Month: July 2023

Proposed Chemical Waste Reservoir in Azerbaijan Prompts Standoff  

Posted on by SeeEU

A former Azerbaijani parliamentarian was arrested and charged with extortion this week because he has been speaking out about recent environmental protests against a planned disposal site for chemical waste, he and his lawyer said.  

 

Nazim Baydamirli, who represented the Gadabay district in Azerbaijan’s west, was detained Tuesday and placed on four months of pre-trial detention. He called the accusations of extortion fraudulent. Instead, he told the court that his imprisonment was related to his support of protests against the planned chemical waste reservoir in the Soyudlu village of the Gadabay district.   

 

“He said in court that the charge had nothing to do with the reasons behind his arrest. Baydamirli brought to the court’s attention that the reason for his arrest was related to his activities,” lawyer Agil Lajic told VOA. 

 

The country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs contends that Baydamirli has been brought under investigation because of an unrelated complaint. 

 

“A citizen came to the police and said that Nazim Baydamirli demanded $29,000 [50,000 manats] from him, saying that he had inappropriate photos of him. Although he gave Baydamirli $5,800 (10,000 manats) on June 14 of this year, Baydamirli continued blackmailing the complainant and his family, threatening to spread the images, because he failed to pay the remaining amount,” the Press Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs alleged. 

 

A number of activists and political figures have called Baydamirli’s arrest a political order and have called for his release. 

 

“Nazim Baydamirli’s arrest on an obviously false and absurd charge is a violation of rights and justice. By sending a well-known social and political figure to prison on a long term for such an absurd charge, the authorities tell the society that ‘we are trampling on law and justice,'” Ali Karimli, chairman of the Azerbaijan People’s Front Party (APFP),  wrote in a Facebook post. “Freedom to Nazim Baydamirli!” 

Standoff over gold mine waste 

 

Residents of the Soyudlu village protested on June 20 against the proposed construction of another artificial lake to hold chemical waste from a nearby gold mine. The mine’s existing waste reservoir is nearly full, and protesters say it has been leaking into a nearby lake, causing health problems.  

 

In response, police were deployed to the area. There was a confrontation between police and the protesters, with police using tear gas against the villagers, including elderly female protesters. At least 10 people were reported injured, including six journalists. 

According to Samad Rahimli, a member of the “Soyudlu” working group, 11 village residents were arrested in connection with the protests. He said eight of them have been placed in administrative detention for violating rules of assembly, while three others are facing drug-related charges.   

 

Access to the village has since been restricted. A local resident told VOA that law enforcement has set up checkpoints and will let in only villagers. 

 

The resident, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity around the standoff, told VOA that since the protest, government officials have often come to the village to speak with residents about the situation. 

 

“We are waiting for the results from the monitoring commission. But the work around the cyanide lake has resumed. Nothing has changed,” the resident said. 

 

In an interview with VOA before his arrest, Baydamirli said the village residents’ complaints have been ignored by the authorities for years, leading them to stage protests. He suggested the authorities’ response has worsened the situation. 

 

“Blockade of the village and taking so-called ‘measures’ to prevent the information from spreading led to more people becoming aware of these events. Similarly, these behaviors angered the population, angered residents, and users on social networks also reacted to it,” he said.  

Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Ali Asadov established a commission on June 21 to monitor and assess the reservoir’s situation in the village, but results have not yet been announced. 

 

VOA’s Nigar Mubariz and Parvana Bayramova contributed to this report.
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Britain to Target Iranian Decision-makers With New Sanctions Regime 

Posted on by SeeEU

LONDON – Britain said on Thursday that it would create a new sanctions regime for Iran, giving the U.K. greater powers to target decision-makers, including those involved in weapons proliferation and threats against British nationals. 

Britain’s current sanctions regime against Iran focuses on human rights, but the proposals would widen the scope of criteria that the government could cite in bringing new designations in the future. 

“The Iranian regime is oppressing its own people, exporting bloodshed in Ukraine and the Middle East, and threatening to kill and kidnap on U.K. soil,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. 

“Today the U.K. has sent a clear message to the regime — we will not tolerate this malign behavior and we will hold you to account. Our new sanctions regime will help to ensure there can be no hiding place for those who seek to do us harm.” 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d’affaires of the British Embassy in Tehran over the “destructive British statements and interference in our affairs,” Iran’s Arabic-language television network Al Alam reported on Thursday. 

Britain said that under the new regime, which will be legislated for later in the year, individuals and entities could also be sanctioned if they contributed to the undermining of peace and stability in the Middle East and internationally. 

It also said it had given evidence at the U.N. Security Council that Iran was continuing to send weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, and to Russia, to support its fighting in Ukraine. 

Under the new criteria, sanctions could also be targeted at those Britain says are involved in Iran’s undermining democracy and the rule of law in the U.K., and hostile activities aimed at British people or property, or Britain’s allies. 

Britain says Iran has made at least 15 attempts to kidnap or kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom since the start of last year. 

“What we have seen over the last 18 months is an unprecedented level of aggression from Iran against people here in the U.K., trying to silence dissenting voices,” Cleverly told reporters on Thursday. 

Britain has also announced new designations under its existing human rights sanctions regime for Iran.
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Turkey Resists NATO Pressure to Admit Sweden Ahead of Summit

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Turkey is facing mounting pressure from its NATO allies to lift its opposition to Sweden’s membership bid. But Ankara says it will not change its position until its demands are met, and analysts say the impasse will probably have to be solved at the approaching NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Titan Submersible Operator Suspends Expeditions After Deadly Implosion

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OceanGate, the U.S.-based company that managed the tourist submersible that imploded during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, has suspended all exploration and commercial operations, its website showed on Thursday.  

The company did not elaborate beyond a red banner at the top of its website: “OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations.” 

OceanGate had planned two expeditions to the century-old Titanic ruins, located in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, for June 2024, its website showed.  

U.S. and Canadian authorities are investigating the cause of the June undersea implosion, which killed all five people aboard and raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions. 

The U.S. Coast Guard last week recovered presumed human remains and debris from the submersible, known as the Titan, after searching the ocean floor. Examination of the debris is expected to shed more light on the cause of the implosion.  

The Titan lost contact with its support vessel during its descent on June 18. Its remains were found four days later, littering the seabed about 488 meters from the bow of the Titanic wreck. 
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Chinese Navy in Nigeria Amid Base Concerns

Posted on by SeeAF

A rare visit to Nigeria this week by the Chinese navy is once again raising questions about Beijing’s military intentions in the strategically important Gulf of Guinea.

Three Chinese warships have been docked in the port of Lagos for five days, with Nigerian and Chinese officials saying the visit is aimed at enhancing maritime security in the region, which is plagued by piracy. China already has a military base in Djibouti on the east coast of the African continent and U.S. officials have long speculated that Beijing is planning more.

Asked by VOA whether part of the reason for the trip is to explore the possibility of establishing a second military base in Africa, officials from the Chinese embassies in both Nigeria and Washington declined to comment, with the latter writing: “Unfortunately we have nothing to offer on the specific question you mentioned.”

The U.S. State Department also declined to directly answer questions relating to a possible base, telling VOA: “We do not want to limit African partnerships with other countries. We seek to offer African countries a choice by demonstrating the benefits of our governance and economic partnership models.”

However, Washington has been vocal about the issue in the past, with General Stephen J. Townsend of the U.S.-Africa Command telling a House Armed Services Committee hearing last year: “The thing I think I’m most worried about is this military base on the Atlantic coast.”

“As a first priority, we need to prevent or deter a Chinese space on the Atlantic coast of Africa,” he added.

A Chinese base in West Africa would give Beijing a military presence across the Atlantic from America’s East Coast, perceived as a threat to national security.

Townsend said at the time he believed the Chinese were favoring Equatorial Guinea as the location for a West Africa base.

In a statement, China said the stop in Nigeria was simply a “friendly visit,” intended to “jointly address maritime security threats and maintain peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea.”

Nigeria’s navy spokesman Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan told local media: “It is not a strange thing that the Chinese are doing this port visit. Americans, Europeans, French and Spanish do it very often.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. led annual joint military exercises in Nigeria.

A more secure Nigeria is important for China, which has thousands of citizens working in the oil-rich country — Africa’s largest economy. Nigeria has also been a major beneficiary of President Xi Jinping’s pivot to Africa with his Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Earlier this year, a Chinese-built $1.5 billion deep-sea port was opened in Lagos.

Nigeria, however, is wracked by an insurgency in the north, and Chinese have become favorite targets of kidnapping gangs looking for ransom.

Additionally, Nigeria is among China’s top oil suppliers, but shipments of the commodity have also been targeted. Earlier this year, pirates boarded a Chinese-owned oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea.

Shift from East Africa

Darren Olivier, director of the conflict research consultancy African Defense Review, told VOA the Chinese navy has so far been predominantly focused on East Africa due to their military base in Djibouti. They have participated in Gulf of Aden anti-piracy patrols for years.

China’s navy has also been active in the Indian Ocean, with Chinese warships taking part earlier this year in joint exercises off Durban with their South African and Russian counterparts.

However, they were not neglecting West Africa, said Olivier.

“China’s sending a naval task force to exercise with Nigeria is likely to be part of a similar pattern to what was first observed in East Africa,” he told VOA.

“First, regular involvement in anti-piracy patrols and maritime security exercises, followed by the creation of a West African naval base to support those operations, to protect Chinese oil and other exports from the area, and to provide security assistance to both China’s allies in the region and its citizens and businesses,” Olivier said.

“This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s looking to build a base in Nigeria itself, but it’s certainly a possibility.”
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American Journalist Gershkovich Marks 100 Days in Russian Jail 

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Jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich on Friday marks his 100th day in detention in Russia on espionage accusations. 

The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested March 29 while on assignment in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Russian authorities have accused the Moscow-based reporter of spying. 

Gershkovich, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny the espionage charges. 

Media watchdogs say his arrest marked a new low in Russia’s declining press freedom environment under President Vladimir Putin. 

“Evan’s detention marked a new escalation in Putin’s war on the free press, expanding his crackdown beyond Russia’s domestic media which has already been totally hollowed out,” Clayton Weimers, executive director of the U.S. office of Reporters Without Borders, told VOA.

“One hundred days in jail is 100 days too long to punish a journalist for simply doing journalism,” he said. 

The first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since the end of the Cold War, Gershkovich faces 20 years in a penal colony if convicted. 

“It is vital to keep Evan’s story front and center, particularly as we reflect on this difficult milestone,” The Wall Street Journal said in a statement.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Moscow and Washington have discussed a possible prisoner swap, in an apparent reference to the American journalist and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges. 

“We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, without naming any specific detainee. “They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.” 

Peskov added that “the lawful right to consular contacts must be ensured on both sides.” 

In response to a question Wednesday about a potential prisoner swap, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Sadly, we do not have any news to share.”

“What I can say is Evan, along with Paul Whelan, who are both wrongfully detained, as you know, should be home. They should be home with their families. I just don’t have anything to share at this time,” she added.

Whelan, a former U.S. marine, is also detained in Russia on espionage charges that the U.S. views as baseless. 

Russia’s Washington embassy did not respond to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Gershkovich’s detention has taken a toll on his friends and colleagues in the community of journalists who cover Russia.

“Knowing that it’s been 100 days that Evan has been in Lefortovo prison, an FSB-run prison that is very isolating, known for being really psychologically challenging for its inmates — it’s just really hard to know that Evan has been in those circumstances for so long already,” Financial Times reporter Polina Ivanova told VOA.

Ivanova has known Gershkovich since 2017, when they both started reporting jobs in Moscow — Gershkovich at the Moscow Times and Ivanova at Reuters.

“It’s a very tight-knit community, so we’ve always been good friends,” said Ivanova, now based in Berlin and still covering Russia and Ukraine.

Since Gershkovich’s arrest in March, the journalist has been granted only two consular visits.

The latest visit took place Monday, when U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was allowed to visit Gershkovich for the first time since April. 

“Ambassador Tracy reports that Mr. Gershkovich is in good health and remains strong, despite his circumstances,” a State Department spokesperson said about the latest visit. “We expect Russian authorities to provide continued consular access.” 

In a statement about Gershkovich’s 100-day marker, the press freedom group the Committee to Protect journalists said it was concerned about the lack of due process and the denial of consular access to the journalist.

“One hundred days is obviously just incredibly difficult to get your head around — to imagine yourself in such a small space for so long with so little contact with the outside world,” Ivanova said. 

Gershkovich’s original pre-trial detention was set to expire on May 29, but a Russian court lengthened that period to August 30. 
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Niger, China Discuss Uranium Mine and Other Deals

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The West African nation of Niger and China have been discussing deals that include an industrial park, an oil pipeline and a uranium mine.  

The Chinese ambassador to Niger, Jiang Feng, said China would build an industrial park that would impact industries including agro-food, manufacturing, mining and real estate, according to a tweet from Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum’s official account. It said the deal is a result of a China-Niger Investment Forum held in April.

“China does what it says and says what it does,” said Jiang. 

The tweet also mentioned that the Chinese ambassador recently visited the starting point of the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline and described it as “very impressive.” With the China National Petroleum Corporation as the developer, the nearly 2,000-kilometer-long pipeline would allow landlocked Niger to ramp up its crude production and access international trade by way of a terminal on Benin’s coast, officials say. 

Days before comments on these deals, a delegation from the National Uranium Company of China, or CNUC, discussed the resumption of exploration and mining of uranium in Niger’s northern regions nine years after the project was abandoned because of poor sales of the commodity in international markets. 

“Prices [of uranium] are now favorable internationally. It is for us to better develop this sector with all the partners, including the CNUC, who already have operating permits,” said Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba, Niger’s Minister of Mines.

Yacouba and Xing Yongguo, CNUC’s president, signed a new deal in Niamey on June 27 to resuscitate activities at the uranium site in Arlit in the Agadez region, located in northern Niger.

Ahmed Mousa, the mayor of Ingall, a town in the Agadez region, the district where the main uranium project is taking place, is happy that work is resuming, saying it will provide electricity and other infrastructure for local communities. 

“It is great that they are back at work. We have been waiting for them to return. This will generate jobs for our people. It will help the economy,” Mousa said. 

The project is part of an ongoing effort by Beijing to invest in African countries. China is Africa’s largest trading partner with two-way trade totaling over $200 billion per year. More than 10,000 Chinese firms have forged partnerships across the continent since 2005, with an estimated $300 billion investment in projects, according to a report by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Some civic groups in Niger oppose the plan, warning that mining poses environmental dangers.

Iliyasou Aboubakar, a member of ROTAB, a nongovernmental organization that goes by its French acronym, said African countries, including Niger, must not allow China to have free rein around their natural resources. The advocacy group focuses on policy, transparency and other rights in the mining industry in Niger. 

“This project has the potential to adversely affect humans, animals and plants. Authorities must make sure measures are taken to safeguard the health of the environment. This project should be stopped from moving forward,” Aboubakar said.

Niger has two major uranium mines that provide about 5% of the world’s highest-grade uranium ore, according to the World Nuclear Association. In 1971, the country’s first commercial uranium mine began operations. In 2021, Niger produced more than 2,248 tons of uranium.

VOA’s Salem Solomon contributed to this report.
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Russia Expels Finnish Diplomats, Shuts Down Consulate in Tit-for-Tat Move

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Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced the expelling of nine Finnish diplomats and shutting down of Finland’s consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation for Finland expelling nine Russian diplomats last month.

The ministry said in a lengthy statement that it summoned Finland’s ambassador to Russia, Antti Helantera, on Thursday, and relayed its “strong protest in connection with the confrontational anti-Russian policy pursued by the Finnish authorities.”

The statement also noted that “the parameters of Finland’s accession to NATO create a threat” to Russia’s security, and “encouraging the Kyiv regime to (go to) war and pumping it with Western weapons means clearly hostile actions against our country.” The statement concluded that “this line of the Finnish authorities cannot remain unanswered.”

It said nine Finnish diplomats would be expelled from Russia, and a permit allowing the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg — the country’s second-largest city — to operate will be revoked starting from Oct. 1.

Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joined NATO in April as the military alliance’s 31st member. Interaction between Helsinki and Moscow has become restrained in recent months.

Finland’s veteran politician and then foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, announced in May that Russia has frozen the bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic representations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, disrupting money flow and forcing the Nordic country’s missions to resort to cash payments.

In June, Finland expelled nine Russian diplomats, suspected of working in intelligence operations at Russia’s embassy in Helsinki.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto tweeted that he considered Moscow’s move on Thursday as “a tough and asymmetric” response to Helsinki’s decision to expel Russian diplomats.

Niinisto said the Finnish government was mulling counter-measures including a possible closure of Russia’s consulate in the western Finnish port city of Turku.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Twitter that Moscow’s move was “out of proportion” and that “Finland will react” to Russia’s decision.
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Supreme Court Upholds Native American Adoption Preferences

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In its latest session, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld preferences for Native American foster children to be adopted by Native American parents. The Indian Child Welfare Act was challenged by non-Native foster parents who say it is discriminatory. For VOA, Levi Stallings has our story from the Southwest state of Arizona. (Camera: Levi Stallings)
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Kenya Says Somalia Border Reopening Delayed After Attacks

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Kenya said Wednesday it was delaying the planned reopening of its long-closed border with Somalia after a number of deadly attacks on its soil attributed to the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the phased reopening of border posts in Mandera, Lamu and Garissa along the lengthy frontier with Somalia would not go ahead as announced in May.

The decision comes after the murder of five civilians and the deaths of eight police officers in Kenya in separate incidents near the border last month blamed on al-Shabaab.

“The government will delay the planned reopening of Kenya-Somalia border points until we conclusively deal with the recent spate of terror attacks and cross-border crime,” Kindiki said during a visit to the Dadaab refugee camp in far eastern Kenya near Somalia.

The frontier was officially closed in October 2011 because of attacks by al-Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency against the central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.

The two nations had announced plans in July last year to reopen the border at talks between then Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud but they never materialized.

But on May 15 this year, following a high-level ministerial meeting in Nairobi, officials from both countries agreed to the phased reopening of three border posts.

 ‘Criminal elements’ 

Mandera was to reopen within 30 days of the announcement, followed by Garissa in 60 days and Lamu in 90 days.

However on June 13, eight Kenyan police officers were killed in Garissa when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

On June 24, five civilians had their throats cut in an attack in Lamu near the Somali border. Some were beheaded.

Kenya has suffered retaliatory attacks on its soil by al-Shabaab since sending troops over the border into Somalia in 2011 to crush the al-Qaida linked jihadists.

More than a decade later, Kenya is still a major contributor to an African Union force in Somalia trying to curb al-Shabaab’s capacity to wage deadly attacks.

Among the deadliest attacks in Kenya was a massacre at Garissa University in 2015 that left 148 people dead, almost all of them students.

Two years earlier, 67 people were killed when militants stormed the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.

Kenya hosts tens of thousands of refugees at Dadaab, most of them Somalis fleeing violence, poverty and a ferocious drought over the border, and successive governments have voiced suspicion about some of those sheltering there. 

Kindiki said “99.99 percent of refugees are good and law abiding and we will do our best to help them”.

“However, there are few criminal elements who will not be allowed to hurt the interests of bona-fide refugees and the host communities,” he said.
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Yellen in China for Talks Focused On Stabilizing Ties

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived Thursday in Beijing to meet with Chinese officials as part of an effort to address strained relations between the two countries.

“I am glad to be in Beijing to meet with Chinese officials and business leaders,” Yellen said on Twitter. “We seek a healthy economic competition that benefits American workers and firms and to collaborate on global challenges.”

“We will take action to protect our national security when needed,” she added, “and this trip presents an opportunity to communicate and avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding.”

Yellen said U.S. President Joe Biden “charged his administration with deepening communication between our two countries on a range of issues, and I look forward to doing so during my visit.”

Treasury Department officials said ahead of the trip that Yellen would be discussing stabilizing the global economy, as well as challenging China’s support of Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yellen was not expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Her visit, which is scheduled to last through Sunday, follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month.

Yellen met earlier this week with China’s ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, where the Treasury Department said Yellen “raised issues of concern while also conveying the importance of the two largest economies working together on global challenges, including on macroeconomic and financial issues.”

Chinese state media said Xie expressed hope that the two countries will eliminate interference and strengthen dialogue.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Triumph for South Africa’s First Black Hot Air Balloon Pilot

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Apartheid ended in South Africa three decades ago, but Black people still struggle to enter luxury sports like hot air ballooning. Komane Harold Tjiane, 44, is in the process of breaking through that ceiling, training to become the country’s first black hot air balloon pilot. Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg.
Camera: Zaheer Cassim
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Romania Assumes Leading Role in West’s Support for Ukraine

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Sharing a border with Ukraine, Romania has become one of the European Union countries most exposed to the conflict and a key NATO supplier of weapons to Kyiv. Despite Romania’s support of Ukraine, its historically troubled relations with Ukraine still pose difficulties. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Bucharest.
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Wagner Leader Back in Russia, Lukashenko Says

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus and had returned to Russia.

Prigozhin went to Belarus as part of a deal to end an armed mutiny by his Wagner mercenary group last month.

Lukashenko brokered the agreement, which included security guarantees for Prigozhin and his fighters.

Lukashenko told reporters Thursday that his offer to allow some Wagner fighters to be stationed in Belarus still stood.

“At the moment the question of their transfer and setup has not been decided,” Lukashenko said. “I am absolutely not worried or concerned that we will host a certain number of these fighters here,” he added.

Prigozhin and his fighters launched their mutiny June 23 in a challenge to Russia’s military leadership.  They captured military headquarters in the southern Russian city of Roston-on-Don before moving toward Moscow.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Ariane 5 Blasts Off for Final Time Amid Europe’s Rocketing Challenges

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Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts.   

Faced with soaring global competition, the continent has unexpectedly found itself without a way to independently launch heavy missions into space due to delays to the next-generation Ariane 6 and Russia withdrawing its rockets. 

The 117th and final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket took place around 2200 GMT on Wednesday from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. 

The launch had been postponed twice. It was originally scheduled on June 16, but was called off because of problems with pyrotechnical lines in the rocket’s booster, which have since been replaced. 

Then Tuesday’s launch was delayed by bad weather. 

The Wednesday night flight went off without a hitch, watched by hundreds of spectators, including former French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, and was greeted with applause. 

Marie-Anne Clair, the director of the Guiana Space Centre, told AFP that the final flight of Ariane 5 was “charged with emotion” for the teams in Kourou, where the rocket’s launches have punctuated life for nearly three decades. 

The final payload on Ariane 5 is a French military communications satellite and a German communications satellite.  

The satellite “marks a major turning point for our armed forces: better performance and greater resistance to jamming,” French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu tweeted.  

Though it would become a reliable rocket, Ariane 5 had a difficult start. Its maiden flight exploded moments after liftoff in 1996. Its only other such failure came in 2002. 

Herve Gilibert, an engineer who was working on Ariane 5 at the time, said the 2002 explosion was a “traumatic experience” that “left a deep impression on us”. 

But the rocket would embark on what was ultimately a long string of successful launches.  

The initial stumbles had “the positive effect of keeping us absolutely vigilant,” Gilibert said. 

Reputation for reliability

Ariane 5 earned such a reputation for reliability that NASA trusted it to launch the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope in late 2021. 

The rocket’s second-last launch was in April, blasting the European Space Agency’s Juice spacecraft on its way to find out whether Jupiter’s icy moons can host alien life. 

Daniel Neuenschwander, the ESA’s head of human and robotic exploration, said that in commercial terms, Ariane 5 had been “the spearhead of Europe’s space activities.” 

The rocket was able to carry a far bigger load than its predecessor Ariane 4, giving Europe a competitive advantage and allowing the continent to establish itself in the communication satellite market. 

While waiting for Ariane 6, whose first launch was initially scheduled for 2020, Europe had been relying on Russia’s Soyuz rockets to get heavy-load missions into space. 

But Russia withdrew space cooperation with Europe in response to sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

The number of launches from Kourou fell from 15 in 2021 to six last year. 

Another blow came in December, when the first commercial flight of the next-generation Vega C light launcher failed. Last week, another problem was detected in the Vega C’s engine, likely pushing its return further into the future. 

Attention shifts to new rocket 

The launcher market has been increasingly dominated by billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. firm SpaceX, whose rockets are now blasting off once a week. 

Lacking other options, the ESA was forced to turn to rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for the successful launch of its Euclid space telescope on Saturday.  

The ESA will also use a SpaceX rocket to launch satellites for the EarthCARE observation mission. 

It remains unclear how the agency will launch the next round of satellites for the European Union’s Galileo global navigation system. 

At the Paris Air Show earlier this month, ESA chief Josef Aschbacher acknowledged that these were “difficult times,” adding that everyone was “working intensely” to get Ariane 6 and Vega-C ready.  

Ariane 6 was unveiled on a launch pad in Kourou earlier this month ahead of an ignition test of its Vulcain 2.1 rocket engine. 

Because the new rocket requires less staffing and maintenance, 190 out of 1,600 positions are being cut at the Kourou spaceport. 
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US Says Russian Jets Harassed Drones Over Syria

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The U.S. military said a group of three Russian fighter jets harassed three U.S. drones that were taking part in a mission Wednesday against Islamic State group targets in Syria.

Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, commander of the U.S. 9th Air Force in the Middle East, said the Russian jets dropped flares attached to parachutes in front of the U.S. drones, which forced the drones to take evasive action.

Grynkewich also said one of the Russian pilots maneuvered in front of a drone and engaged the jet’s afterburners, which affected the drone operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.

“We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Grynkewich said in a statement.

The U.S. military did not specify where in Syria the incident took place.

There are about 900 U.S. forces deployed to Syria to advise and assist Kurdish-led forces in the fight to defeat the Islamic State group.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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US Unseals Previously Blacked-Out Portions From Trump Search Warrant Application

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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday disclosed some of the previously blacked-out portions of a warrant application it submitted last year to gain authorization to search former President Donald Trump’s Florida property for classified documents.

Key portions of the document had already been made public, but media organizations including The Associated Press had pressed for further unsealing in light of a 38-count indictment last month charging Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, with concealing classified records at Mar-a-Lago from investigators. A magistrate judge, Bruce Reinhart, declined to order the Justice Department to unseal the search warrant affidavit in its entirety but did require prosecutors to publicly file a less-redacted affidavit.

The newly revealed paragraphs lay out important evidence that prosecutors had gathered well before the search took place, recounting how surveillance footage from inside the property showed dozens of boxes being relocated by a Trump aide in the days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited the home to collect records.

During that June 3, 2022, visit, law enforcement officials were handed an envelope of 38 classified documents and told that all records sought by a subpoena were being turned over and that a “diligent search” of the home had been done. But investigators had reason to believe that was not true based on the relocation of boxes that they had observed on video, and that additional records remained at the house.

The movement of boxes by Nauta was detailed in last month’s indictment, but its inclusion in the search warrant affidavit helps explain why the Justice Department felt it had probable cause to search Trump’s home on Aug. 8, 2022, and why investigators were concerned that documents were being intentionally withheld from them.

The affidavit recounts how someone identified only as “Witness 5” was seen on multiple days carrying either cardboard or bankers’ boxes in and out of the anteroom at the house. The affidavit does not mention Nauta by name, but the dates of the actions — as well as of an FBI interview “during which the location of boxes was a significant subject of questioning” — line up with the dates cited in the indictment.

Nauta is set to be arraigned in federal court in Miami on Thursday. Trump has already pleaded not guilty to more than three dozen felony counts, many alleging willful retention of national defense information. 
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Toxic Gas Leak Kills 16 in South Africa, Including 3 Children

Posted on by SeeAF

At least 16 people, including three children, died when toxic gas leaked from a cylinder near Johannesburg, South African police said Wednesday. 

Search and rescue teams were still working through the area trying to ascertain the extent of the casualties. 

The incident happened in an informal settlement in the city of Boksburg on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg, the South African Police Services said. 

Emergency services spokesman William Ntladi said the deaths were caused by a leak from a gas cylinder being kept in a shack in the Angelo settlement. He said the leak had stopped and teams were searching a 100-meter radius around the cylinder to check for more casualties. 

The bodies were still lying on the ground “in and around the area,” Ntladi said, and forensic investigators and pathologists were on their way to the scene. 

“We can’t move anybody,” Ntladi said. “The bodies are still where they are on the ground.” 

Police said the three children killed were age 1, 6 and 15. Two people were taken to the hospital for treatment, police said. 

Boksburg is the city where 41 people died after a truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas got stuck under a bridge and exploded on Christmas Eve. 

Ntladi said the initial information authorities had indicated the gas in the cylinder was being used by illegal miners to process gold inside a shack. He did not identify the type of gas. 

Illegal mining is rife in the gold-rich areas around Johannesburg, where miners go into closed off and disused mines to search for leftover deposits.
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Reuters to Appeal Turkey Ban on Web Article

Posted on by SeeEU

Reuters this week said that it will appeal a move by Turkey to block access to more than 90 web links and social media posts that used reporting by the news agency.

The ban relates to an article that said that Swedish and American anti-corruption authorities were reviewing a complaint that named the Turkish president’s son, Bilal Erdogan.

The Reuters article was translated into Turkish by several media outlets, including VOA’s Turkish Service.

An Istanbul Court on June 26 issued an order that blocks access to 93 web addresses that used the Reuters news article, its Turkish translations or information from the news agency. VOA’s Turkish Service is among those affected.

“This is the first time that access to a Reuters news article was banned within 24 hours [in Turkey],” Yaman Akdeniz, a cyber law professor at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, told VOA.

Reuters on Monday said it would appeal the ruling, which it said “runs contrary to Turkish legal protections for freedom of the press and expression.”

In its reporting, Reuters cited a lawyer for Bilal Erdogan as denying involvement and describing the allegations as “a web of lies.”

Reuters also noted that it could not “confirm independently whether Erdogan and his son Bilal were aware of or had involvement” in the alleged scheme.

A Reuters spokesperson told VOA that the agency stands by its story.

“Our story was prepared in keeping with the Thomson Reuters’ Trust Principles and our commitment to the publication of fair and accurate reporting in the global public interest,” the spokesperson said.

Ruling

The Turkish court ruling, seen by VOA, defined the Reuters article as “far from reality, unconfirmed, and far from goodwill,” adding that citing it in other media outlets “will not justify and legitimize the content.”

The ruling said, “Freedom of the press obliges those concerned to respect professional ethics, to provide accurate and reliable information, and to act in good faith. Malicious distortions of truth may exceed the limits of acceptable criticism.”

But media critics say that the ruling goes too far.

“The court ruled that Reuters’s article should not be credited, and its coverage should not be published,” Akdeniz said.

Yusuf Kanli, the director of the E.U.-funded Media for Democracy project, said, “The Turkish Constitution clearly states that the press is free and cannot be censored.”

“Instead of banning access to the reporting of the bribery claim, the request to ban access to these allegations should be prevented,” Kanli added.

Gurkan Ozturan, the coordinator of Media Freedom Rapid Response team at the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, thinks that blocking access to articles in Turkey has become a problem.

“In recent months, there has been an apparent increase in blocking access to news articles and content removal orders targeting local media organizations. This threatens people’s right to access information and media freedom deeply,” Ozturan told VOA.

In June 2022, for example, access to VOA Turkish was blocked after it declined to get a broadcasting license from Turkey’s media regulator, the Radio and Television Supreme Council.

Several Turkish authorities condemned the Reuters article and described it as disinformation.

And several pro-government media outlets under the Albayrak Media Group and TurkMedya said on social media they had ended their contract with Reuters.

Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish presidency’s director of communication, on Twitter condemned Reuters for what he said is a “false news story,” which he said made “baseless claims.”

“They have once again demonstrated to the entire world just how crucial our struggle against disinformation is,” Altun said.

Last year, Turkey’s parliament adopted a law that carries prison terms of up to three years for spreading “disinformation” online.

Asli Aral of VOA’s Turkish Service contributed from Ankara to this report, which originated in VOA’s Turkish Service.
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France Urged to Tackle Racism in Policing

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As the weeklong unrest in France subsides, the United Nations and several other international human rights organizations have called on the French government to reform its police forces and stop their controversial racial profiling practice.

“The government should take urgent action to reform the system of police stops,” six human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday.  

“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  

The calls were reiterated in the aftermath of the June 27 fatal shooting of Nahel Merzouk, 17, a French youth of Algerian descent, by a police officer outside Paris. The incident sparked widespread protests in nearly 200 cities and towns across France over the past week.  

“Nahel’s killing is another example of the effects of systemic racism,” Amnesty International has said.   

French authorities have defended the police, saying racism has no place in their ranks.  

“Any accusation of racism or systemic discrimination in the police force in France is totally unfounded,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement last week.

Bruno Le Maire, France’s economy minister, said on Tuesday that it is “unacceptable” to say French police are racist.

The French government deployed 45,000 police officers to restore calm. More than 3,400 people have been arrested for various crimes, chiefly physical assault and vandalism. Businesses in France have suffered more than $1 billion in losses caused during the protests, according to a French business association.  

The controversy surrounding racial profiling by the French police is not new, with critics decrying the use of generalizations based on race, ethnicity, religion and national origin as a discriminatory practice. Despite being illegal in France and facing legal challenges, the practice has persisted through a lack of executive action, according to human rights groups. 

“These practices are not only illegal under French and international human rights law, but they are above all violent, humiliating and degrading, and make those who experience them feel like second-class citizens,” read the statement from the six human rights organizations.  

In addition to deploying massive police forces to control the situation, the French government has reportedly considered banning access to social media to prevent organized rioting and violence.  

“We have to think about the social networks, about the bans we’ll have to put in place. When things get out of control, we might need to be able to regulate or cut them off,” French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted saying in a meeting on Tuesday.  

The French government’s response has also been criticized by some as both heavy-handed and ineffective.  

While human rights groups call for addressing systemic and institutional racism, some French politicians have demanded tougher actions against the rioters.
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Pentagon to Enhance Security for Classified Intelligence

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The U.S. Defense Department will not order a sweeping overhaul of its security procedures following a review of the leak of hundreds of classified documents earlier this year on a social media platform popular with gamers.

Results of the 45-day review, released Wednesday, instead call for a series of measures aimed at tightening existing security measures and improving communication so that officials in charge of secure facilities are taking all the necessary precautions.

“This review found that the overwhelming majority of DoD personnel with access to CNSI [Classified National Security Information] are trustworthy, and that all DoD Components demonstrate a broad commitment to security,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in a memo, dated June 30.

But Austin added that the review “identified areas where we can and must improve accountability.”

Pentagon officials announced the review in April after the arrest of 21-year-old Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira.

Teixeira has been charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information for removing intelligence documents from a secured work environment and posting them, as well as photos of other documents, for a small group on Discord.

Teixeira pleaded not guilty during a court hearing last month and remains in custody pending trial.

The Pentagon has already sought to reduce the number of employees with access to sensitive information and officials said the new recommendations seek to build on that. 

“There was no single point of failure,” a senior defense official said Wednesday, speaking to reporters about the review’s findings on the condition of anonymity.

“What we see here is we have a growing ecosystem of classified facilities and a body of personnel who are cleared,” the official said. “Within that we have opportunities to clarify policy … they are not the clearest documents always.” 

The official said that includes making sure Defense Department personnel understand when and how to report violations of security protocols.

The official also said efforts are underway to make sure employees are continually vetted and that managers have the information they need to revoke security clearances if something in an employee’s history necessitates a change.

Other changes called for in the review are aimed at improving physical security, including a mandate to install detection systems that would identify when a smart phone or other prohibited electronic device is brought into a secure facility.

According to a 2017 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, approximately 4 million people have U.S. security clearances, with 1.3 million cleared to access top secret information.

Following the disclosure of the Discord leak in April, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines called the incident, “deeply depressing … very frustrating.”

But she also urged officials not to overreact.

“What I think we all try to do is learn the right lessons and then not over-torque as a consequence,” Haines said at the time. “What I mean by that is to try to promote better practices, while at the same time not undermining our capacity to do appropriate sharing and to engage in our mission.”
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Powder Found in White House Wing Tests Positive for Cocaine

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A white powder discovered in a lobby area of the White House’s West Wing that prompted a brief evacuation Sunday evening tested positive for cocaine in a laboratory analysis, three people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Officials who found the powder in a small plastic envelope in the heavily trafficked part of the White House initially suspected illegal drugs, but they ran tests to ensure that the powder was not a more dangerous substance.

Investigators have not yet identified who brought the cocaine into the White House, according to the three people, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the inquiry and spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Joe Biden was at Camp David with members of his family for the holiday weekend when the powder was discovered, and the complex was briefly evacuated as a precaution. It’s routine for emergency teams to quickly test a suspicious substance on the scene to determine whether it’s hazardous and also to follow up with more sensitive lab tests later.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for securing the White House, was taking the lead on the investigation, consulting visitor logs and security footage.

The lobby is where many official visitors and staffers enter. It is also open to staff-led tours of the West Wing, which are scheduled for nonworking hours on the weekends and evenings.

The Secret Service said in a statement Tuesday the White House was closed as a precaution as emergency crews investigated, and that the District of Columbia Fire Department was called in to evaluate and determine that the substance was not hazardous.

“The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending,” the Secret Service said.
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Civilians Killed in Burkina Faso in Suspected Militant Attack

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Around 15 civilians were killed Wednesday by suspected jihadis in Burkina Faso, security and local sources told AFP, sparking an exodus of people fearing further bloodshed.  

“Terrorists carried out an attack early this morning in Sorgha,” in the eastern province of Gnagna, “which cost the lives of about 15 inhabitants, including women,” a local official told AFP.  

The attack was confirmed by a resident and security sources. 

Burkina, one of the world’s poorest nations, is struggling with a jihadis insurgency that swept in from Mali in 2015, and it has seen more than 10,000 civilians, troops and police killed, according to an NGO count. 

At least 2 million people have been displaced. 

Anger within the military at the failure to roll back the insurgency sparked two coups in Burkina Faso last year. 

Four attacks by suspected jihadis in Burkina Faso killed at least 40 volunteer militiamen and 39 regular soldiers last week, the army and security sources said. 

The two deadliest clashes took place in the Centre-Nord region on June 26 and early tolls spoke of dozens dead. 

The army said on June 30 that 33 members of auxiliary force Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland died in the fighting at Noaka, in Sanmatenga province. 

According to an army statement, about 50 suspected jihadis also died in the clash and a large amount of military material was recovered. 
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Environmental Activists Arrested at Wimbledon After Disrupting Match

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Two environmental activists were arrested at Wimbledon on Wednesday after getting on court and disrupting a match by scattering orange confetti and puzzle pieces on the grass.

A woman and a man wearing T-shirts from Just Stop Oil — a protest group that wants the British government to stop new oil, gas and coal projects — made it onto the field of play at Court 18 before being taken away by security. Later, during a different match at the same court, another man representing the same organization also threw orange confetti on the grass before security guards corralled him and dragged him away.

The initial interruption happened as three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who is seeded 21st in the men’s bracket, was about to hit a serve in the second set of a first-round match against Sho Shimabukuro of Japan.

Before the debris could be cleared from the court to allow the players to continue, action was halted by a rain delay.

“Following an incident on Court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the grounds,” an All England Club spokesperson said in a statement. “Play on the court was temporarily paused and, following a suspension in play due to a rain delay, play [resumed].”

One of the activists sat down on the court before being removed.

The All England Club coordinated with London police and other agencies to increase security for this year’s tournament, in part as a result of protests at other major sports venues in Britain this year.

“Based on what has happened at other sporting events, and on the advice from our key partners, we have reviewed our security plans, which have now been uplifted for The Championships accordingly,” All England Club operations director Michelle Dite said last week.

“We have plans in place to mitigate the risks working in partnership with specialist agencies and the Metropolitan Police and should an incident occur, the appropriate specialist teams will respond,” Dite said.

Her comments came a day after people representing Just Stop Oil briefly disrupted play about five minutes after the start of a cricket match between England and Australia in London. Players from both teams intervened when the protesters attempted to spread orange powder on the field.

Earlier in June, protesters held up the England cricket team bus briefly during the test against Ireland in London. Activists also have targeted Premier League soccer matches, the Premiership rugby final at Twickenham and the world snooker championship in Sheffield this year.
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