Obama met with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
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In Rwanda, Some Wildlife Poachers Become Conservationists
Some Rwandans who used to be wildlife poachers have turned into conservationists. For VOA, reporter Eugene Uwimana has more from the Gorilla Guardians Village, located near Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda
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Wyoming Stalls for Time as Coal Industry Declines
KEMMERER, WYOMING — A six-foot-tall plastic Tyrannosaurus rex stands guard outside Robert Bowen’s fossil shop on Pine Street in downtown, Kemmerer, Wyo., in the state’s southwest corner.“One of the fun things about some of the fossils is, they tell stories,” Bowen said, pointing to a fossilized stingray hanging on the shop wall. The beautifully preserved disc-shaped skeleton has a chunk missing from its left side.“He got a little too close to a turtle or an alligator,” he explained. “You can see the elongated bite mark.”The town of Kemmerer calls itself “Wyoming’s Aquarium in Stone.” Quarries just outside town yield schools of fossilized fish with just a few taps of a chisel. A freshwater lake covered the region 50 million years ago.The backbone of the town’s economy, however, is a different kind of fossil: fossil fuel. A coal mine feeds the Naughton Power Plant just outside town.“It’s huge for us, as far as our economy,” said Bowen, who sits on the town council. The plant and the mine provide about 400 jobs and the bulk of the tax base in the town of about 3,000 people.So it sent a shudder through the community late last year when FILE – A dump truck hauls coal at Contura Energy’s Eagle Butte Mine near Gillette, Wyo., March 28, 2017. Mine owner Blackjewel says it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It operates mines in Wyoming, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.Wyoming reactsWyoming has not embraced the energy transition. Environmental arguments for zero-emission wind and solar power don’t get much traction. The state has the Adaptation or extinctionRobert Bowen said the new law will help the town buy time. But he acknowledges that trouble is coming.“It’s not ‘if,’ it’s ‘when,’” he said. “To prevent some of that, we need to start looking at diversifying our economy here.”Tourism is one option. Painted wooden signs around town point to the region’s attractions: boating, snowmobiling and, of course, fossils. One sign proclaims Kemmerer the “World Fossil Capital.”“One of the things that we could be pushing a lot harder is paleo tourism,” Bowen said. The town could do more to promote fossil safaris out to the nearby quarries, where visitors can easily find their own fossils to take home.Fossil tourism alone won’t save the town, he said, but it would help. The best option would be some kind of manufacturing, he added.Like the creatures entombed in stone here, Kemmerer must adapt or go extinct.
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450 Miles of Border Wall by Next Year? In Arizona, it Begins
On a dirt road past rows of date trees, just feet from a dry section of Colorado River, a small construction crew is putting up a towering border wall that the government hopes will reduce — for good — the flow of immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.Cicadas buzz and heavy equipment rumbles and beeps before it lowers 30-foot-tall (9-kilometer-tall) sections of fence into the dirt. “Ahi esta!” — “There it is!” — a Spanish-speaking member of the crew says as the men straighten the sections into the ground. Nearby, workers pull dates from palm trees, not far from the cotton fields that cars pass on the drive to the border.South of Yuma, Arizona, the tall brown bollards rising against a cloudless desert sky will replace much shorter barriers that are meant to keep out cars, but not people.Government contractors remove existing Normandy barriers that separate Mexico and the United States, in preparation for a section of Pentagon-funded border wall along the Colorado River, Sept. 10, 2019, in Yuma, Ariz.This 5-mile (8-kilometer) section of fencing is where President Donald Trump’s most salient campaign promise — to build a wall along the entire southern border — is taking shape.The president and his administration said this week that they plan on building between 450 and 500 miles (724 and 806 kilometers) of fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,218-kilometer) border by the end of 2020, an ambitious undertaking funded by billions of defense dollars that had been earmarked for things like military base schools, target ranges and maintenance facilities.Two other Pentagon-funded construction projects in New Mexico and Arizona are underway, but some are skeptical that so many miles of wall can be built in such a short amount of time. The government is up against last-minute construction hiccups, funding issues and legal challenges from environmentalists and property owners whose land sits on the border.The Trump administration says the wall, along with more surveillance technology, agents and lighting, is key to keeping out people who cross illegally.Critics say a wall is useless when most of those apprehended turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents in the hope they can be eventually released while their cases play out in immigration court.Government contractors erect a section of border wall along the Colorado River, Sept. 10, 2019, in Yuma, Ariz. Construction began as federal officials revealed a list of Defense Department projects to be cut to pay for the wall.In Yuma, the defense-funded section of tall fencing is replacing shorter barriers that U.S. officials say are less efficient.It comes amid a steep increase since last year in the number of migrant families who cross the border illegally in the Yuma area, often turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents. Many are fleeing extreme poverty and violence, and some are seeking asylum.So far this year, Border Patrol agents in the Yuma sector have apprehended more than 51,000 family units. That’s compared with just more than 14,500 the year before, about a 250% increase.The Yuma sector is the third busiest along the southern border, with officials building a temporary, 500-person tent facility in the parking lot of the Border Patrol’s Yuma headquarters in June.It spent just less than $15 million for the setup and services for four months, including meals, laundry and security, but officials are evaluating whether to keep it running past next month as the number of arrivals in Yuma and across the southern border have fallen sharply in recent months.The drop is largely because of the Mexican government’s efforts to stop migrants from heading north after Trump threatened tariffs earlier this year to force Mexico to act.Sections of Pentagon-funded border wall are stacked before installation, Sept. 10, 2019, in Yuma, Ariz. A 30-foot-high wall will replace a five-mile section of Normandy barrier and post-n-beam fencing along the Mexico-United States border.The number of people apprehended along the southern border fell by 61 percent between this year’s high point in May and the end of August. In Yuma, it fell by 86 percent, according to government figures. Most people apprehended are either traveling as families or are unaccompanied children.“Historically this has been a huge crossing point for both vehicles as well as family units and unaccompanied alien children during the crisis that we’ve seen in the past couple of months,” Border Patrol spokesman Jose Garibay said. “They’ve just been pouring over the border due to the fact that we’ve only ever had vehicle bollards and barriers that by design only stop vehicles.”Victor Manjarrez Jr., a former Border Patrol chief who’s now a professor at the University of Texas, El Paso, was an agent when the government put up the first stretch of barriers along the southern border in San Diego.He’s seen barriers evolve from easily collapsible landing mats installed by agents and the National Guard to the sophisticated, multibillion-dollar projects now being done by private contractors.Manjarrez says tall border fencing is crucial in some areas and less helpful in others, like remote stretches of desert where shorter barriers and more technology like ground sensors would suffice.“One form doesn’t fit in all areas, and so the fence itself is not the one solution. It’s a combination of many things,” Manjarrez said.A government contractor, surrounded by existing Normandy barriers that separate Mexico and the United States, pours a concrete footer in preparation for a section of Pentagon-funded border wall along the Colorado River, Sept. 10, 2019, in Yuma, Ariz.The ease of construction varies by place and depends on things like water, Manjarrez said, adding that just because a plot of land is flat “doesn’t mean it’s not complex.”He said building 450 to 500 miles (724 and 806 kilometers) of fence by the end of next year would be tough if that figure doesn’t include sections of the wall that have been built recently.“As it stands now, contractors are building pretty fast,” Manjarrez said. The real question is whether the government needs to build that much fencing, he said.The Trump administration may face those issues along with lawsuits from landowners who aren’t giving up their property so easily and environmentalists who say the barriers stop animals from migrating and can cut off water resources.The Tohono O’odham tribe in Arizona also has expressed opposition to more border fencing on its land, which stretches for nearly 75 miles (120 kilometers) along the border with Mexico.Near Yuma, the Cocopah Indian Tribe’s reservation is near the latest fencing project, and leaders are concerned it will block the view to its sacred sites, spokesman Jonathan Athens said.
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Prime Minister Who Brought Democracy to Tonga Dies
Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva, who is credited with helping bring democracy to the small Pacific island nation, has died. He was 78.Political adviser to the prime minister Lopeti Senituli told The Associated Press that Pohiva died at the Auckland City Hospital about 9 a.m. local time after being medically evacuated to New Zealand a day earlier. Before that, Pohiva had been hospitalized in Tonga for two weeks suffering from pneumonia before his condition turned critical, Senituli said.Pohiva was an immensely significant figure in Tonga. He was behind the push for democracy and getting away from politics dominated by the royal family, said Graeme Smith, a research fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs at Australian National University.Tonga is home to 106,000 people.
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Trump Postponing Tariffs on China as a ‘Good Will’ Gesture
President Donald Trump is postponing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods as a “gesture of good will.”Trump made the announcement in a late Wednesday tweet, saying Chinese Vice Premier Liu He asked for the delay in time for the People’s Republic of China’s 70th anniversary Oct. 1.The increase in tariffs from 25% to 30% was supposed to take effect on that date. They are now set for Oct. 15. There has been no response so far from Beijing.Trump’s announcement came after China said earlier Wednesday it is exempting a handful of U.S. products from the next round of sanctions set to begin Sept. 17. They include shrimp, a cancer-fighting machine, industrial grease and assorted chemicals.FILE – A butcher waits for customers at a market in Beijing, July 10, 2019. China is taking steps to boost pork supplies as prices soar ahead of a slew of upcoming holidays, including a celebration to mark Communist China’s 70th anniversary.Midlevel negotiators plan to meet later this month to prepare for the first high-level trade talks between the United States and China since July.The talks are set to open next month in Washington.Both sides are hoping to make a trade deal that can finally end the trade war between the United States and China.The series of tariffs on a large number of products the U.S. and China buy from each other has rattled investors and made consumers uneasy with the outlook of higher prices.Trump has long accused China of intellectual property theft and manipulating its currency to make its goods cheaper than American products on the world market.China says U.S. trade policies are aimed at trying to stifle its ability to compete.
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Thai Court Declines to Hear Case of PM’s Incomplete Oath
Thailand’s Constitutional Court announced Wednesday that it had declined to hear a case accusing the country’s prime minister of violating the constitution by omitting a sentence from the oath of office he and his government took before King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
The issue raised questions about the legitimacy of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government, which took office in July.
Prayuth failed to include the phrase “I will also uphold and comply with the constitution of the kingdom in every aspect.” It was unclear whether the omission was accidental or intentional.
A statement from the court Wednesday said it lacked jurisdiction because the oath was a matter between the executive branch and the king.
It also mentioned that the king had issued a royal message, delivered late last month but dated the day of the oath-taking, that encouraged Cabinet members to perform their duties according to the oath they swore.
The king as a constitutional monarch is supposed to have no political role but holds a great amount of influence.
The court’s decision appeared to preclude further legal challenges of Prayuth’s omission. The lower house of Parliament is supposed to debate the matter on Sept. 18 at the request of the opposition, but the court’s position gives Prayuth’s government ammunition to stave off any political attacks. Monarchy’s special status
The mention of the king’s note giving moral support to the government helps it defend against criticism, because the monarchy is treated as an untouchable institution in Thailand, where a tough lese majeste law provides penalties of up to 15 years in prison for insulting the royal family.
The case went to the Constitutional Court after the state ombudsman forwarded complaints from two citizens who charged that Prayuth’s failure to pledge allegiance to the constitution was a breach of the charter.
Opposition lawmakers pointed out the omission, and Prayuth responded that the matter was not a problem. The ombudsman’s office said he told them he had completed the oath-taking, without elaborating.
The oath is written into the constitution that was adopted in 2017 when Prayuth headed a military government that took power in a 2014 coup.
He became prime minister again after a general election in March that was held according to laws the military regime wrote to favor its political allies.
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Two British-Australians, 1 Australian Held in Iran
Two female dual British-Australian citizens and an Australian man have been detained in Iran.
A British-Australian blogger and her Australian boyfriend were arrested 10 weeks ago, The Times of London reported Wednesday. The other detainee, a British-Australian academic, was detained earlier and has already been sentenced to 10 years in jail on unknown charges.
Iran has arrested several dual nationals in recent years, including five Americans still in custody there.
Relations between Iran and the West have been strained since U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal last year from the 2015 international nuclear agreement aimed at restraining Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. Trump then reimposed debilitating sanctions, which have hobbled the Iranian economy.
In recent weeks, British marines seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar. In retaliation, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker.
The United States and Iran have shot down each other’s unmanned drones, and Western countries have accused Tehran of carrying out other attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, where a fifth of the world’s oil production passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Trump Says He Could Ease Sanctions if Iran Wants to Talk
U.S. President Donald Trump again dangled the possibility of easing U.S. sanctions on Iran if it can bring President Hassan Rouhani to the bargaining table.”We will see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday. He said Iran wants a deal because “they have tremendous financial difficulty and the sanctions are getting tougher and tougher.”Trump added that the U.S. is not looking for regime change in Iran and said the country has “tremendous potential.”Trump spoke two days after firing National Security Advisor John Bolton, who opposed any talks between the U.S. and Iran.In this photo released by the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 4, 2019.Iranian President Rouhani has already ruled out meeting with Trump as long as sanctions are in place. He said Wednesday such talks would be “meaningless.”
“The Americans must understand that bellicosity and war-mongering don’t work in their favor. Both…must be abandoned,” he said.Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran last year and reimposed sanctions that were lifted under the agreement.Iran has started backing away from parts of the agreement and threatens to boost its uranium enrichment unless the remaining signatories help its battered economy.Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the nuclear deal if Iran can “forget about “enrichment.”We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon and, they never will have a nuclear weapon,” he said.Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy purposes.
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US Supreme Court Allows Broad Enforcement of Asylum Limits
TThe Supreme Court is allowing nationwide enforcement of a new Trump administration rule that prevents most Central American immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States.The justices’ order late Wednesday temporarily undoes a lower-court ruling that had blocked the new asylum policy in some states along the southern border. The policy is meant to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without seeking protection there.Most people crossing the southern border are Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty. They are largely ineligible under the new rule, as are asylum-seekers from Africa, Asia and South America who arrive regularly at the southern border.The shift reverses decades of U.S. policy. The administration has said that it wants to close the gap between an initial asylum screening that most people pass and a final decision on asylum that most people do not win.Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the high-court’s order. “Once again, the Executive Branch has issued a rule that seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution,” Sotomayor wrote.The legal challenge to the new policy has a brief but somewhat convoluted history. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco blocked the new policy from taking effect in late July. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed Tigar’s order so that it applied only in Arizona and California, states that are within the 9th Circuit.That left the administration free to enforce the policy on asylum-seekers arriving in New Mexico and Texas. Tigar issued a new order on Monday that reimposed a nationwide hold on asylum policy. The 9th Circuit again narrowed his order on Tuesday.The high-court action leaves the administration free to impose the new policy everywhere while the court case against it continues.
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Swiss Say Facebook’s Digital Currency Plan Will Face Hurdles
Facebook and its partners have asked financial authorities in Switzerland to evaluate their plan to create a new digital currency to be called Libra.Facebook unveiled a proposal in June to create a digital currency similar to Bitcoin for global use. The company said it would set up a nonprofit association headquartered in Geneva with its partners to oversee Libra, putting it under Swiss regulatory authority.The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority said Wednesday that the Libra Association has requested an “assessment” of its plan.The authority, known as FINMA, says the proposal has to meet anti-money laundering requirements and other strict standards. That includes obtaining a “payment-system license” that makes the association responsible for bearing “the returns and risks associated with the management of the reserve.”
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