Month: July 2022

Jan. 6 Committee: New Video and Witnesses on Capitol Riot

Posted on by SeeUS

Forty minutes before the start of the January 6 committee hearing Thursday the freezing cold Caucus room in the House Cannon building was fully packed: journalists were wedged tightly around a few tables behind the seats for witnesses, while members of Congress who were not part of the committee were in the second row. Only Congressional Democrats were present.

The committee showed video of rioters trying to get to the House chamber where the joint session of Congress to certify the vote was being held. A camera caught the leader of the House Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who appeared visibly scared by the insurrection. She was present at the hearing and got emotional after watching herself during the attack.

In an interview with the Voice of America, Jayapal said: “Honestly, it was so difficult to watch and just knowing that we were here together and at that moment experiencing the trauma of fearing for our life. But tonight, I also felt outraged that this criminal traitor was in the White House and caused all of this violence. And the violence hasn’t gone away. It’s still in our cities. It’s still happening, but people believe that the election was stolen. It’s unbelievable to me as an immigrant who came here at 16 because I thought this was the greatest democracy in the world, that this is what we’re watching.”

The committee presented new raw videos of Trump’s preparations to record his speech after the riot. His gestures are angry while he negotiates with his daughter, Ivanka, over the text of his video statement. While rehearsing, he said, “I don’t want to say the election is over!”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called Trump and pleaded for help, also called family members, describing the situation on the ground as “very ugly.”

Vice President Mike Pence was too close to rioters chanting “hang Mike Pence” for his security team’s comfort. A witness, whose identity was not revealed by the committee, said members of the vice president’s security detail feared for their lives and called to say goodbye to their families.

Previous hearings

The January 6th committee so far has held eight hearings this summer, the first on June 9. During the first seven hearings, members of the committee laid out the structure of their findings on the attempts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Each hearing has served to present different angles of their findings with topics including the involvement and preparation of far-right groups participating in the riot, Trump’s allegations of massive electoral fraud in the state of Georgia even though none was ever documented, the attitude of several White House officials to the narrative of a stolen victory and attempts to pressure Pence to reject the results of Electoral College.

Personal testimony, such as statements of U.S. Capitol Police officers who faced off with rioters, election workers who were harassed after being accused by Trump of election fraud, a Trump supporter who came to the January 6 demonstration and then marched to the U.S. Capitol, and witnesses, added context to each hearing.

Members and staff of the January 6th committee interviewed behind closed doors more than 1,000 people. The list included close Trump confidantes, such as former Trump attorneys Giuliani and Sidney Powell, retired General Michael Flynn, former White House legal counsels Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann, an assistant to the White House chief of staff Cassidy Hutchinson, members of the Trump family, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and some Cabinet members, including former Attorney General William Barr and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley.

Two Republicans agreed to serve on the nine-member committee – and they were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, instead of their party leadership.

Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, directly addressed members of her party during the first hearing.

“I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible,” she said. “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

McCarthy, a Trump supporter, has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the committee.

Jason Jay Smart, an American political consultant who has advised on international as well as U.S. Republican campaigns, said he views the existence of the January 6 investigation and the timeline of its hearing as a “political campaign to make Trump look bad.”

“Why this allegation is different, why it’s happening right now, it’s also a question. It’s not a coincidence that two years after the event, it happens right now specifically before the (midterm) elections, which are in three months,” Smart said. “If you look back on the impeachment, [this] is something that won’t really hurt Trump in the long term, in the short term it will. It also will not change his core voters, who will not change their opinion based upon this, but those who are undecided probably will have a negative opinion of him for the time being.”

Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M University associate professor whose area of focus is government, has conducted research on public rhetoric and the American political culture.

Mercieca said the committee has presented a strong case about Trump’s role in the insurrection. She said it is important the January 6 committee asked for testimony from members of the former Trump administration, as well as people who were part of far-right movements, such as the Oath Keepers.

“I think that even if you distrust the motives of the committee members or the Democratic Party, the January 6th committee has provided evidence that is solely from Republicans who worked with Trump in his administration. Those people who have testified for the committee have done so incredibly, while they and their family’s safety were at risk,” she said. “There’s nothing for them to gain from testifying, which means that they are truth-tellers in the classic sense.”
…

your ad here

Ukrainian First Lady’s Washington Trip Bearing Results, President Says

Posted on by SeeUS

The results of the Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington are beginning to materialize, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Thursday.

Zalenskyy said U.S. Senators James Risch, Benjamin Cardin, Roger Wicker, Richard Blumenthal, Rob Portman, Jeanne Shaheen and Lindsey Graham presented a draft resolution on recognition of Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide.

“According to the draft document,” Zelenskyy said, “the U.S. Senate condemns Russia for committing acts of genocide against the people of Ukraine; calls on the United States, together with NATO and EU allies, to support the government of Ukraine to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people; supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel accountable for war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”

“With all its terrorist attacks against Ukrainians and our country, Russia is only burying itself,” Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said that after holding a meeting with his military leaders and staff earlier in the day they concluded, “We have a significant potential for the advance of our forces on the front and for the infliction of significant new losses on the occupiers.”

However, Russian forces have again pounded Ukrainian cities with long-range strikes, just a day after Russia’s foreign minister warned that Moscow is preparing to expand its war in Ukraine beyond the Donbas.

Ukrainian officials Thursday said Russian shelling hit multiple districts, including a market in Kharkhiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing three people and wounding 23 others.

Regional governor Oleg Synegubov said the dead included one child, while police and other officials said there were no military targets in the area.

“The Russian army is randomly shelling Kharkiv, peaceful residential areas, civilians are being killed,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Also Thursday, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told the Reuters news agency that Russian missile strikes destroyed two schools in Ukrainian-held Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, while at least one missile hit the city of Bakhmut.

The renewed shelling and missile strikes come just one day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state-run media outlets that Russia is looking to expand operations due to ongoing weapon deliveries to Ukraine from the United States and other Western countries.

“Now, the geography has changed,” Lavrov told the state news RT television and RIA Novosti news agency. “It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk. It’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and several other territories. This process is continuing, consistently and persistently.”

Western intelligence officials, however, are casting doubt on Russia’s ability to make good on its threat.

“I think they’re about to run out of steam,” Richard Moore, the chief of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service, told an audience at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, Thursday.

“Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower, material over the next few weeks,” he said. “That will give Ukrainians the ability to strike back.”

Estonia’s foreign intelligence chief echoed similar sentiments late Wednesday.

“I am cautiously confident that Ukraine will defeat the Russian army in Ukraine sooner or later,” Mikk Marran, the director-general of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, told the Aspen Forum.

“It will not come easily. It will take time and Ukraine probably might not be able to liberate all of the occupied territories, but strategically speaking Putin will not succeed,” he added.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Russian forces were continuing small-scale assaults along the front line in the Donbas region, the part of eastern Ukraine that has been a focus of its war. 

The ministry said in its daily assessment that Russia was likely closing in on the Vuhlehirska power plant, northeast of Donetsk, and that Russian forces were prioritizing capturing critical infrastructure sites.

The U.S. on Wednesday announced plans to send four more such rocket systems to Ukraine, along with more artillery rounds.

“Ukrainian forces are now using long-range rocket systems to great effect, including HIMARS provided by the United States, and other systems from our allies and partners,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday at the Pentagon. “Ukraine’s defenders are pushing hard to hold Russia’s advances in the Donbas.”

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Ukrainians have been using U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launchers to hit Russian command centers and supply lines.

The future, Milley said, will depend on the number of long-range rockets and ammunition the Ukrainians have.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press,  Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

your ad here

Nigeria’s Solar Sisters Bring Clean Energy to Communities

Posted on by SeeAF

Nearly half of Nigerian households rely on high-polluting generators due to the country’s poor infrastructure and soaring fuel prices, according to a joint report by research firm Stears and Nigeria’s Sterling Bank. A new group called Solar Sister is helping women and girls access solar power and become more financially independent. Timothy Obiezu has more from Abuja, Nigeria. Camera: Emeka Gibson and Timothy Obiezu
…

your ad here

Calls Rise in US Congress to Designate Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism

Posted on by SeeUS

As the war in Ukraine approaches the end of its fifth month and Russian attacks on civilian sites are reported on a near-daily basis, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to officially designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

This week, according to reporting by Politico, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that if he does not exercise the power delegated to him by Congress to make the designation, lawmakers themselves will do so.

Russia is already under crippling sanctions, imposed by the U.S. and a host of other countries, but official designation as a state sponsor of terrorism would up the ante in some significant ways. Where the international components of current sanctions have been carefully coordinated, the state sponsor of terrorism designation could trigger a stricter regime of penalties that could apply to third-country parties doing business with Russian individuals and companies.

In addition, the designation would waive Russia’s sovereign immunity in the U.S., opening the door for Americans harmed by the war in Ukraine to file civil lawsuits against the Russian government in U.S. courts.

Administration reluctant

Pelosi is the most senior lawmaker to advocate for the administration to take action, but she is not the first. Earlier this month, Senators Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, traveled to Kyiv to highlight legislation they introduced in May that would make the designation official.

A bill with the same aim was introduced in the House by Representatives Joe Wilson, a Republican, and Ted Lieu, a  Democrat.

However, the Biden administration has appeared reluctant to take that step. In the past, a State Department spokesperson has said that the existing regimen of sanctions is sufficient to achieve the administration’s purposes.

Also, the state sponsor of terrorism designation would trigger “secondary” sanctions that the U.S. would have to apply to individuals and countries outside the U.S. who do business with Russia. Such a designation could complicate efforts to hold together a broad coalition of countries that are putting pressure on Russia to halt its aggression in Ukraine.

A potential new precedent

John Herbst, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003-06, told VOA that, in his mind, there is little doubt that Russia has met the requirements to be designated a sponsor of terrorism.

“I believe that violence directed at civilians for political aims is one of the definitions of terrorism,” said Herbst, now the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “If that’s right, then clearly the Russian government is pursuing a policy of terrorism.”

However, he pointed out that in the past, nations subject to the designation have been no more than regional powers at most.

The U.S. currently considers four countries to be state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. In the past, the list has included Iraq, Libya, South Yemen and Sudan, but those countries have since been removed from the list.

Adding Russia to the list would be a significant departure from past practice and would set a new precedent.

A ‘blunt instrument’

Herbst, who has been a vocal critic of what he calls the Biden administration’s “slow and timid policy of supplying Ukraine,” said that he would support the state sponsor of terrorism designation for Russia but with some reservations.

“I support it, but it’s not my highest priority,” he said. “If the administration was completely sound on weapons and sanctions, we wouldn’t need it at all. Because they’re not, I can see the utility of the designation. But generally speaking, I’m not fond of blunt instruments myself. I’d rather have the flexibility.”

Ingrid Brunk Wuerth, the Helen Strong Curry Chair in International Law at Vanderbilt Law School, agreed that the sanctions that come with a state sponsor of terrorism designation may be more broad than is necessary to further punish the Kremlin, considering that “Russia is under an enormous amount of pressure from U.S. sanctions as it is.”

In addition, though, Wuerth said that she is particularly concerned about the effects of opening up Russia to civil lawsuits filed by Americans.

Loss of ‘bargaining chip’

In theory, U.S. claimants would be entitled to sue to recover damages against Russia — damages that could be paid out from Russian assets currently frozen in U.S. financial institutions.

In the past, she said, frozen assets have been used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with hostile foreign governments. For example, she pointed to the release of frozen Iranian assets as an element of the Algiers Accords of 1981, which ended a long-running U.S. hostage crisis in Iran.

“If we give the money that we have to American claimants, it’s not available as a bargaining chip against Russia,” Wuerth said. In addition, she said, because the law limits those eligible to file lawsuits to American citizens and employees of the U.S. government, it would mean that damages recovered by Americans would reduce the pool of funds available to compensate the Ukrainian government and its citizens.

Wuerth noted that the U.S. is not the only country holding frozen Russian assets, and that if others followed the United States’ lead and allowed their citizens to sue for damages, that would further erode the pool of money that might be used to directly aid Ukraine.

Zelenska address

The discussion about further actions to punish Russia’s aggression against Ukraine took place during the same week that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, visited Washington and delivered an address to a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members on Wednesday.

She said that Russia’s “unprovoked invasive terrorist war” is “destroying our people” and recounted the stories of some of the untold number of civilians, many of them children, who have died in the nearly five months since the war began.

“I am asking for weapons — weapons that will not be used to wage a war on somebody else’s land but to protect one’s home and the right to make up a life in that home,” Zelenska told lawmakers. “I am asking for air defense systems in order for rockets not to kill children in their strollers … and kill entire families.”

In her weekly press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Pelosi praised Zelenska’s speech, and made a further case that Russia’s actions in Ukraine have gone beyond waging war, crossing the boundary into war crimes.

Pelosi decried “the tragedy of what is happening to children and women and the rest in the course of this war, how the Russians have used rape as a weapon of war, when it is indeed a war crime.”

She alleged that rape, in particular, is happening not because of the decisions of individual soldiers, but on the orders of Russian commanders, as a means of “demoralizing” the Ukrainian people.

“Congress will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight to defend democracy, not only for their own people, but for the world,” Pelosi said.
…

your ad here

Jan. 6 Probe: Trump ‘Chose Not to Act’ on Mob Violence

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year said then-President Donald Trump chose not to act for more than three hours as thousands of his supporters rampaged through the Capitol trying to block the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

“President Trump sat at his dining table and watched the attack on television while his senior-most staff, closest advisers and family members begged him to do what is expected of any American president,” Representative Elaine Luria, a Democratic committee member, said.

Representative Adam Kinzinger, another committee member, said Trump failed to act because the mob had stopped the certification.

“The count ground to an absolute halt and was ultimately delayed for hours. The mob was accomplishing President Trump’s purpose, so of course he didn’t intervene,” Kinzinger, a Republican, said. “President Trump did not fail to act. … He chose not to act.”

The nine-member House of Representatives committee investigating the mayhem showed a montage of videotaped testimony from key Trump White House aides, and presented live testimony from two more, to support their allegation that Trump watched the insurrection on television and did nothing to stop it for hours.

In his opening remarks, Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who is the chairman of the committee, said, “For 187 minutes on January 6, this man [Trump] of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved. Not by his aides, not by his allies, not by the violent chants of rioters, or the desperate pleas of those facing down the mob. He could not be moved.”

Luria had told CNN earlier this week that the panel would explore “minute by minute” what Trump was doing for three hours and seven minutes on the afternoon of Jan. 6 — from the end of his speech at a rally urging his supporters to walk to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to finally telling them they should disperse.

“Within 15 minutes of leaving the stage, President Trump knew that the Capitol was besieged and under attack,” she said Thursday night.

Late into the hearing Thursday, Luria said Trump failed to take any action “for a cornerstone of our democracy” – the peaceful transition of office.

Vice-chairperson and Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican, said that Trump was confident that he could persuade his supporters that the election was stolen, which she said amounted to him “preying on their patriotism.”  Cheney described Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6 as “indefensible.”

Cheney swore in two new witnesses — former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews and former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, both of whom quit the day of the insurrection in protest of Trump’s reaction to the riot.

Matthews provided details of what she saw in the White House that day, including whether Trump knew the violence had broken out when he took aim at then-Vice President Mike Pence in a 2:24 p.m. tweet complaining about Pence’s refusal to block certification of Biden’s victory.

Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

“He shouldn’t have been doing that,” Matthews said. “He should have been telling these people to go home and to leave and to condemn the violence.”

Trump had implored Pence both privately and publicly before the riot to send the election results back to the states he narrowly lost so new electors favoring Trump could replace the official ones favoring Biden. Constitutional experts say that would have been illegal.

In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each state’s number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Biden’s eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.

Matthews said in a clip from her video deposition, “I remember us saying that that was the last thing that needed to be tweeted at that moment. The situation was already bad. And so, it felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire by tweeting that.”

Pottinger told the panel that Trump’s tweet prompted him to resign.

“I read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign,” he said in his video deposition. “That’s where I knew that I was leaving that day once I read that tweet.”

Earlier videotaped witnesses at the hearings, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser, said the president ignored their entreaties to publicly call off the rioters.

Trump eventually released a videotaped statement after 4 p.m. asking the rioters to leave the Capitol. In another tweet sent later, he appeared to justify the mob’s actions.

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” he wrote. “Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Trump, who has strongly suggested he will make another run for the White House in 2024, to this day claims he was cheated out of reelection. He has often derided the Jan. 6 investigative panel, posting a message Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social that the committee “is a Fraud and a disgrace to America.”

Trump has said he would consider pardoning the more than 800 protesters arrested during the rioting if he becomes president again.

Thursday night’s public hearing originally was set to be the last, but now committee members say they are continuing to gather information about the riot. Cheney said in her closing remarks that there would be a new hearing in September.   
…

your ad here

Tunisia Standing at Crossroads With Constitutional Referendum

Posted on by SeeAF

Exactly a year after Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, fired his government, suspended parliament and seized sweeping powers, its citizens vote Monday, July 25, on a draft constitution that critics fear could pull the fledgling Arab Spring democracy back to authoritarian rule. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Tunis.
…

your ad here

Supreme Court Won’t Let Biden Implement Deportation Policy

Posted on by SeeUS

The Supreme Court won’t allow the Biden administration to implement a policy that prioritizes deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. 

The court’s order Thursday leaves the policy frozen nationwide for now. The vote was 5-4 with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in saying they would have allowed the Biden administration to put in place the guidance. 

The court also announced it would hear arguments in the case, saying they would be in late November. 

The order is the first public vote by Jackson since she joined the court June 30 following the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer. 

The justices were acting on the administration’s emergency request to the court following conflicting decisions by federal appeals courts over a September directive from the Homeland Security Department that paused deportation unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or “egregious threats to public safety.” 

The federal appeals court in Cincinnati earlier this month overturned a district judge’s order that put the policy on hold in a lawsuit filed by Arizona, Ohio and Montana. 

But in a separate suit filed by Texas and Louisiana, a federal judge in Texas ordered a nationwide halt to the guidance and a federal appellate panel in New Orleans declined to step in. 

The judge’s order amounted to a “nationwide, judicially imposed overhaul of the executive branch’s enforcement priorities,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a court filing. Prelogar is the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer. 

In their Supreme Court filing, Texas and Louisiana argued that the administration’s guidance violates federal law that requires the detention of people who are in the U.S. illegally and who have been convicted of serious crimes. The states said they would face added costs of having to detain people the federal government might allow to remain free inside the United States, despite their criminal records. 

The guidance, issued after Joe Biden became president, updated a Trump-era policy that removed people in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties.
…

your ad here

Dozens Facing Charges in Connection with Violent Protests in Malawi

Posted on by SeeAF

Police in Malawi said about 76 protesters are expected to appear in court Friday to face charges of unlawful assembly and inciting violence. This follows their arrest Wednesday when protests against the high cost of living led to clashes with police and the looting of shops in the capital, Lilongwe.

The clashes started after the High Court of Malawi granted an injunction to business owners who wanted to block the protesters, fearing property damage.

“So we understand they did not agree with that and they wanted to proceed despite the injunction,” said Harry Namwaza, the deputy spokesperson for the Malawi Police Service. “Now, you will understand that where there is an injunction as law enforcers, we cannot allow an action to proceed. That is contempt of court. So we reasoned with them, but it seems they did not want to listen.”

Namwaza also said the protesters started marching anyway, resulting in clashes with police who tried to stop them.

“They now started blocking the road, they started damaging other people’s shops, stoning cars and causing all sorts of damages in other areas,” he said. “And we fired tear gas and in the course we arrested 76 people who were perpetrating the violence.”

Those arrested include four leaders of the Human Rights Ambassadors group, which organized the demonstrations.

Some rights campaigners accused the police of using excessive force in trying to stop the protest.

“Actually, the mandate of Malawi Police Service is to ensure that they protect the rights and property of Malawians, not to fight them,” said Sylvester Namiwa, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives. “Police should have been there just to provide that necessary security. A lot of those things could have been avoided. So it’s the careless approach in the way we handle the issue, nothing else.”

Namwaza said tear gas was the best weapon available to stop the violence.

“We have rifles, we have tear gas, and we have rubber bullets,” he said. “We assessed each and every situation. So people may give all sorts of comments but what we are saying is that before we start firing tear gas, we assess situations.”

Government spokesperson Gospel Kazako said as much as the government respects people’s rights to hold peaceful demonstrations, it is unfortunate that organizers of Wednesday’s protests defied a court order to stop the planned protests.

“If a court issued an injunction, I think it was very important for those that had organized these demonstrations to comply,” he said. “You cannot be above the law, regardless of who you are.”

Police spokesperson Namwaza said those arrested Wednesday have been charged with inciting violence, unlawful assembly and contempt of court.

Rights campaigner Namiwa said similar nationwide demonstrations are planned for next week Thursday.
…

your ad here

Former Officer Sentenced in George Floyd’s Death 

Posted on by SeeUS

A federal judge Thursday sentenced former police officer Thomas Lane to 2½ years in prison for his role in the May 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson handed down the sentence, which follows Lane’s conviction in February for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Authorities said Lane did not provide medical care to Floyd as another officer, Derek Chauvin, used a knee to pin a handcuffed Floyd to the ground for more than nine minutes. Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. 

This case sparked national interest as the death of Floyd, a Black man, led to protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as throughout the country and the world against racial injustice and police treatment of minorities. 

Chauvin was convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in a state trial in April 2021. He is serving 22½ years in prison on those charges.  

Lane, who was a rookie officer, held Floyd’s legs as Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground. The two other officers involved in the situation, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were also convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights and will be sentenced at a later date. 

In May, Lane pleaded guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter charges and accepted a three-year prison sentence. The other two officers will appear for their state trial in January.  

Federal prosecutors for this case were seeking a sentence of up to 6½ years. Lane’s attorney argued for just more than two years, saying Lane was the least responsible of the four officers involved in Floyd’s death. The attorney said Lane had twice asked whether Floyd should be turned on his side.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
…

your ad here

Why Aren’t More Americans Getting COVID-19 Booster Shots?

Posted on by SeeUS

New cases of COVID-19 have been sweeping across the United States in recent weeks. On Thursday, President Joe Biden tested positive. His symptoms of tiredness, a runny nose and dry cough are considered mild.

The highly infectious and transmittable BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus’s omicron variant is making up nearly 80% of new cases, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker.

Although the initial vaccinations are effective at preventing hospitalization and death, their immunity weakens over time.

“So, more people, even those who might have protection from past infection or vaccination, have gotten COVID-19,” according to the CDC.

That’s why the CDC is recommending that immunized adults and children 5 years and older follow up with a vaccination booster in five months, and those 50 and older get a second booster shot for renewed protection. But so far, the CDC reports that only about half of adults have gotten a booster and just 28% of those age 50 and older have received a second dose, which provides even further protection from the illness.

This leaves millions of people more vulnerable to the most recent variants of omicron.

 

“It’s very concerning that many individuals who are eligible for boosters are choosing not to get them,” David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, told VOA. “There’s really strong research suggesting the protective effects of these boosters against COVID.”

The White House issued a warning this week about the spike in BA.5 subvariant cases and urged Americans over the age of 50 to get the booster shots.

“It could save your life,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the administration’s COVID response coordinator.

Many health advocates are alarmed that public momentum over COVID-19 has waned.

Some people “don’t feel a sense of urgency to get booster shots even though they are available in most parts of the country,” Grabowski said.

Part of the reason may be a lack of communication by public health officials that is confusing to the public, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

“Public health officials have not communicated clearly when you should get a booster and that it is an important step,” Grabowski told VOA.

Dr. David Aronoff, chair of the Department of Medicine at Indiana University’s School of Medicine, explained that in some instances, “people may have had a booster shot and not have realized they were eligible for another in several months.”

There is also the idea that since the symptoms from BA.5 are usually mild for people who are vaccinated, then why bother getting a booster, said Tina Runyan, a professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. With a highly contagious strain going around, some people think they will get COVID anyway, so getting a booster won’t protect them that much, she said.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said that’s not true.

“If you are not vaccinated to the fullest, namely, you have not gotten boosters according to what the recommendations are, then you’re putting yourself at an increased risk that you could mitigate against by getting vaccinated,” he said during a July 12 press briefing with the White House COVID-19 response team and public health officials.

Despite that warning, health experts say COVID-19 fatigue is causing a lack of response.

“People are ready to put COVID behind them and they just want to return to a more normal way of life,” explained Schaffner.

Going back to normal may be fleeting as new subvariants continue to pop up.

“We have to start thinking about the booster as something we might do annually to protect ourselves and others,” said Keri Althoff, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland.

Meanwhile, new vaccines are in the works to target omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

“Getting vaccinated now will not preclude you from getting a variant-specific vaccine later this fall or winter,” said Jha, the White House COVID response coordinator.

“We’re hoping we get new vaccines in the future that will target particular variants as they come up,” Aronoff said, but the currently available vaccines, which include boosters, “are keeping people out of hospitals and from dying from COVID.”
…

your ad here

US Capitol Riot Probe Focusing on What Trump Did During the Mayhem

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. lawmakers investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year are focusing their Thursday night hearing on what former President Donald Trump was doing for more than three hours at the White House as thousands of his supporters rampaged through the Capitol trying to block the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

The nine-member House of Representatives committee investigating the mayhem plans to show a montage of videotaped testimony from key Trump White House aides, and present live testimony from two more, to support their allegation that Trump watched the insurrection on television and did nothing to stop it for hours.

Democratic Representative Elaine Luria, a committee member who will lead much of the questioning Thursday, told CNN earlier this week that the panel will explore “minute by minute” what Trump was doing for three hours and seven minutes on the afternoon of January 6 — from the end of his speech at a rally urging his supporters to walk to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to finally telling them they should disperse.

“He didn’t act. He had a duty to act. So, we will address that in a lot of detail,” Luria said.

Republican committee member Adam Kinzinger, who is also set to question witnesses, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, “The president didn’t do much but gleefully watch television during this time frame.”

The two new witnesses expected to appear are former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews and former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, both of whom quit the day of the insurrection in protest of Trump’s reaction to the riot.

In addition, Matthews is expected to provide details of what she saw in the White House that day, including whether Trump knew the violence had broken out when he took aim at then-Vice President Mike Pence in a 2:24 p.m. tweet complaining about Pence’s refusal to block certification of Biden’s victory.

Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

Trump had implored Pence both privately and publicly before the riot to send the election results back to the states he narrowly lost so new electors favoring Trump could replace the official ones favoring Biden. Constitutional experts say that would have been illegal.

In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each state’s number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway. The rioters who stormed the Capitol tried to keep lawmakers from certifying Biden’s eventual 306-232 victory in the Electoral College.

Matthews said in a clip from her video deposition, “I remember us saying that that was the last thing that needed to be tweeted at that moment. The situation was already bad. And so, it felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire by tweeting that.”

Pottinger told the panel that Trump’s tweet prompted him to resign.

“I read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign,” he said in his video deposition. “That’s where I knew that I was leaving that day once I read that tweet.”

Earlier videotaped witnesses at the hearings, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser, said the president ignored their entreaties to publicly call off the rioters.

Trump eventually released a videotaped statement after 4 p.m. asking the rioters to leave the Capitol. In another tweet sent later, he appeared to justify the mob’s actions.

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” he wrote. “Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Trump, who has strongly suggested he will make another run for the White House in 2024, to this day claims he was cheated out of re-election. He has often derided the January 6 investigative panel, posting a message Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social that the committee “is a Fraud and a disgrace to America.”

Trump has said he would consider pardoning the more than 800 protesters arrested during the rioting if he becomes president again.

Thursday night’s public hearing originally was set to be the last, but now committee members say they are continuing to gather information about the riot and could hold new hearings in September and beyond.
…

your ad here

Turkey’s Erdogan: Deal to Resume Ukraine’s Grain Exports Set for Signing Friday

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will sign a deal Friday to resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said Thursday.

Russia and Ukraine are both major global wheat suppliers, but Moscow’s February 24 invasion of its neighbor has sent food prices soaring and stoked an international food crisis. The war has stalled Kyiv’s exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tons of grain stuck in silos at Odesa port.

Ankara said a general agreement was reached on a U.N.-led plan during talks in Istanbul last week and that it would now be put in writing by the parties. Details of the agreement were not immediately known. It is due to be signed Friday at the Dolmabahce Palace offices at 1330 GMT, Erdogan’s office said.

Before last week’s talks, diplomats said details of the plan included Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters; Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move; and Turkey – supported by the United Nations – inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.

The United Nations and Turkey have been working for two months to broker what Guterres called a “package” deal – to resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports and facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer shipments.

Ukraine could potentially quickly restart exports, Ukraine’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskiy said earlier Thursday.

“The majority of the infrastructure of ports of wider Odesa – there are three of them – remains, so it is a question of several weeks in the event there are proper security guarantees,” he told Ukrainian television.

Moscow has denied responsibility for worsening the food crisis, blaming instead a chilling effect from Western sanctions for slowing its own food and fertilizer exports and Ukraine for mining its Black Sea ports.

A day after the Istanbul talks last week, the United States sought to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports by reassuring banks, shipping and insurance companies that such transactions would not breach Washington’s sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
…

your ad here

House OKs Bill to Protect Contraception From Supreme Court

Posted on by SeeUS

The right to use contraceptives would be written into law under a measure that Democrats pushed through the House on Thursday, their latest campaign-season response to concerns a conservative Supreme Court that already erased federal abortion rights could go further.

The House’s 228-195 roll call was largely along party lines and sent the measure to the Senate, where its fate seemed dim. The bill is the latest example of Democrats latching onto their own version of culture war battles to appeal to female, progressive and minority voters by casting the court and Republicans as extremists intent on obliterating rights taken for granted for years.

Democrats said that with the high court recently overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, the justices and GOP lawmakers are on track to go even further than banning abortions.

“This extremism is about one thing: control of women. We will not let this happen,” said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., who sponsored the legislation. All of the bill’s nearly 150 co-sponsors are Democrats. Addressing fellow lawmakers, she added, “Women and girls across this country are watching you, and they want to know: Are you willing to stand up for them?”

In his opinion overturning Roe last month, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should now review other precedents. He mentioned rulings that affirmed the rights of same-sex marriage in 2015, same-sex intimate relationships in 2003 and married couples’ use of contraceptives in 1965.

Thomas did not specify a 1972 decision that legalized the use of contraceptives by unmarried people as well, but Democrats say they consider that at risk as well.

Republicans said the bill went too far. They said it would lead to more abortions, which supporters deny, allow the use of drugs not yet fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and force health care providers to offer contraceptives, even if that contradicted their religious beliefs.

“Women deserve the truth, not more fear and misinformation that forces an extreme agenda on the American people,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.

Every Democrat supported the legislation, while Republicans overwhelmingly opposed it by 195-8. The House Democrats’ campaign committee quickly jumped on that disparity, with spokesperson Helen Kalla saying her party will “fight to protect women’s freedoms from the GOP’s sinister agenda.”

The measure’s scant Republican House support suggested its fate was at best uphill in the 50-50 Senate. At least 10 GOP senators would have to support the bill for it to reach the 60 votes needed there for most legislation to pass.

House Democrats have begun forcing votes on these and other issues related to privacy rights, hoping for long-shot victories or to at least energize sympathetic voters and donors and force Republicans from competitive districts in difficult spots. The House voted last week to revive a nationwide right to abortion, with every Republican voting no, and voted largely along party lines to bar prosecuting women traveling to states where abortion remains legal.

The House voted Tuesday to keep same-sex marriage legal, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in backing the measure. Though 157 Republicans voted no, that tally raised expectations that the bill could win enough support for GOP senators to pass, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The contraception bill explicitly allows the use of contraceptives and gives the medical community the right to provide them, covering “any device or medication used to prevent pregnancy.” Listed examples include oral contraceptives, injections, implants like intrauterine devices and emergency contraceptives, which prevent pregnancy several days after unprotected sex.

The bill lets the federal and state government, patients and health care providers bring civil suits against states or state officials that violate its provisions.

Nearly all adults, 92%, called birth control “morally acceptable” in a Gallup poll in May. A PRRI poll in June showed about 8 in 10 said they opposed laws that restrict what types of birth control can be used to prevent pregnancy.

Even so, anti-abortion groups and Republican leaders oppose the contraception legislation, and there was no immediate sign that significant numbers of GOP senators would be willing to defy them.

Same-sex marriage has such firm public acceptance and is such a clear-cut issue that growing numbers of Republicans have been willing to vote for it.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said the contraception legislation “seeks to bail out the abortion industry, trample conscience rights, and require uninhibited access to dangerous chemical abortion drugs.” The National Right to Life Committee said it “goes far beyond the scope of contraception” and would cover abortion pills like RU486, which supporters said was incorrect.

The measure drew a mixed reaction Wednesday from two of the Senate’s more moderate Republicans.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was “most likely” to support the measure. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, demurred, saying she was working on bipartisan legislation that she said would codify the rights to abortion and perhaps for contraception.

There are few state restrictions on contraceptive use, said Elizabeth Nash, who studies state reproductive health policies for the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

Nash said she was concerned that there will be efforts to curb emergency contraceptives and intrauterine devices and to help providers and institutions refuse to provide contraceptive services.
…

your ad here

Africa Prepares Rollout of World’s First Malaria Vaccine

Posted on by SeeAF

Preparations are underway for the mass rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine to protect millions of children in Africa.

The rollout is being funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for nearly $160 million.

The World Health Organization said Gavi’s multimillion-dollar funding marks a key advance in the fight against one of Africa’s most severe public health threats. It noted that countries in sub-Saharan Africa bear the brunt of the yearly toll of more than 240 million global cases of malaria, including more than 600,000 reported deaths. The main victims are children under age 5.

WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said one child dies every minute in Africa, with catastrophic consequences for families, communities and national development.

The vaccine was introduced in Africa in 2019. Since then, more than 1.3 million children have benefited from the lifesaving inoculations in three pilot countries — Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Moeti said those countries have reported a 30 percent drop in hospitalizations of children with severe malaria and a 9% reduction in child deaths.

“If delivered at scale, millions of new cases could be averted, and tens of thousands of lives saved every year,” Moeti said. “We were encouraged to see that demand for the vaccine is high, even in the context of COVID-19, with the first dose reaching between 73% to over 90% coverage.”

Thabani Maphosa, managing director of country programs at Gavi, called the vaccine the most effective tool in the fight against malaria, one that will save children’s lives. However, he said, demand for the lifesaving product will outstrip supply.

“Our challenge during this critical phase is to ensure the doses we have available are used as effectively and equitably as possible,” Maphosa said. “With this is mind, Gavi today is opening an application window for malaria support.”

He said the three pilot countries, which already have experience in rolling out the vaccine, will get first crack at applying for and receiving funding. So, practically speaking, Maphosa said, they will require little help in setting up their systems to get the operation underway.

Maphosa said a second round of funding will take place at the end of the year. At that time, he said other countries with moderate to high cases of severe malaria can submit applications for support.
…

your ad here

Europe’s Central Bank Backs Larger-Than-Expected Rate Hike

Posted on by SeeEU

The European Central Bank raised interest rates Thursday for the first time in 11 years by a larger-than-expected amount, joining steps already taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks to target stubbornly high inflation. 

The move raises new questions about whether the rush to make credit more expensive will plunge major economies into recession at the cost of easing prices for people spending more on food, fuel and everything in between. 

The ECB’s surprise hike of half a percentage point for the 19 countries using the euro currency is expected to be followed by another increase in September, possibly of another half-point. Bank President Christine Lagarde had indicated a quarter-point hike last month, when inflation hit a record 8.6%. 

She said the bigger hike was unanimous as “inflation continues to be undesirably high and is expected to remain above our target for some time.” As the bank leaves an era of negative interest rates, Lagarde said economic forecasts don’t point to a recession this year or next but she acknowledged the uncertainty ahead. 

“Economic activity is slowing. Russia’s unjustified aggression towards Ukraine is an ongoing drag on growth,” the ECB chief said at a news conference. Higher inflation, supply constraints and uncertainty “are significantly clouding the outlook for the second half of 2022 and beyond.” 

The ECB is coming late to its rate liftoff — a token of inflation that turned out to be higher and more stubborn than first expected and of the shakier state of an economy heavily exposed to the war in Ukraine and a dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. Recession predictions have increased for later this year and next year as soaring bills for electricity, fuel and gas deal a blow to businesses and people’s spending power. 

The ECB made the bigger-than-expected increase to underline its determination to get inflation under control after its late start, said Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank. The move aims “to restore the ECB’s damaged reputation and credibility as an inflation fighter.” 

“Today’s decision shows that the ECB is more concerned about this credibility than about being predictable,” Brzeski said. 

Recession concerns have helped push the euro to a 20-year low against the dollar, which adds to the ECB’s task by worsening energy prices that are driving inflation. That is because oil is priced in dollars. 

Raising rates is seen as the standard cure for excessive inflation. The ECB’s benchmarks affect how much it costs banks to borrow — and so help determine what they charge to lend. 

But by making credit harder to get, rate increases can slow economic growth, a major conundrum for the ECB as well as for the Federal Reserve. The Fed raised rates by an outsized three-quarters of a point in June and could do so again at its next meeting. The Bank of England started the march higher in December, and even Switzerland’s central bank surprised with its first increase in nearly 15 years last month. 

The goal for all central banks is to get inflation back down to acceptable levels — for the ECB, it’s 2% annually — without tipping the economy into recession. It’s difficult to get right as central banks reverse what has been a decade of very low rates and inflation. 

“The most precious good that we can deliver and that we have to deliver is price stability. So we have to bring inflation down to 2% in the medium term. That is the imperative,” Lagarde said. “And it’s time to deliver.” 

Yet the European economy has the added worry of a potential cutoff of Russian natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, heat homes and fuel energy-intensive industries such as steel, glassmaking and agriculture. Even without a total cutoff, Russia has steadily dialed back gas flows, with EU leaders accusing the Kremlin of using gas to pressure countries over sanctions and support for Ukraine. 

Rising interest rates follow the end of the bank’s 1.7 trillion-euro (dollar) stimulus program that helped keep longer-term borrowing costs low for governments and companies as they weathered the pandemic recession. 

Those bond-market borrowing rates are now rising again, especially for more indebted eurozone countries such as Italy, where Premier Mario Draghi’s resignation has brought back bad memories of Europe’s debt crisis a decade ago. Markets fear the exit of the former ECB president, who has pushed policies meant to keep debt manageable and boost growth in Europe’s third-largest economy, could raise the risk of another eurozone crisis. 

The bank approved a new financial backstop that is part of its arsenal to prevent that from happening again. The ECB would step into markets to buy the bonds of countries facing excessive and unjustified borrowing rates. But it wouldn’t offer protection if the ECB determines higher borrowing costs resulted from poor government decisions. 

Buying bonds drives their price up and their yield down, because price and yield move in opposite directions, thus capping interest costs. Spiraling bond-market rates threatened to break up the euro in 2010-2012 and led Greece and countries to turn to other members and the International Monetary Fund for bailouts. 

This problem is unique to the ECB because it oversees 19 countries that are in different financial shape. The backstop aims to “safeguard the smooth transmission of our monetary policy stance throughout the euro area,” Lagarde said. 

The ECB’s lowest rate, the deposit rate on money left overnight by banks, was raised from minus 0.5% to zero. 

 
…

your ad here

Biden Tests Positive for COVID-19

Posted on by SeeUS

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced Thursday.

“He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms. He has begun taking Paxlovid. Consistent with CDC guidelines, he will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” a White House statement said.

It said Biden, 79, will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative.  
…

your ad here

E-Commerce in Africa Projected to Grow 56% by 2025

Posted on by SeeAF

Online sales boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including those in some parts of Africa, where industry analysts say online trade is expected to grow by over half in the next three years. The continent’s online market potential faces numerous challenges, though. For VOA, Linda Givetash reports from Johannesburg.
Videographer: Zaheer Cassim
…

your ad here

Americans Filing Jobless Claims at Highest Level in 8 Months

Posted on by SeeUS

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest level in more than eight months in what may be a sign that the labor market may be weakening.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week’s 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits.

Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet expected the number to come in at 242,000.

First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.

The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 from the previous week, to 240,500.

The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending July 9 rose by 51,000 from the previous week, to 1,384,000. That figure has been near 50-year lows for months.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that employers added 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly robust gain and similar to the pace of the previous two months. Economists had expected job growth to slow sharply last month given the broader signs of economic weakness.

The unemployment rate remained 3.6% for a fourth straight month, matching a near-50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in early 2020.

The government also reported earlier in July that U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong. There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed person.

Consumer prices are still soaring, up 9.1% in June compared with a year earlier, the biggest yearly increase since 1981, the government reported last week.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week hit its highest level in nearly 8 months, but the total number of those collecting benefits fell. The Labor Department also reported last week that inflation at the wholesale level climbed 11.3% in June from a year earlier.

All of those figures paint a divergent picture of the post-pandemic economy: Inflation is hammering household budgets, forcing consumers to pull back on spending, and growth is weakening, heightening fears the economy could fall into recession.

In an effort to combat the worst inflation in more than four decades, the Federal Reserve raised rates by a half-point in May and another rare three-quarter point increase last month. Most economists expect the Federal Reserve to jack up its borrowing rate another half-to-three-quarters of a point when it meets later this month.

Though the labor market is still strong, there have been some high-profile layoffs announced recently by Tesla, Netflix, Carvana, Redfin and Coinbase.
…

your ad here

Ukraine: Russian Shelling Kills 2 in Kharkiv

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukraine reported Russian shelling Thursday on the city of Kharkiv killed at least two people and wounded 19 others.

Regional governor Oleg Synegubov said the dead included one child, and that four people were in serious condition.

Britain’s defense ministry said Thursday that Russian forces were continuing small-scale assaults along the front line in the Donbas region, the part of eastern Ukraine that has been a focus of its war.

The ministry said in its daily assessment that Russia was likely closing in on the Vuhlehirska power plant, northeast of Donetsk, and that Russian forces were prioritizing capturing critical infrastructure sites.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow wants to capture territory in southern Ukraine beyond the Donbas region.

Russia failed in early stages of its five-month offensive to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv, in northern Ukraine.

But Lavrov said in an interview Wednesday with state media that Russia no longer feels constrained to fighting in the Donbas where Russian separatists have been battling Kyiv’s forces since 2014, when Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

“Now, the geography has changed. It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk. It’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and several other territories. This process is continuing, consistently and persistently,” Lavrov told the state news RT television and RIA Novosti news agency.

Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, said Moscow’s territorial objectives would expand still further if Western countries delivered more long-range missiles to Kyiv.

The U.S. announced Wednesday plans to send four more such rocket systems to Ukraine, along with more artillery rounds.

“Ukrainian forces are now using long-range rocket systems to great effect, including HIMARS provided by the United States, and other systems from our allies and partners,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday at the Pentagon. “Ukraine’s defenders are pushing hard to hold Russia’s advances in the Donbas.”

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Ukrainians have been using U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launchers to hit Russian command centers and supply lines, including a strategically important bridge across the Dnieper River in the Kherson region.

Russian officials said the bridge has sustained damage but is still open to some traffic. The Russian military would be hard-pressed to keep supplying its forces in the region if the bridge were destroyed.

“The Ukrainians are making the Russians pay for every inch of territory that they gain,” Milley said, and the Donbas is “not lost yet. The Ukrainians intend to continue the fight.”

The future, Milley said, will depend on the number of long-range rockets and ammunition the Ukrainians have.

“We have a very serious grinding war of attrition going on in the Donbas. And unless there’s a breakthrough on either side — which right now the analysts don’t think is particularly likely in the near term — it will probably continue as a grinding war of attrition for a period of time until both sides see an alternative way out of this, perhaps through negotiation or something like that.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that U.S. intelligence indicated Russia is “laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

Kirby said the areas involved in plans that Russia is reviewing include Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and all of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

your ad here

Italian Prime Minister Draghi Resigns

Posted on by SeeEU

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned Thursday after failing in his efforts to unite the fractious pieces of his unity government.

President Sergio Mattarella’s office said in a statement the president had accepted Draghi’s resignation but asked him to stay on in a caretaker role.

The development could mean Italy heads to a parliamentary election in the coming months instead of the scheduled vote set to take place next year.

Draghi became prime minister in 2021 as Italy dealt with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and a sagging economy.

Mattarella rejected his earlier offer of resignation last week, urging Draghi to appeal to lawmakers to keep the ruling coalition together.

But several key parties boycotted a confidence vote, prompting Draghi to submit his resignation again.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
…

your ad here

Russia Resumes Gas Deliveries Through Pipeline to Europe

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia resumed the flow of natural gas through the Nord Stream pipeline to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day interruption for maintenance.

Klaus Mueller, head of Germany’s energy regulator, tweeted that gas flows had reached 40% of capacity, the same level as before the shutdown.

Russia’s state-owned Gazprom blamed the reduction on the absence of a gas turbine being repaired in Canada.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted Gazprom would meet its delivery obligations, while warning that work on another turbine later this month could bring more reductions.

European Union leaders have warned of the potential for Russia to cut off supplies in response to Western pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The EU has asked member countries to voluntarily reduce their use of gas, both to seek alternative options and to save existing supplies for winter months.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
…

your ad here

US Congress Moves Toward $52 Billion in Subsidies for Semiconductor Firms

Posted on by SeeUS

The Senate this week took a key step toward passing a bill meant to provide $52 billion in subsidies to the semiconductor industry in the United States, part of an effort that lawmakers have characterized as protecting the country from supply shortages such as those that struck during the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill, called the CHIPS for America Act, also seeks to make the U.S. more competitive with China.

Semiconductors, commonly known as chips, are essential elements of modern manufacturing. They are used in computers, cellphones and automobiles as well as in various other capacities. During the pandemic, chip shortages slowed manufacturing in multiple industries to a crawl.

The legislation would create incentives for semiconductor manufacturers to build chip fabrication plants in the U.S. to bring back domestic production levels, which have fallen from more than one-third of total global capacity three decades ago to less than 12% now.

Discussing the legislation on the Senate floor, Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, said, “It is a plan to make America more competitive with China, and a plan to bring good jobs back to America.”

In a 64-34 procedural vote Tuesday, with more than a dozen Republicans voting with the overwhelming majority of Democrats, the Senate cleared the way for the legislation to come to a vote as soon as this week. The House of Representatives would need to pass the bill — which is still not in its final form — before President Joe Biden could sign it into law.

Making the case

Before the vote Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told his colleagues that the bill “will fight inflation, boost American manufacturing, ease our supply chains and protect American security interests.”

He added: “America will fall behind in so many areas if we don’t pass this bill, and we could very well lose our ranking as the No. 1 economy and innovator in the world if we can’t pass this.”

Senator John Cornyn, the most senior Republican to vote in favor of advancing the bill, used Twitter to make his case ahead of the vote.

“If the US lost access to advanced semiconductors (none made in US) in the first year, GDP could shrink by 3.2 percent and we could lose 2.4 million jobs,” he tweeted. “The GDP loss would 3X larger ($718 B) than the estimated $240 B of US GDP lost in 2021 due to the ongoing chip shortage.”

The money in the bill comes with significant strings attached. Companies accepting the subsidies must agree not to use the funds for to buy back stock, pay shareholder dividends, or expand manufacturing in certain countries identified in the bill. Provisions allow the government to “claw back” the funds if a recipient violates any of the bill’s conditions.

Second try

If the bill advances to the House, it would mark the second time a bipartisan group of senators tried to secure money for the semiconductor industry. Last year, the Senate passed a $250 billion package that included broader research and development funding.

When the House received the bill, it waited nearly a year to pass its own version and made a number of additions that Senate Republicans would not agree to. The bill never advanced.

Now, however, things might be different. In a letter circulated to members of the House Democratic caucus on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in favor of the bill.

“With this package, the United States returns to its status as a world leader in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips,” Pelosi wrote, noting that the bill would create an estimated 100,000 well-paid government contracting jobs in the industry.

“Doing so is an economic necessity to lower costs for consumers and to win in the 21st Century Economy, as well as a national security imperative as we seek to reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers,” Pelosi wrote.

Industry reacts

In an email exchange with VOA, Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of Semi, a global industry trade group, said, “We are pleased to see action to reverse the decline in the U.S. share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity, which has fallen by 50 percent in the last 20 years and is forecast to shrink further.”

“The availability of robust incentives in other countries and the lack of a federal U.S. incentive have been key factors driving the location of more overseas manufacturing facilities,” Manocha added. “If the United States wants to maintain or increase its share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity, the federal government absolutely needs to get in the game.”

Semiconductor Industry Association President and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement, “The Senate CHIPS Act would greatly strengthen America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the technologies that will determine our future.”

He added, “This is America’s window of opportunity to re-invigorate chip manufacturing, design, and research on U.S. shores, and Congress should seize it before the window slams shut.” 
…

your ad here

Top US Defense Officials See ‘Grinding War of Attrition’ in Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

As Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska reminded the U.S. Congress of the human costs of Russia’s invasion of her country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow’s military aims were no longer confined only to the east of the country. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
…

your ad here

US Warns Putin Falling for His Own Rhetoric

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have succumbed to his own mythmaking and hyperbole, unable to let go of his desire to conquer Ukraine, no matter what the costs, according to a public assessment by America’s top spymaster.

CIA Director William Burns, the last U.S. official to meet with Putin before he ordered Russian forces into Ukraine in February, warned late Wednesday that the Russian leader truly believes he must conquer Ukraine to fulfill his destiny.

“Putin really does believe his rhetoric, and I’ve heard him say it privately over the years, that Ukraine’s not a real country. … He really thought he could take Kyiv in less than a week,” Burns told an audience at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.

“He is convinced that his destiny as Russia’s leader is to restore Russia as a great power … and he does not believe you can do that without controlling Ukraine and its choices,” Burns added. “He believes it’s his entitlement, it’s Russia’s entitlement to dominate Ukraine.”

Previous U.S, intelligence assessments have suggested that while Putin had no intention of forsaking his effort to conquer all of Ukraine, it was possible he might be willing to officially pause the fighting to give his forces time to reorganize following substantial losses since the invasion began.

“It is entirely plausible, from our perspective, that depending on how things develop over the coming months and so on that he [Putin] is convinced that there is value in effect, coming to some sort of agreement,” U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said last month.

U.S. intelligence estimates say approximately 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine, with another 45,000 wounded.

Ukrainian defense officials put the number of Russian soldiers killed at about 38,000.

Burns seemed to cast doubt on the idea a deal of some sort could be in play, describing it as inconsistent with Putin’s world view.

Putin is “a big believer in control and intimidation and getting even,” Burns said, calling the Russian leader “an apostle of payback.”

“As his grip on power has tightened, as his circle of advisers has narrowed, his own personal sense of destiny and his appetite for risk has grown,” Burns said. “Putin’s bet … is that he can succeed in a grinding war of attrition, that they can wear down the Ukrainian military, that winter’s coming and so he can strangle the Ukrainian economy, he can wear down European publics and leadership, and he can wear down the United States.”

“My own strong view is that Putin was wrong in his assumptions about breaking the [NATO] alliance and breaking Ukrainian will before the war began and I think he’s just as wrong now,” Burns said.

There are some indications that Russia has learned lessons from its early failures in Ukraine, limiting its objectives to those in the Donbas region and by increasing its use of long-range artillery, an area in which Moscow maintains an advantage over Kyiv.

At the same time, however, there are signs Putin’s ambitions are reemerging.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday warned that Russian forces could soon expand their “special operation” due to the provision of U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine.

“Now the geography has changed. It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhia, and several other territories,” Lavrov told state-run media Wednesday.

“We cannot allow the part of Ukraine that will be controlled by [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, or whoever replaces him, to contain weapons that will pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of the republics that have declared independence, those that want to determine their own future.”

Two hundred Ukrainian troops have been trained on the HIMARS and at least eight units have seen action so far, according to U.S. military officials, targeting and destroying Russian weapon depots and command-and-control centers.

U.S. defense officials have said four more HIMARS are being sent to the Ukrainian military and promised the delivery of yet another four systems in a security package set to be announced later this week.

“We’re not working just to provide security assistance in the short term,” General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Wednesday. “[We’re] also looking ahead to provide Ukraine with the capabilities that it will need for deterrence and defense over the longer term.”

Other Ukrainian allies also see the war grinding on.

“We don’t see any signs that the war will end soon,” NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security David Cattler told an online forum Tuesday.

“In fact, there are even more signs that this war will be a very long one,” he said.

Russia and Iran

U.S. defense and intelligence officials are warning Iran not to get involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A day after Putin met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at the Pentagon it would be a “really, really bad idea” for Iran to provide Russia with armed drones.

“On the issue of Iranian support to Russia, we would advise Iran to not do that,” Austin said.

Asked about Austin’s comments, Burns called Austin, “very good at understatement.”

“The reality is Russians and Iranians need each other right now, both heavily sanctioned countries, both looking to break out of political isolation,” Burns added.  “But I think as troubling as some of the steps between those two parties are, and we focus on them very sharply at CIA, there are limits I think, to the ways in which they’re going to be able to help one another right now.”

Lessons for China

Burns said Moscow is getting some help from China, with Beijing stepping up purchases of energy products to help support the Russian economy. But he cautioned the Chinese have been very cautious about lending Russia any military support.

“It seems to me that President Xi [Jinping] and the Chinese leadership has been unsettled to some extent, especially in the first phase of Putin’s war in Ukraine … unsettled by the military performance of the Russians early on and the performance of Russian weaponry, unsettled by the economic uncertainties that the war has unleashed,” he said.

However, Burns said Russia’s struggles are unlikely to change China’s calculus about using force to take Taiwan.

“Our sense is that it probably affects less the question of whether the Chinese leadership might choose some years down the road to use force to control Taiwan but how and when they will do it,” he said.

“If there’s one lesson I think they may be drawing from Putin’s experience in Ukraine, is you don’t achieve quick decisive victories with underwhelming force,” Burns said.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum earlier Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the United States played down the likelihood Beijing would use force against Taiwan.

“The last thing we wish to do is to fight with our compatriots [in Taiwan],” Ambassador Qin Gang said, accusing the U.S. of sending sophisticated weapons to support the Taiwanese military.

“We will try our best in our great sincerity to achieve the peaceful reunification,” Qin added. “The ‘One China’ principle is the political foundation for China-U.S. relations, and is the bedrock for the peace and stability across Taiwan Strait …  but we urge the United States to honor its commitments with actions.”

 
…

your ad here