Month: February 2023

US Demands Sudan Reverse Ruling That Freed Man Convicted in Envoy’s Killing 

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The United States on Thursday called on the Sudanese government to reverse a decision this week to release a Sudanese man facing the death penalty in the killing of a U.S. diplomat in 2008. 

Abdelraouf Abuzeid was found guilty, along with others, in the killing of American John Granville and a Sudanese colleague, who both worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and were killed by gunmen in Khartoum. 

“We call on the Sudanese government to exercise all available legal means to reverse this decision and to rearrest Abuzeid,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters. 

Officials met with the Sudanese ambassador to the United States on Thursday, and the U.S. ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, is engaging Sudanese officials at the highest levels on the issue, Price said.  

Peter Lord, the deputy assistant secretary for East Africa, Sudan and South Sudan, will also demand action when he travels to Khartoum next week, Price said. 

“We will not relent,” Price said. 

Abuzeid’s brother said Monday that his sibling had been released by Sudan’s high court based on a multimillion-dollar 2020 settlement between Sudan and victims of attacks, including the one that killed Granville. 

The money received by Granville’s family from the Sudanese government was interpreted by a majority of the court as a release of their right to retribution and the acceptance of blood money, said a Sudanese legal source related to the case. 

Granville’s mother, Jane Granville, said Wednesday that she was horrified about hearing of Abuzeid’s release. 

“In no way did [the settlement] say that that money was going to release any of these men that killed John,” Jane Granville said. “I never would’ve accepted it if that was part of it.” 

Price said the claim that Granville’s family had extended forgiveness was false. 

U.S. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Abuzeid’s release was “outrageous.” 

“This action further drives a wedge between the US and #Sudan, exposes the regime’s impunity, and complicates future US assistance,” Risch said on Twitter. 
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Embassies Warn of New Violence in South Sudan Ahead of Pope Visit

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The embassies of Britain, Norway, and the United States have expressed grave concerns about possible new fighting in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. The warning by the so-called Troika Embassies comes just days ahead of Pope Francis’ first visit to South Sudan on Friday for what the Vatican is calling a pilgrimage of peace.

Serious security alarms have been sounded barely 24 hours before Pope Francis arrives in South Sudan’s capital for what is seen as an attempt by Vatican to find a lasting peace in the war-torn nation.

Already, foreign embassies have sent out warnings of a possible outbreak of war in parts of the country.

The U.S., UK and Norway, who are also peace guarantors for South Sudan’s revitalized transitional government, said violence may break out in Upper Nile, the northeastern state that borders Ethiopia and Sudan on the north.

U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael Adler told reporters in Juba that the Troika Embassies will always stand with those who call and work for peace in South Sudan.

“In that regard, we note with grave concern indications of preparation for renewed fighting in Upper Nile State. South Sudanese transitional leaders and political actors in Juba have a responsibility to act to prevent this and to find peaceful and sustainable solutions.”

Michael English of UNMISS, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, said he is concerned about reports of a military buildup in an area under the control of a militia group — the Agwelek forces. The group is under the command of former South Sudanese army general turned rebel, Johnson Olony.

Agwelek, a militia perceived to be friendly to the national army, has denied these allegations.

Last year, the militia group signed an agreement with the national government to integrate part of their forces into the national army.

Paul Achot is head of the Agwelek delegation to Juba, where he’s talking with government officials about implementing the agreement signed between Agwelek and the army in January 2022.

“There is no preparation of any sort, from our side, to go and attack anybody,” he said. “So I was surprised myself to hear the UNMISS, who is supposed to be neutral, pointing fingers against us, saying that we are preparing to go and attack other forces.”

In 2022, fighting between Agwelek and other militias displaced over 60,000 people.

The South Sudanese army says it is ready to defend the population in case of renewed clashes.

Meanwhile, the government said Thursday that it will deploy over 5,000 security personnel in Juba to ensure calm during the pope’s visit.

Pope Francis is coming to Juba to deliver a message of peace and reconciliation in a country still struggling with inter-communal violence. This will be a continuation of a process that began in 2019 when the pope hosted then-political foes President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar at the Vatican.

Pope Francis will be accompanied on the ecumenical visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
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Zimbabwe Hopes to Boost Agriculture Sector With Help From Belarus

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Zimbabwe is attempting to boost its agricultural sector with support from controversial partner Belarus, which is under sanctions for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited Zimbabwe this week on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, Zimbabwe. Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe.
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Boeing Makes Last 747

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Aviation history was made this week when U.S. aerospace company Boeing delivered the last of its iconic 747 airliners. Natasha Mozgovaya has our story from Washington state. Video editing by Bakhtiyar Zamanov and Jason Godman.
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Ukrainians Say They Fear Russians Might Attack Chernobyl Once Again

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Site of the biggest nuclear accident in history, Chernobyl has become over the years one of the biggest tourist attractions in Ukraine. Despite still harboring high radiation levels, Chernobyl was one of Russia’s first military targets in its invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago. The Russians took control of the plant, the villas, and the small town that lent its name to the region for nearly two months. Now Chernobyl is back under Ukrainian control, but fears of another invasion remain.
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Pope Addresses Stadium Crowd in DR Congo

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Pope Francis addressed a crowd of tens of thousands of young people gathered Thursday in a stadium in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The event in Kinshasa came on the third day of the pope’s visit to the country, which has included appeals for peace and reconciliation. 

Francis celebrated Mass with about a million people Wednesday in Kinshasa. 

He continues his trip Friday as he travels to South Sudan. 

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Philippines Grants US Military Access to More Bases

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The United States and the Philippines announced an agreement Thursday that will give the U.S. military access to four new Philippine military sites. 

In a joint statement, the two countries did not give specific locations, saying they were in “strategic areas of the country.” 

The expansion is part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which includes five existing sites. 

“The addition of these new EDCA locations will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges,” the statement said. 

The new agreement comes as the two longtime allies seek to counter China’s increasing assertiveness toward Taiwan and its actions in the South China Sea. 

Ahead of the announcement, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the U.S. goal is to strengthen the relationship with the Philippines “in every way possible,” and to boost the Philippines’ military capabilities. 

Marcos said the future of the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region “will always have to involve the United States simply because those partnership are so strong.” 

VOA’s National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. 
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US Calls on Russia to Allow Nuclear Inspections

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The United States says Russia is violating the New START Treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the two countries. In August, Russia suspended inspections of its nuclear facilities as required by the treaty. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Contributed to by Harry Knyagnitsky.
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Family, Community, Leaders Mourn Tyre Nichols

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Vice President Kamala Harris paid her respects Wednesday at the funeral of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died last month after a brutal beating by Memphis police officers. Activists say more needs to be done to strengthen laws to prevent police brutality, which disproportionately affects people of color. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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African Nations Commit to Ending AIDS in Children by 2030

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Twelve African countries on Wednesday spelled out plans for ending AIDS in children by 2030 through an array of HIV testing, treatment and prevention programs.

The 2030 goal, which was announced by UNAIDS last year, was unanimously backed by representatives from the 12 nations gathered in Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam.

“All of us in our capacities must have a role to play to end AIDS in children,” Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango told the conference. “We must not remain complacent; 2030 is at our doorstep.”

The Dar es Salaam Declaration was announced at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in Children, which brings together the 12 countries with UNAIDS and other health agencies.

The 12 nations are Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Every five minutes

UNAIDS said that a child dies from AIDS-related causes every five minutes.

Just half of the children living with HIV worldwide are receiving antiretroviral treatments that can stave off AIDS, compared with three-quarters of adults with HIV, it said.

The new plan includes early testing for children, increasing treatment for pregnant women with HIV, preventing infections among breastfeeding women, and addressing rights and gender barriers that hinder access to services.

‘A winnable fight’

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima told the meeting “it fills me with hope that all of us in this room have committed” to the 2030 goal.

“It’s a winnable fight,” she said. “It’s a fight for our children.”

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the ministers “your leadership is crucial.”

“We have all the tools needed to make this a reality,” he said, “but we need your commitment and action.”
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Family, Community Mourn Tyre Nichols; White House Vows Action

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Vice President Kamala Harris paid her respects Wednesday at the funeral of Tyre Nichols, a young Black man who died last month after a brutal beating by Memphis police officers, and demanded that Congress pass stalled legislation aimed at holding police accountable after a high-profile police killing in 2020 sparked protests in the U.S. and around the world.

“As vice president of the United States, we demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — Joe Biden will sign it,” Harris said, referring to President Biden while speaking at Nichols’ funeral in Memphis, Tennessee. “And we should not delay, and we will not be denied. It is non-negotiable.”

On Wednesday, the family of Nichols, 29, remembered him as a loving father, keen photographer and an eager skateboarder – the kind of guy, his brother said, who “never lifted a finger to nobody.”

But after his brutal beating on January 7 by five Black police officers, captured on video, America remembers him differently: as another young Black man felled by what some see as an epidemic of violent racism in American policing. All five officers involved in the beating of Nichols, who died on January 10, have been charged with murder.

Black Americans are 12% of the population but accounted for 26% of victims killed by police in 2022, according to monitoring group Mapping Police Violence. And statistics show that Black people are three times more likely to die during police encounters than their white counterparts.

Harris said Nichols’ death was counterproductive.

“This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety,” she said. “It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe because one must ask, was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be with us here today?”

But activists want more than words. They want legal change, and for police officers to be held legally accountable through a federal law, like the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which did not pass when it was proposed in 2021.

“It has to be federal law,” longtime civil rights activist the Reverend Al Sharpton said ahead of Nichols’ funeral. “Let me tell you, until police know they have skin in the game, which is why you heard them say about the George Floyd bill, you heard the sister say about the legislation here, you must get rid of qualified immunity. Where police know that they can lose their house, their car and everything else.”

But some activists, like Leslie Mac, communications director for the Frontline, an advocacy group, want the government to send resources elsewhere. She spoke to VOA via Zoom.

“President Biden just last week was talking about needing to fund the police, and I would push back and just let him know that taking funds away from violent enterprises and putting them into the hands of services that actually meet the needs of communities is not just smart, from a federal level, but it’s a smart play for us as human beings in this society,” Mac said.

VOA asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre what the administration is doing to combat perceptions that systemic racism is a problem in America.

“The president has made it a priority in his administration to make sure that it looks like America, to make sure that we see the diversity in this administration and throughout different committees,” she said. “And you see that over and over again, when you look at the different agencies, when you look to the White House. And this is … historically the most diverse administration in history. And that matters.”

The Congressional Black Caucus has invited Nichols’ parents to attend Biden’s State of the Union address next week, where he is expected to address a range of topics, including police reform.

Last year, during that address before a joint session of Congress, Biden said, “The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”
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US Launches Initiative to Support African Farmers Amid Food Security Challenges

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In partnership with the African Union, the United Nations and others, the U.S. State Department has kicked off an initiative to help African farmers and governments prepare for and adapt to food security challenges caused by climate change.

Dr. Cary Fowler, U.S. special envoy for global food security,  launched the new program Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“Crops adapted to climate, pests, diseases and the needs of the marketplace are a prerequisite for food security,” said Fowler. “Poor soils don’t produce rich harvest.”

Fowler, who recently visited Zambia and Malawi, warned there is an urgent need to develop crops that are prepared to withstand the effects of climate change and the agricultural productivity demands of Africa’s growing population.

“At a time when Africa is experiencing weather extremes and population growth is increasing, we see a real opportunity promoting soil health and climate resistant crops in Africa,” said Fowler. “By the end of the century, as you probably already know, Africa will be the world’s most populated continent, yet already there are 300 million people who are food insecure on the continent.”

Historically, most adaptation efforts have focused on a handful of crops such as maize, rice and wheat, said Fowler. That attention, he said, should include lesser known crops that are rich in vitamins and micronutrients.

“Other crops such as grains, such as sorghum, millet and teff, and almost all of the root and tuber crops, and the hundreds of indigenous African fruits and vegetables, have received much attention,” he said. “Not surprisingly, their yields are low and their potential unrealized. For many of these crops there has never been a single scientifically trained plant breeder working on them in all of agriculture history.”

This initiative is being launched in partnership with the African Union and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Ambassador Cindy McCain, U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. agencies in Rome, was at the launch. She said overlapping crises — armed conflict, COVID-19 and climate change — are straining global food systems. And that is affecting everyone, especially the more vulnerable around the globe.

“Throughout my travels as the U.S. ambassador to U.N. agencies in Rome, I’ve seen the effects of conflict, water scarcity and extreme weather conditions from Kenya to Madagascar, from Sri Lanka to Laos and more,” she said. “As global leaders sought climate solutions in COP 27 in Egypt last year and at the Negev forum in UAE last month, it is clear that we must leverage science and technology and innovation in agriculture to feed a growing population, and it demands a united global effort.”

Fowler said in addition to the FAO and AU, entities such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Columbia University and CGIAR, a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in food security research, also are involved in this effort. He said this is like a potluck dinner where the State Department brings some resources and maybe a main dish, but other partners need to contribute to the effort in order to make it a success. Fowler noted the process outlined is part scientific and part consensus- and commitment-building.
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Biden Administration Backs Smaller Version of Alaska Drilling Project

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President Joe Biden’s administration said on Wednesday it would support a scaled-back version of ConocoPhillips’ planned $6 billion Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska but has not yet made a final decision on the contentious proposal.

The Willow project’s fate is being closely watched by both the oil and gas industry and environmental groups as Biden seeks to balance his goal of fighting climate change with calls to increase domestic fuel supplies to keep prices down.

The Willow project area holds an estimated 600 million barrels of oil, or more than the amount currently held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country’s emergency supply. The project is important to Alaska’s elected officials, who are hoping it will help offset oil production declines in a state whose economy relies heavily on the drilling industry.

Meanwhile, extreme weather across the globe has intensified calls from activists to move rapidly away from burning fossil fuels because of their contribution to warming the planet. Biden vowed during his 2020 election campaign to end federal oil and gas drilling as part of a pledge to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050. But that plan faced lawsuits from drilling states and pressure to boost production as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices.’

‘A viable path forward’

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management published the project’s final environmental review, selecting a “preferred alternative” that would include three drill sites and less surface infrastructure than originally proposed. ConocoPhillips had initially wanted to build up to five drill sites, dozens of kilometers of roads, seven bridges and pipelines.

According to BLM’s analysis, the design it endorsed would reduce the project’s impact on habitats for species like polar bears and yellow-billed loons. Alaska officials and ConocoPhillips backed that option in letters submitted to the agency in recent months.

In a statement, ConocoPhillips said the design represented “a viable path forward” for Willow and said it was ready to begin construction immediately upon approval. The company said the project would deliver up to $17 billion in revenue for federal and state governments and local Alaska communities.

The release of the document comes after a string of actions by the administration in recent weeks to protect wilderness areas from development, including Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and Bristol Bay, and the Boundary Waters area in Minnesota.

‘Closer to the edge’

Environmental groups criticized the analysis and called on Biden to reject the project.

“Our window to act is rapidly closing to avert catastrophic climate change, and this plan only takes us one giant step closer to the edge,” Kristen Miller, executive director of Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement.

BLM’s parent agency, the Interior Department, said in a statement that the selection of the preferred alternative was not a final decision on approval of the project, adding that it had “substantial concerns” about Willow’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and wildlife.

A final decision will be made no sooner than 30 days after the review’s publication, the department said.

Willow would be located inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, a 93 million-hectare area on the state’s North Slope that is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States.

It was initially approved by the Trump administration, but a federal judge in Alaska in 2021 reversed that decision, saying the environmental analysis was flawed.
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In Manhattan’s Chinatown, Newfound Appreciation for the Family Business

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For years, David Leung’s grandfather and father worked each night at Wo Hop restaurant. Considered a New York City institution by some, the Chinese restaurant opened in 1938 and is said to be the second oldest in Manhattan’s Chinatown. But Leung’s appreciation for Wo Hop didn’t develop until much later, when he realized the extent of his family’s involvement. Tina Trinh reports.
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Ukraine Raids Tycoon’s Home, Tax Office in Wartime Clampdown

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Ukrainian authorities raided an influential billionaire’s home on Wednesday in what an ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touted as a sweeping wartime clampdown on corruption that would change the country.

Separate raids were carried out at the Tax Office and on the home of an influential former interior minister, two days before Kyiv hosts a summit with the European Union at which it wants to show it is cracking down after years of chronic corruption.

Ukraine sees Friday’s summit as key to its hopes of one day joining the bloc, a goal that has grown more urgent following Russia’s invasion and has embarked on a political shake-up in which more than a dozen officials quit or were sacked last week.

Security officials searched the home of businessman Ihor Kolomoiskiy, one of Ukraine’s richest men and a one-time Zelenskyy ally, in what several media outlets said was an investigation into possible financial crimes.

Kolomoiskiy could not immediately be reached for comment. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later said it had uncovered a scheme to embezzle more than $1 billion at oil producer Ukrnafta and oil refining company Ukrtatnafta, companies that Kolomoiskiy used to partly own.

Photographs circulating on social media appeared to show Kolomoiskiy, dressed in a sweatsuit, looking on in the presence of at least one SBU officer inside a large wooden home. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.

In a statement that did not name Kolomoiskiy, the SBU published the same photographs, but with the person’s face blurred out.

David Arakhamia, a senior member of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, confirmed the search of Kolomoiskiy’s home as well as the separate raids conducted at the Tax Office and at the home of Arsen Avakov, a former interior minister.

Arakhamia said the entire management of the Customs Service was set to be dismissed and that high-ranking defense ministry officials had been served with notices informing them they were suspects in a case. He gave no details.

“The country will change during the war. If someone is not ready for change, then the state itself will come and help them change,” Arakhamia wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Corruption

In a statement, the Prosecutor General’s Office later said, “Corruption in a time of war is looting” and that four senior current and former officials had been served “notices of suspicion,” along with the senior management of Ukrtatnafta.

The head of the State Bureau of Investigation said the law enforcement action was “only the beginning.”

Ukraine’s long-running battle against corruption has taken on vital significance, as Russia’s invasion has made Kyiv heavily reliant on Western support and it needs to carry out reforms to join the 27-nation EU.

Domestic politics has largely been frozen as politicians focus on fighting Russia, but Zelenskyy presided over the first major political shakeup of the war last week after an outcry over a corruption scandal involving an army food contract.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that more personnel decisions were in the pipeline and promised reforms that would change Ukraine’s “social, legal and political reality.”

He was elected president in 2019 on an anti-corruption ticket and launched a crackdown on wealthy businessmen known as “oligarchs” in late 2021. The oligarchs took control of swathes of industry during the post-Soviet privatizations of the 1990s and continue to wield influence.

The Ukrainska Pravda media outlet said the search on Kolomoiskiy’s property related to an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of oil products and evasion of customs duties.

Separately, Avakov said his home was searched as part of an investigation into a helicopter crash on Jan. 18 that killed 14 people including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi.

He said investigators were looking into the purchase six years ago of a model of Airbus helicopter that was involved in the crash, but that “nothing relevant to the interest of the investigation was found.”
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Belgian Arms Trader, Defense Minister Tangle Over Tanks for Ukraine

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Freddy Versluys does not like to be called an arms dealer. But he does have a big warehouse full of second-hand tanks for sale. 

Standing next to dozens of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other military vehicles in the chilly warehouse in eastern Belgium, Versluys stressed he is the CEO of two defense companies with a broad range of activities, such as making sensors for spacecraft. 

But buying and selling weapons is part of his business, too. And it’s the tanks that have brought him into the spotlight over the past few days, as he has engaged in a public battle with Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder over the possibility of sending them to Ukraine. 

While other Western nations have pledged in recent weeks to send main battle tanks to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, Belgium has not joined that group, for one reason above all: It doesn’t have any tanks left. It sold the last of them – a batch of 50 – to Versluys’s company more than five years ago. 

Asked why he bought the tanks, Versluys, a silver-haired man in his mid-60s, said that was his company’s business model – it bought unwanted military equipment in the hope that someone else would want it in future. 

“There are still countries in the world who have these Leopard 1 tanks. So there’s always a possibility either to sell spare parts or to sell additional tanks,” he said. 

“Of course, it’s a gamble,” he added. “Maybe tomorrow we will have to scrap them [or] 10 years later they can still be there.” 

Dedonder has said the government has explored the idea of buying back tanks to send to Ukraine. But she has blasted the prices quoted as unreasonable and extremely high. Tanks sold for 10-15,000 euros each are being offered for sale at 500,000 euros, despite not being operational, she has said. 

The spat highlights a predicament faced by Western governments as they scramble to find more weapons for Ukraine after almost a year of intense warfare; arms they discarded as obsolete are now in high demand, and many are now in the hands of private companies. 

Dedonder hasn’t named Versluys’s company, OIP Land Systems, in her accusations. But Versluys is sure he is her target. Dedonder declined a request for an interview. 

Versluys has taken the unusual step of going public to dispute the minister’s assertions, offering a rare insight into the workings of a business that often prefers to keep a low profile. 

Versluys said his firm bought the 50 tanks for about 2 million euros and only 33 were useable. That would mean a unit price of 40,000 euros for 50 tanks, or some 60,600 euros for 33. 

He said his selling price could range anywhere from several hundred thousand to close to a million euros but that would include work to refit the tanks, which he insisted could be highly expensive. 

Replacing the system that controls the gunfire could cost 350,000 euros per tank, replacing asbestos in the engine could cost 75,000 euros, he said. Each tank had to be assessed individually. 

“We still have to look at what is their actual status and what we have to spend on them to make them suitable,” he said. 

As part of his public offensive, Versluys has given journalists tours of his warehouse on the outskirts of the provincial town of Tournai. It resembles a military hypermarket, filled with lines of Leopard 1 tanks in dusty green and black camouflage and scores of other military vehicles, along with shelves stacked with spare parts and piles of webbing. 

In his sales pitch, Versluys also emphasizes that refitted Leopard 1 tanks could be battlefield-ready in months, much more quickly than new models ordered today, which will take years to produce. 

The Leopard 1 is the predecessor of the Leopard 2 tanks that Germany, Poland, Finland and other countries agreed last month to send to Ukraine. It is lighter than the Leopard 2 and has a different type of main gun. The models in Versluys’s warehouse were last upgraded in the 1990s. 

Yohann Michel, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said Leopard 1 tanks would not be as valuable on the battlefield as their successors. 

But, he said, they could still be of some use in taking on older Russian tanks and in supporting infantry units, particularly if they were refitted to a high standard. 

If Belgium does not buy back the tanks, another country could purchase them for Kyiv. Versluys said he had held discussions with several European governments about that option. 

However, any export of Leopard 1s would require the approval from the Belgian region of Wallonia, where the company is based, and from Berlin, as the tanks were made by German firm KMW. 

Versluys, who worked as an engineer in the Belgian military before going into business, is a smooth salesman.

While he does not like the “arms dealer” label, he said the weapons business is better than its reputation: “Contrary to what people say, it’s quite a civilized market.” 
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US Denounces Sudan Release of Killer of US Aid Worker

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The United States on Wednesday voiced alarm over Sudan’s release of a man sentenced to death over the killing of an American development worker, denying there was any understanding between the countries.

Islamist gunmen shot dead John Granville, a 33-year-old U.S. Agency for International Development employee, along with his 40-year-old Sudanese driver Abdel Rahman Abbas in a hail of bullets on New Year’s Day 2008.

Sudanese authorities on Monday freed Abdelraouf Abu Zaid, who was convicted over the killing, with his lawyer saying it was a court decision in line with a 2020 compensation package by Sudan to Washington for past terrorism.

“We are deeply troubled by the lack of transparency in the legal process that resulted in the release of the only individual remaining in custody,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

He said it was “inaccurate” that the United States had agreed to the release as part of the 2020 deal, which removed Sudan from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism dating from the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir.

As part of the deal brokered by then premier Abdalla Hamdok, impoverished Sudan paid $335 million to American survivors and families of victims killed in past attacks.

Hamdok, a civilian heading a transitional government, was seeking to reintegrate Sudan into the international community but he was ousted the following year by the military, setting back relations with the United States, which froze $700 million in economic support.

Price said the United States was seeking clarity on the release of Abu Zaid and was offering $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of two other people suspected in the 2008 killings.
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Expectations Low on Debt Ceiling Deal in Biden-McCarthy Meeting

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President Joe Biden is meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, the first in-person sit-down between the two leaders since Republicans assumed control of the House of Representatives following the November midterm elections. 

The pair is set to discuss a range of issues including the urgent need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, the amount of money authorized by Congress for the government to borrow to meet existing spending obligations. 

The United States hit the $31.4 trillion ceiling on January 19. Without an agreement, the country will for the first time go into default, potentially plunging the economy into a crisis.

Expectations of a breakthrough are low. The White House has drawn a hard line on negotiations, maintaining that debt ceilings should be lifted without conditions. The ceiling has been raised 78 times since 1960, including 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents.

In a memo released earlier this week, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said that in the meeting with McCarthy, Biden will “seek a clear commitment” that defaulting on the nation’s debt is off the table. They called on Republicans to present a detailed budget proposal specifying the spending cuts they target.

McCarthy and House Republicans say they are aiming to slash “wasteful spending in Washington” as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling but have not formally identified the programs they want cut. Republicans broadly say they are aiming to slash domestic programs and reduce some defense spending while avoiding cuts to two social programs that voters from both sides of the aisle want protected: Medicare, the health insurance program for seniors, and Social Security, which provides payments to retirees and the disabled.

Under pressure 

McCarthy is under pressure from members of the ultraconservative Republican Freedom Caucus who want to drastically limit the size, scope and reach of the federal government and budget, and reform Congress to make it easier to do so. Twenty lawmakers, most of whom are members of the caucus, withheld their votes for McCarthy’s speakership through all or most of 15 ballot rounds earlier in January until he pledged to fulfil their procedural and policy demands, including enabling just one member to call for a vote seeking his ouster. 

For many in Washington, the debt brinkmanship feels familiar. Republicans in Congress voted against increasing the ceiling under Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011 and 2013 but raised it three times under Republican President Donald Trump.

The government is expected to be able to keep operating until at least early June but it’s not clear how long the Treasury Department can avoid defaulting on the debt. A default could lead to a global economic crisis, as many companies and foreign governments hold their capital reserves in U.S. Treasury notes. 

In 2011, the threat of default downgraded the U.S. government’s credit worthiness and led to major stock market crashes around the world. 
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FBI Agents Search Biden’s Vacation Retreat for Classified Documents

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FBI agents on Wednesday searched for classified documents at U.S. President Joe Biden’s vacation retreat in the city of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, as part of its investigation into Biden’s handling of government security materials after he left the vice presidency in 2017, his personal lawyer said.

In a statement, the lawyer, Bob Bauer, said the search at the blue-and-white, three-story home was “planned” and being conducted with Biden’s “full support and cooperation.”

Bauer said under the Department of Justice’s “standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate. The search [Wednesday] is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”

The search at the home near the Atlantic Ocean follows earlier ones in which Biden aides late last year found a collection of documents with classified markings at a Washington research organization, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, where Biden occasionally worked after his vice presidential term ended, and at his primary private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.  

The White House said at the time that no more classified documents were found at the Rehoboth Beach home.  

The FBI’s search of the vacation property comes after an intensive, 13-hour search on January 20 at the Wilmington residence, where agents found documents with classified markings and took possession of some of Biden’s handwritten notes.

Altogether, some 20 or more classified documents have been recovered by Biden’s lawyers or the FBI agents at the Washington office and Wilmington home.   

The January search came after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named a career prosecutor, Robert Hur, to investigate Biden’s handling of the classified material, months after naming another prosecutor, Jack Smith, to investigate about 320 documents with classified markings found at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s Atlantic Ocean retreat in Florida.

Last month, Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, said some classified material was found at his home in Indiana.

Under U.S. law, all three officials were required to turn over the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration when their terms in office ended.

Biden and his lawyers have sought to downplay the probe, suggesting that a small number of documents was retained inadvertently.

Trump only reluctantly turned over dozens of documents after taking them to Mar-a-Lago when he left office two years ago, eventually forcing the government to secure a warrant for a court-approved search because it suspected Trump had not turned over all the materials in his possession. Agents recovered about 100 more in a search last August.

 
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Global Corruption Worsens, but Africa Makes Progress

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The past year saw little progress in tackling global corruption due to greater violence and insecurity, according to the organization Transparency International’s “Corruption Perceptions Index 2022.” However, there are some encouraging signs that corruption is being successfully tackled in parts of Africa.

“Most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption: 95 percent of countries have made little to no progress since 2017,” the report says. “Governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into violence. This vicious cycle is impacting countries everywhere from South Sudan to Brazil.”

Violence

For the sixth year running, South Sudan, Syria and Somalia are at the bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception index.

“South Sudan is in a major humanitarian crisis with more than half of the population facing acute food insecurity — and corruption is exacerbating the situation,” the report reads. “A Sentry report from last year revealed that a massive fraud scheme by a network of corrupt politicians with ties to the president’s family siphoned off aid for food, fuel and medicine.”

Conflict and corruption create a vicious cycle, said Transparency International’s Roberto Kukutschka.

“Having weak and corrupt police and defense sectors — including … other law enforcement organizations or institutions such as the courts or the judiciary itself — it is very unlikely that we will be able to tackle organized crime or the effects of organized crime and terrorism,” Kukutschka told VOA.

Russia

The report says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February exemplifies the threat that corruption poses for global security.

“Kleptocrats in Russia have amassed great fortunes by pledging loyalty to President Vladimir Putin in exchange for profitable government contracts and protection of their economic interests,” the authors say. “The absence of any checks on Putin’s power allowed him to pursue his geopolitical ambitions with impunity. This attack destabilized the European continent, threatening democracy and killing tens of thousands.”

Brazil

Transparency International says perceived corruption worsened in Brazil under former president Jair Bolsonaro. His supporters attacked the parliament, supreme court and presidential palace following his election loss in January.

“It is much easier for corruption to occur when these checks and balances are weaker,” said Kukutschka. “That’s why one of our main recommendations this year and also in the past has been to really focus on establishing very clear separation of powers across the judiciary, the legislature and the executive whenever we have those three branches of power.”

The index ranks 180 countries by the perceived level of corruption, using data from 13 external sources including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Democracy

Denmark, Finland and Norway top the index. “Strong democratic institutions and regard for human rights also make these countries some of the most peaceful in the world,” says the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog.

Several European countries are at historic lows, though, including Britain, which has slipped 10 places in the past five years following a series of political scandals. Qatar and Guatemala also have fallen to historic lows on the index.

Four other traditionally top-scoring countries — Australia, Austria, Canada and Luxembourg — saw a significant decline in their assessments, as VOA recently reported, while the U.S. scored 69, a “negligible” increase of 2 points, according to a Transparency International expert who called the rating “troubling.”

African progress

Some African nations have made significant progress and are rising on the index, including Angola, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Senegal.

“Seven of the 24 countries that we see improving are actually in Africa, so this is one of the regions that is stuck at the bottom of the index, but where we also see progress happening,” Kukutschka told VOA.

“Many of them have also ramped up their anti-corruption commitments. There’s been a lot of work also within the framework of the African Union to have to fight against corruption,” he added.
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Regional Leaders Vow to Support Somalia’s War Against Al-Shabab

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The leaders of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia met Wednesday in the Somali capital to discuss the ongoing fight against al-Shabab militants. The security summit took place amid an offensive by Somalia and its allies against the Islamist militants. Somalia in the past year has won significant victories against the group, which has also increased its counterattacks.

At least four mortar shells landed near the presidential palace in Mogadishu Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of heads of state and governments from the region.

There were no casualties reported in the attack, for which al-Shabab claimed responsibility.

The Frontline States Summit went ahead with Kenyan President William Ruto, Djibouti’s president, Omar Guelleh, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and the host, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Earlier, Somalia’s information minister, Daud Aweis, told journalists in Mogadishu the leaders would discuss efforts by the Somali army and its clan militia allies to ensure peace in the region.

He said, the discussions here in Mogadishu will focus more on the operations of the Somali National Army in cooperation with the citizens with the aim of achieving lasting peace in the Horn of Africa and ensuring that the state of security in Somalia does not only end in Somalia but also extends to neighboring countries.

Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia contribute troops to the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia, ATMIS.

However, security analysts say today’s gathering explores more enhanced engagement among Somalia’s neighbors.

A communique from the meeting noted that the regional countries had agreed to mobilize resources to support the ongoing military operations in Somalia.

Matt Bryden is the founder of Sahan Research, a security and policy research group focusing on the Horn of Africa.

“The meeting of the frontline states in Mogadishu today, and the heads of state is really an essential step in advancing the fight against al-Shabab independently of wider peace and security issues, such as the role of ATMIS and security cooperation, economic cooperation between these neighboring states,” he said.

Bryden said the engagement among the regional states is long overdue, noting the regional bloc IGAD has previously called on member states to deal with al-Shabab as a regional problem.

Bryden said although al-Shabab is centered in Somalia, it has carried out deadly attacks throughout the region, especially Kenya, and has made incursions into Ethiopia and Djibouti.

“So, this is about Somalia and its neighbors not simply cooperating on the conventional or counterinsurgency battle against al-Shabab inside Somalia. It is about investigating, identifying and disrupting al-Shabab’s networks of financiers, facilitators and active supporters across the entire region,” he said.

Following the conclusion of the summit, the leaders of the four countries said they had agreed to establish a joint coordination mechanism and jointly plan a decisive operational strategy against the Islamist militants.

The U.N. Security Council has set December 2024 as the exit date for African Union forces from Somalia. However, that milestone has been termed overly ambitious in light of inadequate preparation among Somali security forces and the current strength of al-Shabab. 
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Tom Brady Retires, Insisting This Time It’s For Good

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Tom Brady, who won a record seven Super Bowls for New England and Tampa, has announced his retirement from the U.S. National Football League.

Brady — the most successful quarterback in NFL history, and one of the greatest athletes in team sports — posted the announcement on social media Wednesday morning, a brief video lasting just under one minute.

“Good morning guys. I’ll get to the point right away,” Brady says as the message begins. “I’m retiring. For good.”

He briefly retired after the 2021 season, but wound up coming back for one more year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He retires at age 45, the owner of numerous passing records in an unprecedented 23-year career.

A year ago when he retired, it was in the form of a long Instagram post. But about six weeks later, he decided to come back for one more run. The Buccaneers — with whom he won a Super Bowl two seasons ago — made the playoffs again this season, losing in their playoff opener. And at the time, it begged the question about whether Brady would play again.

Only a couple weeks later, he has given the answer.

“I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning, I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first,” Brady says in the video. “I won’t be long-winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year.

“I really thank you guys so much, to every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever. There’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”

Brady is the NFL’s career leader in yards passing (89,214) and touchdowns (649). He’s the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and has been MVP of the game five times.

Brady has won three NFL MVP awards, been a first-team All-Pro three times and selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times.

Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen finalized their divorce this past fall, during the Bucs’ season. It ended a 13-year marriage between two superstars who respectively reached the pinnacles of football and fashion.

It was announced last year that when Brady retires from playing, he would join Fox Sports as a television analyst in a 10-year, $375 million deal.
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Zimbabwe Plans to Build $60 Billion ‘Cyber City’ to Easy Harare Congestion

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Zimbabwe plans to build “Zim Cyber City,” a modern capital expected to cost up to $60 billion in raised funds and include new government buildings and a presidential palace. Critics are blasting the plan as wasteful when more than half the population lives in poverty and the government has let the current capital, Harare, fall apart. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Mount Hampden, Zimbabwe. Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe
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US Nomination of North Korea Rights Envoy Revives Hope for Divided Families

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The nomination of the U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, along with new legislation, has revived hopes for Korean Americans who want to see family in North Korea whom they have not seen since their separation during the Korean War.

President Joe Biden nominated Julie Turner, a long-time State Department official, as the U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea on January 23. The position has been vacant for the past six years.

The Divided Families Reunification Act authorizes the special envoy to consult regularly with Korean Americans to make “efforts to reunite” them with their families in North Korea.

The Reunification Act was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, which Biden signed into law on December 23. The envoy is to create “potential opportunities” for reunions including video meetings.

“This bill is our last hope because most of the divided family members are in their late 80s and 90s, and probably this is our last chance for the reunion,” said Chahee Lee Stanfield, executive director of the National Coalition for the Divided Families (DFUSA).

Stanfield, 82, has not seen her father and brother in North Korea for more than 70 years. She began a grassroots effort in America in the mid-1990s to help Korean families living in the U.S. reunite with loved ones in North Korea.

“Every day counts for us, and we are hoping that the special envoy will prioritize our issue and seek the reunion process including the video reunion as soon as possible,” Stanfield said.

No travel after war

The Korean War, which began in June 1950, separated more than 10 million individuals from their families. The fighting ended in July 1953 with the signing of the Armistice Agreement ordering a temporary cease-fire and the division of the peninsula between North and South Korea.

Since their separation, families divided by the 38th parallel have been unable to travel to see each other due to the differences between the democratic Republic of Korea (ROK), as South Korea is known, and socialist North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

From 1985 to 2018, the governments of the North and South authorized 21 family reunion programs. These allowed more than 24,500 divided families in both countries to meet either in person in Seoul, Pyongyang and Mount Kumgang or virtually.

However people like Stanfield, who moved from South Korea to America and became U.S. citizens, were unable to participate in the programs because diplomatic ties between Washington and Pyongyang do not exist.

There are more than 1.7 million people of Korean descent living in the U.S. As many as 10,000 Korean Americans were separated from their families in North Korea during the war, according to Wonseok Song, executive director of Korean American Grassroots Conference (KAGC).

“Unfortunately, there is no reported information of the exact number of divided families residing in the United States,” Song said. “There are no mechanisms in the United States that formally track these families, and no terms that clearly define who may be considered family either.”

California Republican Representative Young Kim, who cosponsored the bipartisan Reunification Act, is pushing for a system of identifying Korean Americans divided from their families in North Korea.

“I want the special envoy … to identify the Korean Americans, some 10,000 of those still living in the United States, to coordinate better with our U.S. State Department and the South Korean government to include them in the next round of family reunification,” said Kim during an interview with the VOA Korean Service this week.

The number is shrinking yearly due to deaths among the aging population who have now waited much of their lives to see their families in North Korea. About 3,000 elderly South Koreans with family ties to North Korea die each year, according to the Reunification Act.

A lifetime of hoping

Even though inter-Korean family reunion programs were temporary and held under strict surveillance by North Korean officials, Korean Americans have long hoped that similar programs would unite them with their families in the North.

Some, like Song Yoonchae, a white-haired 90-year-old in Los Angeles, thought he would return home when he boarded the SS Meredith Victory. He thought he was taking a brief voyage to escape the ravages of the war.

He recalled leaving behind his sister and two brothers to board the U.S. merchant freighter turned rescue vessel docked at the port of Hungnam in North Korea in December 1950.

“My family and I were told we just need to stay on the ship for three days,” said Song, who was 17 years old at the time, in “The Three Days Is a Lifetime,” a documentary produced by the VOA Korean Service. It captures the wrenching stories of Korean Americans yearning to meet their families in the North.

 

The ship carried tens of thousands of densely packed refugees to Port Jangseungpo on Geoje Island off the southern tip of South Korea. The rescue operation became known as “the Miracle of Christmas” as the ship unloaded the refugees on Christmas Eve.

Displaced by the war, Yoonchae began a new life in the South before moving to the U.S.

“I consider the issue of bringing divided Korean American families together to be a human rights issue,” said Robert King, who served as the U.S. special envoy for North Korea’s human rights under the Obama administration. He was the last person to serve in the position.

“The first step will be to get North Korea to talk with the United States,” King continued.

An opening for dialog

Dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang has remained stalled since October 2019. Even though the Biden administration said efforts were made to engage in talks, North Korea has refused.

Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, “In the absence of any dialogue with North Korea, with tensions rising on the Korean Peninsula because of Pyongyang’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and with U.S.-DPRK and ROK-DPRK relations in a bad state, it is hard to imagine that there is any real prospect for progress in this important area.”

Revere continued, “Nevertheless, the existence of this legislation keeps open a potential area for U.S.-ROK-DPRK dialogue and cooperation if and when circumstances allow in the future.”

North Korea launched more than 90 ballistic and cruise missiles last year while dismissing any prospects for talks with the U.S.

Wonseok Song of the KAGC said, “While tensions do remain unfavorable between the two countries” of the U.S. and North Korea, “we at KAGC are hopeful” that talks focusing on reunions will open. He added, “The issue is dire to an aging population eager to make peace with their estranged loved ones.”

Joeun Lee contributed to this report.
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