ABUJA — Nigerian authorities have been battling the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, for a decade in a conflict that has cost the lives of an estimated 35,000 people. In a ceremony over the weekend, Nigeria marked Armed Forces Day by remembering the soldiers killed in the battle against the insurgency. The special remembrance event for troops took place in the Nigerian capital, and with smaller ceremonies in states like Borno, Adamawa and Yola — the epicenters of Nigeria’s decade-long war against the Boko Haram insurgency.During the event in Abuja, about 200 widows of fallen soldiers and their relatives received food and financial support.Like many of the women, Olubunmi Adetunji’s husband, a soldier, was killed while fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri in April 2016. Since then, the defense ministry has been helping her care for their four children.Widows and relatives of soldiers killed in battle stand behind food items they received from defense ministry authorities as part of a special remembrance event in Abuja, Nigeria, Jan. 11, 2020. (Timothy Obiezu/VOA)”I thank the defense headquarters and the army headquarters for what they have been doing in my life because since 2016, I don’t know how much they sell rice in the market. They provide rice, provisions, even the children’s sponsorship, they call us every year to pay the sponsorship,” Adetunji said.A concert to honor fallen soldiers, tagged “Tribute To Our Heroes,” debuted with top Nigerian entertainers, musicians and comedians performing.Lere Osanyintolu, a personnel official at the defense ministry, said the ministry plans to make it an annual event.”The aim of this project is to let you know that the chief of defense staff, armed forces of Nigeria and, indeed, the nation at large has not forgotten you and that you’re never alone as you’re always in our prayers,” Osanyintolu said.Security expert Kabiru Adamu, who heads an Abuja-based security consulting firm, said events like the concert help boost morale and inspire confidence.”The insurgency has been going on for about 10 years now, so I think this is a very good development,” Adamu said. “There are issues regarding the relationship between the military and the public in the locations where they are fighting. So this type of morale-boosting activity like the concert, I think it’s a very good development.”As the military continues to battle Boko Haram, millions affected by the fight who are living in camps are hoping to return home.
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Month: January 2020
Nigerian Authorities Pay Tribute to Slain Soldiers, Support Their Families
Nigerian authorities have been battling the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, for a decade in a conflict that has cost the lives of an estimated 35,000 people. In a ceremony over the weekend, Nigeria marked Armed Forces Day by remembering the soldiers killed in the battle against the insurgency. From Abuja, Timothy Obiezu reports.
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Members of Ethiopian Diaspora Gather at British Home of Former Emperor
Traveling to the British town of Bath has become a pilgrimage of sorts for people of Ethiopian heritage. When Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie had to go into exile, he landed in Bath. The town, about 145 kilometers west of London, hosted the emperor from 1936 to 1940. When the Italians under Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Haile Selassie, was forced to temporarily go in exile in Britain. He lived in Bath at Fairfield House, which also hosted his family, closest confidants and entourage.Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie at the White House in Washington on Oct. 25, 1970. Ezra Tsegay is part of the Ethiopian diaspora community and organizes Ethiopian-related events several times a year at Fairfield House.“We feel privileged that we are continuing a historical tradition,” Ezra said. “And I think it’s a good thing that the emperor’s name is remembered and the place is in use. And we feel very attached to the place emotionally.”The emperor renovated the two-story house after he bought the property. Rooms are still decorated with impressive carpets and Ethiopian art, as well as photos of Haile Selassie. The property sits on nearly one hectare of land.An estimated 90,000 people of Ethiopian heritage live in Britain. Most are based in London. One of them — Abiyou Desta — was visiting the former residence of the Ethiopian emperor for the first time.“To be honest, as someone of Ethiopian heritage, I’m really feeling very proud about the place and about the king, what he was doing, Abiyou said. “The displays all over the walls from the first floor to the top floor are very informative. It tells you a lot of information about him, how he used to administer his country from here.”The 25-room house is now a listed building, meaning changes cannot be made without prior approval. What once used to be the empresses’ office is now an office used by Fairfield project coordinators such as Pauline Swaby Wallace. She explains why the emperor gave Fairfield House to the city of Bath in 1958.“He had come with money, he came with resources, but in time those resources had run out, so the people of Bath were kind enough to, you know, accept him in their community,” Pauline said. “Although they were told by our government that, you know, just leave him let him just live quietly at Fairfield House. So he was invited to events, and he invited people here. So I think the kindness that was shown to him, he showed it back by giving this gift.”Besides the Ethiopian community, Rastafarians use the house as they revere Haile Selassie as God. But the house is mostly used as a day care center for the elderly.After the Italians were driven out, Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia, and ruled the country until he was deposed in 1974. He died in 1975.
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Transforming a House of God Into Just a House
A couple in the eastern U.S. state of Maryland is taking flak for turning a church into a house. Some are calling it blasphemy but others think what they’re doing is a great idea. Masha Morton talks with Gunther and Anastasiia du Hoffman about the project that has hit Instagram.
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US Imposes Sanctions Over N. Korean Workers Abroad
The United States has imposed sanctions on two North Korean entities for facilitating the export of labor in violation of U.N. sanctions.A U.S. Treasury statement issued Tuesday identified the entities as Korea Namgang Trading Corp (NTC) and Beijing Sukbakso.”The Government of North Korea continues to use the illicit exportation of North Korean labor to generate income overseas in contravention of United Nations (U.N.) sanctions. Today’s action targets a North Korean trading corporation and a China-based North Korean lodging facility that facilitate North Korea’s practice of sending laborers abroad,” the statement said.Under a U.N. resolution adopted in 2017, nations had until December 22, 2019, to send back all workers from North Korea. Human rights groups have often accused North Korea of sending its citizens to foreign countries for forced labor to sustain its economy, with most of the workers’ salary going straight to the government. The country is known to violate international labor practices when sending workers abroad, putting them to work under harsh conditions.”The exportation of North Korean workers raises illicit revenue for the government of North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions,” said Secretary Steve Mnuchin.As a result of the sanctions announced Tuesday, “all property of NTC and Beijing Sukbakso that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported” to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.”
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West African Leaders, France Vow Renewed Fight on Terror
A surge of terrorist violence in Africa’s Sahel region is forcing West African nations to reconsider their strategy and unify military forces. Leaders invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to a G5 summit in the southern French city of Pau on Monday agreed to pursue their engagements with France – and put aside their differences with the former colonial power – to fight against jihadism. For VOA, Daniel Gillet reports from Pau.
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US House Set to Vote Wednesday to Send Impeachment Charges to Senate
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House of Representatives will vote Wednesday to send official impeachment charges to the Senate, bringing the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s historical impeachment trial one step closer to reality.Pelosi made the announcement in a statement that was released shortly after discussing the impeachment proceedings at a private meeting with House Democrats nearly a month after the Democrat-led House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.“The American people will fully understand the Senate’s move to begin the trial without witnesses and documents as a pure political cover-up,” the statement said. ‘(Senate Majority) Leader (Mitch) McConnell and the President are afraid of more facts coming to light. The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial.”Pelosi said the House would also vote Wednesday to name the impeachment managers.The impeachment allegations contend Trump abused the office of the presidency by pressing Ukraine to launch an investigation into one of his main 2020 Democratic challengers, former Vice President Joe Biden, and obstructing congressional efforts to investigate his Ukraine-related actions.Choosing managers
Democrats at Tuesday’s closed-door meeting said Pelosi is expected to name House managers for the impeachment case on Wednesday.Pelosi had delayed sending the articles to the Senate in a futile effort to get Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to agree to hear testimony from key Trump aides who were directly involved with the president as he temporarily withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine while urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open the Biden investigation.A Wednesday vote would enable the Senate to start the trial as soon as this week. But opening arguments probably won’t be heard until next week at the earliest, as the Senate will likely take several days to complete formalities such as swearing in Chief Justice John Roberts and approving a set of rules.Trump, only the fourth U.S. president to be targeted with a serious impeachment effort in the country’s 244-year history, has denied any wrongdoing. He has also ridiculed the Democrats’ impeachment effort.Two other U.S. presidents, Andrew Johnson in the 19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago, were also impeached by the House but acquitted in Senate trials, while a third U.S. leader, Richard Nixon, resigned in 1974 while facing a certain impeachment in a political corruption scandal.Acquittal likely
The Republican-controlled Senate is widely expected to acquit Trump, particularly since no Republicans have expressed support for removing him from office.A two-thirds vote in the 100-member Senate would be needed to convict Trump to remove him from office. At least 20 Republicans would need to turn against Trump for a conviction, if all 47 Democrats voted against the president. A handful of Republicans have criticized Trump’s Ukraine actions, but none has called for his conviction and removal from office.Trump released the military aid to Ukraine in September without Zelenskiy opening the investigation of Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to undermine Trump’s campaign. Republicans say releasing the aid is proof Trump did not engage in a reciprocal quid pro quo deal with Ukraine — the military aid for the Biden investigations.
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West African Leaders, France Vow New Fight on Terrorism
A surge of terrorist violence in Africa’s Sahel region is forcing West African nations to reconsider their strategy and unify military forces. Leaders invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to a G5 summit in the southern French city of Pau on Monday agreed to pursue their engagements with France – and put aside their differences with the former colonial power – to fight against jihadism.Presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad joined Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony in Pau commemorating French soldiers killed recently in Mali.Macron’s purpose for inviting members of G5 Sahel was to clarify their position on France’s military presence in the Sahel region at a time when protests are growing in Mali and Burkina-Faso against French military operation Barkhane.Protesters blame Paris for failing to restore stability.Amid growing anti-French sentiment in the region, Macron was looking to boost the legitimacy of France’s presence. He received it from his West African counterparts – who at this meeting – appeared to be on his side.The French leader, at a news conference, said the heads of state of the G5 Sahel wish to pursue their engagements with France and its allies in the region.France and G5 Sahel states agreed to change of the method combining their military forces under one command structure, to concentrate their efforts in the three borders zone of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and called for more international support.Mr. Macron announced France will deploy 220 more troops and will work to convince US forces to stay.
Macron assured his West African counterparts that if the Americans withdraw, that would be bad news. He said he hopes he can convince President Donald Trump that the fight against terrorism in which he is engaged is also playing in the region.U.N. officials say the number of casualties has increased five times since 2016 with more than 4,000 victims in 2019. In Niger recently, terrorist attacks killed 89 people on January 9 in Chinegodar and 71 on December 10 in Inates.France, a former colonial power in the Sahel, deployed 4,500 soldiers in the region. Thirteen French soldiers died on November 25th in a helicopter crash in Mali.France has suffered 41 casualties since its current engagement in the Sahel began in 2013.
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Davos Forum: Trump to Attend, But Iranian Official Cancels
Iran’s foreign minister has cancelled an expected appearance at next week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, organizers said Tuesday, citing the “backdrop of uncertainty” in the Middle East.The move averts a possible crossing-of-paths with top U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, in the Alpine town at a time when relations between Iran and the United States have hit a new low.WEF President Borge Brende cited only the “cancellation” by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was notably blacklisted by the Trump administration even before the new tensions. Brende declined to elaborate on the reasons for it.“We have to understand the cancellation against the backdrop of uncertainty in the region and what his happening in Iran,” he told reporters at WEF headquarters in Geneva at a look-ahead event to the 50th anniversary of the forum.Word of Zarif’s absence came as WEF founder Klaus Schwab warned that the world faces a “state of emergency” and said the window for opportunity is closing fast – notably when it comes to acting to save the environment.He insisted the annual meeting will be “a do-shop,' not atalk-shop’.”All told, nearly 3,000 leaders from 118 countries are expected for the Jan. 21-24 event. The president of Iraq, Barham Salih, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among the 53 heads of state and government set to attend, along with hundreds of business leaders and civil society activists, like environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg of Sweden.Schwab emphasized the importance of sustainable economic growth, the need for decent jobs and salaries, and plans for skills training for a billion people worldwide over the next decade.He expressed hopes that a “Green Revolution” will go mainstream and said the World Economic Forum would encourage partner businesses to become carbon neutral. He highlighted an environmental project to plant 1 trillion trees worldwide by 2030 to help gobble up excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.Schwab revived his call for “stakeholder capitalism” to help take the lead in solving global problems.“Environmental responsibility is very much a part of the stakeholder responsibility,” he said.
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Police Searching for Lesotho’s First Lady in Murder Probe
Police in Lesotho on Tuesday were searching for the country’s first lady for questioning in the 2017 killing of the prime minister’s former wife, while the police commissioner said the “noose” was tightening around the prime minister and those close to him as an investigation continues.
The killing of Lipolelo Thabane occurred two days before Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s inauguration for a second term in the tiny southern African nation, and two years after a court ruled that Lipolelo was the lawful first lady and entitled to benefits.
Thomas Thabane married his current wife some two months after Lipolelo was killed. Neither the prime minister nor his wife, Maesaiah, have commented publicly on allegations of their involvement in the murder.
Police on Friday obtained an arrest warrant for the first lady after she didn’t report to them. Police Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli on Tuesday said officers had no idea where she might be.
More details were expected later Tuesday when the High Court was set to hear her application seeking the cancellation of the arrest warrant.
On Wednesday, the High Court is expected to hear Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli’s application to stop the prime minister from advising Lesotho’s King Letsie III from sending the police official into early retirement.
Molibeli said the prime minister wants him out in a bid to stop the murder investigation and recommend a new commissioner “to immunize himself from criminal investigations and prosecution, thus thwarting the rule of law.”
The police commissioner in recent weeks successfully challenged efforts by the prime minister to send him into suspension and forced leave.
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Indonesia: UAE Crown Prince to Lead New Capital Construction
Abu Dhabi’s crown prince has agreed to lead a committee that will oversee the construction of a new capital city for Indonesia that is estimated to cost $34 billion, an Indonesian official said Tuesday.Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said it would be “an honor to play a role in the development of the largest Muslim-majority country,” Indonesian Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a statement.The committee will also include Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and chief executive of Japanese holding company SoftBank, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who currently runs the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, he said.“We expected their presence would provide a confidence boost for prospective investors in the new capital,” Pandjaitan said.Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Sheikh Mohammed during a two-day trip to Abu Dhabi that ended on Monday.Widodo announced last August that Indonesia’s capital will move from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan province on Borneo island, known for rainforests and orangutans.The capital’s relocation to a 180,000-hectare (444,780-acre) site almost triple the size of Jakarta will cost an estimated $34 billion. Of that, 19% is to come from the state budget and the rest from cooperation between the government and business entities and from direct investment by state-run companies and the private sector.Widodo welcomed talks between Indonesian officials and the United Arab Emirates, as well as SoftBank, on the setting up of an Indonesia Sovereign Wealth Fund which will be finalized at the end of this month in Tokyo, the maritime and investment ministry said.It said the UAE, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula; SoftBank; and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will participate in the SWF’s funding of Indonesian development projects.The idea to set up the fund came during a visit by Sheikh Mohammed to Indonesia last July, and the UAE has pledged to become the main investor in SWF projects, Pandjaitan said.During Widodo’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the two countries reached 16 business and government deals in which the UAE agreed to invest $6.8 billion through five government-to-government agreements and 11 business-to-business deals, the maritime and investment ministry said.Jakarta is an Asian mega-city with 10 million people, or 30 million including those in its greater metropolitan area. It is prone to earthquakes and flooding and is rapidly sinking because of uncontrolled extraction of ground water. The water and rivers are highly contaminated. Congestion is estimated to cost the economy $6.5 billion a year.Mineral-rich East Kalimantan was once almost completely covered by rainforests, but illegal logging has removed many of its original growth. It is home to only 3.5 million people and is surrounded by Kutai National Park, known for orangutans and other primates and mammals.Indonesia is archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, but currently 54% of the country’s nearly 270 million people live on Java, the country’s most densely populated area.
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Russia Claims Progress but Falls Short on Libya Cease-Fire Deal
Russia said it made progress after hosting indirect peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Libya — despite failing to secure an open ended cease-fire deal between the warring sides in the nine-month war.“Today we can report that some progress was made,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a press conference late Monday in which he described the eight-hour parallel negotiations with co-mediator Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as “serious talks.”The head of the Tripoli-based, internationally-recognized government, Fayez al-Sarraj, agreed to sign a memorandum that promised an end to offensive military actions and creation of a commission to identify a line of division between the warring parties. Yet Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army who has made recent gains in an assault on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, asked for additional time to consider the proposal before leaving Moscow Tuesday without signing the agreement.Haftar later commented to Middle East media outlets, saying the Russian-Turkish plan “ignored many of the demands of the LNA — such as a deadline for disbanding government forces and creation of a unity government.In Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained that Haftar had simply gone back on his word to sign the agreement while in Moscow. Russia’s Lavrov pledged that Moscow would keep working on the Libyan peace deal “until a result is achieved.”Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attend a joint news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 13, 2020.Libya descended into political chaos following a U.N.-mandated 2011 NATO military intervention that led to the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Subsequent civil wars have gutted the economy and caused an outflow of Libyan migrants to Europe — often with the help of human traffickers. The Moscow talks come amid a broader push by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan to bring an end to the fighting — despite backing different sides in the conflict. Turkey backs al-Sarraj while Russia has provided tacit support for Haftar’s LNA alongside Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. While falling short of a peace agreement, the negotiations highlighted Moscow’s growing influence as a power broker in the Middle East region — with the Kremlin already involved in the war in Syria and managing a delicate balance of alliances that includes erstwhile (former) enemies Iran and Turkey, a NATO member. Putin and Erdogan pushed through a temporary cease-fire last Sunday that provided a lull in fighting. The Moscow negotiations also precede additional Libya peace talks scheduled in Berlin for this Sunday, when Putin and Erdogan are expected to join German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During a recent visit to Moscow, Merkel said she welcomed the Russian-Turkish diplomatic initiative in Libya and hoped the Berlin conference would give rise to “a peaceful and sovereign country.”A statement on the Kremlin’s website said Putin had informed Merkel about the results of the most recent Libya negotiations during a phone call on Tuesday. Yet Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu suggested the Libyan National Army’s refusal to compromise in Moscow had suddenly put the conference in question. “The Libya Conference in Berlin has no purpose if Khalifa Haftar doesn’t change his position,” said Cavusoglu in comments carried by Russia’s TASS news agency.
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Malaysia’s Mahathir Mulls Risks, Rewards of Postponed Power Transfer
Malaysia’s government looks increasingly likely to miss a promised mid-2020 leadership transfer from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to coalition partner Anwar Ibrahim, raising fears of a succession scuffle that could split an already fragile alliance and cost it the next election.The former mentor and protégé fell out in the late 1990s but joined forces again to hand the country’s long-ruling and corruption-mired Barisan Nasional coalition a surprise national election defeat in May 2018 by promising to clean up government, lower living costs and bolster minority rights. Heading into the polls, Mahathir, now the world’s oldest serving prime minister at 94, also vowed to step down to make way for Anwar after two years “at the most.”However, Mahathir, enjoying his second spell as prime minister, after a 22-year run that ended in 2003, has dithered. In an interview with Reuters last month, he reaffirmed his vow to anoint Anwar his successor. Only days later, at the Doha Forum in Qatar, an annual high-level policy gathering, he would not commit to Anwar as heir apparent and said he would consider stepping down only after Malaysia finished hosting the next summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in November.FILE – President of the People’s Justice Party Anwar Ibrahim gives the keynote address during their general assembly in Melaka, Malaysia, Dec. 7, 2019.Anwar has thus far faced Mahathir’s equivocations with equanimity, insisting that his ally-turned-rival-turned-ally would make good on their deal in due time. However, prolonged doubts about when or even if that will happen could still split their coalition — Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope — said Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia Project at Australia’s Lowy Institute.”There obviously is a risk that this very fragile coalition fractures because of a lack of clarity about the transition and the strength of these different personalities competing to secure the leadership, that they end up attacking each other and undermining their credibility and potentially damaging their prospects at the next election or even undermining their ability to even form a coalition at the next election,” he told VOA.The latest pact between these grandees of Malaysian politics was bound to make for an awkward alliance. Anwar had looked poised to succeed Mahathir while serving as his finance minister through most of the 1990s.But by the end of the decade their differences on how to tackle the fallout from the Asian Financial Crisis morphed into a bitter power struggle. Anwar was removed from office in 1998 and soon arrested and convicted on a dubious sodomy charge, spending the next six years in jail, some of that time in solitary confinement.’No normal relationship of trust’They put their differences aside to challenge a common enemy in Barisan in 2018 but “it’s clear they still don’t have a normal relationship of trust,” Bland said. He added that many in the coalition remain to be convinced that Anwar wields the political capital to lead Pakatan to a second victory.Some analysts say Mahathir also fears turning into a lame duck once a date for his departure is set in stone.”As soon as he [says], OK, I’m handing over to Anwar on Tuesday the 15th of November, or whatever it is, then power ebbs away from him from that day onwards,” Bland said, “but so long as the transition question is unresolved … he’s still really the focus, and he clearly is still enjoying that limelight and being in that position of ultimate authority.”Having witnessed Mahathir waiver on his handover some also wonder whether the APEC summit is more an excuse to extend his latest run as prime minister, and whether more may follow.’Cementing legacy’Others say the summit would make a fitting swan song for a man who has always cared deeply about his standing on the world stage.”I think he would like to cement his legacy before he leaves,” Adib Zalkapli, the Malaysia-based director of Bower Group Asia a consulting firm, said.”Which is why,” Zalkapli said, “I think APEC is important for him. I mean that is one way for him to cement his foreign policy legacy. He’s going to be the only leader to chair APEC twice, so I think that’s symbolically a very big win for him.”As much as Mahathir and his allies may still mistrust Anwar, Zalkapli believes they have accepted that a handover must come and that his successor will need at least two years to cement his own position as prime minister before the next election, due by mid-2023.Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist and professor at Malaysia’s Sunway University, said Mahathir was savvy enough to see that serving the full term would all but guarantee Pakatan’s split and the parties’ defeat to their arch-rival the United Malays National Organization party (UMNO), a heavyweight of the toppled Barisan coalition.Pakatan has already slipped precipitously in popularity polls since its 2018 win and lost a string of local elections to a resurgent UMNO and new ally the Malaysian Islamic Party. A drawn-out dustup for succession within Pakatan “would be deadly for everyone in the fight,” said Wong.FILE – Malaysia’s Minister of Economic Affairs Azmin Ali gives a news conference after a High-Speed Rail (HSR) signing ceremony at Putrajaya, Sept. 5, 2018.”And it would be bad for Mahathir as well, because he would want to show that he actually laid the groundwork for a new Malaysia, however you define it. But if his government is defined by an abrupt end, whether voluntary or involuntary, [and forced] into a fresh election and then replaced by all those people he vowed to kick out, it’s clearly a failure of Mahathir as well. So I think for Mahathir and Anwar, and even for Azmin, they have some interest to work together.”Azmin is Economic Affairs Minister Mohamad Azmin Ali, Anwar’s deputy president in the PKR, Pakatan’s largest party, and rumored rival to replace Mahathir.With shades of Anwar’s past break with Mahathir, Anwar and Azmin’s own relationship was tested last year by leaked video purporting to show Azmin having sex with another man, a crime in Malaysia. Azmin denied the allegation while Anwar rejected his deputy’s claims that party insiders were behind the scandal. Police recently said they would not be filing any charges in the case because none of the men in the video could be identified.Wong’s best guess is that Mahathir is genuine when he says he wants to see Anwar replace him. But the longer Anwar struggles to assert control of his own party, and to convince doubters around Mahathir that he is ready to lead, the harder that gets.”If Anwar is not strong, it makes the case for Mahathir to stay a bit longer,” he said.
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Oceans Were Hottest on Record in 2019
The world’s oceans were the hottest in recorded history in 2019, scientists said on Tuesday, as manmade emissions warmed seas at an ever-increasing rate with potentially disastrous impacts on Earth’s climate.Oceans absorb more than 90 percent of excess heat created by greenhouse gas emissions and quantifying how much they have warmed up in recent years gives scientists an accurate read on the rate of global warming.A team of experts from around the world looked at data compiled by China’s Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) to gain a clear picture of ocean warmth to a depth of 2,000 meters over several decades.They found that oceans last year were by far the hottest ever recorded and said that the effects of ocean warming were already being felt in the form of more extreme weather, rising sea levels and damage to marine life.The study, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, said that last year the ocean was 0.075 Celsius hotter than the historical average between 1981-2010.That means the world’s oceans have absorbed 228 Zetta Joules (228 billion trillion Joules) of energy in recent decades.”That’s a lot of zeros,” said Cheng Lijing, lead paper author and associate professor at the International Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at the IAP.”The amount of heat we have put in the world’s oceans in the past 25 years equals 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom bomb explosions.”The past five years are the five hottest years for the ocean, the study found.As well as the mid-term warming trend, the data showed that the ocean had absorbed 25 Zetta Joules of additional energy in 2019 compared with 2018’s figure.”That’s roughly equivalent to everyone on the planet running a hundred hairdryers or a hundred microwaves continuously for the entire year,” Michael Mann, director of Penn State’s Earth System Sciences Center, told AFP.Centuries of warming The 2015 Paris accord aims to limit global temperature rises to “well below” 2C, and to 1.5C if at all possible.With just 1C of warming since the pre-industrial period, Earth has experienced a cascade of droughts, superstorms, floods and wildfires made more likely by climate change.The study authors said there was a clear link between climate-related disasters — such as the bushfires that have ravaged southeastern Australia for months — and warming oceans.Warmer seas mean more evaporation, said Mann.”That means more rainfall but also it means more evaporative demand by the atmosphere,” he said.”That in turn leads to drying of the continents, a major factor that is behind the recent wildfires from the Amazon all the way to the Arctic, and including California and Australia.”Hotter oceans also expand, leading to sea level rises.The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in a landmark oceans report last year warned that tens of millions of people could be displaced from coastal areas by the end of the century because of encroaching seas.And given that the ocean has a far higher heat absorption capacity than the atmosphere, scientists believe they will continue to warm even if humanity manages to drag down its emissions in line with the Paris goals.”As long as we continue to warm up the planet with carbon emissions, we expect about 90 percent of the heating to continue to go into the oceans,” said Mann.”If we stop warming up the planet, heat will continue to diffuse down into the deep ocean for centuries, until eventually stabilising.”
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Black Mayor of Racially Diverse Iowa City Backs Buttigieg
Quentin Hart, the black mayor of Iowa’s most racially diverse city, is backing Pete Buttigieg for president, giving the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor a rare boost from a minority leader as he struggles to attract voters of color.
Hart told The Associated Press he was supporting Buttigieg in part for what he called the Democrat’s effort to address racial economic disparity in South Bend. Like Waterloo, which Hart represents, South Bend is a once-thriving Midwestern city with a higher-than-average unemployment rate and a history of racial discord.
The Buttigieg campaign hopes Hart’s endorsement will help not only inoculate the 37-year-old Buttigieg from the stubborn notion that he cannot win black support but also potentially resonate beyond majority-white Iowa, as Buttigieg winds his way through the Democratic primary campaign.
He’s taken an industrial place like South Bend, Indiana, which is kind of similar to the story of Waterloo, Iowa, where a lot of people had given up on that community, and made great strides to turning it around,” Hart said of Buttigieg.
The endorsement, revealed on Tuesday, comes three weeks before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. Polls show Buttigieg, who served two terms as mayor from 2012 to early this year, in a tightly grouped pack at the top, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
In recent days, Buttigieg has been hounded by Black Lives Matter activists, including during a rally in Des Moines on Sunday. Black activists have long argued that Buttigieg did too little to mend police relations with the black community, notably in firing the city’s first black police chief early in his career and in the shooting death of an armed black man by police in June.
Maryland Rep. Anthony Brown endorsed Buttigieg last week, becoming the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to do so. Ten members have endorsed Biden, who has the most support from the group.
A recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll found Buttigieg had support from 2% of black voters nationally.
Waterloo, a city of about 68,000 residents, has a black population of 16%, less than South Bend’s roughly 27%.
“Just like in South Bend and Waterloo, we’re placed in situations where it seems like we’re responsible to fix generations of decline, to fix generational and systemic racism or problems that we’ve had,” said Hart, who is the first black mayor of Waterloo and is in his third term.
The campaign hopes that Hart, who has also dealt with racial unrest involving policing in his city, can inspire others to follow him, especially in subsequent nominating contests with greater racial diversity, such as the Feb. 29 South Carolina primary.
“I think I can play a role moving forward with the campaign” said Hart, who plans to publicly endorse on Wednesday. “That’s the hope of Mayor Pete as well.”
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S. Korea Pushes For Cooperation With North, Despite Rejection, Insults
It was a relatively modest step: South Korea would relay birthday greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who turned 36 last week.Even if it was not likely to lead to a breakthrough in U.S.-North Korea talks that have been frozen for months, South Korea’s decision to pass on the message could help prove the negotiations are not dead and possibly revive Seoul’s role as a mediator.It didn’t work as planned. North Korea’s foreign ministry on Saturday said it already received the birthday message and lashed out at Seoul’s “presumptuous” attempt to “meddle in the personal relations” between Trump and Kim.The statement, delivered by senior diplomat Kim Kye Gwan, mocked South Korea for still holding onto its “lingering hope for playing the role of ‘mediator.’”The biting tone of Kim’s remarks is difficult to convey in English, says Kim Jeong-min, who covers the Koreas for the Seoul-based NK News, a North Korea-focused publication. “But it sounds something similar to ‘Trump and Kim are better friends than you guys and your fear of missing out is laughable,’” she says.U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.Mocked, ignoredIt’s the type of scenario that has played out repeatedly over the past year, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes peace overtures to the North, only to be at best ignored and at worst humiliated by North Korean officials.It is a severe disappointment for Moon, whose outreach to Kim helped smooth the path for the first Trump-Kim summit in June 2018. “I think the Moon government is (acting) out in desperation to save his peace engagement policy, which was envisioned to be his legacy,” says Hoo Chiew-ping, a Malaysia-based Korea specialist. “That legacy is now in ruins.”Moon and Kim held three summits in 2018, agreeing to a series of economic and military cooperation projects that Moon hoped could build trust and eventually become the first phase in the long process of reunifying the two Koreas.But Moon has been unable to implement most of those agreements, largely because of United States and United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.With nuclear talks stalled, North Korea has blasted the South’s unwillingness to move ahead, accusing Seoul of prioritizing its relationship with Washington over Pyongyang.Will Moon push ahead regardless?Ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April, there are signs Moon could move ahead on parts of the inter-Korean agreements anyway.In his annual New Year’s press conference Wednesday, Moon hinted South Korea could attempt to resume individual tourism to the North, even with international sanctions still in place.In a speech last week, Moon also urged his government to work toward resuming joint projects at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang resort – efforts that could be much trickier from a legal perspective. “As the party directly involved in the Korean Peninsula issue, South Korea will expand room for maneuvers and move forward things that can be carried out independently as much as possible,” Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Sang-min said last week.International sanctions do not ban tourism to North Korea. But some of them do prohibit setting up joint ventures and other investment projects, creating a possible legal gray area where Washington would have to exercise discretion, says Henri Feron, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.”Seoul can nevertheless point to Chinese tourism and to the existence of several foreign-based tourism agencies, such as Koryo Tours, as a precedent for its own involvement in tourism,” says Feron, referring to a Beijing-based company that specializes in trips to North Korea. “China is flooding North Korea with tourists. It’s understandable that South Korea would want to restore its own economic leverage in North Korea,” adds Feron.In response to the Moon administration’s recent comments, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service last week that all United Nations member states are required to implement U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions, “and we expect them all to continue doing so.” “The United States and South Korea coordinate closely on our efforts related to the DPRK, and we mutually work to ensure that U.N. sanctions are fully implemented,” the spokesperson continued, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk together at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, April 27, 2018.Domestic pressureOne reason Moon may be getting impatient: domestic politics.In recent weeks, both pro- and anti-engagement forces in South Korea have urged Moon to change his approach to the North.”He needs to consider his domestic situation as well,” says Kim Joon Hyung, chancellor of South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy. “I think it is time for him to make a drastic measure to find a breakthrough.”Conservatives, who take a more hardline approach toward North Korea, are also increasingly vocal.”It has become painfully embarrassing to watch Moon beg Kim (Jong Un) for any sign of recognition,” said an editorial this week in the conservative Chosun Ilbo. “How many more times will North Korea have to spit in President Moon Jae-in’s face as he attempts to reclaim his self-appointed role of mediator before he gets the message? Most people have lost count of the snubs and insults,” the paper continued.Approval rating steadyBut there is still widespread support for Moon’s approach to North Korea, opinion polls suggest.According to a survey released last week, 28 percent of South Koreans support Moon’s North Korea policy, while 25 percent said they support an even more conciliatory approach. Only 36 percent said they want tougher measures, according to Realmeter, a South Korean polling company.Moon’s overall approval rating has fallen to the upper-40s, down from over 80 percent in the days following his first meeting with Kim.With a slumping economy, elections approaching, and a controversy surrounding his scandal-hit justice minister who was forced to resign, Moon may be tempted to push for progress on a signature achievement, such as improving inter-Korean relations.Moon positiveDespite the insults and rejection from North Korea, Moon remains upbeat, touting the fact that any talks at all are happening, even if they are just happy birthday messages. “North Korea received the (birthday) letter and gave a swift response,” Moon said Wednesday. “Even though it is conditional, it made clear that the door is not yet closed for talks.”
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Child Labor Still Prevalent in Nigeria, Despite Legislative Efforts
In 2003, then-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Child Rights Act into law, to preserve the rights of children and protect them from exploitative labor. But 17 years later, millions of Nigerian children still take on physically challenging work to earn money to survive or to support their families. In an auto-mechanic workshop in the heart of the city, 13-year-old Awwal Abdulahi and his friend are pushing a broken-down 1988 Toyota Starlet, trying to get it to start. Abdulahi has been learning how to repair cars in this workshop for the past three years.Abdulahi says he knows how to repair power steering, patch tires, repair stereo and jack up cars. He adds that many times, he gets exhausted by the work and the sun makes it even more tiring.Abdulahi’s parents don’t make enough to provide for him and his six siblings. But he is glad to be able to provide for himself.“I earn about a one dollar a day, Abdulahi says. “Even when I get it, I don’t spend it. I go and save it in my piggy bank so that when I need it, I use it.”There are more than 20 boys below the age of 18 working in this automobile repair workshop, many of whom do not go to school and, instead, work full time as apprentice mechanics.Their employers say they are not subjecting these children to child labor. They say they take care of these children like they would their own.“When we close, we give them some change to at least to eat and buy soap to wash their clothes that help them live better. Instead of staying at home and doing nonsense, playing bad play or going around to pick dirty things from the dustbin. Here we encourage them so that they also encourage the ones at home to come here and learn this work because the work is good,” Omuwuri said.Less than three kilometers from this automobile workshop, other children like Abdul Multalif and his brother Yusuf, have to beg on the street to provide for their daily needs.Honestly, I don’t want to beg, Adbul says. I wish to get some money to buy sweets and chocolates to do business.In 2003, President Obasanjo signed the Child Rights Act, to protect the interest and rights of the Nigerian child.But legal expert Ibrahim Carson says various factors are preventing the law from being enforced.“Unfortunately, in this part of the world, poverty, and illiteracy, and cultural beliefs, religious prejudices are some of the reasons that have actually affected the efficacy of the Child Rights Act implementation in Nigeria,” Carson said.The International Labor Organization says that 43 percent of Nigerian children are involved in various forms of child labor, despite international conventions banning it.Experts say until the ban is fully implemented, many Nigerian children will never be able to enjoy the joys of childhood.
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Philippine Volcano Continues to Spew Lava, Ash for Third Day
More than 30,000 people near the Philippine capital, Manila, have been evacuated from the immediate vicinity of a volcano that has been belching lava, ash and steam since it erupted Sunday.Scientists at the Philippines’s seismology agency issued a warning of a major and far more explosive eruption at the Taal volcano, located more than 60 kilometers north of Manila. The large cloud of ash, which blasted several kilometers into the sky during Taal’s initial eruption, has also produced intermittent streaks of lightning.The ash eventually fell over Manila, forcing authorities to shut down the city’s main airport until Monday.Taal last erupted in 1977, 12 years after an eruption killed some 200 people. The Philippines archipelago lies along the Pacific Ocean’s so-called “Ring of Fire,” a long line of active faults and volcanoes where most of the world’s seismic activity occurs.
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Trump-Kim Chemistry Will Not Sway N. Korea On Denuclearization
The personal relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump has no impact on Pyongyang’s denuclearization stance toward Washington, said experts.”The recent North Korean statement responding to Trump’s birthday card was very clear,” said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The personal feelings between Trump and Kim have no bearing on DPRK policy.”The DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official English name for North Korea.Over the past two years, Trump has attempted to parlay his personal relationship with Kim into a breakthrough on denuclearization talks. Kim Kye Gwan, first vice foreign minister of North Korea, arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, July 26, 2011The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state media, issued the statement on Saturday.Ken Gause, director of the Adversary Analytics Program at CNA, said the remarks do not mean that Kim will end his personal relationship with Trump but suggested, “Trump can’t trade on that relationship to get denuclearization or maybe even a freeze on testing.”Throughout the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang that began in 2018, Trump has touted his personal relationship with Kim, which culminated in an exchange of letters between the two.”I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth,” Trump told supporters at a West Virginia rally on September 30, 2018, months after he met Kim for the first time in Singapore. “Since the failed Hanoi Summit in February, North Korea has demanded that the U.S. relax sanctions imposed on the country. Kim’s advisor said in his statement that North Korea’s offer to close down a main nuclear facility at Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief made at the Hanoi Summit is no longer valid. “There will never be such negotiations as that in Vietnam, in which we proposed exchanging a core nuclear facility for the lifting of some U.N. sanctions,” said Kim Kye Gwan.Klingner said, “Pyongyang’s demands remain constant, for the U.S. to capitulate to regime demands if Washington wants to have another nuclear agreement.”Gause said, “The U.S. will have to provide concessions to restart negotiations,” adding, “Birthday greetings won’t get it done.”Gause does not expect Trump to “offer concessions to restart negotiations until he feels emboldened domestically.”Gause said, “That is not likely to happen until and unless he is re-elected.” He continued, “I don’t expect major progress on the relationship until 2021, provided Trump is re-elected.”Trump is aiming for his second term as president in the upcoming election in November. But his re-election prospects are clouded by the impeachment trial Trump is expected to face by the Senate after the House votes this week to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate.
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Ivory Coast Rescues 137 Child Trafficking Victims
Authorities in Ivory Coast say they rescued 137 children who were the victims of traffickers and groomed to work on cocoa plantations or in prostitution.Police rescued the children after surrounding the eastern town of Aboisso and carried out a two-day search of cars, farms, and nearby villages.Officials say the children ranged from age six to 17 and were brought into Ivory Coast from Benin, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. The victims are in care of a charity in Aboisso while authorities search for their parents.Senior police officials say they plan to increase operations aimed at stopping child trafficking.”Ivory Coast’s image is tarnished by child trafficking. We are appealing to all parents: a child’s place is at school and not on plantations,” Aboisso’s deputy police chief Kouadio Yeboue Marcellin says.Ivory Coast is dependent on the cocoa and cashew crops and poor farmers depend on child labor to pick the beans and nuts.Western chocolate companies, including some of the biggest such as Nestle and Hershey, have pledged to stop buying beans produced by child workers. Critics say such efforts have been only modestly successful.
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Trump Urges Tehran to Let Reporters ‘Roam Free,’ Drawing Criticism, Some Praise
U.S. President Donald Trump drew both criticism and a small measure of credit after taking to Twitter to chastise Iranian leaders over press restrictions in the Islamic Republic, whose recent acknowledgment that it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 aboard, has triggered massive street protests.”To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS,” Trump Tweeted in both Farsi and English late on Saturday. “Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free!”To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020Critics such as Trump’s Republican presidential challenger Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor, were quick to lampoon the irony of Trump remarks defending a free press.”The one bit of good news today is we know that [Trump] wants reporters to roam free in Iran,” Weld said of Trump’s Tweet while appearing on CNN.”The only problem is he doesn’t want them to roam free in the U.S., because he says to us a free press is the ‘enemy of the people’,” said Weld.Since assuming office in 2017, multiple news outlets have noted a correlation between Trump’s contempt for mainstream media outlets, and how the use of specific terms such as ‘fake news’ have subsequently gained traction abroad.CNN’s Brian Stelter, who routinely skewers Trump’s combative stance against Western media outlets, offered the president reserved praise for his recent Iran Tweets.“President Trump supporting press freedom — not in the United States, but in Iran,” Stetler said in the opening segment of Reliable Sources.”And Trump is right about press restrictions in the country,” Stetler said, referring to research by the Committee to Protect Journalist’s “10 Most Censored Countries” list.”He’s right that reporters aren’t always allowed to roam free, in fact it’s quite bleak,” he said. “Journalists in the country are frequently arrested, jailed, and when you are trying to report in Iran, you typically have freedom of movement in Tehran, the capital, but it’s another thing to get permission to go to other parts of the country.”In that regard, he added, “the president is clearly hearing the voices of the protesters there.”Abbas Mousavi, and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, responded directly to Trump’s Twitter thread, stating that “those who threatened, sanctioned and terrorized the Iranian nation are not entitled to dishonor the ancient Persian language.”Last year, CPJ ranked Iran as the 7th-most-censored country in the world, citing arrests and “harsh prison sentences on journalists who cover topics deemed sensitive, including local corruption and protests.””The government suppresses online expression by spying on domestic and international journalists, jamming satellite television broadcasts, and blocking millions of websites and key social media platforms, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran and U.S. Congress-funded Radio Farda,” the report says (Radio Farda is one of VOA’s USAGM sister networks).Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, ranked Iran 170 out of 180 countries in its 2019 annual World Press Freedom Index, calling state control of news and information “unrelenting,” with “at least 860 journalists and citizen-journalists … imprisoned or executed since 1979.”The 2019 RSF index ranked the United States 48 out of 180, a three-slot drop from 45th place in 2018, as “rhetorical attacks from the government and private individuals alike grew increasingly hostile.””President Trump has continued to declare the press as the ‘enemy of the American people’ and ‘fake news’ in an apparent attempt to discredit critical reporting,” says the index, which cites White House attempts to deny journalists access to events of public interest, record-breaking spans of time without press briefings, and the 2018 revocation of a CNN reporter’s press pass.The Washington Post’s former Tehran correspondent Jason Rezaian on Saturday called the ongoing anti-government protests a “make or break moment” for the Islamic Republic, where he spent 544 days in the notorious Evin Prison on politically motivated espionage allegations. Iranians on Monday staged their third consecutive days of protests.
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Swiss Judge Acquits Global Warming Protesters
A Swiss judge Monday found a group of activists not guilty of trespassing when they stormed into a branch of Credit Suisse bank to protest its investment in fossil fuels.The defendants and their supporters screamed with joy when Judge Philippe Colelough dismissed the charges and waived the fine. He agreed with the activists that they were protesting against what they say is an “imminent danger” caused by global warming.”Because of the insufficient measures taken to date in Switzerland … the average warming will not diminish or even stabilize. It will increase,” the judge said, adding that the action of the defendants was “necessary and proportional.”Credit Suisse said it will analyze the verdict. It has previously said it respects freedom of expression, but cannot put up with “unlawful attacks on its branches.”About a dozen young men and women barged into the bank branch outside Lausanne in November 2018 and started playing tennis in the building — a living reference to Swiss tennis star Roger Federer who is sponsored by the bank.Along with protesting the bank’s multi-billion dollar investment in fossil fuels, the activists are urging Federer to cut his ties to Credit Suisse.Federer issued a statement saying he takes the impacts of climate change very seriously and is using his “privileged position to dialogue on important issues with my sponsors.”
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New Space Force Chief to be Sworn in Tuesday at White House
Vice President Mike Pence will formally swear in Gen. John “Jay” Raymond as the new Chief of Space Operations Tuesday at the White House, a U.S. official told VOA.Raymond assumed the duties of the first head of the Space Force on December 20, 2019, when U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act that officially launched the new force.”The Space Force will help us deter aggression and control the ultimate high ground,” Trump said at the NDAA signing last month.Officials say the Space Force will organize, train and equip military personnel who primarily focus on space operations.Raymond was named commander of the new United States Space Command upon its creation in August of last year. That command, which sought to better organize the U.S. military’s space assets and operations, is being phased out as personnel are transferred to the Space Force.The military’s role in space has come under scrutiny because the U.S. is increasingly reliant on orbiting satellites that are difficult to protect. Satellites provide communications, navigation, intelligence and other services vital to the military and the national economy.The Space Force is the newest military service branch and will fall under the Department of the Air Force, much as the U.S. Marine Corps is a separate service within the Department of the Navy.Officials have said the Space Force will initially include thousands of Air Force service members and civilian personnel currently serving within the Air Force’s Space Command.Personnel from the Army and Navy’s space programs also are eventually expected to be integrated into the new service branch.
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Taiwan Elections Belie Notion of ‘Asian Value,’ Says Analyst
For Washington-based U.S. analysts, Saturday’s Taiwan elections were a threefold victory, for President Tsai Ing-wen and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan as a whole, and the very concept of democracy in Asia.“There’s this debate, which I always thought was a dishonest debate” about whether democracy as a form of governance is suited to Asian history and culture, Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, said.He referenced Lee Kuan Yew, who ruled Singapore with a firm hand for three decades until 1990.““Lee Kuan Yew once said that we Asians, democracy isn’t right for our culture,” Mitchell said at a Saturday morning function sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. and two think tanks focused on Taiwan and China studies. But, he told VOA, the successful conduct of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections was a testament to the fact that democracy is a universal value that can work just as well in Asia as in other parts of the world. Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu votes at a polling station during general elections in Kaohsiung, Jan. 11, 2020.Mitchell was particularly heartened by the “graceful” concession speech of losing presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) party. His party, seen as more friendly to China than Tsai’s DPP, took only about 40% of the vote compared to about 60% for the victors. Distrust of China spurred by months of anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong were seen as contributing to the DPP’s margin of victory. Taiwan’s experience this week, along with South Korea’s successful democratic transition in the 1990s, “put a lie to this notion that Asians aren’t suitable for democracy,” Mitchell said.Another guest at the Saturday function, longtime Asia watcher Richard Bush, was similarly impressed with Taiwan’s election, noting that democracy imposes unique demands on citizens and politicians alike. “Not all countries take the risk of allowing their average citizens to select leaders,” he remarked. For Stanley Kao, Taiwan’s chief representative in Washington, the election marked not so much the end of a long campaign as the beginning of a new set of challenges – and opportunities. Stressing that Taiwan does not take its ties with Washington for granted, Kao said, “We have lots of business to take care of,” including a potential free trade agreement, increased cooperation on security and more people-to-people exchanges. He told VOA that his job is made easier because of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which ensures U.S. ties with the island in spite of American recognition of the government in Beijing as Washington’s official counterpart. Kao described what he envisioned to be his duty and approach in Washington: “Follow the line, get the job done. You don’t want to overdo it, but at the same time, we don’t want to shy away from making requests,” he said. “We stay optimistic, but at the same time realistic.”
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