Month: March 2022

Supreme Court Reinstates Death Penalty for Boston Marathon Bomber

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death penalty sentence for Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. 

The 6-3 ruling overturns a federal appeals court decision to void the sentence. 

That 2020 ruling by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturned Tsarnaev’s federal death penalty and instead sentenced the Kyrgyzstan-born terrorist to life without parole.  

The appeals court said the trial judge improperly excluded evidence that showed Dzhokhar was heavily influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan. 

On April 15, 2013, the brothers placed two homemade “pressure cooker” bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon that exploded as runners of the 42-kilometer (26-mile) race arrived. 

The attack killed three spectators and injured more than 260 others. 

A massive manhunt ensued. Three days later, the brothers shot and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer. On April 19, Tamerlan died after the gun battle with police. Dzhokhar, who had been shot, escaped. He surrendered to police later that evening after they found him hiding in a boat stored on a trailer. 

The lower court also found that his trial could have been tainted by jurors who had already made up their minds because of the publicity surrounding the high-profile case that kept Americans glued to their televisions for days. 

“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority. 

In his dissent, retiring Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, “In my view, the Court of Appeals acted lawfully in holding that the District Court should have allowed Dzhokhar to introduce this evidence.”

 
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Millions of Malawian Kids to Get Polio Vaccine

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The U.N. children’s agency says it is procuring nearly seven million doses of polio vaccine to inoculate children in Malawi. The action follows a confirmed polio case last month in Malawi’s capital, the first reported in Africa in five years and the first in Malawi in decades.  

Malawi had last reported a polio case in 1992. The country was declared polio-free in 2005 — 15 years before the African continent as a whole was declared polio-free.  

But health experts said the polio strain which paralyzed a three-year-old child last month is similar to one in Pakistan, and noted that the child was not fully vaccinated against polio. 

UNICEF said the planned mass immunization will target the unvaccinated as well as children previously vaccinated, so all can have full protection from the polio virus.  

Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF’s representative in Malawi, said preparations are under way for the first round of vaccinations, expected to start March 21. 

“We are installing new vaccine refrigerators, repairing vaccine refrigerators already in use or available at district level, and distributing vaccine carriers and cold boxes,” he said. 

George Jobe, executive director for the Malawi Heath Equity Network, said the emphasis should be on convincing mothers to have trust in vaccines, which has eroded because of misconceptions associated with COVID-19 vaccines.   

“There is need for more awareness raising by government of Malawi, different partners including UNICEF itself, and when doing that awareness raising, it should be made clear that vaccines for children have been there, earlier that the COVID-19 vaccine, and these are routine in Malawi,” Jobe said. 

Schwenk said the training of health workers and community leaders is already under way. 

Malawi provides a polio vaccine that targets polio virus type 1 and type 3, following the eradication of polio virus type 2 many years back. 

UNICEF said the oral polio vaccine to be administered is for wild poliovirus type 1.

The U.N. agency said the 6.9 million doses will cover the first two rounds of the mass immunization campaign in March and April. It says more vaccine is expected to cover all four rounds of the polio immunization campaign, expected to end in June.   

In the meantime, experts from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are working to detect any other potential cases in Malawi and neighboring countries. 

 
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Tanzania Drops Terrorism Case Against Main Opposition Leader Freeman Mbowe

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Tanzanian prosecutors have dropped terrorism charges against opposition leader Freeman Mbowe and three others who were released Friday after being held for eight months. Tanzanian police arrested the four last year in the port city of Mwanza where Mbowe was to address a meeting to discuss constitutional reforms.

Supporters of Mbowe’s Chadema party and others who were following the case cheered and sang solidarity songs outside the High Court’s Division of Corruption and Economic Sabotage.

Mbowe and his colleagues were set to appear in court Friday, after a court decision two weeks ago that the four defendants had to face terrorism charges. 

Peter Kibatala, head of Mbowe’s defense team, said he was happy to see his client released. 

“We are very proud that we have not let them down. I believe even relatives, neighbors, and friends of the accused, including Freeman Mbowe, have seen that there is no one we have let down…. We have left our strength and everything at the court,” Kibatala said. 

Rights activists welcomed Mbowe’s release but said more needs to be done to address human rights issues in the country, such as laws that allow suspects to be jailed before investigations into their alleged crimes are completed. 

Anna Henga, executive director for the NGO Legal and Human Rights Center, said often people are being put behind bars with little to no evidence against them.

“When I was given the reports, I was, like, there is no case here because there was no strong evidence to put him on trial with terrorism charges,” Henga said. 

U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Donald Wright welcomed the news on Twitter, saying it is a welcome opportunity for Tanzania to turn the page and focus on the future. 

Political analysts like Abdulkarim Atiki say the Mbowe’s release reflects positively on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government.  But Atiki said it is time for Tanzania to avoid the improper jailing of people for months on end. 

He said, if someone is to be charged, then the government and investigators should be satisfied there is truth in the accusations directed to someone. But, he added, if someone is kept behind bars, how can you revise the image? How are you going to return his rights which have been denied?

Party supporters like Deogratius Mahinyila say the decision to release Mbowe is the right one, but highlights the injustice Mbowe faced. 

“We see that this decision has been delayed but also in a legal sense, it makes us as a nation see that we need a new constitution,” Mahinyila. 

Chadema party officials weren’t immediately available for comment, and Mbowe did not speak to reporters after his release. 
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Member of Congress Describes Continuing Mental Trauma From January 6 Riots

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Images of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are seared into many Americans’ minds and remain especially vivid for members of Congress who witnessed the riot. One congressman has been especially forthcoming about the mental trauma he has been experiencing months after the riot.  VOA’s Carolyn Presutti spoke with the lawmaker and filed this report.
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US Top Diplomat Meets With NATO Chief on Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Posted on by SeeEU

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, said NATO allies are not seeking conflict with Russia, but they are ready for it if it comes.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Friday’s NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, Blinken added that the alliance “will defend every inch of NATO territory,” if it comes to that. 

Stoltenberg condemned Russia’s overnight assault on civilians and Ukraine, particularly the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, near the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar. 

He said the attack “demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it, and the importance of Russia withdrawing all its troops and engaging in good faith in diplomatic efforts.”

Stoltenberg emphasized NATO is a defensive alliance and is not seeking conflict with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly has called for NATO to establish no-fly zone around Ukraine since the invasion began, but NATO allies have resisted a step that would draw them into a direct war with Russia.

The secretary general noted Friday there should be “no misunderstanding about our commitment to defend and protect all allies.” He said they have increased the presence of NATO forces in eastern Europe “as a defensive presence.”

NATO’s chief added that U.S. and Canadian troops have joined their European allies in the region and are “stepping up with more presence in the eastern part of the Alliance, on land, at sea and in the air.”

The secretary general noted NATO foreign ministers are meeting to coordinate and consult the alliance’s response to Russian invasion of Ukraine and consider its long-term implications.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Shelling Intensifies as Ukrainians Fear Putin Has Chosen ‘Grozny Option’

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Larysa left Kharkiv three days ago with her 9-year-old daughter, and trauma is etched across her face. Her jitteriness suggests she is suffering shellshock, and she is already missing her husband who decided to stay and fight.

Her name means citadel but her high-rise apartment in Ukraine’s second largest city — the scene of some of the most brutal fighting since Russia’s invasion — did not feel like a fortress.

Shelling nearby and the impact of rockets and missiles rocked the building and shattered windows.

“The Russians don’t care what they hit. We sheltered in the basement,” the 34-year-old teacher says, as she waited Thursday to cross into Slovakia, from where she will join a grandmother living in Lithuania.

Her story is echoed by many others who have escaped the worst of the fighting, either to reach the relative safety of western Ukraine, which is still bracing for war to arrive, or overseas for an exile of unknowable duration.

Those under shelling now — in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol, the seaport in the south of the country on the Sea of Azov that the Russians have surrounded — say the tempo and intensity of the bombardments have increased in the past day or so, causing massive damage to residential districts.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday “the worst is yet to come,” a judgment he made after a long phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Macron’s grim prediction sends a chill of fear down the spine of Ihor, who exchanged text messages with VOA from his home in encircled Mariupol.

“The shelling never stops,” he said. “We are running low on food, and it is very dangerous to go out to try to find supplies.”

Contact with people in Mariupol is difficult and intermittent, with the internet and phone service going on and off. “Grozny” is on the lips of many Ukrainians in the port city, a reference to the near destruction of the Chechen capital in late 1999 to early 2000, when Putin was prime minister and in the process of succeeding Boris Yeltsin as president.

They say that vicious and intensifying shelling shows that despite what Putin reportedly told Macron — the invasion is going “according to the plan” — Russian efforts to subdue Ukraine are not working out.

That view is shared by independent military analysts, including Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a defense think tank based in London. “As the situation becomes more volatile and less predictable, escalation may be the only way forward for Putin,” he said in a commentary.

“Putin drastically underestimated Ukraine’s cohesion and will to resist,” he said, adding that the Russian president “has every incentive to end the war as quickly as possible.”

“There are two ways he could do this. The first, which he has now begun to try, is to win the war through drastic escalation. But the meaning of victory is now less clear than ever. While Russia can occupy Ukraine at great human cost, no Russian puppet regime it installs will be legitimate or stable. Russia’s international isolation and domestic crisis will intensify.

“The second is for Putin to scale back his goals and negotiate a peace short of regime change in Kyiv,” said Gould-Davies. “But given Putin’s obsession with Ukraine and the stakes he has raised; this would be a humiliating setback that he would consider only if his own regime’s survival were in doubt.”

The military analyst is not alone in thinking that a war of choice by Putin has potentially morphed into a war of necessity, and for his own political survival.

In the nine days of the invasion, Russian forces have managed only to seize one city so far. That’s the strategically important Black Sea port of Kherson, home to 300,000 people, where Moscow claims Russian forces control government buildings as part of their effort to cut Ukraine off from the sea via its key southern ports. Russia’s claims have not been confirmed.

Seizing Kherson gives Russian forces access to the mainland from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and to establish a land corridor linking Moscow’s two breakaway regions in the Donbas with Crimea. It also allows Russian troops to tighten their siege of Mariupol.

Midweek, Kherson’s Mayor Igor Kolykhayev confirmed Russian troops had forced their way into the city. But there are still local reports of sporadic fighting, although the local TV tower has been seized and the Russians already are broadcasting from it, say locals who have been cut off from Ukrainian channels.

Ukrainian intelligence officials say Russian troops are preparing to stage scenes of their forces being greeted as heroes, with people being moved in from Crimea as “extras.”

“When Russians can’t achieve real goals, they focus on fake TV coverage,” tweeted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

“Having seized a TV tower in Kherson, they plan a show: Russian troops provide humanitarian aid, while fake ‘locals’ brought in from Crimea stage a fake ‘demo’ in favor of Kherson region ‘uniting’ with Crimea,” he said.

With Kherson fallen, military strategists expect Russian forces now will turn their attention to the major port of Odesa, Ukraine’s third-largest city, 100 kilometers to the west of Kherson. If they can manage to capture Odesa, Ukraine would be cut off from the Black Sea.

Up north, Russian forces are having an even tougher time and have not managed to capture a major city, but attention is focusing on what is happening with a huge armored column 30 kilometers or so north of Kyiv, which has not moved as fast as many expected.

U.S. defense officials and independent military analysts are split on why the column has moved so little for days, with some using the word “stalled” to describe its non-advance and hazarding that the Russians are running short of fuel and supplies. Others are suggesting Russian forces might be in the process of re-grouping in preparation for a major thrust on the Ukrainian capital.

 
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Many Asian Countries Condemn Russia’s War in Ukraine

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Countries across Asia are condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some key Asian countries are even joining international sanctions against Moscow. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, it is not just U.S. allies that are concerned.
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Did China Know Russia Would Invade Ukraine? Answer Will Affect Beijing’s Reputation

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China has rejected a report that said its officials told their Russian counterparts to delay an invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics. Experts say the flap indicates Chinese leaders could have known an attack was coming and that such a discovery would taint China’s reputation in the West.

Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the March 3 New York Times report “pure fake news.” The newspaper cited a Western intelligence report saying senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Feb. 4-20 Games. The war began a week ago.

“Such practice of diverting attention and blame-shifting is despicable,” Wang told a regular news conference Thursday.

“The ins and outs of the developments of the Ukraine issue are very clear. The crux of the issue is known to all,” he said.

In Washington, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the report’s “claims are speculation without any basis and are intended to blame-shift and smear China.”

National leaders seldom tell one another in advance about upcoming wars, so information between Russia and China would point to a special relationship, said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington.

“It is important, because it shows the nature and the depth of the China-Russia relations,” Sun said. “If China identifies with Russian invasions, then China is an accomplice. We cannot expect China to respond in a constructive way.”

In the United States, which has harshly criticized Russia’s invasion, State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said Thursday that supporters of Moscow will land on the “wrong side of history” and that “the world has been watching to see which nations stand up for Ukraine.”

Sino-Russian ties have grown closer over the past year, but China positioned itself this week as a mediator between war-divided Russia and Ukraine rather than a backer of Moscow.

China’s ties with Russia still rank as an “extremely high priority,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow with the trans-Atlantic cooperation advocacy group German Marshall Fund. The two competed with Washington during the Cold War and have again realigned themselves against the West in recent years.

China probably expected Russia to win quickly in Ukraine, as it has in its past wars, Small said.

“I think the sense that China acted as an enabler for Russia in the runup to this is not something that’s going to go away, and that’s one of the areas where there will be a lot of collateral damage in different ways economically for China and in their relations with other countries in Europe in particular,” he said.

China probably had at least an inkling of Russia’s designs for Ukraine before the Olympics and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay the attack as not to distract from the Games, said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, in Hawaii.

Leaders in Beijing could not easily have influenced Putin’s overall decision whether to invade Ukraine, Vuving added.

“What China could do was to persuade Putin to delay the attack [until] after the Olympics, which Putin did, so I think that was realistic and it indicated a very high level of cooperation between China and Russia,” he said.
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Poland Under Pressure as Over 1 Million Refugees Flee Ukraine

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As the train from Lviv limps across the Polish border, children peer from the windows, their curiosity undimmed by the horrors they have left behind. Beside them, crammed tightly into the carriages, their mothers and grandparents sit bewildered, terrified and exhausted.

As the trains pulls into Przemyśl, teams of Polish guards and volunteers help them onto the platform. They are Europe’s newest refugees.

There are only women and children. They leave behind their husbands, their fathers, their sons. The men must stay to fight. The agony of parting is etched in every face.

Their shattered lives have been reduced to a suitcase full of clothes and a few cherished mementos, thrown together in the panicked final hours of escape. Family pets have joined the exodus — cats in plastic cages, dogs straining at the leash.

From Przemyśl, the refugees can change trains to travel across Poland and beyond, free of charge. Dozens of countries have offered free rail travel for Ukrainians fleeing the war. The European Union has given Ukrainians the right to live and work in the bloc for three years.

Anastasia, who did not want to give her family name, fled her home in Kyiv along with her son and daughter. The family is hoping to reach Lithuania.

“We will go on. We will get through it,” she said, fighting back tears. “I hope that everything will end well and that our Ukraine will win. I want to return. I want to go home.”

Every family has a similar story of loss and fear.

More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled the country in the first week of Russia’s invasion, according to the United Nations, with over 500,000 crossing into Poland. A further million are internally displaced within Ukraine. The EU predicts that up to 7 million Ukrainians could leave in the coming weeks.

There is already a large Ukrainian migrant population in Poland, and many refugees can stay with friends or family, which has helped ease the pressure on authorities. Others are housed in shelters set up in schools, hotels and warehouses.

Thousands of foreign nationals are also trying to escape the war. Kaleb Poitier, originally from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, was studying electrical engineering in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. He fled with his Ukrainian girlfriend as the Russian attacks began.

“Every time there was a bombardment, we had to go down to the basement to take refuge. The transport no longer works. The internet is almost cut off. It was very difficult,” Poitier told VOA.

“For one week we slept at the border on the way to get here. Now we’re fine, I can say that in Poland, we’ve been well received so far. We are here to wait to take the bus to go to the other side (of Europe), to other countries, maybe to get to France,” Poitier said.

Volunteers from dozens of countries have come to the Polish border to help, offering food, clothing and shelter. Many hold up cardboard signs offering free car rides to destinations across Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are also fleeing by car or on foot, dragging their few belongings across the border crossing at the Polish village of Medyka.

But it’s not one-way traffic. Many Ukrainians are heading back home to fight. VOA spoke to three former soldiers as they prepared to cross back to their home country from Poland to fight the Russian army.

“It’s a normal reaction,” said Viktor, who did not want to give his full name. “We will beat (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and everything will be fine. We will send Russian tanks and armored vehicles straight to hell.”
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Poland Under Pressure as 1 Million Refugees Flee Ukraine

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More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled the country in the first week of Russia’s invasion, according to the United Nations. Henry Ridgwell reports from the border between Ukraine and Poland, where most of the refugees are fleeing.
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Polls: Americans Increasingly Approve of Biden’s Policies on Ukraine

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Recent polls show Americans increasingly approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the invasion of Ukraine. Also, a growing share of Americans agree that paying more for gas because of sanctions against Moscow is worthwhile to defend another democracy. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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‘Drop the Hammer,’ Says US Lawmaker Urging New Russia Sanctions

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President Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S. would go after Russian oligarchs and close U.S. airspace to Russian planes in response to the Ukraine invasion drew Democrats’ praise, but some Republican lawmakers want even tougher action. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports.
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Cambodian Leader Defends UN Vote on Ukraine Invasion

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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, long friendly with Moscow, took pains Thursday to explain to his ruling party and government why his administration joined dozens of other countries in co-sponsoring this week’s U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We do not support the use of force and readiness to use force or the threatened use of force,” he said in an audio message that also expressed the hope that Russia would “understand” his decision.

He said that Cambodia could not remain silent as Russia countered the Southeast Asian nation’s own policies and “the situation in Ukraine worsens,” according to a transcript of the message released to the public by the office of the spokesperson of the Royal Government of Cambodia on Thursday night.

Hun Sen also said his government was working to address the crisis within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Cambodia is chair this year.

“We are in discussions with other ASEAN members to issue a statement calling for a cease-fire, because without a cease-fire, human life and property will continue to die and be destroyed, making negotiations impossible,” he said. “We must, therefore, decide to call for a cease-fire, which is desirable for negotiations to find a solution. This is on behalf of ASEAN.”

Hun Sen said that Cambodia needed to act within the framework of Cambodia’s own policies, as well as those of ASEAN.

Nearly 100 countries co-sponsored the resolution, which was introduced in the General Assembly after Russia vetoed a similar motion at the U.N. Security Council last week.

Of the 193 U.N. member states, 181 countries voted on the resolution Wednesday. Among them, 141 countries supported the resolution condemning Moscow. Five countries — Russia and its allies Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea — opposed it. Thirty-five countries abstained, including China, a close ally of Cambodia’s; India; and ASEAN members Vietnam and Laos.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, bringing the capital, Kyiv, and other cities under siege. More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, and if the conflict does not end soon, millions more will be forced to flee Ukraine, according to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

Hun Sen, who has been prime minister since 1985, said that many countries were condemning the war in Ukraine, and Cambodia needed to take a clear position. He added that at the request of Japan, France, Germany and the United States, Cambodia decided to co-sponsor the resolution with other countries as a matter of necessity.

Hun Sen added that while he understood the move would anger Russia, Cambodia, as a sovereign state, has the right to act and must “protect the truth.” It also has a responsibility as a U.N. member.

“Hopefully, our Russian friend will understand, because what has been done in the past is contrary to our Cambodian policy on foreign policy, in which we do not support the separation of a state. This is the first point,” Hun Sen said. “Second, we do not support the use of force and readiness to use force or the threatened use of force.”

The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh welcomed the statement. “The United States is pleased to see Cambodia and Singapore join us and other nations in co-sponsoring a resolution deploring Russian aggression and demanding an end to its unprovoked war against Ukraine,” it said.

“The resolution was supported by most ASEAN nations. The world is taking action to hold Russia accountable.”

Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Monday imposed rare unilateral sanctions on Russia, describing the attack on Ukraine as “an unprovoked military invasion of a sovereign state.” Singapore is also an ASEAN member.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party, the exiled opposition party, also condemned the Russian aggression.

“I believe that whenever we see one country invading another, we cannot take a middle position,” CNRP acting President Sam Rainsy told VOA Khmer late Wednesday. “We must condemn the country that invaded” and “help protect” the affected country if possible. 

Sam Rainsy also called on democratic countries to stand up for the protection of democracy. He praised the spirit of the Ukrainian people fighting to protect the freedom and sovereignty of the country.
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Biden Granting Deportation Relief to Ukrainians in US

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The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will grant temporary deportation relief and work permits to tens of thousands of Ukrainians who are already in the United States and unable to return to Ukraine because of the military conflict with Russia, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

The move will allow Ukrainians in the United States as of March 1 to remain and work legally for a period of 18 months, DHS said, after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in the biggest attack on a European state since World War II. 
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European Media Offer Support to Ukrainian, Russian Colleagues

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“We’re publishing this text while there’s still time,” independent Russian media site Meduza said.

“Within a few days, maybe even today, it is possible that there will be no independent media left in Russia,” read the statement published to Meduza’s website Thursday.

The independent media outlet said that Moscow’s regulator, Roskomnadzor, has ordered journalists to refer to Russia’s invasion as a “special military operation.”

Roskomnadzor has warned more than a dozen media outlets, including VOA’s Russian language website, that they will be fined or blocked unless they remove content Russia deems illegal or that details military information.

VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lopez said Wednesday that the network could not comply with the order, adding, “The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press.”

Renowned Russian outlets including Ekho Moskvy closed this week, citing warnings over their coverage of the war, and journalists from Russia and Ukraine have been forced to flee or relocate.

Russian state media have also come under pressure, with the EU banning broadcasts and RT America announcing Thursday that it would cease operations in the U.S.

Two prominent Russian independent outlets were forced off the air this week, and access to RFE/RL’s Current Time and Crimea.Realities was blocked.

The board of iconic liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy on Thursday voted to liquidate the station and website.

Ekho Moskvy was taken off the airwaves Tuesday along with Dozhd TV after they failed to comply with orders from the regulator over their coverage.

In its decision, the prosecutor cited the station’s sharing “of information calling for extremist activities, violence and deliberately false information about the actions of Russian forces as part of a special operation” in Ukraine.

Editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov told Reuters at the time, “Our editorial policies won’t change.”

Several staff members from Dozhd TV have left Russia, citing censorship and safety concerns.

With access to the website blocked and reports of harassment, “it is obvious that the personal safety of some of us is under threat,” Editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko told reporters.

“No matter how black and nasty it is now, and no matter how happy some are with our decision, we will still win. This is inevitable, because the truth ultimately wins,” he added.

International reaction

The U.S. and the European Union have condemned Russian censorship over coverage of its war in Ukraine.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Thursday that Moscow “is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth.”

Psaki cited the media regulator threats to Ekho Moskvy, Dozhd and VOA’s Russian Service, bans on terms used to describe the war, and restrictions on social media platforms.

“What they are trying to do is block any information about what they are doing to invade a sovereign country, and they’re taking severe steps to do exactly that,” she said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said late Wednesday that Russia’s efforts to “mislead and suppress the truth” about the country’s invasion of Ukraine were intensifying, and that the Russian people deserved to know the truth about what’s happening.

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told VOA that Moscow’s “manipulation and censorship of the media is appalling.”

“The Russian people deserve access to the truth about Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression and instead are being fed lies by the Putin regime,” said McCaul. “The U.S. must continue to robustly support independent media to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation.”

The EU has also condemned censorship and disinformation. Member states on Wednesday voted to block transmissions of Russian-backed state media, including Sputnik and RT.

RT America on Thursday announced it would cease operations immediately, citing moves by providers that dropped its broadcasts this week.

Broadcaster Holland Cooke, who hosted a weekly show on RT America, said on a news website that management called a meeting Thursday and announced the U.S. division would cease operations because of condemnation over Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

A memo sent to staff said production would stop “due to unforeseen business interruption events,” CNN reported.

Media support

Moscow’s independent journalists are standing in solidarity with their colleagues. More than 200 signed an open letter protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Novaya Gazeta, the renowned Russian outlet run by Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov, on Tuesday said it would offer space to Ekho Moskvy and other media on its site.

Across Europe, media are also offering help and assistance to journalists forced to flee.

Kosovo on Wednesday allocated 150,000 euros or $165,000 toward six months of living costs, wages and shelter for up to 20 Ukrainian journalists.

Priority will be given to female reporters recommended by the European Federation of Journalists and European Center for Press and Media Freedom, Reuters reported.

The London-based media trade magazine The Fix, which focuses on media in Europe, has also offered practical support, setting up partnerships with newsrooms to provide tech and relocation support, and regional hubs so journalists can keep reporting.

“In peaceful times, The Fix is a trade publication and knowledge hub that covers media management in Europe,” Zakhar Protsiuk, the outlet’s managing editor, told VOA via email. “[But] in the first hours of the Russian invasion, we reorganized our work to support Ukrainian media.”

The Fix, which has strong Ukrainian ties, said it was connecting European outlets such as the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Germany’s Axel Springer and others with journalists in need of equipment and support in Ukraine or help setting up hubs across Europe so they can keep publishing.

Protsiuk said they were working with independent media in Ukraine and partners in a nongovernmental organization, the Media Development Foundation.

“The Fix team has a lot of experience in working in difficult environments,” Protsiuk said. “My colleagues have been providing help for media working in eastern Ukraine; we are working with many Belarus independent media who had to flee the country.”

Members of the Council of Europe Platform to Promote Journalist Safety released a joint statement to demand the safety of news crews.

“We emphasize that journalists are considered civilians under international humanitarian law and are not legitimate targets,” the statement said.

The platform called for “urgent and practical international assistance and support” for those covering the conflict, saying independent news is essential in conflict situations.

“Their work helps keep people safe and ensures that the international community can understand the full consequences of this invasion and its appalling impact on human lives,” the statement added.
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US Sanctions Putin Inner Circle, Calls for Ukraine Aid as Russia Gains Ground

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Washington on Thursday heaped another round of sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and requested $10 billion in aid for the people of Ukraine, hours after Russian and Ukrainian officials said Russian forces took control of a strategic Ukrainian port city and shelled major cities in a weeklong offensive that has forced more than 1 million people to flee the besieged country.

“Today I’m announcing that we’re adding dozens of names to the list, including one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, and I’m banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families and their close associates,” Biden said Thursday ahead of a Cabinet meeting. “And we’re going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance.”

The administration requested $10 billion in supplemental funding from Congress “to deliver additional humanitarian, security and economic assistance in Ukraine and the neighboring region in the coming days and weeks,” said a statement from Shalanda Young, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. That money, she said, will cover defense equipment, emergency food aid, U.S. troop deployments to neighboring countries and stronger sanctions enforcement.

Among the newly sanctioned Putin allies is Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals. German authorities have seized his 512-foot yacht, estimated to be worth nearly $600 million. Under the directive, his private jet is also open to seizure. The directive also bans more than 50 wealthy Russians from traveling to the U.S.

The sanctions list also includes some of Putin’s oldest friends, a former judo partner and others with connections to the mercenary Wagner Group, and Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

“One of the big factors is of course the proximity to President Putin,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “We want him to feel the squeeze. We want the people around him to feel the squeeze. I don’t believe this is going to be the last set of oligarchs.”

She also again ruled out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“A no-fly zone requires implementation,” she said. “It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and causing – prompting – a potential direct war with Russia, the exact step that we want to avoid.”

On the ground

Moscow’s attempt to quickly take over the Ukrainian capital has apparently stalled, but the military has made significant gains in the south in an effort to sever the country’s connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Local government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of the strategic port of Kherson, the first city to fall in Russia’s week-old invasion of Ukraine, following days of disputed claims over who was in control. That city sits at the nexus of the Dneiper River and the Black Sea. A U.S. defense official said Washington was unable to confirm the development.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that they all remained in Ukrainian hands.

“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. “They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.”

Russian troops were besieging the port city of Mariupol east of Kherson, an attempt Mayor Vadym Boichenko said was aimed at isolating Ukraine.

“They are trying to create a blockade here,” Boichenko said Thursday in a broadcast video. He said the Russians were attacking rail stations to prevent civilian evacuations and that the attacks had cut off water and power.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited expectations ahead of the invasion that Russia would quickly overtake Ukraine, writing on Facebook, “No one, neither in Russia nor in the West, believed that we would last a week.”  He added that while there were challenges ahead, Ukraine had “every reason to be confident.” 

Giving peace a (second) chance

Also on Thursday, the two sides held a second round of peace talks in Belarus and agreed to set up humanitarian corridors with cease-fire zones so that civilians could safely flee. Ukraine had pushed for a general cease-fire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — who is also under direct U.S. sanctions — told reporters on Thursday that Russian forces would continue their effort to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure and would not allow its neighbor to represent a military threat to Russia.

In a 90-minute telephone conversation Thursday with Emmanuel Macron, Putin told the French president that Russia would achieve its goals, including the demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine, by any means necessary, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Macron told his Russian counterpart that the war he started against Ukraine was a “major mistake,” according to a French official. “You are lying to yourself,” Macron told Putin about the feasibility of his goals, said the official.

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The U.N. body said it expected 4 million people could leave Ukraine because of the conflict.

Ukraine’s emergency agency said Wednesday that Russia’s attacks had killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russia’s Defense Ministry put out its first casualty report, saying 498 of its troops had been killed in Ukraine, with more than 1,500 wounded.

Russians ‘stalled’ outside Kyiv

A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday that the Russian forces in northern Ukraine and outside Kyiv remained “largely stalled” despite U.S. assessments that 90% of the combat power that Russia prepared for the invasion had entered Ukraine.

The official said the cities in northern and eastern Ukraine, including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, were subjected Thursday to “heavy bombardment” but that Russian forces in the north were still facing stiff resistance.

“We continue to see them resist and fight and defend their territory and their resources quite effectively,” said the official, who added that Russia had launched more than 480 missiles since the invasion began.

Putin offered a more optimistic assessment Thursday, telling members of his security council on a video call that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was progressing “according to plan.”

“All tasks are being successfully carried out,” he said.  

The Pentagon announced Thursday that it was postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week. The decision came days after Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. Kirby added that the United States would like to see Moscow reciprocate by “taking the temperature down” in the crisis over Ukraine.  

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb, Istanbul Foreign Correspondent Heather Murdock and White House Correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Western Sanctions Push Russia Back to Soviet-Type Market

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It’s unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin expected the sanctions that followed his invasion of Ukraine. But their severity could have far-reaching economic consequences for Russia. Oksana Bedratenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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US States, Purdue Pharma Reach New Settlement in OxyContin Lawsuit 

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U.S. pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, the maker of opioid painkiller OxyContin, has reached a new settlement with eight U.S. states and the District of Columbia to pay up to $6 billion in damages for the company’s role in the U.S. opioid epidemic.

The deal, described in a court filing Thursday in White Plains, New York, came after the plaintiffs appealed an earlier settlement late last year, saying it did not properly hold the Sackler family, which owns the drug company, accountable. The new settlement includes more money and other terms, including an apology from the family.

In exchange, the settlement provides the Sacklers with protection from further litigation. It does not protect them from criminal prosecution, though there are no charges pending. 

In a prepared statement, the family said, “While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.”  

The plaintiffs in the case, which include numerous local jurisdictions as well as state attorney generals, maintained Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing of the highly addictive pain medicine. 

A report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that beginning in the late 1990s, doctors increased prescriptions of opioid medications after drugmakers assured them they were nonaddictive. That led to widespread misuse of both prescription and nonprescription opioids before it became clear that the medications could indeed be highly addictive. 

By 2017, HHS declared a public health emergency over opioid abuse. The agency said that in 2019, 10.1 million people were misusing opioids and 70,630 had died from overdoses.

The company has pleaded guilty of misbranding and fraud charges related to its marketing of OxyContin, though the Sackler family has denied wrongdoing. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Russian State Media Move to Alternative Video Streaming Site After Several Bans

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Following moves by tech companies and the EU to reduce the visibility of Russian state media site RT, the network says it will begin streaming its content on a YouTube-like platform called Rumble.

“RT gets ready to… Rumble: After a multitude of platforms have moved to knock out our broadcast and limit social media…,” RT wrote in a Thursday tweet.

According to a statement on the Rumble website, the company “was built on the belief that all creators should have the opportunity to freely express themselves and reach their followers without censorship or restrictions.”

As of Thursday, the RT livestream in English was still functioning on YouTube in the United States.

On February 27, the European Union announced it was “banning Russia Today and Sputnik from broadcasting in the Union.” YouTube reportedly also blocked RT in the EU.

Twitter announced Monday that it will start labeling and making it harder for users to see tweets about the invasion of Ukraine that contain information from Russian state media like RT and Sputnik.

Facebook has similar measures.

A popular streaming service called Roku removed the RT channel from its channel store in Europe, Reuters reported.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Authorities: More Than 200 Bandits Killed in Nigeria

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Nigerian authorities say security forces have killed more than 200 armed gangs, known locally as bandits, in four days of gun battles in central Niger state. Nigeria has been struggling to contain growing violence by armed groups known for mass kidnappings for ransom.

The Niger state commissioner for local affairs and internal security, Emmanuel Umar, made the announcement during a press briefing in Minna, the state capital, Wednesday.

Umar said the bandits were killed in gunfire exchanges with agents at various locations between Sunday and Wednesday and that operatives recovered scores of motorcycles and cattle. The commanders of the gangs were also killed.

Additionally, he said two officers were killed by the bandits and that injured personnel were receiving treatment.

During a televised interview with a Lagos-based television station, he said authorities were increasing the security presence on highways in the state.

“We’ve now increased our visibility on the road if you ask those who have traveled on that road today. You’ll see patrol teams,” Umar said. “I was on that road yesterday. This morning, I was on that road to ensure increased visibility of security men on that road.”

Authorities attributed the victory to a joint task force operation including local militias and community heads.

Nigeria has seen a rise in mass abductions and killings by bandits since late 2020. Thousands have been killed in violence, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes.

Early this year, Nigeria’s armed forces said they killed 537 ”armed bandits and other criminal elements.”

Monday Bala Kuryas is Niger state commissioner of police.

“We’re collaborating with the communities to give us vital information or intelligence to their (bandits) movements so that we can nip it in the bud earlier on,” Kuryas said. “We’re also collaborating with our neighboring states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi.”

Late last year, Nigeria labeled bandits as terrorist groups, allowing for stricter measures under the country’s laws.
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South Africa Criticized for Abstaining on UN Ukraine Resolution

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South Africa chose to abstain Wednesday when the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution calling on its BRICS partner, Russia, to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.  South Africa’s U.N. ambassador defended the move, but some South Africans were unhappy with the decision.

South Africa was one of 17 African nations that abstained.

In a statement, South Africa’s U.N. Ambassador Mathu Joyini objected to the phrasing of the resolution, saying it “does not create an environment conducive for diplomacy, dialogue and mediation.”

Political science professor Bheki Mngomezulu said South Africa is also influenced by its historical ties to the former Soviet Union.  

“There are a number of South Africans, most of whom are now in government, who trained both in Russia and Ukraine. So, they do have relations with Ukraine. And the majority of the people are of the view that the liberation struggle was supported solely by Russia in terms of these two countries, but the reality of the matter is all the countries that were part of the USSR participated in terms of assisting the liberation struggle not only in South Africa but in Africa in general,” Mngomezulu said.

The main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, released a statement condemning the country’s stance. The party’s shadow minister for international relations Darren Bergman said the party is shocked that South Africa could abstain from such a vote.

“This was an opportune time for South Africa to take a stand and to assert itself on the international stage,” Bergman said.

He said considering how hard South Africans fought to end the racially oppressive system of apartheid and get the right to vote, and how the international community helped them win their fight, they should’ve repaid the favor.

“An abstention or voting for Russia is pretty much the same language. It’s a vote against Ukraine. It’s a vote against peace, and it’s a condonation of the violence that’s currently taking place in Ukraine,” Bergman said.

Other South Africans added their voices to the chorus of disappointment, including analyst Mngomezulu.

“Of course, it doesn’t paint the country in a positive light, more especially because part of South Africa’s foreign policy agenda is to respect human rights, and in this case it’s clear that the human rights of the Ukrainians [have] been affected,” Mngomezulu.

Ronnie Gotkin, who was out for an afternoon stroll in the summer sunshine, said he was outraged.

“I think it’s pretty appalling. It’s not taking a moral stance. I understand that in the real world there are politics and allies, but sometimes morality should trump out,” Gotkin said.

In all, 141 nations voted in favor of the resolution, five nations, including Russia, voted no, and 35 abstained.

Eritrea was the only African nation to vote with Russia.
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US Secretary of State Blinken Heads to Eastern Europe

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U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Thursday for eastern Europe to hold meetings with NATO allies and other European leaders in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine.

 

In a release, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken will first travel to Brussels for a NATO Foreign Ministerial, as well as meet with his European Union counterparts for the G-7 Ministerial Meeting.  

 

Blinken travels to Poland on Saturday for meetings with Polish leaders, including Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, “to discuss further security assistance in the face of Russia’s continued aggression.”   

 

Price said the secretary of state also will thank Poland for generously welcoming hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from Ukraine and discuss how the United States can augment humanitarian assistance efforts for those fleeing Putin’s war.

 

Later Saturday, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Moldova to meet with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu to discuss   Moldova’s efforts to receive and assist refugees, and underscore U.S. support for that effort.

 

From March 6 through March 8, Blinken travels to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to meet with leaders in those countries to discuss joint efforts to support Ukraine, strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense, and promote democracy and human rights.

 

At a news briefing Wednesday, Blinken said intensive diplomacy with allies and partners continues with the aim of ending the crisis in Ukraine.   

 

He said, “If there are diplomatic steps that we can take that the Ukrainian government believes would be helpful, we’re prepared to take them — even as we continue to support Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.”

 
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UNEP Marks 50 Years of Fighting for Safe Environment

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The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) marked its 50-year anniversary Thursday at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Activists have criticized the organization as being slow to address global threats to the environment, such as pollution and climate change. But at the U.N.’s Environment Assembly this week over 100 nations pledged to negotiate a binding treaty to reduce plastic pollution.

UNEP’s chief, Inger Andersen, said Thursday the agency has contributed to saving the planet from harm and destruction.

“We saved millions of lives and protected nature,” she said. “We showed environmental multilateralism does deliver. That is a lesson that should inspire us today. Friends, there are other major achievements, the launch of the scientific body, the IPCC, the phase-out of lead and petrol and just yesterday, the resolution starting the pathway to a global plastic pollution deal to end plastic pollution for good.”

The resolution calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on how to handle the growing problem of plastic waste.

The UNEP was formed in Stockholm in 1972 and has been a key player in safeguarding the world’s plant species, wildlife, and climate.

The organization says its mandate is to bring the world together in tackling environmental threats.

Addressing leaders, delegates and environmental activists at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, praised its work.

“Progressively, over the last 50 years, UNEP has led the world to understand the centrality of the environment in human existence to appreciate the increased threats to the environment and also the existential threat that exists to our planet. They have also helped us galvanize collective global action to protect our environment,” he said.

Wanjira Mathai, the vice-president and regional director at the World Resources Institute, said enforcing agreed-upon environment policies and laws has been a challenge.

“I think enforcement is usually our biggest challenge because we make commitments but we don’t always follow through with enforcement. That’s the biggest opportunity for us, is to see them through,” he said.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi says implementing environmental laws and the agreement requires greater funding.

“Botswana continues to walk in the path provided by multilateral environmental agreements that she is a party to. However, with limited resources fulfilling these commitments continues to remain a challenge but we stand committed as Botswana, do not doubt it,” he said.

Andersen said her organization needs the support of all countries to achieve and deliver a stable climate and rich nature that benefits all.
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UN Refugee Chief: 1 Million Have Fled Ukraine in Russian Invasion’s First Week

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The United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees said Thursday that one million people have fled Ukraine in the past week alone, one of the fastest and largest mass exoduses of people in conflict situations in decades.  

“Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country,” Filippo Grandi said in a statement. “And unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine.”

Intensification of the Russian offensive has seen multiple cities across the country come under air and ground attack in the past week. Russian tanks and armored vehicles are continuing to roll through the country threatening several large cities.

Grandi told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that he had not seen “such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people – the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.”

He said unless there is an immediate halt to the conflict, people will continue to flee.

“We are currently planning – repeat: planning – for up to four million refugees in the coming days and weeks,” Grandi said Monday.

When he briefed the council on Monday, he said more than 280,000 people had fled to Poland alone. As of Wednesday, UNHCR said the number had nearly doubled to 547,982 people.

Numbers of refugees are also rising quickly in Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania and other European countries. Nearly 50,000 people, primarily from eastern Ukraine, have also sought refuge in Russia.

The U.N. Children’s agency, UNICEF, says half of those fleeing the country are children.

The U.N. appealed Tuesday for $1.7 billion to meet emergency needs inside and in neighboring countries for the next three months. Nations stepped up immediately with $1.5 billion in pledges. UNHCR hopes to assist 2.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers with money from the appeal.

The United States announced $54 million in new humanitarian funding last week for Ukrainians.  

“They are fleeing increasingly violent and widespread strikes by Russian forces against residential areas and infrastructure – from the shelling of hospitals and kindergartens to rockets targeting central city squares,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. “The human toll of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable attack against its sovereign neighbor is growing exponentially each day.”
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