There senior officials in Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s government stepped down Tuesday in connection with a probe into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Press reports have linked Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri to the Caruana Galizia investigation.All three deny any wrongdoing. Their resignations follow the arrest last week of Maltese hotelier and power company director Yorgen Fenech in relation with the case.In her blog, Caruana Galizia wrote boldly about corruption and investigated the affairs of Maltese politicians and business figures, as well as those doing business with the European Union member.Eight months before she was killed by a car bomb in October 2017, Caruana Galizia alleged in her blog that a company called 17 Black Ltd., listed in the Panama Papers, was connected to Maltese politicians. The company belonged to Fenech, the businessman.Economy Minister Cardona said Tuesday he was stepping down pending the investigation and the ongoing proceedings related to Caruana Galizia’s case. He was summoned by police for questioning last Saturday.
Cardona said he had “absolutely no connection with the case,” but added that after police asked for further clarifications, he felt “duty-bound to take this step in the national interest.”Mizzi, the tourism minister, said he was resigning “in the national interest.” He reiterated that he had no business connection with Fenech, and no connection with 17 Black.Prime Minister Muscat himself announced the resignation of his chief of staff Schembri.Asked of the reasons behind Schembri’s decision, Muscat told reporters it was premature to speculate on “whether he is being questioned or what he is being questioned about.” He added, however, that the timing of the resignation was “unfortunate.”Schembri served as Muscat’s chief of staff since 2013.Muscat on Friday described the investigation as “the biggest our country has seen,” but contended that no politicians were tied to the journalist’s murder.Three people were arrested in December 2017 on suspicion of detonating the bomb that killed 53-year-old Caruana Galizia as she drove near her home. The trial has not yet begun, and the mastermind has yet to be identified.
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Month: November 2019
Kenya Vetting Some 40,000 People Who Want to Shed Refugee Status at Dadaab Camp
Kenyan authorities have begun a month-long vetting process at the Dadaab refugee camp near Somalia to determine who qualifies as a Somali asylum-seeker and who is a Kenyan citizen.Thousands of Somalis have called the camp home since 1991, when political instability sparked by the fall of President Siad Barre’s government forced them to flee their country. But a number of Kenyans also call the camp home after escaping the effects of a severe drought.The Dadaab refugee camp is home to about 200,000 people. The government says they include some 40,000 Kenyans of Somali descent who falsely claimed to be Somali refugees in order to receive free food assistance from aid agencies and eventual passage to the West.Thirty-year-old Abdirashid Mohamed is a Kenya-born ethnic Somali who was falsely registered as a refugee when Dadaab opened in 1991.Mohamed says, “I was young when I was registered as a refugee. I was young and I couldn’t think on my own. We registered as a refugee due to our problems. These people came to our area and at the time free food was being provided. I don’t think there is someone who can stay away in a place where free food is given out. That is how we ended up being refugees.”Mohamed, a taxi driver like tens of thousands like him, says he didn’t want to be a refugee anymore. He was able to provide documents proving that he is a Kenyan citizen, meaning he will be free to leave Dadaab when authorities clear him to do so.Twenty-five-year-old Bashir Ahmed, a high school graduate, was born at Dadaab four years after it opened. His parents are Kenyans of Somali descent. His family registered at the camp in order to get free food, water, and medicine.FILE – Somali refugees walk along a dirt road in northern Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, Dec. 19, 2017.But Ahmed says his family’s desperation cost him his freedom for a while.“My parents are Kenyans; even with relatives in the nearest Garissa town, I couldn’t visit them or go on with my education, so I was just staying at home without any movement.”
Hussein Abdirahman, Dadaab’s assistant country commissioner, explained the government’s decision to determine who at the camp is legally Kenyan.“There are people who have been suffering – some of them were young when their fingerprints were taken into the database and the mistake was their parents…they cannot secure identification cards; they cannot secure passports because of maybe a mistake done by their parents. I think as a country we are giving our youth who maybe could have gone in other wrong ways, maybe could have done something that is not right we bring them to close we give them their citizenship so that they feel they are part of the country,” Abdirahman said.Kenyan authorities have said the camp – which they have sought to close – is a recruiting ground for al-Shabab militants. There have been concerns the militants from Somalia have used the camp to plan and carry out attacks in Kenya and Somalia.The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, reports that more than 80,000 Somali refugees have returned home in the past five years.Ahmed was successful in defending his Kenyan status and says he is looking forward to pursuing a university education after four years at home.“Since I finished high school, I have not continued with my studies. I was at home. I didn’t have an identification card to go to the nearest town. Since I am expecting to get a Kenya identification card, I will study further. It was the main thing I was missing,” Ahmed said.The vetting process ends next month.
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US Military Base in Turkey Has Uncertain Future
With U.S.-Turkish relations at their lowest ebb in decades, the future of a critical American air base in Turkey is increasingly in the spotlight. The vast Incirlik Air Base, located in southern Turkey close to Syria, has been a longstanding symbol of U.S.-Turkish cooperation. At the height of the Cold War, it underscored America’s commitment to its NATO partner against the Soviet Union.”We have to underline the Incirlik is one of the most important bases in the Middle East with the placement of tactical nuclear weapons at the base,” said professor Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential foreign policy adviser. “This shows Turkey continues to support the value of the NATO organization.”It’s widely reported that the United States retains around 50 nuclear free-fall bombs at the facility. During the Cold War, the weapons were relied on to deter vast Soviet ground forces massed on the Turkish border.However, with Ankara and Washington at loggerheads over a myriad of issues, including Turkey’s deepening ties with Russia and the removal of Turkey from a U.S. jet fighter program, the future of Incirlik is increasingly murky.
The Countering Turkish Aggression Act, a bipartisan bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate, would require the Trump administration to consider alternative bases for “personnel and assets” deployed at Incirlik. The bill comes in response to Ankara’s offensive into Syria against a Kurdish militia, which is an ally in Washington’s war against Islamic State.FILE – A service vehicle with a sign reading ‘Welcome to Incirlik’ is pictured at Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2016.House Armed Services Committee member Representative Kendra Horn tweeted last month that she is “deeply concerned that strategic nuclear weapons remain on an air base within Turkish borders.” Horn later removed the tweet.”They (Congress) are talking about removing the nuclear arsenal from Incirlik,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “If they (nuclear weapons) are removed, that would be a sign of a huge lack of confidence (by Washington in Ankara).””There would be a trust problem, and relations might unravel if you withdraw the nuclear arsenal from Turkey,” he added. “And you would expect an overreaction from the Turkish side if the U.S. pulls out its nuclear arsenal.””Turkey-U.S. relations cannot continue in this climate of threats,” warns Casin. “Turkey has a long history of being the United States’ best ally in the region. Who is the winner of this present situation, Russia and China.”Analysts warn Moscow will be eager to take advantage of any U.S. reduction in Incirlik.”If the Americans take their nuclear weapons, then I can tell you if they do, then the Turks will take Russian missiles there,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “Then the Russians will have much more free hand to gain Turkey. So the architect of a lost Turkey will be American policy, and the winner will be (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
“Turkey is not on the defensive anymore,” he added.” The more the Americans make pressure, the more Turkey will work closely with Russia — this is a historical change in Turkish foreign policy.”Russian President Vladimir Putin has carefully cultivated a relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as relations with Ankara’s traditional western allies deteriorate.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after their joint news conference following their talks in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2019.While Incirlik has been pivotal to U.S. strategic operations, including a significant withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, Ankara’s imposing restrictions on the base’s use in Syrian operations is, analysts say, a point of tension. Last month’s American operation to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria saw U.S. forces use a base in Iraq instead of the much closer Incirlik, requiring a round trip of many hours.Other allies, too, have expressed frustration about Turkish operational demands. In 2017, Germany removed its forces from Incirlik because of a diplomatic spat with Ankara, relocating to Jordan.American armed forces appear to be already taking steps to diversify their dependence on Incirlik. The U.S. has spent over $150 million in the last two years improving Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, while American bases are reportedly being considered to be established in Turkey’s neighbors, Greece and Cyprus.Observers claim, given Incirlik’s size and location, no base in the region can replace it. But Washington could be calculating that a combination of bases across the region could provide a patchwork alternative to Incirlik.Such efforts are likely to continue, given a continued current downward spiral in U.S.-Turkish relations. However, analysts warn, abandoning Incirlik will not be without consequences.”So American has to choose between losing Turkey or not losing Turkey. At the moment, they are more intending to lose Turkey,” said Bagci.
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Cameroon Warns Opposition Parties Against Election Boycott
Cameroon has warned opposition political parties against any acts that may jeopardize its local council and parliamentary elections in February. The warning comes after opposition party leader Maurice Kamto, who claims President Paul Biya stole last year’s October election, called for a boycott of the polls. FILE – Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, speaks in Garoua Boulai, Cameroon, Oct. 23, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)Cameroon territorial administration minister Paul Atanga Nji says the government will not tolerate any acts that disturb the free conduct of February’s local and parliamentary elections.
“Politicians specialized in hate speech, manipulation and provocation, as well as defiance of state authority should know that they will face the heavy arm of the law in case of any misconduct,” he said. “I want to make it very clear. Promoters of political parties will henceforth be held accountable in case of any disruption of public order related to political parties.”
Nji’s warning came after opposition leader Maurice Kamto at a Monday press conference announced a boycott of the February polls.
Kamto had planned to run for office but changed his mind and accused authorities of trying to destroy his party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM). FILE – Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto (L) sits in the back of a car as he is driven away on Oct 5, 2019, the day of his release from prison in Yaounde.Kamto says he does not doubt that the objective of, what he calls, the illegitimate Yaounde regime, in collaboration with the ministry of territorial administration and the different state services, is to destroy the CRM party. He says they want to eliminate the party from the political map and terrorize the Cameroonian people to keep the ruling class in power.
Kamto accuses Nji of scheming with Cameroon’s elections management body (ELECAM) to fix last year’s presidential election to re-elect long-serving President Paul Biya.
The election authorities and Nji deny the polls were anything but free and fair.
Kamto said his boycott was based on electoral laws that favor Biya’s ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and the ongoing separatist conflict.
His call for an election boycott received mixed views from opposition supporters like 30-year-old Justin Alega.
He says Kamto has betrayed his supporters and is plugging his political party into the group of losers. Because, when they are not represented at the national assembly, says Alega, they will no longer have a platform for their voices to be heard. He says if Kamto wants to change Cameroon’s laws he says are bad, he should do everything to be voted-in as a lawmaker.
31-year-old Kamto supporter Anabel Mbi, however, says he supports the decision to boycott the elections.
“There is no need going for an election when you know that your victory will be stolen and often when you protest you are arrested. This is dictatorship,” he says.
Political analyst at the University of Yaoundé Divine Kweh says the opposition MRC should fight for political change from within, as the new parliament’s mandate will last five years.”The meaning is that for the next five years, MRC will only make their voices heard through street protests because they will not participate at decision-making circles directly,” says Kweh. “Kamto should have gone in for the elections and try to effect changes from within parliament.”
Kamto called on Monday for other opposition parties, civil society, and religious groups, to join in boycotting the elections.
Territorial Administration Minister Nji warned he would arrest Kamto, or anyone else, who staged unauthorized protests against the elections.
Kamto and more than 400 of his supporters spent nine months in prison for street protests over the October 2018 presidential election results.
Authorities released Kamto in October for a national dialogue on the separatist conflict in Cameroon. But he was banned from holding public events.
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Dresden Officials: Jewel Thieves Stole Less Than Feared
Dresden museum officials say thieves got away with less than initially thought in their robbery of the Green Vault’s collection of 18th century jewels.
Green Vault Director Dirk Syndram told reporters Tuesday the thieves who broke into the museum early Monday seem to have only snatched what they could reach through holes punched with an ax into three display cabinets.
He said the thieves, who haven’t been caught, did take a large diamond broach, a diamond epaulette, and other treasures. Syndram didn’t give a complete list of what was gone and has only said the losses were culturally “priceless.”
Of some 100 dazzling pieces, he said many were left behind, including diamond-encrusted shoe buckles and buttons, the queen’s pearl necklaces, and a diamond-studded sword.
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Cuba Accuses US of Violating Vienna Conventions
Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.Soon after, the United States announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.In two tweets, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified “illegal actions” by the U.S. Embassy in Havana violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-establishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”The U.S. Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana S.A. as a violator of American sanctions on Venezuela. Such designations make it difficult for companies like Panamericana to do business even outside the United States due to third parties’ fears of repercussions for dealing with a sanctioned entity.The Treasury Department said that after the U.S. sanctioned the state-owned oil importer Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.A Cubametales official who also worked in a similar position at Corporacion Panamericana negotiated a deal to buy gasoline from a European company, the Treasury statement said.The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba over Washington’s steadily increasing pressure on the communist government.The U.S. has prohibited cruise travel to Cuba, U.S. flights to cities outside Havana and support for Venezuela oil shipments to the island. The Trump administration says it hopes to cripple the Cuban government’s ability to support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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Wintry Weather Threatens to Snarl US Holiday Travel
A storm that dumped heavy snow in Colorado and Wyoming forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights in Denver on Tuesday and has made driving impossible in some parts of the two states just as the busy Thanksgiving week travel period went into high gear.About 7 inches (18 centimeters) was on the ground at Denver International Airport by morning but more was expected through the afternoon.About a third of the airport’s average 1,500 daily flights were cancelled, but the airport said in a tweet that many airlines would resume operations later in the morning or early in the afternoon as snow clearing crews worked to keep most runways open.More than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow had fallen in northern Colorado and about a foot (30 centimeters) fell in southern parts of Wyoming by midmorning.Heavy snow and gusty winds forced the closures of long stretches of Interstates 70 and 76 in Colorado and Interstate 80 in Wyoming, and parts of I-80 were buried under snow drifts of up to 4 feet (1.2) meters.“We are mindful that this is a holiday travel week and we are working as fast and as quickly as possible to reopen the roads, and we will do that once the roads are safe for travelers,” said Wyoming Department of Transportation spokeswoman Aimee Inama.Many government offices in the Denver area and in Cheyenne, Wyoming were closed along with colleges and schools not already on holiday break.The storm system led the National Weather Service to issue blizzard and wintry weather warnings extending into the Great Lakes.The storm was expected to move into the Plains later Tuesday, bringing high wind and more snow to Minnesota, Wisconsin and upper Michigan.It could bring another round of snow to the Upper Midwest from Thursday through Saturday, and a chance of snow this weekend in interior New England, said Alex Lamers, a National Weather Service meteorologist.“That could be a coast-to-coast storm,” he said.It also could mean disappointment for fans of the larger-than-life balloons flown at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.Organizers were preparing for the possibility that they’ll have to ground the iconic balloon characters, given 40-50 mph (64-81 kph) gusts in the forecast. Rules put in place after several people were injured by a balloon years ago require lower altitudes or full removal if sustained winds exceed 23 mph (37 kph) and gusts exceed 34 mph (54 kph). The decision will be made on parade day.The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area could see its biggest November snowfall in nearly a decade, and travel is northwestern Wisconsin “is going to be chaotic,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Brent Hewett.The Minneapolis airport could be hit, but Chicago, with its two big airports, should only see rain from the storm, weather service officials said.A second storm developing in the Pacific Ocean was expected to hit the West Coast of the U.S. on Tuesday afternoon or evening, bringing snow to the mountains and wind and rain along the coasts of California and Oregon.Forecasters warned of “difficult to impossible travel conditions” across much of northern Arizona later this week as that storm dumps about 2 feet (0.6 meters) on areas that include Interstate 40. The National Weather Service’ office in Flagstaff said travel conditions will start to deteriorate Wednesday night, followed by the heaviest snowfall Thursday through Friday morning. This month, AAA predicted that the number of travelers over a five-day stretch starting Wednesday will be the second-highest, behind only 2005, despite rising costs for a road trip.At the start of the week, a gallon of regular gas cost $2.59 on average, up 3 cents from a year ago, and rental cars averaged around $75 a day — their highest Thanksgiving price since AAA started keeping track in 1999. Hotel rooms are a mixed bag, with prices falling from last year at highly rated hotels but rising slightly at midrange ones.People might feel they can afford a trip because of low unemployment, rising household net worth, and the stock market’s continuing strength.For those who are flying, the airlines expect traffic to be up about 4% from this time last year. Airlines added about 850 flights and 108,000 seats per day on average to handle the increase over last year’s crowds, according to the trade group Airlines for America.Airline travel before Thanksgiving tends to be spread out over several days, but most people want to go home on the Sunday or Monday after the holiday.American Airlines plans to operate 7,046 flights Sunday, just one less than on Aug. 8, its heaviest schedule this year. In all, 22 of American’s 23 busiest days occurred during the summer vacation season, with this Sunday being the only exception.“Everybody talks about Thanksgiving being a busy travel time, but summer is Thanksgiving week for the entire summer,” said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the airline.
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Probe Sought Over Concern China Can Shut Down Philippine Power
A Philippines legislator said Tuesday she has asked the senate to conduct an inquiry into the potential threat of China shutting off the country’s electricity supply.A Chinese state firm has a substantial stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, which has been operating power transmission facilities since 2009.Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, the sponsor of the resolution calling for a senate inquiry, alleged there are reports Chinese engineers are illegally operating them and that the Philippine government, which owns the facilities, no longer has access to them.The two countries have rival claims on strategic and resource-rich South China Sea waters and islands, though Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has put the dispute on the backburner in favor of courting Chinese trade, aid and investment.”We need to know for certain if our energy systems and infrastructure fully remain under Filipino control, and if we have implemented the technical safeguards needed to prevent foreign interference in or sabotage of our national electricity grid,” Hontiveros said in a statement.She said hiring Chinese engineers would violate the constitution, which requires executive and managing officers of public utilities to be Filipino citizens.The State Grid Corporation of China has a 40 percent stake in the Philippines national grid, which has a 25-year franchise to operate and manage the power transmission facilities of the government’s National Transmission Corporation (Transco).Hontiveros said the Transco president told the senate at a hearing last week that “it was possible for a hostile third party such as China to disable the country’s power grid remotely”.The official also told the senate that the national grid has been denying his company full access to the facilities, Hontiveros added.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing on Friday that he was “not aware of the situation” when asked about the security threat to Manila posed by the Chinese stake in the Philippine transmission monopoly.”What I can tell you is that under the political guidance of our leaders, the China-Philippines relations have turned around and improved, with steady progress seen in exchange and cooperation across the board,” Geng added.Spokesmen from neither the National Grid nor Transco could not be reached for comment Tuesday.Apart from the involvement in the Philippines’ power sector, the Duterte government recently granted a telecommunications consortium that includes China Telecom a franchise to operate the country’s third telecoms company.It also awarded a contract to another Chinese firm to build a dam that will boost the supply of water to Manila, funded by a concessional $211-million loan from China.
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13 French Soldiers Killed in Helicopter Collision in Mali
Two helicopters collided in midair and killed 13 French soldiers fighting Islamic extremists in Mali, France said Tuesday, in its biggest loss since its mission in West Africa’s Sahel region began in 2013.
The deaths draw new attention to a worrying front in the global fight against extremism. Attackers linked to the Islamic State or al-Qaida this month alone have killed scores of local troops in the region and ambushed a convoy carrying employees of a Canadian mining company, leaving at least 37 dead.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “deep sadness” after the Monday evening crash. “These 13 heroes had only one goal: protecting us,” he tweeted.
The French military said both helicopters were flying very low when they collided and crashed in Mali’s Liptako region. No one on board survived.
The helicopters were supporting French commandos on the ground who were pursuing a group of extremists. French defense minister Florence Parly said an investigation has been opened into the accident.
France’s operation in West and Central Africa is its largest overseas military mission and involves 4,500 personnel. France intervened in 2013 after extremists seized control of major towns in northern Mali and implemented a harsh version of Islamic law. They were forced back into the desert, where they have regrouped and moved south into more populated areas.
Since 2013, at least 44 French soldiers have died.
A new surge in extremist attacks in Mali has killed well over 100 local troops in the past two months, with IS often claiming responsibility. The extremists loot military posts and profit from mining operations while finding refuge in forested border areas.
Before his death this year, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi congratulated “brothers” in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso for pledging allegiance.
Public outrage in Mali over the latest attacks also has been directed in recent weeks against France, the country’s former colonizer.
Mali’s Liptako region near the border with Niger and its Gourma region near the Burkina Faso border have become strategic crossings for extremist groups as they are largely unguarded, the International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote last month.
France’s operation became involved in the Liptako area in 2017 and this year it built a new base in Gossi in the Gourma region, IISS said.
“Despite increased French presence in this zone, military gains remain limited. Both sides barely ever engage in direct confrontation. Militants use guerrilla tactics, rely heavily on improvised explosive devices and hide within the civilian population before and after launching attacks,” it added.
France’s Barkhane military operation is one of multiple efforts against the growing extremist threat in the Sahel including a five-nation regional counterterror force that struggles to secure international funding and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali.
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One Year On, Once-Jailed Ukraine Filmmaker Accepts EU Award
A year after he won Europe’s top human rights award, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov has finally picked up the prize, following his release from a prison in Russia’s far-north where he was held on terror charges.Sentsov was freed in a prisoner swap in September after spending five years in a Russian prison colony above the Arctic circle.He has been one of the most vocal opponents of Russia’s 2014 annexation from Ukraine of his native Crimea region, and staged a 144-day hunger strike to protest the jailing of dozens of Ukrainians in Russia. He ended it faced with the prospect of being force-fed.The EU award, named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sentsov accepted it in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
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Pope Closes Japan Trip Urging Hopeful, Inclusive Society
Pope Francis on Tuesday closed his visit to Japan by telling students at a Catholic university of the need to work toward a “hope-filled future” that is more inclusive by addressing the disconnects in society.In his address at Sophia University, the pope said he sensed in Japan a desire to create a more humane, compassionate and merciful society.”The university, focused on its mission, should always be open to creating an ‘archipelago’ capable of connecting realities that might be considered culturally and socially separate,” Pope Francis said. “The marginalized would be creatively incorporated into the life and curriculum of the university in an effort to bring about an educational approach aimed at reducing distances and disconnects.”The pope also cited a “love for nature” as a typical aspect of Asian cultures and expressed a need to protect the planet.Earlier parts of his Japan visit focused on an anti-nuclear message.Pope Francis places a wreath during his visit to the Martyrs’ Monument at Nishizaka Hill, in Nagasaki, Japan, Nov. 24, 2019. (Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters)The 82-year-old Argentine landed in Tokyo Saturday before traveling to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the sites where more than 100,000 people were killed instantly by U.S. bombs dropped at the end of World War II in 1945.In Nagasaki Sunday, Pope Francis called on political leaders to renounce nuclear weapons and abandon the arms race.”I ask political leaders not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security,” he said.The pope has said it has long been a dream of his to visit Japan, and that he had longed to be sent there as a missionary more than 50 years ago. Out of the country’s 126 million residents, an estimated 440,000 are Catholic.Before traveling to Japan, the pope visited Thailand to preach a message of religious tolerance and peace.
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Concern Over US Climate Action Grows Among Republican Voters, Survey Shows
The majority of Americans, including a growing share of moderate Republicans, are dissatisfied with U.S. government efforts to curb global warming, researchers said on Monday.In a survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based non-partisan think-tank, two-thirds of Americans said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was “doing too little” to reduce the effects of climate change. Since taking office, Trump has rolled backed Obama-era rules limiting planet-warming emissions from sectors of the economy such as electricity, transport, and oil and gas.The Trump administration filed paperwork this month to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, while his opponents have championed a “Green New Deal” that seeks to slash U.S. emissions within a decade.In the Pew survey, the proportion of people who said the government was taking too little action to tackle climate change was unchanged from a year ago – but unease among moderate Republicans grew significantly, noted the report.“Previous analysis showed that concern about climate change has gone up over the past several years (since 2013) among Democrats but not Republicans,” said Cary Funk, director of science and society research at Pew.But the new survey, which polled more than 3,600 people last month, found that 65% of moderate or liberal Republicans said the federal government was not doing enough to reduce the effects of global warming, up from 53% in 2018.A divide was also seen by age, with 52% of 18 to 38-year-old Republicans displeased with government climate action, compared with 41% of those from 38-54, and 31% of those aged 55 or above. Among Republicans, 46% of women thought the government was doing too little, compared with 34% of men.Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said the recent wave of extreme wildfires, hurricanes and flooding hitting the United States had likely played a part in shifting Republican opinion.“People are beginning to hear and see that the impacts of climate change are here – now,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.Most climate scientists believe a human-produced increase in greenhouse gases is heating the planet but the survey found no change in the longstanding U.S. political divide on that issue.Just under half of respondents agreed human activity contributes a great deal to climate change, and another 30% said human actions have some role.“Many people, not just Republicans, underestimate the scientific agreement about this stuff,” noted Leiserowitz.For decades, the fossil fuel industry has pushed a message that climate change is part of natural cycles, he said. Nonetheless, the survey showed most Americans favor adopting renewable energy sources, with 92% of adults supporting the expansion of solar power and 85% backing wind power.
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White House Kicks Off Holiday Season
The holiday season officially kicked off at the White House Monday as first lady Melania Trump received the 2019 White House Christmas tree. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has more on this tradition.
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Hong Kong Leader Says Opposition Election Wins Show Unhappiness With Government
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday the results of local elections in which opposition candidates won nearly 90 percent of contested seats may be a reflection of unhappiness with her administration and its handling of pro-democracy protests.Lam said voters expressed their views on “deficiencies in governance,” and repeated her calls for an end to violent demonstrations. She also reiterated her previous pledge to carry out public dialogue to address the issues underlying the unrest, while offering no concrete concessions.Voters on Sunday delivered a stunning rebuke to Beijing, and the results mean the pro-democracy bloc will control 17 of 18 district councils after having previously controlled zero.Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, left, speaks during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019.The election was a major symbolic blow to pro-China forces that dominate Hong Kong politics, and the latest evidence of continued public support for a five-month-old pro-democracy movement that has become increasingly aggressive.”Hong Kongers have spoken out, loud and clear. The international community must acknowledge that, almost six months in, public opinion has NOT turned against the movement,” student activist Joshua Wong said on Twitter.This is historic. Early returns suggest a landslide victory for the opposition camp. Hong Kongers have spoken out, loud and clear. The international community must acknowledge that, almost six months in, public opinion has NOT turned against the movement. https://t.co/zHFfC85YgC— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 ? (@joshuawongcf) November 24, 2019″This is a sweeping victory, far beyond people’s expectations,” David Zweig, professor emeritus at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said.The vote will not significantly change the balance of power in Hong Kong’s quasi-democratic political system. District council members have no power to pass legislation; they deal mainly with hyperlocal issues, such as noise complaints and bus stop locations.However, the district council vote is seen as one of the most reliable indicators of public opinion, since it is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong.Nearly three million people voted in the election — a record high for Hong Kong, and more than double the turnout of the previous district council election in 2015.Voters formed long lines that snaked around city blocks outside polling stations across the territory, many waiting more than an hour to vote.Hong Kong saw a major surge in voter registration, particularly among young people. Nearly 386,000 people have registered to vote in the past year, the most since at least 2003.Many Hong Kongers are concerned about what they see as an erosion of the “one country, two systems” policy that Beijing has used to govern Hong Kong since it was returned by Britain in 1997.China said it is committed to the “one country, two systems” principle, but has slammed the protesters as rioters. In some cases, Chinese state media have compared the protesters to the terror groups Taliban or Islamic State.
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UN: Sexual Violence Affects 1 in 3 Women Globally
At 15 years old, Ajna Jusic finally learned the truth about the father she never knew.”I spent nights thinking about my father,” said Jusic, now 26 years old. “I made so many scenarios in my mind, but not just the one where I was born as the result of war rape.”Jusic is one of thousands of children born of the genocidal rape of between 20,000 and 50,000 Bosnian Muslim women and girls by Serbs during the Balkan conflict in the 1990s. Today she heads the Association of Forgotten Children of War in Bosnia, which seeks to get these young people the services they need, including help with education costs and psychological and legal support.”I cannot live in (the) dark, in invisibility anymore,” Jusic said. “I need to scream and tell society I’m here, please don’t call me a child of hate, because I love and I want to be loved.” Jusic addressed a U.N. meeting Monday on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.Sexual violence against women is endemic, affecting one in three women globally.Passers-by walk past dozens of red painted shoes placed on the ground as a part of an installation against violence against women in Brussels, Nov. 25, 2019.”Sexual violence continues to be used to spread fear and assert control,” said Pramila Patten, the U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. “It remains a cruel tactic of torture, terror and political repression, a brutally effective tool of displacement and dehumanization. The response continues to be slow; impunity remains the rule and justice the rare exception.”StigmaShe said services for survivors are inadequate and the stigma so intense that in some places, women choose to live with their abusers rather than face families and communities that shame them because they were raped.”We need to shift the stigma away from the survivor and put it on the perpetrator,” Karen Naimer of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) told the gathering to loud applause.Changing community and cultural mindsets is a priority.Chinyere Eyoh, herself a survivor of sexual violence, is now the Executive Director of Sexual Offenses Awareness and Victims Rehabilitation Initiative (SOAR) in Nigeria.”It is important that communities get to understand that sexual violence is a crime and the people who commit these crimes are the perpetrators,” she said.Men as alliesEyoh noted that in Africa, engaging men as their allies in education and awareness has been effective.”You find out that other men tend to listen to men when they talk about this issue, rather than women speaking for themselves,” she said.On Monday, the U.N. launched a 16 days of activism event to highlight gender-based violence. It will end on Dec. 10 — Human Rights Day. This year’s theme is “Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape!” Orange is the campaign’s signature color and Generation Equality refers to the fight for gender equality as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”Today, we are also calling on governments and services to take the positive steps necessary to scale-up the response, which must include increasing accountability — by making rape universally illegal, including in those countries that still allow marital rape, and holding rapists to account in every country that is a member of the United Nations,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women.
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US Calls Its Ambassador to South Sudan Back to Washington
The U.S. has called its ambassador to South Sudan back to Washington for consultations as Washington reevaluates its relationship with the country after a delay in implementing a fragile peace deal.
The unusual public U.S. State Department statement was echoed in a tweet Monday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the U.S. signals its frustration with the failure of South Sudan’s rivals to meet this month’s deadline to form a coalition government.Called back our Ambassador to #SouthSudan for consultations as we re-evaluate our relationship with the Government of South Sudan. We will work with the region to support efforts to achieve peace and a successful political transition in South Sudan.— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 25, 2019
South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed to postpone that key step for 100 days. They had faced a Nov. 12 deadline but said security and governance issues needed to be resolved.
The U.S. said the delay “calls into question their suitability to continue to lead the nation’s peace process.”
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Turkish Riot Police Break Up Women’s Protest
Turkish riot police used force to break up a march by thousands of women calling for what they call an “end to impunity” for men guilty of violence against women.Police stopped more than 2,000 from marching up Istikal Street in Istanbul’s main shopping district.Police fired pepper spray at the protesters with some witnesses reporting the use of tear gas and plastic bullets. No casualties or arrests were reported.March organizers say they are tired at what they believe are the relatively light sentences handed out to husbands and boyfriends who murder or abuse women.Women at the front of Monday’s march spread out a banner reading “We cannot tolerate the loss of one more woman.”A Turkish women’s rights group says nearly 380 women have been killed so far this year.A Turkish court recently sentenced a man to life in prison for slashing his ex-wife’s throat in front of their 10 year-old daughter in August.The murder was caught on video and sickened nearly everyone who saw it.
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Lebanese Millionaire Donates Hitler’s Hat to Israeli Group
A Lebanese-born business tycoon says he is donating Hitler’s top hat and other Nazi memorabilia he won at an auction to an Israeli Jewish group to keep the stuff out of the hands of neo-Nazis.Abdallah Chatila, who made his fortune in diamonds and Swiss real estate, paid $660,000 for the items last week.He says he bought the the hat and memorabilia intending to destroy it, but decided it was better to hand it over to the Keren Hayeson-United Israel Appeal.Along with the Nazi dictator’s hat, the items include a silver plated edition of “Mein Kampf,” and a typewriter used by Hitler’s secretary.Although Chatila says some Lebanese are criticizing him for helping the so-called enemy, his act was totally non-political. He said he “wished to buy these objects so that they could not be used for the purpose of neo-Nazi propaganda.”The European Jewish Association, which had originally protested the auction, is now applauding Chatila.”Such a consequence, such an act of selfless generosity to do something that you feel strongly about is the equivalent of finding a precious diamond in an Everest of coal,” Rabbi Menachem Margolin wrote in a letter to Chatila.It is unclear what the Jewish group plans to do with the objects.
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Who is Edward Gallagher — the Navy Seal Acquitted by Trump
A member of the United States Navy SEALs is at the center of a national political controversy after President Donald Trump intervened in his disciplinary hearings and ordered the Navy not to eject him from the elite military unit.Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was accused by men under his command of committing possible war crimes during his 2017 tour in Iraq. He was convicted of posing for photographs with the body of a teenage Islamic State captive in American custody and demoted from his position. However, Trump reversed the Navy decision and then ordered officials not to eject him from his unit.The U.S. Navy’s top civilian, Secretary Richard Spencer, was fired by the Defense Secretary over the matter on Sunday. Defense Chief Mark Esper said the secretary had been negotiating a secret deal over the SEAL’s fate with the White House.FILE – Acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer listens during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, July 16, 2019.Pattern of behavior?Gallagher has served in the U.S. Navy since 1999. He was one of few Navy medics ever to complete the Marines’ demanding scout sniper school, according to the New York Times.In 2017, members of Gallagher’s platoon were concerned by what they saw while deployed with Gallagher, leading to an investigation and trial by the Navy.The defense argued that Gallagher was being falsely accused by subordinates that did not like the chief petty officer’s leadership style.Members of his platoon said he shot at civilians in Iraq, including adolescent girls and old men.”I shot more warning shots to save civilians from Eddie than I ever did at ISIS. I see an issue with that,” Dalton Tolbert, a Navy SEAL sniper, wrote in a group chat called “The Sewing Circle.”The group chat was organized by members of Gallagher’s platoon that were concerned by his actions.Gallagher’s other prominent charge was that he killed a captive teenage Islamic State fighter with a handmade custom blade. Under Geneva Convention protections governing war prisoners, the captive should have been protected from harm by the military as he was no longer a lawful target.Navy Comander Jeff Pietrzyk said that Gallagher sent text messages that implicated the chief petty officer in the captive’s death.”I’ve got a cool story for you when I get back. I’ve got my knife skills on,” read one of Gallagher’s text messages.”Good story behind this. Got him with my hunting knife,” read another text.Two Navy SEALs said they saw Gallagher stab the teenager.Conflicting accountsHowever, Special Operator Corey Scott testified that Gallagher did not kill the teen. Scott, who is a medic, said he himself killed the captive by plugging the teenager’s breathing tube with his thumb in an act of mercy.Navy investigators said they would investigate Scott’s testimony because it was contrary to statements of at least seven different Navy SEALs.Gallagher was also accused of threatening service members that would report his alleged actions. Senior commanders of the platoon allegedly told complaining soldiers that they could have their careers sidetracked and elite status revoked.Gallagher was acquitted on six of seven charges on July 2 by a jury in a military court. But he was convicted on the charge of “wrongfully posing for an unofficial picture with a human casualty.” The charge is considered minor in comparison to other accusations.The human casualty he was convicted of photographing was the same ISIS fighter Gallagher had been accused of killing. Witnesses say the chief read his reenlistment oath near the body.That charge carried a maximum prison sentence of four months. Gallagher had already served eight months in jail, allowing him to be released.He was also demoted from chief petty officer to petty officer first class.According to testimony by a marine who worked with Gallagher, Sgt. Giorgio Kirylo, many members of the platoon took pictures with the dead combatant.”[The picture] was our unofficial war trophy,” said the marine.FILE – President Donald Trump looks on as Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, July 23, 2019.Trump’s actionSome veteran groups and conservative politicians and commentators called for Gallagher to have his rank restored.Trump decided to intercede on Gallagher’s behalf in March. The president had Gallagher removed from a Navy brig and transferred to a Navy hospital ahead of his trial.In November, Trump remanded the decision by the court and reinstated Gallagher’s rank.”The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning,” the president tweeted Thursday, “Get back to business!”The Trident pin is awarded to soldiers who pass an intense and difficult test necessary to become Navy SEALS.”You are a true leader and exactly what the military and this nation needs,” Gallagher said in a statement thanking Trump. “God bless you and your family.”Gallagher will retire at the end of November, according to Esper.
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Trump, Defense Secretary Offer Conflicting Accounts of Navy Leadership Shakeup
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday offered another conflicting account of a leadership shakeup at the Pentagon, while defending his decision to intervene on behalf of a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct during the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq.Asked about Sunday’s firing of the U.S. Navy’s top civilian, Secretary Richard Spencer, Trump told White House reporters, “We’ve been thinking about that for a long time.”FILE – Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer addresses graduates during the U.S. Naval War College’s commencement ceremony, in Newport, Rhode Island, June 14, 2019.“That didn’t just happen,” he added during an appearance in the Oval Office with the Bulgarian prime minister. “I have to protect my war fighters.”Trump also defended ordering Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday to cancel a review board hearing for Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher.Gallagher was acquitted by a military jury earlier this year of charges he murdered a wounded Islamic State terror group fighter during his deployment to Iraq in 2017. But he was found guilty of posing with the teenager’s body and demoted.Earlier this month, Trump intervened, restoring Gallagher’s rank and pay. But some Navy officials, including Spencer, had said Gallagher would still need to appear before a review board, which would decide whether he could still retire as a SEAL and keep the Trident pin awarded to members of the elite unit.U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper attends a press conference, Nov. 15, 2019. “They wanted to take his pin away, and I said, ‘No,’” the president told reporters Monday, calling Gallagher a “tough guy” and “one of the ultimate fighters.”Hours earlier, Esper defended Trump’s order to abort the review board hearing for Gallagher.“The president is the commander-in-chief. He has every right, authority and privilege to do what he wants to do,” Esper told reporters at the Pentagon.But Esper’s account of the events that led to Spencer’s dismissal as Navy secretary appears to differ from Trump’s characterization that the firing had been under consideration “for a long time.”
Specifically, Esper alleged he learned after a White House meeting on Friday that Spencer had gone behind his back and tried to make a deal regarding the Gallagher case with White House officials.“We learned that several days prior Secretary Spencer had proposed a deal whereby if president allowed the Navy to handle the case, he [Spencer] would guarantee that Eddie Gallagher would be restored a rank allowed to retain his trident and permitted to retire,” Esper told reporters.
“I spoke with the president late Saturday informed him that I lost trust and confidence in Secretary Spencer and I was going to ask for Spencer’s resignation,” the defense secretary added. “The president supported this decision.”
The White House late Monday pushed back against the idea that the president’s version of events and the Pentagon’s version were not aligned.”Both of those things are true,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told VOA, regarding Trump’s assertion that there had been plans to fire Spencer prior to his conduct in the Gallagher matter.Yet other discrepancies remain.Esper on Monday insisted Spencer had threatened to resign.“Secretary Spencer had said to me that … he was likely, probably going to resign if he was forced to work to try to retain the Trident [pin for Gallagher],” Esper said. “I had every reason to believe that he was going to resign, that it was a threat to resign.”“I cannot reconcile the personal statements with the public statements with the written word,” the defense secretary added, further defending his decision to part ways with (fire) Spencer. In an interview late Monday with CBS News, his first since his firing, Spencer said he made no such threats.”I never threatened to resign,” he said. “I got fired.”However, the former Navy secretary admitted he did approach the White House about a deal that would allow Gallagher to retire as a SEAL – the outcome the president desired – if the president agreed not to interfere.Yet other discrepancies remain.”In order to preserve the resiliency of the naval institution, I had to step up and do something,” Spencer told CBS, admitting he did not inform Esper at the time.But Spencer said he was quickly told his proposal was a no go.In a letter acknowledging his termination Sunday, Spencer said he could not abide by the president’s desire to bypass the review board process as required by the military justice system.“The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries,” he wrote. “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believes violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” “What message does that send to the troops?” Spencer told CBS of the president’s interference, answering, “That you can get away with things.”
Already, the president’s intervention in the Gallagher case and the firing of the Navy secretary have some Democratic lawmakers calling for an investigation.
“Throughout my work with Secretary Spencer, I’ve known him to be a good man, a patriotic American, and an effective leader,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Monday.“We have many unanswered questions,” Kaine said, calling Spencer one of several officials who “served our country well despite having to work under an unethical commander-in-chief.”“We’re working to get the facts,” the committee’s top Democrat, Senator Jack Reed, added in a separate statement. “Clearly, Spencer’s forced resignation is another consequence of the disarray brought about by President Trump’s inappropriate involvement in the military justice system and the disorder and dysfunction that has been a constant presence in this Administration.”But the committee’s chairman, Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, indicated late Sunday he was ready to move on.The president and defense secretary “deserve to have a leadership team who has their trust and confidence,” Inhofe said, acknowledging, “It is no secret that I had my own disagreements with Secretary Spencer over the management of specific Navy programs.”Trump has nominated Ken Braithwaite, a former admiral and the current U.S. ambassador to Norway, to become the next Navy secretary.White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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Ankara Defies Washington Over Russian Missiles
Turkey and the United States are seemingly closer to a collision course as Turkish media report Ankara testing a Russian anti-aircraft weapon system, despite threats of Washington sanctions.Turkish F-16 jets flew low Monday across the Turkish capital, in a two-day exercise reportedly to test the radar system newly acquired Russian S-400 missile system.Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s is a significant point of tension with Washington, which claims the system poses a threat to NATO’s defenses.”There is room for Turkey to come back to the table. They know that to make this work, they need to either destroy or return or somehow get rid of the S-400,” a senior State Department official told reporters at a briefing Wednesday.The official added that sanctions could follow if Ankara went ahead and activated the system.Ankara’s purchase of the S-400 system violated U.S. Congress’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).FILE – Military vehicles and equipment, parts of the S-400 air defense systems, are seen on the tarmac, after they were unloaded from a Russian transport aircraft, at Murted military airport in Ankara, July 12, 2019.Despite September’s delivery of the S-400s, Washington appeared to step back, indicating that sanctions would only be imposed if Ankara activated the system.Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated Ankara’s stance, however, that the S-400 poses no threat to NATO systems.”That’s what we have been saying since the beginning [of the dispute with the [U.S.]. [S-400s] will definitely be a ‘stand-alone’ system. We are not going to integrate this with the NATO systems in any way. It will operate independently,” Akar said Monday.There is mounting frustration in Ankara with Washington over its stance, given President Barack Obama’s failure to sell U.S. Patriot missiles to Turkey.”Russia has missiles, so do Iraq, Iran, Syria. So why doesn’t the U.S. doesn’t give us the patriot missile,” said Professor Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential foreign policy adviser.”Then we buy Russian S-400, and then you say you are the bad guy, you don’t obey the regulations, NATO principles, you buy Russian missiles.”Congress called ‘anti-Turkish’Monday’s testing of the S-400 radar system is widely seen as a challenge to Washington. Analysts claim it will likely add to calls in Congress to impose CAATSA sanctions and other measures against Turkey.Sweeping new economic and political sanctions against Turkey are currently in Congress awaiting ratification.”Congress is somehow has become so anti-Turkish. We have only a few friends remaining in the Congress,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “It so difficult to understand how they become so anti-Turkish so emotional.””CAATSA sanctions are waiting, and they are fundamentally important for the Turkish economy,” warned Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.The Turkish economy is still recovering from a currency crash two years ago, triggered by previous U.S. sanctions.Trump, ErdoganAnkara will likely be looking to President Donald Trump to blunt any new efforts to impose sanctions against Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen to have built a good relationship with Trump.Earlier this month, Trump hosted Erdogan in the White House for what he called a “wonderful meeting.”FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 13, 2019.”Turkish relations is so reduced to these two guys [Erdogan and Trump],” said Aydintasbas. “The entire relationship is built on this relationship and will rely on Trump to restrict Congress’s authority and make those bills go away.”However, Ankara’s test Monday of S-400 components will make it unlikely Washington will end a freeze on the sale of the F-35 jet.Trump blocked the Turkish sale, over concerns the fighter jet’s stealth technology could be compromised by the Russian missile’s advanced radar system.The F-35 sale is set to replace Turkey’s aging fleet of F-16s. Ankara is warning it could turn to Russia’s SU 35 as an alternative.”All should be aware that Turkey will have to look for alternatives if F-35s [fighter jets] cannot be acquired for any reason,” Akar said.Role of RussiaRussian President Vladimir Putin is courting Erdogan in a move widely seen as attempting to undermine NATO.The two presidents are closely cooperating in Syria despite backing rival sides in the Syrian civil war. Bilateral trading ties are also deepening primarily around energy.Analysts point out a large-scale purchase of Russian jets will likely have far-reaching consequences beyond Ankara’s S-400 procurement.Training of Turkish pilots for the SU 35 would be in Moscow, as opposed to decades of U.S. training, while Turkey could find itself excluded from joint air exercises with its NATO partners.Ankara, too, is warning Washington of severe consequences if it has to turn to Moscow to meet its defense requirements.”Turkey will buy Russian aircraft if the F-35 freeze is not lifted,” said Casin. “If this happens, Turkey will not buy any more U.S. combat aircraft. This will be the end of the Turkish-U.S. relationship. I think like this; I am very serious.”Putin is due to meet Erdogan in Turkey in January, an opportunity the Russian president is expected to use to try and confirm the SU 35 sale.
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Last Living Mount Rushmore Construction Worker Dies at 98
The last living worker who helped construct Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills has died.Donald “Nick” Clifford of Keystone, South Dakota, was 98. His wife, Carolyn Clifford, says he died Saturday at a hospice in Rapid City.At 17, Nick Clifford was the youngest worker hired to work at Mount Rushmore. He operated a winch that carried workers up and down the mountain where the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were carved, and he drilled holes for dynamite.The Rapid City Journal reports that Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln, decided in 1938 to field a baseball team and hired Clifford, who already was a veteran pitcher and right fielder.Clifford worked on Mount Rushmore from 1938-40, earning 55 cents an hour.
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Details Leak From China’s Mass Detention Camps in Xinjiang; US Official Blasts ‘Concentration Camps’
A new leak of classified Chinese government documents has revealed how authorities are using a massive data collection program to target and detain an estimated one million ethnic minority Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang province.The trove of documents, which was obtained and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed the blueprints and tactics behind an intensifying campaign of intrusive surveillance, political and cultural indoctrination against Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang.FILE.- A guard tower and barbed wire fences are seen around a facility in the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China’s Xinjiang region, Dec. 3, 2018. This is one of a growing number of internment camps in Xinjiang.Rights groups have warned for years that China is systematically oppressing Uighurs and eradicating their culture and religious beliefs, and the new documents detail how authorities have pursued ideological “re-education” for an entire population.Uighurs and other Muslim minorities imprisoned inside the camps are scored based on how well they speak the dominant Mandarin and follow rigorous rules from bathing to using the toilet. Scores determine if they can leave. The leaked internal documents and communications were obtained and published on Sunday. This followed the leak of 400 pages of internal documents to The New York Times last week.FILE – Residents walk past a security checkpoint at the close of a open air market in Kashgar in western China’s Xinjiang region, Nov. 4, 2017. Authorities are using data-driven surveillance to impose a digital police state in Xinjiang.”We’re in 2019 and we’ve got over a million people in concentration camps in Xinjiang,” White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Saturday at an international security conference in Halifax. “That’s an outrage.””Those camps should be closed. They should be dismantled,” added O’Brien.”But it’s not just the camps. It’s the surveillance infrastructure that’s been built in the region tracking people through facial recognition, A.I., through electronic means. They’ve created an entire surveillance state in that province.”China responseChinese authorities have justified the extreme measures as necessary to counter what they claim to be “terrorism” and to ensure China’s national security.FILE.- A police station is seen by the front gate of the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center in Artux in western China’s Xinjiang region, Dec. 3, 2018.Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang refuted the new document leak, saying issues surrounding Uighur Muslims are “purely China’s internal affairs.””Certain media are trying to smear China’s counterterrorism and de-radicalization efforts in Xinjiang by despicably hyping up Xinjiang-related issues, but their attempts will not succeed. Stability, ethnic solidarity and harmony in Xinjiang are the best responses to such disinformation,” said Geng.Visa restrictionsLast month, the U.S. State Department announced visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the detention or abuse of Uighurs, Kazakhs, or other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.While no specific names of Chinese officials were mentioned, U.S. officials and congressional members had said President Donald Trump’s administration was considering sanctions against officials linked to the abuses on Muslims, including Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo.”If China has nothing to hide, it should allow truly independent human rights monitors immediate and unfettered access to Xinjiang — something it has steadfastly refused to do so far, despite repeated requests from Amnesty International and others,” the rights group’s campaign director for East Asia, Lisa Tassi, said in a statement Monday.
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Ebola Outbreak an International Emergency
On this episode of Healthy Living, an update on theEbola outbreak in the DRC. The President of Concern Worldwide U.S. Aine Fay joins us in studio for more on what is being called an international emergency. We also discuss with the Former Prime Minister Of Togo Gilbert Houngbo about hunger being on the rise in Africa. And, whether or not spicy foods can cause stomach ulcers in our “True or False” segment and how researchers in Brazil are inventing traps to catch mosquitos that cause illness. All these topics and more on Healthy Living this week. S1, E6
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