President Joe Biden is facing a Department of Justice investigation following last week’s revelation that documents with classified markings were found in his home and office. VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the latest.
…
Month: January 2023
Pentagon Looks to Give Ukraine Momentum in War, Without Tanks
The United States aims to break the dynamic of grinding warfare and near-frozen front lines in Ukraine with newly announced military capabilities it hopes will create momentum for Kyiv’s battle against Russian forces, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.
But Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, said the Pentagon still wasn’t prepared to meet Kyiv’s calls for gas-guzzling M1 Abrams main battle tanks.
“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” said Kahl, who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. “The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive. It’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine.”
Kahl’s remarks came ahead of this week’s gathering of top defense officials from dozens of countries at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany to coordinate military aid for Kyiv.
The U.S. has committed roughly $24 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces, including a $3.5 billion package announced this month that includes Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, self-propelled howitzers, armored personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles and ammunition.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration is next expected to approve Stryker armored vehicles for Ukraine.
Pressure has been mounting on Germany to send its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, or at least approve their transfer from third countries.
But Germany appears to want to tie any such contribution to a U.S. decision on Abrams.
A German government source told Reuters that Germany would allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is due to meet with Germany’s new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin on Thursday.
Kahl noted Britain’s commitment to send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and, without confirming any German conditions on providing the Leopard, said: “I think if there is a concern about being alone in providing this capability, that shouldn’t be a concern.”
“But at the end of the day, you know, the German government is going to make a sovereign decision,” the U.S. defense official said.
Kahl also praised Germany’s contributions so far.
“I think we should give Germany an enormous amount of credit for their generosity toward Ukraine to date,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Front lines have hardened in Ukraine since Kyiv wrested back significant territory in the east and south in the second half of 2022. Kahl described brutal, World War I-style engagements, with advances measured in blocks.
“Really what we’re focused on is surging those capabilities to Ukraine for the next phase of the conflict to really try to change that dynamic and continue the momentum that the Ukrainians had in the late summer and early fall,” Kahl said, echoing comments in Washington on Tuesday by British foreign minister James Cleverly.
The U.S. provision of Bradley fighting vehicles, combined arms training, and other new weaponry for the Ukrainians is meant to enable Kyiv to change the dynamic of static defenses “by being able to fire and maneuver through the use of more mechanized forces,” Kahl said.
…
Activist Thunberg to Meet Energy Chief at Davos
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is set to meet International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol in Davos on Thursday, organizers of a fringe round-table event at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting told Reuters.
Thunberg is to meet Birol along with fellow campaigners Helena Gualinga, Vanessa Nakate and Luisa Neubauer, the organizers said in a statement.
The IEA, which makes policy recommendations on global energy, had no immediate comment.
Thunberg was released by police on Tuesday after being detained alongside other climate activists during protests in Germany.
“Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening,” she tweeted, adding: “Climate protection is not a crime.”
‘We are not winning’
Former United States Vice President Al Gore said in Davos that he agreed with Thunberg’s efforts in Germany and that the climate crisis was getting worse faster than the world was tackling it.
“We are not winning. The crisis is still getting worse faster than we are deploying these solutions,” Gore told a WEF panel, highlighting a growing gap between those “old enough to be in positions in power and the young people of this world.”
Thunberg, whose current whereabouts are not clear, attended the WEF meeting in Davos in January 2020, when she challenged world leaders, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, to act on climate change, saying that “our house is still on fire.”
She has also participated in previous protests on the fringes of the gathering, which brings business and political leaders together in the Swiss ski resort for a dialogue on topical issues.
Activists protest oil firms’ role
Climate change is one of the main items on the agenda for this year’s meeting, which has already seen protests against the role of big oil firms, with activists saying they are hijacking the debate over how to address global warming.
Representatives of major energy firms including BP, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum Corp., and Saudi Aramco are among 1,500 business leaders gathered there.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on the WEF attendees to make “credible,” accountable net-zero pledges.
A social media campaign this week added to pressure on oil and gas companies, promoting a “cease and desist” notice sponsored by Thunberg, Nakate, Neubauer and Gualinga through the non-profit website Avaaz.
The call, which has garnered more than 850,000 signatures, demands that energy company CEOs “immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need.”
It threatens legal action and more protests if they fail to comply.
The oil and gas industry has said that it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in the world’s energy mix as countries shift to low- economies.
…
US Arrests Russian Founder of China-Based Crypto Exchange
United States law enforcement officials said on Wednesday that they’ve arrested the Russian founder of a China-based cryptocurrency exchange, disrupting an online platform used by criminals on the darknet.
Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, the majority owner of Hong Kong-registered Bitzlato, was taken into custody in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday evening and charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, officials said at a press conference at the Justice Department.
Meanwhile, French authorities working with Europol and other European law enforcement agencies took down Bitzlato’s digital infrastructure and seized its cryptocurrency, officials said.
Legkodymov was expected to make his first court appearance in Florida on Wednesday. His attorneys did not respond to queries seeking to confirm his arraignment in time for publication. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.
‘A high-tech axis of cryptocrime’
Cybercriminals often operate in the shadows and are rarely caught. Asked why Legkodymov was in Miami at the time of his arrest, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco declined to answer.
“The charges allege that Legkodymov operated Bitzlato as a high-tech financial hub that, in his own words, catered to ‘known crooks,’” Monaco said.
Bitzlato openly boasted about its lax identification requirements, telling its users that “neither selfies nor passports [are] required,” the Justice Department said.
The company’s biggest counterpart in crypto transactions was Hydra Market, a notorious darknet marketplace that sold drugs and stolen financial information before it was shut down by U.S. and German authorities last year.
Prosecutors say Bitzlato exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrency for users of Hydra Market between 2018 and 2022. Bitzlato is also accused of receiving more than $15 million in ransomware proceeds.
“Hydra and Bitzlato formed a high-tech axis of cryptocrime,” Monaco said. “Hydra buyers funded illicit purchases — of illegal drugs, stolen financial information, and hacking services — from crypto accounts hosted at Bitzlato, and sellers of these illegal goods and services at Hydra sent criminal proceeds to accounts at Bitzlato.”
A lawyer for Legkodymov did not immediately respond to a VOA request for comment.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said nearly half of all known Bitzlato transactions between 2019 and 2021 involved Russian illicit finance or otherwise risky sources.
Darknet marketplaces almost always demand virtual currency, according to the Treasury Department.
“Bitzlato is particularly active in facilitating illicit activity, but it is ultimately part of a larger ecosystem of cybercriminals that are allowed to operate with impunity in Russia,” Adeyemo said.
In a rare move, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Bitzlato as a “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit funds.
Crackdown on crypto
The charges come as U.S. authorities have stepped up a crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges used by cybercriminals.
Illicit cryptocurrency transactions hit a new high of $20 billion in 2022, up from $18 billion in 2021 and $5 billion in 2017, according to Chainalysis.
U.S. officials say Russia in recent years has emerged as a haven for ransomware actors and other cybercriminals, with Moscow sometimes hiring private hacking groups to carry out international cyberattacks.
Adeyemo said most ransomware incidents reported to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in the second half of 2021 were conducted by Russia-related ransomware variants.
“At a time when Russia is waging a brutal and unjust war in Ukraine, and as it seeks to circumvent sanctions and governance controls to fill its coffers and sustain its violence, we have no tolerance for criminal enterprises enriching Russia’s malicious interests,” Adeyemo said.
…
Senegal Traffic Fatalities Indicative of Problem That Spans Continent
In Senegal, two major traffic crashes in just eight days killed 62 people, reviving the question of road safety standards in Senegal and across Africa. The continent is home to the highest rate of road fatalities in the world. Experts blame a dangerous mix of poor infrastructure and driver education as well as low-quality imports.
Rusted buses fill Dakar’s roads at rush hour. Passengers hang off the back doors, while teenagers on rollerblades cling to the sides, dodging horse carts and unpainted speed bumps. There are no traffic lights or stop signs — cars have the right of way and pedestrians cross at high risk.
Road conditions outside Senegal’s major cities can feel even more dangerous, where packed buses barrel down two-lane potholed roads, their roofs piled with mountains of cargo and sheep. There are no medians or street lights and farm animals roam freely into unchecked traffic.
On Monday it was a donkey that caused a public bus to swerve and collide with a truck in the country’s northern region of Louga. Twenty-two people were killed and 28 injured.
Just eight days prior, 40 people were killed and about 80 injured in a crash in Senegal’s southeastern Kaffrine region. A tire had burst, sending a passenger bus into the path of another oncoming bus.
The government responded by banning night bus trips between districts and outlawed used tire imports.
Worst traffic fatality rate in world
At 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, Africa has the worst rate of traffic fatalities in the world — nearly triple that of Europe, according to a 2018 report by the World Health Organization.
Christopher Kost, the Africa Program Director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an urban planning nonprofit, says that in order to improve road safety, African countries need to shift public transportation business models.
“In so many African countries, we’re still operating with a target system where driver incomes are directly related to the number of people they carry. And as a result, they rush as fast as possible to the destination, and that leads to a lot of the road safety challenges that we have,” he said.
Switching to a salary system would incentivize drivers to drive safely instead of cramming their buses full and speeding to their destinations, Kost said.
Carolyne Mimano, a partnerships manager also with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, says public transport could be further improved by limiting the age of buses, increasing bus inspections, and capping driver hours.
Within cities, governments have many options to improve safety. African city streets are shared by cars, pedestrians, cyclists, street vendors and even horse carts, yet planning efforts focus only on vehicles, Mimano said.
Pedestrians in Africa represent 40% of all road traffic deaths, compared to 23% globally, according to the WHO.
“We still have that car centric approach to transport planning,” Mimano said. “Even with road crashes, we think that the solution is to expand the road. And that doesn’t really solve the problem. What actually happens is people speed more.”
Improvement is possible. Mimano points to Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, which has speed cameras and salaried bus drivers, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which has elevated pedestrian crosswalks, wide sidewalks, and 21 kilometers of dedicated bus lanes.
“Africa and its development partners must prioritize road safety in their national budgets at a level that is commensurate to the burden and develop and implement national road safety programs in a way that engages all of the government including health, transport, education, finance and trade sectors,” said Nneka Henry, the head of the United Nations Road Safety Fund.
Senegal sees an average of 745 road fatalities per year, with most deadly accidents occurring at night, according to Senegal’s information bureau.
…
Germany to Export Tanks to Ukraine If US Does the Same, Berlin Says
Germany will allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks, a German government source told Reuters.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed the stipulation several times in recent days behind closed doors, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Western allies will meet at a U.S. air base in Germany on Friday to discuss offering more weapons for Ukraine.
Attention is focused in particular on Germany, which has veto power over any decision to send its Leopard tanks, fielded by NATO-allied armies across Europe and widely seen as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda told attendees at an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday that he was afraid Russia was preparing a new offensive in Ukraine within months and it was therefore crucial to provide additional support to the Kyiv government with modern tanks and missiles.
Poland and Finland have said they will send Leopard tanks if Germany approves them.
Berlin says a decision will be the first item on the agenda of Boris Pistorius, Germany’s new defense minister.
Pistorius will host U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday.
The United States has committed roughly $24 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration is next expected to approve Stryker armored vehicles for Ukraine but is not poised to send its own tanks, including the M1 Abrams.
This week, London turned up the pressure on Berlin by becoming the first Western country to send Western tanks, pledging a squadron of its Challengers, but the Leopards are seen as the best choice to supply Ukraine with a large-scale tank force.
The Wall Street Journal, citing senior German officials, first reported Berlin’s condition on tanks earlier on Wednesday. The publications Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Bild had similar reports.
…
NATO Allies US, Turkey Try to Mend Fences but Rifts Persist
The United States and Turkey on Wednesday looked to brush aside differences that have strained relations for years but were unable to report progress in resolving disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and NATO expansion that have soured ties between the allies.
At a meeting in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sought to bridge those gaps, but there was no immediate sign that they had, even though both men lauded the partnership between their countries.
They played up cooperation on Ukraine, with Blinken in particular praising Turkey’s leadership in securing a deal with Russia for the transport of Ukrainian grain. But in brief remarks before their meeting, neither specifically mentioned their differences over the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which the Turks have so far blocked despite strong support from the U.S. and other allies.
Turkey is demanding that the Swedes do more to rein in Kurdish groups that Ankara sees as a threat to its security before approving the alliance’s expansion.
“We are close allies and partners,” Blinken said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have differences, but when we have differences, precisely because we are allies and partners, we work through them in that spirit.”
Cavusoglu made no mention of Finland and Sweden in his comments but did make a point of stressing the importance Turkey places on winning U.S. approval to buy advanced F-16 fighters, something the Biden administration supports but that faces significant congressional opposition.
Cavusoglu called the F-16 deal a “significant topic” in U.S.-Turkey defense cooperation. “As we have said before, this is not only about Turkey but also for NATO and the United States as well. So, we expect approval in line with our joint strategic interest.”
Cavusoglu’s visit is a rare one to Washington by a top Turkish official as President Joe Biden’s administration has kept its distance from Turkey because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian direction and policies curbing rights and freedoms.
Positioned at the crossroads between East and West, Turkey remains strategically important for Washington. And, as Blinken pointed out, Turkey was key to the agreement between Russia and Ukraine that allowed millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to be transported to world markets, averting a food crisis during the war.
NATO allies, however, frequently find themselves at odds over a number of issues, with the biggest disputes centering on Turkey’s purchase of Russian-made missiles and support for Kurdish militants in Syria.
Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 air defense system from Russia in 2017 led to sanctions and Turkey being removed from the development program for the next-generation F-35 fighter plane. After losing out on the F-35, Ankara is trying to restock its F-16 fleet.
U.S. concern over Ankara’s cozy relationship with the Kremlin has been reinvigorated by the war in Ukraine. Despite Turkey’s ties with Moscow producing breakthroughs such as the grain deal and prisoner swaps, Washington is worried about sanctions-busting as Turkish-Russian trade levels have risen over the last year.
And Ankara’s feet-dragging over ratifying bids by Sweden and Finland to join NATO has added to friction between the allies.
Turkey’s recent attempts at rapprochement with Syria after a decade of bitter enmity have caused another break with the U.S.
Following a meeting of Syrian and Turkish defense ministers in Moscow last month, the U.S. State Department reiterated its opposition to countries normalizing relations with Damascus.
The U.S. military has also warned that a threatened Turkish operation against the Kurdish YPG in northern Syria could destabilize the region and revive the Islamic State group.
…
The West, Debt and Other Takeaways From Chinese Foreign Minister’s Africa Trip
China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang wrapped up his first international tour to Africa this week, during which he visited five diverse countries — Ethiopia, Gabon, Benin, Angola and Egypt — and stressed that China does not see the continent as an arena for a power struggle between the West and Beijing.
“Africa should be a big stage for the international cooperation, not an arena for major-force rivalry,” Qin, who was previously ambassador to the United States, said at a press conference on his first stop, in Addis Ababa.
“The China-United States relationship should not be about a competitive one or a zero-sum game that enlarges one’s own gain at the expense of the other,” he said. “Otherwise, it will only hurt both sides and even the world.”
For more than three decades it’s been a tradition that the top Chinese diplomat’s first foreign trip is to Africa. President Xi Jinping, who’s entering his second decade in power, has invested heavily in the continent through his Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which has expanded since its initial inception and includes Chinese investments in projects that build land and sea trade routes to continents around the world.
Some analysts say the U.S. is now playing catch-up with China in Africa, a resource-rich region with a growing population. In December, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a summit of African leaders in Washington, and the past year has seen a flurry of visits to the continent by top U.S. officials.
“I think America has politically prioritized Africa at a later stage in the contemporary game than what China has. … Is America late to the game? It’s certainly later than China,” said Lauren Johnston, a China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.
Ethiopia
In Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, Qin opened the new Chinese-built $80 million African Centers for Disease Control — part of China’s “health silk road” — to great fanfare.
It was originally envisioned as a collaboration between the U.S., China and Africa. But relations between Washington and Beijing soured under the Trump administration, with the U.S. voicing concerns about the risk of China spying and stealing genomic data. Beijing called the allegations “ridiculous.”
The Trump administration also pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization. The three-country partnership for the African CDC collapsed and the agreement was recrafted as one between China and the African Union.
Paul Nantulya, research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told VOA the inauguration of the building was “a very important message that China was sending about China’s commitment to infectious-disease control on the continent — so a big diplomatic win there.”
Ethiopia was also an important stop for the ambassador, Nantulya noted, because the two-year war in Tigray has been detrimental to Chinese business interests and hundreds of Chinese workers had to be evacuated. Beijing had even tried its hand at a peacemaker role, though it was the African Union that eventually secured a cease-fire late last year. During his trip, Qin pledged support for reconstruction efforts now underway in the region.
Ethiopia is highly indebted to China, owing $13.7 billion, and it was reported during the visit that Qin announced a partial forgiveness of the debt. The amount of forgiven debt was undisclosed.
“There was no publication of what was agreed in terms of debt relief. There was just talk of debt relief, and China has a tradition of having only offered debt relief for non-interest-paying loans, which are very small,” Johnston said. “If it’s something much more than just interest-free loans, then it could be much bigger and important.”
The West has frequently accused China of practicing “debt trap diplomacy” by trying to gain leverage over indebted developing countries. Qin rejected that in Addis Ababa, asserting that “China has always been committed to helping Africa ease its debt burden.”
He said China actively participated in the Group of 20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, signed agreements or reached agreements with 19 African countries on debt relief and suspended the most debt service payments among G-20 members.
Increasing engagement
Qin’s visit to Gabon and Benin surprised some China watchers, but Nantulya said it was part of China’s increasing engagement with Francophone West Africa.
He noted that China is currently building — as it did for the African Union in Addis Ababa — the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters.
In Benin, Qin said, “My proposal is that we work together to promote synergy between Benin’s strategic development plan and the Belt and Road Initiative … in order to identify more fields of action and growth rates for our cooperation. I am thinking for example of infrastructure, agriculture, human resources training, manufacturing, and peace and security.”
In Luanda, Qin marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Angola.
“Angola is a critically important security partner of China, but at the same time also highly indebted. About 40% of Angola’s debt is owed to China, so the source of discussions that Ambassador Qin must have had in Ethiopia, he must have had the same discussions with the Angolan government,” surmised Nantulya.
Egypt is strategically important to China because of the Suez Canal and its numerous investments there, including in the new administrative capital being built outside Cairo. Besides meeting with Egyptian government officials, Qin held meetings with the Arab League.
At a press conference afterward, he addressed the Israel-Palestinian conflict, saying Israel should “stop all incitements and provocations, and should refrain from any unilateral action that may lead to the deterioration of the situation.”
Johnston said the hard tone of Qin’s comments was somewhat surprising and may signal that he’ll be a different kind of foreign minister than his predecessors.
“When he was ambassador to the U.S., he was known for being somewhat strident in some of his statements,” said Johnston. “Maybe’s he’s come away from the U.S. with his own perspective from engaging in those policy circles … maybe he has some quite different angles and views on global diplomacy based even on that.”
…
‘A Matter of Days’: Concern Grows Over French Irish Citizen Held in Iran
A French Irish citizen held in Iran since October 2022 and now on a dry hunger strike to protest his detention will survive no more than a few days unless he is freed, his sister said on Wednesday.
Bernard Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant and one of seven French nationals held by Iran, was arrested in October while traveling and is being held in Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
The 64-year-old’s family has said he started a dry hunger strike on Monday, refusing water. He has been refusing food since the start of the year.
His sister Caroline Masse-Phelan told AFP on Wednesday that her brother was an innocent man detained for reasons “beyond our comprehension.”
She said his health condition meant he had to be released urgently.
“It’s a matter of days. He’s an innocent man caught in the middle of I don’t know what. He loves Iran, he is 64, sick, and wants to go home,” she said.
“He is showing serious signs of physical and psychological exhaustion,” said a French diplomatic source, adding he was in a “critical state.”
The Iranian authorities have refused to release Phelan on medical grounds despite repeated requests from the French and Irish authorities, the source said.
“I think he is part of a group of Europeans imprisoned for political reasons … of which I know nothing,” his sister added. “We have nothing to do with this story.”
Phelan is one of two dozen foreigners held in Iran, according to activists, who describe the detainees as hostages seized to extract concessions from the West.
Phelan was traveling through Mashhad during the ongoing protests against Iran’s clerical regime when he was arrested.
He is being held in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad. His sister said he suffers from a heart condition that requires medical treatment.
The hunger and thirst strikes are putting his life in danger but “he is doing this because he can’t take it anymore,” she said.
“These are the only weapons,” she added, saying that it was on his urging that she had moved to make the case public.
Phelan is in contact with the crisis unit of the French foreign ministry, which passes on the messages from his family, but requests for direct communication with the family have been turned down by the Iranian authorities.
Phelan received his first French consular visit on January 9, after repeated requests, the diplomatic source added.
Activists fear that the current downgrading of contact between Western governments and Iran over the protest crackdown has lessened the prospect of the foreign detainees being released soon.
Siamak Namazi, a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent who was arrested in October 2015, this week started a seven-day hunger strike as he implored President Joe Biden to put greater priority on his case.
“Today the whole world is witnessing how atrociously this regime can respond to those who dare demand their basic rights,” Namazi said.
your ad hereThrough the Lens: Deforestation Imperils Famed DR Congo Reserve
KIBATI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Acrid smoke swirls amid the buzzing of dozens of chainsaws under the majestic Nyiragongo volcano, producing scenes of devastation in the heart of the lush natural treasure in eastern DR Congo.
…
In New York’s Chinatown, New Digital Generation Raises Awareness, Keeps Cultural Traditions Alive
Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the oldest Asian enclaves in the United States, is experiencing a rebirth. A new generation of social media-savvy Asian Americans are revitalizing their family businesses and attracting new visitors to the distinctive neighborhood, which in the past two years has borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic along with anti-Asian discrimination. VOA’s Tina Trinh reports.
…
London Museum Withdraws ‘Irish Giant’ From Display
Campaigners have welcomed a decision to remove the skeleton of an 18th century man with gigantism from public display at a London museum.
The remains of Charles Byrne, who was 2.31 meters (7ft 7in), had been on show at the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in central London.
But the museum has said the self-styled “Irish Giant” will not be part of the collection when it reopens in March after a five-year, £4.6-million ($5.7-million) refurbishment.
Thomas Muinzer, a senior law lecturer at Aberdeen University in Scotland, called the decision “wonderful news”.
But he said the development was only a “partial success”, as Byrne himself wanted to be buried at sea, to prevent anatomists using him for study.
In 2011, Muinzer and Len Doyal, a medical ethicist, published a paper in the British Medical Journal, calling for Byrne’s final wishes to be respected.
“Byrne’s remains ought to be buried at sea or at least be withdrawn from public display,” they wrote.
The British writer Hilary Mantel, who died last year and wrote a 1998 fictionalized portrait of Byrne called “The Giant”, had also backed the campaign.
RCS England said last week that trustees of the collection had discussed the “sensitivities” of keeping and displaying Byrne’s skeleton during the closure.
The skeleton was acquired after Byrne’s death aged 22 in 1783 by the eminent surgeon and anatomist John Hunter.
Before he could be buried, Hunter paid Byrne’s friends £500 — the equivalent of £60,000 today — for his body.
The decision comes as museums in the UK and around the world are reassessing the provenance of their collections.
The Hunterian is due to begin a new program later this year “to promote new research and explore issues around the display of human remains and the acquisition of specimens” during the British colonial period.
Hunter and others in the 18th and 19th century “acquired many specimens in ways we would not consider ethical today”, it added.
A decision has been made to only make the skeleton only available for “bona fide medical research” into gigantism.
Muinzer said it had already been extensively studied and its complete DNA extracted, but scientific understanding of the condition remains limited and people still suffer from it today.
As a result, Byrne’s last wishes — which RCS England said are well-documented but anecdotal — should be respected, he added.
“We don’t have to worry about the resurrectionists and grave robbers now thank goodness,” he added.
…
US To Investigate Nursing Home Abuse of Antipsychotics
The U.S. government says it will begin a targeted crackdown on nursing homes’ abuse of antipsychotic drugs and misdiagnoses of schizophrenia in patients.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is launching investigations this month into select nursing homes, aimed at verifying whether patients have been properly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder.
Evidence has mounted over decades that some facilities wrongly diagnose residents with schizophrenia or administer antipsychotic drugs to sedate them, despite dangerous side effects that could include death, according to the agency.
“No nursing home resident should be improperly diagnosed with schizophrenia or given an inappropriate antipsychotic,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. “The steps we are taking today will help prevent these errors and give families peace of mind.”
Some facilities may be dodging increased scrutiny around gratuitous use of antipsychotic medications by coding residents as having schizophrenia, even when they do not show signs of the extremely rare disorder, a government report last year found. Less than 1% of the population is believed to have schizophrenia, which is marked by delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking.
In 2012, the federal government began tracking when nursing homes use antipsychotics on residents — doing so can impact the facility’s quality rating in a public database — but only for those who have not been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Antipsychotics for those nursing home residents has dropped to under 20% in recent years, according to federal data.
A November report from the HHS Office of the Inspector General, however, revealed that the number of residents reported as having schizophrenia without a corresponding diagnosis skyrocketed between 2015 and 2019, with 99 nursing homes in the country reporting that 20% or more of their residents have the disorder.
“The number of unsupported schizophrenia diagnoses increased and in 2019 was concentrated in relatively few nursing homes,” the report concluded.
Nursing homes have worked on other ways to treat residents, especially those with dementia, and trained staff to use alternative methods, said Katie Smith Sloan, the CEO of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging service providers.
“Much has been achieved since the program’s start in 2012, and nursing homes deserve a lot of the credit for the progress,” she said in a statement.
CMS will start targeted audits to ask nursing homes for documentation of the diagnoses in the coming days, focusing on nursing homes with existing residents who have been recorded as having schizophrenia.
The rating scores for nursing homes that have a pattern of inaccurately coding residents as having schizophrenia will be negatively impacted, CMS said in a statement released Wednesday, stopping short of threatening to levy fines against facilities.
The agency does not have plans to immediately intervene in the patients’ care directly or notify relatives of residents who have been wrongly coded or given antipsychotics, according to senior HHS officials who insisted on anonymity to brief The Associated Press on the matter on Tuesday.
CMS will monitor the facilities to make sure the issues are corrected, officials said.
…
Nigerian Authorities Investigate After Mob Burns Police Station to Protest Priest’s Killing
Police in Nigeria’s central Niger state say a mob angry at the killing of a Catholic priest torched a police station, other buildings, and cars, and threw stones at officers Tuesday.
State police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said authorities are responding to the situation and have deployed reinforcements to the Paikoro district where the incident took place.
He said the protesters, including youths and women, marched from the slain priest’s residence to a divisional police station and set it ablaze.
“We have sent reinforcements there, the security men are on ground and investigations have commenced and further developments will be made known to the public,” Abiodun told VOA via phone.
It is not clear how many people were injured during Tuesday’s protests, but eyewitnesses told local media that police officers dispersed the demonstrators forcefully.
The protesters blamed police for not responding promptly to distress calls when the armed men attacked the cleric, Father Isaac Achi.
On Sunday, armed men burned Achi inside his home in Paikoro after failing to break in. The attackers also shot at another priest fleeing the scene, but he survived.
The motive behind Achi’s killing remains unknown, but the incident triggered widespread criticism from religious groups including the Christian Association of Nigeria, or CAN.
CAN this week said authorities must decisively put an end to attacks on churches.
In a separate incident on Sunday, gunmen attacked a church in northwest Katsina state and abducted nine people, including two children.
In May, heavily armed men attacked a Catholic church in the southwestern town of Owo and killed 40 worshippers.
Insecurity is a major problem bedeviling Africa’s most populous nation weeks ahead of general elections scheduled for February 25.
your ad hereCameroon Deploys Troops to Nigerian Border after Separatists, Herders Clash
Cameroon’s government deployed at least 100 troops Wednesday to Gayama, a village on the border with Nigeria, after clashes between Cameroonian separatists and Nigerian herders left at least 12 people dead.
Cameroonian officials say the fighting broke out six days ago, after herders who crossed the border in search of food for their cattle refused to pay taxes the rebels demanded.
Abdoulahi Aliou, the highest-ranking government official in Menchum, the administrative unit in charge of Gayama, said the rebels killed two herders immediately upon their refusal to pay. The surviving herders, who are ethnic Fulani from Taraba and Benue states, returned home and organized a counterattack.
Aliou said the herders came back in huge numbers, attacked separatist camps, and killed at least four fighters. Six civilians, including the traditional ruler of Munkep village and his son, were also killed in the clashes.
Authorities say at least 20 civilians were injured, scores of cattle were killed, and homes were torched.
The Roman Catholic Church in Menchum says many civilians fled Gayama and neighboring villages to avoid getting caught in clashes between separatists and the arriving troops.
The governor of Cameroon’s Northwest region, Deben Tchoffo, said civilians should not fear the military. Speaking by telephone from the region’s capital, Bamenda, he said villagers should help the troops by denouncing rebels hiding in their communities.
“The future is bright, provided we are united against the agents of chaos that are trying to hijack our youths,” Tchoffo said. “The armed forces are bringing themselves close to the population. That is the reason why, compared to last year, things are becoming more and more normal in the Northwest region, even if we still have some hotspots.”
Tchoffo said Cameroon’s military would protect civilians in all border villages.
Separatists on social media, including WhatsApp and Facebook, acknowledged they have been battling Nigerian herders, who they say should respect their orders.
This is not the first time Cameroon’s anglophone separatists have attacked Nigerians along the border.
Last June, villagers in western Akwaya town said armed men believed to be rebels carried out a series of attacks that killed at least 30 people, including five Nigerian merchants.
The separatists have been fighting since 2017 to carve out an English-speaking state from French-speaking majority Cameroon.
The U.N. says the conflict has left more than 3,500 people dead and 750,000 displaced.
your ad hereUS, Germany Pressured to Send Tanks to Ukraine After Britain Breaks Taboo
Ukraine says the West must speed up the delivery of weapons as its troops come under increasing pressure from invading Russian forces, ahead of a key meeting of the Ukraine Défense Contact Group of NATO allies in Ramstein, Germany on Friday.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in recent days by Russian missiles. An attack on an apartment block in the city of Dnipro Saturday killed at least 44 people, including several children.
“What happened in Dnipro, the fact that Russia is preparing a new attempt to seize the initiative in the war, the fact that the nature of hostilities at the front requires new decisions in the defense supply, all this only emphasizes how important it is to coordinate our efforts, the efforts of all members of the coalition to defend Ukraine and freedom, and to speed up decision-making,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
“A regular meeting in the Ramstein format will be held at the end of the week. We expect fundamental decisions from the coalition of our partners,” he added.
British tanks
The Ukrainian president, meanwhile, praised Britain’s announcement that it will supply 14 “Challenger 2” tanks to Kyiv. “This is exactly what we need,” Zelenskyy said.
The Challenger 2 is Britain’s main battle tank. The squadron of 14 tanks is part of a large package of military aid, which includes AS90 self-propelled artillery, Bulldog armored vehicles, ammunition, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, Starstreak air defense systems and medium-range air defense missiles.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov Tuesday dismissed Britain’s supply of tanks to Ukraine. “The special military operation will continue, these tanks… will burn, just like the rest. The goals of the special military operation will be achieved,” Peskov told the Reuters news agency.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers Monday this was Britain’s most significant package of combat power provided to Ukraine to date.
“”We believe that in 2023, increased supplies improve training and strengthening diplomatic resolve will enable Ukraine to be successful against Russia’s poorly led and now badly equipped armed forces,” Wallace said.
“Today’s package will help accelerate the conclusion of Putin’s occupation and all its brutality and ensure that in 2023 and beyond, if necessary, Ukraine retains its momentum,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pressure on Germany
That momentum depends on other allies also stepping up. Germany is under growing pressure to send Ukraine “Leopard 2” tanks and approve requests from other nations to re-export their German-made tanks.
The Leopard 2 tank is seen as the workhorse of many European armies, and analysts say hundreds could be sent to the Ukrainian frontlines with Berlin’s approval.
“Ukraine needs hundreds of light and battle tanks to conduct a successful offensive in the spring. So, it seems that the British offer is more of a political signal – that the red line on tanks is actually gone,” Liana Fix, a defense analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA.
“The British political signal might not be enough for Germany to move onto main battle tanks. And Germany is so crucial because the Leopards are really the best and the most numerous tanks available for Ukraine at this point,” Fix said.
‘World War III’
Poland and Finland want to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki offered a warning to Germany.
“Ukraine’s defeat may become a prelude to a World War III. Therefore, today there is no reason to block support for Kyiv, to procrastinate. Thus, I call for decisive actions by the German government on all sorts of weapons to be delivered to Ukraine,” Morawiecki said at an event hosted by the German opposition Christian Democratic Union party in Berlin Tuesday.
European Union Council President Charles Michel voiced his support Wednesday for sending tanks to Ukraine. “The time is now; they urgently need more equipment and I am personally in favor of supplying tanks to Ukraine,” Michel told EU lawmakers.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Wednesday he expected an announcement that further main battle tanks would be sent to Ukraine.
“Definitely, there is momentum. Unfortunately, that the momentum has formed after we’ve seen, again, horrendous civilian deaths… We could do it right now, but we will be waiting for some other imaginary red lines to be crossed, because this is the modus operandi our allies are choosing,” Landsbergis told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Divisions
Germany is providing Ukraine with Marder armored personnel carriers, a Patriot air defense missile battery, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns and Iris-T surface-to-air missiles.
There are, however, divisions within Germany’s governing coalition over increasing the supply of weapons. The Green party wants to go further in supplying tanks and other heavy weapons to Kyiv. “We are at a different and a new and a next step. And as we have done in the past, we will join forces (with allies) also in the upcoming future,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a member of the Greens, said Tuesday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appointed Boris Pistorius as his new defense minister Tuesday after the resignation of Christine Lambrecht earlier this week.
In the past, Pistorius has spoken out in favor of helping Ukraine defend itself. Speaking after his appointment Wednesday, Pistorius would not be drawn on any decisions over sending Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. “The German army must adapt to a new situation which arose due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” Pistorius told reporters.
U.S. lead
Germany is looking to Washington to take the lead, says analyst Fix.
“It’s always step-by-step, it takes a long time until decisions are made. And Germany in any case does not assume a leadership role, but it only acts if the United States acts in parallel. And this reflects Germany’s concerns about escalation with Russia,” Fix said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is due to host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group of allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. The participants are expected to coordinate further military aid for Ukraine. The group consists of around 50 allies dedicated to helping Ukraine defend itself.
The meeting sends an important signal, says Fix.
“It also demonstrates that the West is not satisfied with a frozen conflict, with a frozen war, with a preliminary cease-fire – but that the Western alliance sees the necessity for Ukraine to make further great gains,” Fix told VOA.
Some of the information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…
South Africa Criticized for Hosting Russian Warships Amid Ukraine War
South Africa plans to conduct joint military exercises with the Chinese and Russian navies off its east coast next month (February 17-26), despite the Kremlin’s ongoing war on Ukraine. The opposition Democratic Alliance has slammed the decision, saying it means that contrary to its “neutral” stance on Russia’s Ukraine war, South Africa’s ruling National Congress Party has effectively sided with Moscow.
The China-Russia-South Africa drills, named Operation Mosi, which means smoke, are to take place off Durban from February 17 to 26.
While South Africa has held joint naval exercises with Russia in the past, in 2019, these latest ones overlap with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its ongoing war against Kyiv.
Pretoria has officially remained “neutral” on the conflict, refusing to condemn the Kremlin’s invasion in a U.N. vote last year.
But South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says hosting Russian warships shows the ruling African National Congress, or the ANC, has chosen sides.
Kobus Marais is the party’s shadow defense minister.
“While our government has claimed to be neutral, this is just another of many incidents where the ANC has clearly exposed their favoritism towards Russia and has in fact done nothing but to showcase and prove [the] government’s lack of neutrality in this case,” he said.
Marais says the South Africa of Nelson Mandela, once a beacon of democracy, risks losing its international standing by siding with what he calls “the most despicable autocracies of the world.”
Moscow’s invasion, the biggest in Europe since World War II, has been widely condemned internationally.
Western governments have hit Russia with diplomatic isolation and heavy sanctions and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine to defend itself.
Steven Gruzd, the head of the Russia-Africa program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, says South Africa’s hosting the drills risks its further isolation from the West while playing into Russia’s hands.
“Russia is trying to indicate that it’s not isolated internationally, that it has international military reach. And South Africa, by agreeing to hold these exercises, or going ahead with them, is feeding into that narrative that Moscow’s putting out,” he said.
South Africa’s African National Congress party has close ideological and historical ties to Russia under the Soviet Union, which backed its anti-apartheid struggle against white minority rule.
South Africa and Russia are also members of the BRICS group of leading, emerging economies, which includes Brazil, India, and China.
While many countries have shunned the Kremlin over its invasion, some nations, including those in BRICS, have not.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova was clear to VOA in her criticism of the scheduled military drills.
“And on South Africa, Russia, China military exercises, let me just ask you, what the army that is killing innocent people, the army of rapists and murderers, what can they bring to [the] South African army as added value?” she said.
Some analysts say the world is in a new cold war, with authoritarian nations China and Russia on one side and Western democracies on the other.
This conflict is increasingly playing out in Africa as both sides scramble for influence on the strategically and politically important continent.
South Africa’s Department of Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini tells VOA they will not reconsider the joint drills.
“I’d like to repeat that the exercise will go ahead with the two countries in South Africa in February. In relation to the military-to-military relations between these two countries and many others, which include the United States, where exercises have been held with each of those countries,” he said.
Despite pressure from Western governments, and visits last year by U.S. officials, Pretoria has continued to improve relations with Moscow.
South Africa in December received a sanctioned Russian ship that officials say was delivering ammunition ordered before the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor will on Monday host Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In August, South Africa will host the BRICS summit and has invited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to attend.
…
World’s Oldest Known Person, French Nun, Dies at 118
A French nun who was believed to be the world’s oldest person has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, the spokesperson for her nursing home in southern France said Wednesday.
Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the town of Ales, southern France, on Feb. 11, 1904. She was also one of the world’s oldest survivors of COVID-19.
Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon.
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka, aged 119, last year.
Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in January 2021, shortly before her 117th birthday, but she had so few symptoms that she didn’t even realize she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond.
In April last year, asked about her exceptional longevity through two world wars, she told French media that “working … makes you live. I worked until I was 108.”
She was known to enjoy a daily glass of wine and chocolate.
The oldest living known person in the world listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who is living in Spain, and is 115.
…
US and China Hold High-Ranking Summit in Zurich
U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He pledged to keep the lines of communication open between the two economic superpowers Wednesday in Zurich, Switzerland.
Speaking to reporters at the start of their summit, Yellen said while Washington and Beijing “have areas of disagreement,” the two countries “have a responsibility to manage our differences and prevent competition from becoming anything near conflict.”
Liu said China was ready to work with the United States “to maintain dialogue and exchanges” and seek common ground.
The meeting in the global financial center is expected to focus on the risk of a global economic recession this year and sovereign debt, especially China’s holdings of massive debt of several low-income nations who are facing potential default amid rising interest rates. Yellen is expected to urge Beijing to provide debt relief to those countries during her summit with Liu.
Wednesday’s high-level meeting in Zurich is the result of an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached at the G-20 summit in Bali back in November to improve ties between the world’s top two economies.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have grown increasingly strained in recent years over several issues, including trade, human rights and China’s increased pressure on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of its territory.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…
Drug Trial Starts for Mexico’s Former Top Security Official
The man who was once Mexico’s top security official and in charge of fighting the drug cartels went on trial Tuesday on charges he accepted millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for helping the powerful Sinaloa Cartel move drugs and its members avoid capture.
Genaro García Luna was best known as the mumbling, tough-looking former security secretary under ex-President Felipe Calderón, who spearheaded the bloody war on cartels between 2006 and 2012.
Prosecutors say García Luna was so brazen he accepted tens of millions of dollars, often stuffed in briefcases. The evidence against him includes pay stubs, though whether they are from official jobs, private sector consultancy, cartel payments or other bribes is unclear.
They say he continued to live off his ill-gotten proceeds even after he moved to the United States, where he was arrested in 2019, though the defense says he was a legitimate businessman. Jury selection was scheduled to continue Wednesday in the trial scheduled to unfold over the next eight weeks.
In the end, the case could reveal the inner workings of how Mexican cartels have been able to operate so openly for so long: by bribing Mexican police and military right up to the top ranks.
“For decades, Mexico’s political elite, of all parties, has sought by any means to have security ministers, generals, police commanders, interior secretaries and high-ranking officials tried and imprisoned in Mexico. … All that to avoid them giving information on the ties between the drug cartels and politicians,” said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo. “García Luna’s trial in the United States breaks with that pattern.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has welcomed the trial, which is expected to cast light on corruption in the administration of Calderón, whom the president accuses of robbing him of the presidency in 2006.
But López Obrador himself fought tooth and nail to avoid a U.S. trial of former Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos on similar charges in 2020, at one point threatening to kick agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration out of Mexico unless the general was returned, which he was.
The trial begins just days after U.S. President Joe Biden met with López Obrador in Mexico City. The two governments pledged continued cooperation against the drug cartels, especially against the scourge of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which contributed to more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021. López Obrador scrapped the civilian federal police force that García Luna once led and put the military in charge of much of the country’s security.
“It’s not the same to put a civilian PAN official on trial, as it is to put a defense secretary on trial, when your whole national security policy rests on the armed forces,” said Ana Vanessa Cárdenas, an international security analyst at the Anahuac University, referring to Calderón’s conservative National Action Party.
García Luna has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges and a continuing criminal enterprise. He could face decades in prison if convicted.
What he will face in a Brooklyn courtroom is a parade of government witnesses, including high-level cartel members of a kind not seen in Brooklyn since Sinaloa boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was convicted there in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison. Some accusations against García Luna surfaced at the Guzmán trial.
“While holding public office, [García Luna] used his official positions to assist the Sinaloa Cartel … in exchange for multimillion-dollar bribes,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace wrote in a court filing last week. “At trial, the government expects that numerous witnesses, including several former high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel, will testify about bribes paid to the defendant in exchange for protection.”
In exchange for the bribes, García provided the Sinaloa Cartel with “safe passage for its drug shipments, sensitive law enforcement information about investigations into the cartel, and information about rival drug cartels,” Peace wrote. “These payments allowed the cartel at times to receive warnings in advance of law enforcement efforts to apprehend cartel members and to allow cartel members to be released if arrested.”
Before convicting Guzmán in 2019, jurors in his New York trial heard former cartel member Jesús Zambada testify that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to García Luna, on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The cartel is now believed to be run by Zambada and at least three of Guzmán’s sons, one of whom was arrested earlier this month on an extradition request from the United States.
García Luna isn’t the first top Mexican official arrested for involvement with drug traffickers. Gen. Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo was made Mexico’s drug czar by President Ernesto Zedillo in 1996. He was arrested the following year after it was discovered he was living in a luxury apartment owned by the leader of the Juarez cartel, Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
…
F-16 Deal Contingent on Turkey’s Support for NATO Expansion, Syria
Turkey’s F-16 fighter jet request from the United States and the possibility of another operation by Turkish military in northern Syria are expected to top the agenda during talks in Washington when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday. Analysts say any F-16 deal would be tied to Turkey’s timely support for NATO’s expansion and no military action in northern Syria.
Turkey made an official request to purchase 40 F-16 jets and nearly 80 modernization kits from the United States in 2021. Biden administration officials have expressed support for the proposed sale, subject to approval by Congress.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the administration is preparing to begin consultations with Congress to seek approval for the $20 billion sale.
James Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, argues that any prospective support from Congress would depend on cooperation from NATO member Turkey on two issues: No military incursion into northern Syria and not blocking the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
“The opposition in the Senate will probably require senior levels of the administration weighing in with security arguments. I’m not so sure if they’re ready to go that far, but I cannot imagine them doing a whole lot to help Turkey get F-16s if we don’t see a movement on those two issues,” he told VOA.
Former head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel, who oversaw the military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — also known as ISIS or Daesh — agrees.
Answering VOA’s questions in writing, Votel said the United States must tie any F-16 deal to “Turkish support for NATO expansion and an agreement to not further de-stabilize northern Syria with military action.”
Twenty-eight NATO members have already ratified Sweden and Finland’s admission to the alliance. Turkey and Hungary have not. Hungary says it will do so in early February, leaving Turkey as the sole holdout.
Turkey expects Finland and particularly Sweden to do more to crack down on Kurdish militants and members of the Gulen movement, which Ankara accuses of being behind an attempted coup in 2016.
F-35s for Turkey’s regional rival Greece
According to the WSJ report, the Biden administration is separately planning to seek congressional approval to sell F-35 jets to Turkey’s regional rival and NATO ally Greece.
Turkey was removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, where it was once a production partner, due to its purchase of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to comment on the potential sale Friday at the daily press briefing.
Senate Foreign Relations Commitee Chairman Bob Menendez welcomed news of the proposed sale of F-35 aircraft to Greece, which he referred to as a “trusted NATO ally’’ in a written statement first reported by Reuters and shared with VOA.
He underlined that the United States and Greece share principles “including collective defense, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Menendez opposes the proposed sale of F-16s jets to Turkey.
“Until [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan ceases his threats, improves his human rights record at home — including by releasing journalists and political opposition — and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale,” he said.
Syria agenda
U.S. military leaders continue to be worried about possible military action by Turkey in northern Syria against the Kurdish YPG, part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla noted that more than two dozen ISIS detention centers are secured by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
“Anything we can do to de-escalate the situation and prevent that incursion by the Turks would be important,’’ he said last month during a news briefing.
Former head of CENTCOM Votel says the chances of some sort of military activity by Turkey are likely, even though it may be limited in scope.
He points to previous decisions by Erdogan, saying “this generally plays well with his loyalists.”
Reconciliation efforts between Turkey and the Syrian government are also expected to come up during the talks in Washington.
Turkey’s Cavusoglu recently said he could meet his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, in February.
The United States has already made its position clear, saying it does not support countries “upgrading” their relationship with the Assad regime in Syria.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly said last week that “talks with Turkey should be based on the aims of ending the occupation of Syrian land” and halting support for what he called terrorism.
The Wilson Center’s Jeffrey, who also served as the State Department Special Representative for Syria Engagement until 2020, argues that the Syrian president is unwilling to make any deals and that the talks are being pushed by Russia, “with no compromises on the security situation in Syria or on the return of the refugees,” which are two important concerns from Turkey’s perspective.
“We shouldn’t read anything into this, particularly given the looming election in Turkey. I would rather wait until after the elections to see what the real Turkish policy is,” Jeffrey told VOA.
…
No Progress on Netherlands Joining US Chip-Export Ban to China
In his meeting Tuesday with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to have made no progress persuading the Netherlands to support new U.S. restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China, a key part of Washington’s strategy in its rivalry against Beijing.
During a brief appearance in front of reporters before their meeting, Biden said he and Rutte have been working on “how to keep a free and open Indo-Pacific” to “meet the challenges of China.”
“Simply put, our companies, our countries, have been so far just lockstep in what we’ve done, and our vision for the future. So today, I look forward to discussing how we can further deepen our relationship and securing our supply chains to strengthen our transatlantic partnership,” he added.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration will continue its efforts.
“We don’t push any of our allies or our partners. We consult with them closely, and they make their own decisions,” she said in a briefing to reporters on Tuesday.
ASML Holding NV, producer of the world’s most advanced semiconductor lithography systems required to manufacture the most advanced chips, is headquartered in Veldhoven, making the Netherlands key to Washington’s chips push against Beijing.
Ahead of Rutte’s visit, Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said the Netherlands is consulting with European and Asian allies and will not automatically accept the new restrictions that the U.S. Commerce Department launched in October.
“You can’t say that they’ve been pressuring us for two years and now we have to sign on the dotted line. And we won’t,” she said.
Rutte did not mention the semiconductor issue ahead of his meeting with Biden, focusing instead on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where the NATO allies have been working together to support Kyiv.
“Let’s stay closely together this year,” Rutte said. “And hopefully, things will move forward in a way which is acceptable for Ukraine.”
Tech supremacy
The battle for U.S. tech supremacy and Washington’s effort to cut off critical technology supplies to Chinese companies began under the administration of former President Donald Trump. Biden took it further by trying to consolidate allies behind the effort, including the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — home to leading companies that play key roles in the industry’s supply chain.
Allies’ support is crucial, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). If they do not implement complementary export controls, the U.S. sanctions will cause Chinese buyers to “revise their shopping lists” and replace American devices and equipment with comparable foreign components.
There’s a clear strategic interest in diversifying the supply chain, but the reality is complicated, said Sujai Shivakumar, director of the Renewing American Innovation Project at CSIS.
“This is a major shift, and so, there needs to be coordination … because this impacts a very complex supply chain that spans the world,” Shivakumar told VOA. “It’s a major realignment. It’s a major rewiring. So, there are a lot of details within that broader strategic shift that [have] to be worked out.”
Fifteen percent of ASML’s sales are in China, and the company [has] “already sacrificed,” Peter Wennink, CEO of ASML, said in a December interview with NRC newspaper. He said that following U.S. pressure, the Dutch government has restricted the company from exporting its most advanced lithography machines to China since 2019.
Last week, Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who said he backs Biden’s attempt but did not agree to match the sweeping curbs targeting China’s semiconductor and supercomputing industries.
Like the U.S., Japan has launched an ambitious program to bring back cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing domestically, part of the Kishida government’s broader strategy to respond to global supply chain disruptions and try to contain China.
U.S. officials say export restrictions on chips are necessary because China can use semiconductors to advance their military systems, including weapons of mass destruction, and to commit human rights abuses.
The October restrictions follow the U.S. Congress’ July passing of the CHIPS Act of 2022, which provides $52 billion to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing, design and research, and reinforce America’s chip supply chains. The legislation also restricts companies that receive U.S. subsidies from investing in and expanding cutting-edge chipmaking facilities in China.
Beijing has invested heavily in its semiconductor industry as Washington has sought to cut it out of the semiconductor supply chain. In 2015, China laid out plans to invest $1.4 trillion in advanced technologies, aiming to achieve 70% self-sufficiency in semiconductors by 2025.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
…
SpaceX’s Starlink Becomes Crucial Tool in Ukrainian War Effort
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the military and private citizens started using Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink, which eventually became key to Ukraine’s resistance. From Kyiv, Myroslava Gongadze tells the story of one Ukrainian engineer who volunteers to support the technology and the soldiers who use it.
…
Congolese President Says M23 Rebels Have Not Withdrawn as Agreed
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Tuesday the M23 rebel group had not fully withdrawn from areas it seized in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, accusing the militia of faking an agreed pullback of its forces.
Regional leaders brokered an agreement in November under which the Tutsi-led group was meant to withdraw from recently seized positions by January 15 as part of efforts to end a conflict that has displaced at least 450,000 people and sparked a diplomatic crisis between Congo and neighboring Rwanda.
“Despite the international pressure, the group is still there,” Tshisekedi said during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“They pretend to move, they act like they are moving, but they’re not. They’re simply moving around, redeploying elsewhere, and they stay in the towns that they have captured,” he said. His comments were the most outspoken from the Congolese authorities so far on how they view the implementation of the peace deal.
“President Tshisekedi has only this to say. It is the government that does not respect the cease-fire, it also continues to arm armed groups,” said Lawrence Kanyaka, a spokesman for the M23.
Earlier in January, an internal United Nations intelligence report said it was not possible to confirm the M23’s purported withdrawal from some areas due to continued signs of troop movement, and its analysis indicated the group had seized new territory elsewhere.
Tshisekedi again accused Rwanda of fueling the conflict by supporting the rebels — an accusation also leveled by Western powers and U.N. experts. Rwanda firmly denies this.
Several civil society organizations have called for a demonstration on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Goma, to protest delays implementing the M23 withdrawal, although the city authorities have not authorized the march.
your ad here