August 2023 - Page 12 of 27

Targeting of Journalists Covering Russia Raises Alarms

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

German authorities have said they are investigating an apparent poisoning of an exiled Russian journalist in Munich.

Elena Kostyuchenko, who had worked for the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta, fell ill with symptoms of being poisoned while traveling from Munich to Berlin last October.

Authorities reopened the investigation into the case in July, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. The inquiry comes as details emerged that two other female journalists or critics experienced similar symptoms.

The independent Russian media outlet The Insider this week revealed that at least three exiled Russians, including Kostyuchenko, appear to have been targeted with poisonings.

About a week after Kostyuchenko reported symptoms, Ekho Moskvy journalist Irina Babloyan had a similar experience while in Georgia, and Natalia Arno, head of the Free Russia Foundation, was affected by what The Insider described as a neurotoxic substance while she was in Prague.

In an interview this week with VOA’s Russian Service, Roman Dobrokhotov, founder and editor in chief of The Insider, said his team’s work on the case was just the beginning.

“Our publication is dictated by the desire to warn [exiled] Russian journalists and activists so that they realize that they need to think about their safety, that there is a real threat to their life and health,” Dobrokhotov said.

Reporters covered war in Ukraine

Kostyuchenko had reported on Russia’s war in Ukraine, including in Kherson, until one of her sources in the Ukraine military warned her of a possible assassination attempt, according to media reports.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called on authorities in Georgia and Germany to treat the suspected attacks “with the utmost seriousness.”

“Reports that Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Irina Babloyan may have been poisoned in Germany and Georgia are extremely alarming, and must be investigated at once,” CPJ’s Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement.

He called on both countries to “do all they can to safeguard the lives of journalists living in exile.”

Russian journalists fled after edicts

Many independent Russian journalists have fled since the war in Ukraine began, after Moscow imposed heavy sanctions and edicts on how media can report the war.

Moscow has also targeted foreign journalists. American reporter Evan Gershkovich marked his 20th week in prison this week.

The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested while on assignment on March 29 and was accused of espionage — a charge he and his media outlet denied.

And this week, Russia declined to renew media accreditation for two foreign journalists: Eva Hartog, who works for Politico and a Dutch weekly news publication, and Anna-Lena Lauren, a Finnish reporter who had worked in Russia for 16 years.

In Hartog’s case, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on social media that its decision to not extend a visa for someone from the Netherlands should not raise questions “given the harassment of Russian journalists and media outlets by the EU.”

Moscow has also previously cited treatment of Russian journalists, including for media accreditation, for its decision to limit U.S. consular visits to Gershkovich.

VOA’s Russian Service contributed to this report.
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Biden Administration Extends Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainian Nationals Living in US

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

The U.S. Homeland Security Department announced Friday that it was extending its Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainian and Sudanese nationals through spring 2025 because of the humanitarian crises in these war-torn countries.

Homeland Security also announced measures that would allow more Ukrainian and Sudanese nationals in the U.S. to apply for the status, including students from these countries who are studying in the United States so they can maintain their student status, even if they take fewer courses to work more.

“Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires that the United States continue to offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote. “We will continue to offer our support to Ukrainian nationals through this temporary form of humanitarian relief.”

The extension, from October 20, 2023, through April 19, 2025, will benefit about 26,000 current Ukrainian nationals with TPS, and it makes an estimated 166,700 additional applicants eligible for the temporary status, the department said.

Ukraine grain

Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as the best shipping route for Ukraine’s grain exports since Russia left the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, leaving the Black Sea corridor unprotected from Russian attacks.

“We hope that over 60% of the total volume of Ukrainian grain exports will transit Romania,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said after meeting Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Bucharest.

Constanta was one of the best alternative seaports for Ukrainian grain shipping even before the Black Sea grain deal was canceled.

Ukraine exported 8.1 million metric tons of grain through Constanta in the first seven months of this year, and 8.6 million metric tons throughout 2022.

While Romania is looking at boosting the transit of Ukrainian grain through Constanta to international markets, it is also looking at ways to protect local farmers from a surge of Ukrainian grain that could depress local grain prices.

Protests from farmers in Romania and four other eastern European Union countries prompted the EU to approve temporary trade restrictions of Ukrainian grain imports there.

The import ban expires September 15, and the five states have asked for it to be extended, at least until the end of the year.

Climbing casualties

The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, The New York Times reported Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The officials cautioned that casualty estimates were difficult because Moscow is believed to routinely underreport its war dead and injured and Kyiv does not provide official figures, the newspaper said.

However, the newspaper estimated that Russia’s military casualties were approaching 300,000, including as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injuries. Ukrainian deaths were close to 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, it said.

The Times cited the officials as saying the casualty count had risen since Ukraine began its counterattack earlier this year.

The Ukrainian military on Thursday claimed gains in its counteroffensive against Russian forces on the southeastern front. Kyiv said its forces had liberated the village of Urozhaine, about 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city. 

The advance is part of a drive toward the Sea of Azov and an effort to split Russia’s occupying forces in half.

However, Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

“Nothing ever goes as well as you would hope. They put mines everywhere. In a square meter, they’re [Ukrainian soldiers] finding five and six mines,” said General James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa, speaking virtually Friday to the Defense Writers Group.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, along with its humanitarian partners, is mobilizing more assistance to people in the Kharkiv region in the east, where fighting has recently intensified.

This week, two interagency convoys delivered 75 tons of food, materials for emergency home repairs, hygiene kits and other essential household items to communities close to the front line.

One of the convoys reached Kupiansk city with supplies for the surrounding areas. Civilians in this area have endured weeks of hostilities, with damage to houses and other civilian infrastructure and disruption of critical services.

Humanitarians are also supporting people being evacuated by the authorities from front-line areas to Kharkiv city and other safer locations.

F-16 fighter jets

The United States has given the nod to allies Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to officials. It was not immediately clear when Ukraine might receive the jets, and its pilots will need extensive training.

Hecker said there were no prospects currently for either Ukraine or Russia to gain the upper hand in the air.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to get air superiority as long as the number of surface-to-air missiles stays high enough,” Hecker said, responding to a question from VOA.

Hecker did note that if Ukraine ran out of its integrated air and missile defense ammo, “then it becomes a problem.”

“Both Ukraine and Russia have very good integrated air and missile defense systems,” he said. “That alone is what has prevented people [Russia or Ukraine] from getting air superiority.”

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said:  “We welcome Washington’s decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.” 

U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer and VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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UN Condemns Gang Attacks That Killed at Least 2,400 Haitians This Year

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

U.N. human rights officials on Friday denounced what they called the “extreme brutality” of gangs in Haiti, with thousands fleeing several neighborhoods in the country’s capital this week amid a surge in violence.

The killings have intensified in recent weeks as a reconnaissance mission from Kenya composed of nearly a dozen senior police officers was expected to arrive in Haiti on Friday, Kenyan media reported.

The eastern African country has offered to lead an international force to help Haiti’s understaffed police department quell gang violence. Haiti has about 10,000 officers to serve the Caribbean nation’s more than 11 million people.

Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Noor Gabow, who is leading the Kenyan mission, did not return a message seeking comment.

Earlier this month, the United States said it would introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize Kenya to lead a multinational police force and provide 1,000 officers. No timetable for the resolution has been given.

Kenya’s announcement raised concerns, given that its police force has been accused of killings and torture. On Wednesday, a former police officer considered to be Haiti’s most powerful gang leader warned he would fight any foreign armed force if it committed any abuses.

From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among those killed this week is a local municipal representative, his wife and child, she said.

Shamdasani said that the Grand Ravine gang began attacking several neighborhoods last week, killing some people for supporting a violent uprising by civilians that targets suspected gang members.

Since late April to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched as part of the movement dubbed “bwa kale.” Among them are 310 alleged gang members, 46 members of the public and a police officer, she said.

A Haitian nonprofit group reported that at least 15 people were killed from Aug. 13 to 16 during the attack by the Grand Ravine gang, including two police officers and two children. The Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights also said more than two dozen homes were torched.

Haiti’s National Police forced the gang out of one area on Tuesday, Shamdasani said.

“However, the situation remains extremely insecure as the police subsequently withdrew and gang members are still operating in surrounding areas,” she said.

The violence forced about 5,000 people to flee their homes this week. They joined more than 200,000 others who have done the same since last year, with many staying in makeshift and extremely unsanitary shelters.

On Thursday, Jerry Chandler, Haiti’s Civil Protection director, held a press conference to provide limited details on those affected by the recent surge in violence.

“Unfortunately, the Civil Protection cannot for the moment draw up an exhaustive assessment because we do not have access to the areas,” he said.

Chandler added that the government is distributing water and hot meals to those displaced.

Haitian gangs have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are estimated to now control up to 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.
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‘I Am Evil’: British Nurse Murdered Seven Newborn Babies

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

A British nurse who described herself as a “horrible evil person” was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill another six in the neonatal unit of a hospital in northwest England where she worked.

Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls at the Countess of Chester hospital and attacking other newborns, often while working night shifts, in 2015 and 2016.

The verdict, following a harrowing 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court, makes Letby Britain’s most prolific serial child killer in modern history, local media said.

She was found not guilty of two attempted murders while the jury, who spent 110 hours deliberating, were unable to agree on six other suspected attacks.

“We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb, we may never truly know why this happened,” the families of Letby’s victims said in a statement.

Prosecutors told the jury Letby poisoned some of her infant victims by injecting them with insulin, while others were injected with air or force-fed milk, sometimes involving multiple attacks before they died.

“I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them,” said a handwritten note found by police officers who searched her home after she was arrested. “I am a horrible evil person,” she wrote. “I AM EVIL I DID THIS.”

Some of those she attacked were twins — in one case she murdered both siblings, in two instances she killed one but failed in her attempts to murder the other.

The youngest victim was just 1 day old.

‘Malevolent presence’

Letby will be sentenced on Monday and faces a lengthy prison term, possibly a rare full life sentence.

Her actions came to light when senior doctors became concerned at the number of unexplained deaths and collapses at the neonatal unit, where premature or sick babies are treated, over 18 months from January 2015.

With doctors unable to find a medical reason, police were called in. After a lengthy investigation, Letby, who had been involved in the care of the babies, was pinpointed as the “constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse,” said prosecutor Nick Johnson.

Pictures of Letby on social media portrayed a happy and smiling woman with a busy social life, and in one photo she was seen cradling a baby. But, during months of often distressing evidence, her trial heard she was a determined killer.

The jury was told how Letby had tried on four occasions to murder one baby girl before she finally succeeded. When another of the victim’s mothers walked in on her attacking twin babies, she said “Trust me, I’m a nurse.”

At her home after her arrest, detectives found paperwork and medical notes with references to the children involved in the case. She had also carried out social media searches for the parents and families of the murdered babies.

Letby wept when she gave evidence over 14 days, saying she had never tried to hurt the babies and had only ever wanted to care for them, blaming unsafe staffing levels on the hospital ward and its dirty conditions.

She also claimed four doctors had conspired to pin the blame on her for the unit’s failings and said she had written the “I am evil” message because she had felt overwhelmed.

‘They could have stopped it’

But the prosecution said she was a cold, cruel, calculating liar who had repeatedly changed her account of events and said her notes should be treated as a confession.

Detectives said they had found nothing unusual about Letby’s life and could not determine any motive.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever know unless she just chooses to tell us,” said Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who led the investigation.

One senior doctor at the neonatal unit, Stephen Brearey, told the BBC that hospital bosses had failed to investigate allegations against Letby and failed to act on his and his colleagues’ concerns.

“Our staff are devastated by what has happened, and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned,” said Nigel Scawn, medical director at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The government said it had ordered an independent inquiry, which would include how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with.

The father of twins who survived Letby’s attempts to kill the children demanded answers from the hospital.

“They could have stopped it,” said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Police are carrying out further investigations into all the time Letby had worked as a nurse at the hospital and at another hospital in Liverpool where she had trained, to identify if there were any more victims.

“There is a number of cases that are active investigations that parents have been informed of,” Hughes said.
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WHO, US Health Authorities Tracking New COVID-19 Variant

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

The World Health Organization and U.S. health authorities said Friday they are closely monitoring a new variant of COVID-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.

The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance “due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries,” it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.

So far, the variant has been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed it is also closely monitoring the variant, in a message on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

There are four known sequences of the variant, the WHO has said.

“The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations are presently unknown and undergoing careful assessment,” the WHO said.

Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology at University College London, said the attention attracted by the new variant was warranted.

“BA.2.86 is the most striking SARS-CoV-2 strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron,” he said in a comment published Friday, referring to the variant that exploded onto the global stage in the winter of 2022, causing a surge in COVID cases.

“Over the coming weeks we will see how well BA.2.86 will be faring relative to other Omicron subvariants,” he said.

He stressed, though, that even if BA.2.86 caused a major spike in infections, “we are not expecting to witness comparable levels of severe disease and death than we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants spread.”

“Most people on earth have now been vaccinated and/or infected by the virus,” he said, pointing out that even if people were reinfected with the new variant, “immune memory will still allow their immune system to kick in and control the infection far more effectively.”

The WHO is currently monitoring upwards of 10 variants and their descent lineages.

Most countries that had established surveillance systems for the virus have since dismantled operations, determining it is no longer as severe and therefore could not justify the expense — a move the WHO has denounced, calling instead for stronger monitoring.

In the last reporting period between July 17 and Aug. 13, more than 1.4 million new cases of COVID-19 were detected and more than 2,300 deaths were reported, according to a WHO statement.

The case load represents a rise of 63% from the previous 28-day period, while deaths were down by 56%.

As of Aug. 13, there were more than 769 million cases of COVID-19 confirmed and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide, although the real toll is thought to be much higher because many cases went undetected.
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UN Weekly Roundup: Aug. 12-18, 2023

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Security Council discusses DPRK human rights

The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday that many of the severe and widespread rights violations in North Korea are directly linked to the regime’s pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technology. Volker Türk told a special meeting of the Security Council on human rights in North Korea that the use of forced labor and confiscation of wages from overseas workers “all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons.”

Secretary-general proposes options for Haiti multinational force

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to “act now” and deploy a robust non-U.N. armed force to Haiti to support the national police in stopping the gang violence that is overwhelming the island nation. In a report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said the current situation is not conducive to a U.N. peacekeeping mission, and he offered two options for the United Nations to support a multinational force. The first would provide logistical support for the multinational force and the Haitian national police. The second option would be strengthening the U.N. special political mission in Haiti, known by its acronym BINUH, to expand its current support to the Haitian police.

Education envoy urges ICC to prosecute Taliban for gender discrimination

U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court should investigate and pursue charges against the Taliban for their denial of basic rights to Afghan women and girls. He told reporters that denying Afghan girls an education and women the right to work is gender discrimination, which should rise to the level of a crime against humanity and be prosecuted by The Hague-based tribunal.

U.N. and NGO leaders call for immediate cease-fire and ‘reset’ in Sudan

As the fighting in Sudan entered its fifth month this week, the heads of U.N. agencies and several NGO leaders issued a joint statement appealing to the parties to end the war. They said that the situation is spiraling out of control and that millions of Sudanese, including 6 million on the verge of famine, are paying the price.

In brief

— U.N. West Africa envoy Leonardo Santos Simão is due to arrive Friday in the capital of Niger. He is expected to meet with the military leaders behind the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum. A U.N. spokesperson said the envoy remains in contact with member states of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, stakeholders in Niger and other concerned parties in order to facilitate a swift and peaceful resolution to the crisis.

— U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths made a three-day visit to Myanmar this week, where he met with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Griffiths called for expanded humanitarian access and increased funding to assist 18 million people in need of assistance across the country. U.N. aid operations are only 22% funded eight months into the year. Nearly 2 million people are displaced inside Myanmar. Griffiths traveled to Rakhine State, which is still coping with the impact from cyclone Mocha three months ago.

— The U.N. children’s agency says Congo is facing its worst cholera outbreak since 2017 with more than 31,000 suspected or confirmed cases. At least 230 deaths were recorded from January to July, many of them children. UNICEF says North Kivu is the most affected province. With more than 6.3 million people displaced across the country, many in overcrowded camps without sufficient clean water, humanitarians worry about it being fertile ground for the disease to spread. UNICEF is appealing for $62.5 million to scale up its prevention and response activities over the next five months. Ethiopia is also dealing with a large cholera outbreak in the Oromia, Sidama, SNNP and Somali regions, where more than 16,800 cases have been reported, including 212 cholera-related deaths.

Did you know?

The General Assembly designated Aug. 19 as World Humanitarian Day to honor the work and sacrifice of humanitarians. The date is in memory of the 22 U.N. staffers who were killed on that day in 2003 when their Baghdad compound was struck in a suicide truck bomb attack. This year’s theme is the importance, effectiveness and positive impact of humanitarian work. Aid workers carry out their duties in complex and often dangerous environments. So far this year, 62 humanitarian workers have been killed, 84 wounded and 34 kidnapped.
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UN Rights Chief to Niger Junta: Stand Down, Restore Democracy

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called on Niger’s generals to end their illegal takeover of the country, release the democratically elected president, and immediately restore constitutional order.

In a prepared statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted that the people of Niger, “one of the poorest countries in the world,” have been forced to endure even more misery following last month’s military coup.

“The people have already been through so much hardship over the years,” he said. “Now the very people who they elected to build a pathway to end their destitution have been removed by force against the constitutional order and detained by the coup leaders. They must be released at once, and democracy restored.”

President Mohamed Bazoom, his son, and wife have been held in reportedly “difficult living conditions” in the basement of his palace in Niamey since the July 26 coup.

Türk said he was very concerned about the coup leaders’ announced decision to prosecute Bazoom and his allies for high treason.

“This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected president but has no legal basis as the normal functioning of democratic institutions have been cast aside,” he said.

He warned this action would lead to further instability, repression, and suffering for the people in Niger, noting that there has been a noticeable clampdown on civic space since the generals took power.

“The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake,” he added. “President Bazoom was the first democratically elected president in the country’s coup-prone history in 2021. Generals cannot take it upon themselves to defy, at a whim, the will of the people.

“Rule-by-gun has no place in today’s world,” he said.

ECOWAS ready to intervene

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said it is ready to intervene militarily in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail to restore constitutional rule in the country.

U.N. human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani warned any military option carries with it potential risks. She said Türk is concerned about the regional implications of a military intervention and the impact it would have on the human rights and protection of civilians.

“As the high commissioner has pointed out, this is the sixth coup in the region in just the past three years, the others being Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso — two in Mali and two in Guinea. So, the regional implications of any security situation are already very clear,” she said.

Niger, like neighboring states in Africa’s Sahel region, has been battling violent Islamist and sectarian insurgencies for a decade, adding to the country’s poverty.

Commenting on the coup, Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “We are deeply concerned about the spiraling situation in Niger, a country that already faces two large-scale humanitarian crises in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad basin.”

Egeland warned of “very serious risks of further destabilization” for both the country and the wider volatile region.

“We are particularly worried about the fallout of any conflict on refugees coming from ECOWAS countries, and about new forced displacements an armed escalation could prompt,” he said.

Latest figures from the U.N. refugee agency puts the number of forcibly displaced people in Niger at 730,000. U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said that includes almost 350,000 refugees, just over 50,000 asylum seekers, and nearly 350,000 internally displaced people.

“The situation now is very fluid,” said Saltmarsh. “We have not as of yet seen significant cross-border movements of people from Niger since the coup … but, of course, we are monitoring the situation around the borders very, very closely and are ready to respond if needed.”

Millions hungry, vulnerable

More than 10 million people — over 40% of Niger’s population — is mired in extreme poverty.

Following the military coup, ECOWAS imposed trade and financial sanctions, which have resulted in severe power cuts, surging food prices and increased hardship for Niger’s impoverished masses.

According to preliminary analyses from the World Food Program, some 7.3 million moderately food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis.

“Already prior to the coup, one in six people needed humanitarian assistance,” said Egeland.

He said the sanctions and suspensions of development aid would worsen conditions for a population already under heavy strain, exposing an estimated 1.4 million people to additional risks “such as youth enrollment into armed groups, child labor and underage marriage.”

Human rights chief Türk said sanctions must not include humanitarian aid as millions of people are reliant on this assistance.

Spokesperson Shamdasani said the high commissioner insists any sanctions that are imposed “need to be very carefully targeted to assess the potential human rights impact on the population.”

She noted that more than 100 trucks carrying food and other livelihoods were stranded at the border between Benin and Niger due to the ECOWAS sanctions.

“We are calling at least for humanitarian exemptions to sanctions to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation in the country,” she said.
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UN This Week: North Korea Rights, Haiti Violence

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

Human rights in North Korea and gang violence in Haiti. VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer has more on the top stories this week at the United Nations.
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US Military Preparing for Worst-Case Scenario, Evacuation From Niger

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

Planning is underway for a possible U.S. military evacuation from Niger, even though a top U.S. general says any final decision is still “weeks away.”

The commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa told reporters Friday his headquarters is preparing for a range of possible scenarios that could force some 1,100 U.S. troops to abandon two airbases that have been critical to U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

“We’ll be ready if something happens,” General James Hecker said during a virtual briefing with members of the Defense Writers Group.

“There’s a lot of hypotheticals we can come up with why and if we should evacuate,” he said. “We just have to be prepared for all of them … of course, we’re hoping we use none.”

U.S. officials have been warning for weeks that Washington could withdraw its support for Niger if military officials who deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum last month fail to return him to power.

But despite such threats, the U.S., has so far refused to call the situation in Niger a coup, a designation which could have far ranging impacts for the currently military partnership.

A coup designation “certainly changes what we’d be able to do in the region and how we’d be able to partner with the Nigerien military,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters earlier this week.

“We’ve been very clear it certainly looks like an attempted coup,” she said, adding, “Niger is quite a critical partner to us in the region and so we are hopeful that we can resolve this in a diplomatic way.”

The U.S. currently has about 1,100 troops in Niger as part of a counterterrorism mission focused on al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates in the region.

Most of the troops are located at two air bases, Air Base 201 in the Nigerien city of Agadez, on the edge of the Saharan desert, and Air Base 101 in the capital of Niamey.

Air Base 201, a $110 million, U.S.-built facility, has been especially pivotal for the counterterrorism mission, conducting drone flights with MQ-9 Reapers since 2019.

Hecker, on Friday, called the planning for a possible evacuation from the two bases prudent and precautionary, adding his teams have even considered scenarios in which they are called upon to evacuate civilians and even the U.S. embassy under duress.

Planning is also underway for possible alternative bases for U.S. air assets should they have to leave Niger.

“We will obviously look to some other allies in the west [of Africa] there that we could maybe partner up with and then move our assets there,” Hecker said.

“We’ve just started looking at that … where we would like the base to be,” he said in response to a question from VOA. “But more of that is going to be diplomatic through the State [Department] on where we decide to go.”

For now, though, Hecker said, there are few signs of tension between the Nigerien military and the U.S. troops on the ground.

“Right now, we’re not going anywhere,” he said. “Right now, there’s not a need to go anywhere.”

“That decision is not anywhere close to being made yet,” Hecker added. “We have weeks, if not much longer, before our civilian leadership is going to give an order.”
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Niger Junta Clings to Power 3 Weeks After Coup

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

Three weeks into the coup in Niger, the military junta continues to cling to power while West African army chiefs hold a second day of talks in Ghana to determine whether their next course of action is diplomacy or a military intervention.

West African defense ministers held a second day of talks on Friday in Ghana’s capital, Accra, where they are mapping out a possible military intervention if diplomacy fails to reinstate Niger’s deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

Rida Lyammouri, an analyst who has done a lot of field work in the Sahel/Lake Chad Basin, says the West African bloc, ECOWAS, is in a difficult position trying to discourage coups in the region but grappling with whether diplomacy or military intervention is the best deterrent.

“At the moment there are still some divisions in terms of the military intervention not only between ECOWAS and the African Union but also among the ECOWAS members, as well as the position of regional members that are excluded from these meetings who are currently run by junta, – like Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea,” said Lyammouri.

Lyammouri, also a senior fellow at the Policy Center New South, a Moroccan-based policy research firm in Washington told VOA, a military intervention could not only be catastrophic to Niger but also to other countries in the already volatile region. And, he says, it could spill over beyond the Sahel.

“I think North African countries do have a role to play in terms of their diplomatic effort – because North Africa should be and would be concerned if there’s a military intervention because of borders, Algeria specifically but also there are lots of economic and diplomatic ties between North Africa and Niger and West Africa in general. Morocco has a lot of economic interest with Niger in terms of food security – telecom, insurance, banking, etc,” said Lyammouri.

Emira Woods is the executive director of the Green Leadership Trust and also a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She applauds the recent efforts by regional religious leaders who visited Niamey.

“We had an incredible engagement of faith leaders coming from the region to Niger, stepping forward to say war is not the answer, to say diplomacy must be first and foremost to find a path to the democratic process,” said Woods.

Woods says it is time for African unity and directly points the finger at the West.

“What we have before us is an incredible juxtaposition of the international community with its interest and focus on resources, particularly the uranium that’s in Niger, and building up military forces, training and equipping those military forces,” said Woods.

Most Western countries have condemned the coup and have thrown their support behind efforts by the African Union and the ECOWAS bloc.

Niger holds strategic economic and geopolitical significance internationally. Uranium and oil, two natural resources plentiful in Niger, are sought after in the international commodities market. And under President Bazoum, the country was a big ally to the West in the fight against insurgency groups in the region linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Junta leaders have justified toppling the democratically elected president because they accused him of not handling rampant insecurity in some parts of the country. On Wednesday, 17 of its soldiers were killed in an ambush by insurgents about 60 kilometers from the Nigerien capital, Niamey, in an area that borders Burkina Faso.

“What we have is an undermining of peace and security in the region that goes back to – the ouster of [Moammar] Gadhafi in Libya and the flow of weapons into Libya, and then from Libya throughout the region in the Sahel. What we have is a steady equipping of military actors and literally laying the groundwork for these military actors to gain power, strength, visibility and legitimacy in a way that has emboldened them to launch coups – from Mali, Burkina, to now Niger and of course you have a similar situation on the other side of the Sahel, in the Sudan region,” said Woods.

Sudan’s two rival generals have been engaged in a brutal war against each other the past four months, with no end in sight.

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Firefighters Battle All Night to Halt Wildfire in Spain’s Popular Tourist Island of Tenerife

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

Firefighters battled overnight to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination, officials said Friday.

The fire in the north of the island, which started late Tuesday, has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people in eight municipalities.

Television images and videos posted on social media showed the flames coming down the hill close to houses in small neighborhoods and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.

The fire is located up in a pine wooded mountain area with several municipalities on its flanks, including Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west.

Army captain Rafael San José told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight in stopping the fire’s spread but that rising temperatures during the day would increase difficulties.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years, because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

Canary Islands regional President Fernando Clavijo said late Thursday the blaze, which has scorched 3,200 hectares, was still very virulent but that fortunately there had been no injuries so far.

He said Friday’s efforts would be crucial to containing the fire.

The north of the island was forecast to have a maximum temperature of 84 F Friday with light winds of 20 kph, though temperatures were set to rise further over the weekend.

The flames cover a perimeter of 40 kilometers encircling some 4,000 hectares of land.

Nearly 300 firefighters and Spanish army soldiers are in the area, which is in the northeast of the island, some 20 kilometers away from its main town, Santa Cruz.

Tenerife is one of Europe’s main tourist destinations. Its tourism office stressed Thursday that the most important tourist areas are far from the fire. Business continues as usual in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist sites near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

But access to the Teide National Park, the most important tourist attraction in Tenerife after the beaches, was closed Thursday evening and all tourist facilities around the Teide volcano area, including accommodation, were to be evacuated.

Clavijo claimed the fire was the worst in 40 years. He said the combination of extreme temperatures and the fire had turned the area into a virtual oven.

The seven-island archipelago is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma Island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares.

Wildfires have burned almost 64,000 hectares in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to Spanish government data. That’s the third highest figure in the last decade.

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares burned in the European Union in 2022, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
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Cameroon Suspends Work Contracts; Foreign Workers There Illegally Must Leave

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

Officials in Cameroon suspended the work contracts of several thousand foreign workers, including Africans, Chinese and Europeans, and ordered them to obtain work permits and pay taxes within a month or leave the country.

The Cameroon government said that only about 100 of more than 2,000 foreign workers from China, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad are authorized to work in gold mines and export timber near Cameroon’s eastern border with the Central African Republic.

More than 10,500 of an estimated 11,000 foreign workers in the central African nation do not have work permits, government officials said.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon’s employment minister, said a majority of foreign workers are acting in bad faith. By not paying taxes, foreign workers have deprived Cameroon of more than $25 million since January, he said.

Bakary said that this week government officials in Cameroon’s 360 districts were ordered to make sure foreign workers obtain work permits and pay taxes or leave within 30 days.

Cameroon’s employment ministry said that a relaunch of construction, mining and exploration for gas and oil has caused an influx of Chinese and European engineers.

The government said several thousand foreign workers in northern and eastern gold mines and forests deceived Cameroon consular officers to receive tourist visas.

The government said it cannot afford to allow more than 10,000 illegal foreign workers in Cameroon when more than 70% of its 27 million citizens either lack jobs or are underemployed.

Florent Djounou, who owns a wood company that employs 30 Chinese and eight Europeans, spoke on behalf of foreign workers at a meeting with Cameroon’s employment minister in Batouri, near Cameroon’s border with the Central African Republic.

He said that foreign workers understand they should respect Cameroon’s laws before carrying out economic activity, but that they were surprised when at least 1,000 contracts were suspended even before the Cameroon government publicly asked foreign workers to obtain permits.

European and Chinese workers often are able to obtain work permits, Djounou said, but Africans, especially those displaced by conflicts in their own countries, may not have the financial means to pay for their permits.

Prices of timber and wood have risen 15% because huge quantities of wood cannot leave eastern forests where the government has put a stop to activities of foreign workers, he said.

Bakary said foreign laborers will be allowed to work freely when they obtain their permits.

The employment of foreign workers is subject to special procedures in Cameroon. Potential workers are obliged to declare their wages and allowances, including transportation and accommodation, which are used to determine how much is paid to obtain a visa.

A 2022 law institutes a fee equivalent of two months’ wages for non-African workers and one month’s wages for African workers before work permits are issued. The law went into effect this year.
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Comics Helping Overcome Anxieties, Trauma

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

Comic books can be a great way to help people work through emotional trauma. For VOA, Genia Dulot reports on comics that encourage children and adults to share their feelings and address issues of mental health
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Expansion, De-Dollarization on Agenda as South Africa Hosts BRICS

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

The BRICS group of developing economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – meet in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday for their annual summit, during which expansion of the bloc is expected to figure high on the agenda.

On the surface, the members of this bloc have little in common. Brazil, India and South Africa are democracies, while China and Russia are autocracies. However, one thing they do share is a disillusionment with the current U.S.-led world order and a desire to create an alternative in which the Global South has more clout.

If the number of new countries looking to join the bloc is any indication, this is proving to be a popular idea. Some 40 nations, including Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are all interested in joining, and discussions about new members will likely feature high on the agenda of the summit, with BRICS members differing on the benefits of expansion.

While some analysts, including Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the acronym, say the group has not actually achieved much since its founding in 2009, Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue at the University of South Africa, disputes that.

“There are over 40 countries that have expressed an interest in joining BRICS,” said Kubayi. “Clearly those more than 40 countries have seen something, you know, some sort of benefit or use or value of BRICS to want to join it.”

And this is how South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor put it last week.

“The current geopolitical context has driven renewed interest in BRICS membership as countries of the Global South look for alternatives in a multipolar world.”

Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International affairs, said if more nondemocratic states join it could make the bloc more stridently anti-Western.

“Certainly, if BRICS expands and includes countries like Iran, this will definitely enhance the anti-Western tone and tenor of discussions,” said Gruzd.

Already, BRICS accounts for some 40% of the world’s population, and an estimated one-quarter of global gross domestic product. In terms of purchasing power parity, BRICS countries now have a larger share of global economic activity than G-7 countries.

A previously touted BRICS common currency is not something that will be discussed, according to South African organizers. However, the bloc’s New Development Bank does want to de-dollarize.

“The other issue that’s going to be talked about is the currencies that countries trade in and talk about more trade in local currencies rather than U.S. dollars,” said Gruzd.

Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Xi Jinping of China, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil have all confirmed their attendance. Russia will be sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while President Vladimir Putin will be taking part remotely as he is wanted for war crimes in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court.

As a signatory to the court, Pretoria would be obliged to arrest Putin if he entered the country, a diplomatic nightmare they have now avoided.

Separately, Ramaphosa will host Xi on the sidelines of the summit for an official state visit. China is South Africa’s biggest trading partner.
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US Gave Approval for Delivery of F-16’s, Officials Say

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said: “We welcome Washington’s decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.”

The U.S. must approve F-16 transactions because the jets are made in the United States. Despite the news, it was not immediately clear when Ukraine would receive the jets. Pilots must undergo extensive training before Ukraine can receive the jets.

Earlier Friday, Ukraine attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow, but Russian forces downed the unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Russia shot down the drone, debris from the attack fell on Moscow’s Expo Center, a massive exhibitions space, located less than 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the wreckage from the drone fell near the Expo Center but “did not cause significant damage.”

The British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily update on Ukraine that Russia has published a new Russian history textbook for schools “in the occupied regions of Ukraine and throughout the Russian Federation,” beginning in September. The ministry posted on X, that “Russia’s aim is to create a pro-Kremlin information space in the occupied regions in order to erode Ukrainian national identity.”

Ukraine claimed Thursday that its counteroffensive had retaken parts of Russian-controlled land in the southeastern part of the country in a push beyond the newly liberated village of Urozhaine.

The advance is an attempted drive toward the Sea of Azov, an effort to split Russia’s occupying forces in half.

“In the direction south of Urozhaine, [Ukrainian troops] had success,” military spokesman Andriy Kovaliov said on national television. He gave no more details.

Urozhaine, in the eastern Donetsk region, was the first village Kyiv said it had retaken since July 27 in what has proved to be a difficult, grinding warfare in heavily mined Russian-controlled territory.

Urozhaine lies just over 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, said Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske were not under Ukrainian control.

Drone footage, however, of the intense fight for Urozhaine, has emerged in which dozens of Russian troops can be seen fleeing to the village’s south.

Russia controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula it annexed in 2014, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russia damaged grain infrastructure at a port in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine as part of an overnight drone attack.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Telegram that the attack targeted the port of Reni on the Danube River. 

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that the attack damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities at the port.

Kiper said there were no reported casualties from the attack, and that Ukraine’s air force had downed 11 Russian drones over Odesa. The Ukrainian military said its air defenses destroyed 13 drones overnight and that Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones to target Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Black Sea shipping

The Hong-Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte left Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Wednesday.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the vessel was the first to set off down a temporary Black Sea corridor that Ukraine established for civilian ships following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Joseph Schulte was carrying 30,000 metric tons of cargo, Kubrakov said. The vessel had been stuck in Odesa since Russian launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has not said whether it will respect Ukraine’s shipping corridor. On Sunday, a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots at a vessel after what Russia said was a failure by the captain to respond to a request for an inspection.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Camp David Trilateral Summit Cements US-Japan-ROK ‘Commitment to Consult’ in a Crisis

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

Amid the lush greenery of Catoctin Mountain Park, the U.S. presidential retreat Camp David will once again be the setting of a historic milestone in international diplomacy — the cementing of a trilateral alliance between the U.S. and its two main Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, to strengthen deterrence against North Korea and China.

The goal of Friday’s summit, hosted by President Joe Biden, is “to lock in trilateral engagement,” including a pledge by Washington, Tokyo and Seoul to create a three-way hotline and consult with one another during a regional crisis, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing Thursday. The official spoke under condition of anonymity, as is customary when discussing foreign policy and security issues.

The three countries will commit that when faced with a regional contingency or threat they will immediately consult, share intelligence and align policy actions in tandem with one another, a second senior administration official said in the same briefing.

“What it seeks to acknowledge and build in its core is the fact that we do share a fundamentally interlinked security environment,” she said. “Something that poses a threat to any one of us fundamentally poses a threat to all of us.”

The second official insisted the pledge is not a formal military alliance or a collective defense commitment — as China and North Korea have called it. Pyongyang and Beijing have characterized the Camp David summit as Washington’s gambit to create a “mini-NATO” in Asia.

The duty to consult during crisis caps off a myriad of other trilateral defense cooperation pledges, including regular military exercises and ballistic missile drills, as well as new collaboration on economic security — strengthening semiconductor supply chains, cyber security and artificial intelligence. The three nations are also set to adopt the “Camp David Principles,” a series of values and norms on peace and prosperity within the Indo-Pacific region.

The deliverables of Friday’s summit are only possible after a détente in relations between South Korea and Japan, its former occupier, following months of diplomacy between the Yoon and Kishida governments to put aside their fraught history and mutual distrust to deal with more imminent mutual security challenges.

“Korea and Japan are now partners who share universal values and pursue common interests,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said earlier this week in a speech marking the 78th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 35-year colonial rule that ended in 1945.

Hedge against reversal

Behind the U.S. push to institutionalize the engagement is the need to hedge against the risk of reversal if liked-minded leaders do not succeed Yoon or Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kushida or Biden.

With more than three years left in his term, Yoon is pushing hard right now also, said Karl Friedhoff, a fellow for Asia Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “By the time he is out of office, this meeting will be seen as a normal part of Korea-Japan relations,” he told VOA.

Focusing on deterrence on North Korea and China is a way to gain domestic political support in Seoul and Tokyo.

“These are politically acceptable, and indeed, necessary mechanisms that should not have a lot of political pushbacks,” said Shihoko Goto, acting director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. “Japan and Korea recognize that the Indo-Pacific landscape is very tumultuous.”

Administration officials would not clarify whether the three-way consultation in the event of a regional crisis would include a contingency in the Taiwan Strait.

While a coordinated response to an attack from Beijing may be something that Washington envisions in the long term, South Korea is not as aligned with the U.S. as Japan is when it comes to the China threat, said Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist specializing in East Asian security at the RAND Corporation.

“Given that it’s been difficult for Japan and Korea to really cooperate on most things, I think start with their mutual concern, which is North Korea,” he told VOA. “And maybe in the future, branch that out once they work the kinks out of their cooperation.”

South Korea has already indicated willingness to broaden the trilateral response.

Kim Tae-hyo, Korea’s principal deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Seoul on Thursday that cooperation will evolve from focusing on the North Korean threat to a more comprehensive one aiming to build “freedom, peace and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific region.”

Future summits

The leaders will commit that “future leaders will meet on an annual basis” without allowing them to “backtrack from the commitments” made at Camp David, the first senior administration official said.

“What we are seeking to do is not just lock in Japan and South Korea, but lock in the United States, to make clear to everyone that we are here to stay in the Indo Pacific region,” he added.

Locking it in matters. There is concern that American pledges of cooperation could be undone should Donald Trump be elected again in 2024.

Under his “America First” doctrine during his presidency, Trump withdrew the U.S. from various international treaties and regional engagements. The former president is also remembered for his mercurial relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he once threatened with “fire and fury,” but later said he “fell in love” with.
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Victory for Niger’s Coup Leaders Would be ‘The End of Democracy’ in Africa, Politician Warns

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeAF

If mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent, a high-ranking member of Bazoum’s political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press.

Boubacar Sabo, deputy secretary general for the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, said Bazoum had been “kidnapped” by members of the presidential guard who overthrew him on July 26 and have since kept him under house arrest.

“What is happening in Niger, if it succeeds, is the end of democracy in Africa. It’s over. … If we fight today, it is to prevent these kind of things from happening and to ensure a future for our continent,” Sabo said Thursday.

In a region rife with coups, Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The overthrow of the president nearly one month ago has been a big blow to the United States, France and other European nations, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into training Niger’s army and — in the case of the French — conducting joint military operations.

Since the military seized power, in what analysts and locals say was triggered by an internal struggle between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he’s now in charge, it’s been shoring up support among the population, exploiting grievances toward its former colonial ruler France and silencing opposers.

Sabo is one of the few openly outspoken critics of the junta still in the country and not in hiding.

Several ministers and high-ranking politicians are detained, with human rights groups saying they are unable to access them, while others have been threatened, he said. Sabo called the groundswell of support for the regime in the capital deceptive, because the junta was paying people to rally in its favor. Niamey was also never a stronghold for Bazoum and the junta is being opportunistic, he said.

Pro junta rallies happen almost daily with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching through the streets, honking cars and waving Nigerien and Russian flags and chanting “down with France.” The junta has severed military agreements with France and asked Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group for help.

But although there was real frustration from political parties and civil society organizations toward Bazoum’s party, including disagreements with its military alliance with France, it’s unclear how much genuine support the junta has in the capital and across the country, Sahel experts say.

“While many of those protesters may support the transition, it is probably the case that a sizeable amount of them are present only for monetary reasons or out of curiosity and the thrill of being part of the crowd,” said Adam Sandor, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth.

The junta could face challenges with its support base across the country if it can’t financially appease local elites and if the army continues to suffer losses from growing jihadi violence, he said.

Attacks by jihadis are increasing since the coup, with at least 17 soldiers killed and 20 injured earlier this week during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Niger’s army in six months.

Militants are taking advantage of a gap in support by France and the United States, which have both suspended military operations in the country, as well as Niger’s distracted security forces, which are focusing on the capital and concerned about a potential invasion from regional countries, say conflict experts.

The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS has threatened to take military action if Niger doesn’t release and reinstate Bazoum. It has activated a “standby” force and on Friday its defense chiefs are wrapping up a two-day meeting about next steps.

Meanwhile, in Niamey and across the country, a volunteer recruitment drive is expected Saturday where people can register to fight and help with other needs so the junta has a list in case it needs to call on people for help.

“We know that our army may be be less in terms of numbers than the armies (coming),” said Amsarou Bako, one of the organizers. “Those who are coming, they have information about our army,” he said.
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Evergrande Seeks US Court Nod for $32B Debt Overhaul as China Economic Fears Mount

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeUS

Embattled developer China Evergrande Group has filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court as part of one of the world’s biggest debt restructuring exercises, as anxiety grows over China’s worsening property crisis and a weakening economy.

Once China’s top-selling developer, Evergrande has become the poster child of the country’s unprecedented debt crisis in the property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the economy, after facing a liquidity crunch in mid-2021.

The developer has sought protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, which shields non-U.S. companies that are undergoing restructurings from creditors that hope to sue them or tie up assets in the United States.

The filing is procedural in nature, but the world’s most indebted property developer with more than $300 billion in liabilities has to do it as part of a restructuring process under U.S. law, two people familiar with the matter said.

The sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Evergrande declined to comment.

Evergrande’s offshore debt restructuring involves a total of $31.7 billion, which include bonds, collaterals and repurchase obligations. It will meet with its creditors later this month on its restructuring proposal.

A string of Chinese property developers have defaulted on their offshore debt obligations since then, leaving unfinished homes, plunging sales and shattering investor confidence in a blow to the world’s second-largest economy.

The property sector crisis has also fanned contagion risk, which could have a destabilizing impact on an economy already weakened by tepid domestic consumption, faltering factory activity, rising unemployment and weak overseas demand.

A major Chinese asset manager missed repayment obligations on some investment products and warned of a liquidity crisis, while Country Garden, the country’s No. 1 private developer, has become the latest to flag a stifling cash crunch.

All of this comes at a time when property investment, home sales and new construction have contracted for more than a year.

Morgan Stanley this week followed some of the major global brokerages to cut China’s growth forecast for this year. It now sees China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growing 4.7% this year, down from an earlier forecast of 5%.

China is targeting 5% annual growth for this year, but an increasing number of economists are warning that it could miss the goal unless Beijing ramps up support measures to arrest the decline.

The China economic and property woes as well as the absence of concrete stimulus steps have sent a chill through global markets. Asian shares were headed for a weekly loss of 2.8%, the third straight week of declines. Chinese blue-chips on the CSI300 dropped 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped another 1.3%.

China is expected to cut lending benchmarks at a monthly fixing on Monday, with many analysts predicting a big reduction to the mortgage reference rate to revive credit demand and shore up the ailing property sector.

Debt restructuring

In response to the deepening property market crisis, the central bank reiterated it would adjust and optimize property policies, according to its second-quarter monetary policy implementation report published this week.

Since the sector’s debt upheaval unfolded in mid-2021, with Evergrande at the center of the turmoil, companies accounting for 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted, most of them private property developers.

As developers scramble to ease investors’ concerns, Longfor Group, China’s second largest private developer, said on Friday it would speed up its “profit structure” in response to the changes of supply and demand in the real estate market.

Evergrande announced an offshore debt restructuring plan in March, expecting it to facilitate a gradual resumption of operations and generation of cash flow. It is now gathering creditor support to complete the process.

An affiliate of the developer, Tianji Holdings, also sought Chapter 15 protection on Thursday in Manhattan bankruptcy court.

In a filing in the Manhattan bankruptcy court, Evergrande said that it was seeking recognition of restructuring talks underway in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

The company proposed scheduling a Chapter 15 recognition hearing for Sept. 20.

In June last year, another Chinese developer, Modern Land (China) Co. Ltd., which missed payments on its offshore bonds that were due in October 2021, had filed a petition for recognition under Chapter 15 of the bankruptcy code in New York.

Trading in China Evergrande shares has been suspended since March 2022. Shares of Evergrande Services plunged as much as 20% on Friday, while China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group lost as much as 17%.
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Russia Downs Ukraine Drone in Moscow 

Posted on 08/18/2023 by SeeEU

Ukraine attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow early Friday, but Russian forces downed the unmanned aerial vehicle.