Month: October 2021

Sudanese Gov’t Officials Detained, Internet Shutdown and Airport Closed in Apparent Coup

Posted on by SeeAF

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is under house arrest in what appears to be a military coup, according to local TV reports.  

Citing family sources, Reuters reported that a military force stormed the prime minister’s residence early Monday. Four cabinet ministers and one civilian member of the ruling sovereign council also were arrested, Al-Hadath TV reported. 

Party leaders and additional government officials have been detained as the internet in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, has been disrupted, according to journalists and activists on the ground. Sudan’s international airport has been closed, according to reports.  

“Those in support of a military takeover will argue that this is a ‘correcting’ of the path of the revolution but I think many who have had their hearts set on a transfer of powers to a full civilian rule will definitely see this as a setback,” said Isma’il Kushkush, an independent journalist and former East Africa reporter at the New York Times. “I see this as a setback for the transition into a democracy,” Kushkush told VOA. 

Hamdok, an economist and diplomat who has worked for the U.N., was named the country’s transitional prime minister in August 2019. He leads an interim government that took power following the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir who was arrested during widespread street protests. The country is preparing for elections late next year and, under the constitution, Hamdok is forbidden from running.    

But Hamdok has faced stiff resistance from elements of the country’s military. On September 21, forces loyal to al-Bashir used tanks to block a key bridge and attempted to seize power. The coup was put down and dozens of soldiers were arrested. 

Last week, thousands of protesters took to the streets to voice concern about the prospect of a return to military rule. “This country is ours, and our government is civilian,” protesters chanted. 

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an organization made up of trade unions instrumental in organizing the protests, called on the public Monday to go out and occupy the streets to protect the transitional government.   

“It is a major blow to the democratic experiment in Sudan,” said Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, an expert on Sudan and former White House Africa director. 

The apparent coup attempt comes a day after Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman concluded two days of meetings in Sudan to underscore U.S. support for Sudanese democracy.  

Hudson said Feldman received assurances from military leaders that they were committed to the work of the transitional government.  

“The U.S. has invested more diplomatically in Sudan than almost anywhere else in the world in trying to prove that countries can move from autocracy to democracy,” Hudson told VOA. “This is a setback to transitions in Chad, Mali, and Guinea where the stakes are high, but which had not received nearly as much U.S. diplomatic attention as Sudan.” 

“From day one of [the ousting] al-Bashir, the greatest fear that many Sudanese had was that the fate of the Sudanese revolution will be similar to that of the similar uprisings in the region and perhaps that the greatest fear is unfolding as we speak,” Kushkush said. 
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UK Plans $8 Billion Package to Boost Health Service Capacity

Posted on by SeeEU

British finance minister Rishi Sunak’s budget this week will include an extra $8.1 billion of spending for the health service over the next few years to drive down waiting lists, the finance ministry said on Sunday.   

The sum comes on top of an $11 billion package announced in September to tackle backlogs built up over the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said.   

The spending is aimed at increasing what is termed elective activity in the National Health Service (NHS) — such as scans and non-emergency procedures — by 30% by the 2024/25 financial year. 

The increase comprises $3.2 billion for testing services, $2.9 billion to improve the technology behind the health service, and $2 billion to increase bed capacity.   

“This is a game-changing investment in the NHS to make sure we have the right buildings, equipment and systems to get patients the help they need and make sure the NHS is fit for the future,” Sunak said in a statement. 

Sunak is expected to set fairly tight limits for most areas of day-to-day public spending in his budget on Wednesday, which will seek to lower public debt after a record surge in borrowing during the pandemic. 
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Michigan Vigil Prays for Missionaries Kidnapped in Haiti

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More than 100 people gathered Sunday in a small Michigan town to pray for the safe release of a local family among 17 members of a missionary group kidnapped by a gang in Haiti more than a week ago.

The vigil in the western Michigan community of Hart took place after a video was released Thursday showing the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang threatening to kill those abducted if his demands are not met. Haitian officials have said the gang is seeking $1 million ransom per person.

Those at Sunday’s vigil in a town park sang and prayed with pastors from several area churches for the safety of the missionaries.

Among those kidnapped were four children and one of their parents from a family in Hart, a town near Lake Michigan about 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, their pastor told The Detroit News. The youngest from the family is under 10, said minister Ron Marks, who did not identify them. They arrived in Haiti earlier this month, he said.

Linda Dodge of nearby Hesperia, Michigan, said Sunday that her church congregation was shocked by the kidnapping.

“The best thing we could hope for is that this family will shine so bright for Jesus among their captors, that they will terrify the captors out of doing anything to them at all,” Dodge said. “That that love will shine through so much, that they are just afraid to touch them in any way.”

A spokesman for Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries has said the families of those kidnapped are from Amish, Mennonite and other conservative Anabaptist communities in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ontario, Canada.  

The FBI is helping Haitian authorities recover the 16 Americans and one Canadian. A Haitian human rights group said their Haitian driver also was kidnapped.
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Ethiopia Conducts Two Air Strikes in Tigray

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Ethiopia conducted two air strikes in Tigray on Sunday as the government intensifies a nearly week-old campaign of aerial bombardment against the rebellious forces who control most of the region.

One strike hit the western Tigray area of Mai Tsebri, targeting a training site of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said. The other hit the northern Tigray town of Adwa, targeting a military manufacturing facility controlled by the TPLF, the government said in a statement.

“I can confirm there was a successful air strike in Mai Tsebri targeting training site of illegal recruits of the TPLF and a depot of heavy artillery,” Legesse said.

It was not immediately possible to verify the claim as communications are down throughout most of war-hit Tigray.

TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told Reuters he had verified with colleagues that an air strike hit near a local hospital in Mai Tsebri.

Getachew said there were no casualties to his knowledge. He said he had no information about the strike on Adwa. “The government makes it sound as though all of the Tigray region is a training center. It doesn’t make any sense, we don’t have all these training centers.”

“Today in Adwa, a center that the terrorist group TPLF was using to manufacture military equipment was destroyed by an air strike,” the Government Communications Service said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Ethiopian federal forces and forces loyal to the TPLF have been fighting for almost a year in a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million.

Mai Aini and Adi Harush Refugee Camps, which host thousands of Eritrean refugees, are both in the vicinity of Mai Tsebri.

Legesse said the refugee camps were not affected by the strike.

Representatives from Ethiopia’s Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Forecasters Say California Storm Could Bring ‘Historic’ Rain

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A powerful storm roared ashore Sunday in Northern California, flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires as forecasters predict record-breaking rainfall.

Drenching rain and strong winds accompanied the arrival of an atmospheric river — a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean that was expected to move south over the next few days. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office warned of “potentially historic rain.” 

Flooding was reported across the San Francisco Bay Area, closing streets in Berkeley and inundating the Bay Bridge toll plaza in Oakland. By sunrise on Sunday, Mount Tamalpais just north of San Francisco had recorded over 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rainfall during the previous 12 hours, the weather service said on Twitter.

“Some of our higher elevation locations could see 6, 7, 8 inches of rain before we’re all said and done,” weather service meteorologist Sean Miller said. 

About 150 miles (241 kilometers) to the north, the California Highway Patrol closed a stretch of State Route 70 in Butte and Plumas counties because of multiple landslides within the massive Caldor Fire burn scar. 

“We have already had several collisions this morning for vehicles hydroplaning, numerous trees falling, and several roadways that are experiencing flooding,” tweeted the highway patrol’s office in Oroville. “If you can stay home and off the roads today, please do. If you are out on the roads, please use extreme caution.”

In nearby Colusa and Yolo counties, state highways 16 and 20 were closed for several miles due to mudslides, the state Department of Transportation said.

Burn areas remain a concern, as land devoid of vegetation can’t soak up heavy rainfall as quickly, increasing the likelihood of flash flooding. 

“If you are in the vicinity of a recent burn scar and haven’t already, prepare now for likely debris flows,” the Sacramento weather service tweeted. “If you are told to evacuate by local officials, or you feel threatened, do not hesitate to do so. If it is too late to evacuate, get to higher ground.”

South of San Francisco, evacuation orders were in effect in the Santa Cruz Mountains over concerns that several inches of rain could trigger debris flows in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burn scar. Further south, parts of western Santa Barbara County saw evacuation warnings upgraded to orders in the area burned by this month’s Alisal Fire. 

Strong winds were also expected, with gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) at the windiest spots in Northern California. Elevations above 9,000 feet (2,745 meters) in the Sierra Nevada could get 18 inches of snow or more from Sunday until Monday morning. 

Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation’s largest wildfires this year. But it remains to be seen if the wet weather will make a dent in the drought that’s plaguing California and the western United States. California’s climate is hotter and drier now and that means the rain and snow that does fall is likely to evaporate or absorb into the soil. 

California’s 2021 water year, which ended Sept. 30, was the second driest on record and last year’s was the fifth driest on record. Some of the state’s most important reservoirs are at record-low levels.
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UN Security Council Mission Visits Mali, Urges February Vote

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A U.N. Security Council mission that is visiting Mali this weekend to assess the security situation is urging the country’s authorities to set elections for February to meet agreements reached with a West African regional bloc after a coup last year. 

The mission led by Kenya’s ambassador to the U.N., Martin Kimani, met with civil society organizations, groups that have signed a peace agreement, Mali’s prime minister and transitional president, Col. Assimi Goita, during their weekend visit. 

“I was struck by the thirst for reform (both political and institutional) that is desired by most of the Malian population,” Kimani Sunday said at a news conference. “We are now waiting for the end of the transition period which should lead to the organization of elections.”

However, Malian authorities have said after the meetings with the U.N. Security Council mission, they want to organize days of consultations in December amongst Malian groups to determine a path toward elections. 

“The Malian authorities have spoken to us about these meetings as a prerequisite for the elections. These meetings will take place in December,” said Abdou Abarry, Nigeria’s ambassador to the U.N. who was a part of the delegation. “We are not opposed to it, but only insist it does not delay the end of the transition and give Malians the opportunity to choose their leaders.” 

Abarry said that Goita assured the delegation that “the transitional authorities are not here to stay in power and any commitments the transitional authorities will make will be in the interest of Malians.” 

Goita seized power in August 2020 by overthrowing Mali’s democratically elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who had only served two years of his five-year term after being reelected in 2018. Goita eventually agreed to a transitional government led by a civilian president but ousted those leaders in May after they announced a Cabinet reshuffle that sidelined two junta supporters without consulting him.

Goita was then sworn in as president of the transitional government in June. He has pledged to keep the country on track to return to civilian rule with an election in February 2022.

The U.N. diplomats also raised the issue of security in Mali. The peacekeeping mission in Mali remains the deadliest of all the U.N. missions since 2013. 

“The Malian authorities have insisted that they are putting much emphasis on security challenges, and MINUSMA (the U.N. mission in Mali) is ready to help them, especially in Central Mali where there is the highest threat of terrorism,” said Nicolas de Rivière, France’s ambassador to the U.N.

Mali has been fighting growing insecurity since 2012, when al-Qaida-linked groups took over parts of the north. Despite a French-led military operation that forced many rebels from their northern strongholds in 2013, insurgents quickly regrouped and have been advancing year after year toward the south of the country, where the Malian capital is located. They also launch frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies.
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Russians now Must Travel to Warsaw for US Immigrant Visas

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Russians hoping to apply for an immigrant visa to the United States are now required to travel to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, the State Department confirmed Sunday, while blaming restrictions imposed by Moscow.

That development came amid unresolved U.S.-Russian tensions, and tit-for-tat expulsions that earlier led Moscow to limit the number of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia.

Russia condemned the U.S. visa move and it prompted a heated rejoinder from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

American diplomats, she wrote on the Telegram platform, had long been “destroying” the consular services system in Russia, turning what should be a routine, technical procedure “into a real hell.”

The State Department, for its part, pinned the blame squarely back on Moscow.

“The Russian government’s decision to prohibit the United States from retaining, hiring or contracting Russian or third-country staff severely impacts our ability to provide consular services,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement received by AFP. “The extremely limited number of consular staff in Russia at this time does not allow us to provide routine visa or U.S. citizen services.”

It added: “We realize this is a significant change for visa applicants,” and it cautioned them not to travel to Warsaw before booking an appointment with the embassy there.

The statement recognized that the shift to Warsaw, which took effect this month, was not an “ideal solution.”

It added: “We considered a number of factors including proximity, availability of flights, convenience for applicants… the prevalence of Russian speakers among our locally engaged personnel, and the availability of staff.”

Warsaw is about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from Moscow.

On the State Department website, Russia has been added to a short list of countries where “the United States has no consular representation or in which the political or

security situation is tenuous or uncertain enough” to prevent consular staff from processing immigrant visa applications.

Most countries on that list have poor or no direct relations with the U.S., including Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Amid a continuing dispute over how many diplomats each side can post in the other’s country, Russia has placed the U.S. on a list of “unfriendly” countries requiring approval to employ Russian nationals.

Russian applicants for nonimmigrant visas can still apply at any overseas U.S. embassy or consulate so long as they are physically present in that country, the U.S. statement said.

Meantime, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow will be able to process only “diplomatic or official visas.”

Successive rounds of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions by the two countries have left embassies and consulates badly understaffed, playing havoc with normal services.

This was a central subject of talks two weeks ago during a Russia visit by Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, but little progress was announced.
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Detained Former Al-Shabab Commander Says Detention Political

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A former al-Shabab commander who is under house arrest in Somalia says he is being held to prevent him from seeking elected office. 

Mukhtar Robow Ali, popularly known as Abu Mansour, was the deputy leader of al-Shabab and had been sought by the United States, which once had a $5 million bounty on his head. He defected from the terror group after violently clashing with them in August 2017. The Somali government initially hailed his defection but later arrested him to stop him from running for president of the Southwest region back in 2018, when it held its last leadership election.

Speaking from Mogadishu, where he has been under house arrest since 2018, Abu Mansour told VOA Somali that his detention was politically motivated. 

“I was detained to stop me from running,” he said. “I was detained in order to hijack the Southwest election,” he added.  

His comments, made last Thursday, come as Somalia is in the middle of elections to choose lawmakers for parliament’s lower and upper chambers. 

The 275 lawmakers from the Lower House and 54 senators from the Upper House will choose a national president at the end of the current election process. Southwest is one of five regions that plays a major role in the election of lawmakers who choose the head of state.

President Farmaajo is running for reelection and competing against more than a dozen people who have declared their candidacy, including two former presidents. 

Abu Mansour says he does not want Farmaajo elected to a second term.

“To all Somalis everywhere, don’t give Farmaajo a single vote,” he said. 

Abu Mansour says he is not giving up on running for political office despite being in detention for almost three years. 

“I will always be ready to work for the development of our people and our country,” he said. “I will not be demoralized; if I don’t die, I will continue that journey.” 

Abu Mansour said he decided to contact VOA, alleging he has been “abducted” and that he has been denied his basic rights. 

Abu Mansour said he feels unsafe under house arrest. 

“I can’t say my safety is secured.”  

VOA reached out to the presidential palace and the leaders of Southwest State, but they have not responded to requests for comment. The government defended its decision to block his political aspirations. The internal security ministry said Abu Mansour did not meet all the preconditions for running for office. The Somali government said Abu Mansour was still under sanctions by members of the international community for his prior membership with al-Shabab. 

Abu Mansour says despite being in detention for almost three years, government officials never spoke to him in person about the reasons behind his arrest. Abu Mansour said he received a message through his traditional elder who told him the government would send him to an unnamed country if he were willing to take the opportunity. Abu Mansour said he rejected the proposition. 

“I will not go into exile; this is where I was born, and I will die here.” 

Qatar is the only country that has agreed to accept high-profile al-Shabab defectors so far. In February 2016, Qatar agreed to give asylum to Mohamed Said Atom, a former commander of Al-Shabab in the Galgala Mountains of Puntland, following his defection.  

In his interview with VOA, Abu Mansour condemned the militant group for targeting civilians and carrying out unlawful killings, including religious scholars.

“I left al-Shabab because of differences over credence,” he said. 

Asked if he regrets becoming a member of al-Shabab, Abu Mansour said he did not become involved in “plots” while in the militant group.  

“Whatever the mistakes I made I repent to Allah; no one is forcing me to say that; but I don’t regret whatever the good things I have done.”

In June 2017, the United States withdrew its $5 million reward offer for the capture of Abu Mansour.
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Orthodox Patriarch Hospitalized at Start of 12-day US Visit

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The spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million Eastern Orthodox Christians was hospitalized Sunday in Washington on the first full day of a planned 12-day U.S. visit and will stay overnight, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said.

The archdiocese said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was preparing to leave for a service at the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in the nation’s capital when he felt unwell “due to the long flight and full schedule of events upon arrival.”

“His doctor advised him to rest and out an abundance of caution” go to George Washington University Hospital “for observation,” according to the archdiocese. Later Sunday, it said the patriarch “is feeling well” and was expected to be released Monday.

Bartholomew, 81, has a broad agenda spanning religious, political and environmental issues. His schedule includes a meeting Monday with President Joe Biden and various ceremonial and interfaith gatherings.

The patriarch is considered first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox hierarchy, which gives him prominence but not the power of a Catholic pope.

Making the latest of several trips to the country during his 30 years in office, Bartholomew is expected to address concerns ranging from a pending restructuring of the American church to his church’s status in his homeland, Turkey.

Bartholomew is scheduled to receive an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame on Thursday in an event highlighting efforts to improve Orthodox-Catholic ties, centuries after the two churches broke decisively in 1054 amid disputes over theology and papal claims of supremacy.

Just as his influence is limited in Turkey, it is also limited in the Eastern Orthodox communion, rooted in eastern Europe and the Middle East with a worldwide diaspora.

Large portions of the communion are in national churches that are independently governed, with the ecumenical patriarch having only symbolic prominence, though he does directly oversee Greek Orthodox and some other jurisdictions.

The Russian Orthodox Church, with about 100 million adherents, has in particular asserted its independence and influence and rejected Bartholomew’s 2019 recognition of the independence of Orthodox churches in Ukraine, where Moscow’s patriarch still claims sovereignty.

In addition to his scheduled meetings with top U.S. officials, Bartholomew also plans to hold a ceremonial door-opening at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in New York City, which was built to replace a parish church destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, and to memorialize those killed at the nearby World Trade Center. 

A 2017 Pew Research Center report found that there were about 200 million Eastern Orthodox worldwide. It reported about 1.8 million Orthodox in the United States, with nearly half of those Greek Orthodox.
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Is There a Constitutional Right to Food? Mainers to Decide 

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Depending on whom you ask, Maine’s proposed “right to food” constitutional amendment would simply put people in charge of how and what they eat — or would endanger animals and food supplies, and turn urban neighborhoods into cattle pastures. 

For supporters, the language is short and to the point, ensuring the right to grow vegetables and raise livestock in an era when corporatization threatens local ownership of the food supply, a constitutional experiment that has never been tried in any state. 

For opponents and skeptics, it’s deceptively vague, representing a threat to food safety and animal welfare, and could embolden residents to raise cows in their backyards in cities like Portland and Bangor. 

In the Nov. 2 election, voters will be asked if they favor an amendment to the Maine Constitution “to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being.” 

The proposal is essentially “the 2nd Amendment of food,” said Republican Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, who proposed the amendment, likening it to the U.S. constitutional amendment that assures the right to bear arms.

He says it’s a common-sense amendment that would make sure the government can’t stop people from doing things like saving and exchanging seeds, as long as they don’t violate public or property rights. 

“There’s a lot of disturbing trends in the food category, with the power and control that corporations are taking over our food,” said Faulkingham, who is also a commercial lobster fisherman. “We want to protect people’s ability to grow gardens, grow and raise their own food.” 

Faulkingham and others said the amendment is a response to growing corporate ownership of the food supply. They see the amendment as a way to wrest control of food from big landowners and giant retailers. 

But Julie Ann Smith, executive director of the Maine Farm Bureau, the largest farmers advocacy organization in the state, argued the language of the amendment is so broad that it could make the food supply less safe.

That’s a problem in a state where potatoes, blueberries, maple syrup and dairy products are all key pieces of the economy, she said. The amendment could empower residents to buy and consume food that isn’t subject to inspections, proper refrigeration and other safety checks, Smith worried.

“We think it’s very dangerous to have the words ‘to consume the food of your own choosing.’ That is so broad and dangerous,” Smith said. “It has the potential to cause serious problems in food safety, animal welfare.” 

Smith said the farm bureau is also concerned that the amendment could override local ordinances that prevent residents from raising livestock anywhere they choose.

Supporters of the proposal, including Faulkingham, said that local rules would still be enforced, and that the amendment would not mean you could do things like raise chickens anywhere you want or fish commercially without a license. 

The amendment proposal is an outgrowth of the right-to-food movement, sometimes called the food sovereignty movement, which has expanded in recent years in Maine and states around the U.S. and Canada. 

The movement comprises a patchwork of small farmers, raw milk enthusiasts, libertarians, back-to-the-land advocates, anti-corporatists and others who want to ensure local control of food systems. 

Maine enacted a food sovereignty law, the nation’s first of its kind, in 2017. The law allows local governments to OK small food producers selling directly to customers on site. The law was especially popular with sellers of raw milk, which can be legally sold in Maine but is more restricted in many other states.

The nationwide food sovereignty movement has yielded similar laws in states including Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and North Dakota, and pushes for the same elsewhere. 

The amendment is likely to find support among Maine’s self-sufficient, practical Yankee set, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist with the University of Maine.

However, Brewer agreed with criticism that the amendment is so vague that it’s unclear what it would actually do. 

“I’d be more interested in how it could play out in the courts,” Brewer said. “If you want to raise cattle within the city limits when city laws say you can’t, but the Constitution says you can. Then what happens?” 

For Heather Retberg, a farmer in the small town of Penobscot, the concerns about cows turning up in cities are a silly distraction from the real goal of the proposal.

Retberg, who has a 100-acre farm with cows, pigs, chicken and goats, said the proposal is “an antidote to corporate control of our food supply” and a chance for rural communities to become self-sufficient when it comes to what food they grow and eat. 

It’s also a chance to tackle the problem of the state’s “food deserts,” where residents don’t have enough access to healthy food, Retberg said. 

 

 
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Pope: Don’t Send Migrants Back to Libya and ‘Inhumane’ Camps 

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Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea to end the practice of returning migrants rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer “inhumane violence.”

Francis also waded into a highly contentious political debate in Europe, calling on the international community to find concrete ways to manage the “migratory flows” in the Mediterranean. 

“I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants, refugees and others in need of protection in Libya,” Francis said. “I never forget you, I hear your cries and I pray for you.” 

Even as the pontiff appealed for changes of migrant policy and of heart in his remarks to the public in St. Peter’s Square, hundreds of migrants were either at sea in the central Mediterranean awaiting a port after rescue or recently coming ashore in Sicily or the Italian mainland after setting sail from Libya or Turkey, according to authorities.

“So many of these men, women and children are subject to inhumane violence,” he added. “Yet again I ask the international community to keep the promises to search for common, concrete and lasting solutions to manage the migratory flows in Libya and in all the Mediterranean.”

“How they suffer, those who are sent back” after rescue at sea, the pope said. Detention facilities in Libya, he said “are true concentration camps.” 

“We need to stop sending back [migrants] to unsafe countries and to give priority to the saving of human lives at sea with protocols of rescue and predictable disembarking, to guarantee them dignified conditions of life, alternatives to detention, regular paths of migration and access to asylum procedures,” Francis said. 

U.N. refugee agency officials and human rights organizations have long denounced the conditions of detention centers for migrants in Libya, citing practices of beatings, rape and other forms of torture and insufficient food. Migrants endure weeks and months of those conditions, awaiting passage in unseaworthy rubber dinghies or rickety fishing boats arranged by human traffickers. 

Hours after the pope’s appeal, the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders said that its rescue ship, Geo Barents, reached a rubber boat that was taking on water, with the sea buffeted by strong winds and waves up to three meters (10 feet) high. It tweeted that “we managed to rescue all the 71 people on board.” 

The group thanked the charity group Alarm Phone for signaling that the boat crowded with migrants was in distressed. 

Earlier, Geo Barents, then with 296 migrants aboard its rescue ship, was awaiting permission in waters off Malta to disembark. Six migrants tested positive for COVID-19, but because of the crowded conditions aboard, it was difficult to keep them sufficiently distant from the others, Doctors Without Borders said. 

In Sicily, a ship operated by the German charity Sea-Watch, with 406 rescued migrants aboard, was granted permission to enter port. But Sea-Watch said that a rescue vessel operated by a Spanish charity, with 105 migrants aboard, has been awaiting a port assignment to disembark them for four days.

While hundreds of thousands of migrants have departed in traffickers’ boats for European shores in recent years and set foot on Sicily or nearby Italian islands, many reach the Italian mainland.

Red Cross officials in Roccella Ionica, a town on the coast of the “toe” of the Italian peninsula said on Sunday that about 700 migrants, some of them from Afghanistan, reached the Calabrian coast in recent days on boats that apparently departed from Turkey.

Authorities said so far this year, about 3,400 migrants had reached Roccella Ionica, a town of 6,000 people, compared to 480 in all of 2019. The migrants who arrived in the last several days were being housed in tent shelters, RAI state television said.

Italy and Malta have come under criticism by human rights advocates for leaving migrants aboard crowded rescue boats before assigning them a safe port.

The Libyan coast guard, which has been trained and equipped by Italy, has also been criticized for rescuing migrants in Libyan waters and then returning them to land where the detention centers awaited them.

On Friday, Doctors Without Borders tweeted that crew aboard the Geo Barents had “witnessed an interception” by the Libyan coast guard and that the migrants “”will be forcibly taken to dangerous detention facilities and exposed to violence and exploitation.”

With rising popularity of right-wing, anti-migrant parties in Italy in recent years, the Italian government has been under increasing domestic political pressure to crack down on illegal immigration.

Italy and Malta have lobbied theirs European Union partner countries, mainly in vain, to take in some of those rescued at sea. 
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Biden Trying to Finalize Social Safety Net Spending Plan

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U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting Sunday with two key senators at his home in Delaware to try to complete details of a pared-down social safety net and climate control spending plan set for introduction in Congress as soon as Monday. 

Biden is hosting Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, along with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of two pivotal lawmakers who has called for sharp cutbacks in the president’s original $3.5 trillion plan proposing the biggest expansion of government benefits to American families in five decades. 

With the 100-member Senate equally split between Republicans and Democrats, the policy agreement and votes of Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the two most moderate members of the Democratic caucus, are key to passage of the legislation, along with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. Currently, no Republicans support the legislation. 

Biden has expressed hope that he can reach agreement this week on what he has acknowledged will be a more limited spending plan of about $2 trillion or less, with some provisions, such as two tuition-free years of community college, jettisoned from the final package and others, such as paid worker leave and dental insurance for older Americans, trimmed or delayed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, told CNN’s “State of the Union” show, that 90% of the measure “is agreed to” and that it is being written Sunday, with final details yet to be worked out. She said it will be introduced on Monday. 

“We’re pretty much there now,” she said. 

Pelosi said that despite the likelihood that the original Biden spending proposal will be roughly cut in half, it will be “bigger than anything we’ve ever done in terms of helping families,” with extended tax credits for all but the wealthiest parents and universal pre-kindergarten schooling for three- and four-year-old children. 

As details of the social safety net plan are finalized, the House leader said her plan is for the chamber to vote later this week on a bipartisan trillion-dollar infrastructure measure already approved by the Senate to fix the country’s deteriorating roads and bridges and expand broadband internet service throughout the United States. 

“I’m optimistic we can do that,” she said. 

The infrastructure spending plan drew the support of 19 Republicans in the Senate, along with that of all 50 Democrats, but progressive Democrats in the House blocked its passage there until agreement could be reached on the social safety net legislation. 

Biden had proposed raising taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals earning more than $400,000 a year to pay for his social safety net measure, but Sinema has balked at both. That has left the White House and Democrats supporting the Biden spending plan to scramble to find other ways to pay for it. 

Pelosi said, “We have an array” of other ways to pay for the measure, including a so-called “wealth tax” targeting the estimated 700 U.S. billionaires. “We’re going to fully pay for the bill.” 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN the legislation would take aim at “exceptionally wealthy individuals” and likely tax their unrealized capital gains that now are only taxed when they sell assets. She said tax payment enforcement would also be ramped up to collect more revenue. 
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Turkey Diplomatic Crisis Deepens as Ankara Faces Pushback over Ambassador Expulsion Threat 

Posted on by SeeEU

Turkey is facing diplomatic pushback after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the expulsion of 10 ambassadors, including U.S. Ambassador David M. Satterfield, after they called for the release of a jailed civil society leader.

The Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway all issued statements saying they remained committed to defending human rights in Turkey, while the United States and Germany said they were seeking clarification. The countries are among 10 whose ambassadors Erdogan Saturday declared persona non grata, a diplomatic term used to expel a person.

The Turkish president condemned the ambassadors for their rare joint statement calling for the release of the Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, a move Erdogan condemned as interference in Turkey’s affairs. 

Erdogan said, “They will know and understand Turkey. The day they do not know and understand Turkey, they will leave.” 

Kavala is one of Turkey’s most prominent civil society supporters and a critic of Erdogan. He is accused of seeking to overthrow Erdogan by funding the 2016 coup attempt and 2013 civil unrest. He’s been in jail for four years but he has not been convicted and denies all charges against him.

The Turkish president claims he is defending Turkey’s independence, a stance some observers say plays well with his nationalist voting base — presidential elections have to be held by 2023. Political columnist Ilhan Uzgel of Duvar News portal says Erdogan could be using tough diplomacy to divert public attention from a plummeting currency and looming economic crisis.  

“Erdogan is losing his popularity because the economic conditions are terrible. But if Erdogan has problems with the United States, it works for the nationalist voters. He may accuse the opposition they are cooperating with foreign powers and the CIA and Washington to topple him,” he said. 

None of the 10 ambassadors have so far received formal notification they have been declared persona non grata. Observers say it remains to be seen whether Erdogan is ready to carry out the diplomatic expulsions, a move that could further exacerbate the country’s financial woes and isolation from its traditional Western allies.

 
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French Sexual Abuse Victims Denounce Police Mistreatment 

Posted on by SeeEU

One rape victim was asked by Paris police what she wore that day, and why she didn’t struggle more. Another woman was forced to fondle herself to demonstrate a sexual assault to a skeptical police officer. 

They are among thousands of French women who have denounced in a new online campaign the shocking response of police officers victim-blaming them or mishandling their complaints as they reported sexual abuse.

The hashtag #DoublePeine (#DoubleSentencing) was launched last month by Anna Toumazoff after she learned that a 19-year-old woman who filed a rape complaint in the southern city of Montpellier was asked by police in graphic terms whether she experienced pleasure during the assault. 

The hashtag quickly went viral, with women describing similar experiences in Montpellier and other police stations across France. French women’s rights group NousToutes counted at least 30,000 accounts of mistreatment in tweets and other messages sent on social media and on a specific website.

Despite recent training programs for French police and growing awareness around violence against women, activists say authorities must do more to face up to the gravity of sex crimes, and to eradicate discrimination against victims. 

Addressing the national issue last week, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, “there are questions that cannot be asked to women when they come to file a complaint.”

“It’s not up to the police officer to say whether there was domestic violence or not, that’s up to the judge to do it,” he added. 

He also announced an internal investigation at the Montpellier police station. 

The prefect of the region of Montpellier had previously condemned in a statement what he called “defamatory comments” against officers. He denounced “false information” and “lies” aiming at discrediting police action.

Toumazoff denied launching an anti-police campaign, saying the hashtag aims at urging the government to act.

“By letting incompetent and dangerous officers working in police stations, (authorities) expose the whole profession to shame,” she told The Associated Press. She said the victim mentioned in her initial tweet does not wish to speak publicly while her rape complaint is under investigation. 

The Montpellier regional branch of powerful police union Alliance argued that officers are just doing their jobs. “While police officers understand the victims’ distress, the establishment of the truth requires us to ask ‘embarrassing’ questions,” it said. 

A 37-year-old Parisian woman told the AP about her experience at a police station after she was assaulted this year by a man living near her home, who had previously harassed her in the street.

Once, he blocked her path and pressed her against a wall, touching her belly and her breast and threatening to kill her, she recalled. 

The woman described arriving scared and crying at the police station, where officers welcomed her “very kindly.”

But then, she said, the officer in charge of filing the complaint did not write down her description of the assault, so she refused to sign the document.

“I had to tell it all again,” she said. The officer asked if she was certain that the abuser wanted to touch her breast. 

“I had to make the gesture so that he sees that it was not another part of the body,” she said. “Making me repeat and … mime the gesture in front of a wall, that’s humiliating. I found it very degrading. I felt I was like a puppet.” 

The case is still ongoing. Police suggested a change of apartment to move away from her abuser, she said.

Another Parisian woman, aged 25, said she was left “traumatized” by the police treatment after she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend in 2016. 

When she filed her initial complaint, the police officer, who had received special training, “explained to me why he was asking all these questions, he was in a spirit of kindness,” she remembers. “I felt rather safe and that he believed me.” 

Months later she was summoned to another police station, located in the same street where her attacker was living. Feeling very anxious at the idea of potentially seeing him, she said she was talked to as if she was “stupid” and “a liar.” 

Police asked what she was wearing that day, why it was different from when she was having consensual sex with him, how she could argue she was surprised if he was wearing a condom, she recalled. An officer told her, “I don’t understand why you did not struggle more.” 

The complaint was closed without follow-up due to lack of evidence. The young woman described the police response as very difficult to live through, with a “huge impact” on her private life and almost leading her to giving up her studies. 

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault. 

Speaking to lawmakers at the National Assembly, the interior minister acknowledged things “can still be improved” on the matter across France. 

The government has set the goal of having at least one specially trained officer in each police station for dealing with domestic violence and sexual abuse. An annual survey led by national statistics institute INSEE shows that currently only 10% of victims in these cases file a formal complaint.

The #doublepeine movement comes after the shocking killing earlier this year of a woman who was shot and set on fire in the street by her estranged husband. One of the officers who had taken her domestic abuse complaint a few months earlier had recently been convicted of domestic violence himself. 

Darmanin promised that officers definitively convicted for such acts won’t be allowed to be in contact with the public anymore. 

Women have been raising the alarm for years, Toumazoff said, denouncing announcements by politicians not followed by action. 

“When there are urgent situations, like terror attacks, they can do things because it’s urgent,” she said. “It’s the same here. Women’s lives are at stake. It’s urgent every day.” 
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African Effort to Replicate mRna Vaccine Targets Disparities

Posted on by SeeAF

In a pair of Cape Town warehouses converted into a maze of airlocked sterile rooms, young scientists are assembling and calibrating the equipment needed to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to reach South Africa and most of the world’s poorest people.

The energy in the gleaming labs matches the urgency of their mission to narrow vaccine disparities. By working to replicate Moderna’s COVID-19 shot, the scientists are effectively making an end run around an industry that has vastly prioritized rich countries over poor in both sales and manufacturing.

And they are doing it with unusual backing from the World Health Organization, which is coordinating a vaccine research, training and production hub in South Africa along with a related supply chain for critical raw materials. It’s a last resort effort to make doses for people going without, and the intellectual property implications are still murky.

“We are doing this for Africa at this moment, and that drives us,” said Emile Hendricks, a 22-year-old biotechnologist for Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, the company trying to reproduce the Moderna jab. “We can no longer rely on these big superpowers to come in and save us.”

Some experts see reverse engineering — recreating vaccines from fragments of publicly available information — as one of the few remaining ways to redress the power imbalances of the pandemic. Only 0.7% of vaccines have gone to low-income countries so far, while nearly half have gone to wealthy countries, according to an analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

That WHO, which relies upon the goodwill of wealthy countries and the pharmaceutical industry for its continued existence, is leading the attempt to reproduce a proprietary vaccine demonstrates the depths of the supply disparities. 

The U.N.-backed effort to even out global vaccine distribution, known as COVAX, has failed to alleviate dire shortages in poor countries. Donated doses are coming in at a fraction of what is needed to fill the gap. Meanwhile, pressure for drug companies to share, including Biden administration demands on Moderna, has led nowhere. 

Until now, WHO has never directly taken part in replicating a novel vaccine for current global use over the objections of the original developers. The Cape Town hub is intended to expand access to the novel messenger RNA technology that Moderna, as well as Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, used in their vaccines.

“This is the first time we’re doing it to this level, because of the urgency and also because of the novelty of this technology,” said Martin Friede, a WHO vaccine research coordinator who is helping direct the hub. 

Dr. Tom Frieden, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has described the world as “being held hostage” by Moderna and Pfizer, whose vaccines are considered the most effective against COVID-19. The novel mRNA process uses the genetic code for the spike protein of the coronavirus and is thought to trigger a better immune response than traditional vaccines.

Arguing that American taxpayers largely funded Moderna’s vaccine development, the Biden administration has insisted the company must expand production to help supply developing nations. The global shortfall through 2022 is estimated at 500 million and 4 billion doses, depending on how many other vaccines come on the market.

“The United States government has played a very substantial role in making Moderna the company it is,” said David Kessler, the head of Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. program to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development. 

Kessler would not say how far the administration would go in pressing the company. “They understand what we expect to happen,” he said. 

Moderna has pledged to build a vaccine factory in Africa at some point in the future. But after pleading with drugmakers to share their recipes, raw materials and technological know-how, some poorer countries are done waiting. 

Afrigen Managing Director Petro Terblanche said the Cape Town company is aiming to have a version of the Moderna vaccine ready for testing in people within a year and scaled up for commercial production not long after. 

“We have a lot of competition coming from Big Pharma. They don’t want to see us succeed,” Terblanche said. “They are already starting to say that we don’t have the capability to do this. We are going to show them.”

If the team in South Africa succeeds in making a version of Moderna’s vaccine, the information will be publicly released for use by others, Terblanche said. Such sharing is closer to an approach U.S. President Joe Biden championed in the spring and the pharmaceutical industry strongly opposes. 

Commercial production is the point at which intellectual property could become an issue. Moderna has said it would not pursue legal action against a company for infringing on its vaccine rights, but neither has it offered to help companies that have volunteered to make its mRNA shot.

Chairman Noubar Afeyan said Moderna determined it would be better to expand production itself than to share technology and plans to deliver billions of additional doses next year. 

“Within the next six to nine months, the most reliable way to make high-quality vaccines and in an efficient way is going to be if we make them,” Afeyan said.

Zoltan Kis, an expert in messenger RNA vaccines at Britain’s University of Sheffield, said reproducing Moderna’s vaccine is “doable,” but the task would be far easier if the company shared its expertise. Kis estimated the process involves fewer than a dozen major steps. But certain procedures are tricky, such as sealing the fragile messenger RNA in lipid nanoparticles, he said.

“It’s like a very complicated cooking recipe,” he said. “Having the recipe would be very, very helpful, and it would also help if someone could show you how to do it.” 

A U.N.-backed public health organization still hopes to persuade Moderna that its approach to providing vaccines for poorer countries misses the mark. Formed in 2010, the Medicines Patent Pool initially focused on convincing pharmaceutical companies to share patents for AIDS drugs.

“It’s not about outsiders helping Africa,” Executive Director Charles Gore said of the South Africa vaccine hub. “Africa wants to be empowered, and that’s what this is about.”

It will eventually fall to Gore to try to resolve the intellectual property question. Work to recreate Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is protected as research, so a potential dispute would surround steps to sell a replicated version commercially, he said. 

“It’s about persuading Moderna to work with us rather than using other methods,” Gore said. 

He said the Medicines Patent Pool repeatedly tried but failed to convince Pfizer and BioNTech – the first companies out with an effective vaccine – to even discuss sharing their formulas.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is among the members of Congress backing a bill that calls on the United States to invest more in making and distributing COVID-19 vaccines in low-and middle-income countries, said reverse engineering isn’t going to happen fast enough to keep the virus from mutating and spreading further.

“We need to show some hustle. We have to show a sense of urgency, and I’m not seeing that urgency,” he said. “Either we end this pandemic or we muddle our way through.”

Campaigners argue the meager amount of vaccines available to poorer countries through donations, COVAX and purchases suggests the Western-dominated pharmaceutical industry is broken.

“The enemy to these corporations is losing their potential profit down the line,” Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer of the global health nonprofit Partners in Health, said.  

“The enemy isn’t the virus, the enemy isn’t suffering.”

Back in Cape Town, the promise of using mRNA technology against other diseases motivates the young scientists.

“The excitement is around learning how we harness mRNA technology to develop a COVID-19 vaccine,” Caryn Fenner, Afrigen’s technical director, said. But more important, Fenner said, “is not only using the mRNA platform for COVID, but for beyond COVID.”
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New US Justice Department Initiative to Combat ‘Redlining’

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday new measures to fight discriminatory lending practices. 

The Justice Department’s new Combating Redlining Initiative will redirect federal resources to investigating fair lending concerns, according to the agency. It will draw on existing department authorities under the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prevent creditors from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, age and sex. 

“Today, we are committing ourselves to addressing modern-day redlining by making far more robust use of our fair lending authorities,” Garland said. 

Redlining is the denial of credit services or mortgage loans to communities and individuals based on race and national origin. Garland characterized the initiative as the furthest-reaching effort to combat redlining in the Justice Department’s history. 

The department will work with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to target illegal practices and file and prosecute fair lending lawsuits, according to Garland. “The initiative represents the department’s most aggressive and coordinated effort to address redlining,” he said.

“Lending discrimination runs counter to fundamental promises of our economic system,” Garland said. “When people are denied credit simply because of their race or national origin, their ability to share in our nation’s prosperity is all but eliminated.” 

 
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Picasso Artworks in Las Vegas Fetch More than $100 Million

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Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were sold at auction on Saturday for more than $100 million.

The Sotheby’s auction was held at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, where the works had been on display for years, and took place two days before the 140th birthday of the Spanish artist on Oct. 25.

Five of the paintings had hung on the walls of the Bellagio’s fine dining restaurant, Picasso. The restaurant will continue to display 12 other Picasso works.

The highest price was fetched by the 1938 painting “Femme au beret rouge-orange” of Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, which sold for $40.5 million, some $10 million over the high pre-sale estimate.

The large-scale portraits “Homme et Enfant” and “Buste d’homme” sold for $24.4 million and $9.5 million respectively, while smaller works on ceramic, like “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” which sold for $2.1 million, went for three or four times their pre-sale estimate.

The buyers’ names were not disclosed.

Saturday’s sale was part of a bid by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts to further diversify its vast collection to include more art from women, people of color and emerging nations as well as from LGBTQ artists and artists with disabilities.

American museums and art galleries have been working to broaden their collections in the wake of the widespread cultural reckoning in 2020 over racism at all levels of U.S. society.

A 2019 Public Library of Science study of 18 leading U.S. museums found that 85% of the artists on display are white and 87% are men.

The MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection boasts about 900 works by 200 artists, including modern pieces by Bob Dylan and David Hockney. It was started more than 20 years ago by Steve Wynn, former owner of the Bellagio and former chief executive of Wynn Resorts.
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Uzbek Leader Expected to Secure Second Term in Office

Posted on by SeeEU

Uzbekistan votes in a presidential election on Sunday in which incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev faces no genuine opposition and is almost certain to win a second term.

Mirziyoyev’s predicted victory will allow him to deepen his largely successful reform campaign and likely lead to Uzbekistan opening up further to foreign trade and investment – while retaining a highly centralized political system.

The 64-year-old leader has rebuilt the resource-rich country’s ties with both Russia and the West which had become strained under his predecessor Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s first post-independence president.

Mirziyoyev has also reined in the powerful security services and oversaw a release of a number of political prisoners who had ended up behind bars due to Karimov’s zero-tolerance approach towards dissent.

Still, there are no real opposition parties in the mostly Muslim nation of 34 million and the four candidates running against Mirziyoyev have been nominated by parties which support the president.

Mirziyoyev’s has pledged to cut poverty through rapid economic growth and gradually decentralize decision-making by devolving some powers to district councils.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, voters are required to wear masks and observe social distancing at polling stations staffed with medical workers. Polls are set to close at 8pm local time (1500 GMT) and preliminary results are due on Monday.
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Tens of Thousands Rally for Orban in Budapest

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Tens of thousands of supporters of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing government marched in Budapest on Saturday in a demonstration of unity behind the populist leader’s contentious policies that have led to challenges to his power both in Hungary and the European Union. 

The rally was dubbed a “Peace March” and participants gathered along the western bank of the Danube River and departed across Liberty Bridge, winding through downtown Budapest toward the site of a rare public speech that Orban delivered to his supporters. 

Orban painted a dark picture of what Hungarians could expect if he is defeated in a national election scheduled for next spring, expected to be the most serious challenge to his power since he took office in 2010.

Orban enumerated his government’s economic achievements, and blasted Hungary’s previous socialist government which he accused of leading the country to financial ruin. 

“It took us years to rectify the destruction of the left wing,” Orban said. “The socialists and their leader have remained hanging around our necks.” 

The march was organized by nongovernmental organization Civil Unity Forum, an active promoter of the policies of Orban’s Fidesz party, which has dominated Hungary’s parliament with a two-thirds majority since 2010.

The group’s chairman, Laszlo Csizmadia, told The Associated Press before the march departed that the event was meant to demonstrate Hungary’s sovereignty to the EU, which he said had “undeservedly” attacked Hungary in recent attempts to reign in what the bloc sees as democratic backsliding.

“We think that we have a right to state our opinions in the long term in the European Union,” Csizmadia said. 

Orban also took aim at the EU, saying that Brussels had conducted a sustained attack on Hungary over its economic and immigration policies that have put his government at odds with the bloc’s leaders.

“Dozens of prime ministers have attacked Hungary. We are still here, but who can remember even their names?” he said.

Laszlo Csendes came to the march from Veszprem, a city 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. He said Orban’s performance since 2010 had led to Hungarians “prospering” and an improvement in economic conditions.

“There are new jobs, you’ve just got to look around,” Csendes said. “There’s money for everything, and for everyone.” 

Orban’s staunchly anti-immigration government faces increasing pressure both in Hungary and internationally. The EU, of which Hungary is a member, is considering imposing financial penalties on the country over concerns that Orban has eroded democratic institutions and the rule of law in pursuit of what he calls an “illiberal democracy.”

At home, Hungary’s six largest opposition parties have vowed to put aside ideological differences and form a coalition to challenge Orban’s party in upcoming elections.

The parties argue the unity strategy is the only way to overcome a media environment dominated by government-aligned outlets and an electoral system unilaterally authored and passed by Fidesz which they say gives the ruling party an unfair advantage.

The six-party opposition coalition concluded a primary race last week where voters elected independent candidate Peter Marki-Zay to be Orban’s challenger for prime minister on the unity ticket. A self-described conservative Christian, Marki-Zay has argued he can appeal both to Hungary’s liberal voters and disaffected Fidesz supporters.

At a joint demonstration of the opposition parties which drew several thousand supporters on Saturday, Marki-Zay told the AP that he would lead the coalition in doing away with corruption, crackdowns on the media and abuse of government institutions he says has occurred under Orban’s rule.

“Our basic goals for all of us, left and right, is for Hungary to be a democracy, to be governed by the rule of law in a market economy and as part of the European Union,” Marki-Zay said. 

But some participants in the pro-government Peace March, many holding signs critical of the opposition movement, expressed anger at the coalition’s ambitions to defeat Orban’s government.

“I don’t think they are able to govern, they don’t have any concepts,” said Judit Nemeth, a marcher from Budapest. “They only have one goal, to oust Orban, who I think is Europe’s best politician.”
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US Special Envoy Arrives in Seoul to Reopen Nuclear Talks With Pyongyang 

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U.S. special envoy for North Korea Sung Kim arrived Saturday in South Korea to reopen stalled denuclearization talks with the North. 

U.S.-North Korea negotiations were halted more than two years ago over easing U.S.-led sanctions against the North in exchange for winding down its nuclear weapons program. 

Sung’s visit comes after North Korea launched a new ballistic missile from a submarine Tuesday off its east coast, the latest in a series missile tests carried out by the North. 

Kim told reporters Saturday he anticipated “productive” talks with South Korean officials during their Sunday meeting. 

The North has rejected U.S. appeals to reopen talks, demanding the U.S. end its “hostile policy” of sanctions and joint military exercises with South Korea. 

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho accused the U.S. Saturday of escalating military tensions with China through its “reckless” support of Taiwan with weapons and training. He also said the U.S.’s increasing military presence in the region is a likely threat to the North. 

Pak’s criticism of the U.S. comes one day after President Joe Biden said during a CNN townhall that the U.S. was committed to defending Taiwan if it is attacked by China. 

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters.
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US Immigration Agency Overwhelmed by 20,000 Afghan Humanitarian Requests

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As recently as last week, the U.S. immigration service was using six officers to process about 14,000 humanitarian requests for Afghans seeking relocation to the United States following the Taliban takeover of the country in August.

That’s what the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service recently told congressional staff, Congressman Jim Langevin, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said Thursday during a House Homeland Security Committee meeting.

“I want to say that again: 14,000 humanitarian parole applications with just six officers,” Langevin said. “That is completely and utterly unacceptable, and I call on USCIS to address the shortcoming immediately.”

A spokesman for Langevin told VOA that the information about the USCIS backlog came during an October 12 agency briefing for congressional staff.

 

Emergency permission

Humanitarian parole is a special permission given to foreigners to enter the United States under emergency circumstances. While it does not automatically lead to permanent residence, “parolees” can apply for legal status once they’re in the U.S.

In a typical year, USCIS gets fewer than 2,000 humanitarian parole requests from around the world, according to a USCIS official, who spoke on background.

But since August, the agency has received a total of nearly 20,000 such requests for Afghan nationals outside the United States, the official said in a statement to VOA on Friday. That is up from 14,000 in mid-October.  

The vast majority of the applications have been filed by Afghan Americans on behalf of relatives back home who have no other options for relocating to the United States, according to community activists. A much larger number of Afghans with ties to the U.S. military, U.S. government and U.S. non-governmental organizations have applied for special immigrant visas or refugee status.  

 

Asked about Langevin’s criticism of the humanitarian parole backlog, the official said the agency is actively assigning additional staff to address the workload.

“USCIS issued an agencywide request for volunteers to help process applications for humanitarian and significant public benefit parole and the agency will have significantly more staff assigned to this workload in the coming weeks,” the official said.

The deluge of applications has nonetheless overwhelmed the immigration service.  

Afghan American lawyer Wogai Mohmand said the number of Afghan humanitarian parole requests could reach as high as 150,000 in a year.

“Their systems are not equipped to deal with that kind of volume,” Mohmand said during a recent webinar hosted by several advocacy organizations. “Frankly, they don’t have enough staff to look at all those applications.”

And assigning more officials to the humanitarian parole cases is not going to help anyone get out of Afghanistan, according to Sunil Varghese, policy director for International Refugee Assistance Project.

Varghese said that before parolees are admitted into the United States, they must have their fingerprints taken, identifies verified and travel documents issued by the U.S. embassy.

But the U.S. embassy in Kabul shut down at the end of August and moved to Doha, Qatar. As a result, once an Afghan applicant is deemed eligible for parole, he or she is instructed by USCIS to travel to a third country for vetting and biometrics.

 

With foreign visas hard to come by and regular commercial flights yet to resume, traveling to a third country for vetting is not an option for most Afghans, according to advocates.

If they do make it through the process “the Department of State issues a boarding letter for the applicant to take a commercial carrier, at their own expense, to the United States,” the official explained.

Even in the best of circumstances, the difficulty many Afghans face in reaching an overseas U.S. consulate has had undesirable consequences. Take the case of Fatima Khashee. As security deteriorated in July, the 61-year-old’s son, a U.S. permanent resident, filed a humanitarian parole request on her behalf.

In her case, USCIS acted fairly quickly, approving her application within 20 days on August 24, according to her son, who requested that he not be identified by name.

But by then the Taliban had overrun the country. The embassy, having relocated to the Kabul international airport, had transferred her case to Turkey. By the time she made it to Istanbul 30 days later, her parole authorization expired.

“It wasn’t my mother’s fault that her parole was expired,” the son said in a message to VOA. “She paid triple of regular price to get [the] first flights [that] became available out of Afghanistan. She tried every possible channel to get out sooner, but all land borders and airlines were closed.”

One month later, Khashee remains stuck at an Istanbul hotel, waiting for what her son describes as a long-overdue, updated parole reauthorization.

“That is unbelievable and very disappointing,” he said of the six officers adjudicating 14,000 applications.

It costs $575 to apply for humanitarian parole, a figure that adds up to several thousand dollars for a family of six and that some members of Congress want to see waived.  Despite the cost and uncertainty over their approval, however, many Afghan Americans continue to file applications for their loved ones. 

“First, they don’t have any other options available,” Khashee’s son said. “Secondly, they are all still hopeful that the USCIS approve their cases considering the situation in Afghanistan. Most of them are not aware how hard it is to be approved for humanitarian parole.”

The USCIS official did not respond to questions about whether the agency has approved any Afghan humanitarian parole requests and how long it would take the agency to clear the backlog.
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US Envoy Meets Sudanese Leaders, Reaffirms Support for Democracy

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A U.S. envoy underlined Washington’s support for a democratic transition to civilian rule in Sudan on Saturday during talks with the head of its ruling council and the prime minister, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said. 

It tweeted that Jeffrey Feltman, special envoy for the Horn of Africa, had also urged all sides to recommit to working together to implement Sudan’s constitutional declaration, signed after a 2018-2019 uprising that resulted in the removal of president Omar al-Bashir. 

Feltman met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council, and his deputy General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. 

Tensions between the civilian and military leaders who now share power have soared in the wake of an attempted military coup in September, which the army said it had foiled. 

As an economic crisis deepens, a coalition of rebel groups and political parties have aligned themselves with the military, which has accused the civilian governing parties of mismanagement and monopolizing power, and are seeking to dissolve the Cabinet. 

In response, hundreds of thousands demonstrated in several parts of Khartoum and other cities on Thursday against the prospect of military rule. Several Cabinet ministers took part. 

In a statement after the meeting with Feltman, Burhan praised American support for Sudan’s transition to democracy and said the military was keen to protect that transition.
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Somali Filmmaker Wins Top Prize at Burkina Faso Film Festival

Posted on by SeeAF

Somali filmmaker Khadar Ahmed won the top prize at the FESPACO film festival in Burkina Faso on Saturday for “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” which he wrote and directed. 

The 40-year-old was not at the ceremony to receive the Golden Stallion award, but his work bested 16 other African films for the top prize. The films in competition were made by directors from 15 African countries. 

This year’s international jury was led by Mauritanian producer Abderrahmane Sissako, who won France’s coveted Cesar in 2015 for “Timbuktu.” 

The Golden Stallion, said Sissako, was “for any African filmmaker, the best prize you can have, a source of great pride.” 

The festival, first staged in 1969, is held every two years in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou. 

The event is closely followed by the U.S. and European movie industries, which scout the event for new films, talent and ideas. 

Its top prize is named after the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, a mythical beast in Burkinabe mythology. 

The event was originally set for February 27-March 6 but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

 
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Trapped in ‘Cruel’ Forest, Migrant Regrets Belarus-EU Crossing 

Posted on by SeeEU

Exhausted and trapped in a cold, “cruel” forest, Lebanese barber Ali Abd Alwareth said he regretted his weeklong bid to enter the European Union via the Belarus-Poland border. 

“It’s miserable. Something that you don’t wish for your worst enemy. … A nightmare,” the soft-spoken 24-year-old with Crohn’s disease told AFP.

Sitting cross-legged on a bed of pine needles and dead leaves near the border town of Kleszczele in eastern Poland, Abd Alwareth described being a ping-pong ball for the guards. 

“I tried crossing like five, six times, and every time I got caught and deported back to the border” by Poland, he said in English. 

‘Die here or in Poland’ 

The Belarusian side meanwhile refused to let him return to Minsk to fly home. 

Abd Alwareth said security forces told him: “You have only two choices: either you die here or you die in Poland. That’s it.” 

One of thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, who have tried to penetrate the 400-kilometer (250-mile) border since August, Abd Alwareth said he left the financial crisis in Lebanon in search of a better life. 

The whole journey from his home region of Bekaa cost $4,000 and involved help from a Minsk-based company he found on social media.

The EU suspects Belarus is masterminding the unprecedented influx of migrants into Poland as a form of retaliation against EU sanctions, but the regime has put the blame on the West. 

People in the forest 

Poland has sent thousands of troops, built a razor-wire fence and implemented a three-month state of emergency that bans journalists and charity workers along the immediate border area. 

A group of Polish mothers rallied near the border on Saturday to protest the pushbacks. 

“We feel for the people in the forest,” said Sylwia Chorazy, one of a couple hundred protesters at the border guard facility in Michalowo, eastern Poland. 

“My sons asked me this morning, ‘Mum, what if we too had to spend the night in the woods?’ It’s sad, incredibly sad,” she told AFP. 

During his grueling time in the woods, Abd Alwareth said he drank water off of leaves, was too cold to sleep, and was once hit on the head by either the Polish army or police. 

Though exhausted and devastated, he said he understood that the border guards “are doing their job. They are protecting their country. We are illegal.” 

Aid from activists

On Friday, Abd Alwareth and his Syrian walking companions managed to get in touch with Polish activists, who met them in the forest with warm clothes and food as well as offering support when the guards arrived. 

His fate up in the air, Abd Alwareth hopes to receive asylum in Poland, or at the very least, to return to Lebanon. 

“OK, you don’t want me here, you don’t want me in Belarus. Just deport me back home. That’s all I’m asking for,” he said. 

“What is happening in the forest is cruel. … I feel like a puppet. It was my decision, I came this way, but not to be treated like this,” he added. 

“I refuse to die at the border. I just want to see my mum.” 
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