A student in Congo has developed a tool that allows people to control or move objects using their brain signals. Andre Ndambi visited the department of engineering at the University of Kinshasa and has this story narrated by Salem Solomon. Jean-Louis Mafema contributed.
…
Month: April 2023
Twitter Pulls ‘Verified’ Check Mark From Main New York Times Account
Twitter has removed the verification check mark on the main account of The New York Times, one of CEO Elon Musk’s most despised news organizations.
The removal comes as many of Twitter’s high-profile users are bracing for the loss of the blue check marks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the social media platform.
Musk, who owns Twitter, set a deadline of Saturday for verified users to buy a premium Twitter subscription or lose the checks on their profiles. The Times said in a story Thursday that it would not pay Twitter for verification of its institutional accounts.
Early Sunday, Musk tweeted that the Times’ check mark would be removed. Later he posted disparaging remarks about the newspaper, which has aggressively reported on Twitter and on flaws with partially automated driving systems at Tesla, the electric car company, which he also runs.
Other Times accounts such as its business news and opinion pages still had either blue or gold check marks Sunday, as did multiple reporters for the news organization.
“We aren’t planning to pay the monthly fee for check mark status for our institutional Twitter accounts,” the Times said in a statement Sunday. “We also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” the newspaper said in a statement Sunday.
The Associated Press, which has said it also will not pay for the check marks, still had them on its accounts at midday Sunday.
Twitter did not answer emailed questions Sunday about the removal of The New York Times check mark.
The costs of keeping the check marks ranges from $8 a month for individual web users to a starting price of $1,000 monthly to verify an organization, plus $50 monthly for each affiliate or employee account. Twitter does not verify the individual accounts to ensure they are who they say they are, as was the case with the previous blue check doled out to public figures and others during the platform’s pre-Musk administration.
While the cost of Twitter Blue subscriptions might seem like nothing for Twitter’s most famous commentators, celebrity users from basketball star LeBron James to Star Trek’s William Shatner have balked at joining. Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander pledged to leave the platform if Musk takes his blue check away.
The White House is also passing on enrolling in premium accounts, according to a memo sent to staff. While Twitter has granted a free gray mark for President Joe Biden and members of his Cabinet, lower-level staff won’t get Twitter Blue benefits unless they pay for it themselves.
“If you see impersonations that you believe violate Twitter’s stated impersonation policies, alert Twitter using Twitter’s public impersonation portal,” said the staff memo from White House official Rob Flaherty.
Alexander, the actor, said there are bigger issues in the world but without the blue mark, “anyone can allege to be me” so if he loses it, he’s gone.
“Anyone appearing with it=an imposter. I tell you this while I’m still official,” he tweeted.
After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform’s revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his move also reflects his assertion that the blue verification marks have become an undeserved or “corrupt” status symbol for elite personalities, news reporters and others granted verification for free by Twitter’s previous leadership.
Along with shielding celebrities from impersonators, one of Twitter’s main reasons to mark profiles with a blue check mark starting about 14 years ago was to verify politicians, activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to curb misinformation coming from accounts that are impersonating people. Most “legacy blue checks” are not household names and weren’t meant to be.
One of Musk’s first product moves after taking over Twitter was to launch a service granting blue checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. But it was quickly inundated by impostor accounts, including those impersonating Nintendo, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, so Twitter had to temporarily suspend the service days after its launch.
The relaunched service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for users of its iPhone or Android apps. Subscribers are supposed to see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos and have their tweets featured more prominently.
…
Iran Warned Off US Navy Aircraft Close to Gulf of Oman: Iranian Media
The Iranian navy said it identified and warned off a U.S. reconnaissance plane near the Gulf of Oman Sunday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“After the warning, the plane was prevented from entering the country’s skies without authorization,” said the report, identifying the plane as a U.S. Navy EP-3E.
While the opening line of the Tasnim report said the aircraft had crossed into Iranian airspace, the same report also said the aircraft had not entered Iranian skies and had left after the warning.
The U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran has had similar confrontations with U.S. forces in the past. In 2019, Iran shot down a U.S. drone which it said was flying over southern Iran.
On Dec. 31, Iran said its military had launched a drone to warn off a reconnaissance plane trying to approach Iranian war games on the Gulf coast, without identifying the aircraft.
The United States has long deployed weaponry and troops in the oil-producing Gulf to provide security to its allies.
Long-strained relations between Iran and the United States have deteriorated further in the last year, as talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal hit a deadlock and after Tehran unleashed a deadly crackdown on protesters.
U.S. sanctions have also targeted suppliers of Iranian drones which Washington said have been used to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine during the conflict with Russia.
Iran has previously acknowledged sending drones to Russia but said they were sent before the invasion. Moscow has denied its forces used Iranian drones in Ukraine.
…
Latest on Ukraine: Blinken Calls for Release of Russia-Held US Journalist
New developments:
In Kostiantynivka, eastern Ukraine, six civilians were killed and eight wounded from Russian shelling Sunday morning, a senior Ukraine official said, according to Reuters.
A top Ukrainian official outlined the plan Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the bridge that links the peninsula to Russia, The Associated Press reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia assuming leadership of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday an absurd and destructive move, Reuters reported.
An explosion at a cafe in Russia’s second-largest city killed a military blogger who had supported the fighting in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said.
Blinken called for the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, whom Russia has accused of spying. A statement by U.S. State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel did not mention the journalist by name.
Responding to Blinken, Lavrov said that Gershkovich’s fate will be determined by a Russian court and told Blinken it was unacceptable for Washington to politicize the case. Lavrov said the journalist was caught “red-handed,” though Russia has yet to present any evidence.
The statement said Blinken also sought the release of U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who has been detained for 1,553 days after being sentenced to a 16-year sentence at a Russian penal colony after being convicted of espionage.
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who was freed from a Russian penal colony in a prisoner exchange last year, has urged the Biden administration to keep using “every tool possible” to secure the release of the U.S. reporter.
The Kremlin asserts Gershkovich was using journalism as a cover for spying, something the newspaper has vehemently denied. The Wall Street Journal has demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich, calling his arrest Thursday “a vicious affront to a free press,” while The New York Times published a statement from a coalition of news organizations expressing deep concern about Gershkovich’s detention.
Russian troop deaths
A number of Russia’s troop deaths in Ukraine have come from noncombat injuries, such as alcoholism and improper training, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday.
A “significant minority” of the roughly 200,000 casualties Russia has suffered since invading Ukraine were due to noncombat causes, such as alcohol consumption, road traffic accidents and “climatic injuries, such as hypothermia, the British defense ministry said Sunday in its latest intelligence update.
“Russian commanders likely identify pervasive alcohol abuse as particularly detrimental to combat effectiveness,” the update said. “However, with heavy drinking pervasive across much of Russian society, it has long been seen as a tacitly accepted part of military life, even on combat operations.”
Spring counteroffensive
Meanwhile, ahead of a planned spring counteroffensive by Ukraine’s military, a senior Ukraine official outlined a plan Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea.
On Sunday, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary, said among the steps would be dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.
Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most nations do not recognize the peninsula as Russian territory.
As a condition for peace, Moscow has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and acknowledge other land gains made by Russia since fighting began more than a year ago. Kyiv has ruled out any peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all occupied territories, including Crimea.
More aid
A new $2.6 billion U.S. military aid package that could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for Ukraine’s fight against Russia is expected to be announced as soon as Monday, U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Friday.
A half-dozen types of munitions, including tank munitions, are also expected to be on the list of equipment that could be finalized this weekend. The officials added that the dollar amount and specific equipment in the package could change.
Also slated for inclusion were precision aerial munitions, bridging equipment Ukraine would use to assault Russian positions, recovery vehicles to help disabled heavy equipment such as tanks, and additional rounds for NASAMS air defenses that the U.S. and allies have given to Kyiv.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…
El-Sissi Heads to Saudi Arabia Amid Financial Pressure, Regional Realignment
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to three diplomatic sources, as Cairo continues to seek financial inflows to ease pressure on its currency and bolster a faltering economy.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has long provided financial support to Egypt but recently signaled it would no longer provide such backing without strings attached, which observers think may have sparked a rare media clash between the two countries.
The trip also comes amid a major diplomatic realignment in the region, with moves by Saudi Arabia and Egypt to ease tensions with Syria, Iran and Turkey.
There was no immediate official comment from Egypt or Saudi Arabia on the visit.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have repeatedly come to Egypt’s help since el-Sissi led the ouster of Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago.
When Egypt’s financial difficulties were exposed and exacerbated by the fallout from the war in Ukraine last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar made deposits in Egypt’s central bank and pledged major new investments.
But those investments have been slow to materialize, putting new pressure on the Egyptian pound in recent weeks despite the currency losing nearly half its value against the dollar since March 2022.
Egypt signed a $3 billion rescue plan with the International Monetary Fund in December that targeted $9.7 billion in foreign direct investment in the financial year ending in June 2023.
…
Trump Lawyer Vows Vigorous Defense in Hush Money Criminal Case
The lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Sunday to mount a vigorous defense against allegations that he paid $130,000 in hush money to a porn star to boost his election chances in 2016 to keep her from talking about her claim that she had a one-night tryst with Trump a decade before.
Defense lawyer Joe Tacopina told CNN’s “State of the Union” show that the payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels was a “personal expenditure, not a campaign expenditure.” Trump has long denied the porn star’s allegation they had an affair but acknowledged the payment to her just ahead of his defeat of Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Tacopina assailed New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for getting a grand jury last Thursday to charge Trump in connection with the payment, saying that had Trump “not been running for president [in 2024], he would not have been indicted.”
“We will loudly and proudly say not guilty” when the former president is arraigned in the case in New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday, Tacopina said.
But the defense lawyer said he would not immediately ask that the case be dismissed. “No, that would be showmanship,” he said.
Tacopina, however, contended that “no law fits” the basic allegations in the case, and that the federal government decided to not bring charges against Trump, although Bragg, a state prosecutor, proceeded.
“A state prosecutor has somehow tried to make this a felony,” Tacopina said.
The defense lawyer criticized the state’s key witness in the case, Michael Cohen, Trump’s one-time personal attorney and political fixer. Tacopina called Cohen, who made the payment to the porn actress and then was reimbursed by Trump, “a pathological, convicted liar who is continually unable to tell the same story twice.”
Cohen was convicted of several offenses in connection with the payment to Daniels and served more than a year in prison.
Lanny Davis, Cohen’s lawyer, also spoke with CNN on Sunday.
Davis said Cohen, while pleading guilty in the case, “lied for Donald Trump for 10 years,” and has now provided prosecutors a vast set of documents showing how the payment to the porn actress played out with the consent of Trump and subsequent reimbursement of Cohen.
The payments to Cohen were listed on Trump company records as payment to Cohen for legal fees. But U.S. news accounts of the investigation say the payments were to keep Daniels’ allegations of the affair out of the news in the weeks before the 2016 election. The Wall Street Journal first broke news of the hush money payment in early 2018.
In the charging allegations against Cohen, the government stated that the payment to Daniels was at the direction of “Individual 1,” which the government acknowledged was Trump.
Trump is the first U.S. president, in office or after leaving the White House, to be criminally charged in an indictment. Officials familiar with the case say the grand jury is alleging more than 30 counts of criminal misconduct, but the indictment is under seal, not yet publicly disclosed, and won’t be divulged until Trump appears in court.
Trump, who lives much of the year at Mar-a-Lago, his oceanside retreat in Florida, is flying to New York on Monday and then, as he turns himself in at the courthouse on Tuesday, is likely to be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken before appearing in court before Judge Juan Merchan.
Trump’s office says he is expected to deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago late Tuesday.
Trump’s Secret Service detail, courthouse officials and New York City police have been meeting since the indictment was announced to plan for Trump’s appearance at the courthouse, which corridors he will walk through and what nearby streets will be blocked off and parking prohibited.
Trump, long accustomed to unleashing attacks on political foes, has criticized Bragg for bringing what he describes as a “witch hunt case,” and characterized the Black prosecutor as an “animal” and a “racist.” Even before his court appearance, Trump has also assailed the judge, misspelled his name in a social media post as “Marchan,” and claimed that he “hates me.”
Merchan earlier this year fined subsidiaries of Trump’s real estate empire, the Trump Organization, $1.6 million in connection with what prosecutors alleged was a 15-year tax fraud scheme to help the company evade a bigger tax bill and imprisoned Trump’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, for five months.
After learning of his own indictment in the hush money case and that Merchan had been randomly assigned to oversee it, Trump claimed on his Truth Social site that the judge had “railroaded” Weisselberg to plead guilty in the case and had “treated my companies, which didn’t ‘plead,’ VICIOUSLY.”
Former New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show, “I’ve got to say that I was disturbed to hear the former president speak in the way he spoke about the District Attorney Bragg, and even the trial court [judge] in the past week.”
“And I think if I were [Trump’s] lawyer, and believe me, no one has called up to ask for my advice,” Vance added, “I would be mindful of not committing some other criminal offense, like obstruction of governmental administration, which is interfering by threat or otherwise, the operation of government. And I think that could take what perhaps we think is not the strongest case, when you add a count like that, put it in front of a jury.”
Many Republican politicians have rallied behind Trump, not by discussing the specifics of the hush money payment to Daniels, but rather by taking aim at Bragg, a Democrat, for securing the indictment. Democrats have generally said that Trump is presumed innocent unless proven guilty and that he will have his day in court to answer the charges.
Trump is facing other serious criminal investigations related to his efforts to upend his 2020 reelection loss to Democrat Joe Biden, urging supporters in January 2021 to try to block Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote showing Biden had won and his retention of classified documents at his Florida estate even though he was required to turn them over to the National Archives when he left office two years ago.
…
Russian Military Blogger Killed in St Petersburg Bomb Blast
Well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb blast in a St. Petersburg cafe on Sunday in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s state Investigative Committee said 19 other people were wounded in the blast, and it had opened a murder investigation.
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram and was one of the most prominent of the influential military bloggers who have championed Russia’s war effort in Ukraine while often criticizing the failures of the army top brass.
“We’ll defeat everyone, we’ll kill everyone, we’ll rob everyone we need to. Everything will be as we like it,” he was shown saying in a video clip last September at a Kremlin ceremony where President Vladimir Putin claimed four occupied regions of Ukraine as Russian territory – a move rejected as illegal by most countries.
There was no indication as to who was behind the blast.
TASS news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying the improvised explosive device was hidden in a miniature statue that was handed to Tatarsky as he addressed a group of people in the cafe.
Mash, a Telegram channel with links to Russian law enforcement, posted a video that appeared to show Tatarsky, microphone in hand, being presented with a statuette of a helmeted soldier. It said the explosion happened minutes later.
Tatarsky’s death followed the killing last August of Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultra-nationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow.
Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Ukraine’s secret services of carrying out that attack, which Putin called “evil.” Ukraine denied involvement.
Russia’s war bloggers, an assortment of military correspondents and freelance commentators with army backgrounds, have enjoyed broad freedom from the Kremlin to publish hard-hitting views on the war, now in its 14th month. Putin even made one of them a member of his human rights council last year.
They reacted with shock to the news of Tatarsky’s death.
“He was in the hottest spots of the special military operation and he always came out alive. But the war found him in a Petersburg cafe,” said Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the name War Gonzo.
Alexander Khodakovsky, a leading pro-Moscow figure in eastern Ukraine, wrote: “Max, if you were a nobody, you’d have died of ‘vodka and headcolds.’ But you were dangerous to them, you did your business like no one else could. We will pray for you, brother.”
…
Algerian Court Sentences Prominent Journalist to 5 Years
A court in Algiers on Sunday sentenced a prominent journalist in the North African country to five years in prison with two years suspended and ordered his website and a radio station shut down based on the accusation that they threaten state security.
Ihsane El-Kadi was detained Dec. 23 at his home in the capital, Algiers. He was accused of receiving foreign funding for his outlets. He has remained in custody since his arrest and appeared in court on Sunday for the verdict, along with a collective of lawyers, defending him, journalists and family members.
The court also ordered El-Kadi to pay a fine of 700,000 Algerian dinars ($5,200). The media company which owns El-Kadi’s website and radio station was ordered dissolved, its assets seized, and a fine of one million Algerian dinars ($7,390) was imposed on its owners.
El-Kadi, who was active in Algeria’s Hirak pro-democracy protest movement in 2019, appears to be the latest target of an encroaching crackdown on dissenting voices in the North African country.
His outlets were seen by many as outposts of free debate in Algerian media that provided journalists and opposition politicians a platform to point out contradictions or shortfalls in the government’s policies.
The case against him is linked to the crowdfunding used to finance his media outlets, Maghreb Emergent and Webradio. The website and radio station operated in Algeria for years but did not have government recognition as official media organizations.
El-Kadi was accused of violating an article in the criminal code targeting anyone who receives funds aimed at “inciting acts susceptible to threaten state security,” stability or Algeria’s fundamental interests, his lawyers said before the verdict.
…
Experts: Trump Indictment Viewed Abroad as Test of US Democracy
With Donald Trump becoming the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports on the international reaction to his indictment and what it means for the credibility of the U.S. legal and political system
…
Ex-Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson is Running for President
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’s running for president in 2024, offering himself as an alternative for Republicans ready to turn the party away from Donald Trump.
“I’m confident that people want leaders that want the best of the America, not those who appeal to their worst instincts,” Hutchinson told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview aired Sunday. He said he would make a formal announcement in April in Arkansas.
“I have made a decision and my decision is I’m going to run for president of United States,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson, 72, left office in January after eight years as governor. He has ramped up his criticism of the former president in recent months, calling another Trump presidential nomination the “worst scenario” for Republicans and saying it would likely benefit President Joe Biden’s chances in 2024.
In addition to Trump, Hutchinson joins a Republican field that also includes former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to jump into the race in the summer, while U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among those considering bids.
Hutchinson, who was term-limited, has been a fixture in Arkansas politics since the 1980s, when the state was predominantly Democratic. A former congressman, he was one of the House managers prosecuting the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton.
Hutchinson served as President George W. Bush’s head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and was an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
As governor, Hutchinson championed a series of income tax cuts as the state’s budget surpluses grew. He signed several abortion restrictions into law, including a ban on the procedure that took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year. Hutchinson, however, has said he regretted that the measure did not include exceptions for rape or incest.
Hutchinson earned the ire of Trump and social conservatives last year when he vetoed legislation banning gender-affirming medical care for children. Arkansas’ majority-Republican Legislature overrode Hutchinson’s veto and enacted the ban, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Trump called Hutchinson a “RINO” — a Republican In Name Only — for the veto. Hutchinson’s successor, former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has said she would have signed the legislation.
Hutchinson, who signed other restrictions on transgender youth into law, said the Arkansas ban went too far and that he would have signed the measure if it had focused only on surgery.
Although he has supported Trump’s policies, Hutchinson has become increasingly critical of the former president’s rhetoric and lies about the 2020 presidential election. He said Trump’s call to terminate parts of the Constitution to overturn the election hurt the country.
Hutchinson also criticized Trump for meeting with white nationalist leader Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, who has praised Adolf Hitler and spewed antisemitic conspiracy theories. Hutchinson has contrasted that meeting to his own background as a U.S. attorney who prosecuted white supremacists in Arkansas in the 1980s.
An opponent of the federal health care law, Hutchinson after taking office supported keeping Arkansas’ version of Medicaid expansion. But he championed a work requirement for the law that was blocked by a federal judge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hutchinson tried to push back against misinformation about the virus with daily news conferences and a series of town halls he held around the state aimed at encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Hutchinson infuriated death penalty opponents in 2017 when he ordered eight executions over a two-week period, scheduling them before one of the state’s lethal injection drugs was set to expire. The state ultimately carried out four of the executions.
The former governor is known more for talking policy than for fiery speeches, often flanked by charts and graphs at his news conferences at the state Capitol. Instead of picking fights on Twitter, he tweets out Bible verses every Sunday morning.
…
Donald Trump Isn’t First Ex-President to Face Legal Trouble
Donald Trump has made history so many times.
The first president without government or military experience. The first to be impeached twice. The first to aggressively challenge the certification of his successor.
Now, he adds another: Even as he hopes to return to the White House in 2025, he is the first former president to be indicted.
The latest line crossed by Trump challenges again the aura of the American presidency, nurtured in the infallibility of George Washington but made human over and over, through scandals born of greed and the abuse of power, corruption and naivete, sex and lies about sex.
Trump is hardly the first president, in or out of office, to face legal trouble.
In 1974, Richard Nixon may well have avoided criminal charges on obstruction of justice or bribery, related to the Watergate scandal, only because President Gerald Ford pardoned him just weeks after Nixon resigned the presidency.
Bill Clinton’s law license in his native Arkansas was suspended for five years after he reached a deal with prosecutors in 2001, at the end of his second term, over allegations that he lied under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Some historians wonder about President Warren Harding’s fate had he not died in office, in 1923. Numerous officials around him would be implicated in various crimes, including Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, whose corrupt land dealings became known as the “Teapot Dome Scandal.”
“The walls were closing in on him,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said of Harding.
Trump’s indictment in New York reportedly is linked to how business records were mischaracterized in connection with paying porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016, shortly before Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton for the presidency, to keep Daniels from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with him years earlier. Trump denies having sex with her.
Trump also is being investigated for allegedly attempting to change the 2020 vote results in Georgia, a state he narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attempted to stop the congressional certification of Biden as president. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the New York investigation “a witch hunt.”
While in office, Trump adopted the view of a Justice Department legal opinion that a president could not be indicted. Once a president leaves office, though, that protection falls away.
Most ex-presidents of the past half-century have led relatively uneventful public lives — creating foundations, delivering lucrative speeches, or in the case of Jimmy Carter, doing abundant charitable works. Nixon’s disgrace scarred him for years, though he eventually reemerged to talk about global affairs and counsel aspiring politicians and potential presidents, including Trump.
The immediate cause of Nixon’s resignation was the discovery of the “smoking gun” — Oval Office tape recordings, initiated by Nixon himself, that revealed he had ordered a cover-up of the 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. By 1974, the scandal had expanded well beyond the initial crime. Many of Nixon’s top aides had stepped down and were eventually imprisoned. Nixon himself was a possible target of the Watergate special counsel.
“There were partisans in Congress and on the special counsel’s staff who would have liked to see Nixon indicted after the resignation — or at least believed that the pardon was premature,” says John A. Farrell, author of “Richard Nixon: The Life,” a prize-winning biography published in 2017. “But the special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, had consistently chosen to deal with Nixon via the constitutional, impeachment process.”
Farrell notes that Ford’s pardon happened so soon after Nixon stepped down that Jaworski’s office didn’t have time to fully consider charges against Nixon. Ford himself would say that an “indictment, a trial, a conviction, and anything else that transpired” would have distracted the country from more immediate problems.
“This much can be said: Nixon himself was very worried about the possibility [of prosecution], to the point of ruining his health,” Farrell said, referring to Nixon’s battles with phlebitis, the inflammation of veins in the leg. “He mused aloud about how some of the great political writing in history had been crafted in jail cells. His very worried family reached out to the White House, alerting Ford’s aides of the ex-president’s deteriorating condition.”
The administrations of Nixon and Harding were among several defined by scandal, without the president being charged.
Ulysses Grant, the Union general and hero of the Civil War, was otherwise naive about those around him. Numerous members of his presidential administration were involved in financial wrongdoing, from extortion to market manipulation. Grant himself was caught for a more trivial offense. In 1872, during his first term, he was stopped twice for riding his carriage too fast.
“The second time Grant had to pay a $20 fine, but never spent a night in jail,” says historian Ron Chernow, whose Grant biography was published in 2017.
Tragedy may have spared one future president.
In the fall of 1963, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was out of favor in the Kennedy administration and in possible legal danger because his top aide, Bobby Baker, was under investigation for financial dealings and influence peddling. Johnson, with his own history of questionable finances, was denying any close ties to a man he had once claimed to love as a son.
By the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, Life magazine was planning a investigation and congressional hearings were just getting started. But within hours, Kennedy had been assassinated, Johnson sworn in as his successor and interest in the affairs of Baker had essentially ended.
…
Finns Vote in Close Election
Finns cast ballots on Sunday in a closely contested parliamentary election that could cost left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin power amid voter concern over the future of generous public services at a time of economic downturn.
No party is seen as holding a decisive lead and the election is likely to be followed by lengthy coalition talks, although whichever party wins on Sunday will have the first attempt at forming a government.
Voting began at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) and closes at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT). Partial results from early voting will be published shortly afterwards.
Marin, 37, is seen by fans around the world as a millennial role model for progressive new leaders and remains very popular among many Finns, particularly young moderates, but she has antagonized some conservatives with lavish spending on pensions and education that they see as irresponsible.
“She [Marin] has been like a rock star, but she has been very nervous,” said retired graduate engineer Matti Valonen referring to Marin’s performances in debates leading up to the election.
Opinion polls show Marin’s Social Democrats, the biggest party in the outgoing coalition government, in a dead heat with the rightist National Coalition Party and the nationalist Finns Party, with all three seen winning some 18.7-19.8% of ballots and so reliant on other smaller parties to form a government.
The National Coalition has led in polls for almost two years although its lead has melted away in recent months. It has promised to curb spending and stop the rise of public debt, which has reached just over 70% of GDP since Marin took office in 2019.
The grouping accuses Marin of eroding Finland’s economic resilience at a time when Europe’s energy crisis, driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine, has hit the country hard and the cost of living has increased.
The Finns Party, too, calls for austerity but its main goal is to reduce what its leader Riikka Purra has called “harmful” immigration from developing countries outside the European Union.
…
Burkina Faso Expels Two French Journalists
Burkina Faso has expelled two French journalists working for newspapers Le Monde and Liberation, the two newspapers said on Sunday, accusing the authorities of seeking to stifle freedom of speech with an escalating crackdown on foreign media.
Liberation said its correspondent Agnès Faivre and Le Monde’s Sophie Douce arrived in Paris early on Sunday after they were summoned separately for questioning by the military authorities on Friday and later notified of their expulsion.
The two are “journalists of perfect integrity, who worked in Burkina Faso legally, with valid visas and accreditations … We strongly protest against these absolutely unjustified expulsions,” Liberation said in an editorial statement on its website.
There was no statement from the authorities in Burkina Faso and it was not immediately possible to reach them for comment.
The French foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Relations between Paris and Ouagadougou have deteriorated sharply since Burkina Faso’s military seized power in a coup last October. The junta has since ordered French troops to withdraw from the country and suspended broadcasts by France’s RFI radio and television channel France 24.
“These two expulsions mark a new major setback in the freedom to inform on the situation in Burkina Faso,” Le Monde Director Jérôme Fenoglio said in a statement.
Douce’s reporting “obviously ended up seeming unbearable to the regime of Ibrahim Traoré, transition president for six months,” he said.
Liberation said a recent investigation by Faivre into children and adolescents allegedly being killed in a military barracks had likely displeased the authorities.
“These restrictions on freedom of information are unacceptable and the sign of a power that refuses to allow its actions to be questioned,” it said.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries and former French colonies battling violent Islamist groups that took root in neighboring Mali and have spread across the region over the past decade. Thousands have been killed and over two million displaced across the Sahel region south of the Sahara despite the presence of foreign troops including from France.
Frustrations over authorities’ failure to restore security has spurred anti-French sentiment and helped bring about two military takeovers in Burkina Faso and two in Mali since 2020.
…
Weary Bulgarians Go to Polls for Fifth Time in Two Years
Bulgarians vote in their fifth parliamentary election in two years on Sunday amid rising resentment towards political elites who many see as unwilling to tackle graft and economic reforms.
Opinion polls show the ballot will likely leave Bulgaria short of a functioning parliamentary majority again, putting in question its ambitions to join the euro zone in the near term and effectively use European Union COVID recovery aid.
In the running is a coalition of the center-right GERB party of former long-serving premier Boyko Borissov, 63, and its small Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) partner, as well as the newly established coalition of the pro-Western We Continue the Change (PP) party and reformist Democratic Bulgaria (DB).
“Regardless of which of the two comes first, it does not solve the big question – what are the prospects of forming a government,” said Genoveva Petrova of Alpha Research.
“Parties in Bulgaria have had four interim parliaments to realize that there is no political force at the moment that has not just an absolute majority but a large enough advantage to set the agenda,” Petrova added.
Voting ends at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT).
The two coalitions are neck and neck in opinion polls, with the latest by Exacta Research Group showing them at 26.2% and 25.6%, respectively, and the nationalist Revival party at 12.8%.
Complicating coalition building are accusations by many of his political rivals that Borissov had not done enough to stop corruption in the country during his decade-long rule that ended in 2021, something that Borissov denies.
“It is not normal to not have any political dialogue, there is no will … to consolidate so that things get better,” said Ivailo Atanasov, 47, in Sofia.
At stake could also be Bulgaria’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Once an ally of President Vladimir Putin, Sofia has supported Kyiv since Moscow launched what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
The two coalitions in the running on Sunday want Bulgaria to maintain its pro-Ukraine stance but President Rumen Radev, who has wielded much power throughout the political instability, has pushed for a more nuanced approach.
…
Latest in Ukraine: Alcohol Contributing to Russian Casualties, UK Says
New developments:
“Russian UNSC presidency is a slap in the face to the international community,” said Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba in a tweet.
On Saturday, Russia took over the presidency of the U.N.'s top security body, which rotates every month. The last time Moscow held the post was in February 2022, when its troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine's top security agency notified Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of famed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Orthodox monastery that he was suspected of justifying Russia's aggression, a criminal offense. The Metropolitan refuses to vacate the religious site.
A new $2.6 billion U.S. military aid package that could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for Ukraine could be announced next week, U.S. officials say.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promised during a visit to Moscow to boost munitions supplies to Russian forces in Ukraine, according to footage published by the Defense Ministry on Saturday on Telegram.
A “significant minority” of the some 200,000 casualties Russia has suffered since invading Ukraine were due to noncombat causes, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday in its latest intelligence update.
The noncombat causes include alcohol consumption, road traffic accidents and “climatic injuries” such as hypothermia.
“Russian commanders likely identify pervasive alcohol abuse as particularly detrimental to combat effectiveness,” the update said. “However, with heavy drinking pervasive across much of Russian society, it has long been seen as a tacitly accepted part of military life, even on combat operations.”
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian spring counteroffensive could begin anytime now, Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov said last week. According to the Associated Press, Kyiv is gearing up for a long fight, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working to keep troops and civilians motivated.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said Western help has been vital in strengthening Ukraine’s resistance and in shaping the course of the war, now in its 13th month of intense fighting with no negotiated peace in sight.
The Ukrainian military starts the spring with an influx of powerful weapons. Germany said this week it had delivered the 18 Leopard 2 tanks it promised to Ukraine. Poland, Canada and Norway have also handed over their pledged Leopard tanks.
Additionally, British Challenger tanks have arrived, while Ukraine’s defense minister says he hopes Western partners will supply at least two battalions of the German-made Leopard 2s by April. He expects six or seven battalions of Leopard 1 tanks, with ammunition, from a coalition of countries. About 80 tanks make up a battalion.
The U.S. pledged Abrams tanks, and France promised light tanks, along with training of Ukrainian soldiers.
More aid
A new $2.6 billion U.S. military aid package that could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for Ukraine’s fight against Russia is expected to be announced as soon as Monday, U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Friday.
A half-dozen types of munitions, including tank munitions, are also expected to be on the list of equipment that could be finalized this weekend. The officials added that the dollar amount and specific equipment in the package could change.
Also slated for inclusion were precision aerial munitions, bridging equipment Ukraine would use to assault Russian positions, recovery vehicles to help disabled heavy equipment such as tanks, and additional rounds for NASAMS air defenses that the U.S. and allies have given Kyiv.
Faltering offensive
According to the British Defense Ministry’s daily intelligence update on Ukraine, Russia has made only marginal gains. The ministry reported that the Russian chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, has failed to stage a general winter offensive in Ukraine with the aim of extending Russian control of the whole of the Donbas region.
Gerasimov took command of the “special military operation in Ukraine,” the report said, but 80 days on, “it is increasingly apparent that this project has failed” at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties and “largely squandering its temporary advantage in personnel gained for the autumn’s partial mobilization.”
During a visit to Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promised to boost munitions supplies to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to footage published by the Defense Ministry on Saturday.
Shoigu has in recent months come under bitter criticism from hard-line advocates of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, including Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, who have accused him of failing to supply sufficient munitions to troops on the frontline.
‘Slap in the Face’
In his nightly video address on Saturday, Zelenskyy said it is absurd that Russia has assumed the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council, adding is showed the U.N.’s “total bankruptcy.”
Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba also called Russia’s UNSC presidency “a slap in the face to the international community.”
The U.S. on Thursday urged Russia to “conduct itself professionally,” saying there was no means to block Moscow from the post.
The Kremlin said Friday it planned to “exercise all its rights” in the role.
Nuclear risk
“The risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the Cold War,” Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. high representative for disarmament affairs, said Friday. “The war in Ukraine represents the most acute example of that risk,” she said.
Nakamitsu said the lack of dialogue and the erosion of the disarmament and arms control agreements combined with dangerous rhetoric and veiled threats could potentially lead to nuclear escalation.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened Friday that Belarus could host intercontinental nuclear missiles on its soil in addition to the tactical nuclear weapons its Russian ally and neighbor has decided to station in Belarus.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…
US Navy Deploys More Chaplains for Suicide Prevention
On Navy ships docked at this vast base, hundreds of sailors in below-deck mazes of windowless passageways perform intense, often monotonous manual labor. It’s necessary work before a ship deploys, but hard to adjust to for many already challenged by the stresses plaguing young adults nationwide.
Growing mental health distress in the ranks carries such grave implications that the U.S. chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, answered “suicides” when asked earlier this year what in the security environment kept him up at night.
One recently embraced prevention strategy is to deploy chaplains as regular members of the crew on more ships. The goal is for the clergy to connect with sailors, believers and non-believers alike, in complete confidentiality.
“That makes us accessible as a relief valve,” said earlier this month Capt. David Thames, an Episcopal priest who’s responsible for chaplains for the Navy’s surface fleet in the Atlantic, covering dozens of ships from the East Coast to Bahrain.
The families of two young men who killed themselves in Norfolk said chaplains could be effective to facilitate access to mental health care. But they also insist on accountability and a chain of command committed to eliminating bullying and engaging younger generations.
“A chaplain could help, but it wouldn’t matter if you don’t empower them,” said Patrick Caserta, a former Navy recruiter whose son, Brandon, 21, killed himself in 2018.
Mental health problems, especially among enlisted men under 29, mirror concerns in schools and colleges, exacerbated by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But chaplains, civilian counselors, families of suicide victims, and sailors from commodores to the newly enlisted say these struggles pose unique challenges and security implications in the military, where suicides took the lives of 519 service members in 2021, per the latest Department of Defense data.
“Mental health permeates every aspect of our operations,” Capt. Blair Guy, commodore for one of the destroyer squadrons based in Norfolk, said via email.
His squadron’s lead chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Madison Carter, is working on recruiting three new chaplains, who are both naval officers and clergy from various denominations. The Baptist pastor said most of his talks with sailors involve not faith but life struggles that can make them feel unfulfilled and lose focus.
Sailors can carry the routine angst of young adults, from political polarization to breakups to broken homes, which some enlist to escape. Onboard, disconnected from their real and virtual networks — most communications are off-limits at sea for security — they lack the usual coping mechanisms, said Jochebed Swilley, a civilian social worker on the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship.
“Eighteen to 21-year-olds don’t know life without smartphones,” said Kayla Arestivo, a counselor and advocate whose nonprofit helps service members and veterans near Norfolk. “If you remove a sense of connection, mental health plummets.”
Chief Legalman Florian Morrison, who’s served on the Bataan for more than two years, said faith is what helped him “re-center” after losing three shipmates to suicide.
“It can be overwhelming… if you feel alone and you’ve nobody to reach out to,” Morrison said in the chapel set up in the ship’s bow. “A streamlined pathway to mental health would help.”
Even docked, ships are far from stress-free, as sailors constantly navigate steep ladderwells and pressurized, hulking doors under the glare of fluorescent lights and the constant hum of machinery.
Space is so tight and regimented that a challenge across the fleet is where to squeeze in offices for new chaplains, said Cmdr. Hunter Washburn, commanding officer of the destroyer USS Gravely.
A Navy chaplain’s role is akin to a life coach, helping young sailors find their footing as adults in an environment that looks far more different from the civilian world than it did in previous generations.
“A lot haven’t found that grounding yet. They’re looking,” said Lt. Greg Johnson, a Baptist chaplain who joined the Bataan in December.
Clergy need to engage with people of different or no faith who might be initially turned off by the cross or other religious symbols on their uniforms.
“I want the people who can be uncomfortable and still be the bearers of God’s presence,” Carter said.
Sailors call them “deck-plating chaps” – chaplains striking up a conversation with their shipmates in the mess decks or during night watches, in addition to keeping an open-door policy at all hours.
Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Rice, a Pentecostal chaplain serving a destroyer squadron at Norfolk, estimates he did 7,000 hours of counseling over 12 years. Long lines of sailors waiting to talk often formed outside his door.
“They’re grinding on a ship or serving food on a mess line, that’s not what they expected. So we help to find their meaning and purpose,” Rice said. “When their life is not going the way they think it should be going, I’ll be blunt and ask, ‘Why haven’t you killed yourself?'”
Focusing on the answers – the “anchors” to the sailors’ will to survive – has helped Rice talk some down from the ledge, including a corpsman who, while discussing suicide dreams, suddenly cocked his weapon and told Rice, “I could do it right now.”
Lt. Cmdr. Ben Garrett has also diffused several suicide situations in the more than a decade he’s been a Catholic chaplain, for the past eight months on the Bataan, which when underway carries 1,000 sailors, 1,600 Marines and three other chaplains. But last fall, he officiated the memorial for a suicide victim.
“There were sailors in the rafters,” he recalled. “It affects the whole crew.”
Most profoundly, suicide impacts surviving families. Kody Decker was 22 and a new father when he killed himself at a maintenance facility in Norfolk, where he was transferred after struggling with depression on the Bataan, according to his father, Robert Decker.
He’s not sure if talking to a chaplain would have made a difference with Kody, though speedy implementation of the Brandon Act might have. The bill, named after the Casertas’ son, aims to improve the process for mental health evaluations for service members.
But Decker hasn’t given up on either the Navy or God.
“My whole fight is about not having other families like us,” he said as a tear rolled down his cheek. “I pray to God every night, for help, for healing, for strength. I’m not a quitter. But it’s hard.”
…
VOA Interview: Latvian FM Says Russia Must be Shown Nuclear Blackmail Won’t Work
On March 29 Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, along with several other counties, marked 19 years since they joined NATO. All three Baltic nations have long warned of the Kremlin’s imperialistic ambitions and the looming threat it poses to countries throughout the region.
Over the last year, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius — Europe’s most staunch supporters of transatlantic integration for both Ukraine and Georgia — have been among the largest direct supporters of Ukraine’s military in terms of GDP.
During a stopover in Washington to meet with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told VOA’s Georgian Service Wednesday that Russia’s decision to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is an act of desperation on the part of the Kremlin and calls the very sovereignty of Belarus into question. He also explains why he believes providing Kyiv with the ability to strike bases within Russia is a means to de-escalate the war.
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
VOA: March 29 marked 19 years since Latvia’s accession to NATO. Visiting Washington after 101 years of formal diplomatic ties with the U.S., what are the key issues and challenges that you discussed with this strategic partner?
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics: The main topics we’re discussing with all the people I’m meeting here is about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and how to better help Ukraine. I think that we are in a year that [will prove] very decisive. Our position is that we must provide Ukraine with all the weapons and ammunition they’re asking for. Then, of course, we need sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
We also discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius — how to proceed from [the 2022 NATO summit in] Madrid to [the upcoming 2023 NATO summit in] Vilnius and beyond. Apart from that, definitely there are also some areas that we believe we should pay closer attention: Moldova, the Caucasus, countries in the Central Asia.
VOA: Visiting Riga last year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Baltic States have “formed a democratic wall” in Europe. After 13 months Russia’s of the full-scale war in Ukraine, where do things stand right now for Baltic and European security?
Rinkevics: I think that there are three major challenges that we need to tackle. One is the immediate challenge that is war in Europe; to stop Russia, to help Ukraine to liberate its territory. Helping Ukraine win is in the interest of Europe, the United States and the globe. If we fail and Ukraine fails, then it’s an incentive for [aggressors] to do the same things all over the world. It’s also very important that we continue implementing all those decisions that we made [at the 2022 NATO summit] in Madrid. [Europe’s] eastern flank needs more troops, more weapons, hard military security is important. And finally, the most challenging thing is how you actually look at the challenges in our societies, how to fight disinformation and propaganda; how to strengthen the resilience of our societies.
VOA: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. What do you think this means at this point of the war and how should the West respond? Do you think the placement of nuclear weapons in Belarus might increase calls to avoid “unnecessary escalation” or “provocation” of Moscow?
Rinkevics: Frankly, when it comes from a hard security point of view, this is not going to fundamentally change the military security and situation. The Russians had nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad near our borders already before the full-scale invasion in Ukraine. I believe this is the act of desperation, because you see that the war in Ukraine is not going well for Mr. Putin. Not [just for] three days, not three weeks, not three months, Russian troops have not been able to capture any significant city in Ukraine. I believe this is just a continuation of the nuclear blackmail that we’ve seen in the last year. In my opinion, this kind of announcement clearly shows that Belarus is not a sovereign country. It’s actually part of a Russian military district. And we need to impose more sanctions on both Russia and Belarus, simply to make a point that this blackmail, these moves aren’t going to work.
On the other hand, I think that this kind of rhetoric is not as influential as probably one could think. Assuming that if we do not help Ukraine, Russia is going to stop and won’t escalate is completely wrong. Russia is escalating, and it’s not going to de-escalate simply if someone thinks that not providing Ukraine with means of defense would help the political process. The goal of Putin is not to sit at the negotiation table — the goal of Putin is to take over Ukraine, to [ethnically] cleanse it, to perpetrate all those atrocities revealed in territories since liberated by Ukraine.
VOA: Long-range missiles and fighter jets are still a priority for Ukraine, and yet the U.S. seems hesitant to provide weapons that could be used to strike Russian soil. Many believe it’s unfair to limit Ukraine in that regard. Where does Latvia stand on this?
Rinkevics: Let’s not forget that shelling Ukrainian cities and villages with all kinds of ammunition is something that Russians have actually been doing since 2014. I have no reason to argue that Ukraine does not have this right to respond in a proper way to stop the aggression. I don’t believe [providing Ukraine with long-range missile and fighter jets] is escalatory. If Russia and Mr. Putin can comprehend that there is no winning for them, then that would most probably lead to de-escalation. I’m in that camp that firmly believes that providing Ukraine with all kinds of weapons systems and ammunition is the right thing to do and we should not prevent Ukraine from using military equipment or weapons for legitimate defense. And legitimate defense does not mean only the territory of Ukraine, but, yes, striking military bases in Russia. It is completely legitimate. It’s exactly what Russia currently does in Ukraine.
VOA: Visiting Kyiv last month, President Joe Biden said that “Vladimir Putin hoped to outlast us [the West], but he’s been plain wrong.” Many in Western democracies are worried about so-called Ukraine fatigue indicated by some recent opinion polls. Do you think Western resolve may weaken and reach its limits in the near future?
Rinkevics: Russia really counts on this fatigue, counts on the change of course. We are all democratic countries, and we have elections. There are many pressing issues that democratic countries have to discuss. Of course, military operations could become an object of criticism. Russia now is counting that it may use a lot of its own people, to kill them just for the goal of restoring the Russian empire. Right now, the biggest threat for Russia is next year with the series of elections, including in Russia.
But I think that what we really need is what we call strategic endurance. I think that President Biden is right. Russia so far has failed politically, militarily and frankly, even in blackmailing. We need to find a way to overcome this fatigue, how to endure this. But I’m confident that with all those challenges, we will withstand.
Interview conducted by VOA’s Georgian Service.
…
3 British Men Being Held in Afghanistan, UK Nonprofit Group Says
Three British men have been detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Presidium Network, U.K. nonprofit group, said on Saturday.
“We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families,” the U.K.’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Media reports named the men as charity medic Kevin Cornwell, 53, an unnamed manager of a hotel for aid workers and YouTube star Miles Routledge.
Routledge, 21, is described in the British press as a “danger tourist,” someone who travels to dangerous countries and posting about it online.
Scott Richards of the Presidium Network told Sky News: “We believe they are in good health and being well treated … and we’re told that they are as good as can be expected in such circumstances.”
There had been “no meaningful contact” between authorities and the two men Presidium is assisting, he added.
These two men are believed to have been held by the Taliban since January.
It is not known how long the third man has been held for.
Presidium on Twitter urged the Taliban to be “considerate of what we believe is a misunderstanding and release these men.”
Last year the Taliban freed a veteran television cameraman and four other British nationals it had held for six months.
Peter Jouvenal was one of a number of Britons that the British government said had been held by the hard-line Islamists.
Britain’s foreign ministry said the five “had no role in the UK government’s work in Afghanistan and travelled to Afghanistan against the UK government’s travel advice.”
“This was a mistake,” it added.
At the time, Afghanistan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused the Britons of “carrying out activities against the country’s laws and traditions of the people of Afghanistan.”
“After consecutive meetings between the IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) and Britain, the said persons were released … and handed over to their home country,” he said.
“They promised to abide by the laws of Afghanistan, its traditions and culture of the people and not to violate them again,” he added.
The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and has since sparked global outrage with its policies in particular toward women and girls.
…
Far-Right Influencer Convicted in Voter Suppression Scheme
A self-styled far-right propagandist from Florida was convicted Friday of charges alleging that he conspired to deprive individuals of their right to vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Douglass Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was convicted in Brooklyn federal court before Judge Ann M. Donnelly after a one-week trial. On the internet, he was known as “Ricky Vaughn.”
In 2016, Mackey had about 58,000 Twitter followers and was ranked by the MIT Media Lab as the 107th-most important influencer of the then-upcoming presidential election, prosecutors said. He had described himself as an “American nationalist” who regularly retweeted Trump and promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud by Democrats.
Mackey, who was arrested in January 2021, could face up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Aug. 16.
His lawyer, Andrew Frisch, said in an email that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan will have multiple reasons to choose from to vacate the conviction.
“We are optimistic about our chances on appeal,” Frisch said.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a release that the jury rejected Mackey’s cynical attempt to use the First Amendment free speech protections to shield himself from criminal liability for a voter suppression scheme.
“Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality,” he said.
The government alleged that from September 2016 to November 2016, Mackey conspired with several other internet influencers to spread fraudulent messages to Clinton supporters.
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Mackey urged supporters of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media, knowing that those endorsements were not legally valid votes.
At about the same time, prosecutors said, he was sending tweets suggesting that it was important to limit “black turnout” at voting booths. One tweet he sent showed a photo of a Black woman with a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to “avoid the line” and “vote from home,” court papers said.
Using social media pitches, one image encouraging phony votes utilized a font similar to one used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads, prosecutors said. Others tried to mimic Clinton’s ads in other ways, they added.
By Election Day in 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or something similar to a text number that was spread by multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
Twitter has said it worked closely with appropriate authorities on the issue.
…
Harris Tours Zambian Farm with Climate Change in Mind
Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday toured a farm outside Zambia’s capital that’s using new techniques and technology to boost its vegetable crop as she highlighted ways to secure food supplies in an age of climate change.
“It’s an example of what can be done around the world,” she said after walking past rows of peppers and inspecting a drip irrigation system.
Unlike in the United States, where conversations about climate change usually revolve around replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, the focus in Africa is on expanding access to food. Rising prices stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been damaging to poor countries, and global warming is expected to bring more challenges in the coming years.
Hunger can also create instability, leading to migration and conflict.
“The connection between these issues is quite clear,” Harris said.
She is pushing for $7 billion in private-sector investments, mostly to boost conservation and improve food production, to help Africa prepare for the effects of climate change. Her announcement about that goal came as she wrapped up her weeklong visit to Africa, which included earlier stops in Ghana and Tanzania. The trip was intended to advance U.S. efforts to make inroads in a part of the world where China’s influence runs deep.
It’s the biggest-ticket item that Harris has announced, but more work will be needed to follow through.
For example, African Parks, a nonprofit group, has committed to raise $1.25 billion over the next seven years in order to expand its conservation program. Another organization, One Acre Fund, plans to raise $100 million to plant 1 billion trees by the end of the decade.
The politics of climate change are complicated in Africa, which has contributed far less to overall greenhouse gas emissions than richer corners of the world such as the United States. According to the International Energy Agency, 43% of Africans didn’t have access to electricity in 2021, and recent outages have caused frustration.
In Ghana, Harris was questioned at a news conference about how the West can demand that Africa go green and forgo using its natural resources. She also was pressed on whether wealthy nations would supply $100 billion annually to help poor countries cope with climate change, a commitment made under the Paris climate accord.
Harris said it is “critically important that, as global leaders, we all speak truth about the disparities that exist in terms of cause and effect and that we address those disparities.” She said there were opportunities in the “clean energy economy” that could help generate growth in Africa.
As for the money, President Joe Biden has requested $11 billion in his proposed budget to meet its international commitments.
“We are waiting for Congress to do its work,” Harris said.
…
Train Derailment in Minnesota Heightens Concerns Over Railroad Safety
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what caused a train to derail Thursday in Minnesota, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate. Crews have started removing contaminated soil and damaged rail cars in the wake of the fiery derailment. No injuries have been reported.
Around 1 a.m. Thursday, 22 cars of a freight train derailed in the Midwest U.S. state of Minnesota near the town of Raymond. Ten of the tanker cars contained ethanol, a chemical that can be harmful to people. Four damaged cars containing ethanol erupted in flames and burned for several hours after the derailment. Environmental Protection Agency officials arrived at the scene by 6:30 a.m. and started monitoring the air for toxic chemicals.
The entire town of Raymond was evacuated in the night by first responders. Many residents were sent to a school and church in nearby Prinsburg. The evacuation order was lifted around noon.
The United States has been increasingly concerned about rail safety following the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in early February. Several thousand people had to evacuate after that derailment and are worried about lingering health issues after officials released and burned toxic chemicals to prevent an explosion. Officials have assured residents that no toxic chemicals were found in the air and water, but residents remain uneasy.
At a news conference Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and railroad officials said they aren’t especially concerned about groundwater contamination from the derailment there because a lot of the ethanol burned off and the ground remains frozen at this time of year.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says pure ethanol is biodegradable and if spilled, it will break down into harmless substances.
“We will have our team here until this is cleaned up,” BNSF CEO Katie Farmer said at the news conference.
Major freight railroads have said they plan to add about 1,000 more trackside detectors nationwide to help spot equipment problems, but lawmakers have proposed additional reforms they want the railroads to make to prevent future derailments.
A group of Ohio representatives said at a news conference Thursday that the Minnesota derailment reinforces the need for reform.
The Ohio derailment sparked a bipartisan bill called the Rail Safety Act, which U.S. President Joe Biden supports, but the bill has yet to be passed by the Senate. The act would mean enhanced safety procedures for trains that carry hazardous materials, a two-person crew minimum and increased civil penalties over crashes.
Well-known food processing company ADM confirmed that the ethanol came from its corn processing facility in Marshall, Minnesota.
David Schneider is a lawyer who lives in Willmar, Minnesota, a town about 25 kilometers from the crash site. His family owns farms in and around Raymond. Upon hearing of the incident, he was worried the farms might be affected by the ethanol and corn syrup spillage. However, after learning more information, he says his fields are too far away from the derailment to be affected.
Schneider drove near the derailment around midday Thursday and could see smoke in the distance from the Raymond area. He said he has one friend that was evacuated.
“A lot of jobs depend on the production and transportation of ethanol, so I was relieved when I learned nobody was hurt,” he said. “But the economic consequences of this event may yet to be determined.”
Schneider emphasized that railroads are an important part of Minnesota’s history and economy.
“We in Western Minnesota were built by the railroads. Some of these towns are named after family members of the railroad… We are here because of the railroads.”
There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the U.S. last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. That means the country is averaging roughly three derailments per day.
“All it takes is one piece of worn-out equipment or broken equipment… Something comes loose, you can have a cascading effect,” Schneider said.
NTSB investigators are working to determine what caused the derailment, but it could be weeks before their findings are released.
Some information from this report came from The Associated Press.
…
Sudan Delays Signing of Deal to Usher in Civilian Government
Sudan’s military leaders and pro-democracy forces will delay the signing of an agreement to usher in a civilian government, both sides said in a joint statement issued early Saturday.
The postponement of the signing — which had been scheduled for later Saturday — comes as key security reform negotiations between the Sudanese army and the country’s powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces appear to have reached a deadlock.
Military generals met with pro-democracy leaders Saturday in the capital of Khartoum and agreed to sign the deal April 6, said Khalid Omar, a spokesman for the pro-democracy block, in a separate statement.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the U.N., the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa, who have facilitated talks between the military and pro-democracy groups.
Sudan has been mired in chaos after a military coup, led by the country’s top Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, removed a Western-backed power-sharing government in October 2021, upending the country’s short-lived transition to democracy.
But last December, the military, the RSF and numerous pro-democracy groups signed a preliminary deal vowing to restore the transition.
In recent months, internationally brokered workshops in Khartoum have sought to find common ground over the country’s thorniest political issues in the hope of signing a more inclusive final agreement.
Chief among the discussion points have been security sector reform and the integration of the RSF into the military — the topic of this week’s talks. But talks ended Wednesday without any clear outcome.
Shihab Ibrahim, a spokesperson for one of the largest pro-democracy groups that signed December’s deal, said the army and the RSF have struggled to reach an agreement over the timeline of the integration process.
The army wants a two-year timeline for integration while the RSF has called for a 10-year window, he said.
Spokespersons for the Sudanese army and the RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
…
Pope Francis Leaves Hospital; ‘Still Alive,’ He Quips
A chipper-sounding Pope Francis was discharged Saturday from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, quipping to journalists before being driven away that he’s “still alive.”
Francis, 86, was hospitalized at Gemelli Polyclinic on Wednesday following his weekly public audience in St. Peter’s Square after reportedly experiencing breathing difficulties. The pontiff received antibiotics administered intravenously during his stay, the Vatican said.
In a sign of his improved health, the Vatican released details of Francis’ Holy Week schedule. It said he would preside at this weekend’s Palm Sunday Mass and at Easter Mass on April 9, both held in St. Peter’s Square and expected to draw tens of thousands of faithful. A Vatican cardinal will be at the altar to celebrate both Masses, a recent practice due to the pontiff having a troublesome knee issue.
But Francis is scheduled to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass, which this year will be held in a juvenile prison in Rome. Still unclear was whether he would attend the late-night, torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum to mark Good Friday.
Before departing Gemelli Polyclinic late Saturday morning, Francis comforted a Rome couple whose 5-year-old daughter died Friday night at the Catholic hospital. Outside, Serena Subania, mother of Angelica, sobbed as she pressed her head into the chest of the pope, who held her close and whispered words of comfort.
Francis seemed eager to linger with well-wishers. When a boy showed him his arm cast, the pope made a gesture as if to ask, “Do you have a pen?” Three papal aides whipped out theirs. Francis took one of the pens and added his signature to the child’s already well-autographed cast.
Asked how he felt now, Francis joked, “Still alive, you know.” He gave a thumbs-up sign.
Francis exited the hospital from a side entrance, but his car stopped in front of the main entrance, where a gaggle of journalists waited. He opened the car door himself and got out from the front passenger seat. Francis had a cane ready to lean on.
After chatting, he got back into the white Fiat 500 car that drove him away from Gemelli Polyclinic. But instead of heading straight home, his motorcade sped right past Vatican City and went to St. Mary Major Basilica, a Rome landmark that is one of his favorites.
There, startled tourists rushed to snap photos of him as he sat in a wheelchair, which he has used often to navigate longer distances in recent years due to a chronic knee problem. When he emerged after praying, residents and tourists in the street called out repeatedly, “Long live the pope!” and clapped.
Francis spent 10 days at the same hospital in July 2021 following intestinal surgery for a bowel narrowing, After his release back then, he also stopped to offer prayers of thanksgiving at St. Mary Major Basilica, which is home to an icon depicting the Virgin Mary. He also visits the church upon returning from trips abroad.
Before leaving the hospital Saturday, Francis, while chatting with journalists, praised medical workers, saying they “show great tenderness.”
“We sick are capricious. I much admire the people who work in hospitals,” he said. Francis also said he read journalists’ accounts of his illness, including in a Rome daily newspaper, and pronounced them well done.
Francis stopped to talk to reporters again before he was driven into the Vatican through a gate of the tiny walled city-state, where he lives at a Holy See hotel. Speaking through an open car window, he said: “Happy Easter to all, and pray for me.”
Then, indicating he was eager to resume his routine, he said, “Forward, thanks.”
In response to a shouted question from a reporter, who asked if the pope would visit Hungary at the end of April as scheduled, Francis answered, “Yes.”
On yet another stop, he got out of his car to distribute chocolate Easter eggs to the police officers who drove the motorcycles at the head of his motorcade.
Given his strained voice, it was unclear if the pope would read the homily at the Palm Sunday service or deliver the usually lengthy “Urbi et Orbi” [Latin for to the city and to the world] address, a review of the globe’s conflicts, at the end of Easter Mass.
He told reporters that after Palm Sunday Mass, he would keep his weekly appointment to greet and bless the public in St. Peter’s Square.
As a young man in his native Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed, leaving him particularly vulnerable to any respiratory illness.
…
Tornadoes Kill at Least 11 Across US Midwest and South
Unrelenting tornadoes that tore through parts of the South and Midwest killed at least 11 people, shredded homes and shopping centers, and collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois.
Emergency responders across the region counted the dead and surveyed the damage Saturday morning after tornadoes touched down into the night, part of a sprawling storm system that also brought wildfires to the southern Plains and blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest.
The dead included four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, Cross County Coroner Eli Long told KAIT-TV. Other deaths were reported in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and the Little Rock area.
Wynne City Councilmember Lisa Powell Carter said the town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Memphis, Tennessee, was without power and roads were full of debris.
“I’m in a panic trying to get home, but we can’t get home,” she said Friday night. “Wynne is so demolished… There’s houses destroyed, trees down on streets.”
The storms also killed three people in Sullivan County, Indiana, Emergency Management Director Jim Pirtle said in an email. Some residents were missing in the county seat of Sullivan, near the Illinois line about 150 kilometers southwest of Indianapolis.
At least one person was killed, and more than two dozen were hurt, some critically, in the Little Rock area, authorities said.
In Belvidere, Illinois, the roof of the Apollo Theatre collapsed during a tornado, killing one person and injuring 28, five severely. Calls began coming from the theater, about 110 kilometers northwest of Chicago, shortly before 8 p.m., police said. The venue’s Facebook page said the bands scheduled to perform were Morbid Angel, Crypta, Skeletal Remains and Revocation.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle said 260 people were in the venue. Responders also rescued someone from an elevator and had to deal with downed power lines outside the theater.
Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody described the scene after the collapse as “chaos, absolute chaos.”
Gabrielle Lewellyn had just entered the theater when a portion of the ceiling collapsed.
“I was there within a minute before it came down,” she told WTVO-TV. “The winds, when I was walking up to the building, it went like from zero to a thousand within five seconds.”
Some people rushed to lift the collapsed portion of the ceiling and pull people out of the rubble, said Lewellyn, who wasn’t hurt.
“They dragged someone out from the rubble, and I sat with him, and I held his hand, and I was [telling him] ‘It’s going to be okay.’ I didn’t really know much else what to do.”
A tornado also killed a woman and critically injured three other people in Madison County, Alabama, emergency services worker Don Webster told WAFF-TV.
The tornado in Little Rock tore first through neighborhoods in the western part of the Arkansas capital and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles.
Little Rock resident Niki Scott took cover in the bathroom after her husband called to warn her of a tornado. She could hear glass shattering and emerged to find that her house was one of the few on her street that didn’t have a tree on it.
“It’s just like everyone says. It got really quiet, then it got really loud,” Scott said afterward, as chainsaws roared and sirens blared.
In the evening, officials in Pulaski County announced a confirmed fatality in North Little Rock.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders activated 100 members of the National Guard to help local authorities respond throughout the state.
The unrelenting tornadoes continued to touch down in the region into the night.
The police department in Covington, Tennessee, said on Facebook that the west Tennessee city was impassable after power lines and trees fell on roads when the storm passed through Friday evening. Authorities in Tipton County, north of Memphis, said a tornado appeared to have touched down near the middle school in Covington and in other locations in the rural county.
Tipton County Sheriff Shannon Beasley said on Facebook that homes and structures were severely damaged.
Tornadoes also caused sporadic damage in eastern Iowa. One veered just west of Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa. Video from KCRG-TV showed toppled power poles and roofs ripped off an apartment building in the suburb of Coralville and significantly damaged homes in the city of Hills.
Nearly 90,000 customers in Arkansas lost power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages. Outages were also reported in Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Indiana and Texas.
In Illinois, Ben Wagner, chief radar operator for the Woodford County Emergency Management Agency, said hail broke windows on cars and buildings in the area of Roanoke, northeast of Peoria. More than 109,000 customers had lost power in the state as of Friday night.
There were more confirmed twisters in Iowa, wind-whipped grass fires in Oklahoma, and blizzard conditions in the Upper Midwest as the storm system threatened a broad swath of the country home to some 85 million people.
Fire crews battled several blazes near El Dorado, Kansas, and some residents were asked to evacuate, including about 250 elementary school children who were relocated to a high school.
…