A Kenyan court recently ruled that fathers could be granted custody of children below nine years of age instead of the children automatically going to their mothers. Children’s advocacy groups in Kenya welcomed the unprecedented ruling as a step forward for parental custody based on merit. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Month: April 2022
US Supports Sending Seized Oligarchs’ Assets to Ukraine
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the Biden administration supports legislation that calls for some of the proceeds being seized from Russian oligarchs to go “directly to Ukraine.”
“That’s not the current circumstance,” Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee as lawmakers questioned him about the property and assets the Justice Department is seizing from close wealthy associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin after his February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Justice Department, headed by Garland, launched a new unit, called KleptoCapture, to help enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, targeting their yachts, jets, real estate and other assets.
The expressed U.S. hope was that the Putin allies might pressure him to end his war against Ukraine. Some key Russian figures have voiced opposition to the invasion, but the Russian attacks continue, now concentrated in eastern Ukraine after Moscow failed to topple Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or seize the capital of Kyiv.
The Justice Department said earlier this month that its first seizure was a $90 million, 77-meter luxury yacht that Spanish law enforcement took control of at Washington’s request.
Garland condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine during his testimony, saying that the “horrible atrocities” that are being seen in videos and photos from the country “are the kinds of things anybody growing up in the 20th century never expected to see in the 21st again.”
your ad hereHarvard Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Role in Slavery
Harvard University is vowing to spend $100 million to research and atone for its extensive ties with slavery, the school’s president announced Tuesday, with plans to identify and support direct descendants of dozens of enslaved people who labored at the Ivy League campus.
President Lawrence Bacow announced the funding as Harvard released a new report detailing many ways the college benefited from slavery and perpetrated racial inequality.
The report, commissioned by Bacow, found that Harvard’s faculty, staff and leaders enslaved more than 70 Black and Native American people from the school’s founding in 1636 to 1783. For decades after, it added, scholars at Harvard continued to promote concepts that fueled ideas of white supremacy.
In a campus message, Bacow said many will find the report “disturbing and shocking,” and he acknowledged that the school “perpetuated practices that were profoundly immoral.”
“Consequently, I believe we bear a moral responsibility to do what we can to address the persistent corrosive effects of those historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our society,” he wrote.
Alongside its findings, the 130-page report includes recommendations that Bacow endorsed. The university will create a new $100 million fund to carry out the work, which include building stronger relationships with historically Black colleges and expanding education in underserved areas.
It also called on Harvard to identify the direct descendants of enslaved people and engage them through dialogue and educational support.
“Through such efforts, these descendants can recover their histories, tell their stories, and pursue empowering knowledge,” the report said.
Harvard is among a growing number of U.S. universities working to acknowledge and reckon with their historical ties to slavery.
Harvard began its work 2016 when former President Drew Gilpin Faust acknowledged that the school was “directly complicit in America’s system of racial bondage” and created a committee to study the topic. Bacow commissioned the new report in 2019, building on that work.
“The Harvard that I have known, while far from perfect, has always tried to be better — to bring our lived experience ever closer to our high ideals,” Bacow wrote. “In releasing this report and committing ourselves to following through on its recommendations, we continue a long tradition of embracing the challenges before us.”
your ad hereGunman Kills 3 in Russian Kindergarten
Russian state news agencies say a gunman opened fire in a kindergarten in the nation’s western Ulyanovsk region, killing two students and a teacher before killing himself.
The Tass news agency, citing a regional law enforcement official, said the attack occurred in the village of Veshkayma. They said the gunman burst in during “quiet time,” when the children were sleeping. From his Telegram account, regional State Duma deputy Sergei Morozov said the two children were 5 and 6 years old.
The regional Ministry of Health said another kindergarten employee was wounded in the hand and was being treated. The law enforcement officials suggest a domestic conflict may have been the motive for the shooting. They said the identity of the attacker has been difficult to establish.
Rosgvardia, Russia’s national guard, said the shooter was not the owner of the weapon and the rightful owner of the gun had obtained it legally.
Tass reported regional that Governor Aleksey Russkikh is flying to the site of the shooting and has ordered regional officials to provide emergency assistance to the families of the victims.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Malian Extremist Group Claims Abduction of Russian Mercenary
Al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali say they have captured at least one Russian mercenary from the Wagner Group, a private military company with alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Extremists linked to al-Qaida say in a statement they have abducted at least one Russian mercenary, who they describe as a “soldier of Russian Wagner forces.”
An Arabic version of the group’s statement claimed they abducted one Russian fighter, who they called a “criminal,” while the French version said they had taken more than one.
The statement also claims that Wagner forces took part in an operation in Moura, Mali, which it says killed “hundreds of innocents.”
Several countries have accused Mali’s military government of working with forces from the Wagner Group, a shadowy private company that has provided Russian mercenaries to several countries, including Libya, Syria and the Central African Republic.
The Malian government denies any links with the Wagner Group, saying it only works with official “Russian trainers.”
The Moura military operation mentioned in the extremists’ statement was the subject of a report by Human Rights Watch.
The report quoted witnesses who said “white soldiers” working with the Malian army killed 300 civilian men, some of them suspected Islamist fighters, during a five-day operation.
On Saturday, the French army released drone surveillance video, which they say shows mercenaries burying bodies in the sand near Gossi, Mali, where the French army withdrew from a military base last week.
Similar video circulated on Twitter two days earlier and accused French forces of killing the people seen in the video.
Speaking to AFP, the French military said the mercenaries staged the mass grave to tarnish the image of France.
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Price of Bread Up 100% in Zimbabwe Since Russia Invaded Ukraine
One of the citizens feeling the pinch of rising prices in Zimbabwe is Christine Kayumba. She says she can’t afford to buy bread for her four dependents on her salary of less than $250 a month — because a loaf now costs more than $2.
The high school English teacher says she cooks a bland, thin porridge three times a day, and rarely serves rice as it is now expensive too.
“This price increase of bread has reduced me to nothing,” she told VOA. “I don’t feel I am still the mother figure, the bread winner for my family. Because I am failing to provide, each and every morning they wake up crying for porridge, crying for bread.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, has led to bread prices soaring in importing countries like Zimbabwe. Most impacted are children, said Kayumba, as shortage means they are forced to seek food elsewhere.
“You see bread is something with these children. They want it. Even from next doors, if they see them [neighbors] drinking tea, they will eat there.”
Tafadzwa Musarara is the chairman of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, which imports grain. He said the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the main cause for the price hike.
“As early as November last year, we were unable to load wheat from that region because political tensions had gone high, and insurers revoked their coverages. This is a supplier who was supplying us with good wheat, accounting for 65% of the wheat that we need.”
Musarara said the impact of the crisis in Ukraine was immediately felt in Zimbabwe. “Suddenly we woke up without that supply… the inflation on the price of bread, the increase on the price of bread is an imported factor.”
Musarara added that a consignment of Zimbabwe’s wheat has been stuck in the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol for weeks now. He added that the war is pushing people to look for ways to meet the need in the country. “Now we are making our efforts to see how we can get [it] from other countries. [In] Australia, there is the issue of floods, which affected their agriculture. We are now pushing towards getting wheat from Canada and other countries.”
Andrew Matibiri is the CEO of Zimbabwe Agricultural Society, a group responsible for promoting agricultural development in the country. He said the current wheat shortage the country is facing can also serve as an opportunity.
“This is an opportune time for our farmers to produce more, for the government and the private sector to work together, hand in hand, to support farmers who want to go into wheat production,” Matibiri said. “And thank God! We have been having some late rainfalls, which have been helping land preparations. So, all in all, the future of wheat production in this country is good.”
Matibiri said he has confidence in his country’s capacity to face the challenge. “We have shown that we can produce enough for our needs and to produce even more so that we can export to neighboring countries and others who are in need of wheat.”
For Kayumba, that would certainly be good news since she can’t afford to buy bread for her family as it is currently double the price it used to be.
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US to Launch Strategic Dialogue with Solomon Islands to Counter Chinese Outreach
The United States will launch a high-level strategic dialogue with Solomon Islands in September to address mutual security concerns and enhance cooperation in public health, finance and other issues.
The latest U.S. diplomatic push came after the Pacific island nation signed a security deal with China that U.S. officials described as a “complete lack of transparency.”
“I think it’s clear that only a handful of people in a very small circle have seen this agreement,” said Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare “has been quoted publicly as saying he would only share the details with China’s permission, which I think is a source of concern as well,” Kritenbrink told reporters in a phone briefing Monday night.
Kritenbrink and White House Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell led a U.S. delegation that included Pentagon officials to Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands last week.
In a 90-minute meeting between American officials, Sogavare and two dozen members of his Cabinet on April 22, the United States made it “crystal clear” that it would “respond accordingly” to any attempt to establish a military base in Solomon Islands under its recent agreement with China.
U.S. officials declined to elaborate when asked if a U.S. military action can be ruled out if China tries to establish a military base in the south Pacific nation.
Citing China’s “problematic behaviors” that range from “advancing unlawful maritime claims to militarizing disputed features to engaging in illegal unreported and unregulated fishing,” Kritenbrink said the U.S. purpose was to communicate “in a very candid way” about the concerns over the security pact between Solomon Islands and China.
Monday in Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said “the speculation that China will build a military base in Solomon Islands is pure disinformation.” Wang insisted the security deal between China and Solomon Islands is “open, transparent, legitimate, lawful and irreproachable.”
Regional experts, including Richard Herr who is a law professor at the University of Tasmania, said there are reasons for a valid concern over the security deal given the way the draft was phrased.
“It gave the Chinese maybe the right to support any intervention” in the event of domestic turbulence, Herr told VOA.
“So in case Sogavare found himself losing an election, maybe he would want either a coup or as he suggested: postpone the elections in order to stay in power. And that’s why the agreement in so many ways is fraught with danger for China, as well as for Australia, and the friends of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific,” said Herr, who has advised several Pacific governments, including on democracy and governance issues
Sogavare has reiterated “specific assurances that there would be no military base….no long-term presence, no power projection capability” under the security agreement with China.
According to a leaked draft, China could send armed police and military forces if requested by the government of Solomon Islands. China could also be allowed to base its navy ships off the coast of the Pacific island nation, which is just several-thousand miles away from Australia.
VOA Seoul Bureau Chief William Gallo contributed to this report.
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US Cabinet Officials Pledge More Military, Diplomatic Assistance to Ukraine
In the highest-profile U.S. visit since the war began, two of President Joe Biden’s top Cabinet members visited Ukraine’s capital to offer President Volodymyr Zelenskyy another large arms package and to announce a new top U.S. diplomat — as Russia continues its deadly advance. This report from VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell.
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All-Private Astronaut Team Returns Safely From Landmark Space Station Visit
The first all-private astronaut team ever flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida’s coast on Monday, concluding a two-week science mission hailed as a landmark in commercialized human spaceflight.
The SpaceX crew capsule carrying the four-man team, led by a retired NASA astronaut who is now vice president of the Texas company behind the mission, Axiom Space, parachuted into the sea after a 16-hour descent from orbit.
The splashdown capped the latest, and most ambitious, in a recent series of rocket-powered expeditions bankrolled by private investment capital and wealthy passengers rather than taxpayer dollars six decades after the dawn of the space age.
The mission’s crew was assembled, equipped and trained entirely at private expense by Axiom, a five-year-old venture based in Houston and headed by NASA’s former ISS program manager. Axiom also has contracted with NASA to build the first commercial addition to and ultimate replacement of the space station.
SpaceX, the launch service founded by Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, supplied the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule that carried Axiom’s team to and from orbit, controlled the flight and handled the splashdown recovery.
NASA, which has encouraged the further commercialization of space travel, furnished the launch site at its Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and assumed responsibility for the Axiom crew while they were aboard the space station. The U.S. space agency’s ISS crew members also pitched in to assist the private astronauts when needed.
The multinational Axiom team was led by Spanish-born retired NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, 63, the company’s vice president for business development. His second-in-command was Larry Connor, 72, a technology entrepreneur and aerobatics aviator from Ohio designated the mission pilot.
Joining them as “mission specialists” were investor-philanthropist and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe, 64, and Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy, 52.
Connor, Stibbe and Pathy flew as customers of Axiom, which charges $50 million to $60 million per seat for such flights, according to Mo Islam, head of research for the investment firm Republic Capital, which holds stakes in both Axiom and SpaceX.
Fiery reentry
The splashdown, carried live by an Axiom-SpaceX webcast, was originally planned for last Wednesday, but the return flight was delayed, and the mission was extended to about a week due to windy weather. The potential costs of such an extension were factored into Axiom’s contracts with NASA and its customers, so none of the parties bore any additional charges, the company said.
The return from orbit followed a reentry plunge through Earth’s atmosphere generating frictional heat that sends temperatures surrounding the outside of the capsule soaring to 1,927 degrees Celsius.
Applause was heard from the SpaceX flight control center in suburban Los Angeles as parachutes billowed open above the capsule in the final stage of its descent — slowing its fall to about 24 kilometers per hour — and again as the craft hit the water off the coast of Jacksonville.
In less than an hour, the heat-scorched Crew Dragon was hoisted onto a recovery ship before the capsule’s side hatch was opened and the four astronauts, garbed in helmeted white-and-black spacesuits, were helped out one by one onto the deck. All were visibly unsteady on their feet from over two weeks spent in a weightless environment.
Each received a quick onboard checkup before they were flown back to Florida for more thorough medical evaluations.
“Everybody looks great and is doing reasonably well,” Axiom operations director Derek Hassmann told a post-splashdown news briefing, describing the astronauts as being “in great spirits.”
‘Low-Earth orbit economy’
Axiom, SpaceX, and NASA have touted the occasion as a milestone in the expansion of privately funded space-based commerce, constituting what industry insiders call the “low-Earth orbit economy,” or “LEO economy” for short.
“We proved that we can prepare the crew in a way that makes them effective and productive in orbit,” Hassmann said. “What it demonstrates to the world is that there is a new avenue to get to low-Earth orbit.”
Launched on April 8, the Axiom team spent 17 days in orbit, 15 of those aboard the space station with the seven regular, government-paid ISS crew members: three American astronauts, a German astronaut and three Russian cosmonauts.
The ISS has hosted several wealthy space tourists from time to time over the years.
But the Axiom quartet was the first all-commercial team ever welcomed to the space station as working astronauts, bringing with them 25 science and biomedical experiments to conduct in orbit. The package included research on brain health, cardiac stem cells, cancer and aging, as well as a technology demonstration to produce optics using the surface tension of fluids in microgravity.
It was the sixth human spaceflight for SpaceX in nearly two years, following four NASA astronaut missions to the ISS and the “Inspiration 4” flight in September that sent an all-private crew into Earth orbit for the first time, though not to the space station.
SpaceX has been hired to fly three more Axiom astronaut missions to ISS over the next two years.
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Nigerian Advocates Call for Rapid Roll-out of Malaria Vaccines
Days ago, Semina Samuel’s two-year old son woke up with a burning fever. She quickly took him to the community clinic where malaria was detected.
Samuel says this is the second time this month alone that she’s had to treat her son for the disease.
“We live close to the bush and there’s dust bin and stagnant water here,” Samuel said. “That’s what attracts the mosquitoes … we spent the night at the at the hospital and he was given some drugs.”
Health experts said Nigeria recorded more than 200,000 deaths from over 61 million cases of malaria last year.
The World Health Organization says 96% of malaria deaths occur in Africa and that Nigeria alone accounts for 31.9% of them. Children under five years old are the most vulnerable.
Last year, the WHO launched the first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, after tests showed it was safe and effective.
In a WHO broadcast Monday, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the vaccine to be adopted across Africa. “Today, WHO is recommending the broad use of the world’s first malaria vaccine. This is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control.”
However, the WHO warns that a vaccine roll-out could face hesitancy and accessibility issues.
Olanrewaju Akintobi is a program director at Wellahealth, a Nigerian tech-startup focusing on rapid malaria testing and treatment.
“If you’re introducing a new vaccine, it still has to go through the community acceptance process for them to really be sure of what you’re giving, and the vaccine is still at the pilot phase,” Akintobi said. “Is it going to be a one-time thing or a continuous vaccination process? Because mosquitoes are still very much around.”
Akintobi said vaccines do not eliminate the need for anti-malaria drugs just yet.
“I think beyond the vaccine, there’s still need for us to have a scalable system for people to have access to the medication, access to quality treatment when malaria cases happen and making sure there’s a quality health care service across board,” Akintobi said.
Pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) agreed to donate 10 million doses of Mosquirix for the pilot study nations and has pledged a yearly output of 15 million doses. But experts say more doses will be needed every year to reach the millions in need.
your ad hereZimbabwe Loaf of Bread Now Costs $2, A 100% Increase Since Russia Invaded Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, has led to bread prices soaring in importing countries like Zimbabwe. The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe has warned of possible bread shortages in the country after Ukraine was forced to suspend shipping. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, Zimbabwe.
Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe
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Turkish Philanthropist Jailed for Life After Widely Criticized Trial
A Turkish court sentenced Osman Kavala, a prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist, to life in prison without parole Monday after convicting him of trying to overthrow the government by financing protests.
Kavala, 64, has been in jail for the past 4½ years on charges that he helped finance and organize protests that began as small demonstrations in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 and morphed into mass anti-government protests.
Human rights groups say the case is politically motivated. Ten Western countries, including the United States, France and Germany, called for Kavala’s release in October on the fourth anniversary of his arrest.
The European Court of Human Rights has also demanded that Kavala be released, saying that his rights were violated. Turkey’s failure to comply with that order has led to proceedings that could see Turkey expelled from the Council of Europe.
The court in Istanbul on Monday also sentenced seven other defendants to 18 years each for aiding an attempt to overthrow of Turkey’s government. It acquitted Kavala on charges relating to a 2016 alleged coup attempt that the Turkish government blames on the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Kavala denies he was involved in any anti-government activity related to the protests in 2013. In defense statements Friday, Kavala said he only took food and face masks to peaceful protesters.
“The fact that I spent 4½ years of my life in prison is an irreparable loss for me. My only consolation is the possibility that my experience will contribute to a better understanding of the grave problems of the judiciary,” Kavala told the court by videoconference from Silivri Prison.
Supporters of Kavala and the other defendants sentenced Monday packed the courtroom in anticipation of the verdict and yelled out in protest after the sentences were announced.
Rights group Amnesty International called the conviction a “devastating blow.”
“Today, we have witnessed a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. This verdict deals a devastating blow not only to Osman Kavala, his co-defendants and their families, but to everyone who believes in justice and human rights activism in Turkey and beyond,” Nils Muiznieks, Amnesty International’s Europe director, said in a statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Kavala of working with U.S. billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who the Turkish leader alleges has financed insurrections in many countries.
Kavala told the court Friday via video link that ties between Soros and him are “fictional.”
He said the protests in Gezi Park were “unplanned and unexpected.”
“An attempt is being made to criminalize the Gezi Park events and to discredit the will of hundreds of thousands of citizens who participated in the events,” he said.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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UN Chief Guterres to Meet with Putin on Ukraine War
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is headed to Moscow for a meeting Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a renewed bid to try to get him to agree to a pause or end to his two-month assault on Ukraine.
Guterres’ spokesperson said the U.N. chief is later going to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, because Guterres feels there is a “concrete opportunity” for progress.
En route to Moscow, Guterres met Monday in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has attempted, but failed so far, to mediate an end to the fighting between Turkey’s two maritime neighbors.
“You can see that even the willingness of the parties to meet with him, to discuss things with him, is an opening,” Guterres spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters. “We will see what we can do, whether we can get a concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation. Whether we can get the fighting to stop for any period of time.”
Guterres has made repeated calls for a humanitarian cease-fire or a brief pause in fighting but has been unsuccessful.
Haq said he didn’t want to “oversell the possibility” that either of these could happen, cautioning that diplomacy is neither quick nor a magic wand. But he said Guterres is willing to take a chance to try to improve the situation.
“Because ultimately, if we can move ahead, even in small way, it will mean a tremendous amount to tens, even hundreds of thousands of people,” Haq said.
But Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador said Monday that a humanitarian cease-fire is unnecessary.
“We don’t think that a cease-fire is a good option right now, because the only advantage it will give — it will give possibility for Ukrainian forces to regroup and to stage more provocations like Bucha,” Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told reporters, referring to the Ukrainian town where Russian soldiers are accused of committing atrocities.
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Over 200 Reported Killed in West Darfur Tribal Clashes
Clashes between Arab nomads and local farmers in Sudan’s West Darfur state that killed more than 200 people over the weekend spread Monday to the state’s capital, Al Geneina, with the United Nations condemning the surge in violence.
The mayhem that began Friday followed the discovery April 21 of two nomads’ bodies near Hashaba village, outside of the town of Kreinik.
According to a preliminary report, 201 bodies have been identified in roads and other public places, but the death toll is likely to climb, said Assadiq Mohammed, head of West Darfur’s humanitarian department.
“Many people have been killed inside their houses. The situation is not conducive to carry out additional counts. Definitely, the number may increase,” Mohammed told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus on Monday.
The Displacement Tracking Matrix in Sudan, produced by the U.N. International Organization for Migration, estimates that 7,500 to 12,500 households around Kreinik sought refuge in a local military compound over the weekend.
Adam Zachariah, a physician at Al Geneina’s main hospital, spoke with South Sudan in Focus reporters Monday. He said armed Arab nomads had stormed the hospital, demanding treatment for their colleagues wounded in the clashes.
“The exchange of gunfire continues this morning,” Zachariah said, adding that six Sudanese soldiers reportedly were killed by the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.
Zachariah, who is in hiding, said he and other health workers have fled the facility.
“The situation in Al Geneina is tense and the main hospital is closed because health workers are not safe to carry out their duties. Some of us have been threatened, beaten and forced to treat wounded people,” Zachariah told VOA.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the fighting, which represents one of Sudan’s deadliest episodes in recent years. A statement released Monday said he deplored “the killings of civilians in Kreinik locality as well as the attacks on health facilities,” and called for “an immediate end to the violence.”
The U.N. Security Council ended its Sudan peacekeeping mission in 2020.
The Norwegian Refugee Council also called on all parties to immediately de-escalate and restrain from further harming civilians. “Safe and free passage of fleeing civilians and access for humanitarian assistance must be urgently restored,” said Will Carter, the organization’s country director in Sudan.
Sudan was plunged into political uncertainty after a military coup last October.
The World Food Program reported earlier this month that at least 18 million people across Sudan are likely to face acute food insecurity by September because of the combined effects of insecurity, economic crisis and poor harvests.
VOA’s Carol Van Dam contributed to this report.
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New York Judge Holds Trump in Contempt for Failing to Comply With Subpoena
A New York judge on Monday held former President Donald Trump in contempt of court for not producing documents subpoenaed in the state attorney general’s civil probe of his business practices, and ordered Trump to be fined $10,000 per day until he complies.
Trump lost a bid to quash a subpoena from state Attorney General Letitia James, then failed to produce all the documents by a court-ordered March 3 deadline, later extended to March 31 at his lawyers’ request.
Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that a contempt finding was appropriate because of what the judge called “repeated failures” to hand over materials and that it was not clear Trump had conducted a complete search for responsive documents.
“Mr. Trump … I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt,” the judge said, although Trump himself was not in the courtroom.
James is investigating whether the Trump Organization, the former president’s New York City-based family company, misstated the values of its real estate properties to obtain favorable loans and tax deductions.
James has said her probe had found “significant evidence” suggesting that for more than a decade the company’s financial statements “relied on misleading asset valuations and other misrepresentations to secure economic benefits.”
The attorney general has questioned how the Trump Organization valued the Trump brand, as well as properties including golf clubs in New York and Scotland and Trump’s own penthouse apartment in Midtown Manhattan’s Trump Tower.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump and the company, said at the hearing that James’ investigation was a “fishing expedition” and that the Trump Organization was “right on schedule” with its production of documents.
“This is a political crusade,” Habba said. “The attorney general’s investigation has seemingly become aimless.”
Trump, a Republican, denies wrongdoing and has called the investigation politically motivated. James is a Democrat.
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New Kenyan Play Targets Gender-Based Violence
Kenya saw a jump in cases of gender-based violence (GBV) during its COVID-19 lockdowns, which heightened social and financial stress. To address the problem, Kenyan authorities are turning to the dramatic arts.
At the Kenya’s National Theatre in Nairobi, some 65 young people are putting their acting skills to use, as part of Kenya’s latest strategy to educate the public about the evils of gender-based violence.
Titled “A Little Girls Worth,” the one-hour play by Kenyan playwrights Derrick Waswa and Tommah Sheriff, is a new production co-sponsored by the Ministry for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs. It tells a story of how despite their extraordinary contribution in society, women suffer disproportionately.
Derrick Waswa, the play’s director, said the goal is to sensitize the public on violence against women, which he said stems from cultural beliefs that a woman is part of a man’s possessions.
“Basically people are blaming the violence and not looking at the cause. What we are trying to explain is that the African cultural nature has made women to be submissive. From the bible, you are told to submit to your husband as it is to the Lord, and in this African set up where a man has to pay dowery for you, it means they are technically purchasing you,” he said.
A February 2022 report by the Kenya Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA Kenya) shows that cases of gender-based violence rose sharply during the pandemic, to the point where they made up nearly half the cases reported to the federation.
Authorities attribute the rise in these cases to the pandemic and the economic losses it caused.
The play premiered this month with a three-night run to audiences of 350 at the National Theater.
Audience members like Samson Osoro expressed hope that the dramatic arts will help change men’s mindset.
“This play will go a long way to also sensitize especially the men, who may be so unwelcome or harsh to our ladies, to know that ladies are also very important as men are. As a father I would really wish for my daughter to be treated in a better way than during the time of our mother and grandmother,” he said.
Njeri Migwi is the founder of Usikimye, an organization working to end sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya. The group’s name means “speak up” in Swahili.
Migwai told VOA that programs such as door to door campaigns will reach more people, but said the play is a step in the right direction.
“Art imitates life and so for the government to use that as a means of educating… one of the things that I have been very passionate about is calling the government to start educating people about the importance of them being aware of GBV and how to acknowledge one of the forms. So the government putting up the effort to put out a play is amazing,” said Migwai.
No further dates are set, but youth affairs authorities are hoping to show the play in social halls across the country.
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The Forgotten People, Cham Muslims Preserve Their Culture in Seattle
The turbulent 1970s brought a wave of immigrants into America from Southeast to escape war and persecution. One such group founded a home in the (Western) state of Washington to preserve their identities and continue to welcome new refugees. VOA’s Virginia Gunawan reports.
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As Ukraine War Rages On, Some Americans Seek to Join Fight Against Russia
There appears to be no end in sight to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the war enters its third month. Now, some Americans are trying to join the battle to defend Ukraine. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
Videographers: Alexander Barash, Dmitry Vershinin
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Cameroon: Separatists, Nigerian Militants Paralyze Border
Authorities in Cameroon say anglophone separatists have joined forces with Nigerian militants to shut down nearly all trade across the two countries’ border. Cameroon depends on Nigeria for 70% of basic commodities and most of them are transported across the land border. Authorities say about 90% of trade has been halted as militants from both sides attack and abduct merchants.
Njume Peter Ambang is a lawmaker from Cameroon’s restive southwest region on the border with Nigeria. He said fighters within the past two months have taken control of many businesses, including palm oil plantations in Ndian, a division in the Southwest region.
“Maritime business has collapsed. The oil business has all collapsed. Palm oil fields have been seized by the separatists. They harvest the crops, they mill and sell. These guys are working with area boys (armed groups) in Nigeria,” he said.
Ambang was speaking in the Ndian capital, Mundemba, Sunday during a meeting to plead with local fighters to drop their guns and stop harassing merchants.
Cameroon’s military says several hundred fighters chased from towns and villages during raids by government troops relocated to the border with Nigeria. The military says the fighters have killed at least two dozen merchants and abducted scores of others for ransom since January.
Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, or ADF, one of the largest separatist groups in Cameroon.
He said many fighters have been deployed to the border with Nigeria but denies they fled intensive fighting with Cameroonian government troops.
Daniel said Cameroon’s separatists collaborate with Nigeria’s Eastern Security Network of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a secessionist group that advocates for the creation of an independent state in eastern Nigeria.
Daniel said the Ambazonia and Biafra groups are collaborating to help each other and undermine government control of the border area.
“We want to put in place our own security network to regulate trade and to control the movement of goods and persons between Biafra and Ambazonia. We will no longer allow Cameroon and Nigeria to enforce their law on the border between Biafra and Ambazonia. We will put an end to the exploitation of the Biafra people as well as the Ambazonia people as we work in alliance with our counterparts across the border in Biafra land,” he said.
Daniel said the ADF and IPOB have been able to stop both Cameroon and Nigeria from collecting revenue from the sales of basic commodities and cash crops including rice, maize, tubers, plantain and cocoa in border localities.
He also said fighters are punishing merchants who collaborate with the two governments by paying taxes or agreeing to be escorted by government troops.
Nigeria and Cameroon have promised to crush all separatists who do not surrender.
The two countries’ governments announced in February 2021 that they would work together to combat separatists and armed groups.
Cameroon this week said it deployed more troops to the border to protect civilians, merchants and their goods.
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Gambian on Trial in Germany Over AFP Reporter Murder
A Gambian man went on trial in Germany Monday, accused of belonging to a death squad that assassinated opponents of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, including an AFP journalist.
The suspect, identified by media as Bai Lowe, is accused of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, including the 2004 killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara.
Lowe, 46, wore a black hooded coat and hid his face behind a green folder as he arrived in court in the northern town of Celle.
The trial is “the first to prosecute human rights violations committed in Gambia during the Jammeh era on the basis of universal jurisdiction”, according to Human Rights Watch.
Universal jurisdiction allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.
Outside the courtroom, activists held a placard demanding that Jammeh “and his accomplices be brought to justice”.
Lowe is accused of being involved in two murders and one attempted murder while working as a driver for the hit squad known as the Junglers between December 2003 and December 2006.
“This unit was used by the then-president of Gambia to carry out illegal killing orders, among other things” with the aim of “intimidating the Gambian population and suppressing the opposition”, according to federal prosecutors.
Hydara, 58, was gunned down in his car on the outskirts of the Gambian capital Banjul on December 16, 2004.
Lowe is accused of helping to stop Hydara’s car and driving one of the killers in his own vehicle.
Controversial column
Hydara was an editor and co-founder of the independent daily The Point and a correspondent for AFP for over 30 years.
The father-of-four also worked as a Gambia correspondent for the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and was considered a doyen among journalists in the tiny West African state.
In his newspaper The Point, he had a widely read column, “Good morning, Mr President”, in which he expressed his views on Gambian politics.
According to investigations by RSF, Hydara was being spied on by Gambian intelligence services just before his death.
Hydara was a tenacious and “really stubborn” journalist, according to his son Baba Hydara, 45.
“This is a day we have been waiting for for 18 years,” Baba Hydara told AFP outside the court.
“It’s an important day for justice but it is just the beginning of a long journey,” he said, expressing a hope that Jammeh will also “be judged”.
Prosecutors also accuse Lowe of driving members of the Junglers to a location in Banjul in 2003 to assassinate lawyer Ousman Sillah, who survived the attack with serious injuries.
‘Important day for justice’
In a third incident in 2006, Lowe is accused of driving members of the unit to a site near Banjul airport where they shot and killed Dawda Nyassi, a suspected opponent of the president.
The court heard that he arrived in Europe via Senegal in December 2012, seeking asylum as a political refugee who feared for his life under president Jammeh.
The evidence against him includes a telephone interview he gave in 2013 to a US-based Gambian radio station, in which he described his participation in the attacks, according to police.
Jammeh ruled Gambia with an iron fist for 22 years but fled the country in January 2017 after losing a presidential election to relative unknown Adama Barrow.
He refused to acknowledge the results but was forced out by a popular uprising and fled to Equatorial Guinea.
Lowe is the third alleged accomplice of Jammeh to be detained abroad.
The other suspects are Gambia’s former interior minister, Ousman Sonko, under investigation in Switzerland since 2017, and another former Jungler, Michael Sang Correa, indicted in June 2020 in the United States.
Patrick Kroker, a lawyer for Baba Hydara, told AFP outside the court that the opening of the trial was “an important day for justice”.
“We hope it will be a signal to… Switzerland and the United States, but also Gambia”, he said.
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Russia Claims It Prevented ‘Murder’ of Pro-Kremlin Journalist
Moscow said Monday it had arrested members of a “neo-Nazi terrorist” group in Russia who allegedly planned to assassinate pro-Kremlin TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov on orders from Ukraine.
“The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation detained a group of members of the neo-Nazi terrorist organization National Socialism/White Power, which is banned in Russia,” Russia’s FSB security agency said in a statement carried by news agencies, adding that those arrested are Russian citizens.
The FSB claimed the group was planning the “murder” of Russian TV and radio journalist Solovyov “on the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine”.
It added that the group “confessed to preparing the murder of Solovyov, after which they planned to flee abroad”.
According to the FSB, “fake” Ukrainian passports, arms, drugs and an improvised explosive device were found during a search of the detainees’ homes.
Speaking at a meeting of Russian prosecutors, President Vladimir Putin suggested Washington was involved in planning the “murder of a famous Russian TV journalist”, without naming him.
“They have resorted to terror! To preparing the murders of our journalists. We know by name the curators of Western secret services, primarily, of course, from the CIA, who work with the security agencies of Ukraine,” Putin said in televised remarks.
“Apparently they give such advice (to kill journalists). So much for their attitude towards the rights of journalists… (and) human rights in general,” Putin added.
A staunch supporter of Putin and Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, Solovyov is under EU sanctions for spreading state “propaganda”.
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US Diplomats to Begin Returning to Ukraine
American diplomats will start returning to Ukraine this week, first to the western city of Lviv and then eventually to the capital, Kyiv.
The United States is also providing further foreign military financing to Ukraine to help the country obtain more advanced weapons and air defense systems to fend off Russian attacks, according to senior U.S. officials.
U.S. President Joe Biden will formally nominate Bridget Brink, currently U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic, to be U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
“This would be to underscore our commitments (to Ukraine). We will seek to have our diplomats returned to our embassy in Kyiv as soon as possible,” a senior State Department official said.
Several European Union and NATO member countries are sending their diplomats back to Kyiv, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia. The U.K. government announced Friday that it would shortly reopen the British Embassy in Kyiv.
The return of foreign diplomats is seen as a sign of some semblance of safety in Ukraine after almost two months of Russia’s shelling and bombing.
“We intend to obligate more than $713 million in foreign military financing,” the State official said. “This includes funding for Ukraine and 15 other allies and partner nations in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Balkans. … And it will provide support for capabilities Ukraine needs, especially for the fight in the Donbas.”
With the new assistance in foreign military financing, the U.S. would have committed about $3.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began, and more than $4.3 billion since the start of the Biden administration.
Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in Kyiv.
Blinken and Austin’s visit to Ukraine is the highest-level visit by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine on February 24.
It also came ahead of Tuesday’s consultations between the U.S. and dozens of allies at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where Austin will discuss Ukraine’s long-term defense needs.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov will attend Tuesday’s meetings.
On Tuesday’s agenda: an update on battlefield conditions, Ukraine’s resistance amid Russia’s attacks, upcoming security assistance to Ukraine, and Ukraine’s willingness and ability to move away from Russian-made systems.
“This isn’t about (Ukraine’s appeal to) NATO membership. It’s about helping them with their long-term defense needs going forward with a potential migration away from Soviet systems,” a senior defense official said.
“One of the things we expect to talk about in Ramstein on Tuesday is additional contributions by allies and partners on the systems, weapons and ammunition that the Ukrainians need the most,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing in Poland on Sunday.
Kirby said the U.S. has accelerated major security assistance package deliveries to Ukraine in the past 10 days, and some of them are already arriving. The U.S. is not seeing any indication that those shipments are being interdicted by Russian forces.
Sunday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces launched a new airstrike on the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces have been holed up and defiantly refusing Russian demands to surrender.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a tight blockade of the facility that Russian forces have struggled to take over from perhaps thousands of Ukraine fighters and civilians who have remained in control of the plant with its labyrinth of tunnels and passageways.
In a lengthy Saturday night news conference in a Kyiv subway station, Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in terms of arms and security guarantees.
“You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,” he said.
In each of the past two weeks, President Biden has approved $800 million in shipments of more arms for Ukraine, along with $500 million in economic assistance.
With congressional approval for military assistance for Ukraine nearly exhausted, Biden said he would seek approval for more aid, part of the West’s arming of Ukraine in its fight against Russia that falls short of sending troops to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly pleaded for more heavy weapons, including long-range air defense systems, as well as warplanes.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Austin and Blinken was set to take place as Ukrainians and Russians observed Orthodox Easter. Zelenskyy is Jewish, but speaking from Kyiv’s ancient St. Sophia Cathedral, he cited Ukrainians’ wishes for the holiday.
“The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and, therefore, Ukraine will surely win!” he said.
But the Russian bombardment remains a constant threat for Ukraine. The Russian military reported that it hit 423 Ukrainian targets overnight, mostly in the eastern Donbas industrial region, and destroyed 26 Ukrainian military sites, including an explosives factory and several artillery depots.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement Sunday that it is “deeply alarmed by the situation in Mariupol, where the population is in dire need of assistance.” The ICRC said, “Immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access is urgently required to allow for the voluntary safe passage of thousands of civilians and hundreds of wounded out of the city, including from the Azovstal plant area.”
After the Blinken-Austin visit, Zelenskyy is set to meet Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.N. chief is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Monday and Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.
British officials said Saturday that Russian troops haven’t gained significant new ground despite announcing a renewed offensive along the eastern front, while Ukraine declared a nationwide curfew ahead of Orthodox Easter on Sunday.
Ukraine said Russian forces obstructed attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol.
“The evacuation was thwarted,” Mariupol city official Petro Andryushchenko said on Telegram, adding that about 200 people gathered at the government-appointed evacuation meeting point, but that Russian forces “dispersed” them.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Sudan Group Says Renewed Tribal Clashes Kill 168 in Darfur
A Sudanese aid group says that tribal clashes on Sunday between Arabs and non-Arabs in the war-ravaged Darfur region have killed 168 people.
Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, says fighting in the Kreinik area of West Darfur province also wounded 98 others.
He says the clashes first erupted Thursday with the killing of two people by an unknown assailant in Kreinik, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Genena, the provincial capital of West Darfur.
He says the militias known as janjaweed attacked the area early Sunday with heavy weapons and burned down and looted houses in the area.
The clashes eventually reached Genena, where militias and armed groups attacked wounded people while they were being treated at the city’s main hospital, according to Salah Saleh, a doctor and former medical director at the hospital.
Authorities have deployed more troops to the region since the fighting on Thursday left eight dead and at least 16 others wounded.
Sudan’s Darfur region has seen bouts of deadly clashes between rival tribes in recent months as the country remains mired in a wider crisis following last year’s coup, when top generals overthrew a civilian-led government.
The October coup has upended the country’s fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
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Egypt’s Government Frees 41 Prisoners Ahead of Eid Holiday
Egypt released more than three dozen prisoners on Sunday, a week before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is typically a time of amnesty, a political party and state-run media said.
Political activists and family members confirmed several high-profile detainees were freed.
The Reform and Development Party said those freed had been political prisoners being held in pre-trial detention. The English edition of the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said 41 prisoners in all were released.
The government’s human rights body said in a statement only that there had been a release of individuals held in pre-trial detention but gave no details.
The move came a week before the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramadan. It is typically a time when prisoners are released on presidential pardons, but the number of those freed was one of the largest in recent years. Thousands of political prisoners, however, are estimated to remain inside Egypt’s jails, many without trial.
Among the released was political activist Waleed Shawky, his wife, Heba Anees, said on social media. She posted a picture of the couple hugging.
Journalist Mohamed Salah was also released, activist Esraa Abdel Fattah said. And Nabeh Elganadi, a human rights lawyer, posted a picture with Radwa Mohamed, who was arrested after making videos posted on social media criticizing President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
Under broad counterterrorism laws, Egypt’s state prosecutors have often used vague charges to renew 15-day pretrial detention periods for months or years, often with little evidence.
On Sunday, Sanaa Seif, the sister of one of Egypt’s most high-profile detained activists, Alaa Abdel Fattah, said her brother had faced new ill-treatment in prison and he was on the 22th day of a hunger strike.
Meanwhile, new arrests are still taking place. On Saturday, the human rights lawyer Khaled Ali said several men in the country’s south had been arrested and accused of spreading lies after they sung a song about rising food prices in a video posted online.
The government of el-Sissi — a U.S. ally with deep economic ties to European countries — has been relentlessly silencing dissenters and clamping down on independent organizations for years with arrests, detentions and jail sentences, and other restrictions.
Many of the top activists involved in the 2011 uprising in Egypt are now in prison, most of them arrested under a draconian law passed in 2013 that effectively bans all street protests.
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