A Myanmar ethnic rebel group says it has taken over an army outpost near the eastern border with Thailand. Fighting broke out early Tuesday morning in an area near the Salween river, which separates Myanmar and Thailand. Villagers on the Thai side of the river reported hearing heavy gunfire before dawn. Padoh Saw Taw Nee, a spokesman for the Karen National Union, said the group seized the army outpost around 5 a.m. local time (2230 GMT). Witnesses on the Thai side of the river said they saw at least six Myanmarese soldiers running from the base. Karen rebel forces have engaged in intense fighting against the Myanmar army since it overthrew the democratically-elected civilian government on February 1, attacking military and police stations in Karen state. The military responded by launching airstrikes against Karen rebels, displacing about 24,000 civilians in recent weeks. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 14 MB720p | 28 MB1080p | 55 MBOriginal | 72 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioMyanmar Exiles Are Seeking Refuge in Kayin StateThe Karen are one of Myanmar’s many ethnic rebel forces who have sided with protesters who have staged daily mass demonstrations across Myanmar demanding the return of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government to power. The military cited widespread fraud in last November’s general election — which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide — as its reason for overthrowing the government.
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Month: April 2021
Britain Targets 22 People in First Use of Its Anti-corruption Law
Britain froze assets, imposed sanctions and enacted travel bans on nearly two dozen people accused of bribery, kickbacks and fraud on Monday, marking the first time the nation employed its own sanctioning powers to combat international corruption. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers that the sanctions would prevent the United Kingdom from being used as “a haven for dirty money,” according to The Associated Press. “Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty. It poisons the well of democracy,” Raab said, according to Reuters. The list includes 14 Russians implicated in a $230 million tax fraud case, as well as Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, members of the Gupta business family at the center of a South African corruption scandal. The Guptas deny wrongdoing. Sanctions were also imposed on businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal, who is accused of stealing state assets in impoverished South Sudan, as well as individuals from Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed the sanctions, adding that they strengthened efforts to counter corruption globally. Britain previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or United Nations. It has created its own sanctions laws since leaving the EU at the end of 2020. Those laws give the British government the power to penalize those credibly involved in serious violation of human rights and corruption. Sanctioned individuals may not enter Britain, channel money through British banks or profit from the British economy. The so-called Magnitsky sanctions, which the U.S. and several other countries have enacted, are named for Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested and later died in prison in Russia after accusing Russian officials of a massive tax fraud. Those officials were among those sanctioned Monday. Opposition politicians said Monday’s sanctions are welcomed but aren’t enough because they don’t target corruption in British overseas territories and dependencies. Labour Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Lisa Nandy said Britain remains a haven for “dark money” and urged Raab to increase the powers for financial crime investigators. “The current rate of prosecutions for economic crime is … woefully low, as he knows, and to put it bluntly if he’s serious about what he’s saying today he needs to put his money where his mouth is,” Nandy said, according to the Associated Press.
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US Continues Non-Humanitarian ‘Assistance Pause’ to Pressure Ethiopia to End Tigray Conflict
The United States is pressing Ethiopia to end the conflict in its Tigray region that has been raging for almost six months. U.S. officials are also calling for allied Eritrean troops to withdraw from the region. The United States will continue to pause non-humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia to pressure Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government to do more to stop the “deteriorating humanitarian and human rights crisis,” officials said.“The fighting must come to an end. There must be humanitarian access, which has been a problem,” the State Department’s acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Robert Godec, told VOA on Monday during a briefing by phone.“We need the human rights abuses and atrocities to stop. We need the Eritreans and the Amhara [militia] to leave. And we need, really, an end to this conflict,” Godec added. Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding virtual meetings with officials in Kenya and Nigeria, with “strengthening democratic governance” and “building lasting security” high on the agenda, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. The crisis in the Tigray region is “a regional issue” and “it does pose risks to the entire region,” said Godec, adding the United States is in “close communication” with other African leaders to end the dire situation.It May be ‘Many Months’ Before Full Scale of Tigray Rapes Known, UN Official SaysSurvivor testimony and other indicators may ‘only be the tip of the iceberg’ Abiy launched what he termed a “law and order operation” in the Tigray region in November and ordered Ethiopia’s federal military to detain and disarm leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), saying the group was responsible for inciting attacks on federal army camps. The TPLF is a political group with an armed wing vowing to continue fighting against the federal government. The TPLF held power for more than two decades under former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. On March 26, Abiy said Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its forces from Tigray. But U.S. officials said there is no evidence that such a withdrawal has occurred. Ethiopia: Eritrean Troops Pulling Out of Tigray But it’s not clear how many Eritrean troops have left, and some in Tigray say Eritreans aren’t leaving at allMonday, in a phone call to Abiy, Blinken “pressed for Ethiopia’s and Eritrea’s commitments to withdraw Eritrean troops from Tigray to be implemented immediately, in full, and in a verifiable manner,” said the State Department.The newly appointed U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is expected to travel to Ethiopia in the coming days.On Monday, a State Department spokesperson told VOA the United States will continue its non-humanitarian “assistance pause” to Ethiopia but keep the humanitarian aid to the country.“Given the current environment in Ethiopia, we have decided not to lift the assistance pause for other programs, including most programs in the security sector,” said the spokesperson. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 23 MB480p | 32 MB540p | 46 MB720p | 114 MB1080p | 198 MBOriginal | 204 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWATCH: Tigray, Ethiopia: From Conflict to Humanitarian CrisisThe United States had suspended certain foreign assistance to Ethiopia last year following the country’s failure to resolve the dispute with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD.) But the State Department said Washington will continue humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia, and is committed to building “an enduring partnership with the Ethiopian people and to the territorial integrity and national unity of Ethiopia.” The armed conflict in Tigray has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced thousands more inside the country. Hundreds of thousands have also been forced to flee to neighboring Sudan. The Tigray region of more than 5 million people is facing shortages of food, water and medicine, according to the United Nations. The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia. For the Tigray response efforts only, the U.S. has provided nearly $305 million in humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of people in need.Tuesday, Blinken will embark on his first virtual trip to Africa as the top U.S. diplomat. He will meet with Young African Leadership Initiative, or YALI, alumni and discuss a range of topics, including economic development, democracy and good governance, climate change, and health. The chief U.S. diplomat will then meet virtually with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama to underscore shared goals of strengthening democratic governance, building lasting security, and promoting economic ties and diversification. Blinken’s meeting with Kenyan officials will celebrate the 57-year bilateral relationship. He will meet with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo to reaffirm the strategic partnership and explore avenues to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Attorney: Black Man Killed by Deputies Shot in Back of Head
A Black man killed by deputies in North Carolina was shot in the back of the head and had his hands on his car steering wheel when they opened fire, attorneys for his family said Monday after relatives viewed body camera footage. The account was the first description of the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed by deputies serving drug-related search and arrest warrants. His death last Wednesday led to nightly protests and demands for justice in the town of Elizabeth City. Authorities have released few details, and the video has not been made public. Attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter watched a 20-second portion of body camera video with Brown’s family. Lassiter said Brown did not appear to be a threat to officers as he backed his vehicle out of his driveway and tried to drive away from deputies with guns drawn. “There was no time in the 20 seconds that we saw where he was threatening the officers in any kind of way,” she told reporters at a news conference. When asked whether Brown was shot in the back, attorney Harry Daniels said, “Yes, back of the head.” An eyewitness account and emergency scanner traffic had previously indicated Brown was shot in the back as he tried to drive away. “My dad got executed just by trying to save his own life,” said Brown’s adult son Khalil Ferebee, who watched the video. Lassiter, who watched the video multiple times and took notes, said the shooting started as soon as the video began and that she lost count of the number of gunshots fired by law enforcement officers armed with rifles and handguns. She said she counted as many as eight deputies in the video, some wearing tactical uniforms and some in plainclothes. “They’re shooting and saying, ‘Let me see your hands’ at the same time,” she said. She added: “Let’s be clear. This was an execution.” The family’s lawyers were also angry about what they described as rude treatment by Pasquotank County Attorney R. Michael Cox, to whom they attributed the decision to limit the amount of footage shown. They criticized authorities for sharing only 20 seconds of video from a single body camera. “They’re trying to hide something,” attorney Benjamin Crump said. Attorney Bakari Sellers said Cox used profanity toward him. “I’ve never been talked to like I was talked to in there,” Sellers said. Cox did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II has said that multiple deputies fired shots. Seven deputies are on leave pending a probe by the State Bureau of Investigation. In a video statement, the sheriff said Monday that Cox had filed a request to have the video released, which in North Carolina must be authorized by a judge. He asked for patience while the State Bureau of Investigation probes the case. “This tragic incident was quick and over in less than 30 seconds, and body cameras are shaky and sometimes hard to decipher. They only tell part of the story,” he said. Earlier Monday, a search warrant was released that indicated investigators had recorded Brown selling small amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine to an informant. Crump argued that authorities were trying to release negative information about Brown while shielding themselves by holding back the video. The warrant was sought by Wooten’s office and signed by a judge to allow the search of Brown’s Elizabeth City home. It said that an investigator in nearby Dare County was told by the informant that the person had been purchasing crack cocaine and other drugs from Brown for over a year. The informant described purchasing drugs at the house that was the target of the search. In March, narcotics officers used the informant to conduct controlled purchases of methamphetamine and cocaine from Brown on two separate occasions, according to the warrant, which said both drug transactions were recorded using audio and video equipment. The search warrant said investigators believed Brown was storing drugs in the home or two vehicles. The document, which indicated the search was not completed, did not list anything found. Two arrest warrants released last week charged him with possession with intent to sell and deliver 3 grams of each of the drugs. Calls have been growing to release the body camera footage. A coalition of media organizations have sought the footage, and city officials plan to do so as well. Short of releasing it publicly, state law allows law enforcement to show body camera video privately to a victim’s family. Also Monday, Elizabeth City officials declared a state of emergency amid concerns about how demonstrators would react to a possible video release. Protests since the shooting in the eastern North Carolina town of about 18,000 have generally been peaceful. Danielle McCalla, who grew up in Elizabeth City before recently moving to Virginia, joined demonstrators who came to watch the news conference by the family attorneys. She said it left her in tears. “As soon as they started going into details, I started crying,” she said. McCalla, 30, said she met Brown and had several conversations with him, making her sad about what’s happening in her hometown and about police shootings elsewhere. “It’s the same thing that keeps happening,” she said. “It’s a bigger monster than we think it is.”
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Harris Vows $310 Million in US Relief as Central America Tackles Migration
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei during a virtual call Monday that the U.S. will give $310 million in humanitarian relief to Central America, her office said, as the region tackles a wave of migration north. Harris, who leads President Joe Biden’s efforts to address the influx of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to the U.S.-Mexico border, met with Giammattei by videoconference, prior to her visit to Central America scheduled for June. “In light of the dire situation and acute suffering faced by millions of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Vice President Harris announced an additional $310 million in US government support for humanitarian relief and to address food insecurity,” a statement from her office said after the meeting. Honduran migrants clash with Guatemalan soldiers in Vado Hondo, Guatemala.It said the two governments will also coordinate law enforcement efforts to tackle criminal organizations whose activities help drive migration and to open migrant resource centers to establish safe, legal migration. “The United States plans to increase relief to the region, strengthen our cooperation to manage migration in an effective, secure and humane manner,” Harris promised Giammattei. Biden has asked Congress for $861 million to address the causes that drive irregular immigration from Central America, within the framework of his $4 billion plan for the region. His proposal is included in the budget project for next year that has yet to be discussed and approved by legislators. More than 172,000 undocumented immigrants, including nearly 19,000 unaccompanied minors, were detained in March at the southern border of the United States, a rise of 71% in a month and the highest level in 15 years. Most of the migrants come from the three countries of the Central American Northern Triangle. That area, vulnerable to natural disasters, was hit by two devastating hurricanes in November and is struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and a prolonged drought. “We want to work with you to address both the acute causes and the root causes (of migration) in a way that gives hope to the people of Guatemala that there will be an opportunity for them if they stay home,” Harris also told Giammattei during the virtual meeting. Giammattei agreed on the need to “create hope” in Guatemala. “The Guatemalan government wants to be a partner (of the United States) to address … not only poverty but also the many evils that affect us all,” he said. In addition, the president said he looked forward to Harris’ visit in June. Many migrants in recent weeks say they were given new hope by Biden’s reversal of the hardline immigration policies of his predecessor Donald Trump. Biden to Lift Refugee Cap Next Month, White House SaysPresident initially retained historically low 15,000-person limit set by Trump administrationThe changes include allowing unaccompanied children to stay and be united with relatives living inside the United States. The number of unaccompanied children detained after crossing the border illegally, or trying to sneak through official entry ports, doubled in March from February to 18,890, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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In France, New Museum-Memorial to Terrorism Takes Shape
Last week’s killing of a police worker outside Paris offers a chilling reminder that terrorism has become a grim feature of life in France. Now the country, which has weathered some of Europe’s most horrific terrorist attacks, joins just a handful of nations that are building concrete reminders. The French memorial-museum will be the first devoted not to one specific terrorism incident but to a broader arc of horror over a half-century. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.Camera: Lisa Bryant
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Chad’s Military Rulers Name Civilian Prime Minister; Opposition Protests
Chad’s new military rulers named a civilian politician, Albert Pahimi Padacke, as prime minister of a transitional government on Monday, a week after President Idriss Deby’s battlefield death, but opposition leaders quickly dismissed the appointment. Padacke served as prime minister from 2016 to 2018 and was seen as an ally of Deby, who ruled Chad for 30 years. A military council seized power after Deby was killed as he visited troops fighting rebels on April 19. Opposition politicians have called the military takeover a coup, and two said on Monday the army had no right to pick a premier. The transition and the wrangling around it is being watched closely in a country that is a power in central Africa and a longtime Western ally against Islamist militants across the Sahel. The military council is headed by Deby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, and has said it will oversee an 18-month transition to elections. Mahamat Idriss Deby, a general, has been declared the national president and has dissolved parliament. FILE – The son of the late Chadian president Idriss Deby, general Mahamat Idriss Deby, right, attends the state funeral for the late Chadian president Idriss Deby in N’Djamena, April 23, 2021.But the council is coming under international pressure to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible. The African Union has expressed “grave concern” about the military takeover, while France, the former colonial ruler, and some of Chad’s neighbors are pushing for a civilian-military solution. The U.S. State Department said the naming of a civilian prime minister is “potentially a positive first step in restoring civilian governance,” adding that Washington is continuing to closely monitor the situation. “We would urge that this moment be taken to move the country forward in a democratic direction and that the people have an opportunity to really have a democracy, have a representative government,” Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, told reporters. Despite Padacke’s appointment, the council is still likely to be the ultimate authority. Although an ally of the late Deby, Padacke ran against him several times. He came second with 10% of the vote in an election on April 11 that was boycotted by several opposition leaders who said it was rigged. Deby, who took power in a rebellion in 1990, was declared winner with about 79% of the vote just before he was killed. International human rights groups, who had long criticized Deby’s repressive rule, have said the election campaign was marked by violence and intimidation. “(Padacke) was prime minister under Deby, and we will not accept for him to lead the transitional government,” said Dinamou Daram, president of the Socialist Party Without Borders. “The junta wants to continue with the system of the old regime. We reject this way of proceeding,” he told Reuters. Yacine Abderamane, president of the opposition Reformist Party, also rejected Padacke’s nomination. “It is not up to the transitional military council to designate a prime minister in this isolated manner. We want there to be talks between political parties, civil society and other actors in order to reach a consensus,” he said. A coalition of civil society groups and opposition politicians has called for a peaceful protest Tuesday in N’Djamena to demand a return to “constitutional order.” One civil society leader said he was optimistic that Padacke would be open to talks to ease political tensions. “He is a major player who can achieve dialogue with all sides and move the political process forward toward peaceful elections,” said Mahamat Digadimbaye, national coordinator for civil society and human rights associations.
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US Keeping Wary Eye on Russian Troops Near Ukraine
U.S. officials are not yet convinced Russia is making good on its word to de-escalate in Crimea and along its border with Ukraine following a weekslong military buildup, insisting it is “too soon to tell.” The Pentagon on Monday said it appears some Russian troops have pulled back, though the danger remains. “We have seen some departure of some forces away from Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters, adding that the U.S. military is “going to keep watching this very, very closely.” “It’s too soon to tell and to take at face value Russian claims that what they said was an exercise is now over in there and they’re pulling everybody back,” he added. US, West Wary of Russian Claims That Military Buildup Near Ukraine Is OverPentagon says ‘it’s too soon to tell’ whether Moscow’s assurance can be taken at face value U.S. and Western officials have repeatedly raised concern over what they have described as the largest massing of Russian forces since Moscow gave the order to invade and seize the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. European officials last week said that at the height of the latest buildup, more than 100,000 Russian forces had positioned themselves within striking distance of Ukrainian territory. Bigger Than 2014: US Calls Out Russian Military Buildup Along Ukraine BorderThe Pentagon’s assertion that Moscow is massing more forces than it did when it invaded and annexed Crimea follows EU assessment that 150,000 Russian troops are now in the regionIn contrast to U.S. and Western concerns, Russian officials have continually accused Ukraine of being the cause of trouble in the region. On Monday, Russian’s foreign ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin used a call with French President Emmanuel Macron to highlight Kyiv’s “provocative actions” in eastern Ukraine. 🇷🇺🇫🇷📞 Состоялся телефонный разговор Владимира Путина с Президентом Франции Эммануэлем Макроном. Особое внимание уделено внутриукраинскому конфликту. Выражена обеспокоенность в связи с эскалацией напряжённости на Юго-Востоке Украины.🔗 https://t.co/vf8ezliI9Apic.twitter.com/6cI5UhrwDm— МИД России 🇷🇺 (@MID_RF) April 26, 2021Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced this past Thursday that military exercises involving troops along the border with Ukraine were over and that they would return to their permanent bases by May 1. Later that day, a NATO official told VOA the alliance had taken note of the Russian announcement, adding, “Any steps towards de-escalation by Russia would be important and well overdue.” VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report.
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US Homeland Security to Investigate Domestic Extremism in Its Ranks
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will investigate the potential threat of domestic violent extremism within its own ranks, the department said on Monday.DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas did not say what prompted the internal review at DHS but referred to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. He said it highlighted the threat of U.S.-based extremists.A group of senior DHS officials “will immediately begin a comprehensive review of how to best prevent, detect, and respond to threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS,” the department said in a statement.President Joe Biden called for funding to investigate any complaints of white supremacist beliefs at immigration enforcement agencies within DHS in his first budget proposal, which was unveiled this month.The U.S. military has also faced concerns over white nationalism and other extremism in its ranks after current and former military service members were found to have participated in the attack on the Capitol.Mayorkas said in a statement on Monday that domestic violent extremism “poses the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today,” adding that “hateful acts and violent extremism will not be tolerated” within DHS.Domestic extremism is a major focus of investigations into the Capitol attack, and members of right-wing extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are among those now facing federal charges in connection with the violence.
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Relatives Pay Respects to Sailors Who Died in Sinking of Indonesian Submarine
Relatives of the sailors who died in the sinking of a German-made KRI Nanggala-402 submarine grieved their lost loved ones on the shore of Bali Monday and urged authorities to recover their bodies, according to Reuters reports.The Indonesian navy began working out how to salvage the remains of the submarine and retrieve the bodies of the 53 sailors, whom the military officially declared dead Sunday, according to The Associated Press.”We have already given our son to the government. Now that he has fallen in this operation, we hope the government will return his remains to us after all the official ceremonies,” Wayan Darmanta, an uncle of one of the crew members, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.Indonesian President Joko Widodo earlier gave his condolences to the families of the crew members of the Nanggala-402. Widodo also said the government would pay for the education of the crew members’ children, according to Reuters.Navy chief of staff Yudo Margono said the crew was not at fault for the sinking, blaming “forces of nature.””The KRI Nanggala is divided into three parts,” Margona said, describing the sub’s condition on the seafloor. “The hull of the ship, the stern of the ship, and the main parts are all separated, with the main part found cracked. There are scattered parts of the submarine and its interior in the water.”The German-built KRI Nanggala-402 had gone missing Wednesday and was found Sunday on the seabed. The submarine lost contact while preparing to conduct a torpedo drill.
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Somali Opposition Fighters Cordon off Parts of Tense Capital
Heavily armed Somali opposition fighters held positions in parts of the capital of Mogadishu Monday, a day after clashes with government troops erupted over the president’s bid to extend his mandate, in the country’s worst political violence in years.Fighters used mounds of earth to barricade roads, while armed men and vehicles mounted with machine guns were stationed in opposition strongholds after the fighting that left three dead.”Both the Somali security forces and the pro-opposition fighters have taken positions along some key roads,” witness Abdullahi Mire told AFP.The fragile nation has not had an effective central government since the collapse of a military regime in 1991 led to decades of civil war and lawlessness fueled by clan conflicts.For more than a decade, conflict has centered on an Islamist insurgency by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.The political clashes on the streets of Mogadishu mark a dangerous new phase in a dispute triggered by failure to hold planned elections in February.FILE – Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo attends the London Somalia Conference’ at Lancaster House, May 11, 2017.President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, best known by his nickname Farmajo, earlier this month signed a law approved by parliament that extended his mandate by two years.On Sunday night, sporadic bursts of heavy gunfire rang out across the capital after fighting broke out between government forces and soldiers allied along clan lines to various opposition leaders.Three people — two police officers and one opposition fighter — were killed in the clashes, police said Monday.Tensions remained high with soldiers supporting the opposition vowing to remove the president by force.”Former president Farmajo is a dictator. … He wants to stay in power with force, we are against that, we will continue fighting until he leaves,” said military commander Abdulkadkir Mohamed Warsame, who backs former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, and was running against Farmajo for the presidency.Warsame, who said the opposition was in control of the northern Hawle Wadag district, said “now we want to take over the presidency. … We will not stop our fighting, we can stop only when we die.”Clan divisionsThe fighting has sharpened clan divisions in the capital and set the stage for more violence along those lines, said Somalia analyst Omar Mahmood.”Any sort of miscalculation could happen. … It just takes one trigger-happy soldier to fire on the other side, and that’s going to erupt those dynamics,” the senior analyst for International Crisis Group (ICG) told AFP.Some residents in tense neighborhoods had begun leaving their homes.”We need both sides to stop the fighting, have sympathy with the children and elderly,” said Farah Hassan.While schools and universities were closed, life in some of the unaffected neighborhoods proceeded much as usual.Prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble expressed disappointment Monday with the violence during Ramadan and urged security forces to “fulfil their national commitment and protect” the people of Mogadishu.’Violence is unacceptable’Farmajo’s four-year mandate expired in February before fresh elections could be held, leading to a constitutional crisis and to opposition leaders refusing to recognize him.The crisis mushroomed from a long-simmering disagreement between Farmajo and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, two of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states, over how to conduct elections.Multiple rounds of U.N.-backed talks failed to find a solution, and parliament pushed through the bill extending Farmajo’s mandate for two years.The crisis has dismayed Somalia’s foreign backers, who have urged Farmajo to resume dialogue with the federal states.”The problem is, every time you have an outbreak of violence like this, it just further widens the gulf between the parties and really makes getting to any sort of agreement that much harder,” said Mahmood, the ICG analyst.The British embassy and European Union envoy in Mogadishu expressed alarm over the violence while the U.N. Mission in Somalia wrote on Twitter that “violence is not the solution” to the stalemate.
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2nd Police Department under Investigation Following Chauvin Conviction
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday announced a sweeping investigation of the police department and local government in the southern U.S. city of Louisville, Kentucky, where officers last year shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency technician, during a bungled raid on her home.The “pattern or practice” investigation is the second of a police department following the conviction last week of former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin in the death of African American George Floyd while in police custody last year.Garland said the investigation into the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and Louisville Metro Police Department will determine whether police officers engaged in unconstitutional and unlawful practices. Among other things, federal investigators will examine whether local police engage in unreasonable use of force and unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures.He said the Justice Department has briefed Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and LMPD chief Erika Shields on the investigation. Both officials pledged to cooperate, the attorney general said.The announcement came more than a year after Taylor, 26, died on March 13, 2020 after three Louisville Police officers fired on her while serving a no-knock warrant. The use of such controversial warrants will be examined as part of the federal inquiry.FILE – This undated photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar shows Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.Only one of the three Louisville police officers was later charged by a state grand jury. The case remained little known until Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020 thrust it into the public debate and protest movement over police brutality and racism.Last week, Garland announced a similar “pattern or practice” investigation into the embattled police department in the midwestern U.S. city of Minneapolis, a day after a jury found Chauvin guilty of two murder counts and one manslaughter count in the killing of Floyd.As with the Minneapolis department probe, the goal of the new investigation is “to ensure that policing policies and practices are constitutional and lawful,” Garland said.The two investigations mark a shift in Justice Department priorities under President Joe Biden and reflect his administration’s intent to use “pattern or practice” investigations to combat civil rights violations and other abuses in police departments. Such investigations were widely used during the Obama administration, but the tactic was subsequently abandoned under Biden’s immediate predecessor, Donald Trump.Garland said that at the end of the investigation, the department will seek to negotiate “mutually agreeable steps” to prevent abuse but if an agreement can’t be reached, it will file a civil lawsuit.The Obama administration investigated 25 police departments, negotiating 14 consent decrees. None was done under the Trump administration.
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Cameroonian Startup’s Online Veterinary App Helps Remote Breeders
A Cameroonian company has created a veterinary counseling app designed to help farmers and ranchers who live far away from veterinarians to detect animal diseases and give them guidance online.Cameroonian rabbit breeder Thierry Bayabon lost three-quarters of his stock to disease a few months ago. Like most small-scale Cameroonian farmers, he was not familiar with diseases that affect animals. Bayabon says the deaths could have been prevented, but it took too long to find a veterinarian to visit his remote farm. He says two weeks after the cases, as the situation was getting worse, he was successful in getting a veterinarian. The vet came on-site and was able to determine the problem.To help breeders like Bayabon avoid such costly losses, a Cameroonian startup designed the free online application, Veto.The app analyzes audio questions about symptoms, gives treatment advice, and helps breeders and ranchers share information.It also allows them to send photos and videos to actual veterinarians, like Mangoua Cédrick, for analysis.”In those villages, they have no vet personnel,” Cédrick said. “And with an advent of a zoonotic disease like tuberculosis, I mean, you taking the picture for the analysis may help you save life, because zoonoses are diseases that attack humans or that are transmissible between animal to human.”The Veto app’s main challenge is that it requires an internet connection, which is expensive and hard to come by in Cameroon’s remote villages.The app’s developers say they are working on the problem so it can be useful to more people raising livestock.Franklin Djomo, chief marketing officer for Veto, says their research and development teams are actively working to develop a module that is not connected to the internet so that it can operate in rural areas. While the veterinary diagnostic app has connection limitations, its practical use is not limited to Cameroon, or even West Africa. The Veto app is currently available in Cameroon’s official languages — French and English — and also in Arabic and Swahili.
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Turkey Puts 108 Pro-Kurdish Party Officials on Trial
One hundred and eight prominent members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP went on trial in the capital, Ankara, Monday in connection with violent nationwide protests in 2014 that left 37 people dead.The protests were against the government’s failure to militarily intervene as the Islamic State was poised to overrun the predominantly Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, on Turkey’s border.Speaking outside the courthouse Monday, HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar said the trial is politically motivated.”The party official called this a case of revenge which he said is the product of the defeats that the HDP has made the government suffer,” Sancar said.Ankara accuses the YPG Syrian Kurdish fighters defending Kobane of being terrorists no different from Islamic State militants.The government is vigorously defending the prosecution, claiming the defendants have to be held to account for the deaths in the 2014 unrest.But Emma Sinclair Webb of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the case is part of an alarming trend.This is an entirely political trial as so many trials in Turkey are these days. This is part of a contentious effort to deplete the HDP to criminalize it,” Sinclair Webb said. “Basically evidence is based on political speeches and there is just no compelling credible evidence to pursue this case.”The defendants face life sentences on charges of murder, insurrection and inciting terrorism. Among those on trial is the HDP’s two former leaders, who are already in jail.The ruling AK Party accuses the HDP of being linked to the Kurdish rebel group the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state, a charge the party denies. Columnist Sezin Oney of the Duvar news portal said the future of the party is now in doubt.”Probably the beginning of the end of the HDP, AK party officials have on various instances have mentioned their intention is to wipe out the HDP for good so it can’t make a comeback,” Oney said.Dozens of elected HDP mayors are already in jail, and advocates fear that prosecutors could be preparing what is designed to be a fatal blow to Turkey’s second-largest opposition party.
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COVID-19 Lockdown Ends in Australian City of Perth
A snap three-day COVID-19 lockdown is set to end Monday in the Australian city of Perth. The shutdown was ordered Friday after the man — a traveler who returned from overseas — escaped from a quarantine hotel housing other passengers returning from abroad. The Australian Medical Association said authorities are not doing enough to protect returned travelers in enforcing mandatory quarantine from infections and hotel facilities were not built to contain the spread of the virus. Perth’s lockdown will end Monday after Western Australia recorded no new community coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. Businesses and schools will be allowed to reopen. Some restrictions will remain for the next four days. Masks will be mandatory, and gatherings will be limited to 20 people. The lockdown was imposed Friday after the virus spread in the corridors of an isolation hotel in the Western Australian state capital. A 54-year-old man staying adjacent to a couple with coronavirus, who had returned from India, was infected. Officials have said the traveler was allowed to leave the hotel after testing negative for the virus and after a two-week isolation period. But he returned a positive result a few days later. Two other people are known to have been infected as health authorities have raced to track hundreds of other close or casual contacts of the man, who spent days in Perth before flying to Melbourne. Australia has banned foreign travelers for more than a year to curb the spread of COVID-19, but citizens and permanent residents are allowed to return, where they face mandatory quarantine. Australia is now limiting arrivals from India because of the worsening coronavirus crisis there. FILE – Australian Broadcasting Corp. journalist Bill Birtles walks into a hotel for quarantine in Sydney, Australia, Sept. 8, 2020.The country’s association for doctors and medical students, the Australian Medical Association, or the AMA, believes that hotels are not properly equipped or built to contain the spread of the virus. AMA president Dr. Omar Khorshid is calling on Australia’s federal and state governments to set up purpose-built isolation facilities. “I suspect everyone has thought that the vaccine program would mean the end of the need for quarantine,” he said. “But as we are seeing more and more mutations in the virus and these huge outbreaks, for instance, what is happening in India, the reality is that we are going to need quarantine for some time even once our population is vaccinated. So, what we would like to see is our national Cabinet, which is now meeting again twice a week, you know, come together and work out a pathway towards dedicated quarantine facilities that can be used either in this pandemic or in future pandemics.” Australia has managed to avoid the worst of the global pandemic. Fewer that 30,000 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed and more than 900 deaths recorded, according to health authorities.
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WHO Pushes Routine Vaccinations Amid COVID Downturn
Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say.
They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are currently “postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people — mostly children — at risk for measles, yellow fever and polio.”
As the world marks World Immunization Week 2021, which takes place in the last week of April, the groups are calling for countries to increase investments in vaccines.
The groups say investment could save 50 million lives by 2030.
“If we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Measles outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, according to the groups. They added that further outbreaks were likely as children are not vaccinated.
“As COVID-19 vaccines are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is more critical than ever that children maintain access to other lifesaving vaccines to prevent devastating outbreaks of preventable diseases that have started to spread alongside the pandemic,” said David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. “We must sustain this energy on vaccine rollout to also help children catch up on their measles, polio and other vaccines. Lost ground means lost lives.”
UNICEF said it delivered 2.01 billion vaccines in 2020 compared to 2.29 billion in 2019.
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US Supreme Court to Consider Gun Rights Case for Self-Defense
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider a major new gun control case, whether there is a constitutional right to carry a weapon outside the home for self-defense.As it stands now, Americans have the right to gun ownership for self-defense in their homes.But the court said that in its term that begins next October, it would hear a National Rifle Association-supported challenge to a century-old New York state law that requires those seeking a permit to carry a concealed weapon outside the home to show a special need for self-defense.New York is one of eight states that limit who has the right to carry a weapon in public, while in the country’s other 42 states, gun owners can mostly carry their weapons when they leave their homes.The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees gun ownership rights. FILE – Several types of weapons, including AR-15 style rifles, are displayed at a gun shop in Virginia. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)Former President Donald Trump frequently touted his support for political candidates supporting gun ownership rights, while the current U.S. leader, President Joe Biden, has signed executive orders to try to curb gun violence and called on Congress to tighten gun background checks and ban assault weapons.The Supreme Court previously turned down a request to review the New York law, but the court’s new 6-3 conservative majority, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, has signaled that it could be more receptive to challenges of laws limiting gun owners’ rights.The Supreme Court rejected a request by New York state Attorney General Letitia James to turn down a review of the open carry restrictions in her state.The state’s law “has existed in the same essential form since 1913 and descends from a long Anglo-American tradition of regulating the carrying of firearms in public,” she wrote in a brief to the court.She said the state law complies with a previous Supreme Court’s gun rights ruling, “that the Second Amendment right is not unlimited and can be subject to state regulation consistent with the historical scope of the right.”The New York appeal was brought by two men, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, who both received a permit to carry a gun outside the home for hunting and target practice but were turned down to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense.Paul Clement, a lawyer representing the challengers to the New York law, told the court the country is divided, with “the Second Amendment alive and well in the vast middle of the nation, and those same rights disregarded near the coasts.”
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Zimbabwean Sculptor Uses Art to Combat COVID
Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is gaining attention for works inspired by the coronavirus pandemic. One of his collections urges people to get vaccinated. Another reminds people to take health measures, as he hammers home a message to curb the spread of the virus. Ngwerume’s latest piece is “Michael Jackson,” named after the late U.S. pop icon who was well known for wearing masks and a glove.Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is making what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery.” Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume in front of his exhibit, called “Arms,” in what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery” in Harare, April 23, 2021. He encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)His exhibit, called “Arms,” encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year.Another one, called “We are torn,” encourages people to sneeze into their elbows.And the most talked about one encourages people to mask up in an exhibit called: “MJ” – named after the late U.S. pop icon “Michael Jackson.”“The iconic Michael Jackson was the first celebrity to move around wearing a mask and gloves. When he was asked, he stood his ground and said the air is somehow polluted,” Ngwerume said. “Michael Jackson used his public figure position to highlight what he was seeing as what would come with the times; that we have the COVID pandemic. We are now wearing masks. At that time people thought he was trying to show off. He warned us. Now I am using his figure around this COVID pandemic on my art to show that Michael Jackson gave us a warning that: Mask up. His figure shows a finger pointing to us as a people to say: Mask Up.”Ngwerume has posted his pieces online to keep most people from coming to his studio and potentially spreading the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease.New York-based art dealer Shingirai Mafara says he wants to hold an art exhibition to display the work of his fellow Zimbabwean David Ngwerume for a wider reach, April 23, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/SKYPE/VOA) Speaking via Skype, New York-based art dealer Shingirai Mafara says he wants to hold an art exhibition to display the work of his fellow Zimbabwean for a wider reach.”I find his pieces very, very pivotal not only putting Zimbabwean art sculpture on the map, because we are already back on the map but also sending to the entire world: let’s get vaccinated, let’s wear masks, let’s social distance, hold hands and try to see this together,” Mafara said. “These pieces are going to sit in the permanent collection of the United Nations World Health Organization or at a private collector’s residence. The work that David has created: a 100, 200 years from now you can look back and say in 2020/2021, we had a pandemic that killed millions and millions of people.”Ngwerume’s work has also caught the attention of a Zimbabwe government official.Josiah Kusena is the acting director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. Josiah Kusena, the acting director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, says the government appreciates artists who think outside the box, April 23, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“The situation has taught our artists to be resilient, to be imaginative and creative in terms of sustenance – how do you eke a livelihood in such an environment which is not easy to operate when sources of income have been closed totally,” Kusena said. “So that creativity is not a surprise at all. It is also an appreciation by the artist that COVID-19 has destroyed livelihoods, but it is also an appreciation that there has been progress in research in terms of how do you contain COVID-19.”Zimbabwean Doctors Worried about Low Acceptance of COVID-19 VaccineFewer than 36,000 people received shots since 200,000 doses arrived in February Ngwerume says he hopes to work with art auctioneers and use part of the proceeds to get personal protective equipment or PPEs for Zimbabwe’s health workers.Zimbabwe’s doctors and nurses have struggled due to lack of adequate resources while working in the front lines of prevention and treatment during the coronavirus pandemic. Zimbabwe has more than 38,000 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,550 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak.
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Senegalese Divers, Activists Clean-Up Coast for Earth Day
Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow. From bottles and bags to food wrappers and fishing nets, plastic waste is piling up on Senegal’s beaches, harming the environment that people and animals depend on. A bird stands atop a mound of rubbish overlooking a polluted canal in Dakar, Senegal, Apr. 23, 2021.Toxic chemicals from plastic leach into the water and can build up in fish, which are a vital part of the Senegalese diet. Senegal’s Ministry of Public Health notes links between plastic pollution and infertility, heart disease, cancer, and other health problems. “All of these products that are used by the industry can be dangerous,” said Public Health director Dr. Marie Khémesse Ngom Ndiaye. “In terms of pollution, they can attack all of our organs, but equally those of animals. But especially, as you’ve seen in all these documentaries and studies, it impacts marine life.” The Senegalese government passed a law in 2015 banning single-use plastics, but little changed. The law was rescinded to make way for new legislation that specifically targeted plastic cups, straws, plates, bags and bottles. It went into effect in 2020, but it’s still rarely enforced. “There is not necessarily enough information,” said Aisha Conte, president of Zero Waste Senegal. “The population, the users, are not well enough informed about the existence of this law and its different statutes.” Franck Chabert, owner of the Barracuda Dive Club, pulls rubbish from the sea floor during an underwater cleanup for Earth Day in Dakar, Apr. 23, 2021.To mark the anniversary of last year’s ban, and this year’s Earth Day, Dakar’s Barracuda Scuba Diving Club and activists held a coastal cleanup. Clean Senegal’s Khadim Diouf wore a plastic costume while sorting the waste to underscore the need to make an impact. Volunteers sort rubbish found under water and along the beach during an underwater cleanup for Earth Day in Dakar, Apr. 23, 2021.“I think we can do it — us, the citizens of the world,” he said. “I don’t just mean the citizens of Senegal, but the citizens of the world. Everyone must protect their environment. That’s what we must do.” Until then, Diouf and other activists said they will continue to campaign for a cleaner Senegal.
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NASA Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Flies Faster, Farther Than Ever
U.S. space agency NASA said the experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity — in its third flight Sunday on the red planet — flew farther and faster than ever, including during test flights on Earth.NASA scientists said the vehicle took off and rose to about 5 meters off the surface of the planet — the same height it reached on its second flight Thursday and slightly higher than on its initial flight a week ago. This time, Ingenuity flew about 50 meters down range from its position, traveling at a top speed of about 2 meters a second. The entire flight was about 80 seconds.As data from the flight was received at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Ingenuity team said it was “ecstatic” to see how the helicopter performed. Program director Dave Lavery said the flight Sunday was what the team had planned for, “and yet, it was nothing short of amazing.”The initial data from the flight came in from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, which is parked several meters from where the helicopter took flight. The agency said segments of that video showing most of the helicopter’s 80-second journey across its flight zone will be sent back to Earth in the days ahead. The Ingenuity team has been pushing the helicopter’s limits by adding instructions to capture more photos of its own, including from the color camera, which captured its first images on the flight last Thursday. Ingenuity weighs just 1.8 kilograms and was packed away on the Perseverance rover when it landed on Mars in February. It was unfolded and dropped from the rover about three weeks ago.NASA considers Ingenuity a technology demonstration designed to test flight capability in the thin Martian atmosphere. It has specially designed rotors that spin much faster than they would have to on Earth to achieve flight. It also has innovative batteries and solar cells for recharging.Aside from cameras, Ingenuity carries no scientific instruments.
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Myanmar’s Deposed Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Makes New Court Appearance
Myanmar’s deposed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi made another court appearance Monday as the country’s regional neighbors increase pressure on the military junta to bring an end to the deadly chaos.Lawyers for the 75-year-old Suu Kyi also appeared via video conference in a courtroom in the capital Naypyitaw for a procedural hearing.Suu Kyi has been detained since the February 1 coup and is facing six criminal charges, the most serious of them a charge of breaking the country’s colonial-era secrets law that could put her in prison for 14 years if convicted.Her lawyers say on Monday she again demanded a face-to-face meeting with her legal team, which has not occurred during her detention.Two other leaders from the overthrown civilian government, President U Win Myint and Dr. Myo Aung, Naypitaw Council Chairman, also appeared before the court via video conference. The next hearing for all three will be held on May 10.The military cited widespread fraud in last November’s general election — which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide — as its reason for overthrowing Suu Kyi’s government.The coup has sparked daily mass demonstrations across Myanmar demanding the return of Suu Kyi and her elected government to power.The junta has responded with an increasingly violent and deadly crackdown against the protesters. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nongovernmental monitoring organization, estimates that more than 700 people have been killed since the coup.Leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, of which Myanmar is a member, held an emergency summit Saturday in Jakarta with Senior General Min Aung Hliang, the junta’s leader. The group issued a rare statement demanding the junta end the violence, begin a dialogue with all relevant parties and allow entry of a special ASEAN envoy.But it stopped short of a demand for the immediate release of all political prisoners.
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Questions Over Missing Billions Pose Challenge for Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be finding himself cornered over opposition claims that his government $128 billion squandered in defending Turkey’s currency, the lira.Throughout Turkey, giant banners emblazoned with the words “where is the $128 billion?” hang from party offices of the main opposition, People’s Republican Party, CHP. Advertising trucks and vans carry images asking the same question, along with posters on billboards across the country, some with just the words “$128 billion Where?”In Istanbul, the governor ordered the banners taken down, claiming they violated COVID restrictions. Video of the police taking down the huge posters in the middle of the night went viral on social media, only fueling more interest.The CHP has countered by simply using the number 128, which has become synonymous with demands for accounting of the lost billions of dollars.Meral Aksener, the firebrand leader of the opposition Good Party, iyi, joined in the assault on the government, “Turkey has become the land of disappearance under the great illusionist Erdoğan,” quipped Aksener in an address to her parliamentary party deputies this month.”Vaccines are missing,” and “128 Billion USD and the Minister of Powerpoint (referring to former Finance Minister Berat Albayrak) who lost the money is also missing,” she said, referring to opposition claims that more than one million imported COVID vaccines are unaccounted for – a claim the government denies. Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, has not been seen public since reports said he was forced to quit in November.Under the finance minister’s two-year stewardship, billions of Turkey’s foreign currency reserves were used to prop up the currency, as he confounded economic orthodoxy of keeping interest rates low, despite rising inflation.A man is reflected at a foreign currency board in a currency exchange shop, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 22, 2021.Albayrak followed Erdogan’s unorthodox view that low-interest rates reduce inflation rather than the widely held belief that high rates are needed to tame rising prices.Analysts warn the growing controversy over the opposition’s slogan, “What happened to $128 billion,” is threatening to engulf Erdogan.”The question drives Mr. Erdogan furious because it is essentially an assault on the integrity of his son-in-law Mr. Berat Albayrak,” said political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. “It also implies AKP cronies might have absconded with part of Central Bank F/X sales.”Economic hardship caused by the COVID pandemic, with rising unemployment and inflation, mean that questions over missing billions of dollars are striking a chord in the country. In recent weeks, the question “What happened to 128 billion” has been among the top three search questions on Google in Turkey. Erdogan on Wednesday accused the opposition of carrying out a campaign of “lies.””This money was not gifted to anyone or wasted,” Erdogan told members of his ruling parliamentary. “It simply changed hands and went to economic actors… and a large part of it has returned to the central bank,” he added.Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his ruling party’s congress in Ankara, March 24, 2021. (Credit: Turkish Presidency)But the president caused alarm in the financial markets when he said 165 rather than 128 billion had been used defending the currency and that he would support such a policy again if needed. The Turkish lira plummeted after the comments.”Erdogan is now saying $165 billion (were) used in two years to defend the lira. That is a huge sum spent on a failed FX intervention strategy,” tweeted Timothy Ash, a senior Emerging Market Analyst of Blue Ray Investments. “I cannot think of another country that wasted such huge sums on a failed defense of the lira. Disastrous,” he added.Falling approval ratingMany analysts see Turkey’s economic woes as the main factor behind Erdogan and his AKP Party’s slide in opinion polls. For the first time, the party’s support, according to polls, has fallen below 30%.Observers say Erdogan’s struggle to contain the 128 campaign indicates a far broader problem facing the president. Having dominated Turkish politics for nearly two decades, they say he now appears to be heading into enemy territory.”For the first time, the AK Party is obliged to a defensive strategy, and because it does not know how to play, it responds with kick and slap to every attack,” said veteran pollster Bekir Agirdir of the Konda polling company.The 128 campaign, using both traditional and modern means of communication and its slick presentation, is also a sign that Erdogan is facing a galvanized and effective opposition that appears to have a finger on the nation’s pulse.”The economic conditions in the country are getting harder, the government seems to be losing the grip of the pandemic, and to be honest, the opposition is playing tough,” wrote political columnist Murat Yetkin for the website Yetkin Report.
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Government Documents Show Russia Considering Using Convicts to Build Railway
Russia is considering using convicts to expand a railway line in the far east, a government document showed, as Moscow faces migrant labor shortages due to COVID-19.Restrictions linked to the pandemic have prompted many migrant workers to leave Russia and authorities have warned construction projects could be slowed down.Russia has already brought in soldiers to build a segment of its Baikal-Amur Mainline railway (BAM) in the far east to transport more coal and metal to ports for export to Asia.It is now also considering convict laborers to work on the line which is being expanded as part of a more than 6 trillion rouble ($79 billion) plan to upgrade and construct infrastructure.A document drawn up by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin’s office ordered the transport ministry, the Federal Penitentiary Service and Russian Railways, the state company that runs the vast national rail network, to assess the feasibility of using convicts to build railways.The document, first reported by Kommersant newspaper and reviewed by Reuters on Monday, ordered the three bodies to assess the possibility of using convicts to work on the construction of railway infrastructure on the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian railways by May 14.Russian Railways and the transport ministry declined to comment.A spokesman for Khusnullin did not immediately comment. The government and prison service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Prisoners from the Soviet Union’s vast GULAG labor camp system were used in the 1930s to build portions of BAM and develop large swathes of Siberia.
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Indonesian Brigadier General Killed in 2-week Papua Clash
An Indonesian brigadier general was killed in an ongoing clash between security forces and a rebel group in restive Papua province, authorities said Monday.The clashes started April 8 in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province after rebels set fire to three schools and shot to death a teacher in Beoga village in Puncak district. Another teacher was also killed a day later as rebels fired at teachers’ housing complex and burned down a house of a tribal chief in Beoga.Police, military and intelligence forces joined Operation Nemangkawi to find the attackers, who authorities believe belong to the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization.Rebels have been fighting a low-level insurgency since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed Papua, a former Dutch colony. Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many.Papua’s intelligence agency chief Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha was shot in the head and died in a rebel ambush, said Col. Iqbal Alqudusy, the Operation Nemangkawi’s spokesperson.The ambush occurred while the general was patrolling Beoga’s neighboring village of Dambet with 13 other personnel on motorcycles Sunday afternoon after rebels set fire to an elementary school and houses in the village, he said.He said security forces managed to evacuate the body on Monday morning while a joint military and police force was hunting “an armed separatist criminal group.””We are on the highest alert as instructed to all troops on the ground,” Alqudusy said.In televised remarks, President Joko Widodo expressed condolences to the family and the Indonesian people for the general’s death.Flanked by the vice president and chiefs of military, police and intelligence agency, he ordered government forces to hunt down the rebels.”I emphasize that there is no place for armed criminal groups in Papua and in all corners of the country,” Widodo said from the Merdeka Palace in the capital, Jakarta, on Monday.Attacks by rebels in several districts in Papua have spiked in the past year, including in the Grasberg mine.The Grasberg mine’s vast gold and copper reserves have been extracted for decades by Freeport-McMoRan, damaging the surrounding environment while providing significant tax income for the Indonesian government.But Indigenous Papuans have benefited little and are poorer, sicker and more likely to die young than people elsewhere in Indonesia.
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