Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the first top US diplomat to visit Niger, as the West African country has emerged as a crucial security base for Western countries seeking to counter terrorist groups in the Sahel region. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Month: March 2023
US Pledges Humanitarian, Economic, Security Aid to Niger
In a first for a U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken was in the African nation of Niger Thursday to offer humanitarian, economic and security aid.
Blinken’s visit to Niger follows a stop earlier in the day in Ethiopia, a trip viewed by analysts as an effort to bolster U.S. relations in a part of the world where Russia and China have been seeking to gain influence.
At a news conference with his Niger counterpart, Blinken announced a $150 million humanitarian aid package for the west and central region of African known as the Sahel, which includes Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.
As he announced the aid package, Blinken credited Niger and other nations in the region for their commitment to democratic principles. He said the United States is “committed to continuing to invest in the resilience of democracies to a wide range of threats and challenges.”
Blinken also discussed programs designed to address food insecurity in the nation, which he made a point to note had been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine became further part of the discussion when Blinken was asked to comment on Poland’s decision to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine to help in its defense efforts. Ukraine has requested more advanced air power to counter the Russian offensive, but the U.S. has so far resisted.
Blinken said this was a sovereign decision by Poland, and “different nations are doing different things” to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian aggression.
He said it has always been the U.S. focus to do everything to ensure Ukraine has what it needs in the moment, and he said it was a mistake to focus on any specific weapons system at any given time.
Blinken said what is important is not only that the Ukrainians have the right weapons system, but also that they know how to use it and that it fits into a comprehensive plan.
The secretary of state was also asked about the growing influence of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.
Many nations in the region have turned to Russia and the Wagner Group for security assistance after unsuccessful efforts by the U.S. and France to quell terrorist and extremist group attacks in the region.
Blinken first lauded Niger for rejecting and criticizing Russia and the Wagner Group. He said that in areas where Wagner has been active, things have ended badly and that it has not been an effective response to insecurity.
“We’ve seen countries find themself weaker, poorer and less independent as a result of an association with Wagner,” he said.
Blinken added there have been cases in which the Wagner Group has engaged in exploitation of a country’s resources, as well as corruption, violence and human rights abuses. He said nations found themselves less secure as a result of that association.
Blinken said it was incumbent upon the United States to demonstrate how its more comprehensive approach to security can deliver concrete results.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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US Military Moves to Cut Suicides, But Defers Action on Guns
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a number of improvements in access to mental health care on Thursday to reduce suicides in the military but held off on endorsing more controversial recommendations to restrict gun and ammunition purchases by young troops, sending them to another panel for study.
An independent committee in late February recommended that the Defense Department implement a series of gun safety measures, including waiting periods for the purchase of firearms and ammunition by service members on military property and raising the minimum age for service members to buy guns and ammunition to 25.
In a memo released Thursday, Austin called for the establishment of a suicide prevention working group to “assess the advisability and feasibility” of recommendations made by the initial study committee — which would include the gun measures. He also asked for cost estimates and a description of any “barriers” to implementing other changes and set a deadline of June 2 for that report. At no point did he specifically refer to the gun proposals or mention gun safety.
Growing concern
Austin’s orders reflect increasing concerns about suicides in the military despite more than a decade of programs and other efforts to prevent them and spur greater intervention by commanders, friends and family members. But his omission of any gun safety and control measures underscores the likelihood that they would face staunch resistance, particularly in Congress, where such legislation has struggled in recent years.
The more immediate changes address broader access to care.
To more quickly provide help for troops who might be struggling, Austin directed the Pentagon to hire more behavioral health specialists and implement a scheduling system for appointments where patients receive multiple health care visits weekly when they first seek care.
Austin also ordered military primary care health clinics to screen for unhealthy levels of alcohol use, make unhealthy alcohol use treatment easier to receive, and make sure mental health care is available through service members’ primary care as well.
“The mental health support available for our teammates must be comprehensive and easy to access,” Austin said in the memo.
Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters in a briefing Thursday that Austin’s orders involved areas where the department already has the authority to take immediate steps.
“While we recognize that suicide has no single cause, and that no single preventative action, treatment or cure will eliminate suicide altogether, we will exhaust every effort to promote the wellness, health and morale of our total force,” Ryder said.
Committee recommends rules about firearms
The initial study committee recommended that the department require anyone living in military housing to register all privately owned firearms. In addition, the panel said the department should restrict the possession and storage of privately owned firearms in military barracks and dorms.
Confirming findings in annual suicide reports, the panel noted that about 66% of all active-duty military suicides — and more than 70% of those by National Guard and Reserve members — are done with firearms. It said reducing access to guns could prevent some deaths.
Craig Bryan, a clinical psychologist and member of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, said the department should slow down troops’ access to guns — specifically those bought in stores on bases — so people under stress can survive periods of high risk.
He likened the expanded gun safety measures to requirements that the department puts on motorcycle usage — such as mandated helmets — that are often more strict than some state laws. Asked how likely such changes would be, Bryan said he believes troops are more receptive to such limits than civilians might be.
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Nurses, Paramedics Reach Pay Deal to End England Strikes
Unions representing more than a million health care workers in England, including nurses and paramedics — but not doctors — reached a deal Thursday to resolve months of disruptive strikes for higher wages.
The announcement came as early-career physicians spent a third day on picket lines and the day after U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt announced a budget that included no additional money for labor groups that have staged crippling strikes amid a punishing cost-of-living crisis and double-digit inflation.
Any strike actions will be halted while rank-and-file members vote on whether to accept an offer of a lump-sum payment for the current year and a 5% raise next year.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was a good deal for National Health Service staff who persevered through the pandemic along with patients and taxpayers. He encouraged other striking unions to come to the bargaining table.
“We don’t want disruption for patients. We don’t want disruption for schoolchildren in our classrooms,” Sunak said during a visit to a London hospital, where he met with nurses. “Today’s agreement demonstrates we are serious about this, and we can find workable solutions.”
But the head of the Royal College of Nursing, one of at least five unions supporting the deal, said the pay offer would not have come if nurses hadn’t made the difficult decision to go on strike, forcing the government to negotiate.
“It is not a panacea, but it is real, tangible progress. And the RCN’s member leaders are asking fellow nursing staff to support what our negotiations have secured,” Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Pat Cullen said.
Unite, the largest trade union in the U.K. but with a smaller presence in the health care field, blasted the government for months of “dither and delay” that caused unnecessary pain to staff and patients, and said it would not recommend the deal but let workers vote on it.
“It is clear that this government does not hold the interest of workers or the NHS at heart,” Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said. “Their behavior and disdain for NHS workers, and workers generally, is clear from their actions. Britain has a broken economy, and workers are paying the price.”
Unions argue that wages in the public sector have failed to keep pace with skyrocketing food and energy costs that have left many households struggling to pay their bills.
Inflation in the U.K. reached a 40-year high of 11.1% in October before dropping in January to 10.1%.
A wave of strikes by train drivers, airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving instructors and postal workers since last summer has created havoc for residents.
Firefighters, who canceled a planned strike, and London bus drivers recently reached deals to keep working. But many other professions remain locked in pay disputes. Tens of thousands of teachers, civil servants and workers on the capital’s subway system all walked off the job on Wednesday.
Some have criticized health care workers for jeopardizing lives, though ambulance crews said they responded to the most urgent calls, and emergency rooms were staffed.
The health care workers, including midwives and physical therapists, had been in talks since they held what organizers said was the largest strike in the history of the country’s National Health Service last month.
The labor actions echo the economic unrest that has rippled across France, including over the government’s plan to increase the retirement age.
The U.K.’s lackluster economy is likely to avoid a recession this year, though growth will still shrink. The International Monetary Fund last month said the country would be the only major economy to contract this year, performing even worse than sanctions-hit Russia.
It was not immediately clear where the funding for raises would come from because they weren’t in the budget Hunt announced Wednesday, and The Department of Health and Social Care had recently claimed that raises above 3.5% were unaffordable.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said they would look for cost savings and the funding would ultimately be up to the Treasury and would not come at the expense of patients.
If the Treasury doesn’t provide the additional money, the overburdened public health system could be forced for a second consecutive year to cut spending or positions, said Ben Zaranko of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank that analyzes U.K. government fiscal and economic policies.
“There must be a risk that the NHS is asked to make heroic efficiency savings to absorb these costs, struggles to do so, and instead has to be bailed out in six months or a year’s time,” Zaranko said. “That would hardly lend itself to sensible financial planning.”
A ratified deal with nurses and others will ease some of the pain on the state-funded public health system, which has been beset by winter viruses, staff shortages and backlogs from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deal only applies to workers in England, because Scotland and Wales have semiautonomous governments in charge of health policy.
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Russian Uranium Company Appeals Namibian Government Decision
A court in Namibia is hearing an appeal by the local branch of Russia’s state-owned atomic energy agency, Rosatom, which is seeking water permits needed for uranium mining.
The government of Namibia, the world’s second-biggest producer of the nuclear fuel, said last year that a mining company owned by Rosatom had failed to prove its uranium extraction method would not cause pollution.
The Uranium One mining company is asking the court to set aside the decision by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform on the ground that it is contrary to an article of the Namibian constitution that requires administrative bodies to act fairly and reasonably.
The company said it was not given an opportunity to prove that its method of uranium extraction would not contaminate the underground water that farmers in the area rely on for their livelihoods.
Riaan Van Rooyen, Uranium One’s Namibian spokesperson, said the company “has launched review proceedings in the High Court of Namibia in terms of which it seeks to assail the decision taken by minister of agriculture, water and land reform in respect of an application for drilling permits submitted by Uranium One. As the case is currently sub judice [under judicial consideration], Uranium One will refrain from further commenting in respect to pending litigation.”
Calle Schlettwein, the minister of agriculture, water and land reform, told VOA in an earlier interview that Uranium One must present scientific data that show no contamination of underground water will take place if the company is granted permits to continue with uranium exploration.
“It is not anything against the company or investment,” Schlettwein said. “It is the principle that we have to look at that guards against the possible contamination of a very important renewable resource.”
Local support
Schlettwein’s decision to not grant Rosatom’s Namibian subsidiary a water permit is supported by various local farmers, who are listed in an affidavit in the court case.
One of those farmers, Goddy Riruako, who is also a community activist, lamented what he termed extractive industries that come to Namibia with the promise of spearheading development.
He said the community cannot seek development at the expense of the long-term effects that pollution may have.
“Now, who says the method is clean and does not contaminate the underground water?” he asked. “No one knows what happens underground, and anything that you put into water that others drink or that we drink will have a detrimental effect on our health and the health of our children and generations to come.”
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform is listed among 39 other respondents in the affidavit.
Scientists say the global demand for energy is likely to increase by 40% in the next 17 years, and countries like Russia are looking to Africa to meet growing energy needs.
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UN: Russian Attacks on Civilians in Ukraine Could Amount to War Crimes
United Nations investigators accused Russian authorities of a pattern of grave, wide-ranging human rights violations against Ukrainian civilians that, in many cases, could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In its first comprehensive report on the situation in Ukraine since Russia invaded that country on February 24, 2022, the three-member International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that “the Russian authorities have committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in addition to a wide range of war crimes.”
The war crimes include attacks on civilians and energy-related infrastructure, willful killings, torture and inhuman treatment, unlawful confinement, rape and unlawful transfers and deportations of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
“The conflict in Ukraine has had devastating effects at various levels,” said Erik Mose, chair of the commission. “Human losses and the general disregard for the life of civilians are shocking.
“The number of displaced persons or those seeking refuge abroad is the highest in Europe since the Second World War,” he said.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 5.4 million people are internally displaced, and more than 8.1 million Ukrainians have fled as refugees to neighboring European countries.
Mose said the destruction of essential infrastructure — schools, health facilities, residential buildings and other facilities — has had an immense impact on people’s lives.
“The effects of the aggression upon people and on the country will not be overcome without great effort and commitment,” he said.
Over the past year, the commission has traveled to Ukraine eight times, visited 56 localities, and interviewed nearly 600 women and men.
“While the commission could establish a dialogue with Ukraine authorities and receive responses to its questions, it regrets that it was not able to establish such a dialogue with the Russian Federation,” Mose said.
Among its findings, the commission has gathered evidence of the use of explosive weapons by Russian armed forces in populated areas “with an apparent disregard for civilian harm and suffering.”
The report said the attacks were indiscriminate and disproportionate “in violation of international humanitarian law.”
According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, such attacks have caused 90.3% of civilian casualties in the conflict. Since the start of the war, the U.N. has recorded at least 8,000 deaths and nearly 13,300 injured, although it believes “the actual figures are considerably higher.”
The commission has collected evidence showing a widespread pattern of summary executions, which commissioner Pablo de Greiff said show that “Russian authorities have committed unlawful killings of civilians in areas which came under their control …which are violations of the right to life and in certain cases are war crimes.”
The commission has documented numerous cases of rape and sexual and gender-based violence affecting women, men and girls ages 4 to 82 committed by Russian authorities “as they undertook house-to-house visits in localities under their control and during unlawful confinement.”
Commission member Jasminka Dzumhur said the group has investigated the situation of forced transfer and deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
“The commission documented that Russian officials have taken legal and policy measures regarding Ukrainian children deported to Russian Federation.
“This includes citizenship and family placement measures, which have profound implications for a child’s identity,” she said. “Such measures are in violation of the right of the child to preserve his identity, including nationality, name and family relations, without unlawful interference as recognized by international human rights law … and may also amount to a war crime.”
The Ukrainian government reports that 16,221 children have been deported to Russia. The commission said it has not been able to verify these figures.
The commission found that the Ukrainian armed forces in a limited number of cases violated international humanitarian law. It said they have used cluster munitions, which are banned under international law, and that Ukrainian troops in two incidents had tortured and abused Russian prisoners of war, which could amount to war crimes.
The commission has drawn up a list of individuals identified as being responsible for war crimes. That list will not be made public and will be turned over to the U.N Human Rights Office for future prosecution.
The commission is calling for all violations and crimes to be investigated and for those responsible to be held accountable either at the national or the international level.
The report will be submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council next week.
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US Treasury Chief: Banking System Is Sound
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers on Thursday the U.S. banking system remains sound even though two regional banks failed in the last week.
She told the Senate Finance Committee that Americans “can feel confident” their deposits “will be there when they need them.”
Yellen said the government “took decisive and forceful actions to strengthen public confidence” in the U.S. banking system by ensuring that all depositors, including those holding uninsured funds exceeding $250,000, were protected by federal deposit insurance when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed.
Some critics of the government’s action have called it a bailout, but investors have lost their financial stakes in the two banks, something that would not occur in the normal definition of a bailout, and their executives have been fired.
Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, the committee’s lead Republican, said, “I’m concerned about the precedent of guaranteeing all deposits,” calling the federal rescue action a “moral hazard.”
“Nerves are certainly frayed at this moment,” said Democratic committee chairman Senator Ron Wyden. “One of the most important steps the Congress can take now is make sure there are no questions about the full faith and credit of the United States,” referring to raising the country’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in the next few months so the government can borrow more money to continue to pay its bills.
Some Republicans have demanded large spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, while the White House has requested passage of a debt limit increase that is not tied directly to spending cuts. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have said they will not cut health insurance and pensions for older Americans.
Stock markets in both Europe and the U.S. rallied sharply Thursday after Credit Suisse announced it would borrow almost $54 billion from the Swiss central bank to shore up its finances.
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TikTok CEO to Testify Before US Congress
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 23. Lawmakers have questions about the app’s connections to China. For VOA, Deana Mitchell reports.
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Program Assists Mozambican Girls to Face Challenges, Pursue Education
In Mozambique, girls often drop out of school due to teen pregnancy, forced marriages, poverty, sexual violence and abuse. To help combat the problem, the U.S. Agency for International Development is providing millions of dollars over five years to promote girls’ education. Adina Sualehe has this story narrated by Salem Solomon.
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Could Sudan Really Become a Food Provider for the Region as WFP Claims?
In a February visit to Sudan, the head of the U.N. World Food Program said 75% of the country’s farmland goes unused, but with the help of investors, Sudan can go from receiving food aid to exporting food. But as Henry Wilkins reports from Khartoum, others say it’s more complicated than that.
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UN Investigators: Russia Has Committed ‘Wide Range’ of War Crimes in Ukraine
Russia has committed wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine such as willful killings, torture and the deportation of children, a U.N.-mandated investigative body said in a report published on Thursday.
The report, based on more than 500 interviews as well as satellite images and visits to detention sites and graves, comes as the International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to seek the arrest of Russian officials for forcibly deporting children from Ukraine and targeting civilian infrastructure.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said that Russian forces have carried out “indiscriminate and disproportionate” attacks on Ukraine, resorted to torture, killed civilians outside of combat and failed to take measures to safeguard the Ukrainian population.
“Russian authorities have committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law, in addition to a wide range of war crimes…,” the report said.
The document gave details of torture methods used in Russian detention facilities where victims were subjected to electric shocks with a military phone – a treatment known as a “call to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin” – or hung from the ceiling in a “parrot position.”
Russia denies committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine.
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Scientists: Largest US Reservoirs Moving in Right Direction
Parts of California are under water, the Rocky Mountains are bracing for more snow, flood warnings are in place in Nevada, and water is being released from some Arizona reservoirs to make room for an expected bountiful spring runoff.
All the moisture has helped alleviate dry conditions in many parts of the western U.S. Even major reservoirs on the Colorado River are trending in the right direction.
But climate experts caution that the favorable drought maps represent only a blip on the radar as the long-term effects of a stubborn drought persist.
Groundwater and reservoir storage levels — which take much longer to bounce back — remain at historic lows. It could be more than a year before the extra moisture has an effect on the shoreline at Lake Mead that straddles Arizona and Nevada. And it’s unlikely that water managers will have enough wiggle room to wind back the clock on proposals for limiting water use.
That’s because water release and retention operations for the massive reservoir and its upstream sibling — Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border — already are set for the year. The reservoirs are used to manage Colorado River water deliveries to 40 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico.
Still, Lake Powell could gain 45 feet (14 meters) as snow melts and makes its way into tributaries and rivers over the next three months. How much it rises will depend on soil moisture levels, future precipitation, temperatures and evaporation losses.
“We’re definitely going in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go,” said Paul Miller, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.
Federal forecasters are scheduled Thursday to roll out predictions for temperature, precipitation and drought over the next three months, as well as the risk for springtime flooding.
California already has been drenched by a fire hose of moisture from the Pacific Ocean that has led to flooding, landslides and toppled trees.
Ski resorts on the California-Nevada border are marking their snowiest winter stretch since 1971, when record-keeping began. In fact, the Sierra Nevada is on the verge of surpassing the second-highest snow total for an entire winter season, with at least two months still to go.
In Arizona, forecasters warned that heavy rain was expected to fall on primed snowpack in the mountains above the desert enclave of Sedona. One of the main creeks running through the tourist town was expected to reach the flood stage and evacuations were ordered for some neighborhoods late Wednesday.
“We’ve pretty much blown past all kinds of averages and normals in the Lower Colorado Basin,” Miller said, not unlike other western basins.
Forecasters say the real standout has been the Great Basin, which stretches from the Sierra Nevada to the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. It has recorded more snow this season than the last two seasons combined. Joel Lisonbee, with the National Integrated Drought Information System, said that’s notable given that over the last decade, only two years — 2017 and 2019 — had snowpack above the median.
Overall, the West has been more dry than wet for more than 20 years, and many areas will still feel the consequences.
An emergency declaration in Oregon warns of higher risks for water shortages and wildfires in the central part of the state. Pockets of central Utah, southeastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico are still dealing with extreme drought, while parts of Texas and the Midwest have become drier.
Forecasters are expecting warm, dry weather to kick in over the coming weeks, meaning drought will keep its foothold in some areas and tighten its grip elsewhere.
Tony Caligiuri, president of the preservation group Colorado Open Lands, said all the recent precipitation shouldn’t derail work to recharge groundwater supplies.
“The problem or the danger in these episodic wet year events is that it can reduce the feeling of urgency to address the longer-term issues of water usage and water conservation,” he said.
The group is experimenting in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, the headwaters of the Rio Grande. One of North America’s longest rivers, the Rio Grande and its reservoirs have been struggling due to meager snowpack, long-term drought and constant demands. It went dry over the summer in Albuquerque, and managers had no extra water to supplement flows.
Colorado Open Lands reached an agreement with a farmer to retire his land and stop irrigating the about 1,000 acres. Caligiuri said the idea is to take a major straw out of the aquifer, which will enable the savings to sustain other farms in the district so they no longer face the threat of having to turn off their wells.
“We’ve seen where we can have multiple good years in place like the San Luis Valley when it comes to rainfall or snowpack and then one drought year can erase a decade of progress,” he said. “So you just can’t stick your head in the sand just because you’re having one good wet year.”
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Reporter’s Notebook: FYI on Initialisms, AKA Acronyms
Returning to the United States seven years ago, I was puzzled how the Bureau of Land Management had seemingly become involved with race politics. Then I deciphered that the hashtag #BLM had taken on a new meaning during my quarter century abroad: Black Lives Matter.
I was likewise confused when newscasters recently began speaking about the IRA — the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The abbreviation had spent decades in the headlines representing the Irish Republican Army.
Then, there is the personal IRA, an acronym — sometimes pronounced eye-ruh — for a tax-advantaged Individual Retirement Account.
Such recycling or duplications of initials is nothing new. The NRA — National Rifle Association — is frequently in the news amid the gun control debate. The abbreviation was just as pervasive in 1930s America during the Great Depression. The NRA blue eagle logo was displayed by companies adhering to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s labor codes of the National Recovery Administration.
At VOA, we stake our claim to the initials from the time of our first broadcast (in German) in 1942. We were latecomers, having been preceded by the Volunteers of America, a philanthropic organization originating in New York City in 1896.
Abbreviations or initialisms are convenient shorthand, usually formed from the initial letters of two or more words. Acronyms technically are shortcuts pronounceable as words. Radar, for example, comes from the 1940s technology of radio direction and ranging. That rang nicely, leading to the related acronym for sound navigation and ranging: sonar. Also below the waterline: scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
‘Bad acronyms’
Joe Essid, Ph.D. (that suffix from the Latin, meaning philosophiae doctor), director of the Writing Center at the University of Richmond, notes “the military is full of bad acronyms.”
The acronym for the commander in chief of the U.S. Navy fleet (CINCUS – “sink us”) was retired after the Japanese did just that at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Air Force proposed a space plane in the 1960s, the X-20 Dyna-Soar. That did not fly.
“I think one reason it got canceled was because it was called the dinosaur,” says Essid, whose own surname has become an acronym for extended service set identifier.
In World War II, American soldiers hoping to avoid being MIA (missing in action) or KIA (killed in action) sometimes complained their equipment or plans were fubar — fouled up beyond all recognition. Except the first word was not fouled, but an expletive. “FUBAR” in 2023 is the title of a Netflix action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Fubar’s twin from the same era is snafu, which in polite company means situation normal all fouled up. During the war, the U.S. Army officially took it in good humor and produced a series of instructional cartoon shorts titled “Private Snafu.”
Educator and podcaster Mignon Fogarty (AKA Grammar Girl on social media) has mixed feelings about all the abbreviations.
“Acronyms are a great example of jargon — language that is wonderful shorthand for insiders, but that excludes everyone else. Acronyms aren’t bad in all situations, but when you’re an outsider, they’re quite off-putting,” she says.
Shortened names are not consistent across languages. In English, OAS is used for the Organization of American States. But in most of those three dozen member nations, it is known as the OEA, (La Organización de los Estados Americanos).
The international organization providing humanitarian medical assistance in war and disaster zones was initially known as MSF: Médecins Sans Frontières. It now refers to itself in English as Doctors Without Borders, but DWB does not seem to have caught on.
Similarly for the dual identities of Reporters Without Borders, which uses its French acronym RSF (Reporters sans frontières) even in English.
Speaking of the French, they do try to impose some method to language madness, resisting their phrases and acronyms from inundation by anglicisms. In English, there is no equivalent of the Académie Française, and hence no registry of acronyms.
“There’s no American academy of linguistic purity. That’s the strength of the English language,” according to Essid. “It’s a malleable and imperfect tool.”
Any group, individual or agency can create their own acronyms in English, hoping they gain flight ASAP by RTITW (releasing them in the wild), which I just made up.
Let us see if someone will add it to the Acronym Finder.
The White House
As a White House correspondent, my lexicon overflowed with acronyms: POTUS (President of the United States), FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States) and VPOTUS (Vice President of the United States), whose ceremonial office is not inside the White House but next door in the EEOB (Eisenhower Executive Office Building).
When I got too close to POTUS or VPOTUS with my boom microphone, I got a stern look from a plainclothes agent of the PPD (Presidential Protective Division) of the USSS (United States Secret Service).
Confusingly, PPD at the White House can also refer to a presidential policy directive.
Really famous 20th century presidents became historical initials starting with FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), who was eventually followed by JFK (John F. Kennedy) and LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson). Johnson’s successor, Richard Milhous Nixon, the only U.S. president to resign, is not immortalized as RMN.
With the election of the first female vice president, Kamala Harris, her husband, Douglas Emhoff, became the first SGOTUS (Second Gentleman of the United States).
And when a man eventually assumes the traditional FLOTUS role, he’ll be FGOTUS, although the media used that term during the Obama administration to denote White House resident Marian Robinson, mother of FLOTUS Michelle Obama, as the unofficial ‘first grandmother of the United States.’
‘Make the meaning clear’
Grammarian Fogarty offers pro tips for those employing linguistic shorthand.
“When writing for a more general audience, context will also often make the meaning clear. MVP in a baseball story will obviously mean ‘most valuable player.’ But in a general business story, you may need to define MVP (minimum viable product) the first time you use it.”
She prefers to err on the side of caution and spell it out if there is any doubt the audience won’t know the meaning.
OK, (said to originate from oll korrect, an alteration of all correct).
Forgarty’s suggestion is likely good advice for a resume or cv (curriculum vitae).
Fred DeFilippo, for example, went from the CIA to the CIA. The former executive chef at the Central Intelligence Agency is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
Cellphone text messaging unleashed a torrent of abbreviations to reduce character count: AFAIK (as far as I know); BRB (be right back); IDK (I don’t know); MIRL (meet in real life); NSFW (not safe for work); ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), and TMI (too much information).
“I try not to use them,” says Essid. “I don’t text a lot, I hate smartphones. I tend to communicate with email and in person. And so, I don’t tend to use these abbreviations and acronyms.”
Except in his hobby of beekeeping where they seem to be buzzing all around.
“A lot of them have to do with sex,” such as JH for juvenile hormones, Essid explains.
Human teenagers with surging hormones are prolific users of social messaging codes.
Before the advent of fruit and vegetable emojis, initialisms were created to KPC (keep parents clueless), such as FWB (friends with benefits); OC (open crib, meaning no parent will be home) and TDTM (talk dirty to me). Many more examples are NSFW (not safe for work).
Early Christians under threat of persecution had the Latin initialism INRI (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum — Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews). Perhaps it was not meant to obscure meaning, rather, to save time carving wooden crosses.
Are acronyms 2,000 years on so pervasive that editors should let them stand on their own without elaboration?
IDK, TBD. TTYL. LOL.
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TASS: One killed in Explosion at Security Service Border Patrol Building in Southern Russia
At least one person was killed and two were injured in an explosion that caused a fire at a building belonging to the border patrol of Russia’s FSB security service in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Thursday, local authorities said.
Footage captured by Reuters showed a plume of thick black smoke billowing into the air, near residential buildings and a shopping center in a built-up district of the city.
Local emergency services said an explosion had occurred, igniting a fire that spread to an area covering 880 square meters.
They said one person had been killed and two more injured in the incident.
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US Releases Video of Encounter Between Russian Fighter Jets and US Drone
The U.S. military released a video Thursday of a Russian military intercept that resulted in the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone Tuesday over the Black Sea.
The video shows a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 dumping fuel as it approaches the U.S. MQ-9 drone from behind and passes over the top.
A second Sukhoi Su-27 approaches in a similar manner, and as it reaches the drone, the video feed is disrupted at the moment the U.S. military says the Russian fighter aircraft collided with the drone.
A final shot shows the video feed restored and that one of the drone’s propellor blades has been bent.
The video’s release came a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Russian counterpart about the encounter.
“The United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows, and it is incumbent upon Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner,” Austin told reporters after announcing that he had “just got off the phone” with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
It was the first call between the two defense leaders since October, according to officials.
The downed U.S. MQ-9 drone was “conducting routine operations” in international airspace Tuesday, according to the U.S. military, when the pair of Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft intercepted it. U.S. forces brought down the drone in international waters after the Russian jet struck the drone’s propeller.
“We know that the intercept was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional. We also know it is very unprofessional and very unsafe,” General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Wednesday.
Milley said he was “not sure yet” whether the physical contact between the Russian aircraft and the drone was intentional.
Russia said it is considering whether to try to retrieve the drone, but U.S. officials said its operatives were able to remotely erase sensitive software on the drone to prevent Russia from collecting secret information before sending the aircraft into the Black Sea.
The U.S. does not have ships in the Black Sea, which is largely controlled by Russia.
“But we do have a lot of allies and friends in the area, and we’ll work through recovery operations. That’s U.S. property,” Milley said.
Russia denied that its Su-27 jets came into contact with the U.S. drone and pinned blame for the crash on the operation of the drone. A U.S. military official told VOA the unmanned MQ-9 has not yet been recovered. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday the United States summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry Telegram channel reported Wednesday that Shoigu has blamed the incident on the United States’ “non-compliance with the restricted flight zone declared by the Russian Federation, which was established as part of a special military operation.”
Earlier Wednesday, Austin and Milley hosted the 10th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group more than a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The virtual meeting included 51 participants. Milley said the group promised “a broad mix of air defense systems,” in addition to providing more artillery, armor and ammunition. For example, Sweden will provide 10 more Leopard tanks to Ukraine, and Norway will partner with the United States to provide two additional National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS.
“Ukraine matters. It matters not to just Ukraine or to the United States, it matters to the world. This is about the rules-based international order,” Austin told reporters Wednesday.
“Russia is running out of capability and out of friends,” he added. “Putin still hopes he can wear down Ukraine and wait us out, so we can’t let up, and we won’t.”
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Dutch Farmers Turn Protests into Vote Victory
Dutch farmers dealt a blow to Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s environmental plans Wednesday, ploughing up the political landscape to win elections that will shape the upper house of parliament.
Exit polls showed the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BoerBurgerBeweging, BBB), which was founded less than four years ago, riding a wave of recent protests to win the most seats in the Dutch senate.
The farmers’ party immediately vowed to challenge the Rutte government’s plans to cut nitrogen emissions by reducing livestock numbers and possibly closing some farms.
“What is happening here? We really knew we were going to win, but this is so indescribable,” stunned BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told public broadcaster NOS.
She described the nitrogen plans as a “kind of dogma dictated from The Hague”.
The BBB is on course to win 15 seats in the 75-seat senate, ahead of the 10 seats of Rutte’s center-right party, based on exit polls from provincial elections that also determine the make-up of the upper house.
The farmers could now work with other parties in the senate to block nitrogen legislation proposed by Rutte’s four-party coalition, which is on course to lose eight seats to put its total at 24.
‘Don’t feel heard’
The Netherlands has been rocked by months of rowdy demonstrations in which farmers blockaded government buildings with tractors, winning support from international figures including former US president Donald Trump.
Thousands of farmers rallied in The Hague on Saturday. They also used tractors to blockade the location of a televised party leaders’ debate on the eve of the election.
But their cause has struck a chord in the Netherlands, a country with a proud farming tradition that despite its small population of 18 million is the world’s second largest agricultural exporter after the United States.
The Dutch government says it needs to reduce nitrogen emissions by 50% by 2030, blaming fertilizers and manure from agriculture in particular for pollution.
It says it must comply with a Dutch court order saying it had breached EU rules on nitrogen emissions affecting soil and water.
But the farmers say they are being unfairly targeted by the still unfinalized proposals compared to sectors such as construction, industry and transport.
“We don’t really feel heard,” Erik Stegink, national president of the BBB and a pig farmer himself, told AFP ahead of the vote.
“Sometimes we don’t even feel welcome in our own country anymore.”
‘Curious’
Exit polls showed the farmers’ party in first place in all the provinces surveyed, including a stunning 31.3% in its heartland in the rural Overijssel region and 14.3% in North Holland, which includes Amsterdam.
Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving leader who has been in power since 2010, said ahead of the vote he hoped his coalition could resolve the issue.
Tessel van der Veeken, a 21-year-old student voting in The Hague, said she was “not worried but curious” about a BBB win.
Voter Michael van Heck, 69, described the farmers as a “populist party”, adding that he expected a “big victory from the BBB and I hope at least stable” for Rutte’s VVD party.
The farmers have also won support from the global far-right, who allege, without evidence, a sinister “globalist” plot to rob farmers of their land.
But exit polls showed the Dutch far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD) party, which won the last provincial elections in 2019, being virtually wiped out.
Its leader Thierry Baudet has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “hero” and embraced Covid conspiracy theories.
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Credit Suisse Says It Will Borrow up to $53.7 Billion From Central Bank
Credit Suisse announced Thursday that it would borrow almost $54 billion from the Swiss central bank to reinforce the group after a plunge in its share prices.
The disclosure came just hours after the Swiss National Bank said capital and liquidity levels at the lender were adequate for a “systemically important bank,” even as it pledged to make liquidity available if needed.
In a statement, Credit Suisse said the central bank loan of up to $53.7 billion would “support… core businesses and clients,” adding it was also making buyback offers on about $3 billion worth of debt.
“These measures demonstrate decisive action to strengthen Credit Suisse as we continue our strategic transformation to deliver value to our clients and other stakeholders,” CEO Ulrich Koerner said in the statement.
“My team and I are resolved to move forward rapidly to deliver a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs.”
Credit Suisse, hit by a series of scandals in recent years, saw its stock price tumble off a cliff Wednesday after major shareholder Saudi National Bank declined to invest more in the group, citing regulatory constraints.
Its shares fell more than 30% to a record low before regaining ground to end the day 24.24% down, at 1.697 Swiss francs.
Credit Suisse’s market value had already taken a heavy blow this week over fears of contagion from the collapse of two U.S. banks, as well as its annual report citing “material weaknesses” in internal controls.
Mounting concerns
Analysts have warned of mounting concerns over the bank’s viability and the impact on the larger banking sector, as shares of other lenders sank Wednesday after a rebound the day before.
Credit Suisse is one of 30 banks globally deemed too big to fail, forcing it to set aside more cash to weather a crisis.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at trading firm Finalto, said Wednesday that if the bank did “run into serious existential trouble, we are in a whole other world of pain.”
In February 2021, Credit Suisse shares were worth 12.78 Swiss francs, but since then, the bank has endured a barrage of problems that have eaten away at its market value.
It was hit by the implosion of U.S. fund Archegos, which cost it more than $5 billion.
Its asset management branch was rocked by the bankruptcy of British financial firm Greensill, in which some $10 billion had been committed through four funds.
The bank booked a net loss of nearly $8 billion for the 2022 financial year.
That came against a backdrop of massive withdrawals of funds by its clients, including in the wealth management sector — one of the activities on which the bank intends to refocus as part of a major restructuring plan.
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TikTok Confirms US Urged Parting Ways With ByteDance to Dodge Ban
TikTok confirmed Wednesday that U.S. officials have recommended the popular video-sharing app part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban.
Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.
“If protecting national security is the objective, calls for a ban or divestment are unnecessary, as neither option solves the broader industry issues of data access and transfer,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.
“We remain confident that the best path forward to addressing concerns about national security is transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”
The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. news outlets on Wednesday reported that the White House set an ultimatum: if TikTok remains a part of ByteDance, it will be banned in the United States.
“This is all a game of high stakes poker,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.
Washington is “clearly… putting more pressure on ByteDance to strategically sell this key asset in a major move that could have significant ripple impacts,” he continued.
The White House last week welcomed a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.
The bipartisan bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.
The bill’s introduction and its quick White House backing accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds the majority.
Concern ramped up among American officials earlier this year after a Chinese balloon, which Washington alleged was on a spy mission, flew over U.S. airspace.
TikTok use rocketing
TikTok claims it has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the United States, where it has become a cultural force, especially among young people.
Activists argue a ban would be an attack on free speech and stifle the export of American culture and values to TikTok users around the world.
U.S. government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on their government-issued devices.
Civil servants in the European Union and Canada are also barred from downloading the app on their work devices.
According to the Journal report, the ultimatum to TikTok came from the U.S. interagency board charged with assessing risks foreign investments represent to national security.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the report.
TikTok has consistently denied sharing data with Chinese officials and says it has been working with the U.S. authorities for more than two years to address national security concerns.
Time spent by users on TikTok has surpassed that spent on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and is closing in on streaming television titan Netflix, according to market tracker Insider Intelligence.
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Blinken Urges Ethiopians to Follow Through on Peace Commitments, Accountability
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as well as other government officials and civil society leaders, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the first stop of his visit to the African continent.
Speaking at a press conference held at Addis Ababa University on Wednesday, Blinken highlighted the importance of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, noting the United States is committed to promoting human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia.
Blinken also took a moment to reflect on the lives lost and the pain many endured in the two-year-long war that began in late 2020 and ended with a cease-fire brokered in November.
“The conflict was absolutely devastating,” Blinken said. “Hundreds of thousands killed. Widespread sexual violence against women. Millions forced to flee their homes. Many left in need of food and shelter, medicine. Hospitals, schools, and businesses were shelled and destroyed.”
He commended the peace effort that has taken root in the country, with the help of mediators from the African Union, Kenya and South Africa, and supported by the United States.
“The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is a major achievement and step forward, saving lives and changing lives. The guns are silent,” he said.
Blinken praised the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leadership for the cessation of hostilities. And he brought some good news, saying that the U.S., already the biggest bilateral donor to Ethiopia, will add to that total.
“Today I announced an additional $331 million in emergency food and humanitarian assistance that will reach billions of people, millions of Ethiopians affected by conflict, affected by drought.”
Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies said that the U.S. “has a very critical role to play as a trusted actor, as a guarantor,” in the ongoing peace process.
The U.S., he said, can make sure the process is balanced by speaking up for Tigrayan interests while still ensuring “that Ethiopian sovereignty and Ethiopian interests are also being respected.”
Although the cease-fire is an opportunity to pursue justice and hold those responsible for atrocities accountable, Siegle said that it is not a simple process.
“It’s complicated because there are many actors involved in this conflict and atrocities were committed on all sides including from the Tigrayan side, the Eritreans who were involved as well,” he told VOA. And although it might not be easy to get “accountability to the full extent that human rights advocates might want,” he added, “there is room for considerable progress on that front.”
Blinken said that with peace taking hold, Ethiopia is moving in the right direction, and the U.S. shares its aspirations, but is not yet ready to welcome it back into the U.S. trade program known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA, a preferential trade agreement, allows some African businesses duty-free access to U.S. markets. Ethiopia was removed from AGOA at the beginning of 2022.
Siegle said that it is not practical to expect an immediate return to normal for the Ethiopia-U.S. relationship. However, there is “a sincere interest on both sides to resume a full-fledged robust relationship,” he said.
“There’s great interest on both sides to restart economic engagement, to open up trading opportunities, including the AGOA [the African Growth and Opportunity Act] accreditation, that was put on hold for Ethiopia. Ethipia needs considerable investment and trade to help rebuild, following the devastating conflict, and Ethiopia is a very important country in the Horn of Africa, in Africa more generally. It’s one of the strongest partners the United States has in Africa. And so, I think the U.S. also wants to get things back onto a more normal footing.”
But human rights advocates say not enough has been done by the Ethiopian leadership in terms of making amends for war crimes and allowing investigators to document atrocities. Sarah Yager is the Washington director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group. She said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed simply wants to move on from the war without accepting any blame.
“What he has been doing is downplaying the atrocities that have occurred by all warring parties, but also his own, by his own direction in places like Tigray,” Yager said. “He is looking to get economic relief from the United States. He is looking to get other partners around the world interested in being donor nations, in having free trade and bringing businesses back to Ethiopia.”
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Family of Protester Shot Dead Calls for Justice as Political Impasse Continues
Sudan is in a political stalemate, with a long-awaited transition to civilian government yet to materialize and the country’s military rulers refusing to relinquish power. Ongoing protests against military rule have been met with force, with more than 100 protesters killed. In Khartoum, Henry Wilkins meets the family of a protester killed in February. Please be aware this story contains graphic images that many will find disturbing.
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Flash Floods Kill at Least 14 in Turkish Quake Zone
Flash floods killed at least 14 people living in tents and container housing across Turkey’s quake-hit region on Wednesday, piling more pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of crunch elections.
Several more people were swept away by the rushing water, which turned streets into muddy rivers in areas hit by last month’s 7.8-magnitude quake, officials said.
More than 48,000 people died in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in Syria in the Feb. 6 disaster, the region’s deadliest in modern times.
Hundreds of thousands of Turkish quake survivors have been moved into tents and container homes across the disaster region, which covers 11 provinces across Turkey’s southeast.
Torrential rains hit the area Tuesday and the weather service expects them to last until late Wednesday.
Turkish officials said the floods killed 12 people in Sanliurfa, about 50 kilometers north of the Syrian border.
Two people, including a 1-year-old, also died in nearby Adiyaman, where five remain unaccounted for.
Images showed the waters sweeping away cars and flooding temporary housing set up for earthquake victims.
In one viral video, a man dressed in a beige suit and tie reaches out for help while floating down a surging stream alongside a piece of furniture. His fate remains unknown.
Other images showed people pulling victims out of the water with branches and rope.
The Sanliurfa governor’s office said the flooding also reached the ground floor of one of the region’s main hospitals.
Pressure on Erdogan
Facing a difficult reelection on May 14, Erdogan is confronting a furious public backlash over his government’s stuttering response to the biggest natural disaster of his two-decade rule.
Erdogan has issued several public apologies while also stressing that no nation could have dealt quickly with a disaster of such scale.
Erdogan has spent the past few weeks touring the region, meeting survivors and promising to rebuild the entire area within a year.
“By the end of next year, we will build 319,000 houses,” Erdogan told his ruling party members Wednesday in a parliamentary address.
“Beyond the search and rescue, emergency aid and temporary shelter we have provided so far, we have a promise to our nation to restore the cities destroyed in the earthquake within a year,” he said.
Erdogan dispatched his interior minister to the flooded region to oversee the government’s response.
“Currently, we have 10 teams composed of 163 people doing search and rescue work across a 25-kilometer stretch,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters.
“We also have divers. But the weather conditions are not allowing us to do much,” he said.
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Malawi President Assures Maximum Assistance to Cyclone Freddy Survivors
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has assured people displaced by Cyclone Freddy that they will get the assistance they need.
Chakwera made the announcement Wednesday during his first visit to evacuation camps in Blantyre since he declared a state of disaster in all the flood-hit areas this week. The president also attended a mass funeral for the storm’s victims. The record tropical cyclone has killed more than 200 people in Malawi and scores more in neighboring Mozambique.
Chakwera said his government has set aside about $1.6 million to assist thousands of people affected and displaced by the cyclone in 10 districts in southern Malawi.
“I will soon call for a Cabinet meeting to endorse what we have so far budgeted for the crisis,” said the president. “Because if we try to follow financial approval procedures, we will put lives of the victims at risk.”
Displaced people say they lack food, clothes, clean water and soap.
During the president’s visit, the government donated several kinds of relief items, such as flour, clothes and buckets.
The president also attended a mass funeral for 28 people killed by the storm.
Chakwera said his government has asked neighboring countries to assist Malawi with rescue airplanes to complement the search-and-rescue efforts under way in the country.
Authorities in Malawi say more than 35 roads have been impacted by the floods, making it difficult to provide help to many cyclone victims.
“We are currently consulting our development partners for assistance, although they also are facing various problems,” he said. “We want them to assist us so we can assist our people who are badly affected by Cyclone Freddy.”
The U.S. government, through various agencies, is responding immediately to the crisis, said Namita Biggins, the public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Malawi.
“We are providing emergency shelters to affected households in Nsanje and Chikwawa through our existing $2 million support through Catholic Relief Services,” she said in an audio statement on Tuesday. “USAID has also initiated the process of swiftly allocating additional, lifesaving resources to provide essential humanitarian assistance to include blankets, buckets, tarps, chlorine tablets to ensure clean water, mosquito nets and more.”
Biggins said USAID has staff on the ground coordinating closely with the Emergency Operations Center in Blantyre to determine how the U.S. government can help the government of Malawi reach the hardest-hit communities.
Weather experts in Malawi say Cyclone Freddy has now weakened, but the rains will continue for the next few days, largely because of an incoming weather front from Congo.
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Court: Ukraine Can Try to Avoid Repaying $3B Loan to Russia
The British Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Ukraine can go to trial to avoid repaying $3 billion in loans it said it took under pressure from Russia in 2013 to prevent it from trying to join the European Union.
The court rejected a bid by a British company acting on Russia’s behalf to order Ukraine to repay the loans without facing a trial. Ukraine said it borrowed the money while facing the threat of military force and massive illegal economic and political pressure nearly a decade before Russia invaded its neighbor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that the ruling was “another decisive victory against the aggressor.”
“The Court has ruled that Ukraine’s defense based on Russia’s threats of aggression will have a full public trial,” he tweeted. “Justice will be ours.”
The case was argued in November 2021, and the court was not asked to consider Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three months later.
Ukrainian authorities allege that the corrupt government of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych borrowed the money from Moscow under pressure before he was ousted in protests in February 2014, shortly before Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
After the 2014 Ukraine revolution, the country’s new government refused to repay the debt in December 2015, saying Moscow wouldn’t agree to terms already accepted by other international creditors.
The case came to British courts because London-based Law Debenture Trust Corp. had been appointed to represent the interests of bondholders. The company initially won a judgment ordering repayment of the loans, but Ukraine appealed.
An appeals court overturned the lower court ruling, agreeing that Ukraine could challenge repayment of the loans on the grounds of duress but rejecting several other legal claims.
Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court, which reached a similar conclusion in favor of Ukraine for different reasons.
The Supreme Court rejected several of Ukraine’s legal arguments, including that its finance minister didn’t have authority to enter into the loan agreement and that Ukraine could decline payment as a countermeasure to Russia’s aggressions.
The ruling, however, said a court could consider whether the deal was void because of threats or pressure that are illegitimate under English law.
While the court noted that trade sanctions, embargoes and other economic pressures are “normal aspects of statecraft,” economic pressures could provide context to prove that Russia’s threats to destroy Ukraine caused it to issue the bonds.
“The success of Ukraine’s defense turns on whether Russia’s threatened use of force imposed what English law regards as illegitimate pressure on Ukraine to enter into the trust deed and related contracts,” the court wrote. “That question can only be determined after trial.”
Ukraine said that a month before it entered into the deal, Yanukovych told his Lithuanian counterpart that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to have Moscow’s banks bankrupt eastern Ukrainian factories if it signed an association agreement with the EU.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the United Kingdom court recognized the coercion.
“Now, the Kremlin will have to disclose all information about the actions against Ukraine in open court,” Shmyhal said. “Justice will definitely prevail. Russia will definitely answer for all its illegal actions and crimes.”
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Russia Begins Naval Drills With China, Iran
Russia said Wednesday it had started naval exercises with China and Iran in the Arabian Sea as it seeks to shore up ties with Beijing and Tehran.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the trilateral exercises, dubbed the Marine Security Belt 2023, had begun in the vicinity of the Iranian port of Chabahar.
The naval part of the drills will take place on Thursday and Friday.
Russia will be represented by the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and a medium-sized tanker, the ministry said.
During the naval drills, the ships will perform “joint maneuvers and will carry out artillery firing in daytime and at night,” the statement said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to ramp up political, economic and military ties with China and Iran after he sent troops to Ukraine a year ago, triggering multiple rounds of unprecedented Western sanctions.
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