Month: March 2022

Liberal Moscow-based Russian Radio Station Closes After Pressure Over Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

Ekho Moskvy radio station, one of Russia’s last remaining liberal media outlets, has been dissolved by its board after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine, its editor said on Thursday.

The station, one of the leading news and current affairs channels in Russia, had been taken off the air on Tuesday though it appeared still to be broadcasting on YouTube after the board’s decision was announced.

Ekho Moskvy’s disappearance from the airwaves dealt another blow to independent media in Russia after years of intensifying pressure from the authorities.

“The Ekho Moskvy board of directors has decided by a majority of votes to liquidate the radio channel and the website of Ekho Moskvy,” Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov said on the messaging app Telegram.

Venediktov told Reuters this week that the station would not abandon the independent editorial line that has been its hallmark for three decades, declaring: “Our editorial policies won’t change.”

The board’s decision came after the prosecutor general’s office demanded this week that access be restricted to Ekho Moskvy and the TV Rain online news channel over their coverage of the conflict.

The prosecutor said its move was prompted by their websites’ “targeted and systematic posting … 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.

Russia rejects the term invasion, and says its actions are not designed to occupy territory but to destroy Ukraine’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists — a pretext rejected by Ukraine and the West as baseless propaganda.

Ekho Moskvy said on Tuesday that the accusations against it were baseless and offensive, and it would fight them in the courts.

Pressure on journalists

Russian journalists have faced an increasingly difficult environment in recent years, with many being designated by the authorities as “foreign agents,” a status that snares them in official paperwork and exposes them to public contempt.

Pressure has mounted since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, with most mainstream media outlets and state-controlled organizations sticking closely to language used by the Kremlin to describe the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment directly on the situation at Ekho Moskvy, saying the decision to close had been taken by its board of directors.

“The radio station violated the law. The right of the prosecutor general’s office to take appropriate measures was used,” he told a briefing.

Asked if Ekho Moskvy could resume operations in the future, Peskov said that was up to the station’s owners.
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Fewer Americans Apply for Jobless Benefits Last Week

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Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low number of layoffs across the economy.

Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.

In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number, which was its lowest level since March 14, 1970.

First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department releases its February jobs report on Friday. Analysts surveyed by the financial data firm FactSet forecast that the U.S. economy added 400,000 jobs last month.

In January, the U.S. economy added a whopping 467,000 jobs and revised December and November gains upward by a combined 709,000. The unemployment rate stands at 4%, a historically low figure.

The U.S. economy has rebounded strongly from 2020’s coronavirus-caused recession. Massive government spending and the vaccine rollout jumpstarted the economy as employers added a record 6.4 million jobs last year. The U.S. economy expanded 5.7% in 2021, growing last year at the fastest annual pace since a 7.2% surge in 1984, which also followed a recession.

Inflation is also at a 40-year high — 7.5% year-over-year — leading the Federal Reserve to ease its monetary support for the economy. The Fed has said it will begin a series of interest-rate hikes this month in an effort to tamp down surging prices.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low number of layoffs across the economy.

Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.

In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number, which was its lowest level since March 14, 1970.

First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department releases its February jobs report on Friday. Analysts surveyed by the financial data firm FactSet forecast that the U.S. economy added 400,000 jobs last month.

In January, the U.S. economy added a whopping 467,000 jobs and revised December and November gains upward by a combined 709,000. The unemployment rate stands at 4%, a historically low figure.

The U.S. economy has rebounded strongly from 2020’s coronavirus-caused recession. Massive government spending and the vaccine rollout jumpstarted the economy as employers added a record 6.4 million jobs last year. The U.S. economy expanded 5.7% in 2021, growing last year at the fastest annual pace since a 7.2% surge in 1984, which also followed a recession.

Inflation is also at a 40-year high — 7.5% year-over-year — leading the Federal Reserve to ease its monetary support for the economy. The Fed has said it will begin a series of interest-rate hikes this month in an effort to tamp down surging prices.
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Cameroon Says Rebel Bomb Kills Officials

Posted on by SeeAF

Anglophone separatists in Cameroon have claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday that killed seven people, including a senior official and a mayor. Cameroon’s military says the officials were on a tour to raise support against the rebels when a homemade bomb hit their car.

The government said the explosive device hit the officials’ car in Bekora village in the Ekondo Titi district of Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West region. The government says six officials, including Timothee Aboloa, highest government official in Ekondo Titi, Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroon’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, died on the spot.

Cameroon’s military said after the device exploded, separatist fighters hiding in a nearby bush started shooting.

Bernard Okalia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region. Bilai said several government troops sustained injuries, and a military official died while being rushed to a local hospital by the military. Bilai spoke during a press conference broadcast by local media including Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV.

“All the six occupants of the car died. The other forces of law and order [military] who were in the pickup following the [officials’] car was wounded. One young officer, a lieutenant, was wounded, and he too passed away. So, in that attack we have lost seven persons,” he said.

Bilai said the officials were on a meet-the-people tour of Ekondo Titi. He said during the tour, the officials were expected to educate civilians on braving separatists and relaunch economic activities in their towns and villages. Bilai said the officials were also asking civilians to report suspected fighters hiding in their towns and villages.

Cameroon’s military on Thursday said troops were deployed to Ekondo Titi shortly after the explosion. The military said the troops will track and arrest or kill the fighters should government troops face any resistance from the rebels.

Capo Daniel is the deputy defense chief of staff for the Ambazonia Defense Forces, said to be the largest separatist group in Cameroon.

Capo said separatists regret that one fighter has been missing since Wednesday’s attack. He said no fighter was wounded and none were killed by government troops in the Ekondo Titi attack, as reported by Cameroon military. Capo spoke to VOA via a messaging app.

“This operation is part of our liberation operations to end the Cameroon occupation and rule of Ambazonia territory. The divisional officer is in charge of coordinating Cameroon’s military operations and Cameroon’s occupation of Ambazonia territory. We will continue to battle and resist Cameroon rule of Ambazonia until the last Cameroon military is booted out of our territory,” he said.

Cameroon separatists have been fighting since 2017 to carve out an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking Cameroon. The separatists say their state will be called Ambazonia.

Fighters have vowed to attack any worker sent by the central government in Yaounde to the English-speaking western regions. The separatists say they will continue attacking government offices and staff until the central government withdraws its troops from the troubled Anglophone regions.

The United Nations says the conflict has left more than 3,500 people dead and 750,000 displaced.
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UN Environment Summit Adopts Historic Agreement on Plastic Waste

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The United Nations Environment Assembly, meeting in Nairobi, has adopted a resolution detailing what to do about plastic pollution. It calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on the full life cycle of plastics.

Delegates from 175 countries endorsed an agreement Wednesday that addresses plastic waste.

The United Nations says 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year, and that figure is set to double by 2040.

Rwanda is one of the countries that banned plastic in its territory and is pushing for a plastic-free world.

Rwanda’s environment minister, Jeanne Mujawamariya, said her country would benefit a great deal from global regulation of the use of plastics.

“If adopted, the creation of a legally binding instrument would be greatly significant for countries like Rwanda, where we have made good progress,” she said. “Systematic global change is needed if we are to clean up the current mess, develop sustainable alternatives and make them affordable.”

The debate surrounding plastic pollution has been on the U.N. agenda since 2012.

Recycling has remained one of the effective ways of reducing plastics. The Environmental Investigation Agency, an environmental nonprofit organization, said the existing method of managing plastic is not sustainable.

Less than 10% of plastic that has been produced is being recycled, 76% is discarded into landfills, and experts warn its production will triple by 2050.

Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, told the meeting attendees not to fear a future without plastic.

“While we have learned to recycle plastic, we need a far more robust approach to tackle this enormous problem and ensure systemic change through strong action upstream and downstream,” Mohammed said. “We must be ambitious and move faster to win this battle. This is going to require genuine collaborations and partnerships with a shared vision.

The fight against plastic pollution aims to reduce plastic going into the oceans by 80% by the end of the year 2040 and create 700,000 jobs by that time.

Jane Patton, the plastic and petrochemicals campaign manager at the Center for International Environmental Law, told VOA the agreement will mandate that companies producing plastics manage the waste being emitted.

“The resolution specifically calls for a legally binding instrument, which is good, as we have seen the companies that are producing this plastic waste and putting it into the environment, they don’t follow through commitments unless they are legally bound to do that,” she said. “And so, we are excited to see that the treaty will have both a mandatory and voluntary commitments by government, and that will affect companies to address this problem.”

The head of the U.N. Environment Program, Inger Andersen, said adopting the plastic treaty is the most important international environmental agreement since the 2016 Paris climate accord took effect. 
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Russian, Belarusian athletes barred from Beijing Paralympics – IPC

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Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred on Thursday from the Winter Paralympics in Beijing on the eve of the Games following threats of boycotts by other teams over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said.

Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion, which was launched a week ago.

The decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate as neutrals, saying that the governing body had followed its rules and that “athletes were not the aggressors.”

But that decision led to an outcry and threats from other countries’ National Paralympic Committees (NPC) to boycott the Games, IPC President Andrew Parsons told a news conference in Beijing.

“They told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Winter Games,” Parsons said.

“Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.”

Parsons said it was clear the situation put his organization in a “unique and impossible position” so close to the start of the Games, adding that an overwhelming number of members had been in touch and been forthright in their objections to Russia and Belarus taking part.

A 71-member Russian contingent and 12-member team from Belarus are already in Beijing for the Games, which begin on Friday.

Parsons said the Russian and Belarusian athletes were victims of the actions of their governments.

“Athlete welfare will always be a priority for us,” he said.

“If Russian and Belarusian athletes stayed in Beijing, nations were likely to withdraw, and a viable Games would not have been possible.

“The atmosphere in the Games village is not pleasant. The situation there is escalating and has now become untenable … The Games are not only about gold, silver and bronze, but also about sending a strong message of inclusion.”

Parsons said the IPC was likely to face legal consequences but was confident that the right decision had been made.

The IPC said earlier in a statement that following a specially convened meeting, its Governing Board has decided not to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part.
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Ukrainian Leaders Express Confidence One Week After Russian Invasion

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Ukraine marked one week since Russia invaded the country Thursday, as Russian forces shelled major cities and the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine exceeded 1 million people.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday they all remained in Ukrainian hands.  Unclear was the status of Kherson, with Russian troops present in the city amid disputed claims of who was in control.

“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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.”

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 are challenges ahead, Ukraine has “every reason to be confident.”

Thursday also brought the expectation of a second round of peace talks between the two sides, though there has been little sign of a potential breakthrough.  An initial meeting Monday yielded only plans for further talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation, but that Russia must first de-escalate.

“It’s much more difficult for diplomacy to succeed when guns are firing and tanks are rolling,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Blinken is traveling to Europe on Thursday for a series of meetings with NATO and other allies about their response to the Russian invasion.  NATO foreign ministers are holding an extraordinary meeting Friday in Brussels, and on Saturday Blinken travels on to Poland to discuss further security and humanitarian assistance to help refugees who have fled Ukraine.

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 has said it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine due to the conflict.

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

Russia’s Defense Ministry put out its first casualties report, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others were wounded.

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday Russian forces trying to take the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, were “stalled outside the city center.”

The forces, including a massive Russian convoy, have made “no appreciable movement,” the official said, adding Russian advances on other key cities, such as Chernihiv and Kharkiv had also stalled.

Meanwhile, shipments of defensive aid for Ukraine continued to arrive, according to U.S. officials.

The Pentagon on Wednesday also expressed concerns that Russian forces are getting more aggressive in their targeting, putting civilians and civilian infrastructure in greater danger.

The senior defense official said the U.S. believes that since the invasion began last Thursday, Russia has launched more than 450 missiles, but that Ukraine’s air and missile defense systems remain viable. 

The official said the lack of Russian progress around Kyiv, despite its superior firepower, could be attributed to factors including shortages of fuel and food, and a spirited defense by Ukrainian forces.

“It has slowed because of resistance from the Ukrainians that has been effective and quite creative,” the official said. “They have marshaled their assets quite well. … The will to fight is very strong, in terms of their armed forces but also in terms of their civilian population.”

“We also believe they [Russia] have had morale problems that has led to less than effective operational success,” the official added, cautioning that U.S. intelligence expects Russian forces will adapt in order to continue with the massive assault.

The Pentagon also announced that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week. The decision comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

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

Another factor that may be helping the Ukrainians is continued support from NATO and the United States.

Blinken said Wednesday the United States is imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia’s defense sector.

“In total, 22 Russian defense-related entities will be designated, including companies that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems – the very systems now being used to assault the Ukrainian people, abuse human rights, violate international humanitarian law,” Blinken said during a news conference.

Blinken said the United States would also “choke off Belarus’ ability to import key technologies” by imposing export controls on Belarus “to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for being a co-belligerent in President [Vladimir] Putin’s war of choice.”

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, correspondent Jamie Dettmer, Islamabad Bureau Chief Heather Murdock and White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press,  Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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One Week Into Russia’s Invasion, War Rages in Ukraine

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One week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces continue their push despite condemnation from the United Nations General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.
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Latest Developments in Ukraine: March 3

Posted on by SeeEU

Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine   
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Jan. 6 Panel Says Trump Engaged in ‘Criminal Conspiracy’

Posted on by SeeUS

The House Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about it and pressured state officials to overturn the results.

The committee made the allegations in a filing in response to a lawsuit by Trump adviser John Eastman. Eastman, a lawyer who was consulting with Trump as he attempted to overturn the election, is trying to withhold documents from the committee as it investigates the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The committee argued there is a legal exception allowing the disclosure of communications regarding ongoing or future crimes.

“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

The 221-page filing marks the committee’s most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear since lawmakers do not have the power to bring charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last year’s riot but has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump.

The brief filed Wednesday was in an effort by the committee to refute attorney-client privilege claims made by Eastman in order to withhold records from congressional investigators.

“The Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation,” Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s Democratic chairman, said in a statement. “But, as the judge noted at a previous hearing, Dr. Eastman’s privilege claims raise the question whether the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies in this situation.”

The filing also details exhibits from the committee’s interviews with several top Trump aides and even former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short.

The committee also said it found evidence that Trump sought to obstruct an official proceeding — in this case, the certification of the results — by trying to strongarm Pence to delay the proceedings so there would be additional time to “manipulate’” the results.

“The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress, but the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favor,” the filing states.
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Alabama Man Convicted of Seditious Conspiracy in US Capitol Riot

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An Alabama man affiliated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia group pleaded guilty Wednesday to seditious conspiracy for his actions leading up and through the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, making him the first person involved in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol to be convicted of the rarely used charge.

The sentencing guideline range for Joshua A. James, who also pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, was estimated to be from 7¼ to nine years in prison.

The 34-year-old from Arab, Alabama, acknowledged getting into a physical altercation with a police officer while inside the Capitol and participating in a plan to use force to hinder or delay the transfer of presidential power. James also agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating the riot, including testifying before a grand jury.

Authorities say James and others affiliated with the group rode golf carts to the Capitol, moved through the crowd in a military-style “stack” formation and went into the building.

James was accused of pushing past officers who tried to stop rioters from moving toward the Rotunda, joining others who confronted officers, and profanely proclaiming the building was his. A week before the riot, James said in an encrypted chat that he believed teams within the militia group were adequately armed, prosecutors said in court records.

While four other people connected with the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty to obstruction of Congress and a lesser conspiracy charge, James is the first among the 11 people associated with the group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge.

The seditious conspiracy prosecution is the boldest publicly known attempt so far by the government to prosecute those who attacked the U.S. Capitol. The group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, and others have pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy and other charges. A seditious conspiracy conviction carries a maximum penalty of 20 years, compared with five years on the lesser conspiracy charge facing other group members.

Those charged with seditious conspiracy are accused of working together to use force to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Authorities say participants discussed their plans in encrypted chats, traveled to the nation’s capital from across the country, organized into teams, used military tactics, stashed weapons in case they felt they were needed, and communicated with each other during the riot.

Prosecutors say the group set up a “quick reaction force,” or QRF, that kept guns at a hotel in nearby Arlington, Virginia, and were prepared to bring the weapons into Washington if Rhodes or associates believed the need arose. Days before the attack, one defendant suggested getting a boat to ferry weapons across the Potomac River. In the end, the QRF teams didn’t bring guns into Washington.

At the Capitol, Oath Keepers marched in two teams in stack formation, with team members advancing forward with one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them.

More than 750 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot. Over 220 riot defendants have pleaded guilty, more than 100 have been sentenced, and at least 90 others have trial dates.

The longest prison sentence handed down so far to a Jan. 6 rioter was given to Robert Palmer of Largo, Florida.

Palmer, who was sentenced to 5½ years in prison, acknowledged hurling a wooden plank at officers protecting a Capitol entrance, spraying a fire extinguisher, and then throwing it when it was done.

The attack resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer. More than 100 officers were injured. Rioters caused over $1 million in damage.  
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Russia Media Regulator Moves to Block VOA

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Moscow’s media regulator threatened on Wednesday to block access to VOA’s Russian news network.

In a notice sent to VOA, the regulator Roskomnadzor said that the network’s Russian-language site had 24 hours to remove content that Moscow deems “illegal” or be blocked.

In another sign of the importance all sides attach to how the war is reported to their publics, the European Union announced Wednesday a ban on broadcasts and websites affiliated with Russian state-funded media outlets RT and Sputnik for spreading disinformation.

VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lopez said the network was aware of the media regulator’s order but could not comply.

“This kind of accurate, credible journalism is the reason why our audience in Russia engages with VOA. We find any attempts to interfere with the free flow of information deeply troubling and consider this order in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies,” Lopez said in a statement.

“The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press and, therefore, we cannot comply with the Roskomnadzor’s request,” she added.

The VOA news website is one of a dozen media outlets to be blocked or threatened with fines by Roskomnadzor since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Most warnings relate to content that Moscow deems to be false or that gives information about troops and casualties.

Current Time, a daily news show produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in partnership with VOA, and RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities were blocked on Sunday.

RFE/RL and VOA are independent, taxpayer-funded networks under the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor removed the independent broadcasters TV Dozhd and Ekho Moskvy from the airwaves.

Ekho Moskvy’s chief editor, Alexei Venediktov, said the station would contest the regulator’s decision in court, The Associated Press reported.

“We see a political component in it, as well as the introduction of censorship, which is directly prohibited by the Russian Constitution,” Venediktov said.

The regulator’s warning to VOA came on the same day that the European Union said it would ban Russian state media including Sputnik and RT. EU operators will be banned from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of content from Sputnik and RT.

“Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

Social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube said they would comply with the ban.

Roskomnadzor on Wednesday appealed to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, to lift restrictions on the Rossiya Segodnya group that oversees Sputnik and RT.

In a statement, the regulator said the restrictions prevented internet users from accessing “independent sources and aim to create distorted perception of the events.”

Media solidarity

The international community and media watchdogs have condemned attempts by Russia’s media regulator to censor or restrict independent reporting on the war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, Teresa Ribeiro, media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, called on Russia to “safeguard the free flow of information and media freedom in line with OSCE commitments and international obligations.”

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) described Roskomnadzor’s actions against Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd TV as concerning, saying their “news and information services have been essential for Russian citizens.”

“The AIB stands in solidarity with all journalists and media colleagues who are bringing essential news and information from Ukraine to audiences in the country and around the world,” AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick told VOA via email. “It is essential that they are allowed to work unhindered and without threat to them and their families.”

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also decried Moscow’s attempts to block news.

“Russian authorities’ restricting of social media platforms and independent media outlets is clear censorship and undermines the free flow of information,” CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said Tuesday.

VOA’s Russian-language service is a 24/7 TV and digital news network aimed audiences in Russia, where access to independent news is limited.
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US Urges Taliban to Allow Free Passage of Afghans

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Amid concerns over new Taliban travel restrictions and a halt in evacuation flights from Afghanistan, U.S. officials are urging the group to honor their commitment to provide safe passage for Afghans seeking to leave the country.

Following their takeover of Afghanistan in August, the Taliban pledged to let all people with proper travel documentation leave, acquiescing to international demands for their unrestricted departure.

A State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that officials had raised concerns over the restrictions with the Taliban.

“Our ability to facilitate relocation for our Afghan allies also depends on the Taliban living up to its commitment of free passage,” the spokesperson said in response to a query from VOA. “We have reiterated this point to them.”

Writing on Twitter, Ian McCary, the U.S. chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, said Wednesday that “all people with valid travel documents should be able to depart the country.”

The comments came after top Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a press conference over the weekend that authorities in Afghanistan would stop Afghans from trying to leave the country without an “excuse.”

“I have to say clearly that persons who leave the country along with their families have no excuse … we are preventing them,” Mujahid said.

Hugo Shorter, the British chargé d’affaires, called on the Taliban to clarify the remarks. “Such actions undermine both commitments to the international community and the trust of Afghans,” he tweeted.

Amid the uproar, Mujahid on Tuesday appeared to walk back his comment.

“My remarks about Afghans going abroad was only Afghans who do not have legal documents and are going abroad illegally will be prevented,” he tweeted. “Our compatriots who have legal documents and invitations can travel outside the country and can return to the country.”

Asked by VOA about a separate reported Taliban directive to officials at Afghan ports of entry to stop anyone who has worked with U.S. and NATO forces, Mujahid said, “This report may not be correct.”

The directive was obtained and published by the Afghan news site 8am.af.

Despite Mujahid’s reassurances, the Taliban’s policy on travel remains unclear, leaving in limbo tens of thousands of Afghans who are seeking to evacuate. According to Matt Zeller, a U.S. Army veteran and co-founder of the nonprofit No One Left Behind, more than 250,000 Afghan allies eligible for special immigrant visas and U.S. refugee status remain in Afghanistan.

Since August, when the U.S. military led the evacuation of more than 124,000 people following the Taliban takeover of the capital, Kabul, the State Department and private organizations have chartered aircraft to airlift some of those left behind.

About 10,000 Afghans have gotten out over the past six months, according to Alex Plitsas, chief operating officer and spokesperson for Human First Coalition, a humanitarian organization. He estimates that private groups have spent roughly $100 million on the evacuation process.

But an apparent row between the Taliban and Qatari officials has brought the evacuation flights to a halt in recent weeks, according to several people familiar with the process.

The last State Department-chartered flight from Kabul to Doha was on January 26, and “then it shut down again,” a U.S. government official familiar with the situation said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The [State Department] pipeline is paralyzed, but that seems to have more to do with whatever is going on between the Taliban and Qatar,” the official said. “They are looking for other options in the region.”

The State Department spokesperson did not respond to a question about the date of the last official evacuation.

The spokesperson, however, said the department continues “to facilitate the safe and orderly travel of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Afghan allies and their eligible family members who wish to leave Afghanistan.”

“As we’ve said before, we will be relentless in this effort as we stand by our Afghan allies and their families,” the spokesperson said.

VOA State Department bureau chief Nike Ching and VOA Afghan Service’s Najiba Khalil contributed to this article.
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China Positions Itself as Mediator Between Russia, Ukraine

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China is positioning itself as a mediator between war-divided Russia and Ukraine so as to be seen as a global leader and earn points in the West, analysts say.

At Ukraine’s request, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked by phone Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ukraine is “open to a negotiated settlement” with Russia, Xinhua reported. Kuleba said his country “stands ready to strengthen communication with the Chinese side and looks forward to China’s mediation in achieving a cease-fire,” the report said.

Helping to stop the war would make China seem more intent on establishing peace in Europe than on maintaining its post-Cold War friendship with Russia, which is unpopular in the West, experts say.

A mediation attempt, they say, would also divert international attention from China’s controversial goal of unifying with self-ruled Taiwan. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has not ruled out using force, if needed, to capture it.

Any effort to stop the Ukraine war “improves China’s position from being just a passive actor to showing some leadership role,” said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“The longer it [China] stays quiet, the more it undermines the already hard work that China has put in to portray itself as a responsible global leader,” he said.

Western leaders have described China as an expanding military power in Asia and a threat to Taiwan, which is a democracy with strong support in Europe and North America. China has the world’s largest population, at 1.4 billion; second-biggest economy, at $18.1 trillion; and the third-strongest armed forces after the United States and Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last year that China would never “invade or bully others, or seek hegemony,” Xinhua reported.

When asked about Ukraine at a news conference last month, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said that respect for the sovereignty of all countries was China’s “consistent and principled position.”

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate that China is not a revisionist power, that it respects international law, respects sovereignty. And if that was the case, then China would likely take a much stronger position on the Ukraine,” said Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo.

Successful mediation would particularly help China “win kudos with Europe,” Thayer said. That relationship, he said, could lead to more pan-Eurasian trade. In 2020, China was the third-largest partner for European Union exports and the largest partner for EU imports.

Before the call between foreign ministers, China had avoided siding openly with Russia regarding its invasion of Ukraine despite its long, deepening friendship with Moscow. Russia is a former Cold War ally of China and was the anchor of the former communist-run Soviet Union.

China shuns the word “invasion” in describing the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But it did not join Russia in vetoing a U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the attack. Its U.N. ambassador has suggested that Ukraine form a “bridge” between the East and West

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday lamented the spread of “jokes of bad taste” about the war in “some ill-intentioned media.”

Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities Wednesday as both sides indicated a willingness to resume talks aimed at ending the war.

Ukrainian authorities say the attacks have killed more than 2,000 people in homes, hospitals and kindergartens.
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Eight US States Investigate TikTok’s Impact on Children 

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A consortium of U.S. states announced on Wednesday a joint investigation into TikTok’s possible harm to young users of the platform, which has boomed in popularity, especially among children. 

Officials across the United States have launched their own investigations and lawsuits against Big Tech giants as new national regulations have failed to pass, partly because of partisan gridlock in Congress. 

The consortium of eight states will look into the harm TikTok can cause to its young users and what the company knew about such possible harm, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said a statement.  

Leading the investigation is a coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

The investigation will focus, among other things, on TikTok’s techniques to boost young user engagement, including efforts to increase the frequency and duration of children’s use. 

“We don’t know what social media companies knew about these harms and when,” Bonta said in a statement.  

“Our nationwide investigation will allow us to get much-needed answers and determine if TikTok is violating the law in promoting its platform to young Californians,” he added. 

TikTok’s short-form videos have boomed in popularity with the youngest users, prompting growing concern from parents over the potential that their children could develop unhealthy use habits or be exposed to harmful content. 

TikTok welcomes investigation

The platform welcomed the investigation as a chance to provide information on its efforts to protect users. 

“We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community,” TikTok’s statement said. 

“We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens,” it added. 

Social media’s impact on young users came under renewed scrutiny last year when Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked a trove of internal company documents raising questions over whether it had prioritized growth over users’ safety. 

The documents were given to lawmakers, a consortium of journalists and U.S. regulators by Haugen, who has become a figurehead of criticism of the leading social media platform. 

Despite media attention on the issue and hearings before U.S. lawmakers, no new rules have gotten close to being enacted on the national level. 

States have instead proceeded with their own efforts to look into Big Tech companies. 

For example, a consortium of U.S. states announced a joint probe in November of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, for promoting the app to children despite allegedly knowing its potential for harm. The consortium of attorneys general, states’ top law enforcers and legal advisers, included some of the same states as Wednesday’s probe, like California and Florida.

Instagram sparked fierce criticism for its plans to make a version of the photo-sharing app for younger users. It later halted development. 
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African Student Fleeing Ukraine Describes Difficulties Crossing Border to Safety

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A number of Africans fleeing the war in Ukraine say they have had trouble getting out of the country and have even experienced occasional acts of aggression. VOA spoke to Liberian medical student Augustine Akoi Kollie, who shared his experience at the Ukraine-Romania border. Betty Ayoub has the story, narrated by Carol Guensburg.
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Video Game Company to Remove Russian Teams From Soccer, Hockey Games

Posted on by SeeEU

Following a spate of real-world bans of Russian athletes from international competition over the country’s invasion of Ukraine, a popular video game company said Wednesday it would start removing Russian teams from some of its most popular products.

EA Sports, which makes popular soccer and hockey video games, said it has “initiated processes” to remove the Russian national team and Russian clubs from its products.

“In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online,” the company said in a statement. “We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games.”

The company added that it stands “in solidarity” with the Ukrainian people and called for an end to the invasion.

According to the British newspaper The Mirror, there are three Russian club soccer teams in the FIFA 22 game, including CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Spartak Moscow. 

The Russian men’s national soccer team is also available for video game players to choose.

Following Russia’s invasion, many sports federations, including soccer, ice skating, tennis and others, banned or barred Russian athletes from competing using the national flag at competitions.
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Roman Abramovich Confirms He will Sell Chelsea

Posted on by SeeEU

With the threat of financial sanctions looming, Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirmed Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment.

The speed of Abramovich’s pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend to relinquish some control in order to keep the club under his ownership.

But as Russia’s war on Ukraine entered a seventh day, pressure was growing on the British government to include him among the wealthy Russians to be targeted in sanctions.

“In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club’s sponsors and partners,” Abramovich said in a statement.

Abramovich said he will not be asking to be repaid 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in loans he has granted the club during 19 years of injecting cash to elevate the team into one of the most successful in Europe. The Blues won the Club World Cup for the first time last month — in front of Abramovich in Abu Dhabi — after securing a second Champions League title last year.

“I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated,” he said. “The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”
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Senate Committee To Consider Supreme Court Nominee March 21

Posted on by SeeUS

Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will begin March 21 and end March 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday.

“As I have said from the time that Justice Breyer announced his retirement, the Committee will undertake a fair and timely process to consider Judge Jackson’s nomination,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote. “I look forward to Judge Jackson’s appearance before the Committee and to respectful and dignified hearings.”

If approved by the Senate, the current federal appellate judge will make history as the first Black woman to sit on the country’s top court.

At her 2021 confirmation hearing for the appellate court, she said, “I’ve experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable — I hope it would be valuable if I was confirmed.”

During the 2020 presidential campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden promised to nominate an African American woman to the highest court.

Jackson, a liberal whose nomination is supported by progressive groups, would replace another liberal, Justice Stephen Breyer, who intends to retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term.
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Nigerian Women Demand Greater Representation in Parliaments

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Women’s rights groups protested in Nigeria’s capital Wednesday to demand greater representation of women in the country’s parliaments. Lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that would set aside 20 percent of seats for women, but protesters say one-fifth is not enough.  

Some 200 women barricaded the entrance of the Nigerian National Assembly, holding up posters and banners and singing songs. The protesters, including market women, civil servants and various professionals, prevented lawmakers from entering their offices Wednesday.  

Protesters say they were not satisfied with Tuesday’s vote to increase women’s share of parliament seats at both the state and national levels to 20 percent — nearly triple the current rate of seven percent. They want 35 percent of seats to be allocated to women.  

“We need new ideas, new minds and diverse views, which is why we are pushing for women,” said Cynthia Mbamalu, an organizer of Wednesday’s protest. “If we have women in government, there will be an assessment of policies and laws from both male and female lens and we are looking at issues that affect women, children and young people from a diverse perspective. We cannot expect development or things to change if decisions are made by the same kind of people.” 

Hansatu Adegbite, who heads the Women in Business Initiative, also took part in the protest. 

“Women have to arise, enough is enough,” she said. “I am appealing to every single woman in any sector, arise and let us take over this nation. It is about all of us and we are here to take over this nation once and for all.” 

Nigeria’s lawmakers began an exercise this week to review the country’s national constitution of 1999. 

Women’s representation in Nigeria’s parliament, at around 4%, is among the lowest in the world. Activists say patriarchy and cultural biases are some factors influencing women’s low participation in government. 

Lawmakers responded to the protesters after hours of demonstrations. 

Deputy chief whip Sabi Abdullahi promised the protesters that their demands will be reviewed.  

“The conversation we’re having now is a good step and I want us to look at it as work in progress and as we talk, we understand the issues, I’m sure we can get somewhere,” Abdullahi said. 

Africa has seen an increase in the number of women in parliament, but a European research group, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, says African countries are unlikely to reach the U.N. goal of gender parity in politics by 2030. 

Nigerian protesters said African countries like Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana are getting more women involved in key economic and political positions. 

 
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As Conflict Spreads to South Burkina Faso, So Do Human Rights Abuses

Posted on by SeeAF

Burkina Faso’s six-year conflict with terrorist groups has spread to the southwest of the country and is beginning to spill into neighboring countries. The conflict is also sparking accusations of human rights abuses.

Binta Sangare, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, says armed men entered her house one night in November, shouting and shining flashlights on her.

She says they kidnapped her husband and disappeared into the night.

She says, just after the men left, she heard gunshots and that seven people were killed that night. Local people found the bodies of six and the last one a few days later. Her husband’s body was among them and later buried.

She says the men who took her husband away were Burkinabe security forces. At her husband’s funeral, they came again and detained people from the Fulani ethnic group, she says.

“They came to kidnap and kill without cause or investigation. That makes us scared every day,” she told VOA.

Burkina Faso has been battling armed groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida for six years.

In the last year, the conflict has spread south. Reports of extrajudicial killings by Burkinabe forces — known as the FDS — have increased.

Rights groups say there is a common misconception that Fulanis are behind many of the terror attacks and say Fulanis make up the majority of victims of pro-government forces.

VOA spoke with seven witnesses in the southwest municipality of Djigoue, who said relatives were abducted or killed by security forces in November. Some alleged that government-backed civilian militia groups, or VDP’s, have been involved in the deaths and disappearances.

One witness, whose identity has also been protected, said the Dozos, a militia group, shot and killed his nephew. He says terror attacks have increased and security forces are relying on the Dozos to maintain security.

He says the FDS are staying in their bases and letting the Dozos go out into the bush… “At first the FDS were accompanied by the Dozos, and they were interrogating all ethnic groups. But, since things are in [the Dozos’] hands, they are only interested in the Fulani,” he added.

One Burkinabe human rights group — The Collective Against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities — says 17 people were murdered in Djigoue in November.

In a VOA interview, the group’s founder called on leaders to act.

He urges them to suspend the operations of the VDPs and the armed civilians, adding that the group strongly hopes leaders take into account the international respect of human rights and the sacredness of human life.

Human Rights Watch says the FDS — which took power from a democratically elected government in January — has carried out many extrajudicial killings since the conflict began.

“To the best of my knowledge, no one, no security force members have been held accountable for these very serious allegations of abuses in counter terrorism operations.”

The FDS did not respond to a request for comment.
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As Conflict Spreads in Burkina Faso, So Do Accusations of Human Rights Abuses

Posted on by SeeAF

Burkina Faso’s six-year conflict with terrorist groups has spread to the southwest of the country and is beginning to spill into neighboring countries. The conflict is also sparking accusations of human rights abuses, as Henry Wilkins reports from southwest Burkina Faso.
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Spain’s Ham Wars Reflect Changing Attitudes on Animals

Posted on by SeeEU

As Spanish Catholics prepare to give up meat on Fridays as part of the holy season of Lent, a government minister sparked a political row after suggesting eating less meat would be a good idea.

Spain is Europe’s biggest exporter of ham and jamón as it is known in Spanish, is a national gastronomic icon, along with paella or Rioja wine.

So, when Spain’s consumer affairs minister, Alberto Garzón, recently suggested eating less meat would help combat climate change and that said industrial farms could cause pollution, it prompted a fiery national debate about farming methods.

He voiced support for traditional livestock farming methods in which cattle or pigs are allowed to graze.

“That is sustainable; what isn’t sustainable is these so-called mega farms,” Garzón said in an interview with The Guardian, a British newspaper.

“They find a village in a depopulated bit of Spain and put in 4,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 head of cattle. They pollute the soil; they pollute the water and then they export this poor-quality meat from these ill-treated animals.”

The main opposition conservative People’s Party seized on the dispute to try to win over disaffected voters in rural areas.

Pablo Casado, leader of the People’s Party, said in a speech earlier in February  that voters needed “more farming and less communism” – a reference to Garzón’s membership of the far-left United Left party which was linked to the Communist Party.

The dispute created a breech in Spain’s coalition government between the moderate the center-left Socialists and their junior partners, the far-left Unidas Podemos.

Spain’s government said last week that mega farms, which contain more than 10,000 animals, made up only 0.016% of all farms in the country.

Anger

As the debate heated up, angry farmers who were new seeking licenses to open new farms in Lorca, in Murcia, southeastern Spain, stormed the local council last month. Seven were charged with public order offenses and will stand trial later this year.

In Lorca there are 2,040 farms, of which 663 are pork farms, the city council said.

Another town in the Murcia region is Jumilla where 16 pig farms house 240,000 animals, according to the environmental group Save Our Land, or SOL.

The group’s Cati Rodriguez claimed that waste from the animals passes into the local water supply and contaminates the drinking water supply.

“We get our water supply from aquifers but there are such high levels of animal waste that it passes into the water supply. Tests carried out with Greenpeace last year found the level of nitrates was 50% per liter which is above the safe level for human consumption,” she told VOA.

She said the problem was not limited to Jumilla but existed across Spain.

VOA contacted Cefusa, which is responsible for the farms in Jumilla. A spokesperson, who asked not to be named in accordance with company policy, said Cefusa strictly complies with current environmental legislation. “We have adapted our facilities and our production model to the requirements established in the different environmental prevention regulations applicable at the regional, national and European levels in recent years,” the spokesperson said.

In the neighboring region of Castilla la Mancha, home to Miguel de Cervantes’ famously errant knight Don Quixote, there are 1.7 million pigs, according to Spanish government figures.

Emiliano Garcia-Page, the Socialist regional president, has insisted that despite criticism from environmentalists, conditions in large industrial farms comply with European Union health and safety regulations.

As if to prove his point, he invited Garzón to visit a farm.

“When you know how (these farms) work from the inside and how the agri-food industry works, you will see Spain has extraordinary levels of quality and guarantees. Otherwise, you are going to spend your life without being able to order a sausage or a steak,” he said.

Jamón not only holds a symbolic position in society but in economic terms, it is the country’s second most important agricultural export after fruit and vegetables.

In 2020, meat brought $6.09 billion in revenue compared with $7.88 billion from fruit and vegetables.

Germany had long been the largest producer of pork in the European Union but an outbreak of African Swine Fever in 2020 meant Spain took over as the largest exporter to the lucrative Chinese market.

There are several types of Spanish ham which is produced in different ways.

At the top end of the market is jamón iberico de bellota, which is made from black pigs. They are allowed to graze for years in meadows and are fed on acorns and herbs.

Jamón iberico de cebo is made from animals who are fed on animal fodder and cereals. Both are regarded as delicacies as well as jamón serrano.

Processed ham is generally produced in industrial-scale farms in which hundreds, or thousands of animals are kept.

Changing attitudes

Attitudes towards the way animals are treated are changing in Spain.

A survey published in January by the BBVA Foundation, associated with Spain’s second largest bank, found most Spaniards polled reject their use in circuses, bullfights and for use to research cosmetics.

Eight out of ten people said they considered animals should be respected, in the survey of 2,000 people.

Animal rights organizations have carried out a series of high-profile undercover investigations to expose alleged abuse of animals on farms.

The directors of Los Hermanos Carrasco, the company which controls a pig farm in Totana, in Murcia, are to stand trial accused of alleged animal cruelty and offenses against public health after an investigation by Igualdad Animal. They deny the allegations.
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EU Bans RT, Sputnik over Ukraine Disinformation

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian state-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik will be banned in the European Union with immediate effect for systematic disinformation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 27-country bloc said on Wednesday in an unprecedented move.

The sanction means EU operators will be prohibited from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of any RT and Sputnik content.

Broadcasting licenses or authorization, transmission and distribution arrangements between the two companies and their EU counterparts will also be suspended.

The ban applies to RT’s English unit and operations in Britain, Germany, France and Spain.

“Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. “It is also a significant and direct threat to the Union’s public order and security.”

Facebook owner Meta FB.O, Alphabet Inc’s Google GOOGL.O, YouTube and TikTok are already blocking access to RT and Sputnik in the EU. Twitter TWTR.N has said it will comply with the EU ban.
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Biden: Putin Miscalculated on Ukraine-the West is United

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In his first State of the Union address, U.S. President Joe Biden touted his success in uniting much of the world against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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