Month: September 2022

Togo Extends State of Emergency Due to Militant Attacks

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The West African nation of Togo has extended a state of emergency in its northern Savanes region for another six months due to continued attacks by Islamist militants.

A six-month state of emergency was approved Tuesday by the Togolese parliament to restore security in the region.

A statement from Damehame Yark, the Togolese security minister, said that the extension was “necessary for the proper conduct of military operations” and “a return to peace” in the region.

Togo declared a three-month state of emergency in the Savanes region in June, after Islamist militants attacked an area near the border with Burkina Faso, killing eight troops and wounding 13. 

More recently, local media said that between 15 and 20 people were killed in a series of attacks on July 15. While the army gave no official figures about this incident, it was confirmed that “several” people were killed and wounded.

Togolese defense and security forces were again attacked on August 22 in the village of Blamonga, close to the border with Burkina Faso. A few soldiers were injured during an exchange of fire that lasted several minutes before armed groups retreated.

Togo, after Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is the latest country on the coast of West Africa to become the target of Islamist militants coming from the Sahel region.
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Albania Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Iran Over Cyberattack

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Albania has ordered Iranian officials out of the country and severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following an investigation into a cyberattack that it concluded was Iranian “state aggression” when it hit the Adriatic coast nation in July.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the expulsion of all Iranian diplomats and embassy staff and gave them 24 hours to leave.

Rama’s official website said there was “irrefutable” evidence that Tehran had backed “the act of a serious cyberattack against the digital infrastructure of the government of the Republic of Albania.”

“The government has decided, with immediate effect, to end diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Rama said in a video statement on his official website.

Rama said Tirana had already informed Iran of its decision in a diplomatic note to the Iranian embassy.

It also said it had shared its findings with fellow NATO members.

It said its “extreme measure” was “not at all desired but completely forced…[and] in full proportion to the seriousness and dangerousness of the cyberattack, which threatened to paralyze public services, delete systems, and steal state data, steal electronic communications within the government system, and fuel insecurity and chaos in the country.”

The U.S. condemned the cyberattack.  “The United States will take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a U.S. ally and set a troubling precedent for cyberspace,” said White House National Security spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

There was no immediate response from Iran to the accusations and cutoff.

Tirana and Tehran’s relations dramatically worsened after Albanian authorities agreed at the request of the United States in 2013 to accept around 3,000 members of an exiled group known as the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK), whom Iranian officials regard as terrorists.

A team of U.S. cyber experts from the FBI were recently sent to neighboring Montenegro over what officials of that Balkan NATO member called a massive and coordinated cyberattack on its government and services.

A source from Montenegro’s National Security Agency (ANB) initially suggested Russian security services were suspected, although a Cuban group later claimed it was behind the attack.

VOA National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information was provided by Reuters.
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Elected Officials, Police Chiefs on Leaked Oath Keepers List

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The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.

It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.

The data raises fresh concerns about the presence of extremists in law enforcement and the military who are tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the U.S. It’s especially problematic for public servants to be associated with extremists at a time when lies about the 2020 election are fueling threats of violence against lawmakers and institutions.

“Even for those who claimed to have left the organization when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up,” the report says.

Appearing in the Oath Keepers’ database doesn’t prove that a person was ever an active member of the group or shares its ideology. Some people on the list contacted by The Associated Press said they were briefly members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group. Some said they were never dues-paying members.

“Their views are far too extreme for me,” said Shawn Mobley, sheriff of Otero County, Colorado. Mobley told the AP in an email that he distanced himself from the Oath Keepers years ago over concerns about its involvement in the standoff against the federal government at Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, among other things.

The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, is a loosely organized conspiracy theory-fueled group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders. It asks its members to vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” promotes the belief that the federal government is out to strip citizens of their civil liberties and paints its followers as defenders against tyranny.

More than two dozen people associated with the Oath Keepers — including Rhodes — have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes and four other Oath Keeper members or associates are heading to trial this month on seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors have described as a weekslong plot to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers say that they are innocent and that there was no plan to attack the Capitol.

The Oath Keepers has grown quickly along with the wider anti-government movement and used the tools of the internet to spread their message during Barack Obama’s presidency, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. But since Jan. 6 and Rhodes’ arrest, the group has struggled to keep members, she said.

That’s partly because Oath Keepers had been associated so strongly with Rhodes that the removal of the central figure had an outsized impact, and partly because many associated with the group were often those who wanted to be considered respectable in their communities, she said.

“The image of being associated with Jan. 6 was too much for many of those folks,” she said.

Among the elected officials whose name appears on the membership lists is South Dakota state Rep. Phil Jensen, who won a June Republican primary in his bid for reelection. Jensen told the AP he paid for a one-year membership in 2014 but never received any Oath Keepers’ literature, attended any meetings or renewed his membership.

Jensen said he felt compelled to join because he “believed in the oath that we took to support the US Constitution and to defend it against enemies foreign and domestic.” He wouldn’t say whether he now disavows the Oath Keepers, saying he doesn’t have enough information about the group today.

“Back in 2014, they appeared to be a pretty solid conservative group, I can’t speak to them now,” he said.

ADL said it found the names of at least 10 people who now work as police chiefs and 11 sheriffs. All of the police chiefs and sheriffs who responded to the AP said they no longer have any ties to the group.

“I don’t even know what they’re posting. I never get any updates,” said Mike Hollinshead, sheriff of Idaho’s Elmore County. “I’m not paying dues or membership fees or anything.”

Hollinshead, a Republican, said he was campaigning for sheriff several years ago when voters asked him if he was familiar with the Oath Keepers. Hollinshead said he wanted to learn about the group and recalls paying for access to content on the Oath Keepers’ website, but that was the extent of his involvement.

Benjamin Boeke, police chief in Oskaloosa, Iowa, recalled getting emails from the group years ago and said he believes a friend may have signed him up. But he said he never paid to become a member and doesn’t know anything about the group.

Eric Williams, police chief in Idalou, Texas, also said in an email that he hasn’t been a member or had any interaction with the Oath Keepers in over 10 years. He called the storming of the Capitol “terrible in every way.”

“I pray this country finds its way back to civility and peace in discourse with one another,” he said.
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Japan, US, South Korea Reaffirm Joint Response to North Korea Threat

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Diplomats from the United States, Japan and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment on Wednesday to working together in response to any threat from North Korea, including a possible new nuclear test.

The three senior diplomats in charge of North Korean affairs also underscored their efforts to strengthen their security partnership. Japan and South Korea acknowledge their need to improve bilateral and trilateral cooperation. Relations between Japan and South Korea have been badly damaged by historical disputes over Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said the focus of the trilateral cooperation is North Korea and its accelerating nuclear and missile development.

Funakoshi said he and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts, Sung Kim and Kim Gunn, were to discuss their countries’ responses to North Korea as they work together to enhance regional deterrence amid “a looming possibility of further provocations including another nuclear test.”

North Korea last conducted a nuclear test, its sixth, in 2017, and experts have noted signs of preparations for another test.

Funakoshi also welcomed missile defense exercises held by the three countries off the coast of Hawaii last month.

Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, said the three countries are prepared for “all contingencies … in responding to (North Korea’s) provocations” and to protect allies in the region.

Their goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula has not changed, Sung Kim said. “We remain committed to seeking dialogue with (North Korea) and are prepared to meet without preconditions,” he said.

Kim Gunn, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, called for further efforts to ensure full implementation of sanctions against North Korea under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
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At Least $1 Billion Needed to Avert Famine in Somalia

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The U.N. humanitarian chief predicted Tuesday that at least $1 billion will be needed urgently to avert famine in Somalia in the coming months and early next year when two more dry seasons are expected to compound the historic drought that has hit the Horn of Africa nation. 

Martin Griffiths said in a video briefing from Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that a new report from an authoritative panel of independent experts says there will be a famine in Somalia between October and December “if we don’t manage to stave it off and avoid it as had been the case in 2016 and 2017.” 

The undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs told U.N. correspondents that more than $1 billion in new funds is needed in addition to the U.N. appeal of about $1.4 billion. That appeal has been “very well-funded,” he said, thanks to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which announced a $476 million donation of humanitarian and development aid in July. 

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, created by USAID, said in a report Monday that famine is projected to emerge later this year in three areas in Somalia’s southeastern Bay region, including Baidoa without urgent humanitarian aid. 

Up to 7.1 million people across Somalia need urgent assistance to treat and prevent acute malnutrition and reduce the number of ongoing hunger-related deaths, according to a recent analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC, used by the network to describe the severity of food insecurity. 

The Horn of Africa region has seen four straight failed rainy seasons for the first time in over half a century, endangering an estimated 20 million people in one of the world’s most impoverished and turbulent regions. 

Griffiths said meteorologists have predicted the likelihood of a fifth failed rainy season from October to December, and a sixth failed rainy season from January to March next year is also likely. 

“This has never happened before in Somalia,” he said. “This is unprecedented.” 

“We’ve been banging the drum and rattling the trees trying to get support internationally in terms of attention, prospects, and the possibilities and the horror of famine coming to the Horn of Africa – here in Somalia maybe first, but Ethiopia and Kenya, probably they’re not far behind,” Griffiths said. 

He said the U.N. World Food Program has recently been providing aid for up to 5.3 million Somalis, which is “a lot, but it’s going to get worse if famine comes.” He said 98% of the aid is given through cash distributions via telephones. 

But many thousands are not getting help and hungry families in Somalia have been staggering for days or weeks through parched terrain in search of assistance. 

Griffiths said a big challenge is to get aid to people before they move from their homes, to help avoid massive displacement. 

Many Somalis raise livestock, which is key to their survival, but he said three million animals have died or been slaughtered because of the lack of rain. 

“Continued drought, continued failure of rainy seasons, means that a generation’s way of life is under threat,” Griffiths said. 

He said the international community needs to help Somalis find an alternative way of life and making a living, which will require development funding and funding to mitigate the impact of climate change. 

Griffiths, a British diplomat, said the war in Ukraine has had an impact on humanitarian aid, with U.N. humanitarian appeals around the world receiving about 30% of the money needed on average. 

“To those countries, which are traditionally very generous, my own included, and many others,” he said. “Please don’t forget Somalia. You didn’t in the past. You contributed wonderfully in the past. Please do so now.” 
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Putin, Xi to Meet in Uzbekistan Next Week, Official Says 

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet next week at a summit in Uzbekistan, a Russian official said Wednesday.

The two leaders will meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, held in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Sept. 15-16, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov told reporters.

“Less than 10 days from now another meeting of our leaders will take place at the SCO summit in Samarkand. We are actively preparing for it,” Denisov was quoted by Russia’s state news agency Tass as saying.

The visit to Uzbekistan, if it goes ahead, will be Xi’s first foreign trip in 2½ years. Russian media also reported Xi’s plans to visit Kazakhstan prior to the summit in Uzbekistan, but the reports have remained unconfirmed.

When asked about the Uzbekistan trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily briefing Wednesday: “On your question, I have nothing to offer.”

Putin and Xi last met in Beijing in February, weeks before the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine. The two presidents oversaw the signing of an agreement pledging that relations between the sides would have “no limits.” It remains unclear whether Xi knew at the time of Russia’s plan to launch what Moscow is calling “a special military operation” in Ukraine.

While offering its tacit support for Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, China has sought to appear neutral and avoid possible repercussions from supporting the Russian economy amid international sanctions.

Moscow and Beijing have increasingly aligned their foreign policies to oppose liberal democratic forces in Asia, Europe and beyond, making a stand for authoritarian rule with tight borders and little regard for free speech, minority rights or opposition politics.

The Russian military held sweeping military drills that began last week and ended Wednesday in the country’s east that involved forces from China, another show of increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid tensions with the West over the military action in Ukraine.

Even though Moscow and Beijing in the past rejected the possibility of forging a military alliance, Putin has said that such a prospect can’t be ruled out. He also has noted that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies with China that helped significantly bolster its defense capability.

 
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Putin Says Ukraine War Will Strengthen Russia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday his country has not lost anything from its military operation in Ukraine and has strengthened Russia’s sovereignty.

Speaking at an economic forum, Putin said all of Russia’s actions “are directed at helping the people of the Donbas.”

“This will eventually lead to the strengthening of our country from the inside and in its foreign policy,” Putin said.

Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, and after abandoning a push toward the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has focused its military efforts in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian fighters have battled Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Putin also criticized an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that restarted Ukrainian grain shipments amid a global food crisis, saying the exports were not going to the world’s poorest countries.

The Joint Coordination Center that is overseeing the implementation of the deal said that as of Tuesday, more than 2.2 metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs had left Ukrainian ports on about 100 ships. Destinations have included Italy, Turkey, Iran, China, Romania, Djibouti, Germany and Lebanon.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Reuters that Russian comments about the deal were “unexpected” and “groundless.”

Britain’s defense ministry said early Wednesday that during the prior 24 hours there was heavy fighting in the Donbas, in northern Ukraine near Kharkiv and in southern Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast.

“Multiple concurrent threats spread across 500km will test Russia’s ability to coordinate operational design and reallocate resources across multiple groupings of forces,” the ministry said. “Earlier in the war, Russia’s failure to do this was one of the underlying reasons for the military’s poor performance.”
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Report: Document at Trump Resort Included Information About Foreign Government’s Nuclear Capabilities    

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The Washington Post reported Tuesday that among the documents found by FBI agents at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Florida resort last month was one describing another country’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities. 

The Post said its report was based on information from people familiar with the matter, but it did not name the foreign government involved. 

The report also said some of the documents seized in the August 8 search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort describe U.S. operations that are so secret that many senior national security officials do not know about them. 

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the retention of national defense information and efforts to obstruct its probe. 

During the August search, the FBI seized roughly 11,000 documents, including about 100 marked as being classified. 

Trump, who left office in January 2021, returned hundreds of documents in January and June of this year. But Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized, and a federal magistrate approved, the August search after prosecutors said they learned from inside sources that more documents remained at Trump’s resort. 

Trump objected to the search and his lawyers asked for a federal judge to appoint a special master to review the collection of documents to determine whether some should be returned to him. 

The judge approved the request Monday, and set a Friday deadline for the two sides to provide a list of potential candidates to serve as special master. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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Obamas to Return to White House for Portrait Unveiling

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After more than a decade’s hiatus, an American presidential tradition returns as President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden host former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama at the White House to unveil their official portraits on Wednesday.

The White House has presidential portraits on display in various rooms beginning with George Washington, America’s first president, which was bought by Congress. Other earlier presidents’ portraits were added to the collection as gifts. Since 1965, the portraits were funded by the private, nonprofit White House Historical Association, starting with Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, and John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.

“Recent presidents and first ladies typically select their respective artists before leaving the White House and approve the portraits before their formal presentation to the public and induction into the collection,” the association said in a statement. “The portrait artists aim to capture each unique appearance and personality, piecing together our presidential history through these individual works of art.”

The Obamas’ official portraits have been kept tightly under wraps, and the public will only find out about the artists who painted them when the paintings are unveiled.

It will be Barack Obama’s second visit to the White House after leaving office, following his April visit to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the health care law known as Obamacare that he signed in 2010. It will be Michelle Obama’s first visit since her husband’s term ended in January 2017.

Break in tradition

Regardless of party affiliation, the president in office usually hosts and unveils the portrait of his immediate predecessor. Obama did so for George W. Bush, Bush for Bill Clinton, and Clinton for George H.W. Bush.

The tradition broke under President Donald Trump, but it’s unclear whether it was due to objections from Trump or Obama, or external circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was probably a mutual feeling that wouldn’t have even needed to be expressed on the part of the Obamas or the Trumps,” said Barbara A. Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Trump had promoted the so-called birther movement based on the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and had no right to the presidency.

“I would have understood why President Obama and Mrs. Obama wouldn’t have wanted to come,” Perry told VOA. “It just would have seemed unseemly on both sides to have two people who were obviously not on civil speaking terms, at least on the Trump side, to come to the White House.”

There is no doubt that Obama much prefers to have his former vice president unveil his portrait rather than the man who was a repudiation of his presidency, said Thomas Schwartz, presidential historian and professor of political science at Vanderbilt University.

Biden’s presidency is seen in many ways as Obama’s third term, Schwartz told VOA. “President Obama is getting the opportunity to have his portrait unveiled by the man who really owes everything to him.”

While presidents and first ladies typically begin discussions on their official portraits even before they leave the White House, Trump is unlikely to have done so. Until now he insists that he, not Biden, won the 2020 election and is reluctant to participate in events that former presidents usually undertake upon leaving office, such as setting up his presidential library.

“Trump does not want to do these legacy-type programs or actions because it makes him in the minds of the American people, a former president,” Perry said. “He wants to be the next Grover Cleveland, that is a president to serve two non-consecutive terms.”

The White House did not respond to VOA’s question on whether they have begun discussions on a Trump portrait.

The former president has hinted that he may run again in 2024. He is currently embroiled in several controversies, including a probe on his involvement in the January 6 storming of the Capitol by his supporters, and a Department of Justice investigation on possible violation of the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act, for bringing classified documents to his Florida home upon leaving office.

Obama after office

Obama, who is now 61, is very young for a former president, said Schwartz. “He might become a bit like Jimmy Carter in the sense of being a very active ex-president compared to, say, Ronald Reagan, who was much more, much older when he gave up the presidency.”

Since leaving office, the Obamas have written memoirs, undertaken highly paid speaking engagements, and worked on the Obama Presidential Center located in Chicago’s Jackson Park. They are involved in the Obama Foundation and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, the organization Obama founded in 2014 to provide opportunities for boys and young men of color.

In 2018, the Obamas signed a deal with Netflix to have their production company produce documentaries for the streaming service. Earlier this month Obama won an Emmy Award for narrating the documentary, “Our Great National Parks,” adding to two previous Grammy wins for audio versions of his memoirs. Michelle Obama won a Grammy in 2020 for reading her audiobook.

While Barack Obama campaigned for Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterm elections and for Biden after he became the Democrats’ official presidential nominee in 2020, he has largely stayed away from politics. He honored the unwritten tradition of former presidents’ refraining from passing judgment on his successor, until 2020 when he criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis policeman that sparked protests around the country against systemic racism and police brutality toward African Americans.

With the unveiling of their portraits, the Obamas — the first Black residents of a White House built by enslaved people — will join the other presidents and first ladies of the United States whose faces adorn the halls of the highest office in the land, Perry pointed out.

“And that’s one of the most iconic visions of our democracy and our republic at home and around the world,” she said.
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Document Seized at Trump Home Described Foreign Government’s Nuclear Capabilities, Post Says

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A document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found in the FBI’s search last month of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Post report, which cited people familiar with the matter, did not identify the foreign government discussed in the document, nor did it indicate whether the foreign government was friendly or hostile to the United States.

Trump representatives and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

After a previous story by the Post about classified documents with information on nuclear weapons, Trump compared the investigation to previous ones, calling it a hoax.

The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during its August 8 search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, according to court records.

According to The Post report, some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations that require special clearances, not just top-secret clearance.

Some of the documents are so restricted that even some of the Biden administration’s senior-most national security officials were not authorized to review them, the Post said.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Trump for removing government records from the White House when he departed in January 2021 and storing them at Mar-a-Lago.

On Monday, a federal judge agreed to Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review records seized in the FBI search, a move that is likely to delay the Justice Department’s criminal investigation.
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Free Press Advocates Criticize US Response to Journalist Killed in West Bank

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The State Department has reacted to an Israeli statement on the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May, saying the U.S. will press Israel to review the rules of engagement of its forces in the West Bank to take steps to mitigate the risk to journalists and other civilians. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Biden Says No to Appeals to Designate Russia a State Sponsor of Terror

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President Joe Biden has made a final decision to not designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House said Tuesday, saying that such a move could backfire and have unintended consequences for U.S. support of Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.  

Biden’s one-word response — “no,” he said, when reporters asked him on Monday, “should Russia be designated a state sponsor of terrorism?” — ends months of serious, fervent discussions on Capitol Hill and in foreign capitals over whether to add Russia to the short, grim list that currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. 

Nations earn this label when the U.S. secretary of state deems that a foreign government is “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism.” The designation effectively renders the target a pariah, by imposing restrictions on U.S. assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; controls over items that can be used for both military and non-military purposes, and a raft of other restrictions.    

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre elaborated on the president’s thought process.  

“This designation could have unintended consequences to Ukraine, and the world,” she said. “For example, according to humanitarian experts and NGOs we have spoken to, it could seriously affect the ability to deliver assistance in areas of Ukraine. 

“Another one is it could drive critical humanitarian and commercial actors away from facilitating food exports to help mitigate the global food crisis and jeopardize the Black Sea ports deal that has already led to over a million tons of Ukrainian food exports reaching the world, including those in Horn of Africa. 

“It will also undercut unprecedented multilateral conditions that have been so effective in holding [Russian President Vladimir] Putin accountable and could also undermine our ability to support Ukraine at the negotiating table,” she said. “So, again, we do not think this is the most effective way to go, or the strongest path forward.”    

Team Yes  

Key among the proponents is Ukraine’s president, who renewed his appeal this week as inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed alarm over fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. 

In a report released Tuesday, agency chief Rafael Grossi warned that “any further escalation affecting the six-reactor plant could lead to a severe nuclear accident with potentially grave radiological consequences for human health and the environment in Ukraine and elsewhere.”  

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his nightly video address on Monday to hammer that point home.    

“Shelling the territory of the ZNPP means that the terrorist state does not care what the IAEA says, it does not care what the international community decides,” he said. “Russia is interested only in keeping the situation the worst for the longest time possible. This can be corrected only by strengthening sanctions, only by officially recognizing Russia as a terrorist state — at all levels.”  

And last month, the Baltic state of Latvia — formerly a member of the Soviet Union – levied the designation on Russia, with lawmakers voting overwhelmingly in favor of the move and urging other nations to follow suit.    

Closer to home, the strongest charge has come from Capitol Hill, where a bipartisan group of senators has been urging the administration to make the call, after passing a resolution in July.  

In the resolution, the senators argue that Russia promotes acts of international terrorism against political opponents and nation states, citing Russia’s aggression in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria and remote corners of the world, under the aegis of the shadowy, Kremlin-backed mercenaries known as the Wagner Group.  

“To the Biden administration: You have the complete unanimous support of the United States Senate to label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. “Do it.”  

Such agreement, Graham added, is rare in this increasingly divided political landscape, saying, “I didn’t think there was an issue under the sun that could get 100 Senate votes, but we found it: Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism.”  

The resolution’s co-sponsor, Democrat Richard Blumenthal, defended the argument on moral grounds.  

“The designation of state sponsorship of terrorism puts Russia in a very small club — it consists of nations like Syria, Iran and Cuba that are outside the bounds of civilized countries,” he said. “They are pariahs. And that is exactly the designation that Russia deserves for what it has done in Ukraine as well as in other countries.”  

And, over the weekend, White House officials confirmed that Moscow is buying rockets and artillery shells from North Korea — a longtime member of the list — for use in Ukraine.  

“We expect Russia could try to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward,” an administration official told reporters.    

Team No  

The Kremlin opposes the designation, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling Russian television on Tuesday that “the very formulation of the issue is monstrous.”    

“And, of course, it is good that the U.S. president responded in this way,” he said. 

While Peskov said the Kremlin welcomed Biden’s firm “no,” he added that Moscow did not see that as a move to warm relations.  

“It can hardly be a reason for such assessments,” he said.  

U.S. officials point out that Russia is already sweating under the weight of massive U.S. sanctions.  

“The costs that have been imposed on Russia by us and by other countries are absolutely in line with the consequences that would follow from designation as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.    

And some analysts argue that Russia is low in the rankings when it comes to earning this dubious distinction.  

“By the current standard, numerous countries could be placed on the state-sponsor-of- terror list, such as Myanmar/ Burma, China, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, just to name a few,” wrote Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.  

“Several U.S. allies deserve to be on such a list, too: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Turkey, and Egypt. So does Saudi Arabia, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed “Slice ‘n Dice” bin Salman, notable for murdering and dismembering his critics. The kingdom is more repressive domestically and has killed more people internationally than even Russia.”  

To summarize, he said: “The Putin regime is evil, but it is not a sponsor of terrorism.”    

Team It’s Complicated  

Just as the arguments on each side are fervent, so are the reasons that analysts — and the White House — say this issue is not black-and-white.  

For one, said Delaney Simon, a researcher at the International Crisis Group, the U.S. and Russia engage across a number of platforms, including the United Nations Security Council, where both nations hold permanent seats.  

“None of the other states that are designated state sponsors of terror have the same sort of role in the international system,” she told VOA. “That would make any kind of multilateral diplomacy really, really complicated. And you’ve seen from some Russian statements that President Putin is going to think of this, definitely, as an escalation and cause for a rupture in relations.”    

She added that such a designation would end Russia’s sovereign immunity from lawsuits from Americans claiming to be affected by Russian actions. Those cases could drag on for years and — as in the case of Sudan, a former member of the list — significantly delay a nation’s removal from the list.  

She also pointed out another element: to reverse the designation, something bigger and more important has to change.    

“There’s sort of a checklist of things that have to happen legally before the designation can be rescinded,” she said. “One of the things that needs to happen is that the state has to undergo a fundamental change in leadership and policy. It’s hard to see, well, a leadership change. Which, by the way, is something that the Biden administration has resisted calling for.” 

Finally, she said, if the goal is to end the six-month invasion of Ukraine, this may not help.  

“I think once you look deeply at the policy implications of this issue, it’s pretty clear that the designation wouldn’t help Ukraine,” she said. ussr

And so, for now, it’s a no. 
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Juul to Pay Nearly $440M to Settle US States’ Teen Vaping Probe

Posted on by SeeUS

Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 U.S. states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the deal Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to probe Juul’s early promotions and claims about the benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.

The settlement, which includes numerous restrictions on how Juul can market its products, resolves one of the biggest legal threats facing the beleaguered company, which still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. Additionally, Juul faces hundreds of personal lawsuits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company’s vaping products.

The states’ investigation found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with launch parties, product giveaways and ads and social media posts using youthful models, according to a statement.

“We think that this will go a long way in stemming the flow of youth vaping,” Tong said at a news conference at his Hartford office.

“I’m under no illusions and cannot claim that it will stop youth vaping,” he said. “It continues to be an epidemic. It continues to be a huge problem. But we have essentially taken a big chunk out of what was once a market leader, and by their conduct, a major offender.”

The $438.5 million will be paid out over a period of six to 10 years. Tong said Connecticut’s payment of at least $16 million will go toward vaping prevention and education efforts. Juul previously settled lawsuits in Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.

The settlement total amounts to about 25% of Juul’s U.S. sales of $1.9 billion last year. Tong said it was an “agreement in principle,” meaning the states will be finalizing the settlement documents over the next several weeks.

Most of the limits imposed by Tuesday’s settlement won’t immediately affect Juul, which halted use of parties, giveaways and other promotions after coming under scrutiny several several years ago.

Teen use of e-cigarettes skyrocketed after Juul’s launch in 2015, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare an “epidemic” of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine.

But since 2019 Juul has mostly been in retreat, dropping all U.S. advertising and pulling its fruit and candy flavors from store shelves.

The biggest blow came earlier this summer when the FDA moved to ban all Juul e-cigarettes from the market. Juul challenged that ruling in court, and the FDA has since reopened its scientific review of the company’s technology.

The FDA review is part of a sweeping effort by regulators to bring scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of delays. The agency has authorized a handful of e-cigarettes from Juul’s competitors for adult smokers looking for a less harmful alternative.

While Juul’s early marketing focused on young, urban consumers, the company has since shifted to pitching its product as an alternative nicotine source for older smokers.

“We remain focused on our future as we fulfill our mission to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes—the number one cause of preventable death—while combating underage use,” the company said in a statement.

Juul has agreed to refrain from a host of marketing practices as part of the settlement. They include not using cartoons, paying social media influencers, depicting people under 35, advertising on billboards and public transportation and placing ads in any outlets unless 85% of their audience are adults.

The deal also includes restrictions on where Juul products may be placed in stores, age verification on all sales and limits to online and retail sales.

“These are some of the toughest mandates at any point on any industry,” Tong said, “which is incredibly important because at the end of the day this is about protecting our kids and protecting all of us from a very significant public health risk.”

Juul initially sold its high-nicotine pods in flavors like mango, mint and creme. The products became a scourge in U.S. high schools, with students vaping in bathrooms and hallways between classes.

But recent federal survey data shows that teens have been shifting away from the company. Most teens now prefer disposable e-cigarettes, some of which continue to be sold in sweet, fruity flavors.

Overall, the survey showed a drop of nearly 40% in the teen vaping rate as many kids were forced to learn from home during the pandemic. Still, federal officials cautioned about interpreting the results given they were collected online for the first time, instead of in classrooms.
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Britain’s Liz Truss: Foreign Policy Hawk Facing Challenges at Home

Posted on by SeeEU

Liz Truss officially became prime minister of Britain Tuesday, replacing Boris Johnson, who announced his resignation in July. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, Truss is seen as a foreign policy hawk and has pledged a tough line against Russia and China — but she first faces daunting challenges at home.
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Britain’s New PM: Foreign Policy Hawk Facing Challenges at Home

Posted on by SeeEU

Liz Truss officially became Britain’s prime minister Tuesday, replacing Boris Johnson, who resigned in July.

In a private meeting Tuesday in Balmoral, Scotland, with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Truss was asked to form a new government. The meeting, a formality, took place in Scotland as the 96-year-old monarch is not able to travel to London due to health problems.

Truss is the 15th prime minister to be appointed by Elizabeth, and the fourth Conservative party leader in just seven years – an indication of the monarch’s longevity and recent chaos in Britain’s politics. Truss’s meeting took place hours after Johnson traveled to Scotland to meet with the monarch.

Truss later flew back to London. In the evening, she outlined the government’s priorities in a televised address outside the prime minister’s residence at No. 10 Downing Street.

Energy crisis

Truss served as foreign secretary under Johnson. She is seen as a foreign policy hawk and has pledged a tough line against countries like Russia and China.

“We now face severe global headwinds caused by Russia’s appalling war in Ukraine and the aftermath of COVID. … United with our allies, we will stand up for freedom and democracy around the world,” Truss said.

Truss, however, also faces challenges at home.

She pledges to help Britons survive an energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, as gas and electricity prices are predicted to rise as much as eight-fold in coming months.

“I will deal hands on with the energy crisis caused by Putin’s war,” Truss said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The BBC reported Tuesday that Truss plans to spend up to $150 billion on freezing energy bills for the next 18 months, by offering loans to energy companies. Further details are expected later this week.

Any political honeymoon will likely be short-lived, says analyst John Kampfner of London-based research group Chatham House.

“Ninety percent of her time is going to have to be dealing with the here and now on the domestic agenda – with an economy in crisis, strikes, health service (in crisis), huge energy bills, potential social unrest,” Kampfner told VOA.

Despite the cost of dealing with the energy crisis, Truss has promised to cut taxes.

Ukraine

Truss has also pledged to boost defense spending to 3% of GDP, which the analyst group the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) estimated will cost an additional $180 billion. Meanwhile, she has pledged to continue giving military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Britain has so far pledged around $3.8 billion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made no secret of his desire for Boris Johnson to stay in power, welcomed the appointment of Truss as Britain’s prime minister.

“In Ukraine, we know her well. She was always on the enlightened side of European politics. I believe that together, we will be able to do much more for the protection of our nations and to ensure the failure of Russia’s destructive efforts,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted online Tuesday.

Ukraine’s military has strong public support in Britain, according to analyst Kampfner.

“There’s every reason — notwithstanding the energy price rises and all the other challenges that Liz Truss faces — that she will absolutely continue the Johnson approach, and we can expect an early visit to get a photo op with Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital pretty soon,” Kampfner said.

China

As a government minister, Truss took a hawkish stance on China. She was closely involved in the decision to ban Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from involvement in Britain’s 5G network, over national security concerns.

“Liz Truss is a more hawkish person than Boris Johnson, the former prime minister,” Neil Melvin of the Royal United Services Institute told The Associated Press. “She has, for example, committed to increasing the threat perception of China. So, China will be recognized under her premiership, she’s indicated, as a threat to the U.K.”

Europe

Truss has also pledged to push through legislation overriding the Northern Ireland protocol, a key Brexit agreement that Johnson signed with the European Union that prevented the need for a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which many fear would have reignited sectarian violence. The European Union has started legal proceedings against the British government, notes Kampfner.

“The worst-case scenario is a full-blooded trade war between — can you imagine — between the 27 European nations and Britain. In every respect, that will be a disaster, it will add fuel to the fire of an already pretty terrible U.K. economy,” he said.

Special relationship

U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Truss via Twitter Tuesday. “I look forward to deepening the special relationship between our countries and working in close cooperation on global challenges, including continued support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression,” Biden wrote.

The special relationship is clouded by lingering tensions over Brexit, according to Kampfner.

“The Americans and particularly the Biden administration are incredibly wary of having to choose between the Brits and the European Union. They regard it as a false choice.”

Early election?

The next British election is due by December 2024. Truss was elected by just over 81,000 Conservative party members, a tiny fraction of the overall electorate. Truss, however, is not likely to seek a fresh mandate from the public through an early election, said Alan Wager of the U.K. in a Changing Europe program at Kings College London.

“The Conservative party is at the lowest level of polling they’ve been for over a decade. So that makes a general election extremely unlikely — because the vast majority of the public want one. The new prime minister will do anything to avoid facing the electorate right now,” Wager told VOA.
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LogOn: Augmented Reality Books Expand Storytelling

Posted on by SeeUS

Augmented reality books add new dimensions to storytelling by including animation and sound. VOA’s Genia Dulot reports from Los Angeles, California.
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Cameroon, Chad Truckers Protest Bad Roads, Government Ban on Heavy Trucks

Posted on by SeeAF

Hundreds of truckers have stopped working on Cameroon’s border with Chad to protest a ban on heavy trucking into Chad, which depends on Cameroon for 80% of its imported goods. 

Drivers transporting food and humanitarian assistance say they are disgruntled with what they call Cameroon’s refusal to repair the road linking northern Cameroon and Chad. The route is part of the lone highway used by truck drivers to transport goods from Cameroon’s Douala seaport to N’djamena, capital of landlocked Chad. 

 

Chadian-born Ahmad Yussuf, president of the Cameroon, Chad Truck Transporters Union, said truckers have decided to stop transporting goods to and from Chad until the government of Cameroon repairs highly dilapidated portions of the road. 

 

Yussuf said several hundred trucks are grounded in Cameroon and Chad to honor the protest called by their transport union. 

 

“The situation is very, very complicated [bad],” he said Tuesday by the messaging app WhatsApp from Dabanga, a town on Cameroon’s northern border with Chad. “We have hundreds of trucks parked between Mora, Dabanga and Kousseri for days and weeks, and we call for repairs on that road, it is a very important road for us. If that road is not repaired, the loss is too much. Some goods have expiry dates and so on.” 

 

Yussuf said perishable food items and medical supplies that have to be stored at particular temperatures are exposed to heavy rainfall and a harsh climate. He said their business is at a standstill as they remain on the spot, but he added that it is a price they have to pay to force the government to repair the road.  

 

The drivers also are protesting an August 2022 Cameroon government ban on heavy-duty truck use in the area north of the border with Chad. 

 

Cameroon officials say the lone road linking the two countries has deteriorated greatly, causing accidents and further damage to the road when used by heavy duty trucks. 

 

Cameroon is instructing heavy duty truck drivers to unload and use lighter vehicles to transport the goods from Cameroon to N’djamena. But the drivers say unloading and transporting goods in smaller trucks is expensive and time consuming. 

 

Guy Ondoua Amougou, the highest Cameroon government official in charge of roads in the central African states along the northern border with Chad, said the Cameroon government will repair highly dilapidated portions of the road to enable light vehicles to transport goods, especially perishable foodstuffs to landlocked Chad.

He added that Cameroon is negotiating with the World Bank to fund the construction of a 250-kilometer modern road linking the town of Maroua in Cameroon to N’djamena, Chad. 

 

Amougou did not say when Cameroon intends to complete repairs on the road nor how far along Cameroon’s negotiations are with the World Bank to fund construction. 

 

While waiting, Chadians say the interruption of heavy trucks from circulating in northern Cameroon has slowed deliveries in Chad and increased prices of food, including rice, flour and vegetable oil imported through Cameroon. 

 

Ali Djiba, spokesperson of the Consumers Association of Chad, spoke by a messaging app from N’djamena on Tuesday, saying Chadians are very unhappy because the prices of basic commodities imported through Cameroon have gone up at least a 40 percent in the past month.

He added that Ndjamena and Yaounde should jointly make sure the road linking Cameroon’s Douala seaport and landlocked Chad is constructed to stop a further deterioration of living conditions for civilians in the two countries. 

 

In May, Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV reported that the World Bank had approved a $538 million loan to improve road and rail infrastructure along the Douala N’djamena road within the next three years. The road also links Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.

In May 2014, Cameroon said the Nigerian militant Islamist sect Boko Haram attacked and kidnapped 10 Chinese road construction engineers and killed one Cameroonian soldier at a camp in Mora for the construction engineers. 

 

Since then, Cameroon said its military engineering corps took over construction of the road linking Cameroon’s northern borders with Chad and Nigeria. Cameroon said Chinese contractors abandoned the work following repeated attacks by armed Boko Haram fighters. 

 

Additionally, Cameroon state officials now are blaming ongoing heavy rains and flooding for damaging the road and causing accidents. 

 
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UN Nuclear Agency ‘Gravely Concerned’ About Safety of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Power Plant

Posted on by SeeEU

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that it is “still gravely concerned” about the safety and security of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia facility situated in the midst of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in southern Ukraine.  

“The current situation is untenable, and the best action to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and its people would be for this armed conflict to end now,” the United Nations nuclear agency said in a new report after IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and a team of inspectors visited the site last week even as shelling raged near the plant. 

The IAEA said it found extensive damage at the plant but did not assign blame. Russia, whose forces have controlled the facility since early in its invasion, and Ukraine, whose engineers operate the plant, have each accused the other of shelling the facility. 

The IAEA inspectors said they found Russian troops and equipment inside, including military vehicles parked near turbines.

“Ukrainian staff operating the plant under Russian military occupation are under constant high stress and pressure, especially with the limited staff available,” the IAEA report said. “This is not sustainable and could lead to increased human error with implications for nuclear safety.”

The U.N. nuclear agency said, “Pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions, there is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means.”

The agency called for “the immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the Zaporizhzhia site, an apparent call for something approximating a demilitarized zone in the vicinity of the power plant. It’s a buffer that world leaders have previously asked for, but the warring countries have not implemented.

The IAEA said it is ready to immediately start consultations “leading to the urgent establishment of such a nuclear safety and security protection zone.”

The agency said, “Despite the unprecedented circumstances” at Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s three other nuclear power plants — Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine — “have continued operating safely and securely since the beginning of the conflict” on February 24.

The IAEA said Grossi later Tuesday planned to brief the U.N. Security Council on its inspection of the Zaporizhzhia plant. The IAEA said two of its experts remain at the plant to “observe the situation there and provide independent assessments.” 

Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company said Monday the Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the electricity grid because of Russian shelling. 

“Today, as a result of a fire caused by shelling, the [last working] transmission line was disconnected,” Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram. 

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook that Energoatom was not able to make repairs while fighting raged around the facility. 

The IAEA said Ukraine informed the agency the backup power line itself was not damaged and that Ukrainian experts plan to reconnect power in the coming days. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message Monday that the nuclear plant has again been put in a situation where it is “a step away from a radiation catastrophe.”  

 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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African Nations Urged to Pile on Pressure at Climate Summit

Posted on by SeeAF

The former Irish President has called on African nations to pile on the pressure on rich, heavily-polluting countries to fulfill their climate pledges to the continent during a visit to Uganda.

Mary Robinson, who is also chair of the Elders group of global leaders who advocate for peace and justice, told The Associated Press on Monday that the Group of 20 “must come up with new plans” to support Africa with its climate change efforts at the upcoming United Nations climate conference in November, known as COP27.

On Monday, European nations pledged a further $25 billion to the continent to help countries adapt to the effects of climate change. The continent has suffered in an ongoing devastating drought in the east, with flooding and cyclones severely damaging southern countries.

Robinson said that the Elders “feel very strongly that we need COP27 to succeed” and encouraged African leaders “to create political pressure” so that developed countries can fulfill their promises.

Rich countries have so far failed to keep a $100-billion-a-year pledge to poorer nations to help them adapt to the effects of climate change and transition to greener energy sources. Developed nations are larger emitters than poorer ones, with the African continent contributing just 3% to 4% of global emissions despite being 17% of the global population.

“We do not want to have a situation where promises that are not fulfilled undermine further the existing trust,” Robinson said. She added that developed countries should “give more to get clean energy, technology and investments towards African countries.”

Robinson is in Uganda for her second visit to the continent this year and is promoting renewable energy initiatives in schools alongside youth climate activist Vanessa Nakate.

Robinson noted that COP27, which will be held in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, will be regarded as an “African COP.”

She added: “It will be more an African COP if there are more voices from Africa and the developing world making this as inclusive as possible” and highlighted the importance of younger and more diverse voices.
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California Facing Chance of Blackouts Amid Brutal Heat Wave

Posted on by SeeUS

California is facing its highest chance of blackouts this year as a brutal heat wave continues to blanket the state with triple-digit temperatures. State energy officials said the electrical load Tuesday afternoon could top 51,000 megawatts, the highest demand the state has ever seen. 

As people crank up their air conditioners, the state forecasted record levels of energy use, said Elliot Mainzer, president of California Independent System Operators, which runs the state’s electrical grid. The state has additional energy capacity at the moment “but blackouts, rolling, rotating outages are a possibility,” Mainzer said, calling additional conservation “absolutely essential.” 

The CAISO site Tuesday morning showed California could fall more than 5,000 megawatts short of its power supply at peak demand, forecasted for 5:30 pm. 

The danger of wildfires was extreme as scorching heat and low humidity turned brush to tinder. Four deaths were reported over the Labor Day weekend as some 4,400 firefighters battled 14 large fires around the state, with 45 new blazes on Sunday alone, said Anale Burlew, a deputy chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

In Southern California, two people were killed and one injured by the Fairview Fire, which started Monday near the city of Hemet, the Riverside County Fire Department said. Roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, the fire had quickly spread to at least 2,400 acres (971 hectares), prompting evacuations, and was only 5% contained. Multiple residential structures burned. 

The dead people were not immediately identified. Authorities said both were found in the same area but it was not known if they were from the same household. They were apparently trying to flee when they were overcome. 

California’s energy grid runs on a mix of mostly solar and natural gas during the day, along with some imports of power from other states. But solar power begins to fall off during the late afternoon and into the evening, which is the hottest time of day in some parts of the state. And some of the aging natural gas plants California relies on for backup power aren’t as reliable in hot weather. 

At CAISO’s request on Monday, four temporary emergency power generators deployed by the Department of Water Resources in Roseville and Yuba City were activated for the first time since they were installed last year, providing up to 120 megawatts, enough electricity for 120,000 homes. 

CAISO also has issued a Flex Alert call for voluntary conservation between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, making seven alerts in as many days. Consumers were urged to keep air conditioners at 78 degrees (25.5 degrees C) or higher during the period and avoid using major appliances such as ovens and dishwashers. 

The efforts have worked to keep the lights on “but we have now entered the most intense phase of this heat wave” that could last into the week, and two to three times the level of conservation will be needed from people and businesses, Mainzer said. 

CAISO also issued a Stage 2 Energy Emergency Alert from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday. The second of three emergency alert stages means taking emergency energy-saving measures “such as tapping backup generators, buying more power from other states and using so-called demand response programs,” according to a CAISO website. Stage 3 would be rolling blackouts. 

Several hundred thousand Californians lost power in rolling blackouts in August 2020 amid hot weather, but the state avoided a similar scenario last summer. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Friday that could allow the state’s last remaining nuclear plant to stay open beyond its planned 2025 closure, to ensure more power. 

The National Weather Service predicted highs between 100 and 115 degrees (37.7 C and 46.1 C) across inland California, with 80s to 90s (above 26.6 C and below 37.2 C) closer to the coast. Nighttime won’t bring much relief, with many places seeing lows in the 80s or even 90s (above 26.6 C and below 37.2 C). 

Ironically, unsettled weather also brought the chance of thunderstorms over Southern California and into the Sierra Nevada, with a few isolated areas of rain but nothing widespread. The storms also could produce lightning, forecasters said, which can spark wildfires. 

South of the Oregon state line, the Mill Fire was 55% contained Tuesday morning after killing two people, injuring others and destroying at least 88 homes and other buildings since it erupted last week, CalFire said. The bodies of the two women, 66 and 73, were found in the city of Weed on Friday, the Siskyou County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday. Details weren’t immediately released. 

A few miles away, the Mountain Fire grew to nearly 18 square miles (29 square kilometers) and only 20% contained, with winds threatening to renew its eastward spread in steep terrain, fire officials said. 

Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. 
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Turkish Leader Repeats Veiled Threat to Greece Over Feuds

Posted on by SeeEU

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday doubled down on his warning that Turkey could “come all of a sudden one night” in response to perceived Greek threats, suggesting a Turkish attack on its neighbor cannot be ruled out.

Questioned about his earlier use of the phrase and the possibility of Turkish military action against its NATO ally, Erdogan reiterated the expression.

“What I’m talking about is not a dream,” he said at a news conference in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. “If what I said was that we could come one night all of a sudden [it means] that, when the time comes, we can come suddenly one night.”

Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. The friction has brought them to the brink of war three times in the last half-century.

Ankara says Greece is violating international agreements by militarizing islands close to Turkey’s Aegean coastline. It has also accused Greek air defenses of locking on to Turkish fighter jets during NATO exercises over the eastern Mediterranean.

Athens has also accused Turkey of violating its airspace.

“There are some illegitimate threats against us and if these illegitimate threats continue there’s an end to one’s patience,” Erdogan added, sitting alongside Bosnia’s three presidential representatives.

“When the time is due, necessary action will be taken because it is not a good sign to lock on radars to our planes. Such things done by Greece are not a good sign.”

Erdogan has previously said Turkish forces can “come all of a sudden one night” when threatening military action against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq. Turkey has conducted several military operations against the militants in recent years.

He first used the phrase in connection to Greece at an aerial technology festival on Saturday.
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Zimbabwe’s Measles Outbreak Claims Nearly 700 Lives

Posted on by SeeAF

Zimbabwe is struggling to contain a measles outbreak that has killed nearly 700 people, most of them children and young people.

Zimbabwe’s government said Tuesday thousands of people have been infected with measles since an April outbreak and 698 people have died, most of them children.

Zimbabwe’s health ministry blames some religious sects for the outbreak. It says some religious groups and traditional leaders preach against getting vaccinations.

Health authorities have since been struggling to contain the infectious viral disease, which causes a rash, cough, and high fever, and can be fatal for unvaccinated children.

“Measles is a very contagious, infectious disease that spreads when a number of unvaccinated children rises beyond critical thresholds,” said Alex Gasarira, the World Health Organization’s representative in Zimbabwe. “So, what we have in Zimbabwe right now is because the number of unvaccinated children has risen because of several factors: Community who are not comfortable to have their children vaccinated, disruption [of] vaccination services because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.”

The rising death toll is fueling calls in Zimbabwe for mandatory shots to halt the virus, but experts says the effort has to be well organized.

“Compulsory immunization has to be well planned, and it has to cover every child in this country,” said Tinashe Mundawarara of the Zimbabwe Health Law and Policy Consortium. “That would ensure that the best interest of the child is really considered.”

Zimbabwe’s health authorities have not yet made the measles vaccination mandatory and were not immediately available for comment.

But they have been campaigning for all children between six and 15 years old to be immunized and are working with aid groups like the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF, to educate those who resist.

UNICEF Zimbabwe’s Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale said his organization and others are working with the government to contain the outbreak.

“Just like [during] the COVID response, the government of Zimbabwe and partners are taking seriously the current outbreak of measles that we currently have in the country,” he said. “At present, the government has deployed rapid response team supported by UNICEF, WHO and other partners to help better track the incidents of measles. More importantly, UNICEF and our community actors are also working hand in hand to increase awareness of the measles vaccine and also help address community resistance to the vaccination.”

The measles outbreak was first reported in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province, which borders Mozambique, and has since spread nationwide.
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Israeli President Gives Broad Speech to Germany’s Parliament

Posted on by SeeEU

Israel’s president addressed Germany’s parliament on Tuesday about atrocities committed during the Third Reich, while at the same time praising the close and friendly relations that have emerged between the two countries since the end of the Holocaust.

Six million European Jews were murdered by Germany’s Nazis and their henchmen during World War II.

“Never in human history was there a campaign like the one the Nazis and their accomplices conducted to annihilate the Jewish people,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog told lawmakers at the Bundestag.

“Never in history was a state responsible, as Nazi Germany was responsible, for the loss of all semblance of humanity, for the erasure of all mercy, for the pursuit of the worldwide obliteration, with such awful cruelty, of an entire people.”

Herzog also spoke about his father, former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, who was among the liberators of the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany in April 1945, as an officer of the British forces.

“I shall never forget how he described to me the horrors he witnessed. The stench. The human skeletons in striped pajamas, the piles of corpses, the destruction, the hell on earth,” the Israeli president told German lawmakers.

After his speech, Herzog and Steinmeier, accompanied by their wives, went to Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews — a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the city’s landmark Brandenburg Gate — where they laid two wreaths for the victims of the Holocaust.

On Tuesday afternoon, the two presidents are set to visit the site of the former concentration camp. After a tour of the memorial site, they are expected to meet with survivors and German high school students.

The Israeli president arrived for a state visit to Germany earlier this week that also included a trip to Munich on Monday where he participated in the 50-year anniversary ceremony for the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Looking forward, Herzog praised close relations between the two countries and their joint commitment to fight antisemitism.

“The partnership between Israel and Germany has achieved global renown, and we must continue deepening and cultivating it, for the benefit of a brilliant future not only for our countries but for the whole of humanity,” he said in parliament.
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Biden to Host Obamas for Portrait Unveiling

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to host former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for the unveiling of their official White House portraits on Wednesday. 

In recent tradition, current U.S. leaders have hosted their predecessor as a new portrait is added to the White House collection.  

Former President Donald Trump did not continue the practice during his term, leaving Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, to preside over the reveal of the Obama portraits. 

The White House collection dates back to the country’s first leader, President George Washington, and includes every president since. Many are displayed in hallways and rooms at the White House. 

The White House Historical Association, which has funded the portraits since 1965, says recent leaders and first ladies have picked the artists for their portraits before leaving office and then approved the works before they are added to the collection. 

“The portrait artists aim to capture each unique appearance and personality, piecing together our presidential history through these individual works of art,” according to the association’s website. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. 
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