Month: August 2023

US Loses to Sweden on Penalty Kicks in Earliest Women’s World Cup Exit Ever 

Posted on by SeeUS

Lina Hurtig’s converted her penalty and Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup 5-4 on penalties after a scoreless draw at the Women’s World Cup.

U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher fruitlessly argued she had saved Hurtig’s attempt, but it was ruled over the line. The stadium played Abba’s “Dancing Queen in the stadium as the Swedes celebrated.

The United States, which has a record four World Cup titles overall and was trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive tile, was eliminated in the Round of 16 for the first time in team history.

The Americans’ worst finish had been third place, three times.

“I am proud of the women on the field,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski. “I know we were criticized for the way we played, and for different moments in the group stage. I think we came out today and showed the grit, the resilience, the fight. The bravery showed we did everything we could to win the game. And, unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes.”

It was the first match at this World Cup to go to extra time.

Two-time World Cup participant Julie Ertz was in tears after the match.

“We didn’t put anything in the back of the net,” she sobbed. “The penalties was tough as well. It’s just emotional because it’s probably my last game ever. It’s just tough. It’s an emotional time. It obviously sucks. Penalties are the worst.”

It was the was the fourth time a U.S. match at the World Cup went to extra time. All of the three previous matches went to penalties, including the 2011 final won by Japan. The U.S. won on penalties in a 2011 quarterfinal match against Brazil, and in the 1999 final at the final at the Rose Bowl against China.

Sweden knocked the United States out of the 2016 Olympics in the quarterfinals on penalties.

Sweden goes on to the quarterfinals to play Japan, the 2011 World Cup winner, which defeated Norway 3-1 on Saturday night.

Sweden has never won a major international tournament, either the World Cup or the Olympics. The closest the team has come is World Cup runner-up in 2003. They finished in third in the 1999, 2011 and 2019 editions, and won silver medals in the last two Olympics.

The Americans struggled through group play with just four goals in three matches. They were nearly eliminated last Tuesday by first-timers Portugal, but eked out a 0-0 draw to fall to second in their group for just the second time at a World Cup.

The Americans looked far better against Sweden, dominating possession and outshooting the Swedes 5-1 in the first half alone. Lindsey Horan’s first-half header hit the crossbar and a second-half blast was saved by goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, who had six saves in regulation.

Sweden won all three of their group games, including a 5-0 rout of Italy in its final group match. Coach Peter Gerhardsson made nine lineup changes for the match, resting his starters in anticipation of the United States.

It was tense from the opening whistle.

Naeher punched the ball away from a crowded goal on an early Sweden corner kick. Three of the Swedes’ goals against Italy came on set pieces.

Trinity Rodman’s shot from distance in the 18th minute was easily caught by Musovic, who stopped another chance by Rodman in the 27th.

Horan’s header off Andi Sullivan’s corner in the 34th hit the crossbar and skipped over the goal. Horan was on target in the 53rd minute but Musovic dove to push it wide. Horan crouched to the field in frustration while Musovic was swarmed by her teammates.

The United States was without Rose Lavelle, who picked up her second yellow card of the tournament in the group stage finale against Portugal and has to sit out against Sweden.

In Lavelle’s absence, Andonovski started Emily Sonnett, who was making her first start for the team since 2022. The addition of Sonnett allowed Horan to move up higher in the midfield.

Sweden pressed in the final 10 minutes of regulation. Sofia Jakobsson, who came in as a substitute in the 81st minute, nearly scored in the 85th but Naeher managed to catch it for her first save of the tournament.

Neither Caroline Seger of Megan Rapinoe started the match, but Rapinoe came in as a sub for Alex Morgan in the first overtime period.

Seger, whose 235 appearances for Sweden are the most for any woman in Europe, was on the bench to start the match. The 38-year-old has been struggling with a calf problem all year and trained alone in the two days of practice leading into the showdown with the U.S.

Rapinoe, also 38, previously announced that this would be her last World Cup. She has taken on a smaller role for the Americans in her final tournament. She was a substitute in the United States’ first and third games of group play and didn’t get off the bench in the middle match. She made her 200th appearance for the national team at the World Cup.
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Paris’ Test for Olympic Swimming in Seine Canceled Due to Poor Water Quality 

Posted on by SeeEU

Heavy rains in Paris have led to the cancellation on Sunday of a swimming event in the River Seine that was to be a test for next year’s Summer Olympics, but Games organizers say the waterway will be better prepared in 2024.

The Open Water Swimming World Cup event was canceled because “the water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers’ health,” French Swimming Federation (FFN) said in a statement Sunday.

Water quality falls below acceptable standards when rains cause overflows of untreated waste into the Seine. France’s capital city is spending massively on water-management projects that officials say will make pollution caused by storms less frequent.

Brigitte Legaré, sport manager at the Paris Olympics organization committee, said “unfortunately, this morning when we took the [water quality] reading that came out after 24 hours, we were still slightly above the limits. We’re not very far.”

World Aquatics’ President Husain al-Musallam said the organization is “disappointed… but the health of our athletes must always be our top priority.

“World Aquatics remains excited at the prospect of city-centre Olympic racing for the world’s best open water swimmers next summer. However, this weekend has demonstrated that it is absolutely imperative that robust contingency plans are put in place,” he said in the statement.

The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games next summer and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlon.

Paris Olympics organizers and the city’s authorities said in a joint statement Sunday that “in recent weeks, water quality in the Seine has regularly reached the levels required for competitions to be held on the dedicated site, demonstrating the significant progress made.”

They said water quality will be closely monitored in the coming days in the hope that triathletes can race in the Seine during a test event scheduled on August 17-20.

“By 2024, new infrastructure will be delivered to further improve rainwater treatment to improve water quality,” they said.

Those public works include a giant underground reservoir in Paris that will stock excess water during storms, so it doesn’t have to be spilled untreated into the river and can be treated later.

Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports, said “we’re in an outdoor sport subject to climatic variations, weather conditions and that brings uncertainties. We’re going to deal with these uncertainties.”

When new water cleanup facilities will be ready, “we’ll be able to regulate even exceptional phenomena like the one we’re facing today,” he said.

Paris Games organizers also say the schedule for Olympic events in the river can be adjusted next year if the water quality doesn’t allow them to take place on their original dates.

Their statement said the recent weather was “exceptional,” with the Paris region seeing its heaviest summer rainfalls since 1965.
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Closing Youth Festival in Portugal, Pope Shares ‘Old Man’s’ Dream of Peace 

Posted on by SeeEU

Pope Francis closed an international festival of Catholic Youth on Sunday with a huge outdoor Mass and his own “I have a dream” speech, saying it was for world peace, especially for Ukraine.   

About 1.5 million people attended his closing Mass at a riverside park in the Portuguese capital, the Vatican said, quoting local authorities. Many of the faithful slept outdoors, having attending a vigil there on Saturday night, and they gathered in sweltering heat.   

Speaking after the Mass, the 86-year-old Francis urged the young people to take the fraternal experiences of the six-day jamboree back home and apply them to their daily lives.   

“Dear friends, allow me, this old man, to share with you young people a dream that I carry within me: it is the dream of peace, the dream of young people praying for peace, living in peace and building a peaceful future,” Francis said.   

“As you return home, please continue to pray for peace. What is more, you are a sign of peace for the world, showing how different nationalities, languages and histories can unite instead of divide. You are the hope of a different world,” he said.   

He asked them to think of the young people who could not come to the event because of the world’s many armed conflicts and wars, adding: “In thinking of this continent, I feel great sorrow for beloved Ukraine, which continues to suffer greatly.”

Francis, who was returning to Rome on Sunday evening after an event to thank volunteers at the World Youth Day festival, met a delegation of 15 young people from Ukraine during his trip.   

10,000 priests on hand 

Sunday’s Mass was concelebrated by 700 bishops and 10,000 priests, who distributed communion to the huge crowd.   

Marina Sylvester, 22, from the pope’s native Argentina, was one of hundreds of thousands of young people who spent the night in the riverside area.   

She woke up at dawn and by 7 a.m. she was already showing off her dance moves as a well-known Portuguese priest DJ, Guilherme, played upbeat songs. “It has been one of the best experiences of my life,” she said.   

The pope announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2027.   

One of the recurring themes of the pope’s visit was social media and its potentially negative effects on young people.  

During the week, Francis urged them to beware the false happiness lurking in the virtual world and at another event, the young people themselves reflected on their anxieties, enslavement to the “tyranny” of social media and yearning to save the planet.   

The trip took place in the shadow of a report six months ago by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy — mostly priests — over seven decades in the country.   

It was just one in a series of reports around the world that have exposed clerical sex abuse and rattled the Catholic Church in recent years.   

Francis said on Wednesday the Church needs a “humble and ongoing purification” to deal with the “anguished cries” of victims of clerical sexual abuse, and met privately with 13 victims. 

 
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Deadline Arrives for Niger’s Junta to Reinstate President

Posted on by SeeAF

The deadline has arrived Sunday for Niger’s military junta to reinstate the country’s ousted president, but the West Africa regional bloc that has threatened a military intervention faces prominent appeals to pursue more peaceful means.

Neighboring Nigeria’s Senate on Saturday pushed back against the plan by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chair, to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS can still move ahead, as final decisions are taken by consensus by member states, but the warning on the eve of Sunday’s deadline raised questions about the intervention’s fate.

Algeria and Chad, non-ECOWAS neighbors with strong militaries in the region, both have said they oppose the use of force or won’t intervene militarily, and neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — both run by juntas — have said an intervention would be a “declaration of war” against them, too.

The coup is perhaps the most challenging one so far for the West Africa region struggling with military takeovers, Islamic extremism and a shift by some states toward Russia and its proxy, the Wagner mercenary group.

Niger’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum said he is held “hostage” by the mutinous soldiers. An ECOWAS delegation was unable to meet with the junta’s leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who analysts have asserted led the coup to avoid being fired. Now the junta has reached out to Wagner for assistance while severing security ties with former colonizer France.

Hours before Sunday’s deadline, hundreds of youth joined security forces in the darkened streets in Niger’s capital, Niamey to stand guard at a dozen roundabouts until morning, checking cars for weapons and heeding the junta’s call to watch out for foreign intervention and spies.

“I’m here to support the military. We are against (the regional bloc). We will fight to the end. We do not agree with what France is doing against us. We are done with colonization,” said Ibrahim Nudirio, one of the residents on patrol.

Some passing cars honked in support. Some people called for solidarity among African nations.

It was not immediately clear on Sunday what ECOWAS will do next.

The regional bloc shouldn’t have given the junta a one-week deadline to reinstate Bazoum but rather only up to 48 hours, said Peter Pham, former U.S. special envoy for West Africa’s Sahel region and a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council. “Now it’s dragged out, which gives the junta time to entrench itself,” he said.

The most favorable scenario for an intervention would be a force coming in with the help of those on the inside, he said.

The coup is a major blow to the United States and allies who saw Niger as the last major counterterrorism partner in the Sahel, a vast area south of the Sahara Desert where jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been expanding their range and beginning to threaten coastal states like Benin, Ghana and Togo.

The United States, France and European countries have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into Niger. France has 1,500 soldiers in the country, though their fate is now in question. The U.S. has 1,100 military personnel also in Niger where they operate an important drone base in the city of Agadez.

While Niger’s coup leaders have claimed they acted because of growing insecurity, conflict incidents decreased by nearly 40% in the country compared to the previous six-month period, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project. That’s in contrast to surging attacks in Mali, which has kicked out French forces and partnered with Wagner, and Burkina Faso, which has gotten rid of French forces as well.

The uncertainty in Niger is worsening daily life for some 25 million people in one of the world’s poorest countries. Food prices are rising after ECOWAS imposed economic and travel sanctions following the coup. Nigeria, which supplies up to 90% of the electricity in Niger, has cut off some of the supply.

Humanitarian groups in Niger have warned of “devastating effects” on the lives of over 4.4 million people needing aid.

Some of Niger’s already struggling residents said military intervention is not the answer.

“Just to eat is a problem for us. So if there is a war, that won’t fix anything,” said Mohamed Noali, a Niamey resident patrolling the streets.
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Alaska Capital Worries Tourism Will Shrink Along with Glacier

Posted on by SeeUS

Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier.

A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residents flee to quieter places during the summer, and a deal between the city and cruise industry will limit how many ships arrive next year.

But climate change is melting the Mendenhall Glacier. It is receding so quickly that by 2050, it might no longer be visible from the visitor center it once loomed outside.

That’s prompted another question Juneau is only now starting to contemplate: What happens then?

“We need to be thinking about our glaciers and the ability to view glaciers as they recede,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. There also needs to be a focus on reducing environmental impacts, she said. “People come to Alaska to see what they consider to be a pristine environment and it’s our responsibility to preserve that for residents and visitors.”

The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier’s backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.

While massive chunks have broken off, most ice loss has come from the thinning due to warming temperatures, said Eran Hood, a University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science. The Mendenhall has now largely receded from the lake that bears its name.

Scientists are trying to understand what the changes might mean for the ecosystem, including salmon habitat.

There are uncertainties for tourism, too.

Most people enjoy the glacier from trails across Mendenhall Lake near the visitor center. Caves of dizzying blues that drew crowds several years ago have collapsed and pools of water now stand where one could once step from the rocks onto the ice.

Manoj Pillai, a cruise ship worker from India, took pictures from a popular overlook on a recent day off.

“If the glacier is so beautiful now, how would it be, like, 10 or 20 years before? I just imagine that,” he said.

Officials with the Tongass National Forest, under which the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area falls, are bracing for more visitors over the next 30 years even as they contemplate a future when the glacier slips from casual view.

The agency is proposing new trails and parking areas, an additional visitor center and public use cabins at a lakeside campground. Researchers do not expect the glacier to disappear completely for at least a century.

“We did talk about, ‘Is it worth the investment in the facilities if the glacier does go out of sight?'” said Tristan Fluharty, the forest’s Juneau district ranger. “Would we still get the same amount of visitation?”

A thundering waterfall that is a popular place for selfies, salmon runs, black bears and trails could continue attracting tourists when the glacier is not visible from the visitor center, but “the glacier is the big draw,” he said.

Around 700,000 people are expected to visit this year, with about 1 million projected by 2050.

Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center’s future, he said.

“Where do we go with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center?” Raile said. “How do we keep it relevant as we go forward when the original reason for it being put there is not really relevant anymore?”

At the Mendenhall, rangers talk to visitors about climate change. They aim to “inspire wonder and awe but also to inspire hope and action,” said Laura Buchheit, the forest’s Juneau deputy district ranger.

After pandemic-stunted seasons, about 1.6 million cruise passengers are expected in Juneau this year, during a season stretching from April through October.

The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally weeklong cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.

On the busiest days, about 20,000 people, equal to two-thirds of the city’s population, pour from the boats.

City leaders and major cruise lines agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. But critics worry that won’t ease congestion if the vessels keep getting bigger. Some residents would like one day a week without ships. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year.

Juneau Tours and Whale Watch is one of about two dozen companies with permits for services like transportation or guiding at the glacier. Serene Hutchinson, the company’s general manager, said demand has been so high that she neared her allotment halfway through the season. Shuttle service to the glacier had to be suspended, but her business still offers limited tours that include the glacier, she said.

Other bus operators are reaching their limits, and tourism officials are encouraging visitors to see other sites or get to the glacier by different means.

Limits on visitation can benefit tour companies by improving the experience rather than having tourists “shoehorned” at the glacier, said Hutchinson, who doesn’t worry about Juneau losing its luster as the glacier recedes.

“Alaska does the work for us, right?” she said. “All we have to do is just kind of get out of the way and let people look around and smell and breathe.”

Pierce, Juneau’s tourism manager, said discussions are just beginning around what a sustainable southeast Alaska tourism industry should look like.

In Sitka, home to a slumbering volcano, the number of cruise passengers on a day earlier this summer exceeded the town’s population of 8,400, overwhelming businesses, dragging down internet speeds and prompting officials to question how much tourism is too much.

Juneau plans to conduct a survey that could guide future growth, such as building trails for tourism companies.

Kerry Kirkpatrick, a Juneau resident of nearly 30 years, recalls when the Mendenhall’s face was “long across the water and high above our heads.” She called the glacier a national treasure for its accessibility and noted an irony in carbon-emitting helicopters and cruise ships chasing a melting glacier. She worries the current level of tourism isn’t sustainable.

As the Mendenhall recedes, plants and animals will need time to adjust, she said.

So will humans.

“There’s too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things,” Kirkpatrick said. “You don’t want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I’m the last one in and you can’t come in.’ But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.'”
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AI Anxiety: Workers Fret Over Uncertain Future

Posted on by SeeUS

The tidal wave of artificial intelligence (AI) barrelling toward many professions has generated deep anxiety among workers fearful that their jobs will be swept away — and the mental health impact is rising.

The launch in November 2022 of ChatGPT, the generative AI platform capable of handling complex tasks on command, marked a tech landmark as AI started to transform the workplace.

“Anything new and unknown is anxiety-producing,” Clare Gustavsson, a New York therapist whose patients have shared concerns about AI, told AFP.

“The technology is growing so fast, it is hard to gain sure footing.”

Legal assistants, programmers, accountants and financial advisors are among those professions feeling threatened by generative AI that can quickly create human-like prose, computer code, articles or expert insight.

Goldman Sachs analysts see generative AI impacting, if not eliminating, some 300 million jobs, according to a study published in March.

“I anticipate that my job will become obsolete within the next 10 years,” Eric, a bank teller, told AFP, declining to give his second name.

“I plan to change careers. The bank I work for is expanding AI research.”

Trying to ’embrace the unknown’

New York therapist Meris Powell told AFP of an entertainment professional worried about AI being used in film and television production — a threat to actors and screenwriters that is a flashpoint in strikes currently gripping Hollywood.

“It’s mainly people who are in creative fields who are at the forefront of that concern,” Gustavsson said.

AI is bringing with it a level of apprehension matched by climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, she contended.

But she said that she tries to get patients to “embrace the unknown” and find ways to use new technology to their advantage.

For one graphic animator in New York, the career-threatening shock came from seeing images generated by AI-infused software such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion that rivaled the quality of those created by humans.

“People started to realize that some of the skills they had developed and specialized in could possibly be replaced by AI,” she told AFP, adding she had honed her coding skills, but now feels even that has scant promise in an AI world.

“I’ll probably lean into more of a management-level role,” she said. “It’s just hard because there are a lot less of those positions.

“Before I would just pursue things that interested me and skills that I enjoy. Now I feel more inclined to think about what’s actually going to be useful and marketable in the future.”

Peter Vukovic, who has been chief technology officer at several startups, expects just one percent or less of the population to benefit from AI.

“For the rest, it’s a gray area,” Vukovic, who lives in Bosnia, said. “There is a lot of reason for 99 percent of people to be concerned.”

AI is focused on efficiency and making money, but it could be channeled to serve other purposes, Vukovic said.

“What’s the best way for us to use this?” he asked. “Is it really just to automate a bunch of jobs?”
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US Official Calls for Free, Fair Elections, End to Political Violence in Zimbabwe

Posted on by SeeAF

Editor’s note: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee gave an interview to VOA Zimbabwe Service’s Blessing Zulu on Thursday.

As Zimbabwe prepares to host general elections scheduled for Aug. 23, a top U.S. official said Thursday that what is happening on the ground suggests that a free and fair election in the southern African nation is in doubt because of laws limiting civic space.  Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee said in an interview with VOA Zimbabwe Service’s Blessing Zulu that opposition political parties and citizens are being harassed and prevented from organizing and campaigning freely. Phee said the U.S. has conveyed its concerns in discussions with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration and said that the U.S. will be sending observers to monitor the election. These highlights are excerpts from the conversation and have been edited for brevity and clarity.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee: I would like to recall that the President of Zimbabwe, President [Emmerson] Mnangagwa, has said repeatedly that he wants his country to hold free and fair elections, and we believe that would be the best path to promote peace and prosperity in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, we have seen a fact pattern over recent months that suggests that a free and fair election is in doubt, and I can give you some examples of why we are concerned about that possibility.

VOA Blessing Zulu: If you may highlight your concerns.

MP: Well, as you know, last month’s new legislation, called the Patriotic Act, was adopted, and in fact, that legislation imposes restrictions on basic political freedoms agreed in Zimbabwe’s constitution and African Union protocols and in U.N. protocols. Those include freedom of assembly that allows citizens and political parties to meet and prepare to engage in an election process. It also includes restrictions on speech and expression, both by citizens, political parties and journalists. So, those are the types of actions that concern us. We’ve also seen opposition political parties and citizens actively harassed and prevented from exercising their political freedoms, that should be guaranteed by those regimes that I’ve described, the regimes under the Zimbabwean constitution and as expressed by the African Union and the United Nations. So, that’s why we’re concerned that the election won’t achieve the standard highlighted by the president.

VOA: But talking to officials in Harare, they are saying that the U.S. actually has a similar law that penalizes those who commit acts that can be deemed to be treasonous to the state.

MP: I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. We do have legislation that shares the same name, but the content of the law is very different, and I think they may be referring to a different law. In the United States, we take very seriously the freedoms of assembly, the freedoms of expression. We have had our own challenges, as you have seen in recent years in terms of conducting our elections. But we have institutions that are, for example, primarily our judiciary as well as congressional investigative action to check on our own election activities. Because as [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden has said, he believes that democracy is the best form of government to unlock the potential of every human being to treat all equal before the law and to pave the way for stability that allows economic development.

VOA: But is there any communication about these concerns between Harare and Washington?

MP: Yes, we have conveyed those concerns in our discussions with the government. We’ve also talked about them publicly. I would say we have welcomed the invitation of the government for observers to the election. We will be having an observer team from our embassy in Harare and as well it’s my understanding that there’ll be several. International observers, for example the Carter Center from the United States, as well as from the European Union and the African Union. So we hope that those observers are able to conduct their traditional duties to ensure that on the day of the election voters are able to reach the polls freely, they’re not harassed and that the electoral process is conducted in a way that reflects the actual vote.

VOA: Why is it important for Harare to have free and fair elections that are accepted by Zimbabweans and the international community?

MP: Well, again, first a free and fair election is what is expressed in the constitution of Zimbabwe and what has been called for by the president. In our experience in the United States and in our assessment of global experience, the best path for peace and prosperity is through a democratic system that respects all communities in a country, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of religion, regardless of any other category. That everyone is treated equal and allowed to participate freely in defining the future of their country. When you have political stability that results from a system such as I’ve described, then you have an opportunity to have good economic growth. We know and appreciate and respect Zimbabwe’s complicated political history in the 20th century, but we also know that Zimbabwe has a rich history of success, enormous human talent, enormous natural resources. Zimbabwe has the potential to be a great leader in southern Africa and indeed to be a great participant in global conversation. So, that’s what we would like to see for the people and country of Zimbabwe.

VOA: And let’s turn to political violence. An opposition Citizens Coalition for Change supporter was killed in Harare, allegedly by ruling ZANU-PF supporters. What is your take on the issue of political violence?

MP: Well, obviously, I oppose political violence, both in my own country and in Zimbabwe and in any other country. You cannot have a functioning, healthy democracy if people are intimidated by violence. I know we’ve seen examples earlier this year of political parties and citizens exercising their democratic rights being detained, being beaten up by police forces. The example you’ve just described of vigilante forces by the political party, all of that is disturbing and should be unacceptable for a government and a society committed to a true, free and fair election.

VOA: But the ruling party is saying that Mr. Mnangagwa has been calling for peace and nonviolence. Is it not enough?

MP: Well, I think the example you just cited and the examples I have cited suggest that his rhetoric is not yet being translated into action and we would urge the government to follow the rhetoric outlined by the president. 
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Pressure Mounts on Niger Coup Leaders as ECOWAS Deadline Nears

Posted on by SeeAF

Pressure on Niger’s coup leaders mounted Saturday, the eve of a deadline set by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention.

Former colonial power France, with which the junta broke military ties after taking power on July 26, said it would firmly back whatever course of action ECOWAS took after the Sunday deadline expired.

“The future of Niger and the stability of the entire region are at stake,” the office of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said after she held talks in Paris with Niger’s prime minister, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou.

ECOWAS military chiefs of staff have agreed on a plan for a possible intervention to respond to the crisis, the latest of several coups to hit Africa’s Sahel region since 2020.

“We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them (the junta) that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done,” ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said Friday.

But he warned that “all the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out,” including how and when force would be deployed.

Niger has played a key part in Western strategies to combat jihadist insurgencies that have plagued the Sahel since 2012, with France and the United States stationing around 1,500 and 1,000 troops in the country, respectively.

Yet anti-French sentiment in the region is on the rise, while Russian activity, often through the Wagner mercenary group, has grown. Moscow has warned against armed intervention from outside Niger.

The coup “is an error of judgment that goes totally against the interests of the country,” French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu told AFP in an interview Saturday.

Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, relies heavily on foreign aid that could be pulled if President Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated as chief of state, he added.

The junta has said it will meet force with force.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune spoke out against any military intervention in neighboring Niger.

“We categorically refuse any military intervention,” he said in a television interview Saturday evening, adding that such action would be “a direct threat to Algeria.”

He stressed “there will be no solution without us (Algeria). We are the first people affected.”

“Algeria shares nearly a thousand kilometers” of border with Niger, he said.

“What is the situation today in countries that have experienced military intervention?” he said, pointing to Libya and Syria.

Mali and Burkina Faso, where military juntas have taken power since 2020, have also said that any regional intervention would be tantamount to a “declaration of war” against them.

Bazoum, 63, has been held by the coup plotters with his family in his official Niamey residence since July 26.

In a column in The Washington Post on Thursday, his first lengthy statement since his detention, Bazoum said a successful putsch would “have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world.”

Bazoum, who in 2021 won an election that ushered in Niger’s first transfer of power from one civilian government to another, urged “the U.S. government and the entire international community to help us restore our constitutional order.”

Nigeria has cut electricity supplies to its neighbor Niger, raising fears for the humanitarian situation, while Niamey has closed the vast Sahel country’s borders, complicating food deliveries.

Washington said that it had suspended some aid programs but pledged that “life-saving humanitarian and food assistance will continue.”

In Nigeria, senior politicians have urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider the threatened military intervention.

“The Senate calls on the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as chairman of ECOWAS to further encourage other leaders of ECOWAS to strengthen the political and diplomatic options,” Senate president Godswill Akpabio said.

Senators from northern Nigerian states, seven of which share a combined border of roughly 1,500 kilometers with Niger, have advised against any intervention until all other options had been exhausted.

On Saturday, Nigeria’s largest opposition grouping denounced the potential military operation in Niger as “absolutely thoughtless.”

The Coalition of United Political Parties argued: “The Nigerian military have been overstretched over the years battling terrorism and all manners of insurgency that are still very active.”

Tinubu himself on Thursday urged ECOWAS to do “whatever it takes” to achieve an “amicable resolution” of the crisis in Niger. 
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Niger’s Ousted Prime Minister Hopes Talks Can End Military Coup

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Niger’s ousted prime minister on Saturday clung to the dimming hope that last week’s military coup could be overturned by diplomacy, he told Reuters on the eve of a deadline set by regional powers to reinstate the elected government.

Niger’s military takeover, the seventh in West and Central Africa in three years, has rocked the western Sahel region, one of the poorest in the world, which has strategic significance to global powers.

Defense chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have drawn up a plan for military action if the coup leaders do not reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who is being held by the military at his residence in Niamey, by Sunday.

Their pledge has raised the specter of further conflict in a region that is battling a deadly Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee.

Algeria, Niger’s neighbor to the north, said Saturday that it is categorically against any military intervention in Niger.

“A military intervention could ignite the whole Sahel region and Algeria will not use force with its neighbors,” President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in an interview with local media.

As the deadline loomed, Bazoum’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou believed a last-minute intervention was possible, he said in an interview in Paris.

“We are still hopeful,” said Mahamadou, who was in Rome when the coup occurred. “We expect President Bazoum to be released, reinstated, and all institutions that were allegedly dissolved to be restored in their entirety.”

France said on Saturday it will support efforts to overturn the coup, without specifying whether its backing would entail military assistance for an ECOWAS intervention.

But 59-year-old coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who received some of his military training in France, said the junta will not back down.

Meanwhile ECOWAS’ options, which range from a ground invasion to aiding a homegrown countercoup, all risk stoking insecurity.

Mahamadou said that he was in contact with Bazoum but questioned how the ousted president was being treated.

“He is doing well as a political prisoner, sequestered, without water, without electricity, can do,” he said, adding that ECOWAS intervention could be the only way to change that.

“The security of the president is a matter that is in the hands of ECOWAS,” he said.

ECOWAS has taken a tough stance on the takeover. Given its uranium and oil riches and pivotal role in the war against militants, Niger holds importance for the U.S., China, Europe and Russia.

Under the intervention plan, the decision of when and where to strike will be made by heads of state, said Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security.

He did not give a timeline for the intervention or say what the plan would entail.

“All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out here, including the resources needed, the how and when we are going deploy the force,” he said at the close of a three-day meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Friday.

ECOWAS may face resistance. Niger’s neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, where military juntas have also seized power in recent years, said they would support Niger in the event of military intervention.

Mahamadou shrugged off the threat from Niger’s neighbors, whose underequipped armies are struggling to contain violent Islamist insurgencies of their own.

“To go to Niger, they have to cross the jihadist groups that they have not succeeded in fighting. So for us, it’s an empty threat,” he said.  
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Prosecutors Ask Judge for Protective Order After Trump Social Media Post

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The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after Trump released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.

Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Chutkan on Saturday gave Trump’s legal team until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the government’s request. Trump’s legal team, which has indicated he would look to slow the case down despite prosecutors’ pledge of a speedy trial, then filed a request to extend the response deadline to Thursday and to hold a hearing on the matter, saying it needed more time for discussion. 

Chutkan swiftly denied that extension request Saturday evening, reaffirming that Trump must abide by Monday’s deadline. 

Protective orders are common in criminal cases, but prosecutors said it’s “particularly important in this case” because Trump has posted on social media about “witnesses, judges, attorneys and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”

Prosecutors pointed specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday in which Trump wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”

Prosecutors said they are ready to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence — “much of which includes sensitive and confidential information” — to Trump’s legal team.

They told the judge that if Trump were to begin posting about grand jury transcripts or other evidence provided by the Justice Department, it could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”

Prosecutors’ proposed protective order seeks to prevent Trump and his lawyers from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than people on his legal team, possible witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers or others approved by the court. It would put stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.

A Trump spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the former president’s post “is the definition of political speech” and was made in response to “dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs.”

Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has been one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election.

The indictment unsealed this week accuses Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden as his legal challenges foundered in court.

The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the U.S. government,” repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.

Trump faces charges that include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.

It’s the third criminal case brought this year against the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it’s the first case to try to hold Trump responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith has also charged Trump in Florida federal court with illegally hoarding classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and thwarting government efforts to get them back.

The magistrate judge in that case agreed to a protective order in June that prohibits Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence turned over to them by prosecutors without prior approval. Prosecutors are seeking another protective order in that case with more rules about the defense team’s handling of classified evidence.

After his court appearance on Thursday in the Washington case, Trump characterized the prosecution as a “persecution” designed to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign. His legal team has described it as an attack on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen.

Smith has said prosecutors will seek a “speedy trial” against Trump in the election case. Judge Chutkan has ordered the government to file a brief by Thursday proposing a trial date. The first court hearing in front of Chutkan is scheduled for Aug. 28.

Trump is already scheduled to stand trial in March in the New York case stemming from hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign and in May in the classified documents case.
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Niger Coup Weakens Fight Against Terror in Africa, French Minister Says

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The coup in Niger will undermine the fight against resurgent terror groups in Africa’s Sahel region, France’s defense minister said this week, accusing the country’s junta of taking hostage not just President Mohamed Bazoum but the entire country.  

In an interview with AFP, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu praised the actions of regional West African group ECOWAS, which has given the junta until Sunday to restore democratic rule or face the threat of military action. 

The coup against Bazoum has infuriated France, which has 1,500 troops deployed in the country and was using Niger as a hub for anti-terror operations in the region, after successive coups the last two years in Mali and then Burkina Faso prompted pullouts from those countries. 

Paris has made clear it still regards Bazoum, who is being held at the presidential residence in Niamey, as Niger’s sole legitimate leader.  

Lecornu echoed comments by other Western officials and observers that the coup had come at a precarious moment when several Islamist terror groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and al-Qaida’s local branch were regaining strength.  

“Not only has President Bazoum been taken hostage but also the population of Niger,” Lecornu told AFP in the interview. 

“This putsch will weaken the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, where activity by armed terrorist groups is resurging, notably taking advantage of certain failed states like Mali,” he said. 

“It’s an error of judgment that goes totally against the interests of the country,” he added. 

The French foreign ministry said earlier on Saturday it firmly supported the efforts of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) to reverse the coup, and Lecornu said on the eve of the passing of the deadline that the 15-nation bloc was showing its stature.  

“More generally, we see that ECOWAS is shouldering its responsibilities in the management of this crisis in Niger, taking strong positions in favor of respect for international law and respect for democratic processes,” he said. 

“This is an important milestone that must be welcomed and supported,” he said. 

Lecornu said there was no indication of involvement in the coup by Russian mercenary group Wagner, which Western governments say is bolstering the regimes in both Burkina Faso and Mali. 

“Wagner is not behind this coup. But it is possible that, opportunistically, Wagner can seek to help this junta as it tries to establish itself,” he said. 

Calling on Wagner, he warned, would have “catastrophic consequences” for Niger. 

“Look at the Malian situation after the departure of the French forces … 40 percent of Malian territory is out of the control of the Malian state. It is a failure. Many ECOWAS actors are aware of this.”  

Lecornu said that Paris had been aware that Bazoum’s position was fragile. 

But, he said, what was surprising was that the coup stemmed above all from a “personal dispute.”  

People close to Bazoum had told AFP he recently said he wanted to replace General Abdourahamane Tchiani as the head of his guard. 

Lecornu, meanwhile, sought to play down the extent of anti-French sentiment in Niger, despite protests outside the French embassy in Niamey, which saw signs torn down and windows smashed. 

“Three Russian flags waved in front of the French embassy, daubed with a few slogans, should neither intimidate us nor push us to hasty conclusions, as is happening too easily with some people,” he said. 
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World Bank to Help Fund 1,000 Mini Solar Power Grids in Nigeria

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The World Bank is aiming to help fund construction of 1,000 mini solar power grids in Africa’s biggest economy Nigeria in partnership with the government and private sector, the lender’s president Ajay Banga said Saturday.

Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people, has installed power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts, or MW, but it produces a fraction of that, leaving millions of households and businesses reliant on petrol and diesel generators.

Mini grids, made up of small-scale electricity generating units, typically range in size from a few kilowatts to up to 10 MW, enough to power about 200 households.

Speaking during a visit to a mini grid site on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, Banga told reporters that nearly 150 mini grids had been built, partly funded by the World Bank, to bring power to communities without access to electricity.

“We are putting another 300 in, but our ambition with the government is to go all the way to 1,000. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested,” said Banga, without giving a timeline.

“Now the idea is not for the World Bank to be the only person putting the money. We put part of the money like a subsidy.”

World Bank data shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, 568 million people still lack access to electricity. Globally, nearly 8 out of 10 people without electricity live in Africa.
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Slovenia Suffers Worst-Ever Floods, Damage May Top 500 Million Euros

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Slovenia has faced the worst natural disaster in its history, Prime Minister Robert Golob said Saturday, after devastating floods caused damage estimated at half a billion euros ($550 million).

Devastating floods Thursday and Friday killed three people and destroyed roads, bridges and houses in the small Alpine country. Two thirds of the territory had been affected, Golob said.

The floods were “the biggest natural disaster” in Slovenia’s history, Golob said Saturday after a meeting of the country’s National Security Council. “Luckily, last night was easier than the one before.”

After three weather-related deaths were reported Friday, Slovenian media said Saturday that one more person was found dead in the capital, Ljubljana. Police have yet to confirm the report.

The floods were caused by torrential rains Friday, which caused rivers to swell swiftly and burst into houses, fields and towns. Slovenia’s weather service said a month’s worth of rain fell in less than a day.

Experts say extreme weather conditions are partly fueled by climate change. Parts of Europe saw record heat and battled wildfires during the summer.

Golob said road and energy infrastructure were hit particularly hard, as well as hundreds of homes and other buildings. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes and many had to be rescued by helicopters or firefighters in boats.

Slovenia’s army has joined the relief effort, with troops reaching cut-off areas in the north to help.

Photos from the scene showed entire villages under water, outdoor camping sites destroyed, cars stuck in mud and children’s toys crammed against fences.

The STA news agency reported that major roads in parts of Slovenia also remained partially closed Saturday because of the flooding, including the main highway through the country. Dozens of bridges have also collapsed, and the authorities urged people not to go anywhere until the damage is fully assessed.

Several severe storms in the Alpine nation earlier in the summer blew off roofs, downed thousands of trees and killed one person in Slovenia and four others elsewhere in the region.

Flash floods were reported also in neighboring Austria, where some 80 people were forced temporarily to leave their homes in the southern Carinthia province.
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Prosecutors Ask Judge to Issue Protective Order After Trump Post Appearing to Promise Revenge

Posted on by SeeUS

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after Trump released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.

Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Such protective orders are common in criminal cases, but prosecutors said it’s “particularly important in this case” because Trump has posted on social media about “witnesses, judges, attorneys and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”

Prosecutors pointed specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday in which Trump wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”

Prosecutors said they are ready to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence — “much of which includes sensitive and confidential information” — to Trump’s legal team.

They told the judge that if Trump were to begin posting about grand jury transcripts or other evidence provided by the Justice Department, it could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”

Prosecutors’ proposed protective order seeks to prevent Trump and his lawyers from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than people on his legal team, possible witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers or others approved by the court. It would put stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.

A Trump spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the former president’s post “is the definition of political speech” and was made in response to “dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs.”

It’s unclear when Chutkan might rule on the matter. Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has been one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election.

The indictment unsealed this week accuses Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden as his legal challenges foundered in court.

The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the U.S. government,” repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.

Trump faces charges that include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.

It’s the third criminal case brought this year against the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it’s the first case to try to hold Trump responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith has also charged Trump in Florida federal court with illegally hoarding classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and thwarting government efforts to get them back.

The magistrate judge in that case agreed to a protective order in June that prohibits Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence turned over to them by prosecutors without prior approval. Prosecutors are seeking another protective order in that case with more rules about the defense team’s handling of classified evidence.

After his court appearance on Thursday in the Washington case, Trump characterized the prosecution as a “persecution” designed to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign. His legal team has described it as an attack on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen.

Smith has said prosecutors will seek a “speedy trial” against Trump in the election case. Judge Chutkan has ordered the government to file a brief by Thursday proposing a trial date. The first court hearing in front of Chutkan is scheduled for Aug. 28.

Trump is already scheduled to stand trial in March in the New York case stemming from hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign and in May in the classified documents case.
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Pope Visits Portuguese Shrine Known for Apocalyptic Prophesy Linked to Russia

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Pope Francis visited the Portuguese town of Fatima to pray for peace at a shrine Saturday known for apocalyptic prophesies of hell, peace and Soviet communism that have found new relevance with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But for the third time during his trip to Portugal for World Youth Day, Francis ditched his prepared remarks and didn’t even recite a prayer written for the occasion pleading for peace. The prayer had been expected to be a highlight of Francis’ visit to Fatima, given the shrine’s century-old affiliation with exhortations of peace and conversion in Russia.

Francis instead “prayed silently for peace, with pain,” while meditating for a long period before a statue of the Virgin Mary, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said. The Vatican later tweeted the prayer.

The unusual morning unfolded at the shrine where, according to legend, three young peasant children in 1917 saw visions of the Madonna. The apparitions turned the small town nestled in the fields of vineyards, olive groves and fruit orchards north of Lisbon into one of the most popular Marian pilgrimage sites in the world, drawing millions of visitors each year.

On Saturday, an estimated 200,000 turned out for Francis’ visit, packing the central esplanade long before the red-tinted moon set and the sun rose. Nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash snowing down on the crowd.

Francis’ visit marked a side trip from his main program in Lisbon to preside over the World Youth Day Catholic festival. The featured protagonists in Fatima were also young, including some young people with disabilities who read aloud prayers and young inmates who were allowed to attend. Babies were out in force, as parents offered them up to Francis to bless as he looped through the crowd in his popemobile.

“We are here with great joy,” said Maria Florido, a 24-year-old Spaniard who also saw Francis in Lisbon. “We woke up very early to come here and see the pope … and we’re here with great enthusiasm.”

 

The Fatima story dates to 1917, when according to tradition, Portuguese siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times and confided to them three secrets. The first two described an apocalyptic image of hell, foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and portended the rise and fall of Soviet communism.

In 2000, the Vatican disclosed the long-awaited third secret, describing it as foretelling the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square, which fell on the anniversary of the original vision.

According to later writings by Lucia, who became a nun and died in 2005, Russia would be converted and peace would reign if the pope and all the bishops of the world consecrated Russia to the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Lucia later claimed that John Paul fulfilled that prophecy during a 1984 Mass, even though he never specified Russia in the prayer.

Fatima has long captivated Catholics because of its blending of mystical, Marian apparitions, apocalyptic prophesies about the rise and fall of Soviet communism and the death of a pope. While Saturday’s wildfires and related ashfall were easily explained, they also harked back to another element of the Fatima phenomenon, an unusual weather phenomenon known as the “Miracle of the Sun.”

According to legend, on Oct. 13, 1917, the Fatima “seers” predicted that the Virgin would perform a miracle that day, and tens of thousands of people flocked to Fatima. They saw what witnesses reported as a vision of the sun “spinning” in the sky and zigzagging toward Earth.

Francis’ visit to Fatima fell on the anniversary of another odd weather phenomenon at a Marian church closely related to Fatima: According to that church legend, on Aug. 5, 1655, it snowed outside St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, where Francis always goes to pray before an icon of Mary at the end of each trip.

Vatican Media had said before the trip that Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine and the world while in Fatima. It seemed logical, given Francis had already consecrated Russia and Ukraine to Mary in a prayer for peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially fulfilling Sr. Lucia’s exhortation.

In the prayer tweeted by the @Pontifex account but not read aloud, Francis didn’t name either country but consecrated the church and world, “especially those countries at war,” to Mary. “Open paths where it seems that none exist,” he wrote. “Loosen the tangles of self-centeredness and the snares of power.”

Fatima Bishop Jose Ornelas made a prayer for Ukraine explicit in his remarks. “We associate ourselves to Your Holiness’ prayer for peace, for which this sanctuary is profoundly identified, thinking in particular of the war in Ukraine and so many other conflicts in the world,” he said.

In explaining the changes, Vatican spokesperson Bruni said Francis “always addresses firstly the people he meets, as a shepherd, and speaks accordingly.” The 86-year-old Francis often deviates from his prepared remarks, even more when speaking in his native Spanish. Bruni denied the changes had any other serious reason, including with Francis’ eyesight.

Francis has been hospitalized twice this year, including in June when he spent nine days in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery to repair a hernia and remove scar tissue on his intestine. Saturday was perhaps the most grueling day of his five-day visit to Portugal, given the round-trip helicopter ride to Fatima and a planned prayer vigil that wasn’t expected to begin until his usual bedtime in Rome.
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Somalia Reopens National Blood Bank to Address Critical Shortage

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Somalia reopened the National Blood Bank Saturday for the first time in more than 30 years, in a significant move to address the shortage of blood supplies and save lives.

Somalia Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, who inaugurated the fresh start for the center in Mogadishu, said it’s a crucial achievement for his nation, which has been grappling with frequent disasters and violent incidents that require adequate blood supplies.

The country’s health minister, Dr. Ali Haji Adam, told VOA the revival of the center signifies a turning point in the country’s health care system.

“With the reopening of the national blood bank, we can now adequately address the overwhelming demand for blood in emergency situations and enhance the chances of saving precious lives.” Adam said.

The minister said the center will have the capacity to store hundreds of thousands of blood donations, all made by the public.

“In the past, when tragic accidents like the Zobe 1 and Zobe 2 explosions occurred in 2017 and in 2022, the public rushed to donate blood, but unfortunately there was no adequate storage facility to store the donated blood. Today that changes,” Adam explained.

The health minister highlighted the critical impact of the lack of access to safe blood in Somalia, particularly in connection with child mortality.

“The second cause of maternal death during childbirth is bleeding, but with the reopening of [the] blood bank, mothers will have access to this lifesaving resource,” Adam said.

Hospitals across Somalia have faced immense challenges in obtaining sufficient blood supplies.

Medical officials say they are optimistic that the blood bank will not only serve the immediate needs of people injured in accidents and disasters but will also prove beneficial for anemic children in Somalia.

Established in 1976, the national blood bank had not been operating for nearly three decades due to conflicts, leaving the war-torn nation without a reliable source of blood for critical medical emergencies.
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Niger Junta Seeks Wagner Help to Combat Outside Military Threat

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Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline nears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc, according to an analyst.

The request came during a visit by a coup leader, General Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he contacted someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. He said three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the meeting first reported by France 24.

“They need [Wagner] because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he said, adding that the group is considering the request. A Western military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told the AP they have also heard reports that the junta asked for help from Wagner in Mali.

Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS to release and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.

Defense chiefs from ECOWAS members finalized an intervention plan Friday and urged militaries to prepare resources after a mediation team sent to Niger Thursday wasn’t allowed to enter the city or meet with the junta leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.

After his visit to Mali, run by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned against a military intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes not to become “a new Libya,” Niger’s state television reported Friday.

Niger has been seen as the West’s last reliable counterterrorism partner in a region where coups have been common in recent years. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turned toward Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, where human rights groups have accused its forces of deadly abuses.

One can’t say there’s a direct Russian implication in Niger’s coup, but “clearly, there’s an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which tries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told broadcaster BFM Friday. For days after Niger’s junta seized power, residents waved Russian flags in the streets.

The spokesperson described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”

 

Some residents rejected the junta’s claims.

“It’s all a sham,” said Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey. “They oppose foreign interference to restore constitutional order and legality. But on the contrary, they are ready to make a pact with Wagner and Russia to undermine the constitutional order. … They are prepared for the country to go up in flames so that they can illegally maintain their position.”

On Saturday, France’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, said the regional threat of force was credible and warned the putschists to take it seriously. “Coups are no longer appropriate. … It’s time to put an end to it,” she said. The ministry said France supports “with firmness and determination” the ECOWAS efforts and called for Bazoum and all members of his government to be freed.

Niger’s military leaders have been following the playbook of Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, also run by a junta, but are moving faster to consolidate power, Nasr said: “[Tchiani] chose his path, so he’s going full on it without wasting time because there’s international mobilization.”

One question is how the international community will react if Wagner comes in, he said. When Wagner came into Mali at the end of 2021, the French military was ousted soon afterward after years of partnership. Wagner was later designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and international partners might have a stronger reaction now, Nasr said.

Much more is at stake in Niger, where the United States and other partners have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance to combat the region’s growing jihadi threat. France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger, although coup leaders say they have severed security agreements with Paris, and the U.S. has 1,100 military personnel there.

It’s unclear what a regional intervention would look like, when it would begin or whether it would receive support from Western forces. Niger’s junta has called on the population to watch for spies, and self-organized defense groups have mobilized at night to monitor cars and patrol the capital.

“If the junta were to dig in its heels and rally the populace around the flag — possibly even arming civilian militias — the intervention could morph into a multifaceted counterinsurgency that ECOWAS would not be prepared to handle,” said a report by the Hudson Institute.
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Russia’s War on Ukraine Generates Its Own ‘Fog’ With Disinformation

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On the battlefields of Ukraine, the fog of war plagues soldiers. Far from the fighting, a related and just as disorienting miasma afflicts those who seek to understand what’s happening in the vast war.

Disinformation, misinformation and absent information all cloud civilians’ understanding. Officials from each side denounce devious plots being prepared by the enemy, which never materialize. They claim victories that can’t be confirmed — and stay quiet about defeats.

None of this is unique to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Any nation at war bends the truth — to boost morale on the home front, to rally support from its allies, to try to persuade its detractors to change their stance.

But Europe’s largest land war in decades — and the biggest one since the dawn of the digital age — is taking place in a superheated information space. And modern communications technology, theoretically a force for improving public knowledge, tends to multiply the confusion because deceptions and falsehoods reach audiences instantly.

“The Russian government is trying to portray a certain version of reality, but it’s also being pumped out by the Ukrainian government and advocates for Ukraine’s cause,” said Andrew Weiss, an analyst at the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

The ‘fog’ is not a new development

Even before the war began, confusion and contradictions were rife.

Russia, despite massing tens of thousands of soldiers on the border, claimed it had no intent of invading. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy consistently downplayed the likelihood of war — an alarming stance to some Western allies — although the defense of Kyiv showed Ukrainian forces were well-prepared for just that eventuality.

Within a day of the war’s start on Feb. 24, 2022, disinformation spread, notably the “Ghost of Kyiv” tale of a Ukrainian fighter pilot who shot down six Russian planes. The story’s origin is unclear, but it was quickly backed by Ukrainian official accounts before authorities admitted it was a myth.

One of the most flagrant cases of disinformation arose in the war’s second week, when a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol was bombed from the air. Images taken by a photographer for The Associated Press, which had the only foreign news team in the city, appalled the world, particularly one of a heavily pregnant woman being carried on a stretcher through the ruins.

 

The brutal attack flew in the face of Russian claims that it was hitting only targets of military value and was avoiding civilian facilities. Russia quickly launched a multipronged and less-than-coherent campaign to tamp down the outrage.

Diplomats, including Russia’s United Nations ambassador, denounced AP’s reporting and images as outright fakes. It claimed that a patient interviewed after the attack — who was standing and appeared uninjured — and the woman on the stretcher were the same person and that she had been a crisis actor. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov alleged Ukrainian fighters were sheltering in the hospital, making it a legitimate target.

A week later, Mariupol’s main drama theater was destroyed in an airstrike even though the word “children” was written in Russian in large letters in two spots around the theater to show that civilians were sheltering there. The blast killed as many as 600 people.

Russia denied the attack, claiming again that Ukrainian fighters were sheltering inside and that the fighters themselves blew up the building.

Russia makes its own claims about its progress

The Russian ministry almost daily makes claims of killing dozens or hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, claims that cannot be confirmed and are widely believed to be inflated.

In January, the Defense Ministry bragged that its forces killed as many as 600 Ukrainian soldiers in a missile attack on buildings in the city of Kramatorsk, where the soldiers were temporarily billeted. However, journalists, including an AP reporter who went to the site the next day, found the buildings without serious damage and no sign of any deaths.

Russia said the purported attack was in retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian base that killed at least 89, one of the largest known single-incident losses for Russia.

Sometimes the fact of shocking destruction cannot be denied, but who caused it is disputed. When a renowned cathedral in Odesa was heavily damaged in July, Ukraine said it was hit by a Russian missile; Russia said it was hit by the remnants of a Ukrainian defense missile.

 

The disastrous collapse in May of the Kakhovka dam, which was under Russian control, brought vehemently competing accounts from Russia — which claimed it was hit by Ukrainian missiles — and Ukraine, which alleged Russian forces blew it up. An AP analysis found Russia had the means and motive to destroy the dam, which was the only remaining fixed crossing between the Russian- and Ukrainian-held banks of the Dnieper River in the front-line Kherson province.

Both sides play at demonizing the other with claims of the other’s devious plans. Sometimes one alleges the other side is preparing a “false flag” attack, as when Ukraine claimed Russia planned missile strikes on its ally Belarus to blame Ukraine and to draw Belarus’ troops into the war.

Russia and Ukraine both invoke the specter of nuclear disaster. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu grabbed worldwide attention in October with claims that Ukraine was preparing a “dirty bomb” — a conventional explosive that spreads radioactive material. Zelenskyy in turn has repeatedly warned that Russia has planted explosives to cause a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it occupies. Corroborating evidence of either is absent.
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Native American News Roundup July 30 – August 5, 2023

Posted on by SeeUS

Here are some Native American-related news stories and features making headlines this week:

HHS to fund development of tribal produce prescription programs 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted $2.2 million to five tribes to support the development of produce prescription programs.

Broadly, these programs provide free or discounted fruit, vegetables and other nutritious foods for patients living with food insecurity or diagnosed with certain health conditions. Healthcare providers write prescriptions that patients can take to be filled in retail food stores.

Awards of $500,000 each will go to the Laguna Healthcare Corporation, which serves the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico; the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma; the Navajo Health Foundation; the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona; and the Rocky Boy Health Center, which serves Chippewa Cree on the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana.

About one in four Native Americans experience food insecurity, compared to one in nine Americans overall, and they also experience high rates of diabetes and obesity.

Read more: 

Oklahoma governor sues state lawmakers in over tribal compacts 

Last week, VOA reported that Oklahoma’s majority-Republican Senate overrode Governor Kevin Stitt’s vetoes of two bills that would extend compacts between the state and tribes that split proceeds from tobacco and vehicle registrations.

Stitt’s lawyers on Monday filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, arguing that only the governor has the authority to negotiate tribal contacts.

Oklahoma speaker McCall called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

For his part, Treat accused the governor of turning his back on “all four million Oklahomans, the legislative process and Oklahoma’s tribal partners.”

Read more:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk skirts state laws by operating on tribal land 

Electric car manufacturer Tesla will soon open a showroom on the Mohegan Reservation in Connecticut, expanding its presence on tribal lands.

Tesla is so far the only carmaker that sells directly to buyers. All other auto manufacturers sell through independently owned dealerships. Many U.S. states have franchise laws that ban car makers from selling directly to customers without going through independent dealerships. Other states limit the number of stores Tesla can open.

CEO Elon Musk gets around these laws by negotiating with tribes to place showrooms on tribal land, where these laws do not apply.

In September 2021, Tesla opened its first showroom in a former casino on the Nambé Pueblo near Sante Fe, New Mexico, and a second on the Santa Ana Pueblo, near Albuquerque. Another Tesla showroom is planned to open in 2025 on the Oneida Reservation in New York.

Read more:

Tribes seek to find, protect bats in Pacific Northwest  

The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service and Oregon State University are hosting the first-ever Pacific Northcoast Bat Workshop on the Yakama Nation in Washington state.

The two-day workshop will address threats to bats on tribal lands, particularly White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal infection that has killed more than 6 million bats in eastern North America since 2006 — decimating whole colonies. It showed up in the Pacific Northwest in 2016. 

Bats are often misunderstood and feared but play a vital role in U.S. agriculture. By eating so many insects and rodents, they save U.S. farmers more than $3 billion in crop damage and pesticide costs each year.

Read more:

 

Federal courts highlight career of Hopi federal judge 

As part of its video series “Pathways to the Bench,” U.S. Federal Courts this week focused on Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe in northwest Arizona, who in 2014 became the first Native American woman to serve as a U.S. federal judge.

Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, she and her family kept close ties to Kykotsmovi Village, on the Hopi Reservation’s Third Mesa. In this video, she discusses challenges she faced along the way to federal judgeship—and her reluctance to share her cultural identity with non-Natives.

 

New Mexico honors two prominent Native American artists  

Two Native Americans have been named among the winners of the 2023 New Mexico Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. They are: experimental composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon, Navajo, who in 2022 became the first Native American awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his 2021 composition “Voiceless Mass,” which debuted in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, church (see video below).

Also named is haute couture fashion designer Patricia Michaels, a member of the Water Clan of the Taos Pueblo.  A former runner-up on the American fashion competition TV show “Project Runway,” Michaels has designed and created costumes for opera and theater productions, custom resort uniforms and red-carpet gowns. In 2014, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian board of directors in New York honored her as the first recipient of its Arts and Design Award.

New Mexico’s Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts was established in 1974 to celebrate the significance of the arts to the State of New Mexico.

See the full list of this year’s winners here:
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Miyazawa Scores Her 5th Goal of Women’s World Cup as Japan Beats Norway 3-1

Posted on by SeeEU

Japan scored its 14th goal of the Women’s World Cup and conceded its first Saturday, beating Norway 3-1 to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth time.

Hinata Miyazawa sealed the win with her fifth goal of the tournament in the 81st minute to remain the leading scorer. Risa Shimizu’s 50th-minute goal followed an Ingrid Syrstad Engen own goal in the first half to help give Japan its fourth straight win of the tournament.

Guro Reiten headed a superb goal for Norway in the 21st minute to end Japan’s flawless defensive performance and leave the teams locked 1-1 a halftime.

After beating Spain 4-0 with only 23% of possession in its group-stage finale, Japan once again was a tactical chameleon in the round of 16 — playing with more than 60% of possession in a commanding performance.

Japan traded its regular blue uniform for pastel colors Saturday, pink and purple. The softer color scheme did nothing to dull its attacking style; it pressed forward from the start and had its first corner after two minutes.

While it was ineffective, it was an early declaration of intent. With long balls or sharp, quick passing, Japan continually pressed forward. Norway, which conceded only one goal in group play, often seemed rattled at the back.

When the defense finally yielded, it was in unusual circumstances. In the 15th minute, Miyazawa curled the ball in from depth on the left and Engen extended her leg to parry the ball. She managed only to deflect it wide of Aurora Mikalsen in goal for the eighth own goal of the tournament.

Japan seemed well on top, but in the 21st minute, and from the first time in the match Norway had threatened, Vilda Boe Rise got away on the right, took the ball to the byline and crossed to the middle where Guro Reiten stood tall and headed wide of the diving Ayaka Yamashita into the left corner.

The goal came entirely against the run of play. After a half-hour, Japan had 183 completed passes to Norway’s 88, had more than 60%, five shots on goal. Miyazawa, Aoba Fujino, Jun Endo and others had been threatening.

Shimizu’s winner came in the 50th minute as Japan pushed forward again from halfway. Miyazawa tried to hold up the ball near goal, lost possession to Boe Risa, who tried a back pass but rolled the ball into the path of Shimizu rushing in from the right to score.

Miyazawa produced a copybook finish in the 81st, running onto a superb through ball and directing her shot wide of Mikalsen.

Norway and Japan had met once before at a World Cup, in 1999, when Norway won 4-0.
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Latest in Ukraine: Russian Tanker Hit in Drone Attack Near Crimea Bridge

Posted on by SeeEU

Latest developments:

Saturday intelligence update on Ukraine from the Britain’s Ministry of Defense says strike on 113-meter-long Russian landing ship, the Olenegorsky Gornyak, was the largest naval vessel damaged since sinking of the Moskva in April of last year.
Poland has detained another person suspected of being a member of a Russian spy network, bringing the total number of people detained as part of an investigation to 16, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Friday. 
The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and J.P. Morgan, as part of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, was closed on August 2, RIA news agency said Friday, citing Russia's Foreign Ministry. 
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie met Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and toured ravaged villages. He said seeing the “cruelty” and “inhumanity” of war impressed upon him the need for continuing U.S. support of Ukraine against Russia.  

 

Russian maritime officials confirmed Saturday that a Ukrainian sea drone attack has damaged a sanctioned Russian tanker near a strategic bridge that links Crimea with Russia’s mainland, suspending traffic and ferry transport services.

According to Russian media reports, the tanker was approaching the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, when it was hit by Ukrainian drones.

“The SIG tanker … received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack,” Russia’s Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

The chemical tanker was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for helping provide jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria.

News of the attack follows another that seriously damaged a Russian warship at a Black Sea naval base.

Ukrainian forces have said they are breaking through the Russian southern front line of defense, moving to the “intermediate one,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported Friday.

According to Maliar, Ukraine is prioritizing its counteroffensive operations in the country’s south, while for Russia, the focus is the east.

Most Russian resources are currently concentrated near Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast, as Moscow seeks to retake the territories liberated by Ukrainian forces last fall, Maliar said. “It is important for them both from a moral and a military point of view.”

Jeddah summit

Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will participate in the Saudi Arabia- initiated Jeddah talks on the peaceful settlement in Ukraine, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Friday.

“China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine,” Wang Wenbin, ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.

Ukraine and Western diplomats hope the meeting this weekend in the port city of Jeddah will be an opportunity for officials to agree on key principles to inform any peace agreement that would end Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

About 40 countries are set to be represented at the session, but the biggest diplomatic prize would be an endorsement from China, which has kept close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia — and so far, has rejected international calls to condemn the invasion.

China was invited to a previous round of talks in Copenhagen in late June but did not attend.

Ukraine and its allies are optimistic the Jeddah summit will help ramp up global support for a peace plan in Ukraine.

In his nightly video address Friday, Zelenskyy expressed hope the discussions in Jeddah would lay the groundwork for an upcoming “peace summit” with leaders from around the world this fall. The aim is to endorse the principles based on Zelenskyy’s 10-point formula for a peace settlement. 

“It is very important that the world sees: a fair and honest end to Russian aggression will benefit everyone in the world. Everyone!” said Zelenskyy.  “Liberating Ukrainian land from the occupiers means restoring full respect for international law and the U.N. Charter. Eliminating all threats created by Russia to Ukrainian and global security means returning peace to international relations and stability to global life. I am grateful to everyone who supports the peace formula and has already joined the joint efforts for the full implementation of the formula,” he added.

The main discussions at the Jeddah summit will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Russia says it will not be involved in this weekend’s talks or the summit planned for the fall.

Beyond its Western backers, Ukraine hopes to garner diplomatic support from more Global South countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey.

Part of Ukraine’s strategy to gain support from such countries will reportedly be to emphasize how food prices have risen after Russia quit the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal last month and began attacking Ukrainian port facilities.

That facet of the conflict has been a top priority for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who pressed all countries Thursday at the United Nations to tell Moscow to stop using the Black Sea as blackmail after Russia killed the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Russian warships

During the night of Aug. 3-4, a Russian warship was seriously damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk.

A Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a Russian navy landing ship with about 100 Russian servicemen on board, had been hit by a sea drone carrying 450 kilograms of TNT.

“As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions,” a source told Reuters, adding that the operation had been carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service and the navy. “All the Russian statements about a ‘repelled attack’ are fake,” the source said.

Video footage verified by Reuters shows the Olenegorsky Gornyak being towed to shore by a tug, listing heavily to its left side.

Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said two Ukrainian sea drones had been repelled in the waters outside the base and that the drones had been destroyed. It made no mention of any damage in its short statement. 

The port, which handles 2% of the world’s oil supply and exports grain, temporarily interrupted maritime traffic before resuming normal operations, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.

It is the first time a Russian commercial port has been targeted in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Navalny sentencing

In an interview Friday with VOA, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed strong discontent with the announcement by a Russia court Friday of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s additional 19-year prison term on extremism charges.

“Sad but not surprised,” the U.S. ambassador said. “It is clear that the Russian government, that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, that this authoritarian government will use any means to restrict the voices of the opposition, restrict the voices of criticism. Navalny represents that. He is being held in an unacceptable way. He should not have been in this court system, and we condemn the actions of the Russian government as it relates to him,” she said.

VOA U.N Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Biden Administration Gives Hope to Stateless People in US

Posted on by SeeUS

Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough is a stateless person living in the United States.

“I’m from a country that doesn’t exist anymore,” Ambartsoumian-Clough told VOA.  She is one of the 218,000 stateless people living in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which on Tuesday said it would clarify what stateless means for immigration purposes.

Ambartsoumian-Clough says it is a “huge step forward in terms of recognizing people like us in this country.”

On Thursday, DHS organized a private listening session on the statelessness policy.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas led the meeting. The conversation, according to attendees who spoke with VOA on background, was to figure out the next steps. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is also expected to organize a public meeting on this policy soon.

The DHS announcement promises to develop and implement new procedures so that USCIS officials can be better prepared to assess whether someone is stateless and outline examples of evidence that can aid USCIS officers in that determination.

“The United States does not currently make determinations about whether someone is stateless. In addition, the fact that a person is stateless does not provide her or him with any benefit or status under U.S. law,” per the UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, website.

Citizens of nowhere

Ambartsoumian-Clough still clearly remembers the day she found out she and her parents were stateless.

Ambartsoumian-Clough’s father was Armenian. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and was a descendant of Armenian genocide survivors. Her mother is from Ukraine, born just outside of Odesa, in Voznesensk. Ambartsoumian-Clough’s grandparents also survived regional turmoil and the Holocaust.

When her parents were born, both regions were part of the Soviet Union. But it dissolved in the early 1990s into 15 countries. After 70 years, the Soviet Union suddenly no longer existed.

Ambartsoumian-Clough was born in Odesa in 1988, when the Soviet Union still existed.

“My parents had me as a mixed ethnic child; half Armenian and half Ukrainian, and that was a problem. My parents had a really, really hard time being a family with me. There was a lot of violence my parents experienced. My dad was targeted for his ethnicity in Odesa. My mom suffered a miscarriage in my dad’s city because she was beaten up in the streets,” Ambartsoumian-Clough said.

When she was 3 years old, the family realized it was not safe for them in Odesa. They made their way to Canada in 1992. They lived there for four years but were denied permanent residence. They came to the U.S. in 1996 where they applied for asylum. Their case took almost five years and once again they were denied a path to apply for permanent status in the U.S.

At 13, Ambartsoumian-Clough and her parents were told they had to leave the United States.

“We were told to return [to Ukraine]. And we went to the Ukrainian Embassy to get our passports. … And that’s when they said, ‘We don’t recognize you as one of our own.’ And that shocked us. That was very confusing to us. Just how can it be that you’re just not recognized in the country that you’re born? I mean, my family has a history in Ukraine. My grandfather was a community leader, a Baptist minister,” she said.

The family found themselves in a complex situation: even if they wanted to leave the U.S., they could not because they were citizens of nowhere.

“I became stateless … and we didn’t know what that meant. We never even heard of that issue. The first thing my parents said to me was, ‘Isn’t this like Tom Hanks and The Terminal?’ And it’s true, it’s like, yeah, instead of being stuck in an airport, we were limited to the United States, but we have really exhausted all options. The law didn’t recognize people like us, and we can’t return because no one recognizes us as their own. And that was about 25 years ago, and I’m 35 years old now. And I’m still in this limbo status,” she added.

The concept of statelessness might be difficult for many people to understand, especially Americans, given that the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born within its borders. That is not the case in many countries.

Geopolitical events like war or the dissolution of a government, such as the former Soviet Union, can lead to statelessness. In some countries, women are not allowed to acquire, retain or change their nationality. They might also not be allowed to transfer nationality to their children, which very often results in statelessness.

Stateless in the US

With nowhere to go, Ambartsoumian-Clough and her parents stayed in the U.S. Her father worked as a painter. Her mother started a cleaning business.

“And I just tried to be normal, you know, and I tried to be Karina from Upper Darby, you know, outside of [Philadelphia], and just be normal. But when I became 18, that’s when things really changed because I became an adult. I became an adult without any access to a legal identity,” she said.

The only documents Ambartsoumian-Cloug had were a birth certificate from a country that didn’t exist anymore and her U.S. school identification card.

But when she tried to find a job, get a cellphone plan, or a bank account, she needed a government-issued identification.

“I didn’t have access to an identification. So we couldn’t work or find legal means to work. So, I worked a lot in restaurants. … I did the best I could with that. And in that time, I was in a process of extreme denial. I was 22 years old and living in [Philadelphia] … I didn’t want to deal with this immigration problem and kept putting it in the back. But it kept becoming a big deal in my life over and over again,” she said.

Ambartsoumian-Cloug met someone, fell in love, and got married in 2013 to a U.S. citizen.

“When we got married, we were five years together. And we actually went to Maryland to get married because Maryland state does not require a valid form of ID to get married. So we went to Elkton, Maryland, and got a marriage certificate, the first legal document I had with my name on it,” she said.

Through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Congress established the family immigration procedures we know today. With the law, Congress created a preference system that allows U.S. citizens to sponsor immediate relatives, including spouses, without any numerical limits.

But even that cannot help a stateless person in the United States.

Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney in Anchorage, Alaska, told VOA that usually a stateless person does not have the documentation that is necessary to apply for a legal permanent residency status, also known as green card, and get it approved.

“USCIS requires certain documentation before they’ll approve somebody for a green card, and one of the requirements is the person has to show valid documents that prove that they’re from a foreign country,” Stock said.

As a stateless person, people have all kinds of obstacles to applying for U.S. immigration benefits.

“And the government of the United States doesn’t care necessarily about the fact that you’re married to an American. They want to see documents proving that you’re a citizen of another country, so if you can’t show that you have a very difficult time applying for benefits,” Stock said.

Ambartsoumian-Clough said she hopes DHS guidance finally establishes a definition of statelessness in line with the internationally accepted definition to help those in limbo.

She eventually met other stateless people and started United Stateless, a national organization led by stateless people whose mission is to advocate for their human rights.

She also hopes the U.S. Congress passes legislation to codify into immigration law how a person with stateless status can file for permanent residency.

In the meantime, she lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Kevin. Her mother is still living, but her father died in December.

“My dad passed away as a stateless person. And he’s been here since 1986. He never got to reunite with his parents, never got to really build the American Dream my parents always wanted,” she said.
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Oil State Texas Beats the Heat with Solar

Posted on by SeeUS

Record-breaking heat in Texas is driving record-breaking energy demand as Texans crank up the air conditioning to stay cool. But in the top oil- and gas-producing state in the United States, it’s solar power that’s beating the heat. That’s good news for climate change. The state is meeting its growing demand for electricity without burning more fossil fuels, which would make things worse. Steve Baragona has more.
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Japan’s Kishida Hopes to Strengthen Ties with US, South Korea at Summit

Posted on by SeeUS

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he hopes to discuss further strengthening of three-way strategic cooperation with leaders of the United States and South Korea at a summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden at Camp David later this month.

The Aug. 18 summit with Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is the first stand-alone summit among leaders of the three countries, not in connection with international meetings.

The summit is also the latest sign of warming ties between Tokyo and Seoul. Both governments have moved to set aside decades-long tensions over wartime history, while Washington seeks to deepen its commitment in the Indo-Pacific region.

“I have high hopes that this summit meeting will further strengthen the foundation for strengthening ties with the United States and South Korea, which have been built up through multilayered efforts including at the summit level,” Kishida said, responding to a question about the summit, during a news conference Friday.

“On top of that, I expect we will further reinforce our strategic cooperation among the three countries, Japan, the United States and South Korea” as the three leaders discuss joint responses to North Korea’s threats and maintaining and strengthening a rules-based, free and open international order, Kishida said.

He declined to provide more details, saying he should avoid prejudging the outcome of the summit ahead of time.

The Biden administration has been urging stronger economic and defense ties between South Korea and Japan as it looks to bolster the region against China’s assertive territorial moves and economic influences, and to secure their cooperation in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Japan and South Korea are both key U.S. allies and their cooperation is key to Washington’s security strategy in the Indo-Pacific as tensions grow with China, North Korea and Russia.

Ties between Japan and South Korea have rapidly thawed since earlier this year, largely because of Washington’s pressure and their shared sense of urgency over escalating regional security threats.

The improved ties between Tokyo and Seoul, and Japan’s new security and defense strategies are apparently making the stronger trilateral partnership possible. Under the new strategies issued in December, Kishida’s government pledges a drastic military buildup with strike capabilities and doubling defense spending in a major break from Japan’s postwar self-defense-only principle.

Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to start sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches by the end of this year, as their trilateral cooperation is increasingly important amid growing nuclear and missile threats from the North. Washington and Seoul have also agreed to step up their nuclear deterrence cooperation, and Japan also wants stronger extended deterrence by U.S. nuclear weapons.

After the White House announcement of the summit, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, posted a message on Twitter that the upcoming summit promises to make history and “will lead to a strategic paradigm shift” as the three countries form “a united front for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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