Month: March 2022

Biden to Grant Temporary Deportation Relief to Afghans in the United States

Posted on by SeeUS

The Biden administration will grant temporary deportation relief and work permits to Afghans without permanent legal status but who are currently in the U.S., a move that could aid those evacuated after last year’s U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The grant of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be available to 72,500 Afghans who entered on what is known as “humanitarian parole,” another temporary status, as part of the U.S. evacuation of at-risk Afghans last summer, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday.

The TPS designation would also cover about 2,000 Afghans who entered the United States on student, employment and tourist visas and can no longer return to their home country following the Taliban takeover in August.

The designation will be available to those living in the United States by March 15 and last for 18 months, the DHS said, although the status could be renewed.

The Islamist Taliban overran Afghanistan in August as the former Western-backed government collapsed with surprising speed and the last U.S. troops withdrew after 20 years of war.

U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has greatly expanded the number of immigrants eligible for humanitarian protection under TPS, reversing the restrictive approach of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

The program allows foreign nationals who cannot return to their home countries due to violent conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances the ability to stay and work in the United States legally for a defined period of time.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a related announcement that the status would protect Afghans from having to return to dangerous conditions and aid “trusted partners and vulnerable Afghans who supported the U.S. military, diplomatic, and humanitarian missions in Afghanistan over the last 20 years.”

About 80,000 Afghans have been resettled in the United States as part of “Operation Allies Welcome,” the largest effort of its kind since the Vietnam War era.

Certain evacuees who entered the United States through humanitarian parole may be eligible for U.S. government cash and medical benefits, making them less likely to use the TPS program in the near-term.

Afghans who entered on parole can apply for asylum in the United States, but the Biden administration has urged Congress to pass legislation that would offer them a more direct path to citizenship.
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Djokovic, Russian Players Expected to Compete at French Open

Posted on by SeeEU

Novak Djokovic will be allowed to play at the French Open even if he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 as long as the coronavirus situation in France remains stable, organizers said Wednesday.

Russian tennis players, including top-ranked Daniil Medvedev, will also be admitted to play in the tournament but as neutral athletes because of the war started by their country in neighboring Ukraine.

Organizers said there is nothing at the moment preventing Djokovic from defending his title at the clay-court Grand Slam. France this week lifted measures requiring the need to wear face masks in most settings and allowing people who aren’t vaccinated back into restaurants, sports arenas and other venues.

“At this stage there is nothing to stop him returning to the courts,” French Open director Amelie Mauresmo said at a news conference.

Djokovic was deported from Australia in January after a legal battle over whether he should be allowed to enter the country, forcing him to miss the Australian Open. He told the BBC last month that he was willing to miss upcoming Grand Slam tournaments as well if they required him to get vaccinated.

Djokovic has won the French Open twice and has a total of 20 major titles, one short of the record held by Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard won this year’s Australian Open.

French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton said that although Djokovic is now free to play, French authorities might be forced to introduce new restrictions if the virus situation deteriorates before the tournament starts on May 22.

“It is not up to us,” Moretton said. “Today there is a little virus that is going around. We are quite confident that the lights are green, but we are all cautious about what has happened over the last two years.”

Asked whether Russian tennis players will be allowed to compete at the tournament in the light of the war in Ukraine, organizers said they plan to stick to decisions suspending Russia and ally Belarus but allowing their players to compete as neutral athletes.

The seven groups that run the sport around the world have condemned the war; canceled events in Russia and Belarus; kicked those two nations out of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup team competitions; and announced on March 1 that players from those countries will be allowed to compete in WTA, ATP and Grand Slam tournaments but not under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus.

“We are holding this line,” said Amelie Oudea-Castera, the French tennis federation director general.

Other sports, including track and field, soccer and figure skating, have barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from competition.

Wimbledon organizers are having conversations with the British government about whether Russian players should be allowed to compete at the grass-court tournament this year if they don’t distance themselves from President Vladimir Putin.

Oudea-Castera said French organizers don’t plan to start a detailed and individualized analysis of players’ individual situations, which “can be extraordinarily dependent on the family situations experienced by each of them.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the day Medvedev was assured of moving atop the ATP rankings for the first time while competing at the Mexico Open.

“Watching the news from home, waking up here in Mexico, was not easy,” Medvedev said then. “By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world. We play in so many different countries; I’ve been in so many countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. … I’m all for peace.”
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Volunteers in Washington Assemble 5000 Medi-Kits For Ukraine

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Ukrainian fighters in the country are desperately in need of emergency medical kits. And that’s where this group of volunteers from Virginia stepped in. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice
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Equal Pay Day Reminder of Pay Disparity Between Men, Women

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On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden marked Equal Pay Day, which this year falls on March 15th. The day symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned the previous year. White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Zelenskyy to Address US Congress as Biden Announces More Ukraine Aid

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In response to Russian invasion, NATO defense ministers, heads of state to discuss increasing security preparations
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Latest Developments in Ukraine: March 16

Posted on by SeeEU

Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine    
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Poodles Pop in Popularity, But Labs Still No. 1 AKC Dog Breed

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Labrador retrievers are still tugging hardest on U.S. dog lovers’ heartstrings, but poodles just strutted back into the American Kennel Club’s top five most popular dog breeds for the first time in nearly a quarter-century. 

The club’s annual popularity rankings came out Tuesday, drawn from more than 800,000 purebred puppies and older pooches that joined the nation’s oldest canine registry last year. 

With 197 recognized breeds, the list ranges from such familiar furry faces as Labs — No. 1 for an unprecedented 31 straight years — to the newly added Biewer terrier (making a strong debut at No. 82) and unusual pups like the hairless Xoloitzcuintli (No. 119). 

For dog fans, there’s plenty to dig into (like a dachshund, No. 10) and point out (like a pointer, No. 120). So we’ve rounded up (like a border collie, No. 31) some highlights: 

Top 10 

After Labs, the top 10 are: French bulldogs, golden retrievers, German shepherds, poodles, bulldogs, beagles, Rottweilers, German shorthaired pointers and dachshunds. 

Oodles of poodles 

Poodles reigned as top dog from 1960 to 1982 before falling off somewhat in popularity. But in the new statistics, they reclaimed the fifth spot for the first time since 1997. (The standard, miniature and toy sizes are all counted as one breed.) 

With their proud stance and elaborate cut in the show ring, “they do have a reputation, in some circles, as just being froufrou,” says longtime poodle owner and sometime breeder Page Hinds-Athan of Roswell, Georgia. “There’s definitely more to them.” 

Poodles historically were water retrievers, and they remain athletic animals renowned for their smarts, not to mention their allergy-friendly coats. Hinds-Athan’s poodles have made therapy visits in hospitals and compete in obedience. Other poodles work as guide dogs for the blind, hunt or compete in agility or other dog sports. 

Their intelligence comes with some high expectations, Hinds-Athan says: In training, “if you’re going to fuss at them, you’d better be really right. Because if you’re not really fair with them, they remember it.” 

And doodles? 

Poodles also make up part of several popular hybrids, such as Labradoodles, maltipoos and sheepadoodles. The AKC, a governing body for many dog shows, doesn’t currently recognize any of those as breeds. But AKC spokesperson Brandi Hunter says poodle-mix fans have made inquiries about what recognition would involve. 

One key requirement is articulating an ideal for the breed, in order to attain some consistency. 

“The predictability is one of the things that draws people to purebred dogs,” Hunter explains. 

On the rare side 

The rarest breed last year was the Norwegian lundehund, consistently sparse in the U.S. The smallish dogs boast extra toes and unusual flexibility that once helped them climb Norwegian cliffs to hunt puffins nesting in narrow crevices. 

Breeds on the rise 

The standings often don’t change a lot from year to year, but they do over time. Eight breeds, from the low-lying Pembroke Welsh corgi (No. 11) to the towering great Dane (No. 17), have entered the top 25 since the start of the century. 

Some have made Olympian leaps in popularity. French bulldogs, now No. 2 and a common sight from TV commercials to cosmopolitan streets, ranked a distant 71st in 2000. The cane corso, which wasn’t recognized until 2010, has since climbed from 51st to 21st. 

The imposing, mastiff-style cane corso goes back many centuries in rural Italy as a farm guardian that also pulled small carts and hunted wild boar. Its versatility endures, says Anthony Simonski, who has owned or bred corsi (that’s the proper plural) that compete in agility, dock diving and other sports and have appeared in TV shows and music videos. 

While the dogs are protective, “it’s not about being mean — it’s about understanding its job,” says Simonski, of Acworth, Georgia. 

Simonski has owned corsi since 1998 and is married to Cane Corso Association of America President Rebecca Simonski. He has mixed feelings about their growing popularity, feeling that it draws questionable breeders. 

“There’s a side of you going, ‘Oh, my God, the cat’s out of the bag.’ But the real problem is what people are doing with that cat once it’s out of the bag,” he says. 

Dog breeding debated 

Some animal-rights advocates say dog breeding itself is a problem. They argue that fanciers focus more on dogs’ appearance than their health and that promoting purebreds ends up fueling puppy mills and stranding other dogs in shelters. 

The AKC says it and its affiliated breed clubs champion and invest in dog health, including through an AKC-affiliated foundation. The club also maintains that properly done breeding has a purpose: to produce dogs with known traits, from size to sniffing ability, that fit different human needs and lifestyles. 

New purebred registrations, which are voluntary, have increased by 45% in a decade, the club says. 
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Emhoff Tests Positive for COVID-19; VP Harris Still Negative

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Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced Tuesday. Vice President Kamala Harris tested negative but is curtailing her schedule as a result of her husband’s positive test. 

Harris did not participate in the Equal Pay Day event on Tuesday evening at the White House with President Joe Biden “out of an abundance of caution.” 

Harris, in a tweet Tuesday evening, said, “Doug is doing fine and we are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted.” She added, “I have tested negative and will continue to test.” 

Biden and Harris appeared together Tuesday afternoon and mingled with lawmakers at an event marking the signing of a $1.5 trillion government funding measure. 

“He’s feeling very well, I’m told,” Biden said Tuesday evening at the event, noting Harris couldn’t be there. “Let’s send her our love,” he told attendees. 

Harris and Emhoff both received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine weeks before taking office and their second dose just days after Inauguration Day in 2021. They received booster shots in late October. 

Fully vaccinated and boosted people have a high degree of protection against serious illness and death from COVID-19, particularly the most common and highly transmissible Omicron variant. 

Earlier Tuesday, Emhoff participated in an outdoor event at a Washington park to highlight the work of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. The White House did not immediately respond when asked if he was recently in close contact with Biden or first lady Jill Biden. 

Before Emhoff’s diagnosis was public, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday. 
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Russia Says It Has Written Guarantees on Iran Nuclear Deal

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia said on Tuesday it has written guarantees it can carry out its work as a party to the Iran nuclear deal, suggesting Moscow could allow a revival of the tattered 2015 pact to go forward. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comments appeared to signal Moscow may have backed off its previous view that Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine were an impediment to salvaging the nuclear deal. 

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters a revival of the nuclear deal would not be “an escape hatch” for Russia to avoid sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine war. 

“We of course would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA. We can’t and we won’t, and we have not provided assurances beyond that to Russia,” Price added. 

On March 5, Lavrov unexpectedly demanded sweeping guarantees that Russian trade with Iran would not be affected by the Ukraine-related sanctions — a demand Western powers have said was unacceptable and Washington has insisted it will not accept. 

Under the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear bomb — an ambition it denies — in return for relief from global economic sanctions. 

“We have received written guarantees – they are included in the very text of the agreement on reviving the JCPOA, and in these texts there is a reliable defense of all the projects provided for by the JCPOA and those activities – including the linking up of our companies and specialists,” Lavrov said. 

Speaking at a news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Moscow, Lavrov also denied that Russia was an obstacle to reviving the 2015 agreement. 

“I have heard how the Americans have every day tried to accuse us of delaying the agreement – that is a lie. The agreement is not finally approved in several capitals, and the Russian capital – Moscow – is not one of them.” 

Oil prices fell more than 6%, pulled down by Lavrov’s comments that Moscow was in favor of the nuclear deal resuming as soon as possible, and by doubts about Chinese demand following surging COVID-19 cases in China.  

However, Western officials said they were not sure if Russia was satisfied by guarantees it could carry out nuclear projects under the 2015 deal or if it wanted the “right to free and full trade, economic and investment cooperation and military-technical cooperation” with Iran that Lavrov sought on March 5. 

Another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, responded cautiously to Lavrov’s comments, saying they might mean Moscow had come around to the U.S. view that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not torpedo the Iran nuclear deal. 

“Perhaps it is now clear to Moscow that, as we have said publicly, the new Russia-related sanctions are unrelated to the JCPOA and should not have any impact on its implementation,” said this senior U.S. State Department official. 

Eleven months of fitful talks to revive the deal — which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, prompting Tehran to start violating its nuclear limits about a year later — paused in Vienna last week after Russia demanded assurances. 

Iran said the United States lacked the “political will” to resolve several outstanding issues in the nuclear negotiations in Vienna. The Islamic Republic has insisted Washington remove human rights and terrorism-related sanctions, including those imposed in 2019 on its elite Revolutionary Guards. 

Amirabdollahian said the pause in the Vienna talks could help resolve several of the outstanding issues and suggested that Russia was no impediment. 

“If we can reach an understanding with the United States on the few issues that are our red line and get to a final agreement, Russia will stand with us until the end of talks to reach a good, stable and strong nuclear deal,” he said. 

 
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UN Extends South Sudan Peacekeeping Mission for One Year

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The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday to prolong its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one more year, after Russia and China chose to abstain. 

The Council’s 13 other members all voted in favor of the resolution, which extends the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until March 15, 2023, at its current level of deployment. 

The maximum number of U.N. peacekeeping soldiers for UNMISS is set at 17,000 with an additional 2,100 police officers. 

The operation is one of the most expensive for the U.N., with an annual budget surpassing $1 billion. 

China indicated that it was in favor of the extension but chose to abstain because the United States insisted on including human rights in the resolution’s text. 

China’s deputy ambassador, Dai Bing, called the draft resolution “very unbalanced,” a sentiment shared by his Russian counterpart, Anna Evstigneeva, who was disappointed that Moscow’s amendments were left out. 

The resolution states that the goal of the peacekeeping mission is to “prevent a return to civil war in South Sudan, to build durable peace at the local and national levels, and to support inclusive and accountable governance and free, fair, and peaceful elections.” 

At a Security Council meeting in early March, the U.N. and the United States, which played a key role in South Sudan’s creation, urged its leaders to move forward with its planned elections, or risk a “catastrophe.” 

With less than a year to go before the elections, South Sudan risks sliding back into war, the U.N. warned in February.  

The world’s youngest country has experienced chronic instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. 

Between 2013 and 2018, it descended into a bloody civil war between archenemies Riek Machar and Salva Kiir, which left nearly 400,000 dead and millions displaced. 

A peace agreement signed in 2018 led to a national unity government that was inaugurated in February 2020, with Kiir as president and Machar as vice president. 

Due in part to ongoing feuds between the two rivals, the peace agreement remains largely unimplemented. 
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Burkina Faso-born Kere First African to Win Pritzker Architecture Prize

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The Pritzker Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere, the first African to win the honor in its more than 40-year history.

Kere, 56, was hailed for his “pioneering” designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants — in lands of extreme scarcity,” said Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation that sponsors the award, in a statement.

Kere, a dual citizen of Burkina Faso and Germany, said he was the “happiest man on this planet” to become the 51st recipient of the illustrious prize since it was first awarded in 1979.

“I have a feeling of an overwhelming honor but also a sense of responsibility,” he told AFP during an interview in his office in Berlin.

Kere is renowned for building schools, health facilities, housing, civic buildings and public spaces across Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo and Sudan.

“He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten,” Pritzker said.

Kere won plaudits for his 2001 project for a primary school in Gando village, in Burkina Faso, where he was born.

Unlike traditional school buildings, which used concrete, Kere’s innovative design combined local clay, fortified with cement to form bricks that helped retain cooler air inside.

A wide, raised tin roof protects the building from rain while helping the air circulate, meaning natural ventilation without any need for air conditioning.

Kere engaged the local community during the design and building phase, and the number of students at the school increased from 120 to 700, the Hyatt Foundation said in its release.

The success of the project saw the creation of an extension, a library and teachers’ housing in later years.

Kere “empowers and transforms communities through the process of architecture,” designing buildings “where resources are fragile and fellowship is vital,” the Pritzker statement added.

“Through his commitment to social justice and engagement, and intelligent use of local materials to connect and respond to the natural climate, he works in marginalized countries laden with constraints and adversity,” the organizers said.

In Kere’s native Burkina Faso, his accolade was hailed as a reminder that Burkina Faso should be known internationally for more than a violent jihadi insurgency that has gripped the country.

Groups affiliated to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.7 million.

“In the current pain of the security crisis, our country must remember that it is also the nation of exceptional men like Francis Kere,” said Ra-Sablga Seydou Ouedraogo, of the non-profit Free Afrik.

Nebila Aristide Bazie, head of the Burkina Faso architects’ council, said the award “highlights the African architect and the people of Burkina Faso.”

In 2017, Kere designed the Serpentine pavilion in London’s Hyde Park, a prestigious assignment given to a world-famous architect every year.

He was also one of the architects behind Geneva’s International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and has held solo museum shows in Munich and Philadelphia.

“I am totally convinced that everyone deserves quality,” he said in his office, where he celebrated his award with his team.

“I’m always thinking how can I get the best for my clients, for those who can afford but also for those who cannot afford.

“This is my way of doing things, of using my architecture to create structures to serve people, let’s say to serve humanity,” Kere added.
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Afghan Journalist: ‘This Is a Hard Time for Afghan Women’  

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Named one of Time magazine’s “Women of the Year,” Afghan journalist Zahra Joya says she is determined to keep reporting on women’s issues in Afghanistan.  

The 29-year-old founder of Rukhshana Media, an news agency run by and for women in Afghanistan, had to flee her country last year when the Taliban seized power.  

Now based in Britain, Joya runs her media outlet in exile, publishing the work of women still in Afghanistan who report about life under Taliban rule.  It’s a task that brings threats to her and her staff.

In an interview with VOA Pashto Managing Editor Shaista Lami, Joya said she was determined to keep reporting on the plight of Afghan women.

“It is extremely important for the world not to forget Afghan women now, at the time of their sufferance, and support them in their (fight) for their basic rights and press freedom in Afghanistan,” Joya said.  

This interview has been translated and edited for length and clarity.

How does it feel to be named a Time magazine woman of the year, and how has your life changed since the Taliban takeover?

I am happy that my name appears at this crucial time for the women of my country, at a time when they face many difficulties and restrictions.  

What did I do in the last six months? I did everything I could through our media outlet Rukhshana.  

For 10 years I have covered women’s issues in Afghanistan.

And I still continuously put my efforts together with the women who are out protesting. I did not give in to fear of the Taliban and have covered every gathering, every conference and every protest (these women) held in the streets of Kabul.

A large number of female journalists have left their jobs or the country for fear of Taliban punishment. How are you helping those still in Afghanistan from outside the country?

The Taliban imposed many restrictions on women and journalists. Many left the country and many more lost their jobs.

We know this is a hard time for Afghan women. However, I continue my work from here in Britain.  

I am leading Rukhshana from here, which is not an easy task. I am worried about my co-workers, and we are faced with countless restrictions. I feel sad, especially when I see so many serious issues to cover. 

I am still hopeful that we can endure the pressure, continue our fight for Afghan women and raise their voices.  

How do you connect with women still in Afghanistan?

We receive many stories, especially now that women are desperate for help and support.

A woman whose house was searched said Taliban were holding (her) and saying, “You took a video of house-to-house Taliban searches.” They searched her phone, deleted videos and harassed her father.  

We continue to hear these stories on daily basis, unfortunately. (These women) have lost hope and think the future is nothing but dark for them. 

So I continue my efforts as a journalist, to listen to their stories and to raise their voices.

This story originated in VOA’s Pashto Service.
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Zimbabwe Court Orders Trial for NY Times Freelancer

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A court in Zimbabwe dismissed a discharge application Tuesday in a case against a New York Times journalist. Freelance journalist Jeffrey Moyo is accused of flouting Zimbabwe’s immigration laws when he allegedly helped two foreign reporters enter the southern African nation illegally last year. 

Kathleen Mpofu — one of Moyo’s lawyers — said the journalist will go on trial April 28.  

“The magistrate dismissed the application. He basically found that the state had led enough evidence for Mr. Moyo to be put to his defense and coming to this finding,” Mpofu told VOA from Bulawayo, via WhatsApp. “It seems the magistrate relied on the fact that the state had led the evidence of the allegedly false accreditation cards that had been obtained by the foreign journalist and based on his interpretation of the evidence led by the state, he found that it was sufficient to put the accused to his defense.” 

Moyo’s lawyers believed the case might be dismissed, after the same court earlier this month acquitted a Zimbabwe Media Commission official, Thabang Manhika, for allegedly processing fake accreditations for two South Africa-based New York Times journalists who entered Zimbabwe and were later deported. Moyo and Manhika were being tried separately.   

Zimbabwe’s government says both Moyo and Manhika broke immigration laws. 

Information Ministry Permanent Secretary Ndabaningi Nick Mangwana commented on Tuesday’s ruling.  

“We just want to see that there’s law and order. If somebody has committed a crime or is perceived, they will have their day in court, so he is having his day in court, so his outcome is not in our hands, it’s in the hands of the criminal justice system. That’s our position,” Mangwana said. 

Tabani Moyo of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, or MISA, has called for the journalist to be treated fairly.   

“MISA Zimbabwe underscores the need for fair trial. That is our position throughout till the end of the case. All we are saying is that he, just like any other citizen, deserves a fair trial,” Moyo said. 

Moyo, a Zimbabwean national, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.    

 
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Biden to Attend ‘Extraordinary’ NATO Summit in Brussels

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U.S. President Joe Biden will travel next week to Brussels, where he will join an “extraordinary” NATO summit set to take place on March 24 — one month after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Biden’s travel plans hours after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for the meeting, tweeting that alliance members “will address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO’s deterrence & defense.”

Russian shelling hit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, early Tuesday, including one that struck an apartment building, killing four people and starting a fire that sparked a frenzied rescue effort, officials said. Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko announced a 35-hour curfew for the city beginning Tuesday night.

Hours earlier, Fox News reported that video journalist Pierre Zakrzewski was killed when the vehicle in which he was traveling was struck by incoming fire on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Despite Russia’s attacks on Kyiv, three European leaders headed to the capital as Russian forces bombarded the area and other cities nearly three weeks into the invasion.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he was traveling to Kyiv on Tuesday along with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa to represent the European Council in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“The purpose of the visit is to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Fiala said. “The aim of this visit is also to present a broad package of support for the Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

 

“In such critical times for the world, it is our duty to be where history is forged,” Morawiecki wrote on Facebook. “Because it’s not about us, but about the future of our children who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny.”

The European Union announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, including bans on transactions with certain state-owned companies or new investments in Russia’s energy sector, as well as tighter trade restrictions on iron, steel and luxury goods.

There are also sanctions targeting “key oligarchs, lobbyist and propagandists pushing the Kremlin’s narrative on the situation in Ukraine, as well as key companies in the aviation, military and dual use, shipbuilding and machine-building sectors.”

Much of the international response has been focused on punishing Russia through economic sanctions. Japan Tuesday announced new asset freezes for 17 Russians, including 11 members of the Russian parliament, billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and family members of banker Yuri Kovalchuk.

Russia on Tuesday announced that Biden and a dozen other senior officials have been banned from entering the country, in response to the sanctions from Western countries.

“We’ve made President Putin’s war of choice a strategic failure,” Psaki said Tuesday. “The unprecedented costs we’ve imposed with allies and partners have reversed 30 years of economic progress, something President Putin himself pushed for.”

Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine began more talks Tuesday following a meeting on Monday, held by video rather than in person in neighboring Belarus like previous sessions, which yielded no major signs of a breakthrough.

But Zelenskyy suggested a compromise on Tuesday, saying in a video message that Kyiv was ready to accept security guarantees that fall short of its goal to join NATO.

“If we cannot enter through open doors, then we must cooperate with the associations with which we can, which will help us, protect us … and have separate guarantees,” Zelenskyy said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was premature to predict whether the peace talks will lead to progress.

“The work is difficult, and in the current situation, the very fact that (the talks) are continuing is probably positive,” Peskov said.

Psaki told reporters the United States supports the negotiations, but that it is looking for signs that Russia is willing to pair talks with a pullback in violence.

“Our view continues to be that despite words that are said in these talks or coming out of these talks, diplomacy requires engaging in good faith to de-escalate,” Psaki said Monday.

“And what we’re really looking for is evidence of that. And we’re not seeing any evidence, at this point, that President Putin is doing anything to stop the onslaught or de-escalate.”

Meanwhile, Biden Tuesday signed an appropriations package that includes $13.6 billion for emergency military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. That will be followed Wednesday by an address to Congress by Zelenskyy, who has appealed for international help, including a no-fly zone over Ukraine, that the Biden administration has ruled out.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the government hoped to be able to open nine humanitarian corridors Tuesday to evacuate civilians and deliver aid to those in areas besieged by Russian forces, including the southern city of Mariupol where Russian shelling prevented deliveries on Monday.

In a rare positive development Monday, Ukrainian officials in Mariupol said a convoy of civilian cars was able to leave after many previous attempts to evacuate civilians collapsed. Officials said 160 cars left in the first two hours that the corridor was open. On Tuesday, the city council said 2,000 civilian cars had left, but it was not immediately clear if the 160 cars that left on Monday were included in the tally.

Also Tuesday, Ukraine’s parliament voted to extend martial law for another month until April 24, barring men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country so they can be called to join the military.

The United Nations said Tuesday the number of people who have fled Ukraine since the invasion began had reached 3 million.

Eastern European chief Myroslava Gongadze, White House correspondent Anita Powell, senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer, State Department correspondent Nike Ching, and Mandarin service reporters Lin Yang and Si Yang contributed to this report.

Some information also came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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US Marks Equal Pay Day Amid Pay Disparities Between Men, Women

Posted on by SeeUS

The Biden administration Tuesday is commemorating Equal Pay Day, which symbolizes how much longer women must work to make what men earned in the previous year. Last year, the day fell on March 24.

“Our country has come a long way, but we still have work to do to close gender and racial wage gaps,” a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call previewing the announcement.

American women on average still earn only 83 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The disparities are even greater for Black, Native American and Latina women, as well as certain subpopulations of Asian women.

Later Tuesday, President Joe Biden is set to announce a series of actions to enhance pay equity and transparency in the federal work force, including a proposed regulation that would prevent federal agencies from using a job applicant’s prior salary history in the hiring process. Banning the use of prior salary history can help break the cycle of potentially discriminatory pay that can follow women and workers of color from job to job.

Those steps, however, do not address the gender wage gap in the private sector, including in industries with an even larger gender pay gap such as finance, where on average, men take home $33,000 more than women doing the same work every year.

While a growing number of European countries require employers to publish or provide their employees access to gender pay data, the United States does not mandate pay transparency in its private sector. The Obama administration had mandated that large companies report how much they pay workers by race and gender but the Trump administration, under pressure from big business groups, halted the rule in 2017.

“This administration should re-start those efforts,” said Seema Jayachandran, a professor of economics at Northwestern University who focuses on gender equality. “While EEO (equal employment opportunity) rules uncover if the work force is gender-imbalanced, they don’t reveal if women are in the low-paying jobs and men are in the high-paying jobs, or if in similar jobs, there is a gender pay gap,” she told VOA.

The White House did not respond to VOA’s question on whether officials plan to reinstate the rule.

Low wage and no paid leave

“The existence of low-quality work – i.e., work that is low wage and without access to critical benefits such as paid leave – and the concentration of women, particularly women of color, in this work, is the biggest contributor to the pay gap,” said Rose Khattar, a member of the Economic Policy Team at the Center for American Progress.

The situation has worsened during the pandemic. Women, who perform the majority of unpaid family caregiving, must deal with greater challenges managing work and care, with children home from school and older family members losing access to critical care services. In addition, women workers are overrepresented in industries that experienced the pandemic’s worst job losses, such as hospitality.

The Department of Labor on Tuesday issued a report on occupational segregation showing that in 2019, Black women lost $39.3 billion and Hispanic women lost $46.7 billion in wages compared to white men due to differences in industry and occupation.

Some experts argue that mandating paid leave for new parents could help narrow the gender pay gap. The United States is the only developed country that does not have a national paid parental leave program.

“One in four women in America are said to go back to work within 10 to 14 days of giving birth, which is astonishing and awful; it is terrible for working women,” said Adrienne Schweer. Schweer leads the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Paid Family Leave Task Force.

Biden’s proposed Build Back Better Act sought to provide national paid family leave, but the massive $2 trillion social spending bill is struggling in Congress, failing to gain support not only from Republicans, but also from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.

“It has really fallen off the cliff and it needs a bipartisan pathway,” Schweer said. “This president really needs to call on Congress to work together.”

Also Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris, the first female American vice president, is hosting an Equal Pay Day virtual summit attended by administration officials, athletes and CEOs.
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UK Lawmaker: British Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe Gets Her British Passport Back

Posted on by SeeEU

British Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her British passport returned, British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq said on Tuesday, as Tehran and London pressed on with talks about a long-standing 400-million-pound ($520 million) debt.

“I am very pleased to say that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back,” Siddiq, who is the member of parliament for where Zaghari-Ratcliffe used to live in London, said on Twitter.

“She is still at her family home in Tehran. I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now,” she added on Twitter. Reuters was unable to ascertain if a British team of negotiators was in Tehran nor what the subject of any discussion would be.

A spokesperson for Siddiq’s office told Reuters the lawmaker had based her remarks on information from Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family.

Separately, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani, when asked whether Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be released, told Reuters: “I am hopeful that we will have good news soon.”

Kermani said his view was based on meetings and discussions he had had with the Iranian judiciary about the case of the Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation who was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

Her family and the foundation, a charity that operates independently of Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters, deny the charge.

Asked by a reporter whether he saw signs of optimism on Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson replied that discussions about it were continuing.

“I don’t want to tempt fate but clearly the negotiations about all our difficult consular cases have been going on for a long time and really I think it would not be sensible for me to comment until we have got a final result,” he said.

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We have long called for the release of unfairly detained British nationals in Iran. We don’t comment on speculation.”

The Thomson Reuters Foundation declined immediate comment on Siddiq’s statement. Richard Ratcliffe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iranian officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the remarks by Siddiq and Kermani.

Reuters was unable to independently establish the status of Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation said that she had traveled to Iran in a personal capacity and had not been doing work in Iran. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity organization that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.

Iran’s clerical rulers say Britain owes the money that Iran’s Shah paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which were eventually delivered after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed leader.

While the British and Iranian governments have said there is no connection between the debt and the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Iranian state media in 2021 reported unidentified Iranian officials saying she would be freed once the debt was paid. Read full story

Iranian officials did not comment when asked whether the amount has been paid by Britain as reported by some Iranian outlets.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who served most of her first sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison, was released in March 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and kept under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran. In March 2021, she was released from house arrest but she was summoned to court again on the new charge.

In April 2021, she was then sentenced to a new term in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran’s ruling system, charges she denies. However that sentence has not yet started and she is banned from leaving the country.
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Rights Activists Call for Release of Detained Ugandan Journalists

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Ugandan lawyers and rights activists are demanding the release of an author and eight journalists detained since Thursday.  The author is a critic of President Yoweri Museveni.  Ugandan police say they were taken into custody after complaints of “offensive communication” from members of the public. 

On Thursday, nine journalists led by Norman Tumuhimbise – an author of books critical of President Museveni and his family — were arrested at their offices by what lawyers describe as a joint security team of the Uganda Police Force and soldiers of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces.

Documents presented to court state that the security personnel were armed with deadly weapons and brandished them “with gusto” as they stormed into the offices and made the arrests. 

All nine of those arrested work for Digitalk, an online TV station led by Tumuhimbise.

Tumuhimbise was due to launch a book critical of President Yoweri Museveni on March 30.

His lawyer, Geoffrey Turyamusima, speaking to VOA after appearing in court Tuesday. He says the arrests show the government does not respect the public’s right to free speech.

“There has been continuous threats, especially for those who come out to speak the truth or the reality,” said Turyamusima. “And the state does not want people to know the truth, especially in regards to infringing on people’s right.”

Fred Enanga, the Uganda Police Force spokesperson, confirmed to journalists Monday that they are being held at the Special Investigations Division (SID) in Kampala.

“We always get complaints of offensive communication, hate crimes and polarization from certain sections of the public and concerned authorities. So, they were arrested along that,” said Enanga. “And, they are at SID in Kireka. There’s a joint task team that is handling their matter.”

Robert Sempala, the national coordinator the Uganda Human Rights Network, says the journalists are being held incommunicado and the state should have only arrested Tumuhimbise instead of the whole newsroom.

Sempala says the state is trying to intimidate media outlets that air criticism of the president, causing a chilling effect.

“Meaning, they will even arrest you, torture you, detain you incommunicado, take you to court when there’s a lot of noise and they have no convicting evidence in any case,” said Sempala. “So, the implication is that the media is strictly being shrank going by the different manifestations that the powerful are resorting to.”

The arrest of Tumuhimbise and eight journalists comes just a month after Pen International award-winning author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested, tortured and detained.

He was also charged with offensive communication for Twitter posts in which he made derogatory remarks about the president’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is widely seen as Museveni’s possible successor.

Another author, Stella Nyanzi, was arrested in 2019 and jailed for 18 months for a poem criticizing the first family.
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FOX News Cameraman Killed in Ukraine

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. broadcaster FOX News on Tuesday announced that cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski has died in Ukraine.

Zakrzewski, 55, was injured while on assignment with FOX News correspondent Benjamin Hall. Their vehicle was struck by incoming fire in Horenka, near Kyiv, according to a memo shared with the broadcaster’s staff.

Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a Ukrainian journalist who was with them at the time, was also killed, the adviser to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko, said.

Hall, the State Department correspondent for FOX, is still hospitalized and receiving treatment for injuries.

Both he and Zakrzewski were experienced journalists who had covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

In her memo to staff, Fox News Media’s CEO, Suzanne Scott, said that London-based Zakrzewski’s “talent was unmatched.”

Zakrzewski “was profoundly committed to telling the story and his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned,” the memo read. “Everyone in the media industry who has covered a foreign story knew and respected Pierre.”

Journalists paid tribute to Zakrzewski on social media, including for his efforts to help get Afghan journalists safely out of Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power last year.

FOX News anchor Bill Hemmer announced the death on the network Tuesday, describing his colleague as “an absolute legend.”

In a briefing Tuesday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki also paid tribute to Zakrzewski.

“He was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure working there,” Psaki said. “Our thoughts, our prayers are with his family with the entire community as well.”

Risks are increasing for media covering Russia’s war in Ukraine. Award-winning American filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed and his colleague Juan Arredondo injured on Sunday, and Yevhenii Sakun, a Ukrainian camera operator for LIVE TV, was killed during a Russian strike on a TV tower in Kyiv on March 1.

Several news crews have also reported being fired on despite being identified as press.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute has called for attacks and violence directed at media covering the war to cease, saying, “No more journalists in Ukraine should be killed while simply doing their job.”

“This war is taking an increasingly bloody toll on innocent victims, including Ukrainian citizens and courageous journalists on the ground who are risking their lives to make sure the world is informed about what is happening,” IPI’s deputy director, Scott Griffen, said in a statement Sunday.

“Even in the fog of war, journalists can never be legitimate targets and all efforts should be taken to minimize risks to civilian life.”
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China Says It Is ‘Not a Party’ to Ukraine Crisis

Posted on by SeeEU

China says it does not want to get caught up in the diplomatic and economic blowback Russia is facing from Western nations over its invasion of Ukraine.

State media said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his government’s wishes during a lengthy phone conversation Monday with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

According to a transcript of the phone call published Monday by the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang told Albares that Beijing is “not a party to the crisis” and does not want to be “affected” by the mounting economic sanctions imposed on Moscow over the nearly 3-week-old invasion.

The conversation took place as U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and officials from the National Security Council and State Department met in Rome with China’s top foreign policy adviser, Yang Jiechi. The Biden administration has warned that Beijing would face severe “consequences” if it helps Moscow avoid sanctions.

Media reports emerged Sunday that Moscow has requested military and economic assistance from China for its war in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian Tuesday repeated an accusation leveled by Beijing that the United States is spreading “disinformation” over reports that China has responded positively to Moscow’s request.

Zhao calls the reports “not only unprofessional, but also immoral and irresponsible.”

He told reporters China’s position is “completely objective, impartial and constructive.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday that the United States is watching very closely the extent to which China, or any other country, provides any form of support to Russia.

“We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won’t stand by, we will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses,” he said.

CNN reported late Monday that the United States told European and Asian allies in a diplomatic cable that China had indicated a willingness to help Russia in the war against Ukraine. CNN said the cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided and that it warned that China would likely deny any such offer.

Chinese arms sales to Russia would have “a devastating impact on the U.S.-China relationship, because it would clearly align the Chinese with the Russians, against the United States, Europe in a war,” Robert Ross, a political science professor at Boston College, told VOA.

China is in a unique position because of its partnership agreement with Russia, according to Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. He told VOA that China has “considerably greater” leverage over Russia than even Western countries that have implemented “unprecedented sanctions” on Russia.

“China has something that the West does not have, and that is the partnership,” with Russia, he said.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France Presse.
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Cameroon Says it Will Rebuild Hospitals Destroyed by Boko Haram  

Posted on by SeeAF

Cameroon’s government says it will rebuild hospitals and clinics destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists along the border with Nigeria. In a visit to the area this week, officials said the facilities were needed for villagers who have suffered from the conflict as well as for former Boko Haram members who have been rehabilitated.

Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health says at least 35 hospitals along the country’s border with Nigeria have either been abandoned by medical staff or destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists.

Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie this week visited some of the remaining hospitals along the border.

He says although working and living conditions are very difficult, the few medical staff members in former Boko Haram prone towns and villages are doing their best to save lives. Malachie says Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered his government to build and equip destroyed hospitals and recruit more health workers. He also says he asked several hundred hospital workers who fled Boko Haram terrorism to return to Cameroon’s border with Nigeria.

Malachie did not say when the hospitals would be re-built.

But Cameroon’s government says it will spend $300 million this year to reconstruct what Boko Haram destroyed, including hospitals and medical equipment.

Government troops have been fighting Boko Haram along the northern border with Nigeria since 2014.

Cameroon’s military says there have been about 25 cases of abductions and kidnappings for ransom this year, but no large scale attacks by the terrorist group.

The military says the return to peace has allowed several thousand internally displaced persons and former Boko Haram members to return to their villages.

But health care in the region is sorely lacking, say social workers like Jean Pierre Ndlend in Kolofata district via a messaging application.

Ndlend says youths of between 15 and 35 years old are a majority of the 150 people suffering from mental health disorders that the Kolofata hospital has received since January. He says trauma from seeing people dying or forcefully separated from loved ones, poverty, and risky living conditions are the highest causes of mental health disorders in Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria.

Ndlend says the Kolofata hospital receives hundreds of patients every day but has only seven health care workers.

Speaking to Cameroon state radio (CRTV) this week, Far North Region Governor Midjiyawa Bakari said the military has been helping civilians while they wait for the government to re-build hospitals.

Bakari says most Cameroon’s troops deployed to fight Boko Haram have been sent to border villages to provide health care and education to both returnees and militants who surrender and leave the terrorist group. He says Cameroon’s military health unit visits border villages to provide humanitarian assistance and treat sick returnees, former fighters, and the host community.

Bakari said thousands of Boko Haram fighters and supporters have defected from the terrorist group since last May, when the leader of the Nigerian militants Abubakar Shekau was declared killed.

The United Nations says the Boko Haram conflict, which started 13 years ago in northeast Nigeria, has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced 2 million across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
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As Many Ukrainians Flee, a Few Return

Posted on by SeeEU

Millions of Ukrainians have now fled their country, mostly to Poland, but also to Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. In Hungary, there are reports of some Ukrainians deciding to turn back. Jon Spier narrates this report from Gabor Ancsin on Hungary’s border with Ukraine. Video editor – Jon Spier.
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US Military Ramps Up Drills as North Korea Prepares Major Launch

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. military said Tuesday it has intensified air defense drills in South Korea and conducted an aircraft carrier exercise in the Yellow Sea as part of a “demonstration of resolve” following two partial North Korean tests of a new long-range missile. 

The military displays came as U.S. officials warned North Korea could soon conduct a full test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, possibly under the guise of a satellite launch. South Korean news outlets report U.S. and South Korean authorities have detected signs that a launch could occur as soon as this week. 

The situation risks a return to tensions not seen since 2017, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. president Donald Trump exchanged threats of nuclear war before engaging in a series of unprecedented talks. For now, the rhetoric on both sides is much more restrained. 

In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said it “increased the intensity” of a regular “certification exercise” involving the Patriot missile defense system. The exercise, which involved a simulated combat scenario, “underscores the seriousness USFK takes against the DPRK’s recent missile launch behavior,” the statement said, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name. 

Hours later, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) announced it had conducted an aircraft carrier-based exercise in the Yellow Sea, which lies off Korea’s west coast. The exercise involved fourth and fifth generation aircraft, the most advanced currently in operation. It was a “demonstration of our resolve and commitment to our regional allies,” INDOPACOM said. 

Both statements condemned North Korea’s “significant increase” in missile testing. So far this year, North Korea has fired 13 missiles during nine rounds of launches. 

Last week, the U.S. military said it had intensified its intelligence collection activities around the Korean Peninsula and heightened its ballistic missile defense readiness in response to the North Korean launches. 

Change in approach

Since Trump and Kim’s diplomacy began in 2018, the U.S. military has downsized or spread out its military exercises and has mostly refrained from public demonstrations of military power that risk raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. But that era may now be ending, as North Korea ramps up weapons tests that the U.S. sees as a major provocation. 

“It demonstrates the Biden administration’s emphasis on strengthening deterrence in the face of North Korean provocation. It also signals to Pyongyang that contrary to its intent, raising tension by toying with ICBMs won’t lead to a seat at the negotiating table down the road. In this sense it represents a clear break from the Trump era,” said Go Myong-hyon, a research fellow at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Under President Joe Biden, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they are willing to meet North Korea “anywhere, anytime” without preconditions. North Korea has rejected or ignored the offer. Instead, the North has been systematically working through a wish list of strategic weapons laid out by Kim last year.

North Korea has many possible reasons for testing weapons, including pressuring the United States to make concessions in nuclear talks, demonstrating deterrence, ensuring the performance of new weapons, and bolstering domestic political support. 

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who will take office in May, has promised a more forceful North Korea policy than his predecessor, President Moon Jae-in. Yoon has called Moon’s outreach to the North “a complete failure.” 

North Korea escalates tests

Yoon will inherit a tense situation. In January, North Korea fired more rockets than in any previous month on record. According to U.S. and South Korean officials, North Korea’s last two launches were partial tests of a new ICBM. 

The new ICBM was first seen during a military parade in October 2020. Experts dubbed it the “monster missile,” noting that it appeared large enough to fit multiple warheads, which could pose a challenge for U.S. missile defenses. 

North Korea had not given many details about the tests other than to say they were in preparation for the launch of a military spy satellite. 

North Korea has not conducted a long-range missile launch since 2017. Kim announced a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests in 2018. 

U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea could conduct a nuclear test later this year, according to an assessment released last week.

In 2018, North Korea announced the closure and dismantlement of its nuclear test site. Last week, South Korea’s military said it had detected activity apparently meant to restore some of the tunnels there.
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Russia, Ukraine Set for Talks as Russian Force Shell Cities 

Posted on by SeeEU

White House says ‘no evidence’ Russia willing to pair diplomacy with de-escalation 
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Ukraine Conflict Sees Multiple Diplomatic Fronts 

Posted on by SeeUS

The battle over Ukraine’s fate is happening on multiple fronts, with U.S. officials flying around the globe to meet with civilians who have been affected by the carnage, but also speaking virtually and in person with officials from other countries who have a role to play in ending this conflict. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House, with reporting from Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze in Warsaw.
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