Former Ivory Coast rebel leader Guillaume Soro dismissed an arrest warrant issued against him as baseless and said he would pursue his campaign as a presidential candidate from overseas, according to comments published Sunday in a French newspaper. Ivory Coast’s public prosecutor issued the warrant for Soro on Monday as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot, forcing him to call off a planned homecoming ahead of the October 2020 election. Soro — who gave the interview Thursday to the Journal du Dimanche in Paris and has been based in France for the past six months, according to the newspaper — said the warrant was politically motivated. This warrant is not based on the law, but has simply been issued to stop a candidate from trying to win office,” Soro said. He added that an audio recording being cited by prosecutors in their allegations was a manipulation and the result of a setup. The warrant was issued for breaches of state security, receiving stolen public resources and money laundering. Still has alliesThe case involving Soro, who retains the loyalty of many former rebel commanders who now hold senior positions in the army, could significantly increase tensions ahead of the election, which is seen as a test of Ivory Coast’s stability. On Saturday, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Soro was not above the law and would face justice for allegedly seeking to destabilize the country. That came after a group of Ivory Coast opposition parties accused state authorities on Friday of trying to intimidate them before the presidential election, and denounced the warrant against Soro. Soro said he had not had any contact with French President Emmanuel Macron’s office during his time in France and had not sought protection. Macron visited Ivory Coast in late December, before the warrant emerged. Soro said he would work on a form of political resistance from overseas for now. “I am and remain a candidate for the presidency,” he said.
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Month: December 2019
Sudan, Rebels, Agree Plan to End Conflict in Darfur
The Sudanese government and nine rebel groups on Saturday signed an agreement on a roadmap towards ending the bloody conflict in the Darfur region.The deal outlines different issues the parties will need to negotiate during the latest round of talks in Juba.”We believe this is an important step,” said Ahmed Mohamed, the chief negotiator on Darfur matters from the Sudan Revolutionary Front or SRF, a coalition of nine rebel groups involved in talks with the Sudanese government.”This step no doubt will help the process to achieve a lasting peace in Darfur and also it will enable the transitional process in Sudan to move smoothly without hindrances,” Mohamed told AFP.map of DarfurAmong the issues they agreed need to be tackled are the root causes of the conflict, the return of refugees and internally displaced people, power sharing and the integration of rebel forces into the national army.The deal also states that the Sudanese government will address land issues, such as the destruction of property during the conflict.Khartoum has been negotiating with different rebel groups in the capital of South Sudan for two weeks, in the latest round of efforts to end conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.Rebels in these areas fought bloody campaigns against marginaliZation by Khartoum under ousted president Omar al-Bashir.The Darfur fighting broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.Human rights groups say Khartoum targeted suspected pro-rebel ethnic groups with a scorched earth policy, raping, killing, looting and burning villages.Bashir, who is behind bars for corruption and awaiting trial on other charges, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his role in the conflict that left around 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the United Nations.However, there is fresh hope for peace after Sudan’s transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, made peace in these areas a priority.”We failed to achieve a lasting peace for Darfur simply because the previous government was not ready to take strategic decisions to resolve the conflict in Darfur,” said Mohamed who has been involved in previous failed peace talks.General Samsedine Kabashi, the top Sudanese government representative at the talks said: “We are committed to ending all the problems in Darfur and ensuring that we restore peace and stability not only in Darfur but across all parts of the country.”The peace process began in August and mediators aim to reach a final deal by February 2020.
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Somalia Bomb Death Toll Rises to at Least 80
The death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a busy checkpoint in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has risen to at least 80.More than 90 others were wounded. Mogadishu Mayer Omar Finish, police and medical sources said it is the deadliest incident to hit the capital in months.An explosives-laden vehicle blew up in the middle of a checkpoint on a road leading to Afgoye District in Lower Shabelle Province.A man assists a civilian injured at the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec, 28, 2019.The checkpoint, known as Ex-Control checkpoint, is one of the main road tax collection government posts in Mogadishu.Government officials said nearly 100 vehicles and rickshaws carrying passengers were in line at the check point for routine security inspections when the explosion went off.A large plume of black smoke could be seen above the capital, and the sound of the explosion echoed across the city, making the blast one of the heaviest and the deadliest in Mogadishu’s recent memory.A general view shows the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 28, 2019.Witnesses described a horrific scene of bloodied corpses strewn in and around the check point, and the injured shrieking for rescuers to pull them from beneath the scores of vehicles turned into rubble by the blast.“It was a very horrific scene. Wounded people were screaming, crying, and shouting for help, while dozens of dead bodies laid around in a pool of blood,” one witness, who requested anonymity, told VOA Somali.Several Somali police officers manning the check point and two Turkish brothers working for a road construction company are among the dead.“The Turkish nationals were in their ordinary work of road construction, and they were among the dead,” said Somali government spokesman Isma’il Oranje.MogadishuA survivor, Ruqiyo Nur, with burns on her legs, told VOA Somali at a hospital in Mogadishu that she did not know whether her husband and brother, who were with her at the time aboard a minibus, survived. “I don’t know the fate of my husband and my brother,” Nur saidMore than 30 of the dead were school and university students who were traveling on public buses during morning rush hour, security officials and university authorities said.“Seventeen of our students and other students were among those killed during the attack. At least 20 others injured. They were heading to their education centers,” said Dr. Mohamed Mohamud Bide, the president of Banadir University.Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has condemned the attack, describing it as “ a heinous terrorist attack against innocent civilians.”Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has named an emergency committee to assist victims and help the wounded receive proper treatment.Hours after the attack, Somalia’s parliament approved a new election law, one of the challenges feared to hinder the countries upcoming “one person, one vote” election due in late 2020 or early 2021.No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but analyst Abdihakim Aynte with the Mogadishu-based heritage research organization said it had all the hallmarks of al-Shabab attacks in Somalia.“The attack looks similar in all forms and shape to those of al-Shabab and they always take advantage of government weakness to send a signal that they are still capable and can cause damage where they want and when they want,” Ayte said.Seynab Abukar has contributed this report from Mogadishu
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Thousands March in Paris to Protest Pension Reform Plan
Thousands of protesters opposed to the French government’s plan to revamp the retirement system marched through Paris on Saturday, the 24th day of crippling strikes.In an unusual gesture, unions organizing the march asked yellow vest protesters to join them. The march coincided with the 59th consecutive Saturday of marches by the yellow vest movement that seeks social and economic justice.Brief scuffles marred the union march as individuals, some wearing masks, burned construction materials along the route. The march went from the Gare du Nord train station to Chatelet in central Paris.“Whatever the color of the vest, we must stick together,” the leader of the hard-left CGT union Philippe Martinez said on BFMTV, referring to the several hundred yellow vests who joined the march.President Emmanuel Macron wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and rid the complex system of 42 special categories, notably railway and bus and Metro employees, with their own rules.The strikes have disrupted transport across France and beyond, hobbling Paris Metros and trains across the country as well as businesses. The strikes have been especially felt over the holiday season.On Saturday, the SNCF train authority said only six of 10 high-speed trains were running. The Eurostar from Paris to London had four of five trains running. Paris Metro service was improving, with partial service on several lines that had been shut down from the start. Only two lines, both automatic, ran without problem.Prime Minister Edouard Philippe plans to continue talks with unions after a holiday break. The unions plan a major day of action on Jan. 9.
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Ukraine Rivals to Swap Prisoners Sunday: Separatists
Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country have agreed to swap dozens of prisoners on Sunday, the self-declared rebel republic of Donetsk said.Both sides had said earlier this month they would carry out a prisoner exchange by the end of the year, following high-profile peace talks in Paris aimed at de-escalating Europe’s only active war.”Kiev and the Donbass (a term used to refer to rebel-held eastern Ukraine) have reached an accord on an exchange of prisoners… this Sunday December 29,” Donetsk government spokeswoman Daria Morozova said in a statement.She said two separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk will get 87 prisoners, while 55 others will be handed over to Kiev, without giving details on the identity of those involved.The prisoner exchange is expected to take place near the town of Gorlivka in the separatist-held Donetsk region.Russian media reported that the operation will take place on the front line.Ukrainian authorities refused to confirm or deny the exchange.”We are not commenting on this,” Olena Guitlianska, spokesman for the SBU, the Ukrainian security services, told AFP.Officials at the Ukrainian presidency could not immediately be reached for comment.The swap would come three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each.More than 13,000 people have been killed since pro-Russia militias in eastern Ukraine launched a bid for independence in 2014 – kicking off a conflict that deepened Russia’s estrangement from the West.International pressureDetails of Sunday’s exchange were scarce, with officials saying that lists of prisoners were still being agreed.OSCE Special Representative Martin Sajdik confirmed that preparations for the swap were under way.At the Paris summit this month, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine agreed to implement a full ceasefire and proceed with a new withdrawal of forces from conflict zones by March 2020.The latest swap also comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky held their first face-to-face talks and agreed measures to de-escalate the conflict.The December 9 summit was the first of its kind in three years.Since coming to power in May, comedian-turned-president Zelensky, 41, has sought to revive a peace process to end the separatist conflict.The Kremlin has sent signals that it is ready to work with Zelensky, whom Putin has described as “likeable” and “sincere”.Ahead of the summit, Kiev and separatists completed a partial troop pullback.French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time of the Paris meeting a new summit would be held in four months to take stock of progress on ending the conflict.Countries have sought to revive accords signed in Minsk in 2015 that call for the withdrawal of heavy weapons, the restoration of Kiev’s control over its borders, wider autonomy for Donetsk and Lugansk, and the holding of local elections.But there was no sign of warmth between the Ukraine and Russian leaders in Paris and many doubt whether Putin genuinely wants to settle the conflict.Speaking in Moscow this month, Putin said that if Kiev gets back control of the border in the east pro-Russian residents of separatist-held territories could be targeted.Zelensky’s peace plan has also been strongly criticised by war veterans and nationalists.Various nationalist organisations even deployed their own troops to the frontline in an effort to prevent a troop pullback in line with peace agreements.Critics say the proposals favour Russia but Zelensky has pledged not to betray Ukraine’s interests.Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after a bloody uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime in 2014. Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
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Algeria Names New Prime Minister
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Saturday named a university professor and former diplomat as prime minister as he builds a new government to handle political unrest and a looming economic challenge.Abdelaziz Djerad, 65, served in the administration of a previous president in the 1990s, but was sidelined by president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was ousted in April after two decades as head of state.The massive street protest movement that prompted Bouteflika to step down regarded Tebboune’s election this month as illegitimate and it seems unlikely to accept any government he appoints.The protesters rejected any election that took place while the military stayed involved in politics and Bouteflika-era figures retained powerful positions.Algeria’s authorities publicly welcomed the street protests, casting them as a patriotic movement aimed at refreshing Algerian politics and ending corruption.Djerad spoke several times on radio after the protests began, backing them and demanding that Bouteflika and his allies quit power.Tebboune, himself a former prime minister, was one of five former senior officials approved as candidates for the presidential race, and won 58% of votes on Dec. 12 amid protests and an electoral boycott that reduced turnout to 40%.The opposition say that despite Tebboune’s election, ultimate power remains with the army, whose own chief, Ahmed Gaed Salah, died suddenly of a heart attack on Monday.It leaves Algeria with a new president, prime minister and army chief during its most acute political crisis in decades. Meanwhile the country faces a longer-term slide in its trade and fiscal balances after years of lower energy prices.With state coffers relying on energy exports for most annual revenue, the new government may be forced to make tough cuts in spending. The parliament and outgoing interim government have already agreed a 9% cut in public spending for 2020.Other members of the new government are expected to be named in the coming days.
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Mogadishu Car Bomb Kills at Least 76, Dozens Injured
Mogadishu’s Aamin Ambulance Service says at least 76 people are dead and scores injured after a huge car bomb exploded at a busy junction on the southwestern side of Mogadishu.The death toll is likely to rise, with some officials saying as many as 90 people are dead.Witnesses say the blast occurred at a security checkpoint at an intersection used by vehicles leaving and entering Mogadishu from Afgoye town. An officer said it was a truck bomb.Early reports indicated the vehicle filled with explosives was targeting a busy taxation office at the junction where vehicles stop to pay their road taxes.A man assists a civilian injured at the scene of a car bomb at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 28, 2019.A witness who went to the scene told VOA Somali that he saw blood and pieces of bodies scattered throughout the scene.“It’s hard to quantify, but many people died,” he said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. However, the al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab has carried out similar attacks in the past.A general view shows the scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 28, 2019.
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Hong Kong Protesters Demand Mainland Chinese Traders Leave
Police fought with protesters who marched through a Hong Kong shopping mall Saturday demanding mainland Chinese traders leave the territory in a fresh weekend of anti-government tension.The protest in Sheung Shui, near Hong Kong’s boundary with the mainland, was part of efforts to pressure the government by disrupting economic activity.About 100 protesters marched through the mall shouting, “Liberate Hong Kong!” and “Return to the mainland!”Police in civilian clothes with clubs tackled and handcuffed some protesters. One officer fired pepper spray at protesters and reporters. Government broadcaster RTHK reported 14 people were detained.Some shoppers argued with police in olive fatigues and helmets who blocked walkways in the mall.Protests that began in June over a proposed extradition law have spread to include demands for more democracy and other grievances.The proposed law was withdrawn but protesters want the resignation of the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, and other changes.Protesters complain Beijing and Lam’s government are eroding the autonomy and Western-style civil liberties promised to Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to China in 1997.On Saturday, some merchants in the Sheung Shui mall wrapped orange tape around kiosks or partially closed security doors in shops but most business went ahead normally.Hong Kong, which has no sales tax and a reputation for genuine products, is popular with Chinese traders who buy merchandise to resell on the mainland.Sheung Shui was the site of clashes between police and demonstrators in June.Earlier this week, protesters smashed windows in shopping areas over the Christmas holiday. Some fought with police.A total of 336 people, some as young as 12, were arrested from Monday to Thursday, according to police. That brought the total number of people arrested over six months of protests to nearly 7,000.Protesters have damaged subway stations, banks and other public facilities.Earlier this month, opposition candidates won a majority of posts in elections for district representatives, the lowest level of government.
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Australia Fears for its Koalas, and Fire Danger Rises
Thousands of koalas are feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged area north of Sydney, further diminishing Australia’s iconic marsupial, while the fire danger accelerated Saturday in the country’s east as temperatures soared.The midnorth coast of New South Wales was home to up to 28,000 koalas, but wildfires in the area in recent months have significantly reduced their population. Koalas are native to Australia and are one of the country’s most beloved animals, but they’ve been under threat thanks to a loss of habitat.“Up to 30% of their habitat has been destroyed,” Environment Minister Sussan Ley told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “We’ll know more when the fires are calmed down and a proper assessment can be made.”Images shared of koalas drinking water after being rescued from the wildfires have gone viral on social media in recent days. “I get mail from all around the world from people absolutely moved and amazed by our wildlife volunteer response and also by the habits of these curious creatures,” Ley said.About 5 million hectares of land have burned nationwide during the wildfire crisis, with nine people killed and more than 1,000 homes destroyed.Smoke rises from wildfires, Dec. 27, 2019, in the Blue Mountains, New South Whales, Australia. Firefighters battling wildfires in Australia’s most populous state face increased fire danger thanks to higher temperatures.Fire danger in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory was upgraded to severe Saturday, as high temperatures built up over the region. Sydney’s western suburbs reached 41 degrees Celsius (105 F) Saturday, while the inner city is expected to hit 31 C (87 F) Sunday before reaching 35 C (95 F) Tuesday.Two wildfires in New South Wales are at the “watch and act” level issued by fire services.Canberra, Australia’s capital, peaked at 38 C (100 F) Saturday, with oppressive temperatures forecast for the next seven days.Meanwhile, New South Wales Emergency Services Minister David Elliott has gone on an overseas family vacation in the wake of Prime Minister’s Scott Morrison’s much-criticized family trip to Hawaii recently.Morrison, who apologized for going away, eventually cut short his vacation and returned to Sydney last weekend.Elliott said he will be briefed daily while overseas. “If the bushfire situation should demand it, I will return home without hesitation,” he said.
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Lee Mendelson Dies; He Brought ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ to TV
Lee Mendelson, the producer who changed the face of the holidays when he brought “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to television in 1965 and wrote the lyrics to its signature song, “Christmas Time Is Here,” died Christmas day, his son said.Mendelson, who won a dozen Emmys in his long career, died at his home in Hillsborough, California, of congestive heart failure at age 86 after a long struggle with lung cancer, Jason Mendelson told The Associated Press.Lee Mendelson headed a team that included “Peanuts” author Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez, and pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, whose music for the show, including the opening “Christmas Time Is Here,” has become as much a Christmas staple as the show itself.Mendelson told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 2000 that he was short on time in finding a lyricist for the song, so he sketched out the six verses himself in “about 15 minutes on the backside of an envelope.”He found a choir from a church in his native Northern California to sing the song that sets the show’s unforgettable tone, beginning with Mendelson’s words: “Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer, fun for all that children call, their favorite time of year.”The show won an Emmy and a Peabody Award and has aired on TV annually ever since. The team that made it would go on to create more than 50 network specials, four feature films and many other “Peanuts” projects.Mendelson also took other comic strips from newspapers to animated TV, including “Garfield,” for which he produced a dozen television specials.His death was first reported by The Daily Post of Palo Alto.Northern CalifornianBorn in San Francisco in 1933, Mendelson’s family moved to nearby San Mateo when he was a boy, and later to nearby Hillsborough, where he went to high school.He graduated from Stanford in 1954, served in the Air Force and worked for his father’s fruit-and-vegetable company before going into TV for the Bay Area’s KPIX-TV.In 1963 he started his own production company and made a documentary on San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays, “A Man Named Mays,” that became a hit television special on NBC.Show that nearly wasn’tHe and Schulz originally worked on a “Peanuts” documentary that proved a hard sell for TV, but midway through 1965 a sponsor asked them if they could create the first comic strip’s first animated special in time for Christmas.Schulz wrote the now-familiar story of a depressed Charlie Brown seeking the meaning of Christmas, a school Christmas play with intractable actors including his dog Snoopy, a limp and unappreciated Christmas tree, and a recitation of the nativity story from his best friend Linus.Mendelson said the team showed the special to executives at CBS a week before it was slated to air, and they hated it, with its simplicity, dour tone, biblical themes, lack of laugh track and actual children’s voices instead of adults mimicking them, as was common.“I really believed, if it hadn’t been scheduled for the following week, there’s no way they were gonna broadcast that show,” Mendelson said on a 2004 documentary for the DVD of the special.Holiday classicInstead, it went on to become perhaps the biggest holiday classic in television.“It became part of everybody’s Christmas holidays,” Mendelson told The Los Angeles Times in 2015. “It was just passed on from generation to generation. … We got this huge initial audience and never lost them.”Mendelson is survived by his wife, Ploenta, his children Lynda, Glenn, Jason and Sean, his stepson Ken and eight grandchildren.
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Car Bomb in Somalia’s Capital Kills at Least 5, Police Say
A police officer says a car bomb has detonated at a security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital, killing at least five people.Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the blast targeted a tax collection center during the morning rush hour in Mogadishu as Somalia returns to work after its weekend.There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. However, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab group often carries out such attacks.
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US Military Base Blares False Alarm Amid North Korea Tensions
A U.S. military base in South Korea accidentally blared an alert siren instead of a bugle call, causing a brief scare as the U.S. and its allies are monitoring for signs of provocation from North Korea, which has warned it could send a “Christmas gift” over deadlocked nuclear negotiations.The siren at Camp Casey, which is near the border with North Korea, went off by “human error” around 10 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton, a public affairs officer for the 2nd Infantry Division. The operator immediately identified the mistake and alerted all units at the base of the false alarm, which did not interfere with any operations, Crighton said in an email Saturday. False alarm in JapanThe incident came a day before Japanese broadcaster NHK caused panic by mistakenly sending a news alert saying North Korea fired a missile over Japan that landed in the sea off the country’s northeastern island of Hokkaido early Friday. The broadcaster apologized, saying the alert was for media training purposes.North Korea has been dialing up pressure on Washington ahead of an end-of-year deadline issued by leader Kim Jong Un for the Trump administration to offer mutually acceptable terms for a nuclear deal. There are concerns that Pyongyang could do something provocative if Washington doesn’t back down and relieve sanctions imposed on the North’s broken economy.The North fired two missiles over Japan during a provocative run in weapons tests in 2017, which also included three flight tests of developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated potential capabilities to reach the U.S. mainland. Tensions eased brieflyTensions eased after Kim initiated diplomacy with Washington and Seoul in 2018 while looking to leverage his nukes for economic and security benefits. But negotiations have faltered since a February summit between Kim and President Donald Trump broke down after the U.S. side rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.In a statement issued earlier this month, North Korean senior diplomat Ri Thae Song asserted that the Trump administration was running out of time to salvage faltering nuclear negotiations, and said it’s entirely up to the United States to choose what “Christmas gift” it gets from the North.The North also in recent weeks said it conducted two “crucial” tests at a long-range rocket facility it said would strengthen its nuclear deterrent, prompting speculation that it’s developing a new ICBM or preparing a satellite launch.
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Thai SEAL Dies of Infection from Cave Rescue a Year Ago
A Thai navy SEAL who was part of the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave has died of a blood infection contracted during the risky operation, the Royal Thai Navy said.Petty Officer 1st Class Bayroot Pakbara was receiving treatment, but his condition worsened after the infection spread into his blood, according to an announcement on the Thai navy SEAL’s Facebook page.He is the second navy diver who lost his life in the high-profile operation that saw the boys and the coach extracted from deep inside the northern cave complex, where they were trapped for two weeks in June-July last year.Lt. Cmdr. Saman Gunan died while resupplying oxygen tanks July 6, 2019.According to the Bangkok Post, Pakbara was buried Friday at the Talosai mosque in southern Satun province. Local media quoted his mother as saying her son had been in and out of the hospital since the cave rescue.The boys and their coach entered the Tham Luang cave complex after soccer practice and were quickly trapped inside by rising floodwater. Despite a massive search, the boys spent nine nights lost in the cave before they were spotted by an expert diver. It would take another eight days before they were all safely removed from the cave.A team of expert divers guided each of the boys out of the cave on special stretchers. The operation required placing oxygen canisters along the path where the divers maneuvered dark, tight and twisting passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents.
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UN Increases 2020 Budget, Adds Funds for War Crimes Inquiries
The United Nations General Assembly Friday adopted a $3.07 billion operating budget that for the first time includes funding for the investigation of war crimes in Syria and Myanmar.The budget represents a slight increase from 2019’s figure of $2.9 billion.The increase was the result of additional missions assigned to the U.N. Secretariat, inflation and exchange rate adjustments, according to diplomats.These include the observer mission in Yemen, a political mission established in Haiti, the investigation of crimes committed in Syria since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, and in Myanmar after the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority.Syria, Myanmar inquiriesFor the first time, the budgets for the Syria and Myanmar investigations, which were previously financed by voluntary contributions, will in 2020 be transferred to the U.N. secretariat’s budget and will receive compulsory contributions from the 193 member states.Russia proposed multiple amendments during negotiations in the Committee on Budgetary Questions meeting and in the General Assembly plenary session.DissentersAt each vote, Russia, Syria, Myanmar and their supporters, including North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela, were outvoted. They all stated that they dissociated themselves from references to investigative mechanisms in the adopted resolutions.Russia said it would examine its future obligatory payments in light of the vote outcome and predicted an increase in the arrears that currently plague the U.N.’s treasury because of countries not paying enough.Moscow argued Friday the investigative mechanism was illegitimate, while Damascus stressed that it had no mandate from the Security Council.The U.N.’s operating budget is separate from the annual budget for peacekeeping operations of some $6 billion that is adopted in June.
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UN Official Decries Human Rights `Backlash’ in Last Decade
The past decade has seen a backlash against human rights on every front, especially the rights of women and LGBT communities, according to a top U.N. human rights official.
Andrew Gilmour, the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the regression of the past 10 years hasn’t equaled the advances that began in the late 1970s — but it is serious, widespread and regrettable.
He pointed to populist authoritarian nationalists'' in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, who he said are taking aim at the most vulnerable groups of society, including Rohingya Muslims, Roma and Mexican migrants, as well as gays and women. He cited leaders who justify torture, the arrests and killing of journalists, the brutal repressions of demonstrations anda whole closing of civil society space.”
“I never thought that we would start hearing the terms `concentration camps’ again,” Gilmour told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. And yet, in two countries of the world there's a real question.'' FILE - A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education center in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Sept. 4, 2018.He didn't name them but appeared to be referring to China's internment camps in western Xinjiang province, where an estimated 1 million members of the country's predominantly Muslim Uighur minority are being held; and detention centers on the United States' southern border, where mostly Central American migrants are being held while waiting to apply for asylum. Both countries strongly deny that concentration camp-like conditions exist. The progress of human rights is certainly not a linear progression, and we have seen that,” he said.
Gilmour is leaving the United Nations on December 31 after a 30-year career that has included posts in hot spots such as Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and West Africa. Before taking up his current post in 2016, he served for four years as director of political, peacekeeping, humanitarian and human rights affairs in former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office.
Despite his dim view of the past decade, Gilmour — a Briton who previously worked in politics and journalism — said he didn't want to appear “relentlessly negative.'' Not a straight line
There was definite progression from the late '70s until the early years of this century. And we've now seen very much the countertendency of the last few years.'' but there wasn’t a pushback as there is now.”
Gilmour said human rights were worse during the Cold War between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union,
He pointed to the fact that in the past eight years or so, many countries have adopted laws designed to restrict the funding and activities of nongovernmental organizations, especially human rights NGOs.
And he alleged that powerful U.N. member states stop human rights officials from speaking in the Security Council, while China and some other members go to extraordinary lengths to prevent human rights defenders [from] entering the [U.N.] building even, let alone participate in the meetings.'' mind-numbing crimes
FILE - Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, then the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, is pictured after a news conference at the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva, October 2014.In March 2018, for example, Russia used a procedural maneuver to block then-U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein from addressing a formal meeting of the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, Gilmour said.
Zeid was able to deliver his hard-hitting speech soon afterward, but only at a hurriedly organized informal council meeting where he decriedcommitted by all parties in Syria. derogatory comments” about both groups.
Gilmour also cited the United States' refusal to authorize the council to hold a meeting on the human rights situation in North Korea, a move that effectively killed the idea. Rights of women, gays
The rights of women and gays are also at stake, Gilmour said. He said nationalist authoritarian populist leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made
He said the U.S. is aggressively pushing'' back against women's reproductive rights both at home and abroad. The result, he said, is that countries fearful of losing U.S. aid are cutting back their work on women's rights. I feel that we really need to do more — everybody … to defend those courageous defenders,” he said.
Gilmour also pointed out a report issued in September that cited 48 countries for punishing human rights defenders who have cooperated with the U.N.
Gilmour said the U.N. should also stand up when it comes to major violations of international law and major violations of human rights, but I have found it extremely difficult to do so in all circumstances.'' FILE - United States U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft addresses the Security Council after a failed vote on a humanitarian draft resolution for Syria, Sept. 19, 2019, at U.N. headquarters.He said he was happy to hear that the new U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Kelly Craft, feels strongly about ensuring human rights. he said.
“And I do hope that she will be gently and firmly held to that high standard,
Gilmour said that after his departure from the U.N, he will take a fellowship at Oxford’s All Souls College, where he will focus on the importance of uniting human rights and environmental rights groups.
The human rights impact of climate change — it's going to be so monumental,'' he said. What gives me hope as we start a new decade is that there will be a surge in youth activism that will help people to get courage, and to stand up for what they believe in,” he said.
As he relinquishes his post, Gilmour said he is counting on younger generations to take up the mantle of human rights and fight for other causes aimed at improving the world.
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UN Condemns Abuses Against Myanmar’s Rohingya
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Friday strongly condemning human rights abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, including arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention.
The 193-member world body voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions in favor of the resolution, which also calls on Myanmar’s government to take urgent measures to combat incitement of hatred against the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states.
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be Bengalis from Bangladesh, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. FILE – A boy searches for useful items among the ashes of burned dwellings after a fire destroyed shelters at a camp for internally displaced Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State near Sittwe, May 3, 2016.The long-simmering Rohingya crisis exploded on August 25, 2017, when Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign led to the mass Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh and to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes. Myanmar responseMyanmar’s U.N. ambassador, Hau Do Suan, called the resolution another classic example of double-standards [and] selective and discriminatory application of human rights norms, designed to exert unwanted political pressure on Myanmar.'' will sow seeds of distrust and will create further polarization of different communities in the region.” FILE – Rohingya refugees gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2019.The resolution expresses alarm at the influx of Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh over the last four decades — the total is now 1.1 million, which includes 744,000 who arrived since August 2017 —
He said the resolution did not attempt to find a solution to the complex situation in Rakhine state and did not recognize government efforts to address the challenges.
The resolution, the ambassador said,in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed forces of Myanmar.'' of gross human rights violations and abuses suffered by Rohingya Muslims and other minorities” by the security forces, which the mission said
The assembly also expressed alarm at an independent international fact-finding mission's findings undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.'' 'Deep distress'deep distress at reports that unarmed individuals in Rakhine state have been and continue to be subjected to the excessive use of forces and violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law by the military and security and armed forces.”
The resolution called for an immediate cessation of fighting and hostilities.
It reiterated
And it called for Myanmar’s forces to protect all people, and for urgent steps to ensure justice for all rights violations.
The resolution also urged the government to expedite efforts to eliminate statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized discrimination'' against the Rohingya and other minorities, to dismantle camps for Rohingyas and others displaced in Rakhine, andto create the conditions necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of all refugees, including Rohingya Muslim refugees.”
It noted that the Rohingya have twice refused to return to Myanmar from Bangladesh because of the absence of these conditions.
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Release of Journalist in Nigeria Fails to Satisfy Press Freedom Advocates
The release of journalist and activist Omoyele Sowore from a Nigerian prison this week has triggered negative reactions from press freedom advocates in the country, with one calling it “still a loss” for Nigeria. Supporters and journalists chattered in excitement Tuesday at Department of State Security headquarters in Abuja as a vehicle carrying Sowore approached. He stepped out and spoke about his Christmas Eve release after being held since August, despite two court orders calling for his immediate freedom. “The only thing is to thank Nigerians; they made this happen and they should not relent,” he said. “Nobody can take a people who are determined for granted.” The journalist was arrested days ahead of a nationwide “Revolution Now” protest against what Sowore and his supporters say is bad governance in Nigeria. Good exampleAuthorities said the decision to release the journalist was intended to set a good example of compliance with the law. Critics, however, faulted the government for attaching restrictions to the release, including a travel ban and limits on public association. Human rights lawyer Marshall Abubakar said, “The release is not a win. As a matter of fact, I think it’s still a loss for Nigeria. … The attorney general of the federation, Abubakar Malami, made a statement that he has taken over the case of Mr. Omoyele Sowole. We’ve always insisted that the charges in the first place should not even be.” Critics consider Sowore’s arrest and detention an effort by the Nigerian government to censor the press and clamp down on free opinion. Although authorities deny the accusation, President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu, said in a statement that Sowore’s criticism of the government came from an advantaged position as a journalist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, a New York-based online news organization. A coalition endorsing the protection of whistleblowers and press freedom in Nigeria said there had been more than 70 attacks on journalists and the media this year alone in the country. Protester beatenAn incident Monday, barely 24 hours before Sowore’s release, resulted in injuries to protesters and journalists. The leader of the protest, Deji Adeyanju, was badly beaten and was being treated in Dubai. Human rights activist Adebayo Raphael, who was among protesters at the Monday incident, said, “It is important that this kind of repressive environment is not allowed to thrive. Do you know that in the last four years, human rights and rule of law have been seriously battered in Nigeria?” Abubakar accused the government of trying to hide its shortcomings.
“There’s a calculated attempt by the government to gag the media to ensure that people do not expose their inadequacies, incompetence or express dissent,” he said. “We all cannot have the same opinion on issues. We all cannot agree at all times on all things.” In 2015, Nigerian authorities used a cybercrime law to justify the arrest of bloggers and journalists. Lawmakers now are considering two bills to regulate free speech on the internet and social media.
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Algerian Journalist Placed in Pretrial Detention for Alleged Defamation
The director of an Algerian internet radio station has been placed in pretrial detention after a new charges were pressed against him, a prisoner rights group said Friday.
Sarbacane chief Abdelkrim Zeghileche was put in pretrial detention on Thursday after the governor of Constantine, 430 kilometers (260 miles) east of Algiers, lodged a defamation complaint against him, said Kaci Tansaout, head of the CNLD prisoner rights group.
The journalist was immediately brought before a judge who ordered his detention, Tansaout told AFP, adding that the trial was scheduled for December 31.
In another case against Zeghileche, the court will rule on January 7 on a charge of “insulting the head of state.”
That case is based on a complaint lodged while former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was still in power.
The veteran leader stepped down after a 20-year rule in April in the face of an unprecedented popular movement that broke out in February and has continued since, demanding the removal of the entire regime.
The prosecutor requested one year’s imprisonment in that case, said the CNLD, which tracks people detained in connection with the protest movement.
According to the CNLD, nearly 180 protesters, activists and journalists have been placed in pretrial detention since June for links to the protests.
Most have been held on charges of subverting the state, insulting the army and disturbing the peace.
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Crash Site of Missing Hawaii Tour Helicopter Found on Kauai
The wreckage of a Hawaii sightseeing helicopter with seven people aboard was located Friday on the island of Kauai, a day after it was reported missing from a tour of the famed Na Pali Coast, police said.The crash site of the aircraft, flown by Kauai-based tour operator Safari Helicopters, was confirmed in the area of Koke’e State Park, near Waimea Canyon, in the northwestern corner of the island, the Kauai police department said on its Facebook page.It was not immediately known whether the pilot or any of the six passengers, including two children, had survived.”Additional resources are on the way, and the search for survivors is ongoing,” the police statement said.An initial search was launched Thursday around sunset just after Safari Helicopters alerted authorities that contact with its chopper had been lost and that the aircraft was 40 minutes overdue from its return, officials said.
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New Russian Weapon Can Travel 27 Times the Speed of Sound
A new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin, bolstering the country’s nuclear strike capability.Putin has described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. The new Russian weapon and a similar system being developed by China have troubled the United States, which has pondered defense strategies.The Avangard is launched atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, but unlike a regular missile warhead that follows a predictable path after separation it can make sharp maneuvers in the atmosphere en route to target, making it much harder to intercept.Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, gestures while meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Chief of General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov in the National Defense Control Center in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 24, 2019.”I congratulate you on this landmark event for the military and the entire nation,” Shoigu said later during a conference call with top military leaders.The Strategic Missile Forces chief, Gen. Sergei Karakayev, said during the call that the Avangard was put on duty with a unit in the Orenburg region in the southern Ural Mountains.Putin unveiled the Avangard among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018, noting that its ability to make sharp maneuvers on its way to a target will render missile defense useless.”It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” he said at the time.The Russian leader noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit) resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.The military said the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound. It carries a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.Putin has said Russia had to develop the Avangard and other prospective weapons systems because of U.S. efforts to develop a missile defense system that he claimed could erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has scoffed at U.S. claims that its missile shield isn’t intended to counter Russia’s massive missile arsenals.Putin: Russia leading the worldEarlier this week, Putin emphasized that Russia is the only country armed with hypersonic weapons. He noted that for the first time Russia is leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the U.S.In December 2018, the Avangard was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Urals and successfully hit a practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.Russian media reports indicated that the Avangard will first be mounted on Soviet-built RS-18B intercontinental ballistic missiles, code-named SS-19 by NATO. It is expected to be fitted to the prospective Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile after it becomes operational.The Defense Ministry said last month it demonstrated the Avangard to a team of U.S. inspectors as part of transparency measures under the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S.The Russian military previously had commissioned another hypersonic weapon of a smaller range.The Kinzhal (Dagger), which is carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, entered service with the Russian air force last year. Putin has said the missile flies 10 times faster than the speed of sound, has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and can carry a nuclear or a conventional warhead. The military said it is capable of hitting both land targets and navy ships.China, U.S.China has tested its own hypersonic glide vehicle, believed to be capable of traveling at least five times the speed of sound. It displayed the weapon called Dong Feng 17, or DF-17, at a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese state.U.S. officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly the hypersonic weapons. The administration also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the U.S. can strike incoming enemy missiles during the first minutes of flight when the booster engines are still burning.The Pentagon also has been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in August that he believes “it’s probably a matter of a couple of years” before the U.S. has one. He has called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range fire capabilities.
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Debate Intensifies Over Future of CFA Franc in West Africa
Debate on the future of the CFA franc in the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has intensified after it was announced last week that eight West African countries agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco. They also severed the CFA franc’s links to former colonial ruler France.The CFA franc used by west and central African states is considered by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies, and the main reason for the underdevelopment of CEMAC, which remains the poorest economic bloc in Africa. Louis Nsonkeng, a researcher and economic lecturer at the University of Bamenda-Cameroon, says when the Eco becomes legal tender, the eight West African states will have their financial freedom from the strong grip of former colonial master France. He says the six central African states that also use the CFA franc should immediately emulate the example of the west Africans.”In 2017, the International Monetary Fund published the [list of] 10 richest countries in Africa,” Nsonkeng said. “None of the countries was from the CFA zone and most of these countries have their own currencies. If we discover that we don’t have the resources to manage a common currency, then we should dissolve the currency area. We should dissolve it and each country should decide on their own currency.”Thomas Babissakana, a Cameroon economist and financial expert, is pictured in Yaounde, Dec. 26, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Congo use the CFA franc. The CEMAC member states have more than 50 percent of their financial reserves kept in the French treasury, following agreements signed in 1948.Thomas Babissakana, a Cameroon economist and financial expert, says such agreements drain the economies of central African states because France now uses the euro, yet France still controls its currency.It is unthinkable, he says, that a country will claim it has its independence when its currency, which is an essential instrument for its economic policies, is controlled by a former colonial master. Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, talks with the media in Douala, Dec. 26, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)The CFA franc, created in 1945, is considered by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies, even after the countries became independent.The CFA franc was pegged to the French franc until 1999, when its value was fixed at about 660 CFA francs to one euro.Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, says the six member states’ economic growth rate is estimated at 3 percent in 2019 — up from barely 1 percent in 2018 — and inflation remains under control at less than 3 percent. He says the most demanding issue is to consolidate regional integration before thinking of currency reforms.Fourteen west and central African countries divided into two monetary unions, ECOWAS and CEMAC, use the CFA franc.
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New York City Ups Policing in Jewish Areas After Spate of Attacks
New York City is increasing its police presence in some Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations after possibly anti-Semitic attacks during the Hanukkah holiday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the latest episode happened Friday.FILE – Rabbi Potas Nik, right, helps Hayley Lehrfeld of Brooklyn Heights, NY, and her daughter Laura, place a card after lighting a menorah on the first day of Hanukkah near the remains of the World Trade Center complex in New York.Besides making officers more visible in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, police will boost visits to houses of worship and some other places, the mayor tweeted.“Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on,” the Democrat wrote.Around the city, police have gotten at least five reports this week of attacks possibly propelled by anti-Jewish bias.The latest happened around 12:40 a.m. Friday, when a woman slapped three other women in the face and head after encountering them on a Crown Heights corner, police said. The victims, who range in age from 22 to 31, suffered minor pain, police said.Tiffany Harris, 30, was arrested on a hate-crime harassment charge.She was awaiting arraignment Friday morning. It wasn’t clear whether she had a lawyer who could comment on the charges, and no working telephone number for Harris could immediately be found.On Monday, a Miami man was charged with hate-crime assault after police said he made an anti-Semitic remark and attacked a man in midtown Manhattan. The 65-year-old victim was punched and kicked, suffering cuts, police said.He had been wearing a yarmulke, according to former state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who has founded a group dedicated to combating anti-Semitism.Steven Jorge, 28, is being held without bail, and a judge ordered a psychiatric exam for him, court records show. A message was left Friday for Jorge’s lawyer.Gov. Andrew Cuomo told a state hate crimes task force to help police investigate the attack, calling it “a horrific and cowardly act of anti-Semitism.”“It’s even more despicable that it occurred over the holidays,” the Democratic governor said in a statement Wednesday. Hanukkah began Sunday.The New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is also investigating three other episodes that may have been motivated by anti-Semitism:— A man reported that a group of teenagers converged on his 6-year-old son and another boy, 7, and hit them from behind in a Williamsburg apartment building lobby Monday night. The attackers fled.— A 25-year-old man told police he was walking on a Crown Heights street early Tuesday when a group of people started yelling anti-Semitic slurs at him and one threw a beverage at him. The suspects fled.— Later Tuesday in Crown Heights, a 56-year-old man said that a group of people approached him, and that one of them punched him, while he was walking. No arrests have been made.
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Search Expands for Missing Hawaii Tour Chopper Carrying 7
Rescuers resumed searching Friday for a tour helicopter carrying seven people that disappeared along one of the most rugged and remote coastlines in Hawaii.A search that began Thursday night was expanded Friday morning, but the steep terrain, low visibility, choppy seas and rain made the effort challenging, the Coast Guard said.”Those conditions are not ideal,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir said. Rescue teams were “looking for any sign of the helicopter both on land and in the water and along the coastline.”The helicopter company, identified as Safari Helicopters, contacted the Coast Guard about 45 minutes after the aircraft was due back from a tour of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast on Thursday evening, a Coast Guard statement said.The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter took off from the town of Lihue, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.The helicopter has an electronic locator, but no signals had been received, according to the Coast Guard.The chopper was carrying a pilot and six passengers, two of whom were believed to be minors, the Coast Guard said.Clouds and rain at the scene limited visibility to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers), with winds at 28 mph (45 kph). Friday’s forecast predicted winds were at about 23 mph (37 kph).A rescue helicopter and crew was launched from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, and additional support was provided by the Navy Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 at Kaneohe Bay. A Coast Guard cutter and crew were also launched from Honolulu.”We’re looking forward to first light when our visibility improves simply because we have daylight,” Muir said.Local fire officials planned to launch their own search efforts. Commercial helicopter companies and ATV crews were also being deployed.Towering mountains and steep, deep ravines and cliffs line the coast.”There are beaches along the Na Pali coastline, but we are experiencing periods of very high water, so exactly how much beach may be available I couldn’t tell you,” Muir said.Helicopter tours are common above the island of Kauai, much of which is made up of remote state parks.
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Newseum Hailed Free Press, but got Beaten by Free Museums
In 2008, the Newseum — a private museum dedicated to exploring modern history as told through the eyes of journalists — opened on prime Washington real estate.Sitting almost equidistant between the White House and the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue, the glass-walled building became instantly recognizable for its multi-story exterior rendition of the First Amendment.Eleven years later that experiment is coming to an end. After years of financial difficulties, the Newseum will close its doors Tuesday.“We’re proud of how we did our storytelling,” said Sonya Gavankar, the outgoing director of public relations. “We changed the model of how museums did their work.”The building was sold for $372.5 million to Johns Hopkins University, which intends to consolidate its scattered Washington-based graduate studies programs under one roof.Gavankar attributed the failure to a “mosaic of factors” but one of them was certainly unfortunate timing. The opening coincided with the 2008 economic recession, which hit newspapers particularly hard and caused mass layoffs and closures across the industry.She also acknowledged that the Newseum’s status as a for-pay private institution was a harder sell in a city full of free museums. A Newseum ticket costs $25 for adults, and the building is right across the street from the National Gallery of Art and within blocks of multiple Smithsonian museums.“Competing with free institutions in Washington was difficult,” Gavankar said.Another problem, organizers said, is that the Newseum struggled to attract local residents, instead depending on a steady diet of tourists and local school groups. Actual Washington-area residents, who do frequent the Smithsonian and elsewhere, mostly came on school trips and rarely returned as adults.Claire Myers fits that profile. The D.C. resident recalls coming to the Newseum in high school in a senior-year class trip. She only returned in late December for a final visit because she heard it was closing at the end of the year.“I do think part of the reason was because it’s a paid museum,” she said. “Why go out of my way to do this when I could just go to any other free museum?”The $25 price tag, Myers said, creates a pressure to set aside the whole day and take in every exhibit, whereas at one of the free Smithsonian museums, she knows she can come back another time to catch whatever she missed. But Myers said she was deeply impressed by the exhibits, particularly the Newseum’s signature gallery of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs.“I do wish it wasn’t going away,” she said.The museum’s focus evolved over the years, showcasing not just journalism and historic events, but all manner of free speech and civil rights issues and some whimsical quirks along the edges. Exhibits during the Newseum’s final days included an exploration of the cultural and political influence of Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show,” a look at the history of the struggle for LGBTQ rights and a display depicting the history of presidential dogs.Gavankar said the Freedom Forum, which originally maintained the Newseum in northern Virginia for years, would continue its mission in different forms. The educational foundation maintains a pair of exhibits on the Berlin Wall in both Reagan and Dulles airports. Next year, those displays will be replaced by exhibits on the women’s suffrage movement. The current Rise Up! exhibit on LGBTQ rights will move to a new long-term home in the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.
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