Month: June 2023

In Push for More Black US Players, MLB Hopes Results Are on the Horizon

Posted on by SeeUS

Zion Rose is well aware that the percentage of Black U.S. players in Major League Baseball has been on the decline for decades.

But the 18-year-old catcher from Chicago, still sweaty from a workout during MLB’s Draft Combine this week at Chase Field in Phoenix, said he’s got some news: That’s not going to be the case for long.

“You’ll see,” he said. “We’re starting to come through.”

Rose was one of more than 300 players of all backgrounds in Phoenix this week to take part in the combine, which featured workouts, interviews and games in an effort to showcase some of the game’s best amateur talent at the high school and college levels before July’s draft. MLB said that approximately 15% of the players in the showcase were Black.

The hope is that the next Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts or Andrew McCutchen will be in that bunch. Possibly several.

A recent study from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida found Black U.S. players represented just 6.2% of players on MLB opening day rosters, down from last year’s previous record low of 7.2%. Both figures are the lowest recorded in the study since it began in 1991, when 18% of players were Black. Last year’s World Series was the first since 1950 without a U.S.-born Black player.

There are tangible reasons to believe the percentage of Black players might be on the upswing soon.

Four of the first five players picked in last summer’s amateur draft were Black for the first time ever. Those four were among the hundreds who had participated in diversity initiatives such as the MLB Youth Academy, DREAM Series and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. MLB has also pledged $150 million in a 10-year partnership with the Players Alliance. The nonprofit organization of current and former players works to increase Black involvement at all levels.

Many of those programs started several years ago, and the younger participants are starting to hit draft-eligible age.

Rose is among them. He said the diversity initiatives didn’t just provide exposure to scouts, but also opened a vital pipeline for minority players to connect, share experiences and see faces similar to their own. The catcher said that Black former MLB players and coaches were also in attendance at many of the tournaments, providing role models. He cited Reds pitcher Hunter Greene as a big influence.

“I met most of my best friends at those camps,” Rose said. “Just being able to see people your color playing the game, being able to relate to them, that’s been important.”

Homer Bush Jr. — whose dad played in the big leagues for seven seasons for the Blue Jays, Yankees and Marlins — said baseball is also doing a better job of being social media savvy. The outfielder just finished his junior season in college at Grand Canyon.

Bush said its important that baseball portrays itself as a fun sport. Baseball’s trend of elaborate celebrations for home runs and big hits — like Pittsburgh’s swashbuckling routine — is a good start.

He also said he believes having more Black players in the big leagues should create a snowball effect that brings more young minority players into the game.

“I could talk about it for hours,” Bush said. “But I feel like one of the biggest things is just representation. I had a dad who played in the big leagues, so I had someone to look up to and admire. But most guys — when you click on MLB Network or ESPN — there’s not a ton of Black baseball players.”

Of course, there are other variables to getting more minority players to the big leagues — mainly money and time.

Simply put, developing a big-league ballplayer is usually expensive. There’s the equipment, the costs of joining a travel team and the pricey individual instruction that is sometimes needed — expenses than can easily total thousands of dollars per year. There’s also the time commitment: weekends completely filled with two and sometimes three games each day.

“We took a lot of videos of other players for their parents who couldn’t make it,” said Shaun Rose, Zion’s dad.

Karin Rose, Zion’s mom, said she was fortunate that she has a job as a school nurse, which allowed her to travel with Zion during much of the summer baseball season while Shaun worked at his barber shop. Money wasn’t a huge problem, because both had good jobs and some family members chipped in.

Zion took the additional step of transferring from Brother Rice High School in Chicago to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season, so he could take advantage of the facilities and year-round baseball weather. He’s ranked by MLB.com as the 144th best prospect in this year’s draft, projecting for roughly the fifth round, where the recommended signing bonus is around $400,000.

“We understood the sacrifice, but it was Zion’s will to be a great player that put us in this position,” Karin Rose said. “We’ve been really blessed with travel ball, lots of support from friends and family.”

Several Black former MLB players were in Phoenix to help with the combine, including Chris Young, who played in the big leagues for 13 seasons and was an All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. He said the sport’s diversity inititaves are a good way to lessen the financial load, but it will never go away completely.

“I don’t think baseball is going to get any less expensive anytime soon,” the 39-year-old Young said. “It’s an expensive game. It was an expensive game even back when I was a kid.”

He also hopes that more Black athletes will choose baseball over football or basketball, sports that have claimed top baseball prospects in the past like Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Another of this year’s top prospects — Duce Robinson — is trying to decide between pro baseball or playing tight end at USC.

“We have to make it worth their while,” Young said. “If you’re getting guys like that — I don’t want to overspeak — but you’re getting athletes like Mike Trout. Then it’s just up to each team’s player development.”
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US, Allies Consult but Tread Carefully as Russia Crisis Unfolds

Posted on by SeeEU

The United States and its allies held close consultations but publicly stayed on the sidelines Saturday as officials waited to see how the armed revolt by longtime Kremlin insider Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private Wagner army would play out.

As the rebel force threatened to march on Moscow — then announced a stunning pull-back — U.S. officials carefully avoided direct comment on what some stressed was an internal situation in Russia, while Moscow warned them to stay out of the fray.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain amid concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s control over the nuclear-armed country could be slipping.

A White House readout of their call said they discussed “the situation in Russia,” which erupted Friday after Prigozhin announced a challenge to the Russian Defense Ministry, seized control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and sent an armed column toward Moscow — before announcing his surprise about-face Saturday.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke with his Canadian, French, German, British and Polish counterparts, according to his spokesperson.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, canceled a planned trip to Israel and Jordan, a sign of the serious concern in the U.S. capital.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with counterparts from Western Europe and Japan, with the partners pledging to “stay in close coordination,” said State Department spokesperson Matt Miller after the call.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell avoided direct comment on what he called an internal Russian issue.

But he said he had activated the EU crisis response center and was coordinating officials in the bloc ahead of a Monday meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

“Our support to Ukraine continues unabated,” he added.

A ‘gift’ for Ukraine

But beyond that, officials were mum, though clearly watching to see what would happen in Russia’s most serious security crisis in decades.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with top U.S. security officials early Saturday on the Moscow crisis, including Austin, Milley, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and CIA Director William Burns.

A U.S. military source said American officials need to be careful about what they say, noting that they do not want to give Putin or others any reason to cast blame for the situation on Washington.

Moscow issued a stiff warning to the U.S. and allies to stay back.

“The rebellion plays into the hands of Russia’s external enemies,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We warn the Western countries against any hint of possible use of the domestic Russian situation to achieve their Russophobic goals,” it said.

Moscow’s ally Belarus, meanwhile, called the uprising a gift to the West.

It was a sentiment echoed by Kyiv, where Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar called the rebellion “a window of opportunity” for Ukraine’s armed forces.

Analysts agreed, with James Nixey, a Russia expert at the London-based Chatham House think tank, telling AFP that Ukraine would likely try to capitalize on the situation.

Nuclear weapons

Western allies were also looking to see if the turmoil inside Russia would offer any advantages for Ukraine as it pushes on in its counteroffensive against invading Russian forces in the east and south of the country.

A key concern, according to experts, is if Prigozhin’s rebel forces seek to gain control of any of Russia’s nuclear armory, particularly tactical nuclear weapons.

“This is an emerging danger and is exactly what policymakers most fear, a loose-nuke scenario,” wrote Alexander Vindman, a former White House National Security Council expert on Russia and Eastern Europe.

“This fear has plagued U.S. policymakers since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he said.

The White House did not respond when asked if there had been any communications with Moscow over the security of its nuclear weaponry.

Nixey said while things remain in flux, the West should not look to Prigozhin as a hero or count on the Russian elite turning away from Putin, and toward him.

Privately many Russians might consider Putin’s war on Ukraine as a “dreadful mistake,” he said.

But “that doesn’t translate into supporting Prigozhin, because of his maverick nature,” Nixey told AFP.

As for Kyiv, he said Prigozhin’s revolt does not mean an end to their fight.

“Whilst this is a useful distraction for the Ukrainians right now — and they will be pleased that this has happened and they will be looking to exploit it on the front line — he is not their knight in shining armor.”
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‘Street Vet’ Seeks Out California’s Homeless to Care for Their Pets

Posted on by SeeUS

An elevated train clangs along tracks above Dr. Kwane Stewart as the veterinarian makes his way through a chain link gate to ask a man standing near a parked RV whether he might know of any street pets in need.

Michael Evans immediately goes for his 11-month-old pit bull, Bear, his beloved companion living beneath the rumbling San Francisco Bay Area commuter trains.

“Focus. Sit. That’s my boy,” Evans instructs the high-energy pup as he eagerly accepts Stewart’s offer.

A quick check of the dog reveals a moderate ear infection that could have made Bear so sick in a matter of weeks he might have required sedation. Instead, right there, Dr. Stewart applies a triple treatment drop of antibiotic, anti-fungal and steroids that should start the healing process.

“This is my son right here, my son. He’s my right-hand man,” an emotional Evans says of Bear, who shares the small RV in Oakland. “It’s a blessing, really.”

“The Street Vet,” as Stewart is known, has been supporting California’s homeless population and their pets for almost a decade, ever since he spontaneously helped a man with a flea-infested dog outside of a convenience store. Since then, Stewart regularly walks the heart of Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row, giving him a glimpse into the state’s homelessness crisis — and how much they cherish and depend on their pets.

After treating Bear, Stewart hands Evans, a Louisiana transplant, a list of the medicine he provided along with contact information in case the dog needs further treatment. Stewart always promises to cover all expenses.

“It was a good catch,” Stewart said before heading out on his way to the next stop, in West Oakland.

California is home to nearly a third of the nation’s homeless population, according to federal data. About two-thirds of California’s homeless population is unsheltered, meaning they live outside, often packed into encampments in major cities and along roadways. Nationally, up to 10% of homeless people have pets, according to an estimate from the advocacy group Pets of the Homeless. Stewart believes that number is greater.

Homeless shelters often don’t allow pets, forcing people to make heart-wrenching decisions. Stewart sees it as his mission to help as many of them as he can.

A 52-year-old former college hurdler at New Mexico now living in San Diego, Stewart is a lifelong animal lover who grew up in Texas and New Mexico trying to save strays — or at least feed and care for them. He founded Project Street Vet, a nonprofit charity dedicated to helping homeless pets. Stewart funded the group himself for years, saving a chunk of his paycheck before later gaining sponsors and donors.

There’s plenty of heartbreak in Stewart’s work, too. He once performed emergency surgery on a pregnant chihuahua, and the two puppies didn’t make it. But more often than not these pet owners are beyond grateful for Stewart’s kindness. He guesses that maybe 1 in 25 times someone turns down his help.

Stewart hollers “Hello?” outside tents, makeshift structures or campers. He can usually tell there’s a pet if he sees a dog bowl or animal toy. He purposely wears his navy scrub top with his name on it, so no one mistakes him for animal control or other authorities and feels threatened.

“People are reticent, they don’t always know why I’m coming up to them. If they’re going to you to beg or panhandle, it’s different but if you come up on them they don’t know if you’re law enforcement or you have an agenda,” he said, “so I do take it very slow and I’ll announce myself from afar.”

Approaching Misty Fancher to see if her pit bull, Addie – purchased at a nearby gas station for $200 — might need shots, Stewart offers, “Can she have treats so we can make friends?”

“Sometimes I pull over and just talk,” Stewart explained.

Addie is the first pet Fancher has had as an adult and provides the 42-year-old with some comfort that she is safe living in a relatively unstable neighborhood of Oakland.

“She’s a very good girl,” Fancher said. “She keeps a lot of trouble away. She protects me. She’ll bite someone if they act aggressive or anything toward me. She has before. But she just discourages them from even trying.”

Stewart notices a puncture on the dog’s paw to monitor and also gives her a rabies shot, writing out a certificate for Fancher to keep as proof her dog is vaccinated. He leaves her with tablets for de-worming, treatments for fleas and ticks and — as usual — his contact information.

A little while later, Stewart stops on the outskirts of a park nearby. He walks the perimeter and encounters an RV owned by Eric Clark, who has lived in the same downtown spot for seven years. He has a male bulldog, pregnant pit bull and another pregnant Doberman.

“It’s hard to get to the vet,” Clark said. “I appreciate you. They’re family.”

Stewart is happy he can make a small difference like this with a largely misunderstood community. He strives to treat every person on the streets with the same professionalism and care as he would a patient at his veterinary clinic. His mantra: no judgment, just help.

“They live in the shadows. They live amongst us but not with us,” he said. ” … It is really rewarding. It gets to you a little bit. When they tear up about the tough times they’ve had, you try to care for them, support them.”
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Flood of Packages from China Prompts Congress to Look at Duty-Free Limit

Posted on by SeeUS

Conservatives eager to counter America’s leading economic adversary have set their sights on a top trade priority for labor unions and progressives: cracking down on the deluge of duty-free packages coming in from China.

The changing political dynamic could have major ramifications for e-commerce businesses and consumers importing products from China valued at less than $800. It also could add to the growing tensions between the countries.

Under current U.S. law, most imports valued at less than $800 enter duty-free into the United States as long as they are packaged and addressed to individual buyers. It’s referred to as the de minimis rule. Efforts to lower the threshold amount or exclude certain countries altogether from duty-free treatment are set to become a major trade fight in this Congress.

“De minimis has become a proxy for all sorts of anxieties as it relates to China and other trade-related challenges,” said John Drake, a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who argues that the current U.S. law should be preserved.

The rule speeds the pace of commerce and lowers costs for consumers. It also allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to focus its resources on the bigger-ticket items that generate more tariff revenue for the federal government.

The volume of products coming into the U.S. that benefit from the de minimis rule has soared in recent years. Congress raised the U.S. government’s threshold for expedited, duty-free treatment from $200 to $800 in 2016.

The volume of such imports has since risen from about 220 million packages that year to 771 million in 2021 — with China accounting for about 60%, according to the government — and 685 million last year.

“I think everybody’s got to kind of wrap their head around what kind of mistake this was,” Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative during the Trump administration, told a House panel last month. “Nobody dreamt this would ever happen. Now we have packages coming in, 2 million packages a day, almost all from China. We have no idea what’s in them. We don’t really know what the value is.”

Lighthizer urged Congress to get rid of the de minimis rule altogether, or reduce it to a much lower amount, say $50 or $100. He said foreign companies are taking advantage of the threshold and “putting people out of work in stores, they’re putting people out of work in manufacturing.”

Last year, House Democrats pushed to prohibit Chinese-made goods from benefiting from the special treatment for lower-cost goods. That move was part of a larger measure that boosted investments in semiconductor manufacturing and research.

In the rush to get a bill passed before the 2022 elections, the Biden administration and Democratic leaders jettisoned provisions without bipartisan buy-in. The trade provision was opposed by important U.S. business groups and key Republican members of Congress, so it didn’t make the final bill.

Fast forward just a few months and it’s clear the political dynamic has shifted — and quickly.

In its first set of recommendations, a new House committee focused exclusively on China called for legislation that would reduce the threshold for duty-free shipments into the U.S. with a particular focus on “foreign adversaries, including the (People’s Republic of China.)”

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said that exploiting the $800 threshold may be a major avenue through which Chinese companies selling directly to American consumers can circumvent U.S. law designed to prevent the sale of goods made with forced labor. The committee also said Customs and Border Protection “could not reasonably scrutinize” goods sent under the $800 threshold for forced labor concerns because of the sheer number of products coming in.

The committee is most concerned about retailers Temu and Shein, which ship directly to consumers in the U.S. In a report released Thursday, it said the two companies alone are likely responsible for more than 30% of all de minimis shipments entering the U.S. each day, or nearly 600,000 a day last year.

The committee also has competitiveness concerns. It points out that U.S. retailers such as Gap and H&M paid $700 million and $205 million in import duties, respectively, in 2022. In contrast, virtually all of the goods sold by Temu and Shein are shipped using the de minimis exception in which the importer pays no duty.

Committees with jurisdiction over trade are also signaling a new mindset. Last year, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, since retired, warned against what he called “hasty changes in reasonable de minimis limits.”

But the Republican now leading the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, said he wants to “have a lot of conversations” about the $800 threshold.

“Basically, when you’re looking at $800 or less, that’s a free-trade agreement with anyone. And you’re looking at millions of products that come in per day. We need to look at it,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, the Senate has some bills on the issue, which were just introduced this month.

One, from Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would prevent the expedited, tariff-free treatment of imports from certain countries, most notably China and Russia.

The other, from Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., not only similarly targets China and Russia, but would affect other trade partners. It would do so by reducing the threshold for duty-free treatment to the amount that other nations use.

For example, if another country, say Belgium, which uses the European Union threshold of 150 euros, or about $165 currently, then the U.S. would reciprocate and use that same amount when determining whether goods coming in from Belgium get duty-free and expedited treatment.

Drake, of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that cutting back the threshold not only would represent a big tax increase for many U.S. small businesses, but many would have to hire a customs broker to process their shipments.

“There’s a reason Congress raised the level back in 2016,” he said. “They knew in addition to it being a competitive advantage for the U.S. business community, they also recognized that collecting duties on these low-value shipments, you know, really wasn’t worth the trouble.”
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Europe Repurposes Churches as Faithful Dwindle

Posted on by SeeEU

The confessionals where generations of Belgians admitted their sins stood stacked in a corner of what was once Sacred Heart Church, proof the stalls — as well as the Roman Catholic house of worship — had outlived their purpose.

The building is to close for two years while a cafe and concert stage are added as part of the plans to turn it into “a new cultural hot spot in the heart of Mechelen,” almost within earshot of where Belgium’s archbishop lives. Around the corner, a former Franciscan church is now a luxury hotel where music star Stromae spent his wedding night amid the stained-glass windows.

Across Europe, the continent that nurtured Christianity for most of two millennia, churches, convents and chapels stand empty and increasingly derelict as faith and church attendance shriveled over the past half century.

“That is painful. I will not hide it. On the other hand, there is no return to the past possible,” Mgr. Johan Bonny, bishop of Antwerp, told the Associated Press. Something needs to be done and now, ever more of the once-sacred structures are repurposed for anything from clothes shops and climbing walls to nightclubs.

It is a phenomenon seen over much of Europe’s Christian heartland from Germany to Italy and many nations in between. It really stands out in Flanders, in northern Belgium, which has some of the greatest cathedrals on the continent and the finest art to fill them. If only it had enough faithful. A 2018 study from the PEW research group showed, in Belgium, that of the 83% that say they were raised Christian, only 55% still consider themselves so. Only 10% of Belgians still attended church regularly.

Nowadays, visiting international choirs may find that their singers outnumber the congregation.

On average, every one of the 300 towns in Flanders has about six churches and often not enough faithful to fill a single one. Some become eyesores in city centers, their maintenance a constant drain on finances.

Mechelen, a town of 85,000 just north of Brussels is the Roman Catholic center of Belgium. It has two dozen churches, several huddled close to St. Rumbold’s cathedral with its UNESCO World Heritage belfry tower. Mayor Bart Somers has been working for years to give many of the buildings a different purpose.

“In my city we have a brewery in a church, we have a hotel in a church, we have a cultural center in a church, we have a library in a church. So we have a lot of new destinations for the churches,” said Somers, who as Flemish regional minister is also involved in repurposing some 350 churches spread across the densely populated region of 6.7 million.

A landmark repurposing project in Belgium was Martin’s Patershof hotel in Mechelen, where the interior of the church was gutted to create rooms where the beds have headboards resembling organ pipes and a breakfast room next to the altar where wafers of gold leaf hover overhead.

“We often hear that people come here to relax and enjoy the silence of its former identity,” said hotel manager Emilie De Preter.

With its understated luxury, it offers contemplation, and more.

“In the hotel, people sleep in a church, maybe have sex in a church. So you could say: ethically, is it a good idea to have a hotel in a church? I don’t have so many hesitations,” said Somers. “I am more concerned about the actual architectural value.”

The design value is especially clear at St. Anthony of Padua church in Brussels, also known as Maniak Padoue climbing club these days, where the multicolored hand and footholds on the wall now compete with the stained glass as the prime multicolored attraction.

“The stained glass brings a real shimmering and warm light to the venue when the sun goes through it, so we can really feel the presence of the remains of the church,” said Kyril Wittouck, the co-founder of the club. “The altar is still in place, so we are surrounded by remains and it reminds us where we actually are.”

Also in Brussels, the Spirito night club has taken over a deconsecrated Anglican church and has a drawing of a priest kissing a nun as its logo.

It is not exactly what Bishop Bonny had in mind.

Even if Roman Catholic religion is on the wane, a sense of the sacral or a need for reflection is also still present in society, whether one is religious, agnostic or atheist. And the aura of tranquility emanating from a church is hard to match. So for Bonny, there is no reason to turn churches into supermarkets or discos.

“Those are places for contemplation. And is that not exactly that the care of the church should be about?” he said. Bonny thinks the most successful and gratifying repurposing has been the handing over to other Christian communities, be they Coptic or Eastern European.

At his office, though, he can get weary just looking at the procession of suitors for empty Roman Catholic buildings. His heart is heavy when a real estate agent shows up.

“They see possibilities. And you cannot believe, suddenly, how pious they can become when a financial opportunity presents itself. Suddenly they are more devout than a nun,” he said.

Knowing the winding history of Christianity over centuries, Bonny takes the long view, since the near future does not look bright.

“Every 300 years we nearly had to start again,” he said. “Something new, I’m sure, will happen. But it takes time.”

At the Martin’s Patershof, there is a condition that the church can reclaim the building if it is needed again, said De Preter. The hotel elements were built on steel beams and could be totally disassembled and taken out again.

“If the church, at a certain point, wants the building back — which holds a very small chance, probably — it is possible,” she said.
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Airstrikes, Artillery, Killings in Sudan as Humanitarian Aid Stalls

Posted on by SeeAF

Artillery fire, airstrikes and gun battles rocked Sudan’s capital Saturday, witnesses told AFP.

While fighting rages, relief efforts have stalled after more than two months of conflict between rival generals.

Houses in Khartoum shook from the fighting that continued unabated, residents said, with entire families sheltering in place, running low on vital supplies in the baking summer heat.

The United Nations says nearly 1.5 million people have fled the capital since violence erupted in mid-April, pitting the regular army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, and those who remain in the city have had no electricity since Thursday, several residents told AFP.

The battle for power between army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has killed more than 2,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

Aid blocked

Two-thirds of health facilities in the main battlegrounds remain out of service, according to the Sudanese doctors’ union. The few hospitals still operating are extremely low on medical supplies and struggling to obtain fuel to power generators.

The U.N. says a record 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, are in need of aid and protection.

Aid has reached at least 2.8 million people, the U.N. said, but agencies report major hurdles to their work, from visas for foreign humanitarians to securing safe corridors.

“The army is … loath to let aid into the capital, fearing that packages will end up in the RSF’s hands” as has happened before, “allowing the paramilitary to hold out longer,” according to think-tank the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The United States, which along with Saudi Arabia sought to mediate between the warring sides and ensure humanitarian aid can reach those in need, said Thursday it had put its efforts on hold.

“Both sides seek to use the humanitarian talks for tactical advantage … with the military demanding that the RSF vacate residential areas and the RSF demanding that the army cease its aerial barrages,” ICG said this week in a report.

Haven for mercenaries

No side appears willing to stand down, exacerbating the risk of prolonged conflict with regional ramifications.

More than 150,000 people have fled Darfur over the border to Chad, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Chad, which already hosted more than 680,000 refugees, needs massive financial and technical support to confront this “unprecedented migratory crisis,” Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo said Saturday.

Dagalo’s RSF have their origins in the Janjaweed militias that former strongman Omar al-Bashir unleashed in response to a rebellion by ethnic minorities in Darfur in 2003, drawing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“A collapsed Sudan could create a haven for transnational militants … mercenaries and traffickers who could plague the country’s neighborhood for years to come,” ICG warned.

Maha Abdullah, 50, a tearful Sudanese woman who was able to reach Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage, sees only one solution: “It needs God’s intervention to change things.”
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CBS News Touts Growth in ‘Solutions Journalism’ to Combat Bad News Fatigue

Posted on by SeeUS

A Colorado school is creating a “zen den” for troubled students. A soccer coach in Pittsburgh goes out of her way to relieve pressure on players. A Chicago community group equips a van for mobile mental health help, and a Los Angeles school trains students to counsel peers. 

Each effort to tackle youth mental health issues has been featured on a local CBS newscast recently, examples of a movement toward “solutions journalism.” 

The idea is that reporters need to be more than the bearer of bad news. 

“We want to look past the who, what, where and why to asking ‘how can we help?'” said Wendy McMahon, co-president of CBS News and the CBS Television Stations. “How can we help make our communities better places to live? That’s the aspiration.” 

CBS has trained news leaders in solutions journalism at the 14 local stations it owns, in big markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and opened an “innovation lab” for them to work together on stories. 

The network works with the Solutions Journalism Network, an organization formed in 2013 by two former New York Times reporters, David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg, and entrepreneur Courtney Martin. The Times reporters wrote a column called “Fixes” that was often popular despite dealing with tough, dry subjects like foster care, homelessness or childhood trauma. 

Coverage of calamity — shootings, fires, accidents — is such a staple that the phrase, “if it bleeds, it leads,” was popularized for local TV news. But that’s a downer at a time news outlets don’t need another excuse for consumers to leave. Research picks up on people who feel their community isn’t covered unless something bad happens, McMahon said. 

That’s why the CBS stations emphasize finding people and organizations trying to tackle problems. 

Among other stories that reflect that focus: training resource officers in Georgia to prevent the arrest of children in schools; efforts in New York, Denver and Sacramento to speed up the resolution of criminal cases; a California county’s solution to stop wage theft in restaurants; a new sea wall being constructed in New York to deal with climate change. 

Following the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, CBS stations looked into why safety recommendations for the airline and trucking industries haven’t been followed. 

“It differentiates us from our competition and serves our communities,” said Chad Cross, who runs the CBS innovation lab. 

When they began promoting the idea to industry audiences, Bornstein of the Solutions Journalism Network recalled that they often saw impassive faces and folded arms in front of them. 

Many journalists see themselves as investigators responsible for pointing out the ills of society, a job that’s become tougher than ever with financial troubles that have emptied newsrooms. Solutions were the province of others. If news is bad, so be it. 

“Covering death day after day does get depressing,” Matthew Ingram wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review. “But what is the alternative — to not report on what is happening because it makes people sad?” 

That explains residual disdain for efforts to promote “good news,” which had a burst of popularity during the pandemic. Actor John Krasinski started an uplifting YouTube channel, “Some Good News,” and musician David Byrne started his “Reasons to be Cheerful” website. 

Bornstein said solutions journalism is not “good news. It’s rigorous reporting that is examining how people are responding to problems.” 

McMahon views people who don’t see the importance of promoting solutions as cynical. 

“There are problem-solvers,” she said. “There are solution-seekers, throughout this country and in each and every one of our cities. These are people and groups with so much ingenuity and so much passion. Their passion is inspiring to us.” 

Some critics see the risk of journalists being seen as advocates if some “solutions” are getting more attention than others. Bornstein said if done right, solutions journalism is no more susceptible to bias than other forms of reporting. 

Tom Rosenstiel, journalism professor at the University of Maryland, said the Solutions Journalism Network has done a good job anticipating some of the concerns it faced, particularly the sense that it is encouraging puff pieces about organizations or community leaders. Making sure the stories are strong is an important part of CBS’ training, Cross said. 

It’s important that journalists are leading the effort, as opposed to those who don’t support journalism, Rosenstiel said. 

In the decade since the Solutions Journalism Network started, thousands of journalists and more than 600 news organizations have undergone training in its tenets, Bornstein said. On its website, it has collected more than 15,000 stories that fit the network’s criteria. 

Among the posted articles are one from New York magazine about “bystander intervention training” to halt crime, a piece on efforts to encouraged plant-based diets from Byrne’s website and a story from Christianity Today magazine about Christians and Muslims working together to translate stories from the Bible into certain African languages. 

The network has also named four college journalism programs as hubs of solution journalism, meaning it will be incorporated into teaching and research there. Participating programs are at the University of Georgia, Northwestern, Arizona State and Stony Brook in New York. 

If solutions journalism continues to grow, Rosenstiel said it can be an important tool in preventing people from avoiding the news because they find it too depressing. 

“We can’t just be the watchdog that barks,” he said. 
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Orcas Disrupt Boat Race Near Spain, Display Dangerous, Puzzling Behavior

Posted on by SeeEU

A pod of killer whales bumped one of the boats in an endurance sailing race as it approached the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest encounter in what researchers say is a growing trend of sometimes-aggressive interactions with Iberian orcas.

The 15-minute run-in with at least three of the giant mammals forced the crew competing in The Ocean Race on Thursday to drop its sails and raise a clatter in an attempt to scare off the approaching orcas. No one was injured, but Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek said in a video posted on The Ocean Race website that it was “a scary moment.”

“Twenty minutes ago, we got hit by some orcas,” he said in the video. “Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders. Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team.”

Team JAJO was approaching the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on a leg from the Netherlands to Italy when at least three orcas approached the VO65 class sloop. Video taken by the crew showed one of the killer whales to be nuzzling the rudder; another video showed one of them running its nose into the hull.

Scientists have noted increasing reports of orcas, which average from 5 to 6½ meters and weigh more than 3,600 kilograms, bumping or damaging boats off the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula in the past four years.

The behavior defies easy explanation. A team of marine life researchers who study killer whales off Spain and Portugal has identified 15 individual orcas involved in the encounters — 13 of them young, supporting the hypothesis that they are playing. The fact that two are adults could support the competing and more sensational theory that they are responding to some traumatic event with a boat.

The sailors were warned of the hazard.

“We knew that there was a possibility of an orca attack this leg,” Team JAJO on-board reporter Brend Schuil said. “So we had already spoken about what to do if the situation would occur.”

Schuil said there was a call for all hands on deck and the sails were dropped to slow the boat from a racing speed of 12 knots. The crew made noises to scare the orcas, but not before it had fallen from second to fourth on the leg from The Hague to Genoa, where it is expected to arrive this weekend.

“They seemed more aggressive/playful when we were sailing at speed. Once we slowed down they also started to be less aggressive in their attacks,” he said. “Everyone is OK on board and the animals are also OK.”

The Ocean Race involves two classes of sailboats at sea for weeks at a time, with the IMOCA 60 boats competing in a six-month, 59,000-km circumnavigation of the globe. Boats have already contended with a giant seaweed flotilla, catastrophic equipment failure, and a collision that knocked the leader out of the decisive seventh leg.

Although the race course navigates around exclusion zones to protect known marine habitats, there have been previous encounters with whales in The Ocean Race and other high-speed regattas.

However, they usually involve the boats crashing into the animals, and not the other way around.

One of the boats in the around-the-world portion of this year’s Ocean Race triggered its hazard alarm after hitting what they suspected was a whale off the coast of Newfoundland in May; two crew members were injured in the collision. At the beginning of the 2013 America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay, a whale was reported in the bay and organizers were prepared to delay a race if it wandered onto the course. In 2022, the start of SailGP’s $1 million, winner-take-all Season 2 championship race on the same area of San Francisco Bay was delayed when a whale was spotted on the course.

In 2005, the first South African yacht to challenge for the America’s Cup hit a whale with its 12-foot keel during training near Cape Town, stopping the 75-foot sloop dead in the water, injuring two crewmembers and snapping off both steering wheels.
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Bridge Over Yellowstone River Collapses, Sending Freight Train Into Water Below

Posted on by SeeUS

A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana has collapsed, causing portions of a freight train that was traveling over it to plunge into the water below. 

There was no immediate word from authorities on whether anyone was injured. Officials at the Montana Rail Link could not be reached immediately Saturday for comment. 

Numerous tank cars were partially submerged in the river early Saturday and railroad crews were at the scene near the town of Columbus, about 64 kilometers west of Billings. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow liquid pouring out of tank cars. 

The river was swollen by recent heavy rains although it is unclear whether that contributed to the bridge collapse. 

The Yellowstone saw record flooding in 2022 that caused extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent towns in Montana. 

 
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UK Police Charge Egyptian Over Mediterranean Migrant Crossings

Posted on by SeeEU

British police said Saturday they had charged an Egyptian man accused of masterminding the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe, following an international investigation. 

Officers from the U.K.’s National Crime Agency arrested Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Eibd, 40, near his west London home on Wednesday, after a probe which also involved Italy’s prosecutors, coast guard and financial crimes investigators. 

Eibd appeared in a west London magistrates’ court early Saturday, where he was charged with facilitating illegal immigration. 

The court ordered he remain in custody until his next appearance at Southwark Crown Court in south London on July 24. 

He is suspected of masterminding, from his home in the U.K., the smuggling of thousands of people across the Mediterranean from Libya into Italy. 

The NCA alleges he worked with people-smuggling networks in north Africa to organize boats to bring over hundreds of migrants at a time and was maintaining communication with criminal associates during the crossings.   

Several of the journeys led to search and rescue operations by Italian authorities, the U.K. police agency noted, calling the boats used “death traps.” 

“People smuggling is an international problem and tackling this at every step of the route is a priority for the NCA,” Darren Barr, senior investigating officer at the NCA, said. 

“The type of boats organized crime groups use for crossings are death traps and sadly many people have died after incidents in the Mediterranean, which demonstrates the level of danger,” he added. 

“We will continue to share intelligence and take action with partners to prevent crossings and arrest people smugglers here and overseas.” 
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Sierra Leone Votes Amid Crippling Economic Crisis

Posted on by SeeAF

Sierra Leoneans voted Saturday in a general election in which President Julius Maada Bio was seeking a second term amid a crippling economic crisis that sparked deadly riots last year. 

One of the world’s poorest countries, Sierra Leone was battered by a brutal 1991-2002 civil war and the Ebola epidemic a decade later.  

More economic misery followed due to the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which notably increased food prices in the import-dependent West African nation. 

Boubacar Conteh, 27, from Wellington in the east of Freetown, waited since four in the morning to cast his ballot. 

“I want my country to change — I need change,” he said. 

Twelve men and one woman are vying for the top job and incumbent Bio’s main challenger is Samura Kamara of the All People’s Congress (APC) party.  

They could face off for the second time in a row. Bio, 59, of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), narrowly beat Kamara, who is 72 years old, in a runoff in 2018. 

Rising food prices are a key issue for many voters in the nation of eight million people. Year-on-year inflation hit 43% in April. 

Both Bio and Kamara told AFP they would prioritize boosting agricultural production. 

Mohamed Waritay, a 27-year-old security guard, said he was voting for Bio, who had significantly raised spending on education.   

“I never paid a single cent from 2019” on education, he said. 

Waritay said Bio “built a hospital in my village with 100 beds,” adding, “People were suffering, especially the pregnant women who had to take a motorbike to go to the nearest town.”  

Polling stations opened later than the scheduled time of 7 a.m. in the capital Freetown, AFP journalists said, including in the the central Wilberforce Barracks area. They were due to close at 5 p.m. (1700 GMT). 

Some 3.4 million people are registered to vote, 52.4% of whom are under 35 years old, according to an electoral commission spokesman.  

Presidential candidates must secure 55% of valid votes for a first-round win. 

Turnout has ranged between 76% and 87% over the past three elections. 

Voters will also elect members of parliament and local councils in a proportional representation system after a last-minute switch from a first-past-the-post system. 

Under a recently passed gender act, one-third of all candidates must be women. 

A new 11.9% vote threshold will make it difficult for independents and minority parties to secure seats in parliament. 

Many Sierra Leoneans vote based on regional allegiances. 

The majority of people in the south and east normally vote for the ruling SLPP, while most people from the north and west normally vote for the opposition APC. 

Jobs and benefits are commonly perceived to flow to regions whose politicians are in power. 

Bio, a former coup leader in the 1990s, has championed education and women’s rights in his first civilian term. 

Kamara, a former foreign and finance minister, has lambasted the electoral commission for alleged bias in favor of the ruling party. 

He is facing a protracted trial over allegations that he misappropriated public funds as foreign minister, a case he says is politically motivated. 

A June 14 poll by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), a partner in the pan-African survey group Afrobarometer, forecasts Bio will win 56% of the vote, with 43% for Kamara. 

Another poll, conducted by the newspaper Sierra Eye and two local data groups, forecasts 38% for the incumbent and 25% for his main challenger. 

The elections are being closely followed in West Africa, a region recently dominated by coups and turmoil. 

A group of foreign ambassadors on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for peace following reports of election-related “aggression.”  

Security forces clashed with APC supporters Wednesday in the capital, Freetown. 

Last August, riots left at least 27 civilians and six police officers dead. 

Online disinformation campaigns have contributed to the violence. 
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Black Nun Who Founded First African American Religious Congregation Advances Closer to Sainthood

Posted on by SeeUS

Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange — a Black Catholic nun who founded the United States’ first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829 — has advanced another step toward sainthood. 

Under a decree signed by Pope Francis on Thursday, Lange was recognized for her heroic virtue, and advanced in the cause of her beatification from being considered a servant of God to a “venerable servant.” The Catholic Church must now approve a miracle that is attributed to her, so she can be beatified. 

Lange grew up in a wealthy family of African origin but she left Cuba in the early 1800s for the U.S. due to racial discrimination, according to the Vatican’s saint-making office. After encountering more discrimination in the southern U.S., she moved with her family to Baltimore. Recognizing a need to provide education for Black children in the city, she started a school in 1828, decades before the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. 

In 1829, she founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence — the country’s first African American religious congregation. They were trailblazers for generations of Black Catholic nuns who persevered despite being overlooked or suppressed by those who resented or disrespected them. 

The Oblate Sisters continue to operate Baltimore’s Saint Frances Academy, which Lange founded. The coed school is the country’s oldest continually operating Black Catholic educational facility, with a mission prioritizing help for “the poor and the neglected.” 

“She lived her virtuous existence in a hostile social and ecclesial context, in which the preeminent opinion was in favor of slavery, personally suffering the situation of marginalization and poverty in which the African American population found itself,” the Vatican’s saint-making office wrote. 

Lange is among three Black nuns from the U.S. designated by Catholic officials as worthy of consideration for sainthood. The others are Henriette Delille, who founded the New Orleans-based Sisters of the Holy Family in 1842 because white sisterhoods in Louisiana refused to accept African Americans, and Sister Thea Bowman, a beloved educator, evangelist and singer active for many decades before her death in 1990. 

Pope Francis’s advancement of Lange’s sainthood cause “is a monumental step forward in the long fight for Black Catholic saints in the United States and for recognition for the nation’s long embattled African American Catholic community, especially nuns,” said Shannen Dee Williams, a history professor at the University of Dayton and author of ” Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle.” 

Currently there are no recognized African American saints. Williams said Lange joins three other African American sainthood candidates who have been declared “venerable — Delille, Father Augustus Tolton and Pierre Toussaint. 

Williams said only one Black woman has been declared a saint in the modern era — St. Josephine Bakhita, a formerly enslaved Sudanese nun who made “the extraordinary journey from slavery under Islamic auspices to freedom in an Italian Catholic convent in the late 19th century.” 

“This is why Lange’s cause is so important and revolutionary,” Williams said via email. “There is absolutely no way to tell Lange’s story or the story of her order accurately or honestly without confronting the Catholic Church’s mostly unreconciled histories of colonialism, slavery, and segregation.” 

Williams said that unlike most of their counterparts in religious life, Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence were not segregationists, and never barred anyone from their ranks or institutions based on color or race. Instead, Williams said, Lange’s multiethnic and multilingual order preserved the vocations of hundreds of Black Catholic women and girls denied admission into white congregations in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

“Lange and her Oblate Sisters of Providence’s very existence embody the fundamental truth that Black history always has been Catholic history in the land area that became the United States.” Williams said, 

Their story “upends the enduring myth that slaveholding and segregationist Catholic priests and nuns were simply people ‘of their times.'” Williams said. “Mother Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence were also people of those times.” 
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Scots Leader Says Independence to be ‘Front and Center’ at Next Election

Posted on by SeeEU

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will fight the next general election in the United Kingdom with independence “front and center” of its campaign, First Minister Humza Yousaf said on Saturday. 

Addressing a conference of Scotland’s governing party in the city of Dundee, Yousaf vowed he would seek fresh negotiations with the U.K. government about independence if the SNP wins the most Scottish seats in the election expected next year.  

“Let me be clear, if the SNP does win this election, then the people will have spoken,” he said. “We will seek negotiations with the U.K. government on how we give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent nation.” 

Yousaf’s remarks come as public support wanes for the SNP after the arrest of its former leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon, the key figurehead of the independence movement in recent years. 

The Dundee meeting is the first in-person conference since Yousaf, 38, replaced her in March, and the party started to see a drastic slide in its popularity. 

Sturgeon, who came to power after the last — failed — 2014 referendum on Scotland breaking away from the U.K., unexpectedly announced her resignation in February, saying she lacked the “energy” to carry on. 

She was arrested and interviewed by police earlier this month over claims of mismanagement of SNP finances, weeks after her husband, the party’s former chief executive, had also been detained.  

Both have denied any impropriety and have been released without charge.

The SNP has been the dominant force in Scottish politics for nearly two decades. 

It currently has 64 members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs), out of a total of 129 — and governs in a coalition with the pro-independence Greens. 

Meanwhile, it currently represents 48 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies in the U.K. parliament in London.  

But in the wake of the funding scandal, polls show sharp drops in support for the party.   

A recent YouGov survey suggested it would hemorrhage seats if a general election were held now, losing nearly half its seats.  

Labour — which wants Scotland to remain part of the U.K. with along England, Wales and Northern Ireland — would gain 23 seats there to bring their tally north of the English border up to 24. 

The Scottish Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, also pro-union parties, would each take four seats, according to the poll.  

Patrick English, an associate director at YouGov, said it confirmed that the recent bad news stories have hit SNP support.  

“Not since 2010 have either the Scottish Nationalists failed to win more than 30 seats at a general election contest, or Labour surpassed seven (in Scotland),” he noted.

But support for independence has not been dented in the same way, complicating the picture.  

“The level of support for independence is still running at 48 percent… and Scotland continues to be divided almost down the middle,” polling expert John Curtice told BBC radio on Saturday. 

The U.K. government has insisted the 2014 referendum settled the independence question for a generation. 

But Sturgeon reinvigorated the issue after the Brexit vote two years later, when most Scots opted to remain in the European Union, while a majority across the U.K. voted to leave.  

She pushed successive U.K. prime ministers to allow another independence vote, and after repeated refusals took the issue to the U.K. Supreme Court.

In November 2022, judges at the country’s top court blocked the Scottish government’s attempt to hold another plebiscite, ruling that the power to do so was a “reserved” matter for the U.K. government only.  

Sturgeon said the SNP-led government would look to use the next U.K. general election as a “de facto referendum” on separating after more than 300 years.  

Yousaf, who appears set to continue that tactic, avoided addressing the SNP’s funding scandal in his speech, referring only to facing “a few challenges in the first 12 weeks” of his tenure. 
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UN Urges Action to Stop ‘Wanton Killings’ In Sudan’s Darfur

Posted on by SeeAF

The United Nations called Saturday for immediate action to stop “wanton killings” of people fleeing El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, by Arab militias aided by paramilitary forces. 

For more than two months, the Sudanese army headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been locked in fighting with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. 

The deadliest violence has raged in Darfur, a vast western region on the border with Chad where the United Nations has warned the conflict has taken an “ethnic dimension.” 

“We are gravely concerned that such wanton killings are ongoing and urge immediate action to halt them,” U.N. rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement. 

“People fleeing El Geneina must be guaranteed safe passage and humanitarian agencies allowed to access to the area to collect the remains of those killed,” she added. 

The Geneva-based U.N. rights office said people who escaped to Chad had given “horrifying accounts of armed ‘Arab’ militia backed by the Rapid Support Forces killing people fleeing El Geneina on foot.”  

It said witnesses had given “corroborating accounts” of Arab militia targeting men from the non-Arab Masalit people.  

“All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road — and the stench of decomposition,” it said. “Several people spoke off seeing dozens of bodies in an area referred to as Shukri” about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Sudan’s border with Chad. 

The U.N. rights office said that all but two of the 16 people it interviewed testified that they had witnessed “summary executions” and the targeting of civilians on the road from El Geneina to the border between June 15 and 16. 

The United States said last week that up to 1,100 people had been killed in El Geneina, in a statement that attributed the atrocities “primarily” to the RSF paramilitary force. 

In its statement, the U.N. rights office said El Geneina had become “uninhabitable,” and that essential infrastructure had been destroyed and movement of aid to the city remained blocked. 

It called on the RSF leadership to “immediately, unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El Geneina. 

“Those responsible for the killings and other violence must be held accountable,” it said. “We urge the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor between Chad and El Geneina, and safe passage for civilians out of areas affected by the hostilities.” 
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What We Know About Russia’s Wagner Rebellion

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish “traitors” from the Wagner mercenary group, after its leader swore he would topple Moscow’s military leadership.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, released a series of messages from late Friday into Saturday, claiming that he and his mercenary troops had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and taken control of its military sites.

Here is what we know so far:

What sparked the rebellion?

For months, Prigozhin has been locked in a power struggle with the military top brass, blaming them for his troops’ deaths in eastern Ukraine.

He has repeatedly accused them of failing to equip his private army adequately, of holding up progress with bureaucracy, while claiming victories won by Wagner as their own.

On Friday, Prigozhin’s anger appeared to boil over, as he accused Moscow’s military leadership of ordering strikes on Wagner’s camps and killing a large number of forces.

He said they had to be stopped and vowed to “go to the end.”

He later claimed his forces had downed a Russian military helicopter.

Hours later, the leader of the mercenary group said he had military sites in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don “under control.”

How is Moscow reacting?

The Kremlin had said overnight that “measures are being taken” against the mutiny.

Russia has tightened security in Moscow and several regions such as Rostov and Lipetsk.

Putin has called the Wagner mutiny a “deadly threat” to Russia and urged the country to unite.

Branding the action by Wagner mercenaries as “treason”, he vowed “inevitable punishment.”

Who are the Wagner troops?

The private army had been involved in conflicts in the Middle East and Africa but always denied involvement.

Prigozhin last year admitted he had founded the group, recruiting the soldiers from Russian prisons in exchange for amnesty.

In eastern Ukraine, the mercenary unit has been spearheading Russia’s costly battles.

It had been at the forefront of the months-long assault for Bakhmut, capturing the site for Russia, but at huge losses.

How this affects Russia’s war

The rebellion marks the most serious challenge yet to Putin’s long rule and Russia’s most serious security crisis since he came to power in late 1999.

It would divert attention and resources away from the battlefields in Ukraine, at a time when Kyiv is in the midst of a counteroffensive to seize back territory.

Ukraine’s army has said it was “watching” the infighting between Prigozhin and Putin.

Moscow meanwhile has warned that Kyiv’s army was seizing the moment to concentrate its troops “for offensive actions” near Bakhmut.

The significance of the mutiny was also not lost on world leaders, with leaders of the United States, France and Germany all saying that they are watching developments closely.
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Putin: Wagner Group Action is ‘Treason,’ Promises ‘Harsh’ Punishment

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wagner Group mercenaries Saturday that armed mutiny is treason and anyone who takes up arms against Russia would be punished.

Putin promised, in an emergency televised address, to take decisive action to stabilize Rostov-on-Don, a southern Russian city where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of all military installations.

“It is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to defend the Fatherland against such a threat will be harsh. All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people,” Putin said, calling the Wagner group’s action a “stab in the back.”

Earlier Saturday, Russia said an anti-terrorist operation regime is up and running in Moscow, after Prigozhin vowed to overthrow Russia’s military leadership.

Russia is appealing to the mercenaries of the Wagner Group to abandon the organization and its leader.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, posted on Telegram that was directed to the mercenary fighters, that they had been deceived and drawn into a “criminal adventure” orchestrated by Prigozhin.

Prigozhin said early Saturday his forces had seized control of the Russian army’s headquarters in Rostov and that his forces were in control of the city’s military sites.

“We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7:30 a.m. (0430 GMT). Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control,” Prigozhin said in a video on Telegram.

Prigozhin and his fighters had crossed from Ukraine into Russia and entered Rostov, facing no resistance by border guards. Prigozhin said his men were ready to go “all the way” against the Russian military and would destroy anyone who stood in their way.

“Everyone who will try to put up resistance … we will consider it a threat and destroy it immediately, including any checkpoints that will be in our way and any aircraft that we see over our heads. I am asking everyone to remain calm and not succumb to provocations, stay in their homes. It is advisable not to go outside along the route of our movement,” he continued.

“After we finish what we started, we will return to the front to defend our Motherland,” Prigozhin said. “There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why this country is in such a mess. Twenty-five thousand are expected as a tactical reserve, and the strategic reserve is the whole army and the whole country. Everyone who wants to join. We must end this disgrace,” he said.

Officials in Voronezh reported Saturday a military column moving on federal highway M4 Don, but it was not immediately clear which direction the column is moving. In addition, the mayor of Moscow has announced that “anti-terrorist measures are being implemented” in the capital, with checkpoints possibly being set up on the roads.

The White House said it is monitoring the standoff between top Russian military officials and the Wagner force and will be consulting with allies and partners on developments, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge told VOA Friday.

British officials said Saturday they are monitoring the situation in Russia. “Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out. This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a tweet.

Prigozhin said Friday that Wagner field camps were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from the chief of the military’s General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov. He charged that Gerasimov issued the order after a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.

The Russian Defense Ministry rejected Prigozhin’s claims.

Prigozhin said the Wagner Group commanders’ council has vowed to punish Shoigu.

“The evil that the military leadership of the country is responsible for must be stopped. They neglect the lives of soldiers, they forgot the word ‘justice,’ which we will bring back,” he said.

“Therefore, those who killed our guys today, those who killed tens, many tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers, will be punished,” he said, announcing that his forces would march to secure justice for the lost fighters.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, opened a criminal investigation on Friday against Prigozhin, accusing him of armed mutiny, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, an arm of the FSB.

The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to Russia’s chief prosecutor.

Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya told The Associated Press this may well be the last of Prigozhin.

“Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she posted on Twitter. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. … Confrontation seems totally futile.”

Prigozhin Friday said the Kremlin’s reasoning for invading Ukraine is based on lies fabricated by the army’s top brass. He has for months openly accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of gross incompetence.

“The Defense Ministry is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us a story about how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO,” Prigozhin said in a video clip released on Telegram by his press service.

He went on to accuse Shoigu: “The war was needed … so that Shoigu could become a marshal … so that he could get a second ‘Hero’ [of Russia] medal,” he added. “The war wasn’t needed to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine.”

The Wagner chief also attacked the ruling elite, saying greed fueled its desire to absorb the assets from Ukraine’s Donbas region. “The task was to divide material assets,” he said. “There was massive theft in the Donbas, but they wanted more.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Upcycling Turns Would-Be Trash into Ice Cream and Pizza

Posted on by SeeUS

At Tyler Malek’s ice cream parlors, one cook’s trash is another chef’s frosty treat.

The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste.

“Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we’re doing,” Malek said.

Malek’s ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. Malek’s shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like “Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato,” which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste.

It’s a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and menu ingredients to learn where their food comes from and how it affects the environment. More than 35 million tons (31 million metric tons) of food are wasted every year in the U.S. — about 40% of the country’s food production — costing the national economy more than $200 billion, according to the Upcycled Food Association.

Upcycled food is becoming increasingly common in cake mixes and veggie chips at natural grocery stores. Ingredients include fruits and vegetables from farms nationwide that are perfectly edible but often rejected by restaurants and grocery stores because of their shape or color, like white strawberries, wilted greens and ugly mushrooms.

The Upcycled Food Association, which will celebrate World Upcycling Day on Saturday, issues an official “Upcycling Certified” seal to qualifying products. These seals, which adorn the new Salt & Straw upcycled flavors, raise awareness with consumers that the company making the food used such ingredients.

The association initially certified about 30 products in 2021 and now has 450 carrying the label.

“A lot of the food that is uneaten or thrown away in our supply chain is actually due to archaic cosmetic standards or sort of perceptions that what we think is edible or quality food,” said Angie Crone, the association’s chief executive. “So this is a mark that you can see on the products wherever you go shopping, to be able to understand how that company is reducing food waste in their supply chain.”

The association’s seal also is featured on all products made by Renewal Mill, an Oakland-based company turning byproducts from plant-based milk into pantry stables like baking flour to reduce waste at the manufacturing level.

“Our first product is the pulp leftover from making soy milk. We turn that into a high fiber gluten-free flour called okara flour,” co-founder Caroline Cotto said. “And then we use that flour to make things like baking mixes and ready-to-eat cookies.”

The company’s okara flour is featured in Salt & Straw’s new “Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes” flavor.

The movement isn’t confined to recycled products found in a trendy ice cream store, farmers market or natural grocery. In San Francisco, a restaurant serving pizza and wine focuses on upcycled ingredients such as ugly mushrooms, misshapen peppers and discolored tomatoes, as well as offcuts of meat for menu stars like beef heart meatballs.

“I think so many people think about dumpster diving or using rotten ingredients, but we have this wildly overproductive food system that accounts for a ton of waste,” said Kayla Abe, co-owner of Shuggie’s Trash Pie. “Some people might not read that it’s a beef heart meatball and they just might see meatball. They order it and they’re like, that was the best meatball I’ve ever had in my life.”
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Canada Opens Investigation Into Submersible Implosion

Posted on by SeeUS

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has opened an investigation into the implosion of the Titan, the underwater sea vessel that imploded with five people onboard as it was traveling to the wreckage of the Titanic, the British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic in 1912 after striking an iceberg.

The submersible vessel was the property of OceanGate Expeditions, a U.S.-based company. Its support ship, Polar Prince, however, is a Canadian-flagged ship.

“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is launching an investigation into the fatal occurrence involving the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince and the privately operated submersible Titan,” the board said in a statement Friday, raising questions about the safety of the ill-fated excursion. The board said a team of investigators has been sent to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to gather information and conduct interviews.

U.S. officials said they too, were opening an investigation.

“The U.S. Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a major marine casualty and will lead the investigation. The NTSB has joined the investigation and will contribute to their efforts. The USCG is handling all media inquiries related to this investigation,” the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Friday in a tweet.

The Polar Prince lost contact with the Titan an hour and 45 minutes after the submersible began its descent Sunday.

Responders rushed equipment to where remains of the Titan were found. Five major fragments of the 6.7-meter Titan were located in the debris field left from its disintegration, including the vessel’s tail cone and two sections of the pressure hull, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. No mention was made of whether human remains were sighted.

OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement the five people on the vessel were company CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Since the submersible went missing with an approximately four-day air supply, questions about it its safety have grown.

“I know there are also a lot of questions about how, why and when did this happen,” said Rear Adm. John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District. “Those are questions we will collect as much information as we can about now.”

According to an Associated Press report, David Lochridge, a former OceanGate director of marine operations, raised questions in 2018 about the methods the company used to insure the structural viability of the hull.

Filmmaker James Cameron, who directed the 1997 Academy Award-winning film Titanic and who has made several dives to the ocean liner’s wreckage aboard other deep-sea submersibles, said in an interview with the BBC that he was sure an “extreme catastrophic event” had happened when he heard the submersible had lost communication and navigation.

“For me, there was no doubt,” he said.

He told the BBC the news about the air supply and underwater noises were a “prolonged and nightmarish charade” to provide false hope to the families of the passengers. Cameron said that once a remotely operated vehicle reached the depth of the vessel, it was likely to be found “within hours … probably within minutes.”

Arthur Loibl, a passenger on the Titan two years ago, described his trip to the Titanic as a “kamikaze operation.” The retired German businessman said, “Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other.”

Scientist and journalist Michael Guillen, who survived an expedition in 2000 that ran into some challenges, said, “We need to stop, pause and ask this question, why do you want to go to the Titanic and how do you get there safely?”

Some information is from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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World Refugee Day Tops Week’s Immigration News

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Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. 

World Refugee Day

The Inside Story

This week on The Inside Story, World Refugee Day, we explore the complicated processes refugees face around the world and hear inspiring stories from refugees seeking asylum from countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sudan.  

Refugee or Asylum-Seeker in the US: What’s the Difference?

World Refugee Day, celebrated around the world every June 20, serves as a day to pay tribute to people who have been compelled to flee their homes. Those who leave their countries seeking safety are known as refugees or asylum-seekers. While the terms are often used interchangeably, in the United States there are significant differences under immigration law when pursuing these statuses. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story.

Supreme Court Allows Biden Policy to Take Effect Focusing Deportations on Public Safety Risks

The Supreme Court said Friday it will no longer stand in the way of a long-blocked Biden administration policy to prioritize the deportation of immigrants who are deemed to pose the greatest public safety risk or were picked up at the border. The Associated Press reports.  

Former Somali Refugee Turns Reclaimed Life Jackets Into Fashion

One former refugee turned entrepreneur has sought to turn the refugees’ stories into something inspiring that empowers others who have fled their homes. Mohamed Malim, 27, is the director of the fashion apparel brand Epimonia, a small Minnesota-based company that he founded in 2018. Story by Mohamed Olad Hassan.

US Supreme Court Upholds Law Against Encouraging Illegal Immigration

A federal law that makes it a crime for a person to encourage illegal immigration does not violate constitutional free speech protections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday in upholding the decades-old measure defended by President Joe Biden’s administration. Reuters reports.  

Immigration around the world 

VOA60 Africa – Amnesty International Accuses Spain, Morocco of Covering Up Racist Border Practices

Amnesty International on Friday accused Spain and Morocco of a cover-up for failing to properly investigate events at the border of the Spanish enclave of Melilla last year, when tens of migrants and refugees died during a mass attempted crossing. 

Disabled Syrian Refugee Dreams of Paralympics Glory

Some of the Syrian refugees taken in by Spain have accomplished big things, including Adnan Almousa Alfermli. His eyes are set on winning a gold medal at the Paralympics. Miguel Amaya narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona. Camera: Alfonso Beato. 

External Pressures Increasing Suicide Risk at Refugee Settlement in Uganda

Palorinya refugee settlement in Uganda is reporting high numbers of suicides and suicide attempts by the people who live there. Organizations and individuals who work with the refugees say denial of food and a failure to meet basic needs are the main causes. Halima Athumani reports from Obongi District, Uganda. Camera: Francis Mukasa 

Frustration Growing Among Young Palestinians at Refugee Camps

The U.N. classifies more than 900,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank as refugees, meaning they or more often their parents or grandparents were displaced from their homes in what became the State of Israel in 1948. About a quarter of them live in refugee camps that are crowded and poor and have frequently been the scene of clashes with Israeli soldiers. VOA visited the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank and filed this report. Camera: Ricki Rosen 

Escaping Conflict, Ukraine’s Refugee Women Go It Alone

The U.N. says that among 8 million refugees who have fled the war in Ukraine, 90% are women and children. With martial law prohibiting most men from leaving the country, many of Ukraine’s women who go abroad have no choice but to take care of their families alone. As part of VOA World Refugee Day coverage, Warsaw reporter Lesia Bakalets heard from some of the women who have taken refuge in Poland. VOA footage by Daniil Batushchak. 

Refugees in Kenya Pursue Entrepreneurship Amid UNHCR Funding Shortfall

More than a half-million refugees in Kenya will not receive assistance from the U.N. refugee agency because of a lack of funding. Amid the tough conditions, a refugee-led organization in Nairobi — Youth Voices Community — is helping thousands of refugees through education in business and learning new skills to earn a living. Mohammed Yusuf reports.

News in brief

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that he applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling on immigration enforcement.

“DHS looks forward to reinstituting these Guidelines, which had been effectively applied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to focus limited resources and enforcement actions on those who pose a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security. The Guidelines enable DHS to most effectively accomplish its law enforcement mission with the authorities and resources provided by Congress.”
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Nigerian Police Warn of Possible Terror Attacks During Eid Celebrations

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Nigeria’s state security service has warned the public of possible terrorist attacks on houses of worship ahead of the June 29 Islamic celebration of Eid-al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice. The Department of State Services says operations this week against armed men recovered improvised explosive devices, indicating plans to launch attacks before and during festivities.

The security advisory was contained in a statement released by Nigeria’s secret police Thursday evening.

It’s the first such warning by the Department of State Services, or DSS, since Nigerian President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May.

The DSS said the warning was based on the intelligence and recovery this week of improvised explosive devices found during counterterrorism operations in the central Kogi and Nasarawa states near the capital.

DSS officials said operatives killed a notorious gang leader and arrested a gun dealer during the raids Monday and early Thursday.

Secret police spokesperson Peter Afunanya did not respond to requests for further comments, but retired DSS officer Mike Ejiofor said the threat should be taken seriously.

“It’s an advisory from the state security service for people to be on the watch out and, you know, such advisories are based on intelligence gathered or available to the service, so it’s important that people are conscious of their environment,” he said.

The security agency said it will work with the military and police to disrupt the terrorists’ plans. Security issues have created major problems for past administrations.

Nigeria has been battling an insurgency that has lasted nearly 14 years, along with armed gangs who often kill or kidnap for ransom. Worship centers are often targets of terror attacks.

During his inauguration on May 29, Tinubu promised his government will prioritize restoring security. Monday the president fired all service chiefs and the head of the police and appointed new ones.

Ejiofor said it is a step in the right direction.

“To me it was a very welcome development,” he said. “Security is paramount, there’s need for them to also meet immediately and start strategizing on methods of handling the security challenges in the country.”

In June 2022, heavily armed men invaded St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, a town in southwest Nigeria, and killed 41 worshippers. Authorities blamed the attack on the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP.

A month later, ISWAP claimed responsibility for a massive jail break near Abuja that freed hundreds of inmates including terrorism suspects.

Security experts say threats of terror have increased since the incident.

Kabir Raji, national youth secretary of the Nasrul-Lahi-il Fathi Society of Nigeria, a Muslim prayer group, said the society is already undertaking additional security measures at various mosques.

“A meeting is going on on this now; the various zonal security secretaries have been engaged, security checks, inviting the police [and] the DSS to every worship center before the Eid, [and] during [the Eid], ensuring proper car parking, scanning machines and checks, we all have this in our various locations,” Raji said.

For now, many citizens will be more vigilant as they attend celebrations.
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Wagner Group’s Prigozhin Has Long Ties to Putin

Posted on by SeeEU

Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As the leader of a mercenary force who depicts himself as fighting many of the Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine, the 62-year-old Prigozhin has now moved into his most dangerous role yet: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership.

Prigozhin, owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, has escalated what have been months of scathing criticism of Russia’s conduct of the war by calling Friday for an armed uprising to oust the defense minister. Russian security services reacted immediately, opening a criminal investigation and urging Prigozhin’s arrest.

In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took Prigozhin’s threat, riot police and the National Guard scrambled to tighten security at key facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transport infrastructure, Tass reported. Prigozhin, a onetime felon, hot-dog vendor and longtime associate of Putin, urged Russians to join his “march to justice.”

‘Putin’s chef’

Prigozhin and Putin go way back, with both born in Leningrad, what is now known as St. Petersburg.

During the final years of the Soviet Union, Prigozhin served time in prison — 10 years by his own admission — although he does not say what it was for.

Afterward, he owned a hot dog stand and then fancy restaurants that drew interest from Putin. In his first term, the Russian leader took then-French President Jacques Chirac to dine at one of them.

“Vladimir Putin saw how I built a business out of a kiosk, he saw that I don’t mind serving to the esteemed guests because they were my guests,” Prigozhin recalled in an interview published in 2011.

His businesses expanded significantly to catering and providing school lunches. In 2010, Putin helped open Prigozhin’s factory that was built on generous loans by a state bank. In Moscow alone, his company Concord won millions of dollars in contracts to provide meals at public schools. He also organized catering for Kremlin events for several years — earning him the nickname “Putin’s chef” — and has provided catering and utility services to the Russian military.

In 2017, opposition figure and corruption fighter Alexei Navalny accused Prigozhin’s companies of breaking antitrust laws by bidding for some $387 million in Defense Ministry contracts.

Military connection

Prigozhin also owns the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-allied mercenary force that has come to play a central role in Putin’s projection of Russian influence in trouble spots around the world.

The United States, European Union, United Nations and others say the mercenary force has involved itself in conflicts in countries across Africa in particular. Wagner fighters allegedly provide security for national leaders or warlords in exchange for lucrative payments, often including a share of gold or other natural resources. U.S. officials say Russia may also be using Wagner’s work in Africa to support its war in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Prigozhin’s mercenaries have become a major force in the war, fighting as counterparts to the Russian army in battles with Ukrainian forces.

That includes Wagner fighters taking Bakhmut, the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. By last month, Wagner Group and Russian forces appeared to have largely won Bakhmut, a victory with strategically slight importance for Russia despite the cost in lives. The U.S. estimates that nearly half of the 20,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine since December were Wagner fighters in Bakhmut. His soldiers-for-hire included inmates recruited from Russia’s prisons.

Raging against Russia’s generals

As his forces fought and died en masse in Ukraine, Prigozhin raged against Russia’s military brass. In a video released by his team last month, Prigozhin stood next to rows bodies he said were those of Wagner fighters. He accused Russia’s regular military of incompetence and of starving his troops of the weapons and ammunition they needed to fight.

“These are someone’s fathers and someone’s sons,” Prigozhin said then. “The scum that doesn’t give us ammunition will eat their guts in hell.”

A ‘bad actor’ in the US

Prigozhin earlier gained more limited attention in the U.S., when he and a dozen other Russian nationals and three Russian companies were charged in the U.S. with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord ahead of Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory.

They were indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Prigozhin and associates repeatedly in connection with both his alleged election interference and his leadership of the Wagner Group.

After the 2018 indictment, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Prigozhin as saying, in a clearly sarcastic remark: “Americans are very impressionable people; they see what they want to see. I treat them with great respect. I’m not at all upset that I’m on this list. If they want to see the devil, let them see him.”

The Biden White House in that episode called him “a known bad actor,” and State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Prigozhin’s “bold confession, if anything, appears to be just a manifestation of the impunity that crooks and cronies enjoy under President Putin and the Kremlin.”

Avoiding challenges to Putin

As Prigozhin grew more outspoken against the way Russia’s conventional military conducted fighting in Ukraine, he continued to play a seemingly indispensable role for the Russian offensive, and appeared to suffer no retaliation from Putin for his criticism of Putin’s generals.

Media reports at times suggested Prigozhin’s influence on Putin was growing and he was after a prominent political post. But analysts warned against overestimating his influence with Putin.

“He’s not one of Putin’s close figures or a confidant,” said Mark Galeotti of University College, London, who specializes in Russian security affairs, speaking on his podcast “In Moscow’s Shadows.”

“Prigozhin does what the Kremlin wants and does very well for himself in the process. But that’s the thing — he is part of the staff rather than part of the family,” Galeotti said.
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Declassified US Intelligence Answers Few Questions on COVID-19 Origins

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Newly declassified intelligence on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic appears to cast doubt on theories that the outbreak that killed millions around the world began at a research laboratory in Wuhan, China.

A report issued late Friday by U.S. intelligence agencies and shared with members of Congress said that despite concerns about biosafety measures at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and despite its history of work with coronaviruses, there is no intelligence that indicates COVID-19 was present in the lab before the outbreak.

“We continue to have no indication that the WIV’s pre-pandemic research holdings included SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor, nor any direct evidence that a specific research-related incident occurred involving WIV personnel before the pandemic that could have caused the COVID pandemic,” according to the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The report further states that the available evidence indicates the lab did not get possession of the COVID-19 virus until late December 2019, “when WIV researchers isolated and identified the virus from samples from patients diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown causes.”

The newly declassified intelligence also seems to reject concerns that one of a handful of researchers at the lab who fell ill in November 2019 might have been patient zero.

“This information neither supports nor refutes either hypothesis of the pandemic’s origins,” the report said. “The researchers’ symptoms could have been caused by a number of diseases and some of the symptoms were not consistent with COVID-19.”

Yet despite the lack of evidence to support the idea that the COVID-19 pandemic originated at the lab in Wuhan, the U.S. intelligence report makes clear that neither of the leading theories – natural transmission from animals or a lab incident – can be ruled out.

“All [U.S. intelligence] agencies continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection,” the report said.

And it said almost all intelligence agencies assess the virus “was not genetically engineered,” while noting that while “most agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not laboratory-adapted; some are unable to make a determination.”

As for how the pandemic did start, there is less agreement.

The National Intelligence Council and four of the intelligence agencies continue to assess patient zero contracted SARS-CoV-2 as the result of exposure to an infected animal.

The FBI announced this past February that its analysts assess with “moderate confidence” that the pandemic began at the research lab in Wuhan, China.

Intelligence analysts at the Department of Energy have concluded, although with “low confidence,” that the virus spread as a result of a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Two other intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have not been able to determine a precise origin for the pandemic.

The new disclosure by the U.S. intelligence community comes three months after President Joe Biden signed legislation ordering the agencies to declassify as much information as possible about the pandemic’s origins.

But the newly declassified information, in some ways, reflects few changes from the initial intelligence assessments shared in 2020, when U.S. agencies said that their information supported “the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified,” but that more work was needed to determine how the initial transmission of the virus took place.

Since the World Health Organization first declared a global health emergency in January 2020, COVID-19 has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide, with some officials suggesting the true death toll could be as high as 20 million.

Chinese health officials have repeatedly defended their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, criticizing any suggestions that they should have shared more information sooner as “offensive and disrespectful.”

As recently as March, leading U.S. intelligence officials noted collecting additional information on the COVID-19 virus has been difficult due, in part, to China’s refusal to cooperate.

In a statement late Friday, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic praised the newly declassified report, saying, “The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have some serious explaining to do.”

“Everyone deserves to know the truth, and the declassification of this report is a promising step toward full transparency,” said Republicans Mike Turner and Brad Wenstrup.

“Based on the classified information that we received, we suspected right away that the coronavirus was not a natural phenomenon,” they added. “We’ve been pushing for years to make this information available for all to see.” 
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Prigozhin: Wagner Fighters Control Russian Army HQ in Rostov-on-Don

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The owner of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said early Saturday his forces had seized control of the Russian army’s headquarters in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don and that his forces were in control of the city’s military sites.

“We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7:30 a.m. (0430 GMT). Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control,” Prigozhin said in a video on Telegram.

Earlier Saturday, Prigozhin and his fighters had crossed from Ukraine into Russia and entered the city of Rostov facing no resistance by border guards. Prigozhin said his men were ready to go “all the way” against the Russian military and would destroy anyone who stood in their way.

Rostov officials have asked residents to stay home and not travel to the city center.

In an audio recording posted on the Telegram messaging app, Prigozhin said young conscripts at checkpoints stood back and did not fight, adding that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.”

Meanwhile, officials in Voronezh are reporting a military column moving on federal highway M4 Don, but it was not immediately clear which direction the column is moving.  In addition, the mayor of Moscow has announced that “anti-terrorist measures are being implemented” in the capital, with checkpoints possibly being set up on the roads.

Prigozhin said Friday that Wagner field camps were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from the chief of the military’s General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov. He charged that Gerasimov issued the order after a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.

The Russian Defense Ministry rejected Prigozhin’s claims.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, opened a criminal investigation on Friday against Prigozhin, accusing him of armed mutiny, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, an arm of the FSB.

The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to Russia’s chief prosecutor.

Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya told The Associated Press that this may well be the last of Prighozin.

“Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she posted on Twitter. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. … Confrontation seems totally futile.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting round-the-clock updates from all relevant state security agencies on actions taken to thwart the attempted armed mutiny, the Tass news agency reported Saturday.

Military vehicles have been seen on Moscow streets, Reuters reported.

The White House is monitoring the standoff between top Russian military officials and the Wagner force and will be consulting with allies and partners on developments, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said Friday. 

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee insisted there is no basis to the allegations made by Prigozhin that the Russian Defense Ministry conducted airstrikes against Wagner bases, killing 2,000 of his fighters.

Prigozhin said the Wagner Group commanders’ council has vowed to punish Shoigu.

“The evil that the military leadership of the country is responsible for must be stopped. They neglect the lives of soldiers, they forgot the word ‘justice,’ which we will bring back,” he said.

“Therefore, those who killed our guys today, those who killed tens, many tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers, will be punished,” he said, announcing that his forces would march to secure justice for the lost fighters.

General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, appealed to Wagner’s leaders, commanders and fighters.

“Together with you we have passed a difficult, hard way, we have fought together, taken the risks, suffered losses, we have won together. We are the same blood, we are warriors,” he said. “I call you to stop. The enemy is only waiting for our domestic political situation to deteriorate. We must not play into the hands of the enemy at this difficult time for the country.”

According to Tass, the FSB is calling on Wagner fighters “not to follow Prigozhin’s criminal orders” and to detain him.

Early Saturday, according to audio posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said he and his men had crossed into Russia without resistance.

“Everyone who will try to put up resistance … we will consider it a threat and destroy it immediately, including any checkpoints that will be in our way and any aircraft that we see over our heads. I am asking everyone to remain calm and not succumb to provocations, stay in their homes. It is advisable not to go outside along the route of our movement,” he continued.

“After we finish what we started, we will return to the front to defend our Motherland,” Prigozhin said. “There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why this country is in such a mess. Twenty-five thousand are expected as a tactical reserve, and the strategic reserve is the whole army and the whole country. Everyone who wants to join. We must end this disgrace,” he said.

Earlier Friday, Prigozhin said the Kremlin’s reasoning for invading Ukraine is based on lies fabricated by the army’s top brass. Prigozhin has for months openly accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of gross incompetence.

“The Defense Ministry is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us a story about how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO,” Prigozhin said in a video clip released on Telegram by his press service.

He went on to accuse Shoigu: ”The war was needed … so that Shoigu could become a marshal … so that he could get a second ‘Hero’ [of Russia] medal,” he added. ”The war wasn’t needed to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine.”

The Wagner chief also attacked the ruling elite, saying greed fueled its desire to absorb the assets from Ukraine’s Donbas region. ”The task was to divide material assets,” he said. “There was massive theft in the Donbas, but they wanted more.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.   
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Russia Accuses Wagner Chief of Mutiny as He Vows to ‘Punish’ Defense Minister

Posted on by SeeEU

Latest developments:

EU officials are backing the idea that proceeds from more than $230 billion in frozen Russian assets should finance Ukraine’s war effort and reconstruction. But the European Central Bank cautioned the European Commission against the move because it could harm the euro and hurt financial stability, the Financial Times reports.
A joint statement issued by U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said both leaders “have expressed their deep concern over the conflict in Ukraine and mourned its terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences.” The statement also said they are calling for “respect for international law, principles of the UN charter, and territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is heading to Denmark this weekend to “to discuss basic principles of peace," in Ukraine, a U.S. official said Friday. Some of the participating countries have refused to condemn Russia’s invasion.

Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB) opened a criminal investigation Friday against mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, accusing him of armed mutiny, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.

The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to Russia’s chief prosecutor.

The NAC, which is part of the FSB, insisted there is no basis to the allegations made by Prigozhin earlier Friday that the Russian Ministry of Defense conducted an airstrike against Wagner bases, killing 2,000 of his fighters.

Prigozhin accused the Russian military, acting on the orders of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, of shelling his troops’ positions in Ukraine.

“The Minister of Defense arrived specially in Rostov to carry out an operation to destroy the Wagner PMC (private military company),” he wrote on his Telegram social media channel.

An unverified video posted on the “Razgruzka Wagner” (Wagner’s Combat Vest) Telegram channel showed a scene in a forest where small fires were burning and trees appeared to have been damaged by explosions.

Prigozhin said the Wagner Group commanders’ council has vowed to punish Shoigu.

“The evil that the military leadership of the country is responsible for must be stopped. They neglect the lives of soldiers, they forgot the word ‘justice,’ which we will bring back,” he said.

“Therefore, those who killed our guys today, those who killed tens, many tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers, will be punished,” he said, announcing that his forces would begin a march to secure justice for the lost fighters.

Early Saturday, according to audio posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said he and his men had crossed into Russia.

“Everyone who will try to put up resistance … we will consider it a threat and destroy it immediately, including any checkpoints that will be in our way and any aircraft that we see over our heads. I am asking everyone to remain calm and not succumb to provocations, stay in their homes. It is advisable not to go outside along the route of our movement,” he continued.

“After we finish what we started, we will return to the front to defend our Motherland,” Prigozhin said. “There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to figure out why this country is in such a mess. Twenty-five thousand are expected as a tactical reserve, and the strategic reserve is the whole army and the whole country. Everyone who wants to join. We must end this disgrace,” he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry rejected Prigozhin’s claim, and the NAC said it has opened a criminal inquiry into Prigozhin on charges of calling for a military coup. According to Russian state news agency TASS, the FSB is calling on Wagner fighters “not to follow Prigozhin’s criminal orders” and to detain him.

Military vehicles have been seen on Moscow streets, Reuters reported.

In Washington, the White House said it is monitoring the situation and consulting with allies, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said Friday.

The Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the developments and “necessary measures are being taken.”

Earlier Friday, Prigozhin said the Kremlin’s reasoning for invading Ukraine is based on lies fabricated by the army’s top brass. Prigozhin has for months openly accused Shoigu and Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, of gross incompetence.

“The Defense Ministry is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us a story about how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO,” Prigozhin said in a video clip released on the Telegram messaging app by his press service.

He went on to accuse Shoigu: “The war was needed … so that Shoigu could become a marshal … so that he could get a second ‘Hero’ [of Russia] medal,” he added. “The war wasn’t needed to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine.”

The Wagner chief also attacked the ruling elite, saying greed fueled its desire to absorb the assets from Ukraine’s Donbas region. “The task was to divide material assets,” he said. “There was massive theft in the Donbas, but they wanted more.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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